"Hey man, sorry about yesterday."
"I get it, stigma shit. It's cool. You saw him then?"
"Doc? Yeah. Same as usual, didn't even look up. Damned if that power of his doesn't work though. I haven't felt this calm in... well, yeah. Even a day later. "
"Yeah, so, back to that five bucks you owe me..."
6:00.
That was when she'd told herself she would be here. Hadn't she put this off long enough?
Before her stood the USARILN Library-- its massive windows a serene reflection of orange and pink streaks, dusted with shadow as the sun began its descent. It was a pretty sight to be sure, but did little to dissuade the queasiness from nestling in her gut. Every hour that she'd put off coming here had been a risk. She had no idea when they'd get sent out again and she needed a Plan B-- especially in light of that last fight. She only so far knew a handful of students here and what their powers were, but none had seemed to trigger as immediate a response as this "Doc" person she'd heard about over breakfast that morning-- if one could call ten hours 'immediate'. Of course, she had to go train and then finish up her exams-- Lord knows those took a while. And then there was lunch and dinner-- can't miss those. Doc probably wouldn't be in the library during mealtimes anyway....
With the day coming to a close before her eyes, Callan knew that if she didn't go see him today, she'd never muster up the nerve to do it at all. Upon entering, she scanned over the numerous tables and shelves. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for. She found the symphony of the library rather unpleasant-- turning pages, sliding chairs, tapping pencils and keyboards, coughs and sniffles, and hushed whispers. Maybe she was still just nervous and that was making her slightly more irritable. She kept moving as her head turned. She'd know him when she saw him, surely.
Lawrence was- unsurprisingly- in his usual spot. Tucked away in the far corner of the library. Immediately behind and to the left of him were bookshelves, and in front a six-person table littered with a small selection of volumes intermixed with small seemingly random assortment of snacks. Granola bars, a pudding cup, crackers, and three apples. All of it completely untouched. Nobody else was around him at the moment, although it was obvious that several of the chairs around him had been used- and none of them pushed back in afterwards.
Most notably though, in front of the young man that was absorbed in a book titled
Swordsmen of the British Empire was a plaque. On it, displayed... not proudly, but almost sarcastically, the words: "
Dr. Ellison" carved into a reflective gold background. It was the usual scene for him, in days when he wasn't being thrust into combat or taken with other plans. One he perhaps didn't enjoy, but had grown content with.
The scene drew her eye pretty quickly, though the plaque was a dead give away. She chastised herself for eyeing the snacks-- she'd eaten dinner barely two hours ago and that wasn't why she was here.
Wasn't why she was here. Looking past the history book at the blond haired young man that was currently engrossed with its pages, she inwardly cursed. She knew him. That would have been awesome if she remembered his name and not just that she should. Lawrence? Lenard? One of those two.
She really didn't want to disrupt his reading, but she was already here. The chances were 50/50. If she could just remember his name, maybe....
"
L-" the letter lingered betwixt her lips and the rest of the name came out as a bastardization of the two she had been trying to decide between, "
ehh-awrence. Right?"
"
Name hasn't changed, no. Have a seat."
He began, motioning one of the chairs in front of him when he finished up the paragraph he was reading. Seemingly finding a place where he was satisfied, he dog eared the book and closed it. Normally he would continue reading through one of these sessions, but the voice he heard was not one of his regulars. It didn't hurt to be courteous to new 'customers'.
Still, when he looked up he was surprised at what he found. Sure, it wasn't completely unheard of, but...
"
Arbiter?"
She was one of the new arrivals, if he remembered right. It was odd how few of them had actually approached him with regards to his power this week. Although most of them
had gotten to know him on the battlefield first rather than his little library clinic. He imagined it was only a matter of time though until word got out completely. Still, that didn't mean she
wasn't here to use his power. Not having a stigma didn't exempt people from all of the mental health problems that existed before the world went to shit, and it wasn't unheard of for an Arb to ask for his help on occasion.
Still, she didn't quite look insane.
"
What can I do for you?"
Taking a seat, Callan thrummed her fingers against her leg as she waited. She sucked in her lips and tried to find something else to look at while he finished reading his page or whatever. This was weird. It was weird, wasn't it? She felt like she was at a clinic. Though... for all intents and purposes it wasn't much different.
