It’s a Damn Cold Night

[nikitarainjames]

Aubrie appeared thrilled at the idea of coffee. Nikita could see that by her reaction which was the slightest bit entertaining to her. Unfortunately, that didn‘t last when she admitted she was broke. “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me,“ She dismissed the fact of Aubrie having no money pass by her.

She wasn’t going to let the woman freeze and it would be rude to drink coffee, coco, or whatever else in front of her while she stared with her mouth hung open. Besides it’s not like drinks were that expensive, unless they were going to a bar or something. But it didn’t even sound the slightest bit tempting to her. Too cold to kick back with a alcoholic beverage.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie's first reaction was to turn down the offer.

The truth was, Aubrie didn't like being in anyone debt, feeling like she owed something to somebody. And realistically, what were the chances that she'd ever see Nikita again, after tonight? In a way, that thought saddened her. It had been a long time since she'd been able to just sit and talk with someone. It seemed the only time she had to speak with people was when she was doing a reading, or working with the police, and those weren't exactly good times for her.

But she felt peaceful around Nikita, and relaxed. It was not what she'd been expecting from a demon, honestly. In fact, it was hard for Aubrie to think of Nikita as a demon at all, for the woman had been so kind to her, and had listened to her, and had even given her her own sweater, so that Aubrie wouldn't freeze to death.

She didn't want to go back to her lonely hotel room, not yet anyway.

"Thanks," she said, smiling a bit. "That'd be great... There's a pretty nice place, not too far from here. I can show you, if you want? It should be quiet, this time of night."

[nikitarainjames]

Nikita listened as Aubrie actually accepted her offer rather then decline then going into explanation of a place she knew. Some place that would be quiet for her so she didn‘t have anymore of her headaches or freak outs. In all honestly, she thought Aubrie was schizophrenic when she had that freak out earlier but the more she listened and more she got to know her, she wasn‘t a freak after all. Just gifted in a way that almost sounded like a curse. The poor woman. And she was so nice too.

“Sounds great,” She hopped to her feet. “Just lead the way my fair lady.” She smiled at Aubrie as she placed out a hand to her. “If anyone gives you any headaches there…I‘ll personally show them where the door is.”

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Forgetting herself for a moment, Aubrie actually reached out for Nikita's hand.

But, as her gloved finger's lightly made contact, Aubrie gasped and pulled her hand back as if she'd been burned. She couldn't believe what she'd done; she must be in pretty bad shape to be reaching out for people without thinking like that. Aubrie didn't touch people. She just didn't. When touch-reading was your most powerful ability, you just never knew what sort of things might happen when you made physical contact with someone.

It worried Aubrie a bit how at ease she felt around Nikita. The fact that she'd nearly taken the demon's hand startled her quite badly. For starters, Nikita was a demon. A demon! Sure, she'd been very nice to Aubrie, listening to her and treating her as an equal, rather than an outcast. Secondly, Aubrie never touched anyone, unless she was specifically doing a touch-reading. Even with her ever-present gloves, the psychic was constantly worried that something would happen... It didn't matter that her powers didn't seem to work on Nikita, either; she just wouldn't risk it, no matter what.

Lowering her eyes in embarrassment, Aubrie tucked her hands into her lap. Sighing, her shoulders slumped and she stood up, absently wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her shoulders, though she was no longer cold thanks to Nikita's sweater.

"Sorry," she mumbled, scuffing the toe of her shoe in the dirt. "I just... I don't touch people. Like, ever." She shrugged, adding, "I just can't ever be sure what'll happen, that's all." Clearing her throat self-consciously, Aubrie started off toward the coffee shop, looking behind her to see if Nikita was actually following.

"Coming?"

[nikitarainjames]

Nikita looked concerned and quite confused at how Aubrie reacted to her extended hand. Temporarily forgetting that she didn‘t like touching people until she reminded her. She could understand that and respected her choice. It sucked she couldn‘t even hold a person‘s hand without having some sort of mind attack. How did this woman live? Has she ever had a relationship or did these abilities adapt later in her life?

