The nerves were writing themselves freely in his mind now, moving up and over the shoulder and then reaching the middle section. Something was odd to him as the display of nerve patterns seemed to avoid an area in her center, towards the back. The neural pathways revealed themselves in lower areas of the torso and then returned to the other shoulder, working a mirror image of the initial arm. He tried to ignore this anomaly for now, keeping it in mind as he continued with her.

The eyes. they were hers but not hers. Not knowing her, this could mean several things, but it was herexploration, her self discovery that mattered most. He was there to guide only. " These eyes, you know what they are. Remember that this place and time is of your creation. Nothing can harm you here. Look up and across the water to a distant point. Create a place there. It can be a house, a cave, anything you like. Be sure it can contain something and it has a way to be closed. Now look down at those eyes again. Move them across the water and into that place. Close the door. Whatever this is, it is a part of you, but that doesn't mean it must rule your senses. It is in its place now. When you feel like you want to open that door and look into the eyes, do so. But not this time. this time, you can relax and feel the rejuvenation of the area without the eyes. Pristine."

The sketch in his mind was her entire torso down to her waistline. The neural pathways were furiously writing her legs now, faster than he could keep track of. It was that or the fact that his attention kept returning to the hollow area in her back. Strange.

" These eyes, you know what they are. Remember that this place and time is of your creation. Nothing can harm you here."

As Iris continued staring at the reflecing silver orbs, she sighed. She wasn't worried about them hurting her. Not anymore. But they had betrayed her. Or so she kept telling herself.

"Look up and across the water to a distant point. Create a place there. It can be a house, a cave, anything you like. Be sure it can contain something and it has a way to be closed."

She lifted her gaze, and saw an old, abandoned horse stall.

"Now look down at those eyes again. Move them across the water and into that place."

She cupped her hands in the water below the eyes. Telling herself to that this was her imagination, and she could do anything, she willed the silver gaze to stay in the water, and the water to remain pooled in her hands. She stood and made her way out of the cold liquid, and headed for the dilapidated building.

She looked around, finding herself in a bit of a quandary. She could find no doors. At least, not that would hold water in. The stall door certainly wouldn't, hanging off of its hinges as it did. Her gaze lit on a grain barrel. That might work. She used her foot to kick off the lid, and looked in. Moldy grain filled about half of the container. Carefully she let the water slip through her fingers. The entire barrel began to fill, with much more water than she'd been carrying.

"Close the door. Whatever this is, it is a part of you, but that doesn't mean it must rule your senses. It is in its place now. When you feel like you want to open that door and look into the eyes, do so. But not this time. this time, you can relax and feel the rejuvenation of the area without the eyes. Pristine."

She nodded, and replaced the lid. She sighed, relaxing for a moment.

But then the barrel began to leak. Just a small trickle, but a leak nonetheless. And in the leak, she could still see that sad gaze staring back at her. She frowned, and imagined the leak not existing, and the freed water evaporating in a puff of steam.

A leak began on the other side, which she again sealed. She began checking the barrels for holes, but it appeared perfectly sound. Not even a crack to be seen. But the water was coming from somewhere.

"It keeps leaking out, but I can't find from where," she reported aloud. Her lips tugged downward in a grimace. "I must be doing something wrong."

" No, Iris, there is no wrong or right. Whatever those eyes mean to you, they will not be suppressed. This actually answers half of the dilemma for me." He was getting concerned, there was nothing left of her neural map to write, yet there was a piece missing. It wasn't for lack of neurons, but as if the area was erasing any attempt to map it. He didn't want to pry, though. He would leave it be and hope that they had the opportunity to explore things further in the future. This also provided a quick out to escape covering it involuntarily, as he felt a bit of pressure the more he had tried to map the area.

" Go ahead an open your eyes, Iris." Garrett quickly removed his hand, seeing a flash frame of the map minus the anomaly before opening his eyes. " You did very well for your first meditation. Many people cannot even find a place to relax in, yet you actually got some work done. Apparently, these eyes have appeared to you before and have some kind of history or weight associated with them , yes? I would strongly suggest looking into this eye thing, excuse the pun. Do you feel any better?"

" No, Iris, there is no wrong or right. Whatever those eyes mean to you, they will not be suppressed. This actually answers half of the dilemma for me."

<"Not mine,"> she thought in disappointment.

" Go ahead an open your eyes, Iris." She complied with a sigh, letting her hand drop back into her lap, and leaning against the back of the bench.

" You did very well for your first meditation. Many people cannot even find a place to relax in, yet you actually got some work done. Apparently, these eyes have appeared to you before and have some kind of history or weight associated with them , yes? I would strongly suggest looking into this eye thing, excuse the pun. Do you feel any better?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Finding places to hide in my mind is never a problem. It's finding them in the real world where I have issues."

She reached around scratch her back, the frown on her face deepening a bit. The gems felt almost as if they were buzzing, and it tickled. Come to think of it, it was the first time they all felt that way, at the same time.

"As for the eyes.... yeah, I know who they are. And why I can't get rid of them. Or him." She sighed again, then gave Garrett a resigned look.

"Well, what next? Sorry I'm a rotten student," she apologized. She reached around to her back again.

" You really shouldn't talk down to yourself so much. Whatever your past, you are an amazing young woman with plenty to offer to the world. There is a balance in the universe, separating light and dark. As much as you can heap on yourself that is negative, there is an equal mountain of positive waiting to be discovered." He smiled with his eyes and his face, hoping to get the message across.She was definitely special. He really needed to resolve whatever was going on with her back, though. The anomaly.