"
I, uh--"
Probably should have thought about how to word this."
--was hoping you'd tell me about... what you... do." Beautifully delivered. She'd have to remember to pick up her Emmy on the way home.
Lawrence fixed her with a blank stare for a few moment, before throwing back his head and laughing. This different, to be certain. Usually people had a pretty good idea of
what he did ahead of time before visiting him. Still, she looked serious, so he shook his head and offered an apology:
"
Sorry, you surprised me. Uh, short version is I calm people, or I guess in some cases DC creatures, down. Long version..."
He paused for a moment, looking at an empty coffee mug nearby for inspiration before continuing.
"
Well, really I bring people in line with my mental state. So, the idea is to keep myself as calm as possible as often as possible in case some Abe about to go on a rampage stops by and needs to chill the fuck out until they can get ahold of themselves. Doesn't just work with being calm, but that's what's most useful most often."
With a satisfied nod at himself, he extended his hand after finishing.
"
If you wanted to be fair, you could tell me what you do, and you seem to have me at a disadvantage in the name department as well."
An Emmy for comedy. "
Uh heh..," she forced a laugh, missing the joke. It seemed this wasn't a question he got very often. She visibly wilted at his answer. Only in some cases with Dreamcatcher's creatures, huh?
She carefully accepted his gesture, surprised by the infectiousness his cordiality. She felt like she should respond with her full name for some reason.
"
Callan Webb. Super strength... resistance... agility... speed--" ending the hand shake, she gripped her arm above the elbow tightly. Her breath caught in her throat, "
--and something else."
He let out a long whistle at the list. It was rare for an
Arbiter to get that much power. It was pretty much winning the superpower lottery, with no Stigma attached to it. Still...
He wasn't exactly the worst person in the world at picking up signals. She was here for a
reason, and hoping that his day wasn't about to be ruined, Lawrence cleared the space in front of him and folded his hand on the table. Leaning forward, he'd gone dead serious.
"
Go on."
Callan took a deep breath. Of course, she still hadn't told anyone about this. From the minute she'd been talking to him, Lawrence seemed generally trustworthy. Either way, she'd already decided that if she didn't get a handle on this, that wouldn't really matter anyway.
"
I don't know if it's suppose to be a fail-safe or what, but I can't control it," she blurted, "
This... thing... crawls out of my shadow. I can't explain it, but I know it's stronger than me. A lot stronger. And... angrier. And I have a feeling that if I lose my cool or get too hurt, it's gonna break out again."
The grip on her arm tightened as she continued, memories of that bloody afternoon bubbling to the forefront of her mind. "
But I'm not really here to see if you can help calm me down, she added quickly, "
I want to see if your ability would have any sort of effect on this thing. It's... basically a DC monster? So...."
"
Comes out of your shadow you say?"
He asked, standing up and walking around the table, trying to get a good look at what the woman was referring to. In truth, he didn't like where this conversation was going- putting himself in harms way was always an unpleasant task. However, he was nothing if not helpful, much to his own chagrin.
"
As in, something needs to happen for me to be able to see it, or is it there now, in this room? Do you think letting it out a bit would be dangerous even with the suppression cuff on? If so it might be better to do this somewhere less..."
He began, taking a look around the room as he trailed off.
"
... Occupied. Unless you're sure you can control it while I test my power. You say it's angry, well, I think as long as there's emotion there I can affect it. It's things like that big lump of stone that was on the battlefield I'm uncertain about.."
Panic flashed behind her eyes at Lawrence's suggestion. She barely heard anything else.
"
No," she said assuredly. Her voice lost some confidence, clarifying her sudden answer. "
N-not here."
"
I don't know how dangerous it would be with the suppression cuff, but I don't want to risk it. When it comes out, I lose everything. I wouldn't even be useful in clearing the way so people don't get hurt." She wanted to make sure Lawrence understood this. She was asking for a pretty big favor after all.
"
I'm certain there's a way to control it, though," she continued, "
Yesterday-- during the fight-- I was able to summon its arm and tell it what to do for just a moment. And that was without freaking out or almost dying."
"
As for whether or not it's here--" she looked down at her shadow, "
I don't know."
