[center][img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxjkwjqkrn00cph/Siena%20Banner.jpg?raw=1[/img][/center]
[hider=A Moment's Reprieve][center]
[h1]A Moment's Reprieve[/h1]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/jw3F1O9.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/EqVwCQa.png[/img]

[h2][color=B0C4DE]Brent Roless[/color] | [color=ff57ff]Siena Santana[/color][/h2]
[img]http:// i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img] 
[color=silver]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟟 // 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 // ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 // ~𝟘𝟚𝟛𝟘[/color]
[sub]Collab with...[@ERode][/sub][/center]

It was hard to find time to cease being restless, harder still to find the will to sit and close her eyes long enough to drift into sleep. Not when she knew there were nightmares waiting, new ones that she doubted she would want to remember. Things like cars and civilians, crumbling buildings, people she couldn't save, relationships that she shattered because "it was necessary" when each passing moment made her uncertain whether it really was. Besides which, there was far too much for her to do, too much to improve on. 

New books to read, new sources to find, new ways to create some sort of connection with names of people that she knew would only serve to weaponize her further. 

But by 1 AM, Siena noticed the spots that were starting to blot her vision, small splatters of ink that blinded her. By 1:30, it became painfully obvious that trying for more was foolish. By 1:45, the bookworm had made her way to the kitchen and helped herself to a cup of hot tea--the type that had enough caffeine to wake her, but not more. 

When 2 AM came around, the girl had taken to settling on one of the couches in the billiard room, one television on to news set on mute so there was motion to focus on, her cup of tea still half full in her hands and getting cold, her eyes drifting toward the entry to the gym every so often. It would be easy, she acknowledged, to slip into the habit of moving. Doing something with herself so that sitting idle wouldn't fill her head with constant revisions of events that she couldn't fix. Things that a Santana would have, [i]should have[/i], done differently. Things that Harker wished had happened.

She sipped the tea out of habit more than out of any desire to moderate the temperature--the liquid was hardly enough to burn at that point anyways. There were other things she didn't want to think of too, weren't there? The phone nestled in her pocket had been silent since the last message she'd sent. 

[i]Why?[/i]

She took another sip of tea.

And there she was again.

In the depths of his own room, Brent's eyes glazed over at Siena's location marker. 2AM and she still wasn't anywhere close to sleeping, even if Siena had been floating around like this for the past couple of days. The arbiter himself wasn't much of a sleeper either, but when he slept, woke up, and realized that she was STILL awake and about?

It was cause for concern, especially now that she had followed such a demented routine for almost an entire week now.

And maybe he did feel a little bad about ragdolling her around in the library as well. Just a little bit. Not enough to apologize or anything like that. Brent nodded to himself, reassembling the handgun. Yup, if they jumped back into the past and he was in that same situation again, he would have done the same thing.

Walking down the stairs in his loungewear, Brent made no pretense as he marched towards the light that shone in the otherwise darkened estate. He passed into the billiards room, saw that familiar head poking out from the couches. Thought, for a moment, that she had finally fallen asleep after all, and that no intervention was necessary. But Siena moved, sipping at something, and he sighed.

[color=B0C4DE]"Heyo,"[/color] he said, leaning against the wall, [color=B0C4DE]"Up pretty late, huh?"[/color]

A familiar voice came through the air, and Siena glanced at the source, her fingers curled around her mug. Part of her wasn't entirely surprised, given their previous rooming arrangements and surprisingly similar sleeping patterns then, but it was late, and she hadn't seen anyone else in her initial wandering. Was it a coincidence? 

"[color=ff57ff]I could say the same to you.[/color]" Her fingers remained wrapped around the mug, and Siena moved away from the center of the couch to one side. "[color=ff57ff]Not exactly in gym clothes, so...you here for late night television?[/color]"

It was worse. Out of place even, and in the dim lighting, Siena looked almost gaunt, her eyes too wide open in consideration to the rest of her face. Gray lethargy clung to her gaze, a far cry from the fire he had seen during their foray in the library, and it all only served to confirm that yes, she was steadily on the path of sleep-deprived self-destruction. Did the events of DC still haunt her? Did those scenes emerge whenever she closed her eyes?

He sat himself beside her, leaning slightly away.

[color=B0C4DE]"Naw,"[/color] Brent replied, [color=B0C4DE]"Had some things to handle on my side. Thought I'd take a break before going back to it.[/color]"

Things to handle? Curiosity peeked its head out, but Siena held herself back with a significant amount of effort. Not tonight. Instead, she offered a smile, tried to hide how tired it was, but couldn't keep it all out. It was a good effort, she supposed. 

"[color=ff57ff]Taking a break at this hour instead of calling it in for the night?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Gonna forget it in the morning if I do,"[/color]" he replied, [color=B0C4DE]"Still, that's me. Why are you still up?"[/color]

[i]Because I don't want to sleep.[/i]

Yeah, not the best answer no matter how she swung it. 

"[color=ff57ff]Couldn't sleep.[/color]" Not a lie, but not really the truth either. "[color=ff57ff]I figured some background movement would help.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Background movement for most of the week?"[/color]

How did he...? Siena hadn't seen anyone the other days. Her eyes shot up to Brent's face, looked for something that might give her an answer for a moment before realizing that no matter how hard she looked, a facial expression wasn't going to give her a detailed answer on [i]how[/i]. 

"[color=ff57ff]U-Um...[/color]" Should she lie? Tell a partial truth? The answer didn't come to her. "[color=ff57ff]I didn't...[/color]" Didn't [i]what[/i]? Lost the answer she had been tryig to forge, and instead tore her gaze away. Down to the mug, something that didn't demand an answer.

Difficult, huh? Something that she didn't want to say aloud? Something she didn't want to admit, a further depth in the madness and ugliness and emptiness that was Siena? Brent wasn't sure, but he wasn't in any rush.

[color=B0C4DE]"Take your time,"[/color] he said, affording a small smile, [color=B0C4DE]"Just keep it real."[/color]

Keep it real. Well, if there was one person that would know if she was being honest, it would be Brent, woudln't it? She didn't raise her gaze from the mug, wished that it was still hot for a moment there. 

"[color=ff57ff]Not a fan of dreaming.[/color]" It was the easiest way she could explain it--the only way she could really admit it. It wasn't just the nightmares that she avoided, after all. The mage did not lift her eyes. "[color=ff57ff]Easier not to this way.[/color]"

He let his eyes focus on the silent television for a few moments. It was celebrity news. Safe and stale. What he needed to digest the morsels of truth that she scattered. Dreams. Nightmares. A fear of them leading to this almost suicidal idea of just...not sleeping. Even if Brent realized he was calling the kettle black, he still couldn't approve of it. At least he napped.

[color=B0C4DE]"Doesn't sound easy to me,"[/color] he replied.  [color=B0C4DE]"Sounds more like punishment."[/color]

He might have had a point, but it would have been more punishment to take the dreams, wouldn't it? To have no choice but to relive or reimagine things that she could remember. Things that were on her mind all the time, things that she had spent as much time as possible [i]not[/i] thinking about. Siena felt her grip tighten slightly on the mug. 

"[color=ff57ff]I never said it was easy. Just an easier way out.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Still gonna just horribly burn out due to this," [/color]Brent pointed out, [color=B0C4DE]"Unless you're gonna go at it until you start hallucinating."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]I doubt I'll last that long.[/color]" Siena was surprised at how candid her honesty was--too tired to try lying or too aware that it wouldn't work? She couldn't tell. "[color=ff57ff]But at least it's just one night.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]Just one night?"[/color] Brent echoed. Sure, if you assumed it was night as long as you didn't sleep, even if that meant being awake for a whole week. Or maybe he was reading her intentions incorrectly. That happened as well. But regardless, he wasn't going to back down. The arbiter wasn't going to let her fall apart just like that.

[color=B0C4DE]"Hey," [/color]he started, [color=B0C4DE]"Do you want to talk about it?"[/color]

Even with the weight of exhaustion, Siena knew the answer to Brent's question. "No." She was taking one easy way out already, what was one more? Still, some quieted portion of her mind reminded the girl that the path of least resistance wasn't exactly much of an option where Brent was involved. A phantom pain, just a faded memory of a bruise that spread across her shoulder was an ample enough memento of that fact. 

Still, talking about the things she avoided, [i]remembering[/i] why she avoided them when she said them out loud, might make them too real to deny. 

"[color=ff57ff]About not sleeping?[/color]" No, that was avoiding the question. [i]But wasn't that easier?[/i] "[color=ff57ff]Or about not liking dreams?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"You've slept before,"[/color] the arbiter pointed out, turning to her, [color=B0C4DE]"You slept in La Plata and DC. Tell me about what changed. Was that riot incident all there was?"[/color]

His eyes switched to the television, still silently going on about the vacuous life of rock stars. Recalled. He had followed his own story in La Plata, and was also aware of the interviews of his classmates, even the ones that refused, ran away from them.

[color=B0C4DE]"Or was it the media coverage as well?"[/color]

What had changed? 

She thought of the media coverage. About how she'd tried to evade the reporters in La Plata and how the coverage of DC had wiped out traces of the massacre. That had only been the lynchpin. She could have lived with nightmares, [i]had[/i] been living with them. But memories? Assumptions? Actual dreams about [i]why[/i]? She didn't want to see what sick little fantasies the part of her that preyed on every doubt she'd ever carried would create.

"[color=ff57ff]Nothing changed.[/color]" And it hadn't. She would have had nightmares about the riot incident. Would have continued to have nightmares even if they'd managed to prevent it. She hadn't changed. Still a little girl too scared to shed a name, too hurt to acknowledge that maybe her doubts were wrong. "[color=ff57ff]Other than having more to think about.[/color]"

So it just built up. All those separate, horrible incidents that she couldn't forget just continued to stack on, adding to her nightmares until she preferred constant exhaustion to the house of horrors that was her subconscious mind. He should have noticed then, during their short time rooming together. But he didn't. Preferred to focus on other things instead. And with Siena still managing to sleep back in DC, he didn't notice the problems at all.

But now, if this place was also attacked, if this sanctuary was also turned into a battlefield, how much more could she push herself?

A part of him wondered where the butler kept sleeping pills. A part of him came to the conclusion that maybe drugging Siena and [i]forcing[/i] her to get a full eight hour's of sleep was viable at this point. But those parts were held back for now. Suppressed.

[color=B0C4DE]"Only going to have more to think about as life goes on,"[/color]he replied, [color=B0C4DE]"Not gonna last long if you go into everything half-dead."[/color]

[i]Not lasting long doesn't sound like the worst option.[/i]

But she had things to do, spots to fill, people to be if she wanted to be of any use. Not lasting long meant that she wouldn't be able to do any of those things, wouldn't be able to make use of all the work she'd put into being something useful. Her fingers gripped the mug again, and Siena masked it as taking a quiet sip of the tea. The liquid only brushed against her lips, didn't make it past that. If she let her mind wander far enough down the rabbit hole, she knew what was easier to admit. The way things had gone the past few days, there wasn't much more to think about. Only more to [i]do[/i].

Trade lessons, become a monster, be there to listen, follow orders. She didn't have to think about those things.

"[color=ff57ff]More to think about and more to do, yeah.[/color]" Her gaze slowly trailed away from the mug, watched the screen for a moment, but eventually drifted toward the other Arbiter in the room. "[color=ff57ff]But I'll manage.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Because you're confident? Or because there's no other choice?"[/color]

She couldn't prevent the honey-venom smile from forming, a sliver of the one that she hated in the mirror. 

"[color=ff57ff]Pick your poison, I guess.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Rather find an antidote, thanks."[/color] He brushed off that diseased imitation of a smile, a reminder of just how far down both of them were. [color=B0C4DE]"Couldn't even manage me, and I doubt DC's mystery bag of fun will be nearly as endearing."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]And if I think that mystery bag will be easier to handle half-dead than whatever happens to be there when I close my eyes?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Then how do you plan on finding yourself, 'ena?"[/color] Had she forgotten already, about how she called him a coward for not wanting to look at the ugliness that laid within? [color=B0C4DE]"Might be a bit selfish, but how are you going to help me if you can't face yourselves?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]It's not me I don't want to face.[/color]" ...maybe it [i]was[/i] her, or at least the part that Siena didn't want to hear repeated in dreams that she might not be able to discern from reality. Didn't want to hear it from the mouth of anyone that she cared enough for to dream of. 

[color=B0C4DE]"If it's not you appearing in the darkness, then who?"[/color]

[i]People that can hurt me.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Someone I'd rather not care about.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"But that person won't disappear just because you ignore them."[/color]

No, he wouldn't, would he? The girl gave a bitter smile, turned her gaze back to her tea, and wondered whether it was ignoring or simply avoiding in her case. Siena shifted her grip, turned the mug in her fingers until the handle rested comfortably against her thumb--just another distraction to keep her from thinking too far.

