PRETEND YOU DON'T SEE - SETH -

[laceface1]

"Oof!" Tasmin cried out, her sandal catching on one of the many deadened branches that lay scattered on the forest floor. She stumbled forward a few steps, trying to catch her footing but unable to accomplish her goal of standing firmly. She bit at her lip, holding back a cry as she couldn't keep herself from toppling over. Frantically she reached her arms out and tried to grasp on anything that would stabilize her and keep her from falling over. Domino let out a quiet woof of alarm, racing up from the spot he had taken farther behind her. Tasmin's flailing hadn't helped her at all, when she had finally fallen to the forest floor her arms were now scratched from the bare branches and her leg had been impaled by the branch she had tripped over. "That kind of hurt..." Tasmin moaned, allowing her face to rest in a spatter of leaves. Domino trotted up beside her and bent his face down to lick at her cheek. She let out a laugh and slowly worked her way up to her feet. Brushing off herself Tasmin glanced down at Domino and gave the pup a reassuring nod.

She peeked into her bag, looking to make sure that her charcoal pencils hadn't been crushed and that her paper was only slightly crumpled. "Everything is all right, eh!" Tasmin readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder then flashed Domino a thumbs up. "Me apologies for having the bright idea of trekking through the forest. I just thought you needed some exercise, Dom," she said softly to her dog. She decided that until they reached the grounds she would be able to ignore the slight stinging of the cuts on her legs and palms. It had been her decision to wander through the forest, after all. Maybe a kind soul that was lingering on the academy grounds would happen to carry band-aids on hand with them. Tasmin laughed softly at the thought of someone being her hero by nobly pulling out a packet of bandages for her. "A girl can dream!" Domino gave a bark of approval before bounding forward and leaving Tasmin to stare at him. "Wait up, pup!" She followed after him, walking more carefully and paying more attention to where she stepped.

Three quarters of a hour, that was how long it had taken the pair to pick their way through the forest. Tasmin's idea had been that the forest would prove as a good opportunity of exercise for Domino, which had been true. She hadn't gauged that it would also be a task for her, something that shouldn't have been accomplished while wearing strappy sandals. Because of her lack of thought she was now cut up and feeling tired from the forest expedition. Domino seemed quite the opposite, full of life and eager to be on a walk where he didn't have to be restrained by a collar. Finally they broke out of the forest and were brought to the edge of the academy grounds. It appeared everyone else was on the other side of the grounds, closer to the lake. "Domino! Heal!" The soft command caused the excited ball of luff to turn sharply and come to drop down beside Tasmin. "Good boy." With Domino by her side she directed him over towards a huge elm tree, ducking under the branches and sliding down to sit against the trunk.

She shrugged her bag off of her shoulder and laid it in her lap. Domino wasn't content with sitting, he began to run around the trunk, fascinated with how lowly the branches hung. Tasmin winced, feeling the sting of the cuts more sharply now. She set out the pack of pencils beside her and then laid out the crumpled paper beside her. "I''m so clumsy sometimes..." she murmured, frowning at the destroyed paper. Sighing, Tasmin peered into her bag again. Why didn't she have any tissues or anything that she could use to dab at the blood? She wasn't prepared, something that made her displeased with herself. Her bag was shoved aside, none of its contents were going to be able to help her. Staring down at her legs her frown deepened, blood was bubbling on each of the thin slices on her legs. What a mess. Tasmin only hesitated momentarily before she reached over for the paper, crumpling it up further. Tasmin couldn't help but sigh as she pressed the paper to one of her cuts. She had planned to try her hand at drawing today. Now that wasn't going to happen.

Cyclops with Seth ,
763 words ,
Outfit ,
Tas is a mess ,

[seth]

Seth hadn't drawn anything for a while. If you counted the mindless doodles during class as drawings, then he had, in fact, been drawing a lot lately. But he didn't. To him, they were just that: doodles. Things drawn without thought, without purpose. He meant real drawing. Drawing with thought, with direction. Drawings that came from some sort of inspiration. His hands were almost physically itching to draw. Recently, he hadn't had any time for anything like that. But now, he had free time. Quite a lot of it, actually. All he needed was inspiration. Which was what he was trying to find, as he trudged through the forest, ducking or jumping when needed to avoid getting scratches from the low-hanging branches overhead, or the dead branches on the ground, both of them equally sharp and capable of cutting through skin.