"
No helping it then."
He reached over and flipped own his plaque before subsequently grabbing two of the apples on the table and tossing one to her, not even asking if she wanted it. With her now-free hand, he motioned her to follow behind him. This was very quickly turning into an eventful week, and he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or bad thing. Suffice to say though, the women he was with were starting to make things a lot more interesting than they were a couple weeks ago.
"
Let's get some fresh air, eh? I assume you have a bit of free time right now."
The implications were fairly obvious, and he didn't feel the need to explain himself further than that. He knew the look in Callan's eye, was extremely familiar with it. If she didn't follow behind him it'd be the most shocking thing he'd encountered yet.
Catching the fruit, Callan stared after him.
"
Wait, that's it?" she gawked, "
You'll help me out? Really?"
She'd heavily considered the chance that he might tell her no. So much so that she hadn't really counted on him saying yes. Though maybe she'd just been wishing he wouldn't-- another excuse to put it off another day. Part of her kept wanting to do just that, even with Lawrence being so willingly to help right now. Or did he miss the part where she said her shadow was dangerous?
She rushed to catch up with him, walking slightly behind, "
Why?"
"
Why?"
He let the question hang in the air for awhile. He wasn't exactly opposed to talking about himself, but also wasn't used to it. The Abes he met with often weren't interested in getting that personal during their sessions, and the Arbs rarely talked to Lawrence to begin with. He was tempted to answer with a simple "
Because I feel like it." but that almost felt like a lie without context. Lawrence
didn't feel like potentially putting himself in danger. Especially for a total stranger.
It was after they had passed through the doors of the building and into the outside air that he continued, finally having settled on his on reasons.
"
You're terrified of your power, of what it means for what you are and what you can do, right? Well you've heard what I can do, I just told you earlier. There's no hidden caveat to that, no ocean lurking behind that puddle of power I possess. Still, when I arrived here a year ago, I was terrified of it, of that tiny amount that I could do. Back then I couldn't turn it on or off, so I lived in constant fear of manipulating those around me. As if that was the worst possible outcome in the world, compared to what some of us can do. Well. We'll just say one day I stopped running from what I was, and instead I chose to accept it, even if I didn't like it. From there I learned about my power, and from understand the fear went away. Once the fear went away, I could finally focus on controlling it, and earning peace for myself."
He paused only long enough to chew off a bit of his apple before continuing.
"
If I can help you understand this power that has you terrified, find its limits and minimize its danger... understand it and how to control it, well, maybe it'll make my days spent as a coward worth something. Fear is the mind killer. You're stuck with whatever this thing is either way, worrying about it won't change that fact. If my power works on it, that should at least give you peace of mind enough to work out your own powers with a clear head. If it doesn't work- C'est la vie. You won't be any worse off than you are now."
Callan opened her mouth to argue the being terrified part, but that almost certainly would have been a lie. No point in hiding it. Listening to Lawrence as they walked, she started eating the apple in her hand-- chewing just as much on his words. He wanted to help her because he could relate. Acceptance... fear... understanding... it made sense to her in theory, but-- c'est la vie? She wasn't so sure about that. Especially with regards to his safety.
"
Where are we going anyway?" she asked.
"
Nowhere in particular, just far enough away that I don't think anybody would get hurt. Ground Zero would be ideal, but that takes a bit of setup beforehand if you don't go there all the time- and I think that's overboard as a precaution."
Anybody, of course, hopefully included him. By now they were passing the hospital, walking towards Ground Zero even if it wasn't their actual destination. Ideally he'd have his power suppression off, but in the end it didn't matter too much. It worked better at suppressing some powers more than others, and Lawrence's was effective at what it did even when reduced. Overall, the results from using it on the Eyepion a few days ago made him fairly confident it would work on... Whatever it was that this girl was scared of. It was just going to be on her to make sure it wasn't an incredibly dumb decision she was making.
Ground Zero... Callan wasn't entirely sure what that was, but overboard sounded good. Maybe Lawrence had done things like this enough times not to worry, but that didn't excuse her from needing to be careful. Had she somehow been dishonest by omission when explaining things? Should she have explained more about how this thing leveled her home and had already almost killed someone? She found herself wondering if doing this tomorrow wasn't such a bad idea again and brushed the thought aside. It was now or never.
