Acute empathy plus loud bar equals pain. (open)

[nadine]

All she wanted to do was come in and use the bathroom. She'd been on the road for 24 hours, after all. This was the only place for the next 100 miles or so that had a restroom and so she took her only choice. Now she was cringing, and tucking her hands into her sleeves, making sure she didn't make direct skin contact with anything. Then she slipped up, and touched the bar table. Pain and rage, some of her least favorite emotions. She cringed as they ran through her system. Someone's face was bashed in on the table. The emotions were fresh, it happened within the last week tops. She glanced up to see people giving her funny looks. Obviously they caught her adverse reaction to the touch.

When she finally found the bathroom, she was terribly shaken up. She pulled her sleeves over her hands and opened the door. The usual doorknob jumble hit her. Lust, paranoia, fear, rage, happiness, nearly every emotion under the sun hit her. It was extremely nerve-racking. Using the bathroom wasn't comfortable either. Emotions from sex and drugs hit her every time her skin touched anything. It always left her jumpy.

When she stepped out of the bathroom the bar was much more packed than it had been only a few minutes ago. There was no way she could avoid contact with anything, or anybody. Her face looked worried and she didn't move, she didn't want anything to do with touching anyone in a bar. Drunk people's emotions were always very jumpy and annoying. So she stood there, maybe it would clear out soon.

[kate]

As Kate watched around the bar, waiting for the crowed to come in. She knew most guys that come here around this time. It shortly occurred to her that she was interacting way to much with shabby characters. And sitting in bars.

“Oh well”, she thought with a shrug. She was a hunter, people where going to find her strange anyway. Might as well have some fun while she could. She looked up from her drink as the door to the bar opened. A young brunette woman, she looked a little shaky.

Shrugging to herself she turned her attention back to her glass and waited for her friends to show up once again. Not that she needed to wait long. A large crowed of figures most mothers would tell their daughters to stay away from came in. Positioning herself against the bar, she started conversation with a couple of the guys.

Just as things where starting to get fun and the jokes were starting being told. The brunette came out of the bathroom. She looked rather unhappy with the increase of people in the now full bar. Stranger was that she seemed frozen on the spot. Did she have demophobia or something. The woman had her interest, so Kate excused herself from the group she was talking to and walked over to this strange woman. But, not that she was to talk. She was a hunter, even liked the life.

Walking up so she could stand before the young woman. “Hey you okay?” Kate asked. Still curious as what was up with the don’t move thing.

[nadine]

Nadine watched the girl carefully as she walked close to her. Without touching the woman she already knew the girl was curious, probably because of her adverse reaction to the crowd. People tended to pick up on that kind of stuff. She also got a bit of loneliness off of the woman but very faint. It was a strange set of emotions to find coming off of a woman in a bar. Usually it was lust, anger, regret, sadness, even happiness, and sometimes even a bit of desperation. Usually they were either with someone they loved, looking for someone to love or planning on a really great one night stand, or they were trying to get over a break up. In her experience that was what she got off of them. There were, however, exceptions such as this woman who obviously had another reason for being here.

As the woman reached her, Nadine was careful that she didn't get too close. She didn't want to know most of the things this girl was feeling, just because of the surface emotions she was getting she didn't want anything to do with skin contact. People who were out of the ordinary usually had a lot of crap going on. Her body was already starting to become painful to be in because of all of the emotions in the room, mostly revolving around sex, violence and ignorance, were overloading her system. She did not want to faint in a bar, especially if she wasn't even drinking in the bar. That would be just lame.

"Umm yeah...crowds just make me nervous." She said, making sure not to let the woman get close enough to touch her. She looked around the place, there was still no clear path to the door. She's need to shuffle through people if she was even going to get close. That usually ended with her getting a shock of emotion she couldn't possibly filter through her system and then her passing out. The body can only take so much. "I just stopped in to use the restroom but the place packed up pretty quickly." She added.

