07-26-2014, 04:15 PM
Aria felt guilty, she hadn't been to mass or confession since she'd come to Moscow. It was a regular thing in Vatican City, was something she couldn't get out of even if she had wanted to. Father Dimitri would have had her head if she didn't attend mass every week. Confession was a bit more personal within the Atharim, Father Dimitri had always heard her confessions. Can't exactly go to a regular priest and say, 'I took the life of a wolfkin, he wasn't mad, but he was wolfkin.' Not that she'd taken the life of any of the humanoid monsters. But still a regular preist probably would have polietly thought you were crazy and just said his normal speil.
"I've not gone to mass or confession since leaving Vatican City."
Aria took them around the corner to the side entrance and took the stairs while scanning for her neighbors, they didn't appear to be home. "Mostly because I forget what day of the week it is. And there's no one here to remind me to go."
Once she got to her door she took the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. "When I was there, life was very different."
Aria opened the door and walked into the studio apartment.
"Make yourself at home."
She'd been in the apartment for months, but there was very little in the way of personalization. Books were scattered across the coffee table that sat in front of the couch, books Lucas' probably shouldn't see. Oh well. If he stuck around her long enough, he was going to find out about so much more than what was in those books.
Aria's first sword, that had lost it's mate her first mission out hung on the wall with the second holstered gun by the door over the coat rack.
Aria hung her coat up on the rack under her weapons and took the weapon belt off. She knew he wanted to say something, she could feel his curiousity. He'd not said anything probably out of politeness. As long as he didn't ask her if she'd killed anyone, it really didn't matter what he'd asked. "I know you are dying to ask."
She smiled up at him. "So ask. Ask anything and I'll try to answer."
She hoped she could find a truthful answer that he'd actually beleive. But there was plenty of 'proof' lying on the coffee table, some even in her own hand.
Aria's apartment was what he expected. Lonely. Empty. Sad. She had another sword hanging on the wall, along with another gun. Books were scattered everywhere. It surprised him. He never read much growing up, but when he did, they were all electronic. Why she used actual books seemed odd. The few he could see were larger than what he expected, the covers thick, the pages yellowed and not all cut exactly on the same edge. One was open and showed what looked like hand-drawings of monsters or something. There were no pictures on the walls, no indicators that a human with needs and hungers lived here. Rather, just a person with a job.
This was the home of a woman who had no life. His heart ached for her. She was maybe 30 years old. 30 years living like this, unloved, uncared for, unknown. She told him to make himself at home so he went and sat on the couch, watching her as she removed her coat and weapons. He wasn't sure what to make of her. He was curious of course, but not about her weapons or job. Evidently she picked up on his curiosity but not the cause because she offered to answer anything he wanted to know.
He looked at her for a moment and then gave her a smile. "Come here and sit with me."
When she did, he looked at her, watching her. He wondered what she was thinking, what it would be like to touch her and know what she was feeling. People were all so closed off to each other, relying to words and actions to really connect with people, to know their hearts. And this woman had a gift that allowed her to do that. And yet the life she lived was the opposite of that. She was scared and hid, closed herself off, unable to trust anyone. It made him angry that people could do that to her, could scar a little girl so that this sad and lonely woman was the result. His own father had done that to him and it was only later that he'd understood the enormity of that crime, the callous cruelty and disregard. But all it took was one person to make a difference. Valentin hadn't know him. It was a risk, one that Lucas had wondered about ever since. How could he take such a chance, to work and suffer to help rescue him. To this day, he didn't know the answer. He didn't know what Valentin had seen in him. In the end, it didn't matter. It had worked.
Now, he wanted to make that difference for her. He took her hand, his skin on hers, hoping she'd feel what he was about to say. Then, "I just want to know you. And to let you know me. If you get afraid or need a place to hide, use me, use my emotions, my strength, my peace, whatever you need. Let me be for you what someone once was to me. Let me help you find peace Aria."
It was, perhaps, a forward proclamation to make, a strange offer. He laughed at his insistance. He should step back and let her figure out what she wanted. "And I also want to eat. I think you mentioned eating"
He smiled at her and winked. "At least I heard your stomach chime in, back at the shop."
He let go and began to remove the food. "So let's eat too. I hope you like it."
He got out the foil wrapped gyros, the juices and tzatziki sauce oozing out the bottom. "Here, try this first."
