forum "You can have me any way you want me. Quite literally." (Closed)

Started May 07, 2023 by @emilyevewrites group

tune

Larissa blinked in surprise as he answered the questions she hadn't asked. "I'm afraid that's going to take me a little while to get used to," she said. "The reading my mind. I don't know of anyone else with telepathic abilities like yours. It's quite fascinating if you ask me. Do you feel a constant need to read the minds of those around you, or can you control it?" Her curiosity was beginning to peek through. Anoriel had completely transformed into another person. To hell with keeping her questions inside. Her mind would likely be read anyways. She might as well give voice to them.

"I was but I didn't tell you that," she quipped knowingly. "At least not that way. If you'd never had coffee before you really ought to try it. But I'm not sure I'll be able to deter my questions for the entire trip. It's your choice. I only just needed a break from my office and the mounds of paperwork on my desk."

His little comment at the end had Larissa pursing her lips and arching her eyebrows. "You'd better not give my school a worse reputation than it already has with the normies," she remarked. "I've done all I can to preserve Nevermore's character. But it's much more difficult than you would think with normies always assuming the worst from us outcasts."

Nwalan shrugged at her words, then chuckled. Her question intrigued him, though he had to think about the answer. It was a little complicated.

“A bit of both, I suppose. Telepathy be an integral part of my being. I am a creature of the mind, and thus, I will always need to read the minds of others. It be instinct, simply put. Yet, I can control that instinct with such precision that I can use it however I wish,”he answered.

Nwalan chuckled again, then listened with more intrigue. Trying coffee? Did he dare? What was it? He didn’t eat or drink, or rather, he didn’t need to. Had he ever tasted food before? He couldn’t remember, and his memory was practically pristine.

“I suppose I can. I have never even heard of coffee. And, I mind not the questions. It be simply that some questions are better answered by showing than telling. Those are the ones I wish to do in private, as some of my forms are… eerie to humans,”he said.

Nwalan blinked, a tiny bit surprised by her reaction. Though, he realized quickly that he shouldn’t be surprised. She was obviously invested in Nevermore, and devotion almost always led to protection.

“I will admit I have a habit of being a troublemaker, yet I only cause mischief when I am bored. And, I am most certainly bored not,”he replied with a charming grin.

Larissa listened to his answer with clear focus. This strange… man? Woman? Being? Whoever they were, they had found her at likely the most perfect time.

“That’s incredible,” she remarked. “The instinct as compared to the precision… amazing.”

The shapeshifting headmistress wasn’t at all telepathic herself, but she could see thoughts processing behind the man’s eyes as she waited for his answer. Larissa hummed softly and took her foot off the brake. She began driving again as she replied, “I can understand that. When I shift, I try to do it in private or less noticeable places as often as possible.”

Larissa glanced over in time to catch a brief glimpse of his shock. Yes, she was the principal of Nevermore, and yes she was very defensive about her school. She only wanted the best for her students and her faculty.

His response worried and soothed her at the same time. He was placated now, but what would happen if he became bored later on? To distract herself from that line of thought, Larissa brought up a new topic. “Your dialect is quite interesting. I’ve never heard anything like it before.”

“Wait until you see more of it,”Nwalan cooed, grinning and chuckling.

He paused a moment when she started driving again, but made no objection. It was probably a good thing they kept moving. From what little Nwalan had witnessed of these ‘advanced’ roads, they got chaotic very quickly.

“I am particular not about where I morph, yet that was when I was in a land accustomed to my kin. Here, I must be more careful, for countless reasons,”he commented.

Nwalan sensed her silent reaction to his surprise, and understood it immediately. She was indeed devoted to Nevermore and everyone within it. He appreciated that.

Nwalan couldn’t help a nostalgic smile at her comment about his accent.

“I was, in essence, ‘raised’ by someone who had a thick accent. His native tongue was… different, to be breif. He was human not. The accent carried over through time, and I am simply too fond of it to attempt changing it. It… I suppose I feel like it honors him,”Nwalan explained, a hint of melancholy creeping into his voice at the end.

Larissa arched an eyebrow curiously, but she said nothing more.

She nodded at his explanation. “Yes. Outcasts must be aware of their surroundings and abilities when they leave Nevermore. The school is a safe haven for many, but unfortunately when they leave, there are no other places like it.”

She glanced over in time to note the smile and was glad she’d brought up a topic seemed it would be easy to talk about.

His answer, however, surprised her. Larissa nodded and caught the hint of sadness at the end. Well, maybe it hadn’t been such an easy topic as she thought it would be. “That’s very honorable,” she agreed, her voice softening as she spoke.

They reached the end of the gravel driveway to Nevermore and turned onto a paved road that led to Jericho. “We’re nearly there,” she supplied.

Nwalan just continued to grin without saying anything more.

“‘Tis a pity,”Nwalan replied with a soft sigh.

He was already starting to miss his home. The freedom to be who he was, wherever he was, had a great appeal. This world was rather lacking in that, and Nwalan didn’t like it.

A soft, sad smile appeared on Nwalan’s lips at her words.

“He would agree. Honor meant a great deal to him,”Nwalan said.

Nwalan watched as Larissa drove onto the actual road. He hummed in response, fascinated by the road. From gravel to… He wasn’t sure. Nwalan took a quick peek into Larissa’s mind to find the name. ‘Asphalt’. Strange name, but useful to know.

Larissa frowned, concern creasing her naturally smooth features. "I know," she replied, but she said nothing more.

She wasn't aware of his aching for home. But without realizing it, she found herself thinking about where he could be from at the same time Nwalan was missing his world.

The woman glanced over, offering a small smile with her painted rouge lips. "I think that's wonderful," she replied simply. "Few people believe like that anymore."

Silence fell over the car until they reached town. Then, she pulled up to the Weathervane and parked along the side of the road. "Here we are," she remarked, reaching to unbuckle her seat belt. "We won't be able to talk about much of your background without being overheard, so I can just tell you about Nevermore, if you wish."

Nwalan noted her concern, but otherwise didn’t react to it. Though, he didn’t notice her thoughts for a moment as he was distracted by his own.

“‘Tis true in my homeland as well. Honor be a dying concept, and Ehumar…”Nwalan trailed off with a sad sigh.

He was grateful for the silence as they drove the rest of the way. He needed the time to calm himself, otherwise he would start obsessing over De’Tearion’s death. That was never a good thing.

Before they got to town, Nwalan vanished and reappeared as Anoriel. She’d already been seen in town so there was no point in attracting further attention by introducing herself as a man as well.

When they had parked, Anoriel followed Larissa’s example again, unbuckling the seatbelt. She then shrugged at Larissa’s words.

“That be fine. Though, there be a way we can have a full conversation without being overheard,”Anoriel mentioned. She then tapped her own temple to explain what she meant.

“I will push it not, though. If you wish to have a vocal conversation, I have no objections,”she added.