Soo bored soo bored soo booooored! (tagged open)

Nell thought the cliffs would be one of the safest places to be while at the Academy. She was, of course, wrong. She should have known that the area wouldn’t be off-limits to aggressors. As a matter of fact, it was probably ridiculously stupid of her since it was so high up. Nice going Nell, her mind berated her as she glared at the group of Thunders, not touching the burns on her arms. Stupid Thunder students and their electrical burns! Too much contact would only make it worse. At least the cold soothed the pain somewhat. Their mistake had not yet been realized by them, yet Nell was already very much aware of it. They should have circled her like a band of rabid dogs. Then they probably would have killed her, and this entire war would be over (sometimes she entertained this thought, but she knew she didn’t want to be a martyr). But they stood to one side, smiling maliciously as if they’d already won. Even they were aware of how much of a pushover she was when it came to a physical fight. More bark than bite.

She smiled much to their confusion. Without another thought, she bolted away from the group, and thank god for the fact she was so fast. It was probably one of the only things that she had going for her—Nell was quick on her feet, and so when her path wasn’t blocked, she used her speed to her advantage. Her feet carried her into a nearby cavern, and she placed a hand against the cavern wall and bent over to catch her breath. The burn on her arm stung, but not too badly. It must have been a psychological thing, she realized. After a while, she must have blocked out most kinds of physical pain by forcing her mind to think of how it wasn’t really that bad.

Now recovered from her sprint, she started walking deeper into the cave, hoping to wait it out until she was sure the students would be gone. Realizing how dark it was, she took out her cellphone and used its light to navigate her way until she stopped at an interesting sight. Ace was curled up on a rock. He was a…Water student if she remembered correctly. She was friends with him, but she hadn’t really remembered his affiliation. And now that was a very important thing. Were he a Thunder of Fire she would have left him be and maybe ran out of the cave to find another sanctuary. She poked a finger into his side and said, ”Ace? Are…are you dead?” Nell really hoped he wasn’t because a plan had formulated in her head with the remembrance of his element.

She blinked, really starting to believe he was dead. The guy just wasn’t responding to her prodding. Oh dear. What if he really was dead? What would she do? Frantic, she poked him harder until he gave a response, but upon closer inspection she discovered his eyes were closed and…thank god, he was just sleeping. And she kind of didn’t want to know what it was about. But then he opened his eyes, and she had to laugh. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about, handsome, I’m not running away.” Must have been whatever he was dreaming about, she figured. And it must have been pretty deep sleep. She had to wonder how he could be so far gone in a cave.

Nell blinked as he pulled out his Pez, then shook her head with a smile. Strange guy… ”I think that’s why people don’t usually fall asleep in caves, Ace,” she said lightly, ignoring the pain in her arm until now. Yeah, most people didn't fall asleep in places where wild animals could possibly maul you or you could turn into an ice cube. ”Can you help a girl out?” She shoved her phone back into her pocket and pushed up the sleeve of her shirt to show him the black mark. ”Electrical burn,” she explained. ”Since you’re a Water student, I thought maybe you could splash some water on it…”

Nell tilted her head. ”Aw, I didn’t know you were so dependent on me. I guess I should stick around.” Yes, she was fully capable of flirting just because she had a playful personality just as Ace did. ”But this rock was so very comfy, huh,” she finished in a teasing tone. Hey, who was she to judge? She did some pretty strange things, and people have found her in some less-than-flattering positions. Nell lifted an eyebrow at his suggestive teasing, and said, ”Oh? I'm glad that I could fulfill your wish. Anything else I can do while I'm here?"

She waved away his explanations for falling asleep, and said, ”I understand. Things have been rough for everyone lately.” Of course, it may have just been he was simply exhausted from schoolwork or something, but war has also been changing everyone. Nell chuckled at his enthusiasm at helping girls out, biting her lip a bit from pain. Thunder jerks? This cheered her up quite a bit. ”Yep. It was my fault though. I was WWN: Walking While Nell.” Nell tried to make the situation lighter than it actually was. And she did it through dry humor. It was true, though. She didn’t cause them any injury. Well, except for the fact they think she killed their leader.

Wincing a bit as the snow made contact with her skin, she was nonetheless glad for its soothing affecting. ”Thank you, Ace,” she sighed. Pulling her shirt down to dry it a bit, she focused her powers and formed vines around the burn to act as a sort of makeshift gauze. The effort of creating that from nothing drained her a lot, and she ducked her head for a moment. At his scolding, she tried to laugh but it didn’t come out right even as she raised her head to smile at Ace. ”I…don’t want to hurt anyone,” she said carefully. Nell didn’t want to look like a coward in front of him, but that’s exactly what she was. ”When I use my powers against someone, it doesn’t end well.”

