4.5: Overstimulated
Hana
“Hana, would you inform Allie not to extend team 211 an invite? They were not the most pleasant of individuals.”
“Sure Jade, no problem.”
“Hana, can you delay my next match by a few minutes? I have to run to the bathroom real quick.”
“Sure thing, Emelia.”
“Hana, how are the enchantments holding up in the rooms? Do you and I need to do any maintenance?”
“We will definitely need to redo the room Gehenna was using for her survival challenge, but it should be good for at least another hour.”
“Hana can you–”
“Hey Hana, would you–”
“Hana–”
“Hana–”
“Hana–”
Hana inhaled sharply through her nose, trying her best not to scream in frustration at the constant bombardment of noise that she was being subjected to. Normally she could handle the multitude of voices filling her mind, but with the sheer number of people in the castle for the Clan Challenge, it had finally pushed her close to her breaking point. Taking a breather for a bit should definitely help her calm down, so she mentally selected all of the clan members before speaking in what she hoped was her typical monotone manner.
“Hey guys, I'm gonna log out for a bit. I need ummm… I need a break.”
Maybe it was the Bond of Corruption she had, or maybe it was their blossoming romantic relationship, but when Allexus replied to her directly, it seemed to cut through all the noise like a cool breeze on a hot day.
“Hana, can you come to my throne room please?”
Hana let out a deep sigh, debating on whether she should just excuse herself and log out, or see what Allexus wanted. In the end, Hana admitted to herself that her lover's presence did have a calming effect on her and she could at least see what she wanted before deciding what to do. She pulled up the mental schematics of the castle in her mind and imagined the throne room. As if looking through a security camera, the image of Allexus lounging on her throne filled Hana's vision. She projected a copy of herself next to the ornate throne and shifted her consciousness into it.
Before Hana could even blink or open her mouth to speak, Allexus burst off her throne and stepped very close to her. The sudden movement startled the other woman, and she nearly fell back in surprise. Allexus moved in a blur, effortlessly wrapped her arms around Hana's, catching her and pulling her into a tight hug. At first the contact was unwelcome, and she almost fought against the embrace. But, as her mind began to settle the smallest amount, she allowed herself to relax against her lover for a moment. Hana's eyelids fluttered a few times before opening, and she stared into Allexus's softly glowing red eyes. Before Hana could study the other woman's face in more detail to possibly determine what was going on, Allexus silenced her by kissing her forehead gently and speaking in a quiet, calm tone.
“Do we have any more customizable rooms available, and is it possible to connect it with my throne room if we do?”
The information flooded into Hana's brain as soon as she thought about it, and she nodded her head slowly, not fully understanding but willing to see where this was going.
“Yes and… Yes. Where would you like me to connect it?”
Allexus looked around the room for a moment before her gaze settled on the wall directly behind the throne underneath the massive stained glass window. Gesturing with her head, Hana looked to where she was indicating before closing her eyes and mentally pulling up the castle commands. She shifted around a few things in order to make space for the new addition, and a soft rumble could be heard throughout the castle. A simple door that matched the style of the wall it was connected to suddenly appeared, and Hana looked back at Allexus for further instruction. Instead of saying anything, Hana found herself being ushered along towards the new room. Once the pair was inside, Allexus moved her face very close to Hana's, and spoke in a soft yet authoritative voice.
“Hana, do me a favor. I want you to take over the controls for the room and then close your eyes.”
Hana gave her lover a questioning glance, but didn't argue, instead trusting that Allexus knew what she was doing.
“Good. Now I want you to imagine the world's most comfortable chair. One you can lean back in, sit comfortably, and rest your feet. Make it something you could easily see yourself spending hours sitting in without ever getting uncomfortable.”
Hana visualized a version of the chair she used to love sitting in whenever she went to visit her grandparents. She pictured the plush brown leather chair that was the kind you could easily sink into and just lounge there all day. The cushioned headrest and poofy armrests, the extra padded backing made for supporting your lumbar, and even the blue and white knit blanket her grandmother made that she kept on the chair for anyone who wanted to bundle up while they sat comfortably. Hana went to open her eyes, but felt Allexus place her hand gently on her face.
“Not yet, babe. Gotta finish setting this room up…OK? Alright… Next I want you to visualize the perfect amount of lighting that makes a room feel cozy. Not so much that you could fall asleep, but just enough to feel safe and comfortable.”
Hana pictured the soft blue glow of the aquariums that filled her bedroom and living room, along with the single floor light she kept lit in the hallway in case of any emergency.
“Good. Wasn't expecting it to be so… blue… but it works. Mmk. Next I want you to imagine the temperature in the room being set to the perfect setting to be nice and comfy. Not warm enough to make you sleepy, and not cold enough to need to cover up. Just the perfect temperature that makes you feel completely relaxed and safe.”
Thanks to all of the fish tanks in her room needing warmer water and having heaters to keep it at that temperature, Hana had grown used to the slightly warmer than usual temperature and found it to be the perfect environment to relax and de-stress.
“Nice. A bit warmer than what I normally go for, but not bad. Alright… now I want you to picture a sound that is something you… ah. I see that you immediately knew where I was going with this. Is that… is that water?”
“It's the sound of the fish tank filters in my room. It makes the water churn a bit, so that's probably what you're hearing.”
Hana heard Allexus sigh loudly through her nose before she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Suddenly she remembered something about Allexus having a fear of water, and her eyes shot open and she looked at her lover with concern.
“I'm so sorry, Allexus! I completely forgot about your–”
Allexus silenced her by gently pressing a hand to her lips.
“Hey, it's OK. As long as we aren't actually underwater, I'm good. Truly. Buuuuut… what do you think?”
