Superhuman Academy for Abilites and Control

Ciro frowned as Acadia pulled Charles right past him like he didn't exist. He sighed deeply and looked around, running a hand through his golden hair. He liked meeting people, spreading his warmth and light and making people happy. He didn't like being pushed past like he was something other than the sun itself. He grumbled and was even more put-off when Jewel walked past him as if he didn't exist. What the hell! He looked down and felt around his torso. Nope. He was still solid, still a person, not invisible. What the hell?

He turned and followed Jewel outside, standing behind her and watching her break the concrete. When it seemed like she had settled down, he walked down the steps and sat down beside her. "Destructokinetic?" He asked with all the emotion or concern as if he was asking her if it was bright outside. He knew it was. The sun was beating down magnificently, warming the air and warming him as well. He tossed his hair a bit and looked up at the sun, soaking in its rays and smiling. It felt so much better to be outside.
 
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->"You might have better luck hitting on someone who doesn't know you so well Alcmene. Besides you should know by now that my preferences don't include people like you." Sandric said coldly, not trying to hide his disinterest in her. He had been amusing himself by listening in on the other thoughts in the room, almost forgetting the moon girl had even tried to flirt with him. He glanced at her momentarily, his gaze blank of even the common curiosity before turning sharply on his heel and making his way out. He hoped she wasn't foolish enough to try to pursue conversation with him, he had tried rather hard to make it clear he wasn't interested.
As he was leaving he noticed he wasn't the first, the most obvious being the destructokinetic who had left a small path of cracks in the floor boards trailing behind her. His interest in her not yet satisfied he preceded to follow the trail, gaining speed as he heard some unsettling thoughts from her. Just as he stepped into the bright sunlight he heard a vile thought coming from none other than sun spot himself, Ciro.
Sandric knew all to well how bigoted Ciro was, anyone would after having to sit through lectures with him, but this was a low even by his standards. How could he even imagine the girl would be the sort to start chit chat? Her posture, her clothes, her eyes, everything about her made it clear that she was emotionally scarred. Even without his gift he would have known this, was the sunny git to blinded by his own perfection not to? Perhaps he disregarded it, after all it didn't fit in with his happy go lucky world view and it was always easier to brush aside than it was to make room for.
"Eh, Ciro? Your sister was asking for you, she lost one of her bags and she is rather distraught about it. I tried to calm her down the best I could but, eh, you know how the moon is right now. I think you should go talk to her, you are the best at that and I don't want to any of the new classmates to miss the initiation ceremony due to, eh, injuries." Sandric said, his voice taking on the distressed nervousness he had perfected in stage class. He stopped a few feet short of the pair of them, willing his body to take on the nervous body language he had spent months perfecting. He even bit his lower lip, an actual habit of his, for emphasis.
 
Alcmene darkened, physically and mentally. She glared at Sandric, her wings spreading. It was a subconscious thing, meant to make herself look bigger. Her brother didn't do it often, but he was also a lot more mentally stable than she was. She lifted off the ground slowly, her hair flowing out around her like she was underwater. Her eyes started glowing and her body shuddered. She shot after him suddenly, just about the time he opened the doors to the outside.

Unpleasant thoughts filled his head, all about Sandric. He tried to block them off, however, and turned to look at him. "We don't move in, and you know it. We live here all the time bec-" He stopped himself, spreading his wings suddenly and shooting past him. The glass doors shattered as his sister burst through them and he collided with her shortly afterwords, sending both of them flying back through the doors. What the hell did you do, you selfish fuck?! He shot the thought at Sandric as he pinned Alcmene to the ground. He closed his eyes, everything about him drooped for a second, before he jerked back to life, his own eyes open, shining brightly down into his sister's eyes, his wings spread over him.

She let out a scream that most likened to a banshee, her teeth sharpening, her mouth open wide, trying to get at her brother. She writhed on the ground, the broken glass having no effect on either of them at the moment. Her skin took on a low glow, but she was much less powerful on a new moon.

Ciro held her down easily, an uneasy power battle going on between the twins. When her skin started glowing, his started shining, his wings taking on a shine as well. He just pinned her down, waiting less-than-calmly for her to finally calm down...
 
