Begin Again (Complete)

[Ax L Rose]

She remembered a time several years ago, when it had all finally started to sink in that she was home. Vale was home again. This wasn't Atlas anymore, and there was a good chance she might not ever have to go back to that wretched place of wintery misery. All those old faces, friends, problems, drama with family... she didn't have to deal with it anymore. It was a relief, yet there was also more pressure than ever before. Her third year in Beacon had been her hardest one yet. She felt a great weight on her shoulders, and it wasn't just her guitar case this time.

The pink-and-white haired bird faunus closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath of the fresh evening air as she walked along the stone path to the heart of the academy gardens. She oozed confidence with every sway of her hips, every decisive click of her boot heels against the stone. The lies people told themselves could become reality, if they were committed enough to it; she was living proof. She held her head high, and kept her back straight. When anyone looked her in the eye she looked right back. Sometimes this led to a polite smile, a simple wave, a brief greeting. Other times, people were quick to avert their eyes from Ax's intimidating, steely blue gaze.

Soon enough, she veered away from the main path where foot traffic was decidedly lighter. She had time before she needed to be anywhere, and so she soon enough ended up at a bench beneath some rather small trees. She pulled away the strap of her guitar case and sat with her feet firmly planted on the ground as she pulled out Electra Heart and rested it on her thigh. At a glance it was no more than a battle-axe with an almost whimsical resemblance to a guitar, but soon enough what she was doing would make sense to any onlookers. She willed the high-tech blade to life, and shining blue hardlight strings formed into being from the headstock to the blade. She set the levels low - she needed neither excess volume nor voltage at a time like this - but soft sparks of glowing blue electricity danced along the surface of the blade before being idly channeled into her gauntlet and her metal arm.

She used to do this all the time, but she had less and less time for it these days; practice in the fresh outdoors, where just about anyone wandering by could notice her, maybe strike up a conversation. The young bird began a slow test to make sure everything was functioning properly in the form of a few experimental chords. The sound carried like an acoustic guitar, despite having a uniquely synthetic and vaguely metallic sound. The strings crackled with little flickering sparks of electricity. Why go make awkward, risky introductions when she could maybe draw a curious person or two on her own? Better chances of finding someone with good music tastes, she figured.

Content with her test, she began to play a simple tune to warm up. Now wasn't the time to show off. Now was the time to calm her nerves and focus on the fundamentals. As the song carried on, she hummed the sections that normally had lyrics, melodic and flawlessly on tune, though a bit too quiet to carry as far as the guitar. Her eyes fell shut as she let herself relax to the music, muscle memory practically taking over as her fingers moved on the strings.

[Bartok Evergreen]

If there was ever music to Bartok's large bat ears it was a girl's voice. After that, it would have to be actual music. So much of the school had just been lots of voices, dischordant and contradictory. Bartok liked the sound, the people, the energy, but he couldn't stay around it forever. He had classes to attend to, and some were across campus from the others.

He walked through a section of the academy gardens and heard guitar strings being plucked. It was close to the soothing strings of an acoustic guitar, but it held a weight to it. And then the humming started. A young woman's voice that complimented her musical talent oh so well. It was feint enough that he guessed he was the only one who heard it. Other students busily walked by him on the path without taking notice of it. Bartok took out his scroll and opened it up. With a button push, it started reading the time. He had a few minutes before his next class, and this wasn't the first time he had played hooky.

He broke from the stream of students and headed down a side path towards the music, walking tall as he entered into the less-traveled space. With her humming and her work on the strings, Bartok simply stood there and drank the music in. With how she kept playing, she may not have noticed that he had walked down to her. She sounded like she was in the 'zone', going along with the music and shutting her eyes she as focused solely on the sound; The world Bartok lived in. He didn't dare click his tongue to see his surroundings for fear of interuppting her.

For an odd reason, Bartok didn't need to activate his Semblance in order to know what she was feeling and feeling it himself. He checked and made sure his Semblance was off, but those emotions were still there. It was a few things: Relief for being able to do something she enjoyed; Curiosity, presumably if she was playing music that people liked, though he could hear no one else nearby; The sweet happiness of relaxation, small but present as she fell into her music.

A slight wind blew by and he gained a slight picture of her. Her hair only ruffled on one side of her head, and it was graceful enough not to make too much sound. Straight hair, one side swept over her head or possibly shaved. Earrings. None of her clothes really rustled beside something that sounded like a stiff jacket of sorts. Pants then, without a skirt. She was out of her uniform. Out of classes for the day? Or skipping like he was about to be?

[Ax L Rose]

The pink-haired woman at the bench didn't so much as stir at the single presence that approached. Either she didn't notice or she didn't mind. The feeling that washed over her as she began to softly yet confidently sing was one of contentment and peace, a shimmer through the air detectable through aura.

"What's the word, does that thing have a name?
When familiar surroundings just don't look the same?
Do you think that it's strange? It's my way, I suppose,
I'm just longing for a place I don't know..."

She sang in a slightly breathier tone than she would've for most songs, especially if she were on stage. The song she'd chosen was an old one she'd written years ago, but it wasn't one she'd ever played for a big audience. It was smaller in scope, and the lyrics were close to home. The lyrics had a distant, almost melancholic sort of quality and Ax's singing voice absolutely drew that out. She continued on, her electric guitar sparking with lively electricity, her performance one part vocal highlight, one part light show.

