#WHSHSJDJSJD PLEASEDE

[idv-ask-the-empath]

She rubbed her temples again at the sudden flare of his anger. God, were all of the hunters just naturally pissed off? She has to resist the urge to snap. Even after a day’s worth of rest, she was still feeling worse for wear. She knew she should have stayed in her room for a little longer… but even she couldn’t stand to stay in her room for too long. She takes a moment to take a deep breath as she felt his emotions shift, in unease and suspicion. That was… technically better, but still something she wouldn’t have liked to feel… well, she knew better than most that a beggar couldn’t be a chooser. She sighs at her misstep. She was usually so careful about these sorts of things. Though, perhaps a part of her just… didn’t care anymore. She was too exhausted to give much effort into keeping her abilities a secret at the moment. Besides… maybe it would encourage a lack of interactions where they shared a space. At least it would make speaking easier. She could drop a conversation if she wanted to, and she didn’t think the old man would care. Soon, she moved her gaze up to look at him with a mildly unnerved and cautious expression.

No point in lying now… was there?

“Ah… as you know… I am the “empath”… I can influence other’s emotions… but I can also feel them as well… it’s rather… overwhelming, especially when half the people here are full of anger and spite.” She says with mild bitterness and a sense of exhaustion before taking another deep breath. She seemed surprised at her own tone before she looked down again, trying to regain some composure as she felt surely, that bitterness wasn’t her own. She was so used to just letting apathy wash over her, she nearly forgot she could feel other emotions by herself. Things like this made it hard to feel… human. Like a person. She wonders why she was even sent there as a survivor… wouldn’t she have been better off as a hunter…? Of course not. She couldn’t stand the thought of hurting someone else… bitterness or not. Anger and hatred, or not. She doesn’t think she could summon any primal bloodlust from herself.

After a moment of trying to calm herself, she doesn’t bother lifting her head up to meet his gaze. She thinks it’ll only make it harder to speak and keep herself together. Half of her conversations were like this anyways, unless she was speaking with a more light hearted person. She begins to speak again, more hesitant as though she isn’t sure if it was really worth trying to explain herself even further. She doesn’t think she’d be convincing enough, but she gives it a shot anyways.

“But don’t… worry about what I may do. I tend to keep things under control… I don’t like using my abilities on others… it’s a burden… carrying other people’s emotions so they don’t have to… and outside of that, and the idea of taking someone’s Will away is unsettling…” She pauses before continuing, unsure if she should voice the later half of her thoughts, before deciding that she may as well. It couldn’t get a worse reaction. “That is… unless something is unbearable… if someone else loses control, there’s a stronger chance that I may do the same… but even then it’s suffocating to deal with…” It’s more of a mumble that’s barely audible, but he could hear it if he cared enough to try and catch it. She was of course, vaguely referring to how she pacified the Gamekeeper’s grief and guilt, and left him with dull annoyance. At least then he’d have the will to keep going. She stops speaking after a bit, feeling as though she were just rambling about personal feelings that likely wouldn’t have mattered to him. But at least it’s off her chest.

She thinks she’d feel lighter, but she isn’t sure now. She was tired still, and she had emotions that were throwing her perception of herself into conflict.

There was something strange going on. That much, Burke knew well. Something had happened during Bane's last match and he was determined to find out what. Unfortunately though, his old friend had hidden himself away in the forest again. This left Burke with just one option... the only survivor in that match which Bonbon hadn't seen. Luckily for him, he managed to luck into finding her on one of his breaks. "Ah, just the woman I was looking for!" @ask-burke-lapadura

She seemed startled when he spoke to her. She hadn’t been paying attention, and she was only mindlessly wandering so she could get her mind off of… she inhaled sharply before exhaling somewhat shakily. She supposed she should have known it was someone else when she suddenly felt a burning curiosity amongst her ever deepening concern… she turns to the older man, her brows knit together in a way that made her expression come across as confused and almost troubled. She hadn’t meant any offense she just… didn’t expect anyone to actively seek her out. And especially after her last game, she could recall her teammates collectively agreeing to simply leave her be so she wouldn’t have to worry about overwhelming herself… even the baron had sent her a letter the very next day to take a few extra days of rest for herself, and that he had requested the hunters to avoid speaking or interacting with her so as to not induce any more “stress related hallucinations”.

Ever since she got the letter, she had been… very on edge. She knew well enough when someone was lying to her, regardless of whether they were in person or not. She knew what she saw and what she felt… she knew what the Gamekeeper felt too. It was all… a mess. So much of a mess that she knew the only way to keep things clean, was to deny it all. Even if she knew what was true. She had been in enough positions to know that the truth tended to worsen problems…

“Oh… are you… are you sure it is me you want at the moment…?” She asks, polite but cautious as was usual for her. What did he want from her anyways…? She wondered if he was here about the Gamekeeper… after all they were close. She would t have been surprised if the events had put the hunter off, and made him feel… a little troubled, to say the least. But if so, did the mad scientist have to speak to her like this…? Then again… perhaps he wanted to tell if she were lying or not. Writing was one thing, but being able to read one’s face was another… still. At the end of the day, she concluded that it had to be about his friend. He didn’t seem to be keen on interacting with other survivors, and she figured that the the only reason why he’d bother her specifically, was to talk about… what happened. She supposed she’d let him know… in all truth, she was worried about the hunter, not to mention she’d do anything to lift the crushing weight of what she had saw. What she had felt.

“My apologies if there has been any trouble… but I assure you… it has nothing to do with me…” She says with more caution, anxiously looking at the paintings on the wall, and the corners of the hallway where the shadows seemed to be unnervingly dark in spite of the lighting. “However, if you’d like to discuss the nature of these troubles, I may be able to point you in the right direction as to the cause…? I must ask though… if we are to do so, may we go somewhere more… secure…? I would hate for anyone to hear me being a tattletale…” The way she speaks is a bit more… deliberate, and vague enough to connect to any thought. She’s speaking casually and even meekly enough that it sounds almost earnest, yet there’s a level of control that she had with her tone and the pacing of her words, that showed that she knew exactly what he may have wanted to discuss. She just hoped he understood that she wished for more security if they were going to speak… now that she had seen what she had saw, followed by the baron’s letter… she wasn’t sure if privacy was real in the manor. After the incident, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it wasn’t… she glanced to a painting on the wall… was it always looking in their direction…?

@ask-burke-lapadura