Intertwined Genes (Griselda Banks + Akira.S)

[Griselda Banks]

((Yeah, retreating sounds good, because it doesn't look like the Bad Mutants are winning. Maybe for the second attack, Magneto will bring in some adults too - like, maybe this time he thought the kids could handle it, but when he sees that's not the case, he sends in more forces.

As for whether Anna and Oliver should have figured out their powers by then, I'm not sure. Maybe they could start figuring it out in the pressure of that battle? Then, since they've figured it out, they could go along with the teachers and the most powerful students to get the Cerebro back?))

Oliver looked up at her, his mouth still slightly open. "R-Right," he forced out, trying to get a grip on himself and tamp down the panic that was beginning to whirl inside him. It was happening again. He felt...naked, almost, without his powers. But he ran alongside Anna anyway, trying to push his fears aside. His powers had just been working; maybe they would start up again in a minute. Maybe if he just kept from panicking, everything would be all right.

The two joined another student duo who were outnumbered by the enemies - Luke, and a girl with her hair in curlers who shot what looked like soap bubbles out of her fingers. Oliver didn't think a power like that would be very useful, but they popped with sounds like small explosions whenever they hit one of the black-clad mutants, and it seemed to be painful. Luke only sent out small flashes of light at his enemies' faces, then fought them hand-to-hand while they were disoriented. Martial arts were part of the students' training, but Oliver wasn't very good since he hadn't been here for very long. Still, with his powers out of commission that was the best he could do.

Then a blast of high-pressure water, like an exploding fire hydrant, hit him full in the face and pushed him away from the group several yards. Spluttering and shaking his head when the water let up, he wildly turned on the spot, holding up his arms to defend himself from the mutant who came at him, fists flying. She seemed to be yelling at one of her companions. "I am doing something, idiot!" she shouted as she whipped her leg around, knocked Oliver's arms aside, and shoved him to the ground facefirst, placing her knee in the small of his back. "It's not my fault I keep putting out your flames! Go fight somewhere else!" She grabbed Oliver roughly by the hair and pulled his head back, then forced her fingers into his mouth. He could feel water gushing from her fingers, threatening to drown him. The others in his group were busy fighting some way off, though he could hear frantic popping sounds and could see flashes of light that indicated they were trying to make their way to save him.

Maybe it was the water moistening him and the ground all around. Maybe it was that he realized he was lying in the patch of flowers he'd caused to grow on a sunny afternoon a long time ago. Maybe it was that he saw his captor's face snarling down at him, illuminated by the fire in the grass, and recognized Aria. Whatever it was, he felt his power rushing through him again, and suddenly a great spiny desert plant he didn't even know the name of burst out of the ground right in front of him, curving over his head even as it grew and slamming into Aria.

Aria fell back with a cry of pain, and Oliver rolled to the side, coughing and spluttering as the rush of water finally stopped. He felt like he had the time he'd almost drowned when he was a kid, but at the same time he felt relieved that his powers had returned in time. Still...what was wrong with them? Why were they so sporadic?  

[Akira.S]

((I’ll have them retreat since you started it. And then yeah later on when they figure out their powers they can go with the older students and teachers to get Cerebro back. ))

While running across the perimeter of the school, both Anna and Oliver spotted Luke and another girl around their age clearly outnumbered by a bunch of enemies. Luke was shooting light beams and she was shooting bubbles from her hands. Deciding to join the fray Anna ran from Oliver’s side towards some of the enemies from behind and decided to put her combat skills to good use since her powers weren’t working at the present moment. It was a good thing the students were trained in hand to hand combat otherwise they’d be sitting ducks. She hoped that their enemies weren’t. Running towards a couple bunched up around Luke and the girl, Anna round house kicked one out of the way so she could jump in and separate them from Luke and the girl, giving them less enemies to deal with. Obviously she wasn’t as agile and precise with her attack as Jillian but she was still a good fighter.

Anna wasn’t that strong so her style of fighting consisted mostly of blocking and using an enemy’s strength of their attack to force them back. Of course most of them were using their powers to throw her off, so all she could do was dodge until she was close enough to perhaps trip them to punch them out of line.