"I was used to my safety and peace,
I mistook all this tedium with being at ease...
But then you came around, said, 'It's time to let go,'
And you took me to a place I don't know..."

There was something more to the song than just sorrow, though. The feeling that emanated from the performer was wistful, nostalgic, and there was a note of hope and fond memories underneath it all. Soon enough her eyes opened and she found herself facing one lonely audience member; a tall young man she was fairly certain she had never seen before. Her lips curved into an easy little smile and she gently whistled along with her guitar until the time came and her brief song approached a natural end.

"Come on, take me to a place I don't know..."

Her fingers moved as she played the last few notes, and she finished with a little flourish, content with the single soul she'd lured over with her siren's song for now. She'd have to hope he enjoyed it.

[Bartok Evergreen]

The feeling of relaxation emanating from the girl changed into confident contentment and she began to sing. Oh gods, she sang. And it was music and frosting and ice cream and a cherry on top to Bartok's ears. Bartok felt like he had suddenly grown bat wings and floated off into the sky.

And then the oddest sound came from her guitar. The sound of zapping, popping electricity that somehow kept a beat and added strange liveness to the slow mellow song. Either way, Bartok slowly swayed as he stood there, just enjoying the performance in absolute silence. The peaceful feelings met happy nostalgia, hope for more great memories like in the past.

And then she was finished with a long whistle and a flourish of the strings. The feelings turned towards slight curiosity near the end there, and then contentment. He took that for her now seeing that he was the only one there and wondering either who he was or if he liked the performance.

He wanted to clap, heck, he wanted to jump around and cheer for an encore. But that would betray the whole feeling that that song just gave off. Something more mellow, more heart-felt, was needed. He stepped forward and without a word, he gestured to the guitar and then to himself, adding a questioning head-tilt.

[Ax L Rose]

The final note of Ax's song slowly faded, and most of Ax's contented emotions steadily floated away along with it. The reaction she'd earned with her performance was kind of on the subtle side, but she had a sixth sense for this kind of thing; her lone audience member had liked it on some level. That was enough to keep the smile from entirely fading on her lips, even as her good cheer turned ever so slightly into uncertainty. She straightened her back slightly, her own head quirking slightly to the side as if mirroring him. A second later she felt like she understood what was happening, and she let out a brief little 'oh' before she pressed her lips together and gave him a gentle shake of her head and an awkward smirk. She didn't know who this guy was or what exactly he wanted her guitar for, but there was something more important that her quiet new friend probably needed to know about it. It wouldn't be the first time she had to explain how much of a hazard her instrument and weapon of choice were to strangers.

"Ah... you don't want to touch Electra Heart. She bites." Ax explained in brief. Never mind the fact that Ax wouldn't have let just anyone touch her pride and joy on a whim! Electra Heart was a finely tuned piece of engineering. The strings on the guitar shined bright for a brief moment only to dim a bit once more before she strummed a single power chord, causing blue-white lightning to crawl all about the guitar, dispersing only when her was absorbed into the metal plating on both of her hands. She let the guitar rest on her knee and raised her hands to try and show what she was working with.

"Only reason I can play her at all without getting grilled like a chicken is 'cause of these," Ax continued, showing off shiny, sleek-looking tech on one arm and a medieval-looking gauntlet on the other.

[Bartok Evergreen]

He heard her realize what he wanted and shake her head. He straightened up at the rejection, and his inward question of 'why not' was answered. In response, he made his first sound around the girl, a snap of the fingers to make a gun. Now he could see things much clearer. "Gotchya." He shook his head in disappointment. "And I had a song I wanted to play and everything." He really did.

His ears and not his head would twitch and swivel to the sounds of the electricity on her guitar, her synthetic arm, and... her other metal hand that was much clinkier? He clicked his tongue a couple of times.

"Ah, that's a.. glove, right? A gauntlet of sorts." He said. His dark goggles hid where his eyes looked, but from how his head didn't turn and his ears did, she might have picked up his disability. "Mind if I sit down with you?" He asked, motioning to one side of her.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax raised a curious brow as the young man spoke. She felt like this happened more often than should've been normal... this wouldn't have been the first time her music ended up making someone else want to show off in turn. Her expression went blank a moment later as her gears turned and she gradually interpreted what else was going on here. Between the goggles, the motions of his ears, and the fact that he was asking what something was that was right in front of his face, she finally figured it out. This guy couldn't see, or he at least couldn't see well.

"Yeah. Well, this is," she wiggled the fingers of her gauntlet-plated, flesh-and-blood hand. The plated segments subtly clicked with the motion. She then rose her opposite arm and flicked the metal with a fingertip, producing a faint little clink.

"This one's a metal arm," she added. She then paused for a brief moment before scooting over a bit to make a little room, raising Electra Heart and setting it to rest against the armrest of the bench. The strings seemed to fade away into nothing, the blade going dormant as Ax's hand parted from the grip. She crossed one leg over the other and rested her elbow on the armrest. Even as she got comfortable though, the dominant emotion at play in that moment was unease for some reason. She decided not to overthink it; she had a blind person on her hands and said blind person had evidently been hoping to show off, only to be politely informed he'd probably burn to a crisp if he tried. Maybe she should've brought a normal guitar.