"
Want a bit of help relaxing?"
With another bite of the apple, he bathed them both in his faint white light, and let his power start taking affect on her.
The wave of calm caught her off guard, but surprise was quickly replaced with serenity. Her worries started to melt away, but even as they vanished, she desperately tried to hang on.
"
No--" she said forcefully before she was too calm to care, "
--thank you. I think I'm just the right amount of nervous right now."
"
You know yourself best."
With that simple reply, the aura vanished, and he didn't push it further. Had she attempted some sort of macho "
It's better that I do this alone." horse shit he may have argued further, but he wasn't about to assume being calm would automatically help her. It was a power he had never dealt with coupled with a mage he had never dealt with. Best to assume they knew what they were talking about.
By now the main body of the school was behind them, and Ground Zero was beginning to loom in front. A place Lawrence was beginning to see more and more often lately. Above, if you knew what you were looking at from this distance, the Ground Zero Ghost carried on her endless watch. Lawrence raised a hand to her in the distance and muttered:
"
I know, I know, with a different woman every time these day."
Before finally turning back to Callan.
"
I think we're about far enough. Are you sure you're fine without my power? Do you need some space? I've got some time to kill if you need to prepare yourself a bit more for this."
Callan observed her surroundings quietly, cogs whirling away. In the distance were some strange battered buildings, but they seemed far enough out of range-- as did the school. From her experience, the shadow could only go so far. This should be fine.
She took a deep breath, setting her apple core on the ground. She turned away from the sun to face it. It was long and dark up against the setting sun. Perhaps sensing her apprehension, it flickered suddenly, but otherwise snapped back into place. A harrowing chill ran up her spine. "
I've only fully summoned this thing once before," she explained, looking at him over her shoulder, "
My advice would be to stay close. It doesn't seem to bother me when it's out."
"
I've don't know if it'll show up just because I want it to either...," she tried to smile reassuringly, "
Hopefully it'll work... I'll be fine... it's fine." She faced the shadow again, staring at it hard. She was already getting goosebumps.
"
You ready?" Callan stalled, a neurotic laugh tainting the question.
Stay close? It was the opposite advice that he would have expected under the circumstances, but he wasn't about to argue over it. As she kept talking, clearly growing in agitation, Lawrence moved behind her and kept a close watch over... whatever it is he was looking. Her shadow, that thing, something else entirely. As she continued speaking he couldn't help the growing feeling that this was a bad decision on his part, but if it was stupidity then it was stupidity he was committed to.
C'est la vie.With that, he rested a hand on her shoulder, minding to refrain using his actual power to chill her out, and spoke.
"
Try to relax. You said you managed to get just it's arm or something before? I only really need to see a finger, as long as I have something I can target with my power. Just do what you can- if you can."
Callan had been staring so hard at her shadow that the sudden pressure on her shoulder caused her to jump. The corner of her mouth twitched into a nervous smile and she nodded, taking another deep breath as her shoulders relaxed-- if only a little. She tightened her fists and focused. One arm. That's all she wanted to summon. Maybe that's all she needed. Maybe Lawrence's ability would work like a charm and she could finally figure out exactly what this thing was and why it was so hellbent on making her life miserable by destroying everything in sight. Maybe it would listen.
Maybe it wouldn't.
As her mind kept racing, her shadow began to flicker more violently-- like the flame of a candle battling with a breeze. All at once it was still, taking on a solid black appearance. The tip of a single claw emerged from the inky black, followed by a monstrous black hand, roughly half the size of a person.
Maybe Lawrence's power wouldn't work. Maybe it would crawl out of her shadow just like before. Maybe it would kill them both.
The rest of the arm stretched skyward, soon followed by a second. The claws hit the ground with immense force, leaving small craters where they tightly gripped the earth. A pair of inky black shoulder blades emerged next. Even the light of the sun refused to reflect off its ebony form.
"
Back up," Cal whispered, taking a step back. Her eyes were wide; expression, vacant. The shadow bulged, stretching to accommodate the massive torso that was pulling itself out.
"
Mmm."
