[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]Madison hadn't been at school for long, but Melody still knew who he was. He was tall for his age, square jawed, and always seemed to have a knowing smirk, not unlike her own. He seemed to follow the rules a great deal more than she did however, was always polite and respectful to teachers, and completed all his work on time and per instructions.

That all changed once the teachers' backs were turned. With all of the general disruption and misbehaviour that entailed. He seemed to have a strange knack for knowing exactly when an authority figure was going to show up. It was uncanny really. She had wondered a few times whether it was something to do with his ability. After all, no one could be that lucky.

Abilities usually came up in conversation, but other than him offering her the occasional cigarette, they hadn't really talked. Although she wasn't sure how he'd known she'd smoked. The way he'd offered it had suggested he was confident she'd take one. She had her own stash, a few packets she'd managed to smuggle here when her father had sent her away, but it was limited, and she'd had no chance to get more. The nearest town was 20 miles away, and trips seemed to be few and far between. That and policed by the staff on them as if they were inmates on a day trip from the local prison, which was what it felt like most of the time anyway.

She was hanging around outside the Humanities building, there was a spot there that, as far as she could tell, was out of sight of the CCTV. No one had ever showed up to chase her off when she lit up anyway. Speaking of lighting up, she pulled a cigarette from her pocket. She had taken to carrying only one or two with her, in case she was caught and lost a whole pack of her increasingly precious resource. She was glad that she would never need a lighter again, it was one of the few aspects of her power she didn’t find herself hating more often than not.

She held up the cigarette in front of her, focusing on the tip for a moment before letting the heat flash from her eyes for a fraction of a second. A flame flared briefly at the tip of the tiny cylinder before dimming to a dull red ember. She took a drag, blowing out the smoke up and out. It would be invisible by the time it crested the building, too dispersed to be spotted by even the most eagle eyed of teachers or site staff.

[attr="class","nikki103"]446

[attr="class","nikki103"]Madison Ardnell

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

Always up for a free cigarette..

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

Madison's source for smoking materials was Matt the janitor, who always kept a pack or two in the box on his cart two which Madison helped himself whenever he got the chance. Students weren't supposed to smoke, but Matt was the kind of guy who saw all such rules as more or less bull and Madison had shared a few with him and eventually become something like friends. In all honesty, Madison didn't care much for the guy. He was a lanky, older man with a perpetual gray five o'clock shadow, balding and with those extra folds of skin around the neck that old people get. He had been a hippy or something during whenever the last hurrah was of that movement whenever it had been- Madison didn't really care and hadn't been paying attention- and though he would refrain from too openly helping students flaunt school rules he also had a strong streak of “eff the Man” which Madison, with the help of his ability, could reliably use to score smoking materials. He suspected Matt used harder drugs as well, but those didn't interest Madison. Relatively safe stuff for him, thanks.

Despite not particularly liking most of the school staff, Madison had gone out of his way to make friends with as many of them as possible. He'd learned long ago that a lot of real power in these sort of places was in the hands of the menial labor, and if you intend to break rules about smoking or drinking or slipping into a girl's room at night for sex, having the staff on your side could be the difference between a wink as you left by the window and a stern call that brought you into the Headmaster's office.

The one problem with Matt, from Madison's perspective, was that the guy had something against alcohol. Tobacco and marijuana were fine, more than fine, but the one time Madison had raised the possibility of a beer he'd been forced to abort from the violence of Matt's reaction. Matt hadn't explained, but reading between the lines Madison guessed that Matt had had a wife or a girlfriend or a child or something die in a car accident due to a drunk driver and refused to touch the stuff thereafter. It was too bad, really. Madison wasn't a huge drinker- he drank to break the rules, not because of a deeply abiding love for alcohol- but he had felt the urge a few times lately and been frustrated when Matt hadn't delivered.

Since then he'd been making other plans. Headmaster Buckley was known to have an extensive collection of adult beverages, consisting not only of his own stock but also drinks confiscated from students. This was probably a violation of some code of ethics or other, but Madison had learned long ago that (a) nobody else actually cared about those things and (b) that he didn't either. What mattered was that it provided a target.

