asgardmeridiem | ® oo3. ] open [ ways of learning

Entry tags:

® oo3. ] open [ ways of learning

Who: Erica Reyes & Open
What: Spending time outside of Hel
When: Days 287 & 288
Where: The Library and Around Baldr
Rating: TV-G
Notes: Feel free to reply with [bracket] or prose! Past or Present! Have her on the way or returning from either of these places, too!

|| Day 287 ||

Erica had found her way to the library. She'd brought books to Johannes earlier and maybe she was still thinking about what he'd told her, but she'd been finding her way around the stacks more and more recently. She had her visit with Merlin coming up and maybe that also drove her to the library. Somehow her choice to let Merlin look at her and try to magically heal her epilepsy had gotten around to the pack and now they all wanted to watch. The library was quiet and it let her think. She finds books on epilepsy, putting them into a pile. She digs through the aisle and tries to find something on werewolves that isn't in the fiction section.

Once she has a large stack of books, she moves to the chairs and curls up with a book to try and read what she can about her own disease. Her parents always handled it and usually she was given the pamphlet version of what was wrong with her. The internet would give her mixed answers, but these books at least seemed to have research she could see.

After a bit, she moved from the medical books and dove into the mystical and the legends of certain cultures. These were definitely more interesting than averages and percentages of people with symptoms.

|| Day 288 ||

Things with Merlin went off... with little incident. She didn't really want to focus on that. It still felt a bit weird to her and she didn't know if it was working. She would meet with Dr. Watson later and get a second scan. Erica wanted to do that, not just for her own knowledge, but because she knew that everyone that was concerned -- everyone that was protective of her would want to know too.

Baldr had a park. She'd been there a few times, but today she was planning on spending most of her time in the petting zoo. She liked the smaller animals, but she also didn't feel bad when she practiced her power on them. It was easier to switch to a different animal if she wasn't as good with the one. It also wasn't someone that was just letting her do it, it was her trying to really use her power.

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"Is that what you classify werewolves as?" She didn't stop herself from asking the question this time. It wasn't as if she was one now, or that anyone that had been one was still one.

They'd all had that part of them removed, but that didn't remove the question or the opinion that Stiles had on them.

"Werewolves? Yeah, of course. And for good reason. A lot of them go on murderous rampages. Peter, Jackson, hell, Isaac might have killed me if Derek hadn't stepped in. When they're... wolfed out? They're not really all there. Not all the time. Especially not during a full moon. And I say this as someone whose best friend is one. I love Scott. I'd risk my life for him and I have. Part of that risk was him. Werewolves are monsters, but that doesn't mean that they can't be good people too."

It was hard to hear and mostly she got tripped up over the thought that Isaac had almost killed Stiles.

"When did Isaac almost kill you?" She didn't really care about the rest of the names and even if she was still upset that he thought of them as monsters, her focus had shifted slightly.

That she picked that out of everything made him wonder how close to Isaac she was here. "On his first full moon. There was this... problem. Hunters knew he was a werewolf and he'd been arrested because of his dad dying, who Jackson killed by the way, and we had to go get him out so no one would find out. Or get hurt." Especially not his dad. He'd do pretty much anything to keep his dad safe.

"We got there, but the hunter got there too and there was a fight and, well, Isaac wolfed out. Me and Derek got there and the hunter was down but Isaac was, uh, not himself. I was the next tasty target and if Derek hadn't gone all Alpha, I'd probably just be another crossed off name in the obits."

Erica listened. It was hard for her to hear, mostly because no one told her this side of things. Scott mentioned that things weren't always good, that things went wrong with Jackson, but she didn't know about the details that Stiles just gave her. Erica nodded, keeping her focus on the information and how Stiles had emotions definitely tied into it all. She was sure that Scott had a lot to do with it, but it didn't make it easier to hear.

"Everyone's okay, now, right?"

