Downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An area busy with much traffic, pedestrian and automobile. There's tons of business and commerce that takes place among the busy streets of Downtown Milwaukee. That's why a certain local takes to the rooftops to get through the city. That local is Vance Brice. Being a traceur, a practitioner in parkour and freerunning, Vance had been doing this ever since he was young. In addition, he was trained with psionic powers that allow him to surpass the limits of physical reality. Still, he kept a low profile in his civilian form, not drawing unnecessary attention to himself as he lived his normal life. He worked at the Grand Avenue Mall as a janitor, keeping the place clean, and he had just finished today's shift. He was on his way to the library to unwind when he spotted a woman amidst the crowd. She stuck out like a sore thumb, a real nervous wreck, like she was surrounded. Then, he saw her fall over. He rushed down there as fast as he could, blending into the crowds, who were oblivious to the lady that had fallen, too pre-occupied with their own lives.

As he approached her, he sensed something unusual. A strong magical presence inside of her, and judging by her jewelry and choice of clothes, he had a guess of what she was...even without telepathy.

"Hey Miss?" Vance said, offering a hand. "Are you alright? You look like a bit of a wreck there..."

Devika didn't know what had gone wrong. She usually came to the mall at this time of day and had never had any trouble. Today, though, was different. The mall had been incredibly busy for a Tuesday afternoon, and she couldn't handle it. So many emotions were pressing up against her mind, and she couldn't block them all. Her mental shields were up, full strength, which always made her feel rather robotic. She couldn't feel their emotions much, but she also couldn't feel her own. Devika simply held her head down and tried to get through the crowds, making as little physical contact as possible.

It was hard, though, to walk through a crowd and not accidently brush against anyone. Things were horrible enough as she made it through the food court. She was shaking faintly, and could feel a cold sweat dampening her clothes.

Without warning, she was hit. Not physically. No- this was a mentality of a kind she'd never felt before. It wasn't a normal emotion. No excitement or fear, anger or joy. This was a sort of detached disdain on a massive level. It was like a human looking at ants, and ready to drop a cup of water on them to watch them scramble. She stumbled and fell to her knees, clutching her sweat slicked forehead.

A male voice took her by surprise. She looked up to see a perfect stranger offering his help, and genuine concern. Devika didn't take his hand, though. She couldn't run the risk of emotional transference. Slowly, she hoisted herself to her feet, still clutching her spinning head. "...I'm fine. Just... a migraine." It was the least complicated way to make people understand.

Vance blinked as she reared back her hand, forcing herself to stand. "A migraine, huh?" he said. "Well then, I would think the last place you'd want to be is in the middle of Downtown Milwaukee. A migraine needs a calmer environment. Where are you trying to go? Maybe I can help navigate you. I pretty much get around in this city."

He wanted to sound sincere, but he wasn't really sure if his politeness and helpful nature was translating to this stranger...a stranger with a strong magical presence. It made him wonder what her story was.

Devika pushed her sweaty curls out of her eyes, feeling her fingertips shake. "I'm... erm... going to the supply store in the theater district." She closed her eyes, wincing at the pain and adjusting her silver glasses. "They have the best art supplies in the city..." She opened her eyes slow, her light brown gaze sweeping the still bustling crowds. Where had that emotion come from? What was that creature? Unfortunately she could see nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly she realized that she was probably being rude. This guy had been quite kind to her, in the simple fact that he'd noticed her at all. "Ah, sorry. I'm Devika. You'll have to excuse me for not shaking hands. I have... a condition." Usually that was enough for people to both allow her freedom from the social greeting, and not ask questions about why. Thank goodness for American politeness. In lieu of a handshake, she bowed slightly at the waist. "Thank you for... caring."

"Ah! I know where that place is!" Vance said. "I keep passing it every time I come from the neighborhood on a certain bus."

