Bookmark This

[François Laffont]

It wasn't always easy to find some time for a quiet hobby. Between school, friends, sport, his father, and so many other things, Franck realised he had not been able to sit down and enjoy a good book in a while. Luckily, it was an activity that would not be troublesome should he not be able to afford more than a few minutes here and there. Still, Franck felt the need to have a little break from the effervescence that took everyone as the holidays were getting closer and closer.

It wasn’t much, that book. Just something he picked from the library. Something about ships and life at sea at the time of the Napoleon or something like that.They did mention a French revolution so he assumed as much. He could barely understand all those nautical terms and was not sure if starboard was left or right. At least he ended up understanding that bow was front and stern the back but all those sails remained complicated. The fact he was reading it in English didn’t help either but at least the story was good, once he decided not to care anymore about those complicated terms. He wasn’t even sure he would get them in French anyway.

He had no idea how long he had been standing there, his back against the wall, by one of the large windows. It was the thing with books, once you were in them, you sort of lost track of time. He felt like he had been there a while though, that he should probably go instead of wasting his time here. Deciding that he should head towards the cafeteria to eat a little something quick before heading home, he used a finger to mark the page and looked for the bookmark he grabbed with him. It was not in the book however. Frowning, he looked down. Maybe it fell off. But it wasn’t on his bag at his feet, nor was it by the window. He didn't want to lose his page but he bent down in front of his bag and start going through his stuff. Where was the damn thing? “Oh no,” he let out when the book fell from his hands. He grabbed it quickly and tried to find the page he stopped at. He sighed heavily once he did. Maybe he should just take some loose sheet and place it there, until he find something more appropriate to use. It wasn’t like this bookmark had any sentimental value to him. He still wished he could get it back though, just to know where it went.

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather had always found the library to be such a refreshing area. There were hardly any loud students to distract her from her thoughts or studying. When she referred to students as loud, more often than not she was actually meaning that their emotions were too close or too potent for her to think clearly at all, the library was usually quieter. 

She had a philosophy book in her hand, it was her day off, though she had never been entirely sure what she should do on her days off other than study some more, but at this point she was more or less on top of or just ahead of where she should be with her course, she was pretty much a perfect student and if she had more time to devote to actual school she would probably be doing a couple of intensive courses, alas that was not why she came to america. 

She decided to go for a bit of a walk instead of just sitting reading and gauging people's feelings around her. She stood and stretched her arms out, yawning lightly. She began walking towards the exit when she felt something a bit odd coming from up ahead. She saw a boy, who would probably be considered by most people her age, Heather wasn't most people her age though.

He seemed to be looking for something, had an open book and she spotted a worn looking bookmark in the corner on the floor, right by a table. She picked it up and tapped his shoulder gently, still some what confused by what she was feeling from him. "Ummm, Hello there." her voice was soft and relatively quiet, thus the tap on the shoulder to help her words get noticed. 

[François Laffont]

Corridors could be terrible on Franck sometimes. There was always someone walking through, and his power would reach out to sense their emotions. Luckily, this was also the kind of place where one normally doesn’t stay for very long, meaning anyone feeling something he doesn’t like would simply walk away without him having to do anything about it. The cafeteria, now that had been a place he struggled with at first. Even now, going there felt like going to a very loud place with a low level of oxygen. He would have some trouble breathing right for a few seconds as he tried to adapt. It wasn’t like he could perceive anything in particular, there were way too many people for that but this meant it was very hard for him to focus on anything. In the end, the corridor wasn’t that bad of a choice after all.

Obviously Franck had no idea where his bookmark was. It was no surprise, he had been too busy reading the book to notice it drop to the floor and how people stepped on it and sent it flying further away from him. Had he thought about it, he would have widened his search, only he was certain he placed it somewhere and simply couldn’t remember anymore. One day, he might just forget his head.

He did sense people around, of course, but paid little attention to them. It was something he learned to do, to pay as little attention as he could. He didn’t want anyone to think he was spying on them or anything. In his current state of mind however, he knew strong emotions might stick more easily, since he was not making any efforts to block them, occupied as he was looking for something. It explained why he startled lightly when he felt someone tapping his shoulder.

