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Post by kiipcha on Jul 11, 2011 14:50:46 GMT -5
Anya stumbled into the cafe, reddish hair pulled back into a messy bun. The only makeup she had put on was some foundation as she was too stressed to care. She wore a tightly fitted blue and grey striped shirt with a darker grey cardigan over it. As bottoms she wore some simple black yoga pants and brown sandals. Anya let out a long breath in hopes of retaining some composure before walking over to the cashier and ordered a small cup of coffee.
After receiving her coffee she sat down at one of the tables. Anya wrapped her fingers around the cup, feeling the heat within. The warm cup in her hands started to calm her nerves but only slightly. The reason she was so anxious was that she had just arrived at the campus a few days ago and was terribly worried that her father would show up. She knew that his greed was unlimited and with the money he had received from doctors wanting to study her that he could easily fly to anywhere in the world. The only thing stopping him from snatching her back up into a life of nothing but hospitals was that he had no idea where she was. But if he found where her mother was he could easily get the information out of her.
Anya took a sip of coffee but set it down after realizing that she wasn't in the mood for a drink. The sixteen year old girl let out a sigh and placed a hand on her forehead, still warm from the coffee. |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 11, 2011 16:04:56 GMT -5
Danny hated being in town. (He wouldn't have come, either, except he was in desperate need of some new clothes. His current jeans and T-shirts were looking a little sorry.) Not that Willowbrook was a bad place, but it was always awkward for him. The people in town knew about the school, so there usually wasn't any hostility in their stares. But there were stares. And whispers. Questions, even, sometimes. What's it like? Did it hurt? Sometimes he thought they wanted to ask if he was really human, but no one had actually voiced any such curiosity.
Danny always felt it was worse for him than most of the other students, because his mutation wasn't exactly easy to hide. In cold weather he'd wear a big coat, and it was easier then to go unnoticed. But right now it was just too hot for that, and so he had to ignore the people he passed on his way to the cafe. (His metabolism, or whatever caused it, was making him hungry again.) He pushed through the door, ignored the momentarily surprised look, ordered a small mountain of snacks, and carried it all to a booth in the corner. |
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Post by kiipcha on Jul 11, 2011 16:20:10 GMT -5
Anya looked up from her steaming coffee at the sound of the door opening and closing. Her brown eyes took in the young man that walked in. But what really caught her attention were the white wings protruding from his shoulders. He no doubt was one of the students at Silas Academy, anyone who looked at him could have known that. She began to wonder if he was able to retract his wings in like she could. Anya assumed that he wasn't able to as she almost always kept her wings in for fear of people staring at her.
She drank more of her coffee until she was full, her worries put aside for the moment as she finally felt as though she fit in. Anya got up to dispose of the rest of her coffee. She walked over to the trashcan which was near the booth that the man was sitting in. As she was just about to dump it into the trashcan some random person bumped into her, causing her to spill her coffee on the booth's table. She widened her eyes in horror at what she had just done. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, let . . . let me get some napkins," a bit of her Russian accent edged into her words. Anya quickly grabbed some napkins and began to wipe the coffee spill up, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 11, 2011 17:21:15 GMT -5
Danny was beginning to feel better, now that he had food in his stomach. He'd eaten nearly half his food and was absently considering stuffing the rest of the food in his backpack and flying back to the school when the pretty red-head passed near his table. The movement drew his attention enough that he glanced up to smile briefly at her...in time to see her stumble and the coffee spill.
"Son of a-!" Danny jumped half-way to his feet when some of the coffee landed in his lap. It wasn't burning, but it was warm enough. He grabbed one of the napkins the lady at the counter had given him and began to mop the wet spot off his leg. The girl's apology made him smile and wave a hand casually. "It's fine, really. Accidents happen."
There seemed to be a small accent to the girl's voice, and Danny took another look at her. She looked kind of European, and that made Danny wonder what she was doing in Willowbrook, in the middle of scenic Nowhere. Surely she wouldn't mind answering. Then again...maybe she might. "You're not from around here, are you?"
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Post by kiipcha on Jul 11, 2011 17:41:51 GMT -5
She gasped when she saw him wiping coffee off of himself "Oh my goodness, it got on you. I'm SO sorry. I hope it doesn't hurt too much," Anya was so flustered about the spill that she almost didn't hear him say that it was fine. She let out a breath and finally calmed herself when she heard his question about where she was from. "Oh, I'm from Saint Petersburg." She saw the hint of confusion on his face and realized that people here probably didn't know where Saint Petersburg was. She spoke once more to help disperse any confusion, "It's in Russia."
Anya tossed the napkins in the trashcan, along with the spilled coffee cup. She pushed a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear. "I'm Anya by the way. I'm a new student here." The redness in her cheeks had finally started to go away now that the coffee spill was cleaned up. She offered a hand for him to shake in greeting, and put a small smile on her face. |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 11, 2011 18:51:43 GMT -5
Danny blinked in surprise at the girl's answer. Russia? That explained why the accent had sounded sort of familiar - he liked Russian accents. Even her name sounded Russian, and he smiled as he shook the proffered hand. "Danny. I've been here for a few years. Would you like to sit down?" He motioned at the far bench before sliding back onto his own.
Once he was settled, Danny found himself tapping his fingers absently on the tabletop. New people almost made him a little nervous, because he often had a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Case in point, lunch with Maddie. Or the afternoon with Logan. There was just something about some people that he couldn't resist picking at. He just hoped he didn't mess it up with this new girl. That being said, the question he really wanted to ask was potentially...troublesome. "I don't want to be rude, but can I ask what your power is?" He figured it was really a fair enough question, since she already knew his. |
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Post by kiipcha on Jul 11, 2011 19:06:53 GMT -5
"Oh, umm, sure. And it's nice to meet you Danny." She wiped the booth's seat in order to make sure that it wasn't wet from the coffee before she sat down. She could hear the slight tapping of fingers against the table and smiled gently at Danny, hoping that it might help him relax. She then started tapping her fingers against the table as a way of mimicking him and laughed a little. She had no intentions of being rude but she hoped that it could help him lighten up a bit.
