Being trapped inside four walls, constantly feeling watched and most often than not in search of something to do. That explained Jesse Sawyer Shepherd's life perfectly these past four days. Four days, had it only been that long? Sure, the Mansion was definitely a better place to live in than he'd first told himself, but he still wasn't completely happy. Maybe it was the fact that his parents' warning was still lingering in the back of his mind? They had told the staff members of the school to watch over him. To make sure he wasn't running away any time soon. Usually this wouldn't bother him, but for some reason it did. Don't get me wrong, he couldn't care less for authority, but they were all Mutants. Who knows what they would do if he did attempt at sneaking out... Even if it was for a few hours.

His parents truly knew how to ruin his fun, even when they were on the other side of the Country. Evidently pissed inside and a little bit envious, the teenager roamed the halls. His cool blue eyes, deprived of any emotion no matter how he felt inside, lingered on a group of Mutants for a fraction of a second. The teenagers, probably a year or two older than Sawyer himself, were busily discussing their plans for the weekend; they would be going out to a party hosted by a friend nearby. This was totally unfair. He would kill to attend a party this weekend, at least have something, anything to do. Gritting his teeth, he continued on his way.

Classes were over for the summer, he couldn't go outside of the Mansion walls (Well, he could, if the Staff hadn't taken his parents' word seriously and were ignoring it, which could be a possibility. He wouldn't risk it though, not for a few days still at least.) and it seemed people were swarming out of the Mansion to go home to their families more and more as the days loomed by. What was a sixteen year-old to do? That was when he had an idea. He hadn't done much reading in a while, but maybe it was time he checked out the school's Library. He had once been a huge reader. Reading all types of books, from science fiction to horror novels. Fantasy to mystery.

Ever since he'd gotten more and more involved in the street life however, literature had taken a backseat in his life. Who knows, maybe, as well as a new home, he could get a new habit in too. Twenty seconds later Sawyer entered the library, rubbing at his jaw. One thing he really hated about his power? His senses just couldn't keep up with his speed. Without even knowing it, he'd bumped right into a wall and it hurt. Imagine, running at one-hundred miles per hour only to collide right into a thick, wooden wall. He was just he'd chipped a tooth, or perhaps even broken his jaw altogether. Oh well, it wasn't a big deal. He'd been through worse.

He walked, at a normal pace, toward the counter, an annoyed look on his face. The blond behind it was hot, but it still didn't keep him from feeling all of the bitter emotions he was feeling. Putting on his statue-like face once again, he learned against the surface of the counter. "Hey, I'm looking for some light reading for the next week or so. Got anything good?" he asked the Librarian. Subconsciously, he rubbed at his aching jaw once again.

It wasn’t taking long for Kealey to make the mansion’s library her own. And as much as she’d felt like ignoring work over the last few days, the fact remained that things needed done in the book-filled space. It didn’t matter if a murderer had shown up at her door, or if she and Shin had ended up narrowly escaping from a fire in her favorite fabric shop, If nobody took care of the books, they ended up in the unorganized, if tidy, shape they’d been in when the blond had take over the job.

Now, everything was in order. That was the beauty of the summer. With no classes, and her job so accessible here at the mansion, Kealey had pretty much reorganized the whole library. If she let her duties get away from her just because her life had gotten a little hard, it would all be for naught. So, in the library Kealey sat, trying to ignore the sometimes tumultuous emotions of the students and mansion residents who wandered in and out.

Idly, she wondered what Shin was doing. The sketches for his costume were in her portfolio and she was really quite pleased with the way that things had turned out in spite of his stubborn streak concerning his tuxedo outfit. Making it was going to be fun. She needed him for input. Sure, she hadn’t needed such input for anyone else’s costume, but they weren’t Shin.

Emotions interrupted Kealey’s thought process, and she looked up to see a blond teen standing in front of her space at the desk. He was angry…so angry. Kealey blinked at it, that and his envy….and his pain.

He asked about books, and it took Kealey a moment to get her mind in the right frame to even answer.

”I’ve got tons of good stuff.” she said, Irish accent lilting as she spoke, Her head tilted to the side, though, and she frowned a bit at the boy, ”Any specifics you’re looking for?”

The pretty woman behind the Library's counter looked confused for a second, somewhat lost in her own thoughts. He couldn't be too sure however. Was it him? Was it maybe the bruise that was already swelling up on the side of his face? Or maybe the fact that he didn't seem like the type of guy to be in a Library altogether. He was, after all, wearing a baggy pair of jeans hanging too low on his hips and a black t-shirt that was slightly bigger than it should be.

