Feel Like A Monster

[Devyn Solway]

“Come on bike, don’t do this to me.” Devyn half pleaded in frustration as she got off her bike and went back to looking it over to see what was wrong. This bike had bene a gift for her, a gift that she loved, and probably had been a bit too rough with too many times. It was not her fault that she was a bit of a daredevil and that ever since she had been affected by SPRITE that she was a bit more unstable with her power. There had been a few times she had shifted while on her bike which resulted in her bike getting the short end of the stick. She would have asked her wife for help fixing it up but Vera had been busy and Dev had been a bit stubborn and caught up with other things that she kind of forgot the her bike needed some maintenance.

So it was her own fault that now that she was ready to head back home after handing some things back on campus that he bike was now not starting up. It would not start no matter what she did and while Dev was very good with her hands; and fingers, she was not always the best with fixing things like a bike. In fact she was better at fixing things that were either in a house or involved camping/hunting in some way. So no, fixing a motorcycle was not in her forte and as a result the frustration was building up as she just wanted to get home. “I don’t have time for this!” Devyn yelled as she kicked her backpack over, sending it sliding a little on the parking lot ground.

She was already growling, her green eyes turning a shade darker, and the shadows near where she was where already moving around. She could already feel the tug of her other side, just so close and that just made her mood even worse. She used to have so much more control over herself but SPRITE had made her lose all that hard work and it seemed so hard to get that back. “This is so stupid!” Devyn end up yelling, just as she kicked someone’s car and then froze. “…shit.”

[Morrigan LaFayette]

"Probably best not to kick other peoples' cars, but hey I'm not the police and I've definitely done worse so it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone." Morrigan shrugged before walking over to the frustrated girl. The twenty four year old smirked before looking at the bike.

"Gorgeous bike. Looks a little worse for the wear, but must've been beautiful." She couldn't help it, she closed her eyes and called shadows to her and they weaved inside the machinery gently. This was how she acquainted herself with things sometimes. When she opened it up, she looked at the girl.

"There's a couple of parts inside that are too worn and are going to need replacing. Hope you don't mind that I took a look. Sometimes I can't quite help myself." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Name's Morrigan LaFayette by the way."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn jumped a little at the sound of the voice, having been too caught up in trying to calm herself and not lose control to pick up on her other sense to know someone was coming closer. A growl almost made itself known in Devyn’s throat, but she managed to hold it back as she took another deep breath and looked at the women. “Yeah…I didn’t mean to. I’ll pay for the damage if I need to. Is…is it your car?” Devyn asked as she looked at the car, almost wincing at the dent that she had left in it.

Just great, as if she didn’t have to worry about other expenses like her bike, home, food, and well pretty much everything. The women didn’t really seem all that concerned about the car and even pointed out that she had done worse so it might not have been her car. It didn’t hurt to ask to be sure. Devyn’s green eyes remained on the women as she spoke about how the bike was beautiful but basically that it clearly had been thought some things. That was the truth.

Vera had scolded her about it before and she really did need to get it fixed up, especially because she loved it so and wanted to keep it with her for however long it would last. The shadows that had been previously been moving around for Devyn were now moving for this women, along with others shadows Devyn’s power had not touched. Dev’s eyes went a little wide since it was not all that often that she got to meet other people with a power similar to her. Shadow manipulation.

“I-it’s alright. Wait. You can manipulate shadows too?” Devyn asked, since that was far more important at this moment…well almost as important as her bike. “Nice to meet you Morrigan. The name is Devyn Solway.” Devyn said, having no problem introducing herself back, but back on the whole shadow and things on her bike. “Do you think you can fix it? Oh, wait…how did you do that? Like the specifics of your power?” Devyn asked. Her mind fighting which questions she wanted to know the answers to more.

[Morrigan LaFayette]

Morrigan laughed and waved her hand dismissively.

"It's not my car and I'm not the police. As long as you don't piss me off, I'm not gonna tell you on you. Not like the staff's done me any favours after all." She shrugged with a grin. Then the other girl mentioned the shadow manipulation and she arched an eyebrow.

"How many shadow manipulators ARE there at this school? Yeah I manipulate shadows. Fairly well too, if I do say so myself." At least when she wasn't trying to help someone rid themselves of their emotional darkness. That was always going to reflect negatively on her, she thought. The girl introduced herself and she smiled. Could she fix it?

