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A redhead watched the night sky, counting the stars. He was lying on a hill on the outskirts of Crosshaven, one hand behind his head, one keeping track of which stars he had counted. He had probably counted some twice or more already, but he seemed to take no notice. "...one thirty-one, one thirty-two, one thirty-three, one thirty-four..."

Had his parents been here, they would have insisted he be in bed by now. It was already at least two years since they've been gone. The happy-go-lucky personality of the boy didn't let him grieve. Instead, he chose not to think about it, not to let it affect his life; but inevitably, it did. He couldn't go into his house for fear he would break down with all the memories.

"...one-ninety six, one ninety-seven," his counting was abruptly cut off by a sudden wave of sadness, shock, and confusion. It wasn't his own. He sat up quickly, looking towards the place the feeling had come from. 'The governor's mansion?' he wondered briefly, then returned to his normal thought patterns. "Aw, crud! I lost count!"

(ooc: I gotta go now, so I'll post a reply later)

The whirl of emotions around the woman almost overwhelmed the boy. By the time she actually came into his sight, he felt rather drunk with her emotions. Her calm face contrasted dramatically from what the boy knew was going on inside. He took in a shuddering breath, slowly picking out his own emotions from the confusion.

As the light from the sky caught on her face, Aylen recognized her as the governor's daughter. 'Wot's her name, Nin...' the name slipped his mind, just out of reach. Normally, he would have called out whatever he knew the person would respond to, but the sadness the radiated from her told him this wouldn't be a good situation to do so.

"Hey, erm, you lady, over there!" So much for tact. "How are you?"

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

"I can't answer that. I can't read minds, you know," he replied, still grinning, ignoring the burst of suspicion from the woman. "I wouldn't know if you know me." He stopped rocking as she sat down beside him and swiveled around to face her.

The redhead couldn't help but feel slightly amused. People always tried to hide their feelings. They were always afraid what people would think of them if they truly knew what was going on in their heads. Aylen couldn't read exact thoughts, but he came pretty close. Nina had already revealed more of herself than she knew.

Her words struck a chord somewhere within this boy, and he chewed his lip thoughtfully before giving any answer. "Nothing's good in large amounts, is it?" he began slowly, chewing it over as he spoke. "Too much love, it becomes obsessive. Hate, too. Fear turns to paranoia." He looked up to Ninas face. "But love can motivate to save a life. Hate could have been sprung from an injustice, and that injustice may be righted. Fear can put you on your guard, because you recognized a threat. What�s the point of not feeling?" Aylen countered her statements earnestly.

He resumed his rocking again. This boy didn't seem to be able to sit still for long periods of time. "No purpose," he said cheerily. "But I can sense them from other people. Tends to be interesting." He grinned at Nina. "For example, I know you're feeling better than when you first saw me." He stood up and stretched. "And I know Miz Morigan's afraid of bugs." His grin grew wider. "I bought a bug net."

He began swaying back on his heels. The redhead obviously had a lot of energy, and that energy found its way out one way or another. "No purpose worth mentioning. None at all."

He suddenly stopped swaying and looked at Nina seriously. "Do you really want to feel nothing? Do you really think we'd be better off without them? Feelings, I mean." there was an unexpected sincerity that edged the boy's voice that hadn't been there before.

He wondered at her question, screwing up his boyish face comically as he thought. He had thought of it many times before. Wouldn't it be better just to be numb? The redhead didn't know.

It wasn't until he was almost five to understand why some people were scared of him. Until then, he hadn't realized the way he could sense other people's emotions wasn't normal. Sometimes, he had even gotten confused about which emotions were truly his.

When his parents disappeared, all the pity and the sorrow from others choked him. That was when he began practicing shutting them out. Not even his own sorrow was strong enough to get in the walls that he built around himself. He had been numb before. But it had seemed so empty compared to now. Perhaps the true reason he was afraid of entering his house again was because he didn't want to lose his emotions again; even the pain.

"How do we help people if we can't relate to them?" Aylen wondered aloud. "It gives us all something in common." He shrugged, his grin returning to his face.

The boy listened as Nina described her Arcane magic, grinning all the while. She could raise a whole lot of heck with that kind of power. He was able to do something similar, but it was extremely limited. Aylen wondered for a moment what he could accomplish with that kind of power. The more he thought about it, the more he realized any gift could be used for both good or bad things. The word Gift should not be associated with either good or bad.

His thoughts were cut off by the rustling of skirts as the woman stood up. His blue eyes watched her retreating figure as she retraced her steps back towards the mansion. "'Bye Miz Nina," he called out, waving. He then flopped back down and began counting the stars again.

"One, two, three, four..."