Listening to the Wind

[Vincent Meian]

When training telepaths, there were a few things to remember.

The first was that any stray thought could be picked up. No matter how well-meaning, idle, or repressed, telepaths could pick up nearly any thought that passed through an unshielded mind.

Second, non-psychics tended not have shields at all. Of those that did, psychics could push past those barriers with relative ease. Training with mental shields needed to be maintained constantly, and even when they were, they were unlikely to do much against a sufficiently determined or powerful psychic.

Therefore, before training with any psychic and especially those bearing telepathy, it was a good idea to spend some time relaxing. For Vincent, that meant at least thirty minutes solid of tasks that took his mind off of the day. Cleaning, cooking, reading, meditating - any of these would really do, and they would give him the proper, ahem, headspace needed to shield. As rudimentary as his blocks were, he could concentrate on them easily enough while performing other, simplistic tasks, which made them valuable. And considering his forced emotional training, they were better than the average non-psychic.

There would still be a ghost of thought, but it would be an impression rather than a voice. At least, that was how other students had described it.

As the time grew closer for his new student to arrive, the tall Japanese man simply waited. He sat on the floor, ready and poised, but utter relaxed. The only conscious thought in his mind was the echo of his breathing and heartbeat, and a soft counting that was slightly at odds with both. Soft, quiet, waiting - muffled by a distant memory of old stone and climbing ivy.

[Rory Lennox]

Rory was slightly nervous about meeting her new trainer. She’d received the note about her schedule change yesterday and was a little skeptical. She’d been bumped around from trainer to trainer in an effort to find someone who would really be able to click with her abilities. She knew that the faculty was only trying to help, but it was frustrating.

So far the trainers that she’d seen had helped her. She felt a lot better about her abilities than she had when she’d first gotten here a few months ago, but she still had a long way to go. It was still very difficult to be around large groups of people; even three or four could sometimes feel like a lot, depending on how loud their thoughts were. But she supposed a few people were better than no people.

Her training sessions always gave her a bit of anxiety though, since she usually left exhausted, with a nosebleed and a headache. She’d come prepared though today, with Advil (which she’d already taken in an attempt to stave off her future headaches) and a small package of tissues. Those were slowly becoming two things that would probably be in her bag at all times.

Rory tugged at the sleeves of her sweater, adjusting her bag as she walked down the hallway. She stopped at the room number that matched the one on her new schedule. She knocked on the office door, twirling her long hair around her finger as she waited. She hadn’t had the time to do anything with aside from putting it up in a ponytail, but she’d fastened a bow in it so it wouldn’t look too lazy.

She pushed the office door open gently, peaking in to see if her trainer was in the room. “Hello?” She asked, not wanting to barge into the office it he was busy or if it was empty.

[Vincent Meian]

The quietly uttered word sent an answering echo through the trainer's mind. Hello? It had the same questioning quality, but was softly "spoken" and immediately added to with the idea of a new face. This must be his new student.

Sitting on the floor did not make Vincent Meian cut any less of an intimidating figure. Though he was thin, he was very toned with a quiet strength that was more than physical. His hands and forearms were covered with white lines; most small, few deep. His right arm bore black ink just under the surface, faded and old, and on his left hand glinted a band of silver. A deep red button-up was rolled up to the elbows and tucked into black jeans that had seen better days (but were not ripped or torn), and unlike many teachers, he had no compunction about wearing battered black sneakers. This was a man who had a physical job and life, but did not shirk it in the slightest.

However, as he looked at her, took in the figure of the slight girl hiding behind the door, his inner thoughts took on an amused cast without "verbalizing" anything. An echo of a foreign language and little more.

"Good morning, Lennox-san." His mind had the word clearly lettered, but his voice lilted it strangely - LAY-knock-s. The "l" almost sounded halfway to an "r", and the "s" at the end seemed like it was half an additional syllable, though distinctly separate from the common suffix. "Please make yourself comfortable."

The chairs had been moved to the walls of the office, and the far window was open, letting the cool breeze from the early morning. There was a patient, yet expectant silence as the teen seated herself, and Vincent inclined his head in something more than a nod yet less formal than a bow.

"I understand that you are gifted with telepathic abilities," he began, amber eyes focused solely on her. "Though, perhaps you may think yourself cursed, as do others I have taught."

[Rory Lennox]

Rory cracked the door open more once she heard a response, though it wasn’t necessarily a vocal one. She took in the scene of the office in front her of her; a man - her new trainer - was sitting…on the floor? That was definitely something she wasn’t expecting. Despite this fact, she could tell that her new trainer was tall…a lot taller than her last trainer and a lot taller than Rory. Although, that wasn’t really anything new. Almost everyone was taller than Rory.

“Good morning.” Rory responded, glancing between the him and the chairs by the wall. Was she supposed to sit on the floor across from him? Or was she supposed to sit in the chairs? In the back of her mind she knew that it probably didn’t matter which she chose, but she was momentarily caught off guard.

