Sipping and Dipping {Open}

[Nathan Stone]

The cafe was warm, slightly humid and steamy, the air thick with the scent of coffee and the sounds of conversation. Will sipped his own coffee and let the heat roll through him, searing down his throat and into his chest until it settled in his stomach and spread through his veins. It was a perfect feeling, that small treat on a cold winter's day, and it perfectly offset the small flakes of snow melting into his hair.

The crowd bustled around him, and he heard countless chairs scrape over the hard tile floor. People came and went in a hurry, and it seemed like the door barely closed before the small bell rang again, accompanied by a gust of frigid air from outside. He closed his eyes and wrapped his hands around the warm cup, letting the heat soak into him. There was a concert later on at the school. Maybe he would wander down there.

[Exxie]

Jodie needed some caffeine, that much was certain. And something cold. She needed something to shock her insides. She smiled and pushed through the door, listening to the little bell jingle. She almost felt like dancing. It was so cute. She knew it was lame, but she enjoyed acting this way anyways. Jodie glowed lightly from the happiness. She knew it probably wasn't such a good idea in public, but when she was this happy she couldn't seem to turn it off. It just wasn't possible, it seemed. Sure it was cold outside, but she had been places that had been way colder. Plus, it had been part of her parents' training to get used to the elements. She walked up to the counter.

"Hi, I'd like an Iced Cappucino with extra cream, chocolate milk and mint flavouring. Large. Ooh...wait...you've got the option of chocolate bits? That too." They made it rather quickly and then she took her white leather wallet from the back pocket of her jeans, paying for her drink. They put it on the counter with a straw and she smiled, taking a long sip.

"Brain freeze. Perfect." She grinned, then saw a guy in the shop with his eyes closed, his hands wrapped around his mug. Well, she was up for a random conversation. She walked over with a smile.

"You cold or just love feeling the sensation of warmth?" It was friendly. She adjusted her blonde ponytail so that it wasn't confined by the black collar of her lined leather jacket.

[Nathan Stone]

He didn't open his eyes. The words were clearly directed at him; the female voice was far too close to address anyone else, even in the crowded cafe, and what were the odds that someone else was huddled over their cup in close proximity? He noted the friendly tone in her voice and gave a small smile in her general direction. "'Or'?" he teased. "Couldn't it be both? Or can you not enjoy warmth if you're freezing?"

He opened his eyes and gestured across from him, toward the vacant chair. The table was a two-seater, small and inconspicuous in the back corner of the shop. Will closed his book and slid it down into the backpack at his feet, making room on the tabletop, then tucked his feet under his own chair to give her room to sit. He didn't usually take up so much space, but today was a lazy winter's day, perfect for sprawling out and enjoying any warmth he could find.

[Exxie]

The guy smiled and then spoke in a tone that clearly told her he was teasing. She made a snorting noise.

"You tell me. I really don't get cold that often. I'm wearing a jacket so I don't look weird." She chuckled, and then he opened his eyes and gestured to the seat across from him and she sat, as he put his book away.

"What'cha readin'? Just a boring old schoolbook or an actual work of art? That's what I call nice interesting books anyways." A good book really was a work of art. A good author wove the words and painted a picture with them. It was as much a work of art as a painting, she knew. Jodie took a slurp from her iced cappuccino.

"This is my drink of choice, whether it's cold or not. Iced cappuccino. Jolt of caffeine without making me sweat." She smiled.

"I'm Jodie Ree-shar by the way." She assumed he was from the Academy too. It was an assumption she probably shouldn't be making, but it was probably pretty safe. She took her straw out of her drink and started to spin it. Her fingers were finicky a lot. Suddenly, it slipped from her fingers and dropped to the floor underneath the table.

"Crap. Just a sec." She bent sideways, reaching her hand out. How the hell was under the table so dark that there were shadows and she couldn't see a freakin' straw? She started thinking happy thoughts, like that a fellow bookworm was here and willing to talk to her. Jodie's hand started faintly glowing. Aha! That's where the errant straw went. Almost...reaching...it...arms not...long enough...WHOA! A small ribbon of light shot from her fingers and wrapped around the straw, drawing it back to her hand. She sat back up straight, blinking rapidly. That hadn't happened before. She didn't know she could do that.

