ataraxionlogs | Nervous Breakdown [Open]

Entry tags:

Nervous Breakdown [Open]

CHARACTERS: Alex Summers [CR AU] and Open
LOCATION: Wandering the Halls
WARNINGS: PG-13. Will update if things change
SUMMARY: Alex is paranoid and worried about seeing ghosts. He is jumpy, and isn't in that great of control over his powers. Derek Hale will for sure be meeting up with him, but feel free to post your own encounter if you like!

Alex should never should have put on the mask the second time. He should have resisted, he should have listened to the small voice in the back of his head, telling him to get away from it. To lock it away, and never look at it again. But Alex, as usual, had been weak, and put it on, anyways...and had seen his sister and Darwin, burning, charred, looking at him with accusing eyes.

It was only for a few moments, but it was enough to bring nightmares back to make him think that even without the mask on, he might see them, again. He felt out of control, jumpy, shooting off plasma in the darkness. It was a danger--to himself and others, but he was trying his best to regain that control, to not let other people notice.

So he was going to go on patrol again, wander again, and act like nothing was wrong. It was what he did best; even with the monsters perhaps lurking around the corners, he'd pretend he could beat them. It was the only way he could function, now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was the squeak of her shoes that saved her from a blast of plasma. Flexing and unflexing his hands, Alex stayed still, focusing on the sound, forcing himself to repeat that ghosts didn't make noise like that, and there was no one trying to get him--he had to stay in control; hurting someone because of the damn mask was the last thing he wanted to do.

Turning the corner, he saw a dark haired woman in the distance, moving closer to him. After a moment, he breathed out, recognizing her. "...October?"

As soon as he came into her line of sight, October tensed; just because she was walking the hallways didn't mean that everyone she saw was trustworthy or safe. But then he said her name and she looked a little closer.

"Plasma boy." She knew his name well enough by now, but the nickname might just stick. She stops walking when she gets a bit closer to him, hands moving into the front pockets of her jeans. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm on patrol, idiot." Alex ran a shaky hand through is hair, shaking his head. "You shouldn't be out here alone." He didn't need to explain it, but he could have hurt her; other things could be out here, and harm her too. If he was struggling with control, there had to be others that were as well.

October shot him a glare at the idiot part of that, but when she notices the shaking of his hand, she sobers. "I know," she says. Being alone is never a good idea - it's what got her killed back home, after all - but sometimes she needed it. And out here felt a little less claustrophobic than her room. "Feel like sparing a few minutes to walk me back?"

She didn't feel like she actually needed the company or anything, but if it gave her a chance to maybe see what was bothering him, she figures she may as well take it.

"Nah...what are you doing out by yourself anyways?" Alex shot her a look, pulling up closer to her side, eyes traveling over her features. He got that sometimes people went stir crazy, that they needed to get out and alone. But it just wasn't a damn good idea--even for him, and he had powers. This wasn't about October being a girl, but being someone who didn't have anything to protect them, if shit went down.

Which seemed to be going on all around them, usually.

She shrugs and watches his eyes for a moment before she starts walking, "I guess I just needed to get out somewhere that had a little more breathing room." Her thumbs hook into the back pockets of her jeans. "It's not like the rooms are guaranteed to be safe, anyways, so I figured a short walk wouldn't kill me."

Oh, the irony of her words. If there was an edge to her tone, she didn't notice it.

"Well next time, just call me or someone else okay?" Alex ran a hand through his hair again, a sure sign of his nerves. "I usually say that's bullshit, but with the way things have been going down lately.."

He shook his head. "Whatever, I think you get it without me sounding like some chaperone." Because really, when did he sound like the responsible one?

The glance she cast in his direction had an edge of annoyance to it but overall, she seemed almost touched that he'd care this much. (There's worry in there, too, considering the way he keeps fidgeting, but that'll come up later.)

"Yeah, I get it," she says, one hand moving to his shoulder. It lingers there for a moment before she drops it back to her side. "I wasn't planning on staying out for very long, I just needed to get away from my room. If I stare at the walls any longer, I'm worried I might try torching the place." She's joking, of course, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"...you haven't put on your mask, have you?" It may have sounded like a strange question, considering what October just said, but mentions of destruction of property...Alex just had to ask. He wasn't the best at small talk either (especially around attractive women), but if she was going to be a danger to herself or others, he needed to know. For all he knew, she was a pyromaniac.

"No. Why?" She looks towards him again, "Have you? Is that why you're so extra twitchy?" Not exactly the nicest or the best way to ask him what's wrong, but it felt like a good opening.

"...yeah. It made me..." Alex shook his head, pressing his lips together as he tried to focus his thoughts. "It made me see people who aren't alive, anymore. I don't know if they are ghosts, or hallucinations, or whatever--but it's not good."

It was so beyond not-good it was ridiculous.

Instinct almost has October reaching over to touch him, to offer him physical comfort somehow, but she stops herself before she actually moves. She likes Alex well enough based on what little she knows about him, but she doesn't want to push things, especially since she has no idea how he'd even react to that.

So, when in doubt, default to joking to attempt to lighten the mood.

"Are you sure it's the mask doing that? Because you've seen that kind of shit before and didn't think anything of it."

...okay, maybe that joke sucks and is only "funny" to her in a very morbid way because she knows she's dead. And, unless she forgot about telling him, Alex doesn't. (At the very least, joking about her death might distract him from the mask stuff for a moment or two.)

"I haven't seen shit like that before--it's..." Alex shook his head, "Look, I'm not going to be spilling my life story to you like some after school special. I know when something feels wrong, and I know when ghosts aren't supposed to be there."

He didn't know that she was dead, and perhaps he had a bad reaction to her little 'joke', but the death of his foster sister and Darwin always weighed heavily on his mind, never too far away.

"Okay, first of all? That was a joke at my expense to try to make you feel better, so back off." She wasn't expecting him to spill anything and, honestly, she didn't give a shit if he did. Sure, she liked Alex well enough, but that didn't mean she was dying to know everything about him. Even if she was, she wouldn't push him.

"Second, whatever damage you're carrying around with you and whatever that mask made you see or feel or whatever, it's not my fault. So you can either try not to take it out on me, or go back on patrol and I'll walk myself the rest of the way to my room."

"...your dead back home?" Alex raised an eyebrow, snorting. "Shit...sorry." Because now her joke took an entirely worse tone, and well, way to make him look like an asshole, October.

"I know it isn't your fault. I'm just..." Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll just shut up or whatever." He just wasn't the best company right now.

October just shrugged slightly. She hadn't exactly made peace with being dead, but she did realize that there was nothing she could do about it. That was sort of like acceptance, right?

"You don't need to shut up," she said, "Just try to keep the snapping to a minimum." She paused for a moment and then lifted a hand to his shoulder, which she gave a brief squeeze before dropping her hand again. "If you wanna talk about it, I'll listen."

"Yeah..." Alex snorted, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it. Like I'm pretty sure you don't want to talk about how you got axed" He didn't talk about it to anyone--not unless he trusted them. And that took a good long time.

Sorry October.

"It's actually one of my favorite things to talk about," she said, though she wasn't serious at all. She hated talking about it but depending on the person, she could get through it alright. Usually that happened over the network with an audio feed, though; she wasn't sure if she could handle discussing it in person.

"The offer's on the table if you change your mind sometime." There was no pressure there, just an offer in case he wanted to take her up on it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nervous Breakdown [Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject