*Chased away, yes… Rikky was trying to play this off correctly, but he was doing a few things wrong, he thinks. Dammit, he needs more information. Her mind goes on neutral, and he frowns from where he stands behind her, working her knotted muscles with strong and nimble fingers. Her words, but not words, more of a mindslide… a transfer of thought, feeling, images, all coalescing into a deep and meaningful -idea- that didn’t need words. The true speech of the telepath… Rikky smiles at it, leans down to breath softly on her neck, an innocent gesture, really, he just wants to be a bit closer. This kind of intimacy was something he hasn’t quite felt before. Dealt with psionics? Oh yes, many… but not on this level. It seems so natural… he was enjoying himself too much, he thinks* MS () Far too under-appreciated. You have a marvelous mind, Jesse… it amazes me…() *He smiles in satisfaction as she melts into the massage, exposes that lovely, pale column of neck to be worked on… and he does, knowing the body inside and out. So much had been forced into his mind by the Psionics he worked with. He’d barely /read/ anything really, all of his information shoved in his head telepathically, knowing 24 languages fluently, the highest mathematics, the greatest of sciences… before he even opened his eyes. They’d pumped perhaps too much into him too quickly, and not enough of other things. Curious about her? Far more than slightly… he wanted to know /everything/… and she was a living line to who he was. He’s a bit surprised as she pulls away, as he feels a twist of guilt within her, coiling out for just a moment… guilt. Alan. She… loved Aerik, but was thinking of Alan. And there was love there, too. Was that the root of her guilt? He doesn’t pull away, lets her twine their fingers together loosely, his head to the side, brows furrowed slightly in consternation* MS () Stop..? Am I doing something wrong… Soulmate?() *he looks genuinely confused, even a bit hurt, but he doesn’t press the matter, just chides himself to take things.. at a slower pace. It wasn’t easy, pretending to be someone you didn’t even /know/…*

~ She spoke now, mentally. Her hand falling loosely to her side. Trying to fathom perhaps what had happened. Or in a sense what was happening. She leaned a tad closer, absorbing his compliments, though about them, just something was not right. Finally then simply resting her head on his chest, shutting her eyes. It would be so easy, to forget about the life at the farm, insist living with him. To abandon Alan, the constant times she tried to convince Yvette that Alan was indeed him, just a clone... a clone. Shaking her head, for the first time she started to think along those lines. Was it that she was so desperate to fill the void he left behind she was a bit too eager to accept him.. as Alan. Perhaps Yvette was right, his mind was the same, but he was not 'their' Alan. These things caused her body to tense just a tad, nearly ignoring Aerik's questions. ~ms~ Sometimes, I simply do not know what to do with myself. Here and now I find myself, .. here. next to you and would rather trade in everything in the world to keep that moment. Then the second that I allow my mind to wander and my heart to feel that way.. ~ms~ Saying then simply aloud.. Her voice so much more quiet, more meek than her mental one. And for some reason needing these words to be spoken ~ Then I think of responsibilities, and how much easier it was just not to feel. ~ Perhaps a tad melodramatic, but not caring. She sighed then pulling away before he could have a moment to embrace her.. blinking along the lake and back to the tavern. In more of those unspoken words, and unseen images she asked if they could remove themselves from the intoxicated crowd, a small moment of alone. Her eyes didn't shine with tears, nor was there a fear of any of them welling. She had noted the confusion, and hurt, trying to comprehend, what was it about this he did not understand... or perhaps what it was she refused to see. If they were destined to be together, some force above and beyond everything was preventing it all from happening. She moved quietly away form the tavern away from the noise, to a small space that they could call theirs, perhaps just for a moment to revel in eachother's company. Somehow she nearly sensed he was lonely, and seemed more gentle and a tad more willing to understand, and willing to somehow wait for what he wanted. ~ I am sorry I should not be even speaking of such things.. I am truly happy to see you again .. soulmate. ~ Her voice just as soft, like the air ticking and teasing at the edges of his ears ~

*Rikky listens intently… very intently, brows furrowing a fraction. She leans against his chest, and his arms automatically raise to hold, but she moves away before he could embrace. He doesn’t know quite what to do. He sought information, and that alone. Or… he was instructed to do only that. /Feel nothing/, they’d told him, /save perhaps respect for your superior officers. From anyone else, take what you want, what you need, they are below you. Naturals are nothing.. and RUNners are simply something to be studied/… naturals were just rats in their world, he took it to mean, little nuisances too abundant to get rid of totally. But Rik wasn’t unnatural either, he was a curiosity, a new thing to study as well. They kept his power, wanted that, but even unknown to him were psionically implanted directives… ideas tangled so deeply at the base of his telepathy that he couldn’t find them, or even guess at them… there to keep him loyal, keep him from turning on them, those who created him. Free will, in that area, taken away, stolen before he awoke and blinked into the light of a sterile lab. Certain loyalties… the rest was just deeply ingrained. Don’t care. But she was talking about /him/, and wasn’t one of his directives to find out who he was? Who /he/ was? Yes, it was there, niggling into his every conscious thought and maybe unconscious, as well. They’d had a powerful toy to model as they saw fit, and there might be quite an extent to which he was manipulated when utterly defenseless. Jesse’s mental contact wasn’t easy to ignore… it transferred emotions, /made/ him feel… shared empathy and forced sympathy. It was highly intimate, a twine of sensations and he can’t just ignore them… her… all of it. Not exactly fair, maybe, but he nods as she pulls away, asks to move away from the tavern, and complies. Again, he’s at a loss. Hidden away in a small, lovely grove with her, he doesn’t touch again, waiting for her to set the pace, but he stands close, close as she will allow, and sighs softly, shaking his head* MS* () Do not apologize.. there is nothing to feel sorry for, Jesse. I am pleased as well, to see you again. It has been.. *he gambles* …too long. Far too long. *a neutral enough statement* But I cannot help notice, soulmate… your emotional pain. You have… issues… I believe. You are torn. I feel I am adding to this. Should you wish me to remove myself… I will do so() *he reaches up to brush her cheek with his hand, but never connects, lets his fingers curl over his palm and lowers his arm again. How far should he should go? Do anything he had to do for information, he was commanded. /Anything/. But what is too much of a push and… did he want to push her? This woman loved his twin. Thought Rik was he… they didn’t cover this eventuality…*

~ She stood causally, letting her fingers fall away from his, letting their touches pull further away, finally turning to face him again. Her arms folded over her chest lightly, as she tore, simply tore her eyes from him. Letting her lashes rest gently on her cheeks, Feeling the warmth of his hand as it moved so closely to her face then pulled away. Creasing her eyes open, and then finally, finding a place to sit. To rest, simply to be there was nearly enough. The sounds faded and then drew to a thin horizon, where even the average to good listener could simply ignore the sounds. Issues. She had /issues?/ She blinked at his choice of diction. Issues, how eloquently could one put it? He was adding to it, she blinked at to him at the send. Simply staring. Her eyes narrowed just a little.. before she simply shook her head, again asking him to sit, if he so desired. Without an utterance either way. She said then, her send nearly devoid of emotion, ~~ Aerik, I do not want you to go, the /things/ I have to deal with, the.. issues are things that do not concern you, but myself.. ~~ Leaving it at that. Knowing he would or should know what she was speaking of. A sudden flash f a thought. Perhaps Razorshred.. had done something.. to his mind. Blinking, her eyes turning to his thin form pressed into a silhouette against the dimly lit forest. Her fingers then twining with the grasses that laid beneath them, and her eyes again creased slowly shut. Wondering, about many things. Several things she had not thought before that question, before saying 'issues' . The word was one she pulled and picked apart. Perhaps he was trying to be polite, and not press the point deeper, turn the knife counter clockwise. He was being incredibly polite, .. near edgy. She let it go and fade to nothing between them. She expected somehow him to be as open and as honest as she was with him.. the other side of the coin. Folding her legs beneath her, quietly saying. Perhaps for chit chat, or no reason at all ~~ I remember when I first met you.. you scared me, you knew.. right away what and who I was. You helped me grow from that.. Aerik, I would never want you to 'Remove' yourself.. ~~ The mental words were still slightly two dimensional. Not letting /as/ much emotion pour though. Looking at him then slowly.. why were emotions never as clear as .. mathematics or machines? They had no rule or reason. Half of her was torn to say .. leave, please just leave, (That is a really small half BTW) the remainder just simply wished to be held. Or shudder in his presence. ~