He looked at the red haired girl. There was something about what he was getting from her but right now, he paid little attention to it and so didn’t take the time to realise something was odd about it.“Oh, I am sorry, am I in the way? I was... well, looking for something, but it doesn’t really matter,” he said, his French accent showing up. He might as well forget about his bookmark by now. He tried to move closer to the wall so he could get a piece of paper he could use instead.

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather took a moment to study the boy, and then also tried to scan his emotions, it was always a fun task at this school trying to focus on a single person's feelings, the massive torrent of people walking around and storming her brain with their feelings, it was still overwhelming at times. At least she was close enough for contact with this boy, which made it much easier.

He seemed to misinterpret her intentions, that was... Somewhat awkward. She cleared her throat and tried to speak with a little bit more vigor and confidence. "Ummm, Hello. No, sorry. I mean..." She needed to stop this awkwardness, she really did. It was just everything going on around her making it difficult to focus, she tried to stray away from the cafeteria whenever possible, that place was just the worst for it. 

She forced a smile and tried again. "You weren't in the way, I um.. Felt that you were confused or looking for something and you had a book and I saw this." She held out the small bookmark, she didn't like losing things herself so she figured it would at least be nice if someone found what the boy was looking for and gave it back to him.

She tried to gauge his age but wasn't quite the best at it. 

[François Laffont]

Franck was digging through his stuff, one of his hands still holding his book so he wouldn’t lose the page, when she talked again. He lifted his gaze to meet with hers. He looked at her with big innocent eyes as he waited for her to explain what she meant exactly. There was an awkwardness oozing off from her that made him slightly uncomfortable. He didn’t like to get that sort of emotion out of people but he knew meeting someone new could often generate something of the like, especially when you had to talk to them, which was her case.

He listened to her words and looked at her hand when she mentioned finding something. “Hey, you’ve found it,” he said, pointing out the obvious but smiling too much as he picked it from her hand to really care about it. He could finally stop using his finger to mark his page and it was a relief, so was not using any piece of paper instead. That done, he stood up so he could look at her properly. “Thanks. I wondered where it fell off.” Again, Franck gave her a smile. He was not grateful to the point of drowning her in thank yous or anything. This was just a bookmark after all. But he was glad he got it back, even if he could have done without. It was always annoying whenever you couldn’t find something of yours, no matter how small.

As if he seemed to realise this wasn’t something he should look all that happy about, he held his now closed book in front of him, his smile turning sheepish. “I know it’s not much, but I guess I needed it right now and was upset I couldn’t find it,” he explained. It didn't hold any sentimental value and didn’t want to sound like he loved his bookmark too much. But obviously, when you read a book, you can use one and you’re bummed when you don’t have any. Surely she can understand that.

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather smiled gently at the boy, feeling some of the awkward seep out of her, She tried to take one some of the more confident and positive. At least the hall they were in didn't really have any other students in it, it made it much easier for her to keep her thoughts together. She still got a strange feeling from the other boy.

She nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I gathered that, that would be the reason why I came up and gave it to you as soon as I saw you." She continued to study him, hopelessly looking for any outward signs of the source of the feeling she was getting. She got nothing. He just looked like a relatively friendly student. She suspected that his features would have most girls swooning, not her though.

She smiled and cocked her head to the side lightly, looking at him with a gentle smile, if she were reading her own feelings she would be somewhere between a mixture of nerves and happiness at meeting a new, friendly student. "Are you going towards the cafeteria?"

[François Laffont]

Franck was getting something from her, an awkwardness of some kind, but it wasn’t all. It was weird because what he got both seemed to make sense with the way she stood in front of him and didn’t at the same time. Not like he wasn’t used to that, people often tried to hide their emotions but it was different here. He couldn’t quite explain it. It was like she was feeling what he felt or adapting to his emotions or something. He decided to ignore it.

Smiling to her, he offered her a brief nod at her words. “Thank you for that.” He knew this meant little. It wasn’t like he would have thrown a tantrum because he couldn’t find his bookmark. It probably slid down to the floor and people walking in the corridor sent it flying away from him. It was no big deal but at least it was one less think to worry about.

