A Lesson with Sallie

[balancingminds]

Charles arranged to meet Sallie at the counter as that way they can go someplace where she feels safe.

In preparation, he's made a quick list of his various psychic defenses and what they do and how he set them into place. They might not be helpful for her but they might provide a reference.

He truly hopes he can find a way to help as even with all these years with Raven, talking and experimenting with their mutations if he can be a teacher of something so personal. It feels like he can and he does know he's a good teacher, but this is still new.

Comments

[realmrsreynolds]

There is a lot to think about when going into a situation like this. Charles is a relative stranger, whatever his powers may be, and even though Sallie came prepared to this meeting with a mindset of cautious optimism - she is still wary.

"Wèi, Charles."

[balancingminds]

He understands that wariness as until recently he only had his sister to talk about his telepathy with and Raven doesn't always find it interesting,

"Hello. I was thinking it would be best if we went somewhere you feel safe and that we won't be interrupted."

[realmrsreynolds]

"Well, that'd be home, but I'm not thinkin' a trip to Shadow'd be the most productive thing ever. Besides, I don't even know yet if this'd work there - instead of just here at the bar."

Hrm. Someplace they won't be interrupted.

"My apartment should do, but -- " Sallie holds up a finger and turns to face the Bartop. She presses her palms flat against it and is quiet a moment.

Then smiling, "She'll tell folk to leave a message for me."

[balancingminds]

"Could you talk to her that way before whatever shifted or is that new as well?"

His notes are slipped into his pocket for now but they'll be there for later.

[realmrsreynolds]

"That part happened when I signed on to be a barman with Mike. It's the -- the seein' things from her perspective that throws me now."

[balancingminds]

"That makes sense. Seeing and hearing are quite different when it comes to these sorts of experiences,"

He's always been able to do both but it's when they come together that there's a greater chance of being overwhelmed.

[realmrsreynolds]

Sallie just nods at this, gesturing towards the Staff Hallway with one hand to get Charles to follow. Once at her door, Sallie unlocks it and reaches to the interior handle to grab a 'Do Not Disturb' sign that is just a large red circle with a line through it.

"I don't have much in the way of furniture again yet, but make yourself comfortable," Sallie offers, showing Charles to a sparse room with one straight-backed chair and one recliner. Her (new) bed is behind a curtain; she hasn't found a new dividing screen she likes yet.

[balancingminds]

He heads towards the straight backed chair and sits down,

"I was thinking it would be helpful to explore extremes to see first how strong what you sense is. That will also allow me to try and show you my shields and we can figure out what will make the most sense for you."

[realmrsreynolds]

"So, experimenting." Which is a problematic-type word. But it makes sense. "Dangran."

[balancingminds]

"Yes, but only among the two of us. It's how I learned to control my own telepathy, testing my limits. My sister helped at times and I helped her with her mutation as well,"

Charles is a scientist so experiment isn't a bad word for him but he's aware of how little it takes to become one.

[realmrsreynolds]

"Okay. But -- the only times I see somethin' are when I touch folk, or sometimes things that come from different worlds."

Charles is the only guy here who fits the bill.

[balancingminds]

"You might be able to do more with control but we'll start with that. What I'm going to do is put all of my shields up and then you take my hands. If it works you shouldn't sense anything from me and then I'll slowly lower my various shields until you get an impression from me. I think that should provide an idea of what you're reading."

[realmrsreynolds]

So weird! Oh, my life.

Sallie nods, and leans forward on the edge of her seat more in preparation.

[balancingminds]

Charles closes his eyes as he puts up every layer of shielding he has and only when they're full up does he open his eyes and offer her his hands,

"If this works, you shouldn't be able to see or read anything from me."

[realmrsreynolds]

Sallie doesn't blink or flinch or preemptively wince when she reaches for Charles' hand.

She does squeak in surprise when:

"You're all greyed-out and blank in there."

[balancingminds]

"Yes, that's every single shield I have but I rarely use all of them. Now I'm going to lower them one by one. The most outer one I rarely put up as it cuts me off from all the minds around me,"

The process of the shield coming down is as slow as she can make it in the hope that she'll be able to feel when he emerges.

[realmrsreynolds]

Sallie can tell when the outermost one falls, because the grey shifts to a deeper grey-black. For about thirty seconds though, there's no shift, and Sallie's about to ask if something is wrong when the grey-black sheds itself entirely.

"Your pen looks like the ink's goin' dry," Sallie mentions, heartrate picking up.

[balancingminds]

"Yes, it is. I need to buy more ink. I'm going to take down another layer, this one is more variable. I change the opacity of it depending on how much I'm listening and how in danger of being overwhelmed I feel,"

This shield is more like a window, a curtain is lifted to see out before the window itself is opened to let in thoughts that aren't on the surface. Those thoughts that are pushed down or always there, for Charles, this is where he constantly monitors the minds and thoughts around him.

[realmrsreynolds]

Immediately: "Toast is a piss-poor breakfast, son.

"You're...writing a book. And Raven's about somewhere, but not here."

[balancingminds]

"I don't always have time to get a larger breakfast if I have meetings to get to. That's my dissertation on genetics. Are you picking up anything else?"

It seems like she's mainly reading the top layer of memories.

[realmrsreynolds]

Sallie squints, but in the end, shakes her head 'no'.

"Just sort of -- this static scene. You work too much."

[balancingminds]

"My sister would agree with you. It looks like if I can teach you to have a shield like my top layer then you could control better when you read people."

[realmrsreynolds]

"I learned something along these lines from Mike and Splinter when I became a Barman, but that's easier, since the folk on the other side of whatever I saw was...participating, I guess? They could tone things down, if they wanted.

"And I am not a ninja like Mike," Sallie chuckles softly, finally pulling back from Charles. "I didn't grow up with this."

[balancingminds]

"I don't think many people have. Though I'm not sure what being a ninja has to do with it. Yes, it's a little harder when you just pick up on what's around you but not impossible. One of the first things I taught myself when I was young was how to block out the world,"

Then he could figure out how to decide what he wanted to hear.

[realmrsreynolds]

Ninjas are always relevant, Charles. Come on now.

"So -- we're going to try and turn everything off?"