While she and the other three were distracted for a second, they noticed a large explosion of water, probably from a pipe or something. But in fact it was an enemy...one that Luke and Anna probably would have recognized. She decided to launch Oliver a couple of yards away from the others and fight him one on one. Acknowledging the danger her friend could be in, Anna tried to rush through the rest of the crowds of enemies with very little success in going over. “OLIVER!”

Continuing to try and force the others away, she was getting frustrated at how useless she felt. They kept coming in swarms of bugs that were bothering her like crazy. Getting so angry and annoyed she sort of sat on the ground after being knocked down and put her hands over her ears. Why weren’t her powers working? One minute they were there and the next they were gone, it didn’t make sense. And just before one enemy attacked her with his powers a giant surge of high-pressured air shot from Anna’s body like a dome and forced all the enemies within a 10 meter radius around her, at least a couple yards away like Oliver. Feeling the air swirl around her again Anna got up and looked to the enemies far away before looking over to Luke and the girl and grouping with them.

“It’s been a rough night...” she explained while looking back over to Oliver to see if he could handle himself.

While distracted in looking away, and preparing for an attack on another bunch of enemies that were fast approaching, Anna was swept off her feet by one of the psychics that was floating in the air, concentrating on lifting her up and crushing her with her powers. Anna tried to struggle in the invisible grasp; however it was hard to struggle on something that wasn’t physically there. She could feel her ribs pressing up against each other, and she could feel herself running out of air to breathe.

But all the others down below, Luke, the girl, and Oliver seemed to preoccupied to do anything about it. Who would save her now?  

[Griselda Banks]

Through the waves of psychic energy, a song drifted towards Anna that sounded oddly like a song from Aladdin. "Strong as ten regular men...." Gerald sang absent-mindedly to himself as he hovered upside-down towards them. "Hmm," he said, interrupting his song for a moment to look thoughtfully at the pair of them. "I guess in this case, psychic power isn't so different from gravity...." So saying, he drew his hands apart from each other, curling his fingers as though he was ripping something apart between them.

The psychic force let up around Anna and let her fall back towards the ground. But Gerald, for all his nonchalance, seemed too busy holding back the psychic energy to stop Anna's descent; his normally wide eyes were narrowed in concentration and sweat beaded his face as he and the psychic pressed against each other with their powers.

Still coughing and spluttering, Oliver wasted no time in slapping his hands onto the ground and tying Aria up from her shoulders to her ankles with thick tree roots. Though she struggled, there was no way she could get free on her own. Oliver staggered to his feet, staring down at her. Why was she wearing those black clothes? Why had she tried to kill him? Hadn't she saved his life back at the mall? What was going on?

But before he could demand any answers from her, he heard Luke call out, "Anna!" and whipped his head around. Anna hovered in the air, visibly struggling as one of the enemy mutants held her in place with invisible bonds. Even as Oliver rushed to help, Gerald sped into view, high above the ground, and with a jerk of his arms freed Anna. As soon as Anna began to fall, Oliver sprang into action, creating a thick mass of flowering bushes with many leaves and soft, bendy branches that would soften the impact.  

[Akira.S]

((Sorry if this post seems a little lax I'm a bit tired today and a little stressed from work))

While hovering in the air, Anna clasped her hands around her neck to try to give her space to breathe, but everything was getting so tight and she almost felt like she wanted to stop struggling. However she saw a familiar figure float on by as he quickly released her, allowing her to drop from mid-air towards the ground. Having the wind literally blown out of her Anna didn’t have time to catch herself while she fell, or rather didn’t notice she was going to smash into the ground.

However before she realized it, Anna hit the ground. But it wasn’t the hard ground...it was really soft. Cringing slightly as if waking up from a horrible night’s sleep, Anna arched up and noticed the flowerbed she was lying on. Jerking her head towards a random direction she saw that Oliver had made it while keeping one of the enemy mutants busy. Slowly standing on the bed she noticed Gerald was in trouble – dealing with that other psychic. Extending both her arms out in front of her she pictured a heavy jet blast of wind just throw the other floating psychic off balance....this was at least if her powers were working. Anna concentrated very hard, hoping something would happen...and it did.

In a few moments a large blast of wind came from both of her hands and practically blew the other psychic away from Gerald giving him a break.

While Tanya was busy with her group as it dwindled, she noticed that Aria wasn’t doing any better with her bunch. It seemed every one of her classmates was outnumbered at least 3 to 1, not to mention they had teachers on their side. This fighting seemed rather pointless but all of them knew they were not to disappoint their professor.