She cleared her throat and decided to try and lighten the mood, make some conversation. She'd seldom been one to pass up on a chance to meet someone new around the grounds.

"Well... hey, rain check maybe on the song? Do you... have an instrument of your own?" Ax asked.

[Bartok Evergreen]

Curiosity. "Of course"-ness, or contempt, then a recognition. Those were the vague impressions Bartok got and it was unsettlingly eerie. It wasn't from himself but from the girl, and he could feel them directed towards himself. He could only guess that it was towards his blindness, but the comtemptness might have come from something else. Maybe others had tried to saranade the girl.

He listened to her explain her gauntlet and prosthesis, to which he nodded, followed by the sense of regret or unease, or a mix of both. He wasn't sure how to explain it. This whole thing utterly baffled him and he was more put off by it than not being able to turn those first moments of their meeting into a magically romantic one with his own song.

She asked for a rain check on the song and he shook his head. "I don't have an instrument of my own, other than pounding on my legs to make noise." He chuckled but quickly turned the subject. "You know, normally I have to really get to know a girl or active my Semblance before knowing what they are feeling. What is it about you that allows me to feel your emotions?" He asked. "I've been feeling everything, all the way from the walkway where I heard your singing. Are you just that good of an artist to convey emotion like that?"

[Ax L Rose]

Her lips remained a small, polite smile up until she realized what he was talking about. Her semblance. He was already savvy enough to get an impression of what was happening. Either he had experience with this sort of thing before, or he was also potentially empathic. She straightened up a bit, looking suddenly more interested. Semblances pertaining to empathy were always pretty interesting, and users often had similar outlooks and perspectives.

She let out a sort of dry laugh at the suggestion it was her talent that'd done it. Nah, definitely not the guitar work. She was good, but that old song was something from way back when she lived in Atlas. Wasn't that good.

"Damn, everything huh? Well, that's normal for me... people don't usually catch onto what's happening at first," she let out a brief laugh. "The mind is funny, man, people just like... rationalize foreign thinking as their own sometimes. I usually try to warn people I'm a passive empathic wi-fi router at some point early on when I meet someone, but... yeah, wow, it's never come up this early before."

She rose a knee up onto the bench and wrapped her arms around it, looking over at Bartok. There was a little more kindness in her eyes than before.

[Bartok Evergreen]

He now called out was he was feeling from her. "Surprise. Interest." He smiled softly, not knowing that he was mimicing her own. "Humility." He listened to her explain herself. He could tell that this didn't happen normally just by her brief laugh.

He let out a freindly laugh with her 'wi-fi router' comment. "I've had some experience feeling other's feelings. My own Semblance allows me to sense the emotions of those around me, although only when I activate it." There was another thing to it as well, but that could be explained later. "When I was first getting your 'signal', I checked if I had slipped up and let my Semblance loose. That's what drew me over here. And that voice of yours, of course." He added smoothly.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes widened, the proverbial gears in her head spinning more quickly as Bartok called out what he was sensing with single-word descriptors. Maybe his empathic senses were more precise than hers... she found she often struggled to find the words to describe things. Subtle shades of emotion were hard to distinguish between, but on the flip side she supposed she was making it pretty easy. She liked to think of herself as a pretty expressive person.

Well, this changed things! She often performed out and about in hopes of attracting an interesting soul or two - it was part of how she made friends and established her reputation - but she hadn't anticipated someone having a semblance so similar to her own. This boy could control when he picked up on others! What a concept! The limited influence she could exert via her own semblance would probably seem more than a little odd to someone with more control over the way their semblance worked... she'd often wondered what it'd be like to talk to another empath about things. He'd probably understand what a pain her own semblance could be on a more intuitive level too.

"All me, baby. And thanks," Ax grinned a little at the compliment. She didn't want to barrage or overwhelm this guy with questions too fast, but she definitely seemed more interested and excited than she did before. She wasn't sure if this guy was blind-blind or just like... mostly or partially blind. She hadn't been sure he was even a student at first, but with his note of having an unlocked semblance it wasn't like there was any other likely explanation for him being there at the Academy.

"Well... there is a way you could play a song. But it's a little risky and I'm not sure how comfortable it'd be for you. It's also not something I'd typically let just anyone do, but..." she swayed her head back and forth a little, as if literally weighing out the thought in her brain. Eh, fuck it. Why not?

"I could let you use my gauntlet. You won't be able to control Electra Heart completely without a fully bonded aura, obvs, but it should suffice for handling a set of strings as long as I set up the right soundfont for you..." she suggested. She reached over to pick Electra Heart up from where it'd been propped up. There was a little bit of an audible hum and a soft blue glow as she siphoned the excess power from the blade and into her arm. The excess voltage wouldn't do much for an uninitiated user of the blade. Bartok wouldn't be able to bond with it - the weapon was already infused completely with her own aura.

With that, she started to pull off her gauntlet on her offhand. She extended it gingerly - she'd only let one other person wear it before, and that'd been for testing purposes. She knew it wasn't at all likely to be dangerous to this guy, but she still felt a little bit of an uncertain, uneasy feeling deep down as she offered it over. It probably wouldn't fit perfectly, but it didn't have to be perfect.