"[color=ff57ff]No, they do a perfectly good job of disappearing without that.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Do you miss them? Or do you fear them now?"[/color]

It was a good question, one that Siena wasn't entirely certain she knew the answer to. She'd pushed thoughts aside as often as possible, kept them carefully locked away where they couldn't distract her. Letting them free didn't help in seeking an answer, only gave her pangs of longing, hurt, and anger. Simply a reminder of why she didn't want to face anything the dreams might create.

"[color=ff57ff]Both, probably.[/color]" It wasn't a sure answer, not that she often found stable footing in those thoughts.

[color=B0C4DE]"But you're confident that if you close your eyes, the version you fear will be waiting for you. Why?"[/color]

A flash of heat that she couldn't stop. 

"[color=ff57ff]Because it's the same person![/color]" The words were sharper than she meant for them to be, harder than they were supposed to come out. [i]Step back.[/i]

Brent didn't flinch. They had rougher interactions before. More violent ones. A burst of outrage wasn't going to stop him, if a fist to the face didn't.

[color=B0C4DE]They're the same, and yet, you'd rather ignore them entirely in hopes of avoiding the fear that they inspire in you? Even though you also long for them?"[/color] Feelings were naturally paradoxical. He wouldn't fault her there. [color=B0C4DE]"So why is it that the fear is dominant? What happened to make them disappear, and leave such a mark?"[/color]

[i]Why?[/i]

But she knew the answer. Knew it as soon as she had run out the door after the first dream and saw the expression on their faces. The one of mild interest from one, the tense, cold eyes of the other. Both had looked at her like it was some unexpected development. She wondered if they'd worn the same faces when her father had called.

"[color=ff57ff]S-stop. Please.[/color]" Couldn't quite breathe, fingers pressed tight against the mug, eyes staring anywhere else. 

A plea, but...

[color=B0C4DE]"I will stop,"[/color] Brent said, placing a hand, tentatively, on her shoulder, [color=B0C4DE]"If you can face this yourself. If you promise to sleep. Because you do need it, Siena. I...don't want to see you like this. Just..."[/color]

He ran his hand through his hair, temporarily at a loss for words. Temporarily unsure if he was even allowed to go that far. Temporarily unsure if he deserved to. But those minor doubts were squelched soon enough.

[color=B0C4DE]"...I don't know how to help you if you don't say anything, but...I'll be there for you if you need it,"[/color] Brent managed finally, [color=B0C4DE]"Even if you don't need sleep, I need you to. Cause you can't help me if you're half dead, and I don't want you to push yourself to help me when you're like that."[/color]

Too much, too heavy.

Brent wasn't sure if he should maintain contact.

[color=B0C4DE]"Sorry if that sounds practically useless."[/color]

A hand on her shoulder, enough to make her fingers marginally press against the porcelain. Siena couldn't keep the instinctive thought from her mind. Reflexive despite her best efforts. [i]Don't touch.[/i] Not the same vehemence that had struck her when at DC when it was panic and strangers, something different. Don't touch because...because what? Because she had hazy memories and a need to recoil when someone might care more than she wanted? 

She shut her eyes, little reprieve against anything, even if she pretended. [i]What good is that if I can't help you?[/i] 

"[color=ff57ff]It...it doesn't.[/color]" Eyes still shut, still uncertain. If she could face it herself? When she was doing everything to avoid it? The idea was almost laughable--would have been under other circumstances. At that moment, it only felt defeating. Facing it alone was exactly why she had decided that sleep was easier to give up. Because she couldn't, and nobody else was going to show up if things took a turn for the worse. Not unless they were there to tell her the same things.

[i]They had taken one look at her, and decided she was a monster.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]I know I'm being a coward.[/color]"

Eyes closed. To supress the disgust within? It gave him enough pause to considering letting go, but, just like every other 'temporarily', Brent decisively squelched that. He wasn't going to give up. Wasn't going to let Siena self-destruct. Like this, she wasn't just stagnating, she was depreciating, crumbling to pieces while locked in place.

That...was something he didn't want to see.

[color=B0C4DE]"If you know that, then you should know what to ask of me, right?"[/color] A small laugh. [color=B0C4DE]"We've said a lot of embarrassing things to each other already, so hey, don't censor yourself just because it sounds awful."[/color]

Did she really know? Siena felt herself falter, wondered if knowing what to ask and being able to ask it were the same hurdle or different ones. Taking a quiet breath, the girl let herself think for just a moment longer. No real reprieve. [i]Would he have been disappointed?[/i] Probably. All those lessons to handle herself, and this was what she had to show for it. 

It took more than one try for Siena to eke the words out.

"[color=ff57ff]I--[/color]" She hesitated. "[color=ff57ff]...I need help.[/color]"

All the words he needed.

[color=B0C4DE]"What would you ask of me, Siena?"[/color]

What did she want to ask for? Slowly, she opened her eyes, raised her gaze from the mug to the screen, watched a few people speaking in silence over information that didn't matter in the long run. Slowly, the brunette let her focus shift, settle on the presence next to her. [i]What do you want?[/i] Too many things. One thing. 

Or maybe there was something that she [i]didn't[/i] want that stood out above anything else. 

"[color=ff57ff]Help me forget that I cared about them.[/color]" A pause. No, that wasn't what she wanted. Her gaze fell slightly. "[color=ff57ff]Or help me forget that I used to be human.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"You're st-"[/color]

He stopped himself. No, trying to retain their identities as 'humans' was pointless, because it didn't matter. Didn't [i]she[/i] discuss that with him before? The superficial differences between humans, subnaturals, and monsters. They could all be sinners. They could all be saints. So Brent stopped, nodded.

[color=B0C4DE]"I'll help you with that,"[/color] Brent replied slowly, amethyst eyes matching her own, [color=B0C4DE]"If this is what you want, I will help you forget your humanity. But 'ena, in exchange...never, ever lose your individuality. Don't discard your bonds, because those are all a part of you. Don't discard your feelings, because those are what fills you. Don't ask me to help you with this just so you can run away." [/color]

It was still his own selfishness guiding his words, right?

[color=B0C4DE]"Can you promise me that?"[/color]

[i]'[color=ff57ff]No, I can't.[/color]'[/i]

Because there was no individuality, no [i]feelings[/i] that she could say fully belonged to her. Nothing concrete like Emma's Tulpas. Nothing concrete like the resolve that she'd seen in the week. She wondered, briefly, it she should have told Brent about how easy it had been to stamp out the bonds that had threatened to form, or how tempting it had been to keep doing it. Maybe she [i]was[/i] running. Both sides that refused to meet clamored--wasn't that what she wanted?

"[color=ff57ff]I can't promise what isn't there.[/color]" Still grey eyes, still her own thoughts, still [i]her[/i]. "[color=ff57ff]Didn't I say it before? I tried to fill myself with names and it made it worse.[/color]" Should she really start down that road again? Siena didn't give herself a chance to think it through, didn't have enough there to do it. "[color=ff57ff]They're not my feelings, so what good is it to keep them?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"But [i]someone[/i] is still here, and you can work with that if you don't let yourself look away from what you don't want to see."[/color] Word by word, that line rolled out of his tongue, modified just so he could help her remember once more. Did she want to forget? Even if she did, he wouldn't allow her to. The lost can't help the lost.

[color=B0C4DE]"Every lie has a truth,"[/color] Brent said. [color=B0C4DE]"Doesn't matter if it's concrete or abstract. If you throw away those last grains of yourself trying to flush everything else, then, well...you're gonna be way too close to me, right, 'ena?"[/color]

He was right, wasn't he? But that was too easy, too [i]simple[/i] an answer. Every lie with a grain of truth, every feeling that she stored away still carrying with it a part of her own heart. Too easy, and not [i]enough[/i]. A breath. Her gaze remained focused, one hand finally separating from the mug, only to finally make an acknowledgement of the hand on her shoulder. The same cautious touch, barely more than her fingertips. 

[i]Don't--[/i]

Her fingers drew back, a quick recoil that left the touch hovering just above the flesh. 

[i]--touch.[/i] Because touch reminded her that it was real.

"[color=ff57ff]How can you sure that there's anything true about it?[/color]" About what she presented, about what she held back, about the storm of hazy memories and uncertainties that had drained her until there was nothing left. No, she wasn't asking [i]him[/i] that, was she? Something that she directed at herself. 

[i]How could she know?[/i]

[color=B0C4DE]"Because I trust you."[/color]

She was taken aback despite knowing where it had come from. She'd told him she could be trusted, and still she blinked as though hearing something out of place. It [i]was[/i]out of place for her, and it put her at a loss for words, grasping for whatever words she could find. The ones she found were not ones she wanted to hear. Reminded her too much of what she'd been trying to avoid thinking about. Hurt, betrayal, [i]pain[/i] that she couldn't ground herself with.

"[color=ff57ff]Can I trust you?[/color]"

He moved before he realized what a bad idea it was. His hand left her shoulder, placed instead over her own.

He spoke before he realized the full connotations of it. [color=B0C4DE]"Yes, you can."[/color]

But moments after he fully digested what he had done, Brent neither retracted his hand nor his words.

[i]Once, there had been--[/i]

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Stop.[/color]'[/i] Something cut through the memory, ran Siena through as though to pin her to the present, where her mind could not leave. Held in place by a callused hand, anchored her to both the immediate present and a hazy past. He didn't know. Couldn't know. Something familiar and entirely unfamiliar bit into her, but she breathed in to keep herself steady, to keep her gaze steady when she wanted desperately to hide behind any name available to her.

So why did she believe him then?

"[color=ff57ff]Okay...[/color]" A single word affirmation that she needed to hear more than she needed to say. "[color=ff57ff]Then I'll trust you.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Okay."[/color]

Brent nodded.

[color=B0C4DE]"Alright."[/color]

Yup, this was awesome.

[color=B0C4DE]"Mm..."[/color]

He let go of her hand awkwardly.

[color=B0C4DE]"So...got sidetracked a little...but, uh...Siena, it's pretty late, and I'm pretty sure your tea's cold now. Want me to fix up a drink for you and then you get some sleep in after?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]O-Oh...[/color]" The moment had not been lost on Siena, or at the very least, the moment of inelegance had not been lost on the girl. Instinctively, with her now-free hand, she pulled at the end of a stray lock over her shoulder. Twisted the strands until they were taut and on the verge of snapping before quickly untangling her fingertips from their bindings. Right, bad habit. 

Instead, she managed a tired smile. 

"[color=ff57ff]U-Um...sure, that...that sounds nice.[/color]"[/hider]
[hider=Of Arms and Monsters][center]
[h1]Of Arms and Monsters[/h1]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/qdJ8I7l.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/OiIXHEg.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/ytozL8X.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/XZCyPaz.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/EqVwCQa.png[/img]

[h2][color red]Chris[/color] | [color 9e0039]Angel[/color]
[color palevioletred]Zoe[/color] | [color 33ec06]Marcus[/color] | [color ff57ff]Siena[/color][/h2]
[img]http:// i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img] 
[color=silver]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟡 // 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 // ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 // ???[/color]
[sub]Collab with...[@DragonMancer][@Lasrever][@Riffus Maximus][@Chasers115][/sub][/center]

[i]It's late...[/i]

But that didn't matter when she needed to know what she was capable of. Memories of her conversation with Emma came to mind--a vision that heralded a change of power. Something that could make her stronger? Before, it had always been an improvement on what she could do. Another name, another choice, another option...but it had been over a week, and though Siena had spent [i]hours[/i] trying to figure out exactly what had changed, she came up with nothing. None of her usual names had gotten stronger, none of her usual attempts had gotten longer, she couldn't take a third name...[i]what[/i] was it? Her eyes trailed down, traced over another series of letters and words, took them in, and did not pull. She'd tried this name too. Nothing had changed. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Trial and error is so ungainly...[/color]'[/i] Siena thought to herself while groaning. She'd even tried, to no avail, taking a name that lacked any powers, and had found that it did nothing but leave her stuck with a useless intruder. Settling back, she tapped to another source, this one different from too many others. A book that wasn't really a book, she thought to herself. Nothing but memories written on a page if she went by context. She stared at the words. Once, long ago, she had tried to pull from the source, and found that it was pointless--apparently her perception had twisted the abilities. The talent was there, but not the catalyst, not the [i]means[/i]. It resulted in trying to soothe even more than usual in the aftermath. 

...maybe that was what had changed?

