Distract Me

who: Eli and Synnove
where: Printed Syn's
when: afternoon

Eli was keeping his head down, one earbud from his mp3 player tucked in his ear, doing his best to blend in as he headed for his meeting with Synnove. He wasn't really expecting to pick up on any troublesome thoughts on the walk to the gallery, didn't expect Tensiel's demon to be out and detectable in broad daylight, but it couldn't hurt. Hopefully, he wouldn't get another ass-kicking migraine for his trouble.

Unfortunately, even if he had run across any trouble, he wasn't really confident he would have noticed it in time to react properly, anyways. The conversation with Ten plagued him, troubled him. He was worried. She could destroy the whole fucking town, if the inclination struck her. That kind of power... fuck. Could he help? Was there anything to help her with that, except understanding and acceptance? He sure as hell didn't see her as a threat. If she blew up Marquette, it would be because it needed to be blown up. End of story. But still, it worried him, more than he liked to admit. He couldn't even ask for advice, not with this. Hers was a secret he'd take to his grave.

When he arrived, Eli paused outside of the gallery long enough to make sure Syn was the only one inside. That verified, (because he was so not interested in hovering about if she was talking to a customer or something) he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and forming up a mental wall. There. Telepathy suitably muffled. He pushed open the door after that and headed inside, only self consciously brushing his hand up against his bruised and scratched temples once before stuffing his hands in his pockets. If she was gonna yell at him, she was gonna yell at him. Nothing he could do about it now.

Syn looked up from where she sat behind her desk, utterly distracted. At the sight of Eli, she slammed walls down into place, though truthfully they'd already been up in some fashion. She was blocking from Seph as well as she could even if she couldn't ever shut him out completely. Trying to shove her dark thoughts aside, she gave him a little smile. "Hey." she greeted, then she frowned. "What did you do?"

Damn. He headed over towards her, keeping his hands firmly in his pockets. No touching the bruises. No drawing (more) attention to the bruises! "It happened Sunday night," Eli explained. "I got a bad migraine after the shit was all taken care of. Didn't do it on purpose, Syn." He eyed her thoughtfully. Something was off... Her smile, maybe? Hm.

She stood and frowned, reaching up to turn his head to the side so she could eye the bruises better. "You really need to stop marking yourself up." she murmured, sighing. "It's not good for you." Because he couldn't figure that out on her own or anything. Noooo.

Eli smiled faintly, bitterness welling up inside. Of course she'd take it that way. But short of her seeing him have a screaming migraine for herself, which he never wanted to happen? She'd just think he'd done it on purpose. Again. "I know."

There wasn't anything she could do about bruises, no patching up she could manage, or the like. So she looked up at him, tugged her fingers through his hair to get it away from his face, and backed off. He never really liked it when she was close in the first place. "Least you're okay." she finished. "How did everything turn out with everything else?"

He didn't seem to react at all to the touching, though inwardly, he was disappointed when she drew back. But it was for the best that she did, wasn't it? "She's still resting. I just saw her, actually. Girl can barely move," Eli muttered. "But she'll be okay. They're taking good care of her." There were other things he could mention, of course. Like, the fact that he'd melted a street and it had made the papers today, or that Tensiel was some sort of firey-sword angel of holy wrath. But the first made him a monster and a target, and the second was a secret, so Syn got the short version.

So used to Eli automatically twitching over contact, Syn actually didn't notice that he didn't try to back off from her this time. She sat down again. "Want to sit down?" she asked. She also held out a soda for him that she'd thought to bring earlier. "I'm glad she's okay."

He sat down in the empty chair with a quiet sigh, then took the soda gratefully. "Thanks. And yeah, I am, too. It was... I don't know what I would have done, Sunday, if I hadn't made it in time," Eli admitted. Kaye Avenue probably wouldn't have been the only melted street in town, though, that was for sure.

She gave him a light smile. "I know the feeling." she said. Actually, she knew it well. It had been quite a lot like when she had known things were happening in the cemetery without her, and she'd gotten there late. But she didn't want to think about that. Or the fact that she'd been late because she'd been shut out.

Eli eyed her consideringly again. Yeah, she was off. Either that, or he was fucking paranoid. Either were viable options. "You okay?" he asked quietly, opening the soda and taking a careful sip.

