Power Swap: Next to Normal (Sienna)

[Deleted]

It was only ten minutes or so past seven AM. Seven freaking AM. Who would be at his door this early?! Milan had no idea and he was only barely aware of how he slipped from under the covers after having tried to find his alarm clock, only to realize it was the doorbell instead. Amazingly enough he managed to pull on some sweatpants over the boxers being worn without stumbling into a wall or furniture – the fabric being readjusted while he walked out of his bedroom on bare feet. The floor was cold and helped him to wake up some, and so did skipping down the staircase. Luckily Milan wasn’t really a grumpy person in the morning; he just had had a late night catching up with paper work. And it probably could be considered a nice change that it wasn’t Doodle who woke him up.

Once downstairs, the recruiter rubbed sleep out of his eyes and made his way over to the front door. The fact that no shirt had been tugged on didn’t appear to bother him at that point. He had the intention to simply check the peek hole to see who it was. In case of no importance, he wouldn’t bother opening up. The thing was that this plan failed the second he did check on who showed up in front of his door this early. A familiar face was standing there, looking rather worried and/or upset. Milan was no expert at reading other people, yet the assumption motivated him enough to open up without wasting some time by rushing to the dryer to pluck out a shirt. He could still do that later.

He didn’t fully open the door though, mainly staying half behind it, but the frown was evident on his face. “Hey, you alright?” Probably a bad question given Milan could predict the answer, hence the reason he opened the door further and motioned a hand for her to step inside. He didn’t even ask if that was what she wanted. It was just still rather chilly out… and the guy wasn’t dressed for that either. So he was quick to close the door again the second the redhead had stepped inside.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Had to be that, right? Why else would the young woman turn to him out of all people? He wasn’t sure what the cause could be though.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

6:30 in the morning, and Sienna could not fall back asleep. It was a saturday, and so she had herself a relatively free day of kitty time and catching up on sleep, but when she woke up as she typically did around the last two hours, there was something different about this morning. Her head was hurting, number one, but there was also the fact that she was hearing mumbling from several different directions. Had she left the television on overnight? But as she reached the living room and noticed the television was off but the voices were louder, she started panicking. The radio, maybe? Nope. Her phone? Not at all. But there were people talking.

And that's when she got on the computer.

So around 7 am, when she had thouroughly freaked herself with a self diagnosis of schizophrenia and the voices hadn't stopped, Sienna needed to talk to someone. Someone who she could sensibly speak to without any laughing or judgement involved. There was Michael, but would he really be awake at such a time? Well, most people in her contacts weren't awake at 7 am on a saturday, but she had to find someone. Plus, Michael lived in the dorms of UVM. That wouldn't be a good place. And then she saw Milan in her contacts, immediately deciding he was the best person to go to. He lived alone, was a sensible man, and she needed someone.

It took roughly about ten minutes before she reached the front door of his home, and she rang the doorbell almost a little too furiously. She was still panicking, even though the voices had pretty much stopped, but as she waited, she could hear some sort of irritated grumbling, and then a few moments later, Milan was with the door open, chest completely exposed, and ushering her inside. She barely even paid much attention to the man's chest at the time, too throroughly freaked out to admire.

"Either I've taken some questionable drugs or I'm going crazy, Milan. But promise me you won't judge me, please. I'm freaking out."

[Deleted]

Milan was still waking up when he let the redhead step inside. He was also oblivious to the fact that Doodle hadn’t made his appearance yet. The dog wasn’t that reactive to the doorbell. He was more likely to rush over if he heard something that did not involve a normal routine like people entering through the front door. So once Sienna began to talk about drugs or going crazy, his initial reaction merely consisted out of a little frown. It kind of intensified as she continued to talk though, quite confused and no clue what the heck she might be talking about.

“Uh… I won’t judge you?” He complied while arching an eyebrow. With that, the recruiter moved again while assuming the young woman would tag along. Milan was no expert at reading people, but based on the fact that Sienna claimed to be freaking out, he had the intention to put her at ease again. All he linked to that was a fleece blanket and hot chocolate though. Therefore his first stop was the living room where he plucked a folded one up from the couch. “Here,” he said while holding it open. In case she didn’t catch on, the Irish man was already moving around the redhead to drape it over her shoulders.