Overall, he had the New York street kid look going on, and the cold, expressionless look on his face added to that stereotype she probably assumed him to be.

Well, even the tougher teenagers of the Mansion were allowed to read. Then again, maybe she had something else on her mind altogether. He didn't care. Once she got her thoughts together and answered his question, he couldn't help but smirk at her a little. "Good stuff is always good." he chuckled, lightening up a little. Sure, he was still angry, and obviously his mouth was still hurting, but the Librarian seemed nice enough, and to be honest she gave him good vibes.

It helped that she was hot though. "Do you have any Stephen King? The Dark Tower saga seems pretty good, how about that?" he wondered. He hadn't read much Fantasy in a while, and Stephen King was by far his favorite when it came to that line of writing.

Dreamcatcher had been the last book he'd read by the talented writer, and to be honest he had definitely not been disappointed. Being a Mutant, it was always pleasant to read works on super-powered humans and all of that kind of stuff. Maybe it was why he liked science-fiction and fantasy so much...

Teenage emotions were so interesting, Kealey couldn’t help but think as the boy gave her a little more information as to what he was looking for in the library and the blond nodded her head. It was still a little hard to concentrate on helping him, though, with all the emotions rolling around in his head.

More emotions, this time ones that made Kealey narrow her eyes. Boys would be boys, but Kealey still didn’t like stock being taken of her. It wasn’t flattering to the blond and it bordered on downright offensive. That was the thing about working in school full of teenagers and being what was apparently considered a good looking female. Boys noticed, Lord in Heaven did they notice. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose for a second, nodding her head as the youth inquired about Stephan King.

”Not something I’ve read.” she commented, turning her chair and typing for a few moments on the keyboard there. ”I’ve heard they’re good though.”

As the search results came up in the library catalogue, Kealey continued trying to dissect the boy’s feelings and continued coming up with nothing. The anger was so intense for such a smooth face. This boy seemed to be the opposite of Locke, the one she’d met in the kitchen. Locke was shut down, almost completely where this boy was an absolute firebrand. It was all locked up inside though and hidden behind a face that could have lived on a statue.

”What are you so angry about?” the blond asked softly, not looking up from the computer screen and reaching for a post-it and pen. ”You’re very good at covering it up…but something has you positively boiling.”

Still seeing the woman's distraction, he wondered whether or not she would mind if he was to ask her if everything was alright. He decided he would wait a while longer. Maybe it was nothing, maybe he was just making a big deal out of nothing.

The fact that the Librarian hadn't read Stephen King's work did not move Sawyer in any way. It wasn't as if everyone liked his books. At least she wasn't flat out dissing them though, which meant she didn't hate it at least. He smirked a little. "Yeah, they are pretty good. I've been in the mood for some Fantasy lately." he said, mostly to keep the conversation going; he wasn't exactly the type that talked a lot about himself, but he wasn't one that liked silence either. Especially not that awkward silence that seemed to occur more between strangers. And he and the Irish blond were definitely strangers. Well, unless they had known each other in another life... Not that Sawyer truly believed in that stuff.

Maybe he could learn what type of books she liked to read, though. She could always give him some advice as to what was good for future references. The teenager watched the computer as the search took place, and then watched some more as the results started popping up.

”What are you so angry about?” Sawyer stared for a second. Was this what she'd been preoccupied with earlier? Had he let it slip without knowing? He remembered the first few minutes of his meeting with Henri. This is a Mutant School, had been his words, and he was repeating them to himself right now. She was an Empath, wasn't she? Great.

His anger and frustration slowly moved aside as understanding, curiosity and slight annoyance settled in. All the while however, his features remained like they always did. Well, apart from his cool blue eyes, which were slightly narrowed. "You're an Empath, huh?" he mused aloud. "Sorry. I didn't mean to dump all of that on you." He wasn't about to answer her question, not yet. Maybe later though. "The books I'm looking for are right there." he said as he pointed at the screen, hopefully distracting her for a few minutes.

Like I said, he wasn't exactly the type that talked a lot about himself.

He was irritated now, irritated, surprised, confused, and understanding. It was an interesting combination to say the least and her surprise increased almost exponentially when he specifically asked if she was an empath. It wasn’t an unheard of term, but it wasn’t the most popular thing either. Blond eyebrows rose along with her level of surprise and Kealey nodded her head.

He apologized for “dumping” everything on her and Kealey shrugged her shoulders, ”It’s not your fault. I feel everyone whether I want to or not. I hope you don‘t mind me commenting.”