Burning away what competition she had left, Tanya noticed her boyfriend Mickey join the fray while sucking in some of the other goodie, goodie mutants and moving them far away. “Tanya, we have to leave....there’s no point in this battle...” he didn’t want to admit defeat but at the same time the others were losing really, really badly. “We can’t stop now Mickey! We’ve barely gotten inside!” she exclaimed, turning to the taller boy while creating some fireballs in her hands and throwing them at Xavier’s students. Whether or not she was going to listen to him he’d drag her out no matter what it took. “Aria we’re leaving!” he yelled over to her while holding out a hand and sucking her towards his wind like vortex, slowly that which was binding her.  

[Griselda Banks]

((Xavier's gonna do some big cool attack to finish the battle, right? *is excited* blaugh ))

Oliver hurried to help Anna untangle herself from his bushes, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking at her anxiously. He'd seen the pain on her face when she'd been in the air. "Are you okay?" he asked, even as he looked around to make sure no one was bearing down on them yet.

Then he noticed a boy sucking at his surroundings with a very familiar dark void, and saw that with his power Aria was steadily being freed from the tree roots. Oliver flung out his free hand to make a vine and pull Aria back...but absolutely nothing happened. Horrified, Oliver could only watch as Mickey pulled her into the vortex and safety while he only stood there with his arm held stupidly out.

"Not again!" he cried aloud in frustration. His powers had been failing him all through the night! And it happened so randomly; he couldn't think of any correlation between the times he'd tried to use his powers and they hadn't worked....

((Blah, my post is kinda short too sweatdrop ))  

[Akira.S]

((LOL I Dunno I didn’t really plan that far ahead XP...I actually don’t know what sort of big cool attack he can do...sorry if it ends up being lame))

Sitting up on the plant bush, Anna pulled some of the petals and things out of her hair while making sure nothing was broken. “I’m fine, thanks for the soft landing.” She tried to smile while feeling the wind pick up. But it wasn’t the wind she could normally feel around her, it was the actual breeze pulling something in. Turning her head she noticed the same boy she was fighting earlier – Mickey, was using his wind void to free Aria from the roots and pull her towards him. However Oliver wanted to get in his way and stop him, but when he held his arm out to make something latch onto her nothing happened as the girl drifted closer to her allies. Even while sitting Anna held out her arm to create the opposite polar effect of what Mickey was doing to pull Aria back towards them but even then her powers weren’t working. ‘What?!’ she thought to herself, looking down at her hands. Why were her powers going on and off randomly...it didn’t make sense. Especially since she couldn’t figure out any pattern between them it was practically a life or death situation.

Once Mickey finished pulling Aria towards him and the rest of his group he instructed one of them to set off the retreat signal. One of the members in black set off some strange red fireworks signal as more and more began to appear in the sky. Slowly all of the mutants in black pulled away from their battles and either ran or flew away. Even though they were leaving, some of them were stubborn and stayed to fight.

Seeing this through Cerebro and his own psychic capabilities, Professor Xavier decided to step in.

“Attention everyone,” he said as a psychic message into his students and staff’s minds, “Get back into the school while I drive away whoever remains, if you’re available, help those that are injured and return the children from the safe houses.” He instructed while searching for all the other mutants through Cerebro.

Unlike Magneto it was never his intention to harm humans, or mutants by using this machine...however there were special occasions...and circumstances. Instead of harming or killing them, he instead set his psychic ability to a hypnotic, persuasive type power and hypnotized the rest of the students into leaving the property with the others...disappearing into the chaotic night.

((you can skip to whatever))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Lol, that's okay. Magneto would probably think it's lame, but it makes sense.))

Oliver heaved a weary sigh as he sat against the wall of the hallway. Professor Xavier must have done something, because all the attacking mutants had run off, allowing the students to stagger back inside. Most people were just tired from all the fighting, but the teachers were checking everybody out to take care of the more serious injuries. Someone had broken their leg, and even as Oliver sat there he saw a girl walking back up the hallway with her arm in a sling, apparently dislocated. Luke had been so weak and trembling that Oliver and the bubble girl with curlers in her hair had had to help him up the stairs to his room. He'd collapsed on the bed and immediately switched on his lamps, then basked in the light that soaked into his skin, ready to be poured out again later.

