Xaviers!

Miriam knew it wasn't going to be pretty when Wanda regained her memories. And contrary to what Isolde thought she wasn't keeping her distance for her own sake. She was going to bear witness to it anyway. She could have tried to move far enough away but that would have been cowardly. She had to agree with that much.

The bricks of the stairwell access on the roof are cold against her back, but she doesn't really notice. She's sitting with her knees pulled against her chest and her forehead resting against them as she feels Wanda's mind light up like a beacon in her thoughts. All the pain she meant to spare her is there, fresh as they day it happened yet muddled. She presses her hands against the side of her head as if that would help her keep her own thoughts from reaching out in response. No one but maybe Sam could really understand what it's like. To constantly have to try and reign in her thoughts, the power to soften Wanda's pain just a thought, an urge away. Be happy. Forgive me. Love me.

Will wasn't malleable because he easily took to these things. It was because they were just as easily undone, refined, revised. A stray thought wouldn't be driven into his mind that quickly, there was time to adjust and explore, work the clay. Everyone else... They were almost as receptive if she let her power off it's chain but there would be no tuning and walking a moment's weakness like that back. She'd done it to Wanda when she'd lost control at her sister's grave and she hadn't even noticed. She'd done it to Will when she'd been faced with the shapeshifter leaving her. And those were minor slips, nothing compared to the things lurking in the deeper recesses of her mind. It would be so easy to pull Wanda from Isolde and ensure she'd stay. Make her enjoy it. Just a bloody thought away.

Clenching her eyes shut she screams into the night as Wanda's hurt and confusion burns in her mind, but the tears don't come until the comfort Isolde brings her settles in like a soothing mist.


((open))

A presence comes up the access stairs, the footfalls measured and careful to her heightened senses. After a bit, the door opens and a young woman with blue hair steps through the door, looking around the roof as if looking for something.

Heightened senses or not, Miriam is used to being alerted to the presence of people by their minds more than anything, so the footsteps go unnoticed until the door swings open. She half recoils, half jumps to her feet, which ends with her kind of falling over to one side, bracing herself with one arm.

"Who... what?" She quickly wipes at her eyes with her sleeve.

The motion catches Natalie's attention and she turns to look at Miriam. "Oh, there is someone up here. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. This door's been sticking and I wanted to make..." She blinks, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." What was meant as a biting remark just ends up sounding like an obvious lie. Being unable to get a read on Natalie is keeping her from finding her composure and is making her feel even more vulnerable than she already is. "Just a... bad breakup."

Natalie looks sympathetic. "Those suck. Had one of those myself at the beginning of the semester. She and I had a... disagreement about... personal issues."

"Yeah. There were issues alright. I just... thought I could spare everyone... this."

"I put things off myself..." She sighs, "Just made things worse."

"Only because that German lady had to stick her cold, wet nose into things..." Miriam mutters.

"German lady?" She processes for a second, "Oh, Isolde. She doesn't seem the meddlesome sort, but I'll admit I'm not exactly tapped into the campus gossip network."

"She's not... It's complicated. She's the rebound and very protective." For some reason that's rubbing her the wrong way. She'd tried to protect Wanda and that had made everything worse. It didn't seem fair that it didn't for Isolde.

"Oh... I can see how she might be territorial. I take it you and Wanda then? At least I assume, since Wanda's been the one signing Isolde out lately."

"Yes, Wanda. And what do you mean she's been signing her out?"

"In theory, Isolde's still in detention I guess. Confined to campus unless someone signs her out. Wanda signs for them to leave campus, though I like it's more formality now than anything given how many other things are on the Headmistress' plate."

"And she has the gall to claim she's keeping her safe. I bloody knew it."

"How do you know all this anyway?"

"I'm... with my power, I'm kind of constantly on the campus network. It's hard not to pick up the data."

"Is that why I can't feel your thoughts? You literally have data on your mind?"

"Um... sort of, maybe. Sam had trouble too. I'm currently... not really flesh and blood. It's... a weird story."

"Oh, of course, Sam had trouble too." she barks out a bitter laugh. "Whatever. Welcome to the club of missing heartbeats."

One of Natalie's eyebrows goes up. "You seem pretty lively to not have a heartbeat," she says skeptically.

"So do you. Apparently it happens."

"Fair enough," Natalie says, "Mine was... I guess it could classified as a power accident. How'd you end up without one?"

"Bad life decisions, mainly."

"Seems to be going around," she says in a lame attempt at cheering up Miriam. Then something seems to penetrate her brain and she says sheepishly, "My name's Natalie by the way."

"Miriam. At least I'm not the only one. Misery does love company, that much is sure."

"At the very least it likes to spread around," Natalie nods, sitting down opposite Miriam.

"I can't tell if not being able to read you is refreshing or disturbing, but it's probably good you can't catch any more depressing thoughts from me."

"Because I already have too many?" It sounds like an honest question.

"Because it's what I do. Do you know how hard it is to be aware of something and actively keep yourself from thinking about it?"

"I do actually. I pick up on wireless signals all the type. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense, but sometimes I get the content as well. Learned some sad things that way."

"Except a computer isn't going to throw itself off the roof because you're having a bad day."

"Well, technically no, but it might overload its power supply and fry its internal components beyond repair. The amount of equipment I've bricked since my powers showed up would probably be pretty surprising."

"And now imagine what you could be bricking is people."

"It's kind of both for me now. There's no telling what will happen to me if I brick this body, but I take your point."

"Okay, I take it back, that is terrifying."

"I've tried to add some additional resilience to it, but major unknown territory. Still, it's exciting in its own way."

"You think it's exciting you might accidentally break your own... what is this anyway?" Miriam asks, gesturing up and down at Natalie's body.

"I suppose technically, the term is 'full body prosthetic'. It's a mechanical form inhabited by my consciousness... if you want to sound mystical about it," Natalie says in a tone that indicates she doesn't like sounding mystical about it.

"That's you sounding mystical?" Miriam says with a dry chuckle. "Then you definitely don't want to hear what happened to me."

"If you want to talk about it, I'd love to hear it. There's bound to be a reasonable explanation for not having a heartbeat."