Lucas made himself at home. He sat down on her couch and when she was done getting 'comfortable' he told her to come sit with him. Aria did as he asked, but she closed the books on the table and made a neat pile and pushed them off to one side before she sat down next to Lucas, close enough that she could feel the heat from his leg.
He didn't exactly ask a question, there wasn't much to her, not really. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of holding his hand, but she wasn't about to let go either. She liked touching him, probably a bit too much for either of their well-being. This day was proving far more intesting and far more emotional than she was used to. He made her feel like no other. He wanted to know her, that was music to her soul. Uncharted territory but something she'd longed for, something that she had thought she had found. But it was a poor imitation of what Lucas offered.
Aria's stomach rumbled again at the mention of food, it did smell good and the first bite was interesting. She wasn't too sure on the texture of the meat, but it was good none-the-less.
Eating didn't lend to talking well, but it was a conversation and he said he wanted to know her. There wasn't much to her, work, her abilities, beyond that she had done very little in life. She smiled, wiping the juice from her chin. "You know it goes both ways if I want it to."
Aria turned to look at him. "I made you feel my fear, how it translated to you I don't know, it's never the same, at least not that I've found. It's fear none-the-less. I can show you what I feel, personally. Or I can give you the emotions from my memories, or from those around me."
Aria grinned. "The shop keep downstairs, he's reprimanding the clean up clerk he hired a while back. He's angry, the clerk is ashamed. Thankfully the couple upstairs isn't home. They either are angry or putting rabbits to shame."
Aria took another bite, still wasn't sure about the texture but she'd eat it anyway. It at least tasted better than most her meals as of late.
The gyro was good, of course. But enjoyed watching her eat it, imagining what it was like a first time. And he listened. While she talked he got out the other food, explaining what each was, the savory and spicy mousakka, the cheesy tiropites, and the creamy pastitsio. He was saving the light flakey honey-drenched baklava for after. He realized, as they both ate, that they had nothing to drink. He should have thought of that. A Santorini would have gone well with everything.
As they ate, she explained her abilities and he listened. "You know it goes both ways if I want it to."
His eyebrows went up. Now that was interesting. Especially as she explained how she was able to send him those feelings earlier. He smiled when she mentioned the shop keep and laugh out loud when she talked about the couple upstairs. His eyes crinkled and a wicked grin appeared on his face. "Yeah, better than you don't send me any of those feelings. I'm sure you noticed back at the shop, but you would have no problem geting me going with you. Those last feelings of fear you sent were overwhelming. Probably not a good idea to get me all worked up with that."
He let his smile fade. "But maybe we could start with something small."
He looked from her to the table filled with all the foods she still had to try. "How about you let me feel what it's like for you to try some of this. Half the fun of sharing new stuff with peope is imagining the experience through fresh eyes."
He smiled. He was liking the idea. It sounded fun. "Ok? So...do what you do. Send me what you are feeling and then try some of this...Try the tiropites first."
He waited to see if she would do it.
Aria blushed at his comment and bit her bottom lip. She wasn't going to comment it but pretty sure from her reaction he knew what she felt. She took deep breath to calm her ownself. Small? There really was nothing small about what she did. But it was good practice. Not sending what she didn't want.
The tiropites, they looked interesting anyway. She smiled at Lucas and took his hand. It was hard to send him anything when it didn't exist yet. It was like the classic question what came first the chicken or the egg. Aria closed her eyes and took the first bite, was easier to do without Lucas watching. She felt like the pet at the zoo preforming on command. The thought almost made her lose interest, but she was sharing. No one really ever cared to ask before. But then again until recently she didn't even know she could do it.
The pastry was flaky and buttery. It nearly melted in her mouth. With the amount of different cheeses on the inside it was a good thing she wasn't lactose intolerant. It was good, she enjoyed it much better than the gyro.
She opened her eyes, and blushed, the thought of him intent on her made her nervous. She smiled at him, but she couldn't get the prior thoughts out of her head. She thanked God that they were not home. That would have been very difficult to deal with.
She knew she'd sent the feelings to him the moment she pushed them away. It was far more difficult keeping her own thoughts on one thing.
Hoping to change the 'topic' Aria tried the moussaka. The first bite, came right back out into her hand. Eggplant. Ugh, she didn't even like it when she ate at headquarters when she was little, those days she'd go without just so she didn't have to eat it. "Sorry. No Eggplant."
It was a strange sensation. He could feel what she was feeling- hesitant, fearful, but also a bit excited, thrilled. This was new to her, this sensation of sharing, or showing herself emotionally. It was new to him too, at least at this level. It occurred to him that this was what sex often was about, making someone feel, or at least imagine they felt, someone else, their emotions. It was about connection. And he had it with Aria just by the touch of her hand.