She seemed to reach back there and touch. It just seemed too easy not to ask. " As you may have noticed, I mentioned only half of my dilemma being solved. The other half, well..how to say it. Is there something on your back? I was monitoring your neural pathways and something back there was keeping me from seeing anything. I hope you don't mind me asking. I have never seen such a reaction in anyone before." He had hoped that he hadn't pushed her away with the question. It needed to be asked, though.

(OOC: Sorry in advance for the length.

" You really shouldn't talk down to yourself so much. Whatever your past, you are an amazing young woman with plenty to offer to the world."

She shot Garrett a skeptical look out of the corner of her eye.

"There is a balance in the universe, separating light and dark. As much as you can heap on yourself that is negative, there is an equal mountain of positive waiting to be discovered."

She gave that some serious thought, while staring up at the sky. She hadn't used to be such a negative person. Shy, and a bit introverted, yes. But not negative. Really, that hadn't started until the kidnapping. Yes, that experience had definitely soured her view of herself. It had scared her, shaken her to her very core, and made her doubt her every move, every decision. They say fear is a powerful motivator. It's also a powerful hindrance.

" As you may have noticed, I mentioned only half of my dilemma being solved. The other half, well..how to say it. Is there something on your back?"

Iris's attention, and her head, snapped forward at that question. Her eyes widened, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Her hand automatically reached for her shoulder.

"I was monitoring your neural pathways and something back there was keeping me from seeing anything. I hope you don't mind me asking. I have never seen such a reaction in anyone before."

"Heh. Not surprising...." She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Neural pathways.... that included all of the links from her brain to her nerves, right? And the gems were directly connected to her brain chemistry, though she couldn't explain how.

<"Trust. Right. We're working on trust today.... You can do this.">

She scrubbed nervously at her face, feeling the warmth rising in her cheeks.

"Um.... yeah. Y-yeah, there is. Something there, I mean." She chewed at her lip, trying to come up with a way to word things so she wouldn't freak him out.

"My mutation is, well, complicated. Like I said. And.... well.... gah, there's no easy way to explain this." She groaned slightly, and looked around. There was no one near enough to them to cause concern. She'd have to risk it. "All right, its gonna be easier to show you than try and explain. I know I told you to run, but this one isn't dangerous. Don't freak out, okay?"

She inhaled deeply, and closed her eyes. She could see the aquamarine shining in her mind's eye, and willed it to come forward. She felt her body relax immediately, the great bulk of her tension washed away with the blond in her hair. When she opened her eyes, the dull violet orbs matched her new hair color.

She held out her right hand, displaying the sparkling, dime-sized jewel embedded in her palm. "There are five others, all different, embedded in my back. This is the one that controls liquid, and probably the least dangerous. They all affect my mental state, usually for the worse. That's probably why you couldn't.... well, 'see' them."

Not wanting to risk an incident, she closed her eyes, and her fist, and willed her mutation back into dormancy. The bluish-purple vanished, leaving her natural color behind.

She remained quiet for several moments, and when she spoke, her voice was nearly inaudible, and stammered. She turned her head to stare at the sidewalk.

"Sorry. I-I try to avoid Show-and-Tell. But k-keeping it hidden doesn't s-seem to be working any better, either. N-not lately."

(OOC: I love your long posting, makes for good reading and easy replying)

Iris seemed to be in shock at the mention of her back. It wasn't what Garrett had wanted but he did expect something along those lines. When she showed him her hand after changing into a lovely aqua color, he nodded." Understandable, Iris. I am not going to freak out. My own eyes have seen plenty. You might look into using that color more often as it seems to play a major role in your ability to relax."

Iris returned to her 'original' color and image. She seemed to have devolved back to her original frantic state. While Garrett wanted to help her further, he knew when to push and when not to push. " Perhaps we should stop for now. I think we made some strides and I would love to get together with you again soon. I will not judge you nor do I have any agendas concerning you, Iris. I think if you need anything right now, it is a friend. And I would be proud to be your friend, if you would let me. I don't have a phone or anything, but I can be reached at the Mansion. If you don't want to come there, you can always call up Neena and she can let me know. "

He reached his hand out to her. "Friends?"

"Understandable, Iris. I am not going to freak out. My own eyes have seen plenty. You might look into using that color more often as it seems to play a major role in your ability to relax."

"Yeah. A bit too much at times." Iris wrinkled her nose slightly, recalling the time her 'relaxed' state had nearly gotten her flash-burned in Syn's little dungeon of horrors. She inhaled deeply, and let it out slowly.

"Perhaps we should stop for now. I think we made some strides and I would love to get together with you again soon. I will not judge you nor do I have any agendas concerning you, Iris."

She tried not to turn red at that comment, but the thought had crossed her mind at one point. Come to think of it, it crossed her mind every time she met someone new, 'paranoid' being the perfect descriptor for her lately.

"I think if you need anything right now, it is a friend. And I would be proud to be your friend, if you would let me. I don't have a phone or anything, but I can be reached at the Mansion. If you don't want to come there, you can always call up Neena and she can let me know. Friends?"

She looked down at the proffered hand.

You've got to learn to trust.

Was that the third or fourth time she'd heard those words echo in her head in the last half hour?

Hesitantly, she reached out. Slowly she nodded, and shook his hand, still looking down.

"I.... I should get going." She stood up quickly, and started to walk away. But after a few paces, she paused. Turning back, she said, "Thank you," smiled and waved awkwardly at him, then hurried back toward the street.