Rollin' in the deep [open]

[koda]

Finally some peace and quiet. She was able to get away from Tayslynn long enough to grab her canvas and paints before running outside. She had no idea where she was going yet, but her feet soon led her to the lake. A sigh escaped as she set the canvas and paints down, running a hand through her blond curls, wrapping her finger around the lone purple curl. Her bright blue eyes scanned the area. It seemed empty enough...So she pulled out the built in chair on the canvas and sat, staring out at the water before her. She still couldn't believe there was something this beautiful right above where she slept at night, and it had been years since she arrived at the school.

Shaking thoughts out of her mind, she opened her paint set, pulling out brushes, along with various colors to squeeze out onto her pallet. Of course, she squeezed one of the tubes a little too hard, and her white tank top ended up covered in dark blue paint. This caused a growl to escape her lips as she stood. Well, might as well make use of the lake. She stood, walking to the shore of the lake, sitting down at the end. She kicked her sandals off and dipped her feet in, smiling at the feel of the water around her toes.

Without further delay, she held her hand over the water, concentrating on it. She pulled a strand of water from the lake and brought it to her shirt, focusing on the one spot where the paint was. The water soaked into the shirt, only on the paint splatter, before she lifted it, the water now the color of the paint. Of course, there was still paint on her shirt. "Freakin' hell!" This time the curse was verbal as she held her hand out once more, bound and determined to get the paint out of her shirt.

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[marci5]

Lissa was rather tired of all the crazies in the halls. She was either being glared at by water students or shoved into confrontations by her allies, and it was not fun. At all. She actually almost snapped and started yelling at one of the fire kids in her grade, and that was not like her. Nor would it have been smart. So today she decided the hell with it. Even if there were chances of rain, she would go outside and find a spot for some piece quiet, and marker time. So she grabbed her sketch book, newly dubbed in bright pink letters the 'marker book', and headed outside with a pack of sharpies in her purse.

Lissa wandered about for awhile, then decided that she wanted to draw water. Water was harder to do with markers, because there wasn't much texture to work with. So she headed toward the lake, then stopped. There was and easel and canvas set up. Had this been a cartoon, her expression would have easily been combined with a great big question mark over her head, but soon she saw the person it belonged to, crouched by the lakeside.

A large smile found it's way onto her features, and she rushed over to the girl's side, starting to talk before she even came to a halt, ”Hello! Are you the one who's about to paint? I like painting too, and I was about to come over here and do the same thing, isn't that funny?” She giggled a little bit, then her attention was drawn by the splash and the groan of frustration she'd just heard. She leaned forward to peer over the girl's shoulder and grimaced when she saw the big blue stain. ”Oh, goodness, that'll be hard to get out. Lucky for you, I've got just the thing!”

She rummaged through her purse, fingers just closing around the desired item when the girl cursed and held her hand out over the water. oh. was the feeble thought. Almost immediately, Lissa had to hold herself back from shaking. But she didn't back down—maybe this girl didn't know what Lissa's element was—as she pulled the little bottle of no-wash cleaner out of her purse. Holding it out to the girl, she said with flustered tone, ”Uh, um...Th-this is a cleaner I keep with me. It works on markers and paint, 'cause I'm clumsey. I mean, I keep it 'cause I'm clumsy, and I like to draw. A-and paint.” God she sounded so stupid.

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[koda]

Noly was infuriated. Stupid paint! She needed to learn not to wear white when she was painting with dark colors. A sigh escaped her lips before she heard the voice directly behind her. She jumped a little bit, not expecting anyone to be out with her in this area. At first, the girl's voice was happy and cheerful, but after, she got scared, and Noly's eyes widened. She stood up, her shirt completely dry, with the blue stain still there, and turned towards the girl.

"Oh, hi there. I didn't know anywhere was out here." She tilted her head with a smile, but then she noticed the look on the girl's face. For a moment, hurt crossed Noly's face, and understanding filled her. Not many people were scared of her. She gave a sigh and zipped up her jacket, ignoring the cleaner the girl handed out to her before she walked back over to her canvas. "You shouldn't be scared of people if you don't even know them. Not everyone is stuck on their own alliances." There was obvious hurt laced in her voice as she sat at the stool.

She went back to her task of setting up her color pallet. She swirled her brush around in the dark blue that had stained her shirt before she swept the brush across the canvas, the hurt still on her face. She hated this stupid war. So many people couldn't be friends because of it. She took a deep breath and exhaled before addressing the girl again, not looking at her. "My element doesn't define me. The same goes for you. I don't understand why people live by these rules." Shocking for the girl, her voice was serious. Usually, the girl always had a smile on her face, so it was strange to see serious lines set on it...