She held up her other arm and motioned at the room they were standing in. Everything was exactly as Hana had imagined it, even somehow replicating the carpet in her bedroom. As she looked around the small space, she narrowed her eyes as she realized something was missing. A plush bed with a plethora of pillows and a massive weighted blanket appeared about ten feet away, and Allexus glanced at it, before turning back to Hana and cocking her eyebrow.
“That is not what I had in mind when I was talking about a relaxing environment. The objective is to de-stim, not add more sensory input.”
A sudden knock on the door behind them sounded, and Allexus pulled away from her lover to answer it. Hana knew she could easily find out who was on the other side of the door in a variety of different ways, but instead chose to let Allexus continue with whatever she was planning. Hana turned upon hearing Areandra's voice, and it was her turn to raise a questioning eyebrow.
“Thanks for coming, Sabrina. I think we're gonna need your enchantment buff for this special project we're working on.”
The lithe fallen angel scanned the room before her eyes fell on the bed. She glanced up at Allexus with a wry smile and cocked her head. Allexus held up a placating hand and laughed softly.
“Not for anything like that. I swear.”
Allexus turned back towards Hana, a gentle smile on her face.
“I need you to cast a tier seven enchantment that blocks all incoming communication. Messages, mental commands, everything. I think you already figured out what this room is for, so if you're going to truly de-stim you're going to need a chance to just be alone with your thoughts in a calm, safe environment. Is that an enchantment that you’re able to make?”
Hana thought for a moment, running the idea through her mind. A simple silencing enchantment could be modified with a reverse communications enchantment in order to produce the desired results… but it wouldn't silence the mental prompts Hana was constantly subjected to. Perhaps an enchantment to protect against mental effects… altered with a sort of filter that could be adjusted at will. Perhaps if Allexus used her [Corrupted Touch] on the enchantment it could be tuned to the specific magic that Hana's ability was derived from.
“Yes. I think it's something the three of us can work out together.”
===
Allexus's arms were wrapped tightly around the nude form of her lover, who sighed happily from the contact. After successfully crafting the specific enchantment and calibrating it to Allexus's corruption magic, the effect had been almost immediate. Suddenly the constant mental noise was completely cut off, leaving Hana feeling like she could truly, fully relax. Of course… one thing inevitably led to another, and it wasn't long before Hana was able to enjoy a different kind of relaxation.
Feeling her lover's hands run up and down her back caused shivers to race like lightning down Hana’s spine. She leaned back into Allexus's arms and let out a contented sigh.
“How did you know, Allexus?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did you know that I was overstimulated? How did you know the exact things that would help de-stim me?”
Allexus kissed Hana's back gently and rubbed her cheek against the soft skin.
“I did a bunch of research on Autism. There's a lot of overlap with ADHD, but it's still so different that I wanted to know more about it so I could connect with you better.”
Hana stiffened a bit upon hearing that Allexus wanted to connect more with her, wondering where this was going and what the other woman's intentions were.
“...why?”
“Why do I want to connect with you better? Hana… if it wasn't obvious from the way I'm holding you and kissing on you, and by the fact I have a tattoo of you on my arm, I'm pretty into you. Like… a lot.”
Hana shifted in her lover's arms so that she was now facing the other woman.
“To what end, Allexus?”
“Why do you only ever call me that? So many others call me Allie… but you never have. Not since you were an Angelspawn, anyways. And even then, it was only because you heard the others call me that.”
“... is that not your character name?”
“Hana, you know full well that I don't mind those I'm close to calling me Allie.”
Hana went quiet for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
“You didn't answer my question…”
“Hana, before I answer your question… let me ask one of my own… You told me that you wanted to be in love with me and for me to love you back. Do you still feel that way?”
Allie paused for a moment letting her question hang in the air before she instead opted to continue.
“Before you answer… I want you to know that I care for you very deeply… No. Fuck that. I'm going to say it like it is. Hana, I'm in love with you. I love how devoted to this clan you are, how you are always doing things to help out even when nobody else notices. Don't think I didn't notice how Aeryn suddenly happened to walk into the wrong room where Kyra was talking with Ash about her struggle with gender identity issues and needed someone who could understand exactly what she was going through. Or when Bri was super depressed because her boyfriend had just broken up with her that she just happened to run into Bray and Ikelos. Both of whom have an innate talent for cheering people up.”
Hana's eyes were wide as she listened to Allie, who was still listing all the things she had thought no one else knew about.
“I have no doubt that you knew what Shadow was attempting to do with his love notes for Tesrif, and you did everything you could to make it easier for him to slip them into her pocket without her catching on. You do all these things, not because anyone asked you too, but because you care so deeply about everyone around you being happy. You always speak with your voice mostly devoid of emotion because you say you're bad at picking up on social cues and possibly expressing the wrong emotion at the wrong time, but I can tell that you are more caring and empathetic than most people. You say everything you're doing is for the sake of efficiency, but it's obvious that you're just as interested in making sure everyone is happy as well. Even if you weren't the embodiment of ‘my type,’ how could I not fall in love with someone as loving and protective as you?”
Hana stared deeply into Allie’s red eyes, completely unable to find the words to tell this woman she had fallen in love with just how much what she had said filled her heart with a happiness she didn't know was possible. The more she tried to figure out exactly what to say, the more she felt there was nothing she could say that would fully convey what she was feeling. Instead, she pulled the other woman tightly against her and kissed her with a ferocity and passion that took both of them by surprise.
After losing themselves in the other for an indeterminate amount of time, Hana finally managed to find her voice, speaking just four words filled with all the emotion she was feeling.
“I love you, Allie.”