Had she known that she would have met anybody today she would have done something better with her hair or even put on a little more makeup. But there was no use trying to fix any of that now, so she tried to settle.
She listened to his question about her power and promptly answered. "Don't worry, you're not being rude. And my power is flight," she removed her cardigan, allowing the two slits on the back of her shirt to show. She let one wing portrude out of her shoulder blade. Anya couldn't let both wings out as they had a large fourteen feet wingspan and even with one wing out she had to be careful about hitting tables and chairs.
After showing him one of her grey speckled wings she let it go back into her body, and pulled the grey cardigan back on. "Kinda like your power, except mine can go back into my body." |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 11, 2011 22:33:53 GMT -5
Danny was jealous. Not that he would ever admit it. But there it was, sitting hard in his stomach as he smiled at the Russian girl. Her wings were beautiful. Less cliche than his own, he thought. And she could hide them. Not that Danny was ashamed of his mutation, exactly...they just made it a little hard to disappear when Danny was having one of those days. His mom called them "Mary Days" after one of her friends - he had never actually heard the whole story behind it - and would probably smack him if she knew what he was thinking. That thought made the guilt shy away a little, and he felt better.
"They're great. Wish mine would do that." He gave her a genuine smile and let his own wings stretch just a bit. Any more would be begging for disaster - they had almost made it impossible to get into the seat. Practice makes perfect, they say, and he'd had some over the years. After letting the wings settle against his back again, he leaned forward on the table. "So, have you practiced flying much? The Academy's got some good places for it."
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Post by kiipcha on Jul 11, 2011 22:48:48 GMT -5
She suddenly felt as though she had said something mean, by showing him how her wings could go into her body she was worried that he would take it as bragging. But she still smiled, thinking of a way to make her ability a little less appealing, "The only problem about them being able to go back into my body is that I've torn a lot of shirts. So I had to make slits in the back of all my shirts so the wings could come out if I need them." She motioned to her back where the slits would normally be if not covered up by the cardigan.
Anya then listened to his next question and blushed a little before answering. "Well, umm . . . I'm really not all that good at flying. I think I have only practiced flying about four times to tell the truth. And I don't even want to mention my landing." she cringed at the memories of her slamming into the ground. Anya was so used to being graceful in almost everything she did, from her dancing to even her walk, so to her a failed landing was like a punch in the face. |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 12, 2011 0:00:28 GMT -5
Danny smiled gratefully at Anya's complaints about the slits in her shirts. He could sympathize - his own shirts had to be custom made, and he had ripped more than he cared to admit. So when she was finished speaking, he nodded, "It's a pain, isn't it? My shirt's hard to get on, it's got straps and buttons and, I think, velcro."
Her answer to his question about practice was surprising to Danny. As soon as he'd realized having the wings wasn't going to totally ruin his life, he'd taken every chance possible to try flying. Including jumping off the room in the middle of the night. Twice. He frowned slightly, and then smiled as he was struck with a thought. "I'm not really coordinated on my feet, but I'm not a bad flier. Lots of practice, you know. I don't know if I'd be a very good teacher, but I'll help you out if you want." Landing wasn't the easiest thing, but he hadn't broken anything yet (knock wood), so he supposed he knew what he was doing.
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Post by kiipcha on Jul 12, 2011 0:12:05 GMT -5
She smiled at the thought of finally being able to land without nearly killing herself. "That would be wonderful!" But she suddenly frowned, knowing that in order for him to teach her how to fly he would get to see her fall about a billion times. And she hated failing in front of others, but she decided that she would just have to push through the discomfort. It reminded her of stretching, how it hurt like hell at first but once you got used to it it wasn't so bad. And just like flying, in required dedication.
"And I'll tell you what, if you help me in the air, I'll try to help you not fall when you are on the ground." She smiled at him, knowing that for once she would have someone to help her with her power who actually understood what it felt like. Sure looking at bird videos and studying how they used their wings was helpful, but nothing is more helpful than learning from someone who can actually demonstrate the proper techniques.
"Well I should probably get back to my dorm, I have a little studying I need to do. But just knock on my door anytime you think we should practice." She wrote down the room number on a napkin. "It was nice talking to you, and I hope to see you soon Danny." With a wave she left the cafe, the door opening and then clicking closed. |
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Post by Danny Larkin on Jul 12, 2011 21:57:34 GMT -5
Anya's immediate acceptance of his proposal made Danny smile, though it faded a bit when she frowned. Whatever unhappy thoughts she was having seemed to clear suddenly, and her offer to help him on the ground was greeted with an actual laugh. "That'd be great, actually. I definitely need it."
She told him to visit when he wanted to practice, and he nodded, still smiling for her. "Yeah, I will. It probably won't be too long before I show up, or I'll forget. I'm a little forgetful." Danny tapped the side of his head with one hand as he accepted the napkin she offered - this would help him remember - and shoved it into his pocket, next to his phone. Her final words made him incline his head in a mock bow, "Same here, Anya. I look forward to seeing you again."
As soon as Anya had left, Danny shoved his left-over food into his backpack, threw the straps over his shoulders, and left the cafe. He'd make it to the edge of town, and then fly back to campus, one friend wealthier than he had started the day. End Thread |
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