Enough to make you want to run right out the door

[François Laffont]

Franck had a much better control of his power now. Years of practice tended to do that and when your power could not be turned off, every minute of the day was like practice. Franck understood it was something he could not prevent. So he tried to make the most of it in return. Helping people made it all better to him. The fact he constantly felt how people felt just gave him a need to do that, to prove to the world, as if he had not enough already, that he would never use that against anyone.

There were still times when emotions got too strong. Touching someone who was in pain made him in pain too. He had started to grow a mental barrier against that, to prevent himself from reacting too much like this feeling was his. But sometimes, it was really hard to. Especially when he felt it too. When that happened, it was like the emotion resonated within him and controlling anything proved quite hard.

It was what had just happened. Franck was not a violent person but for once, it got to him and now he was very upset. Before he let it out on anybody, and felt terrible for that later on, he chose to isolate himself. He found a spot within the school that seemed abandoned by the rest of the students. There, he began by punching the wall. He just couldn’t help that. He had no aggressive thoughts, except perhaps aggressively wanting this aggressiveness to go away. His fist had stayed against the wall after he hit it. That hurt so much! He never thought that hurt so much. How could people enjoy hitting things if this was how your knuckles felt afterwards? He rested his forehead against his arm and tried to relax.

It was how he finally managed to sense a presence nearby. Sense being the word as he did not hear or see the guy. Only felt the emotions slowly coming to him as it did every time someone was close. Franck sighed heavily. He was trying to get emotions off him, not dump more on top of it. But he knew this exasperation was not really him so he turned around to see who was there and hope he did not scare them too much with the way he acted.

TAG: @adrian

[Deleted]

Adrian had yet to grow accustomed to the new surroundings he'd been put in. The school was much different from the one he was used to, though, like most boarding schools, it had all the things one would expect. Classrooms, dorms, activity rooms, a cafeteria and various offices along with other things. He didn't really care. He wasn't here to socialize. Maybe, just maybe, part of him was trying to learn the general layout of the school to figure out what places was best to go to whenever he wanted to be alone.

Well, save for his bedroom, but even Adrian thought it stupid to be held up inside his bedroom during his stay. He didn't hate people quite that much.

Wandering down the hallway, he could faintly hear the thoughts of someone who seemed awfully aggressive, though, there was some... Frustration towards the anger in there as well, as if said person didn't quite want to be angry, but didn't really know what do of it. Normally, one would imagine that you'd just keep walking, but sadly, Adrian's curiosity got the best of him.

Silently, he opened the door and peered inside, blue eyes locking upon a boy whose face was unfamiliar to him. Then again, most faces here were unfamiliar. There was something else though, something in the boy's thoughts. He could sense him. Not because he could read his mind, but because he could sense his emotions. This had Adrian growing immediately guarded.

Then, the boy turned and Adrian blinked slightly, the muscles around his jaw tightening. He didn't speak. He simply stared. Eyes narrowing as he silently hoped the boy wouldn't turn his aggression towards him.

[François Laffont]

The last thing Franck wanted was for someone to see him like this and endure the anger he felt inside. It was not his, he kept telling himself that, that he had to let it out and be himself again. Because he would hate to hurt, even only verbally, anyone. He thought he was gaining a better control at stopping people’s emotions to affect him so much but the truth was it would always touch a chord inside and depending how sensitive that chord was, he would feel it too or not. He didn't want to be so emotional though. He felt like such a drama queen when that happened and thinking that would make him angry for good.

When he turned to look at who walked in on him, he saw a boy about his age, with blond hair and surprise in his eyes. It was at the very least what Franck believed he saw in them, but it might just be the fact he knew there was some surprise amongst the many different emotions bubbling through the surface. Along with curiosity, some concern and also the need to protect himself.

Franck made an effort to calm himself. He was not going to lash out on someone who didn't know him. He’ll then think he was always like that. Had he been someone he knew, they would be able to understand. The boy was a little scared and Franck thought he must look a little intimidating still thanks to this. “I won’t take it out on you, I promise. I’m not really angry I just... I have to let it out,” Franck said, sighing and closing his eyes out of frustration because he couldn’t find the right words. Great, frustration again. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down because he opened his eyes again and looked at the boy. It was still there but he was more calm now. He even forced himself to smile slightly at the other guy. “I’m sorry. Emotions... I’m an empath, you see. Some people... let’s just say they don’t know how to contain their emotions. I’m sorry if that scared you or anything like that.” The boy probably wouldn’t want to admit to the fear but saying he was concerned, he might. People just didn't seem to understand that he just knew.