His backpack hung on his shoulder, bouncing every now and then whenever he jumped or moved too quickly, rattling the contents inside. But he needn't worry; he always kept his papers neatly in folders, and his drawing materials in a sturdy metal case. He was neat in that sense. He always worked hard on every single one of his drawings, and he would never let any of them go to waste. By waste, he meant crumpled or torn. To him, when something was crumpled or torn, it immediately lost its value. Even his drawings. That's why they were all kept safely in a folder in his backpack, together with the spare sheets of paper. He never let anybody see this side of him. He thought about this as he made his way deeper into the forest, looking for the perfect scene, the perfect spot. Usually, he acted all big and tough around everyone else. Drawing was not big and tough. He shuddered to think of what his fellow elementals would think, what anyone would think if they found out that he did it regularly. But everyone had inspiration. They just had different ways of expressing it. This was his.

Finally, he spotted it. 'It' was a clearing with a group of trees on the other side of it. But it wasn't just any group of trees. At least, to him it wasn't. Light filtered through the trees, and pooled onto the ground below, and the glowing leaves on top of it, which were somehow arranged in such a way that... called out to him. If that was understandable. He would have died if anybody else had caught him thinking that way, but here, alone in the forest, he wasn't the least bit ashamed. He sat on the ground at an appropriate distance and took out a pencil and a sheet of paper. Laying the paper on the smooth side of his folder, which in turn lay on his lap, he closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then, he opened them, and he drew.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, he finished his drawing. He looked over it for a while. He didn't feel the need to compare it to the reality from which it was based upon. When he drew, he took the scene and made it his own. He didn't know how to explain it properly in words, but it was just the way he worked. When he was satisfied, he opened his folder to put it in together with all his other drawings. But he was interrupted by a sound. Barking. It sounded strange and out of place. His eyes raised a bit in curiosity. He stood up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and made his way to where he thought he heard the sound come from. His drawing was still in his hand, but somehow, he had forgotten about it.

He was surprised to see that he wasn't that far away from the academy grounds. And there, under a nearby elm tree, was the source of the sound. Beside it, he saw a figure sitting at the base of the tree. When he got closer, he saw that she--the figure was a girl, apparently-- had some nasty scratches on her arm. And she was dabbing at it with... was that paper? Unsure what to do, he looked around to see if anyone was around. No one was there. At least, no one else he could see. So he approached her, still not sure about what he was going to do.

"Uh.. Hey there. D'you need help or anything?" he asked when he was standing directly in front of her. He saw a dog at the edge of his vision, but he wasn't worried. He wasn't afraid of dogs; in fact, he could call himself an animal person if he wanted to. And if it tried to attack him.. well, he could easily defend himself with his powers. So yes, he wasn't worried at all. More of concerned for the injured girl in front of him.

words;; 825
tag;; tasmin vienna walsh
notes;; Seth dunno whether to be big and bad, or nice and helpful.

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[laceface1]

"I'm such a bloody mess...." Tasmin murmured, giving a deep frown as she continued to survey the damage her fall in the forest had done. She couldn't say that she had the best balance or even the slightest ounce of grace. It wasn't like she couldn't walk in a straight line or dance. Actually, when it came to dancing Tasmin felt the rhythm run through her veins and allowed her body to respond appropriately. It was a Gypsy thing, Tasmin decided. After all of the weddings she had attended, most of them they had heard by word of mouth, she would have been a shame to her traveler kin if she hadn't had the slightest amount of dancing ability. Walking was a completely other story when it came to Tasmin. To have her wandering through the forest was practically asking for the Gypsy girl to come out with injuries varying from a minor degree to serious degrees. Tasmin now had long, thin cuts on both of her legs and her palms were cut up. She really knew how to make a mess out of herself. "A mess, a mess, a bloody mess..." she murmured under her breath.

