[IC] In Enemy Territory

[Midna-Phobia]

“Oh…” Grace said, some of it making sense to her, some of it losing her a little. The whole mana thing was not a concept she was familiar with, he did a fairly good job explaining it. “I got my powers from my mum.” She piped up quickly. “Elementals run in our family too, though she’s more earth, so we’re still not sure why I ended up with water… we figured it has something to do with natures, that certain elements just work better for certain natures.” However when he mentioned that he could see her blushing Grace gasped slightly, dropping her gaze back to the ground and feeling her cheeks burning even fiercer. The girl was quiet for a few moments when someone else spoke up. “Aww look, isn’t that cute? She’s got a crush on the blind boy!” Gasping again Grace looked up and to the source of the voice. A girl who was a fair bit taller than her with dark brown hair and green eyes. “Look how red she is.” “I… don’t” Grace replied softly, her voice barely auditable. “What was that? You need to speak up, I didn’t hear you?” “I said I don’t…” She said, only a fraction louder, still not enough to be heard very well. Tears were now starting to well up in her eyes on top of it all and she took a few nervous steps away as the other girl advanced on her. She shook her head slightly. “Sorry sweetie still can’t hear you.” It wasn’t entirely clear if her intent was malicious or not, she hadn't said anything outright mean, though she had invited herself into a private conversation. Either way it was making Grace uncomfortable and she began to look around for the quickest exit.

[TimasheTiger]

She seemed to get the gist of the explanation, though some of the technical stuff might have been over her head. She explained her origin as well, seemed like she was an elemental as well although...maybe she lost touch with her magical roots...maybe his father could show her something or even...well it was something to think on later. After having mentioned her blushing though he had to wonder if he took his teasing too far, that was until someone gave him the answer clear as day. "Aww look, isn't that cute? She's got a crush on the blind boy! Look how red she is." This looked bad, Grace's aura suddenly shifted, timidity and fear enveloped her and a new aura approached; he felt webs of aggression. The new aura taunted Grace, stricken with fear of this new adversary she slowly backed away. No, he couldn't let that overcome him, but he couldn't just let this injustice take place either. "Ahem!" This attracted the girl's attention as he stepped in-between her and Grace, "you interrupted our conversation, please leave." His face was stone cold, but his insides raged with a fire he wanted to loose upon her. "Ooh what's this? Casanova gonna protect his little girlfriend?" She began taunting him, but he was unimpressed, Grace on the other hand, she probably felt that one. He was going to get this girl away from Grace, he just needed something to give him an edge in the conversation, anything would help, but until then, all he could say was. "I'm not going to ask you again," his body was becoming more like a furnace.

[Midna-Phobia]

Grace looked up very slightly at the intervention of Kyle, her gaze slightly curious amongst the other emotions overwhelming her. At the other girl’s words she looked back down. The other girl smiled slightly at the boy’s words and tossed her hair slightly with a smirk and a small scoff. “Cool your jets hot stuff, I was just teasing.” She said carelessly as she turned and walked away, joining a group of other very tall and attractive looking girls whom she began laughing with as if the whole encounter with the pair had never happened. Grace slowly looked away from them and then back to Kyle with a small smile. She reached out to touch him for a moment, before feeling the heat radiating off his body and quickly retracted her hand, holding it gently. “Thank you.” She said gently, looking at him with another small smile as she wiped away the small tears that had formed in her eyes. “You didn’t have to… but I’m glad you did. Sometimes it feels like everyone can sense my nervousness. I’m like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti. The bullies just seem to smell me coming from a mile away.” She actually laughed softly and seemed to have calmed down and mostly gotten over her nervousness from before. “I’ll try not to be a burden like that in the future.” She promised. “Do you always get all hot when you get mad?” Grace asked curiously, remembering how he’d been practically radiating heat. No doubt if she’d touched him she would have burnt herself.

