Steel Walls

[Gabriel King]

The lacquered walls appeared in flashes of vision, as if he were continuously blacking out as he ran. He couldn't hear his breathing, which was strange considering it was burning in his chest. Elevator music tinkled in the air as he rounded a corner...and suddenly he was in a familiar room.
He explored the memory in flashes. Black. Steel table. Black. Three scientists huddled over a boy on a table. Screaming. Blood. White.

Gabriel woke with a strangled gasp, drenched in sweat and tangled inside his shredded sheets. Or what remained of them. Almost instantly he began fighting the change, snarling as his heart beat frantically into his ribs. During his nightmare his fingers had partially changed to claws, which explained his ruined bed at least.
He rolled, or more accurately, fell out of bed. At one point he tried to save himself, clutching at the wooden dresser, but his shaking hands only managed to knock over the picture of his parents he kept there.

Clutching his sides, Gabe gave up and curled in on himself on the ground. He'd been having nightmares since returning to college, though tonight had been by far the worst. He'd gotten his shift under control, but his body was shaking uncontrollably, and he certainly wasn't in a state to calm himself.

Mercedes Allen

[Mercedes Allen]

    Mercedes jerked awake only seconds after Gabriel, instantly sitting up and wrapping her arms around herself. She was breathing rather heavily, tears running down her face and blurring her vision. She didn't know who was in such misery, or what they were even dreaming about, but she felt them. She felt their pain. She could feel everything, and it was so strong and raw she could hardly separate her own emotions from his. It took her a few seconds to wake up fully and realize that his emotions weren't her own, but even still she couldn't fully get rid of them.

    She shut her eyes, forcing herself to calm down and trying to get her abilities under control. It was easier now that she was fully awake, but even still she was shaken. Mercedes wiped the tears off of her face with the palm of her hand and brought her legs around to hang off of the edge of her bed, taking a shaky breath before standing. She didn't know where they were, or even who it was, but she knew they needed somebody. Urgently.

    Using her abilities similarly to playing a game of hot or cold she silently made her way down the corridor, venturing where she felt his emotions were the strongest. She found his dorm rather quickly, and didn't hesitate to turn the nob. She didn't know whether or not it was locked, but it was worth a try.

[Gabriel King]

After giving himself a few moments to calm himself, Gabriel was able to drag himself onto the bed and sit up. Dropping his head in his hands, the young man focused on slowing his breathing before he woke up one of his room-mates. "Shit, shit, shit, fuuuuck," he muttered hoarsely, closing his eyes. Sometimes having eyes that could see in the dark didn't help when all he wanted was to be engulfed in shadow.

His already hair-trigger nerves frayed completely when he heard the soft sound of his doorknob turning. Automatically his teeth elongated into fangs and a feral, warning growl ripped from his throat. He was far past having a use for manners.

"I suggest retreating," he warned whoever it was by his door, not recognizing the scent. He wasn't in a calm enough state of mind to rationalize that whoever it was, they clearly weren't a danger. "You have the wrong room." He tried joking weakly. "The girl's slumber party is next door."

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[Mercedes Allen]

    Normally when somebody opens the door to a dark room and hears an animalistic growl originating from somewhere inside a person would immediately slam the door and run back to wherever they came from, not take a step into the threshold like Mercedes dared to do. She was definitely alarmed, her stiffened back and raised heartbeat proof of that, but she didn't make a move to leave, even after his words of warning.

    The sides of her mouth twitched upwards at his weak attempt at humor, "Trust me, I think I have the right room.". With that she quietly closed the door behind her. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and even though she couldn't see distinct details she was able to see shapes and silhouettes, nowhere near the vision he was equipped with. Mercedes found the source of her lack of sleep and cautiously she took a step in his direction. "I'm here to help.".

[Gabriel King]

The fact that he had been purposefully sought out wasn't a comforting one, and considering his frayed nerves, it did little to comfort Gabriel. He lifted his head, nocturnal eyes spotting a stranger standing in his doorway. His polite self urged him to turn on the lights as a courtesy for her, but he looked past that fairly quickly. She was intruding on a rather private moment.