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[marci5]

The girl gave a happy greeting, but then turned hurt. At first, Lissa was completely sure she was about to be drowned in the lake by the water student, but then she just walked away. Wide eyed, the confused little thunder girl turned to follow the stranger with her eyes, cleaner still held out and completely forgotten. She was even more confused when the words were spoken, and she didn't know whether she should be annoyed, more scared, or relieved by them. Her head tilted a bit. What sort of a person was hurt by the fact that someone else was scared of them?

Finally, she snapped out of it and put the cleaner back in her purse. Anything but confrontational, Lissa did her best to calm herself and said, ”Yeah, but at least when you know a person you actually know whether they're going to hurt you or not. There are nice people everywhere, but there are also not nice people everywhere, and I really don't know what to expect....” This explanation was given almost cheerily, with Lissa following the girl like a puppy, stopping where she could peer eager over her shoulder and see the canvas. ”I mean, I stay with the thunders and fires, and you can never tell when they are going to just blow up on you. I don't hang out with the other side much.”

She tilted her head again at the sober words the water girl was saying. A slow smile crept up on her, as the realized for sure that this girl wasn't going to turn about and throw water in her face. She shrugged a bit. ”I think it's just because the personalities don't tend to mesh very well. More bad people get put in fire and thunder than in earth and water, I think. But I don't live by the rules. I mean, I do, but I don't really believe in them. Do you?”

After a second of silence, she managed to hook two completely different things into the same two seconds of speech, ”You know, by the time you finish what you're painting—what are you painting?--your shirt will be permanently stained. Are you sure you want to pass on the cleaner?”

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[koda]

Noly kept her focus on the canvas, but her ears remained open for the girl. She remembered this one. Walked right over to the group who was practically sentancing her best friend to death. She shook her head, though. No. She wasn't doing this. Maybe she had different views. Maybe it wasn't all about the war. Plus...She didn't have to know that Nell was her best friend. Not that she wasn't proud of the fact! She was! Nell meant the world to Hannoly, it was just hard, being a target now because of everything that happened. She'd try to give the benefit of the doubt, for now.

"Look. I'm sorry. I'm just a bit on edge, with everything that's happened, people have changed, and I'm kind of sick of it. Half of my best friends don't even talk to me anymore. And I'm not a bad person...so it kind of kills me to hear fear in someone's voice when they're addressing me..."

[/color] She shook her head slightly as she added more blue for the bottom coat of the lake. "My name's Hannoly. And yes, my element is Water. And from what you've said, you're either a fire or thunder."[/color] Sure, she wasn't thrilled about the idea. But at least this girl didn't try to kill her on contact.

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked over. "Oh. This is going to be the lake when I'm done with it. Well...Hopefully. You can stay if you want, it's always nice to have company. Just...Don't shock me or anything like that...kay?" She tilted her head with a grin, letting the other girl know she was just kidding. At least now Noly was back to her good ole' self again. Well...Almost. These bi-polar moments had been happening more frequently than not, and she was starting to fear them. Maybe...They were related to her mother's death. She had no clue, but she didn't like them. She had never been so mean to someone before...[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[marci5]

Lissa nodded sagely, not even thinking it odd that this water girl was spilling her guts to her. Now that it was obvious that there was no bad blood, the tiny thunder girl was much more composed. Not perfectly, but the fact that this was a water girl rather than an earth girl helped tremendously. She giggled a little, and though it still sounded a bit nervous, is was now more shy than scared, ”Oh, well you shouldn't be hurt because of me. I'm scared of everything! And I'm really horrible with my powers, so you don't really have anything to worry about from me anyway. I'm harmless. Really, just the other day I was telling a friend of mine that if I went up against a squirrel, the squirrel would win.”

Lissa nodded, ”My name is Lissa. Well, Melissa, but I just go by Lissa, or Lissa-lia. You can chose whichever you like best. Yeah, I'm a thunder, but like I said before, I have so little control it's sad. You'd probably be able to take me in a fight.” It was true; the girl was being completely serious. She was half convinced that her teachers passed her not because she'd gotten it down well enough, but because they were convinced she would never get any better. The only thing she had good control over was keeping her powers from activating when she was in duress. To be fair, she was very good at that.

