A Listening Ear (Sean)

Haven heard the “Come in.” and hesitated a moment longer before opening the door. She was skilled at the art of being calm and collected, or at least appearing that way. So she could imagine what Dr. Neville saw when she came in, her giving him a genuine smile, looking almost serene and peaceful, though lately she had been anything but.


She had seen Dr. Neville many times in the halls. Being here in his office was different though then a passing in a corridor. He wasn’t intimidating by any means. In fact, from his general demeanor and his reputation Haven decided that she already liked the man. However, though he couldn’t have passed Haven’s age by about maybe ten years or so, he seemed old. Wise and very old. Perhaps that’s what came with being a telepath. Then again, Haven didn’t know his life. She had lived in relative ease, and held a rather sheltered life. Despite the number of years she had been alive, she was quite young comparatively to Dr. Neville.


“Hello,” She said to him, closing the door behind her. “I hope you’re not busy. I’ve wanted to come by and properly introduce myself.” Okay, so this was partially true, but not at all the reason she was here. She went over to a couch, but didn’t sit. She didn’t want to be rude after all. That’s when a splitting headache struck Haven making her grip her head. So much for being calm and collected. She took a deep breath and with quite a bit of effort blocked the power absorption from happening…for now.

Haven did not take his hand, merely shook her head. “Sorry,” She said holding her hands firmly in her lap. “I don’t do very well with handshakes.” She knew that was very rude but he would understand when she explained.

Her head pounded behind her eyes but she continued to stay calm and smiling. “Thank you, I’ll take one.” She took a cookie from the plate between them. What she really wanted was an aspirin. “I was really hoping you weren’t going to be busy. I need to talk to someone.” She wrinkled her nose. That wasn’t exactly how she wanted that to come out. Haven was generally not to apt to sharing worries with strangers. After all, they had only just properly met. Still, she continued, taking a courtesy bite of the cookie. Even the migraine couldn’t mask the fact that they were very good.

“Tell your partner that these are delicious.” She said genuinely a passing thought on what he meant as to ‘partner’ which quickly evaporated to the back of her mind, for she continued. “I’ve been having some trouble, controlling my power mimicry. And I think it has something to do with…well, for one I haven’t been around metas in quite some time and putting up a mental block for the first time in twenty years is a bit hard.” She wrinkled her nose again. “But it shouldn’t be that hard should it? Do you think…” I’m not controlling my emotions, thinking about other things? She thought the last bit to herself.

She wanted to get up and leave now. She felt silly, as it normally happened when a conversation didn’t go quite the way she wanted. After all, what could Dr. Neville do for her? She sighed. Perhaps she just needed a listening ear.

Haven sighed and leaned back on the couch. She thought for a moment, back to those long hours in the training rooms when she was a student. Her trainer, who went by Madam Florence, had been someone she had really admired. An older lady, who was quite the posh French woman, was regal and no-nonsense in her training. She rubbed many students the wrong way, but considering Haven had always been no nonsense, she and Madam Florence got along quite well. Plus, though Haven didn’t know at the time, Madam Florence had a bit of a soft spot for her pupil and only let on to that fact a year after Haven graduated.

She taught Haven many things. Though Madam Florence had the ability of shape shifting, she explained meta powers in a way that, no matter how different they were, all of them needed an amount of control in the mind. Some just needed more mental blocks then others.

“Well,” Haven said to Sean, “The exercises involved thinking very little of inner feelings, because, being wrapped up in your own head, you get lax and let things in.” She looked Sean in the eye. “Basically, concentrate on the present, not on the thoughts in your head, that way I can detect when to put up a block.” She wasn’t sure if she was explaining it exactly the way it was. Madam Florence, all those years ago had made it seem so easy to verbalize.

Haven regretted loosing contact with her.

“I think I’ve gotten more sentimental in my old age.” Haven supposed this was a joke. She wasn’t one to make jokes, and it stumbled out of her mouth quite awkwardly. Still, she smiled and continued. “It’s hard moving to a new place. My parents are getting older…my dad has multiple sclerosis and it’s getting really bad. And that’s hard because he’s all the way in London.” She paused, her eyes burned. Haven was not a crier, but something about saying that out loud about her dad, especially to the listening man in front of her, made her a bit more emotional, and she wasn’t sure why.