“Better?” He asked as hands fell to his sides again, dipping his head a tad bit when he stepped aside to face her again. “I could make you some hot chocolate if you want. And you can take a seat…” A hand now motioned at the couch. Milan hoped she wouldn’t feel obligated though! He just wanted to calm her. “If you want to of course.”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Milan just saying he wouldn't judge her did little to put her fears to rest as she continued to hear things in his voice. It wasn't as if any of that made sense, but diagnosis of schizophrenia never could be diagnosed until early young adulthood, and at 23, she was a bit late, but still within the range of being affected. Never in a thousand years would she expect what the actual diagnosis would be, but for the moment, the self- diagnosed redhead would try and take comfort in the couch and fleece blanket that was offered to her. It wasn't too chilly in respects to what she was used to, but she found herself shaking a bit.

It wasn't typical for Sienna to feel so out of control, which was partially why she was in the state of panic that she was. If you looked in her agenda, every day was planned out with little room for excursions, so just coming here would throw everything off. She pulled the fleece over her shoulders and held it tight against her form as she finally spoke up again. "I'm hearing things, Milan. I checked my tv, phone, and radio - everything that could make voices appear as loud as they did, but nothing was on. I feel like I'm going crazy." By this time, a rather large dog started to investigate the scene before him, making his presence known with a bark or two.

"It just... I was fine yesterday. Now this? I don't understand. I feel okay aside from the voices and this freaking headache that won't go away."

[Deleted]

Hearing things was not good. At least not when it came to unpowered people like Sienna. Of course Milan could not state that out loud. Being unaware of the power swap, however, he did not realize that she would be able to hear it anyway. Along with the fact that he used those couple seconds of silence to mule on something to say. Until Doodle appeared and his mood switched to a brief moment of panic. The recruiter had no clue how the redhead felt towards canines, but he didn’t ask as she continued to explain herself, and he interfered while listening to that.

“Doodle, sit.” Milan held a hand out, which was a cue for the dog to obey to that command. Hoping that Doodle would stay seated, his gaze turned back to Sienna. She hadn’t taken the offer for hot chocolate, so the man let that be for now. “What exactly are you hearing?” His voice gentle, curious and encouraging at the same time. ‘Voices’ was quite general, but if it were ones telling her to do certain things, then yes, it might be rather problematic. Advising her to go see a doctor was an option, but she was here now, so Milan might as well try to make himself useful. And try to figure out ‘normal’ questions for situations like this.

He took a seat on the couch, on the other leg of it given the piece of furniture was L shaped. It made it easier to look at her. “Do you still hear them now?”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

The first thing she heard was his acknowledgement that hearing things wasn't good despite the lack of his lips moving to form those words, however, with her eyes to the dog, she didn't notice he hadn't physically said it. It was as loud as his normal voice, if only slightly hushed, but she figured that was because of the content of his words. Instinctively, she responded with a slight sharpness to her tone indicating she realized full well that it wasn't good. "I realize it's not a good thing, Milan. That's why I needed someone to help me rationalize it."

She looked up at him when he asked what she was hearing, and she honestly couldn't answer the question. In the apartment it was like she was in a room filled with people; she was only able to pick out distinct voices when she focused on them. Some would hush the farther away she would go from a room, but when she was walking down the hallway, it was the worst out of it all. She tried shutting it out, which she managed to, but she had to consistently think about hushing them which ultimately caused a throbbing in her temples.

"Right now? They sort of sound like you."

[Deleted]

Needless to say, a frown appeared on Milan’s face the second he received a reaction to words that had gone unspoken. That didn’t make the questions that followed abundant though. If anything, it provided him more information since he was starting to make assumptions. As a recruiter his knowledge about abilities was decently developed, yet he had no idea how it was possible for an unpowered person to end up with an ability at this age. Therefore he didn’t dare to make that conclusion – at least not before testing it first.

“What do you hear now?” In his head, he was asking her if it would be alright for him to call over Doodle. It was a weird question to bring up after his attempt to find out what she was hearing, hence the reason it would be obvious if she were to provide a reply. During it all, blue optics lingered on the redhead’s face. He could tell the situation continued to upset her, and he wasn’t certain if coming to a conclusion would resolve that. If anything, he feared that Sienna would label him just as crazy as she thought herself to be.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

While she wasn't paying attention when he thought before, she was looking at him now, her eyes clearly depicting the confusion and panic that the redhead was feeling. It was just... she was attempting to cover up the voices until they were muffled and almost undetectable, which worked for a short time; that is, until Milan spoke up, asking her what she was hearing then, and she tried to will the voices back, no matter how frightening it was.

She heard Milan ask if it was alright to call over Doodle, and Sienna stood up suddenly. His lips hadn't moved, but it was his voice. "H-" She paused, mouth slightly parted with both fear and confusion, "Your lips didn't move!" How could she answer the question when she still couldn't figure out why his lips hadn't moved? "You asked me... if the dog could come over but your lips didn't move."

