?? p.o.v

I'm woken up from my dream by the vibrating and buzzing of my alarm clock. Most people probably liked to wake up to some music; a new pop band, maybe some old school rock or rap- whatever they fancy. For me? It's too much stimulation first thing in the morning. I reached over, my fingers running over the alarm's buttons, making sure to shut it off rather than just snooze it. In response, my clock beeped out, "The time is now...Six, oh, one. A.M."

'No,' I thought. 'There's no way it could be six a.m.! It's not like I set it for... Oh, wait! That's right, I DID set it for six!' It's obvious that I'm not a morning person, if something as simple as an automated voice can make me grumble... But I'm sure anyone else would get annoyed at it doing this every. Single. Morning.

I rubbed my face, then my head, knocking off my noise-cancelling headphones and abruptly welcoming, grudgingly I might add, the noises of morning routines throughout the Arcwyrght Clan's nest. For most, being in a soundproofed room would be enough protection from the sounds of life outside one's door. For me? Nope. For the most part, living with such a sensitive ability has made me pretty good at 'selective hearing' and sound moderation, but never having a peaceful moment even while asleep could wear anyone down. Hence the headphones, though even those only kept the loudest sounds to a murmur. Good enough for me to sleep well and not get woken every five seconds at least.

I swung my legs over, my feet landing on the cold, hard wooden floor. Once more i rubbed from my face up over my hair and back down before settling myself with a hand to the nightstand dresser to orient myself and stand. I walked forward, tapping the doorway to the bathroom before turning the the left and relieving myself. My clothes made a soft shushing noise as I pulled them off and tossed them into the hamper to the right of the toilet. Half of them made it since one of the housekeepers had moved it from it's usual spot. Shit. I reached over and blindly grasped at whatever clothes didn't make it, shoving them in and placing the basket in its proper place, my grouchiness translating into annoyance as well.

I sighed as the water drowned out the world better than the headphones as I focused on the drumming of it on my head, the smooth feel of it rolling down my body, and the tinkling splashes of miniature fireworks about my feet. Water was one of my top favorite things. Ten minutes and a groan later, I turned off the water, taking a few moments to listen to the seductive last drips of water from the shower head. I reached for the bar holding a nonexistent towel, growling when I found it bare. I stepped out, feeling as the cool air invaded the water along the planes of my body, causing me to tighten in response. Vampires may be more resistant to the elements than most, but anyone would feel the difference when going from a scalding hot shower to something akin to an icebox.

I carefully stepped to my right and promptly knocked my hand into the cabinet's handle, hearing a definitive crack, "Well, so far today has been dandy. Why not add in a broken handle to the mix, hm?" I opened the door, grabbed a towel and quickly dried myself off before wrapping it around my hips and quickly blowdrying my hair. I tossed the towel into the hamper, tapping my fingers against the bathroom doorway, then turned and walked diagonally across the room, avoiding my bed, to enter my walk-in closet. I fingered the tags describing the clothing type and color before deciding on some dark wash jeans, a navy t-shirt, socks and a pair of black sneakers. Returning to the bathroom, I ran a brush through it and finally a little product to keep it from sticking up at all angles. I tried feeling whether it was all down, but gave up and concentrated on my Geiger Perception. Even with my eyes closed, I could now almost see using this ability, though I had to get extremely close to the mirror to use it for fixing my hair.

'Yep, don't want to re-enact alfalfa today, thank you,' I thought to myself as I fixed my hair. After, like usual, I took a moment to try to 'see' myself. I brought my hand up to my face, focusing on the mirror carefully as I ran a hand along my eyes, straight nose, lips and the fringe of hair dipping down over my right eye. I grimaced as the ability began taking a toll on me. The Geiger Perception wasn't meant to be used for more than a few seconds in general, and often only to check for danger. It wasn't really meant to be used for things such as fixing your hair. I banged on the counter, turning away and almost knocking into the doorway.

I had asked my mom once what I looked like. It had never really crossed my mind to be curious until I had started paying more attention and interacting, or trying to, with other kids my age. My eight year old curiosity had me standing, looking up to where my mother's face most likely was as she tried to describe how I looked. She had said, "almond shaped eyes colored like a solar eclipse, light brown hair the color of dark honey, a straight nose and-"

"I got it mom, thanks," I had cut her off and turned away because her voice had started to quiver. I didn't want to listen to the sounds of her tears sliding down her face. I had felt bad and angry at the same time, because I had no idea what any of that even looked like! What was color to a person born blind?! And all the pity, pranks and general discontent towards my 'disability' for the last sixteen years of my life didn't help any either. To say the least, after that one time, I never asked again.

I picked up my phone from its charger by the bed, snatched up my backpack, grabbed my walking stick by the door and left my room, locking it behind me. I just knew today was going to be suck-tactic.