Mask Or Menace - IC Contact Post

[helpdesk_hero]

This is David Alleyne, I'm not available at the moment.
Please leave your name, contact information, and what this is regarding after the beep.

Comments

[besainted]

[ oh shit, he'd immediately worst case scenario'd it and basically assumed the guy was just gone-gone. nice. ]

That was faster than expected.
Are you alright?

[helpdesk_hero]

No.
Am psychometric.
The floor and everything is lava.

[It’s official. Someone out there hates him.]

[besainted]

[ hey wtf that's not great ]

Are you alone?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Metaphorical lava]

Yes. For now. Considering calling a telepath I know.
I feel like i'm going crazy.

[besainted]

[ As is kind of becoming habit, he doesn't answer — there's just a tearing sound behind David, a footstep as he crosses thousands of miles in a second. ]

Here.

[ He's got David's suppressor in hand, already held out. A very temporary solution, but it's something. ]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Super temporary. And there's David. Shirtless. Pantsless. In only boxers and socks. His phone isn't even in hand, or his glasses on. The former is on the ground nearby, set up for voice to text. He looks up to Damian and looks almost afraid of the bracelet.]

I... am afraid to touch anything new.

[besainted]

[ Quite a sight to walk in on. He’d usually pause to appreciate the view, but now strikes him as not really the time. It takes a backseat. Instead he spends a few seconds considering the situation, suppressor still held out.

His eyes go thoughtfully narrow, appraising, deciding on his approach. Shortly: ]

Take it anyway. Information handling is what you do, David, you can manage it. Catch.

[ With no more warning than that he tosses the thing at David, counting on surprise to trigger reflex. ]

[helpdesk_hero]

It's never been like...

[He doesn't get a chance to finish his thought because he catches out of reflex and almost sobs the second he catches it. It's a newer item. That doesn't mean it's not utterly overwhelming. Because it's experienced more.

His eyes aren't focused the second the thing touches his skin, and he pales, his whole body shaking. It's more information, There was a reason he hadn't wanted to search for it.]

[besainted]

[ He steps in closer after it. Not quite close enough to touch without a reach, not until he understands more about this power. ]

Take a breath. [ His voice is firm, an authoritative he’s never used with David before, and his posture and expression match. ] Put it on.

[helpdesk_hero]

[His brain is so full, too full. Hearing is a difficult thing. But the way Damian speaks? David's trained to obey it. He snaps the bracelet on, and shudders at the increased contact. Bad. Very bad.]

In my head. Every moment of every day. The warmth of skin and tingle of currents.

[besainted]

[ He watches David closely, still all hard edges and not an ounce of sympathetic give. That can come later. Right now, he’s got to get David stable enough to attempt some measure of control. ]

Activate it.

[helpdesk_hero]

I don't remember the-

[The watch remembers. It knows the code. It remembers him reprogramming it, and his fingers numbly punch in the combination, and hit the activation and...

It's silent. it's so blessedly silent.]

Damian. I could barely think. So much. There was just so much.

[besainted]

[ The sharpness leaves his shoulders as David manages it, and almost instantly he’s more his usual self as he lets out a breath. ]

You’ve got an hour to make it less overwhelming next time you have to deal with it. [ He holds out a hand, palm up, requesting David’s. ] Let me see.

[ If he can get a glimpse of what David’s been dealing with, he might be able to offer some kind of advice. He’s had bad run ins with new powers more than once. ]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Too bad he can't see, he can only borrow or steal. David shakes his head. No, this is too much for anyone.]

I... I know a telepath who might be able to help me. I have no mental shields. I was always a horrible telepath. This place hasn't helped. Building mental walls, it was... it was the one skill I couldn't absorb. Which was what I needed the most.

[besainted]

[ He sighs, but patiently. David’s misunderstood him, but considering the circumstances it’s easy to see why. He reaches to touch his forearm on his own, prepared and ready for the usual influx of knowledge, ready to dig for the new additions. ]

I’m not completely unfamiliar with building mental walls. My parents made sure of it.

[helpdesk_hero]

I was never good at it. I could have managed my own powers when I was a mutant a lot better if I could.

[But he sighs and lets Damian reach for his skin. If that hand goes anywhere near his heart, though, David's going to be pissed.]

I know a lot about Psychometry. But I never... I never knew what it was like. Everything has a story, constantly. And I have no barriers from it all.

[besainted]

[ He glances away, ready to sort through the information ... and the information doesn't come. A blink is his only sign of surprise. He's not had the opportunity to use the power since David left — apparently he wouldn't have been able to. As far as he's ever known, death is the only thing to steal a copied power, but apparently hopping dimensions will do it too ...

He leaves his hand where it is, deciding to deal with this train of thought in a moment, not immediately. ]

How long were you gone, from your side?

[ It's not really the most pressing information to learn ... but he wants to know, he finds. ]

[helpdesk_hero]

A...

[Geez. It’s a lot to calculate out. Sorting the then and the now.]

A few months. It’s late spring now. I did something stupid. But there, I’m proud of it. Dammit if I knew there what I’ve learned here...

[besainted]

[ A few months isn't so bad ... though, possibly enough to throw a wrench into whatever blossoming relationship this is. Plenty of time for a back-home-relationship to arise and complicate things. And even if that isn't the case at the moment, complications like that could pop up at literally any time. What a side effect of living here.

A bit of food for thought, he supposes. His thumb strokes David's forearm lightly. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[ It wouldn't be a good use of his single hour of suppressor charge, but Damian certainly isn't here to tell him how to spend that time. ]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Talk about it? How do you explain the horrible hole you put yourself in, claiming it's for the good of the world, when there's no small part of it that is about the fear of your future. But he leans into the touch instead.]

I've got a little under an hour to think like a functional person. I don't want to waste it on story time. Just stay here. I miss you.

[Didn't miss him, but misses him now.]

[besainted]

[ This touch at David's arm is useless, feeding him no information, contributing to no inner touch-count. But he doesn't really want to break the contact. He had, he supposes, missed this — or been ready to miss it, at least. The thought that David might not be back again wasn't one he enjoyed.

He slides in instead, his free arm wrapping around David's waist as he presses closer to the warmth of bare skin. ]

Come back with me. [ A nod of his head indicates the portal still open behind him, back to the hotel room. ] I can send you to your telepath whenever you're ready.

[helpdesk_hero]

[The hotel room. That is better. Less history there. David nods and... doesn’t move. Because Damian is so warm and soothing at his back.]

I might ask him to come to me. These places, so much history. My head is full of histories. I don’t want to know them. Please, I don’t... I don’t want to know it all.

[besainted]

[ He considers that for a few seconds, wondering fiercely what information he's missing by not having David's power. He's never run into anything like this power at home, and certainly never had the chance to experience it himself.

He ducks around David to stand beside him, arm curled around his waist, attention bright and curious. ]

What about water, do you think? Floating in a pool, would that give you anything?

[helpdesk_hero]

I don’t know. I really don’t. I wish I did.

[What if he knows ALL the water has experienced? He might cry.]

I’m half afraid to eat.

[besainted]

Then let's try it. It would be useful for you to know.

[ He pulls away, starting for the portal with a cheerful energy. ]

Grab a bathing suit, we'll get you lunch and run a few experiments while your suppressor has its charge.