[kate]

While she asked if the woman was alright, she noticed she was still tense and seemed almost afraid of Kate getting to close to her. She answered she just got nervous from crowds. “Yeah right, absolute no difference between nervous and terrified.” Kate wasn’t buying that one. Something was just of with this girl.

"I just stopped in to use the restroom but the place packed up pretty quickly." The woman said. Kate decided to go along with the talk. For some reason she almost felt sorry for this girl. “Yeah, it fills up pretty quick here around this time.” She said.

Seeing her look around the crowded bar. Like she was trying to find her way out. Taking into consideration she looked really uncomfortable. It might be for the best to get her outside.

Looking around the bar, Kate looked for a route outside herself. Surely, it was so crowded that there was no open route outside. The only option was to make your own way. Looking back at the girl, who still looked like she wanted nothing more then to get out of the bar.

“But this is even crowded for what I’m just to, guess you lucked out. Come on, let’s go outside.” Turning around she started to created her way though the mass of people, by ticking on their arm or simply a bit of pushing. Then she looked over her shoulder at the woman. ”Are you coming or not? By the way, I’m Kate” Then she returned to the job ahead, making a open pathway.

When she was halfway, Kate stopped a moment. With a quick chat, she excused herself to the group she had been talking to before. Going on she reached the door. Putting her hand on the handle, she opened the door and stepped outside. When she stood outside, she turned to look at the people in the bar. Curious as to whether she had followed. Or not.

[nadine]

Nadine bit her lip. She really, really hated crowds but she had to get out when she had the chance. "Yeah, yeah I'm coming." She mumbled She followed the girl very careful touching people as minimally as possible. She did brush up against one or two people, however. She nearly puked when she did. Rage, pure rage, something so strong she'd never felt it before other than in her nursery. She looked at the man, he was looking straight at her, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with him. She shook it off and stepped outside, taking a deep, shaky breath and sitting just out of the reach of the entrance.

Her breathing was shaky but it wasn't too noticeable. She really hated bars and crowds and emotions. Why couldn't everyone just stop feeling for like a half hour every day. That would be enough to at least give her a little bit of her sanity back. She needed to gain a social life but it was nearly impossible, you can't have a real relationship with someone if you could feel everything they do. It just wasn't easy, and you definitely can't gain a friendship if you base it on lies. She could never tell anyone about herself. "My name's Nadine by the way."

(sorry it's so short btw)

[kate]

This was going okay. The girl had followed her. That was the first thing and then she introduced herself as Nadine. For some reason she couldn’t explain, she really liked her. Eyeing the woman a little suspicious, as she still looked somewhat shaken. “You really hate crowds, don’t you.” She said.

Looking around Kate wondered if Nadine was here with someone. But she didn’t see anybody. “Your all on your own?” Kate asked. Why yes, she did have a tendency to ask a lot of questions to people she just meet. Nothing to personal of course, just enough to get a idea of what they where up too. Facing back at Nadine she waited for a answer. Facing her, Kate took her time to get a good impression of her. Despite her dressing style, she didn’t really look like a damsel in distress. She realised she was staring at Nadine. But she didn’t really care. Never did when people found her strange. She was a hunter and proud of it, it was a family tradition. A young brunette around her age, a bit taller. There didn’t seem anything wrong with her, apart of a suspicious fear of crowds.

“Are you going to hit the road right away. Or do you want to get a drink somewhere, I now a small bar” offering her a smile, she added. “It ain’t going to get crowded, I swear” Then Kate couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at her own little joke. “Hell yeah, I swear alright.” How stupid to laugh at your own joke alone. And it was a old one. She told it to many people she meet on the road. However, she meant it. Though maybe she should have said promise instead of swear.

Once again she started her way, this time it lead to her Harley-Davidson. Repeating herself, something she didn’t do often, she turned around and asked Nadine if she was coming along again.

[nadine]

"I don't drink." Nadine told the dark haired women. After what happened to her father she could never pick up any sort of alcohol. She didn't know how she would react and she didn't want to take the chance that it would screw with her psychic senses. Anyone willing to take any sort of drug with an impairment like hers had a death wish. She learned even over the counter drugs even things like Tylenol had a tendency to screw with her empathy.