"That was...different." It was just in a whisper to herself. She didn't know quite what to say, or whether the guy had seen what had just happened. If he was just a human, and prejudiced against gifteds, she'd be out there faster than you could say 'go'. Otherwise, Jodie honestly didn't know what she'd do and how she'd react.

[Nathan Stone]

"I would call it art, I think," he replied. "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra." His fingers idly drummed against his opposite forearm as he thought. "I suppose it would be easier to read in English," he admitted. "I might be farther than the second page. But there's no better way to practice a new language than forcing yourself to use it." Will had always longed to learn French, to visit Paris and soak up the culture, but the learning was much slower going than he'd hoped.

For a bit he stayed silent, simply listening. She certainly liked to talk: about her coat, her drink, the book he'd been reading, and eventually her name. He let her go on. It wasn't like he had any other topics of conversation.

"I'm Will. Will Holt." He held out a hand across the table. A moment later there was a soft click at his feet, barely audible over the rumble of voices from the cafe around them, and she dove down beneath the table. He lowered his hand to rest on the tabletop and traced a small pattern while he waited. Whatever was happening down there was certainly taking her a long time... what did she drop? It didn't sound any heavier than a pencil, probably a straw since they were in a restaurant. Finally she sat back up, and he heard the barest whisper from across the table.

Normally he kept to himself, but his Jodie girl seemed friendly enough that he dared to ask. "Sorry... What was different?"

[Exxie]

"Ah. The Phantom of the Opera. I've only seen the movie. And in English at that. I haven't seen it in French. Which is weird, because my family highly encouraged learning French." She shrugged. When she heard him introduce himself, she smiled.

When she had come back up, she saw the hand on the table and realized he had extended his hand to shake. Well, she had dodged that bullet obviously. Then he asked what was different and she kicked herself mentally. Why had she had to whisper that? She bit her lip, hesitating as she was unsure how it would be taken. She was liking the fact that she was having a conversation right now, but if he had a thing against people with powers, the conversation would definitely be over, and she'd be outed. She really didn't want to give her parents any way to find her if possible. But c'est la vie, right? Her voice was quiet, but perfectly audible.

"My powers did something different. They picked up the straw, and they've never gone solid before." She kept back from wincing, but inside that's basically what she was doing. She'd grit her teeth too, except that was a really awful thing to do to the poor things.

[Nathan Stone]

"Oh. Ah... congratulations, I think... I mean, it's good, right? Don't you want to learn to use them?" Will saw nothing wrong with anyone, Gifted or not, as long as they were a decent person. Of course, that may have been because he couldn't see them, but his lack of judgment was still more of a personal choice. He'd never had much trouble with his own powers, but they were so simple that they didn't merit much study.

He took another sip of his drink. "So you go to Stone Brook?" It was an assumption, but an easy one to make. Even if she'd been born in the town, why would she go to a normal high school when a special place for her was so readily available? He knew very few of his fellow students, and it wouldn't be out of the question for her to be either a freshman or a transfer. Who knew?

"If you don't mind me asking... what are your powers?" he added.

[Exxie]

Jodie heard the congratulations and was caught off guard. She blinked rapidly for a moment before sighing and thinking over a response. She couldn't really come up with one. She wasn't happy with her powers being around. Most people here didn't understand that. They were all happy with the powers they had. She had just wanted to blend in and be like every other teenage girl. Powers didn't really fit the image. And her frustration with having her powers obviously meant she wasn't a normal powered teenager either.

"I didn't really want powers. It is cool that I can do stuff with them I guess, but I didn't really want the powers themselves." She watched as he took a sip of his drink, and then asked if she went to Stone Brook and she smiled.

"Yeah. I got sent there by...uh...a guy who wanted to make sure I was safe." That had been hard to word. How do you explain to someone that you're being searched out by your psycho parents and you had to basically be kidnapped for your own good? When he asked about what her powers were, she knew she was glowing a bit. It made her feel a little self-conscious, what with being in public. But it seemed that she couldn't shut it off and control it as she liked.