She liked the tiropites. The sensations from her were strangely intoxicating. She was purposefully allowing herself to enjoy her food- the textures and smells and tastes- and it was all overlaid with her emotional fears and excitement. While he couldn't taste the food himself, he could sense her enjoyment. He wondered if they would taste different to him too.
Suddenly he felt a jolt of warmth hit him as her eyes opened to see him watching her. His mind reeled for a moment, overwhelmed with her. At moment, it would have been so easy to pull her to him and kiss her. But he resisted the urge and it disappeared in a moment. It might have been an accident. Her eyes said it was. She tried the moussaka and her disgust at the taste and texture of eggplant made him laugh out loud. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you . Not everyone likes eggplant."
He gave her a grin. "Call it an acquired taste that you haven't acquired yet."
On it went through the rest and he enjoyed it immensly as she nibbled at this or that. Her reaction to the baklava was the one he'd been most curious of and he was pleased at how much she'd liked it. Overlaying it was a feeling of how special sweet treats were, as if growing up she'd only ever had them rarely. He sensed her excitement at the recognition of honey, the wonder at the flakiness, the surprise at the nuts. The over all impression was one of real enjoyment at it, how special it was. And he felt sadness at that, that her life had been a journey with only a few points of enjoyment on the way. It was why it was his favorite as well.
When they were done, he looked at her. "That was the most interesting experience I have ever had., seeing through your eyes. I want to do it again, but I better not- at least not now. It would be too easy to get lost in you."
He sat back and watched her. "I know you better now I think. I can't imagine losing yourself in other people's emotions and experiences growing up was easy. I wish you hadn't experience that."
He remembered something she said. "You grew up in Vatican City? When did you realize you were special?"
"I've had eggplant most of my life, I don't think I'll ever gain that taste. I went without food the days that was on the menu."
Aria was thankful she didn't remember too many times, but she was sure they did it on purpose a time or two several days in a row as punishment. They probably called it a learning experience, but it was still not allowing a child to eat for days on end. It wasn't a good childhood, but it was all she had.
Aria tasted everything else, it was all good. The dessert was by far her favorite. There was very little in way of sweets as a child. Not even honey for tea most days. Things like that were meant for the privledged. Aria was not privledged, she was a ward of the city by all standards. She should have been in an oraphange if it weren't for her birth right, and the fact that her mother was Furia. If she'd just been a child the Atharim had saved, she would probably have had a better life in the orphanage ran by the church. But she was not. She was a child of the Atharim. She was born and raised to be nothing more than a weapon to use in their name.
Getting lost in her? She could easily get lost in him. His bright blue eyes, the tattoo across his chest. She wanted to know what he feared, wanted to feel his pain. Aria pushed those thoughts away, the darkness was trying to push it's way in. Aria knew that she'd put herself through the ringer lately. She could feel the tiredness in her bones. She'd been up too long. Sleep might actually be peaceful or once.
Aria closed her eyes when he asked about her specialness. She had just run through the very thoughts herself. "I grew up as a ward of the church. I trained with in its walls until they saw fit to send me here. But special? They probably should have saw I was special when I was five. My first day walking the streets outside the Vatican. The streets were crowded with people looking for answers from God. They weren't refugees necessarily. But they were there seeking guidance after the catastrophies that ravaged the world then. I felt everyone there, so many people. It hurts just to think about it, their pain and anguish. Their fear.
The thoughts putlled her closer to what she wanted to avoid. It all came back to the pain and fear and her hatred of the world itself. Aria sighed. " That's when my training really began. Night and day I worked toward one end, and it was the only thing until I met a boy, and then everything changed."
Aria leaned back against the couch and curled her knees to her chest. She put her forehead on her knees and took a deep breath. Aria's first urge was to embrace the bubble that she'd done for all her life, but she stayed it. Looked up and took Lucas' hand and just held it. His strength.
Aria stared at the far wall. "He was a good person. We were close, and then it became more. The first kiss. I passed out from the lose of control. His pain, and my pain. I was told that he was fine, but he never wanted to see me again. That was when things changed for the worse. I had only few set of instructors, ones who could control their emotions."
Aria turned an looked at him in warning, but not really at him, mostly at the world. "Which is far more annoying that just being yourself. There was no touching, no pats on the back, I spent 14 years in near isolation. Only going out of the City when I was called to go, when there was need of my particular skill set."