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Nothing ventured, nothing gained...[/color]'[/i] So she did. Purple light filled her room, the usual presence of a man trapped in a cycle, the turmoil of trying too hard to pick apart his identity, trying too hard to stop something that couldn't be stopped. It didn't really feel very different from the norm. The same tingling sensation in her right arm, the sa--no, something [i]had[/i] felt different compared to the last time. She hadn't really [i]felt[/i] when she'd used her ability last time, but this time...

[i]Something felt wrong.[/i]

Her eyes trailed to the odd, prickling sensation that kept dancing like sparks along her arm, and Siena felt her heart freeze in place, her stomach fill with lead, and her mind completely stop working. What the fuck? [i]What the fuck?![/i] It wasn't her arm, that [i]wasn't her arm[/i]! In its place was a grotesque abomination, a paltry grey color marred with blinking eyes that she dared not count, dared not [i]look at[/i]. A trail of motley, yellow eyes that peered at her, blinking, waiting to see--and they could? No, she couldn't...her head was spinning.

She gasped, recoiled her arm, as though she might be able to separate it from what she was seeing, felt her--[i]not her palm, not her [b]arm[/b][/i]--palm touch the frame of her bed for support, then felt a searing heat lance up her arm, which shook the girl out of her moment of shock. Then came the spires that tore through the arm and seemed to hover for a moment, waiting for a command. They were three flashes of [i]white hot agony[/i].

She heard herself screaming before she realized that she was.

The spires responded in kind, launching themselves with surprising precision in the direction she'd been facing, burying themselves into the wall for a moment before they seemed to unravel in wisps of inky smoke. [i]What the FUCK?![/i] The Arbiter jerked her arm back toward her body, as though it was safety, felt the palm briefly make contact with her shoulder, felt something [i]worse[/i] than the spires that had appeared from the flesh. Another cry, this one more of pain than the previous one, and she recoiled again, monstrous arm left dangling, her left shoulder marked by black veins that seemed like they were peeling from her in wisps of dark mist. She didn't know how to [i]control[/i] the sorcerer's power. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Oh god, ohgodohmygod, [b]fuck[/b]![/color]'[/i]

Feeling a bit more tired than usual tonight, Angélique had decided to bring an early end to her daily night training at the gym to return to the rooms’ wing. Maybe it was because of constantly putting more strain on her body with each increasing weight she kept putting every evening, or maybe it was because she recently had taken the habit of training her voice powers while she was away on her road trips. She had noticed quite recently that her voice had another limitation she was not previously aware her before. When she screamed, her throat would eventually become too sore to yell anymore. However, when she kept using her voice projection ability, she had begun noticing mental fatigue would eventually hit her the more she used her magic. Truly, she learned new things everyday about her magic…
 
The raven-haired Aberration snapped out of her thoughts as a piercing shriek could be heard nearby. Jumping out in surprise, Angel’s mind quickly was on alert. This scream… it was Siena’s. 
 
Quickly running up at her door, the young woman wasted no time banging out at her door to make sure she was in. Angel body slammed into the door as she turned the handle, not expecting it to be actually left unlocked. She stumbled into the room, falling up front on her knees. When she raised her head she could see holes into the walls, as if something had shot into them without leaving any trace, but what mattered the most was the girl in the middle of the room.
 
[color=9e0039]“Siena! Are you al-…”[/color]
 
Her arm… definitively shaped like a humanoid, but twisted, gross, an aberration of a limb with creepy eyes and shit,
 
[color=9e0039]“W-what the fuck is that!? What happened? Who did this to you?”[/color]

The door opened and someone spilled into the room. Someone she couldn't immediately identify with her head spinning, her arm not seeing in the same sense as her natural eyes, in some twisted, darkened reality. A strange burst of colors that only left when Siena willed the eyes [i]shut[/i]. It took a moment longer for the girl to focus her own vision onto the intruder--Angel? Siena tried to speak, was about to reach an arm to try and help out of instinct, then remembered what happened when she'd touched her own skin. [i]Not safe.[/i]

She recoiled, backpedaled from her initial intentions, took a few rapid steps back.

"[color=ff57ff]D-Don't get closer![/color]" [i]Not safe.[/i]

Perhaps, in different circumstances, the scream wouldn't have shaken up Zoe as much as it did. But that mixture of pain, of fear-- it wasn't the same as hers had been, but it was close; too close. No, Siena wouldn't, she just wouldn't try to die like that. On some level, the logical part of Zoe remembered the girl didn't even [i]have[/i] a stigma to stop her. Nonetheless, she'd scrambled out of bed as quickly as possible.

Once in the corridor, it wasn't hard to spot the open doorway. Even easier to spot Angel on the floor, though she didn't look hurt enough for Zoe to worry about her safety. Words came out as quickly as she could think of them.

[color=palevioletred]"It's not - not like the motel, is it? Siena wouldn't--"[/color] There was panic in the redhead's expression as she approached, finally looking past the rockstar and towards the arbiter who'd been the source of the screaming in the first place. Her expression became relieved upon seeing that Siena was alive, before becoming shocked. [color=palevioletred]"Siena? That's..."[/color] Not a normal arm. Not even approaching a normal arm. How..?

Angel’s eyes looked to her fiery redhead friend who entered the room next, inquiring about what happened and even worrying herself over that it might have been a repeat of the motel incident.
 
[color=9e0039]“Siena, please…”[/color] Angélique rose up from her knees, getting back up on her feet. [color=9e0039]“take a deep breath, calm down, and tell us what happened.”[/color]

Chris's lack of sleep was disturbed by a sudden scream from the down the hall. It took him a moment to reckognize Siena's voice behind that scream, and so Chris bolted out of his dorm in his Pajama's to the scene. By the time he got there Angelique was already attempting to console her. [color=red]"What the hell happened, is everyone alright? Are we under attack?"[/color]

No, [i]no[/i], why were more people coming? A bizarre feeling made the arm seem to throb, as though hungering for something. Siena knew what it was, denied it what it craved. Couldn't [i]give[/i] it what it wanted, and tried to step away from the growing number of people. Not safe. She took another step back, angling her body to keep the arm as far from the presence of others as possible, felt her heart almost skip a beat when it almost brushed back up against the bedframe again. 

"[color=ff57ff]I-I don't, s-something must have changed about...[/color]" Not her arm. Icy blue eyes trailed over to the group. "[color=ff57ff]J-Just stay back, I...I don't know how to keep it from--ngh![/color]" The eyes on the arm opened again, eyes seeming to swivel and look around. Her head ached, pulsed with discomfort, and Siena grimaced, willed them to [i]shut[/i] again.

[color=palevioletred]"Don't crowd her. We're not being attacked. Hell of a lot of security, and no-one's broken in. If they had, they'd have killed her instead of fucking with her arm. Don't let anyone charge in."[/color] Observations she wouldn't have made before her own incident. Clarity thanks to that sick part of her which didn't mind seeing a friend in pain.

[color=palevioletred]"Siena, can you look at me?"[/color] Zoe's voice was firm as she tried to meet the arbiter's eyes. Taking a step to the side, just so she wasn't putting anyone else in the line of fire. [color=palevioletred]"We need to know what's happening if we're going to help."[/color]

[i]Don’t know… Something changed… Blue eyes where grey should be…[/i]
 
Those details. It suddenly dawned upon Angel. Could it be that...
 
[color=9e0039]“Zoe... I think it’s her powers. They must have evolved just now.”[/color] Angélique glanced at the Arbiter, who seemed to be struggling with herself. [color=9e0039]“Am I right, Siena?”[/color]

Marcus had heard the scream; it had awoken him from his own restless night, and as the confusion faded and he forgot whatever it was that had been accompanying his dreams, he wasn't sure whether to thank the person or not. However, the grogginess didn't last very long as his brain tried to process the information he'd been given. There had been a scream, right? And it was...female. That much he was pretty sure about.

Even if he wasn't, and the scream had been from his own imagination, it wouldn't hurt to at least take a powerwalk around the lodge. Just to make sure things were still in working order.

It wasn't hard to find the crowd of people, and Chris, gathering around a door. The person whose room it belonged to caused a shot of worry through his heart. He'd had an argument...or at least a discussion outside this room not too long ago.

He silently snuck as close as he could to the doorway to at least hear what was going on, including a slightly unfamilar voice sternly mention not to let anybody charge in, and Angel mention how Siena's powers had 'evolved'.

Right. It was dumb to think that it was only happening to him.

He stayed outside the room, leaning slightly against the wall with his eyes closed, to better focus on listening. Siena and him weren't exactly on the best terms right now, and from the sounds of it, she might have been having another panic attack or anxiety thing-he-didn't-know-how-to-describe. That was something that he A: Didn't want to put himself in the middle of to deal with, and B: Didn't want to have Siena associating him with. 

Too many panic attacks with him present, and she'd start to develop some sort of Pavlovian respose whenever he was near. Which would make rooming extraordinarily difficult.

Was it really evolution? Too many people were demanding her attention, and Siena took a breath before glancing between the two Aberrations that demanded her attention at the same time. Her head screamed [i]yes[/i], it was an evolution, but another part screamed louder. [i]Stay away.[/i] The girl nodded in response to Angel, took a quiet breath to calm herself. As long as she stayed away and didn't touch anything, it'd be fine. The arm seemed to waver in consistency, a small tendril of dark smoke coming off of it before it resolidified again. 

"[color=ff57ff]Just...stay back, [i]please[/i].[/color]" The plea was about as firm as she could make it. "[color=ff57ff]I don't know how to turn it off, and it--[/color]" It did things like rip the life out of what it touched, what it was aimed at. Sacrificed things for power that she didn't [i]want[/i] at that moment. "[color=ff57ff]--it's not safe.[/color]" But how could she prove it? That was the best way to push them back, right? 

Chris, though initially alarmed, tried to calm down. Whatever became of her arm was something out of a nightmare, practically. And here he though her powers were just involved with books. If it really was something involved an evolution of her power, then hopefully that meant [i]she[/i] wasn't endangered at least. Could a subnatural's own powers kill them? He didn't know, but he wanted to believe that was impossible. "[color=red]"Alright. Siena calm yourself. The best way to handle some new power is to stay calm, panicking might make it worse. Everyone else keep some distance away whatever's happened to her arm could attack us."[/color]

Chris leaned against the wall away from Siena before he continued.

[color=red]"Now, is that thing sentient? Like does it have a mind of its own?"[/color]

Calm down. [i]I'm trying.[/i] Siena would have said the words out loud if not for the more pressing matter of the arm's mere presence making her head spin. There were too many answers to Chris's question--yes, no, [i]sort of[/i]. It didn't think for itself, but that didn't stop it from having [i]influence[/i]. A quiet bloodlust that seeped beneath the surface, soaking through her thoughts. The only alarm that continued to blare was that the arm wasn't safe. Not safe, not hers. 

"[color=ff57ff]I don't know.[/color]" Carefully worded, carefully devoid of most of the emotions that were trickling through now that the fear had started to subside, replaced by equally unpleasant feelings of frustration. They were still too damn [i]close[/i]. A throbbing desire pulsed, as though something urged her to plunder, and she [i]knew[/i] she had to prove a point. As though it was a natural instinct, a motion that she couldn't [i]resist[/i], the girl withdrew, right hand touching the flesh of her forearm. Another flash of pain as though she'd shoved her arm into a furnace, the black veins and crimson smoke spreading from the point of contact. It wasn't surprising that time, but Siena still jerked the hand away with a hiss of pain as though she hadn't expected it. Best to let the results speak for themselves before they could fade. 

[color=palevioletred]"How about we save the twenty questions until after her arm's [i]not[/i] doing that?"[/color] Looking at the state of the arbiter's arm, Zoe couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency. Black veins, smoke, holes in her arm... it didn't exactly look [i]good[/i]. If there'd been any doubts that it was dangerous, they disappeared at Siena's hiss of pain.

Zoe scowled. Siena wasn't in control of it, was she? It was like the thing - or Siena herself - [i]wanted[/i] to hurt somehow, as though there was an urge that she couldn't control. And wasn't that just painfully familiar? Zoe raised her voice a little, speaking to the other two. [color=palevioletred]"Guys, back off. Anyone needs to approach her, I'll do it - I'm better placed to defend myself."[/color] Dark as the thought was, it wouldn't be the first arm she'd severed.

Chris watched in worried horror at her arm, the pain she felt urged some kind of protective instinct to comfort her, but how? Getting any closer was dangerous for the both of them potentially,  and there wasn't any simple solution Chris could see to fix this..other then.. [color=red]"Get closer? W-what do you plan on doing?"[/color]

[color=palevioletred]"Nothing, unless I have to. As for what that means, it's not that hard to figure out, dumbass. Stay. Back."[/color] Zoe didn't have much patience for explaining things right now, and voicing what she was perfectly willing - if not a little too eager - to do probably wouldn't help to calm down Siena. 'I might rip your arm off' wasn't the most reassuring phrase to overhear.