In the end, after a ten second internal debate, she chose the chair; obviously the safe choice. She placed her bag on the floor, fiddling with the end of her long ponytail as she waited for her instruction. Rory didn’t know too much about her new trainer, other than what she’d heard from other students. Apparently he used to work here before, but had left for a while and had only recently returned. And that he wasn’t a psychic, which she found odd since most trainers took on students who had similar powers as themselves.

She also found it strange that aside from his initial greeting, she really wasn't able to hear much from him. She could hear something, but it wasn’t like the normal thoughts she heard from the rest of the student body. It was sort of strange; she couldn't really describe it. Everyone was different, she supposed; she’d learned that during her first few weeks at Hammel. A lot of students were loud and boisterous about their thoughts and had no control over their volume. Others were a bit quieter, more like whispers. She found that most psychics were harder to get a read on than non-psychics. She didn’t find that frustrating though; it was actually a very nice reprieve.

Rory probably wouldn’t call her telepathy a curse, but it was a lot of trouble, sometimes more than it was actually worth. Though she was relieved that he mentioned he’d taught other telepaths. “It just…it can be hard sometimes.” Rory stated. And by sometimes, she meant almost all the time.

[Vincent Meian]

While he had intended for the lesson to begin on the floor, the trainer easily shifted himself to face the small teen, long legs tucked under him and back straight in the sitting position that was most common for formal attention in his home country. He watched her with a calm and relaxed nature, his posture open and waiting as Rory settled.

His training with psychics had actually made him a better trainer in the long run. He had never refused a student, and in order to properly train those with telepathy and empathy, he had needed to learn very quickly how to shield effectively. Crudely, at first, and his shields were still not the strength of a true psychic, however much more potent than the average non-psychic. Which put his students at an advantage when they could not be paired immediately with someone who shared their abilities.

Though, while the teen's thoughts were hidden from him, her emotions were not - they ran clear as day across her face. Nervousness, confusion, curiosity, and (finally) relief. Though the weariness was clear when she gently rebuked his statement - she was downplaying, trying to make him not worry.

There was a flicker of amusement, but no real words to go along with it. His words, as he spoke them, were very softly echoed in another language. "I understand." Wakatta. "We shall simply need to make it easier, then." Wareware wa sore o yōi ni suru hitsuyō ga arimasu.

Before her entering the room, Vincent had already planned out the idea of the dual language and implementing it behind his mental walls. It was a test, of sorts, on the one hand; on the other, it helped center his mind on a task that was not shouting his intent on a thus far unsecured mind.

"Let us begin correctly." Soo ka. Hajimemashite. The tall man bowed from the waist, eyes trained to the floor until he straightened once again. "I am Vincent Meian, and I will be your trainer. It is good to meet you." Boku no namae wa Vincent Meian desu, to no sensei ni narimasu. Dōzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

[Rory Lennox]

Rory watched as her new trainer shifted his position to face her. Maybe she was supposed to sit on the floor with him? However, if she was supposed to than he didn’t say anything to contradict her choice of seating, so Rory decided not to dwell over it.

She assumed her small undermining of her abilities side effects was believable, though at this point, she knew that most people - trainers and adults, at least - were aware of how difficult it could be for newly manifested telepaths. Dr. Neville had explained to her that everyone who had similar psychic abilities usually underwent a difficult adjustment period.

As her new trainer began to speak she heard the low murmur of his thoughts behind his words…though, she couldn’t quite understand what he was saying, or well, thinking. It sounded like gibberish at first, though as he went on she vaguely recognized the different language. Chinese? No, Japanese. Rory was never very good with other languages, so she couldn’t be sure, but she assumed it was his native tongue.

That was so…strange. She’d never heard thoughts echo out in a different language before. Was that how it worked when she heard the thoughts up someone who’s first language wasn’t English? No wait…Maggie’s first language was German, and she spoke like…a bunch of other languages on top of that and she’d never had anything like this happen with her. Was he doing this on purpose?

She blinked, trying to follow the words he’d spoken in English and not get too caught up on the Japanese. His thoughts weren’t loud like other people’s were, but it was…a little distracting. Especially because it caught her off guard. “It’s nice to meet you.” She said, though her answer was a beat behind. “My name is Rory Lennox.” He probably already knew that though.

[Vincent Meian]

Newly developed telepaths were among the more dangerous of students, however despite what the majority of baseline humans thought, it was primarily towards themselves. The side effects of telepathy alone were often enough to make the psychic class want to be away from all other people, let alone the ability itself and people's fear of it. While generally leery of lowering his mental shielding (now strong once again after his training, but less so than a true psychic's), Vincent did not inherently fear those with mental abilities, which went a small way in training them.

In short, he understood why Rory passed off her side effects as 'not that bad', both culturally and from experience.

The trainer watched the young woman's face closely as he spoke, observing without really thinking about it that she seemed distracted and confused. This may have been something that she hadn't seen, or rather 'heard', before. It seemed like the soft double speak was doing the work he had intended.