For the past few days, Madison had scouted the edges of Buckley's property, using his ability to get a feel for the layout of the house. He could fit the entire house inside his range fairly easily and was sure he had located his target after a day or two. Buckley lived there with his wife and son, who, being only six, didn't go to EMBA but to a primary school several miles away. Madison's power detected two rectangular, dense, and metallic objects inside the house that he thought were reasonably likely to be refrigerators and thought that the one downstairs in the garage was probably the beer fridge. It made sense for family things to be upstairs in the kitchen (Madison had spied on this through a window two nights before), and the lower fridge had objects of higher density inside than the upper, which might be glass bottles of water-like liquids, the most dense thing you were likely to find in a normal fridge.

All of which was to say, he knew what he wanted and where to get it. Now all he needed was a plan.

It was really a question of how blatant he wanted to be. Worst case, he could break the glass in the door to the garage, unlock the door, grab something from the fridge, and be off, but broken glass would undoubtedly be noticed and lead to investigation. In the worst-case scenario the police might be called. No, what he needed was a way that Buckley might not even noticed he'd been robbed.

He was walking across campus, pondering the matter, when a ripple in his ability made him look up. There was someone leaning against the far corner of the Humanities building, either one of the smaller guys or a girl. Probably there to catch a smoke- it was a popular destination, since it lacked the CCTV coverage of much of the rest of campus. Out of curiosity he moved towards the corner, sniffing quietly. Yes, someone was smoking all right. He considered, then took a step forward and went around the corner himself. Why not. Not like he had anything better to do.

It was, as he'd suspected, one of the girls. “Oh, hi Melody,” he said, pausing as if surprised. “I didn't expect to find anyone here.”

He hadn't spoken much to Melody, but his ability had told him that she had a thing for cigarettes and since he had a source in Matt he'd been parceling out a few to her here and there, just to stay on her good side. That was his policy- always stay on everyone's good side if at all possible. It always paid off in the end.

He put on a conspiratorial smile. A smile that said, We're both here for the same thing, aren't we? Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a marijuana cigarette he'd liberated from Matt earlier that day. If she was rebelling, he would rebel just a tad more.

“Got a light?” he said, still smiling.

Melody Newton

[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]Jolting, Melody made it clear that she hadn't been expecting to be disturbed here. She'd almost fell into a run right then and there, before the connections were made and it was clear that A. they already knew who she was, and B. they were in fact another student. She didn't know Madison well, but she knew him enough to know that he wouldn't turn her in. Relaxing back against the wall, Melody endeavoured to appear as if she hadn't been startled at all.

Her eyes flickered down to his hand, to the cigarette there. No, not a cigarette, clearly this was hand rolled, and already the faint scent of marijuana was wafting towards her. It wasn't just a normal cigarette, like her own paltry stash. Glancing at the half-smoked cigarette in her own hand, she stubbed it out against the wall, where the faint mark joined a half dozen already there. They would be washed off by the next rain, but for now they stood as a faint reminder of her own, and other students' illicit activities.

"Might do. Depends if you're sharing."

She stepped out from the wall, carefully tucking the stubbed out cigarette into her back pocket. Once she had Madison's assent she gestured to the marijuana cigarette he'd produced. "Hold it up."

It only took a second, a moment to focus, a moment more to engage her power. A brief flash of light later and the tip of the cigarette glowed red with heat. She reached out and plucked it from his fingers with a cheeky grin, "Ladies first."

Taking a drag, she rolled her eyes back. "F*ck I needed that."

Exhaling gently, she passed the joint back to Madison. "How did you manage to get that in here?"

[attr="class","nikki103"]293

[attr="class","nikki103"]Madison Ardnell

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

In the good books...

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

He hadn't spoken much to Melody, but he'd watched her and taken some time to read her (as he read everybody). She was the sort who wanted to rebel, but only against the right sort of people, and had a deep longing for acceptance, but only by people she wanted to be a part of. This was the paradox of teenage rebellion: you always came to somewhere you couldn't bring yourself to rebel against. Madison had realized this long ago and decided that the best course of action was not to rebel and just to do whatever he felt like doing.

He saw the light in her eyes when he showed the cigarette. Genuine enjoyment there, but more than a little enjoyment from spite as well. He filed that away for later; it was something he could use. He liked to keep a mental list of all the little weapons and vulnerabilities that people showed against themselves, storing them for whenever he needed leverage. Even if he had no particular designs on that person, it was useful to keep such things in mind.