[Deleted]

The second Sienna shot up from the couch, Milan arched an eyebrow at her. At the same time, however, a knowing look seemed to cross his face. Within seconds, his assumption was confirmed and he slowly rose back to his feet as well. His movement and actions were cautious, able to tell the redhead felt quite distraught. “No…” He stated simply. “You read my mind.” The remark made his frown intensify some, if only because it absolutely made no sense. The recruiter had no idea how to explain this.

The hand that had been rubbing at the back of his neck now smoothed over his non-existent mustache. “I don’t know how that’s even possible.” He frowned and moved over to one of his book closets now. An old looking book was plucked from a shelf. While walking back to Sienna, the man went through a couple of pages until he reached the ‘T’. His index finger travelled down another page or three until reaching ‘Telepathy’.

It was a self-made power dictionary – the way he kept track of the kind of abilities he had recruited so far. Of course Milan got some information before recruitment, like what to watch out for and how to handle the power if need be, but he always learnt details that hadn’t been provided beforehand. This notebook helped him.

“Here,” he handed it to the young woman and then tapped the page. Perhaps his notes would make a lot of sense to her; she would possibly feel like it was written about her.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

There was some reassurance, at least, in terms of Sienna feeling crazy, because as his 'diagnosis' was uttered, he sounded just as crazy, if not more so, than Sienna felt at the moment. The young woman just started working at hammel a few months prior, so she wasn't completely accustomed to the idea of meta-humanness, and all that it had entailed. She was sure, however, that it was only heard of for pre-teens to teenagers could manifest, and if they passed a certain age (She wasn't entirely sure what age, but she knew the cut off was not anywhere near 20) they wouldn't manifest. So how, at 23, did Sienna manage to read his mind.

But just as the redhead was going to open her mouth and ask how, he opened his own mouth and confirmed he was just as confused as she. Well, so much for help. Instead, she trained her blue eyes on his back, hoping to will away the throbbing that was overwhelming her, and waited for him to return to at least looking at her. Had this been in any other circumstance, the 23 year old would have found herself admiring his form and blushing furiously had she been caught, but Sienna was more focused on what he was doing rather than how he looked doing it. A book. He was grabbing a book.

"Here," He told her, handing the old notebook to Sienna with a look that she couldn't quite recognize.

Was this what he dealt with on a daily basis? The redhead had been informed of his occupation within the institute, and she knew he was one of the recruiters that brought newly manifested meta-humans in North America back to study at Hammel. She glanced up at him suspiciously, but looked at the designated spot, attempting to put the pieces together for herself.

There was a part of her that she felt should be happy she wasn't schizophrenic, but the other half of her was terrified of what was to come.

"Will it go away?"

[Deleted]

Milan normally dealt with this in a completely different way. His approach tended to be more professional and he never expected the families to connect the dots themselves. This was a weird situation for the recruiter as well, making him fall out of the loop and messing up the routine he usually kept up. Perhaps it would have been better to treat Sienna as new students, but the assumption that she would understand got the best of him. The young woman probably knew the basics, and his notes weren’t too complicated (in his opinion). There weren’t many full sentences on that page though; it was more a scheme than anything else.

The redhead didn’t ask any questions specifically about the ability after having scanned the description, which pretty much confirmed his assumption. The one that she did pose, however, was met by silence for a couple of seconds. At least for him it was quiet… Sienna could probably hear how his mind tried to form a reply to that. The same reply that soon slipped past his lips, supported by an almost apologetic tone of voice. “I have no idea. This…” A hand motioned at Sienna, but of course he was talking about the power. “It’s impossible. I have never encounted it before.”

It actually made Milan feel rather lost. How could it be that he couldn’t provide any answer while he had thought he had seen it all? In an attempt to resolve his inner stress, the man rubbed at his face again and then gazed at Sienna.

“Sean…” He muttered. “We must ask Sean. I must ask him.” The recruiter tried not to think of it, but he feared that something as abnormal as this might not be, you know, healthy. As blue eyes began to scan the room, even though he knew by heart where to find any shadows, they eventually landed on the girl again. “You can wait here, alright? Make yourself at home. I will be back in a couple of minutes.”

At least if Sean was awake… And Milan didn’t finally realize he still wasn’t wearing a shirt, given that would make him come back instead to prioritize it. And in case he actually managed to step into a shadow instead of bumping rather hard into the wall. Being so used to it all, Milan didn’t limit his walking pace and pretty much just smashed into a wall of concrete. It made him staggered back, temporarily disorientated while still muttering sounds that easily indicated that it kind of did hurt.