Domino was somewhere off under the collection of elm trees. Mostly likely frolicking because all of the expansive amount of land left him feeling like he could trot around for an eternity. Tasmin wasn't too worried about her companion, she was assured that he was quickly come to her side if anyone had spotted him or he managed to shove his muzzle into some trouble. The blood swelling on her legs and bubbling on her palms happened to be where her concerned laid. "I've learned me lesson..." the brown eyed girl mumbled, wincing at the pain that was pricking on her palms as she tightened her grasp on the balled up paper that was going to serve he as a damp washcloth or something of the sorts. The blood was something that disarmed, Tasmin didn't want to glance down and have to peer at the crimson liquid. She was reminded of her father, a haunting memory that she would have gladly preferred to have filtered from her memory.

Now tears were beginning to form in her eyes as she turned her gaze back down onto her palms and legs. The wad of paper fell from her grasp and now dotted with red laid abandoned on the grass beside her. Tasmin turned her palms back up, feeling her stomach squirm as she continued to stare down at the blood that was beginning to spill from the slices. "Oh no, oh no, oh no..." Tasmin chanted under her breath, her voice shaking as she let out a tiny breath. It hadn't occurred to her how much the sight of blood actually made her squirm and cause her stomach to churn. All that she could be reminded of was her father, the glower on his face and how he would grab whatever was closest to him and bring it down onto her body with an unimaginable fury. Her eyes squeezed shut and Tasmin felt the tears release from the corners of her eyes. Romping through the forest had been a terrible idea. Where was Domino when she really needed him? She went to call out to him but decided against it. What if someone heard her trying to cry out for her dog? She really didn't need to get reported to the headmaster.

She hadn't seen anyone around her when she had plopped underneath the elm tree with Domino by her side. Hearing a voice startled Tasmin, her body shook momentarily and she had to pry her eyes open. Blinking a few times cleared her sight so that she could properly look up at person staring down at her. Holy Dublin, the person who had approached her was a Fire elemental. Now she was even more on edge, looking up at him with tears flowing freely. "Y-You're a Fire elemental..." Tasmin stammered out, looking up at him. Her legs were stinging with pain and her palms were aching but she managed to stumble up onto her legs. "I-I don't want any trouble, really. I-I just cut meself..." Tasmin said, holding out her palms to show him. Taking a step forward she stumbled and found that she was falling, again. Out of desperation she reached out and grabbed at Seth, steadying herself but also smearing blood on him in the process. "Oh Lord. Me apologies..." Tasmin stuttering, her hands still tightly grasped onto him while she continued to blubber.

Cyclops with Seth ,
762 words ,
Outfit ,
Tas is a mess ,

[seth]

Seth stared at the girl for a while, still not sure what to do. What help could he offer? He didn't have anything to help with the bleeding. Then he looked at his hand and remembered that what he was holding. Paper. It wasn't really the first thing that came to his mind when he thought of stopping bleeding, but it was the only thing he had. He was about to put the drawing on his hand down to get some of the spare sheets of paper from his bad when she started talking. "Er.. Yes, I am?" he said, ending the sentence the way he would a question. Her words sort of confused him for a moment. He looked at her closely, this time, and he realized that she was an earth elemental. "Oh."Right. So. This was bad. This was awkward. And usually, he tried to avoid awkward situations. But here he was, smack-dab in the middle of one. Great. Just what he needed right after a relaxing drawing session.

The girl, whoever she was, only made it worse when she stood up, fell forward, and smeared blood all over his shirt. Luckily for her, the shirt--given to him by one of his friends-- wasn't really one of his favorites. He stepped back, just a little, to steady himself and keep from falling over. He didn't really want any trouble either. At least, not at the moment. He was in a totally different mood from the one he was usually in in public. But still, he looked around another time to make sure that there really wasn't anyone nearby to see him interacting with the earth student. That would be disastrous, at best. When he was sure, he turned back to her and raised an eyebrow. "You can let go of my shirt now." he said, before deciding that it might be a bit harsh. So he went on, "Relax, I don't bite. Most of the time. And I never really liked this shirt, anyway." he shook his head. The bloodstains would be easy to remove, but he could use them as an excuse to throw the shirt away. The reason he didn't like the shirt was the friend who had given it-- they had had a major falling-out. It came to blows, and, to make the long story short, they had both ended up in the medical wing, and never talked to each other after that. But this wasn't the time and place to reminisce such memories.