"No, I don't mind telling people who are okay with me having them. I just don't like telling people who don't like...people with powers. I'm not sure what I can do with the powers yet actually. But I can manipulate and manifest light right now. I know it should have plenty of applications, but right now I can just shut off lights sometimes and glow when I'm happy." She chuckled at herself a bit.

"What are your powers?" Might as well ask. He asked her first, after all. That gave her a free pass for asking about his. At least, that's what Jodie figured.

[Nathan Stone]

He nodded along as she spoke. He assumed she was keeping a few secrets by the way she phrased things so carefully, but everyone was entitled to a little privacy. He'd already met another boy at the school who didn't want to divulge much of his past; in a place like this, where so many students had been marginalized by society, he couldn't blame them. His own satisfactory childhood was merely a stroke of luck, especially for a Gifted.

"Well, I'm glad I'm worth telling," he said with a bit of a smile. Even if her category for trust was rather broad, he was glad he fit into it. There were enough places he didn't fit that finding someone comfortable around him was welcoming. "I'm sure it's useful, isn't it?" A power like that would be useless to Will, but surely it helped Jodie... maybe when the power went out.

He hesitated for a moment when she asked about his own. "I'm not sure how to explain mine, really... it's sort of different. I guess... I touch things, and I can see them." He placed his hand flat on the table, palm down, to demonstrate. "Right now I can see the table, but I don't know what color it is. It's sort of a blank shape, and there are hollows where our cups are sitting. I suppose it makes things easier when I'm trying to describe things," he said. He gave a wry grin. "But you can see it already, so I'm not sure how it would help anyone but me."

Though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone, Will was beginning to learn a new side to his power. It had only happened once or twice, always on accident, but sometimes he could see inside of things as well. He'd picked up a television remote and found his mind exploring the various parts and wires inside, giving him a more complete view of the thing than anyone would ever need. But maybe that was a fluke; maybe the remote was cracked somewhere, and his power had treated the exposed insides as the object's surface. It was that doubt that kept him silent, even from his teachers at school. How would they know what was going on if he wasn't even sure himself?

[Exxie]

Jodie thought about the question. Were her powers useful right now? After a pause, she spoke.

"Well they might be eventually. Right now I can't control them very well, and just glowing doesn't really do much. Except the time I turned off the lights in the office. That was very useful. An accidental prank. The receptionist lady didn't know what had happened. She figured it was me, but couldn't prove it. Thank goodness, because no doubt she would've thought I did it on purpose and there's no point in getting in trouble for stuff I didn't do on purpose, y'know?" When he told her about his powers, she realized why his eyes had looked a little different. Her eyebrows rose slightly, thinking about what other applications his power could have.

"Well I can already think of a situation where that would be handy. In the dark. You could probably make out shapes better, right? I know a few people who would kill for an ability that did that. It would help them, and they aren't...that is...they still have sight. Sorry if wording's bad or somethin'." Oh man she was awkward right now. And puns were sneaking into her speech without her permission. Of course, he probably wouldn't know that 'people who would kill for an ability like that' was quite literal, but SHE did and she groaned mentally. Suddenly, searching his face, she knew there was something he wasn't saying about his powers. Well, privacy was important. Maybe she could give him a little nudge though.

"I betcha your powers can do more too. I thought I was just a human glow-worm, but now I know I can turn off lights and pick up straws with just my powers. Yours can probably do more too." She chuckled lightly. It was now completely his decision if he wanted to say anything more about it, but she knew something was there. Assassin training wasn't all for nothing.

[Nathan Stone]

Will shrugged. He had no idea if this new thing was an actual part of his power, and until he was sure, nobody but him would know about it. The last thing he needed was to end up in a class for a power he didn't actually have. He'd heard stories of students revealing a new power and finding a whole new coarse-load dumped on their schedules. Right now his classes were plenty of work; he didn't need any more homework. "I don't think so... I mean, what more do I need? It's more like a luxury now anyway."

