Been Caught Smokin' (Olivia)

[Ainsley Cooper]

It was a rough start, coming back to school after all the mess of the summer, but still, it was already pushing towards the end of November. Going by quick, but that thought also scared him. Tick tock, said the clock and times keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future. Each day was one less of his life, so to celebrate still being alive, Ainsley bent over the flame of his lighter and lit his smoke. He coughed out the first inhale in a sharp rasp. "Goddamnit." He muttered to himself. The next pull was much smoother and he blew the smoke up into the cloudy sky.

The field was empty, and that's the way Ainsley liked it, he was less likely to get caught smoking all the way out here. The grass was green and life was wonderful. Or at least, as wonderful as it got when you were dying of Cancer. It always had a capital in his mind. Never cancer. Always Cancer. He laughed to himself and shook his head.

"And going crazy to boot, ain't that a hoot." He muttered to himself. He pulled his black hoodie around him closer. It didn't seem to matter though, he always felt cold. Ainsley turned when he heard someone coming, hoping to god it wasn't a teacher, but not really caring if it was. It was just going to be more complicated if it was. "Whoever it is, I'll give down the country." He took another pull on his smoke and blew it up.

"Let's go hog wild."

[Deleted]

The one thing that Olivia regretted was taking up smoking. Sure it was a great way to get rid of stress and extra time, but she was reliant on it and she hated relying too much on things - especially if it wasn't allowed on campus. She normally stuck to rules, but always made an exception for tobacco. No smoking was an almost nonexistent rule for her. It had only really changed when she started living in America.

Pulling a cigarette from her jeans' pocket, she quickly lighted it, taking a good, long pull and sighing. Yes. This was why she disobeyed the rule; far out where nobody would see. Or almost nobody anyways. There was a figure up ahead, back turned to her, but had probably noticed her coming.

Olivia tossed the lighter up into the air, letting it fall back down into the palm of her hand before putting it away and approaching quietly. She preferred that he didn't tell anyone about her smoking habits. "You smoke," she stated, cigarette in hand as she saw the thin trail of smoke that didn't belong to her.

[Kai]

(I know it's for Olivia but I'm throwing in Atti, smoker party! Yay!)

Gah, it was always so hard to get away from the people here and enjoy a cigarette. Why? Why must they hassle him with questions? 'Where ya going? Whatcha doing?' Bullshit. The boy rolled his eyes. Fucking imbeciles. Atticus pulled a menthol from his pack and quickly lit it and took a long drag. "Mmmm, that's the shit." He said as he let the smoke unfurl from his mouth. Delicious, the smooth peppermint flavor was exactly what he wanted right now.

He quirked a brow as he heard people talking. Great, more fools to ask him what he's doing. The boy walked a bit further, leaning on a tree as he looked at the two. A guy and a girl, both smoking. Well at least they wouldn't hassle him about that. He stayed silent, not wanting to start a conversation if he didn't have to. He was perfectly fine enjoying his smoke without speaking.

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley turned ever so slightly, his grey eyes looking over the girl's face. She passed on his external judgement, meaning she looked different. His eyes dropped to the smoke in her hand and her question was less of a question and more of a statement. He nodded. "Do go on." was the first thing out of his mouth, a wry smile twisting up the corners of his lips. "People tells me this shit kills, but honestly, it's as happy as a dead pig in sunshine." The southern drawl was apparent in his voice.

"So come on up and join the suicide club."

He raised a hand, brushing the violet hair out of his eyes. He spotted the other smoker, who didn't look like he wanted to be bothered, which made Ainsley want to bother him even more. "Hey y'all come join our suicide party, ya hear?!" He shouted over to him, over emphasizing his accent, and brayed out a harsh laughter that quickly turned into a cough. "I'm fine." He muttered before anyone could ask and took another drag on his smoke. "Just peachy-keen." He smiled tightly, he could taste blood on the back on his tongue, but when was that really new? So he ignored it and held out a hand for the girl.

"Ainsley." He introduced, and turned to look at the boy off to the side. "Alrighty, you dun wanna come over? Then I guess I get this lovely belle all to myself!" He chuckled, a silence clicking on the back of his throat, it usually worked out better than trying to laugh. "And you are?" He asked her as he pulled on another drag.

[Deleted]

There were a few moments of silence that Olivia happily held with the smoker, taking the time to analyze him properly. Obviously dyed hair - the first thing that stood out about him. It was bright pink-purple, setting him apart from literally everyone she knew and burning the image into her head. She looked at him questioningly as he asked her to go on... go on where?

She really didn't understand what he was going on about with killing and dead pigs and the sun, but his smile was... not normal. It wasn't sincere and happy like normal smiles. She hoped she didn't look like that when she smiled.

Ah, suicide. That she knew, but what suicide? This was no suicide. This was just a normal part of everyday life; smoking. Olivia kept silent, simply allowing the other to talk, while taking an absentminded pull from her cigarette, eyes drifting over as she saw someone else also smoking. How strange. Watching but not speaking, quite unlike some other people she'd met in the past. She had no quarrel with him though.