First stay close, now back up. As the thing began pulling itself out, Lawrence was definitely beginning to be filled with... apprehension. Far more than he had experienced the day before at Ground Zero. Still though, he merely stepped back and flipped his power on, noting with satisfaction that it did indeed work on the creature.
And waited.
As it began to pull its torso out he was struck with the realization that while his power was
targeting whatever it was, it seemed to be entirely unaffected. This was... both unusual, and completely detrimental to his own safety at the moment. With fear beginning to prick at him like on the battlefield days ago, he tried something new.
With his power he had always used it passively. Flick on, it's working, no need to do anything further on his part. This though...
Gripping Callan's shoulder harder, he tried to
will his power to work, force whatever it was coming into their world to calm the fuck down and reconsider endangering his life. It was an interesting experiment to be sure, but one that was bearing no fruit, and he began to feel that sense of fear increasing. This was turning out to be one Hell of a week he was experiencing. He didn't even have a gun on him for all the little it would do.
"
All right, well, good news is my power can target it. Bad news is that seems to be doing absolute jack. I'm open to suggestions at this point."
"
What?" Callan spared him a fleeting glance over her shoulder. That was definitely something she didn't want to hear.
A pair of huge, jagged black antlers preceded the head as it emerged with its ears flat against the back of its head. The rest of the body began to follow, its anatomy resembling something of a stag/wolf hybrid with jaws that seemed to extend almost to where the ears began. Large white eyes narrowed into thin slits as the creature's tail appeared last, flicking back and forth. Its entire body shuddered with presumed rage, hunching its shoulders as if recovering from the climb. Although it was hardly cold enough, its breaths came out in visible puffs of hot vapor. It was roughly the size of a city bus, from its nose to the tip of its tail. Speaking of which....
They were still too close.
Cal whipped around and grabbed a fist full of Lawrence's sleeve, prompting him to duck as the tail sailed overhead. "
Back up, back up, back up," she repeated in a whispered growl through her teeth. Her knuckles were white around the fabric of his sleeve and she was visibly shaking. This was definitely not going as planned. She'd only been trying to summon the claws, but the mere sight of them had screwed up everything. She probably should have let Lawrence use his ability on her, but it was a little late for that.
The monster flexed its claws, digging into the earth as it lifted its head in search of something to demolish.
Yep. Bad idea. Never going to try to help anybody again.Silently hating himself as he was forced to duck under the creature's claw, Lawrence began looking for options. All things considered, it didn't look like Callan was in the right mind to plan, and Lawrence wasn't in the right mind to let himself get killed. Still though, he didn't try to envelope the girl with his powers- right now the adrenaline would probably do her good, and his own mental state was starting to deteriorate from it's former calm anyway.
There wasn't anything for the creature to target here except for them. The main buildings were a ways off in front of them, and behind them...
"
Super strength and speed right? Any chance you think you can outrun it for a bit? We might be able to lose it, or at least distract it, in Ground Zero behind us."
A tinge of frustration momentarily overrode her mind numbing fear. "
I told you I lose everything. No speed. No strength."
"
Doesn't hurt to hope you were wrong."
She summoned a horrible excuse for a smile and attempted to laugh, "
I would've ripped your sleeve off by now if I had any juice."
A crash sounded off behind them as the shadow discovered a few trees and tackled them, clawing the bark and branches into pieces with its hind legs like an enraged cat.
"
Scared, yet?" Callan asked, exhaling sharply.
"
Getting there, although I'm mostly happy to not be a tree right this moment."
Rip his sleeve off? Not like he hadn't had enough of that this week. Still, it
did seem to be occupied with attacking things that weren't Callan. It looked as if, for now, staying close had been good advice. Perhaps the thing operated a bit like a stigma, where if it destroyed enough stuff it would settle down? It was a hope, anyway. As long as he and Callan weren't included in that
stuff. He couldn't say he wasn't worried, but this wasn't exactly less danger than he had been in the other day.
"
If we can't outrun it, or outfight it, best we can do is try not be noticed and think of a way to get it back where it came from. Do you have any clue on how you can do that? I don't exactly have any guns or anything to lend a hand with."
