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 Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 2:30 am
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Toni nodded at Chris’ comment and finished gathering her stuff, she had to offer but also knew that this would be one of those father and daughter moments that’d finally bring Chris closer to Jack. Odd that Maxwell would do ONE good thing, she shook her head at the thought and smiled at them. ”Sorry we keep popping in and out but hopefully with HIM being out of the picture you wont being seeing any of us for a while, at least till we’re born.” She smirked and popped out letting the two discuss what the need to.
Jack watched as Topher left the room and was amused at his thoughts towards time travel, Welcome to my world… He had been the first to deal with it, then Jenny had demanded to have the tech to deal with Lexa doing that him. He turned as Toni finished up and then looked over to Chris, knowing she wanted to talk to him. He almost at the point after Toni left felt like going over to hug her and sit with her but decided to give her some room. He sighed at her question and pulled off the glove that made his hand look full that he used for events. Of course the family knew it was a fake but he showed it to her again. ”Compulsion… at varying degrees is bad. Even your brothers weak little display outside before he passed out was enough to make us stop talking for a few seconds.” Thought about how best to explain it.
”You have essentially two types. Topher for example on the one side uses his to help people, USUALLY. Then you have people like Maxwell who uses his to make people do what he wants. Having no control over your body isn’t fun.” He stared down as he recalled the memory of what he did to their grandmother as it came back to him so clear after seeing the alternate timeline of her alive. He was actually surprised Jenny didn’t pull her along back. ”You may have had the inclination to harm someone, but you probably didn’t, Topher is much stronger I think than Maxwell so his plans probably didn’t work out so I DOUBT you did anything to regret.” He looked at her and smiled. He could tell something was bugging her and nodded.
”That will go away, its residual. After my incident I still had lingering thoughts for a while that weren’t entirely my own. However I knew on some level with the time travel there was a possibility that another Maxwell could pop up. From what I could gather I don’t think he will, I think your brother took care of that or will do so if any other pops up.” Jack frowned a bit remembering all the blood on Topher and everything else as well. ”Though for you, if I’m guessing Maxwell was booted out, which may be why you cant remember. I think they did tests of forcing Telepaths out and it did show people didn’t recall that whole timeframe, you’ll have to ask Frederick, if your mother doesn’t kill him.” He leaned back a bit and sighed, ”As for your first question, not to overpass it. I don’t want know, you’re home, you’re safe, Toni fixed whatever needed to be fixed, that’s all that matters to me.” He snorted a bit and laughed at the thought. ”Oh, try not to bring up future relationships with Topher, even if his kids time travel, I think we did almost lose him there.”
”Also think of this way, if you were under compulsion of any type, your brother would probably know, you two always had some double sense, I think it’s that twin connection Toni meioned. He could break it, hopefully without damage. And then would probably find and kill whoever was doing it if you, I or your mother didn’t get to them first.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 6:13 pm
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Chris closed her eyes for a moment while her dad explained some of the Telepathy things. ”Its more influence versus control.” Chris had never been able to do either, not that she didn’t know other ways to achieve the same result. ”The difference between telling someone to do something where they still have some degree of control and forcing someone to do it.” She opened her eyes again, leaning her chin on her knees. Jack was probably right but she had a feeling it wasn’t exactly the truth. She still had memory of some of the emotions. Her fear and feeling of being trapped and isolated inside herself but also a hint of something else. She pushed it away, knowing she wasn’t in any state to deal with emotions right now. She was still mentally and physically exhausted.
She knew she was just paranoid, it did run in the family, but his words were comforting. She was not alone in this. She knew she could deal with any residual thoughts and feelings at her strongest. But right now at her weakest, she had doubts. She nodded when Jack said Maxwell being booted from her mind was probably the reason she had no memories. She thought as much herself. ”They were both in my mind at the same time. I’m sure that has something to do with it too.” The stress of it.. the brain did find ways to protect itself from painful things. It seemed odd to her that she still knew what happened even though she couldn’t remember. It was like being told a story second hand. Maybe the memories were still there somewhere? She wasn’t eager to find out.
”Speaking of Uncle Frederick, Don’t let mom be armed when they talk… I’m gonna make sure he knows too. It really doesn’t end well.” She knew she didn’t have to explain how she knew. She smirked at his comment about Topher, too tired to laugh. She didn’t blame Topher though, it was difficult knowing the future to that extent. She also couldn’t really be held accountable for spoiling it for him, having just woke up and not having coffee or anything.
She realized she was still in her dress from the conference, but it was in bad shape. Very dirty, some blood on it and slightly ripped in places. Her feet were disgusting, almost black. She must have done some walking without her shoes. A shower would be a good idea but her brain wanted sleep. She closed her eyes again just for a moment, trying to decide if she should end the conversation now or get some coffee to continue the conversation.
While she pondered it, emotions in the other room flared. She made a pained face and buried her head in her knees and currled her toes. Jenny was beyond pissed. Topher must have disregarded her statement not to tell mom. She’d never felt her mom this angry before. Chris almost never shielded herself around family, used to each of their differences enough to differentiate from her own. That and Empathy blocking took energy she didn’t have right now. Of course, because of the strong emotion, her future powers triggered, throwing her yet again violently into another vision. It was similar to the one before except instead of a gun there was a knife. Her whole body went rigid and her breath caught in her throat. This one was longer that the first.
The return to the present was just as bad, she gasped for air and her whole body was tense, hands balled into fists and her toes ached from being curled in on themselves so tightly. If Jack hadn’t moved to come comfort her yet, she reached out to him, needing a grounding point. Neither her Clairvoyance nor her Empathy had been this bad since… Well since she was just getting a grasp on her abilities as a child. She focused on her breathing first, remembering a technique Nate taught her once. Breathe in for 4 seconds. Hold for 7 seconds. Breathe out for 8 seconds. Repeat.
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Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:43 pm
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Jenny leaned there with her arms crossed. She started to protest when he said she didn’t want to know but stopped so he could finish. He was more or less right, she would probably have pressed them later for details. Currently she didn’t want to push Chris too hard, already having an inkling that she had the worse experience between the two. Her gaze turned sour at seeing the helmet, remembering her anger towards Frederick. They would have words about this for sure. She wasn’t going to forget something like this.