“What the…”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

He was correct in his assumption that the silence was far from silent for her; his voice still rang, if only quietly, in the back of her mind as he contemplated the answer to her own question. The redhead knew, then, that Milan would answer with a less than satisfying answer. She shook her head. "You know, I'm used to being a one in a million case, but that is far from reassuring."

Sienna didn't mean to snap at the man who was only trying to help her in any way that he could - after all, she was still wearing a fleece blanket and was in his living room at 7:15 in the morning. It almost wasn't fair, and rather strange, at how rude she was acting, but panic did strange things to people.

Quietly, she listened to his words with an open ear; maybe sean would know something about this? He was a telepath, from what she heard, and she had met the man briefly in her time working at Hammel. Who could forget a presence like his, anyway.

Somewhat calmed by the idea, she watched as Milan walked face first into the wall and stumbled back with a clear look of confusion on his face. Sienna was aware of his power, and she could hear the thoughts running in his head, and her brow raised.

"Is everything... okay?" This wasn't good. Sienna could feel it.

[Deleted]

When Sienna snapped at him, a frown appeared on the man’s face. What had she wanted him to do? To lie to her face while his thoughts were giving away the complete opposite? “That’s the only answer I can give you,” was all the recruiter had stated in reply. If she wanted more, all the young woman had to do was dig through his mind. His voice had been calm though. Not defensive or any other clue that her reaction hit him the wrong way.

The walking into the wall.. No, that was not okay. In this case, however, Milan made an attempt to lie. “Yeah… I’m fine.” He mumbled while taking a small step back while scratching at his torso. The words came out sounding rather distant, like the man was still disorientated by what had just happened. After a couple seconds of silence, he moved forward again and placed his hand flatly against the wall. Upon retrieving it, Milan dumbly stared down at the extremity.

It quite possibly was the first (and only) time that Sienna would get to see him this lost. “My power…” He mumbled while blue eyes slowly tore themselves away from the hand and over at the redhead. “It’s gone.”

Without another word, the recruiter turned and moved past Doodle, absentmindedly petting the dog’s head. In the hallway more shadows were cast – darker. Placing his hand against them led to nothing though. Only the realization that his conclusion from before was correct.

“No, Doodle…” He grumbled when the animal had wobbled over as well, demanding some attention by nudging its head against his owner’s leg. For a second the man forgot about Sienna being there as well, feeling so incredibly at loss.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Still not comfortable with the idea of having a power yet, she wasn't sure of the boundaries she needed to place. That being said, she was still trying to block out the thoughts of the man in front of him, unsure if it was appropriate to intrude in such a way. Because that's what it felt like - an invasion of privacy.

However, newly found power or not, Sienna was very perceptive when it came to the emotions and feelings of other people, and because of that, she picked up the change in vocal tone and disorientation with relative ease. It worried her then, truth be told, when he announced what was truly wrong with him. His power gone?

"Wha-?" But the Irish man was already on his way to a dark hallway and his panicked thoughts (of which she couldn't really block out at that point) caused an immediate reaction; the redhead stood and walked toward Milan quietly, now a little less concerned with herself, and instead more concerned with the shirtless man standing alone in his dark hallway with a dog whimpering at his side.

When she was close enough, she reached out and pressed a light hand against his bare arm, hoping her presence didn't startle him, "Milan, you don't sound alright. Your power is gone?"

[Deleted]

Of course it did startle Milan some when Sienna’s hand landed on his bare arm. Despite this, however, his gaze continued to linger on the wall a couple more seconds, still in disbelief and disorientated. When blue optics darted to the redhead, he blinked a couple of times, almost as if to bring himself back to reality. Speaking, however, made clear he was still confused. “Yeah, gone.” He had said this before, right? He considered grumbling it for a second, but of course it wasn’t Sienna’s fault.

With a small sigh, the man moved past her. “My power is gone, and you have one now… Something is wrong.” His voice was distant and full of confusion. As Doodle wobbled behind him, pressing its head against his owner’s hand, Milan briefly petted him. It was at that point that a somewhat nervous chuckle slipped past his lips.

“You come here for help and I just made it worse.” Once more his hand was brought up to rub at his face. In this state of mind, he had no clue what solution to offer. Then again, had he been calm, the recruiter quite possibly wouldn’t have been any more helpful.

In an attempt to make himself feel a tad bit better, ignoring it felt like the only option. “You still want some hot chocolate?” At least it was something that had been brought up before, so it wasn’t too much out of place.