Bombs Away! (Kai!)

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley was really interested in reading, after all, it was a waste of time or at least that's the way he saw it since he was given only a set number of months to live. Why waste time reading? He had to cram in as much life as possible into the time he had left. So what was Ainsley doing in the library? He was defacing school property. He sat in the back corner and had drawn out a neat little scene on the desk in front of him, an ocean view with an atom bomb going off, all in permanent marker. He grinned to himself, a twisted little smile that touched only his lips as he scribbled on the desk.

He heard the door open and craned his neck in a weasel like fashion. Not a teacher, good. He could keep going. His hands were cold and his breath rasped in and out and a deep rattle emanated from from his chest. How much longer could he hide his sickness? How much longer until he needed to lug around a dumb oxygen machine? He wasn't sure.

He pulled his ruddy jean jacket closer around him for warm although it was perfectly warm in the library. He could feel Death's hand on his shoulder, just waiting for his lungs to succumb to the cancer, just waiting for the day when he would draw breath after breath and still not be breathing. "Fuck that." He muttered under his breath and bent back over his work of art, marker screeching as it moved over the faux-wood of the table.

[Kai]

"Ba da ba ba ba~" The boy sang as he walked in the library, he needed something new to read. His copy of "To kill a mockingbird" was getting work down, literally. It was starting to fall apart. "Lets see-" He said as he walked to the book shelves, the boy pushed his bright, blonde hair out the way as he touched each of the books as he walked down the aisle, looking for anything that popped out at him.

"Woah." He muttered to himself as he saw a boy with strange colored hair. He was writing on the table! Didn't he know you weren't supposed to do that? "Hey...um...that's against the rules. You're not supposed to deface any of the school property." Ok, so the kid had read the handbook numerous times, he liked to follow the rules. Nothing wrong with that. "You're gunna get in trouble." He said as he pointed at the librarian that was typing on her computer. "She's gunna see you."

[Ainsley Cooper]

He looked up, both eyebrows raised high. Who the hell was this, interrupting him? He took in the kid's bright blond hair, his small stature. He was nearly too cute to exist and Ainsley blinked once to make sure he wasn't hallucinating the kid. "Um, kay." He said slowly, finishing off the doodle. "I dun realleh care if I get in trouble." He said honestly, shaking his head. "You ain't gonna tell her, right?" He questioned darkly. "I might hafta threaten ya if ya did." He said slowly. He folded his hands on the desk.

"And trouble, I been in trouble fer worse than drawing on a desk, 'sides, ain't it pretty?" Ainsley moved his hands away from the image, it was well done, cartoon ish, but pretty good. It was easy to tell what it is.

"The world is an ugly place, and sometimes, I just wanna add beauty back into it, is that something so bad?" He questioned. Ainsley stood up, slung his back pack over his shoulder and shrugged. "Whatever, it's not like anyone ever uses this desk, and after all, it ain't going to stop them from studying or nuthang." He started to walk towards the exit slowly, giving the kid time to catch up if he wanted.

[Kai]

"T...threaten?" He asked backing up a bit. Was this guy gunna hurt him? He eyed the exit, wondering if he should run to it right now. He let out a nervous breath and decided to stay. "N...no I won't tell." He said nervously rubbing his left arm. When the guy asked if it was pretty he had no choice but to agree. The other guy might hurt him if he didn't. Ugh, should have just kept his mouth shut. Always getting over your head. "Yeah...I...uh...like it." He said with a nod.

"Hey! Wait!" He said getting a 'Shhhh!' From the librarian. Ouch, the boy flinched. He hates getting in trouble even if it was something as simple as him getting a shhh. "What's your name?" The kid asked as he eyed the other guy. "I'm Kaiser, where are you from?" The kid asked as he tried to place the accent. Oh! He sounded like some if his family members. Obviously he was southern but where? That was the question.

[Ainsley Cooper]

He nearly burst out laughing, the kid obviously was not good at picking up on a cynical joke, he shrugged, the naivety was refreshing. It was like a soft breeze during a hot day. It was... Ugh, he hated to even think it, it was nice. He smiled at the kid's embarrassment of being told to be quiet and they exited the library.

"Ain't you a sight for sore eyes." He said, his southern sayings coming through. "I'm Ainsley." He chuckled airlessly. "I'm from Texas, Kingsville." He told him, coughing lightly, he raised a hand to cover his mouth, lips turning pale as he tried to stifle a coughing fit. It worked, this time. "And yerself?" He asked quietly as they walked down the hallway.

Ainsley wasn't sure where they were going, but he wasn't all too concerned at the moment just so long as he was putting space between him and the library. "And are you for real?" He asked. "Is that what yer like all the time, or are ya pulling the wool ovah my eyes?" He asked seriously, turning to regard the kid closely. "Ya just seem too good ta be true. Like..." He shook his head, giggling to himself. This kid was ridiculous!

