we're all mad here [ avoir. x chasing_stars ]

[paper planets]

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H A V E x I x G O N E x M A D x ?
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pity is a powerful thing. pity can make you do things you never thought you would do before. it can change you, change who you are, who you associate with. pity can even bring forth the hero within and it can cause you to rescue someone, even if it means putting your own life in danger.

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I ' M x A F R A I D x S O x . . .
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[paper planets]

- melanie rose kingsley - "mel"
- female (heterosexual) - twenty years old
- has mind reading powers but she always says everything she thinks - she constantly hears the voices of people's thoughts when they are near - they never stop - when the emotion is more powerful the voices are louder
- while in the lab she mutters the thoughts she hears to fill the silence
- after being in the lab for so long she isn't in control of her emotions & she can never really control her power
- she sometimes gets nightmares and wakes up screaming because she believes they're real
- traits;; observant, naive, curious, adventurous, quiet, soft-spoken, closed off, gentle - kind, selfless & humbles despite what she's been through - breaks under pressure, overly cautious, odd/aloof, genuine, compassionate, innocent, nervous/on-edge/unpredictable, stubborn, has a good heart, unadaptable, lacks confidence & determination, dependant, trustworthy & still quite friendly

[avior.]

- cooper james
- twenty one
- kinda has this 'emotionless' facade going on. he pretends like he doesn't feel anything which is really really far from the truth
- very collected and uses his head over his heart.
- ^ makes him hard to faze and good in a crisis, but in a personal relationship? not so much
- actually a sweetheart if you get him to open up.
- he does care about people, but he tries to hide it for the sake of his job.
- tries his best not to get attached to people
- a child at heart,,, seriously take him to an amusement park and he'll spend all his money on cotton candy and games where he can win a plushie
- very serious around people he doesn't know
- super indecisive and has a wavering resolve with most things (can and will take an hour deciding which shirt to wear)
- cannot flirt at all nope
- the sweetest smile ever
- kinda hardened after working for the laboratory for a while. he's seen quite a bit of failed experiments, you could say.
- gets nightmares about it a lot
- insomnia
- has literally no idea what to do if there isn't someone in control giving orders
- avid moviegoer

[okay so here's my casual mobile form for now!! I'll fix it later and also resize/crop that gif because ew it's big
also melanie is precious and I love her]

[avior.]

⎯⎯xxxC O O P E R !!
xxxxx❝ weep, little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start

Cooper's break had lasted about two weeks. The test subject he'd been guarding had died, and he was left to his own devices until his services were needed once more. He hated the breaks between jobs more than he hated the job itself- when he wasn't on duty, he was plagued by thought, guilty conscience battering him from all sides. He tried not to let it get the best of him, but there was always that uncomfortable prickling in his stomach- he knew what was going on in the underground laboratory was illegal, and yet he did nothing about it.

Today, though, he was back on. For reasons the head scientist wouldn't give away, one of the guards had mysteriously quit. Now, Cooper was in charge of the subject. Early Monday morning, he made his way into the lab, dressed in the white jumpsuit worn by everyone there- prisoners, guards, and scientists alike. His footsteps echoed hollowly against the concrete walls and floors as he trekked down three flights of stairs and into the basement. In one hand was a metal tray, littered with a few skimpy food items and a clipboard and the other grasped a small handgun. For safety purposes, they said. You could never be sure what one of the prisoners would do. He stopped in front of he heavy steel door, taking a second to glance down at the papers attached to the clipboard. He had come in to see her twice now, but her name had slipped his mind once again. There it was, jumping out from the page.

Melanie Kingsley.

Putting the gun in his belt loop, the man rested his palm on the handle. Then Cooper took a deep breath and twisted it, sensors turning green as they recognized his fingerprint and the door cracked open.

[I hope this is okay for the first post! let me know if you need to me to change something ^^]

[paper planets]

── ( ✰ ✰ ✰ ) ──────────── (( M E L A N I E !!! ✰✰✰

" can anybody hear me? am I talking to myself? "


There was those four, plain, cement walls were Melanie spent most of her time. Trapped in this cell, which was filled with silence. There were the times when she could hear voices, but it was hard to distinguish them between real, spoken voices and the voices inside their heads - their thoughts - especially when she heard them speaking while their thoughts rolled around in her head. When she first discovered her powers she always spoke her own thoughts, her parents must've thought she was just a child who didn't know any better. In time she began to whisper her thoughts, she learned how to because she would see her parent's confused and scared faces as she walked around school, speaking her thoughts out loud for everyone to hear, no matter how good or bad they were. But, maybe her parents got too worried for her when she would run up and tell them what the boy sitting beside her in class was thinking about or when they heard her strange mutters when she sat alone. Maybe that's why they took her to the doctor after years of waiting for this phase to pass and maybe that's how this lab found out about her powers. Melanie shook her head to clear the thoughts, which were softly whispered under her breath in the silence of her room.

