PS: The Perpetual Headache

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Waking up one morning with the ability to read minds would be a characteristic trait of a protagonist about to find herself on the life changing adventure of a lifetime. However, with Sienna, there was no super sexy love interest sweeping her off of her feet, nor was she told she was destined to save the world from utter destruction. Sienna figured, what with the voices in her head, that she was in some stage of the development of Schizophrenia. That idea did not sit well with the redhead, and she went running to the first sensible individual she could think of at the time - Miles. There was hysteria and babbling coming from the normally collected woman, but Miles managed to calm her down and introduce her into the world that was strictly for 'meta-humans' - a world of constant chaos. Her chaos, however, wasn't with the physical world like Terrence and Miles himself, but rather in her mind. Any girl who wished for an exciting life would love to experience this until they actually experienced it, much like the redhead did long before.

But Sienna found, with enough concentration, that she could simply block out the voices. It was simple, but it did cause unnecessary headaches that she wasn't used to experiencing. When she let that concentration break, the thoughts flooded back like incessant whispers in her ear, though not as strong as it was when she was, let's say, in front of Miles. She located a spot in her apartment where the voices were the quietest, and turned on the television to mask the noise within her mind. 

It was working, at least, or maybe it was because others were out on a Saturday afternoon? Either way, she was grateful for the semi-quiet room in which she sat, almost distracted enough to drone out the panicked knocking on the door. 

Almost. 

Her head turned towards the door, and she raised a brow. She allowed the conscious mental block to fall as she approached the door, hearing a familiar, yet panicked, voice on the other side of the door. She unlocked it, standing in the doorway with her hair pulled up into a bun, and a tank top with kitten pajama bottoms. 

"What happened?"

[Michael Blaise]

Michael Blaise was in a panic. Although the Brit didn’t use his ability often, or so he thought, he quickly learned how dependent he was on it when it stopped working. Something as simple as looking for his keys became a hassle as he physically had to walk through every room of his apartment. He was used to the laziness that came with his ability, but he became more concerned over the fact that he couldn’t use it than his missing keys.

And it only got worse when he stepped into a shadow.

Still lost without his keys, he ran – yes, ran – to the only person he thought might have a solution. Although she wasn’t a meta, Sienna was one of the smartest people he knew. He would be lost without her on a regular basis, and definitely lost without her now.

When Michael reached her apartment, he quickly knocked on the door, putting his knuckles to the hardened surface a few more times than probably needed. “Sien!” He called, voice dropping.

What was probably only seconds felt like much longer to the UMV student, he brought his hands back to himself, bumping his fists together as the door finally opened. “Thank god you’re here.” He said immediately, brushing past her to step inside. “I’ve got a problem—My powers. They’re wrong. Everything’s different.”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

It didn't take long for the redhead to figure out the answer to her own question. Not only was he physically panicking, telling her of the issues of what was happening, but she could hear them within the depths of her own mind.The sudden onset of that constant noise, like a crowd speaking at the same time, made her cringe.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, hold on. Can you stop thinking so loudly?" She pressed a hand to her forehead instinctively, trying to quell the pulsing in her head. She hadn't realized how odd it sounded, nor did she realize that she 'snapped' at him. It wasn't often that she did that, even under an incredible amount of stress, and immediately she tried clearing her head and blocking out that secondary voice. She had plenty of excedrin in her medicine cabinet, anyway.

"That sounded really weird. I'm sorry. But you're saying... your powers are wrong how?" Immediately, she gestured to the couch, indicating he sit down since he already came in without proper invitation. He always had an invitation to come in either way, so it wasn't an issue, but she still noted the fact.

"Elaborate."

[Michael Blaise]

It hadn’t occurred to Michael that Sienna snapped at him; he completely missed any potential irritation in her voice, because specifically what she said flagged his attention more than her tone. He turned to face her, running a hand through his hair in a moment of anxiety.

But as he dropped his jar to speak, she was apologizing, which only confused him further. His slate eyes moved to her hands and then to the couch – to the shadow that cast across it. He sucked in a quick breath, shaking his head almost violently. A child afraid of the shadows. Only, in this case, a twenty-two year old child.