He reached out, grasped her shoulders, and pushed her away as gently as he could. Then, without another word, he dropped his backpack to the ground and rummaged through it until he found the folder. He took it out and placed the drawing he had done earlier neatly inside, and took out a few blank sheets of paper, leaving the folder on the ground as he stood up and offered them to her. As an afterthought, he searched his backpack once again until he found it-- a bottle of mineral water. It was half-empty already, but he guessed it would have to do. He offered it to her as well. "For cleaning up the cuts." he said simply. He didn't have any alcohol with him, but it was better than nothing.

"My name is Seth. And you're right, I am a fire student. But if you tell anyone at all that I helped you..." he let the threat hang in the air. But then he changed his mind. He had felt a little need for an introduction, but that wasn't the what he had planned. "I'm sorry. It's a habit of mine, threatening people. But don't worry, half the time, I'm not serious. Unless you do something to make me mad, that is."

It felt odd, what he was doing. Unnatural was the word for it. Especially now, in the middle of the war. But he couldn't very well attack a helpless wounded girl. As hostile as he was, he'd never do that. He had these principles, rules for himself that he would never break, and that was one of them.

"So what were you doing, anyway? Where'd the cuts come from?" he asked, genuinely curious. They looked nasty, and they didn't seem to have been made by a human being. Maybe she was just clumsy? He couldn't know for sure.

words;; 731
tag;; tasmin vienna walsh
notes;; Awkward situation ftw.

[/size][/justify]

[laceface1]

Fire students, people who enjoyed violence, and the authorities. Those were the three types of people that Tasmin took care to avoid the most. Really, the fire students were the least of worries when compared to the authorities or kids who attracted trouble. Typically the trouble causers and fire kids were wound up into a double whammy. Kids like that Tasmin had to dance around with extra caution. She couldn't have any troubles on her hands or marring her records. Tasmin didn't even want to think about the troubles people could cause her with the authorities. The fire kids tended to get a little extreme, she had been reassured the late night attack that had occurred in the alley way. Even though this guy had come over to assist her, or so it appeared, Tasmin wasn't comfortable having him so close. His temper could be touchy or he could switch off and explode at any moment. She didn't want any of that. All she wanted was peace and days that lacked any sort of troubles. Yet it always seemed that some of trouble was attracted to her.

In this very moment terror was gnawing at her and screeching to be released. Even though the guy show no signs of lashing out at her Tasmin couldn't be sure that his only purpose when he had come over here was to help her. He had managed to cause her distress in only a few moments and all that had been said from his was a few words. Her chocolate gaze looked up at him frantically, trying to search for any clue that would alert her of hostility or animosity. Tasmin's bloodied hands were still latched onto him in an iron grasp, she couldn't have let him go if she wanted. "O-oh, yeah, I still have me hands on you..." Tasmin murmured, blinking away the tears in her eyes. The grip that she had placed on the guy hadn't loosened. Now her legs were shaking and she wasn't sure that she would be able to stabilize herself. Looking up at him she gave a tiny nod of her head. "O-oddly that doesn't make me feel safe...." she mumbled, her accent meshing with her tears and causing her words to slur together.

The light shove was all that it took to get Tasmin's grip off of him. She let out a soft cry, expecting the push to hold much more than force than it actually had. It was a surprise that she hadn't sent herself propelling back because of how she teetered on her feet. Instead she simply fell to her bum, letting out a small 'oof' and then cringing at the hardness of the ground. "Why are you being so nice?" She was peering at him intently, watching him closely as he began to rummage through his backpack and then leaf through the papers in a folder. Tasmin took the paper silently, cringing as she balled up the paper with her cut palms. Then she reached out and snatched the water from him murmuring, "Thank you." She was thankful to have something to occupy her, instead of shaking and making a fool out of herself. After getting the cap open she poured the remnants of the bottle on her legs and began to dab at the long gashes. Her palms were only slightly stinging now, nothing that she couldn't ignore.