[Bartok Evergreen]

Bartok continued to feel what was going on in her head, but he didn't say them outloud. If he did so know, he would seem like a smartass and annoying. Bartok knew that he could be a smartass at times and if his friend Erin had to say anything he was always annoying.

He sat up straight when she speculated giving him a chance with her prized weapon and instrument. He listened as she absorbed a massive amount of power from the weapon and held the gauntlet out for him. By her Semmblance, he could tell she was hesitant about it, that she hadn't ever done this before. "I am floored that you would do something like this for me, a guy you've only just met. I can tell you don't do this often." He reached out and took the gauntlet from her, his hands touching her hand as he gently and slowly took it from her grasp, put it on, and then took Electra Heart. "I hope I don't disappoint." He flicked a finger gun with the free hand before settling the guitar.

The whole thing felt like he was rubbing his sock-laden feet across heavy carpet continueously. It was probably charged with enough power to light up a house, run the stove and heat the water all by itself. No wonder no one else got to use it. He tried a few strings and chordes just to get a feel for the instrument. Then he cleared his throat and began to play.

He wasn't as good at manipulating the constantly changing notes and chords like this girl could, but he knew enough to do this song. He started off with humming like she had, getting the main chords in and tempo of the song before really starting.

I set my sail~
Fly the wind, it will take me~
Back to my home, sweet home...

Lie on my back~
Clouds are making way for me~
I'm coming home, sweet home...!

The song was melancholy at first, sad nostalgia, like the song that she had song. It was a song he had heard from a previous classmate of his from Mystral, so he had hoped that no one, at least not this girl, had heard it before. It was supposed to be a sadder song about a Huntsman returning home, but Bartok put a small spin to it by changing only one word from here on out. Originally it was 'Mother', and he changed it to 'Lover'.

I see your star~
You left it burning for me~
Lover, I'm here...!

Eyes open wide~
Feel your heart and it's glowing~
I'm welcome home, sweet home...

The next two versus shifted into something much more of a longing, romantic love song, someone longing with their heart and wishing upon stars to be with their dearly beloved. He would turn his head up to look at her now. Well, to her he'd be looking at her, not that he could actually see her. But she didn't know that he couldn't see yet.

I take your hand~
Now you'll never be lonely~
Not when I'm home, sweet home...!

I see your star~
You left it burning for me~
Lover, I'm here~!

He trailed off at the last word, and instead of adding a flourish to copy her, for he was doubtful he could have pulled it off, he let the strings naturally vibrate away.

Bartok would solemnly offer the guitar and gauntlet back to her. He felt like he would normally have said something outrageous, like a proposal of marraige or something, but this whole conversation had changed to something much different. He didn't feel a need for his normal charming and heart-stealing lines. Maybe it was because he could feel what she felt, but he didn't think that they would work on her anyways.

"Not as good as you," He said, scratching behind one of his big ears on his head. "But I hope I did alright." He then realized that he didn't know her name, and she didn't know his! "I'm Bartok, by the way. Bartok Evergreen."

[Ax L Rose]

Ax let out a little huff of air in response to Bartok's reassuring words, but she managed a pretty, cheery-looking smile despite the clear, evident fact that she was just a little bit annoyed. She was speculating a little in her mind about how this worked - maybe his experience with empathic senses meant that their signal strength was naturally stronger by default? If that was the case, she'd have to hope he wasn't too annoying about it going forward. Any errant note of contempt that materialized within her wouldn't go unnoticed. She couldn't sit here and overthink her feelings though... she'd just have to accept that this guy was going to have an easier time reading her than most and hope that he didn't end up being too judgmental about it.

"Yeah, yeah, let's not make a thing about it. I'm looking forward to hearing what you were so eager to share," Ax replied with a cheery grin. She was clearly keen to downplay her unease, and his words just made her want to double down, offering the guitar just a bit more insistently than before. Her fingers were still warm from having just worn the gauntlet, but her mood stayed steady at the stray touch of their hands.

Even with so much of Electra Heart's power contained in Ax's cybernetic arm, the glowing electric-blue hardlight strings of Electra Heart felt full of power. Even though the aura contained within it was entirely foreign to Bartok, the blade seemed calibrated to connect with the wielder. It was as if the blade had a psionic presence within it, and that presence was the same as that of Ax's, resonating with her. The beautiful blade nevertheless cooperated with every strum of its strings - it was a precisely-tuned monster of a guitar. Ax watched Bartok get comfortable with the weapon with gradually easing anxiety. Ax seemed reassured to see that he seemed to at least passably know what he was doing as he experimentally strummed the strings.

As Bartok began his song, Ax leaned back a bit in the bench and folded her arms over her chest. Her head tilted to the side slightly as humming soon turned to full on vocals. She nodded slightly, appearing somewhat impressed even right away. Her expression soon grew into a small smirk - she clearly liked what she was hearing. As the song continued, her eyebrows rose and she straightened out a little where she sat. The emotion that seemed to come from her strongest was curiosity - interest. When he seemed to look at her, she met his "look" head-on, her own gaze challenging and slightly imperious. Perhaps she wanted to see if expression alone would elicit feeling - it'd give her an idea of how well he could see.

She nodded her head a few times as his song finished, reaching out with her metal right arm to accept Electra Heart as he offered it back.

