InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Let's be bad guys"

preston rawlings, psychic accountant (ex_clerk820) wrote in rooms,
@ 2014-09-20 15:27:00

Entry tags:

*telepathy, faol reece, kevin sydney, preston rawlings, talia wagner

[X-Mansion.]
[X-Mansion.]

[A general, localized feeling of fatigued calm, the kind that comes after a restless night and a zombie morning. There is the sensation of being drained, of having no energy to even be tired, except you are, so tired. It's just a feeling, small and light, without identity. Telepaths wouldn't feel formed thought, and even identity is missing from the emotion. Yawn.]

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fuadan
2014-09-21 11:26 am UTC (link)

[The unknown touch comes with the awareness that he shouldn't be this tired and he hasn't felt a telepath in his head often enough to know that the sudden sluggishness is not his own. His sleep was no worse or any better than it usually was, and he didn't work out harder than he usually did in the mornings, though these workouts contained noticeably less bruises and bite marks than they did if he had been sparring (or sparring) with Mai. It could have been the book in front of him though, the words and diagrams of diseases becoming disjointed and moving from their comprehensive state to incomprehension as if carried on the backs of little devilish ants. Maybe he needed coffee. Abandoning the book to the table, he yawned wide enough to feel his jaw crack as he stood up and scrubbed palm over a day's growth of stubble. Maybe he should just go for a nap.]

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	Kitchen & Faol. ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 01:45 am UTC (link)
	[Right on cue, Preston stumbles into the kitchen, hollow-eyed and zombified. The tactile smell of coffee suffuses the connection. Raw beans grinding down into bits, the brown, tactile aroma spreading through the air, the faintly bitter edge of smooth boiling liquid.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Kitchen & Faol.

fuadan
2014-09-24 01:51 pm UTC (link)

[The smell over the connection rouses a Cro-Magnon grunt out of him, sense memory filling in the details. Thick and earthy and his bed is foregone for a following stumble into the kitchen. There's a body in front of him - someone - and he almost runs smack into Preston's back, collision at the breath-stealing speed of snail. Then, just one word:] Coffeeeeeeee. [Take that zombies. Brains for you, sweet life giving essence for former CIA agents.]

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

ex_clerk820
2014-09-26 05:50 am UTC (link)

[The bump isn't hard, as Preston is slow-moving and more rumpled than anyone living has ever seen him. He's missing his suit-coat and tie, and it's a miracle he managed to find an extremely wrinkled pair of trousers (cut in a suspiciously Twenties style) before he stumbled out of his room. The clothes make somewhat of a barrier, but the increased proximity strengthens Preston's emotional projections. Even the anticipation of coffee takes on layers, a hint of guilt at the possibility of caffeine addiction, a raw desire to have better control over his brain, the tingle of hot steam on the inside of his nostrils.

Preston immediately steps back, struggling closer to waking and trying to tamp down on what he is feeling. His attempts in this venue include imagining being wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap and thinking of calming things like clouds. It's not particularly successful. He blinked.]

Reece.

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

fuadan
2014-09-28 09:39 am UTC (link)

[The suspiciously old cut of his trousers is noted and shoved somewhere underneath the desire for beans cooked, ground, and doused with hot water to form ambrosia. He'll figure it out later when two plus two again reaches four instead of a question mark in his muddled brain.

Is it him or - bubble wrap? - his yawn halts with his mouth hanging open like an attic door. Even fuzzed over by exhaustion, this isn't right.] Rawlings. [Soft slur of suspicious sound as he takes a step back and to the side, distance sought and claimed as one hand pushes into his hair and nails scratch at his scalp. Little zings of pain to wake him up; that is a little better. What is going on with Rawlings' pants?]

Sorry about that. [Blink. Blink.] If you hand over the coffee, I won't ask questions.

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

ex_clerk820
2014-09-30 07:01 am UTC (link)

This is where you disappeared to? [It was just a tiny bit accusing, maybe just a little bit suspicious. He wouldn't have thought Faol the type to settle in a place like this. The man was so infuriatingly competent, and yet only trustworthy insofar as he could be depended on to do the most rash, craziest, bull-headed thing available.]

[Slowly, Preston held out the coffee. He caught Faol looking at his lower-half and scowled.]