She could only press at her cuts so much before the paper became damp and covered with her blood. Finally she pushed the paper aside and let out a sigh, that was as much as she could for herself. The fire guy started to speak and Tasmin looked up at him with a deep frown. "I'm over here, all cut up and stuttering, do you think that I would tell anyone about this?" Her tone came out clipped, something that she hadn't even intended. After she realized what she said Tasmin gave a soft shake of her head. "I didn't mean to sound rude...I'm just a little set off by fire kids, Seth." She didn't offer anymore of an explanation, she really didn't need to explain. They were at war, the fire kids targeting all of the earth students for harboring Nell. "I would offer you my hand to shake but they are kind of cut up. I'm Tasmin." There wasn't any smile on her face but at least she wasn't stuttering anymore. "I wandered through the forest and fell." She didn't want to mention Domino, Seth would probably rat on her for bringing her dog onto the grounds.

Cyclops with Seth ,
763 words ,
Outfit ,
What a fail ,

[seth]

The moment she spoke again was the only time that Seth noticed her accent. He couldn't quite tell what it was. He wasn't good with those things. Frankly, he couldn't even tell an English accent from an Australian one. And besides, he wasn't really the type who told people with accents to say more words for his own entertainment. Still, it made her distinct, different from all the other people he had met so far at the academy, though usually, most people would want to blend in with the crowd, rather than get recognized and risk putting themselves in his warpath whenever he got mad. And boy did he get mad a lot. So he unconsciously filed this little bit of information into his head. It was yet to be seen, though, if in the future, she would elicit positive or negative emotions or reactions from him. That would depended on his first impression of her. And so far, it was looking a bit... messy.

He looked again at the blood on his shirt, giving out a low whistle at the sight of it. He had to say, he felt pretty uncomfortable having somebody else's blood on him when it hadn't been him who had drawn the blood in the first place. The only times he got blood on himself and his clothes was when he attacked or was attacked. And as far as he could remember, this was the first time that this sort of thing had happened to him. He wondered what people would think when they saw him strolling through the gates of the academy with fresh blood on his shirt. Probably not so nice thoughts. But he didn't really care, he was used to things like that. It didn't really make any difference whether or not it had been him who caused the blood to be spilled.

His eyes widened a little when she fell over. Had he pushed her that hard? He thought a little. Not really. Maybe she was scared, or maybe intimidated. He couldn't really blame her. It wasn't every day that a fire elemental willingly offered help to a person from an opposing element, so what he was doing must have looked a bit suspicious. But her next question caught her of guard and made him think, mostly because he didn't have an answer to it. To be honest, he really didn't know either why he was being so nice. Normally, he would have looked at her bleeding on the ground, offered a few jeers and insults, and walked away laughing. But now... like he said, he wasn't entirely sure what was so different about the situation. He just... didn't feel like acting that way at the moment. "I... I don't know." his eyebrows creased with a frown as he answered the only way he could-- honestly. "You're welcome" he murmured, watching as she cleaned her wounds and dabbed it with his papers.

He raised his eyebrows at her sudden outburst. But instead of answering her with one of his own, he just looked at her like that. Like he had said earlier, he wasn't sure why he wasn't acting the way he normally did. Maybe it had something to do with the calm and peace that usually came in the moments after he made a drawing. It was like that for him. He didn't know why either. He nodded, "It's okay, I guess. I understand." and he sort of did. He thought of what it must be like to get picked on every day by the opposing elements, and not being able to do anything, simply because it was in the person's nature to be a peacekeeper. And instead of having it seen as such, it was viewed instead as weakness, and gave them an even bigger excuse to pick on you. Now that he really thought about it, he was starting to understand. Maybe it was a good sign. Maybe a bad one. He couldn't tell at the moment.

"Nice to meet you then, Tasmin." he offered a timid smile, still unsure how to converse with the earth elemental. "Ouch, that must have hurt." he said, imagining himself falling and getting similar cuts on his arms and legs. It didn't sound very appealing. Then a thought struck him. "What were you doing with that paper over there?" he asked, before realizing that the question might have been a bit vague, so he rephrased it. "I mean, what were you going to do with the paper if you hadn't been cut? Just curious." he shrugged non-nonchalantly, but he was hoping that she was also an artist. Then they would have something to talk about, and maybe things would be less awkward for them.

words;; 792
tag;; tasmin vienna walsh
notes;; Seth is acting weird.