Shaking herself of those mental questions she glanced at Aubrie and smiled. “Oh yeah, sorry. I‘m coming,” She started off in a little skip and jog to reach Aubrie before slowing down in a normal walking pace. That‘s when some more questions came to mind. Except they didn‘t stay there. They started to pour out.

“I‘m curious… You couldn‘t feel anything being near me. Does that mean you wouldn’t if you touched me?” She was dead curious at that. Suddenly she felt like she was in the X-Men. Aubrie was Rogue; the one who couldn’t touch anyone and Nikita was Colossus; one of the few that could touch Rogue without anything bad coming of it.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie shrugged as she ambled along the darkened, empty sidewalks.

"I don't know," she admitted, watching Nikita closely out of the corner of her eye. "Touch-reading is my most powerful ability, but I really don't seem to have that much control over it, even though I've spent most of my life trying. I've touched people before--normal people, mind you--and had absolutely nothing happen. But..." Her voice trailed off as her thoughts turned to her most recent touch-reading, the child killer, and she felt her skin crawl. All she wanted to do was get back to her hotel, turn the hot water up as high as it would go, and take a long, long shower...

Picking up the train of conversation where she'd left off, Aubrie continued.

"But I've also touched people and had all sorts of terrible things happen. They're whole lives just sort of... rush into me. All the good things, memories, all of it. And all the bad, too. More often than not, I get hit with all the physical pain and emotional turmoil that they've ever suffered all at once. It's unpredictable, really.

"As far as you go, I'm really not sure. None of my abilities work particularly well on supernatural creatures... And they don't seem to work at all on you, thankfully. But I've managed to do touch-readings on some shape-shifters, and even on a werewolf once. So it might work on you. I just don't know."

All of the words had just sort of poured out of her, and now Aubrie's shoulders slumped a bit as she walked. She lowered her eyes to the pavement beneath her feet, going on in silence, but taking some comfort in Nikita's presence. It was refreshing to be able to be around someone without that constant, background murmur of their thoughts. And it was nice to be able to talk to someone about all of this, someone who believed her and didn't think any less of her because of her abilities.

Still, Aubrie knew that eventually Nikita would probably get bored of her and move on. But the psychic had decided that she'd enjoy what time they did have together, as it might be a long, long time before she found anyone to talk to again.

[nikitarainjames]

Aubrie had a lot to say about her touching ability. Making Nikita now feel like she was in the Dead Zone. A TV show from way back in the earlier 2000‘s. The man had pretty much the same ability as Aubrie. Could read people by touching them, therefore was a lonely man. He could also touch objects or places to find out the past of what happened. She wondered if Aubrie could do that too. It‘d be pretty neat but not so much if the woman couldn‘t control it. Poor Aubrie. She probably felt like she was going nuts sometimes.

Nikita watched her from the corner of her eye as they walked, Aubrie doing pretty much all the talking. She listened to her every word though. To be respectful and because she was curious of her ability. It was nice thoughts didn‘t rush through her head being near each other but it still spiked her curiosity. Could she really not read Nikita at all?

As curious as she was she never would‘ve acted on an impulse like she was about to but the demon part of her made her too curious. Without thinking or asking permission she reached over and took Aubrie‘s hand. Although wondering she held her hand gently instead of squeezing it to keep her from pulling back. She wanted to give Aubrie that option.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie yelped and pulled away, her eyes wide with fear.

She stared silently at Nikita, feeling a bit uncomfortable, and even violated. Hadn't she explained to the demon how she felt? Hadn't she told her that she didn't like touching people, that it was dangerous? How could Nikita have done that? Had she even been listening? Did she just not believe her?

Simultaneously, though, something else came to Aubrie. Nikita had touched her, had taken her hand... and she'd felt nothing. No memories, no sensations... No pain or sorrow or... or anything. Nothing at all. It was still quiet. It was still peaceful and comfortable around the demon. In fact, all of the things that Aubrie had been afraid would happen, simply hadn't.