She didn't have time to do much else because only moments later she heard footsteps coming close to her door and she was just able to hear his thoughts, 'Melanie Kingsley..' as he stood before the door. Then, a moments pause before the door cracked open, revealing her newly assigned guard. Her old guard had suddenly decided to leave, which she had no problem with. The first time she met her new guard the words that softly slipped through her lips were, "Good job, get away from this lab and all the horrors within it," perhaps she had even spoken the words louder than usual so her new guard could hear them, maybe then he would save himself too. She didn't want anyone to deal with all of the illegal matters that went on down here. That probably wasn't the best attitude to have towards her captors, but she just didn't want to see anyone suffer if the law ever discovered this secret laboratory and all the test subjects hidden in the basement.

Melanie looked up at her guard, he seemed to be her age, he wore the same white jumpsuit that everyone in this place wore - including her - and he had a tray of food, "Breakfast," she muttered as she looked at the tray of unappetizing food that she would have to eat. Sure, they didn't force her to eat, but it was eat or starve and, even though she hated this place, she didn't want to die. She wanted to leave and help all of the other test subjects before they met their imminent fate. She took another look at the guard, staring nervously at the gun he carried, and then she moved to the center of the cot she had been sitting on, sitting with her legs crossed and she waited for her guard to come into her room.

( it's perfect c: sorry about my post being so large Cx )

[avior.]

⎯⎯xxxC O O P E R !!
xxxxx❝ weep, little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start

The voice inside greeted Cooper almost the moment he emerged in the doorway as the inmate apparently assessed the tray. Dipping his head slightly, as if to confirm her statement, he slipped all the way into the small room, shutting the heavy door behind him. A sweeping glance around the walls told him that it had not changed one bit- the room was still small and bare and white. He personally would've gone insane after spending two months in here, and a part of him admired this girl for not. Then again, maybe she was crazy. He wouldn't know.

Cooper's fingers itched for the gun- a few years of guarding hostile prisoners had made him extremely wary. Still, there was no need to scare her any more than she probably was, and anyways, she didn't look very intimidating just now, sitting calmly in the middle of the cot. She looked nervous, yes- Cooper had grown good at reading body language- but there was nothing to suggest violence in the pale girl's eyes. So he approached a few feet, steps slow in order to maintain a peaceful, if not tense, atmosphere.

"Yes..." his voice trailed off, at a lost for words. Leaving it at that for now, he settled the tray on the edge of the cot, keeping an eye on Melanie for any sort of sudden movement. Still watching her warily, he pulled a syringe from his pocket and advanced another step, meeting her eyes and keeping his voice calm so she wouldn't panic.

"I just need to take a sample of your blood. Is that okay?" The last part almost wasn't needed, as he would have to do it anyways, but he wanted her to feeel as if she had at least some measure of control. It was a weekly practice, to ensure everything was still fine with the subject physically- Cooper wasn't sure what, he was no scientist. But he knew it was necessary and expected of him, though he wasn't sure he liked the idea.

[oh man your post was great mine feels inadequate now uh uh
I mean at least my need to be just as good as you is going to be pushing me to improve cx]

[paper planets]

── ( ✰ ✰ ✰ ) ──────────── (( M E L A N I E !!! ✰✰✰

" can anybody hear me? am I talking to myself? "


Melanie watched, her eyes following the guard and, while thy held wariness and caution, they also held a curiosity that was deeply embedded in her soul. A curiosity of the world and what was out there. Even before the lab she had been too focused on her eduction and too scared to seek the great adventures she dreamed of having, so she never did accomplish that dream. Though, it still hung in the back of her mind, haunting her when the sudden realization of that fact that she was never getting out of here popped into her mind once more and then she stayed awake, thinking of all the things she should of done, that she now can't do.

Melanie's mind came back into focus when she heard the door shut and her eyes flicked from the now-closed door to her new guard who was slowly and warily walking towards her cot. She tried to ignore his thoughts as they flooded her mind from him being within such a close proximity to her, but the voices were still there, echoing thoughts of hostile prisoners, watching her body language and much more that she couldn't focus on as quickly. Instead of digging through his thoughts, as she felt the need to give everyone as much privacy as possible even though that was quite hard when she could hear what they were thinking, she looked down to the tray of food that was placed in front of her crossed legs.

Melanie heard his question as she slowly picked and prodded at the food before her. As he asked if she was okay with it she looked up, her expression showed mostly shock and confusion. Guards were meant to do their job and get it done with quickly, her previous guard had never asked if she felt okay with doing something, when it was mandatory, she wasn't questioned, it was just done. So, that's why the girl offered a small, partially noticeable, smile in return to his words, "That's fine," she responded quickly, in her soft voice, and she held out her arm. She wasn't scared of getting a blood sample as this trial as it had happened to her around eight times since her stay in the lab, so she was used to it by now. Before she had been terrified of getting needles, but now, she decided there were bigger problems in life to worry about.

