Above and Beyond [Vanyel/Amelia]

Yeah, Amelia could feel him practically sink in that moment. Poor guy. She held on more firmly and kept stroking his hair. “It may not have been you who was attacked, but you still had to watch your every word… your every step… every time you reached out, moved too quickly, gotten an angry look on your face, raised your voice… That kind of trauma messes with the lives of everyone involved.”

Amelia brought one arm down to pat his back. “And since you have this instinct to protect, you likely felt guilty and ashamed…like you should have been there, been stronger, been faster… But even in this time of the supernatural and magic… you can’t be everywhere, you can’t protect everyone… you can only learn from your experiences and do your best with everything that comes next.”

Leaning back a little, Amelia brought her hand to his cheek and tried to guide him to look up at her. She smiled warmly, “Are you doing your best, Vanyel?”

He never thought about how it had affected him. Despite Calypso rarely ever having been around, whenever she was, it always felt like he needed to watch everything he did. It was like tip-toeing around a minefield, blindfolded. The idea of being everywhere, protecting everyone...he wasn't delusional enough to think he could do that. But, that still didn't stop the feeling that he should have been there, done more, said something more...

Vanyel's arms tightened their embrace around Amelia ever so slightly. He didn't know how to respond to any of that. He hadn't been expecting her to actually be able to figure it out like that.

As she lifted his head for him to look at her, he opened his mouth to answer, but his gaze went to the side, and he went silent for a moment.

"I don't know...how can I be doing my best if I can't even protect one person? I didn't even know she was assaulted until she reacted when I tried to clean an injury..."

Amelia blinked. Sometimes people put way too much on their own shoulders. In this case, she feared Vanyel had done just that. However, maybe he could read minds? In this day and age, where she could see someone’s emotional state, people could fly, and a flick of someone’s wrist can cut a building in half, there were probably people out there who could penetrate someone’s mind, so…

“Unless you are blessed with the ability to read another’s mind, Vanyel, you cannot protect someone from something you didn’t know existed.”

He couldn't. He doubted he could ever do something like that. But, that wouldn't be of much help. An invasive method like that would do more harm than it would help someone, especially with how Violet reacted to his brief questions to confirm his suspicions. His breathing, still shaking in brief moments, eventually calmed as he sat up, lifting himself from Amelia's shoulder.

"...I know. Just...need to find out the root cause, and try to help from there."

Suddenly, his phone went off, and he immediately started fishing for it., his heart picking up for a moment, and his aura made a sharp tonal shift to cyan as he unlocked the phone, only for it to shift to a deep maroon as he looked at the caller's ID, his expression turning from hopeful to crestfallen and frustrated in an instant. He sighed, gave an apology to Amelia, before standing up, walking a few feet away, and answering.

"Xiaoyang. What is it?"

Listening to the other side, he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, mouthing expletives as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small notepad and pencil, before scribbling down an address.

"Yeah, got it. Shouldn't be too far from where I'm at right now."

He hung up, checking the messages one last time, his aura shifting to orange as he found nothing, before returning to a neutral grey as he walked back over to Amelia.

"Sorry, work call, I gotta get moving. Thanks...thanks for the talk, Amelia. I'm stayin' in the area for a bit, though, so, maybe we can meet up again, if you want."

Amelia waved her hand as a sign for him to take the call without worry. She watched the man’s aura keep shifting and smiled. He was a good guy. This girl he talked about was very lucky; hopefully she knew that. While hearing what was being said, Amelia stood up and dusted her skirt off before waiting for Vanyel’s call to end. “I completely understand. Stay safe, okay?” Amelia said and gave him a quick hug. “You have my number if you would like company while you’re here. Luckily, today was the last day of the school year, so I am free for a few weeks…

Now, go do your job and help your friend. You’ve got this!” As he went off, Amelia waved with a big smile. Once he was gone, she took a deep breath and sat back down on the bench. ‘I pray this goes well for you… Please, let it go well...’