Interesting Place for a Stroll {Aubrie}

[zophiel]

Zophiel wasn't sure how the spirit would react, and even though he was sure she was harmless, he kept himself between Aubrie and the spirit. Last thing he wanted to do was endanger someone he had just met. He had so little friends, he wanted to keep the ones he had.

"You seem to be upset about something. Whatever it is though, it must have happened a long time ago." the spirit gave a small nod, "You realize you need to move on, don't you?" Again, she gave a small nod, but looked scared. Zophiel smiled.

"I know its scary, believe me I do. But I've been where you're going. I can tell... heaven waits for you, and heaven is just... its just wonderful. You'll be happy there."

The spirit looked relieved, and Zophiel stepped closer to her, and put his hand on her forehead. She looked completely at peace, and for a moment she looked as solid and as normal as any other person. Then there was a bright light, and she was gone.

Zophiel grinned, and turned back to Aubrie, "Mission accomplished."

However, Zophiel didn't except how much his power would be drained by that one small act. He suddenly felt lightheaded, and his already pale skin paled more. He couldn't see straight to grab for a statue or marker, and already used to the idea that Aubrie didn't like to be touched, the rogue angel fell to his knees on the frozen ground.

"Ow..."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie watched in interest as Zophiel aided the wayward spirit.

His technique was far different from hers, but that really didn't surprise her. After all, he had powers at his disposal that she didn't, which meant he didn't really have to go through a lot of the same troubles that she did. The fact that he succeeded so quickly was shocking to her, as it tended to take Aubrie hours--sometimes even days--of strenuous work to help a ghost move on.

Still, it seemed that his method had its drawbacks, and she gasped as the angel practically collapsed in front of her. Kneeling down beside him, she frowned and looked him over to make sure he was alright. Closing her eyes, she let tendrils of psychic energy extend out from her mind to examine the angel, checking for any sort of damage that she might be able to help heal.

Immediately she sensed that his energy was very low. It was obvious that he'd expelled a lot of it to pass that spirit on, and from what he'd told her earlier, all of his powers were already greatly diminished due to his punishment. Focusing, she let one of her mental tendrils connect with Zophiel's nearly burned-out aura, feeding him small amounts of her own psychic energy.

It was incredibly difficult, most likely due to the fact that they were incompatible--he being an angel and she being human. Aubrie had always had a lot of trouble getting her powers to work on non-humans, and this was apparently no different. Still, she was able to make some progress, and after a few moments, she opened her eyes again and smiled wearily.

"How do you feel?"

[zophiel]

"Guess my reserves are lower than I thought." Zophiel huffed, looking up at Aubrie. Before he could try to stop her, she was passing on some of her energy to him. It wouldn't hurt her to do so, he just didn't want anyone to have to take care of him. Next time he'd have to act tougher and stay on his own two feet.

"Thanks." he admitted, smiling at her as he stood, "That feels a lot better."

"You didn't have to do that." he said, "The small amount of power i still have returns over time... I would have been okay in a few minutes. Still, thank you. That was... very generous of you." he dusted himself off, looking away from her in shame. He was an angel, dammit. He shouldn't need her help... but he did.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie could feel the discomfort emanating from him like a wave.

At first she thought it he was upset at her for something, and she began an apology. Before she could say anything, though, the psychic realized that Zophiel was feeling some sort of shame at what must have been a perceived weakness. Well... Here she'd been trying to help him, and all she'd apparently accomplished was damaging his self esteem.

"I'm sorry," she told him. "I just thought you could use a little boost, that's all. The truth is, I usually have way more energy than I need, and its good to get rid of of some of it at times. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, I guess." Glad that he'd managed to stand up on his own without needing her help, Aubrie smiled at him reassuringly.

"I'll bet you're hungry, huh?" she asked, nodding. "I know I always am, after using up that much energy. Do you... want to go grab a bite somewhere? It's on me, if you want to..."

[zophiel]

Before Zophiel could respond at all to what Aubrie had been saying, his stomach growled in response for him. The red-headed angel grinned in embarrassment and put his hand on his stomach.

"Seems you hit the nail on the head with that, Aubrie." Zophiel wasn't one to pass up a free meal, "Lead the way."

Zophiel knew it was immature to feel ashamed about his lack of power, after all, that's what his punishment was all about. He was an angel, for god's sake, and he was less powerful than this young human girl next to him. How odd than there could be such a strong human psychic on this planet. One so nice too...

"You don't have to apologize. You've shown me a lot of kindness, more than I've seen in a very long time. I'm grateful for that, whatever else may happen."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie flashed Zoph a genuine smile.

"Don't mention it," she told him. "I've been on the other side enough to know how it feels. There haven't been a lot of people who've been kind to me, either." Hesitantly, Aubrie reached out and patted the angel on the shoulder, relieved when she wasn't hit with any sort of accidental psychic recoil. Regardless, she still pulled her hand away quickly, keeping up her smile and gesturing for him to follow her out of the cemetery.

Her car was parked just outside the gates, a relatively new, small, two-door affair that she'd actually splurged on. After all, with as much time as she spent on the road, it paid to have a reliable vehicle, and not just some old junker. Using her remote to unlock the doors, she indicated that the angel should get in, and after sliding behind the wheel, she backed out and took off down the road, heading for the first restaurant that came into view.

((Finished.))