And he had no designs on Melody. Well, other than the general design that he should sleep with as many girls as possible, just on principle.

Light flashes from her eyes and set the cigarette alight. His grin widened and he let her snatch the joint away before drawing out another. “Well, if there's a first, there has to be a second, right?” Taking the lit joint, he lit the second against it and handed the first back to her. He drew in, then breathed out smoke and shook the cigarette at her like a judging finger, still grinning. “A gentleman never tells.” He let the statement hang in the air. She would be burning with desire to know, but desire to appear unflappable would keep her from asking. Let her stew; he doubted she would ever think of asking a mere janitor. “Have some spares.” He flicked her three from his pocket. An investment, as far as he was concerned. He could already hear her begging for more when those ran out.

He leaned against the wall and breathed out more smoke. Finding Melody here expanded his options for the night. With a bit of prodding, he was sure she could be persuaded to accompany him on his alcohol liberation mission. And afterwards...

Leaning against the wall, head tilted slightly upward, smoke trailing from his cigarette, he cut the perfect image of the handsome rebellious boy, and he knew it. Jut the chin slightly, curl the lips up in a sardonic smile. He had spent a lifetime observing the tiny mannerisms that communicated emotion to others; he had learned how to deploy them himself. His hand drifted up and took the cigarette between his fingers.

“What we really need,” he said. “Is some booze...”

Melody Newton

[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]Madison was almost the definition of the popular kid in school, liked enough by the teachers, while good looking and 'cool' enough to allow him to get on with almost every student. At least the ones he deigned to notice. Which apparently included Melody now. Melody was a little too dismissive of most other students to really be in his position.

This might be a school for freaks, but it was still ultimately a high school, and Melody was still a high school girl.

A high school girl that had just been handed three joints. They vanished into her pocket and would be concealed in various different places as soon as she got back to her room. She hadn't had any weed since her father had picked her up from the police station, so to be handed three, in addition to the one she was carrying, was like being handed a wad of cash. Where the hell had he got them all from?

Annoyingly he had failed to answer her question, presumably deliberately. She resisted the urge to glare, knowing he was probably frustrating her deliberately. She resolved not to give away her frustration. She could probably draw out those three for a while, then maybe she could convince him to give her a few more somehow.

Unfortunately that opportunity did not seem forthcoming. "Ha, good luck getting booze. Are you going to walk to town with your fake ID?"

[attr="class","nikki103"]240

[attr="class","nikki103"]Madison Ardnell

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

Booze?

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

She was intrigued, as Madison had known she would be. You only had to take one look at Melody to know she was the type that got in trouble. It was her face, the way she carried herself, the way she made a show of being so tough, not realizing that no one actually tough needed to put on a show. She was hiding something, that was certain. Madison would do his best to find out, if for no other reason than the general principle that he ought to know everything.

He would miss the three cigarettes later, but it was a worthwhile investment if it ended with Melody firmly in his orbit. She was the type that would never think to ask Matt for them. She saw herself as better than other people, more in tune with the real world because she was miserable all the time. Madison had never understood why so many of his peers thought that way, but it wasn't any of his business. He had learned long ago that you were responsible for keeping yourself happy, so if you found other that smokes and manipulation were what you enjoyed, well, you better get right on that, because nobody was going to do that for you.

He grinned at her walking comment. "That's one option." He took a few pulls on his cigarette and made a show of studying her, looking her up and down. His eyes lingered on her curves, though he kept his face serious. He had established himself as the knowledgeable one by giving her the cigarettes and knew she would be aching for an opportunity to live up to the standard he had set, or at least in the hope of getting more MJ later.

He turned away and lounged against the wall, choosing his body language to suggest he had looked at her and seen all he needed to see. Dismissive. It was funny: almost no one could describe body language that meant that, yet everyone noticed it if you did it to them. They felt anger, or belittled, or, most likely in Melody's case, a simmering urge not to be dismissed. Madison's power had taught him much about the subtleties of human communication, and he put it to use now.