*Rik’s eyes lower to dance over the grass a few moments, attempting to give her a kind of privacy in which to speak more easily, or perhaps to keep himself from being too involved. Damn her, anyway… all he wanted was information. No one said it’d be this… /complex/. Maybe he should just rape her thoughts and cover it over, mindwipe it away after he was done. Inwardly he sighs.. no challenge in that, and he decides to take this as such. A challenge. A kind of twisted game, because he simply can’t be involved. But she was… she loved his twin and he… Rik almost throws his hands upward. He wasn’t trained for this exactly, wasn’t sure how to deal with it. He was only a couple weeks old for crying out loud. He keeps it all hidden away very carefully, displaying another part of what he feels… actual concern. Concern? Why? Because she tangled them together, their minds, he can /feel/ her… god, this was too intimate. Rik looks back up, rests his darkgold eyes on her lovely visage. So delicate. And trying to be so strong even in the grim face of her pain… he tries to shake himself from the feelings and crouches down instead, sitting back on his haunches as he regards her closely* MS* () I… trust you, Jesse. I believe what you say. If it does not deal with me, then I will not… pursue it unless you wish to speak of it() *suddenly his brow creases, his head tips… Alan… Aerik… guilt. Oh God, had she and his twin..? He need more /info/… he /needed/ it/. Rik sits back on his heels, folds his hands together, remains still and beautiful in the moonlight* () You are filtering from me… *he means as to the emotions, her lack of letting them thru, which was distinctly noticeable after she’d dropped her shields for him* …And I do not wish to remove myself… *he looks at her squarely, and smiles* …soulmate. I remember how you were… you have grown… I am… proud of you…() *Gads, why had he said /that/… he was going to make matters worse, he just knew it..*

~ She watches him as the first send filters though. Tilting her head back just that much, offering him a weary stare. Then accepting his words, for she had to. She did trust him. She and again in turn lowered her shields after his last send. What could she do but trust.. someone she trusted more than any other living being on this planet, or any planet. She offered these feelings to him fully and honestly, as she sent to him in kind. ~~ As I trust you Aerik.. ~~ She thought perhaps, he was dancing around subjects to save her feelings, or perhaps because of her recoil as he neared her emotions. Instead, then openly, as she could, letting them flow. Indeed there at his grasp was what he /needed/ to know, high points of anguish and joy were there at the tips of his tendrils if he so wished to indulge in looking at them. Thinking perhaps, the awkward behavior was because of her drawing away, she never /drew/ away from him before. Almost as if his hands were foreign to her body. She again opened her mind, attributing his odd behavior to her own. Her thoughts were gentle, and again emotionally filled.. just to that point. ~~ And I apologize.. for pushing you away earlier…Emotions are still, a new thing for me.. ~~ Hoping that was the case for the tad piece of awkwardness. Praying it was not Shred, or worse. Would that monster haunt him.. long after his death? She said then, perhaps a tad embarrassed, ~~ Proud? Of what may I inquire, I just have learned what you have taught me ~~ She watches him, as he bathed in moonlight. Sitting there as still as she did. The occasional blink of the eye, the passing zephyr that tousled their hair. That was the only motion she offered, and the only one she seen. Her fingers pressed against the soil, and the cold earth, and waited for a long time before saying.. ~~ It is late Aerik, ~~