Synnove noticed the scrutiny, and looked away. "I'm okay." she lied. The truth was she hadn't even been particularly keen on opening the gallery today, she just knew that she wanted to be out of the house and away from Doc. Unfortunately that also took her away from Seph, who's zen-like mindframe lately was actively helping her. Stll, though. It was far too much to get into and she was positive that Eli didn't want to hear it.

Eli took another sip of soda, still gazing at her scrutinizingly. "You're lying," he stated calmly, and he was pretty damned sure of the fact. It was a pain in the ass to lie to an empath, after all, unless you were a sociopath, or one of the rare few who could completely block out psychic abilities. "I'm a good listener, you know." And he really didn't want to turn this into an argument. Usually, when he tried to help her? That's what happened. Hopefully, he could avoid that landmine this time.

She sighed, and gave him an unhappy sort of look. It wasn't directed at him, however. "I'm just having trouble with a few things, that's all." she said softly, because she wasn't going to try to lie to him about the fact that she'd been lying. He'd called her on it, he deserved the acknowledgment that he was right.

He didn't like that she was unhappy. Couldn't stand it, and it bugged the shit out of him that she was, quite obviously, planning to deal with whatever was on her mind alone. Otherwise, she'd be at home with Seph, and not at the gallery with him. "Talk to me, then," Eli encouraged, his voice quiet.

She grabbed her own can of soda and opened it up. "Don't you have enough on your mind?" she asked. "Your friend, what happened with her. Whatever else is going on." Not to mention his mother. Though maybe he was moving on from there. He seemed a hell of a lot better from when she'd seen him last at any rate. That was highly encouraging. "Teddybear's been wiping everything out, by the way. Just so you know."

He chose not to comment on her last statement. There was no need. There was that quick flicker of regret--thoughts of Lydia--but for the most part? Thinking of his mother's murder just caused him to feel unpleasantly numb now. Apathetic and cold inside. He wasn't going to dwell on it, not when he had other shit to worry about. Repressing was the name of the game, and it was one he was damned good at.

Eli shrugged his shoulders. "You're important to me, Syn, just as important as Tensiel is." More. "I want you to talk to me." And listening to other people, worrying about other people? It was better than wallowing in his own self destructive spiral of morphine and alcohol and nicotine and death.

Looking over at that, she looked honestly--surprised. Just a flicker of it, but it was clearly there for a heartbeat. She very nearly had to ask the stupid question of 'I am?' since it seemed to blindside her a touch. "I don't even know where to start." she told him honestly. "It's better if I just try to forget about it. It's stupid." Even if it wasn't.

The flicker surprised him. This whole encounter? Surprised the fuck out of him. It was the first he'd seen of Syn where she seemed... well, anything but all-knowing, terrifying and ready to kick his ass for being an emo kid. She seemed vulnerable. And he hated it. Something had to be seriously wrong. "You shouldn't look so surprised. If you weren't important to me, I wouldn't be hanging around," he pointed out. "And it's not stupid if it's bothering you," Eli insisted. "Start at the beginning. That usually works."

"You're hanging around because I make you. You know if you don't show up, I'll send out a hunting party to drag you back because there's things you need to be doing." Syn pointed out with a sigh, not looking at him. Her eyes were down on some prints she'd been going through, but she wasn't really seeing them.

"Is that what you think?" he asked, incredulous. He was willing to let the other stuff slide--for now--because this? This seemed hugely important. To him. To her, too, unless he was misreading her body language.

Shutting her eyes for a long moment, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to find her center again. That quiet place where she could feel more like herself. When she opened her eyes again she'd found a little of it, but not much. Really it was just borrowed from her brother. "You get twitchy if I so much as come near you, you don't like to be at my house, and you kind of run off as soon as you can. Jesus, Eli, you went to her, and you left me behind on purpose. What am I supposed to think?"

His eyes slid away from her to a more neutral spot on the wall as his stomach bottomed out. Shit. He hadn't even considered she might take it that way, had never considered... "I'm getting better about the touching," Eli began, keeping his voice quiet. "I get nervous at your house because of Doc and Seph, never because of you... and if it wasn't for Tensiel, I wouldn't have left your house until probably today." He swallowed thickly, uneasily. "And I... I can't tell you, why I went to her without you. I can't." And he couldn't even say that it had nothing to do with her, because it had everything to do with her.