"I heard Malika and Rachel snuck some booze in," he said in a bored voice. He made a suggestive glance at Melody. "Of course, Buckley was on them right away and now they're out their excursion privileges."

The school arranged regular weekend excursions for students to go into town and go shopping or do anything other than be bored at school all weekend. It also provided a handy privilege to withdraw when rules were broken. He was quite sure Melody would be willing to take the risk, but it didn't hurt to point it out in advance.

"What do you suppose he did with it? You don't think he drinks it all himself, do you?" He gave Melody a knowing smile. A delicate dance, this. He needed her to be intrigued, but she’d be gone in a shot if she suspected he was playing her.

(Of course, he might have simply told her outright what he was going to do without any manipulation, but Madison didn’t think of that. And besides, it wasn’t as fun.)

"So, laser eyes, huh?" he said, changing the subject. "That all you can do?"

[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]Melody perked up at the mention of Malika and Rachel. She didn't particularly like either of them, too sorority for her, but she knew them. She had heard about them losing their excursion privileges though. Admittedly, she hadn't known why. She didn't say as much, but she didn't exactly try to hide as much, quirking her eyebrows in surprise.

The young student had actually lost her excursion privileges several times. She'd had detentions too, but when you couldn't leave the campus anyway they had rather less impact than they'd had at her state school. Her only chance to actually leave said campus was rather more precious to her. Which was probably why she had left the campus for less than 50% of the weekends she had been here. The teachers were clearly good at their job, and had identified exactly what it was that she valued. She hadn't missed out on excursion in weeks.

She snorted at his comment. "Sure, they'd have to pull the stick out his ass first though."

Melody had met Buckley several times. The Principal was fairly hands off, but he would sacrifice his time for specific students. Unfortunately, one of those specific students was Melody, and she knew the Principal's office pretty well by now. She'd thought about burning her way out through his lock, but never actually had the guts to do so. It should have been easy enough.

Which was probably why it was appropriate that Madison referenced her powers at this point. "Oh no, you tell me what you can actually do first."

She pushed away from the wall. "I've never seen you do anything overly athletic, so you're not auxiliary, I've never seen anything flashy so you can't be a Brick or a Blaster, and I've never see you do anything with any tech more advanced than your phone, so that's gadget out of the question. And traveller? You? Sure… That leaves a couple, but I think you're a gleam. So what do you do?"

[attr="class","nikki103"]334

[attr="class","nikki103"]Madison Ardnell

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

I'm not totally stupid...

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

Madison took a drag on his cigarette. He'd expected something like this, and he didn't. “Show me yours if I show you mine, huh?” He grinned. “Okay. You've seen Daredevil, that show with the meta who's blind? I'm kind of like that, but better. I can sense things close to me, like if you've got your room key in your pocket or if a teacher's about to come around the corner or if Buckley has a glass bottle of some substance in his shoulder bag.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

He wouldn't mention his ability to read people, of course. Things always went better when he kept that a secret.

“So you can't sneak up on me and you can't hide things from me, either- I always know. It's useful sometimes,” he said casually, though they both knew darn well that it was the reasons the teachers thought he was a good kid and Melody was a rebel.

He'd detected something when Melody had mentioned Buckley and sticks- a kind of bitterness. How could he leverage that? Eh, it probably wouldn't be hard, actually. She seemed inclined to mistrust absolutely everyone who was an adult. He'd keep it in mind.

“It works through everything. It's not stopped by dirt, or by lead, or whatever. I always have it. I can lean against someone's house and figure out what's inside by how it feels.”

His cigarette was almost out. He stubbed it against the wall. “So, that's me. It's not eye beams, but I manage.”

Melody Newton

[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]Well at least Madison's power explained how he always managed to get away with things. She wondered how much the school knew about his abilities, and how much of that the teachers bothered to learn. You had to have powers to be here, and they'd assessed hers when she arrived. She wondered if they assessed everyone in the same way.

She sighed, he had held up his side of the bargain. She closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment as she felt them begin to shift, this time to a heterochromatic variation, one silver, one gold. This became obvious when she opened her eyes, they caught the light in strange ways, glinting oddly. Even if they hadn't been a completely unnatural colour it would have been obvious that they weren't the eyes of a normal teenage girl.