[Deleted]

Adrian could read the boy's thoughts and it seemed as if he was scanning him, figuring out everything about him simply by the two of them being in the same room. Of course, he knew that wasn't entirely correct, but he couldn't quite shake the feeling of being intruded upon, which just made him all the more afraid, since that was how he feared people reacted to his own power. No, it was how he felt people reacted to his power. Adrian went rigid, simply staring, his eyes glowering slightly as he pressed his lips together.

The boy was forcing himself to calm down, as if Adrian was some kind of fragile bunny who had walked into a den filled with wolves. He didn't quite like being thought of that way, but he supposed it was accurate enough, especially as it was exactly how Adrian felt most of the time. "I know," he croaked, his voice low. His gaze lowered to the floor and a brief, shameful gleam lit in his eyes. Then it was gone - just as quickly as it had appeared. "I know," he repeated, the hands in his pockets trembling slightly. "I'm not scared," he said, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince the boy, or himself.

Lowering his stiff shoulders, Adrian wondered for a moment if he was supposed to announce his own power - if it hadn't been made obvious already. Though, he supposed there was various powers that could detect others. No, he didn't feel quite comfortable having more people thinking that he was slowly going insane.

[François Laffont]

It was kind of weird to Franck. He was used to sense people’s emotions and got all kinds over the years. Rarely did he get someone feeling as guilty as he was though. Did Franck do anything worth for someone to feel bad they interrupted him? He didn’t think so, at least not in a way that one would be embarrassed for intruding like this. It was really frustrating sometimes to get only the emotions and not their intent. Made everything so puzzling. Franck didn't like the guesswork because doing so only made him feel like he was intruding even more into people’s life. But not knowing could be troublesome at times.

Oddly enough, Franck also picked up some, small, frustration from the boy. He flinched at this, staring at him with a frown showing up on his features. He didn’t do anything to make the boy angry so where did that came from? For a moment, Franck wondered if it was not that the other guy picked the anger he picked himself. He already knew he was not the only empath around here, it was very possible for him to be one as well. And then e said that he knew.

Those two words, repeated twice before he said he was not scared had Franck even more puzzled about what was going on. “Are you an empath too?” Franck asked after a moment of silence where he only stared at the blond head. He was not looking at him, he preferred the floor so that really was all he could stare at on the guy, since he could not look at him in the eyes.

[Deleted]

Inhaling sharply at the thoughts swirling around in the boy's head, Adrian almost felt like groaning. He was curious - too curious. Adrian's own behavior seemed to have confused him, and Adrian figured that it wasn't all that weird, really. He'd likely feel the same had their roles been reversed. As much as he wanted to turn his ability off and shut the boy's thoughts out, he couldn't. All he could do was stand there and listen. Listen to it all as it came flooding towards him like a tidal wave.

His head tilted to the side as the boy spoke and hadn't it been for the fact that his lips had moved, Adrian might have thought that the boy had simply thought it instead of actually saying it. That was another problem he often walked in on. He didn't like looking at people, and when he didn't, he often answered questions people had thought instead of actually asked.

Lowering his gaze as quickly as he'd lifted it, Adrian shook his head. "No," he spoke, his lips curling back, showing the top of his teeth. Was he supposed to explain? Even if it made him feel... Did it really matter? Wouldn't the boy realize that something wasn't quite right anyways? If he hadn't already. "I can read your mind," he added cautiously.

[François Laffont]

Sometimes, emotions coming of people were just so much like what he’d feel that Franck was not sure whether it came from the people he met or himself. Even emotions he not normally felt could stick at times, so the confusion should not be all that surprising. Except that Franck had not touched Adrian yet, they were just standing there, staring at each other, not sure which one was intruding on the other.

Franck had no idea that he was being as loud to Adrian as people were to him. He started to think about that however as he wondered if he was not an empath like he happened to be. Franck rarely had to be careful around others. They were the ones who usually tried to be careful around him. It was weird to have this role reversed all of a sudden.

But the boy was not an empath. He frowned slightly at this, wondering what it could be then. The thought came to his mind about at the same time as he told him. “A telepath,” he said softly after he explained he could read minds. So he read Franck’s worries that he might scare him. That made as much sense as if he felt it, really. Franck always tried to watch out for others and make them comfortable, it would make sense he picked that thought out. “I am an empath,” he explained, as if the fact he said ‘too’ had not been clear enough. He even pointed at himself, maybe because ‘I’ was not clear enough either. “I didn’t mean to appear to you like that. I’ve... sometimes, I pick up too many emotions around me and I need to get them out. I might not try to get it out on a wall anymore though, it hurts a lot,” he said, frowning as he look at the wall in question only to laugh at this softly when he turned his gaze back at Adrian.

[Deleted]

Adrian wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but for the boy to take the information with such ease, had not been one of them. Maybe it was because on some level, the boy understood, or maybe he simply was one of those overly caring and understanding types. It didn't really matter at the end of the day, though. "Ah," he replied simply as the boy shared his own power. "I kind of figured," he added with a shrug. After all, he had read the boy's mind. Had that information been lost, after all? He doubted it. He didn't understand why the boy felt as if he owed Adrian anything.