Aria looked away. "A little while ago, I found out what really happened that day.
Aria squeezed his hand and took a deep breath. She really was going to say this out loud. " The boy had died. My power overwhelmed him. His heart stopped beating because of the strain. He was a good person."
"I've not gone to mass or confession since leaving Vatican City."
Aria took them around the corner to the side entrance and took the stairs while scanning for her neighbors, they didn't appear to be home. "Mostly because I forget what day of the week it is. And there's no one here to remind me to go."
Once she got to her door she took the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. "When I was there, life was very different."
Aria opened the door and walked into the studio apartment.
"Make yourself at home."
She'd been in the apartment for months, but there was very little in the way of personalization. Books were scattered across the coffee table that sat in front of the couch, books Lucas' probably shouldn't see. Oh well. If he stuck around her long enough, he was going to find out about so much more than what was in those books.
Aria's first sword, that had lost it's mate her first mission out hung on the wall with the second holstered gun by the door over the coat rack.
Aria hung her coat up on the rack under her weapons and took the weapon belt off. She knew he wanted to say something, she could feel his curiousity. He'd not said anything probably out of politeness. As long as he didn't ask her if she'd killed anyone, it really didn't matter what he'd asked. "I know you are dying to ask."
She smiled up at him. "So ask. Ask anything and I'll try to answer."
She hoped she could find a truthful answer that he'd actually beleive. But there was plenty of 'proof' lying on the coffee table, some even in her own hand.
Aria's apartment was what he expected. Lonely. Empty. Sad. She had another sword hanging on the wall, along with another gun. Books were scattered everywhere. It surprised him. He never read much growing up, but when he did, they were all electronic. Why she used actual books seemed odd. The few he could see were larger than what he expected, the covers thick, the pages yellowed and not all cut exactly on the same edge. One was open and showed what looked like hand-drawings of monsters or something. There were no pictures on the walls, no indicators that a human with needs and hungers lived here. Rather, just a person with a job.
This was the home of a woman who had no life. His heart ached for her. She was maybe 30 years old. 30 years living like this, unloved, uncared for, unknown. She told him to make himself at home so he went and sat on the couch, watching her as she removed her coat and weapons. He wasn't sure what to make of her. He was curious of course, but not about her weapons or job. Evidently she picked up on his curiosity but not the cause because she offered to answer anything he wanted to know.
He looked at her for a moment and then gave her a smile. "Come here and sit with me."
When she did, he looked at her, watching her. He wondered what she was thinking, what it would be like to touch her and know what she was feeling. People were all so closed off to each other, relying to words and actions to really connect with people, to know their hearts. And this woman had a gift that allowed her to do that. And yet the life she lived was the opposite of that. She was scared and hid, closed herself off, unable to trust anyone. It made him angry that people could do that to her, could scar a little girl so that this sad and lonely woman was the result. His own father had done that to him and it was only later that he'd understood the enormity of that crime, the callous cruelty and disregard. But all it took was one person to make a difference. Valentin hadn't know him. It was a risk, one that Lucas had wondered about ever since. How could he take such a chance, to work and suffer to help rescue him. To this day, he didn't know the answer. He didn't know what Valentin had seen in him. In the end, it didn't matter. It had worked.
Now, he wanted to make that difference for her. He took her hand, his skin on hers, hoping she'd feel what he was about to say. Then, "I just want to know you. And to let you know me. If you get afraid or need a place to hide, use me, use my emotions, my strength, my peace, whatever you need. Let me be for you what someone once was to me. Let me help you find peace Aria."
It was, perhaps, a forward proclamation to make, a strange offer. He laughed at his insistance. He should step back and let her figure out what she wanted. "And I also want to eat. I think you mentioned eating"
He smiled at her and winked. "At least I heard your stomach chime in, back at the shop."
He let go and began to remove the food. "So let's eat too. I hope you like it."
He got out the foil wrapped gyros, the juices and tzatziki sauce oozing out the bottom. "Here, try this first."
Lucas made himself at home. He sat down on her couch and when she was done getting 'comfortable' he told her to come sit with him. Aria did as he asked, but she closed the books on the table and made a neat pile and pushed them off to one side before she sat down next to Lucas, close enough that she could feel the heat from his leg.
