xp_logs | Kevin and Crystal

Kevin and Crystal meet face-to-face. Crystal does her best to remain polite but ends up upsetting him. Does he have a license to carry all of that angst?

The dead grass crunched under Kevin's feet as he wandered around outside, about an hour before curfew. It was late, but the July heat still raged on and Kevin was tempted to just drown himself in the nearby fountain. At least he'd die cold. Instead, he perched on the stone edge of the fountain, bringing his knees up to his chest, dangling his arms off them. He eyed the grounds, considering his new home. Like it or not, the mansion was a considerable improvement from the junkyard.

Ten feet away from the fountain, Crystal floated by silently. Her days just kept getting better and better. Avoiding issues seemed to be a common theme, and Crystal was playing her part by avoiding the avoidance. As she approached the fountain, Crystal sighed. Suddenly, she noticed that she was not the only one outside. A boy was sitting on the fountain.

Kevin had the niggling sensation in the back of his mind, the one that only showed its face when he was being watched. He shifted his position and turned around, eyes widening as he caught sight of a girl, floating in midair. She was....what was her....Crystal! The other new student. So, she could fly. Lucky. "If you're looking for some alone time, this spot's taken."

Crystal eyed Kevin. "Technically speaking," she said casually, "the fact that the spot you are sitting in is 'taken' does not depend or whether or not I am looking for alone time."

Kevin raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. "Fine, whatever." He'd heard that she was a princess or something weird like that. He wasn't in the mood to deal with stuck-up teenage girls. "What're you doing out here, anyway?"

Crystal gave Kevin a quizzical look. "Thinking. Breathing. Hovering mid-air. What are you doing out here?" What, did Kevin think he owned the fountain and the outside grounds just because he happened to be sitting on the fountain?

Kevin blinked and wrinkled his brow. "I'm sitting. Thinking too." You're kind of making that hard. He thought to himself, frowning.

"Yes, I can see that. Well, the sitting part, not the thinking part," Crystal said, grinning. "I'm not a telepath. Oh, you may be pleased to know that there is a high probability that I can choke someone using my powers. I have not tried this out nor do I plan on trying it, but thank you ever so much for you kind suggestion on another way my powers can be used."

"That's me, Mr. Helpful." Kevin replied with a roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand. "If you ever have a tree in your way, let me know. I'm your guy." He paused and eyed her floating form. "So, um, what's it like to fly?"

"Have you ever seen a 60 mile-per-hour wind at work? At such a speed, winds are capable of uprooting trees. The problem, of course, lies in what I would do with the tree. As for being able to move around in the air.." Crystal paused for a moment before continuing, "It's... nice. It makes you feel free, not tied to the ground."

"Yeah, I guessed that." Kevin stood up and pulled himself up onto the fountain ledge, so that he was standing on it. He began to walk back and forth.

Crystal raised an eyebrow. There were certain things that couldn't be explained. Certain things had to be experienced. And what exactly was Kevin trying to do? "So, do you want me to give you a slight push from here to help you fall in, or do you want me to catch you if you slip?" she questioned.

Kevin stopped in his tracks and gave her a confused look. "What?" He adjusted his gloves. "No, I'm pacing. Just like you're floating. It's just a...thing. That you do." He held out his gloved hand. "Here, try it."

Oh, great. Crystal was perfectly capable of getting onto the ledge without any assistance. She could move around in the air, couldn't she? But refusing to take his hand, even though it was gloved, would appear as if she didn't want his help for another reason. Sighing inwardly, Crystal reached out to take his hand.

Kevin wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but she acted so proper all the time that he felt like he had to be polite to her...or else. He pulled her onto the ledge and then let go quickly, relieved that there wasn't a hole in his glove and that the event was over. "Now, you know...just walk."

Why walk when you can fly? But of course Kevin couldn't fly. Gingerly, Crystal took a step forward. What was the worst that could happen if she fell? She 'd simply catch herself. Come to think of it, the worst thing that could happen would be that Kevin would try to grab her and his glove would fall off and he would make contact with her skin. Crystal glanced at her bare arms and shoulders as she continued to walk. Tank tops did not cover arms.

Kevin noted her eyeing her arms. He clenched his hands at his sides, holding his fingers tightly together. He was careful. He would have let go right away if he was hurting her. Scowling, but trying to hide it, Kevin jumped down from the ledge and leaned against it, looking up at the school. Did she think he meant to be this way?

Puzzled, Crystal watched as Kevin jumped off of the ledge. What was wrong? She had no idea that her brief glance at her arms had caused such a reaction. She had only been thinking about a worst case scenario. "Are we done with the pacing now?"

Kevin glanced up at her and shrugged. "If you want to be. Your call." He was still nursing his bruised ego, what little there was of it to begin with. He hated being different among the already different. Don't pity yourself.

Crystal took two steps off of the ledge and slowly landed next to Kevin. "I cannot say that I understand your fascination with walking around a fountain, especially when you could fall into the water or slip and fall to the ground, but I suppose I can always try it another time."

"You're not going to fall, though. Not if you're careful." Kevin watched as she stepped off the ledge and hovered down to the ground. He shrugged his shoulders. "Nevermind."

Crystal tried to hide a frown. It seemed that Kevin had been, what? Sharing something? And she had somehow trod upon it and belittled it. It was almost as if she had just said, "Walking on a fountain ledge is stupid." None of this had been her intention, but that was what seemed to have happened. "It's getting late. I'm going to go inside now. You should probably get going too unless you want someone to come looking for you when we're supposed to be inside."

Kevin nodded and pushed himself off the ledge, taking a few steps toward the house. "G'night." He felt like he should add something more after, a witty phrase, something, but nothing came to mind, so he just smiled slightly and then headed inside.