Interesting Place for Dinner? {Aubrie}

[zophiel]

Aubrie had a nice little car... not that Zophiel new anything about cars. He couldn't tell you the bumper from the fender or the battery from the... the place the antifreeze went. If he EVER had to drive, he knew he could figure it out, but if the car broke down... he'd be shit outta luck.

Good thing he could teleport.

They came to the first place to eat that came into site. It was one of those down home, side of the road places with a person's name as its name. Odd that it was open so late... but then again, how late was it really? The rogue angel had no idea, but he was glad to see that they were still open and fairly empty.

Zophiel let Aubrie in first, opening the door like a gentleman. He was a very complex guy it seemed. He was polite and he liked humans, but he still had his angelic pride. He was supposed to be stronger than them, even the psychics and uniques. And yet, Aubrie here had restored some of his strength for him just moments ago and didn't look any worse for wear. How could one little girl be so strong?

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie smiled her thanks as she slipped into the restaurant.

It only took a moment for the two of them to be led to a table, as there weren't an awful lot of patrons at the moment, and Aubrie was content to let silence reign as she scanned the menu. She didn't go out to eat much--to fair, she didn't go out much at all--and it took her a couple of minutes to fully relax in the strange environment. There were only a few other people here, but the babble of their thoughts was a constant hum in the back of Aubrie's mind.

"So," she finally said, breaking the silence. "I hope this place is alright. Honestly, I don't get out much, so I'm a little bit out of the loop when it comes to the intricacies of fine dining." Pausing, she let her eyes roam over the tacky decorations before amending her statement. "Or... not so fine?"

[zophiel]

Zophiel smiled at Aubrie, picking up the menu and looking it over. He wasn't sure why he read menus anymore, he always just got a burger in these places. In fact the rogue angel kept his eyes on the sandwich section, seeing his choices of burgers.

"It's alright. I eat at places like these all the time. They're cheap but sometimes they have the best food because they're small. A person cooks and not a machine."

Zophiel didn't ask why she didn't go out often, he already knew. With her powers, being out in public was stressful. It was probably only slightly better IN a house. She could probably still hear her neighbors' minds. But don't we all have our reasons to stay safely behind closed doors?

Even though it was quiet, Zophiel could just about feel some tension in the air. He wasn't sure where it was coming from. It could have just been Aubrie, or it could have been the cook and his wife having personal issues. Zophiel hoped that was all it would amount to.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie nodded agreement.

"I spend a lot of time eating bad fast food and Chinese take out. Oh, and delivered pizza." She shrugged, frowning a bit. "I should try and get out more, I guess, huh?" She fell silent, letting the background hum of the other patrons' thoughts and emotions wash over her. "But its hard," she added, softly.

Moments later, a waitress arrived and took their orders, Zophiel asking for a burger and some fries, and Aubrie going with a grilled chicken sandwich and some coleslaw. The waitress nodded, and said she'd be back in just a moment with their drinks. When she walked away, Aubrie heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," she said quietly, so that only Zoph could hear her. "She's going throw a breakup, or a divorce or something... The tension and worry rolling off of her was nauseating..." She shuddered, knowing that the sensations would be with her for a while longer, especially if the waitress still didn't have her emotions under control when she got back.

This might end up being a long night...

[zophiel]

Zophiel hated to see someone suffer, no matter their reason. He wanted to help Aubrie but he knew going to another diner wouldn't solve the problem. Someone else could be upset there just as easily as here.

"I wish I knew a way to help you, Aubrie, but all I could do is ask a sibling of mine... and trust me, none of them really are in the mood to do me any favors. They'd sooner smite me than look at me."

That was an exaggeration, but not by much. Most angels were against killing their brothers and sisters. A great majority now could care less that he had been married to a human. But he had to finish serving out his punishment. It was the fact that he refused to return home, that he disobeyed, that he was being punished for. Either way, though, any angel who helped him had to be careful with what they did. He was supposed to be cut off from the others, and they could get in trouble if they interfered.