Saying nothing else, she took a more decisive step forward.

Angélique did as Siena warned, taking a few steps back until she reached the doorstep. Eyes locked on the issue, she barely registered Marcus' presence. Watching Zoe, this was clearly going to end badly if this kept on going. At this point, the only logical thing to do was to try and get everyone to do as Siena requested and back off, instead of playing protective and tough. They couldn't afford another mess and a scar.

[color=9e0039]"Zoe, do as she says and give her some space. What you are about to do just might make her more volatile. We don't know if her arm is the only thing she has right now."[/color] the black-haired Aberration's whispers projected next to the redhead's ears, for her to hear alone. There was no need to panic the others.

[color=red]"Lets not do anything rash."[/color] Chris protested, still pressed against the wall next to the door. [color=red]"This place is mostly of subnaturals right? Maybe we should ask them for help, they might have seen something similar to this and have an idea on how to treat it?"[/color] He hesitated, unsure of the plan itself. [color=red]"I don't want to see anyone losing an arm if they don't have to."[/color]

Great. Apparently the idea of 'lets not talk about ripping Siena's limbs off in front of her' had gone over Chris' head. Shaking her head in response to Angel's protests, Zoe spoke again.

[color=palevioletred]"Didn't we [i]just[/i] say it's a power thing? They're all specific, why the hell are they gonna be able to treat this one?"[/color] Zoe sighed, her eyes remaining fixed on Siena as she spoke. [color=palevioletred]"I don't want anyone getting hurt unnecessarily either - unless my life's in danger, I don't plan on ripping anything off."[/color] That being said, she certainly wasn't doing much to avoid the possibility.

[color=red]"Unique, yes, but we aren't experts Zoe. Granted I doubt anyone has experienced the exact same thing as [i]this[/i] but by chance, if someone here does have an idea how to fix it, its better them do it then us. Were rookies after all, do you even have an idea of what your doing? I want to help her as much as the rest of you, but there is only so much we can do by ourselves, let alone try to fix whatever is wrong with her powers right now."[/color] A pause as Chris dwelled on the thought. [color=red]"We could at least get a healer, could do something about the pain at least if it doesn't outright..fix it."[/color]

[color=palevioletred]"Then go fetch an expert yourself, or stop whining, shut the [b]fuck[/b] up and let me try to fix this. What, you wanna do a survey? Maybe ask everyone's opinion and put it to a vote?"[/color] Zoe's tone had gone past acidic and straight into downright poisonous. [color=palevioletred]"Oh, I know, how about we all write down a suggestion, and start pulling 'em out of a hat? Seems like you'd rather do anything except make a goddamn decision."[/color]

[i]Were they really doing this?[/i]

"[color=ff57ff][i]Stop[/i].[/color]" The demand was firmer than Siena expected. Again, her arm flickered unsteadily, snapped back into stability, smoke starting to coil off of it. The idea of losing her arm was one thing, but were they really [i]arguing[/i] about whether to do it in front of her? A flash of frustration, laced with a bloodlust that wasn't hers. Not her. That thing that wanted to grab hold of the bedframe and let the spires fire off again wasn't [i]hers[/i]. "[color=ff57ff]If it has to come off, then we'll fix it after.[/color]" Another grimace. Most of the time her abilities weren't permanent. The smoke continued to trail off, the arm seeming to become less stable with each passing second. The eyes blinked, swiveled again, and the brunette felt a wave of nausea at the sensory overload. "[color=ff57ff]So just [i]stay back[/i].[/color]"

Chris was about to continue the argument, had Siena not intervened. He was silent for a moment. [color=red]"I'm going to get help, Angel make sure Zoe doesn't do anything we don't have to do, if its an emergency, fine..but.."[/color] A pause before he ran out the door, but he immediately stopped when he noticed Marcus. There was a brief sense of guilt but it was overshadowed by his haste to protect. [color=red]"H-hey Marcus, can you...help them out in there? Just in case something goes wrong or whatever.."[/color]

[color=9e0039][i]As if I can possibly stop her without wrecking everyone inside the room...[/i][/color]

The whole scene was growing the more frustrating as Christopher was being as stupid as always and Zoe stubbornness didn't help either. Crossing her arm and leaning on the doorframe, Angel glanced towards Siena's menacing arm. So this was something Siena wasn't used to. Now that she thought of it, Siena never manifested anything physical when she called on her powers, aside that strange pink tattoo and her eyes changing color. Could it be she gained the power to manifest physical attributes as well?

[color=9e0039]"Chris, don't go. Getting more people around Siena will only make her more anxious and prone to endanger everyone, including herself. Now shut up and stay quiet."[/color] Her faint words reached out outside the room as Chris left, quiet enough for only those standing outside to hear. Her voice was harsh, but she had enough of this situation growing worse by the minute.

[color=9e0039]"Zoe..."[/color] Angélique repeated once more, but this time it was audible and stern. [color=9e0039]"Siena's powers always left on their own after a while. If we leave her be, it'll surely leave on its own as well without incident. Stop being an ass and just be patient, alright?"[/color]

After his request from Marcus he heard Angelique's request, and by her logic he agreed. Chris just stood outside and watched through the door way from that point onward, not ready to leave her but not about to further disturb her with his presence.

Seriously? [i]Seriously[/i]? Zoe's scowl deepened. Just because she hadn't backed off, didn't mean she was about to break down Siena for no reason. 

[color=palevioletred]"I'm not going to change my mind,"[/color] Zoe glared at Angel, [color=palevioletred]"so don't bother. And can we [i]stop[/i] acting as though I'm about to start tearing her apart? I told you only if a life's in danger, and I don't tell lies."[/color] Really, she'd figured the other aberration would have a little more faith in her than that, considering everything.

[color=palevioletred]"Quit treating me like some kind of rabid dog. I've had more than enough of that from the regulars."[/color] Was it unfair to compare the rockstar to them? Probably, but Zoe couldn't keep the anger from her tone at getting the same attitude from [i]Angel[/i] of all people. 

[color=9e0039]"It's not that I don't trust you..."[/color] the fallen idol answered back with an apologetic tone, but considering what Angélique had personally witnessed, both at D.C. and Ground Zero, there was something in Angel that she couldn't shake off, from both girls. [color=9e0039]"I'm just saying if Siena wants us to stay back, then listen to her. I know you don't want to harm her, but saying that you'll be close 'just in case' won't help easing her mind. Trust instead that she WON'T do anything."[/color]

She couldn't afford Siena to snap under pressure again.

There was something about the explanation that didn't quite ring true, but Zoe accepted it for now. Her eyes remained fixed on the mutated arm as she spoke again, her tone level.

[color=palevioletred]"Better she goes for me than you."[/color] With that, Zoe took a couple of steps back, giving the arbiter some more breathing room but still remaining decidedly between Siena and the others. [color=palevioletred]"There. That's as far as I'm going, and it's not a point of discussion. This is taking enough of a chance as it is."[/color] It was obvious that, if Siena did snap, Zoe fully intended to bear the brunt of the damage. And she couldn't really bring herself to trust that it wouldn't happen again, even if she wanted to.

Angélique rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerating pouting sigh as if she was trying to ligten the situation [color=9e0039]"Ah c'mon, you know I can take a hit. I've been training too now, you know?"[/color] she added with an ironic tone of self-assurance. She was still admiring Zoe's protective spirit, even if her zealous approach wasn't probably the best to ease the tension. Still, she smiled faintly when Zoe took a few steps back. Better than nothing, right?

[color=palevioletred]"Doesn't matter how well you can take a hit, I don't want you to."[/color] Zoe frowned, but said nothing more.

[color=f7976a]"Move."[/color]

The brunette maid side-eyed the boys by the door, rolling her eyes and shoving past when neither of them reacted. A quick survey informed her that the situation was far grislier the hallway cameras had initially suggested. Keeping her face neutral at the sight of that monstrous arm was more difficult that she liked but the maid kept her nerve. Heartbeat faltered as she recognised the other girls in the room. Yet again, she refused an outwards reaction. The Aberrations could potentially be a problem if she didn't remain steadfast. Cool it.

Besides, she didn't get paid to be afraid.

The servant woman remained a respectful distance from the Arbiter girl, an arm's length from Zoe. [color=f7976a]"May I approach, Miss Santana?"[/color]

[i]Who...?[/i] 

But it only took a moment for the visual cues and puzzle pieces to fall into place. The scream had been enough to bring others to her room, it wasn't as if the maids wouldn't have noticed. Another surge of something between desperation and mind-consuming bloodlust, held back by willpower and practice. This was not the worst she'd had to control. Siena took a careful breath, watched with her own icy blue eyes, the arm flickering faintly again. The smoke coiled faster, seemed to come to life for an instant before it seemed to dissipate into the air. 

"[color=ff57ff]I...[/color]" A pause. She didn't know what the maid could do, didn't know if this new face had any way to prevent harm. "[color=ff57ff]I wouldn't recommend it.[/color]" Too many variables, not enough control.

A controlled furrow of the brow. [color=f7976a]"Are you in pain, ma'am?"[/color]

[i]Yes,[/i] thought the girl, thinking of the black veins and something that felt like a brand pressing into the flesh and the spires that had torn out of the arm earlier. 

"[color=ff57ff]...y-yes.[/color]" 

The maid ventured a step further. It had been a long time since she'd needed to use this. [color=f7976a]"If I may,"[/color] her arms and hands beginning to glow a dim, translucent green as she held them up for Siena to see, [color=f7976a]"I can help ease that, until we figure out how we're going to help you."[/color]

Green glow, a step closer. It was like watching someone try to approach a hostage situation with a white flag. Her heart quickened, anxiety pressing at her from every direction. Instinctively, Siena felt one foot shift back. Not safe. 

"[color=ff57ff]It hurts what it touches.[/color]" The words came fast, tumbled out of her mouth before the thought had even completed. A small chance of keeping the maid away--a faint pinprick sensation as she felt the eyes try, again, to open as soon as her focus was torn away. Siena took a sharp breath, willed them shut again. 

The maid faltered. Stepping forward was a bad idea. But this situation wouldn't improve through inaction. So she stepped again.

[color=f7976a]"I don't require contact with the area. Just the person. Please don't hold yourself back for my sake, I am more than capable of handling myself should your arm...react."[/color] A half-truth.

Something about that should have rung a little off, but there was too much going on at once. Fewer variables would mean she could focus on what was [i]wrong[/i] until it disappeared. Hopefully, it would be enough. 

"[color=ff57ff]A-A...alright...[/color]" She braced herself, tensed to force herself still. A quiet plea that she didn't quite know how to voice. [i]Be careful. I'm dangerous.[/i]

With a nod, the maid moved ahead and--making sure she was in a stable position far on the unaffected side--gently rested a hand on Siena's human shoulder. Immediately the sensation of pain diminished. But so did everything else. Through the maid and Siena's body, the sense of 'touch' vanished and everything went blank. Numb and nothing.

[i]What the hell?[/i] 

Nothing was there. The pain, the--[i]what the hell[/i]? No pain, but no sensation either--something she'd remembered spending hours to avoid when she'd taken Vale's name time and time again. What had she done? What had she agreed to? She took a shuddering breath, tried to remain calm. [i]Not the first time.[/i] 

Smoke coiled ever faster off the arm.

The maid's knees buckled for an instant before the power began its finetuning. No sensation in the body meant no balance. A bead of sweat travelled down her temple as her legs regained some feeling, not that she could notice it with her top half being completely blank. Next came the girl's senses. The maid's breaths began to shudder. Concentration kept her silent and feeling returned to Siena's right side. The maid's hand dug firmly into her shoulder.

[color=f7976a]"Yuuoorr... ssauwss? Thex-tuh,"[/color] the maid cringed as she tried to form words through only her hearing. Her source. The girl needed to return that thing to whatever text she had been using.

Siena couldn't quite figure out how to stand, left leg feeling nothing, right side suddenly alive again. She wasn't certain whether the numbness was worse or when the eyes would open and close. The maid's words were...she couldn't understand. Siena took another shaky breath, head spinning worse than before. Why wasn't it [i]gone[/i] yet? Surely it--

The arm unraveled, peeled away in ribbons of black and red smoke that seemed to waver as though through a heat haze, giving way to the flesh and bone that should have been there. Every conflicting influence muted slightly, but lingering like unwanted guests. The surprise was enough to make Siena lose her focus, her left side buckled, her right side did not. Everything was off, her balance was shot. 

"[color=ff57ff]Lrnmhgh![/color]" ...the fuck was that word? She started to topple.