( no, your post was just fine! just don't feel bad if your posts are shorter than mine, I don't care... plus, my starter posts are usually long anyways cx )

[avior.]

⎯⎯xxxC O O P E R !!
xxxxx❝ weep, little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start

At her small, hardly-there smile, Cooper could feel the tension thawing slightly as his features softened. It wasn't a returned smile in any way, but it was noticeable if you either knew him or were very observant. Obviously, he couldn't relax completely- in this place, he would be killed in a day's time. But he trusted her enough to take his eyes off her for a moment to scan the files again- what had her ability been? Ah, there it was. Mind reading, and a bunch of other small notes he didn't care to completely read through. So, she was probably monitoring his every thought- the idea didn't exactly make him comfortable, and he suddenly looked forward to leaving.

"Alright, then," he murmured mainly to himself as he prepared the syringe, staring at the tip for a moment before drawing a step closer. Still keeping his movements slow, if tense, he reached out and gently took her arm, fingers curling around her pale skin right below the elbow. Then he braced the tip of the needle against her skin before carefully sliding it in, filling it, and taking it back out. The whole process lasted less than a minute and he drew away, eyes flicking up to meet hers, as if expecting a reaction.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, ducking his head and picking back up the clipboard he had put down to take her blood. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to apologize- she'd had this done multiple times already. But it was there again, that uncomfortable tickle in his stomach. Couldn't he just ignore t?

[my first few are always quite a bit longer than my next ones, but I've been pretty proud of these cx]

[paper planets]

── ( ✰ ✰ ✰ ) ──────────── (( M E L A N I E !!! ✰✰✰

" can anybody hear me? am I talking to myself? "


The tension that crackled between the two like lightning seemed to cease after Melanie had offered her small smile and she was relieved, all of the tension that filled the room had been making her feel claustrophobic and on edge. She waited with her arm held out and, as she often did to calm herself, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. This process also helped to relax her muscles, which made the needle hurt less, if her muscles were tense it would feel much worse than the tiny pinch she felt from the needle. It was over just like that and then she lowered her arm and took a quick glance at the needle and stared at the red liquid that was locked inside, then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her guard glance at her and she flicked her eyes upwards to meet his gaze. The wariness was back - only slightly - and she assessed that he was waiting to see if she would react to the blood test. Though, the pale-skinned girl had been prepared with her breathing exercise, so it truly didn't bother her.

Melanie had continued to look at the guard, even as he ducked his head and dropped his gaze and especially when he apologized. She felt her liking grow to her new guard, he seemed more empathetic than her previous guard. She nodded slowly and spoke, "It's okay, there's no need to apologize. I'm used to small tests like that," once her voice cut off she dropped her eyes, but her curious mind explored and she could feel and hear that he was feeling something, it was almost like he was uncomfortable being in her presence. Melanie took in a sudden sharp intake of breath as she deciphered that thought of his and she felt her muscles tense as an emotion flooded her body. Sadness. The thought, which was her own, slipped through her lips, "Who would feel comfortable with someone digging through their thoughts anyways?" she questioned herself in that inaudible murmur that she spoke all of her thoughts with. She shut her eyes tightly and wrung her fingers together, that desire to be able to live without her power - or even to turn it off when she wanted to - coursed through her body once more. The yearning to feel accepted and to be free as all the people above her were, as the person beside her was, caused her eyes to sting and her lips to form a straight line. It took a moment for her to compose herself, even slightly, but when the stinging in her eyes stopped and her muscles relaxed, she still sat with her eyes closed, as she wasn't sure of how in control she was of her emotions and that was the safest route.

( yeah, my first few posts are usually longer )

[avior.]

⎯⎯xxxC O O P E R !!
xxxxx❝ weep, little lion man, you're not as brave as you were at the start

Naturally, she'd been through this quite a few times already, but Cooper still couldn't help but admire her level of calmness. It wasn't like some of the other subjects he had guarded- those had a tendency to scream and attack and often had to be sedated before he could take a blood sample. He definitely appreciated her willingness, though he figugred she likely didn't want to aggravate him- he did have a gun, although he still wasn't certain if he could use it to kill. Stepping back, he took a small vial from his pocket and squeezed the blood into it before closing it firmly and replacing both items. Then he picked up the clipboard and then pen dangling from it by a piece of string and jotted down a few notes, eyes flicking up as her voice sounded- soft and nearly inaudible.

"Hm?" He questioned, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Then he remembered- she was forced to say everything she thought. She probably wouldn't like everyone knowing the inside of her head, so he quickly amended it. "Never mind."

When he put away the clipboard, his eyes fell on her once more. He was no mind reader, but he knew when something was up. Her expression looked pained- and he didn't blame her. He dipped his head, shifting his position slightly, before looking back up at her.

"All good here?" He asked, tone soft despite the obvious awkwardness it held.