Vance knew his way pretty much to anywhere. If not on foot, then using public transit. He had learned how to commute from his late father, who was a commuter himself due to his work. It wasn't easy living there, though, in the middle of a ghetto, where he had to worry about loud, crappy rap and hip-hop music aggressive gangbangers...or wannabe gangbangers. He made it a personal mission to escape all of that when he could, finding a cheap apartment closer to the lake in a nicer part of the East side, not looking back since.

Vance smiled when he thanked her for caring. "It's pretty much how I was raised." he said. "We should get going if you wanna get to that art shop. It's Rush hour, and it's only gonna get more busy, and you wanna get your errands done before it gets dark."

"That's the truth..." Devika muttered, removing a small elastic from her pocket and tying her hair back. "So, I take it... you're a native of the city?" She usually wouldn't be so vocal with strangers. But he had proven himself kind, and she felt like trying to be friendly. Even if she was tired. While she walked, she lay her hand on the golden bangle circling her opposite wrist. It went from hanging loose enough for her to remove it, to tight around her wrist with no gap. She was sure he wouldn't notice. Men didn't look at jewelry, and she doubted he'd remember the size of the bracelet even if he had seen it before.

Once the bracelet's pressure against her skin increased, she felt her crumbled walls ease back into place. The lesser emotions of the mingled moving crowd faded into a near silent background hum, and she sighed in relief. Much better.

Vance motioned her to follow him across the busy streets of Downtown, through the alleys, across the bridges, zig-zagging people and autos alike. They did plenty of traffic, Vance leading and reassuring Devika all the way through it.

"How do you normally trek through all of this?" he asked. "If you have migraines from anxiety attacks, then I would imagine that it would be pretty hard for someone like you to wade through this city. Don't you take the bus?"

Devika stared at him. "W-what? Anxiety attack? I wasn't having an anxiety attack!" She was lying through her teeth, but the fact that this guy somehow could see through her usual excuse was actually rather frightening.

"And... even if I was, the bus would be worse, wouldn't it? Trapped on a full bus with a bunch of strangers?" She shook her head. "That sounds like prison." So maybe she was really bad at lying. Still, this man was kind where everyone else had been... dismissing. It was weirding her out.

"So... er... my name... my name is Devika."

Vance was watching her come apart before his very eyes. He got the impression that she wasn't used to people actually engaging her as well as he did. Of course, she wasn't lying about it very well, but he figured there was a reason for that. However, the more he saw her panic, the more his instinct kicked in to soothe her. Then, he placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Devika...calm yourself." Vance urged. "Breathe in and out slowly, okay? You're going to be alright. I'm here."

His physical contact with her invoked a magical transfer of information. It was then he knew that she was a witch. At the same time, she knew why he was so attentive. It was the nature of a psychic, which he was.

Devika looked downright terrified when he touched her. Even through her clothes, there would be a transfer of emotion. She should have seen it coming, she should have stopped him. She staggered back, mere seconds after he'd laid his hands on her. "D-don't- don't--" Her arms went around herself like a shield... and then, all of a sudden, her logical mind caught up with her emotional one.

She blinked several times, and adjusted her glasses, finally able to stop panicking and breathe deep. It was something she'd done many times before, a slow, practiced meditation. Now that she had some space to do it, she quickly got herself under control.

Hesitantly, she looked him over, fiddling with her bangle, loosening it just barely. "...who are you? Or rather... what?"

"I'm Vance Brice." he responded, still holding her for comfort. "I'm what you call a psychic, of course, all I saw was your magical aura, so I wasn't sure until I touched you. You know, I don't meet alot of black witches, so it's really a pleasure. Though...I don't think you've accessed all of your magical ability. Perhaps I can help you."

Vance really didn't know this woman of the occult, but his family had taught him to help anyone in need, magical or not, so it was instinctual.