"
Uh...," not having a definite answer allowed the anxiety to creep back in, "
I don't know. I--"
The sound of more crashing cut her off as the shadow kicked the larger tree branches out of the way, moving on to another grouping of trees. The larger branches smashed into the ground in front of them, kicking up dirt and debris in a flurry of leaves. Callan covered her eyes and turned away to avoid the spray. She tried to push her racing thoughts aside and focus on the positive.
"
Let me try something..., she muttered, turning back to face the shadow. It was a bit further away now, which made it a little easier to think. She thought about Lawrence's advice earlier and tried to concentrate on what she wanted the shadow to do instead of her desire to turn around and run away. That's when she noticed it; a pulling sensation like the air between her and
it was elastic. Had that always been there? It suddenly occurred to her that if she stopped fighting so hard, even for just a moment, maybe it would-- Callan lost her grip of Lawrence's sleeve and her body lurched forward as if pulled by an invisible string. She lost her balance and fell onto her hands and knees.
What the hell...?The moment she fell, the shadow creature paused and turned, its ears perking up as if it had heard a sound. Its white eyes fell on the pair and it snarled sinisterly, flattening its ears as it lowered its head and began walking towards them, still bristling with rage.
--
All at once, she felt the same sensation she'd felt during the battle with the massive quadruped. Time seemed to freeze and it felt like she was falling through the ground-- surfacing in that mysterious place full of shooting stars and nebules and a vast sea, still as glass. She watched as another marble-like droplet rose to meet her.
Although she expected it to envelope her hand in white, she couldn't bring herself not to pull away, just as before. The second time she grasped it, the shadow across from her appeared-- more than just an arm this time. Though it was just a black shape, it was a perfect reflection of herself.
--
As Callan came back to realty, her ears were ringing to the point where she could hardly hear anything. She pressed her palm against her temple and tried to refocus on what was going on. Meanwhile, the creature crept even closer, eyes on Lawrence as it snapped at the air.
"
You all right?"
Lawrence knelt beside her, hand on her shoulder once more. Although in truth almost none of his attention was focused on the girl. This...
thing that could so easily kill him at the moment was his main priority. After Callan had fallen forward it finally took notice of the pair- or at least that Lawrence was a part of it. Now it seemed to have eyes for only him as it crept forward.
My advice would be to stay close.If there was one thing you learned about mages, it was to trust what they said about their powers. There was that...
instinct instilled in them from the onset, a subtle understanding of their new reality. So he stayed close, eyes fixated on the beast until it came to a halt in front of them, gripping Callan's should harder with each step.
And then all at once, relief.
The snapping jaws were
intimidating of course, but it seemed the girl had been right about its limits. Whether it couldn't get within a certain range, or couldn't make attacks that would potentially harm Callan, Lawrence didn't know. At that moment he didn't particularly care either as he wrestled with the adrenaline pumping through him and the urge to fight or flee. Both would end in disaster, you didn't need a stoic mind to be able to reason that out.
So the two stared at each other as Callan recovered. Coming to an understanding that perhaps only Lawrence was aware of, but was the foundation of the brief relationship between the two beings.
I can't really blame you, can I? If I could, I would destroy you too.Reality came back to her in pieces. Snarling. Lawrence's hand on her shoulder. The dirt, the grass, the massive claws and jaws before her. And above all else, an innate feeling of what to do.
Callan stood on her knees, breathing unevenly as she discarded the helpless fear that had been suffocating up until now. She got to her feet and extended both her arms out in front of her. She closed her fingers around two invisible cords. She exhaled, feeling a sense of relief even as she stared at the beast, which had since continued to nip at the air, pawing the ground anxiously. Slowly, she rose the cords above her head, narrowing her eyes as the shadow shook its head and snorted warm vapor into her face. She whipped the cords down sharply and the monster's head slammed into the ground with enough force to shake the ground beneath their feet.
It then began to melt. As it did so, the creature picked its head up and sat, gifting her with one last hateful glare until it too melted. The inky puddle shrank back into the shape of her shadow and faded back to its natural shade.
Callan blinked down at her shadow. It was gone. Suddenly her legs felt like little more than jello. She barely caught herself from falling forward again.
"
Huh," she smirked, the corners of her mouth hesitantly rising. It was really gone.