"Help?" He repeated incredulously. He stood, willing his fangs to recede once again considering the lack of a threat. "I don't recall screaming out for a rescuer." There was no point denying that he was in a sorry state, it seemed obvious enough to him, though he wasn't sure how this girl had discovered it.

Prowling closer, Gabriel loomed over the stranger for a moment, taking in her scent suspiciously. Once he was satisfied, he retreated from her personal space slightly, leaning over to flick the light switch beside her. "You can't help me. Not unless you have the power to break my mind and keep these dreams from me." Retreating with a hiss, he sat back on the bed with a sigh.

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[Mercedes Allen]

    Mercedes watched as the shadowy figure stood, her heart skipping a beat. She decided it would be wiser not to reply, knowing that she'd probably end up saying something smart and in doing so push him further away then he already was.

    As he approached her feet remained planted in the spot, the only thing moving being her eyes as they carefully followed his movements across the space between them. Despite feeling intimidated by their sheer proximity, Mercedes managed to keep her expression neutral, taking the time to study his rather attractive features as best as she could in the dark.

    She blinked once in surprise as the light was flipped on, then many times after as her vision adjusted to the sudden brightness in the room. She immediately noticed the shredded state of the bed, the clutter of the dresser and the picture frame on the floor next to it evidence enough of what happened. She turned her attention to the broken man on the bed once more.

    "I can help, but only if you let me," she came to stand in front of him, crouching down to meet his gaze. "You need somebody to talk to, to be there for you. These dreams are only going to get worse if you ignore them. You need a shoulder to cry on. Let me be that person. Trust me, facing them head on will help you get rid of them."

[Gabriel King]

He'd detected the sudden spike in her heart-rate and secretly enjoyed it. If she was going to invade his privacy he felt better knowing she wasn't enjoying it, or in the least, feared him slightly. Typically that wasn't something he looked forward to, but misery did tend to breed misery.

Despite the reaction she'd had to him, the stranger followed him to the bed, prompting Gabriel to meet her gaze. She claimed to be able to help him again, and he almost burst out laughing. "What are you, some kind of fucking shrink?" He demanded. Angrily pushing a few strands of sweaty hair off his forehead, Gabriel regarded the stranger. She seemed sincere in her desire to help, which was strange. So bloody strange and amusing that he almost wanted to let her.

She made it sound so very easy. He bit his lip and looked away, tempted by the sincerity in her voice and struggling not to give in to it. "They're just nightmares. I'm not back there. I wont go back there." Though in his weak voice, it seemed he was trying to convince himself more than her.

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[Mercedes Allen]

    "No, not a shrink, just somebody who knows what she's talking about from experience," she answered. Mercedes kept completely calm, his brash tone not affecting her in the least.
She knew the reason behind his unfriendliness, it was expected given she did invade a rather personal time, and with this knowledge she ignored the anger he showed.

    She hated seeing anybody in this state, feeling what they're feeling just makes it that much worse. She wanted to reach out, to comfort him is some way, but she could only do that if he let her. "They're just going to get worse and more frequent if you don't face them now," she murmured, her words soft and compassionate. She let her gaze fall down to her hands which were loosely clasped together in her lap.

[Gabriel King]

He couldn't very well turn away an obvious helping hand, not when so many people had sneered at him for doing much the same thing. Gabriel always looked outwards, and very rarely let people close enough to glance at his own problems. It was easier that way, and he'd probably feel selfish otherwise.

"I thought I was over them," he confessed with a tired sigh, leaning back off his elbows. The nightmares had only returned after being released from prison, which he supposed was fair enough. That place hadn't exactly been a picnic, so of course it had affected him. "You my fairy godmother?" Not that it mattered. He shook off the bemusement and inclined his head, silently offering the help she seemed to be offering.

"When my powers appeared and I was first recruited, it was by scientists, masquerading as Bellefonte staff." He'd trusted the men who'd claimed to work with the university his brother had gone to before him. Yet before he knew it he'd been drugged and tied, carted off to some kind of lab in the middle of nowhere. "They.....did things to me. Experiments, tests." His breath caught and Gabriel shamefully turned away to hide the fear that still plagued him. "I was kept there for six months in this tiny cage before the real Bellefonte showed up and rescued me." But that had been years and years ago. There was reason for him to remember being locked up of course, but that made him no less weak.