What he got from her was not something new. Most people were a little nervous when meeting someone new. Some were more nervous than others and he was ready to put her in that category. Because he doubted his bright smile could make anyone nervous. Franck couldn’t believe people would be scared of him, he was the most harmless person around, at least to his opinion. And she didn’t know he was an empath so she couldn’t be uncomfortable about it. Unless she heard that he was? No, he didn’t think so.

He nodded as an answer to her question. “Yes. I was caught up in my book but I should go and grab something. You were going there too?” Tossing his bag over a shoulder, he extended a hand for her to shake. He knew physical contacts were not always good for him but it never stopped him. “My name’s Franck,” he introduced himself with a smile.

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather smiled gently at the boy. Studying him and his emotions a little more, she became more curious as to the source of the feeling, not necessarily frustrated, as that was a feeling that very rarely came over her, usually she just got curious about things, and curiosity was quite a natural thing, where as frustration.

She grinned at his thank you and turned her head to the side lightly. "You're welcome!" She slid her fingers gently into her pockets and relaxed her body language somewhat, it was sometimes hard to remember that more relaxed body language worked best when talking to other people her age, particularly students. The girl had always been raised with frigid, proper posture and polite, refined body language.

She shrugged somewhat helplessly. "Well I haven't eaten yet today so I probably should but it's kind of... Intense in there. I guess I could just grab something and run off somewhere else." She smiled at his introduction and nodded at him firmly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Franck. My name is Heather." 

[François Laffont]

To Franck, whatever way you chose to look like mattered little as he was able to read the emotions within. Of course, not everyone knew it and it was not something he enjoyed screaming all around for everyone to know. She was not the first person he looked at whose body language didn't quite match the way she felt inside. She did a better job than some. Then again, she didn’t have much to hide, to his opinion. And even if she might be a little nervous about meeting new people, Franck thought his smile and positive attitude could win anyone.

“Intense? What, is there a food fight again?” he let out, surprised someone else than himself would use that term to describe the cafeteria. He then remembered that he was not the only one who had an ability making it hard to deal with crowds. He couldn’t be the only empath, he knew he wasn’t. And it was not the only power that would make it hard. He supposed those who could affect people by touch or those who could read thoughts would hate it too. “Sorry. You, you have trouble with crowds too?” That already sounded a lot more like himself. Franck was generally polite.

He kept smiling as she gave him her name and had a little nod of his head. “I could get you something, if you’re hungry and you prefer not to go,” he suggested. It might be a lot for just a lost bookmark but Franck was not really trying to pay any debt here and even if he was, he didn’t really mind the cost. As long as he was not the one paying for the meal.

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather chuckled at his comment and shook her head gently. "No no. Well, not that I've seen at any rate. I'm sure that there probably are food fights in there." She cleared her throat as he commented. "Yeah, crowds are an issue for me, too many people means too many feelings in one spot, which gives me quite a bit of a headache if I'm in there for too long." She didn't really have anything to hide from other students as far as her mutation went. In fact, it was probably better that they knew what she could do up front. 

She shook her head quite softly. "Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine as long as I don't stick around for too long. If you'd like, you could come and eat with me in the student lounge though after you've gotten food, it's much quieter in there at the moment." She finished with a sweet smile. She was quickly learning that openness and friendly behaviour worked much better with other students than the body language she had learned since she was little. 

Her body relaxed a bit, she felt less nervous around the boy and sort of fed on his positive energy, focusing her mind on it more than the other surrounding emotions, making it easier for her to stay positive herself. 

[François Laffont]

“Feelings!?” he let out with surprise. It wasn’t, of course, because he never meant someone who could feel too much. He was surprised to fall on another empath totally by accident. He thought this might explain why what he got from her seemed not to fit. “You’re an empath too?” he still felt like asking, just to be sure. She didn’t say people thought too much or made too much noise, she said felt. It seemed to make the fact she was an empath pretty obvious. But, maybe because he couldn’t quite believe his luck, he felt like asking.

He was glad to meet someone with the same power as he did. Even though he barely knew her, he felt a connection between them simply because of that. He could complain about people feeling with too much passion and how it affected him without feeling bad about it. It always seemed wrong to him to complain, since it was just something washing over him only to leave eventually unlike those who had to deal with those emotions. Still, it could be quite a pain sometimes. Franck tried to keep his smile at a reasonable size and not look too happy about meeting another empath but the fact remained that she suddenly became a lot more interesting. He might not even mind to pay in the end, if he could talk with her a little.

