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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2013 16:54:30 GMT -6
| @ @kat Why in tarnation was it so damn cold? Gritting his teeth, Lily hugged his arms to his chest and hissed a curse. He hated this city, this state—-this whole damn coast! His teeth were chattering. Maybe it was because he had no shirt on, but who had time for that? As he stomped down the street, he glared out from under the rim of his hat. Though his shoulders were hunched over for warmth, he refused to bow his head and met each bewildered stare with a haughty glare. No way was he going to let these cityslickers look down on him. It would be a cold day in hell before that ever happened.
Lily snorted. Mite too late for that.
He was lost, to boot, but he’d never admit that either. In fact, he wasn’t lost in this maze of gaudy lights and soulless metal death traps! He knew exactly where he was going…that coffee shop, right over there. Nestled between two taller structures, the house-like building looked squished; your eye almost glanced over it. It looked like a place he could warm up and disappear. His impressive height had him ducking through the door, but he almost immediately wanted to duck back out.
Glossy posters and cutouts in bright primary colors, laminated comic books and newspaper clippings, over the top signs…superhero paraphernalia literally plastered the wall. In groups, people sat around chatting about the latest superhero antics. Some girls were taking their photo with a cardboard cutout of the late Henry Evers from back in his prime. And he had just stepped right into the middle of this ComiCon nightmare lookin’ like some damn fool. Tall, tattooed, shirtless in ten degree weather, and sporting a hat and hairstyle not even New York’s finest could produce, he stuck out like a prize winning bull at a rodeo.
“Are you a superhero?” yelped a voice at his feet, and he looked down with a grimace to see a red-faced child clutching a notepad and crayon in his chubby hands. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Kid,” Lily groused, putting his hand on the brat’s head and moving him to the side. “I ain’t nobody’s hero.”
Lily tried to step past him, then, his free hand shoving his hat down over his face, but even moving through space seemed impossible today. Hot liquid sloshed across his front as someone ran smack-dab into his chest; he bit back a curse only for the sake of the young boy he’d just snubbed. Could this day get any worse? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2013 18:01:24 GMT -6
She really hadn't meant to spill coffee on that guy. When she looked hard enough it was as if the coffee matched the color of his skin and for a split second it was as if she hadn't really spilled anything at all. But she really had, and felt really bad about it.
She'd only been in the shop to grab a latte and leave, but with so many people crowding the store to get away from the cold, everything was a blur. Kaylee had been on her way out with her drink when she'd tripped up on someone's drooping scarf and the next thing she knew...well, she was there, standing before a male who was now wearing her latte.
"I-I'm so s-s-sorry!" Kaylee cried out, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. She reached over to grab some napkins from the table beside her, but the slippery floor from the latte spill caught her off guard and she tripped...right into the male's chest. Her cheeks were burning so red that she thought she was going to explode, and without much thought she jumped up and ran out of the store, only to stand outside. Without her coat.
It really was cold outside. | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2013 18:54:32 GMT -6
| @ @kat Aw, shit.
“Fuck.” The curse slipped out before Lily’s mind had caught up to his mouth.
He had been five seconds away from starting a bar fight in a coffee shop when the sweet alto of the girl’s voice and he caught a glimpse of that sunset-colored hair. Why had it had to be a girl? Mrs. Ellison had taught him to be nice to girls—or at least as nice as Lily could manage to make himself be—but he never was good at dealing with them even when things were going alright. And then there was her. Pretty as a dessert flower and flustered all to hell and back.
But then there wasn’t her. Whoever that girl had been, when Lily recovered from the initial surge of aggravation chased by that deer-in-the-headlights sensation he’d gotten from her eyes, she was gone. He snapped a sharp “what are y’all lookin’ at” to the people surrounding him and snatched a handful of napkins from one unsuspecting bystander. A half-eaten scone was lost as collateral damage. Wiping aggressively at his abdomen to clear it of the coffee-saturated mess, he stormed up to the front of the line at the counter. Not surprisingly, there was little complaint from those still in line.
“That gal who just left. I want whatever drink it was she just spilled on me,” Lily said.
With little more than a fleeting frown, the barista behind the counter did as they were told and brought back the demanded drink. As Lily dug out a crumpled fiver from his pockets, they laid down a lady’s winter jacket. “That’s hers, too. You her boyfriend or something?”