Oliver had already had his cuts and bruises bandaged; he was just waiting for Anna. The teachers wanted to check her ribs and make sure they weren't damaged by the psychic attack that had almost crushed her. Oliver sighed again, looking down at his hands. There weren't any plants in this corridor, so he couldn't try out his powers and see if they'd started working again. He was becoming increasingly frustrated with himself for all this trouble he was having. First in the mall, then next to the piano, then twice tonight....

Suddenly Oliver stiffened and looked quickly towards the closed door to the room where Professor Munroe was looking Anna over. Each of the times his power had fizzled out, he'd been standing next to Anna....

((Thought it was time he started noticing the connection - he was too preoccupied before with all the battles, but now that he's had time to think he sees it.))  

[Akira.S]

((That’s fine with me, I think I might make the situation a little bit worse lol, just to keep things rolling cause I don’t like to have stuff I made up in the beginning left out))

“Does it hurt to breathe?” Professor Munroe asked while gently pressing her hand against Anna’s upper and lower abdomen. The dark haired girl winced a bit while trying not to tear up, “a little bit...it’s nothing too serious I promise.” She was clearly lying while her eyes were gazed in another direction.
Removing her hand from Anna’s chest, the dark skinned teacher got up and went to get some more bandages, helping Anna undress and wrap her chest. “You shouldn’t be ashamed of your injuries, you did your part and no one can blame you for that.” Nodding slightly Anna zipped her uniform back up before standing, wobbling a bit before regaining her balance.

“Well your injuries aren’t serious, but you shouldn’t do anything strenuous for the remainder of the holidays.” The dark skinned teacher smiled while helping her walk out the door.

As soon as the two stepped outside, she spotted Oliver who seemed to be waiting, or at least thinking about something very seriously while sitting in the middle of the hall. She helped Anna walk over to him while holding onto the girl’s arm.

“If you don’t have any injuries you can go back to your room. But first, I’d suggest helping Anna back to her room. Any moment now and I think she’ll fall asleep on the spot and we don’t need students passing out in the hallways.” She let Oliver hold out his arm so Anna could hold it to steady herself while she walked back into the medical room where she could take a look at other injured students.

After he stood from where he was sitting, Anna reluctantly took his arm and sort of leaned close for balance while her head still hung a bit low. She was a little bit ashamed of her performance although she did her best. Still, she was one of the senior mutants so for her to mess up in battle was sort of a big deal. “You didn’t have to wait for me...” she said quietly, looking away with her blank and expressionless eyes like she did with Professor Munroe. Before Oliver could say anything to retaliate her comment she continued, “But it was nice that you did...” Anna half smiled although it couldn’t be seen since she was avoiding his gaze.

For the time being the dark haired girl was far too tired to realize the connection between the two of them and their powers going out of whack. Her mind was already otherwise engaged with the fear of actually losing her powers. This couldn’t be just a coincidence.

Just after the two had made it out of the busy hallway filled with injured students, they came across one of the empty halls where others were just making it back to their rooms. Among those gathered in the hallowed halls were some of the Elementals Valon and the others mentioned to Oliver not long after he’d arrived. It’d been a few months since his arrival but not once had he really met them or talked to them before. “You did pretty well out there...newbie.” One of the males said while leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

No wonder everyone either envied or hated them. They were all good looking, and if not good looking their control over their powers was superb. A few out of the nine that were in the hall, had strange large looking wrist watches or necklaces that blinked with a red light, this was one of the common technologies developed to hide full body transformations that some of them had to conceal in order to get on with society when they left the school...or to make sure they didn’t burn, melt, overheat, flood, or stick to the school.
The one who spoke to Oliver was of native decent, who wore baggy pants a cool white graphic tee, but had a lot of native looking accessories like earrings, necklaces, rings, bands, even key chains around his body. He was one of the older looking ones in the group while the others were just as old as Oliver and Anna.

“Oliver right? The plant guy, I’ve seen you in training. You should come see me and my friend Izzy sometime if you want to tag team. Your powers would be more useful with people you can co-op with.” He barely gave Anna a second glance while sticking his hand into his pocket and taking out a small piece of wood. Holding it in his hand and closing his fist as if he was squeezing it really tight, the wood seemed to reform, chip off, cut and carve itself until it became a little sort of wooden figure. “That’s one of the great plant spirits. Keep it for good luck.” He held out the tiny wooden figure for him before turning and starting to walk away with his group of big shots.  