As her current pink-haired companion yelled out, she looked back to him, noting the unfamiliar shape of his words and raising an eyebrow at his laugh-cough. The sign of a heavy smoker. She made no conscious reaction, taking his hand wordlessly in a firm grasp. Yeah, she had no idea what she was doing.

Ainsley - it sounded like no word she knew so it was most likely a name. His name, then. She looked over to the other guy and shrugged, silently saying that it was his choice and she didn't mind. "Olivia," she answered, sparing a curt nod to go with her name.

[Kai]

Annoyance was easily seen on Atticus' face. This guy talked too much and he looked far too flamboyant for his tastes. The hair was just an eyesore and that accent was worse. He took another drag on his smoke, grabbing his sunglasses from his pocket and slipped them on, covering his dark eyes. Why must people be such social creatures? It was like something compelled them to speak with one another, such a ridiculous trait.

"Ainsley?" He repeated. "Sounds like a chicks name." Atticus said with a smirk as he knocked the ashes off his cigarette. He turned his attention back to the smoke, examining the burning end. "Atticus Jude." He said as he looked back up at the two. "That cough sounds pretty bad. Probably should get it checked out." He said as he leaned back on the tree, one foot resting on it. "Smoking kills and all." The boy said as he took another drag. "I'm sure we all know that though don't we? Death wish." He said with a nod.

[Ainsley Cooper]

She was awful quiet, but that was okay with Ainsley, it made it easier to not talk about himself. He could ramble on and on and on and never say a single word about himself and that's the way he liked it. He was friendly, but kept everyone an arm's length away. Seemed like that was the case with this girl too. She was nearly too quiet. "Ain't that the berries!" He laughed. "It's a pleasure ta meet cha."

Olivia was curt, nearly mechanical, nope, that wasn't the right word, thought Ainsley, the right word was Militant. He turned to watch Atticus. He licked his bottom lip. This kid was sour, demeaning. Perfect to annoy.

"It's not a girl's name!" He insisted loudly, over the top. "It was very popular at the turn of the nineteenth century." He stated, putting a hand on his hip, and rolling his eyes. "A'sides, my mam liked it and so I gots it, I ain't gonna stop using a name someone I love gave ta me." He told the boy, which started another coughing spell.

"It's been taken care off." He said shortly in reference to his cough. "Dun worry about it, like I said before, it's all just as happy as dead pigs in shit, as in to say, nothin' matters anyway."

"Anyway, y'all know each other?" He asked, looking from Atticus to Olivia. "This is Olivia. We've just met." He explained. "What grades y'all in?" He asked, trying to keep the subject off himself. He didn't really want to talk further about the cough. He smiled tightly again, but pulled another drag from his smoke.

[Deleted]

Olivia's gaze constantly shifted between the two males. They seemed like the complete opposite from each other. One was loud and the other was quiet. Colorful and dark. In fact, the guy further away from her had slipped on sunglasses; it wasn't that bright out today though. To be honest, it wasn't any of her concern either; he could do whatever he wanted. That was his right.

She didn't get Ainsley's speech, nodding once as a silent way of returning the greeting before taking a good long drag. Helped calm the nerves. The other guy was called Atticus. Olivia committed the name to memory before the talk on the name Ainsley. She could honestly say that she knew next to nothing about her name and didn't care much for it either.

Olivia's gaze traveled back to Ainsley as he coughed violently, watching almost curiously. How long until he would die? She berated herself - thoughts of death weren't to be had in this place. It wasn't correct. But what did you do if someone was sick? She couldn't remember that part. Smoking though - that was bad, wasn't it. Killed you or something like that. Whatever - she was still healthy.

Olivia nodded as Ainsley introduced her to Atticus. "Senior," she answered easily, not really knowing much else. The grade was called senior and was apparently arranged according to age group. That was how they did things around here. It didn't make too much sense to her, but it was what she put up with.

[Kai]

"Whatever." Atticus said. Fuck, this guys accent was killing him. It sounded like he was some inbred, backwoods hillbilly. The accent and the appearance didn't really match up. Seemed as if someone who looked as...odd as him shouldn't sound like he was about to cowboy up. "Dead pigs in shit? You're so elegant with your words."

The boy let out a loud sigh, bringing his smoke back to his lips. "I heard, not deaf." He said pointing to his ears. He had heard both their names, no reason to tell him again. This kid just liked to hear himself talk. "Junior." He said blowing smoke out with the word. "Before you ask-" He said pointing to the colorful boy. "-because I'm sure you will. Seem to love to ask questions. My power is that I'm a fear feeder."

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley laughed at Atticus's snide remark. "Oh, I'm elegant alright, but every dog has he's own fleas." Ainsley was full of southern sayings, what could he say? You picked them up when you grew up around them. He ran a hand down his greying sweatshirt. He turned his smile to Olivia. "Yeah, I'm a senior too, should technically not be here, but failed a few classes, so I'm back again this year."

"Fear feeder? Does that mean you can make people scared? You ain't going to scare me." He teased. "I'm a hard one ta scare." He looked to Olivia again, she didn't say anything yet. "I can manifest acid through my skin." He told them. "It's pretty boring, I can't spray it or anything, I kinda just, ooze." Lovely picture, he thought to himself, that was sure to get them to stick around.