He didn't exactly ask a question, there wasn't much to her, not really. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of holding his hand, but she wasn't about to let go either. She liked touching him, probably a bit too much for either of their well-being. This day was proving far more intesting and far more emotional than she was used to. He made her feel like no other. He wanted to know her, that was music to her soul. Uncharted territory but something she'd longed for, something that she had thought she had found. But it was a poor imitation of what Lucas offered.
Aria's stomach rumbled again at the mention of food, it did smell good and the first bite was interesting. She wasn't too sure on the texture of the meat, but it was good none-the-less.
Eating didn't lend to talking well, but it was a conversation and he said he wanted to know her. There wasn't much to her, work, her abilities, beyond that she had done very little in life. She smiled, wiping the juice from her chin. "You know it goes both ways if I want it to."
Aria turned to look at him. "I made you feel my fear, how it translated to you I don't know, it's never the same, at least not that I've found. It's fear none-the-less. I can show you what I feel, personally. Or I can give you the emotions from my memories, or from those around me."
Aria grinned. "The shop keep downstairs, he's reprimanding the clean up clerk he hired a while back. He's angry, the clerk is ashamed. Thankfully the couple upstairs isn't home. They either are angry or putting rabbits to shame."
Aria took another bite, still wasn't sure about the texture but she'd eat it anyway. It at least tasted better than most her meals as of late.
The gyro was good, of course. But enjoyed watching her eat it, imagining what it was like a first time. And he listened. While she talked he got out the other food, explaining what each was, the savory and spicy mousakka, the cheesy tiropites, and the creamy pastitsio. He was saving the light flakey honey-drenched baklava for after. He realized, as they both ate, that they had nothing to drink. He should have thought of that. A Santorini would have gone well with everything.
As they ate, she explained her abilities and he listened. "You know it goes both ways if I want it to."
His eyebrows went up. Now that was interesting. Especially as she explained how she was able to send him those feelings earlier. He smiled when she mentioned the shop keep and laugh out loud when she talked about the couple upstairs. His eyes crinkled and a wicked grin appeared on his face. "Yeah, better than you don't send me any of those feelings. I'm sure you noticed back at the shop, but you would have no problem geting me going with you. Those last feelings of fear you sent were overwhelming. Probably not a good idea to get me all worked up with that."
He let his smile fade. "But maybe we could start with something small."
He looked from her to the table filled with all the foods she still had to try. "How about you let me feel what it's like for you to try some of this. Half the fun of sharing new stuff with peope is imagining the experience through fresh eyes."
He smiled. He was liking the idea. It sounded fun. "Ok? So...do what you do. Send me what you are feeling and then try some of this...Try the tiropites first."
He waited to see if she would do it.
Aria blushed at his comment and bit her bottom lip. She wasn't going to comment it but pretty sure from her reaction he knew what she felt. She took deep breath to calm her ownself. Small? There really was nothing small about what she did. But it was good practice. Not sending what she didn't want.
The tiropites, they looked interesting anyway. She smiled at Lucas and took his hand. It was hard to send him anything when it didn't exist yet. It was like the classic question what came first the chicken or the egg. Aria closed her eyes and took the first bite, was easier to do without Lucas watching. She felt like the pet at the zoo preforming on command. The thought almost made her lose interest, but she was sharing. No one really ever cared to ask before. But then again until recently she didn't even know she could do it.
The pastry was flaky and buttery. It nearly melted in her mouth. With the amount of different cheeses on the inside it was a good thing she wasn't lactose intolerant. It was good, she enjoyed it much better than the gyro.
She opened her eyes, and blushed, the thought of him intent on her made her nervous. She smiled at him, but she couldn't get the prior thoughts out of her head. She thanked God that they were not home. That would have been very difficult to deal with.
She knew she'd sent the feelings to him the moment she pushed them away. It was far more difficult keeping her own thoughts on one thing.
Hoping to change the 'topic' Aria tried the moussaka. The first bite, came right back out into her hand. Eggplant. Ugh, she didn't even like it when she ate at headquarters when she was little, those days she'd go without just so she didn't have to eat it. "Sorry. No Eggplant."
It was a strange sensation. He could feel what she was feeling- hesitant, fearful, but also a bit excited, thrilled. This was new to her, this sensation of sharing, or showing herself emotionally. It was new to him too, at least at this level. It occurred to him that this was what sex often was about, making someone feel, or at least imagine they felt, someone else, their emotions. It was about connection. And he had it with Aria just by the touch of her hand.