"Hey, eh, Ciro? I eh actually didn't do anything but tell your sister that I wouldn't like to join her on a walk tonight. Although I am indeed upset that I caused her to act out this way I hardly think that, given the circumstances, I am to be given more blame than her own emotional stability under this moon. I mean, if the way I worded it did upset her I can honestly say I didn't mean to do so." Sandric said, stepping between the two wrestling supers on the ground and the girl behind him. A thoughtless instinct to protect.
Although on the outside he looked just as shocked and distraught as one would suspect a person to be inside he was rolling his eyes. This was the high class of this school? Little girls who lost control of themselves just because someone turned them down and boys who let personal opinions get in the way of the actual cause and effect of situations. They thought they deserved everything from admiration to lovers without cause. Could their suffering compare to his and Jewel's? Had they ever been tossed aside because the world decided they weren't worth the time it would take to deal with them? Of course not, it was people like them who did the tossing.
 
Hardly. For all of Sandric's mind reading powers, he was wrong. Maybe because these were the only two able to shut him out of their minds if they really wanted to. The entrance to the building, the area the two superpowers were struggling in, was getting unbearably hot. At least, for anyone that might want to pass through. The heat was starting to seep out through the broken doors. He snapped his head back towards Sandric. "Just shut UP you conceited FUCK! Let me DEAL WITH THIS!"

He snapped his head back to his sister, who was slowly starting to calm down. The heat was what was getting to her, mostly. It always calmed her down, partially due to heat fatigue, partially because it was her brother. She eventually went limp, her eyes closing, her wings flopping to the ground.

He growled and stopped putting off heat and glowing. His wings folded at his back. He picked up his sister and stood up, glaring at Sandric. All Sandric would be able to get from him was hatred, nice, bright, shining hatred. But no words. He looked over to Jewel. "I'm sorry our conversation was cut short. I was going to welcome you to this place and try and lighten your burden a bit, but it seems the psychic wants to pick your mind instead. Be careful what you think with him around. He reads all of it."

With that, he turned and walked back into the building, carrying his sister through the broken glass and upstairs.
 
"Fucking jackass, thinks he knows everything." Sandric muttered darkly, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth. He was simply sick and tired of these people, he wasn't simple. If someone gave him the chance they could see that, even someone as blinded as Ciro. Sandric was surprised by how upset he was getting about this considering how often it happened, especially when bitter tears formed at the edges of his eyes. He was quick to wipe these away, perhaps rubbing at them a little too feverishly, before giving out a defeated sigh. He turned and plopped himself on the grass besides Jewel but didn't look at her. His eyes remained firmly transfixed on the broken cracks in the concrete.
"He doesn't know shit, no matter what he thinks. I mean, sure I am a physic and sure I read minds here an there but it aint because I am some creep. I can't turn it off, it is like my default. When I try to turn it off I get really sick, I practically used to live in the nurses office I passed out so much. You would think that effort would be enough for them, you would think they would understand but they never will. They are lucky, they have control people like us dream about. Families who are there to, well you just saw it, calm us down and carry us away from our troubles." Sandric sniffled, having to rub at his eyes again as they threatened to spill. His face then took on a bright blush and he turned towards Jewel, an embarrassed smile on his face.
"I, eh, said that all aloud didn't I? Gosh darn this is embarrassing, what are the chances you can forget that tiny rant there? Eh, we could talk about theater class? Or about squirrel thoughts? Or how someone took some of Alcmene's belongings?" He begged weakly, his face growing brighter and brighter as time passed.
 
Sandric didn't know everything he thought he did. The twins had each other, sure, but that was all they had. They watched friends come and go and talk about the outside world and how great it was, malls and stores and restaurants where you could order whatever you wanted! But these were things the twins had to live with out. And they had no family besides each other. They didn't even know how they came into existence. Were they actually born or did they just...appear one dusk in the bodies of three year olds?

Then there was the simple fact that Ciro liked making friends and Alcmene didn't. It was hard for her, too, with her lunacy, her attachment to the phases of the moon. Ciro sighed heavily and looked down at his sister while he made his way up to their dorm room. They never shared with anyone. They had a room just to themselves. The administrators had found out very early on what happened when the twins were separated. Ciro should really be in the Good category while Alcmene should be in the Destruction category, but together they were neutral. They balanced each other. If they were separated, both started going out of control. Ciro got too hot, to passionate, and Alcmene got too cold, too unstable. It was better to keep them together at all times. They had the same classes, the same schedule, the same room, the same everything. And even though they had each other, they were so alone...
 