[TimasheTiger]

Kyle remained as stone faced as ever even in the girl's flippancy and departure. Once she was back with her group Kyle relaxed a bit, letting his guard down, he turned around to face Grace. “Thank you. You didn’t have to… but I’m glad you did. Sometimes it feels like everyone can sense my nervousness. I’m like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti. The bullies just seem to smell me coming from a mile away. I’ll try not to be a burden like that in the future.” He felt somewhat relieved that she was alright, her aura had shifted back to normal too. That being said, he was saddened by the fact that she felt the way she did about herself. To have such a low confidence, to the point of considering yourself to be a burden to others, what made her feel this way to begin with? “Do you always get all hot when you get mad?” Taken aback he looked down at his hand, before growing somewhat solemn, "Sorry," he spoke, "sometimes I forget to control the heat, but...fires rage, its in their nature," looking down at her he noticed she was holding her hand, "Grace...did I hurt you?" He looked to her slightly concerned.

[Midna-Phobia]

“Hmm?” Looking down at her hand at his question she quickly held up both her hands, shaking her head slightly. “Oh no. Not at all. I went to touch you before, but I felt the heat radiating before I made contact. I’m fine really.” She assured him, smiling again. She found it very interesting that way he described his powers. It reminded her of her mother in a way and the thought made her feel just that little bit more comfortable, a little bit closer to him. They’d theorised that perhaps elemental powers were shaped by the human they inhabited. But perhaps they’d had it the wrong way. What if the human was shaped by the element they used? “You don’t need to apologise.” She assured him with another gentle smile. “If it weren’t for you she’d probably still be bothering me, so it’s fine. It’s… kind of nice really.” She felt a little bad saying that she was happy he’d gotten mad over someone bothering her and momentarily lapsed out of control, even just slightly. Although it wasn’t something she’d experienced herself, since her powers more involved having to use energy to manipulate water rather than having it constantly present.

[TimasheTiger]

She seemed confused at his question at first before coming to the realization of what he meant; that was a good sign. As she exclaimed her good health, Kyle felt a small wave of relief wash over him. He smiled back at the girl and he could tell by her aura that she had become quite comfortable around him; this was also good. After some contemplation she thanked him again, no, this time she wasn't thankful, she was grateful. She seemed grateful that he came to her aid, even if he lost control of his powers for a fraction of a moment, nearly causing her harm with his heat, she was grateful. Kyle had always considered his rage, his curse, a stigma upon his existence, a cancerous and festering thing with the fiery rage of a thousand suns. Yet here this girl was, grateful for the anger he produced and he couldn't help but feel both glad that someone accepted it, but also...confused, maybe even concerned about his position. He didn't want to make a habit of losing control like that, but at the same time, Kyle couldn't help but feel a sort of kinship with Grace. He wanted to spend more time with this girl and if anyone had any unwanted intentions with her, they'd answer to him. Like he said though, he didn't want to make it a habit to lose control every time someone looked at her wrong and she reacted badly. That being said, he knew her confidence would come in time, and he wanted to see just how far she could go, because deep down, something inside him said that beneath her delicate exterior, there was the potential for a powerful tsunami. He smiled at her, "all in all, I'm glad you're ok." "Alright students!" Kyle winced at the bellows of Mr. Steele, "time for class, let's move it!" "Hm, shall we?"

[Midna-Phobia]

When Kyle said that he was glad she was okay Grace smiled again and then just stood there for what felt like a long time, just looking at him. He was, at least to her, a curious person. He had been so nice to her all this time despite her shyness and lack of confidence. Heck he seemed to have more confidence in her than she did. She wondered where it all came from and why he was so much more confident than she was. However her ponderings were interrupted by a shout from Mr Steele. Oddly enough he didn’t seem like a teacher she’d be approaching much with her problems. Turning back to Kyle Grace smiled happily and nodded. “We shall.” She replied happily as they headed for the exit to the gym. “Did you want me to walk you to your next class? Whatever that is?” Glancing down at her own schedule Grace noted she had a creative arts class. She remembered during the induction period she’d been allowed to select electives and perhaps flooded her schedule with arts classes. There were of course standard classes that everyone had to take, but there were only four of them. She actually found herself looking forward to the next class. It may seem contradictory to her nature but Grace loved expressing herself through things like dancing or singing or painting. Photography was a favourite hobby of hers. It was just the expressing herself in front of others she had troubles with because, true to her nature, she got horrible cases of stage fright whenever people saw her.