“No, wait. What do you mean?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. It wasn’t a move of defense against her, but just general anxiety as he took careful steps around her living room, avoiding anything that had a shadow on it.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

There was so much anxiety in the way he portrayed himself at that moment and his thoughts only confirmed it, though she could have sworn there was a mentioning of shadows, but she couldn't be too sure; after all, she was trying her hardest to tune him out. Either way, he refused to sit, and with a slight tilt of her head, she sat herself down.

"I-," It wasn't often that the redhead didn't know how to speak, but when he redirected the question she gave to him back to her, she found herself without words. It could be as simple as 'Oh, I woke up and I could hear the thoughts of everyone around me,' but Sienna wasn't able to make it that simple. She wasn't a meta. She was normal. But, as she realized a few days prior, she was a meta and she wasn't normal any longer. How that happened, she had no clue, but it did.

"Telepathy," She exhaled suddenly, hand covering her face, "Is not as cool as I thought it'd be."

[Michael Blaise]

His eyes widened even more, bringing his hand down from his hair and pointing at the redhead. “You? No.” Eyebrows twitching together, he wondered just how. However, upon looking past that his best friend was suddenly a meta, he realized that she was a telepath.

And so he brought his hand back, covering his mouth with it as if it would somehow stop his thoughts. “No!” He repeated the singular word, shaking his head.

“Don’t you start getting in my head, Sie.” He was already in a panic as it was, and finding out he was in the same room as a telepath made it worse. Because in those moments a person couldn’t help but to think of everything they don’t want heard.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Upon removing her hand from her face, she found his finger pointed at her, and her hand instinctively reached up and smacked it away. He was not pointing at her after he was the one barging in her apartment making absolutely no sense. But that was the headache talking, nothing more. In fact, she stood up again and slipped over to the bar/island area that separated the kitchen and the living room, reaching for an Excedrin and her glass of water.

After taking a moment with her eyes closed, she turned to the panic stricken man that stood in her living room. The redhead put up the block that she was told she could put into place with a little effort, and his thoughts were masked by only physical noise. "Believe me, I don't want to." God knew what he'd started to think once she said the word telepathy.

"But you really need to breathe, Michael; you're going to give yourself a panic attack. What happened?"

[Michael Blaise]

Michael pressed his lips into a hardened line – a Blaise family habit – as he looked at Sienna with concern. His eyebrows furrowed together as she stepped towards the island, he stood put. Maybe the distance would keep thoughts from going through.

Because her answer was less than comforting.

But as she told him to breathe, the Brit pulled his hand from his mouth and did exactly that. With a large exhale, his chest pushed outward slightly and he held it before letting it go again. As cliché advice as it was, it often worked. “I’m—I can’t see anywhere else.” He tried to explain, bringing his hand back up and this time placing it at his temple. “But the shadows.” He looked around briefly. “There’s a world in them.”

God, he sounded crazy.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

If there was anybody who could judge Michael right now, it wasn't Sienna; as it were, the redhead was still trying to wrap her head around the reality that she suddenly woke up with voices in her head. And then, after her own freak out to Milan, she learned that it wasn't because she suddenly manifested a hidden diagnosis of Schizophrenia, but rather, she was a meta.

If it weren't such a serious situation, Sienna might have actually found the way he took that instructed breath a bit humorous, what with his chest expanding a bit too much for his lanky figure. But Sienna knew when to laugh and when to listen, and in that moment, it was strictly listening, even though she had absolutely no clue what he was going on about.

"The Shadows? What kind of world?" Did he have some sort of nightmare, and why did he immediately associate it with his power? Her hand reached out to grasp his hand in a comforting gesture, but also to ensure it wouldn't be placed back on his mouth. His breathing was shallow and quick enough as it were, and she didn't want to be dealing with a hyperventilating man in the middle of her apartment. That just wouldn't look good. At all.

[Michael Blaise]

Michael failed to notice that he was, in short, doing a horrible job at explaining his situation. He took careful steps towards Sienna, still making sure to avoid any dark spots. “It’s… fucked up.” He said at point blank. Although he wasn’t afraid to curse, he didn’t do so for just anything. “Like really fucked up.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the counter and looking at the redhead. “It’s basically what you’d expect. Dark and blurry and really confusing.” He shook his head, straightening his back as he tried to explain.

“I saw my apartment, but it wasn’t my apartment. And when I came out of it, I was in a different room. Like I actually travelled through them or something.” In theory, it sounded cool, but for the older Blaise, it was just messed up.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Sienna wasn't really a fan of cursing, feeling as though people could use other terms to express their displeasure, but in Michael's case she felt it warranted. He was thoroughly frightened and that was something she had never really experienced with the Brit before. It, in turn, worried her immensely.