"Alright. I'll give it up. I'm impressed," she admitted, an approving grin on her lips. She accepted her gauntlet back and tugged it back onto her hand.

"No point in playing modest, bro. You killed it. Hah... fuck, here I am, lettin' you touch my guitar n' shit before you've even introduced yourself..." He caught her at a good time, she figured. That, or maybe she was just a little bit less cynical about people than she thought she was. She let out a small, sardonic little chuckle.

"I'm Ax. Did you write that song?"

[Bartok Evergreen]

He felt that twinge of contempt when he mentioned her not having done this before. He should probably shut up about reading her feelings now. He'd impressed her, now he couldn't get too annoying about it.

As he looked towards her and she, unknowingly, looked back at him, he would give no visible facial response as he played. Whether he had a good poker face or was playing along in some way. He definitely continued to feel the curiosity and interest, which he guessed were all good. Did she wonder how much better he could play? Because he couldn't. He could only strum a few chords, and that song was the best one he knew.

At the praise, he couldn't help but continue scratching the back of one of his ears. He had flirted with a lot of girls, but it was the sort of 'sweep them off their feet to makeout in a corner' or 'steal a dance while their boyfriend grabbed punch' sort of advance. He had never had a conversation where he could literally feel the genuine interest coming off of a girl. He didn't know if that was romantic interest or interest in his own Semblance or just him as a person in general. He didn't want to screw it up, and he honestly didn't know how not to.

"As much as I would like to take credit for that, I can't lie. I got it from a previous friend of mine, he taught me how to play it. I would love to write my own songs, but most I come up with are love ballads that only last for a single verse, sometimes two. And they're pretty on the nose." He chuckled. "Maybe next time I can take you out to dinner before touching anything else." He snapped a finger gun before realizing what that sounded like a moment later. "Not like that."

[Ax L Rose]

Ax knew how to channel her inner star power with a look, so when he had no emotional response to the imperious look she gave him, she came to the conclusion that he must've been blind-blind. She nodded slightly to herself in comprehension. That also meant he probably had little to no idea of what she actually looked like, which colored this situation in a way she wasn't really used to. With how much work and deliberation went into her presentation and general appearance...

Her eyes narrowed slightly and trailed up to his ears. Was it possible that he was really blind? He had to be a student there. There must've been some way he was able to perceive changes in his environment if he was there, even if she wasn't 100% certain how it worked. She'd seen blind people before, but she'd never really gotten to know one personally before. The general impression she got from him emotionally was that he was a little less certain and confident than he was when he'd first approached... shades of meaning were always subtle, and her empathic senses weren't precise enough for her to intuit roots and causes for what people felt.

She was a little surprised at what he had to say after that, her expression softening slightly. Maybe he didn't sing or play much in general, but he clearly had talent. Her lips parted to speak around the same time he suggested taking her out to dinner, causing her to hesitate. She was surprised at his boldness, but Bartok was kind of at a disadvantage with a woman like Ax. What was the best way to address this? She supposed it'd help them both if she was straightforward and blunt at some point... she let out a soft laugh and gently shook her head.

"I'm really flattered, but I'm gay. You're a bold, handsome, and apparently talented guy though, for what it's worth. Better luck next time?"

[Bartok Evergreen]

The first time. The first time Bartok had ever been genuinely interested in a girl that he forwent his usual debonair sensibilities and tried, actually tried to be a not at all annoying and humble guy... she turned out to be gay.

Not that that was wrong, but it simply meant that in no world would she ever be interested in him! Then what the heck was all that interest that was literally oozing from her when he was playing the song about? His Semblance? His blindness and the goggles?

Bartok simply stared(as much as a blind man can stare) ahead, not saying anything. If she were sensing his emotions instead, she might feel his heart break. He had really tried, even played a song the best he knew how, but it was fruitless all along. Maybe he shouldn't have skipped class afterall. The bat boy let out a pent up sigh. Well, time to put on the old hat. The new one was no good.

With a laugh on his lips that may or may not have been genuine, Bartok lifted his head and smiled a too-white smile. "Well, it's about time someone other than me had an interest in women. They're just too beautiful not to go after!" He leaned against the back of the bench, resting one ankle on the knee of the other as he lounged.

[Ax L Rose]

Yeaaah, there it was. Disappointment. Ax's facade cracked ever so slightly, her lips very briefly twitching into a frown at what she was now feeling, but she knew she should've probably expected it. She'd been pretty open with this guy - he could be forgiven for maybe picking up on some signals she didn't intend. After all, it wasn't like she let just anyone touch Electra Heart. What could she say? She loved attention. It was honestly too bad getting attention from guys just... tended to make her feel skeeved out at a certain point. She liked the idea of a handsome, masculine guy. The reality of one was a whole different matter entirely.

This guy had a pretty solid poker-face though. She'd imagined a blind guy would probably be more expressive, but it wasn't like she knew the first thing about actually living with being blind or close to it. She could at least appreciate that he wasn't acting indignant about this exchange thus far. She'd definitely had to deal with guys that were way poutier and way more entitled. Compared to a many she'd met in the past, Bartok was a downright gentleman.