Then she did the last thing she thought she'd ever do in a situation like this.
She laughed.
"
Hah..."
As the
thing melted away Lawrence let the tension flow out of him in a rush, falling backwards onto the grass as he exhaled. For a moment he lay there, watching a cloud pass overhead as he tried to get his bearings, before turning once more to the Ghost high in her tower nearby. He wondered, as Callan began laughing next to him, if one died in Ground Zero, whether they became part of the projection, fated to be killed by rampaging Aberrations again and again. That would not have been his fate if he died here of course, so far outside it, but death was on his mind.
"
I think that's my excitement for the day. Laying here for awhile sounds nice."
Her laughter subsided into short bursts of giggling as she sat down, wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye with her sleeve.
She leaned back on her hands and sighed, "
I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but-- I can't believe that worked."
"
Honestly, compared to the sound of being torn limb from limb, I'm think I'm quite all right with hearing that."
Calming himself quickly was of course a talent Lawrence was well versed in at this point, so he folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, relaxing in his newfound peace. So, had she learned to control her power? It would certainly be a productive venture if that was the case, although he couldn't say for certain whether it was learning something she could already do, or...
"
Good job though, Callan Webb. You're one step closer to showing whatever that is whose boss now. "
Her cheeks were threatening to cramp up at this point, but she still couldn't stop smiling-- especially at Lawrence's comment.
"
Ya think? Maybe I'll have to enlist your help for round two." she joked, looking at him.
If they weren't closed he would have rolled his eyes at that one, instead he let out an exasperated sigh without moving from his position.
"
Yeah, great idea. I'll help mill about somewhere while you get a water bottle to spray in its face and say '
Bad dog!' until it learns its lesson.[/color]"
Callan laughed and her hand flew to her cheek.
Ow....She massaged her cheek for a moment, observing Lawrence in silence.
"
Seriously though... thanks for helping me."
He shook his head in response, opening his eyes this time to look at her.
"
Don't kid yourself into thinking I did anything, you solved your own problems. Credit where it's due. Most I did was tag along here. Your problem, your idea to try to do something about it, your solution that did something about it."
Closing his eyes once more he took a deep breath.
"
The fresh air is nice though, point to me for taking you to a spot outdoors for this."
With an incredulous scoff, she shook her head. He wasn't even going to let her say thank you after almost dying on her account? That made for two things she couldn't believe today. After all, Lawrence had still agreed to at least
try and help-- even with the knowledge that he might not be able to.
"
Well..." she laid back and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket, staring up at the sky, "
I'm glad you were here anyway."
He chuckled in response. Glad he was here? There wasn't really a way to argue that without being a total asshole. So he didn't, instead content to take the comment for what it was.
"
Thanks. Next time though let's just try to get the arm, eh? That was rather too intense to want a repeat."
"
Agreed," Callan groaned, closing her eyes. With the melting of her shadow monster, she'd felt her strength return-- but with it came a good amount of fatigue. Either that, or there was something about the shade of the clouds and softness of the breeze that was compelling her to sleep. Or maybe it was the natural aura of calm exuded by Lawrence-- the biggest quandary of all considering what they'd just been through. Whatever the case, circumstances were ideal. Not that it mattered-- she'd napped for less.
"
Well we should probably start head-"
Asleep.Sure, Lawrence was relaxed, but he wasn't
that relaxed right after risking his life. Asleep. Outside. In the middle of the day. Right after nearly dying.
What the hell?
Not knowing if he was looking at a narcoleptic or the next evolution of mankind, Lawrence sighed in exhasperation before settling back himself. Glancing briefly at a watch that didn't exist, he wished he hadn't left his books back at the library, wondering how long it'd take the girl to wake up.
Well.
It's not like he had anything better to do at the moment. With a shrug he placed his hands behind his head once more and looked at the clouds passing above.
Casting their shadows on the two figures in the grass.
𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟘𝟞, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 / / 𝟚𝟚𝟙𝟞
A change in the temperature as a particularly cold breeze danced by finally stirred Callan from her nap. It was darker than it should've been for how long she meant to sleep. The stars overhead seemed brighter than they ought to be-- something that could probably be credited to her having never been outside of the city she was from. A second cold breeze told her it was time to head back to her dorm. She stifled a yawn and stretched.