*He looks, of course… it’s what he’s supposed to do, and as she opens up and lets even more defenses down, he -looks-… emotions wash over him, and he almost frowns at them, but manages a soft smile, very soft. Oh man… okay. He catches few other things in the wake of what she offers, he just glimpses she felt it was her fault, his drawing away. He understands much better now, the issues he spoke of. And he knows she wants to talk… discuss what happened, perhaps. She loves him.. /him/… and this was… he sighs internally. Would he be forced to play this part? How did Aerik feel about her? He isn’t sure, but he can make a good guess, he thinks. She shows him just that… to that point… and he’s oddly thankful, for now he knows the truth, what she’s been alluding to this whole time, what she must think he’s dancing around, because he didn’t know. He leans forward a bit, eyes gentling, watching her intently, head tipped to the side* MS* () No need to apologize, Jesse… I understand. I know it is.. difficult. *he reaches out again, as if to stroke her cheek, and pauses before doing so, altering course to instead take her hands, draw her upward into a standing position, gazing into her brown eyes* It is not easy to learn, what I teach… you have done well. *if no one liked him, he couldn’t be the easiest person in the world to work with.. another gamble Rik makes. But he stays that way, tall and silent in the night air, his hair like night itself, stars swimming there, part of the Eshvan blood, perhaps. His eyes bright, as fair as the darkness, demonic loveliness. Then he nods, brushes lips against her forehead, and steps back, still holding her hands for a while* () It is late. You should rest. We can talk again… later… goodnight, Soulmate…() *stepping further back, he slowly, reluctantly, releases her hands, turns, and walks back for the tavern, tho he won’t enter, just go somewhere she can’t see and teleport back home with -many- things to think about…*

~ She, as much as she wanted to resist, allowed yet another person to go picking and prying through her emotions. Hearing him speak gently into her mind, a sudden though, a flash. Why would he be worried about what was in her mind. What had started as a mild amount of being flattered, turned to caution, now to curiousity. She took a tendril pressing lightly against his shields, they were indeed stable. Far superior than hers could ever hope to be. But.. basic. Familiar. /Too/ familiar. Then she used, when you had his power, you did not need fancy traps to catch someone even thinking of thinking to try to penetrate your mind. Taking her small mental search away, as he speaks further. All questions nearly erased from her mind, as she did not pry further. His teaching had not been incredibly easy, but they were no where near a strain on her patience. She feels Then his lips, which were warm, and soothing pressing over her forehead, and then, before she knew what he had said, he was leaving. She blinked, sending again as he walked back towards the tavern.. ~~ Sleep in peace soulmate. ~~ Though it was a term she tried to use rarely, a special.. pet name. She blinked later.. she would see him later. Not needing to pick a time or a date, she knew they both simply would know.. as they always had. Then before he even vanished from sight, she teleported away. Back to the farmhouse, to stress. Gild blaring the television at yes 4 am, and Rocky wandering in to find some food. Mark was sprawled on the ouch next to Geoff, Venin and Alan no where to be seen. She watched the kids without emotion, and near specialness of seeing Aerik drained back to the silty bathwater she was trying to avoid. Slowly her face went dull, numb as she scanned upstairs. Yvette was in her room asleep, how with this racket. The same with Alan, in their bed. She moved up the stairs slowly. Feeling she had betrayed Alan again, and again. Closing her eyes as she pressed open the door. A facade still in place. Ho he needed her, and how she needed him, or was it someone.. Finally seating herself at the window seat, retrieving her computer from the night stand.. where it teleported to. Quietly, quickly, opening it. To become lost in the numbers, the equations, to become the 'ice bitch' once more. ~