Whatever Erica might be, she wasn't stupid. While he wasn't going to volunteer telling her that she'd been kidnapped, he also wasn't going to sugar coat what he did tell her. Maybe it would give her a chance to make a more informed decision without only having to hear it from a clearly biased and non-impartial side; Derek's. He doubted Derek went into detail on the reality of it and that he probably glossed over certain things, like that he'd be okay with just randomly breaking things on her to 'help her'. Sure, it had been to help her get the venom out of her system to stop the seizures, but he wasn't likely going to forget the sound of her bones breaking or her screams any time soon.

So when she asked him that, he looked her right in the eye and he lied. "Yeah, everyone's okay now." Because he didn't have the heart to tell her that her and Boyd were missing and that he had no idea if she was okay or not.

Erica didn't believe that there was a way to change what happens in her future. There are people here who have lived it so unless she was a parallel universe version of herself, those things already happened. She was just looking to see if she could make them happen here, too. If she could find those things that made her different and apply them here.

Nodding, she seemed relieved to hear that everyone was okay. Even if she was sure that it wasn't entirely true. No one it seemed was okay now that she'd heard about what was really going on.

"Okay."

Desperate for a subject change, Erica brought up his power instead, "Have you been practicing with your power at all?" To be honest, she couldn't really remember if they'd talked about what they had or not. That day of her being lost was a slight blur.

Hey, who knows? Maybe deciding not to do it would create an alternate version of her reality. Stiles wasn't sure he believed in things being carved in stone. He liked to think if he wanted something bad enough, no matter what fate or destiny said, he could try for it and maybe get it. Maybe.

"Um, sort of? I mean, I can do this," he said, holding up a finger and showing that there was a flame dancing on the tip. "But that's about it. I don't really want to play around with it too much." The idea of possibly starting this huge fire scared him more than just a little.

If Erica started to think about alternative things, she'd end up maybe without Isaac and considering how things had been going in Asgard, she wouldn't want to risk that. Either way, she knew what she would do... even if things weren't going to be perfect. It would be enough for her.

When Stiles moved his hand, she wasn't sure what to expect, but fire in the library is not what she expected. "Whoa." Her head canted to the side, trying to see if anything else happened, but it was just his finger.

"Yeah, I can see how you'd want to be careful. Especially, surrounded by books."

The flame was extinguished and he shrugged. "Not just here. I don't really know where I can go to practice or what it is I'm supposed to be practicing. I don't really know the, uh, specs of it." And that would be so very helpful for him. But no, that would be too helpful, it seemed.

"What about you? You can do things, right>?"

Erica wasn't sure what he should do for that, but she would keep it in mind and if she found anything useful, she'd be sure to tell him.

She nodded, "Mm, yeah. I -- I can move people. It's called body control, but for me it's more like... one of your limbs control."

Exhaling, she put her book down on the ground and then looked at him, "I can show you, but it might feel weird."

Limb control? His curiosity won out over his apprehension and he moved away from the shelf, nodding and standing there with his hands at his sides. "As long as you don't make me punch myself in the head... or anywhere else, I'm okay with that."

Bring it on, Erica.

She let out a soft laugh at his mention of punching himself, "No... I already did that at the zoo to the fish dogs. I'm more careful now."

Erica was a lot more careful now. She'd been practicing a lot more and now it only took her looking at his hand and knowing that she wanted it to lift for it to lift. She brought it forward, then turned his wrist slowly so that his palm opened up, then she made each of his fingers curl into a fist. She made the thumb stay out as she turned it again. At the gesture, Erica smiled, glancing up to him and she gave him a thumbs up on her own hand in response.

"I can move one thing at a time, so if I do it in a sequence I can control the range of motion, but I haven't done many complicated sequences. I'm good at this and peace signs."

Exhaling, she released his arm and whatever had been keeping it taut now was gone and he could do whatever he wanted again. "You could've fought against it too, but otherwise -- that's it."

"Wait, fish dogs?" His question was forgotten in lieu of feeling something weird happening to his hand. Then it lifted and that was not him doing it. It felt like a subtle sort of tugging, only from under the skin. He wondered if he could pull it free, but he watched as he made the thumbs up gesture, watching Erica return it with hers. Then he had control back and he immediately grabbed his hand, curling it in against his chest and rubbing it like it was itchy.