“Hell naw!”
Lily snatched up the jacket and coffee and left before anyone could mistake that heat in his cheeks for a blush. It was just left over from that damned hot coffee—those things should come with warning labels. He nearly ran into the girl again as he left the shop, but he couldn’t manage to make himself snap at her for being so inconvenient. The way his lips pressed together, it was difficult for him to say anything to her.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 15:55:29 GMT -6
Damn it was cold out. Had she really been so flustered that she couldn't even grab her jacket on the way out?! Kaylee kicked the snow in front of her, arms crossed over her chest for warmth. The bus was going to be a little while and the local hub station was a good ways away...
But before she could start walking anywhere, the door behind her closed shut and she turned to see the male from before staring down at her with a coffee and her jacket in hand. She just blinked up at him, eyes blurry from the cold wind that howled around them. He wasn't saying anything...
Without a word she reached out and took her jacket, only to quickly put it on. She sighed at the warmth that covered her in the moment and a smile crossed her face as her eyes closed. But in the moment she forgot he was there and she snapped open her eyes to stare up at the male.
"T-thank you...I...I'm s-s-sorry...for p-p-putting you t-through so m-much t-t-trouble..." | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 19:00:12 GMT -6
| @ @kat Forget a sunset—that hair looked like flames of silk blowin’ all around her pretty face like that. He bet she’d be warm if he touched her. Not that that would happen. Ever. As she took her jacket, he dropped his arm to his side. It never occurred to him that he was staring; it was just so damn hard to look away from those eyes. “…” Damn, boy, speak! “Quit apologizin’.” he finally muttered, accent thick as he broke eye contact. Without looking at her, he held out the coffee. “I reckon this is what you dropped on me.”
This was just miserable. He was making a damn fool out of himself. Kicking the ground, Lily shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away from the girl. He hadn’t faced her again, and he didn’t plan to. The barest twitch of a shiver rolled across his spin as the coldest front of the atmosphere wrapped around him in lieu of a shirt. His shoulders hunched forward and he shoved his hat low over his face as he started to walk—in the wrong direction. The alley he was headed down would end in a dead end two blocks down. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 20:05:08 GMT -6
When he gave her the latte she just stared, unable to move or think in the moment. He had...gotten her drink back for her? Confusion was written all over her face, but after a moment of staring she snapped out of her reverie and took the drink with a light 'thank you'.
But before she could even say anything else to him he turned to walk off...toward a dead end. Kaylee knew this area well and she knew for a fact that he was heading to a dead end. "M-mister w-w-wait!" she began, running after the shirtless male. But, being the clumsy girl she was, Kaylee tripped over literally nothing and faceplanted into the soft snow.
"Oww..." This really wasn't her day. | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 20:51:05 GMT -6
| @ @kat He tried to ignore the scramble of feet following after him. He tried not to turn around. He tried not to think of her pretty hair. He tried. He didn’t do so well. His jaw twitched as she called him “Mister,” and he spun to correct her.
“Lady, my name ain’t—”
His hand was reaching for her before it registered that he’d moved. Her little arm fit perfectly into the cradle of his much larger palm at the shoulder. Halfway crouched to the ground with one leg stretched behind him and the other bent at the knee, he’d caught her just a foot or two before she’d have scraped up that tender face of hers on the unforgiving sidewalk. Of course, this brought them into much closer quarters. His hat had slid to the back of his shoulders, held only by its tie around his throat, and his nose was centimeters from her forehead; if she lifted her face, they’d be nose to nose.
She smelled like cinnamon. He swallowed. Then, shaking his head, snorted a puff of hot white air to the side and stood her up with him. His hand dropped to his side and he stuffed it back into his pocket.
“Clumsy, ain’t ya?”
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 22:28:33 GMT -6
She had already braced herself for impact when he caught her. The 'ow' came when he suddenly grabbed her arm a bit too hard, but she knew he wasn't trying to hurt her. She was clumsy; he was certainly right in his thought when he lifted her back up to her own feet.
She looked back up to him, cheeks positively pink from blushing. Or was it from the cold? At that point she couldn't really feel her face nor the rest of her body due to the cold, and she wondered how he was able to stand it. "I...I just wanted...t-to t-t-tell you..." And she stopped to point in the direction of the large dead end behind him.