"It's okay," he said, his eyes darting towards the windows as he moved towards them, making sure that he kept some distance between the two of them. "Probably not the smartest thing to do," he said indifferently. Why was this boy making small talk? It wasn't as if he had any real reason to justify himself to Adrian - whom he didn't even know.

Then again, Adrian might have felt the same way had their roles been reversed. Not that he'd ever apologize for being what he was - but it was a lot more complicated than simply not caring. It was worse than that. He didn't really believe that the boy was here - or maybe he was, but he wasn't like Adrian. That was all his mind trying to protect him from the truth.

[François Laffont]

It seemed hypocritical of Franck to hold a grudge against Adrian for reading his thoughts and answering them when he could tell all that the boy was feeling. It might be a little different, thought and feelings, but it was also kind of the same thing. And for all he knew, this guy could not control it either, or not very well. Since Franck had no control of his power himself, he preferred not to judge. At least when it was used like this. Besides, what thoughts may he be thinking right now that was too shameful for others to know? Exactly.

There was also the fact that this was Franck he met. Franck hated thinking ill of someone, even when he had all the rights to. Plus the feelings he picked up from the boy was very similar to some he felt due to his power. It created almost some sort of connection between them, at least enough for him not to want make him uncomfortable.

He chuckled, looking down from some embarrassment as he said he figured what his power was. “Yes, I guess you do,” he replied. That did not stop him from trying to apologize for the behavior he had as they met. He wanted to explain as he didn’t want him to think he was like that all the time. “No. No, it wasn’t,” he admitted, figuring he meant that it was not a smart move to take your anger on a wall. The wall would always win.

He looked at the boy who moved all the way to the windows. It was as if he was ignoring Franck now and came here to do whatever he came here to do. “I didn’t want you to have a bad opinion of me. I’m not always like that. I’m usually the opposite of angry, really. But I don’t control what feeling gets to me and sometimes it just does more than I expected them to. If that makes any sense,” he told him with another soft chuckle in his voice as he was not sure it did.

[Deleted]

The fact that this guy was giving Adrian the benefit of the doubt made the blonde feel sick to his stomach. Yes, the boy could essentially do the same thing, just with his emotions, and Adrian didn't feel entirely comfortable with it, but somehow, he still managed to think that he was intruding a whole lot more than the boy was, even if the boy was turning out to be far too nice for his own good.

Adrian found himself falling silent. Lost in his own - and the boy's thoughts. But even more so, he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the idea that this guy was actually somewhat okay with the aspect of Adrian being able to read his thoughts. It didn't seem to be the kind of thing he preferred, naturally, but he was a lot more forgiving than what Adrian had ever expected anyone to be.

"It does," he replied quietly. He didn't look at the boy. Not yet. "But why do you care so much about my opinion?" That was probably what he didn't understand. Why would anyone ever? It wasn't like Adrian mattered in the grand scheme of things. He wasn't influential or particularly likable. He wasn't popular and didn't have anything to bring to the table. He was odd, and most people avoided him. Rightfully so.

[François Laffont]

Did Franck like the idea that someone could read all of his thoughts just as he formed them? Of course not. But he understood it was not the boy’s fault and Franck didn’t want to hate the guy for something he had no control on. In fact, he sort of pitied him. If he could never learn to turn this off on command, being with people would be a constant pain. Sure, one could say the same about Franck and surely Adrian could learn to control himself if not his power, but that seemed harder to deal with thoughts than feelings. At most, Franck could pretend being a bit agoraphobic and just really good at reading people. It was not like it disturbed him too much not to be able to hear what people had to say.

Franck’s eyes grew wider as Adrian asked him why his opinion mattered. He was not expecting to be asked that. He was not the first to wonder why Franck was being so nice but he never heard it quite like that, not in a way that implied the boy meant nothing and no one should ever bother what his opinion happened to be.

It forced Franck to think for a moment at the way to explain it. Then again, Adrian was probably able to listen to his thought process and get it before he formulated it into words. “Because this is not who I am. And I don’t want anyone to think this could be so. But it’s more than that, it’s not just that selfish. I... I guess I just don’t want you to feel bad about it too.” He didn’t feel like he was expressing himself right. How hard was it to say he just wanted those around him, no matter who they happened to be, to be happy or, at the very least not upset? “Your opinion matters. Maybe it won’t change who I am as a person, but if I ever do something to unsettle you, I want to know so I can adjust to it. Or you could say it’s not that your opinion is special, it’s just what I think everyone should do.” He shrugged at that. Again, he felt like he didn’t have the words to properly express what he meant to say.