[/size][/justify]

[laceface1]

To have Seth was help her something that she still found something completely mind blowing. It was acceptable to believe that Tasmin would have stopped to assist him, she was an Earth student and it was in her nature to give all of her attention to anyone who seemed like they needed help. He had clearly come out of his way and was still sticking around after he had watched her pour the water all of her legs and wipe at the cuts that had been on her legs. Was today an unannounced holiday where the Fire kids needed to be nice to at least one student from another element? Tasmin wasn't sure what to think of it all but she surely wouldn't disregard his kindness if he was insistent. He seemed to be sure enough with what he was doing, still lingering around after it was clear that the gypsy girl was cleaned up as well as she could be with wads of paper and mineral water. She looked up at Seth again, this time offering him a weak but warm smile. "I really do appreciate you going out of your way to help me," Tasmin assured him. She scooted back, leaning up against the trunk of the elm tree and feeling more at ease that blood was gone with and cleaned up to the best of her ability.

Tasmin directed her gaze back up towards Seth, he was still standing and looking like he was shifting awkwardly. She waited until his stare was on her and she motioned of her hands to the free space beside her. "You can sit, you know. You look a little uncomfortable, just standing there," Tasmin commented, a gentle smile still displayed on her face. She had to admit that all of this was sort of an awkward situation, it wasn't very often when she actually asked a Fire student to take a seat beside her. Wait, she could correct that statement to have it be more assured. It was extremely rare for Tasmin to ever willingly interact with anyone from the Fire element. Tasmin could only recall one person out of Fire who she would love to plunge into a conversation with. That person was Josh Dale. She was do something that was completely out of her personality. Just because she was willing to help a distressed Fire kid that didn't mean she wanted to actually warm up to them. "You don't have to stick around either, if you're afraid that someone is going to see you," she said, speaking more gently this time while she kept her gaze adverted from him.

She felt her insides twist with something that she couldn't name when Seth actually told her that it was nice to meet her. Was he being sincere? Tasmin was all too wary, the mind games that the Fire kids played were something that she was familiar with. He seemed genuine, even offering her a smile. "Is it safe to say that it's nice to meet you too?" Tasmin murmured, weakly making a stab at what she thought would be a joke. Having a Fire element placed close to her still made her uncomfortable but she would try her hardest to conceal it. She shifted, moving so that her legs were tucked underneath her. Tasmin cringed and nodded at Seth's words. "A clumsy lass shouldn't think that it is a good idea to go through a forest," she said, smiling at him. "I guess that I learned my lesson." She turned her palms over and gave a tiny frown at the dried blood. At least it didn't hurt any more, it was just like a dull prick at her hands now. Her chocolate stare then followed Seth's eyes, looking at the paper that she had abandoned by he side. "Oh! The paper. I had a bright idea that I could try to draw. Broaden my horizons, y'know?" Shehad slipped back into her cheery and lively demeanor now, freely beaming over at Seth. "An artist and singer, I would be deadly if I could successfully do both." She bobbed her head and actually giggled a little.

Cyclops with Seth ,
694 words ,
Outfit ,
What a fail ,

[seth]

Seth thought that then would be the perfect moment for him to leave, while the girl was still busy cleaning up and stuff, but for some odd reason--the same odd reason why he had stopped by to help her in the first place-- he stayed behind and watched her instead. Even he was starting to be weirded out by the way he was acting. But he tried not to let it show, though he knew that it was pretty obvious even in the way he stood. He was uncomfortable talking to the earth student. He was uncomfortable even being within a five-mile radius. But his human courtesy overruled his elemental alliance at the moment. Yet that was only a small part of the reason why he stayed. The bigger part remained a mystery. He gave her his own tentative smile. "Sure." was all he said. It wasn't like he could say something like "my pleasure" or "any time" or "You're welcome" because then, he would know and she would know that he was lying. So even though it seemed like such a short reply to a sincere thanks, that's all he said.