She suggested something similar and this time he could not contain his grin. “I’d love too. I don’t know how crowded the cafeteria will be but you’re right, sometimes, it’s pretty hard to deal with everyone in there.”

[Heather Sutherland]

Heather wasn't quite used to feeling surprise from others when she spoke. It was an odd feeling, when revelations or shock came over others, she had opinions on most emotions she felt from others, but it was one she just didn't quite know what she felt for. She nodded at his comment about feelings, wondering why he was so surprised, was he mad that she could read his emotions or something?

Just as the redhead was about to utter the words 'I am an Empath' He spoke, feeling surprise radiate through her own body, and understanding the source of his surprise now she took a slow blink and looked at him curiously. "Y-you're an Empath as well?" She could have deduced that from what he had said previously, but she was still kind of taken aback. 

The boy had seemed nice and interesting beforehand, now he was even more so, and she wanted to hang out with him even more to learn about him. With so many variations and mutations out there, it had become quite difficult to actually meet other Empaths. The girl gave a firm nod. "Yes, precisely." She smiled as the two of them began to stroll towards the cafeteria. 

[François Laffont]

If Heather feared he was upset because she just admitted being able to read people’s feelings, she was also able to notice there was no such feeling coming from him. He was surprised yes, but in a positive way. Franck was really happy to find out there was another empath in the school.

As he revealed he had a power very similar to hers, he could see the surprise appearing on her face, probably in the same way it did to his traits only a moment ago. He could even sense it and he knew now that it was not only his emotions coming back at him through their mutual power.“Yeah. What a coincidence, right?” he replied with laughter in his voice. It was, indeed, quite a coincidence that the person who helped him turned out to be an empath as well. A pleasant coincidence.

“It took me a while to be able to stay in there and it’s not still hard sometimes. But it’s not like we can say anything to them, right? You sound like a jerk when you tell people to leave because they feel too much,” he said, again with some laughter in his voice. It was good to sort of complain about this with someone who wouldn’t think he was being inconsiderate. She had, after all, to deal with the same thing.

Arrived at the cafeteria, Franck took the time to look inside and spot where everyone was sitting. “Well, it’s not all that bad, but if you want to go elsewhere, I really don’t mind,” he said as he turned to look at Heather.

[Heather Sutherland]

The redhead smiled and nodded gently. It was quite a shocking and pleasant coincidence. She smiled and turned to him gently as they motioned towards the cafeteria. "Yeah, I did feel something a little bit unusual coming from you, I guess that is what it must have been." She smiled softly, unsure of what she was going to grab to eat yet as she wasn't that hungry. 

She nodded gently in agreement. "Yeah, it's one of the main reasons I tend to stick around the library and offices, there are a great deal less students over there, much quieter place for my head to be."  She didn't get mad or upset or anything if she was around too many emotions at once, but it did put quite the strain on her mind and body.

It may not have been to bad for Franck to stay within the area of the cafeteria, but Heather had taken long enough to get used to being within the density of the emotions at the academy as it was, she didn't want to push it when she didn't have a completely quiet, isolated area that she could gather her thoughts. She nodded gently. "That would be lovely, thanks." 

[François Laffont]

He chuckled, glad to know that weird feeling he had around her at first had an explanation and that she felt it too. “I sense something too. I guess it’s like... my feeling being partially returned to me or something? Because we feel what the other feels so we sort of feel ourselves at the same time... It sounds so complicated said like that,” he said, laughing at his own explanation that didn’t seem to make much sense in the end.

He chuckled, understanding what she meant. The library could be disturbing too, at times, but people tended to be quieter, including with their emotions. And, of course, there wasn’t as many people as, let’s say, the cafeteria where they were heading. Franck didn’t like ending up acting like what others felt, it seemed almost like he was mocking them sometimes.

He nodded as he assumed she preferred to go elsewhere. “If you’re not hungry, you don’t have to accompany me. I’ll just get something real quick. I can get you something too if you prefer not to get in,” he proposed to her. He didn’t want to force her, not when he knew how overwhelming it could be to be in there.