[Griselda Banks]

((Guh, sorry it took so long to post; I didn't realize how long it would take me to get caught back up on everything crying I like how you brought the elementals up again!))

Oliver looked up again, hearing the door open. Anna didn't look like she was in too much pain, but she looked exhausted. He immediately stood up when she and Professor Munroe made their way towards him, and nodded at the professor's request. All thoughts of his predicament momentarily left him as they linked arms, and Oliver felt a pleasurable squirm in his stomach at her touch.

Shrugging, he started walking slowly in the direction of the stairs. "No problem," he murmured. "I wanted to."

They fell silent as they walked, too tired and shell-shocked to make any kind of conversation. Soon, however, they came face-to-face with a group of students Oliver recognized as the Elementals, the clique that Valon had told him about. Warily, he came to a stop. Were they going to pick a fight? They didn't look too friendly....

Oliver felt like saying he could co-op with Anna just fine, but then he remembered how their powers seemed to disappear any time they were in close proximity. Had the Elementals noticed this? Was it something about Anna? Was that why she wasn't one of them? Oliver forced himself not to glance at her, though. He stared as the boy carved the piece of wood in a matter of seconds. The control he had over his power! Oliver couldn't even dream of doing something so refined. Numbly, he took the figure, but he couldn't think of a proper response before they'd already left.

He stood there for almost a full minute, staring at the little figure. Could he learn how to do something like that? This boy must know all the secrets of manipulating plants, and there was no doubt that the Elementals were...well, cool. But suddenly he remembered that Anna was still standing at his side.

"Sorry," he said, hastily stuffing the figure into his pocket and continuing on to the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. He considered telling her, as they climbed the staircase, about the connection he'd discovered between their power failures...but then he thought better of it. She was worn out, and he wasn't feeling too hot either. It could wait till tomorrow, and besides...he was nervous about what it would mean. He didn't want to cut off their whole relationship because of something like this.  

[Akira.S]

((Don’t worry, I knew it was going to take you long to post because you said you’d be gone, so it’s fine. And YES! I did bring them back; I don’t bring people and not do anything with them. They’re going to be sort of important coming up, basically they’re going to get in the way of Anna and Oliver))

The entire time the Elementals were talking with Oliver, Anna was sort of just leaning on the wall on the side...practically invisible to everyone...she even felt she was becoming invisible to Oliver himself. Well, it’s not like she wasn’t used to it, so Anna just sort of shut up and waited for them to leave. But even when they left she didn’t say anything.

Finally, the head of the group, who was of native descent, and an Elemental of Wood, carved something for Oliver, then quickly left with the others, leaving the two in the dark hall. Oliver then turned to Anna and apologized, probably for getting distracted with them. Of course Oliver wanted to learn how to use his powers and feel accepted, more than likely the Elementals would probably be able to help them better than she could. So, as he promised he helped her to her room, both staying as silent as an empty room, not looking or saying anything to each other.

Anna reached out to her door knob and turned it slightly, limping inside while holding her abdomen with her free hand. However before she closed it, the dark haired, blind eyed girl looked up at Oliver and finally spoke. “Zeek (like geek) is right, it’s probably best you train with them....they’re more help to you than I could ever be.” She knew it would have been easier for his powers to develop if he was with his own kind, for example people who could control earth or wood, “I don’t think it’s wise for you to keep hanging out with me, you’ll learn to use your powers better with their help than with mine.” She really did care for him....as a friend, and as a friend she wanted him to progress, not to keep him where he was when he had SO MUCH potential.

“Anyway, you better get some sleep, it’ll be dawn in like...three, four hours...” not that it mattered since they had three more days of Spring Break left, “so...again...thanks for saving me, and taking me back to my room.” The entire time Anna seemed to look down and keep to her, all quiet and ashamed as she used to be with strangers. From where he was standing Oliver could barely see the whites of her empty eyes now...her head hung low as she began closing the door to her room.