It worked. Perhaps a bit too well. The maid was unable to do much, merely turning the topple into a more sideways affair with the hand still clutching tightly onto the girl's shoulder.

At least she wouldn't feel it when she landed on her other side.

There had been far too many instances of falling in the time since she'd arrived at the estate, and Siena was a little weary of the sensation. Unlike the previous several though, she had something to gain leverage. Siena shot an arm out, palm hitting the bedframe with bruising force as she tried to keep on her feet. It didn't entirely work, only caused the right leg to buckle, her body hitting the frame with a heavy [i]thud[/i] as she slipped down, shoulder and torso taking the brunt of the blow. A sensation that wasn't quite pain didn't manage to make it to her left side.

The Arbiter leaned against the frame for stability, tried to keep both herself and the maid at least halfway up, one leg like gelatin, the other folded at an awkward angle beneath her, trapped beneath badly distributed weight. Well...she'd probably feel [i]that[/i] in the morning.

The power dissipated and all at once the maid felt exhaustion hit her like a freight train. The hand keeping Siena's shoulder aloft lost its grip. The maid tumbled backwards onto her bottom. [color=f7976a]"Ah, my apologies."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]'re ye--blrgh.[/color]" Siena coughed as though to clear her throat to hide the fact that her tongue had not quite agreed with being commanded yet. She tried again, slower, more deliberate to get the words out instead of a slurred imitation of a word. "[color=ff57ff]A-are you okay?[/color]"

[color=f7976a]"I...will be,"[/color] the servant nodded. It seemed it was the only thing she could do at the moment, thanks to the fatigue wracking her limbs. A shaky hand moved to push herself up but the motion wasn't made quite yet. Embarrassing, really. She just needed a few more moments.

Angel stoo silent throughout the whole process. While she initially was reluctant to have the maid approach Siena, she figured that if she knew what she was doing, then she must've had a power to deal with this situation. And indeed she did, even though the scene unfolding in front of her got her somewhat more worries when Angel saw Siena toppling like a drunkard. Fortunately, it came out for the best, maybe except that bump.

[color=9e0039]"What... did you do to her?"[/color] Angélique inquired as she made her way to the maid to help her up with an extended arm, more out of worry than actual disapproval to see her friend in that state. She waited for the maid to accept her help, expecting her to refuse, given the general behavior of the people around towards Xs.

The maid refused, shaking her head and remaining on the ground. It was unsightly to be helped by a guest. The house staff had an image to uphold. [color=f7976a]"I stopped the pain. Long enough for her...change to fade."[/color]

Angel retracted her arm, giving the woman a respectful nod nonetheless if only to thank her for helping Siena stabilize her powers.
[color=f7976a][i]All the same...[/i][/color] 

Chris slowly entered the room but made sure to keep distance from the others as to avoid taking up too much space. [color=red]"I-is it over? Are you ok SIena?"[/color] The answer was obvious, but Chris needed to be sure at least. With the dangers of what had happened vanishing, Chris's concern gradually faded away and was replaced with his typical emotion-concealing scowl.

"[color=ff57ff]I'm f...ine...[/color]" Sort of. She would be when she found the strength to get back up--first, she had to sort everything out. Or maybe piece together everything that had happened. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]That arm could be useful if you learn to control it.[/color]'[/i] A voice that did not sneer, did not convey more than a simple observation. It was right, but that didn't make the idea any more palatable. Instead, she set the idea aside for later, compartmentalized it in the mass of thoughts that wanted to overwhelm her. Other things to focus on. Her attention drifted toward the maid--[i]a dull, cutting pain that spread over her joints. Another way to ground herself[/i]. 

"[color=ff57ff]Th-Thank you.[/color]" 

The maid brushed herself off and straightened her dress as enough energy finally returned to get her back on her feet. A polite bow to the Arbiter.

[color=f7976a]"It was my pleasure to be of assistance,"[/color] she spoke coolly, betraying nothing of her physical state, [color=f7976a]"Is there anything else I can help with, ma'am?"[/color]

Weren't those words familiar? Not Maya or Gerwulf, but plenty of others that she remembered. 

[i][color=f7976a]The women aren't meant to be seen, the butlers are the ones that take the stage.[/color][/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Um...could I get your name?[/color]" Because she deserved to be more than "that maid" or "the help", even if Siena would have preferred to avoid the servants altogether. 

She nodded. [color=f7976a]"Everyone calls me Linda."[/color]

That was all it took to solidify it. Linda. 

"[color=ff57ff]I'm sorry for all the trouble, Linda.[/color]" Repeated the name, drilled it into her memory. "[color=ff57ff]Th-that should be all we need.[/color]" 

Another nod and another bow, though she paused at the door for one last thing before she departed.

[color=f7976a]"If I may..."[/color] she began cautiously, [color=f7976a]"I know that I can't prevent you from experimenting with your abilities again. However if you do choose to test out that form another time it would be greatly appreciated if you did it closer to the infirmary."[/color]

With that, she was gone.

Watching the maid leave Siena's side, Angélique crouched next to Siena, offering her shoulder to the brunette Arbiter as a crutch to help her stand up and move the girl to her bed. Making sure she looked steady and well, the obsidian-haired Mage moved back from her side, returning to a few feet of distance between herself and her classmate.

[color=9e0039]"Are you well now, Siena?"[/color]

Even if she'd wanted to say something against being pulled up, Siena doubted she would have had the strength or mental fortitude. Another surge of something between bloodlust and...

...remorse? Loneliness? Longing? All three made sense if she thought about it in context with her mark. All three were emotions she didn't want to feel [i]more[/i] of. 

She felt her weight sink into the mattress, and the brunette gave a quiet nod in response, didn't trust that she could voice an affirmation without anything leaking into her voice. 

Angel acknowledged the girl's nod with her own, sighing softly in relief, although the girl's silence was a bit worrying. But considering what happened, she couldn't really blame her for staying quiet. "Alright... well, I suppose everything ended relatively well this time. I... will leave you to rest." 

Hesitantly, Angel stepped back to the door, glancing back at the girls inside the room "Have a good night then."

Marcus was waiting outside the room, a fair distance away, but fortunately right in Angel's path. Fortuntely for him at least, because he wanted to at least get [i]some[/i] information about what went down. At least whether or not Siena was [i]actually[/i] okay, and not whatever she told the maid to make her leave. Plus, he trusted an account from one of his teammates more that one fore the help, despite how rude that sounded in his head.

He turned to stop Angel as she moved past, offering just a three word question: "[color 33ec06]Is Siena okay?[/color]"

Stopped by Marcus, the Aberration turned to him, a blank expression that tried to hide her current feelings on the situation. [color=9e0039]"Is she ever okay? She's stable... for now."[/color] was all that she answered him, her signature whispering swirling around Marcus for him alone. 

Marcus sighed softly, trying to hide the unease he felt with her voice directly in his ear. "[color 33ec06]I can't answer that question.[/color]"

He looked up, putting that thought out of his head. Her mental state was...less important right now; there would be plenty of time for her to decompress and go through all the stages of coping that she needed to. "[color 33ec06]Physically, she's fine though?[/color]" he asked again. For all their arguments, she was still his roommate, and he was still worried about her.

[color=9e0039]"She appears to be okay. That maid apparently stops pain for a moment so... she's probably only tired right now. Nothing threatening I believe."[/color]

"[color 33ec06]Alright.[/color]" Marcus said, looking back towards the door in contemplation. He let a moment pass before he looked back to Angel. "[color 33ec06]Thanks, Angel. For being there for her.[/color]"

Angélique offered a faint reassuring smile to the Arbiter [color=9e0039]"No need to thank me. We're friends, right? It's the least I can do for you guys.[/color]" 

[i]and for what I did to you all.[/i]

With a nod, the raven-haired young woman left to her room. She still needed to take a shower after working out all that sweat at the gym earlier.

Marcus offered a thankful smile in return, watching as Angel walked by. He gave one last look at the door, sighed softly to himself, and made his way back to his room. It was better for him to not be there right now. Siena needed a few days to forgive him, or at least that's what he hoped the outcome would be.[/hider]
[hider=Burn Marks][center]
[h1]Burn Marks[/h1]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/jw3F1O9.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/EqVwCQa.png[/img]

[h2][color=B0C4DE]Brent Roless[/color] | [color=ff57ff]Siena Santana[/color][/h2]
[img]http:// i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img] 
[color=silver]𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟙 // 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 // ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 // ???[/color]
[sub]Collab with...[@ERode][/sub][/center]

[i]Plink plink plink.[/i]

Fingers tapping lightly at the ivory keys, at the onyx platforms that raised above them, the melody that came out the right notes, but feeling stilted despite a brisk, clean pacing. Pressing the keys harder did nothing, increasing the tempo did nothing, everything about the flurry of notes felt...wrong. Siena couldn't help but feel a growing frustration at how off it felt, couldn't help but want to slam her hands into the keys when she heard slender digits land on wrong keys where there wouldn't have been mistakes before. The easiest way she could phrase it was...stiff. Sloppy.

The notes slowed to a stop, and Siena wondered if, maybe, she was remembering the sheet music incorrectly. If she was remembering a performance she used to be capable of giving incorrectly. The brunette sighed, swept her hands through her hair to distract herself from the mounting irritation, and poised her fingers over the keys again. Right. Once more. 

A low, resounding first chord to start her before the right hand started its usual dance. Quickly, quickly, [i]quickly[/i], a gentle crescendo as they skipped over the keys...but it was wrong. Still stilted, even when the notes were right, still oddly stiff, imperfect, and flat until a greater crescendo, and--

[i]'[color=ff57ff]This is still [b]wrong[/b].[/color]'[/i] 

Her hands came to a stop, fingers landing roughly against neighboring notes, a dissonant sound bringing the piece to a screeching halt. Fantaisie-Impromptu indeed. A quiet breath, a sigh, and the Arbiter poised her fingers over the starting keys again.

"[color=ff57ff]C'mon...[/color]"

A melody, a stilted one, was what drew Brent towards the music room. Though robotic and somewhat lacking, the notes were still crisp and clear. Ernie must be practicing for once, instead of doing whatever else he did during the day. Sounded not all that bad as well. Did the rope-boy awaken his talent or something?

Peeking a head in, Brent said, [color=B0C4DE]"Yo, Ern- 'ena."[/color]

Nice and smooooth.

[color=B0C4DE]"Trouble with a new piece?"[/color]

A sudden voice caused Siena to push her fingers into the keys, another dissonant chord that filled the room as the girl lifted halfway off the bench, turned her head to see the owner of said voice. Brent. Not exactly the most graceful presentation to give, but the Arbiter was focused on something else. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Was he about to...?[/color]'[/i]

Wounded pride? A bit, but it could have been worse. Slowly settling back down onto the bench, Siena shifted to face the boy, attention away from the keys. 

"[color=ff57ff]Trouble with an old one, actually.[/color]" 

Did she suspect it? Naw, slip of tongues were common even for a master lecturer like himself. Walking in, the arbiter nodded. [color=B0C4DE]"Mmm, don't remember how it goes anymore?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]I wish.[/color]" At least if she'd forgotten, it was only a matter of looking at the sheet music or listening to the piece to figure it back out. It was something both more fundamental than knowing the notes and at the same time something that most players couldn't quite put together. "[color=ff57ff]Can't seem to play it right. It sounds...boring, I guess?[/color]" 

Not entirely boring, just...[i]wrong[/i].

[color=B0C4DE]"Eh?"[/color] Brent tilted his head to the side. [color=B0C4DE]"Let me listen in on this."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]O-Oh, um...[/color]" A sheepish expression followed by a faint grimace as Siena thought about playing something [i]that[/i] poorly for an audience, even if it was only composed of one person. Instinctively, she wrapped a few strands of hair around her fingertips, this time refraining from pulling. "[color=ff57ff]I'm not sure it'd sound very good.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Don't think of it as a performance then,"[/color] he replied, noting that almost-hair-pulling motion again. Nervous. Uncertain. Unknown territory? [color=B0C4DE]"Think of it as a...counselling session? Not sure how helpful my advice would be, but hey, a second pair of ears might be useful."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]W-well...[/color]" Still uncertain. Sable strings tightened like a noose around pale fingers as Siena considered it. She knew it wasn't likely to improve, and playing through the entire piece, while helpful in technical terms, would likely do little more than aggravate the knowledge that the notes were coming out sounding off. She hesitated a moment longer. "[color=ff57ff]I...suppose that could help.[/color]"

A pause. 