At her introduction, the tall man nodded. The wisp of a girl was a beat or two behind where a more natural conversational flow would be, but that was expected given the test he'd put forward to her. It seemed that her shielding was currently either very weak or nonexistent, and in his experience, Vincent would assume the latter. His own shields may not be able to stop Sean or Adaryn, but to a psychic who was not actively using their powers, he should have been virtually silent on the mental front.

In light of that, the mental equivalent of a chuckle ran through his mind. "You seem distracted," he stated, the Japanese echo suddenly absent. Not just muffled - outright gone. "Should I take that to mean that you have heard my translations?"

Considering that this was their first lesson, the question wasn't accusatory. Rather, it was light, and there was a general air of amusement and understanding in both this thoughts and subtle expression.

[Rory Lennox]

It was true that Rory’s shield weak, essentially next to nothing. When she did actively try to silence the voices, it really only dulled them a little bit. It took an immense about of concentration and she almost always ended up with a headache if she stretched it for too long. But that was why she was here, to learn how to strengthen it. And hopefully she’d eventually be participate with her friends like a normal person.

Over the past few months, the constant onslaught of voices were something that Rory had grown accustomed to; at this point, she expected them. So when she ceased to hear anything, while it was a welcome reprieve, it was a bit jarring. Complete silence wasn’t really something she was used to at this point.

Clearly he picked up on her confusion, since he commented on how distracted she seemed. And that was when his thoughts stopped. “I did….” She answered, still a little hesitant about the motive behind them. “Was that…was that on purpose?” She asked. She didn’t really understand why he’d relay his thoughts in another language, though she was impressed by the concentration that must have taken on his part. She could never imagine speaking in one language and thinking in another at the same time.

However, he was the trainer and he did seem to know what he was doing. She doubted he’d do that for fun or just to confuse her. It must have been part of the lesson. It was nothing like her other trainer had done before though, so she was a bit wary of the concept. But he had had training with other psychics and telepaths before, so perhaps this was the method he’d used to help all of them…

[Vincent Meian]

As someone who didn't have telepathy or empathy as a power himself, Vincent was not privy to the very personal knowledge of what others around him were thinking and feeling every minute of the day. As someone whose powers were heavily triggered by his emotions, however, he knew what it was like to have to fight to keep it in check, and how exhausting it could be day in and day out. Much as his own training had become second-nature (even if it had ultimately been wrong), so too would Rory's. Eventually, she would be able to participate in day-to-day activities like she once had, and while she would never fully stop hearing people's thoughts, she could certainly make them less obtrusive in her own mind.

He nodded in response to her question. "I have not taught a telepath since arriving at this school, thus it was a technique that was difficult for me to attempt previously," he explained, unknowingly commenting on her suspicions. "However, it can tell me what type of telepathy you possess, when done correctly. If you relied upon imagery or intent, my thoughts would simply echo to you; as you have heard my native language, this means your telepathy relies heavily on language to function." Which was unlike both Sean and Koty; both had a combination of intent and imagery, though the balance was skewed to opposing sides between them.

As for the difficulty of the technique... well, it was only difficult when the thought language was not a native one. One often needed to translate out of their native language, and thought in that tongue regardless of the language they spoke. It would certainly be more of a challenge to speak Japanese and think in English (or Russian, which was the other language the veteran knew well), but it was almost natural the way he had began with Rory.

There was something about the teen that seemed unnerved, and a hint of concern crept into the feeling of his thoughts. "Is my mental silence troublesome?" he asked. "I can lower my walls if it will help you to relax." His thoughts echoed, softly, We will proceed in a way that makes you comfortable.

[Rory Lennox]

Over the past few months Rory had come to realize that dealing with hearing people’s thoughts would get easier eventually. It already had, if only just slightly. Dr. Neville had also stated that things would get a lot better of the course of time, although years sounded very very long. But she was used to challenges. Dance was always challenging and disciplined, and so was maintaining a certain grade point average. Surely, developing her meta-abilities wouldn’t be too much different in that sense at least.

Rory wasn’t that surprised when he told there that he’d hadn’t yet taught a telepath. They seemed to be rare here, at least rarer than other powers like telekinesis and shapeshifting. She supposed he could have just asked her what type of telepathy she had, but she was still figuring it out herself. It was apparently a lot more complicated than she would have thought.

She nodded at his statement. Her powers were primarily language-based. They mostly came across as whispers, some louder than others. Occasionally, if she was close to someone or had physical contact with them, she would be able to see what they were thinking or what their intentions were, instead of just hearing it. Rory had absolutely know idea how that worked though, or how to control it. They were actually quite random.

“Sometimes I can.” She said, referring to imagery and intention. It had only happened a handful of times since she’d arrived, but it was enough for her to notice the difference. “If I’m close enough to someone. I mostly just hear things though.”

She hadn’t expected him to catch on to uneasiness. Was it that obvious? “Oh…no, it’s fine. Just different.” That was all it was really.