((If you want to forward you can, if not you can just post fluff and I'll forward in my next post, I just want to be safe you know biggrin ))  

[Griselda Banks]

"Wait," he said, holding out his hand to keep her from closing the door. He wasn't sure what to say, but he had a lingering feeling that if he didn't say something, she'd think he didn't want to hang out with her. And that wasn't true. Surely they could still be friends, even if she did make his powers disappear when they were together. They could hang out like normal teenagers, without worrying about powers or strength or any of that. Hopefully that wasn't just wishful thinking. He realized as he searched for the right words to say that he enjoyed her quiet company, and didn't like to think of spending his days in this school knowing he wouldn't greet her when they passed in the halls, or sit together over lunch, or join her in the piano room and listen to her play.

"Why aren't you an Elemental, Anna?" Oliver finally asked, unable to think of the right way to put all his jumbled thoughts and feelings. It would certainly be a lot easier if she was one of them. "You're sure powerful enough."

((Blah, short. But he asked a question, so what else could I do?))  

[Akira.S]

((No you asked a question so it’s all good, it makes sense its short smile don’t worry about it))

Stopping, just as Oliver’s hand grabbed the door Anna looked up at him with her empty white eyes that looked so sad...and so lonely. Pushing the door open a bit she walked inside, allowing him to follow her into her room. Slowly sitting on the bed, the dark haired girl grabbed one of her pillows and held it in her lap gently. “You know the way everyone treats me. They think it’s weird to prefer to be alone most of the time...I mean we’re in a school of mutants and yet I’d still rather be alone...Don’t you think it’s a bit weird? That I’d run away from home where I was alone and come here just to continue it? ...anyway you’re right. I was strong and I did have potential...they did invite me after my powers were more developed...but I turned them down.” She said the last part softly, looking at her pillow while hiding her eyes behind her bangs.

“My problem was that after being alone for so long I didn’t really know how to interact with people. I was polite enough yes, like the day I met you; I was proper and lady-like because that’s what the Professor and Emma taught me. I had no...real personality of my own...so I did what I was told, and when I was invited I was scared. I could never live up to their expectations, I didn’t know how to co-op with another mutant. The prospect was scary. The only time I started...to really open up was when I was with you.” She sort of hugged the pillow gently, trying not to squeeze or arch over too much at risk of injuring herself even more. Maybe she was too hard on herself...who knew, being a teenager and a mutant was difficult, mentally and physically.

“I hear you can only co-op with someone your powers go well with, and that person has to know everything about you, inside and out to be able to really work well. I’d never been close to anyone like that before. So almost immediately I rejected them...after that they thought I rejected them because I thought I was too good for their group and shunned me as did everyone else. I’ve been alone ever since you came along.” Realizing how that last part sort of sounded a little bit too serious, Anna turned away trying not to blush too much. “What I mean is...you’ve changed me, so thank you...” she still muttered, looking away. “And Oliver, even...even if you do join them, I won’t think any less of you, like I said, you’d learn more from them than you would me.”

Finally turning towards him she gave him the best and more encouraging smile she could muster at the time, even though she was worried that he’d forget her too. The two had made such fond memories like when they first met, training, growing flowers, eating lunch outside, sitting in the drawing room while she’d play piano and he’d listen, even studying. Sure, Valon and Luke were there sometimes too but she’d never have guessed it’d turn out like this. She felt so bad for looking so weak when she was supposed to be the stronger more composed one. Anna felt she was becoming too feminine to really be seen as a strong leader type, so before Oliver could judge her she made up some sort of excuse to get him to leave so he wouldn’t talk about it anymore. “I’m feeling pretty tired, we’ll talk about this tomorrow.” She pushed back and pulled her legs up to the bed before resting her head on the few pillows that were there.  

[Griselda Banks]

Oliver followed Anna into her room and stood at the foot of her bed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and feeling slightly awkward. But soon he forgot any embarrassment he felt, as he listened to her speak. She seemed to be pouring out her heart to him, and he felt a great well of sympathy rising up inside him. Had she really been keeping all of this locked inside her? He knew a little bit about being an outcast and friendless, but not to this extent.

Had he really changed her? Had their casual moments spent together really been that meaningful for her? "Anna...." he murmured, wanting to touch her or comfort her in some way. But before he could, she said she was tired, effectively telling him to leave. Somewhat reluctantly, he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

He headed slowly for his own room, thinking over all she'd said. The school was quiet, as nearly everyone had gone back to bed. They would all get up late next morning, and then he'd probably have to give an answer to the Elementals. Fishing the little wooden figure out of his pocket, Oliver looked at it pensively. He wanted to gain greater control over his powers. He wouldn't feel so useless then. But if that meant spending less time around Anna, the first friend he'd made here....