She was surprised to hear Topher talk about his own abilities like he did. That helmet seemed to be helping him so she was, in a way, thankful for it but even his plea for her not to shoot Frederick didn’t help. ”No promises. Using my children like guinea pigs, that’s exactly why I never had the two of you tested again. I’ve been around the military and governments long enough to know how they treat psychics. Frederick has breached the trust of this family by not mentioning it to us sooner. But that is between us and not you.” At this point she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.
She put those feeling aside for the moment as Topher began to explain what happened. So far what he said matched what Barbara had said as well. Jenny sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, moving away from the door and taking the chair he had offered. ”So far reports are still conflicting, but there were no fatalities and only a few severe injuries, mostly from the fire fight. The explosives weren’t connected to any supports of the building so its still in tact, probably more a scare tactic than anything. The backlash from this will hurt but its easily redirected.” She stopped, not liking to talk about work at home, and let him continue his story.
She agreed that the Alt Jack would have to be aggressive to live in that time. She had to hold herself back from going over to him when he stopped. She could comfort him after he finished telling the story. He mentioned Ciara and her heart skipped a beat, remembering seeing the alternate version of her mother. She almost stopped him to ask what happened to the alternate version of her, but she decided it wasn’t important. It was quiet for a moment, she let him collect his thoughts before continuing without interrupting him.
Jenny shook her head listening to Topher talk about them splitting up. She’d seen enough movies to know that’s a bad idea. Her heart jumped when he said Chris and Jack fell into a trap. She might have to ask Chris about it later. Her attention was drawn back to Topher. ”Take your time.” She interjected. It had to be something bad. She braced for it but it still shocked her to hear how he used his ability to get them to kill each other. She closed her eyes and kept back her tears. It was heartbreaking to hear him talk about it.
She opened her eyes at the sound of him hitting his head against the wall lightly. Whatever the next thing he had to say was, it upset him. And when he said it… it upset her too. Her mind focused on the first part. Maxwell had control of Chris It was like the floor was ripped out from under her. Her worst fears had happened today twice. Maxwell not only got to her children but had control of Chris. To say she was angry was an understatement. The last time she’d felt this much raw rage was when Maxwell forced Jack to kill her mother. Her fuming anger didn’t seem to deter Topher’s explanation and she turned her focus back to it. She balled her hand into a fist, there was going to be some anger venting later for sure.
He continued to describe how he killed Maxwell and all Jenny could think was that he deserved much, much worse. He had been tormenting this family for years… Her family. Her anger subsided a little, noticing Topher’s change in tone. Protect. Protect. Protect. Her instincts as his mother kicked into overdrive and she got up, crawling onto the bed and wrapping her arms around him. No matter what, he would always be her little boy. ”Its okay now Topher. You are home now. You’ve been through so much and I wish I could have protected you from it.” She stayed like that for a little bit, Topher didn’t give any of his usual resistance.
After a few moments she got up, knowing he would be tired and it would be better to let him sleep. As she walked out towards the door though, a thought crossed her mind. ”Don’t read my mind without permission Topher. Its one of the rules. That was a very private thought.” She was referring to a thought about Alternate Jack and she knew he would get what she was talking about.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:18 pm
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While Jack didn’t have full empathy like Chris he did sense the tension in the other room and was slightly concerned as Chris’ emotions tightened at it. Apparently Topher was braking a promise to her, though knowing Jenny he probably had no other choice to. He nodded at the suggestion of making sure Jenny wasn’t armed and decided to make sure he wasn’t armed as well, Jenny would know and probably pull his gun on Frederick. ”He used OUR son to test their own GOD DAMN…” Jack took a breath, now was not the time, he was supposed to be there to help Chris. ”I was already planning on it, she would’ve most likely shot him if Barbara wasn’t there or if she wasn’t distracted by the fact of your two’s condition to begin with.” He shrugged and stared at the floor for a minute then decided to finally do it and walked up to the bed and sat next to her giving her a tight hug.
”I’m sorry we weren’t there, well we were but we weren’t right there. M…he tends to plan things irradicably so its hard to predict even with clairvoyance. Though I think there wont be anymore of that.” He was sure Topher had something to do with that but couldn’t figure out how. Unless his Telepathy was beyond rank A. He hugged her tighter, ”You two always set new boundaries with your skills and it amazes me and your mother. Nothing can stop you. You’ll find a way around this, and if not, I’m right here. When I had my episode I sought out actual training with Monks for mediation to help clear the mind and practicing that daily helped ease everything out after a while. I’ve already taught you both some to help control your powers. Just keep doing that on a day to day bases. You can mediate with me in the mornings in the dojo I’ll make sure the guards keep it quiet and clear from training so we can focus on a few other things as well.”
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Topher felt the bed shift as their mother climbed on, normally he’d throw a fit, he was too old for it, but right now he was too tired and to mentally exhausted still to care. As she hugged him tightly it actually helped him relax more, the ease of all the emotions seemed to flow out or at least ebb enough so that he could sleep. Before he nodded completely off he caught her last comment and mumbled. ”Dad needs it though, he’s getting too out of shape. And things probably wont get better even with Maxwell gone.” He closed his eyes and was asleep quickly.
[[about 5 hours later]]
It was a rough sleep session, dreams that kept colliding. Some not his own others he hadn’t had in a while, since he and Chris were children. His age kept changing throughout them and his fears and emotions as well. Hello… Topher was wide awake at that point and found himself falling into his bed, and heard other objects in his room crashing down. ”Damn…” He knew that if Chris was in the house she would have sensed all the emotions he knew he just went through and the confusion and anger now. He had to get out. Luckily they had windows, though she probably would’ve seen that escape anyway. ”God damn it.” He hated clairvoyance because when he WANTED to avoid s**t he couldn’t. Instead he sat on his bed and got into the meditation pose their father taught them to use. One bad thing about having their IQ and his telepathy was he had near perfect recall so his dreams were easy to remember, which he never liked as a child, especially nightmares. He took a few calming breathes and focuses on clearing his mind and clearing the memory out.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:01 pm
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Jenny wasn’t going to deny what Topher said, it was more the principle of actually reading her mind she was worried about. But he was already falling asleep and she let it be. They had been through a lot and she knew he was right. Even if Maxwell was gone, their troubles probably wouldn’t end. She exhaled softly as she closed the door behind her, making her way downstairs and out of the house entirely. She needed to let off steam so she was headed to the dojo. She didn’t go by very often, always too busy with work to stop by. Today though, she just needed to hit something. Hard.