She could've stopped the fighting in mere minutes. Jewel knew that, but it was how she could've stopped it that held her back from doing it. One touch and bones would've broken, bruises would appear, and other horrors she couldn't even imagine. She was glad the two winged adonises managed to handle it themselves. And even happier that they had left. She couldn't bring herself to talk to that Ciro. He looked too...perfect. Jewel knew she looked a mess at all times, against her will.

As Jewel listened to Sandric's monologue, his long explanation and annoyances, she felt a kind of kindred energy draw her toward him. Here was someone else who struggled to keep their powers under control. She was frightened by the knowledge that he could read minds - how many thoughts had already gone through her head that she didn't want him to hear? - but the claim that he couldn't help it made her feel sorry for him. It must be so noisy for him, all those thoughts buzzing about around him. How did he sleep? Did he get pulled into other people's dreams?

Jewel took a deep breath and said, "I think I can forget that rant if you can forget everything going on in my head right now. I'm a little frazzled. The last time I was as close to someone as this...well, you probably already know. I know what it's like to have something you can't turn off."

She uncomfortably picked at the concrete barrier beside her. Huge chips came off with the flicks of her fingers. "Let's talk about classes. Beyond that this is a safe place for me to stay and maybe develop some control, I don't actually know what we do here."
 
Even as some of Sandric's blush died down a little remain. Perhaps it was due to the kinship he felt with the girl who reminded him of himself, perhaps it was because he met someone who actually thought like he did but for the first time in a long time he felt happy. Of course, perhaps his expectations of happiness had been lowered due to his recent self isolation. Whatever it was the smile on his face was both sincere and relieved.
"Thanks for not telling. Some of the people here are like hawks looking for personal opinions to misinterpret and spread around. Don't worry bout me spreading your dirty little secrets around, despite what people may think it isn't that much fun. Although, as always, I reserve the right to act if you start er thinking about doing certain dangerous things." He said, his lax tone taking on a more serious one as he talked. He met her gaze firmly, whether or not she thought his morals were reasonable was not his concern. There were certain things he simply would not allow and certain times when privacy became irrelevant.
"Anyway, about the school. It is a rather nice place, plenty of extracurricular activities. In a way it is kinda like summer camp. Your actual classes only take up three or so hours, unless you take a lot, then you have a plethora of personal choice activities to chose from. We have a swimming club, plenty of art classes like pottery and figure drawing, as well as theater classes. Since you can pick and choose what you want you are never in a class you don't want." He said, trying rather hard to sound upbeat. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the way the school worked, he just was never good at explaining these sorts of things to people.
"I mean, as you may expect we have some different classes too. There are individual therapy and training sessions as well as group activities. They try to make the training fun, they have a whole bunch of obstacle courses outback and you should see some of the forest ones. There are some activities where they encourage you to use your powers, like capture the flag or their weekly Scenarios. They make up a story more or less, choose some students and have them act it out. Lot more fun than I can explain it, you just wait and see alright?" He said nervously, hoping he was saying the right things. He didn't want to make it sound unappealing, the last thing the girl needed was thinking she wouldn't have a good time here.
 
She knew what "certain dangerous things" he meant. He'd probably already looked into her memory of her suicide attempt. She'd tried going old school: hanging herself. Of course, the rope broke. Sometimes she wondered if she was really trying when she did that.

Jewel thought over the activities he'd listed. They all sounded like fun. Unfortunately, they also sounded impossible for her to enjoy. Swimming - she hoped it wasn't in a pool. Pottery - so much shattering. Art - unless she did the expressionist paint-spatter thing, it was unlikely. Theater - she wasn't even going to consider it. That was just asking for trouble. Maybe she could just look for whatever classes Sandric was taking and see if she could fit in. But as she started to wonder about the actual classes, she got worried.

"I...haven't been in school for months," she confessed. "And I've always had trouble with papers and homework because...well...because of what I do to the pens and pencils. When I was in school I had terrible grades. Not because I didn't know, but because I literally couldn't do the papers. How am I supposed to work around that?"

"And then there's this obstacle course thing you mentioned," she added. "What is that for?"
 