Blinking owlishly, Aubrie swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, taking a single step back toward Nikita. She was shaking a little, and this time it had nothing to do with the cold. Cautiously, she reached out, letting her gloved fingers brush lightly against the demon's hand before pulling back again suddenly. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Aubrie reached forward again, this time letting her fingers remain in contact for several seconds.

Nothing happened. It was great, actually. It had been a long, long time since Aubrie was able to really touch someone like this, without it being part of the job, a touch-reading. She'd never been able to touch someone just to touch them before... It was strange, but at the same time, it made her smile just a little.

Biting her lip nervously, Aubrie slowly let her fingers interlace with Nikita's, all the while prepared to pull away if something went wrong. Amazingly, though, nothing happened. A sort of giddy feeling welled up inside of Aubrie, and she couldn't help but grin. She was touching someone, touching someone! And she wasn't getting anything from her touch-reading, not even a shadow of a thought or feeling... Sure, she had her gloves on, but that wasn't always a safeguard.

Squeezing Nikita's hand, Aubrie laughed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. This had certainly been one hell of a strange night...

[nikitarainjames]

The reaction Nikita received from Aubrie was one she had been half expecting so she didn‘t look too surprised when the woman jumped back startled. Although she wasn‘t surprised by this she was somewhat regretting. She felt guilty and at the same time she didn‘t. Again, it was the demon part of her taking a short control of her emotions. It left her staring at Aubrie with her head slightly tilted, her eyes sharp with acknowledgment yet appearing confused and curious all the same.

Now she wondered if she did see something when touching the demon. Did she see the horror of the choice she had to make in order to save her daughter‘s life? The sadness and misery it left her with? Or did she see what Nikita saw every day? The people she loved who didn’t even know she was alive because she kept a distance from them to keep them safe. Even as a demon it broke the woman‘s heart every second she experienced those situations.

Her head finally shifted upright, rolling her shoulders back as she watched in silence as Aubrie tested something out a few times. Reaching for Nikita‘s hand then pulling back. The woman did this a few times before finally locking her fingers with Nikita‘s with a grin on her face. She glanced down at their hands for a moment then smiling herself as she faced Aubrie.

“I take it you didn‘t see anything bad?” Or anything at all. She wondered to herself. She was suddenly puzzled, breathing out a sigh as she finally apologized, squeezing her hand back; although with not too much force. “I‘m sorry if I freaked you out when I touched you.” She said, sounding as sincere as she could be.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie shook her head in response to Nikita's question.

"No, nothing bad," she said, shrugging a little. "I'm not really getting anything if you want to know the truth. It's hard to say if that's because of you, though, or because of the gloves. And its okay, Nik, really. I mean, I was pretty scared at first, but now? I'm actually glad you took the chance..." She flexed her fingers a bit, smiling to herself at the feeling of Nikita's hand in her own. "I've never done this before, you know? Held hands?" She laughed lightly, shaking her head again. "I probably seem like an idiot, huh? The way I'm so excited about something so mundane?"

Falling silent for a bit, she simply walked on with Nikita, letting the demon lead the way to the coffee shop. Aubrie was amazed at how comfortable she felt around Nikita. It was a feeling that she wasn't used to, and she both enjoyed it and found it a little disconcerting. She just didn't want to get used to it. She didn't want to get used to getting close to people...

"This is nice," she said as they walked along. "It's been a long time since I've done something fun for myself. Hell, its been a long time since I've just done something. Even the job today with the police, and that child killer? At least I was out doing something." She sighed, shuddering a bit as she thought of everything that had happened in the past several months. "I'm afraid I became sort of a shut in for a while, after I woke up from the coma..."

She immediately stopped talking, shocked that she'd let that bit of information out like that, no matter how comfortable she felt with Nikita. Thoughts of the coma, and the beating that had led to it, made her blood run cold. Instinctively she looked back over her shoulder, suddenly worried that he might be following her. She worried about that a lot, actually, that the one who had nearly killed her might show back up to finish the job. Looking around a bit, Aubrie squeezed Nikita's hand harder and picked up her pace, wanting to be off the street and indoors as soon as possible.

Not that it would stop him if he did show up...