"[color=ff57ff]I'd ask if you wanted to sit, but I guess standing has the merit of a quick walkout.[/color]"

Brent laughed, knowing full well she wasn't joking. [color=B0C4DE]"Yeah, I'll stand. Let's me skip a step in the 'standing ovation' thing, after all. Now, c'mon, Siena."[/color]

[i]Show me your fangs.[/i]

[color=B0C4DE]"Show me your best."[/color]

If only her best was something especially worth showing. 

"[color=ff57ff]Right...[/color]" Turning back to the keys, Siena thought about the piece. The entirety of it, how it should have sounded, how she remembered it being played. [i]Did she even remember whose hands had been the one playing the piece?[/i] Fingers poised, the same chord humming, the same dance, the same...

...the same thing wrong, even as she pushed through the movements, through the final frantic surge, through the quiet ending. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Ugh, I knew it.[/color]'[/i] At least there wasn't much to be disappointed about when she knew it wouldn't magically repair itself in the span of a minute.

[color=B0C4DE]"Yeah..."[/color] It wasn't something that he'd run away cowering from, but it'd definitely be a lie if he were to say that what Siena just farted out with her fingers was 'good'. He had heard robots play with more grace, after all, and almost began to reconsider who was doing the teaching between Siena and Ernie when DC came up again. Right, she did manage to play in a more...relaxed fashion before.

[color=B0C4DE]"Not sure if it's supposed to be that way, but you were totally tensing and speeding up during all that,"[/color] Brent said, nodding, [color=B0C4DE]"You have something else on your mind, 'ena?"[/color]

It seemed like a rhetorical question, but still it seemed to wait for an answer, and there were far to many that she could have given. Something was always on her mind, but it was usually easy to keep them compartmentalized and out of the way. Usually, evidently not being at that moment. Her fingers traced over the keys, lightly, carefully. No sound. 

"[color=ff57ff]You're not about to tell me that you don't, are you?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Naw, got thoughts up here all the time as well, but, well...if you have problems with getting the right tone out..."[/color]

Brent shrugged casually, envisioning just how smooth of an operator he was as he jerked a thumb towards the exit of the music room.

[color=B0C4DE]"How 'bout taking a food break before tackling mental gymnastics and music theory again? Haven't eaten yet, right?"[/color]

It wasn't hard for her to believe that Brent would have constant thoughts. 

[i]Too close.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Ouch, caught red handed.[/color]" Giving a faint smile at the suggestion, Siena couldn't deny that he was right. Forgotten again? She wasn't entirely certain--hunger was hard to process when constantly filled with other emotions. Harder still when there wasn't someone setting the schedule for her, telling her exactly what was expected. Pushing herself to her feet, the girl stretched briefly, felt cramped muscles give a breath of relief, and managed to slip out of her space. "[color=ff57ff]But a food break isn't the worst thing to take.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Mhmm, about time I unveiled my new recipes for your judgement anyways."[/color]

Leading her down the stairs, Brent stylishly slid down the mahogany handrail in a flash of inspiration, landing almost-perfectly before continuing his path through the estate. By now, he was familiar with the schedule of the workers within, and, breaking into the kitchen, the arbiter waved in a friendly manner towards Lisa, who was prepping the marinade for dinner. The subnatural maid didn't respond in particular to that, but he was also used to it. Borrowing a polka-dotted apron and rolling up his sleeves, he started up the stove, opened up the fridge, and said, turning back to Siena, [color=B0C4DE]"Feel free to take a seat and enjoy the cooking show!" [/color]

Like a real pro, he pulled a metal bowl out and spun it fashionably on the tip of his finger, ignoring the fact that it wobbled dangerously.

[color=B0C4DE]"Angelic and Ernie both gave me double-thumbs up, so look forward to the taste explosions, 'ena."[/color]

Keeping up with Brent was...not as easy as it should have been. Between sliding down the handrail and making a quick entrance into the kitchen, it was all Siena could do to ensure that she wasn't too far behind. 

([i]Didn't that seem familiar?[/i])

Watching the bowl precariously wobble on Brent's finger, the girl offered a laugh, but prepared to step back in case it came crashing down. Food was one thing, having an inanimate object attack her head was another. Keeping that particular thought to herself, Siena settled into a spot, taking a glance around the kitchen. She didn't spend much time in the one at the estate, having had her own meals largely prepared by either Maya or whatever chef happened to be deemed trustworthy enough to be carefully watched while preparing a set of dishes for the night. The girl had only really acquainted herself with the facilities after gaining her white mark, and even then, she'd been discouraged from it. Not her place, they'd said. Not her job. 

"[color=ff57ff]Well, hopefully your cooking sense is a little better than your apron choice,[/color]" Siena teased while ignoring thoughts of an old, spacious kitchen that didn't see enough use. "[color=ff57ff]Polka dots? With that outfit? Such a faux pas.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Faux pas?"[/color] Brent quirked an eyebrow as he set the bowl down, before giving the apron a little twirl. Was it really that bad? Of course it wasn't! [color=B0C4DE]"Non, mademoiselle,"[/color] he spoke, utilizing rusty French from what felt like a lifetime ago, [color=B0C4DE]"c'est avant-garde. Tres bien!"[/color]

And with that, the entirety of his French was exhausted. To distract himself from his linguistic failures, the arbiter got to work instead on heating the oil and preparing the batter, setting aside tall glass cups as he cracked eggs and whisked mixtures. As he did so, he asked, [color=B0C4DE]"Right, how were those books anyways, Siena? Got around to finishing them all yet?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Snrk...[/color]" Too late to stop the small peels of laughter from trying to break free, even with both hands clapped over her mouth in a response. Stifling as much of the laughter as she could, the brunette didn't have a chance to try and flex what French she could remember--would it even have been all that useful? Most of it was in relation to so-called "high culture", but what was fashion if not part of that circle? 

As she regained her breath, the girl watched the proceedings with interest--cooking for herself...it would be nice to do that without having to cheat her way through most of it. She made a mental note to look into finding cookbooks before an alarm buzzed in the back of her head--[i]answer[/i]. Right. "[color=ff57ff]O-Oh! Y-Yeah.[/color]" 

[i]After I picked them all up.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]About two trips more worth of them too.[/color]"

Two more trips?

Brent stopped halfway through juggling the wooden spice grinders, bamboozled by SIena's reading speed. [color=B0C4DE]"Wait,"[/color] the arbiter said, [color=B0C4DE]"When did you even find the time to read through all that?"[/color]

Was that what she was doing while flat-out not sleeping? Regaining his own momentum once by with some Hibachi juggling techniques that had was basically pointless in terms of the actual task at hand, the arbiter continued, [color=B0C4DE]"Actually, nevermind that. Found anything recommendable, Master Librarian?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]That depends, how much Russian do you read?[/color]" A half-joking question. The girl thought back about what she [i]had[/i] read, most of it either educational or classical works. Not entirely surprising, if a little disappointing. There were only so many times that one could read the same, tired titles with too-tedious description. "[color=ff57ff]Though they seem to really like Byronic heroes...[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Uh..."[/color] A pause. Keep it cool? Naw. [color=B0C4DE]"Babushka, blin, blyad, vodka," [/color]Brent listed off, as he pulled marinated deer from the metal bowl and began to sear them, three at a time, [color=B0C4DE]"Not enough to make a story out of, eh? And geez, they like those types? Wonder if that's the maids' interest or Zhang's...thoughts?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Women, food, cursing, and drugs? I thought that was the popular thing in media now,[/color]" Siena joked with a slight shrug of her shoulders. It was a vague idea at best, but Siena couldn't claim to know more than those few words when it came to listening to the language. Another mental note to look into trying to listen to the languages as she tried to read them. It would be easier to manage with the suppression cuff on her ankle. "[color=ff57ff]But I guess it might be both? Loads of old classics and all. I'm surprised there's as much foreign stuff as there is.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Grandmothers, pancakes, procreation, and local specialties? Maybe some demented documentary film,"[/color] Brent shot back, flipping the venison onto the raw side with a flick of the wrist. [color=B0C4DE]"Really makes you wonder if all those texts are just for collecting purposes, huh? Can't imagine most people taking an interest in this, unless servitude is the ultimate destination of literature and linguistics degrees."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]I certainly hope it's for collection purposes,[/color]" Siena claimed. "[color=ff57ff]Depressing images aside, there's too much to believe any average person would get through all that.[/color]" Hell, even if she didn't have the suppression cuff, the girl was certain it would have taken quite some time to get through the breadth she'd found in the library. Instinctively, her hand fell to the phone in her pocket, fingers tracing the screen for a moment, thinking of her own abilities. "[color=ff57ff]Even if I cheat, it gets tedious.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Cheat?"[/color] Brent tried to recall what was explained before, but instead, he just flipped a slice of venison onto the table. Lightning quick, his fingers snatched it off and popped it into his mouth, quickly chewing and then swallowing, even as hot juices coated his tongue.

[color=B0C4DE]"Taste test,"[/color] the arbiter said, using tongs to extract the others, [color=B0C4DE]"Definitely not a mistake there. It's really good. You'll like it. So....anyways, you got that super speed reading thing going on too then? Gotta ask, that detract from the fun of reading at all?"[/color]

[i]'[color=ff57ff]D-Doesn't that hurt...?[/color]'[/i] It was the only thought that could really form when she watched Brent put what was probably a [i]piping hot[/i] piece of meat into his mouth. A few blinks, a small nod of acknowledgement that Siena didn't quite process in response to the claim of a taste test. That certainly did not go without some sort of injury. 

...but it was probably better [i]not[/i] to bring that up. 

"[color=ff57ff]Hm...I don't think it does.[/color]" Because it wasn't quite like skimming over things or reading without considering anything. "[color=ff57ff]I don't miss anything, and it goes as quickly as I can process it, so I guess it's kind of like reading as quickly as you can think instead of having to process the words.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Waow, so you get a whole six-hours of satisfaction within minutes?"[/color] Brent whistled, sticking the slices of meat on a skewer before wrapping partially melted slices of cheese around it. [color=B0C4DE]"Sounds pretty winning, if you ask me. The same work for comics?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Sort of?[/color]" Giving a faint shrug of her shoulders, the girl thought about it. Transcriptions of comics were easy, but unlike words, pictures didn't have quite the same quickness. "[color=ff57ff]The dialogue gets through faster than the pictures. It's kind of like reading subtitles on a movie before the actors say the lines. Still faster than usual, but not as fast as if I read the comic script instead.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Mind boggling stuff,"[/color] he nodded, pulling the cheese-wrapped venison kebab out of the batter mix. Letting the excess batter drip out, the arbiter transferred it to the hot oil quickly. One done. [color=B0C4DE]"So basically, comics would just be straight up confusing for you then? Reading the future before seeing it and all?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]I wouldn't say entirely confusing...[/color]" Though it certainly wasn't as enjoyable as being able to push through words, that was undeniable. It was something that Siena was starting to realize that she'd taken for granted--she'd never thought twice about the entire experience of reading after discovering that particular aspect of her power. It had always been pushing forward to read more to gain a larger pool more than finding pleasure after that. "[color=ff57ff]Inconvenient would be a little closer to the mark. Piecing it together is clumsier and slower, but comics are usually simple enough that the difference isn't too bad.[/color]"

Which, in the end, was more important, wasn't it?

"[color=ff57ff]I hadn't really thought of it that much before though.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Have you just been, well...speed reading the entire time? No 'curl up by the hearth with a kettle of hot chocolate and a thick book'?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Um...yeah, I guess I have.[/color]" The words weren't an entirely pleasant revelation for Siena to come across. Her gaze fell slightly, a faint furrow of the brow the most that she allowed through the filters. The expression was gone as quickly as it had come, and her attention returned to the cooking process. "[color=ff57ff]It's weird to think about it that way.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Mmm, ever tried turning it off?"[/color] That should be long enough. Pulling the corndog out of the hot oil, Brent patted down the excess oil with a paper towel, presenting it to Siena. [color=B0C4DE]"Try this out, 'ena. Got Angelic excited enough that she thought I could run a restaurant with this alone."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]W-well...no, not really.[/color]" Another revelation that Siena could have gone without, but it was quickly pushed aside by the presentation of-- "[color=ff57ff]Th-thanks! Um...a corndog, right?[/color]"

It didn't really [i]look[/i] the same in the strictest sense of the word, but the general composition seemed about right. Meat, cheese, a type of breaded coating...maybe it was some new variation of it? Memories of choking on the previous one came to mind. Not exactly the most welcoming of thoughts, but it wasn't as though the flavor had been unpleasant. Cautiously taking the food by the stick, Siena could feel the residual heat rolling off of the freshly fried item. 