[TimasheTiger]

"Well Grace, I've enjoyed your company so far, and I see no reason to stop now, I'd appreciate your company," he smiled, taking care to stay close to the wall, so as not to trip Grace over with his cane. He couldn't exactly remember what his next class was so he pulled out a small leather bound book from his pocket and thumbed over a page, reading in braille, "Ooh," he exclaimed, somewhat more excitedly than he meant to, "Pagan studies." Kyle may have gone a little too overboard with the electives he chose, but what school offered a course like that? He also mentioned taking Philosophy and Astrology as a course. Maybe it was a sort of nature vs. nurture thing, but Kyle had always been interested in the magical, the divine, and the occult. From an early age he was taught how to control his mana, how to project himself into the astral, and the powers of magic itself. What better way to learn more about what interested him than through studies of such things, of gods, and men, and life itself. What probably would surprise her the most was his interest in sparring as an extra curricular activity. His argument being that the body, mind and spirit are all one and that martial arts, forms the three into a weapon, to protect those who can't protect themselves. It was strange, talking with someone he barely met so freely, and yet, it was one of the greatest feelings. He enjoyed sharing his interests with the girl, though despite his self-confidence, he couldn't help but feel like maybe his interests would weird her out. He never cared before, yet for once in his life he did and all it took was her; what was she doing to him? His hand running along the wall he found the room he was looking for, "ah, here it is, thank you for walking with me," he smiled at the girl then...something strange happened, "um...so will I see you later?"

[Midna-Phobia]

Walking along the hallways Grace offered very little help at finding his classroom, unlike she had intended to do. But this building was still very new to her, so she didn’t know her way around yet. When he mentioned he had pagan studies she pondered for a minute, trying to define the word in her mind. Eventually she smiled and nodded slightly as if in approval. “It sounds very interesting.” She finally decided happily. As Kyle began listing off his other electives she listened politely. Although she didn’t think they were things she would have picked herself they sounded interesting all the same. “I love looking at the stars.” She added, going off the astrology topic and hoping she didn’t say something stupid and make a fool of herself. “I’ve always wondered about some of the gas giants, wondering if I’d be able to work with the gasses the planets are made out of…” The girl trailed off for a moment, lost in her thoughts again before she blushed slightly. “Sorry… that probably sounds silly.” It wasn’t that she didn’t have ambitions about her powers; she thought it was only natural to think of unique ways to use them and try to get stronger. As they arrived at the classroom and she turned to Kyle, glad to see him smiling at her. When he asked her would he see her later she nodded happily. “Of course, if you want to that is. I’ll look for you at lunch, but with that whole aura thing you’ve got going on you’ll probably see me before I see you.” At least she thought that was how it worked; that ever person had their own unique aura that he’d be able to pick up on. But really she had no idea.

[TimasheTiger]

He smiled, somewhat elated that he'd be seeing her again, though how well she thought his power worked, well... While it was true that he could detect auras, he hadn't developed the skill to detect an individual's aura without some kind of specific catalyst or mark on them; that being said, an idea struck him. "It doesn't exactly work that way but..." he sensed his surroundings a moment, when feeling safe he said, "this is probably gonna gross you out a little, but this is the only way I can do this." He grabbed his small book and opened it up to a blank page, turning away from Grace's sight, Kyle bit down on his thumb, hard enough to draw blood. He made a small grunt at the sudden pain, but powered through it drawing a small sigil of blood on the blank sheet. Placing his hand over the sigil he whispered a small incantation, it glowed briefly before fading away. Turning back to Grace, his finger pressed into his thumb to cauterize the wound, a small puff of smoke escaping. Ripping out the piece of paper and folding it, he explained himself, "I just made a tracking sigil, its linked specifically to me, so only I can sense it, with it, I'll be able to find you." He frowned slightly, "I know its gross and...really, really strange so, you don't have to take it if you don't want to."