"So you stepped into a shadow and ended up in another room of your apartment?" Sienna knew that anything was possible at that point in time, but the redhead knew he had an entirely different power, and for some reason, that stood out as a power to her. There was also, in the back of her mind, her own voice telling her it was a familiar one at that.

To be honest, while Sienna may have been a sensible individual (to an extent), she was not the person to speak to about the power issues. She knew little to nothing about their effects, but one thing she did know was that they couldn't just appear or disappear at random. Or at least, that's what she thought she knew. From the way she was attempting to shield the panicked thoughts of the Brit, obviously that was not true in it's entirety.

"Have you tried using your power?"

[Michael Blaise]

Michael felt each breath he took was becoming increasingly harder to take. He uncrossed his arms, pressing his fingers into his temples as he rubbed them, trying to force his growing headache from the walls of his skull. It did little to help, only adding to his anxiety.

“Yes.” He hadn’t intended the word to come out so stressed, and in a constant state of movement then pressed his hands flat to the counter top.

“It just doesn’t work.” His voice dropped low, eyebrows furrowing as his lips pressed together. “Do you think I’m stuck with it?” This wasn’t what he signed up for; not that being a meta at all was something one simply requested to be, but he had grown fond of his ability, relying heavily on it for every day occurrences. “I don’t know what to do, Sien.”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

During this entire conversation, Holly had been completely uninterested in the two individuals who stood in the living room. She was lying comfortably on the love seat, opening an eye once to see Michael enter and falling back asleep shortly after. Sienna, almost entirely forgetting about her fellow fuzzy companion, jumped slightly when there was sudden movement in the corner of her eye and then relaxed when the cat came and investigated Michael.

The cat wasn't her priority in that moment, but she did provide a sense of familiarity that allowed her panic level to fall slightly, just enough to calmly respond to the panicked man in front of her. "I've asked myself the same question," the redhead admitted, crossing her arms across her chest. Telepathy was not something she wanted to deal with for the rest of her existence, especially now that she knew what the power truly entailed- headaches and knowing what people were thinking at every point in time. Ignorance, as Sienna had only just come to realize, was complete bliss.

"Easier said than done, but you really do need to stop freaking yourself out, Michael. Whether you are panicking or not, it doesn't change the situation at hand so your best bet is to take a deep breath and sit down." Normally, this would be the time where Sienna would offer a comforting touch of her hand, but she wasn't quite sure how he would respond to it in his state of panic. Instead, she kept her arms close to her form, taking an initiative step to the couch.

[Michael Blaise]

Michael looked to Holly as he caught her eye, staring down at her as he tapped his toe to the floor, trying to get her attention. A distraction in the wonderful form of a fluffy creature. At least, as much as a distraction that could be provided in the moment.

Because as Sienna spoke again, Michael’s head snapped up. He blinked to give himself time, trying to clear his mind. Right. There was something wrong with her too. He’d almost forgotten within his panic. A failed best friend to think selfishly of his own problems, and it brought a frown to his features as he followed the redhead with careful steps to her couch.

Making sure not to cross any shadows, he sat, hands on his knees as he looked at her. As she instructed, he forced a gulp of air, holding it before releasing again. It didn’t feel like it helped much. “What’s going on for you?” He asked immediately, trying to shift both his focus and concern to his best friend.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Sienna could appreciate his fondness of cats because most she knew either had allergies that were so bad the Redhead couldn't even invite them over or they just hated them. There were few friends she had that cared for cats, so Michael was a refreshing presence ever since she had met him.

Though when his attention was suddenly turned toward her, it took her a moment to register the switch in conversation. Sitting comfortably on the couch with Holly (who so graciously planted herself on Sienna's lap), she shrugged a single shoulder once when he asked her of what was happening. Honestly, all she knew was one day she woke up and she could hear people's thoughts.

"I thought I was Schizophrenic," Sienna offered, rubbing her thumb along the crown of Holly's head with eyes downcast. "You know, since self diagnosis is seriously accurate."

"But I went to a friend of mine who happened to be a recruiter for Hammel, and well, we sort of figured out I had suddenly turned into a... meta. I don't get it. It's awful."