"Hmm...I wouldn't be able to fix it right away, not the least of which is because it needs new parts. But I've tinkered with bikes a bit. I don't get to try all that often because they won't let me get a job in town. But I know a bit. I could probably figure it out." She'd snuck out of the Clan's place to go to the nearest town to tinker with bikes and stuff. She did find humans disgusting, but their inventions not so much.

"The specifics of my power are basically I can manipulate the shadows to move as I want. I just have a habit of using them to peek inside vehicles. Oh and I can also lessen emotional shadows on other people, but I'm not about to do that considering I take on the shadow myself." She shrugged.

"Manipulating the regular kind of shadows don't really have too many nasty side-effects for me. It's just a trouble in other ways that I manipulate them. So I could take a peek inside your bike fairly easily, Devyn."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn relaxed a bit more when the other women was laughing and spoke of how it was not her car and basically Dev was in the clear in terms of not getting in trouble. Devyn still planned on writing a note or something with her contact information so she could pay for the damage, since she really didn't mean to dent the car. Had she meant to, then she would not have cared but this was just an innocent bystander’s car in the right place but a monster ended up to closer to it as it lashed out. At the question of shadow manipulators Dev had to raise a brow since she was certain there were not that many. At least there not been for a lot of years since it was one of those rarer...or perhaps dangerous abilities to the user.

It was very possible that a lot of shadow users didn’t even live that long as per their choice, but Dev could not say that was a fact or anything. "Never met that many in all my years here." Devyn responded. Then again, it seemed like people were avoiding her or busy of late so that might have been why. A part of her didn't care but another part of her wondered if it was because she was a bit more dangerous than she was before. Either way, dev listened as the women explained what she could do and how she was 'good' at it. As for the state of her bike, it did not seem like it was going to be fixed quickly, since Devyn needed to get it some new parts.

The women did seem willing to try but Dev was not certain what could be done as of now since she didn't really have the needed parts right on her person. "Well...you can at least tell me about what parts I need so I know what to order." Devyn said as she pulled out her phone to make a note of it. She of course was all ears again as the other women explained her power in a bit more detail. It was similar to Devyn's just without the beast aspects and this woman apparently liked to use it to take a look into vehicles, which was...interesting and certainly different. The bit about the shadows and emotions had Devyn looking quickly confused and tiling her head to the side a little bit.

"Wait, I don’t' understand. So you...so basically you can somehow lessen the emotional strain dark based powers put on the user by taking on those feeling yourself?" Devyn asked trying to understand what the woman was telling her. Then she spoke about how she could take a peek inside Dev's bike easily, which had Devyn chuckling a little. "Didn’t you already do that? Without my permission, might I add?" Devyn said with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

((Tag: Morrigan LaFayette))

[Morrigan LaFayette]

"You're the second I've met." Morrigan shrugged. She didn't think it was that common a power, but she supposed it might be. But it probably didn't have side effects like hers in the other people. When Devyn mentioned the parts, she nodded. She took a piece of paper from her pocket and took the pen from her pocket, writing down the two parts. Only two, but every part was important in a machine. She gave the paper to Devyn with a smile.

"Your gas tank has a leak, which is probably the primary reason it refuses to go. It's kinda odd honestly. It's a bona-fide hole. You get attacked by a bear or a wolf or something?" She arched an eyebrow with a smile before continuing.

"You also need a new circuit breaker for the ignition." Then Devyn tried understanding her shadow healing and Morrigan sighed, shaking her head and running a hand through her hair idly before explaining.

"No no. I can do it to people who don't have shadow manipulation. I see the emotional state of someone through their aura. The dark spots show up as shadows. They're caused by a negative memory or something like that. And I can take a part of that shadow. It makes the person able to look back on that memory with less pain, thereby letting them deal with that memory and lessening the shadow further themselves. But however much of the shadow I take from them is reflected on my own aura. And then they basically point negative things in my life out to me." She bit her lip briefly thinking about it. She hoped that was an okay explanation.

"I try not to use it now. It's already messed me up. Because I don't like to deal with my own shadows." Then Devyn joked about Morrigan already taking a look. She smiled a bit, but it was a little tight because she'd just been thinking about her own shadows.

"I did indeed. Sorry for that, but it was too beautiful a bike for me not to. What I meant was that if you liked I could work on it a bit and see if I could fix it. I haven't been let near a bike for a while because I'm not allowed to go into town."

