tushanshu | ~02~ video;

[Talia has been keeping relatively quiet over the network, but Jack's post caught her attention while she was checking up on things and she responds with a post of her own after gathering her thoughts.]

Hello... my name is Talia and I've had the pleasure of meeting a few of you since my rather rough arrival. [If by rough she meant near death, but that was a trivial matter right now.] As has been brought to your attention already, our hosts appear to be growing ever more impatient with us. In some areas this is as a simple as not offering us jobs, or refusing us service... In other areas, I have been physically jostled aside and I've little doubt that others have suffered similarly. I know rationing and I understand the stress that it puts upon a people, let alone a people that are 'suffering' unexpected guests. This is something more and it concerns me...

[She exhales slowly, because admitting to this had caused her problems in the past and directly caused her to be ostracized and targeted... needless to say, she was wary, but knew it was knowledge that needed to be shared.]

I would like it known that I am an Empath and a Mind Healer. One of the things this grants me is the ability to read the emotions of others and, if I choose, to sway them. The kedan are restless and they are angrier by the day... I'm the strongest Empath in my kingdom, but not even I can manage the entire expanse of Tu Vishan by myself at one time. I have been able to keep tempers calm around the Water Sector, but if you've need of me anywhere, at any time, you've but to send for me and I will come.

Otherwise, I will be making circuits throughout the Sectors and offering what help I may with my abilities. [And she'd continue to do so until she ran herself to the ground or the trouble came to an end.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I understand. Believe me. [He shakes his head, because that's exactly what's been happening to him since arriving here. Never in a million years could he have predicted that there'd be so many people that had faith in him, that not only weren't afraid but counted him as a valued player despite all the danger.] But you can't change what you can do. Blaming you for that is... is pointless. It's what you do with it that matters.

[This is a pretty big statement for him to make, given his history, a position he's only come around to recently.]

I'll think about it. What I'm considering is... extremely dangerous. I don't like to expose anyone to it.

[It's only his recent commitment to learning control that is making him even consider it, but her empathic gift seems not just the logical next step, but a shortcut. Too bad his previous shortcuts had all ended in disappointing failure. That's one of the reasons he's hesitant to try-- the other being, of course, that what's in his mind is something he's never in his life been able to handle. Intentionally digging it up is something he's extremely wary of.]

[She listens silently, but all the while her expression softens. She's just met you, Bruce, and she doesn't even know your story, but she feels like she's found a rather kindred soul here on Keeliai.]

Thank you. [Then she smiles, but nods again.] It wouldn't be worth it, we're there no effort to it. [She's learned since becoming Queen's Own that you can't expect things to be handed to you; you need to fight for them and fight to keep them.]

I'm in Water... 1-A... anytime you'd like, Bruce... even if just to talk to someone that is happy to listen.

[Finding a kindred soul is not something Bruce ever expects, but he can't deny that Talia is so far calming to talk to. She accepts things quietly and doesn't make assumptions. To Bruce, that's incredibly important.]

No, it'd be worth it-- very worth it. But it'd come with a lot of... disclaimers. [Bruce could never ask her to risk her safety if she didn't even know what the risk was.] I have an ability, one that I can't control, and it's. It's triggered by emotion. I've learned as much about controlling my responses on my own as I can, but... it's not 100% effective. At all.

[This much he thinks is probably not too much to admit. It's basic, no details, but the absolute heart of the matter.]

And, ah, looks like we're neighbors. I'm in 1-C. I appreciate the offer. [He does, sincerely, even if he's not sure how much he'll take her up on it yet.]

[Talia has learned that to push is to be pushed away. It is better to make the offer and to let it be accepted at one's own pace. She remains quiet as Bruce warns her, giving her at least a vague outline of what it was that she would be dealing with. She's actually smiling, rather than looking horrified or doubtful.]

You've just described nearly every Herald with a newly awakened Gift... emotion is the key to many of our Gifts, and is often the root of many of our problems with controlling them; Haven knows my own certainly was. [Empathy was emotionally charged entirely, so she's speaking with her own personal experience here; as to others? When a Firestarter lost control, things could get bad terribly fast. It's why one of the very first things they were supposed to be taught was to ground and center.

Another soft smile when he says where his own room is.]

It would appear so... perhaps for a reason, mm? Take care, Bruce.

[He's tempted to ask about Heralds, to get more information, but he figures he can do that in person as well as he can here, and honestly, he needs time to process. This is a huge decision for him to make, one of the first real steps along the road to control instead of cure, and he needs to be sure before he takes it. Before he even investigates taking it, more accurately. So he nods.] You, too. [It's a simple two words, but expresses a sincere desire for no harm to come to her, or anyone. He ends the conversation with that, because when he's mentally overloaded, he retreats.

He does retreat for a few days, considering this avenue with a lot of weight and deliberation. But he keeps being told that he needs to take risks, and moreover that he needs to reach out and let others in, and he can't deny that an empath is a rare opportunity. It could be exactly what he's looking for. He's met failure so many countless times before that it's made him reluctant to place any hope in it now, but who is he if he doesn't keep trying? What can he really claim about himself if he gives up?

So he doesn't give up. He finds himself at her door the better part of a week later, knocking quietly and with a small paper bag in hand, which has tea inside it. He knows enough about meeting total strangers and asking for favors so as to bring something to distract themselves with, as per the rules of courtesy.]

Edited (messing around with new email reply system, sorry!) 2013-04-25 01:22 (UTC)

[Though the conversation might wait until a later time, Talia will tell him as much as he wishes to know about Heralds, their Companions, their duties and their magics if he asks.

She cannot yet know his history, but his reticence and wariness is something she understands wholly. So she doesn't take offense when he doesn't contact her immediately and she makes a point of not approaching him; not because she is antisocial or rude, but because she knows that he needs to come to his decision to see her on his own grounds and in his own time.

When the knock sounds at her door, she lowers her shields long enough to make certain that whomever it is isn't someone that means her harm. She doesn't pick up on any malevolence, though, and puts them back securely into place before making her way to the door and opening it.

Her hazel gaze settles on Bruce and her expression warms in recognition.]

Heyla, Bruce. [She steps aside to allow him to enter, gesturing with one hand.] Would you like to come inside?

[Being given that distance encourages him to take this chance, since pushing is the fastest way to get Bruce to close up. He's still innately wary of anything with someone he's literally just met, but he's trying to get out of his shell, he tells himself.

Her odd greeting gets a nod as he steps in.] Thanks. I, uh, I brought tea. Mostly so we'd have something to distract us during... [He trails off and doesn't finish, just gives a slight, self-conscious smile. Bruce is uncomfortably aware that this conversation is going to necessitate him opening up way past his comfort level, and though he's committed to giving this a try, or at least talking about giving it a try, it's not at all a common situation for him.]

~02~ video;

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[video -- 60% encryption] oh hai... I'm not dead. Terribly sorry!

[video -- 60% encryption --> action] I'm glad you're not dead! :D

action; I know you're hiatusy, so take your time!!! <3333

action; thank you bb!! :>