Freak on a Leash (Eryn)

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Standing with her feet planted against the wooden floor, Erika focused on the way her ability circled around her body like a lion circling its prey. She still kept it pushed back and on a very short leash. It was actually rather funny, since in the beginning she hadn't been able to control it at all. It ran free, touching, poking and feeling up anything it could get its invisible claws in. Now though, now she managed to keep it flowing around her body like a static shield.

It was kind of like having a pet. A very clingy cat that kept stroking itself against her leg, never wandering too far, and when it did, it got yanked back into place. She had always seen her ability as having a second personality - or maybe it belonged to her subconsciousness. As much as she could control it and keep it close, it also seemed to act out on her emotions more often than her commanding it.

Which was actually rather neat, since it acted like her reflexes. Actually, were her reflexes.

Lifting her head, Erika turned her concentration back to Mr. White, her current power trainer. The reason she had been so eager to continue her training as often - so quickly was because of the pressing idea of her graduating early.

The sooner, the better. She certainly had the grades, now she just needed an 'OK' signal from one of her trainers.

''What are we doing today, Mr. White?'' the brunette asked softly as she lowered her hands, letting her ability fall still next to her.

[Eryn White]

Smiling at the young woman, Eryn put his notepad down. "Well done Ms. Bellefonte. You've certainly come a long way from accidentally tripping students in the halls, and knocking books shelves in the library." Leaning forwards in his chair, he gestured to another chair for her to sit down. "Please take a seat now. As you may or may not have heard from other students or trainers, I have a somewhat different form of teaching people to control their powers. I believe that our gifts are connected to various emotions, desires, and urges. By learning to pinpoint these, and control them, we can better control our abilities. This tends to be especially effective when training students who have mental based abilities, such as yourself."

Looking her over, Eryn waited a moment, absorbing any thoughts that Erika might be having, and continued. "My methods have been referred to as being very 'hippy-dippy' and some trainers do feel that they are ineffective. I tell you all this to give you the option now, before we start digging in. Do you wish to have me train you, with my techniques, or would you feel more comfortable with a more, shall we call them, conventional trainer. I have had considerable success with other people who had struggled with their powers, and I am confident I can help you too, if you do stay. But I would hate for you to feel like you were being forced."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Folding her arms behind her back, Erika returned the smile before bowing her head, thanking him for the compliments. Out of all the traits that made up the brunette, at least people couldn't say she wasn't respectful to her elders. It was something she had been taught from an early age and never really slipped out of, ''Thank you,'' she said cheerfully before straightening up. Walking towards the chair, Erika did as she was told and sat down. Crossing her feet, she leaned to her side and folded her hands neatly in her lap before directing her full attention towards Mr. White.

Nodding slowly at his words, Erika agreed wholeheartedly. She had experienced her own abilities being so easily connected to how she was feeling, so there was really no room for her to disagree with him. Though, it brought a somewhat soft smile to her lips.

''I can't see how different methods of training - even if they prove to be ineffective can't be worth to at least be tried,'' she said finally and pursed her lips. She was open for pretty much everything as long as it didn't involve her actually having to hurt someone, unless it was during one of those arena matches. At least those were properly monitored by several mutants with the ability to paralyze powers, ''I am more than willing to test something new, as long as you as a trainer believe it's something I need - or should be doing,''

[Eryn White]

Giving her a reassuring smile, Eryn nodded. "Very well. Then the first thing I would like to do, Ms. Bellefonte, is ask you some questions. I want you to answer with the first three things that comes to mind. Basic association game, I know, you've probably done it before. But please humor me." Taking a breath, Eryn flipped a few pages in his folder, until he reached the one he was looking for. Glancing up, he made sure Erika was ready, and began reading them, letting her enough time between each to respond. However he was also listening to her thoughts, seeing what her real first thoughts were. The list is as follows.


Light
Bird
Dog
Shoe
Friend
Ring
Love
Clock
Window
Fear
Mirror
Water
Trust
Clown

As she answered, he made notes in the file of her verbal responses. In his head, he made mental notes of any responses that didn't match from her thoughts.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Nodding, Erika propped herself up and pursed her lips as she waited for the different sets of words to come,

Light
A smile crackled over her lips as she nodded, picturing a chill room lit up by the lights pressing through the windows. A serene and relaxing image, ''A cold room, windows and natural lights,'' she said with a firm nod.

Bird
A flock of birds flying across the sky, travelling in a pack appeared in her mind. They weren't chased by anything, just gently following the stream of warm wind, searching for new adventures, ''A flock of birds, togetherness and adventure,''

Dog
The image of a child running around in the backyard, a young boy with blonde hair and a tiny dog in a leash running around after him while the boy was laughing, holding a ball in one hand and the leash in the other, ''A grass covered backyard, a child and a dog playing, and happiness,'' she said with a soft smile.

Shoe
Her closet filled with shoes. Simple as that. Erika was quite proud of her neat, little shoe collection. If there was anything about her that made her girly, it was her love for shoes, ''Black, heels and boots,'' she said with a short laugh. ''Easy one,''

Friend
This had her frowning. The image of Ellen popped into her mind and she let out a sigh, narrowing her eyes before responding, ''Deceit, tricks and games,'' she said with a dark tone to her voice. Yeah, she didn't have the best of luck when it came to picking friends.