---------------
Chris was very thankful Jack was there. His warmth, his calm breathing, the vibrations of his chest as he talked. All of those things helped Chris calm down quicker. She leaned into the hug, more relaxed than before. She couldn’t remember the last time her father had held her in his arms like this. It was comforting, especially in her exhausted state. She knew if she stayed like this for too long she would fall asleep so she pulled herself away from the hug.
”Thank you.” Her voice was soft as she straightened out her legs and stretched. ”I may take you up on that offer some day soon…” Now she just wanted to rinse off some of this dirt and change clothes and sleep the rest of the day away. She bid Jack farewell and did just that. He was probably going to go find Jenny anyway.
Sleep came easy to Chris. Her dreams started like they always did. They were mostly visions of things to come but they were faster and more frequent. Then they changed. She hadn’t realized it but Topher accidentally dragged her into his dreams. She was aware it was a dream and she had some sense of control but he didn’t seem aware of her. That voice, and Topher’s sudden awakening, threw Chris back, waking her up instantly. She could tell Topher was in the other room having a hard time with his emotions. She took several deep breaths, not used to being suddenly awake like this. It usually took her much longer to untangle her brain from sleep and the visions she had.
Her mind was still foggy with sleep like normal so she slipped out of bed and put on her slippers, making her way downstairs for coffee. It didn’t matter what time it was, Chris knew she couldn’t function after sleep of any kind without at least one cup. She noted, as she started the coffee, that she didn’t feel quite as exhausted as before. It wasn’t necessary, but she knew she could block Topher’s emotions if she needed. There was something calming in the fact that she had control again.
Autopilot had taken over at this point as she made herself a cup of coffee. Perfected, she took a sip and started on making a cup for Topher. She didn’t usually make Topher coffee, she wasn’t even sure how much he liked coffee, but she figured it would turn out just fine. She grabbed both cups, sipping on her’s the whole way back up to Topher’s room. She didn’t even knock on the door, just opening it with Telekinesis. ”Coffee?” She held it out to him, ignoring any complaints.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:15 pm
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Topher heard Chris get up and move downstairs, she was most likely on autopilot at the moment. She usually would be with the way things had been she wasn’t like him and able to wake sudden and be “UP.” The smell of coffee, even her coffee made him want to get up and go get some even though he usually didn’t drink much. He stayed still though his mind was going a thousand miles a minute at the moment and he wanted to try to calm down before dealing with anything. He heard his door open and Chris came in, the strong scent of coffee hit him again. God damn it Chris… But then she offered him a cup, he stayed quiet for a bit still meditating, wanting to ignore her but opened his eyes and took it before she got the idea to throw it on him. He blanched a bit and looked at her. ”You know there’s whiskey in mine.” She kept drinking hers not caring one bit. Yep, autopilot, she probably didn’t even know what she did. He shrugged and continued to drink. ”Well mom and dad aren’t home so whatever…”
He wasn’t about to pass on the offer and he probably needed the little additive right now seeing how tense his nerves were being. ”Sorry if I woke you, I forget to control that damn dream share…” He wasn’t sure if she realized he probably done it but by how sudden it felt she woke he was sure that was why and he felt bad. He knew a onslaught of questioning would be coming in now. ”I… don’t know.” He sighed leaning against the wall motioning for her to take a seat wherever and took a sip of the coffee. ”My telepathy control is gone, hence the helmet, which I know you knew about, without it I’m connected to like EVERYONE within f*ck if I know… then…” He closed his eyes and sighed again. ”I did things that I’ll probably have to deal with, I’m sure mom will try to get me to do therapy of sorts and I… honestly don’t blame her. Though I doubt I’d have the patience for it.”
He looked over at her and sighed, ”I’d ask you to calm my nerves but I doubt it’d help permanently, you’d probably have to stay near me all day.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:20 pm
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Chris just stood there till he decided to take the coffee from her. Autopilot was only good for simple tasks. It was always a bad idea to leave anything too complicated for Chris while on autopilot, she never let herself do anything out of the ordinary in the mornings. Need to make sure there’s a project for school, stick it with her stuff the night before. Need to make sure Topher’s project doesn’t get left behind the next morning, stick it with her stuff the night before. Autopilot Chris did not speak, only glaring at anyone who dare speak to her before her first cup of coffee.
So of course she didn’t respond to Topher’s comment about whiskey in his coffee. She only shrugged at his next comment about controlling the dream share. She was about three fourths through her first cup so she stared at him questioningly. ”What?” Meaning what the hell was that dream about, but even functional Chris didn’t speak in full sentences after her first cup of coffee. She didn’t move from her spot, finishing the rest of her first cup while he talked about his telepathy.
She raised an eyebrow at the helmet then nodded. She was aware they were developing something to block telepathic power, though this was ugly and they really needed to rework the design. She’d been thinking about asking Frederick about extending their research to other abilities as well. Just the idea of having something external block her Empathy during those events her mother held would be so helpful.
She blinked a few times, she wanted more coffee but it was so far she didn’t want to walk all the way down the stairs again. So of course she just used her telekinesis to bring the coffee pot, sugar and creamer up to her instead! As it lazily made its way up to her, she shrugged at Topher’s comment about therapy. He was probably right, he wouldn’t have the patience for it. He mentioned asking her to calm his nerves and she just crawled right into the bed and laid her head in his lap, letting her Empathy do its thing to calm him. Its not like she had any plans right now anyway.
The coffee made itself (she left the cup floating there when she crawled on to the bed) and everything drifted back to where it came from. The cup floated to Chris and she sat up, grabbing hold of it and taking a longer sip. The sleep was starting to clear more now and she was almost ready to hold a full conversation.
”I’ll tell her no…” Chris muttered. It would be so much easier if Topher could just read her thoughts, but she wasn’t going to force him if he was really having problems controlling his abilities. She laid her head on Topher’s shoulder. ”She wouldn’t go, so she can’t make you…” It was true, Jenny didn’t have the patience to talk with a professional either. She had an outlet and so Topher would have to find one too.
”I…” She took a deep breath, sitting up and downing the rest of her coffee. She had several things she wanted to talk about but her brain and her mouth did not want to cooperate with each other yet. She groaned softly. She would just have to push through. ”I think my footure powers are doing a thing too.” She face palmed. Not what she was trying to say. ”I mean they seem to have increased in frequency, and I have a feeling its only going to get worse.” An inkling and a whisper like something from a dream. Don’t end up like me. Whatever that meant.