She held her hand up and focused on it for a second, spinning the light into an object she could hold and use. A small, slightly curved knife slowly materialised in her hand, growing steadily more solid as she continued to focus on it until it took on a gleaming reality. It was about 3 inches long, with a handle longer than the blade itself. Melody could generate larger weapons, but rarely bothered.

Melody realised her own cigarette was dying as Madison stubbed his out on the wall. Regretfully she followed suit. Madison might have given her a handful of joints, but she was willing to bet his sudden generosity wouldn't continue. He'd probably want something for them next time. That's how it always worked.

"So since Buckley definitely isn't drinking all that stuff himself, I bet you know where he's keeping it."

She dropped the blade, looking away from it and up at Madison. It vanished before it hit the ground.

[attr="class","nikki103"]299

[attr="class","nikki103"]@madison

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

notes here, i guess?

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

Madison raised an eyebrow when Melody opened her eyes and he saw a new color there. It was the first time he'd really understood that her eyes changed color. Before, he would have said that he wasn't sure what color they were. When she manifested the weapon he gave an appreciative whistle. It was genuinely appreciative- that seemed like a useful power.

“Well, that's sweet,” he said. “Kind of a walking weapons system, aren't you?”

At her comment about knowing where Buckley kept the booze he grinned. “As a matter of fact, I have been around the house, feeling for suspicious areas, and I have noticed a refrigerator filled with a mysteriously large quantity of liquid. Unfortunately, it is in his basement and finding a way inside to investigate this mysteriously large quantity of liquid has been difficult... so far. Of course... if there were a way to melt or cut a way in...”

He let the words trail off, looking at her suggestively.

Melody Newton

[Melody Newton]

[attr="class","nikki98"]

[attr="class","nikki99"]

I NEED TO COME DOWN

[attr="class","nikki100"]

[attr="class","nikki101"]SEEMS LIKE THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD WENT AND LOST ITS MIND

[attr="class","nikki102"]AND ALL MY CHILDHOOD HEROES HAVE FALLEN OFF OR DIED

[attr="class","nikki109"]"Great, the dream of any teenage girl, to be a mobile armoury."

It was cool though, even once you got past the ability to conjure weaponry from thin air it was cool. The science was mind boggling, her father had theorised that her eyes allowed her to concentrate light into an actual physical form. It certainly played havoc with several established scientific theories, but she'd never allowed her father to actually run tests on her abilities.

She quirked an eyebrow in interest. So Madison had discovered where Buckley was keeping the alcohol he confiscated, or at least where he likely was. Melody would have guessed an office or some other secure space, but then he lived on site, as did most of the other teachers, his house would probably be more secure than his office, so it made sense to keep confiscated items like liquor there.

She wondered how often he sampled it. Although now the thought of sampling it herself was coming to mind, exactly as Madison had intended. Madison had been drunk before, though not often, weed was easier to come by in California than booze when you were fifteen. Weed was hard to come by here though, and while Madison seemed to have a hookup, she didn't particularly want to be in his debt for it. If she was the one who could get them into Buckley's booze stash then at least she could keep some control in the matter.

"We'd have to be careful. It's not like there's a lot of kids here with laser eyes. So is there somewhere we could cut in that he wouldn't notice easily?"

[attr="class","nikki103"]273

[attr="class","nikki103"]Madison Ardnell

[attr="class","nikki103"]Eau de Resistance

NOTES

OK, I'm listening...

PHARAOH LEAP.

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[Madison Ardnell]

Perfect. She was interested. This would be way more fun with a partner. Also, if they got caught, he planned to blame the whole thing on her. But hopefully they wouldn't get caught. He had in mind a nice evening at the abandoned barn with the haze of alcohol if this worked out, maybe a roll in the hay too if Melody was willing. Fun as framing someone was, that was too good of an opportunity to throw away for no reason.

“Not a problem,” he said when she mentioned the problem of being caught because of her eyes. Fishing around in his coat, he pulled out a screwdriver. He'd planned for this. “You take out the lock, and then I'll take the knob off the door from the inside. It'll look like we got in just by taking the knob off somehow, and no one will be the wiser. Just make sure you only get the knob and not the rest of the door.”

