11856/Andrea has a panic attack

Andrea has a panic attack
Date of Scene:	28 July 2020
Location:	66 East 11th Street, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Andrea has a panic attack after meeting The Straw Man. Jay calms her down.
Cast of Characters:	Rage, Icarus

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Rage has posed:
After her trip to the cafe down the street, Andrea headed back home quickly. Storming across the living room, she lobs her purse on the couch and beelings for the double doors that lead to the high rise porch. Once she hits the rail, she slams her hands on it and takes in a deep breath as she arches her back, closing her eyes tightly. She grips the railing tightly with her fingers, trembling for a few moments before letting out the breath she held in her chest. Slowly, she sinks down to her knees, leaning in against the railing and wiping at her eyes.

Sliding her phone out of her pocket, she stares at the screen, franctically jabbing it with her finger for a few moments before she lets out a loud sniff. "Come on.. come on.. answer.." She growls out. "ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE MASON!" She screams out, then lobs the phone to the side with a loud clank across the patio, bumping up against a piece of furniture.

Icarus has posed:
Timing is everything.

Jay hadn't been there when she stormed through the room. He had been downstairs, helping a neighbor with her drain problem. Being a handy man type who was willing to help out was a blessing in some ways and a curse in others. Mrs. Maple tried to give him an entire apple pie in payment, which he had declined, heading to the elevator with tool chest in hand.

Once it reached their level, he walked into the front door and headed for the kitchen. Which is when he caught a glimpse of Andrea. He changed directions, heading that way with a big smile on his face and stepping out the door.

Just in time to hear her growling at the phone. And her outburst. And the name she said. The phone clanked and skidded into the nearby chair as he stared at her with wide eyes.

"Andrea? What's wrong? What's going on?" he asked but he didn't rush to hold her as he might have normally.

Rage has posed:
Brushing her arm across her eyes, Andrea lets out a loud, wet noise in her throat. "I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what is going on. Something happened at the cafe."

She glances up at him, pulling a knee to her chest to lean against it. She looks to be having an emotional breakdown as her body trembles, clenching her fists together tightly. "I.. I think something is messing with my head." She says as she reaches up to clutch at the side of her head, fingers tangling into her hair.

Icarus has posed:
With that, he closes that distance. Jay is down by her side, moving to pull her close and hold her, to give her that comfort. "Calm down. I'm here now. What happened?"

He kept his voice calm and low, hoping that might help her to focus a bit from whatever emotional upheaval had happened. "Why do you think something is messing with your head?"

Rage has posed:
Tucking herself in against him, Andrea curls her arms around him tightly and buries her face into his neck. She gives a loud sniff. "I don't know what is going on, Jay. I was at the cafe and suddenly Mason was there. He was shirtless, wearing cargo shorts and started massaging my shoulders. He was acting like a dick, just like the old Mason I used to know."

She turns her head up at him as she leans back, brushing her hand beneath her eyes. "It was so creepy. He started saying things, like .. it just made no sense. He told me that he wasn't Mason, but that he was the Mason in my dreams.." She shakes her head in confusion, letting out a breath. "Then he went on to talk about the monsters of our dreams and imaginations, that kids see monsters, even when they aren't there. It was just so crazy. I took a picture of him with my phone." She points towards it. "And then when I left the cafe, the picture was gone."

"He was talking to me about wolves. Her. Rage. That she is still out there, watching me. She's in the ceiling and in the shadows and outside my door. I.."

She lets out a heavy breath, staring at him as tears leak down her eyes. "Then he disappeared. Just like that.. just gone.. no one else saw him in the cafe. I was .. I was screaming at an empty chair and everyone looked at me like I was nuts."

Icarus has posed:
Hopefully there is no video this incident or it's going to be all over TMZ. She really doesn't need to be labeled the next Britney-Breakdown. Not when things have been going well for her of late, with her new album and (egotistical it might be) their new relationship.

He held her gently, cradling her and even rocking ever so slightly. It always comforted him when he was at his worst and his Ma did that. "Sounds like whoever or whatever this was, it just wanted to mess with you. Picked triggers it knew would hurt." He considers a moment. "Has to have some sort of telepathy to figure out the details like that."

He considers. "Choosing Mason was an easy choice. Your history with him is well known. Rage is not so easy and that has to have been given to him through access to your own psyche. Rage shouldn't be a surprise though. You know she is part of you. Ms. Braddock just managed to merge you into a whole again, not eliminate that part of you."

Rage has posed:
"I don't know, Jay. I just don't know. I've been trying to call Mason but it's going to his voice mail. I just want to make sure he's okay. If something happened to him." Andrea says with a loud hiccup of a sniff. "If something happened it will really screw me up. I can't go through that again."