”I also have a request.” She wasn’t even sure if it was even possible but she had to try. She already knew her telepathy had suffered from whatever happened in the alternate timeline. It wasn’t necessarily that great in the first place. ”I want you to block my Telepathy.” She knew he would protest so she held up her hand to stop him until she finished. ”I know. But I can’t stand the idea that someone could f*cking sneeze in my direction with Telepathy and I lose control. I want to make absolutely sure it can’t happen again. It doesn’t have to be now… but sooner would be better right…”
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 3:13 pm
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Topher nodded in agreement, no their mother wouldn’t do therapy at all and most likely was dealing with the situation in her own way which would probably be at a gun range. Which would be strange, A seated Senator at a gun range after that event that’d go over well. He saw visions of something with Frederick and blinked at it. He thought Toni fixed that s**t. He shook his head at the thought, he knew Chris had probably already dealt with it so just shrugged off the vision. ”Not that she’d know anything unless I say something about it being really bad, but she’d probably know something is up if I don’t sleep normally. Though I think I may need to move out.” They had enough land by now that he could simply build a house on the property without abandoning the family completely so he was sure his mom would agree to it. And he could use some of the tech in the helmet to make a room that would block some of the telepathy so at least he’d be able to sleep without wearing a damn helmet.
She mentioned putting up a block and the only way he could think of at the moment was when he absorbed her powers and afterwards couldn’t get a blip from her. ”I…” He paused, she’d do it for him without question if he asked. He sighed and wanted to hit his head against the wall but she was still calming him by just being there. ”Ok, though the only way I know is like Toni said, the twin share thing. I think I need to absorb your telepathy which would make mine stronger and the control worse for a bit on my side though I can handle it.” He wasn’t going to say he still had stronger visions but would trade it for her when they did it. He could tell there was hesitation and was about ready to jump in but stopped. ”I’m going to give you a day or two to decide, once we do this I’m not sure that I can undo it so you NEED to be sure.” He heard someone come in downstairs and sighed. ”Also Nate is here anyway so we’d probably get interrupted right now anyway.”
--
Jack was well not furious at this point, Jenny was Jenny but he was curious as to how the hell he hadn’t found her YET. Of course when he had left James was waiting for him. He would’ve flat out refused but the lead security at this point told everyone under him that no one was to go anywhere without escort even Jenny regardless that she swore up a storm at them and threatened to fire anyone that dared to follow her. Jack sighed in the back seat of the car James was driving, Frederick had texted him and he noticed a sent text earlier, so Chris had taken his phone and now Frederick was texting him to come to his office on Base. When they were finally let through, the guards there knowing the car and finally giving the clear Jack got out and found Frederick already outside having a smoke, which wasn’t like him. ”I thought you quit.” ”Only smoke on occasion, and seeing as Jenny wants to kill me at the moment, yes she was here, luckily I told the guards ahead of time to not let her in, luckily she wasn’t armed so we didn’t have to detain her.” Jack sighed and leaned against the wall with Frederick. ”Was that all you wanted to see me about?” ”No Chris sent me a text that just said “Fix it” and knowing Jenny she needs to blow off steam so here’s one of the team credit cards. She said something about shooting something since she couldn’t yell my head off so I figure she’s going to a range somewhere. I thought I saw Matthias following her as she stormed off. Use the card, take her to dinner afterwards, tell her I’m sorry, and if she still wants to yell at me after she’s calmed down she can come talk to me here, UNARMED.”
Jack took the card and nodded. ”Noted, and thanks, I think she’ll still curse your name. I understand why you did it. I thought about it for a bit realizing it was most likely to control OTHER telepaths, not Topher mainly but seeing as his powers are out of whack right now it seems to help him so I honestly don’t know how to react to that.” The card was one of those thick black no-limit cards that would make any cashier blink and stare at it for a moment. Of course both Jack and Jenny had one of their own but Frederick allowing them to spend team funds as a way of apology meant a lot considering that usually meant a lot of paperwork. His phone rang and he saw it was Matt, ”Speaking of Matt…” ”Go…I need to do some paperwork anyway, the feds had questions about that mess and I’m taking care of it so they don’t hasstle you two.”
Jack nodded and answered. ”Matt? I thought it was your day off?” ”Yes, but with what happened, honestly sir, I don’t give a damn. Everyone else was too chicken s**t to follow her. I was on my way in and Nate called me saying no one would dare follow her at the moment so I was able to get on her tail after the fact.” ”Nate too, good so he’s at the house. Where are you at?” ”Yes. Mike’s Range a mile from the base, the usual one she goes to. Also Nate said the coffee machine from the kitchen was missing.” Jack frowned at the last bit as he told James where to go and they started off and then he laughed a bit after buckling up. ”That’d be Chris, I’ll text him and tell him not to worry. She needs a few cups to function properly, she probably made one cup, went back to her or Topher’s room and was too lazy to go back for another so moved the machine upstairs.”
James got Jack to the range quickly and he found that Jenny was already in the building. The stares she got was amusing. The stares he got after entering were also amusing. He nodded at Matt who was waiting calmly in the reception area and went up to the desk but stopped. ”Matt, get some practice in, might as well, Frederick is paying.” ”Sure.” He told the cashier to charge the card Frederick had given him for his and Matt’s session and added a longer session for Jenny and LOTS of ammo. After getting hearing protection on he walked up behind Jenny and waited till her gun clicked empty and went up behind and hugged her. ”Are you calm yet? If not, Frederick in ways of apology is buying, so take whatever time you need, I’m in the next stall over.” He dropped three more boxes of ammo in front of her. And went to start his own shooting, most wouldn’t take him for a gun nut, but his father being military and Frederick as well, well he was a damn good shot.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 6:17 pm
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Chris hmmmed softly. She draped her arms around him and nuzzled into his shoulder. She didn’t want him to leave but she wouldn’t stop him. ”Maybe… You have a plan of what you want to do so you should do it.” She still wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do. Both the school and Mom had been hounding her lately to pick an area of study but she just wasn’t sure. Though she was starting to see the direction she should take.
She could feel his unease with the idea and honestly, she wasn’t entirely convinced either. His idea about absorbing her Telepathy and making his worse was a little worrisome, but she knew if anyone could handle it, Topher would be able to. She lifted her head off his shoulder and dropped her arms with a sigh and a nod. ”I’ll give it more thought then.” In the end she figured her answer wasn’t going to change, but it would give Topher more time to get some of his control back before they did it.