Sandric couldn't help but offer her a sympathetic look, being burdened with that type of mindset must be tiresome. He could only imagine how it felt, having to expect disaster as the result of any action. In a way he could relate, there had been a time when his powers had made common things such as traveling to the store or even walking down the street a nerve wreaking experience but he never had to worry about property damage. Or flesh rotting off the bone.
"Don't you worry about your control too much alright? That is the first thing they will help you with before this place actually starts feeling like a school. Don't worry about those educational classes either, we have this own pace own way thing going on here. They aren't all that strict and they are rather understanding when it comes to our individual learning limitations. It wouldn't be the first time they hired someone to do the actual writing for a person, lots of kids come in here with hand based limitations. I've actually helped out a few kids with that, especially those who have can't talk so well." Sandric explained, gesturing towards himself with a proud smile. Perhaps it was a silly thing to be proud of but he didn't care, the fact his abilities had been used to help people was reassuring.
For a few moments he sat there, smiling and grinning as he recalled those memories, considering going into more detail about them. It was only after a bit that he remembered he was talking to someone and he still hadn't answered one of her questions. His face took on the slightest red tint as he met her eyes once again.
"Eh, the obstacle course is kinda like training for our powers. Gets us use to using them, especially those with physical limitations. They are divided into levels, with level 1 being as simple as a play ground and level 3 being much more advanced and dangerous. If you ask me only the nuts go past level 3, I can't get through it without feeling it for the rest of the week. I actually got a bruise from it just a few days ago, it looks a lot like a fish which is odd." Sandric said, pulling up his sleeve and showing it too her. Luckily it hadn't faded over time, it was still the fresh purple color, had it faded the shape wouldn't have been so clear.
 
Hayden glanced up and blushed when Esamaiya complimented his drawing. He wasn't used to people saying nice stuff about him - usually they just threw insults his way. He thought about what he liked doing, "Well, I like drawing. People mainly, because you never find someone who is exactly identical to someone else. Everyone shows emotion in their face in a slightly different way. Sometimes I'll just draw someone, because I am drawn to them. People fascinate me."

