Uná O’Brian & Crispin Lincoln
Location: Academy Front Courtyard
Uná hugged Phoebe quickly hoping that was okay. She was a hugger. Really it was physical contact for her. It made her feel better and had a significant impact on lessening her nightmares. Which could be deadly. Uná pushed those thoughts from her mind and moved through the crowd toward where the boy who bumped into her wandered off.
Uná was able to watch him pull out his phone and text then try to put it back in his pocket. She watched in curiosity as he shook his hand lightly like he was trying to flick off the phone, which didn’t budge. He then shook his hand more violently.
Huh? I wonder what is up. Uná watched as he pried it off his hand only to lose the front in a beautiful arch that slammed into the blonde guy Uná had seen when she got out of the car. Uná winced as she heard the phone land on the guy’s face. And glanced at the reaction from the blonde guy hoping to stop a fight if one escalated. Mr. Hottie looked like he was apologizing to the blonde that she had dubbed Mr Smooth Operator. As Mr. Hottie was speaking something yanked him away.
Uná was stunned at how quickly he disappeared and suddenly a few people looked toward where she was sure Mr. Hottie was at. He was dodging a yellow lab as she got there and yoink gone again. She sighed and reached over and righted the bench. She smiled at the others who were just all staring in wonder. Probably wondering what happened. She looked at the boy who looked a little lonely. She smiled at him as she put her stuff down and put her hand out
“Hi I’m Uná O’Brian.”The young man had plenty of time to react before the bench tipped over, and even found a small amount of amusement watching as the accident-prone boy whizzed all around the campus. What he wasn't prepared for, however, was a young, red-headed woman approaching him and helping to lift the bench right-side up once again.
His icy eyes located her hand, extended out for him to shake, but the pale boy shook his head subtly no. He didn't want to harm her. He had no reason to. He never said anything, not to anyone. Even at his job it was always nods or shakes of the head - subtle and yet universal gestures that could get his message across to almost anyone provided they were paying him enough attention. But it was all surface communication. Even with his own mother, or the Penguin, there was never any need for regular (let alone deep) conversation.
Eyes darting then from the girl to the stolen backpack that had fallen to the ground when the bench tipped over, Crispin hesitated before grabbing it up and slung it over his shoulder, directing his eyes back towards the girl and gestured towards the bench, wondering if she would like to sit.
He could feel her warmth... How he longed to be warm!
A heat syphon - that's what he was. He felt heat off of other people's bodies. It took every ounce of willpower for him to not take hers as his own in an effort to warm up, surely it would kill her. But if he had learned anything by freezing over the bus of people before arriving here, is that it didn't seem to help. Nothing seemed to help. He was destined to be cold forever.
Uná was a little perturbed. He didn’t want to shake hands? She pulled her hand back and looked at it looking for some dirt or something offensive. She looked up questioningly as he grabbed his bag and was able to see the boy she’d been following was wrapped up with a girl. Uná grimaced and sighed.
Of all the rotten luck of course. Well at least I found a comfy seat.Uná looked to see the pretty blonde with really nice eyes indicate the bench like he was wondering if she’d like to sit. Uná smiled and sat her stuff on the opposite end and slid over not trying to crowd him just incase he was germaphobic. It was pleasantly cool for some reason around here and she liked it. Maybe it was a natural breezeway or something. She smiled brightly at him and said
“So what’s your name?”His name? His first reaction was to point to the nametag stitched onto his work clothes, but recollection of events prior had him pausing. He drew his lower lip into his mouth, thinking, eyes bouncing every which way before he eventually released his lower lip and held up a finger, indicating for her to wait. He then turned out his hand, palm flat not three inches from his lips and blew out a stream of fast air that instantly converted into light, floaty ice.
Using both of his hands, he rearranged the small chunks of floating ice to spell out his name -
Crispin.
Uná was stunned the ice was beautiful and his name evoked that sense of coolness in the air that she felt when she sat down by him.
“Crispin. That’s a very apropo name considering your gift. That is really pretty. I wish I had the control you do. Almost killing your parents with lack of control is pretty frightening. I can create very realistic and interactive illusions, but apparently only while I’m asleep. So literally my dreams come true. Unfortunately my nightmares do too.” She shook out of her pensive serious mood and looked back at Crispin.