"Would I have to think it, or just pull really hard on whatever body part you had control of? Would it hurt you?"

Erica shook her head, "It wouldn't hurt me. It just would make me try harder. It has to do with your will. The more resistant you are to the motion, the harder it is for me to control it. I'm still starting out so it works better on small animals. They don't really realize that it's happening and they can stop it."

"Okay, good." Because it was a good thing to know that if she went dark side and tried to make him do something dumb like drop trou, he could get her to stop without hurting her.

"It's a pretty neat ability. You made anyone pick their nose yet?" Because he would have. He would have had Derek digging for gold the second he figured out what he could do.

Erica laughed, shaking her head, "No, nothing like that. I'm mostly just working on small precise movements. Moving one thumb, extending things and curling them back. It's mostly for control, to try the details instead of just the large piece of the puzzle."

Shrugging, she fiddled with her hands a bit, not sure what to do with them now that she'd demonstrated how she could take over his.

Stiles gave her a conspiratorial look. "Maybe you should work on that. And maybe do it to someone." Like Derek. Do it to Derek, Erica. Please?

"You're doing okay here otherwise, right? Like, no one's giving you a hard time, are they?"

Erica will not be doing that to Derek. Sorry to disappoint, Stiles, but she actually was fond of Derek even if she wasn't sure why he wanted to observe her healing later today.

"I'm not really sure if nose-picking will be helpful in battle," she replied. "And no one's given me a hard time, because not everyone here has the benefit of knowing they should give me a hard time."

"Hey, you never know. Hard to wield a battle axe if you've got a finger jammed up your nose." He grinned, his own hands going into his pockets.

"I am glad to hear that. Really." He hadn't liked the teasing she'd gotten at school, mostly because he hated all forms of bullying.

Erica frowned a bit, mostly because she wasn't really sure how that was meant to work. He barely noticed her before and now he seemed genuinely concerned about her. It was a touch confusing to think of herself as someone else, someone that got others to worry like that, but she was learning to adjust.

"Thanks, I guess." Was that what she was supposed to say? It seemed like new territory.

He might have barely noticed her before, but for him, she was a noticeable person now. Even with out the bite makeover. "You got anyone to practice that with?" He gestured to her hands with his elbow since his hands were in his pockets.

Erica might not have the make-over she got back home, but she was at least making greater efforts with hear appearance here. She didn't have to worry that people were going to look at her weird, so she ~~actually brushed her hair~~ tried to look a bit nicer for the day to day things. She figured that if she was going to be around people that wanted to be around her, she should make sure they'd want to be seen around her.

She shook her head at his question, "Not really. Isaac when he's not at work, but I usually go to Baldr. There's a petting zoo and I can practice on the animals. It's easier because they don't," she paused glancing to his hand.

"When I let go, you felt weird. I -- I know that feeling."

He was going to ask about her practicing on animals, but then she made the reference to how he'd felt and there was a tone to her voice, one that had him wanting to move a little closer, to give her shoulders a comforting squeeze. But she was so skittish, he managed to keep his hands to himself. "Would it be irony or poetic justice that you got chosen and given that power?"

He meant it in a good way, wondering if being able to control the bodies of others would eventually help with her epilepsy.

Frowning for a moment, Erica's head canted as she looked at him. "Because I was made fun of for something out of my control and now I can do it to other people?"

It was possibly ironic more than anything, but she really didn't have too many people to be angry at here. Back home, yes. In a heart-beat yes -- which was a startling thought to have, but it was there regardless. Years of being put down and then to have the chance to be the one doing the putting down? No question about it.

Here... here, hardly anyone knew and the people that did know she had told. It wasn't the same.

"I think it's just what they gave me. I don't know why they did it. It won't help me, I know that much." Her mouth drew into a tight line, "I black-out. The seizures -- I don't remember them, so I can't stop myself from having a seizure, because I'm not really aware it's happening until I regain consciousness."

Her voice trailed off there at the end. The unease of just discussing it coming from her quickly. "Sorry, I shouldn't talk about it." She paused, "Rather, I don't like talking about it."

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