He clenched his hands into fists unconsciously. "I don't....tell people that. Not anyone." Gabriel could almost taste his frustration. Or perhaps he'd bitten his tongue too hard during his nightmare. Either were believable. "I'm sorry."

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[Mercedes Allen]

    Her eyes flickered up to his face when he spoke up once more, the corners of her lips lifting a fraction of an inch. "In a way, sure I guess I am," she mused, her somewhat of a smile widening a bit more at the idea before disappearing completely.

   Relieved that he was finally opening up, Mercedes listened intently to what he had to say, giving him her full attention. His story would've made anybody have nightmares, if not some other mental issue. It would be scarring to have something like this happen, she didn't need her empathetic abilities to figure that bit out. Before she even realized what she was doing a hand gently came up to hold one of his closed fists, soothingly rubbing circles with her thumb.

    "Hey," she tilted her head a little to the side, tugging the hand she was holding a bit to get his attention. "Don't apologize, you have nothing to apologize for."

[Gabriel King]

A fake fairy godmother who broke into apartments seemed amusing, and strangely comforting. Gabe felt himself smiling alongside her at the thought, though it didn't last long.

Even through embarrassingly pouring out his emotions, Gabriel still felt and tensed when Mercedes; hand touched his own. At first he naturally recoiled, but after a moment his fist relaxed and he opened his hand slightly to maintain the contact. The mundane touch was soothing and it was nice to simply embrace the offered comfort for once, and not question what she was trying to gain out of it.

"Maybe," he allowed with an exasperated smile. "Or maybe I'm just whining for attention and you fell for it." He tried to put a teasing not back into his voice, half-hoping she'd actually believe him and leave out of annoyance. That way he might have at least been able to salvage his trampled pride. Gabriel's eyes narrowed and he asked, "How did you even know I was....well, not good?"

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[Mercedes Allen]

    There wasn't a chance he would be able to fool her, but she found his attempt mildly amusing. "You must be one hell of an actor then," she replied with a smirk, obviously not believing what he implied. If she did she would've been giving him a piece of her mind right about then, a few birds being present at the end of her graphic speech and his door would've most definitely been slammed once she was finished. Obviously that wasn't the case whatsoever.

    "I'm your fairy godmother, remember?" she answered with a teasing smile. A few moments later she continued with a more serious answer, looking at the ground as she spoke, "I'm an empath. I can read other people's emotions and desires, and when they're raised for whatever reason I experience them more strongly. Some people experience emotions so strongly, if I'm asleep they can wake me up. If you were really whining for attention then you wouldn't have woken me up. And even if you managed to then I wouldn't have come."

[Gabriel King]

He smirked at the futility of his brave face, not surprised Mercedes had seen right through it. His humor was still his last standing defense mechanism though, so he couldn't afford to let the smile fall. She'd already managed to blast through his anger and encouraged him to reveal things he'd only shared with his closest family. It was unnerving and it set his skittish nerves grinding against each other. If he hadn't already guessed she was somehow reading him with the help of a power he'd have kicked her out long before.

"Want me to autograph something?" He asked, speculatively looking her up and down. Just in case she was planning on ripping off her shirt so he could sign her bra or something. The suspicious voice in his head was still suggesting 'booty call' as a more likely scenario than 'random stranger who genuinely wants to help'.

He wasn't polite enough to let the gentle joking continue without receiving some real answers, and was preparing to say as much when she finally seemed to open up to him herself. Not as much as he had of course, he remembered with another shot of embarrassment, but it was a start. "Then I...ah..." He was surprised that his outburst had been strong enough to set her 'spidey senses' tingling, or whatever it was that they were. "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, I'll try to keep myself controlled." He stopped himself from saying next time. Not because he doubted there would be one, his nightmares were occurring with remarkable frequency, but because he was sure this random stranger would worry about that more than anyone else he'd ever known would.

He pulled his legs up, sitting cross-legged to face her more comfortably. "So are you feeling my emotions right now? How does that work exactly?" He struggled just dealing with his own emotions. Taking in those of everyone around you seemed like enough to drive him mad.

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