Her heart fluttered at the mention of Nate and she glared at Topher, daring him to say something. She knew he felt it, she was still using her Empathy on him. She was suddenly very aware that her hair was still a mess and she was still in her pjs. It was too late to do anything about it now, he was already at the top of the stairs.
”Nate? We’re in Topher’s room.” She called out so he would know where they were. Nate poked his head in a moment later. ”Hey… Chris? Did you know your room looks like Topher's?” Chris glared at Topher and smacked his arm. ”Really? You better not have broken my lamp. It's bad enough I have to get a new phone...” She stopped at that thought. Why did she need a new phone? What happened to her phone?
”Well that explains a lot. After Matt seen the news talking about what happened, we tried to get in touch with you two and couldn’t. I got here first and Aurelia told me your mom took off without her, so Matt followed her instead.” ”Isn’t it your day off though?” Nate looked sheepish. ”What kind of bodyguards would we be if we didn’t come make sure you were okay…
-------------------
Hitting things in the dojo helped a little. But for some reason it wasn’t enough. Jenny was still feeling rather angry. Maybe she would try yelling at Frederick. Most of the time yelling helped just as much as hitting or shooting things. And she wasn’t looking to spend any money today. Apparently though, her own rules were getting her her way as she tried to leave. Aurelia was following closely behind her as she made her way to her car. Because like a very, very smart person, she had told the head of their security to make sure everyone had an escort if there was any threat of danger. And seeing as how the press conference had been attacked, that qualified as threat of danger. Jenny did not want to be followed around all day either. She told everyone they would get fired if they followed and she was serious about it. Aurelia though was not deterred at first. However Jenny was faster to the car and took off before she could hop in with her. Nate pulled into the drive a few minutes later and she waved him down, giving him the situation. And he called Matt.
So Jenny made her way to the base to yell at Frederick. Only Chris had told him before hand that she was coming… Or Frederick was smart enough to expect it, and the guards at the gate wouldn’t let her through. ”I JUST WANT TO SPEAK WITH FREDERICK DAMN YOU…” However she wasn’t allowed. Luckily she’d left her gun at home, so she didn’t have to deal with any backlash. Finally she gave in and left, heading off to shoot something. It was her least favorite way to calm down but it was the most effective if nothing else worked.
She had already been there for a while before Jack showed up (she glared at Matt when he pulled into the parking lot behind her but he just shrugged) so most of her rage was gone. She was still angry but most of the edge was gone out of it. So when the clip emptied and Jack hugged her from behind, her immediate reaction wasn’t to hit him with the pistol. She moved her ear protection back so she could hear him speak. ”Sort of… Thanks.” She felt a little better now that he was here. And Frederick was buying? Hell even if she wasn’t still angry she’d take up that offer any day.
The rest of her session she was in super focused mode. Even with Topher and Jack saying Maxwell wouldn’t be much of a problem anymore, she didn’t want to take a chance that they were wrong or that something else might come along. However she was starting to come around to the idea that she didn’t need to protect this family alone. The twins went through all of that and they turned out okay, no worse for wear than her and Jack did all those years ago. She was coming around to the idea of letting them do their own thing.
After she finished she felt much better. She still wasn’t happy with Frederick, but her rage was mostly gone. That did not mean later it wouldn’t come back just that she could move on with her day. She waited for Jack and Matt to finish, giving Jack a proper hug and kiss when he was done. She might not say it often, but she appreciated his calm personality. ”Lets go some place fancy and expensive tonight… Since Frederick is paying and all.” She actually smiled for the first time the whole day.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 3:07 am
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Topher winced as Nate spoke of Chris’ room and she punched him in the shoulder, not that it hurt but that it wasn’t the first time something like that had happened. ”Why I want to move out, I’m afraid of waking up one day and having the whole house askew.” Nate was staring at him, more so the helmet. Of course Nate had seen it around at the base though didn’t know exactly what it did. They had been working on it mostly in secret so now having it on. Nate was about to say something and Topher just glared. ”I’m pretty sure Chris already said its Ugly mentally and no I’m not turning it into a fashion statement you p***k.” He took it off and threw it at Nate but winced as he did as everything in mental noise hit him. This time the whole house did shake a tad and something did shatter, hopefully not the lamp. Topher held his head as Chris was already trying to calm him down before he hypeventalated. ”Remind me if I’m using that to not slide it off quick like that… jesus f*ck…” He took a few deep breaths and waved the offer of it back away. ”I need to deal with it sometime.” He could hear a few of the nearer guards shouting and then Nates radio went crazy for a bit and Topher shrugged. ”My bad, didn’t mean to start Armageddon at the house.”
Topher sighed and just laughed a bit at the other conversation. ”Auerelia is just too chicken s**t to deal with mom anyway. Matt is used to her anger since he grew up with it.” He paused as he heard a ’I heard that you a*****e.” From Nate’s radio as Nate held it up apparently he was going to say something just as Topher said that. ”Whoops… SORRY!” He figured Nate was going to give a all clear or something so the other guards would calm the ******** down though Nate was still staring at him oddly. ”What? s**t happened, powers are out of whack I’ll deal with it.”
--
Jack was used to shooting pistols so kept up the variety, luckily the range had a good selection to choose from though he’d normally like his own weapons. It was still funny to watch the peoples reactions especially after Jenny went into hyper focus mode as he called it. After that the space next to her opened up so he called James in to take it. Once they were done and she came up to him when his clip emptied he smiled at her hug and kiss and gave her one back. ”I agree, though I don’t think we can lose them.” ”Nope. Not after what happened. We’ll take a table in the back though and give you space.” Jack sighed knowing Jenny would pout about it but stared at her with a “Let them do their job” kind of look along with “considering Frederick is paying anyway…” mental note. ”Well with what happened today we can do fancy and maybe it’ll have a bar that way you two can hang there, though ONE drink, when we get back home you can have more I’ll let you get a case on Fredericks card on the way back for putting up with our mess.”
He, well Jenny didn’t normally let them drink on the job but it WAS technically Matt’s day off and James had patiently put up with trying to find Jenny, not that it was really hard. But both would probably want something after having to sit through a long dinner of minding themselves while Jack and Jenny had their own dinner so he was trying to make a compromise. ”Shall we? You pick Jenny,…” With that he headed back out to the parking lot to their vehicles. Matt had texted someone to pick up Jenny’s car so James could drive the two of them and Mat would drive his own car.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:22 pm
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Nate walked into the room proper, staring at Topher’s fashionable hat. He knew it looked familiar but he wasn’t sure what it was for and was about to ask when Topher glared at him and commented on his comment he hadn’t said yet. He let out a nervous chuckle and did his best to catch the helmet as Topher threw it at him. (He almost dropped it twice.) The whole house shook a bit and Nate heard something break so he held out the helmet for Topher again. ”Are you sure?” But he had a point, he would have to deal with it sometime.