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

fuadan
2014-10-10 05:56 am UTC (link)

[An eyebrow perks up, almost daring him to come right out and make the accusation, give voice to the suspicion. He's had enough of them leveled at him - true and untrue.] When in Rome. [Cue smirk at scowl.]

And I've got it on good authority that there's no where better to learn if you're a mutant. [Coffee gladly accepted, poured into an 'I heart NY' mug and downed black, no inhaling whiff, only a slight wince as it burns his tongue and he hurriedly swallows.] Especially if you feel like doing the books in nothing but your grandfather's pants.

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

ex_clerk820
2014-10-12 06:50 am UTC (link)

[Preston flinched at the word 'mutant,' hard and visible. He hated being labeled as something other, finding it deeply oppressive in a way that got down under his skin with hard truth and soured his stomach. As was his way, he did not say anything out loud about it. He poured his own coffee into a generic mug with no label, as boring as possible, and sat down on a stool against the island in the center of the kitchen.] Are you making fun of what I'm wearing, Faol? [Preston smiled. His clothes were not what was troubling him.]

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Re: Kitchen & Faol.

fuadan
2014-10-20 08:00 pm UTC (link)

[After that flinch, Preston didn't need to say anything. He'd been different, other, separate for years. In Mexico, he'd been the gringo. Vegas was the rogue. The one that had slipped his collar and leash to break rules and protocol when it became too much.

Mutant was hardly the curse that rogue had been for him. Maybe he'd stick to 'gifted' around Rawlings.] Nope, just making an observation. [Cheeky devil's grin that was soon hidden by the rim of the coffee mug as he took a sip, let it burn hot and dark and bitter down into his belly. But the other man's smile - yeah, he could see that same smile over coffee or while being handed enough paperwork to choke a horse. Best flee.] See you around, Rawlings. [He tipped his mug in Preston's general direction.]

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freakandgeek
2014-09-21 01:41 pm UTC (link)

[This feeling isn't new to Morph. So many late nights, bleary-eyed, playing the latest awesome video game, or marathoning a TV show, or programming something just for the hell of it. If anything, it's a pleasant novelty to have that feeling now after so many years of Exiles work that didn't allow him the free time to tire himself out goofing around. He stretched in his desk chair and leans his head back.]

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	ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 01:46 am UTC (link)
	[Ah, yes. Sleepy. Relaxing into a mattress. So tired, so tired, but can't quite make it to relaxing. Yaaaaawn. A quick, sudden explosion of pain as Preston stubs his toe on the threshold of the doorframe!] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	freakandgeek 2014-09-22 01:51 am UTC (link)
	[Ack! Morph jerks awake at the sudden pain(?), blinking in confusion. He starts to realize this isn't about him. It's got to be telepathy. He blinks, unsure, but tries to project a painless image of little white sheep jumping over fences. Welcome, friend.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 02:03 am UTC (link)
	[Another image, like this one. New awareness sharpens the connection. The fatigue separates away from the other mind, with clumsiness, no precision. A quick flush of apology that tastes like an overdose of cloves.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	freakandgeek 2014-09-22 02:13 am UTC (link)
	[Trippy. But then again, Morph's spent time being possessed by an energy-draining mutant. Someone who just wants a nap doesn't strike him as a threat. His mind just hums with amusement and something akin to a pat on the head.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 02:21 am UTC (link)
	[What the hell. Preston hasn't been patted on the head since he was five. At least the amusement is no threat, and Preston meets it with none of his own. The emotional afterimage of a frown, and Preston pulls away.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	freakandgeek 2014-09-22 02:26 am UTC (link)
	[A pat on the head is as a pat on the head does. Morph isn't bothered that his guest might be a bit put out by it, and doesn't at all attempt to reach out, just continuing to exude a general cheerfulness. No harms, no fouls all around.] (Reply to this) (Parent)

thenocturne
2014-09-21 06:40 pm UTC (link)

[TJ's own mild telepathy notes the strangeness and vagueness of the connection. Her eyelashes flutter as the weariness sets in, but she shakes it off. Instead she curiously prods back, searching for where it's coming from. She remembers when young or new telepaths still were learning the tricks of the trade, herself included. She projects a warm feeling in response and the image of a fresh fluffy pillow.]