He pointed to the books, and Kealey nodded her head, ”I know.” she said, ”I’ll walk you to them. “ she said, pushing back her chair and standing. The boy was tall, taller than her by at least a few inches, and Kealey started walking in the right direction.

”So…why are you so angry? Other than the fact that I called you out?” she asked, undeterrable from her course of questioning.

She seemed surprised at his assumption, which clearly revealed that she was indeed an Empath. Well, it was slightly unnerving that someone could read him. He had tried for a long time to keep his emotions under wraps, that way he wouldn't get emotionally close to anyone. Honestly, he believed that was the best way to go as a Mutant. Trust no one. That way, you couldn't hurt anyone and no one could hurt you. It was intelligent.

Or so he'd convinced himself... People were just in the way of things, and led to trouble. He was better off alone, using people when he had to and pushing them away as soon as he was done. Of course, the occasional friend to hang out with was nice...

Still, that meant little. He could hang out with someone and have fun without being close to them. Things would definitely be much harder with the Librarian though, especially if she could read his emotions... Self-consciously, he pushed away his thoughts, attempting to do the same with his emotions, although that was easier said than done. He shrugged when she told him about the fact that she couldn't turn her ability off, and how she hoped he didn't mind. "You probably already noticed, but I'm not exactly an open kind of guy... So yeah, I admit it does bother me, but I'll get over it. It's not your fault." he said.

Shrugging again, the teenager fallowed the Librarian as she led him toward the Stephen King books. For a few short seconds things were quiet. He even considered the fact that she'd forgotten about him not answering her question earlier. At least that was the case until she asked again.

He decided to tell her. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Besides, she would keep nagging otherwise. "My parents are just pissing me off lately." he said, "They're trying to protect me from everything, but the way they're doing it just isn't for my benefit. Even in Seattle they manage to control me. Don't worry about it though..." He hoped she wouldn't ask any more questions on the matter.

He was trying to push the emotions away. He was trying really hard,….and failing miserably. You could lie all you wanted to someone, but you couldn’t change the way you felt deep down. As far as Kealey knew, it was impossible. The boy was trying, that meant he didn’t want anyone to see what was really going on. He was also honest.

Kealey nodded and dropped her head slightly, acknowledging and thanking the boy for understanding that what she did was not her fault. Few adults could really understand that, let alone a teenager.

As they walked, Kealey could tell he was relieved to be off the hook as far as her question was concerned. It was almost a shame to ruin his victory.

The boy unloaded though, and Kealey listened as they walked. It was one of the blessings and curses of her powers. People often felt like they could tell her things, since she already knew about their feelings.

The boy was feeling oppressed by his parents, even though they were on the other side of the country. Kealey’s initial instinct was to tell him he was lucky that he had parents. After reflection, she decided that probably wasn’t the right reaction and she nodded her head.

”I can honestly say that I know how you feel.” Kealey said, digesting the words from the youth.

”Do they have reason to be worried?” she asked, guiding the young man to the section of the library that held Stephen King’s books.

”I’m Kealey by the way.” she said by way of introduction. With as well as they knew each other already, they should definitely be on a first name basis.

Huh, she knew how he felt? He actually laughed out loud at that. "Yeah, I know you do." he said with a slight smirk. He waited a few seconds longer to answer her next question. Grabbing a book off the shelves at random before putting it back again, he replied: "No, they don't." You couldn't hear it in his voice, but bitterness suddenly filled him up. Damn it! His emotions were acting crazy today, usually they weren't this intense.

Could she intensify them too? Probably. He wasn't going to ask though.

Kealey. That was a nice name, suited her too. "Sawyer. Since I know what little tricks you can do, might as well know mine, huh? Speedster." he said as a means of introducing himself. "Nice to meet'cha." he added as an after-thought.

"So," Sawyer said, merely continuing the conversation, but also wishing to know a little more about her. She could easily know a lot about him from his emotions, it was only fair that she let him in on a little bit about her. "You're from Ireland I presume? Have you been here long?" By here he meant America, but she could take it the way she wanted. The Mansion, New York, whatever.

It was sad for someone so young to be so completely bitter, Kealey decided as she listened to the boy’s answer. The surge of pure feeling made Kealey stop in her tracks and stare at him for a moment. ”You obviously feel that very strongly.” she said, a deep frown marring her features as she watched. ”Why do they think otherwise?” Kealey asked, as they made their way through the library.

He introduced himself and explained that he was a “speedster”. Kealey assumed that meant he was fast, really fast. Interesting power, and useful too. His name was Sawyer, and Kealey committed it to memory. ”Like Tom.” she commented with a grin despite the reciprocal emotions she could feel from him.