Nate winced at the voices shouting on the radio. He set the helmet aside on Topher’s desk and started to radio out an all clear when Topher started talking again. He kept his hold on it as he said Aurelia was a chicken. He let go of the button and let out a laugh. ”You know she’s going to kick your a** for that one.” He radioed that it was just Topher and nothing to worry about before turning his gaze turned back to the male twin questioningly. In all the years he’d known them, Topher had never lost control like that. ”’s**t happened’ does not seem to describe it accurately.” He mostly muttered to himself as he took a seat in one of the chairs. ”I take it something more happened than the shoot out on the news…” He held his hand up as Chris was about to interrupt. ”I don’t want to know. But even a Normie like me knows your powers don’t just go out of wack for no reason. And you look like s**t. Is that blood on your clothes there Topher? That and the helmet definitely give you ‘cool’ points...” Nate smirked.
Chris nodded. Telekinesis was hard to control if you were distracted by say… stray thoughts or feelings. She shrugged at Topher’s comment about her thinking it was ugly. ”I mean it is…” She wasn’t going to lie about it. He threw it a Nate and immediately she could feel his pain as everything flooded back at once. She jumped towards Topher, grabbing his arm with both hands, doing her best to help him stay calm. ”Next time a little warning would be nice!” She sighed, keeping herself calm as she sat back down cross legged.
”W…” She was going to explain some of it to Nate, feeling he deserved to know. But he said he didn’t want to know so she stopped. Nate mentioned blood on Topher and for the first time she actually gave him a once over. ”Holy f*ck Topher, at least change out of those dirty clothes.” She pushed him towards the edge of the bed so maybe he’d go change at least. She glared at Nate. ”Don’t antagonize him either. I don’t have an unlimited storage of calm to keep him from punching you in the face…”
------
Jenny glared at Matt, she’d rather not have the both of them follow, but from experience she knew Matt at least wouldn’t take no for an answer. ”Fine.” At least with two extra eyes and ears, Jenny could take time to actually relax during this dinner. Not that she would but at least she’d have the option to. She didn’t mind anything Jack said, it had been a super stressful day and it was Matt’s day off.
”Of course. I know just the place.” They didn’t go out and do fancy often but there was one place Jenny loved to go more than any other. They got in the car and Jenny called ahead to make sure they could easily get seats. (One of the few times Jenny would actively use her status to get things done her way.) It didn’t take them too long to get there and of course there was a table just for them waiting when they did get there. It did have a bar that wasn’t terribly far from their table. Far enough where they could pretend not to be together and close enough to reach them quickly in case of an emergency.
”I’m scared Jack…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She had been trying to take her father’s advice about being more open with her thoughts and feelings so she didn’t feel so overwhelmed at times. It was still difficult to admit, even to Jack. ”They are so strong now. I don’t know about you but I can feel it. There’s something different about them. They aren’t the same babies we brought home from the hospital.” They were grown adults now and for the first time, Jenny was feeling like they didn’t really need her. ”To hear Topher talk about it…” She didn’t want to tell Jack and he probably didn’t really want to know but she had to say something. ”He had control of her Jack… I just want to squish his head between my fingers. I see what Topher did and I feel like it wasn’t enough. He deserves worse and I hate that I feel that way.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 3:23 am
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Topher waved Nates concern away though he knew it wouldn’t really go away. Yeah he had never really been this “off” and everyone knew it. Something between dealing with the s**t he did along with sharing abilities with Chris made his control go out the window, though it was slowly coming back. He looked himself over and agreed that he needed to change but he needed a shower on top of that. He was at least glad to have Chris there to keep him from blowing up though it wasn’t that he wasn’t calm it was more so just the sudden jolt of head noise as he called it. ”Yeah, I know, no more than that happened and I’m not going into details at the moment already did that with mom and I’m pretty sure you don’t want know.” He’d probably explain some of it eventually but not right now. With Chris not remembering half of it he didn’t want to in front of her.
He could sense Aurelia coming into the house for a drink and probably to check to make sure things were ok and not destroyed. Yeah that’d be fun to explain to mom later, he was pretty sure he broke a few of the lamps downstairs and probably Chris’ too. He got up and grabbed a change of clothes and ignored an questions. ”I’m taking a shower cause well, I probably need one.” As he left he shoved Nate towards the bed directly at Chris and heard him mentally cursing him. He chuckled a bit and turned the corner going down the hall, ”No, that’s what you’d do to my sist…” He wasn’t able to finish as someone punched him right in the face. He winced as he felt a ring scratch him as well and instantly knew who it was. ”AUGH F*CK! What the f*ck, you nearly broke my nose.” ”Was trying to you p***k, here, a package came from Frederick one for you and one for Chris.” ”New phones…damn it I’m bleeding now… Chris is in my room with Nate.”
Aurelia kicked him in the shin as well as she walked past him and he stumbled. ”Jesus f*ck…” ’First time I was able to get a punch on you, have to take some advantage of your distracted state apparently, Punch was mine, second one was for that comment.” Topher was about to toss her down the hall but she was already gone and he just breathed a bit, calming himself, holding his package in his hand and walked in slamming the bathroom door. ”Here.” Aurelia tossed the other package at Chris while walking by the door and waved knowing full well she’d catch it.
--
As usual Matt simply shrugged in response to Jenny’s anger. Defending a response would result in more anger so a non-response was a easy diffuser. Jack knew instantly where they were going when Jenny spoke up as it one they tried to go to often and generally had a specific table available or one in the same area if not, they weren’t too picky. Matt and James went off to the bar after Jack made sure the host knew to charge both to the same card. The service was quick and he didn’t realize he was actually hungry but paused a bit as Jenny spoke for the first time in a while.
