Some people are used to stepping between worlds. Some people accept it as a matter of course, a simple step sideways where a normal person sees only forward and back
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Descant just so happened to be walking by the rift room when he heard the screaming in his head, somehow louder because he's closer to the source. Somehow, despite the fact that his head feels like it's about to split open, he manages one sarcastic utterance, "Goddammit, are those angels ever on duty?"
And then his inner sense of chivalry and a desire not to have his head explode take over and he ducks into the room. He won't deny it hurts being this close to this young girl currently on the floor, clutching her head with her voice echoing painfully in in his head, but he can take it... Or pretend to anyway.
"Hey, darling? You might wanna cut the mind-screaming to a dull roar, please?" He says, surprisingly calm despite having to yell over something that only exists in his head.
She barely hears the words. They're there, yes, but secondary to the roar of everyone and everything in her head - which, of course, only got louder when she started yelling at them, because now they're all confused and upset. It's a vicious circle, but she's at least smarter than to yell at them more. Her head is killing her, though.
And when she notices someone approaching her - more feels than sees or hears, to be truthful - her first instinct is to lash out, murmuring a spell. The words are softer now as they echo through various minds, but still very much impossible to ignore. And the spell... does absolutely nothing. Just words. Which is just as well, because if it had worked, it could have hurt the man very, very badly.
Kara whimpers and scoots back on the floor until her back hits the couch, knees drawn up to her chest, forehead pressed to her knees. It's been years, decades, at least, since anything hurt this much. It scares her.
"You shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here, and... oh God, please get out." She doesn't mean
( ... )
He’s no expert on magic, especially not magic from other worlds, but he knows a spell when he hears one, and he’s silently grateful that whatever power the rift possesses decided not to let the magic through along with her
( ... )
She tenses automatically when he takes her wrists in his hands, glancing up briefly and starting to pull one hand away to hit him. And when a hunter hits someone, they tend to go down and stay down. She thinks better of it after a second, though, and relaxes a bit.
Kara's hand shifts in his, as she laces her fingers through his and fairly clings to his hand like a lifeline. She closes her eyes again, and slumps forward a little, her entire body shuddering, each breath slow and pained, but through that, she manages to murmur softly, "You're not very bright, you know."
Everyone in the hotel's going to be hearing her half of the conversation until she manages to get a grip on herself, though at least now she's not screaming in people's heads. Baby steps.
Ricky has been in the room with the rift since he left the cafeteria. He won't admit why he's been here so long. It's not as if the rift could ever... well. It's stupid to even think about. So he doesn't. Really.
The girl that enters takes him by surprise. He doesn't move at first, because he can't. He's not equipped for this. Where are the angels that helped him out?
The sound in his head is unlike anything he's ever heard before. It's beyond frightening. It forces him to his feet and he stumbles back and forth, helplessly in place. Towering over everything as always and he's scared, but it's like with his little brother in thunderstorms or when dad used to get too drunk to walk straight.
Force the fear back and be strong.
"What's wrong?" He kneels, so he's not towering as much. "W- what can I do?"
It takes a second or two for Kara to realize he's there, through the shouting of everyone else in the building in her head. But it's a different thing, the sound of thoughts and the sound of actual spoken words.
So after a minute, she looks up and meets his eyes, though her hands are still clasped over her ears. Her eyes are dark and strangely old for someone who looks barely seventeen, and when they capture Ricky's gaze, they hold it.
Kara focuses in on his thoughts. One mind. Just one, and if she focuses hard enough, it can drown out all the others for just long enough for her to build some walls. Maybe. It might not be all that fun for him in the meantime, though, as she walks among his thoughts and memories. She'll apologize later, if she thinks of it.
Ricky doesn't get it. It's not that he's not smart, but he's never experienced anything like this before and he can't for the life of him, associate this pain with her. She looks so hurt and focused, but- Suddenly the memories he thought he'd done such a good job of burying hit him full force, more bright and vibrantly than ever before.
Drunken father watching television.
Taking care of his little brother, fixing the kid macaroni and cheese out of the kraft box, and the fire that started in the kitchen, because of it. Trying to put it out.
Feeling like a freak, a monster. Too tall, towering over his teachers and mother at a much younger age than he should be towering over her.