“So are you shy or are secretly a monk that has taken a vow of silence? Come on Crispin talk to me. I promise I’m not as bad as I look.” Uná winked at Crispin and smiled warmly.
Lowering his hands from the ice art he had created, the name dissolved into a small flurry of tiny snowflakes before being picked up by the wind and blown away after deciding to sit down on the very edge of the bench, putting his backpack between himself and Uná, just for the sake of keeping her from touching him accidentally.
Crispin nodded his head, intently listening to everything she had to say. She was interesting. He could listen to her talk about herself for hours. That’s just what he did - he liked to listen to people talk. But when she made mention of his own choice to not speak, he shook his head no. Warm smile or not, he just simply couldn’t find the words and found that he didn’t really even want to. Instead, he lifted his hand level to his eyes, a good eight inches away from his face, and with his opposite hand, rotated his fingers around his fixated hand which looked to be holding onto some kind of imaginary pencil.
The air around his hands began to swirl, becoming more and more visible as the temperature once more took a plunge around them. After a few moments, an ice sculpture began to form in his steady hand, a stem growing from between his fingers that eventually blossomed into a crystalline rose-shape. Finished, he held it out for her to take, but before she did, he set it down on the bench between them gently before withdrawing his hands back into his lap.
Uná picked up the crystal rose and smiled at Crispin.
“I’m sorry if I offended you Crispin. I talk too much but you don’t seem to mind. Thank you for the rose it’s beautiful.” She smiled and turned to dig in her bag.
“I have something that might cheer you up. Let me get it out.” Uná leaned and reached this caused her foot to lift off the ground slightly and slide over to touch Crispin’s shoe. Uná hissed a bit and jerked her foot back like something stung her, as she got out a pencil and fresh notepad so that Crispin could write if he wanted to. She also grabbed a Twix King size she put that by her she was going to give him half of it. She grinned at Crispin and held out the pad and pencil.
“Here. Now you can write a reply if you want. Wait let me write my name and number on it so you can text me later if you want to talk...or listen to me talk.” She laughed at herself as she wrote her name and number on the pad and held it out to Crispin for him to take.
Her touch… Crispin immediately recoiled the moment he felt her foot coming into contact with his. Shoes or no, he knew enough to know that a touch of any kind could prove deadly for anyone, or anything with even the slightest amount of heat. He had to remove himself as quickly as he possibly could. Standing and staggering back a few feet from her, Crispin’s already pale face drained of any color left, concern and sorrow knitting into his features as he looked her over, trying to surmise if he had hurt her in anyway. He wanted to say it, to tell her that he was sorry but the words formed in his Adam’s apple, only to get swallowed back down as they refused to rise any further.
“Crispin? What’s wrong?” Uná bit her lip and set down the notepad and pencil on where he was sitting. Then she added the Twix on top after she took half.
“Look...sit down and tell me what is wrong. Let me help. It’s what friends do. We are friends right?” Uná looked concerned and was trying to smile through her worry.
What is bothering him?He didn’t move to sit down. Instead, he quietly pointed at his foot, and then hers.
Uná was a but confused then remembered the sharp sting that she’d just had on her foot...in her shoe.
“Okay I think I understand. You have a very expressive face. Super cute too.” She winked at Crispin.
“I’m okay just a little sting nothing major. I promise I’ll live and be happier for it on top of that. So you had been sitting and everything was fine. Nothing happened why don’t you sit back down and we can get to know each other better, hummm?” Uná indicated the pad and pencil as well as the bench itself.
“Did you know that technically there are thirteen constellations in the zodiac?” She waited for him to look interested and pointed to the bench again. She leaned in and stage whispered.
“I’m not telling you more till you sit down.” Then leaned back and grinned her eyes twinkling like that stars that she was talking about.
“Besides Twix…had to share. That’s what friends do.”Hesitancy written all across his features, Crispin eventually eased himself to sit back on the edge of the bench, pulling his backpack towards him a bit more so that it rested against his leg and lower torso a bit. Just in case.
Carefully, he took the notepad and pen from her, his eyebrows furrowing at the strain of numbers she had written down under her name. What did that mean, exactly? He wasn’t entirely sure. Looking back up at her as she talked about constellations, his light blue eyes blinked before he quickly jotted down
Ophiuchus on the pad and showed it to her without handing it over to her. He had read many books on the stars back at home. At the very least, the Penguin had allowed him into the library when he wasn’t needed. Books became his favorite kind of friends very quickly.