He looked at her cuts for a while and thought about the irony. Getting injured by the very things you were supposed to be affiliated with. Maybe it was some sort of universal cosmic humor. Or maybe she was just really clumsy. He didn't say either. Judging by her reaction to his words earlier, he guessed that she wouldn't be too happy if he said that, and he didn't want to risk another outburst. He remained silent about that as his gaze traveled back from the cuts on her limbs to her face, and found that she was also looking at him. The eye contact made him uncomfortable, so he shifted his gaze towards the tree bark above her, pretending that he saw something interesting about it. He didn't, though. The only kind of person who could ever see something interesting in that was sitting right in front of him. But he did find her offer interesting. He turned it around in his head like he would with a physical object in his hands. Stay or leave?

It was a simple choice, really. And she was letting him choose. He could leave then and be over with it. Or he could stay.. and do what? He decided to stay. Looking around once, he still saw no one. And he hoped it would stay that way. He stepped closer, turned around, and plopped himself onto the ground with his back against the tree, one knee bent up, the other stretched forward lazily, and his arm leaning on his bent knee. "Yep.I think." he grinned. He actually grinned. His behavior was disturbing. "Let's hope you don't forget it." he said, amusement coloring his voice. Suddenly, he was more attentive. Finally, something in common. It eased the awkwardness he was feeling. Slightly. But it was better than nothing. "Is that so." he said thoughtfully. "Y'know, I do a bit of drawing myself every now and then." he said, and with that, he reached forward for the folder that he had left on the floor beside his backpack. He hesitated for a while, then decided that the blood on her hand was dried enough that it wouldn't stain anything, before he offered it to her. "Wanna see?"

He never showed his drawings to anyone else. Ever. The only other person who had seen one was his mother. So why was he showing it to a complete and total stranger, someone he had just met a few minutes ago, and more importantly, a person his element was supposed to be hostile towards? He didn't know. He had given up thinking about answers to those weird questions long ago. He just did it. That was that.

words;; 643
tag;; tasmin vienna walsh
notes;; Seth is acting weird.

[/size][/justify]

[laceface1]

Tasmin wasn’t sure why he was still sticking around, even with the offer that she had given to him. Most Fire students would have glanced down at her, scoffed, and either walked away after making a snide comment or proceeded to burn her. Seth had none of those things, which was the reason why she was becoming more comfortable around him. Did that mean she felt completely at ease with having him sit beside her after he had contemplated the offer? No, not at all. Tasmin was automatically wary of everyone who approached her. It was something that came naturally to suspect everyone that decided they wanted to interact with her. It was sort of a dramatic stretch but she wouldn't have put it past her father to enlist some spy like deal to try and track his daughter. He was a highly insistent man and Tasmin had gone to great deals to avoid him. Her worry about Seth was incredibly lessened when compared to her father but that didn't mean all of her uneasiness would instantly be wiped away. But she couldn't deny him any company that he was going to agree too. Even Fire kids needed to be shown kindness.

She was going to make an effort to show him all of the beaming and grinning parts of her personality. He had helped her, smiled at her, and even gone as far to take a seat beside her. Tasmin imagined the ridicule that he would be put through if anyone spotted him sitting next to her underneath the elm tree. A cringe was her reaction, Tasmin didn't want him to be put through any sorts of trouble because he decided that he would show her some courtesy. Josh was a Fire kid who she got along with just fine and actually enjoyed being in his company, maybe Seth could be that type of friend to her. "How are the Fire elementals faring in the war? Is there still a lot of tension?" Tasmin murmured the questions softly, war usually a topic that she shied away from. With Seth she practically knew nothing about him but the war was something that they could both relate to. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear is answer but Tasmin would lend him her ear and listen intently. This was how Tasmin execute her kindness, she was going out of her way to make a conversation with Seth possible.

Tasmin was grinning now, reliving the expedition that she only just made through the forest with Domino by her side. It hadn't been brutal at all, not until she came up to the last leg of the trek in the forest and had managed to trip over a dead branch. How had that even happened? With her clumsiness anything was possibly, really. She wore the proof of her words in the form of cuts and scrapes. Looking over at Seth she gave him a little shrug of her shoulders. "I think that is one lesson that is going to take a few times to actually learn," she said to him, a boisterous grin bouncing onto her face. Her face lit up and animated now, much like how it was normally was whenever she was in the presence of her friends. Was Seth a friend? No, but that didn't mean she couldn't treat him like one. "I like the forest, but I guess that only comes naturally," she explained, laughing at how obvious it was that she would be drawn to the forest. She could honestly spend all day seated on the forest floor, glancing around and bending simple things like the vines or cause the leaves to change colors.