With the question deflected, he backtracked and gave her a slight grin. "These people you know... They would kill for it, and they aren't what? Blind? You don't have to be afraid of it, you know. It's not a dirty word; it's just a fact." He laughed. "I hope you're not uncomfortable with it. Do you know anyone else with a 'disability'?" His emphasis on the last word made it clear that it wasn't, at least not to him; he'd been blind since he was too young to remember anything else. Wasn't it only a disability if he had to learn to work without it?

[Exxie]

Jodie heard him say that he didn't think there was more, because it was basically a luxury. She shrugged. She wasn't one for pushing. If he didn't want to tell her what was there, he certainly wouldn't have to. When he picked her up on her wording, she reddened and looked down at her drink.

"Uh..." She had struck speechless. That was sort of odd. A weird feeling for her. He asked if she was uncomfortable with it and she looked up.

"No...I'm not uncomfortable with it...it's just...unusual in the social circles my family used to run in. Please don't take this wrong, but in that circle, they have the rule of survival of the fittest. And people with...um...disabilities don't usually...even attempt to do what the rest are trained all their lives to do." She sighed. It was so hard to explain without saying something about her family. She really didn't want to tell everyone about her background. If he asked, that would be fine and she didn't mind saying. But otherwise, she wasn't going to tell unless it came up.

"For the most part, the children don't survive the lifestyle. There was this one girl who was able to go through training until she was sixteen and then she quit. I think she had some sort of mental illness, which I know is completely different. But she's about it for people with...disabilities."

[Nathan Stone]

She still hesitated, lingering around the word like he would boot her from the table in offense. Will was used to this; she was more open than most others, if only because he'd convinced her to say it, but people still hedged around his perceived disability. There was nothing wrong with mentioning it. What was the difference between stating he was blind and mentioning that his hair was dark (according to his mother)?

"I see." There was something about her wording, something more than nerves, plaguing her talk about her family. He didn't question it. The "survival of the fittest" mentality could apply to anything from sports to abuse, and if it was at all related to the latter, he didn't dare bring up anything that could trigger bad memories. He was still trying to make friends here, have normal conversations, and childhood trauma was taboo even among many close friends.

His drink finally finished, he reached behind him for the trash can. People had been dropping things into it throughout his time at the table, and he had a general idea of how far it was based on the noises behind him. It took only a moment to find the swinging flap, and he dropped the cup in the trash. "Well... I have some homework to do." He stood and swung his backpack onto one shoulder. "I should head back to my room. It was nice to meet you."

[Exxie]

Jodie heard the two words and bit her lip. Two words. That really didn't tell her much about whether he was okay with what she had just said or if he was offended. He didn't look super offended, so she supposed that was good. This place was so...confusing. People skills were confusing. Or technically the lack of people skills, but whatever. She watched as he put his drink in the trash can. It was sort of fascinating to see how he was able to locate stuff. Jodie knew his powers would be helping him, but the fact that he was able to pinpoint the location, presumably by sound, was something that...well, it sort of amazed her. She knew it could be done. She had seen it done before. But it wasn't something she could currently achieve. Then he took his backpack, saying he had some homework to do and that he should head back. She nodded, then realized. Blind. She had no idea what extent his powers, or his perception were at, so she supplemented.

"Yeah. Good talking to you too. And yeah, know where you're coming from with the homework. I think I still have an assignment that needs doing before tomorrow. Maybe I'll see ya around sometime." Then she took a long slurp of the cold drink. Whipped cream, chocolate and coffee. That just had to be the trifecta of awesome foods, didn't it? Or...Jodie reflected that she really didn't know what trifecta meant. Perhaps she'd need to look that one up. She picked up the drink and headed out the door. English assignments waited for no man. And women were no exception to the rule either.

[Nathan Stone]

"Yeah. Maybe." Will gave her a smile. Her footsteps receded. He waited until the door jingled before he laughed. Yeah, she'd see him around. He wasn't sure he could say the same.

He reached back into the side pocket of his backpack and withdrew what looked like a small white baton. Will worked it easily in his hands, and a moment later it was a long, thin white cane. He ran a hand down it to make sure it was straight, then headed out the door and back to his room. Homework was waiting, whether he decided to do it or not.