[center][u][color=ed145b]Irina Ivanov[/color][/u]
Auditorium: [@HellHoundWoof][@Jinxer][@HecateProxy] [/center]

Though the week had dragged for Irina, she had still managed to make some new friends despite the situation. Nikolai and Abel had been her preferred two thus far. If she ever needed to get away from her thoughts or from the intense psychological training, Irina would just go over to either two and hang out with them to relax her. She had gotten used to their thought process by now, making it easy to pick them out if they were in a group of people.

The young woman heard Nikolai before he even managed to walk in the auditorium. She never moved though. Not even when he sat down next to her did she turn to look at him as she stared ahead. It wasn’t until he practically shouted in her ear that Irina turned with a half smile on her face. If it were anyone else, she would have not thought twice about swinging at them, but it was Nikolai. For some strange reason, Irina felt a bit less tense around him. There was a more familiar aura around him that made Irina relax and truly be herself. Not her loathing self where she wanted to burn the place with everybody in it, but her laid back and joking self. 

Irina reached up and shoved Nikolai without putting much effort into it. She laughed a bit but it felt as if that only took more energy out of her. 

Yet another voice spoke out, which caught Irina by surprise because she hadn’t heard any thoughts. [i]’Oh. It’s Arthur.’[/i] Irina once again attempted to give him a smile, but failed as it turned a bit into a pout. She couldn’t keep up the charades. She was a terrible liar. 

[color=ed145b]“Morning. You’re getting really good with your Jiminy Cricket,”[/color] She placed a fingertip on her temple as she meant Arthur’s inside voice. She had grown used to calling everyone’s conscience, or inside voice, Jiminy Cricket due to the fact that she couldn’t pronounce conscience. It was a strange word for Irina and by now almost everyone knew what she meant,[color=ed145b] “I did not hear you come in.” [/color]

Irina had chosen to during, and even after Arthur had spoken. She had wanted to agree with what he had said but instead she simply stared at one spot on the wall as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Struggled until she sat bare feet, that is. Irina’s eyes blinked several times before she looked up to see who was walking around barefoot. It didn’t surprise her that it was Mara. That girl belonged in a fairytale of some sort, with her being a tiny pixie. She wanted to smile at the petite female but couldn’t, due to the thoughts that were now being picked up by Irina.

Her mouth fell agape, slightly, before she closed it and bit her bottom lip. She wanted to cry just by seeing the person that the others seemed to be looking at. It was her, but it wasn’t her at the same time. Irina’s skin had gone from being a fair and peachy tone to this pale and nearly pasty color. It was ghostly. She had seen herself in the mirror but she thought it might be the lighting in there. The dark circles under her eyes were even worse than she had imagined. Hollowed out. The green in her eyes had become dull. There was no way that she couldn’t see this in her own mirror. Even her freckles had gotten darker. The rounded cheeks had slimmed a bit, only by the slightest, but she could tell. Her hair had been thrown up in a messy bun which did her no justice at all and only made her seem more daunting. 

[color=ed145b]“I’m fine.”[/color] Irina finally spoke in a shaky voice, seeming as if she was about to cry. The vision replayed three times as she saw it go through each of their heads. Three blows to her self esteem. She needed to eat, and she needed to sleep. She had begged and asked politely if there was any way that the ability nullifier could be turned on at night, at least. It’s not like anybody was practicing, right? No, they weren’t, but each night she just heard the same thing over and over again. 

With a sigh, Irina closed her eyes and began counting down from ten, clearing her mind out and soon enough clearing the voices and the pictures. It was such a relief. Once she had regained control of herself, she quickly reached up and cleaned her face by tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears and making sure she wasn’t actually crying, then cleared her throat.

[color=ed145b]“I’m sorry. I had a rough night,”[/color] [i]’More like rough nights,’[/i] [color=ed145b]“how’s your hand doing?”[/color]