"I also like just sitting still, my eyes closed, and just thinking about stuff." He shrugged with a smile. "I usually prefer being alone, because otherwise I absorb other people's abilities, and I hate taking that ability away from them, no matter what it may be."

~~~~~

Acacia paused, and then blushed. "If I'm being too talkative, please just say so. I'm just....I get so enthusiastic about my healing, and I've never met another healer before, so...yeah." She sat down on the bed, and slipped her notebook under the pillow for safekeeping. She always did this; unnerved people when she suddenly became outgoing when talking about her power. She unnerved people, and then they usually edged away from her.

She looked down at her hands, and softly asked, "Do you want to look around the campus with me?"
 
"Well...I can't believe that a place this accommodating and understanding exists," she said. "But I'm kind of looking forward to it, now. You're really sweet to use your powers to help people like that. And the fish is cute, by the way," she added with a blush.

How she wanted to put her hand on his, but she dared not. That bruise was nothing compared to what she could do to him. With what she was feeling now, combined with her dangerous power, Sandric could easily lose that hand.

"I don't mean to boast," Jewel added, "but I think the obstacle course will be a piece of cake for me. All I have to do is hold my hands out and walk forward. What I can't imagine is them being able to turn this off. It only goes away when I'm asleep, like it's a part of me being awake. How are they supposed to teach me to control that?"

She held herself tightly, causing the seams around the sleeves of her hoody to begin to tear. Maybe she should just worry about that later. If they could, then this was the greatest place ever. If they couldn't...well, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise anyway.

"Maybe I should go back to my dorm room," Jewel said, more to herself than Sandric. "Do you want to walk with me? I'm not sure I can bring myself to go back there myself."
 
Honestly, he was unnerved by this whole experience, not that it would stop him doing his level best to enjoy it. He also wanted to make a relatively decent first impression with as many of his fellow students as possible. Although he had no intention of making a huge network of friends, that didn't mean he wanted to be disliked. No man is an island, and apparently that also applied to weirdly mutated people attending an equally odd school.

"It's okay. Let's go for that walk." Charles smiled awkwardly, wanting to at least show that he wasn't going to rebuff her at every turn. It was just coincidence that her enthusiasm for her skill was not matched in this one. And stretching his legs would be a good thing, not tomention the fact that he might also make some further acquaintances.

He set off at a leisurely place, heading in no particular direction, and attempting to make small talk. "So, are you far from home?" He wasn't sure if that was aa good subject or not, but it didn't seem too dangerous to start off with.
 
Acacia followed him after quickly tucking her notebook back into her duffel, and she slipped her hands into her pockets as they walked aimlessly through the corridors. She nodded in response to his question, and responded, "Yeah - I'm actually from Bradford, England." She shrugged. "It's quiet enough for my liking. I hate really noisy places. So, whereabouts are you from?" Her strong Yorkshire accent came through as she spoke to him.

As they walked, she toyed with a small object in her pocket - a charm that her best friend from back home had given her. It was a little silver sparrow, which meant eternal hope. Every time she touched it, and she remembered her best friend, a soft smile came to her face.
 
A part of him thought it would be amusing to mock her accent, which was perhaps the worst thing he could have done, and so luckily he did think better of it. Instead, he simply answered her question without any hesitance. "Newton Abbot, it's near Exeter." Although he was a west country boy, it wasn't terribly easy to tell. His grandfather was the only member of the family who had a particularly broad, farmer accent, and his parents had just a vague sort of inflection. And the boy himself just ocassionaly found himself drifting towards that way of speaking.

In his effort to make polite conversation, Charles may have asked something a little personal, but at least he was trying, "How did you end up with your power?" It was an interesting subject, and he hoped to find out more about the others as well. For the time being he'd stick to one on one conversation, but with any luck he'd integrate himself into a group soon enough.
 
The conversation turned interesting when he asked about the origins of her special ability. Acacia smiled, and shyly brushed her blonde waves back from her face. "I don't really know. I've just always had a way with water - then, when I was about five, my mam says that she found me sitting in front of the sink, making waves in the water without actually touching it. Another development happened when I was about eleven, and I accidentally used my hydrokinesis to wash out someone's leg cut. It was my sister, so I got her to keep quiet about it, but yeah. That's pretty much my story. What about you?"

Her blue eyes carefully studied him as she waited for his response. He was interesting to talk to, and she felt a bit better after having obviously disconcerted him just moments before. Usually Acacia would be quite shy, but when she was discussing her proclivity for water, she just got so enthused about it. It was almost a freaky flip around from shy to outgoing.
 
It seemed that they were quite similar, in the fact that they both had no discernible trigger event for their powers. They were obviously just freaks of nature, examples of genetics gone terribly awry. "I grew up with it. When I was a baby, every illness I got, my family got ten times worse." He shrugged, not particularly liking the idea of what damage he had done to his family, "This kept on until I was about eight - by then I'd managed to get some form of control. Nearly killed my brother though. Meningitis." They'd been unbelievably lucky not to lose either son, but thankfully they had both pulled through.

"As for the healing stuff, that was also entirely accidental. I found a bird when I was seven, and by all accounts it should have died. And it didn't." He tugged on his hair again, glancing over at the girl he walked with. "It's not exactly comic book stuff, but it is what it is." He knew that it was hardly interesting, but he'd answered the question, and that was enough.
 
"Yeah - people think that we're either freaks, or that we do stuff like in comics, but it's not usually like that." Acacia sighed. "I wish sometimes that I was just normal, because normal people don't have to worry about the fact that they can possibly drown someone in a fit of anger. It's a pain sometimes, because of that, but usually I don't mind it." She ran a hand through her pale blonde hair, and yawned involuntarily. She blushed, "Sorry about that - I'm just exhausted, since I got next to no sleep last night."

By this point, they had somehow wandered out to the courtyard, and Acacia stopped in her tracks when she saw what was in the courtyard. Her eyes lit up, "This is beautiful..." The courtyard was filled with flowers and plants, all abundant with colour and scent. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she walked around them, gazing at everything with wonder. She had always had a thing for plants - her mam always said that she had green thumbs - but this was so incredible that she was breathless.
 
Honestly, Charles hadn't ever come across anyone that shied away from him or otherwise hated his guts. Of course, he hardly advertised his situation, but either way, those that did know the truth behind the boy had invariably thought it quite cool. No doubt, some would be intimidated and confused by the information they received, but they had always adjusted in time. Perhaps he was an anomaly, or else those that Acacia ran with were not quite so fortuitous as his friends. In any case, that part of both their lives was well and truly over, and so there was no point in dwelling on it.

Upon coming to this heavily decorated courtyard, Charles only frowned at his acquaintance. "You like this stuff?" He questioned, raising a dubious eyebrow as he did so. To him, plantlife was a necessary evil, and flowers were just horrible scent factories that always gave him a headache. By now it was probably just down to lasting experiences of childhood. The toxicity of some plants was well known, and as his body seemed to call for any dangers to come at him, he'd spent a helluva lot of his summers struggling to breathe through the various chemicals that took up the challenge. It was no surprise that he wasn't a fan of the great outdoors.
 
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