"And yourself, Olivia?" He asked, he liked using names. Helped him remember them, not that it was going to be much use in a year or so. He stomped out his smoke under a heel, and as much as he'd like another, it probably wasn't a good idea for the time being. "So, does anyone wanna go burn shit, or vandalize somethang?" He asked. "My feet are itchin' fer somethang to do."

[Deleted]

The tension seemed to be escalating. Olivia kept quiet, easily letting herself fade into the background to observe the two talking, acting normally so they wouldn't be too intrigued by her. Ainsley was indeed loud, but Atticus was talking his fair share too. Atticus was clearer than Ainsley was though. Atticus was younger than she was, while Ainsley was in the same grade. Information stored.

A fear feeder - Olivia was sure that fear wasn't a tangible thing. In fact, it was a feeling, wasn't it? Like how one felt scared - that was the synonym. Ah yes. She met Ainsley's eyes easily, processing the information about his power as well. Acid was useful sometimes - usually on sabotage missions.

"Explosions," she said as she was called upon to add her powers to the pool. It sounded like the perfect thing for what Ainsley had in mind. Not that Olivia particularly minded. The school was already ruined as it is.

[Kai]

"I gain physical strength from the fear of others, that and I can go into your mind and make you see your worst nightmare." So Atticus wasn't much of a talker unless it was rude comments but he enjoyed speaking of his powers. They set him apart from the rest of them. He wasn't like the rest of them.

"You're a regular fuck it all kind of person aren't you?" He asked Ainsley. Atticus just nodded, as much as he disliked the kids speech and appearance he did enjoy someone who couldn't care less about upsetting the system. The man. The man will always bring you down, that's how his mom got taken away. The man said she couldn't raise her sons. That's how he ended up in an orphanage, the man said he'd be better off there. That's how why he tried to off himself, the man said he'd never become anything. That's why he was here, because the man deemed it so. Fuck the man. "I'm game."

[Ainsley Cooper]

"Explosions?!" He exclaimed, "Hot damn! That takes the cake!" He giggled. He rubbed his pale, cold hands together and finally a true smile touched his lips, crinkling the flesh around his eyes. He looked absolutely boyish. They could have a lot of fun, a fear feeder would be able to keep people away, generating a field of fear... Did his power work like that? Ainlsey sure hoped so. Acid to melt locks and get into some places that were off limits and explosions. Who didn't like explosions! He looked over the both of them, eyes glittering. "The world is our oyster, boys." He grinned widely.

He turned to Atticus, whom he liked already. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" He giggled airlessly. "Trust me, I am an agent of Chaos." He licked his lips again, they had regained a bit of colour now, not as blue as they had been. "Aww, damn, and you jus' made me lose the game!" He whacked Atticus lightly on the arm, "Come on, let's find some garbage cans."

"So, less see if I got all this righ' or not." He drawled, his voice was airy and gravelly all at the same time. A rough smokers voice. "You just kinda go along for the ride, you like ta be amused, but dun wanna get to close to anyone, right?" He asked Olivia. "And you, you just like spittin' in the face of authority." Ainsley said it: Ah-thor-a-tee, all drawn out like. "Well, why dun we all make us a promise. No one gets too close, no one admits to liking each other, but that dun mean we can't have a good time, ain't tha' right, fellas?" He started walking towards the school, where a few garbage bins were sitting.

[Deleted]

Nightmares; Olivia made a note about Atticus's power. It wasn't something she wanted to experience. It seemed like it would make life hard - fear wasn't something Olivia was used to feeling. She'd gotten over that a long time ago. One last pull on the cigarette and it was as good as gone. There was no trash can around here and Olivia wasn't very much in to littering and throwing the end on the ground. Whole anyways. Tossing it away, she trained her gaze on it, blinking after a few seconds to send it into little pieces flying all over the field. Now it would be easier for it to disappear.

She didn't understand Ainsley's great excitement, nor did she understand the majority of what he was saying. He had an unusual way of laughing and smiling, and his speech was one of the hardest accents to understand. Olivia hoped that he wasn't saying anything too important; she really didn't know what to make of it.

She looked at Ainsley as he seemed to be speaking to her, shrugging and deciding that a description like that wasn't too bad or anything. More or less accurate. Olivia shrugged again about the promise; it didn't matter to her either way. She looked to Atticus for a second before deciding that she had enough time on hand and started after Ainsley at her own pace.

[Kai]

Atticus sighed as he dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his foot. The other was annoying but he was always ready for a bit of...chaos as Ainsley put it. "I'll spit in the face of anyone, and don't plan on me liking you. I'm doing this because I Avnet got shit better to do." The boy said as he took off the sunglasses and hooked them on his shirts collar.

He watched as Olivia blew the smoke up. "Damn." He muttered. "Impressive." He wasn't much for giving compliments but her power was seemingly very powerful. Who knows what she could use her power on, he assumed the cigarette wasn't the extent of her power. He nodded to her before following along, keeping in the back of the small group.