His little brother and the gun and the shot and all that fucking blood and-
You're gonna have to take the blame for this one, Ricky.
Kara gasps a little, letting out a little pained whimper - but it's a specific pain, not something that's all-encompassing and impossible to sort out, from the brains of hundreds of people.
She reaches out and rests her hand on his shoulder, and his thoughts flare brighter in her mind with the physical contact. The other minds are fading, slowly, into the background.
And she still doesn't look away from his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she murmurs softly, and very sincerely. "I'm very sorry, I just... need you."
Remus had been thinking about daring the outside world. The world he's yet to really explore on his own since his arrival. Yet, the tremor he could feel in his mind stops him, almost shakes him.
He's used to these sorts of things, so at first he thinks it might just be the beast that is welling up stronger everyday within him. He thinks it might be the wolf rising and fighting against his human mind, but it is only when he sees the frightened girl that he approaches, wincing and hissing in pain as she continues.
"Oi, calm down, calm down..." He's speaking softly, gently. He has warmth (despite the pain) in his eyes and voice.
Hopefully, she can't hear the roar of the beast in the back of his mind. Because her voice has made it a little more hostile than normal.
Oh, she can. All too well, and the closer he gets, the louder it does. Contrary to logic and... well... sanity, it doesn't frighten her the way it should.
Instead, she looks up with a momentary expression of bafflement and wonder, her eyes searching his. "You have to go," she murmurs, and again, her words race through the minds of everyone in the hotel, almost deafening. "We all do. We've been terribly misplaced."
Remus is almost a little surprised when she stares so deeply into his eyes. It's vaguely unsettling, but he tries to put it out of mind.
"If we could, we would, I'm sure. I've been told we cannot return." He winces again as her words find his mind, but he tries to ignore it, tries to ignore the wolf that stirs wildly at the sound.
Reaching out, he'll place a hand against her shoulder, "Why... don't we get you to the Doctor, eh?"
She laughs softly at that and shakes her head, a little calmer than before, but not exactly a real laugh nevertheless.
"Doctor's no good. Not for me. Long dead, just don't know it yet. The brain knows, but the heart and blood and lungs... They're slow to get the message."
Regulus had been wandering by the Rift room, he thought about it a lot. Wondering if his magic would shield him from the harmful effects, but probably not. This was something more than his brand of magic. Sighing, he hugged his knees close to his chest. He really did miss being home, even if he faced a world of problems.
He started when a girl spilled out of the Rift. He stared at her in shock, not sure what to do. It was silent for a millisecond before he heard screaming in his head. He covered his ears, knowing it wasn't going to really help and tried to focus on putting up his mental barriers. He was glad Severus forced him to learn Occlemency. It didn't get the shouts completely out of his head, but it dulled them to the point of being bearable.
Kara lifts her head to give him an annoyed and slightly condescending glare. "I'm not shouting," she growls fiercely, and the angry words roll through the hotel inhabitant's heads like thunder. "Inside voices only, but this is inside of the inside. And inside-inside voices are loud..."
The last is said in a half-whimper. She's as frightened by this as everyone else is.
Regulus winces as his mental barriers crumble momentarily and he quickly focuses all his energy on rebuilding them before replying, "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his head throbbing with the effort of muffle the noise. "I've had people in my head before and it's usually quieter and more evil."
Kara's still eying him like she thinks him deeply stupid. With her hands still over her ears. She really doesn't need to hear his words to know what he's saying, because his brain is so much closer than those of everyone else in her head.
"How do you know I'm not?"
She means how does he know she's not evil. We think.
Comments 41
And then his inner sense of chivalry and a desire not to have his head explode take over and he ducks into the room. He won't deny it hurts being this close to this young girl currently on the floor, clutching her head with her voice echoing painfully in in his head, but he can take it... Or pretend to anyway.
"Hey, darling? You might wanna cut the mind-screaming to a dull roar, please?" He says, surprisingly calm despite having to yell over something that only exists in his head.
Reply
And when she notices someone approaching her - more feels than sees or hears, to be truthful - her first instinct is to lash out, murmuring a spell. The words are softer now as they echo through various minds, but still very much impossible to ignore. And the spell... does absolutely nothing. Just words. Which is just as well, because if it had worked, it could have hurt the man very, very badly.