[Midna-Phobia]

Tilting her head slightly Grace watched as he turned away from her. She heard the small grunt of pain and flinched slightly. She waited, slightly confused as to what he was doing, though he was certainly doing something. Her eyes fell to the paper, widening slightly as she realised it had some blood on it. Not coated, but it had a sizable bit of blood on it. She tilted her head again as he explained what he’d done though she simply smiled and took the piece of paper gently, hardly hesitating as she placed it in her pocket, knowing she’d find a safer place for it later. “It’s not that bad, but blood doesn’t bother me that much. The way I see it, it’s just another liquid. Everyone has it. Just… don’t use it to be all creepy and follow me without me knowing.” She giggled softly and turned, about to leave before she paused. “I should get to class, don’t worry, I’ll keep it safe.” She assured him as she hurried off down the hall. Though Grace doubted anything horrible would happen if she did happen to lose it. Kyle’s powers were a lot more complicated than hers, so there were things about them she still didn’t understand, and doubted she would any time soon. And that was alright with her. He seemed happy enough to explain things when she got confused.

[TimasheTiger]

She surprised him, how comfortable she was with blood, calmly explaining her thoughts on it, even catching him off guard with her stalker comment; this time, he blushed. Grace was certainly something different, a complete enigma to him and he wanted to know more about her, though he could only guess as to if she had the same thoughts about him. Regardless of the answer, now was not the time, nor the place for deeper discussions to occur. She bid him farewell, assuring the sigil's saefty, and he waved her off in return. He watched as her aura faded and as he concentrated, he could sense the blood red sigil moving in her aura's place. He smiled, glad to know it was working. Turning to enter the classroom, a thought occurred to him, "I'll have to tell her about Europa later, I think she'd like the ice geysers on it."

[Midna-Phobia]

Grace managed to find her room easily enough; she’d taken note of the location as they’d passed it since it had been close to the gym. However since this was a dance class, which she had elected in place of gym or another physical class, there weren’t any chairs or tables so she just took a place on the floor along with everyone else. The class stated, but it was mostly just introductory games, getting to know you activities and some basic dancing activates, stretching and some basic dance steps. They were informed that they’d be learning a group dance, but would be assessed on an individual piece for the first semester. Time seemed to fly by and the next class came far too quickly for her liking and she made her way to her next class. The English lesson passed less quickly, but it didn’t drag on, following mostly the same structure in that they were introduced to the teacher, the rest of the class and what to expect in the coming weeks and they were given free time for the rest of the class. Grace took out the sigil Kyle had given her, inspecting it for a minute or so before folding it back up and placing it safely inside a book that she put into her bag. The bell run again and she began heading towards the cafeteria, thinking today was looking a lot brighter than it had at the beginning.

[TimasheTiger]

All of Kyle's morning classes followed the same pattern of introductions, the syllabus, and the rest of the period spent in free time. Philosophy was his only saving grace as they at least began asking some questions. Most of them were things he had already thought of during time with his father, but at least his classmates were thinking. That being said, Kyle's mind wandered towards other things; Grace, what an enigma. In just the short amount of time he had known her, she already had a profound effect on him, he enjoyed her company, respected her opinion and knew that deep down, there was power yet untapped. He had to wonder though if maybe, just maybe, if she were a true elemental descendant, that she too possessed a mana source and could tap into it. When lunch came, he'd have to bring it up with her, see what her thoughts were. The lunch bell finally rang and Kyle made his way to the cafeteria, keeping along with the flow of people also filing their way towards the same destination. He found it somewhat difficult to concentrate while moving in the crowd, but he was able to track Grace down in the crowd. She was just a little further ahead of him, but he was able to navigate through people before coming up behind her and tapping her shoulder. "I don't suppose you like tea, do you?" He asked inquisitively.

