Stalling (OPEN)

"Of course, all of my friends are super heroes!" He of course included her in this statement, but it was very possible she would assume that he wasn't. His comment was intended to be quite literal, however."Perhaps if we come across them you may meet them. Some of them have dormitories here."

He brought her to the middle of a hallway, in between several class rooms. The bell had not rung just yet, but he knew it would be soon. "Hmm? I am afraid I do not understand. Who would turn me into what? Would they turn me into a monster?" Top scientific minds could theorize for decades and still not understand how Alistair could possibly have completely misunderstood her (valid) question. But his emotions would show pretty clearly that he was being serious, and not simply making a joke.

The bell rang and kids from each and every class room burst out into the hallway, taking barely two seconds to turn the once peaceful hall into a bustling mess of teenage children, all ready to start up any kind of drama imaginable with their friends. And that drama, of course, would include Alistair getting pushed over and walked on by several students who apparently did not notice he was standing there. It was partially his fault, he tried asking them if they wanted to meet his new friend, despite the fact that they were busy talking amongst each other and not paying attention. Any average idiot would have moved out of the way of the students, but for whatever reason he neglected to be even an "average idiot."

This of course would leave the poor young Sophie stranded in a sea of students, her currently only friend washed away by the waves.

Really the situation was just ridiculously over dramatic.

The muffled sounds of Alistair calling out for the people to stop trampling over him could probably be heard by Sophie if she managed to pull herself out of her frightened state. Although despite the situation he was still acting rather polite, "May I ask that you please remove your feet from my face" seemed to be what he was typically trying to say, but he rarely got past the second or third word before the foot-in-face apparently afflicted him beyond being able to make out his words. If she managed to lock onto his emotions despite the large crowd, she would realize he found the situation not at all aggravating, but rather amusing. That was until a sudden point of time that a hint of concern could be felt.

A few more seconds would pass before Sophie would feel a hand on her shoulder, assuming she was still huddled over. "Hey now, it shall be alright. Occasionally young students are impolite without meaning to do so." It was Alistair's voice, and it sounded perfectly fine, but if she were to look at him he certainly wouldn't look perfectly fine. The guy looked as if he had just survived a stampede. Well, he technically did survive a stampede, in all fairness.

The poor girl looked like she had fallen apart. She seemed to have fared better than he had in terms of trampling, so he wondered if perhaps it was the crowd she was afraid of. But judging from her emotions and the now-stuttered presence he could feel in his mind coming from her, he started to think that maybe she couldn't control her psychic ability. Perhaps she was mentally interacting with all the people around her. He still couldn't discern exactly what it was she was doing, but if being around this many people caused her pain then he would have to find another way for her to make friends.

"Come, m'lady. Take my hand and I shall lead you away from the crowd." He would wrap his arm around her shoulder and grasp her hand tightly with his own, prepared to lead her away from the students. The start-of-class bell would be ringing soon, which would clear the halls for the most part, but until then he would have to keep her secluded. If for whatever reason she couldn't walk with him, he would instead attempt to pick her up - even forcibly if he had to - in order to bring her away.

It wouldn't be far down the hall that would lie an empty classroom. If he managed to get her that far, he would bring her in there. The lights were off, so hopefully it wasn't intended to be used soon...

"I must admit that situation was far more dangerous than I had anticipated." He said, nodding while rubbing his chin. He eyed her foot and realized she had been hurt physically, in addition to mentally. "I am perfectly fine, thank you." Truthfully his face was already starting to look much better. "It would appear you sustained much more damage than I have. I apologize, I did not fully comprehend the danger behind my idea, m'lady. I would ask that you allow me to examine your foot, for perhaps I may be able to treat it."

Of course, the easy way out would be to just invoke a healing Mantra. But considering how much he was pushing it simply by befriending a young human child, he didn't want to bend the rules any further. Besides, her ankle did not appear broken, and it certainly was nothing he would not be able to treat himself. Not that much of anything could be done for a sprained ankle. He was aware of certain massage techniques however that could reduce the swelling and make the pain more bearable.

He began massaging the area around her ankle gently with his hands. "I would ask that you relax for but a moment, m'lady. If you keep your muscles tense they will take longer to recover. It does not look serious, but you may want to take it easy for a day or two." He knew of all the pressure points and techniques available for that part of the human anatomy, and it was not difficult at all for him to find just the right spot on her foot to massage. He gently removed her shoe to be able to rub her bare foot.

"It could be due to many reasons that your ability is so out of your control, m'lady. But I assure you that at least one method exists that you could use to keep it suppressed when you went it to." It seemed he had intentionally left his response vague. A few moments passed before he continued. "Perhaps you are afraid of your gift, and decline to acknowledge how wonderful it truly is. All things come in time with experience; only you can explore your mind and discover why it is you cannot control it. But I assure you, if you neglect to acknowledge how wonderful of a gift it truly is, you will never be able to use it to its full potential."

"I would ask that you try to stand, now." He said, apparently finishing his massage. If he had done it correctly, it should truly feel much better. Not necessarily painless, but surely enough to bear walking on it at least for short distances.

"Of course." He replied to her thanks, backing away to give her some space. He gave a humble smile. "I suppose it is just one of the things I have learned through my experiences." A sincere yet cryptic answer.

"Hmm." He thought about her question, leaning against one of the desks, crossing his arms and looking at the ceiling. "Only you can learn how to control your ability, m'lady. However," He turned his gaze from the ceiling down to look at her. "The most important thing to possess for a mental ability user such as yourself is confidence, and acceptance in your ability. If you are afraid of it, you will never be able to use it properly. If you embrace your power, you will be able to develop it. Your mind is still young and growing; it may take some time for it to be strong enough for you to control yourself. But you are probably much farther along the line of maturity than most your age; mental powers require stronger brains, and thus your brain will develop to be stronger because of it."

He paused for a moment, as if he had thought of an idea. "You might do better if you try to learn about the human brain. The library here has an excellent selection. Certain sections of the brain are committed to certain tasks - and if you are able to figure out what part of your brain controls your empathy power you just might be able to control it that much faster." Of course, he knew exactly how she could learn to control it. But considering what he was, he was unable to give her that information so easily. It was a violation for him to intervene with such things, thus he simply gave her the basic tools to get started. It would likely take her some time to figure out exactly what he meant, but she would save a lot of ground from being pointed in the correct general direction.

It was possible there was a teacher in the school that could help her anyways.