”They are indeed.” He nodded and agreed to well everything she was saying. Though he knew as they grew up they wouldn’t stray too far, the fact that Lexi, then Toby, and now Toni were willing to pop back in time to put up with crap was telling enough. ”When I was holding Topher up I had the same thought, I didn’t realize how big they actually got.” He sighed and looked away a bit trying to forget that memory but looked back at her. ”All we can do is help them grow through the strength adjustments and get past it.” He had felt what she talked about, they both felt like they had more power even after Toni fixed things. ”We’ll just have to be there for them when we need to, and not smother them as well.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 6:30 pm
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Nate nodded, he tried to keep out of some of the more insane bits of the family nonsense so he really didn’t want details. Chris glared at Topher but kept silent, knowing that their mom would have gotten the details from him sooner or later. Something told her he was going to try and keep the details from her and she found she didn’t mind. She was glad Topher was going to go change at least but he also mentioned going to shower. She touched her hair and winced, she really needed to wash it.
She was distracted by Topher pushing Nate towards her. She jumped up so she was standing on his bed as Nate face planted right where she had been sitting. ”What the hell Topher!” She was gonna hit him for it. Nate wasn’t expecting to be pushed. ”F*ck you Topher.” He didn’t have time to say it, only think it, as his face hit the bed where Chris had previously been sitting. Chris was going to go after him, hissing ”Christopher” at his comment, but Aurelia got to him first and she laughed.
She bent down to check up on Nate only for Aurelia to casually toss a box into the room. ”F*ck... no…” She dove over Nate for it, knowing she wasn’t in range to catch it. She still wasn’t going to catch it so she held her hands out and stopped it with Telekinesis. Now she was really glad Mom wasn’t home as she was pretty much laying on top on Nate at this point. ”Why does everyone think I know everything at all times….” She mostly muttered to herself before rolling on to her back and off of Nate.
She turned her head to look at him as he pushed himself up off the bed. ”I didn’t hurt you when I fell did I?” Nate shook his head, avoiding eye contact. He was so adorably nervous around her when it was just the two of them. It was easier to relax around Nate than Matt. Matt was more protective of her than her mother. That and the fact that she could feel him crushing on her hard, she just didn’t like to deal with Matt. She held the package over her head, looking it over. Probably their new phones. She wasn’t even going to question how he knew.
”So what’s in the box?” Nate sat on the edge of the bed, still not looking directly at Chris. ”New phone, apparently something happened to ours.” She rolled over again, head and arms hanging off the edge of the bed and groaned. ”I hate setting up new phones…” She started to open the box to get started when music started blasting from the bathroom. Chris ignored it like she always did but Nate almost jumped out of his skin.
”What the hell… Is that music? It sounds kinda familiar.” Chris didn’t even look up, getting through the first steps of setting up the phone. ”Yea, This is normal. And its familiar because we wrote it.” Nate blinked and turned to look at Chris, who was staring at her phone trying to redownload her things from before. They saved backups of all their data, even their contacts. Chris figured they had the same number too.
”What do you mean you ‘wrote’ it…” His surprise made Chris look up from her phone for a moment. ”Yea. Topher and I wrote it as a side project. Though I think this is a remix Topher made… the original was more classical.” She shrugged. ”We have written a few pieces, more so when we were younger. Why is that surprising?” It wasn’t as if they hadn’t all three played together before. ”I guess I never realized that you two did more than just play the music.”
Chris shrugged and went back to her phone. ”Mom wants us to be ‘cultured’ or something. And the focus required to play an instrument is similar to the focus needed for some of our abilities so it was like practice… Aw ******** the new version has a different security system.” Nate stared at her for a moment before looking away quickly. Chris wasn’t paying him any attention at this point, trying to crack the security on her phone first. While it was nice knowing if something happened they could track their phones, Chris usually found a way to disable it and toggle it so she could escape unnoticed if she needed. And of course a few other features she hated and disabled too.
------------
Jenny sighed a bit, he was right. ”Its so hard to let go. I know they need their space but I just want them to be safe.” They were adults and she really needed to remember that now. Not just adults but her children. Apparently they could take care of themselves. ”I’ve given it a lot of thought lately… Topher is going to be a cop whether we want him to or not. And Chris is smart… Too smart. Together they really are unstoppable. As much as I hate to say it…” She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and dropping her voice down to a whisper. ”It might be time to let them do their own thing. We can integrate Nate and Matt into the general security team if they want.” She was only trying to make sure Matt didn’t hear it. She wanted Jack’s opinion first before making a final decision.
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 3:36 pm
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Topher ignored the thoughts from the others as best he could though he caught a few from Nate. Well yeah they had gotten a few letters from Juliard, he knew Chris was considering but music was more of a hobby for him not something full time. Most of the college letters he ignored which he knew royally pissed off their mother. She was not a hundred percent on board with him being a cop even still now that he was actually one. It got to the point where the colleges only sent a few occasionally to still try to get him but not actively as much anymore. Both he and Chris could pretty much get into any school they wanted to, he just didn’t have the patience for it like she did. He forgot what playlist he had on so the music was a bit loud but he kept it at the level, it was drowning out some of the head noise at least. He begged their parents for an upgrade to their water heater to a tankless one so they didn’t have to wait forever for warm water to come in or wait after someone used it so at the moment he stayed under the water for a while just letting it rinse off all the grime from everything.
His thoughts went back to what Chris had asked him and he tried to figure out how to. He had lowered himself to sit on the bench part and was nearly asleep with the music and water now so had to keep things going. Boy… The voice echoed in his head and Topher nearly slipped as he stood up to look around. His heart was pounding now and he wasn’t falling asleep now.”GOD F*CK!” He so wanted to hit something but didn’t want to explain any damage and needed to deal with this. ”Breathe…” He leaned against the shower wall letting the water continue to go as he calmed down. He didn’t need this s**t right now, what would it be, a few of the guards had it minorly from being in military, hell even Frederick had some, ”F*cking PTSD… really… f*ck.” He wasn’t really there it was just flashbacks and memories. If their mom and dad were home he was sure his mom would probably be on the phone with a doctor by now already.
He sat back down after calming himself and closed his eyes after turning the shower off but stayed in it letting the steam from it still work around him. As a calmer piece that he and Chris played on the album came on, not one of their originals but something rather difficult well at the age they recorded it he calmed down further remembered how it feels to play. Then he heard Chris actually playing along to it with her own violin and relaxed even more. Now he wanted to go out and play something but he needed to calm the f*ck down and think things through a bit. The mindscape trick Chris pulled kept coming back to him and he recalled doing it when he was younger when his father showed them both how to meditate and the music playing put him in the right mind to start. Eventually everything else went blank as he tuned out.