"Hate crowds. It's a horrible phobia of mine. And I've been living on my own since I was about 16 r seventeen and I haven't really had any time to get emotionally attached to anyone. So yes I'm alone." It wasn't exactly a lie she didn't have the time to attach herself but she was alone because people, once they found out a least, tended to remove themselves from a relationship, when the other person can feel what they are.

[kate]

“No need to drink alcohol, girl” Kate answered “But if your lonely we could just drink something.” Staring at the younger woman, she didn’t really know what to say, something that didn’t happen often. She was a calm and silent by nature, but living alone on the road she learned a the make the comments that made her seem all the rougher. And while she was dying for some nice company, she would not seem desperate. No matter how much she really was. Walking up to the girl she smiled up, why was everyone so tall anyway, and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down a number. “You seemed to have some trouble with to much people, but I don’t, so if you run into big crowds while we’re still in the same area, give me a call and I’m right there.”

It wasn’t that she gave her number to everyone she meet, and this girl would probably not have much use of it as it seemed they both travelled a lot, it still felt as if it would be best to stay within her reach for a while. There was something about Nadine, something that had her interest. If she could just put her finger on it. No, it wasn’t just her reaction to crowds or not drinking. Now, there were enough people that didn’t drink, but this was a woman, travelling and alone. Now there was a story behind that, it wasn’t possible there was an all fairy tale, sweet life to Nadine.

[nadine]

"Um ok, Thanks, although I doubt you could get anywhere I am in a timely manner. I don't like staying i one place for very long." She told the girl. 'Yeah because if I do they start to catch on to my abilities.' She thought to herself.

'That's why I don't have friends or family. It's why I can't get a real job or walk into bars without harming myself. It's why I can't walk onto a violent crime scene without passing out, no matter how old the crime.' she added. She really needed to stop talking to herself, not that she really had anyone else to talk to about these things.

'Maybe I should get a cat? It could live in the backseat when I'm driving, they don't need to be walked or anything but they don't usually like car rides. Maybe I could find a good dog or something that doesn't mind cars, something big that could protect me if something bad happened like a Husky or a Sheppard maybe' She though, it would at least give her someone to talk to.

"What has piqued your curiosity?" She asked not thinking before she spoke. She wasn't supposed to know that the other woman was curious. Hopefully the woman would shrug it off as physical cues or maybe she wouldn't notice the strangeness of the question. 'Dammit I'm usually better at watching my mouth,' she thought grumbling. She knew it was only because she was still shaken up by the bar and the crowds.

[kate]

"What has piqued your curiosity?" Kate was surprised at the blunt question. After the stuff inside the bar, she had taken her for more shy then this. Well, nobody was perfect, even Kate read people wrongly sometimes. But she was sure there was something strange about the question. While she probably had given off some physical cues towards that idea, she always made sure to keep it down. People used it against you if they realised you’re curious. That meant there was something more to this girl then she had thought. No idea what, but something.

Denying curiosity now would only give Nadine reason to be paranoid about her. If you can’t lie, tell the truth. Of course in a way that can be twisted in the future if necessary. “Strange people interest me, probably because I’m strange myself. And that stuff in the bar was pretty damn weird.” Kate congratulated herself. She come of a bit strange this way, but it was some truth and it had been weird. It was a answer that could go anyway and it allowed her to seem fine with the blunt question. Calm, cool and collected was always the way to play.

It attracted people to meet you and left you in control to dispatch of people when it got to boring. And it worked wonders on authorities. And among hunters it was a known fact that sometimes you needed a little miracle to get cops and to bunch of your trail. Stepping on the bike, she started it. “Well, you never know when something comes to use. My address is on there to. If you need a place to crash, your welcome. Want a ride?” Maybe a stupid question, but she really wondered if they girl had been on a motorbike before. She seemed so lost and on her own, Kate doubted it.