Bloody Mess (Aaron)

[Jalen August]

(OOC: This thread continued from - A Bad Plan)

Pressing the piece of cloth to either side of her head as Abe started the car, Jalen was relieved to find that most of the blood that came away with the fabric was already dried. It was actually pretty gross, but the blonde wasn't easily disgusted. It was her scar, which had broken open, that was causing the most pain and most blood loss. Her vision was blackening, but the only thing she could think about was how she was going to have to clean the upholstery if she made a mess in here.

Abe got them there flawlessly, and Jalen wouldn't have known any the wiser had he ran a red light or something like that. She would have gotten into a lot of trouble had they been caught.

With the help of the boy, she was seated on a meager hospital bed, her wounds bound and wrapped. She was sitting up straight with pillows behind her back, spinning a straw around in a cup of water she had been given. She was wearing a makeshift neck brace made of white bandages, and was not impressed. How was she supposed to cover this up?

"Well don't I look fashionable?" She said with a forced smile to her company. Abe was it? She couldn't remember. She was only thoughtful that her physiological state was slowly returning to normal.

[Aaron Walker]

On any other day AJ would have felt extremely proud of himself for his driving skills. But today he could only think of how stupidly he had acted. While Jalen was being tended to, he hovered around her. He continued to mumble his apology every few seconds.

“Fashionable?” AJ had no idea what fashions were even in for boys, let alone for girls. So he decided to agree with her. Although he wasn’t sure bandages were the new hot thing, he wasn’t an expert on the subject either. “Um…yeah…you look…nice?”

He kept his head down, shuffling his feet, wishing he was rich so he could offer her money. “Listen,’ he said, still staring at his shoes. “I’m real sorry about all this. Is there um…anything I can do…for ya?”

[Jalen August]

Despite Jalen's head hurting, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the boy. What? Was he completely stupid or something? His naivety didn't sound like he was joking around either - more like he really did think her wrapped up neck was something everyone was doing. Instead of responding, she blinked a couple of times and looked straight ahead. She was speechless.

Sipping at her drink, she watched him pace. "Would you just sit down or something? You're making me crazy," she stated, irritated. If he was going to keep her company, he was going to have to deal with the pain she was in. "Yeah, there's something you can do," she said thoughtfully, "you can not tell anyone about this." It actually did mean a lot to Jalen if he wouldn't say anything. She had worked hard to hide the scar on the back of her neck, which would now be worse than it was at the beginning of the day.

"In exchange, I'll help you master your unruly powers. I'm a sound manipulator myself so I have a few tricks up my sleeve," she said with a grin, figuring that the younger meta wouldn't be able to resist the offer.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ stopped in mid step when she told him to sit down. “Uh…sorry,” he said as he slumped into a chair near the foot of her bed. “I’m just…nervous…I guess.” Truth was he was pretty much scared to death. What would happen to him once this girl started to tell everyone what he had done to her? Would he be expelled? Locked up somewhere? Or would everyone just hate him?

But then the girl asked him to not tell anyone about what had happened. “Really?” he asked, completely bewildered. Maybe she hit her head a little too hard, he thought to himself. “Are you sure about that? Maybe you should re-think that when you’re feeling a little better.” He wasn’t trying to be mean. He just was really confused.

“You’d help me? After I…hurt you?” AJ asked. “I mean it be nice. I mean thanks. I just don’t understand why?”

[Jalen August]

Confused, Jalen let out some nervous laughter. "There's nothing to be nervous about, I'm alive aren't I?" She said, trying to joke around the make the kid feel better. He had to be one of the strangest people she had met at Hammel. Strange, but interesting. He was also the first person she came across who shared her powers, which was always something she wish she could have. She just imagined the encounter a little differently, perhaps with a friendship blossoming.

Nodding her head, Jalen wondered if there was something she did wrong that made the boy not want her help. "Yeah really, just be happy I'm not punching your face in right now," she said with a smirk, adding a shrug. "I don't really know why. Why not?" Jalen went on to say. "It's not like you were trying to hurt me. If you were, you wouldn't have brought me back here. And let's just say I understand what it's like to not have control over your powers." She said. "Besides, I doubt you would ask for help from someone you almost murdered."

[Aaron Walker]

“I am happy that you’re not punching me in the face,” AJ said, wondering if he had permission to move yet. “In fact, that’s a big part of what I’m nervous about.” He gave the girl a weak smile. If she wasn’t going to hit him or even let anyone know what had happened, then maybe things would be okay. The thought made his smile grow.