[Kai]

"Hi Ainsley!" He said with a smile. "Woah! You're from Texas too!" The boy said as he bounced a bit. "I'm from Beaumont! I knew that I knew that accent!" The boy had completely forgotten about whatever the other had said before. It didn't matter anymore, he had met a fellow Texan! "I...uh...I don't have an accent. My friends made fun of me 'cause they said I talk like a city boy." He said with a shrug.

"Um...whatcha mean?" He asked with a tilt of his head. "I don't think I'm pulling any wool...I'm just Kaiser!" He said grinning at the other. "Too good to be true? I don't really know what you mean...how am I too good to be true?" The boy asked as he looked at the other with confused expression. "You're weird."

[Ainsley Cooper]

"Yeah, you dun talk much like one of the county folk." He said, "But it dun mean yous ain't a Texan." He grinned his tight lipped smile. "I can talk city if I really try, but damn, it's jus' easier ta talk the way I learnt." Ainsley told the boy. "I grew up in a trailer park, so I guess mah accent is pretty bad, ain't it?"

He shrugged. "Just, I dunno, ya seem too.... Cheery. Ain't nobody cheery like that all the time is all I'm sayin'." He shook his head. "I ain't the weird one, yer the weird one. But I guess every dogs got his own fleas." He muttered. "Yer just way too happy, you seem like a cartoon character." Ainsley told him. He stopped at a door outside and looked around. No teachers, good, he could slip out for a smoke. "I'm goin' ta have a smoke, yer more than welcome ta come an' I won't even pressah ya ta smoke." He slipped out the door and curled around the side of the building and fished his smokes out of his bag and lit one up. He had become quite the chain smoker. But it was cancer's fault. He had lung cancer BEFORE he had started smoking.

"So, what's yer power, kid? The ability to shit rainbows and glitter?" He asked, chuckling as he pulled on his smoke, blowing the smoke up and away from the kid. He hacked a few times, but recovered quick.

[Kai]

"It's not bad, most of my family talks with an accent like you. I dunno why I didn't get one." He said with a shrug. "My brother didn't have one either. I guess we just weren't country strong." He said with a laugh. "Trailer parks aren't bad though, I never knew why everyone always made fun of them. Home is home, doesn't matter where you live as long as you got a roof over your head!" He said nodding.

"I'm sorry, um..." He said trying to figure out if he should be less...cheery? He wasn't trying to be. It was just how he was, gotta look on the bright side of things. "does it bother you? I can go if you want." Kaiser said still continuing to follow Ainsley. When the other mentioned smoking he quickly looked back at the door. Should he be here right now? Smoking was against the rules! But he didn't want to be rude and leave him by himself, they were having a conversation. Manners were important! At least that's what his mom had said. The boy said his please and thank yous, his yessir and no ma'am, he was a southern gentleman even if he didn't seem like it.

"Those things are bad for you, plus they make you smell bad." He said wrinkling his nose as the other lit his smoke. "My power? Oh, I uh, I can make things out of sunlight. Watch, it's easier to show then to explain." The boy said as he absorbed some of the suns energy, smiling as he did so. The boy thought of a baseball bat and soon the item formed in his hand, made of what looked like pure sunlight. "It's like a real object too-" Kaiser said as he tapped it agaisint the building. The bat made a few thuds as it hit.

"What can you do?" Kaiser asked as he threw the bat in the air and it seemingly disappeared into thin as soon as he let go. "And you should prolly get some cough drops, I have some in my room if ya want! They're berry flavored. They taste really good and they help a lot when I'm coughing and stuff!"

[Ainsley Cooper]

"I wouldant trade it fer the world." He said seriously, and earnestly missed his mother so bad that he nearly started to cry. Ainsley looked up at the sky, blinking back tears for a second. His mother was the only other person in the world he cared for, and soon, he was going to leave her alone. That thought hurt more than having her die. He sniffed loudly, and spat to the side, trying to cover up the fact that he was near tears. "I love that place an' I can't wait ta go back fer the summer. It's colder than a witch's tit up here." He joked.

"And ya dun gotta, it ain't no skin off my nose, kid. I dun mind. Ya can't change who yer are, Amiright?"

Ainsley watched the kid materialize a bat, "Well hot damn and shut my mouth!" He exclaimed, watching the boy tap it against the building. "That's real cool!" He leaned in, bu as soon as he did, the kid let out and it vanished. "Do they always disappear when ya let go of em?" He asked, licking his lips before taking another drag on his cigarette. "That could come in mighty useful, if I dun say so myself!"

He leaned back against the wall and shrugged. "I can make acid...." He held out a hand, clear liquid beaded up over his skin, then swelled, and slowly dripped from his fingers into the grass. There was no comical hiss, but the grass under his feet first yellowed and then burned away as if by an invisible flame, then vanished to nothing as the acid ate at it. "It's not the most useful, but it's got it's charm." He said, stepping away to shake his hand off. He had learned early not to wipe it on his own jeans or clothing. It just ate away at that too. He bent and wiped his hand off on the grass.

