A week rushed by, the monotony of work and lectures only broken by sleep and food. Exams were next week, so pressure was up, even though Garth was less worried about his future after coming into his powers. He was confident he would be able to get by anyway. He kept replaying his tryst with Erica as inspiration in bed at night, though stress and long days took the edge off quite effectively.
Saturday came around, blissfully free of plans, and he considered doing some more reading last minute before the exam on Monday. That would have to wait though; first he needed food and fresh air. He took off at a brisk walk towards the tiny mall a few blocks over, just next to Lisa's apartment. The black car down the road was still parked in its usual spot, he mused, wondering who around here had the money for such a nice set of wheels. No matter though, he had never seen anyone enter or leave it, and it was no concern of his in any case.
Questing out with his power was no longer an active choice; it was just something he did, like breathing or walking. It required no effort on his part unless he thought actively about it, kind of like how he had to remember to draw breath now, instead of it happening on its own. He decided his neighbors were a fairly complex mix of people, like any residential area, he supposed. Seeing their emotions did nothing to lessen the impression. There was a jungle of emotions swirling all around, practically all possible emotions like some chaotic painting, only making sense if he focused on a single person at a time. For example the lonely woman who lived a few apartments away to the right somewhere, or the couple who were very much in love next door. Several times a day, as a matter of fact, Garth mused.
He had been trying to judge how far he was able to sense people, figuring that was useful to know. By triangulating on the emotions of the old man who was always Angry, he moved around his neighborhood and decided his range was about three city blocks, or around a hundred meters. He figured there was some kind of gradual cutoff, since he could feel people outside that range by surging his power, though the tradeoff was probably not worth the cost of herbs as opposed to just closing in. The reverse was also true, to some extent. The closer he was to someone, the less effort it took to manipulate them, but rather than requiring less power, it was more about better control and resolution as he thought of it. In his apartment that still meant he had access to dozens of people to read and use for exercises, if only reading their emotions. For the most part.
Garth pushed his cart down the aisle with canned goods and bags of soups and casseroles. He was by no means a bad chef, he just did not see the point in making elaborate meals for himself on weekdays. Ready meals that just needed heating was taking it one step too far, though. Usually.
Now he was mostly annoyed at the kid screaming his lungs out the next aisle over, his mother having denied him some cereal or other. Garth could feel a throbbing begin behind his eyes, a headache announcing its arrival like a stampede of marching geese, the kid's scream for a fanfare. The emotions roiled off from the kid, Anger, for the most part, but as opposed to an adult's, the emotions seemed almost hollow. It was as if there was no substance to it, just hot air and flashy colors. Forming a spike of power, he prodded at the wave, only to see it burst and disappear. The kid silenced as if muted by the push of a button. Garth smiled and continued shopping in peace.
"Base, this is one-seven, come in!" The radio gave off some static inside the car outside the mall. "This is base, report, over." "Subject four is inside the local mall, we are reading moderate activity. Do you want us to intervene?" A few seconds of silence. "Negative, one-seven, keep your distance and report any major changes. We are informing Mr. Schieler currently, we will use him as a means of control for now. Base out."
As he came back to his apartment, Garth noticed the black car was gone, though the thought was just a passing one. He glanced up towards Sophia's apartment, seeing the curtains were closed, sensing her inside. They had not seen much of each other lately, with him being away at lectures or work, though her emotions were muted pretty much all the time these days. It felt almost artificial, he thought, but that could just be his relative inexperience at interpreting people. He had just realized that they were complex, after all. He briefly considered trying to contact her, but decided against it. She was an unknown element after all, and Garth felt that he had enough stuff going on in his life as it was.
Sunday arrived, and with it an unusual bout of nerves. He had an exam the following afternoon, so he spent the morning reading furiously and learning little. Introductory Biochemistry was one of those subjects you either got or not. Garth was reasonably sure he got it, at least well enough, but he always messed up the pathway from Isocitrate to Succinate, always confusing where Coenzyme A belonged. Oh well, at least he could draw and name all the essential amino acids, that had to be something, right? And everyone always said there was no point reading much the day before an exam, that was too late to learn something new. Better to blow off some steam and do something relaxing or fun. He decided he could use a vent. Maybe have some fun in a controlled setting, with friends.
Garth picked up the phone and dialed Lisa's number. "Hi Lisa, it's me, Garth!"
"Hi Garth, how are you?" Lisa's voice came back.
"I was wondering if you had any plans tonight, I'm bouncing off the walls from tomorrow's exam and could use some company."
"Sure, I guess. I wasn't planning anything, but the apartment is a mess..." She trailed off, sounding a little guarded.
Garth was not taking no for an answer though. "Great, I'll be right over. I'll bring a bottle of wine!"
"Sure, ok, see you in a bit."
As he got to her front door, he quested out, finding two people inside, both familiar, both female. Lisa opened the door for him, a careful smile on her face, obviously a little uncomfortable. Reading her he found a roiling mass, Anxiety, Anticipation, Desire and others churning. A sudden insight struck Garth, adding two and two.
"Is Christa in the shower?"
"Yeah, she..." Lisa trailed off, caught unawares by his casual tone. "How did you...? What...!? Oh crap!" Realization dawned on her face. "How much did you see?" She was obviously referring to their little party a couple of weeks before.
"Well, not much really. When Josh started fucking Amy from behind, I saw the two of you were playing tonsil hockey, tearing each other's clothes off." Mortification and Embarrassment flared high. "I figured there was no point trying anything with either of you girls, and I doubted Josh would want to spit roast Amy with me, so I went home."