[Midna-Phobia]

Grace was in line for food at the cafeteria when she felt someone tap on her shoulder and she turned quickly, looking surprised before she realised who it was and smiled gently. “Tea the meal or tea the beverage made of hot water and dried leaves?” She replied with a small laugh. “I like both. A very calming drink; tea.” She contemplated for a moment. Honestly it wasn’t a drink she had a lot, since she rarely drank anything else besides water for a number of reasons. It had a load of health benefits, was exceptionally calming for her, and having a drink bottle full of water was always comforting since she couldn’t conjure water out of the air, but was limited to manipulating existing sources. That being said tea was still a nice drink. “Why is that?” Grace eventually asked. She doubted someone would have brought tea to school would they have? It didn’t seem like a thing that was practical to bring to school. The line moved up slightly and Grace took a few steps with them. She wasn’t overly keen on the whole school lunches thing, but she had forgotten to pack her own this morning so she was stuck with whatever the school was providing. It didn’t look as bad as she’d heard they were supposed to be though.

[TimasheTiger]

Grace's aura spiked for only a moment before the realization of who he was came to her and her body language relaxed; he simply smiled at her. Her answer had caught him off guard as his brain came to a halt, the gears eventually worked themselves out and he laughed along with her. Laughing, it wasn't something he experienced to often, but with Grace it came almost naturally, he wondered if her personality was having just as much of an effect on him as his was on her's. Eventually she ended up asking him, "why is that?" "Well, I happened to bring along an extra bag with me today and I thought you'd might like some," truthfully he was going to drink the second bag later in the afternoon, not that he was going to mention that bit to her. Just from his few encounters with her, she seemed like the type to enjoy calming things like tea. Admittedly there was an ulterior motive than just offering tea out of good will, he figured it would help her relax that much more, maybe get her to open up more and hear more of her tale. "I just need a container to heat it up in," sensing the area he found a stack of Styrofoam cups, "perfect, I'll go save a couple of seats." Making his way around her and out of line he snagged a couple of cups, just for good measure. He sensed around the entire cafeteria, pinpointing an area that would be out of the way and din the noise a little. Cafeterias were good for meeting up with people you wanted to meet up with, but for a new coming loner like Kyle and the timid personality Grace had, he figured secluded would be better. Eventually finding a more out of the way spot he made his way there and secured it, propping his bag in the place where Grace would sit. Satisfied, he pulled out the tea bags from his pack, including a ceramic mug he had brought from home and sat down in the empty space across his backpack, awaiting Grace's arrival.

[Midna-Phobia]

Smiling happily Grace shook her head slightly, despite herself. “Thank you, but I’m fine really…” She trailed off as he began looking around for containers and moved off, saying he was going to go save her a seat. Tilting her head slightly the girl wondered to herself. He was certainly a strange one, Kyle. Maybe that was why she liked him. He didn’t seem like the others around here. The entire time she’d seen him he hadn't seemed all that interested in anyone else. He hadn't gone out of his way to speak to anyone else that she’d seen. As the line moved Grace eventually collected her lunch and made her way over to where the boy was sitting over in a corner away from the busyness of the cafeteria and walked over to him. He had his bag placed on the seat opposite him and she paused for a moment. She assumed it was a seat for her, but at the same didn’t want to go touching his things without permission. “You know… if you wanted me to sit with you… you just had to ask.” She said softly as a thought occurred to her and she looked at him curiously. “Kyle… do you mind if I ask you a question?” Grace on, still standing there unsure exactly to in the situation. “I mean you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. I was just wondering… how you grew up I suppose?” She said, trying to figure out how to word it properly. “I mean… did you go to school like normal kids or were you home schooled? Did you have any friends?”

[TimasheTiger]