Lissa beamed at Hannoly when she was allowed to stay. Her eyes moved out toward the lake, taking it in in the slowly warming atmosphere, and smiling at what she saw. ”Oh, what a great thing to paint! You sure I won't be bothering you if I stay? Tell you what; I can draw the lake with my sharpies and you can paint it, and when we're both done we can show each other!” She very much liked comparing her art to others, because then she got to see their take on things. She learned from their choices of fell or color or texture. Sure, this was sharpie versus paint, but it would still be fun.

A little giggle escaped the thunder student. ”I won't shock you. I don't like shocking anyone, not even in that small way that makes them jump and doesn't really hurt them.”

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[koda]

Noly couldn't help but smile at this girl. She seemed so...frail and gentle. Just like Noly herself was. Of course, she laughed at the squirrel comment, nodding a bit. "I know what you mean. The most I can do is pull little strings of water....You saw that." She gave a nervous laugh. But she was happy the girl wasn't afraid anymore, she just seemed a bit shy. Then, she introduced herself, and Noly smiled more. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lissa. And you can call me Noly if you want, or NoNo. My mom used to call me that." Oh dear, there she went. Whenever she mentioned her mother, she got that distant look in her eyes. She tried to snap out of it when the girl started to put herself down.

"Come on, now. I'm sure you're not that bad. You just need a little practice, that's all. That's what I do. I go somewhere by myself and I practice. It's really helped not having the distraction of teachers around." Her smile was bright. Even if the person was from an opposing element, she loved to help people. She hated to see people in need or people that put themselves down. And just like that the girl was happy again, which made Noly happy. She figured she might have found a new friend.

"Of course not! It's always nice to have someone with you when you're working on something, it keeps your mind going and it keeps you alert. It's not good to have too much focus on somethine." She gave a bit of a giggle as she switched brushes, swirling the new brush in the light blue paint. Of course, she set the brush down, chewing on the inside of her lip a little bit. "Now's the time I wish I was a wind, then my paint would dry faster." She laughed a little bit before she decided the blend of the wet paint would be alright. She started halfway down the dark section, painting over it with the light. The colors blended beautifully, and it made her happy to see an idea come to life.

"Plus, I've never seen anybody do anything really elaborate with markers before, so this'll be fun!" She thought for a moment, thinking of the boxes of canvas she had at home. "Maybe next time I'll bring you a canvas, and you can paint with me?" She tilted her head a little bit, hinting to the girl she wanted to hang out again. Friends were always nice to have, especially ones that had the same interests as you did.

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[marci5]

”Ok! Noly it is!” She grinned. Then she shook her head a bit when the girl tried to make her feel better. How was she supposed to explain that she simply didn't like her power? She didn't like using it, the feeling when the used it, or anything. It was very, very bad to her. Ok, well she supposed it wasn't that hard to explain. But it was awkward. She shrugged happily and said, ”Well, I really don't like to practice. Especially during the war, 'cause I make mistakes, accidentally zap people and then end up at the medical wing. I'm really not cut out for having a power—I wish it had skipped over me and touched my brother instead. He'd have been really happy here.”

The thought of her brother gave her a wider, sadder smile. She missed her twin brother, very much. Every once in awhile she'd get an email from him explaining something he'd gotten into and she'd miss him more than ever. It was worse even than the way she felt about her dad. She tilted her head a bit when Noly spoke, ”It's not? I always had to vouch to the focusing on things, 'cause my brother is so ADD and couldn't keep his mind on learning sign language! But I suppose you're right. You can only go into your own little world every so often before it gets bad for you.”

”Oh, well, I suppose that makes sense....” She said when the girl wished to be a wind. Even the really chatty Lissa couldn't think of anything else to say to that. Plus, she was distracted by watching the colors blend with such ease. She smiled at Noly, ”You do this a lot, don't you? You seem very comfortable with the brush, with figuring out how to get the right hues.” Lissa was obsessed with all things art, not just markers. Although, yes, she did like to give people sharpie tattoos from time to time. And it was just really fun to figure out how to do things that were more complicated with things that didn't give much option.

The excitement in the other girl's voice roused a shy smile from the thunder student. She looked down and shuffled her feet a little bit, ”Yeah, well.... I just sort of do it as a hobby and stuff. I'll draw anything and everything with markers, if there's something to draw on. I've drawn on myself several times before. Like, my arm or something.” She nodded happily, ”Sure, that would be really fun! So you already want to hang out with me again? I haven't made a fool of myself?” As she was saying this, she sat down next to Noly's chair and raised her knees up halfway to form a little place for her sketchbook to go. She set it down, and started rifling through her bag for her markers.

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