She then peered over at him, curious when he admitting to drawing every once in a while. Tasmin knew how private she was with her own mediocre sketches, so to have him sharing this seemed like something unusual. She beamed at him again, nodding at the words that he said. "I already bet you are a better artist than I am! All I do is little cartoon sketches. How long have you been drawing?" Tasmin was curious now, eager to learn everything that she could about Seth and she would gladly soak in everything that he would offer. He waved his folder her way and Tasmin looked over at him again, momentarily confused as to what he was trying to get at. He wanted her to look at his drawings! Tasmin nodded enthusiastically and took the folder gently from his hands. She laid it out on her lap and gingerly leafed through all of the sketches that he had completed.
It's like you were born to draw!"


Cyclops with Seth ,
785 words ,
Outfit ,
What a fail ,

[seth]

Seth's head was leaned back against the bark of the tree trunk. He was looking at everything--anything-- that he could except Tasmin. For now, eye contact was still uncomfortable and awkward. At least, for him it was. He wasn't so sure, but he had a hunch that she probably felt the same way. At the moment, he was looking at the sky, and all the clouds that floated there. If he tried real hard, he could see shapes that it formed. One was shaped like a cloud. Well they were all shaped like clouds. The cliche kinds that you see on TV. And they looked boring. So he looked at the only other thing left to look at besides Tasmin's face, which was the ground. And when he asked her next question, he was glad he decided to. He would never be able to answer her while looking at her face at the same time. He felt the stirrings of something inside him. Was it guilt? Ever since the war had started, and even before then, he had been picking on her fellow elementals. And it had only gotten worse. But he dismissed it when he thought about the person who had started it all. He wouldn't be doing what he was doing--picking fights with the earth students-- if it wasn't for Nell. At least, that's what he wanted to believe. He'd be glad when someone finally got her. Then, at least, the war would finally end.

"I.. don't think I should be talking about confidential information with the enemy." he said in a serious tone, but ended up grinning. Honestly, for now at least, he didn't really think of her as an enemy. For now, she was just an injured girl who needed help. He didn't think others would share his opinion on that, though. But still, it was awkward to talk about the war, seeing as they were supposedly on different sides. He couldn't very well tell her about his recent victories against fights with earth and water students. He had a feeling that that wouldn't be the appropriate thing to talk about. "But yeah, most of us are still pretty wound up. I hope it ends soon." he said, choosing instead to say as little as possible, while sticking to the truth. Part of it, at least. Hey, he was trying. But he wasn't used to making conversation with people like Tasmin. And by people he meant elementals.

He guessed that was pretty biased of him. He decided that he would try to put aside his prejudice against her element. "Really? Even when it tries to kill you?" he said, chuckling a little. This wasn't so hard, now that he thought about it. All he had to do was think about them as normal people, instead of people who could manipulate the elements. Or he could think about her as a fire student, but that wouldn't really work since she just didn't fit into that category. So he went with the former. "So I'm assuming that me liking fire even after getting burned should come naturally, too?" he grinned again, showing a row of white teeth. So much for pretending. It was worth a try.

He felt his ears getting hot at what she was saying. He didn't think he was that good. He just... knew how to do it. "I don't really know. I just did it, y'know? I don't remember when it started. All I know is I can do it, and I've been doing it for a while now." he accompanied this statement with a shrug. The only things in the folder were life-like copies of real places that he had been to, places that gave him the inspiration to draw. He never knew where he would find one. Whenever he was in one of his drawing moods, he would take his backpack, with all his drawing materials, head off, and just find one. And he always found one. He didn't know how it worked, it just did. "I don't know about that. I think I was born to one day help a poor little girl who decided to go for a walk in the forest but ended up cutting herself before she bled to death." he winked at her. "How 'bout you? D'you have anything to show? For all I know, you're probably much better than I am."

words;; 735
tag;; tasmin vienna walsh
notes;; Seth is acting weird.

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