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	[Talia.] ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 01:47 am UTC (link)
	[Preston's ability isn't immediately visual. The sudden pop of a clear image wakes him up to the fact that he's projecting. A rush of confusion and apology and embarrassment.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [Talia.] thenocturne 2014-09-22 01:51 am UTC (link)
	[Oops, she hadn't meant to wake him, more figure out the deal. Instant warmth and reassurance, and then the type of understanding that only comes from shared experience. She knows this type of embarrassment. It's okay, been there.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: [Talia.]

ex_clerk820
2014-09-22 02:08 am UTC (link)

[The embarrassment eases a little, but never entirely. Preston isn't used to other minds that respond to his, and he can visualize things with effort, but it's not automatic. Preston deals mostly in feelings, in sensations too. Other than embarrassment, Preston's discomfort has an edge like fear. He has it tamed down, and it's not focused toward any person in particular. He tries to be polite, and put distance between them. Apology.]

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	Re: [Talia.] thenocturne 2014-09-22 02:16 am UTC (link)
	[She's new to the mansion, and there's an eagerness in her that she's trying to tamper, a bright curiosity that comes from meeting new mutants. Her mind is full of light and it dances like the fireworks that take longer to fade in the sky. But she doesn't want to chase him when he's pulling back, respecting that distance.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [Talia.] ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 02:24 am UTC (link)
	[A quick confusion of identity, of unease. He doesn't think he is like her, nor she like him. He would feel badly pretending to offer that kind of companionship. Made, not born. Again, the apology. Fresh cloves.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: [Talia.]

thenocturne
2014-09-22 02:32 am UTC (link)

[Born the way not even the other mutants in there were. Born with blue fur and fangs, three toes and glowing eyes, and no chance at seeming normal. At first she's a little stung at that particular separation because of it, an automatic response to feeling like an other. The fresh cloves surprise her, and the twitchiness moves into amusement, sharing an aftertaste of red peppers and avocado.]

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Re: [Talia.]

ex_clerk820
2014-09-22 03:22 am UTC (link)

[It makes him think of guacamole. That is a good memory, but not one that renders apology in his head. Or other, for that matter. He is surprised that her mental image of herself has blue fur. Such things are fairy tale to him. After a few seconds, he returns to the connection. He doesn't want her to mistake him.

Carefully he separates everything into words. He works better with sound.] I am other than you.

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	Re: [Talia.] thenocturne 2014-09-22 03:25 am UTC (link)
	[The clarification is appreciated. Talking is easier for her, and she tries to be gentle.] I heard about what happened. I'm sorry. I know no one would choose to be one of us. [There's no blame, only sincerity.] Don't be frustrated, even us born and raised mutants slip up with our powers sometimes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: [Talia.] ex_clerk820 2014-09-22 03:30 am UTC (link)
	I [There is a lot of material in that one concept. It all goes by too quickly. He tries to restrain it with moderate success.] am spilling all over the place. I hate it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: [Talia.]

thenocturne
2014-09-22 03:45 am UTC (link)

I don't blame you. Is there anything or anyone that does focus you? Make it a little easier? [She senses a lot of emotion out of him, so she's calm and trying not to let her energy overflow. Muting the fireworks.] I was born with a little telepathy, like as a toddler even, and I would focus on my dad. He told me to listen to his voice, and feel the thoughts and emotions that were his, like an anchor I could hold onto when I was lost. [She shared that sensation of comfort and reassurance. Parental love was a strong one. Her father smelled of brimstone and he took her on thrilling rides.]

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Re: [Talia.]

ex_clerk820
2014-09-22 04:09 am UTC (link)

[Preston's immediate reaction to mention of his father is the exact opposite. Except for maybe the idea of brimstone, a brimstone called up to burn him in hell where he belongs. He knows the emotions are going to be negative, and he tries to keep it from flooding through the connection--and manages to break it before the self-hatred and the rage grows too strong.]

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	Re: [Talia.] thenocturne 2014-09-22 01:28 pm UTC (link)
	[Alarmed and concerned about the immediate reaction, all she can offer is a sincere sense of apology before the connection is broken.] (Reply to this) (Parent)