Oliver came to a stop with his hand on his doorknob. He clenched the wooden figurine in his fingers and stared dejectedly at his feet. He knew what he had to do...but it was a hard thing, to give up what he wanted so much. Still.... Heaving a gusty sigh, Oliver turned and tiptoed down the staircase instead of going into his room. He slipped out of the school and circled around outside the building to the wall where he knew Anna's room was. He counted the windows carefully, hoping it was the right one, then knelt in the grass and set to work.

He was already exhausted from the night's adventures, so he had to go slowly, but he managed it. Vines crept up the side of the school, circling and curling around the window he picked. Then, with a last burst of effort, large pink flowers blossomed all around the window, hanging down over the top and resting against the sill. She wouldn't be able to see them until it got light out...but they would be the first thing she saw when she woke up. Smiling, Oliver got to his feet, then nearly overbalanced and fell over again as a great wave of exhaustion crashed over him. Overkill, Oliver...overkill.

He staggered back into the school and collapsed on his bed without even bothering to undress.  

[Akira.S]

((I still haven’t forgotten what we’re going to do with Oliver and Anna and the Professor and their powers....and Magneto. I just keep forgetting the order we’re doing it in TAT SORRY!))

By the time most of the students had gone to bed it was already around four in the morning, and in a couple of hours the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Some of them stayed in their rooms, sleeping in and what not, others forced themselves awake to study and get some homework done. Others went to train, others were assigned to clean up, and depending on the sort of power they had. Gerald was especially helpful in this situation, even Miata with Mr. Bear being able to lift large and heavy objects to higher parts of the building. Yup, it didn’t seem like work ever really stopped at Xavier’s School for the Gifted.

That morning Anna didn’t really feel like getting up but she didn’t feel like sleeping in. It’d be a waste of a day to just sleep in and do nothing. So she lay in bed until about 10:30 until the heat coming in from her window overpowered the feeling of the slight breeze blanketing her body. When she finally opened her eyes to look around the room, she noticed the light that was coming in was slightly...pink...

PINK?! Why was the light coming in pink!? Quickly sitting up in bed...maybe a little too fast since she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, Anna turned towards her open window and noticed the pink flowers neatly blossoming around her open window. Before she reached out for one she noticed a pile of students were sort of looking up towards her window, sort of...laughing and gossiping.
“Don’t you lot have anything better to do on your spring break?” she asked while lifting her hand up slightly, creating a swirling gust of wind around it, before extending it out towards them, creating a circular funnel to shoo away the students who were loitering around under her window a couple floors up.

It was, slightly embarrassing, but she didn’t care. Sitting on her window she plucked out a flower and felt the softness of it’s and inhaled its fresh scent with a cute girly smile on her face. “....Boys are so stupid....” she muttered to herself while sort of....admiring the flowers for a good amount of time before she decided to get ready for the new day.

She showered, changed, redid her bandages, combed her hair, and brushed her teeth, all with a strange looking smile on her face that no one had ever really seen on her face before. For once Anna looked, almost normal, and cute. She had this sort of aura around her which made her feel like she could do anything today. Wow that sounds kind of pathetic when you thought about it, but maybe it was what she needed; someone to understand her and to be her friend. Of course she liked Oliver, a lot. He was different, he didn’t judge her, he made her laugh, he made her smile, and he made her feel normal. As to how much she really liked him...she didn’t know. Anna knew she had strong feelings for him, but if they were more than friendship she didn’t know yet.

“What happened Roads? Lost your virginity last night? Is that why there are flowers all over your window, you know boys aren’t allowed in the girls dorms after curfew.” Jillian was making fun of her as usual when she walked into one of the larger kitchens to have brunch (since not all the students were at school they resorted to using large kitchens for when they ate), sitting with her regular bunch of ‘popular people’. Anna sort of ignored her, eyeing her from the corner of her eye with her empty and white gaze while going through the cupboards and making herself a smile breakfast of cereal, eggs and toast. Carrying it in a large plate she headed out to someplace...quieter, and spotted Luke sitting with Valon while they were eating breakfast. Heading over she casually sat across from them at a table and greeted them, “Morning. Sleep well?” Anna was really in a good mood today and it was really freaking some people out, she actually looked...sort of cute once you got past the whole eyes thing.