She nodded, continuing to look at her desk. Crossing her arms on it, she rested her chin down. "You still hate it there. And you still went to the one person who could hurt you the most in this world when I was giving my all to ensure that you were safe from her." Eyes shut had been a good thing, so she went with that again.

Eli hesitated, slowly reaching out to loosely grasp her hand. And fuck, just that tiny action made him feel dizzyingly sick to his stomach with panic. "I can't explain it. I don't know how. I know I'm socially retarded and I'm not good at this, but I thought you at least... shit, I'm not good at showing this stuff, am I?" he muttered, drawing his hand back quickly. He desperately wanted to leave right now. That running away thing she'd mentioned sounded like a good idea right about now, but he wasn't going to leave her. Not when she was so unhappy and trying so hard to hide it. "I care about you, Syn. You're important to me," he insisted. What the hell can I do to prove it?

She had been going to squeeze his hand, but he took it back too fast for her to manage it. Then she turned her head to the side, cheek resting on her arms as she looked at him. "I didn't know that." she said quietly. That was all. She supposed she'd have to assimilate that information now, but it would probably take a while. The way he acted, it didn't seem like she was important to him. Sort of the opposite. The only times she could maybe see it was when they forgot about everything else going on and they were joking around.

"I think I do things backwards," he offered, with a very weak smile. She would never understand his reasonings behind going to his mother. It was probably something no one would ever understand, really. It just completely defied all rational thought for most. It would just piss her off. Hopefully, he would never have to explain it to her.

"Maybe." she said, returning the smile, but it was just as weak as his was. "Sorry I'm off today. I'll get better. How's your shielding?" she asked. "Were you working on it at all on your way over?"

"No. But I am now," he answered. "And you don't have to get better for my sake, and you sure as hell don't have to apologize for it," Eli muttered, reaching up to rub gingerly at his temples. "You can still talk to me, you know." But he didn't think she would. Not now. "I wish you would," he added.

Synnove considered for a long stretch of moments, really wondering if she could. Not if he meant what he said, because she thought he did mean it. More she didn't know if she was capable of it. Was she? She didn't usually talk to people. Generally speaking, people talked to her. They had problems or the like and they brought them to her because she had a level enough head to help give perspective. Right now, she didn't know what to think. Or more she did, she just hated where it took her mind and emotions. "I don't know where to start." she repeated what she'd said earlier. She still didn't.

Eli watched her quietly, taking another drink of soda. It was something to do, at least, while he thought. "When did it happen, whatever it is that's bothering you?" he questioned. When was a good place to start, and it was a pretty neutral question.

"Earlier." Syn answered. She sort of wanted to tell him it wasn't a big deal, nothing was going to happen over it, blah blah blah, but that wasn't the truth. She would like it to be the truth, but it wasn't. Flat out, no. Her mind was still doing a slow reeling and she didn't know when that was going to quit.

Earlier. So, today. That was helpful. "At home?" he questioned again, inwardly baffled, though it didn't show on his face. Surely not at home. That would mean it involved Seph or Doc. Neither seemed to make much sense, not from what he knew about the Martens so far, so what the fuck?

Her silence gave more of an answer than she would have liked. She realized after she didn't answer that if it had been anywhere else she would have scoffed at him that anything could have happened to her at home. so the fact that she didn't do that really filled in the blank nicely for him.

Shit. Suddenly, he was wishing those talks that had resulted in him being warned against hurting Syn had also had a 'likewise' clause. What the fuck? He seriously considered demanding to know who the fucking hypocrite was, but decided that choice of wording? Bad to say to Syn. "Seph?" he questioned, though he was fairly sure that if it involved her brother, she'd be much more obvious in her state of upset.

She shook her head. "No." she said. "Eli, can we not talk about this?" she asked. "Please?" Finally turning her blue eyes on him, she had a pained expression in them for a moment before she could cover. It was a testament to how off she was feeling that it was there at all.

By process of elimination, that left Doc. Or, well, maybe Teddy, but that made even less sense. Eli frowned, eyes darkened with obvious displeasure. Not at her, and her unwillingness to talk, but that someone she cared about had done this to her. Fucking hypocrite. "Are you sure?" he questioned, quiet. "If you really want me to drop it, I will."