"Solidarity. Righteous," Ax replied with an approving nod, keen to try and stay upbeat as best she could. She'd have been a mess if she hadn't learned to cope with her always-active emotional telepathy by this point. She had a lot of practice detaching from foreign emotions and practicing mindfulness in the face of negative emotions, and she could thank the stars for that. Without a little adaptation, stray emotions from her neighbors in her dorm alone would have made it impossible to get anything done.

"You can keep flirting with me if you want, though. I don't mind," Ax shrugged lazily and smiled faintly.

[Bartok Evergreen]

Bartok wasn't too sure what those words really meant. Was she mimicing how he had made single-worded statements about the emotions she was feeling, saying what he must have been feeling? He didn't feel very 'solid' as he reverted back to his normal flirtation methods, and nobody had ever described him as righteous. Ax also seemed to be keeping a rein on her emotions now, but he got the sense that they basically meant "Agreed" to his statement about women being too beautiful to not go after.

"Keep flirting with you? What, do I need to step up my game?" He chuckled, taking her offer. "Or maybe you think I am the only guy you would ever get with? The only male you would stray away from the bubbly, exciting, strong and graceful women for?" The entire while he spoke he showed his white teeth, accented by his two sharp fangs. He was told by some girls that they thought them hot, so he liked to use them the best he could. "Am I just that dashing? That charming? That alluring?"

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes narrowed slightly at Bartok as he spoke, but the smile on her lips didn't fade. She tilted her head slightly to one side, raising a hand and brushing a metal thumb against her chin in quiet contemplation. Maybe Bartok couldn't see very well, but he might've nevertheless gotten the impression she was giving him a slightly more focused evaluation at this point. Those sharp blue eyes gave him an up-and-down look that bordered on predatory.

"Always room for improvement. I 'unno... I could dress you up a bit, doll you up a bit..." she trailed off, trying to imagine the boy in a lovely scarlet skirt, with long dark hair cascading from his shoulders... maybe a nice tight corset and underwear to match?

"Could be fun. There's a whole world of excitement and thrills for handsome, dashing, disciplined boytoys with a little bit of an open mind," Ax suggested lightly, shrugging her shoulders again in a manner that seemed almost nonchalant. She sounded pretty serious, but the dominant emotion in that instant was humor. Maybe Ax was just messing with him, or maybe she figured he wasn't actually the type to ever crossdress.

[Bartok Evergreen]

He could tell that she was humorous as she suggested things, but... she called him a boytoy. "Listen," He held up a hand. "I'm not against dressing up. Heck, you should see me at a formal dance! But I'm nobody's toy, and I'm not the one who get's dolled up. I mean, I take off these goggles and I'm in sever pain from any light, no way I'm putting on eye shadow and mascara." He tilted his head upwards as if in thought. "Though, I did wear black lipstick for a party I went to." He faced back down to her. "I looked really sexy then."

He leaned forward, a bit too far forward, though he knew that she wasn't into men. "You on the other hand," Being that close, shapes and colors just barely came into focus enough for him to see a lot of skin. He didn't see it in any clarity, but he recognized what skin looked like. He did a double take on her chest, peering even closer before pulling his head back quickly. He had gotten a few inches away from her bust. He looked back up at her. He was close enough to see a basic shape of her face, dashes of something blue where her eyes should be. "On the other hand," he repeated, "You're wearing hardly anything at all! If only my eyes worked properly. I had no idea you looked this good, Ms. Ax."

[Ax L Rose]

Ax tapped a thoughtful finger against her cheek. Eh, it didn't seem like it'd be that hard to get Bartok looking nice and girly, even if he had to keep the goggles on... but the point was made.

"Shame," Ax noted, though she didn't actually sound that disappointed.

She tensed up just a bit as Bartok leaned in from there. He was definitely a bit beyond her normal boundaries for what she was okay with here - too many people in practice saw 'a lot of skin' and interpreted it as permission to touch, which tended to put Ax on the defensive. She'd never minded anyone looking, but usually people didn't need to get mere inches away to get a decent look at her chest. She reached out and put a hand to Bartok's chest to keep him from getting any closer before he got any bright ideas. Her cheeks reddened slightly, mostly out of embarrassment at what this probably looked like from an outside perspective than anything else. She was already imagining some other jackass seeing this little display and figuring this kind of staring was acceptable just because a mostly-blind-guy had been observed doing it.

"Close enough," Ax said politely, in an effort to gloss over the indignation that was all too apparent thanks to her semblance. She'd hurt people for doing less than Bartok was doing now. He more or less was only getting anything resembling a pass for it by the virtue of his lacking eyesight. What were the chances that Bartok didn't realize how uncomfortable this kind of scrutiny could make someone feel? She wasn't sure, but as long as he respected the boundaries she put down she'd get over it.

"So, how well can you actually see me then?" Ax asked a second later. There were probably less blunt ways to ask, but it seemed things were already pretty... friendly at the moment.

[Bartok Evergreen]

With the body, verbal, and emotional language all saying "I'm uncomfortable with this", Bartok backed off and returned to his normal distance on the bench. It wasn't like she was exactly into men, any closer and he was going to feel some physical abuse. Coming onto female students who didn't want it at a school for warriors in training was just asking them to make an example of you. He had had that happen before, and his face had gotten used to slaps. However, Ax felt like she might get a lot more personal on certain areas of Bartok that she didn't care for, given her position.

