Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Mar 11, 2008 10:34:06 GMT
Continued from; Ninian's Apartment
Ninian was walking down the hallway, not a minute after having left her own apartment, when she caught sight of Russell; she knew him mainly because of his mother, who was pretty much infamous within the building, and really only for bad reasons. Even though Nina herself didn't really have anybody to talk or gossip to, nor had she actually crossed paths with the woman, she had heard some stories about how she treated not just the people she lived near to but also her own son. Ninian tried to distance herself from such gossip, not wanting to become unpopular within them herself for speaking what she really thought; it was quite unfair for them to treat her son with such malice, since nobody chooses the parents they are born to, a fact that Ninian was all too aware of.
She hated gossipers who had nothing better to do than to discuss things that were no concern of their own. Silly little busybodies. The whole situation angered her, but she always tried to make an effort to at least offer a smile whenever she saw Russell, not wanting her shy nature to lead him to believe she was cold or, heaven forbid, one of the very people whom loved to chit-chat about him and his mother so much.
As she approached, ready to offer a tentative smile, she saw him lurch to the side and hit the wall, looking as if he was severely short of breath. She rushed to make up the rest of the distance between them, not really knowing what to do but knowing she had to help somehow instead of letting her nervousness of human interaction stop her.
"Are you alright?" Nina mentally slapped herself. Does it look like he's alright? "What happened?" She didn't really know how to help, so she opted to stand there and wait for him to tell her what, if anything, she could do to help.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Mar 12, 2008 23:09:37 GMT
Nina took a swift step to stop an apple from rolling past her down the hall, then quickly gathered together the fallen groceries as she took a quick glance around the hallway to see if there was anybody who could help, not really knowing what was wrong or what she could do to ease the situation. In the years that she had been in LA she'd never been put in a position where someone else needed her help, mainly because she kept herself to herself and wasn't one to get herself involved in anybody else's business. Now that she was in such a situation she felt a little helpless, not knowing what was wrong or what she should do for him to make him more comfortable.
She knew enough, however, to know that he was probably having some sort of a panic attack, and that the long hallway probably wasn't doing much in the way of helping matters; his refusal to look up or around only strengthened her assumption. She tentatively put a hand on his shoulder, using a tone of voice that she hoped was slow and soothing when she spoke to him.
"Sit for a moment, before you fall. Take deep breaths." She slowed and deepened her own breaths, as if to demonstrate what she meant; Nina just hoped that she was doing the right thing.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
|
Post by Ninian on Mar 14, 2008 17:27:39 GMT
For a moment he seemed to be calming down; he slid down to the floor, letting the wall support most of his weight whilst Nina helped with the rest, guiding him down so he didn't hurt himself. Then, quite out of the blue, his breathing began to quicken again. She tightened her grip on his shoulder, trying to get his mind focused on something other than whatever had made him so anxious, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy for the poor guy; it can't be easy coming to the building with so many unfriendly faces around, waiting to dump their special brand of judgement and contempt all over him for something that wasn't even his fault.
The truth of the matter was that Nina didn't think anything of him as a direct result of his panic attack. Each time they had met - brief as each time may have been - he had always struck him as a nice guy who didn't mean anybody any harm. It was part of what irritated her about the attitudes of the rest of the building, or those who had something against his mother, anyway.
"Don't be silly," she said, smiling although he wasn't looking at her. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Hang on for just a second." She let go for a minute to rifle through the groceries - mentally apologising for doing so - until she found what she was looking for. She emptied the brown paper bag of the plums that were inside and then scrunching the opening, holding it out for him, returning her hand to his shoulder. "Use this, it'll help slow your breathing." She wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold it himself, but she'd help him with it if he needed it.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Mar 21, 2008 16:03:43 GMT
Honestly, Ninian would probably say she had better things to worry about than what impression she was making on him, not that situation this would really have any bearing on that whatsoever. Right now she was focused on trying to remain calm herself, trying to remain level-headed not just to make Russell feel better but to make sure she didn't do something exceptionally stupid out of blind panic. She seemed to be doing okay so far, fingers crossed.
Seeing how much his hand was shaking she decided to hold the bag to his face for him, unsure if he would be able to hold it by himself. "Focus on the bag and try to slow your breathing."
She'd heard about using paper bags this way somewhere though she couldn't remember where exactly - possibly in one of the many books she'd read at the library - and while she knew that this wasn't going to fix the situation by any stretch of the imagination, it might calm him down enough so that she can get him moved somewhere safe. Or rather, somewhere Russell could think of as safe.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Mar 31, 2008 14:23:25 GMT
Ninian knew all too well the effects that a parents words can have on a child, no matter what age they are. Her parents never had a nice word to say about each other, let alone to her, the child who seemed to just be left to get on with her own devices and survive somehow. Even now, years after the fact, the harsh words often ran through her mind. Such parents didn't deserve children.