He blinked as he found himself in a field, no this was Mr. Millers field, shortly after they bought the property and tore the fence down to expand their own property into it. He went further into it and sat down in the grass himself into the common lotus meditation position again. He split his mind again which helped to block out the mental noise coming from outside and he was able to focus on the problem at hand. He hadn’t tried anything like this but figured it’d be possible he had a vision of the sort anyway. As he thought this he found himself staring at three copies of himself. One looked like a huge body builder, the other a scrawny smart teen version of himself and the last just a straight up copy. ”Well then…” ”Right…” The teen version started as Topher stood up. ”I…” ”I’m your Clairvoyance side, Mr. Buff there is your Telepathy, and the straight out duplicate though he is a bit stronger than you is your Telekinesis side.” Telepathy glared at Topher for some reason ”Get your s**t under control.” ”Working on it.” ”Don’t mind him.” ”Shut it worm.” Topher sighed and Started to pace. ”First off I need to deal with the mental whatever the f*ck of Maxwell.” ”That’s simple, when you connected to all of them a small imprint was left inside, that’s why your memories of HIM are so strong.”
Topher stopped for a bit. ”Why are you so logical and smart about this.” Voy as he wanted to call him, Claire just seemed weird and a girls named laughed. ”When you absorbed Chris’ powers some of her logical side stuck with me.” ”Lovely…Also why…” ”The visions still? Toni didn’t take it all away. I know what your planning and I honestly don’t mind.” ”Really?” ”No, they seem to annoy you more than anything, you tend to do better with just instincts than visions.”
”Can Topher come to play????” Topher turned at the voice as laughter echoed through the field and looked around. ”The F*CK?” ”Psychic imprent somehow, that’s why your emotions are more or less out of whack, he’s doing it.” The sky had darkened and gotten stormy and Topher felt, wrong. ”What… He turned but they were gone. He heard crashing noises coming from the direction of their house and cringed. ”No… He blink stepped as he called it in their memories and was there in a instant. He found the door off the hinge as he entered and walked in slowly, hearing someone tapping the piano keys, on HIS PIANO. He gritted his teeth a bit and turned to face a, ”THE F*CK?!” This wasn’t Maxwell, well it was but he was, decrepit, dying. ”You forget boy. I’m your father’s Twin, you came from the same DNA. We’re somewhat alike.” ”I’m nothing like you.” Maxwell stopped playing and stood up, dripping, Topher couldn’t tell what, blood or whatever. ”You have problems with control, there’s always ONE twin like that, ALWAYS.”
Topher manifest his gun and pointed it at Maxwell’s head. The apparition smiled and grinned, ”Won’t do anything…” Topher shot him, and just as he said, it only made the thing bleed but nothing happened. Just as he was about to shoot him again Maxwell tackled him though Topher quickly overtook him at this point. The thing was weak, he split his mind again and this time they did show up. ”What the f*ck do I do.” Tel came up and simply squeezed Maxwell until the apparition disappeared, ”That, idiot.” ”But…” Voy started but stopped as Tel glared at him. All through this Topher noticed that his other part was silent and didn’t really care. ”Well it solved the problem in one way.” ”Not the way you wanted though?” ”I’m not sure…”
Topher was forced out of his own mindscape. ”Augh… what the hell…” He found himself on the floor, so that was probably why, usually any kind of movement outside would force anything mindwise if you weren’t fully into it. He stood up, knowing how to deal with Chris’ problem now at least but wondered what the hell that was all about with Maxwell and what Voy said. He shook his head, ”Great… my powers have nicknames, now Chris will laugh at me.” He got out and finished getting done and changed and went back into his room, the box still unopened until he got to his desk and started to open it. He knew that Chris would’ve felt some of the emotion change, especially the first anger spike but right now he wasn’t sure, oh hell he was, she’d probably feel him trying to mask calm over some confusion as he started to mess with his new phone
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Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:41 am
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Chris flipped back over, holding the phone precariously over her face as she worked her way through the code of the security system. It took her longer to get through it than the last one, they must have used someone else to upgrade the security. It wasn’t Topher this time, she knew his code like her own. She was just putting the finishing touches when Topher’s emotions hit her. She sat up way too quickly, hand tightly clutching the phone, holding it to her chest. She was staring exactly where Topher would be. She hadn’t thought to put a block up. Nate’s emotions were pretty vague, he always struggled with his own Empathy, not realizing that he even had it. Now he read as confusion and concern, probably reacting to Chris’s reaction to Topher.
”Chris? Is everything okay?” Her heart was pounding much to quickly and she knew Topher would have it worse. Focus She nodded and with a shaky voice, ”I’m fine.” Nate knew she was lying but let it slide, it was easier than trying to get her to admit it sometimes. The music changed and Chris took that as an opportunity to let out some of these emotions. She hadn’t touched her violin in a while and playing it had a way of calming her down in times of stress.
She reached out and it came to her much quicker than the coffee stuff before it. She didn’t even worry about tuning it, she could adjust it on the fly as she played. They’d played it so many times that muscle memory took over. She didn’t have to think just play. She visibly relaxed as she played, those within hearing distance would also feel calmer as music was easier for her to work her Empathy with.
By now she had put up a basic block so she wouldn’t have to deal with anyone else’s emotions who may happen to come by the house. It didn’t seem to matter though, as Topher’s emotions were still clear as day to her. She was able to keep her playing calm and even but her face betrayed her true feelings as Topher’s emotions fluctuated. Whatever was going on ended as the song did and she carefully set down the violin and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Nate had been staring at her the whole time, mostly in awe.
”That was really good…” He didn’t know what else to say, whatever was going on before seemed to have passed. Topher entered the room and Chris just glared at him. He was hiding something and she didn’t like it. He ignored her though, setting up his phone instead. She made a pouty face and got off the bed, ‘sneaking’ up behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulder. ”What was all that about Topher…” She whispered it in his ear and grabbed for his phone. ”They changed the security up… Let meeee…” She snatched it from him and backed away with a smile only to see he’d already gotten through. ”Wha.. But how? It took me five minutes to find that backdoor.” She handed the phone back with a pout. ”You wrote it didn’t you, cheater…”
”Wait… Topher is smart enough to code?” He was teasing mostly, he knew Topher was smart but bad at applying himself. However it was surprising to hear Chris talk about Topher’s code that way. ”Hold the phone…. Not Literally, shuddup.” He was flustered again and Chris chuckled. ”Are you saying that our phone’s security was written by you?” The twins were always one step ahead of him but dear lord seeing it in plain sight like this was unnerving.
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