Hello again (Adaryn)

[Adaryn Breslin]

Adaryn was not used to the touch, so gentle and careful, of another human being. She was so used to giving herself hugs, as pathetic as that sounded. Whenever she felt upset or vulnerable, she would wrap her arms around herself because after years of wishing someone could be there, she realized nobody would be there to save her. It was a feeling she was used to, the loneliness. But now? Travis gave no hesitation in fulfilling her request for a hug. Adaryn felt the underlying hesitation, but it was shortly masked by feelings that did nothing but make her smile, and cry, all at the same time.

By this time, her slack grip quickly turned into something much more firm. She ignored the protests of her ribs and continued, "Thank you." What else could she say? 'I hope you don't regret doing this?' Adaryn had already caused him enough frustration by not explaining what was wrong with her. That statement would quickly make him upset again, and she knew it. Adaryn may have been insecure, but she wasn't stupid.

Her mental shield was slowly slipping away, and she was helpless to stop it. Physical and mental exhaustion was the culprit, but at least it was now instead of just a few minutes ago. The depression was fading. She could barely feel it now as it was. In fact, there were hints within her negative emotions of happiness. A light at the end of a dark tunnel, really.

Getting caught up in that moment, Adaryn almost forgot what exactly she was doing. She realized it then, and finally pulled herself away. Wiping stray tears away from her eyes, she avoided his gaze. "Yeah," She allowed a hesitant laugh to pass her lips, "I'm too tired to keep my shields up. I'm sorry."

[Travis Morgan]

By the time Adaryn pulled away her shield was down. He'd smiled quietly when he felt it slipping, thouh he wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or not. Still, it was nice to feel her.

"Hey," he said softly when Adaryn apologized, "you don't have to be sorry." Travis rested a hand on her knee, just to make the point that, even with her walls down, he wasn't put off by her. He wasn't afraid of being hurt by her-- though, really he still wasn't that good at controling his ability, so maybe he should have been. At least a little.

"I don't mind, really." It helped that she was starting to feel better, of course. He liked being able to tell that he was doing her some good. "I like knowing how you feel." Travis said, then clarified after a short moment, "because I care about you."

[Adaryn Breslin]

He said that she didn't have to be sorry, that she didn't have to apologize, but being vulnerable made her feel like she had to apologize. It made people worry even more about her. Couldn't she just smile all the time? It was a constant battle, but instead of contradicting Travis, she simply nodded and gave him a small smile. She may have been a bit upset about him knowing how she felt, but the smile wasn't forced. Adaryn was still happy they were back to talking again.

"I guess I'm not used to it," Used to being cared about, or used to not being the only one to know how exactly people were feeling? Both, really. "I swear I was the only one with Empathy for so long. I didn't know any other ones. I am still alone with the manipulation part..." Which, in her eyes, was entirely true. She didn't know how it would feel to be forced to feel everything and not be able to do anything about it... but then again. No. She stopped herself from going any further. The thought would only dampen her mood.

Finally, not really having much else to say, she gave a sheepish, shy smile and rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes seemed brighter than they had when the meeting had started. That was mainly because she had managed to get everything out. She screamed. She cried. Everything was out in the open now. It felt like gravity finally broke it's pull on her. She could finally breathe. Well, not literally, mainly because every single time she went to take a breath, it felt like she was being stabbed.

"So uh, yeah. Nice weather we're having, huh?" She shook her head, knowing full well that was probably the worst conversation starter she had ever managed to pull out. Maybe that meant it was time to actually go back to her dorm and get some rest.

"Actually, instead of answering that, text me, okay? I think I need to sleep some... after what happened today."