Still, Zophiel wanted to spend some time with this mortal girl, he wanted a friend, and he helped his friends.

"I may possibly be able to block her for right now.... but it'd only be her and it'd only be temporary."

Good thing they were already in a diner and their food was on the way. If Aubrie agreed, he'd need the protein.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie almost didn't catch the angel's words.

The fact was, even the slight amount of "background noise" was starting to get to her, perhaps compounded by the tension that had been rolling off of the waitress. A light sheen of sweat broke out on her forehead, and she absently swiped at it with the back of a gloved hand. Closing her eyes, Aubrie pinched the bridge of her noise, as if she had a headache, and did her best to build up her own mental shields against the constant buzz of everyone else's thoughts and feelings.

Unfortunately, she could feel her powers roiling just beneath the surface. Like a sleeping dragon, she could feel the excess of psychic energy just waiting to be unleashed. Usually, Aubrie was using her powers enough to keep the constant mass of energy at a manageable level, but the truth was that ever since her near-death at Darian's hands, Aubrie hadn't been doing much with her abilities.

Months of being in a coma had let the untamed, raw psychic power within her increase at an alarming rate, and shortly after waking up she'd taken a job with the police, using her unique talents to track down--and read--a child murderer. That had burned off quite a bit of that energy, but since then, Aubrie had found herself becoming more and more of a shut-in. She hardly went out, she stopped taking jobs with the police, and she had even given up her fortune telling.

And now, without having been given an outlet, her power was threatening to simply expel itself from her on its own.

It had happened a few times before, but it had been years since the last episode, so she knew what to expect: first, she'd become shaky and disoriented, then her vision would begin to blur, and lastly an impressive flash of bright blue "fire" would expand outward from her body, dissipating after several minutes, if she was lucky. This wasn't real fire of course, it was just her excess psychic energy "burning" itself off, and as far she knew it couldn't really hurt anyone, but it did a fine job of frightening people.

And, afterward, it left her in a near catatonic state for hours, if she was lucky. Once, she'd been out of it for three days...

Realizing that Zophiel had just spoken, and had offered to help her if he could, Aubrie nodded slightly.

"If you think you can do it, I'd really appreciate it," she told him, her voice filled with gratitude. "And I think we should eat as quickly as possible, then get out of here..."

[zophiel]

Her consent was all he needed to continue with this. His brothers wouldn't need to ask permission, but Zophiel did now. It went along with having so little of his powers remaining. It wasn't just that he needed permission to act though, he also preferred to ask before using his powers. After all, with such a limited power supply, he didn't want to waste his powers on the ungrateful.

However, that didn't mean Zophiel was going to baby Aubrie. She had agreed to his help, but in this kind of setting, time was important. They didn't need to be seen. He knew she had issues with contact, but he had to do what he had to do. He reached over the table and places his hand over hers, letting skin touch skin. He'd act quickly to reduce her stress level.

Zophiel concentrated, and almost right away he felt her bubbling powers. Damn, was she ever powerful. Looking at her as he worked, he could now clearly see the power radiating off of her.

"Aubrie, you really need to be more careful... the amount of power you have is radiating like a... like a neon sign. You could attract any number of beings like this. I've honestly never met such a strong psychic before."

Zophiel proceeded to do as he said he'd do. But he did a little more as well. Not only did he put a bit of a barrier between Aubrie and the rest of the diner patrons, but he also drained off a bit of that excess power. There was only one problem with that, and that was that he had to take the power into himself. He couldn't just let it go. That never ended well. So the rogue angel carefully and slowly started to take in that power. After another moment he pulled his hand away, feeling the power in him that didn't quite mix with his own angelic essence.

"There, you should notice a big difference now. Better?"

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie gasped at the contact, prepared for the worst.

Of course, her initial instinct was to pull back, to distance herself from Zoph before it was too late. But, in the back of her mind, she knew that the angel wouldn't do anything to purposefully hurt her, and she knew that her abilities were sufficiently dulled to him that it should be okay. Still, years of flinching and doing everything in her power to keep from being touched were hard to undo, and it took all of her not inconsiderable will to remain motionless.