Her gaze ticked away over his shoulder for a heartbeat as she wavered in her decision. Really, the hopeless sort of feeling that she'd had in mind since it happened settled in before she could give in, however. there wasn't anything he could say, there wasn't any solution. He couldn't take it back for her and he couldn't make it better. Nothing was fixable. Her abilities were going to stay, she was still going to figure out how to save her brother, and she was still going to have the wrong fucking answer to Doc's question. He was still going to have said he'd shoot her. "I really want you to drop it." she said finally. "...I'm sorry." she added, because she knew he was trying. "It's not that I don't trust you. And I know you're trying here."

"No, it's okay," he assured her, voice soft. "Sometimes talking just doesn't help. Can't help. I'm not going to throw a hissy tantrum over it, Syn. Don't worry about it." Besides, he already had a fairly good idea of who the culprit was, and just that knowledge was enough for him to know there wasn't shit he could do to make her feel better. And there was probably even less he could say.

She nodded. then she paused, and eyed him. "I appreciate it, though." she said, voice just as soft as his had been. She said it like she meant it, and she really, truly did. It had just never been easy for her to take help of any description, she was a very independent, self reliant person. that didn't mean she didn't need it now and then.

He smiled faintly. "You've done the same for me often enough," he pointed out. And there was the whole feelings thing. He couldn't stand to see her hurting like she was. But fuck, he couldn't fix this!

She returned the expression. "Yeah, but that's my job. It's right up there with 'breathing'. It's what I do. it's second nature, or something. I have a perfectly built in excuse."

"I'm an empath." Eli shrugged. "Could say the same thing about me, except my reasons are more selfish than yours."

"Shit, am I bringing you down just by being around you?" she asked, wincing. "Maybe today you should go see Dorian or something instead of hanging around me."

Eli groaned, slapping his forehead. That had backfired. Horribly. "That's not what I meant, Syn. I'm fine. I'm just worried about you."

"So what's your selfish reason then?" Syn asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "If it's just because you're worried, then my reasons would be selfish too, since you know I worry about you all the time."

"Okay, so occasionally, when it comes to people I..." Eli's voice trailed off awkwardly. Damn 'c' word. "...care for," he said carefully, "I'm not selfish."

"That's not a bad thing." Syn said, giving him a little bit more genuine of a smile. "Unselfish. Looks good on you." she informed him. She drew in a deep breath and sat up better, taking another drink of her soda. "Sorry I suck today."

Eli took another drink of his before shaking his head. "Don't ever be sorry. You don't suck, Syn. Everyone has shitty days. It's part of what makes us human."

"Don't ever be sorry?" Syn asked. "It's not like I do no wrong. Sometimes I fuck up. Though I'm one of those special people that when I fuck up, I fuck up bad. Like five alarm bad, horrible terrible everyone duck and fucking cover bad."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I meant, specifically, don't be sorry for having a shitty day. We all have shitty days." Eli eyed her thoughtfully. "And I have yet to see you fuck up, so I'll wait until I see it to believe you."

"Hope you don't get to see it, sweetie." Syn said with a sigh. "So, think you can distract me at all?" she asked with a mild note of hope to her voice. She didn't say 'please' but it was kind of implied beneath her words.

"Distract you?" Eli echoed. "No pressure, right?" he asked wryly, already trying to think of something they could do and trying not to panic. He wasn't the best at random friendly socializing. "I can give it my best shot. Anything you've been wanting to do lately?"

She thought about it, then shrugged. "Sadly, I'm no help. I'm not in the right frame of mind to really think of anything right now, unfortunately. But you don't actually have to entertain me. I can just finish going through prints like I was meant to. I still think you should go see Dorian if you want to practice today."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm not leaving, just so you know." Like Hell was he leaving her alone! If she wanted company, then she was getting it. "I'm practicing blocking you right now. That's good enough, right?" he questioned. "Now what do normal people do for fun?" Because he genuinely didn't have a clue. Movies or something, maybe?

"I don't know. Go to the movies? Go for walks? Swimming? Though the weather's not terribly nice enough for that. Hm. I'm not really a shopping sort of girl, so that's out, and while I could get into a bar with the ID I have, I usually just wind up annoyed at the people around me and I hate being so cramped in where people are squished up against you."

He considered his options, and toyed with the idea of suggesting they get completely smashed drunk here... But, yeah. He was a chatty drunk, and fuck that noise. It'd be his luck he'd get completely wasted, confess his feelings for her, and then not even remember it the next day. So not going to happen. Over his dead body, etc. etc. and so on and so forth. So option number two... "Let's go see a movie."