”I’m a big girl, I think I can handle it,” Nell said, nudging him back. She looked around at the cave, wrinkling her nose. ”A cave? Kind of dirty, but I’ll keep you company.” Nell watched him, making out his hand raking through his hair in the dark. "You shouldn't speak ill of the dead, Ace," she said softly with a somber smile. Cynthia hadn't been the nicest girl, but Nell had known worse. But she was sure a lot of people—especially Water students—felt that way against the deceased girl. Any loss of death was truly a shame, but Nell had to wonder what was worth going to war over. Apparently, it had also been done for less.

Ace sighed, and she had to giggle when he looked at her with the cutest eyes. How could I kill a girl? Oh, if you knew, Ace. "You're just so sweet," she said, pinching his nose between her fingers in an affectionate gesture. She dropped her hand and even though she liked the gesture of his protectiveness, it had her concern. ”Revenge is a vicious circle.” Nell didn’t want any more of ‘an eye for an eye’ crap. But this was Ace—he was a fighter. Even though she didn't want anyone to get hurt, she’d like to depend on him.

When he took her chin in his hand, her laugh was short and humorless. "Even binding can get out of hand with me." It had before. Binding turned into strangling and now here she was...a murderer. And it had been because someone tried to kill her. She couldn’t promise that wouldn’t happen again. ”If someone tries to hurt me and I retaliate…” She let him infer the rest. Her past had turned her off to the idea of violence. Her life had been built off of it, and she didn’t want it anymore. "Teach me?" she said suggestively, leaning in closer teasingly and then pulling away. "You'll have to elaborate before I take you up on that offer."

Of course the two’s views of revenge differed. ”I can’t help but think of revenge as a bad thing,” Nell said slowly. It was the reason half of the school was after her right now. And in her family’s eyes, it’s also why they wanted her locked up. Her aunt wanted revenge for the murder of her sister, and in a way the girl understood her. The words that her aunt had said came back to bite at her. You killed my baby sister. Ace brought up a good point, though, and it shook her from her thoughts. ”Revenge is what started World War I, though,” she pointed out. ”And if that hadn’t begun, we would have never even heard of Hitler.” That’s where he got his start, after all. ”We could argue about what if’s all day, though,” she said with a hand wave. ”Revenge is still something that doesn’t sit well with me.” But she remembered that if people messed with her own friends, revenge would be something on her mind. You’re such a hypocrite.

She waggled her eyebrows when Ace said that he could teach her a lot of things, but turned serious as she considered his offer. She had Josh when it came to the more theoretical stuff, but she was very wary when it came to her powers. The winter made it easier to get away with not using her powers, but if she wanted to get stronger... ”How do you plan to go about doing that, Mr. Water elemental? I’m Earth—we’re pretty different.” She giggled when he patted her head. ”Superman, huh?” It was actually a good idea. She didn’t think she could ever be afraid of him, and that’s how mistakes happen—fear. So she was safe with him, right? ”We’ll see how invincible you are.”

Not being one for argument, Nell was glad her friend saw that. She knew how nasty she could get when it came to verbal disagreements, but that was only with her family. Still, it left a bitter taste when she had to fight with someone. Debating on the other hand? Well, she could handle that. It was more fun than anything, the clashing of two separate ideas.

Nell was truly surprised that he still wanted to help her. ”Hmm…I’m really not so sure how I feel about you calling me a ‘mono’.” She responded by putting her fists up in a defensive position, though it was more of a ‘Way of the Dragon’ stance that she got from watching old kung-fu movies. ”Hey, did Lois Lane ever beat the crap out of Superman?” she joked. Then, she dropped her hands and asked seriously, ”You really want to put yourself through this, Ace?” She was making herself out to be a monster, but she just wanted to be careful. She’d never tried to hone her abilities through actually fighting with someone, and Nell was unpredictable when it came to anything like that. Besides, she was still reluctant to accept help from anyone.

She burst out laughing when he said Superman was whipped. ”Oh, he totally was,” she agreed. Nell was feeling pretty good right now, even though there was still a war going on around her. But for a few minutes each day, sometimes she could forget. Nell shook her head fondly at Ace’s words, a smile set on her lips. ”You’re some kind of amazing, Ace, you really are.” Nell stepped up to him, and she had to tilt her head back to actually look him in the eye. ”I think I have more potential to be Lex Luthor than Lois Lane.” Yes, she definitely felt like the villain a lot. Always felt like a bad person for everything she’s done. Even inadvertently starting a war.

Chuckling at Ace, she said, ”Because Canada is pretty cool.” Her punny sense of humor never failed her. But honestly, she did like Canada. Her family was nowhere near it, for one thing. Except papa. She didn’t even want to think about that. He asked if she was cold, and she smiled a bit. ”I’m always cold,” Nell said with a shrug. She wasn’t complaining. ”During the winter, that is. This season is not kind to us Earth kiddies.” When he took out the hand warmer, she teased, ”I don’t think that’s technology, Ace.” Rubbing her own hands together, she asked, ”Do you need a big ol’ bear hug from Nelly or what?”