Rubbing her cheek in against his shoulder, she hugs on to him tighter. "I tried to play it off like I was on the phone .. bluetooth or something but I know people were taking pictures. They were watching me scream at a stupid chair. But to me, it was Mason. I could feel his breath on me. His hands on me. The stupid mole on his stomach that he talked about chopping off because he didn't want to photoshop it out of pictures. It looked so real. It felt real."

She lets out a heavy breath and stares up at the sky for a long moment, then wipes at her face. "Just be careful, if I'm being targetted, you may be also."

Icarus has posed:
"We'll reach out in other ways. Be sure he's okay. Just because he isn't answering you doesn't mean he's in trouble." Jay really hopes he's not in trouble but he is trying to point out logic instead of emotion.

"What happened happened. We'll play it off as having been a phone conversation. But as for why this thing messed with you, that's what we need to figure out. Are you being targetted specifically? Are there others it's after? There has to be a motive. The timing with your new album coming out is very suspect to me. Who might want your album to fail?"

Rage has posed:
"I don't know, Jay. It's not like I have a popstar rival out there that would put a hit on my career." Andrea says as she pushes herself up to her feet, then heads over to her phone to pick it up and stare at it. She flicks the photo album open again and stares at the last few photos she took. An empty chair.

Tucking the phone into her pocket again, she looks over to him for a long moment, then presses her lips together. Her hand reaches out to snag his, pulling him closer for a tight hug. "It was so real and so creepy. The way he talked about monsters and the wolves. It was like he was trying to explain some type of universal thing.. I just didn't get it. Maybe it was someone pulling a prank on me, but it wouldn't hurt to maybe call Miss Grey later."

Icarus has posed:
He stands when she does, watching her with concern. When she snags his hand and pulls him over, Jay hugs her tightly and gives a nod before kissing the top of her head.

"Maybe we can have her peek in your head. See if she can figure out who or what this was. What it wanted. I don't understand why it would use someone that hurt you, in both instances, as a way to express messages about the universe. That's some weird stuff there."

Rage has posed:
"He kept talking about the monsters. The monsters of our imagination, the monsters that we can still see even when our parents tell us the monsters are not there. Imaginary friends. He said he was a .. a lion tamer and he was going to parade my monsters in front of me." Andrea leans into his arms, curling her arms about his hips as she pulls him even closer.

"That was when he started talking about the wolves. The wolf that watches me when I sleep, how doors and walls are foreign to her and she will walk right through them. It was nonsense. Just ... nonsense. But, he was so smug about it. Like he knew something. He was being coy, teasing. When I shouted at him to leave me alone, he was just gone. Like a blink. So quick I didn't even see him leave."

She props her chin on the top of his shoulder, sighing. "Whatever." She mutters to herself.

Icarus has posed:
"Sounds like he was one of the monsters, not the one controlling them. He picked things that would hurt you. It was intentional. Targetted." Jay frowns, feeling that urge to help but knowing there is literally nothing he can do. There is nothing he can attack. No one he can hit.

All he can do is try to offer her comfort. "I'm here for you but it's over now. If it happens again, call me immediately. Or better, call Miss Grey or someone from the school. Maybe they'll have a better way to fight whatever it is since it can get in your head."

Rage has posed:
"I don't know. It was definitely frustrating and confusing." Andrea says as she leans in against him, looking a bit more relaxed now that she got it out of her system. "But if something happens again, I'll let you know. Coming home was the first thing I thought to do. To find you and to call Mason."

Letting out a sigh, she straightens up a bit, then slides her hands down into his. "Okay, so .. enough of that. How was your day? You fix the plumbing?" She asks with a smile tugging at her lips. "She tell you to take your shirt off?" She teases him, trying to lighten the mood.

Icarus has posed:
"Mrs. Maple is not a cougar. She's a sweet old lady who doesn't know how to fix things that break. Her husband used to do all the stuff and when she lost him last year, things have just gone to heck down there," Jay points out with a little huff of indignation. "She says I remind her of her grandson. If he could do something other than math. Seems handy-man is not part of his resume. So if she did want me to take off my shirt, that would be sort of creepy and gross."

Rage has posed:
"Sweet old ladies can be cougars too. Don't let them fool you. They've had decades to improve their game." Andrea says as she leans in to give him a kiss, followed by a playful tickle to his sides before taking his hand to lead him back into their home. "You can take off your shirt in here, at least let me have a show. What do you want for dinner? I can order something or I can cook for a change. Maybe I can make some meatballs with some beef I was thawing out in the fridge earlier. Pasta isn't hard."