"...That y-you're g-g-going the w-wrong w-w-way..." | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 22:39:57 GMT -6
| @ @kat Ow? There he went with the not-knowing-his-strength bit, and he didn’t even have super strength. No, all he had was an ability to control the wind and the weather, both of which were more useless than a sheep in a bullriding contest and both of which would have come in pretty damn handy if he had any lick of control over them, by the blueish tint of her lips. But he didn’t. And he was holding her arm too tightly. Still. Shit.
He supposed the grunt he gave when he let her go was an apology. It was a noise, it was an acknowledgment—it counted, right? He snorted, this time, and followed the line of her arm to the alley he’d been about to walk down. Wrong way? He cleared his throat and frowned.
“I know where I’m going.” Liar. “…Back to that damn university. It’s in the west. West is to the left. That’s left.”
He jabbed his own arm in the direction of the alley. It was as good a guess as any. So much for the stereotypical Native American-outdoorsy-man-inner-compass bullshit. He’d never admit being wrong anyway. But out of curiosit…
Crossing his arms, he said: “Y’all couldn’t even walk your way through a doorway. Where do you suggest going?”
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 22:55:19 GMT -6
Kaylee hadn't meant to bother him, so she took a step back when he began to blurt out words about 'west being left' and 'going back to the university'. Those words were what caught her off guard and she smiled, because she knew where that was when he obviously didn't.
"T-the university? I go there t-t-to!" she stammered out, blinking the wind away as it wooshed around them. She really wanted to be back in her dorm room right about now..."It's...t-this way...I d-don't know anything ab-b-bout compass d-d-directions...But I c-c-came from this way..."
And she pointed to the road and how to slithered its way across the town and back into the more known areas of the city. This place was shady enough and did she just see a shadow of a person in that alley? No...it was probably just her imagination. | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 23:23:53 GMT -6
| @ @kat She was probably right, and Mrs. Ellison had always said to listen to a lady and nod politely, even if they were wrong. Lily wasn’t very good at listening, though. Besides, this li’l gal was one of them? One of those “hero” types that wanted to move here? No. Thank. You. He was fine on his own.
“More than one way to get to a place,” was all he said, muttering it under his breath.
Even if she was right—and that’s not saying she was!—no way in hell did he want to go back into that labyrinth of urbanization and all its high-tootin’ people with their delusions about heros. Heros didn’t exist, and if they did, he wouldn’t be one.
So he set off in the direction he’d intended. She could find her way back by her—damn it. He shut his eyes and tried to block out the sound of tiny feet padding along behind him. Why him? Really, nothing could go right for him today, and that included trying to walk home. Not fifteen feet into the alley, he felt a stirring in the wind tunnel between the walls; it was like being a bat sometimes (really, he felt fucking batty), being able to sense where things were based on how the wind reacted to them. Five of them, him, the girl. Shit. Again.
“Whatever y’all are thinking,” Lily said, lifting his head and standing to his full height to stare the punks down. “I suggest a mite bit o’ rethinkin’ right about now.”
This was going to get ugly. Fast.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2013 23:33:20 GMT -6
The alley was scary, but she followed him. Why? Something told her to. Her gut? Probably. But it was rare that she chose to be with someone then to just be on her own. That something in her stomach told her to follow him, however, and she was glad she did.
Within moments the male was up and around, staring down people Kaylee couldn't even see yet. At the moment they were all shadows, but she could sense trouble in the air and she immediately began to sweat and tremble. Were they street thugs? "H-h-here!" she called out, throwing her wallet on the ground away from them both. "T-t-take it! A-a-and g-g-g-go!"
She hoped that the thugs were only after their money and nothing else. But the guy she was with looked pretty serious, and rumors of people who wanted to take down heroes had been popping up all over the news recently. Without thinking she grabbed the taller male's arm and tried to pull him away from the alley.
"W-we s-s-should g-g-g-go..." Because Kaylee couldn't help him if he got into a fight. She'd just be dead weight; something he would have to protect if he so chose to. | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2013 0:02:08 GMT -6
| @ @kat “No.” He didn’t give up without a fight.