He put the screwdriver back in his pocket and nodded in the direction of Buckley's house. “I've got some bags hidden behind the science building. There's a barn near the bend of the creek, just past the old fence, and I figure we can stash the loot there. It'd be a bit of a walk to retrieve them, but that's better then getting busted during room inspections.” He flashed her a grin. “You could do whatever you wanted with your half, of course.”

Melody Newton

[Melody Newton]

Eclipse All my childhood heroes have fallen off or died + @madison

Melody mused over Madison's plan, it sounded good, like he'd given it some thought. Although that then made her wonder just how much he had already known about her ability before she'd demonstrated it to him. Now knowing what his ability was it wouldn't surprise her if he used it to find out more about the staff and students. Maybe that was how he'd gotten the blunts, found them stashed in a desk drawer or something. He even had a plan to hide the alcohol, evidently he'd explored a little further afield than she had. When she'd realised how far they were from the nearest town, she'd given up bothering to explore outside the campus. They were in the middle of the campus, there hadn't seemed much point. She was thinking now that maybe she should have been more adventurous when she got here, she didn't like the feeling that Madison knew more than she did. Even if it was as a result of his ability, even if only partly. Still, he seemed friendly enough, and he'd given her three joints without seeming to ask for anything in return. Maybe it was as payment to get her help in breaking into Buckley's house, to get her interested, let her know he was serious. "Alright then, you've got a deal."

© seadra of gs

[santa]

To one with particularly sensitive hearing a gentle buzzing sound reminiscent to the static created by an old analog television was briefly audible. Suddenly, where there was once open space now stood a young man of around 15 to 16 years of age with cropped black hair and frosted tips. The teenager's sun kissed complexion provided a striking contrast to his bright azure orbs and deep set dimples. He was quite fashionably dressed in a red and white hoodie and coordinating sweatpants coupled with a pair of red trimmed white jordans. A small candy cane stud earring in his right ear completed the look as he lifted his hands to the sides of his head.



"What a rush, that's going to take some getting used to," the teenager mumbled to himself as he dug into the pocket of his sweatpants to withdraw his iphone. As a name flashed across the screen, the young man quirked a brow as he breathed "Really?" Offering a casual shrug, the boy tucked the device back into his pants pocket and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a square shaped box wrapped in shiny silver paper and tied with a shimmering red bow hovered in front of him. Snatching the box from the air, the teenager's gaze swept the area before landing on a pair of students lurking about a building.



Sighing and shaking his head, the young man started off in their direction. The duo were so engaged in their task that they didn't even seem to notice their peer approaching despite the brightness of his clothing. Clearing this throat, the teenager began "Uh... sorry to interrupt... whatever this is but I got something here for a Melody Newton." Directing his gaze towards the girl with the odd colored eyes he added "I'm going to assume that's you." Not giving the teen meta a chance to respond, he extended the box towards her.

As she retrieved the box from him, the phone in his pocket beeped three times in succession as it updated his delivery list. Chucking deuces to the couple of wayward students, he offered the pair a mischievous wink as he closed his eyes and vanished from sight.

Melody Newton

[Madison Ardnell]

She agreed, and Madison clapped his hands together with a wide grin. “Great! Right, so we'll head that way, and-”

A voice from the shadows made him jump. He jerked right to see a teenager wearing a red hoodie and carrying a package. At the same instant, Madison's proximity power kenned to his presence for the first time. Madison's eyes went wide. “What- how did you-”

The boy extended a box towards Melody, who took it as Madison looked on. His mind was scrambling. He didn't recognize the other boy, so how did he get here? Did he know Melody? He didn't act like he did... and before Madison could find out, he vanished with a wink.

Silence.

“The hell?” said Madison. “Who was that? Do you know them? Do they go here?” His eyes were wide. The fact that his power had failed to warned him of the intruder frighted him more then he'd been frightened in a long time. His power was his backbone, his lifeline. If it failed- !

“He had some sort of ghost power!” said Madison. “He should never have been able to get that close without me sensing him!” He put his hands on his head. “Sh*t. Sh*t. This is bad. We may have to abort. He might know a teacher. If my power can't give us advance warning it's not worth being caught.” His eyes were wide. He was freaked out, edging gradually towards terrified. His eyes fell on the package. “The hell is in there?”

Melody Newton