Devika frowned at him. "You can start helping me by taking your hands off me." She really didn't like being touched. Too many bad things had happened when she'd been touched, and it had been years since she let a stranger do so. Her friendliness had a limit. "Mr. Brice, thank you for your help... You seem kind, but... I really don't know you. You may know something large about me, but you don't know me either." She touched her wrist bangle again, this time the jewelry going so tight that it started to indent the soft flesh around her wrist. "I really don't need help. I've got plenty to deal with already, thank you."

Vance blinked, still not quite convinced that she was thinking with her mind rather than her irrational anxiety. However, she was a witch, and he simply did not want to get on her bad side, so he respected her wishes.

"Alright, alright..." Vance put his hands up in surrender. "Didn't mean to freak you out. Just wanted you to be safe. Welp...I guess I'll take my leave...maybe I'll see you around. Take care, Miss Devika."

He waved again before heading off in his own direction. He hated leaving her, but she was right...they were strangers. They hardly know each other. Still...she was awfully hot...got huggable curves, too...

Devika let out a few more deep breaths, feeling somehow marked by his touch. She rubbed herself once his back was turned, as if trying to clean her skin. The guy was nearly around the corner when she realized what had truly set her off in the first place. That presence. Something was here that didn't belong here. She wasn't sure that it had noticed her, but... it would be strange to leave someone without knowledge that could keep them safe.

She at least owed him that much.

"Ah, er..." She cleared her throat and lifted her voice, letting her parents' many years of vocal training kick in. "Mr. Brice, just a moment!" She rushed after him, looking off a bit, not quite meeting his eyes. "The whole reason I was... ill in the first place wasn't the crowd. Some... something was there. Something not human. I caught a bit of it's emotion... it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I had no defense against it. You... you should be careful, I guess."

Vance glanced at her as she came dashing after him. He turned back to her as she started explaining the reason of her anxiety. His expression turns serious when she mentions something not human that was sensed around her.

"Well then..." Vance said. "Perhaps I should stick around, after all. It could be a hostile force. You know, I'm experienced in dealing with hostile forces."

He gave a little demonstration by making some rocks move, rolling around in a circle as if they were blown by the wind. "But yeah, perhaps I should tag along for a little while just to make sure you're safe."

Devika raised her eyebrows. She knew a few very simple elemental spells, but the most she'd ever used them for was keeping her clothes dry in the rain. It was useful while living in South Florida, where there could be two sorts of weather on opposite sides of the street. But here, she felt like what she'd learned was useless. "I don't... I don't know anything about hostile forces. This is just... lovely." She'd always been more of a talker than a fighter.

Vance tilted his head a bit, surprised that Devika didn't know how to deal with aggressors. "You don't know how to defend yourself? Well, what kind of spells do you know?" He was curious and concerned for her sake. "I may not know alot about the magic of a witch, but I do know that they tend to attract supernatural beings like bees to honey."

"What... kind? I... I don't know, I mean... are they supposed to have names? I can move a bit of water, but the most of what I can do is hold my power in, not let it out and break stuff." She seemed rather disappointed. "I don't know if I've ever run up against anything completely supernatural. I mean, where I live, there's more concrete than trees, so maybe all the non-humans moved on or something. Or they're hiding in the Everglades, I don't know." Devika hugged herself in a defensive sort of way, biting her lip. "...I guess I'm not much of anything, huh?"

Vance was really surprised. She must've been a very early witch. Well, there was no way he was leaving her side now. "Devika, I wanna help you. If you are being hunted, you're going to need to defend yourself. I'll teach you to use what you have in self-defense, and then we'll work from there. I know I'm a total stranger, but I don't think I could sleep knowing that you're on your own like this. Please, Devika." Vance pleaded with worry in his eyes.

(What is an early witch?)

Devika sighed softly, running a hand through her wild black curls. She wasn't sure that she was being hunted at all. Perhaps she'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was nothing after her now, was there?

Was there?

She was ready to refuse Vance, but she even with her bracelet on and her blocks up, she could still see how worried he was. He thought there was a problem, and he certainly knew more magic than she did. "...alright, alright. You can teach me something simple, I guess. I just don't want you wasting your time."