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

[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?"

[balancingminds]

"Yes, put a shield up between your mind and those around you. Then you can decide when to put it down,"

Clearly he still has a lot to learn including the importance of ninjas.

[realmrsreynolds]

"...Okay."

Where to start?

[balancingminds]

"The best way to start with a shield is to create a routine for yourself as you imagine it in your build. First you construct it in a way that you can easily picture it closing off all those thoughts then if it helps tie it to a thought or a phrase. Then it becomes a matter of getting comfortable raising and lowering it until the shield is simply another part of your mind."

[realmrsreynolds]

"So...somethin' I'm used to, or basing it off a routine I've already got going. Okay."

But what would that be?

Sallie leans back in her chair and stares up at the ceiling for a minute.

[balancingminds]

"Yes, when I was little, my walls looked like castle walls. I imagined building them brick by brick."

[realmrsreynolds]

"That's pretty."

[balancingminds]

"Thank you, now they're rather more fluid. Do you have any ideas of what might work for you?"