“I’d never hurt anyone.” AJ continued. “Well, at least not on purpose. I mean not unless they were like a bad guy. Like someone who kidnaps kittens or something. Then maybe I’d hurt them. But only a little bit.”

AJ was starting to get excited about the prospect of having someone help him develop control. He jumped up out of the car and started pacing again. “So when do we start?”

[Jalen August]

"Please," she said, her eyes on the straw she was fiddling with, "if I wanted to beat you up or get even I would have done so by now." She glanced back up at him, a wicked grin on her face. "Be happy your ears aren't bleeding too." It was a solid fact. She could just as easily hurt him as he had hurt her. But that seemed stupid considering her hadn't tried to hurt her.

"The sooner you learn how to control your powers, the better for everyone," she remarked, grinning at his comment about the kittens. What the hell was he talking about? "Anyone who kidnaps kittens deserves a serious beat down," she said, hoping to at least try and get some kind of conversation going.

Watching the boy start pacing again, Jalen closed her eyes. Was this such a good idea after all? "Whenever you want to," she said with a shrug. The blonde was a pretty laid back person around the right people and in the right situation.

[Aaron Walker]

“Um…” AJ said, wondering if the girl meant that he would receive his beat down later. “Thanks?” He was in fact very happy that his ears were not bleeding. Even though he felt bad for her, he was glad he wasn’t suffering as well.

He started nodding his head vigorously. He knew that he had to learn how to control his power, and soon, or there might be other people in the future lying in the infirmary because of him.

“Alright,” he said, jumping in the air. “This will be so great. I’ll be like all useful and cool and stuff.” He was about to run out the door straight to the training rooms, but then his gaze fell on the girl. “Oh…” he said, the sorrow clearly evident in his voice. “I guess we should wait til you’re feeling a bit better.”

[Jalen August]

Setting the drink down, Jalen started to fiddle with her fingers, cracking them and the like. "I'm actually pretty surprised that you didn't hurt your own ears with that blast..." The blonde said pondering, looking at the younger lad carefully. "How'd you manage that?" It was a rhetorical question. When she was younger, and she had little control over her powers, it was blasts similar to these that caused her scar to begin with.

Watching the boy with amusement, Jalen picked up her empty cup. "Right. In the mean time, fetch me another drink will you?" She requested, shaking the glass in front of him.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ was watching the girl crack her fingers, a talent he’d always admired, so he almost missed the girl’s question. “Oh,” he said, confused. He’d never hurt himself when he released the built up energy, he’d never even considered it a possibility. “I dunno. I never get hurt. I mean, I never get hurt doing that. Why, do you…I mean when you…do you get hurt?”

As soon as she asked him for a new drink, AJ ran to grab it from her. After basically jerking it away from her, he ran out of the room. Filling the cup to the brim with ice and water, he walked slowly back to her. He held the cup out to her with both hands trying carefully not to spill it. “Anything else?” he asked. Even though he knew a glass of water wasn’t the same as fixing everything, it still made him feel a little better and he was hopeful that she would have another task for him.

[Jalen August]

Jalen looked at the other coolly, "Yes, I got hurt quite a bit when my powers were out of control... I'm surprised you have an automatic defense against powerful soundwaves..." She said, intrigued. It had taken quite a while for the blonde not to hurt herself when she was trying to manipulate the sound waves around her, something Abe didn't need to worry about.

Taking the water from him, she sipped on it and sighed, "No that's all," she said, glancing at him. "You can go whenever you want, we can start this training thing tomorrow if you want," she said, rubbing her head. She wasn't in good shape to train for today. "I usually have training room 301 right before lunch, so if you wanted to meet me there that would be perfect," she said, forcing a smile.

"Sleep time," she said, turning onto her side, away from Abe. Jalen was seriously hoping that this mentoring thing wouldn't end up being a mistake.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ had never considered the possibility that his powers could hurt him. He was always too worried about hurting others. It was an odd concept for him. But if he had to choose, he’d rather risk injury to himself. But life wasn’t like that.

“Yeah,” he said, bouncing up and down. “It’ll be awesome. You can teach me how to be all cool and awesome and controlled and stuff.” He smiled, already making plans in his head. He was so excited about the possibilities that he didn’t notice the girl was attempting to sleep until a while after she had already turned away from him.

“Oh, right,” he said, walking softly out of the room. “Sleep time. See ya tomorrow.”

((exit AJ))