She continued speaking - some inane rambling about how he'd be okay and that he just needed to focus on relaxing and calming his breathing - hoping that she was helping somewhat. She kept hold of the bag, watching it inflate and deflate in time with his breathing, noting that the space between each breath was slowly beginning to grow longer. Her shoulders relaxed a little at that, realising that he was possibly starting to recover. She hoped so, at least.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on May 13, 2008 14:21:34 GMT
Even as his breathing began to slow and even out she kept speaking in low, dulcet tones, trying her hardest not to say or do anything that might trigger another onset of crippling panic. He was finally calming down, it seemed, but for the moment Ninian reserved the right to feel any more relieved than she already was, since there was still the small matter of what she was going to do now. With Russell's eyes still tightly shut, she took the opportunity to glance around quickly to see if there was any sign of someone else passing by, although at that moment she wasn't entirely sure whether someone else's presence would help or exacerbate the situation further.
When his breathing seemed almost normal, she gave his shoulder a light squeeze before leaning down slightly. "Are you alright now?" She hoped the question didn't trigger anything, she wasn't exactly an expert on dealing with this kind of situation.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Nov 22, 2008 18:53:12 GMT
Well, he seemed to be over the worst of it, though his breathing was still a little fast and hitched every so often there was no question that it was far improved from only minutes earlier. Thankfully the hallway was still quiet and deserted; now that he'd calmed down a little it would be bad if any unwanted attention from crowds would help the matters at all. That said, it was probably better to get out of the hallways to somewhere more comfortable in case something did trigger another attack.
Russell sounded a little surprised when he eventually answered her question with a quiet, understandably shaken voice, and while the answer itself (perhaps more the fact that he actually could answer her) allowed her to inwardly breathe a small sigh of relief she wasn't about to leave him here because of that meagre reassurance after such a bad anxiety attack.
Ninian was the kind of person who'd stop to at least try and help someone who needed it, though maybe it was a little naïve of her to believe that everyone would gladly accept said help. Either way, Russell seemed to be accepting of her help, so she had no problems offering it. Besides, it's not like she had any other pressing social arrangements to get to.
With one hand still on his shoulder she offered the other to him. "Are you alright to stand?"
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Dec 11, 2008 1:58:12 GMT
When he looked up at her, and for the first time she was able to see Russell's eyes, there was something in the way he looked at her that made her unable to look away. He looked almost like he was surprised by something, though what that could be, Ninian had no idea. It was only when Russell broke his own gaze that it occurred to her that she, herself, had been staring right back at him.
In all honesty, Ninian was too worried that she had seemed a little weird to Russell to think of Russell as at all strange. She just hoped her face wasn't too flushed from her embarrassment as she gripped his hand and helped him to his feet, keeping a close eye on him as he stood up to make he didn't lose his balance.
She took a moment to ignore her flushed cheeks and think about what to do now, eventually coming to the conclusion that going somewhere else may be the best option, after all, staying at the spot you just had a severe panic attack can't help too much, can it? The question was, where? There was a moment where she considered offering to get his mother or to go with him to her flat, but she quickly changed her mind; talking to people was hard enough for her to do without the thought of talking to such an intimidating woman as she was. It was a selfish reason not to go, and she felt a little pang of guilt about that, but she did have something of an alternative to offer.
Okay, this was going to sound a little weird, but they did need to get out of the hallway. "My place is literally just down the hall," she began, glancing back over her shoulder at the door of her flat before turning back and continuing, "You can grab a drink and get your thoughts together there if you like? Has to be better than staying here, right?" She offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
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Ninian
Human
Librarian
The blue wind will come back; and bring back with it my wounded heart
Posts: 16
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Post by Ninian on Dec 15, 2008 23:43:58 GMT
Ninian knew what that was like, to a certain extent; whilst walking to and from work she sometimes found herself seeing something nobody else would be too concerned with, only to be slapped in the face by an image of a scene involving the jumble of characters in her head that would just have to go in her current novel. She had taken to carrying a pen and paper pad around with her for just these occasions so that she could write the ideas down while they were still fresh in her mind, sometimes even sketching, to the best of her ability, what she saw in her mind's eye.
At the positive response Ninian smiled, glad that the offer hadn't been taken the wrong way at all since he really didn't know her very well at all; she was probably just a face he recognised in passing. From the corner of her eye she spotted an orange and suddenly remembered the scattered groceries that Russell had dropped when his attack had first come on. She had no doubt that some of the fruit would be a bit worse for wear but at the same time she didn't want to just leave it all in the hallway. At least when they were inside they could sort the still okay stuff from the not-so-okay stuff. So she quickly leant down and scooped them all into the large bag, holding it herself as Russell still seemed unsteady carrying his own weight let alone anything extra.
She gently steered him to her front door, using her one free hand to take her key from her pocket and unlock the front door, and as she moved to the side to let him past, she thought to herself what a good thing it was that she took the time yesterday to clean her flat up.
Continued in; Ninian's Apartment with Russell.
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