"[color=ff57ff]Well, now that you've given it such high reviews...[/color]" Siena chuckled, quietly acknowledging that it certainly smelled better than the previous incarnation that he'd brought. That said, it certainly smelled better than anything that either Maya or Gerwulf had ever managed to put together on their own. Without giving herself time to think further, the girl took a careful bite, scalded her tongue a bit, but was otherwise found herself pleasantly surprised at the onset of flavor. Savory, warm, but not lacking in texture. Better, by far, than her usual fare. Pulling the skewer away led only to a few strings of cheese stretching, then drooping precariously. 

"[color=ff57ff]Mnps...![/color]" A muffled attempt of "oops" and a quick motion to try and clear the strands, which did little more than transfer the cheese from the air onto her fingers. 

[i]Smooth.[/i]

"Oh, here," Brent leaned forward with a towel, gingerly taking Siena's hand and wiping the melted cheese off. WIth one hand occupied and enough dining manners to probably not lick the cheese off her fingers herself, his action was obviously the most practical one, right?

[i]'[color=ff57ff]U-Um...![/color]'[/i]

The sound did not manage to make it out of Siena's throat. Not that the contact was odd for her, far from it, but that had been with [i]servants[/i]. People that were paid to do things like that to keep her from being unsightly, not with her peers. Immediately, her mind reeled back, thought to lessons with Maya about how to use small actions, little twists and turns of the phrase coupled with the faintest brushes to evoke certain emotions. To [i]control[/i] a situation. 

It was easier to think of the action in that light, so she did exactly that. 

"[color=ff57ff]O-Oh, th...thanks.[/color]" Swallowing her breath and choking it with a smile, Siena sorted the emotional response into its appropriate place. Better to think of it the same way that she would have used the action. 

[color=B0C4DE]"No problem,"[/color] Brent waved, settling back to the task of preparing the next variety of corndogs, [color=B0C4DE]"Finish it off and tell me what you think, eh?"[/color]
[hr]
One round had been easy enough. Simple, not too strenuous, and not more than what Siena usually went for. Two had been plenty for her small frame and typical habits. Three had reached a limit--not entirely uncomfortable, but she wouldn't have enjoyed more. At three rounds, Siena doubted she could take more, had hoped that Brent was done offering her skewers of meat. Hell, she hadn't even finished the third one--only halfway through, and the girl had to come to the decision that she couldn't 

That said, Siena had still willed herself to at least try the last one. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Too full...[/color]'[/i] The thought was unfortunately more vocal than the ones about enjoying the sweet, creamy flavor that coated her tongue, an odd cacophany of hot and cool. Taking the first bite was probably a mistake--no choice but to finish it now.

"[color=ff57ff]Do people really eat this much?[/color]" 

Wow. She actually was packing it away. Though Angelic had scarfed it down within minutes, and Siena looked like she was about to burst after the third one, it was still remarkable, seeing her eat that much. Compared to salads and all that weak, vegetarian garbage, he'd have half-expected her to turn away the food in fear of gaining weight...which would have been a good thing regardless.

[color=B0C4DE]"They're a bit bigger than normal,"[/color] Brent admitted, [color=B0C4DE]"But I've seen people pack away 4 corndogs at a time quite easily. And that's not even considering how much people can eat in, you know, All You Can Eat sushi joints. Maybe you're just used to being half-starved?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]F-f...four of them...[/color]" [i]Easily.[/i] She could feel her stomach turn at the thought of trying to eat four, regretted thinking about it, and then regretted so much as imagining the idea of eating more than that. Motivations aside, there were some things that Siena simply couldn't feasibly do. And here she was with one half eaten one and another with a bite taken out of it and neither anywhere close to fitting into her already packed stomach. "[color=ff57ff]I think being half-starved is--w-wait, a...all you can eat...sushi?[/color]" 

[color=B0C4DE]"You gonna finish those? If not, I can,[/color]" Brent offered, eyeing what remained still. What gave him pause, though, was Siena's surprise at AYCE sushi. Wasn't that fairly common? There were pricey variations of that, after all, places that charged $30 to $50 per person, so...

[color=B0C4DE]"Uh, yeah, all you can eat sushi,"[/color] the arbiter said, [color=B0C4DE]"Like...you know?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]O-Oh, thanks.[/color]" Siena took the offered escape from inevitable stomach rupturing, offering the remaining skewers before having to pause herself. Another thing she didn't know. It was like McDonald's all over again. A flicker of something between confusion and embarrassment that she just as quickly smothered out.

"[color=ff57ff]E-er...[/color]" No. She didn't know. Her experience with sushi itself was limited, having only had it a grand total of two times, both times by the same chef and both times with omakase service. The bill, as she had learned later, had run higher than the normal fare. Not exactly something that she would think could urn a profit in any "all you can eat" settings. "[color=ff57ff]W-well, um...[/color]" [i]No. Not at all.[/i]

Wait...huh?

[color=B0C4DE]"Like, alright,"[/color] Brent nodded, taking some time to finish off the fried ice cream dog first, [color=B0C4DE]"It's basically like this. All You Can Eat sushi is where they replace quality with quantity. You pay a fee right off the bat, get two hours on your table, and order whatever the hell you want. You eat all that until you hopefully got more than your money's worth, and then you leave. Pretty simple, yah?"[/color]

A pause.

[color=B0C4DE]"Pretty sure Crimen Culpae has a place like that. I'll show you some time! Really, you haven't lived until you tried it at least once."[/color]

Quantity over quality didn't exactly seem like the wisest idea when it came to eating anything raw, but as long as it was safe, then Siena didn't quite have anything to complain about. The statement was enough to have everything else click into place. Removing the cost of a personal chef, for one thing, as well as cuting away the cost of ingredients, increasing the volume of customers--[i]including the ones like you?[/i]--and it all made that much more sense.

"[color=ff57ff]Er...somehow I feel like that'd be a poor investment on my part.[/color]" Half-joking, but entirely plausible. Eating more than what she'd already had so far? In one sitting? Impossible. "[color=ff57ff]Getting my money's worth in that situation sounds like a pipe dream for me.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"No worries, your stomach's probably just shrivelled up," [/color]Brent replied airily, tossing in random pseudo-science. [color=B0C4DE]"I'm sure if you regularly eat normal amounts of food, you eventually be able to pack more in there. And after that, you can totally squeeze value out of a $15 fee!"[/color]

[i]'[color=ff57ff]I think my stomach is the least of my worries there.[/color]'[/i] But she didn't voice that particular thought. Didn't want to relive memories of being taught precisely how to eat. Precisely how much to eat. Precisely how to make herself all the more a lady while Gerwulf observed the etiquette lessons with an expression that made it clear he didn't entirely approve. 

Said lessons were useful at that moment, as Siena painted a smile on her face at the suggestion. A light teasing note entering her voice--was it wise to remind herself? It didn't matter.

"[color=ff57ff]Is that a not-so-subtle way of suggesting I go off the water-into-air diet?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Made it real easy for me before,"[/color] the arbiter said, remembering Wisford once more, [color=B0C4DE]"But yeah, the more I think about it, the more I'm like...'yo, 'ena, you're my size except half my weight. That's hella unhealthy, ain't it?' So hm, probably would help if you replaced air with meat. Not gonna have to fit in corsets any time soon, princess."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]With no one to help tie it from behind? Perish the thought.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"'No one'?"[/color] Brent quirked a brow. [color=B0C4DE]"Your Highness, though this will surely be an arduous test of my character, if you ask of me to break your ribs with that infernal waist-slimming device for the sake of fashion, I will most definitely abide."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]For the sake of fashion? Is that what the newest beachwear is? Broken ribs and too many layers to count?[/color]" It was hard to keep any semblance of a straight face, but Siena was better at playing a part than most. "[color=ff57ff]You learn something new every day.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Gotta make sacrifices to remain fab, 'ena,"[/color] Brent replied, giving his polka-dots apron another twirl.

"[color=ff57ff]I don't think a [i]tan[/i] is something I need to sacrifice.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Well, Winter's coming soon,"[/color] he grinned, [color=B0C4DE]"Better grab that tan before all this sun's replaced by sleet and snow."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Then I suppose it's a good thing that someone is trying to organize a beach party.over the weekend.[/color]" [i]Step back.[/i] Siena did just that, let herself take a step away from being too comfortable. [i]You aren't supposed to care.[/i] She kept the same, playful tone. "[color=ff57ff]You think we'll be snowed out of that?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"A beach party is still a beach party with or without the sun,"[/color] Brent said, [color=B0C4DE]"And hey, if it comes to that, I'm sure we have enough of a variety of powers to make an outdoors sauna, so it's not like your swimsuit debut will be wasted."[/color]

[i]Her what?[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]My swimsuit debut?[/color]" The idea was vaguely alarming, but she kept it off her face as best as possible. Sure, her swimsuit was up to Maya's standards, but Siena's confidence was nowhere near her caretaker's. "[color=ff57ff]I think a summer dress is just as good for the beach.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Wouldn't the dress get wet in the water though?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]...do...do I have to get in the water?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Isn't that the while point of beach parties? Why else would you go to a beach to party?"[/color]

A flash of anxiety, a harsh mental acknowledgement that she didn't know exactly what to expect at a beach party. That being at the beach had been a one-time ordeal, and that had been effectively marked with stomping out anything before it could start. Not supposed to care. 

"[color=ff57ff]Atmosphere? The ocean's nice to look at.[/color]"

Real smooth.

[color=B0C4DE]"Are you afraid of water or something?"[/color]

There was something else down there, a flicker that had not gone unnoticed, but he wasn't here to pick at scabs. Not today.

No. Swimming was easy, she'd done that comfortably in the early morning hours when she doubted anyone would be awake. It would be hard to keep that facade up in the future. Her fingers tangled themselves into loosely hanging hair. Twist, tighten, hold. 

"[color=ff57ff]Not exactly...[/color]" A fake grimace here, likely only believable because she had something else to grimace about. "[color=ff57ff]A lot of 'don't go into the ocean' stories and all.[/color]"

Weren't there also stories about Stranger Danger that people no longer heeded when they were grown? Or stories of the dangers of being outdoors at all? Razors in Halloween candy? Stories that basically told kids to give up on a fun experience and just be docile little flesh puppets?

But there may have been a simpler explanation for Siena's wariness of the ocean. It was more dangerous than a pool, and she was going to be in a group of people who may not be all that chopper. Perhaps the trepidation there then, laid in the fact that her sources may be damaged while frolicking in salt water.

In that case then...

[color=B0C4DE]"Fine fine, I guess you can build sand castles or split watermelons or stuff like that,"[/color] Brent grumbled, faking a pout. [color=B0C4DE]"Suppose the fair skin of the princess does not deserve to be scarred by the Sun's lecherous gaze after all."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]You sound like you're disappointed in that outcome. Is getting in the water [i]that[/i] important?[/color]" The question was only half-joking. Would it have been unsightly to show up in a summer dress to a beach party? Would it have been an insult? There were too many questions that Siena didn't know the answer to, too many possibilities that were worse than having to fake being comfortable for a few hours out of the day. [i]Keep smiling.[/i] "[color=ff57ff]I'm not going to be the odd one out, am I?[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"I'm not sure who else would go into it wearing a summer dress specifically," [/color]Brent said, [color=B0C4DE]"But I'm fairly certain that not everyone who wears a swimsuit there will actually get in the water."[/color]

[color=B0C4DE]"It's like, you know, just a dress code sorta deal? But not really? ...hm, perhaps it's just for showing off? So not totes necessary, but hey, if ya got it, flaunt it."[/color]

Hair grew taut, started to snap as her fingers tangled themselves more eagerly. She most certainly did not [i]have it[/i] to flaunt. A coat, clothes more suited for grabbing the eye, a regimen of putting herself together in front of the mirror in the hours before anyone woke--wasn't it all to cover the fact that no, she did not [i]have it[/i]? 

She kept smiling, felt it trying to falter and slip through her fingers like a name she was starting to lose. 

"[color=ff57ff]I guess that makes sense.[/color]" The idea of heading to the party was starting to sound less and less appealing with each passing thought. Maybe she wouldn't be missed if she didn't make an appearance--she'd certainly managed to alienate herself from most of the people that might have cared, after all. [i]You're not supposed to care.[/i] The Arbiter did her best to keep the casual, friendly tone. "[color=ff57ff]I didn't think typical parties still had a dress code.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Mob mentality,"[/color] Brent replied, shrugging, [color=B0C4DE]"And Hollywood stereotypes. Beach parties probably take the form of guys with six-packs wearing speedos, while girls with hourglass figures wear bikinis. The common image, I guess."[/color]

But he noted that habit once more. Pulling. Nervous? Feeling the pressure of the situation? Or something deeper? An issue of self-esteem then? That sounded likely to people who wallowed in self-loathing, didn't it? Ah, he fucked up once more. Somehow, his friendship with Siena, this codependent relationship, had just transformed into a mountain full of landmines. No terrain. Just goddamn landmines.