She liked the tiropites. The sensations from her were strangely intoxicating. She was purposefully allowing herself to enjoy her food- the textures and smells and tastes- and it was all overlaid with her emotional fears and excitement. While he couldn't taste the food himself, he could sense her enjoyment. He wondered if they would taste different to him too.
Suddenly he felt a jolt of warmth hit him as her eyes opened to see him watching her. His mind reeled for a moment, overwhelmed with her. At moment, it would have been so easy to pull her to him and kiss her. But he resisted the urge and it disappeared in a moment. It might have been an accident. Her eyes said it was. She tried the moussaka and her disgust at the taste and texture of eggplant made him laugh out loud. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you . Not everyone likes eggplant."
He gave her a grin. "Call it an acquired taste that you haven't acquired yet."
On it went through the rest and he enjoyed it immensly as she nibbled at this or that. Her reaction to the baklava was the one he'd been most curious of and he was pleased at how much she'd liked it. Overlaying it was a feeling of how special sweet treats were, as if growing up she'd only ever had them rarely. He sensed her excitement at the recognition of honey, the wonder at the flakiness, the surprise at the nuts. The over all impression was one of real enjoyment at it, how special it was. And he felt sadness at that, that her life had been a journey with only a few points of enjoyment on the way. It was why it was his favorite as well.
When they were done, he looked at her. "That was the most interesting experience I have ever had., seeing through your eyes. I want to do it again, but I better not- at least not now. It would be too easy to get lost in you."
He sat back and watched her. "I know you better now I think. I can't imagine losing yourself in other people's emotions and experiences growing up was easy. I wish you hadn't experience that."
He remembered something she said. "You grew up in Vatican City? When did you realize you were special?"
"I've had eggplant most of my life, I don't think I'll ever gain that taste. I went without food the days that was on the menu."
Aria was thankful she didn't remember too many times, but she was sure they did it on purpose a time or two several days in a row as punishment. They probably called it a learning experience, but it was still not allowing a child to eat for days on end. It wasn't a good childhood, but it was all she had.
Aria tasted everything else, it was all good. The dessert was by far her favorite. There was very little in way of sweets as a child. Not even honey for tea most days. Things like that were meant for the privledged. Aria was not privledged, she was a ward of the city by all standards. She should have been in an oraphange if it weren't for her birth right, and the fact that her mother was Furia. If she'd just been a child the Atharim had saved, she would probably have had a better life in the orphanage ran by the church. But she was not. She was a child of the Atharim. She was born and raised to be nothing more than a weapon to use in their name.
Getting lost in her? She could easily get lost in him. His bright blue eyes, the tattoo across his chest. She wanted to know what he feared, wanted to feel his pain. Aria pushed those thoughts away, the darkness was trying to push it's way in. Aria knew that she'd put herself through the ringer lately. She could feel the tiredness in her bones. She'd been up too long. Sleep might actually be peaceful or once.
Aria closed her eyes when he asked about her specialness. She had just run through the very thoughts herself. "I grew up as a ward of the church. I trained with in its walls until they saw fit to send me here. But special? They probably should have saw I was special when I was five. My first day walking the streets outside the Vatican. The streets were crowded with people looking for answers from God. They weren't refugees necessarily. But they were there seeking guidance after the catastrophies that ravaged the world then. I felt everyone there, so many people. It hurts just to think about it, their pain and anguish. Their fear.
The thoughts putlled her closer to what she wanted to avoid. It all came back to the pain and fear and her hatred of the world itself. Aria sighed. " That's when my training really began. Night and day I worked toward one end, and it was the only thing until I met a boy, and then everything changed."
Aria leaned back against the couch and curled her knees to her chest. She put her forehead on her knees and took a deep breath. Aria's first urge was to embrace the bubble that she'd done for all her life, but she stayed it. Looked up and took Lucas' hand and just held it. His strength.
Aria stared at the far wall. "He was a good person. We were close, and then it became more. The first kiss. I passed out from the lose of control. His pain, and my pain. I was told that he was fine, but he never wanted to see me again. That was when things changed for the worse. I had only few set of instructors, ones who could control their emotions."
Aria turned an looked at him in warning, but not really at him, mostly at the world. "Which is far more annoying that just being yourself. There was no touching, no pats on the back, I spent 14 years in near isolation. Only going out of the City when I was called to go, when there was need of my particular skill set."
Aria looked away. "A little while ago, I found out what really happened that day.
Aria squeezed his hand and took a deep breath. She really was going to say this out loud. " The boy had died. My power overwhelmed him. His heart stopped beating because of the strain. He was a good person."