“She’s right,” snickered a raggedly dressed male around his age. “You should go, Zebra boy. She just paid your way and I’m sure she’s more than capable of paying her own, as well.”
Now, Lily did not like the tone of his voice. His brows furrowed, and the tic in his jaw he’d had since he was a teenager started up again. Lily may not like people, but damn it all he was still a southern gentleman. There’d have to be more than just a cold day in hell for him to let some gutterpunk cityslickers like these take advantage of a lady around him. Even if she was obnoxious, clumsy, and had spilled her coffee on him. Those details were unimportant right now. Without looking back at her, Lily easily took his arm from the girl’s grip, raising his hand to his head and taking off his hat. Then, he set it on her head, shoving it down over that pretty crown of fire-flower hair.
The other males in the alley were snickering now. Okay, fine. Laugh at the zebra freak. Lily knew he was a crapshot with his powers, but if there was one thing he knew how to do right with them, it was fight. One quick step forward, a thrust of his fist; this was why he never wore a shirt. Air currents spiraled around his bicep, accelerated around his forearm, drilled into the chest of the boy who had spoken first. Lily never saw where he landed, but he found a twisted sense of satisfaction in watching the brat’s too-baggy pants drift to the ground like a dead leaf after he’d been punched out of them.
Professor Nabiev just mighta been right about this “channeling your aggression” thing.
That was probably the last logical, coherent thought he had for the next five minutes. A sharp sensation cut across his arm and his pectoral when one of the guttersnipes pulled a knife on him, but it wasn’t his first time being outnumbered and out-weaponed. He supposed there were sometimes when having powers wasn’t such a curse after all. And when there wasn’t time for powers, a decent five-knuckle-shuffle did just about right. By the time each member of the gang was incapacitated or had fled the scene, Lily was bent double over his knees and breathing heavily. But it was worth it. Suddenly, he felt much better.
Coughing, he swallowed down his dry throat and looked at the girl from under his hair. “…You alright?”
I don’t even know her name. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2013 12:40:21 GMT -6
The next five minute were really scary. Kaylee thought she was going to pass out or go into cardiac arrest because her heart was beating so fast. Was the world spinning or was it just her? She fell to her knees after the male before her gave her his hat, and she watched him defend her from the gang with her hands clenched close to her chest.
Blood dripped from the few cuts he received from the knives, but when he doubled over his knees Kaylee sprung into action. True she wasn't a fighter, but she knew when she was needed and when she wasn't. Without thinking she placed her hands on his arms where she saw cut marks, feeling warm blood bubble beneath her hands. But it wasn't there for long.
A blue light left her palms and about a minute afterward she pulled her hands away. The blood was gone, along with any cuts he may have gotten during his scramble. But healing took a lot out of her and she fell back to her knees, panting lightly but with a smile. "I'm...fine...Are you?"
She hoped her healing treatment had healed him well enough. Sometimes she still wasn't able to control what she could and couldn't fix. | @lily |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2013 12:53:54 GMT -6
| @ @kat Lily had avoided using his powers for so long, he forgot how much it actually took to focus like that. It was one thing to get into a scrap; it was an entirely other thing to nearly rip the bricks off the buildings with a miniature tornado that he had to create, contain, and make go away. Thank heaven for adrenaline and pent up aggression. Without that emotional fuel, his fire would have burned low a lot sooner than it had. No matter. It was done now and the girl was—touching…his arms…?
Winded as he was, no pun intended, he couldn’t much protest at the physical contact. He frowned a little, but he didn’t know whether it was because she was touching him or because he was bleeding all over her. He must have liked it, though, because he didn’t say a word until she was done.
When he did, all he said was: “Fine.”
He flexed his arms, looking for any sign of tension or tears. Nothing. Not even a sting of raw flesh sliding along raw flesh at the edge of a cut. She was a healer? He stood and turned from her, only to walk a few feet away. Her wallet lay in the dirty snow, and he picked it up in one hand. Dusting the snow from its cover, he looked at the cutesy design with a strange knot in his stomach before walking back and holding it out for her.
“…Nifty trick you got there,” Lily said after a stretch. “I don’t feel a thing. You got a name, or am I just gonna have to call you Trouble?”
Was that twitch almost a smile? At this point, he couldn’t muster the energy to be an asshole.
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