[Devyn Solway]

"Oh, second is not bad. Was thinking that I was the fifth or something. I would have been impressed if that was the case." Devyn responded. It felt good that there still didn't seem to be that many with her power. It made her feel kind pf special...even if again the reason why there might not have been many with her power was because they probably didn’t live that long with the battle of darkness within them. Either way, Dev was not worried about it since her concern was on her bike. The gift that was from her wife and that she loved despite how it ended up in its current state. "Old? It's only three years old. Damn..." Devyn responded, upset that she had gotten her bike to this state that it was being called old now. She could still remember it when it was brand new for her and she could almost recall every time it got damaged because of her.

I'm a monster. No. none of that. Devyn could not help but to think but quickly scolded herself and refocused. She could get it fixed; it was not like it was broken forever. Right? "Uh...you could say it's something like that. More along the lines of me having gotten into accidents with it or accidently attacking it when I have lost control." Devyn admitted as she pulled on her hair a little. She saw no point in lying about it, but it didn't help her feelings about feeling awful for her bike getting to this point. "Ugh, sounds like money is all I'm hearing." Devyn muttered mostly to herself as she was considering even more maybe getting three jobs. She didn’t want to be useless to her wife. She could not have Vera do all the work, how was she supposed to be a great parent if she could not help pay for things?

The women then cleared up what she could do with her ability, which helped Dev understand it a tiny bit more but not fully. "Ah...think I got it. Kind of." Devyn responded, still only half getting it. Maybe her mood was causing her to not fully grasp it; it was what she was going to blame for now. "Tsk tsk. I can't really be one to talk since I do the same thing but I'm still going to say it. You should worry about yourself more than you do others." Devyn pointed out. Yes, she was a huge hypocrite for saying that but she would not deny it. She knew she was one to say things for others but not follow them herself. "Heh, thanks. My wife and her uncle made it for me. If...if you think you could do anything now for it I would be happy for the help." Devyn pointed out, but she figured the women must have meant later unless she was carrying those parts hidden on her person.

"What does being near a bike have to deal with not being able to go into town? No other students have bikes?" Devyn asked, finding that hard to believe. She was choosing to not comment on the whole being stuck on campus because she didn't know what to say on the matter. She knew the school did for a reason and she didn't want to pry just yet on the matter until she had a better grasp on who she was dealing with.

((Tag: Morrigan LaFayette))

[Morrigan LaFayette]

"I said odd. Not old. It is worn, but I'm not stupid. It looks like a new bike." She arched an eyebrow and gave the woman a lopsided smile. Wife? This woman was not only gay but married. Morrigan smiled and sighed. What the hell was she doing with her life? And then she heard the words about being near a bike and not going into town and she grinned, shaking her head with a carefree laugh.

"No no no it isn't because of bikes. I'm stuck on campus on court orders for re-education because I killed a human. Personally I don't see the big deal, but my therapist says that right there's the actual problem. Go figure." She shrugged.

"Which of course would mean that I'd have to fix it on campus unfortunately. And you'd have to go get the parts. But hey, it depends. I'd fix it for free just to have a project to do. My hands are pretty restless lately." And...other parts of her too, but that wasn't something to say in present company, especially since the woman was married. She may be a killer, but Morrigan wasn't a homewrecker. There were boundaries after all.

[Devyn Solway]

“Oops, my bad.” Devyn responded with a small chuckle and using her pinkie to itch inside her ear. Perhaps she needed to get her ears cleaned out or that the fact that her ears were still ringing from her last class was not helping her hearing ability. After all, her ears were super sensitive so along with the ringing she was picking up on every other sound around them, and that was likely why she misheard the young women. Or it could have been the one controlling all of this made a mistake, no one could be certain. “Well it’s not super new, it’s like three years old…but it’s been through some things.” Devyn responded as she let out a heavy sigh.

A hand reaching out to rub along her bike and think back to when she got the gift her wife and uncle in law gave her. She really did love it and could not help but dislike herself on some level for being why it had gotten to this condition in the first place. Dev listened as the women explained that it was not because of bikes but because she killed a human. Alright, so Dev was now alert and her green eyes turned a few shades darker as her gaze remained locked on the other women. “I mean…it is kind of a big deal. You killed someone. Was it at least out of self-defense?” Devyn asked. Hell, she was no stranger to killing people with her track record.