"I can't see you." He said honestly, shaking his head. "Not here, at least. I only saw the color of your skin when I was that close. I could see there was something over your chest, is that just a bra you're wearing?" He asked, but quickly got back on topic. "Anyway, to see any detail I'd need the thing to be at my nose. So, I couldn't exactly oggle you unless I literally shoved my face up in there." He paused for a moment, then added, "Are your eyes... like, neon blue? I'd really like to see- no, sorry, that was that your makeup obviously." He waved a hand in dismissal as he thought out loud and cut himself off. "Those would be some exciting eyes otherwise."

[Ax L Rose]

Ax immediately seemed to ease up a bit as Bartok backed off. He was smart. She could change emotional states very quickly, and the subsequent results could be hard to predict. Maybe he was getting a sense of that.

Her eyes widened slightly when he made it clear that frankly, he couldn't see at all. The best he got was vague images. She imagined it now like blurs of indistinct color, looking at the world through foggy glass. Maybe it was an artful way to interpret it moreso than a realistic one, but oh well.

"...the thing above my chest is a tattoo. It's my emblem. Otherwise, yeah, tits are safely secured by a combat-bra," Ax clarified for the guy. She was taken aback a little when his next question was about her eyes.

"You want a good look at my eyes?" Ax asked. By this point, she was down to let him get close enough to see them. It'd be a little weird, maybe, but it couldn't be any weirder than having the guy six inches away from her chest. She felt pretty confident she could handle having his face really really close to hers for a brief bit of time. It'd probably be more nerve wracking for him rather than her, as long as this was happening on her terms.

[Bartok Evergreen]

"Thing above your chest?" He asked, mostly to himself, then scrunched up his nose as he thought back to when he could see her, even barely. It was hard remembering that, given that he got more impressions from it than anything. He shrugged. He had probably been more noticing her combat bra and mentioning that, but she also had a tattoo it seems.

When she mentioned her eyes and him getting a good look, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I've only seen one person's eyes before. Even if mine don't work very good, or at all, I think eyes, at least her eyes, are really pretty." He rubbed his neck some more. "If your eyes are really that blue color, I mean, that'd be another set of eyes to see." He sat up straighter and cleared his throat. He had lost a bit of his poise and debonair charm for a second there. "I promise that when getting that close I won't try anything, no matter how tempting that singing mouth of yours is." He smirked and if she allowed, would lean in again, a bit less than last time, and look into her eyes.

His own eyes were normally blocked from sight due to his dark goggles. However, in the right light and up close, which this may have been the right light, one could see through. The whitest of whites contrasted with his bright piercing scarlet irises. Despite the darkness they were constantly subjected to, they weren't dialated super heavily, instead his pupils were small pinpoints. His eyes didn't seem to work well, even in adjusting for the light. The red irises also had deep grooves in their patterns, as all eyes looked differently. The grooves turned the bright red to a deeper maroon.

[Ax L Rose]

Maybe even the foggy glass analogy wasn't appropriate for how blind this dude was. She didn't bother to clarify about the tattoo - apparently he hadn't even noticed or seen it. She was already gearing up mentally for the task of sitting perfectly still while this guy got about as close to her face as she could willfully endure.

She wasn't really entirely sure about why she was subjecting herself to this, though. Bartok, for all his bluster and superficial charm, was an empath. Maybe that was part of the reason she cared about this - there were only so many people out there with semblances that pertained so directly to emotional states. There were only so many people that would ever really understand what it was like, how it was strange, how it was challenging... maybe that was part of the reason why, despite being very gay, Ax wanted this boy to like her on some level. Platonically, ideally.

She gave a resolute nod at Bartok's assurance, and for the most part remained still as he began to lean in closer. Her eyes followed his - a vibrant shade of luminous blue that matched the lightning bolt earrings dangling from her ears. Ax's gaze was unerring, steely, and intense both in its imperious qualities as well as in its beauty. Eyes were windows to the soul, so they said. What would he see in her eyes?

She saw a different color. Slightly mixed together reds that for some reason reminded her distinctly of the color of blood in the water, washing down the drain. She was determined to hold that gaze, but she unconsciously tensed up just a little as they looked into each other's eyes. Her leg began to bounce almost impatiently. She turned her head silently to the side so she wasn't facing directly at him, so she wasn't breathing directly into his face when she spoke.

"Getting a good enough look, lover boy?" she asked, the words lighthearted, playful. Evidently Ax was trying to keep the mood light.

[Bartok Evergreen]

Her eyes looked like they had been artificial. Not the physical makeup, but the color. They were just so bright and vibrant that it hardly looked natural. Being this close he would be able to tell if she wore contacts, and she wasn't. It was simply remarkable. They were like bolts of lightning, that is if he knew that lightning bolts had a color, but he did know that they were bright.

He saw resolve, he saw courage to stand up for friends, he saw past hurt. How did he see so much in her eyes? Was the empathic link and the intese staring contest to blame? Although, even this close he didn't have a perfectly clear image. Just the slightest of haze obscured the finest of lines. Still, it was a better sight of someone's eyes than he had gotten since Erin's.

He must have been staring for a long time because Ax asked if he had enough time. He suddenly realized that he heard her leg bouncing impatiently. How long had he been there, staring at her? He leaned back, blinking as he did and his ears flicked back into full use. Those piercing eyes just vanished away from him, and he rejoined the world of sound.