Ring
The ring Everett had gotten her popped into her mind and she cocked her head to the side, her eyes flickering slightly, ''Aquamarine, silver and trust.'' she said with a sigh, a happy one.

Love
This one was easier than the others. The images of the people she cared about popped up; Everett, her grandfather, her siblings, her friends. ''Family, friends and loved ones,'' she said with a tender smile, her cheeks flushed over into a pale shade of pink.

Clock
Time, and having things to fill her mind was things that reminded her of the word 'clock'. Erika had this need to constantly keep her mind and hands busy, feeling far too restless to sit still, doing nothing, ''Activities, schedules, on time,''

Window
The image of a window covered in frost from the snow occupied her mind, ''Winter, glass and loneliness,'' she said and furrowed her brows, before straightening up.

Fear
When thinking about fear, colors such as red, black and white mashed together into a bundle that looked more like someone had tried creating an entirely new color popped into her mind and she chuckled somewhat, ''Red, black and white.''

Mirror
A broken mirror appeared in her mind, pieces lying shattered over the floor, the sink and when looking into it, there was nothing reflecting back, ''Pieces of glass, messy atmosphere and nothingness,''

Water
Calm, still and serene water. The boathouse and the lake. Summer, the trees were covered in green leaves and the sun stood high in the sky. Laughing could be heard in the distance. It was beautiful. ''Serenity, calmness and beauty,''

Trust
Blindly devoting yourself to someone without regrets, without doubt, always believing that no matter what hardship or trouble would come, things could be fixed as long as one was willing to work for it and believe, ''Devotion, love and belief,''

Clown
This had Erika grinning, cocking her head to the side as she pictured this doll, Chuckie she had seen in a movie somewhere, ''Crazy, sociopathic and laughter,'' she said finally with a shrug.

''How was that?'' she then asked as she stretched her arms in the air, yawning slightly before sitting back down, once again folding her arms in her lap.

[Eryn White]

"Well, Ms. Bellefonte, there are no right or wrong answers, so I think you did fine." Eryn looked at the answers she had given, and pondered them for a moment. "When you use your ability, Ms. Bellefonte, is there an emotion you feel strongest? Or perhaps does your gift manifest itself more chaotically when you are feeling a specific emotion?" A fairly simple question, but one that he hoped would help.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Pursing her lip, Erika tapped her index finger against her chin before leaning slightly forward, ''Well, while I'm using it I feel... Free I suppose. You know the feeling when you've walked around with your shoes on all day, and then you finally take them off, and your feet feel so sore, but yet so free? It's kind of like that. I keep my ability on a short leash, always keeping it contained a few inches from my body, because as I've learned, it's not a passive thing I can turn off or not, it's like having a third arm or leg. It's always there.'' she said and brushed off some invisible dust from her leg, ''For the emotion part, I wouldn't say it's chaotic as it usually acts out from my subconsciousness, doing things I wish to do, but don't have the nerve or imagination to do, and that happens mostly when I get angry. And when I'm caught off guard, embarrassed or -'' she stopped and sighed, ''When I am not in control of my emotions, I am not in control of my ability, I guess. Though, that doesn't seem quite right either,'' she rambled before letting out a frustrated sigh, leaning further back in the chair with a pout.

''My ability is very restless, always eager to move around, feel it's way through the surroundings. Always eager to touch, to explore to... Be free.''

With a goofy grin, she added, ''If I didn't keep it on a leash now, you would probably have ended up with your hair messed up and a few more wrinkles on your suit than what you had when you arrived,'

[Eryn White]

Eryn patiently waited for her answer, not wanting to rush Erika or make her feel as if she had to come up with some answer to satisfy him. As she began answering his question, he made notes, and was making considerations in his mind, trying to add all of these things together. "I appreciate your answers, Ms. Bellefonte." Leaning back into his chair, he paused for a few good seconds. "Ms. Bellefonte, what is the best case scenario that you believe can happen here, with my training? Obviously having your power under full control, but I would like you to explain to me exactly what that means to you."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Cocking her head to the side, Erika ran her hand through her hair, wrapping a lock of it around her finger before shrugging, ''Not having to constantly keep it on a leash, I suppose,'' she said slowly, ''Because that's not controlling it, it's merely keeping it captive, holding it back.''

Standing up, she moved a few steps away before finally turning towards him again, ''Because this happens when I give it only a little more free space to roam,'' giving her ability more leash, it crawled across the floor, feelings it's way towards the chair she had been sitting in only seconds earlier. Gripping it, her ability pushed the chair over, pushing it across the floor with a loud thump and then directed itself towards Mr. White's leg, tugging roughly at the fabric of his suit. With that, Erika reeled it back in and let it crawl up her own foot like a playful ilder before it settled at the back of her neck, curling up into her hair like a frightened child.

''Not only do I lack full control over it, it also lack full control over itself,'' Was it weird of her to consider her ability as its own consciousness? Maybe it was only because her own mind operated for it to act as such, she didn't know. But she still saw it as if it was a mutant version of having an invisible friend.