The difference was that she managed to only kill people that were trying to kill her so it was okay…cause self-defense. That was probably why she was allowed off campus to live and just have a life. Sure they could try and bring her back to the school due to her unstable condition of late but she still managed to keep people from actually finding out that she was a mutant or getting seriously hurt. “I mean, if you know what you are doing then yeah I would be up for it. Only have to pay for parts instead of parts and the cost to fix it. What’s the catch?” Dev asked. She didn’t buy the whole just wanting to fix up the bike. Nothing was free, people always wanted something.

((Tag: Morrigan LaFayette ))

[Morrigan LaFayette]

"Nope. Wasn't self-defense. A part of me thought it'd be fun. The part with my shadows." She'd been kicked out of the only family she'd ever known as a result of the transgression too. She sighed, shaking her head. Then she heard the girl ask what was the catch and Morrigan smiled.

"No real catch. I like working on the bikes and...well I don't meet too many people who don't immediately assume things about me or glare at me. Pre-judging, you know? Besides which, I think you could use a good deed. Your aura definitely has some shadow. Not sure whether it's due to your power or not since I don't know your powerset's nature. And I can't remove it or lessen it without making myself potentially more dangerous. But...sometimes a good deed can help, and that's really all I want. I want to help people not have as many shadows lingering about them. It's how I got into this whole bloody mess with my powers and the death." She shrugged.

"The death's kind of hard to explain." Morrigan shook her head slightly.

"And thanks to my shadow manipulation I know my way around the machines. It might take a bit longer than the conventional mechanic though, I warn you. I have a lot of free time, but I haven't worked on like a hundred bikes like a pro mechanic. So I'm not as fast. I can do it though I know how."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn's guard did go up a little bit when she heard the response from the other women, because of course she would be on edge now. Not that she felt threatened but her body was preparing her incase things should go south and to show that she was still alpha in a situation no matter what. "That explains why you are forced to stay on campus...and keep in mind that I'm an alpha so if you slip up or something by accident I won't hesitate to put you in your place." Devyn pointed out. She was not going to push much more into why the girl killed someone, if it had been self-defense she would have been a little less cold about the matter.

"Sorry for kind of doing that now. You might have wanted to lie to me or at least choose to not go into detail about such a matter." Devyn pointed out when the other women spoke of not meeting too many people that didn't pre-judge her. Dev was judging her now of course but it was because it would not have been good to be around someone who could just end up being unstable when Devyn herself was not the most stable at the moment. She didn't fear or hate the girl because she could halfway understand what it was like to have an urge and to maybe enjoy killing someone. "A bit of both..." Devyn admitted as she looked away and scratched the back of her neck a little bit.

Well, at least it was clear to someone else that she was not in the most stable of conditions but SPRITE was at fault for that. That and the fact that people knew about mutants and were now trying to get all mutant hate and what not in the area. She spoke of how a good deed could make up for it, so if it would help the other women not kill someone or something then Dev so no issue with her working on her bike. "Alright, then I'll let you work on it as long as you don't mind me having someone else check your work when you are done." Devyn responded. That was fair, right? "Let’s just keep the whole urge to kill someone or what not that will cause you to get a darker personality away then. I can manage my own darkness." Dev pointed out.

"It's cool. You can take your time. I have class during the weekdays so I can leave it out here and just bring the supplies once I get a hold of them. Then you can come out here and work on it. How does that sound?" Dev offered. It did feel a little odd to be around someone similar to her on some levels but at the same time she wanted to help them out. If doing some good deed would help keep her 'demons away'; then Dev wanted to help.

((Tag: Morrigan LaFayette))

[Morrigan LaFayette]

"Good to hear. I don't do it on purpose. Sometimes the shadows overcome me and influence my thinking quite heavily. I wish there'd been someone there to stop me the first time." She gave a small sigh. It wasn't something she was happy about. It wasn't self defense, but that didn't mean she was any less regretful. When the girl said she should have lied if she wanted no judgment.

"I make a point of telling the truth. Even if it's ugly, people deserve to know it. I can be dangerous sometimes. Lying about that would be incredibly irresponsible of me. And honestly, I don't really blame you for judging me as you are now. You're not the first. Hell, I even judge me." Only person who hadn't really was Callie. And Morrigan thought Callie was probably the exception to a great many rules.

"And nope it's well within your rights to have someone check it afterwards. As for the darkness...I try to help other people with theirs the same way humans do it. Without my powers. Maybe I'll learn to make the darkness subside one day and I'll be able to use them, but until then...it isn't worth the pain." She shrugged.

"And that sounds like a plan. I don't have too many classes. I figure I have plenty of time to get my degree while trapped on campus." She grinned.