It was still a nice day outside and despite some of the students helping out to rebuild the school; others were just sort of lounging about. Those somebodies were part of the Elementals. The ones with more talent were asked to help rebuild by order of the Professor, while the others just enjoyed the sun and their lunch outside under a large shady tree. Sitting in one of the higher branches was Zeek, the older teen that confronted Oliver last night, another girl lying down in another large branch, fanning herself with a large looking leaf. A blonde sitting in what appeared to be a giant shell at the base, meditating, while a dark spiky red haired boy was shooting fireballs from his fingers tips to annoy the girl in the shell, and a set of fraternal twins only about fourteen years old, playing what seemed to be tag around the area.

“Why did you talk to the new kid last night?” the girl fanning herself asked Zeek while he was sitting calmly, carving a little piece of wood the traditional way – with a knife. Oliver wasn’t really the new kid anymore, but a lot of people just preferred calling him that anyway. “He’s one of us Izzy, whether you like it or not, and we all need to stick together.” The other girl rolled her eyes and kept fanning herself, “tell that to the girl he hangs out with, she’s one of us isn’t she, and she reject Tyson as if he’d asked her out.” Tyson was one of the leader’s of the Elementals that had graduated from the school and decided to leave to pursue other career options rather than staying at the school and teaching others. “People don’t get invited twice, and she got her chance so she’s out, Oliver can make his own decisions and will come to us when he figures out his place isn’t with her. She’ll only slow him down anyway; if they can’t co-op they won’t make a good team. The reason they’ve made it so far is with the help of the others, but given a situation when they’re alone together they won’t stand a chance.”  

[Griselda Banks]

((Um, I think our latest plan was for Oliver and Anna to discover how they turn each other off (lol, kind of ironic considering their borderline-romantic relationship, huh? xp ), then they'll discover their ability to use each other's powers in the battle when Magneto steals the Cerebro. Then, because they're strong and able to use their powers, Oliver and Anna will be among the people who go to get the Cerebro back.

Incidentally, I couldn't help grinning a little while reading your post. These two are oddly cute together, aren't they? ^_^))

When Oliver finally dragged his eyelids open and rolled over to look at the clock by his bed, it was almost eleven o'clock. With a weary groan, Oliver forced himself to get up and get dressed. As soon as he sat up, his head began to throb and he groaned again. He was starting to regret those flowers....

No. Not the flowers, he decided, as he yawned expansively and made his way downstairs to get something to eat. Anna would understand. They'd been friends long enough for that, at least. Oliver wondered why some of the kids sitting around the large table in the kitchen tittered when he passed them, but he tried to ignore them as he grabbed something halfway between breakfast and lunch and made his way out onto the lawn.

The fresh air and sunlight revived him like a wilting flower, and his headache lifted a little. He glanced up at the school building; it didn't seem to have sustained too much damage from the night before, and several students were fixing it. Gerald floated by, dragging a pile of shingles in midair with him, idly singing "Whistle While You Work" while Xavier supervised from his wheelchair on the ground. Slowly, Oliver's heart sank. He'd told himself that he would ask the Professor about Anna's effect on him today.

His nervousness only escalated when he looked towards one of the picnic tables set up on the lawn and saw Anna sitting there with Luke and Valon. To reach the table, he had to pass by one of the large trees, under which sat most of the Elementals he'd seen in the hallway before. Well, he couldn't think of a better way to give Zeek his answer. He hadn't exactly promised to tell him yes or no, and this would send the message home quite well, he thought. With a half-smile, Oliver realized he was becoming rather adept at non-verbal messages.

Walking calmly past the Elemental tree, Oliver pointedly ignored them and headed straight for the table where his real friends were. "Hey, guys!" he called, sliding into the seat across from Anna. He suddenly felt awkward, after his rather girly display the night before, and avoided looking at her. Instead, he turned to Luke and asked, "Feeling better?"

The black boy replied in the affirmative, basking happily in the sunlight and not eating a thing. He certainly looked a lot stronger than last night, after getting some sleep and ultraviolet light.

((Again, sorry for the super-long delay sweatdrop ))