Kara whimpers and scoots back on the floor until her back hits the couch, knees drawn up to her chest, forehead pressed to her knees. It's been years, decades, at least, since anything hurt this much. It scares her.
"You shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here, and... oh God, please get out." She doesn't mean ( ... )
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Kara's hand shifts in his, as she laces her fingers through his and fairly clings to his hand like a lifeline. She closes her eyes again, and slumps forward a little, her entire body shuddering, each breath slow and pained, but through that, she manages to murmur softly, "You're not very bright, you know."
Everyone in the hotel's going to be hearing her half of the conversation until she manages to get a grip on herself, though at least now she's not screaming in people's heads. Baby steps.
Reply
The girl that enters takes him by surprise. He doesn't move at first, because he can't. He's not equipped for this. Where are the angels that helped him out?
The sound in his head is unlike anything he's ever heard before. It's beyond frightening. It forces him to his feet and he stumbles back and forth, helplessly in place. Towering over everything as always and he's scared, but it's like with his little brother in thunderstorms or when dad used to get too drunk to walk straight.
Force the fear back and be strong.
"What's wrong?" He kneels, so he's not towering as much. "W- what can I do?"
Reply
So after a minute, she looks up and meets his eyes, though her hands are still clasped over her ears. Her eyes are dark and strangely old for someone who looks barely seventeen, and when they capture Ricky's gaze, they hold it.
Kara focuses in on his thoughts. One mind. Just one, and if she focuses hard enough, it can drown out all the others for just long enough for her to build some walls. Maybe. It might not be all that fun for him in the meantime, though, as she walks among his thoughts and memories. She'll apologize later, if she thinks of it.
Reply
Drunken father watching television.
Taking care of his little brother, fixing the kid macaroni and cheese out of the kraft box, and the fire that started in the kitchen, because of it. Trying to put it out.
Feeling like a freak, a monster. Too tall, towering over his teachers and mother at a much younger age than he should be towering over her.
His little brother and the gun and the shot and all that fucking blood and-
You're gonna have to take the blame for this one, Ricky.
Reply
She reaches out and rests her hand on his shoulder, and his thoughts flare brighter in her mind with the physical contact. The other minds are fading, slowly, into the background.
And she still doesn't look away from his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she murmurs softly, and very sincerely. "I'm very sorry, I just... need you."
Reply
He's used to these sorts of things, so at first he thinks it might just be the beast that is welling up stronger everyday within him. He thinks it might be the wolf rising and fighting against his human mind, but it is only when he sees the frightened girl that he approaches, wincing and hissing in pain as she continues.
"Oi, calm down, calm down..." He's speaking softly, gently. He has warmth (despite the pain) in his eyes and voice.
Hopefully, she can't hear the roar of the beast in the back of his mind. Because her voice has made it a little more hostile than normal.
Reply
Instead, she looks up with a momentary expression of bafflement and wonder, her eyes searching his. "You have to go," she murmurs, and again, her words race through the minds of everyone in the hotel, almost deafening. "We all do. We've been terribly misplaced."
Reply
"If we could, we would, I'm sure. I've been told we cannot return." He winces again as her words find his mind, but he tries to ignore it, tries to ignore the wolf that stirs wildly at the sound.
Reaching out, he'll place a hand against her shoulder, "Why... don't we get you to the Doctor, eh?"
Reply
"Doctor's no good. Not for me. Long dead, just don't know it yet. The brain knows, but the heart and blood and lungs... They're slow to get the message."
Reply
He started when a girl spilled out of the Rift. He stared at her in shock, not sure what to do. It was silent for a millisecond before he heard screaming in his head. He covered his ears, knowing it wasn't going to really help and tried to focus on putting up his mental barriers. He was glad Severus forced him to learn Occlemency. It didn't get the shouts completely out of his head, but it dulled them to the point of being bearable.
"You don't have to shout," Regulus said quietly.
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The last is said in a half-whimper. She's as frightened by this as everyone else is.
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"How do you know I'm not?"
She means how does he know she's not evil. We think.
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