At the angel's touch, Aubrie was bombarded by memories, feeling, and emotions, but not to the extent that she would have been if he were human. Still, it was a bit uncomfortable, and she clenched her eyes shut against the rush, praying that he'd be finished soon.

What happened next was an utter shock for her.

She could feel her power being pulled from her, albeit a little at a time. It was a strange feeling, and not entirely pleasant, but she was far too stunned by the act itself to dwell on the discomfort. The relief was immediate, and she instantly began to relax as Zophiel continued to take her psychic overflow into himself.

Closing her eyes, Aubrie ignored the tears of relief that ran down her cheeks as the pressure began to subside. Never before had she experience such complete and total release like this, and she was rendered absolutely speechless, unable to respond to Zophiel's question.

[zophiel]

Humans always amazed Zophiel, ever since he first laid eyes on one. Aubrie was just like an old priest he knew in Egypt. She had a lot of power in her and a lot of fear of using that power. But Zophiel could take it, and he did so, draining off the excess power until the flow steadied itself. Once finished, he drew his hand back. giving her time to recover. He figured she didn't answer because of shock. After all, she probably never felt anything like that before.

Zophiel felt the power surge in him as his own power started to absorb and merge with the new power. It was a rush, and he enjoyed it. It was like he had been a truck running on fumes for years now and all of a sudden he had a full tank again. Though he knew deep down a full tank was far from this level.

Their food came, and Zophiel nodded with a smile to the waitress as she walked away again. He was starving... such an odd human thing to feel... but all the same he had grown used to the feeling. He bit into his burger, knowing he'd fall for the temptation away, and then looked up to Aubrie.

"Much better now, aren't ya? With that excess power and all... I have to admit, I'm impressed. I haven't seen such a strong psychic in centuries."

He took another bite, "You know, i could help you with that... long term wise. I think. If you like. I don't want to intrude or anything."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie blinked a few times, then shook her head, trying to return to her senses.

She frowned a bit when Zophiel told her how powerful he thought she was, again. The truth was, Aubrie knew that she had a surplus of psychic energy, but it didn't really do her any good when she didn't have very many means of using it. She was unique in the fact that she didn't have just a handful of powerful abilities, but rather she had a little bit of nearly every kind of psychic gift, though most were so weak that they were practically useless. In fact, Aubrie had only two powers that were strong enough for her to use on a regular basis: her cartomancy, and touch-reading, though her control over her empathy had increased a lot during her time with Mac.

"All that power doesn't do me any good if I can't really use it though," she told Zoph, speaking for the first time since he'd drawn her excess power from her. Keeping her voice low, she went on. "I have total control over my cartomancy--that is, my fortune telling with a deck of cards--but that's vague at best, and downright cryptic at worst. Then there's the touch-reading..." She let her voice trail off, shrugging. "It's really not under my control, so to speak, but I use it enough that I can at least make it work when I have to... But the consequences are pretty rough, honestly."

Looking down at her sandwich, Aubrie realized that she'd completely lost her appetite. Frowning, she picked up the food and took a bite anyway, knowing that she'd regret it later if she didn't eat now. Turning her attention back to Zophiel, she continued.

"I do have other abilities, lots of them actually, but they're fairly useless. I mean... they aren't useless exactly, I'm just no good at using them..." Shrugging again, she took another bite, slowly finding her appetite returning, much to her relief.

The angel's words about being able to help her made Aubrie pause, her head tilting a bit as she considered. It wasn't that she doubted he could do it, after all, he'd just proved that he could, at least temporarily. It was just that she wasn't used to going to people for help... Still, if she'd learned anything lately--particularly from her fledgling relationship with Nikita--it was that maybe it was time for her to stop living like a shut in, and to get back out into the world.

"What... do you have to do?" she asked curiously. "I mean, to try and help me?"