Which meant he'd have to learn how to fly, huh?

[color=B0C4DE]"But,"[/color] the arbiter continued, leaning forward on the stove, [color=B0C4DE]"y-"[/color]

A mistake. He leaned on the stove, one hand for stability while the induction stove was still [i]hot[/i].

[color=B0C4DE][b]"OH FUCK!"[/b][/color]

"[color=ff57ff][i]Shit[/i].[/color]"

Before she could think, Siena could feel her hand wrenching from its place, her body moving before her head registered the words. One hand already in her pocket, cellphone flicked on, sources already flickering by in rapid succession before a tap on a bookmark led her to a specific name, eyes darting down to view the words, the circle coming to life, crimson bleeding into grey until it took over entirely, the typical detachment accompanied it as the letters peeled from their place, settling onto her neck.

"[color=ff57ff]Jesus, Brent.[/color]" The words were quiet, the smile gone, a film of concern more real than she wanted it to be. "[color=ff57ff]Let me see.[/color]"

A wince. It was just a burn. He had been shot before and didn't cry out like that. He had a gun vaporize in his hand and didn't cry out like that. It was the surprise, really. It wasn't really the pain that caused it. Brent wasn't that weak, and the injury couldn't have been that bad.

[color=B0C4DE]"No, no, I'm fine, really."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Yeah, right, I think I'll be the judge of that.[/color]" Crimson eyes flicked up instinctively, locked for a moment onto amethyst ones before Siena [i]remembered[/i]. Not hers. She flicked them away, focused instead on the hand. It was a different feeling, not having a route to take for manipulation. [i]She used to reach for the injuries, held them still until someone showed up with medicine. After the mark, she'd stopped. They both had.[/i] "[color=ff57ff]It won't hurt to let me see it.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"...alright."[/color]

Removing the hand from his chest, Brent brought it forward, doing his best to not show the pain that throbbed even now. Around the base of his thumb was red flesh, angry, skin burned off. It looked pretty bad after all, huh? But even at that point, the arbiter nodded.

[color=B0C4DE]"See? Not that bad."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Do all males have to play tough?[/color]" She refrained from mentioning how easy it was to [i]sense[/i] the pain with her mark on her side. How easy it was to imagine each furious throb, each numbing sting despite not actually feeling it. Instead, her eyes swept over the injury. Not life-threatening, of course, but still painful. She'd picked the wrong name to start, but it had been instinct. Usually, injuries weren't minor ones. "[color=ff57ff]Well, for the time being, let me just...[/color]"

Carefully, she let herself mold the sensation that prickled at the corner of her consciousness, felt it like warmth that didn't belong to her. [i]Leave sensation, take away pain.[/i] Such a tricky maneuver, even with all her practice. Little by little, the bookworm siphoned the pain away, left only the sensation--it was so much easier when there was nothing else to focus on. Just what she was good at. [i]How many times had she done this before?[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]It's not much for healing, so don't poke at it.[/color]" And already Siena was tapping through the sources on her phone, seeking something that was [i]better[/i] than what she was so familiar with. "[color=ff57ff]'m sure I've got someone that can fix that in here.[/color]"

That brought an unexpected laugh out of Brent. It [i]was[/i] a manly, wasn't it, to hide pain and spurn treatment. But that wasn't it.

[color=B0C4DE]"No,"[/color] the arbiter said, watching her eyes scan the injury dutifully, her own gaze siphoning away the pain until all that remained was a strange numbness, a void where the throbbing would be, [color=B0C4DE]"It's just something I do."[/color]

A mistake, but seeing this side of Siena, one that immediately sprang into action...dammit, he'll have to put his own best foot forward now. Keeping his hand palm-up, Brent waited for the continuation of her treatment, enamored by that focus tinged with desperation, set in with crimson.

[color=B0C4DE]"What a pretty telegraph."[/color]

[i]There's the one.[/i] She'd never been much good at healing others, finding regenerative abilities bestowed on her own body to be more effective at removing injuries without issue. Of course, the ones that were capable of more never stuck around for long enough to fully heal a serious wound, but it wasn't as though she was trying to heal someone's arm from falling off. Well, as long as sh--

[i]'[color=ff57ff]H-Huh?[/color]'[/i]

Siena blinked once in surprise at Brent's comment, but didn't allow her focus to break for longer than that. Time for questions later. Instead, a faint, purple glow settled in its usual formation, a name she didn't [i]like[/i] being able to pull settling in its place on her neck, the crimson from her right eye seeming to drain away into gold. [i]Odd, Siena thought in the back of her head. This mark had grey eyes, but the eyes had always turned up gold.[/i] Skonos had been the first one to drag Siena into realizing how much it [i]hurt[/i] to care more than she should have. 

How bitterly fitting it was that of all the true healers in her collection, Siena had only ever settled comfortably into the one that couldn't fix herself.

With no time to spare on the thought, the girl had the second ability set to work, tapping into the ability of the flesh to mend itself. The work was slower than usual--no doubt a result of carrying Victor's name beside Sara's own--but it held steady under Siena's guide. Small injuries were easy. The only thing she really knew she could fix. 

From crimson to gold, her eyes continued to shift and melt, a chameleon-esque transformation that was fascinating to behold. It really was hypnotizing, how much attention such an easily overlooked detail could draw once it was actually noticed. And, as that new 'power' took hold, he could feel it a bit more distinctively now. Fatigue building up from the rest of his body, his own energy drained to regenerate the tissue lost due to the injury. There was no doubt a proper way to do it, one that wouldn't leave a scar, but this bubbling of the flesh, this sewing of the skin, this was worth remembering.

Not that he could forget how gross that looked. In a way, he may have even preferred drinking Christmas's blood instead of watching this occur over the span of minutes.

But when the healing was done, leaving only a small red mark where his skin had initially made contact with the stove, Brent retracted his hand and marvelled at it. There was still that strange sensation of a phantom pain, as if his own mind couldn't comprehend that the wound disappeared so quickly, but the arbiter could deal with that easily enough.

[color=B0C4DE]"Thanks, 'ena."[/color]

There was more to be said, but he had already blurted out enough crap to last the day.

"[color=ff57ff]I-it was nothing.[/color]" [i]Lie.[/i] Skonos had never been [i]nothing[/i], and though she'd been able to silence Victor's heart, it had not been so easy to do so with Sara. It left her drained in more aspects than one. Fatigue was easy enough to set aside, but [i]everything else.[/i] Bitterness, frustration, betrayal, [i]that damnable affection that couldn't attach itself to anything.[/i] Not hers. 

She'd never liked healing. 

And they were gone. First Skonos, then Victor almost immediately after, colors escaping from her eyes, leaving it with the usual, waiting grey. Left with what remained, Siena gave a small shrug of her shoulders, hid away what it would cost her later. "[color=ff57ff]Being able to do anything isn't so great if you can't do something this minor.[/color]"

If he blinked, he'd have missed it, so he didn't blink. It was another alluring shift of colors, crimson-gold transforming back into storm-gray as her power receded, Siena back to being...Siena. [color=B0C4DE]"But you can do something this minor, as well as a whole host of not-so-minor things,"[/color] Brent smiled, [color=B0C4DE]"So you are pretty great after all. Infinite versatility and endless combinations."[/color]

A pause. This wasn't envy, not really. He made his peace with his own limitations some time back.

[color=B0C4DE]"Compared to just objects and all, yah know?"[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]It's...[/color]" Not that great. Tiring. Draining. More pain than it was worth. "[color=ff57ff]...only as useful as I can make it.[/color]" A weak smile, a truth that managed to wrench free before she could stop it. "[color=ff57ff]I think I'd probably be better with objects than names.[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Sounds like that applies to any power."[/color]

A longer pause. Digesting that fragment. A reveal that he already understood. She had shared such a sentiment before, hadn't she? Lost track of herself in the identities she took to rein in so many different powers. Must have thought that objects were so much similar. Unthinking and immobile. Clearly defined and utterly truthful. Black and whites instead of a gallery of grays.

[color=B0C4DE]"It's difficult in its own way,[/color]" Brent replied, looking off to the side, [color=B0C4DE]"Sorry for making you use it though, considering how uncomfortable it seems for you."[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Hm? It was nothing.[/color]" She reiterated the lie, knew that saying it out loud made it easier for her to believe. Carefully, she imitated the best attempt at a reassuring smile she could give. "[color=ff57ff]You could hardly [i]make[/i] me use it. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't have.[/color]"

It was something. And that smile was something too close to his own. What, would she repeat it until it [i]was[/i] real, and lose what she had before? Once again, Brent found himself on the edge. And once again, he recalled that night with Marcus, looking out by the balcony, unwilling to dig closer.

And once again, he pushed forwards, ever so slightly.

[color=B0C4DE]"Are you sure it was nothing?"[/color] Nothing but concern. Concern and an ugly, black doubt.

The inquiry was different. She didn't need any god-given or carefully cultivated prowess in reading people to be able to feel it. It was too precise, the question that she didn't have a [i]real[/i] answer prepared for. Siena knew the best she could do was continue to offer platitudes about it. Certainly. It was nothing. Absolutely. [i]All worthless answers.[/i] It brought it a surge of emotions that Siena hadn't been able to set aside, and her breath caught. Too many at once. All at once, a conflicting desire to detach and another to stay. 

Was it a mistake?

"[color=ff57ff]I'm sure.[/color]" [i]Liar.[/i] She tried to find an easier distraction. "[color=ff57ff]It's not like you had me regrow your finger or anything.[/color]"

Brent closed his eyes. This was just a blink. A [i]reset[/i]. He opened them once more, and the reality of the situation didn't change at all.

[color=B0C4DE]"Alright,"[/color] he found himself saying, no plans on diving further, [color=B0C4DE]"Just making sure. Real though, at that point, I may as well just crawl over to Sander and ask him if I could get some of Christmas's HP pots."[/color]

He found himself laughing as always, peals naturally proliferating. So mutual trust still only got so far, huh? They weren't close enough to share their traumas without turning to violence, and they weren't close enough to believe that the other would just accept a fault if it was exposed.

[color=B0C4DE]"Welp, I'll make sure never to burn myself with my own stupidity again, 'ena, even if it's no real problem for you."[/color]

Didn't mean he was going to fold though.

[i]'[color=ff57ff]He doesn't believe you.[/color]'[/i] [i]I'm not blind.[/i] [i]'[color=ff57ff]Certainly not smart.[/color]'[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]I don't suggest making it a regular thing, but people are allowed to make mistakes.[/color]" Just not [i]her[/i]...but she didn't count, and she never really had as far as her surroundings had gone. The expression faltered as Siena desperately pushed the brewing storm into its place. Things she could figure out later. "[color=ff57ff]Besides, how else am I supposed to get easy practice healing?[/color]"

Something nearly broke. Cracks on the inside that tried to spread to the out. [i]Not hers[/i], she reminded herself. 

[color=B0C4DE]"That's certainly one way to look at it,"[/color] Brent laughed. The wrong way. Their powers didn't increase just through training and constant usage. His own limitations proved that a long time ago. [color=B0C4DE]"Doesn't mean I'll be coming to you for every cut and scrape though! Boys gotta be tough and all."[/color]

The cracks spread, and she knew she couldn't hold them much longer. If they managed to reach the mask--[i]'[color=ff57ff]It's over.[/color]'[/i] Siena smoothed the mask, did her best to hold every warring thought at bay. A fight or flight response took hold, a violent, icy grip that pierced into her. [i]Shouldn't have taken both.[/i] 

"[color=ff57ff]I guess I should have expected as much from you.[/color]" The words came out more stable than she'd expected--a boon, perhaps, from the usual hollow gouges that Victor left in his wake. "[color=ff57ff]In any case, I should probably check if I actually have anything I can wear to a beach.[/color]"

[i]What the fuck kind of excuse was that?![/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Or if I can still fit in them after all that food.[/color]" A poor distraction, but the cracks were spreading fast, and she needed to stop, [i]ground herself[/i]. Her weight shifted back slightly as Sara's weight pushed down on her. Another hefty crack.

A sigh and a tired smile.

[color=B0C4DE]Yeah, go get 'em, 'ena. Willing to bet you'd look good in anything."[/color]

A dark doubt that rose in the back of the girl's head that she didn't voice in favor of an escape route. Her gaze turned away momentarily before the response came. 

"[color=ff57ff]U-Um, thanks for the vote of confidence.[/color]" It was one more than usual. Siena flashed the last smile she could. Any longer, and she would be stuck sorting through everything out in the open. "[color=ff57ff]I'll see you later, Brent.[/color]"

And she turned tail like a coward.[/hider]