"
You always sleep next to a guy on the same day he learns your name?"
A startled Callan tightly collapsed her arms around her chest and turned to see a very dimly lit Lawrence-- still lying in the same place and position she'd last seen him. Had he fallen asleep the same time she did? But... he was very clearly awake right now. How long had he been awake?
What time was it? Her cheeks burned and she sat up quickly. The mortifying realization that he might have been waiting for her to wake up this whole time left the delivery of her response lacking.
"
Wh-- how... H-how long did it take you to come up with that?" she nervously chuckled, pulling her hair over her shoulder and hugging her knees to her chest.
Worth it.In truth he hadn't expected her to sleep
nearly so long as she had. An hour, two at absolutely most. It wasn't as if he had any particular plans for the day, and relaxing was as good of a hobby as any. Still.
Still.
He didn't have a watch on him, or another method of keeping time, but he knew what time the sun set this time of year in USARILN East, and she had been out for
hours. Well passed what he had planned to wait. Well past what was reasonable to expect from a nap. While at first he was just content to relax, as the chill began to creep in it was purely stubbornness that had rooted him to his spot. By the point he had already wasted an hour on the task, what was a couple more? It was a pointless challenge, but one that he took up willingly.
"
Just now, I was mainly thinking of remarks about the bed hair you'd have when you woke up, but it's gotten rather hard to see it anyway."
If her hair had been a snake, she would've strangled it. She hugged her knees tighter.
"
You've been awake this whole time," Callan stated-- not so much as a question, though it was clear she wanted to know why.
"
You've been asleep this whole time. You act like being awake is the weirder one of the two."
"
Well..." she didn't really have a response to that. Her sleeping patterns had been off-the-charts-weird this past week. Effectively stumped, she remained silent.
He chuckled in response, finally standing up and taking a moment to stretch before offering her a hand.
"
Don't worry about it, it was a good opportunity to relax and think for awhile. I'll just know next time to bring a pillow along."
She hesitated before taking his hand. It was cold. Now she felt less embarrassed and more guilty.
"
Thanks," she said, "
But next time you can just tape a 'Do Not Disturb' sign to my face and leave if you want. Sleeping in public is a bad habit I don't see myself breaking anytime soon."
"
Seems like a waste personally."
He began, starting to step to the dorms where they both lived.
"
Why would I tape the sign to your face then leave? I've got a pillow and a sign saying not to disturb me at that point, may as well get some shut eye out of it."
"
Tch," she followed, slightly behind, "
Unless you're coming up with one-liners the whole time."
"
Would you prefer they were two liners? I'm not picky."
She scoffed, turning up the collar of her jacket and crossing her arms tightly, "
I'm more of a three liner girl myself."
He shook his head in response, finally approaching the main compound once more.
"
You're a woman of expensive taste. You should try to be a little less demanding."
"
Uh... tch, no way. I've got standards," she responded lamely. The 'woman' bit caught her off guard. For a moment, the seventeen year old forgot that Lawrence seemed older than she was-- though by how much she wasn't sure. She again thought about how she'd been sleeping out there next to him for what had to have been hours and inwardly screamed. At least her face wasn't cold.
Lawrence simply chuckled in response to that, content to let the matter drop. There was a limit to how much teasing was tasteful, after all, and he could tell that limit had been reached. So, instead, he enjoyed the night air and the sound of their footsteps echoing across the quiet campus. It wasn't long before the two reached home- the Arbiter dorms. Sure, there was a chance she was confined to the Aberration wing, but from what he'd seen that day the possibility was incredibly unlikely.
Once inside he turned to her a final time.
"
Well, unless you've become my roommate overnight I think this is it. I'm not the hardest person in the world to locate next time you need something."
Callan, the epitome of flustered in that moment, shoved her hands into her pockets as a last ditch effort to look casual. She nodded curtly, "
See ya around."
Upon entering her suite, Callan closed the door behind her and lingered there with her back up against it. After a moment of letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she stalked over to her bed and collapsed facedown into her pillow. Either this would help put out her face, which she was quite sure was literally on fire right now, or she'd suffocate and die. Either one sounded desirable.