Uná looked at the pad of paper with the ‘13th constellation’ on it. She grinned and nodded happily.
“Yes!! How did you know? I love Astrology and Astronomy!! I wanted to be an astronaut so badly when I was younger!! But having the power I do is not conducive to even brief life in confinement. Sadly my dreams were lost. Now I don’t have dreams...literally. Meds. I wish I didn’t have to take them...and that is why I’m here. To pretty much keep my thoughts in my own head. Why are you here Crispin?” Uná kept eye contact with him the entire time and wanted to pull him out of his shell. See him smile genuinely maybe…
maybe be lucky enough to hear him laugh.
He’s pretty now but I’d bet he’d give Mr. Hottie a run for his money if he’d just smile. He reminds me of those old gothic romance novels. He’d make a perfect Mr Darcy if Darcy were mute.Crispin put the notepad in his lap and then joined his two hands together, like a book, portraying the act of reading before he dropped his hands back down. Hopefully she would understand that he knew her answer because of his love for books. Or… something like that. Her other question, however, had thim thinking. Why was he here? Well the obvious, to at least him, was to escape his mother and the Mr. Cobblepot, but his brief interaction with her foot against his earlier had him remembering that it was just too easy for him to hurt people. His face fell, somewhat dejected, and pointed to her foot. He wanted to learn how to control it - or at least to just feel warm for once in his life. Whichever was easier; he couldn’t possibly have both in this world.
Uná watched him mime reading and grinned. She liked reading too among other things. She was a very physical person since a lot of comfort could be given in physical interaction and helped hold off her nightmares. She thought about that as Crispin pointed to her foot looking dejected. He must be in the same boat she was in. Control. It was heartbreaking to think that he’d never been hugged or even touched due to his power. Her grin slipped away and she nodded.
“Ah I see. Control. I’d like that too like I said keeping my dreams in my head and not outside it would be nice. Well as we learn to control our powers we can see how far the other has come. So what do you say Crispin; would you like to be my anchor? I’m a hugger and I know I can’t hug you right now but maybe once you get the control you need I can give you a hug?” She was on dangerous ground here. She was so self conscious that she practically whispered the last part since she didn’t know how he was going to take it.
Maybe I should have kept that to myself...oh damn… She didn’t look away but she smiled weakly realizing that she probably went too far but it was already out there and she had problems sometimes with not speaking whatever was on her mind. Her mother thought it was cute but sometimes it got her into trouble.
Crispin hesitated for a moment. His only friend back at home, Darlene, she had taken it upon herself to get close to him; to be there for him and talk at him just as Uná was. And after months of bonding, all it took was a single moment of contact for him to take her life away. He couldn’t do that. Not again. Not to Uná.
His shoulders slumped as he watched her. He could practically feel her emotional levels changing as she expressed her want for physical contact. He felt the same way. But he just couldn’t bring it within himself to hurt her like that. But… but if this school was everything he had read about, the teachers could help him, couldn’t they? And he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting anyone ever again. So slowly, he nodded his head up and down, if only to give himself something to look forward to in the future. He would like a hug. Very much.
Uná grinned and nodded happily as a sharp announcement overhead cut through the crowded and noisy students, the female voice seeming to come from everywhere.
”Will students please gather in the main courtyard. Headmaster Wayne has some important messages to deliver.” Uná’s eyes widened as she looked at Crispin.
“If you don’t mind can I walk with you? My other new friend Phoebe has this creep hanging around and I don’t care for him. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself…” She blushes.
“Never thought I’d say that about myself. Keep the pencil and pad of paper, that will let us talk if we need to.” Uná waited till people cleared out of about a five foot radius and tapered off toward the designated area. She looked over at Crispin and gathered her things. Putting on her backpack she grabbed the handle of the rolling suitcase and grabbed a bag that looked just as heavy and the last bag that she transferred to the top of the rolling case. She didn’t really have a free hand to offer Crispin so she tilted her head to the backs of the students walking off.
“I’m pretty sure we’re good to go now and shouldn’t run into anyone now. Come on Crispin we can do this!!” She sounded all excited and bubbly her smile as bright and warm as the sun.
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