01-09-2015, 05:14 PM
"I never knew my parents, actually."
Her only clear memory, and it was barely that, was of the single moment she'd felt her mother's love for her snap away. She had been afraid of her - that's what her uncle had said, and so he had taken Asha into his custody instead. Asha rarely thought that far back; most of her childhood memories centred around Ludakh and the monastery. She had loved the isolation of Leh, but never regretted her nomadic lifestyle. "But I think you're probably right."
She had no problem chatting about her past even with the ears of so many strangers to hear, but didn't elaborate under consideration that aside from Aria they probably had no interest in hearing the minutiae of her upbringing. It was for the same reason she didn't fire back more questions, though half the stuff Aria said cascaded about a thousand different curiosities. The other woman would feel that, she knew; just as Asha could sense Aria's fatigue and ripples of other, darker feelings she shied back from sensing. Instead she focused on Elias - though even he crept out a weariness that made it difficult to concentrate.
Actually, there was a whole lot of that suffocating the room. She took the glass of water from Nox and shifted to sit with it on the floor by the coffee table, so that Aria could sit on the sofa with Lucas if she chose. Asha was not tired herself, just weighed down by the sense of it in the others. Only Nox seemed boyant, but he was cut off from her senses. She was tempted to grab his wrist and explore that emptiness, even see if it was possible to break past, but refrained from being so intrusive. It was less worrying now that she sort of knew what it was, but no more comfortable to sense. Like being thrust in a foreign place while stuck in a blindfold.
There was a book on the table that she pulled over and flicked through while the conversation drifted to more mundane things. It was another way to try and focus beyond the nuances of every intruding feeling, not quite as useful as focusing on a single person, but she felt like she needed to create some distance. "Is that why you asked about sensing animals?"
she interjected to Elias's being a student of marine biology, still flicking through pages. She hadn't checked the title, but it seemed to be something or other about folklore. Or a fantastical bestial.
Then Nox continued by sharing his and Aria's occupation. It quickly became clear he'd led the conversation to a purpose. He was blocked from her, so she couldn't tell if he was making a joke, but Aria's calm suggested otherwise. Asha's head tilted to one side in consideration more than surprise. She closed the book carefully, finally read the title, then pushed it away and looked up. For once she tried to tamper down her emotions, aware Aria could read her in turn. Curiosity abounded, but it was more complicated than that. "Like... vigilantes?"
Her only clear memory, and it was barely that, was of the single moment she'd felt her mother's love for her snap away. She had been afraid of her - that's what her uncle had said, and so he had taken Asha into his custody instead. Asha rarely thought that far back; most of her childhood memories centred around Ludakh and the monastery. She had loved the isolation of Leh, but never regretted her nomadic lifestyle. "But I think you're probably right."
She had no problem chatting about her past even with the ears of so many strangers to hear, but didn't elaborate under consideration that aside from Aria they probably had no interest in hearing the minutiae of her upbringing. It was for the same reason she didn't fire back more questions, though half the stuff Aria said cascaded about a thousand different curiosities. The other woman would feel that, she knew; just as Asha could sense Aria's fatigue and ripples of other, darker feelings she shied back from sensing. Instead she focused on Elias - though even he crept out a weariness that made it difficult to concentrate.
Actually, there was a whole lot of that suffocating the room. She took the glass of water from Nox and shifted to sit with it on the floor by the coffee table, so that Aria could sit on the sofa with Lucas if she chose. Asha was not tired herself, just weighed down by the sense of it in the others. Only Nox seemed boyant, but he was cut off from her senses. She was tempted to grab his wrist and explore that emptiness, even see if it was possible to break past, but refrained from being so intrusive. It was less worrying now that she sort of knew what it was, but no more comfortable to sense. Like being thrust in a foreign place while stuck in a blindfold.
There was a book on the table that she pulled over and flicked through while the conversation drifted to more mundane things. It was another way to try and focus beyond the nuances of every intruding feeling, not quite as useful as focusing on a single person, but she felt like she needed to create some distance. "Is that why you asked about sensing animals?"
she interjected to Elias's being a student of marine biology, still flicking through pages. She hadn't checked the title, but it seemed to be something or other about folklore. Or a fantastical bestial.
Then Nox continued by sharing his and Aria's occupation. It quickly became clear he'd led the conversation to a purpose. He was blocked from her, so she couldn't tell if he was making a joke, but Aria's calm suggested otherwise. Asha's head tilted to one side in consideration more than surprise. She closed the book carefully, finally read the title, then pushed it away and looked up. For once she tried to tamper down her emotions, aware Aria could read her in turn. Curiosity abounded, but it was more complicated than that. "Like... vigilantes?"