"Oh, I got a great look." Bartok said, nodding. "I'm sorry if that was a little awkward. Didn't mean to stare for so long. But what can I say? Just those eyes alone are thrilling to look at." He smiled. "If you want to get into a staring contest, let me know. I'll oblige."

[Ax L Rose]

They were pretty much close enough to smell each other, which was... probably weird, especially to an onlooker. She pushed through that moment of self-consciousness, determined not to get too into her head about the fact that Bartok was getting a better whiff of her vanilla-and-rum-scented perfume than most did. She silently lamented that she wasn't having this moment with a pretty girl instead.

Ax wasn't sure what she saw in his eyes. Perhaps nothing... perhaps it was just a faint reflection in the rust and blood, like a red-stained mirror that just barely reflected only herself. For a moment, Ax wondered if there was anything there underneath it at all. Her feather-tipped ears seemed to perk upward slightly, and for a brief moment she was taken back to an old memory of blood in the water and the metallic gurgle of a thirsty drain. Even as her face had turned slightly away, her eyes stayed steadily locked on his own. She drove the memory away - she wouldn't tolerate any funny business from her semblance right now. She instantly relaxed when Bartok pulled back.

There was something unusually intense going on there. Her mind turned the idea over, back and forth... perhaps it had something to do with her semblance interacting with another empath. She had no real way to know how that might change the nature of her empathic connection with someone. She exhaled a breath of air and leaned back a little, resting an elbow on the bench armrest. She tried on a smile, but it felt almost... weary on her lips.

"I feel like I just stared into your soul and had a little... mini-existential crisis about it for a second. We're past awkward and now we're on another floor entirely," she let out a dry little huff of a laugh.

"I'm over it, though. Now you can say you've seen two pairs of eyes."

[Bartok Evergreen]

She had felt a little... sad? Just a tad, and that was all Bartok had gotten from her as they stared into each other's eyes. Something had almost clicked as they had looked, something moved into place, but it was over now.

He nodded happily. "Yeah, another pair of eyes for the ol' noggin. Some gorgeous ones at that." He folded his arms. "How come you don't have a girl of your own hanging on your arm already? I mean, I can't even see you and I was into you. How could anyone see those eyes on the regular and not be attracted? And that singing voice!" He leaned back against the bench before his ears twitched. "Lemme guess, less their fault and more of yours, I take it?" Then he might have understood. "Does... does it have to do with that Semblance of yours? All the rogue feelings?"

[Ax L Rose]

As weary as Ax was, she was still susceptible to flattery. She managed to keep a straight face at the compliment to her eyes, but he managed to get a smirk out of her as he continued to flatter her further.

"Heh... alright, I'll give it up, that was kinda smooth. I guess there's something to be said about persistence," Ax interjected with a small little grin. When he spoke on, she let out a quiet little sigh and gave Bartok a nod, only to remember a second later that he couldn't necessarily easily perceive such a gesture.

"You... pretty much hit the nail on the head. Well like... sort of," Ax tilted her head to the side, raising a hand and making a shaky gesture, her lips briefly forming a little grimace.

"It's not anyone's fault exactly... but you sort of have the right idea. My semblance complicates a lot of things. In some ways, it makes connecting with people easier. But if I don't make a sincere effort to control my emotions, it's..." she hesitated, struggling to find the right words.

"It's hard," she admitted a second later.

"Let's pretend. Say you're a pretty girl. If I meet you and I get heart-eyes about it... what if you feel what I feel? What if you wouldn't normally feel that way? What if you're just feeling a ghost of my own attraction? How do I know for certain? And that's not even scratching the surface. That's just one problem of many."

She seemed to relax as she spoke on. Maybe she was getting a little more comfortable with this situation. It helped that Bartok was seemingly making a sincere effort to make her feel better.

[Bartok Evergreen]

Bartok listened as she spoke, not making a sound. As much as he liked to talk, he had four ears, two of which were much bigger than anyone else's that he knew. What was that saying about one mouth and two ears? Anyways, he listened and pretended with her. "They... Only if they were really gullible would they fall for it and then you'd be suspicious, and if they thought about it they wouldn't know if it was their emotions or yours. They'd pull away." His voice was soft as he spoke his thoughts, his head tilted down. "I can see the problem."

"See, my Semblance doesn't just let me feel other's emotions, they become my own. I literally take on the same emotions. The stronger they are, they seem to replenish my Aura. It took me..." He clenched and unclenched his fists. "A long time, but I eventually was able to keep control of myself while in it, and direct a course of action, feeding the emotions into the action. Mostly into attacks on Grimm, turning other classmate's desperation, fear, or anger into power." He let out a sigh. "Having it be passive is so much harder than not. If my Semblance was passive, I'd be bat shit crazy." He flashed her a grin. "Pun intended." He then regained his more solemn expression as if that hadn't happened.

He turned his head back towards her. "I didn't just start talking about myself to change the subject," He put a hand on his chest. "Though I could go on. I'm no expert with your Semblance, but I know what it's like trying to rein in your emotions through a Semblance. What if we worked on getting that Semblance of yours under control? I'm sure you've tried it before, but have you had another empath help you?"