It didn't take Grace too long afterwards for her to meet up with Kyle, he waited patiently for her to sit, but after noticing how her aura was reacting, he raised an eyebrow. “You know... if you wanted me to sit with you... you just had to ask.” Suddenly it felt like a pit opened up in his gut and he suddenly felt like an ass, completely assuming that Grace was just going to come over and sit with him. But... "I apologize," he started, "I guess I just thought after our talk before class that we would..." “Kyle… do you mind if I ask you a question?” Grace asked him, in a tone that implied she was going to ask her question anyway “I mean you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. I was just wondering… how you grew up I suppose?” She said, trying to figure out how to word it properly. “I mean… did you go to school like normal kids or were you home schooled? Did you have any friends?” "huh..." that was a bit of a curveball, "well um...first, would you like to sit with me?" He said this while plopping the tea bags in their separate cups and began preparing them. At this point, he didn't think there was a reason for her to say no, even though assuming is what got him feeling like this in the first place. He grabbed his backpack, allowing Grace to sit, from there he pulled a water bottle from the pack and filled both cups with water. Using the remaining water he poured it on his hands, washing them and heat drying before sticking just the tip of his pinky in each cup and instant heating both to perfect drinkable temperatures. He passed the Styrofoam cup of tea to Grace before taking a sip of his own and telling his tale. "My father is an influential businessman, an investor in projects, among other things and my mother, she was the reason why I have my powers. She is no longer among us, but my father, he is the one who helped me develop my powers further. Early on in my youth I had a difficult time controlling my powers, he trained with me, nearly night and day, to meditate, contemplate, project myself into the cosmos." He took another drink before looking at Grace, "When I had more of a reign on my powers and I was more...contemplative, my father mostly left me to my own devices. He has caretakers who watch over me and tutor me, but for most of my life I lived in a peaceful seclusion, my only real contact with the outside world, to be honest, was whenever my father would allow me to accompany him to work." He took another drink of his tea, pausing to allow everything to settle in, "All in all, I think I grew up well."

[Midna-Phobia]

Grace looked at him for a moment as he apologised and she simply smiled and giggled slightly. Perhaps they were not so different. “No no… I just meant next time you don’t have to go to the effort of offering me some kind of incentive to sit with you. Nothing so fancy as tea.” She tried to clarify as she sat down with him once he moved his bag. She guessed they were still in that early stages of friendship where they were still getting to know each other, so it was to be expected that there would be misunderstandings like this. Well at least she hoped they were in the early stages of friendship. Placing her tray on the table she listened to his story, both interested and surprised by some of it. “I see…” There was a sad note in her voice now, something maybe close to pity… sympathy. You’ll have to forgive me for saying… but it sounds awfully lonely.” She supposed she was one to talk, so figured that maybe an explanation was due. “It may be hard to believe… but I wasn’t always so shy and timid. I used to have friends.” Her tone became slightly sadder at this, longing. She missed her old friends. “It was early middle school I think. One of my friends had a bit of a mouth on him, and it got him into a lot of trouble sometimes. Onetime he said the wrong thing to the wrong guy and got into a physical fight, which the other guy was winning. He was hurting my friend and… I got mad. Really mad. I’d never taken control of a person before that day… and haven’t since then. Up until that point I didn’t even know it was a thing I could do, though since there is so much water in the body I guess I can understand it.” She paused for a moment, sipping on her tea lightly. “It scared him. Scared me. I had to change schools because of that. After that incident though I was always that little bit afraid that something else would make me mad and I’d do to them what I did to that boy. It’s not something I ever want to do to a person again. My friends didn’t talk to me after that, even though I was in a different school there were ways they could have contacted me. But they didn’t. I don’t blame them I guess I wouldn’t like it if I knew my friend had been keeping a secret like that from me.” Freak had been the word of choice but it wasn’t one she liked repeating.

[TimasheTiger]

He listened to her story, quietly, intently. While his story had been met with some form of sympathy, he simply brushed it off, he didn't desire it, because he didn't need to. Her story, however, showed him that they lived practically polar opposite childhoods and it confirmed one thing for him; she had power. Enough power to even take over an unwilling being, if only she knew what true water elementals could do. "My father once told me, that born, blessed, or cursed, once we have our powers, it has become a part of who we are." Kyle looked to Grace "You had an accident, you lost control, it happens, and unfortunately those around you were unable to understand it." He remained quiet for a bit, choosing his next words carefully. "Grace, I'm sorry for what happened to you, but...don't be afraid of who you are and what powers you possess. You're a good person at heart, I can tell that and I have no reason to fear you, even with your level of power." He sipped at his tea again, he could tell stories to Grace about the times he's lost control of his powers, how he's nearly burned down more things than he could count. Kyle's face became somewhat sullen at the thoughts.