He guessed that she was from Ireland and Kealey nodded her head, ”Two for two as far as you guessing things about me is concerned.” she said, then thought for a moment over how to answer.

”Oh…somewhere near two years now.” she said, ”New York is like nowhere I’ve ever seen. It‘s changed me, it will change you too.”

“What about you? How long have you been here? I don’t remember seeing you around the mansion.”

Kealey was scanning the Dewey Decimals as she walked, looking for the number she'd scribbled down on her post-it. Finding what she was looking for, she stopped.

"Here we are. Stephen King."

She stopped in her tracks, looked at him and commented on his emotions again. "Sorry. I try not to feel anything for your sake, but I'm not as good at keeping things cool on the inside as I am on the outside." he confessed, which was very truthful. He was a natural when it came to a poker face, but inside his emotions raged on. Maybe if he was to let them out once in a while it wouldn't be as bad, but then that would make him weak. He couldn't be weak, he couldn't let people inside. At least not yet, not until he knew for a fact he could trust the people around him. He knew for a fact that he didn't want anyone else to know what he was feeling or thinking, Kealey showed him that, even more so now than he'd believed.

Why did he think they thought otherwise? He shrugged. "I don't know." Well, he did have a slight idea, but he no longer felt like sharing his entire life with her. It was bad enough she knew all of his emotions, something he wasn't comfortable with, but she wanted to know everything about him too? His parents were just trying to do what they believed was right. They just didn't understand him, that was all there was to it. The thing is, it got on Sawyer's nerves a lot.

"Yep, two for two. And I don't have any psychic powers to help me out. I'm not cheating." he smirked jokingly. "Yeah. I'm already seeing quite the change. I'm not sure if it's for the best though. I mean, some stuff is pretty good, some others. Not so." It was still weird that he was talking so much. Usually he had only a few sentences to say in a conversation, now he was talking on and on and on... It just showed how much New York was indeed changing him.

He wasn't sure he liked the thought of that. What if he lost the protection of his own shell? "Oh, yeah. I haven't been here so long. Got here last Saturday actually. Definitely not long enough to have a pretty good idea of what this busy Mutant life is like." he admitted. Eventually they arrived at the location of the Stephen King books, and Sawyer looked around. He hadn't realized it up until now, but the library was pretty massive. They'd been able to talk quite a bit until this point. "Thanks... There, got it." he flipped the book from it's backside to it's front side, showing it to Kealey. "The book I was looking for."

A misunderstanding was had and Kealey shook her head, ”No no no…I didn’t mean for you to try anything like that. I’d never expect someone to try and not feel simply to make things easier on me. I was just saying that I understand what you mean.”

Sawyer was uncomfortable, and in turn so was Kealey. It hadn’t been her intention and she reminded herself that she really did need to learn when to keep her mouth shut as far as her powers were concerned. Obviously if he’d wanted to talk about it, the teen would have broached the subject. Discussing something like parental issues with a completely stranger wasn’t commonplace or welcome to most people.

He put on a happy face and Kealey had to chuckle when he pointed out that he gathered his information without cheating. She never really thought of herself as any kind of psychic, but Kealey let it go and listened instead to what the boy thought of New York. He hadn’t been there long, not long at all, and Kealey nodded her head. ”The place I come from was very rural, coming from there to somewhere like here was so completely overwhelming for a while that I almost forgot who I was. I learned a lot about myself those first few weeks. That happens when you‘re in an absolute sea of humanity without a single face you know.”

Sawyer picked up the book he’d been looking for and Kealey smiled, pleased that her organizational system had done its job and done it well. ”Well, there you go.” she commented, then shrugged her shoulders and made an offer, ”Since you know you can’t hide from me, you’re welcome to stop in and talk any time you want. I know it can be tough to be somewhere new, and I know it can be even tougher to admit that. I’m not trying to get all wishy washy on you, but I thought I’d offer.”

Right. He shrugged. "A'right." he said simply. After all, it wasn't the easiest thing not to feel, even if he wished it was so. Emotions were just too much trouble.

”The place I come from was very rural, coming from there to somewhere like here was so completely overwhelming for a while that I almost forgot who I was. I learned a lot about myself those first few weeks. That happens when you‘re in an absolute sea of humanity without a single face you know.”