"It's extremely car-o-sive to human flesh, but it doesn't burn.... One can not notice until it's burrowed too deep and needs to be cut out by a doctor."

He coughed again. "I don't know if they'll help, but sure." He said, humoring the kid, but how did you say no? Especially with his condition. No, I can, I have lung cancer and it won't help a damn, was surely a way to upset this kid. "Lead the way."

[Kai]

"No, I just make it disappear." He said with a giggle. "I can keep it around as long as I'm in the sunlight. I'm tryin' to learn how to store up the energy it's just hard. I haven't really mastered it yet." The kid said with a shrug. "Woah!" He said as he jumped back a bit as the acid fell on the ground. "Please don't burn me!" Kaiser said watching the grass burn. "I don't like getting hurt." He said frowning a bit.

He quickly forgot about the acid and grinned as Ainsley said to lead the way. "Alright! Come on!" The boy said as he spun on his heels and turned around. "This waaaaay~" He said as he bounced along. He nearly reached out for the other boys hand but he quickly remembered the acid and decided against it. Sure, his roommate was a healer but still! He didn't want to get hurt!

[Ainsley Cooper]

"I wouldn't burn ya." He said, scoffing. "I ain't that mean spirited." He said softly, frowning slightly. Was he? Not yet, he didn't think so. Yeah, he burned some things and vandalized some things, but he would never hurt another living being. Especially with his acid. He watched the boy completely change from sad to chipper again, and he was envious of the kid's happy-go-lucky nature. Not just envious, but actually jealous.

"Alright, I'm coming." He followed after the boy. "So..." He started. As much as he didn't like getting attached to people, he still liked the conversation and hated awkward silences. "When did ya find out about yer power?" He asked, as he followed along behind the boy.

"I discovered mine one day aftah I had burned holes in all my sheets durin' the night, oh, my ma, boy was she mad!" He laughed out a short, dry bray of laughter. "She made me pay fer em, but since then I been learnin' ta use it better and control it, sos I dun hurt no one."

[Kai]

"You burnt your sheets! Goodness!" He said looking back at the other. "It's good that you can control it now though!" He said happily nodding. "I found out about mine like last year or somethin'" The boy said looking up, as if he was trying to think about it. "Yeah. I was just playin' around outside and I felt the sunlight...like really felt it. It's kinda like it fills me with energy and then I use that energy to make stuff. Well, I guess I wanted a shovel cause I was outside and poof! It showed up in my hand! It was craaaazy!"

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley nodded, tucking his hands into his pockets. He was shivering lightly, he was always cold these days. He hoped the boy didn't notice. "You're... You're like, part of the sun or sumpthang." He said weakly, thinking for a moment. "Like that scientist said, er, Sogan, or Sagan, we're all stardust but it's like the sun remembers ya or sumpthang like that." Ainsley WAS smart, he just didn't have the vocabulary to always express it. More street smart than anything.

"I bet you thought you were crazy at first! My ma thought I had self combusted at first, but there wadn't any smoke or nothang. Took us ferever to figure out what was happenin'." He followed along behind the boy, he coughed lightly, covering his mouth. "So, what do ya like ta do for fun?"

[Kai]

"Nah, I'm not part of the sun. It's just my best friend." He said with a smile. "That's why I'm happy a lot too...because even if I don't have a lot of friends here I know I'll always have that great big guy up in the sky to cheer me up." Kaiser said looking back to Ainsley. "And yeah! I really did think I was crazy! Well, I thought I was dreamin' really. Like, who can do stuff like that? Only superheroes have powers! I'm faaaar from a superhero." He said with a shrug.

"For fun? Well you can find me outside a lot if its sunny and warm, but when it's cold I'm usually in the library or my room. I really like to read...um...video games! I'm a beast at Mario kart, Yoshi is my favorite."

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley smiled. It must be nice to always feel like you had a friend. He usually felt like he was completely alone in the world, as if no one understood him. He knew it couldn't be true, because everyone was dying, most were just doing it slower than he was. "That's gotta be nice." He said, sounding a little distant.

"We might not be heroes yet, but we all gots the potential, dun we?"

The question was rhetorical and he really didn't expect an answer to it, so he continued to talk without leaving much space in for a retort. "I mean, you could make swords, or cages and trap people that are committing crimes, ya coul' really fight wrong doers with that power of yours. Mine, my power is bettah geared towards crime, I mean, acid? I coul' melt through safes or walls in ta banks if I was in-tah-rested."

He waved a hand dismissively to his own thoughts. "I'm not the type fer organized crime though, thankfully." He barked his short laugh and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I've only ever played Mario Kart fer the 64, back when Mcdonalds still had' em in their playpens." He grinned at the memory. His family, I.E, his mother, didn't own a television.

"I liked playin' as Bowser." Ainsley smiled. "But I hear there are new characters in the newer games, amiright?" He asked, looking over at the bubbly ball of energy named Kaiser. "I haven't gotten a chance ta play the new ones."