Yeah, well apparently he did know someone from his past, something that had been quite a surprise to him when he'd figured it out. He couldn't help but smirk a little at his first night here with his roommate. Well, his roommates, sort of. Gawain and Maya were quite the pair, all mixed up into one. He'd been pretty pissed at first, well, confused, pissed and annoyed, but now he wasn't all that bothered by it. Gawain and Maya were both great, although it was slightly strange to have a female room mate on Maya days.

"Well, I'm glad for you I guess. You seem to have found your way." He was pretty glad too. Sure, he appeared emotionless on the outside, but, and Kealey knew this for a fact, on the inside he was pretty emotional, especially when it came to the negative emotions such as anger. He was also caring, but that little animal didn't show its head very often. Right now though, in the midst of the mixture of emotions, he did let it show a little... Just a bit.

His caring side quickly vanished with her next words. He didn't need a therapist. He wasn't some crazy, suicidal whack job. "I don't freaking need a therapist, okay? My parents just don't get me. Not that It's surprising. I'm a Mutant, they aren't. I'm not smart like they are, I'm not meant to be something big like they are. I'm like... the black sheep of the family." he paused for a second, glancing around for whatever reason. "Is that good enough for you or do you want to know every little detail about my life?" He was known for having quite the temper when he was pushed over the edge.

Whether that was frustration, anger or sheer annoyance. He did regret it though, and it showed in his face. For once, he let an emotion appear on his features. Well, excluding the burst of anger just a few short seconds ago. "Sorry. I, uh. Didn't mean to go all out on you. You're an a'right person. You're just trying to help... I don't want it though, sorry." he lowered his head for a second. "Let's just get this book checked out, so I can get out of here." he clenched the book to his chest. Well, now this was sure to end well.

Oh the tempest of emotions that was the inside of a Teenager’s head. One moment Sawyer seemed grateful for the information he was getting, the next he was something little short of furious. The torrent of words shouldn’t have hurt Kealey’s feelings, but they had. It wasn’t that she was trying to be a therapist, or that she was suggesting he was crazy in any way. She’d really just been trying to help, to offer a friendly ear if he ever wanted to talk. The blond could feel her cheeks burning, and dropped her head slightly, wishing she hadn’t said anything.

He was as quick to cool as he had been to anger, though, and as he apologized for the outburst, Kealey nodded her head, ”I understand.” she said softly and a bit tightly. ”And I wasn’t saying you’re crazy. I know what crazy is, and it isn’t you.”

He wanted to check the book out, probably so he could get away from her, and Kealey frowned even more. This hadn’t turned out the way she’d wanted at all. ”Yeah, I’ll get you taken care of up at the front.” she said, turning and making her way back to the desk she’d left a few minutes earlier.

Sitting, she held out her hand for the book patiently and busied herself looking at the monitor in front of her, ”I don’t really work with due dates. Just make sure you bring it back when you’re done, there aren’t a lot of multiple copies of things around.” She said it with a smile, if Sawyer wanted to stick to strictly business, Kealey could do that.

Okay, Sawyer didn't feel bad for somebody very easily, but at this exact moment, he did feel bad for snapping at Kealey that way. She had only been trying to help; she wasn't a bad person for doing that. Sure, she had pushed him, something he wasn't exactly comfortable with, and he had tried to keep from answering her questions. One thing was certain, he had never flat out told her off on getting under his skin. Yeah, Sawyer felt bad.

Oh well, she did understand, which was somewhat of a good thing to hear. He did notice the hurt in her features though. Did I mention Sawyer felt bad? "Sorry." he repeated, uncapable at this point to find anything else worth saying.

Once they both got back to the desk, Sawyer gave her the book, watching. His expression, during the few minutes of silence during the walk back, had given him enough time to compose himself again. His face was cool, as if nothing had ever happened. On the inside he wasn't all that out there anymore either. He wasn't angry anymore, he wasn't happy, he wasn't embarrassed or anything of the sort. He was just a little tired.

Empaths really weren't Mutants he wanted to meet often, no matter how well-meaning they truly were. His emotions were just meant to stay locked up, unspoken of unless he chose to let them out. "I'll have it back in two or three days." he said at her words of bringing it back once he was finished with it. He probably did not seem like it, but he wasn't only a fast runner. He was a fast reader too.

And with nothing better to do, he would do a lot of that in the next few weeks. Unless Gawain decided to show him a few tricks, such as where the booze in the Mansion was hidden. Who knows, maybe the Mirrorwalker knew how to get off the Grounds without teachers or any other staff realizing. "Thanks. Um, I'll see you around. Definitely." And with that, the young Mutant sped off at his fullest speed. So maybe it hadn't been the best meeting, but neither seemed to hate one another yet.

That was a good thing.