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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 2, 2022 1:01:23 GMT
Bella had had a busy day so far. Such was the life of a student at Hero High. Putting together regular subjects like English and math along with stuff like learning how to investigate a crime scene or build a freeze ray could be a lot to deal with at once. It had almost been overwhelming when Bella had started last year. But she was used to it now. Like the other students though, she was going to take advantage of the nice weather while she could.
The sun was out, with just enough cloud coverage to make the heat a little more tolerable. She settled on a bench while other students lounged about in the grass. A group of boys tossed a football around. Bella looked down and saw a couple of dandelions down by the bench, looking slightly wilted. With a little wave of her fingers, they perked right up, the tiny petals turning bright yellow. "There you go," she said with a little smile.
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 2, 2022 1:19:21 GMT
The weather was becoming nice enough to sit outside, and if Zuko was stuck any longer in his room, he was going to develop cabin fever. His reuseable to-go cup was filled with cinnamon essenced coffee, and the smell was waking him back up from the power nap he may or may not have had over his homework. Last he checked, he was hear to have superpowers, not academics thrown at him. But when in Rome, he supposed. He found a spot by a small patch of dandelions and sat down and took a swig of his coffee. Cold. Of course it was. He scowled at the liquid before inhaling and exhaling. The breath, however, was rushed so a small spark fell away from the rim and onto one of the bright yellow buds.
“Shit.”
Before an intense blaze could ravage the rest of the flowers, Zuko crushed the burning dandelion with his hand. All that remained was a smushed blackened flower with slightly singed leaves. Welp, now he knew what grilled salad looked like.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 3, 2022 0:16:38 GMT
Bella saw something out of the corner of her eye, a spark or something, or a light. She looked up to see a boy nearby, who plucked a burning dandelion away from the rest of the grass before the spark could touch anything else. He had quick reflexes, she gave him that. It took her a second for her eyes to move away from his hand and up to his face. She gave a little gasp. A couple of students here had old injuries or scars, it was a given with some types of powers. But she hadn't seen one this bad before. It was like a flame had been held up to the boy's face. Her first thought was wondering if he'd done it himself. She stared for a long moment before realizing that she was gawking like an idiot. Her face turning red, she quickly looked away, wondering if the boy had caught her staring.
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 3, 2022 1:35:23 GMT
Zuko sighed in relief as the field stayed green, along with the remaining yellow dandelions looking fresh. He dusted the Ashe’s away and noticed someone staring at him askance not far off. Her long pink hair was billowing, but it was her blue gray eyes before she quickly glanced away that made him feel awkward. He had seen the look before. The weird mix of sympathy and confusion. Ever since Cinder…No. That woman…. scarred him, he got it. Before, he reacted with ignoring the looks or scoffing. Instead, all he asked was,
“You…didn’t get hurt, did you?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 4, 2022 23:51:25 GMT
Crap. It looked like the boy had noticed her looking. She hated awkward situations, she never knew how to deal with them. She wasn't like her sister. If Utena were here, she'd probably make a joke like "Gnarly scar, dude. You look like a real badass," or something like that. "Oh, no, I...uh, no." Dear God, this was getting worse by the second. She just wanted to sink into the ground. But the scent of something sweet suddenly caught her attention and she saw the boy had a to-go cup with him. "Is that cinnamon mixed with coffee?" she asked.
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 5, 2022 15:19:10 GMT
All Zuko wanted to do was get out of there. Social communication was not his strong suit. Heck, the pink haired girl probably was the one who made the flowers and deep down was simmering in anger despite her sweetness. Speaking of sweet, she mentioned his coffee. The thing that started all this. He held up the cup and noticed a tiny curl of steam. Perfect temperature for drinking without giving anyone a ulcer. “Uh…yeah. It got cold sitting out for too long and…well, you get the idea.” He was kicking himself inwardly. Stupid.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 5, 2022 17:38:16 GMT
Oh, so that explained the spark Bella had seen. So this guy had fire powers, if she had to guess. That was kind of interesting, considering it was almost the complete opposite of hers. "Sounds handy," she said, hoping it sounded like a compliment. "Wish I had that for my tea. Can't count how many times I make a cup, get distracted by something, and it's stone cold by the time I remember it."
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 5, 2022 22:56:21 GMT
Zuko nodded. “It is useful for that.” Especially at his job. Tea was tricky to properly hear. Different leaves requires different brewing times, otherwise it would come off terrible. Coffee was much more in his comfort zone. He ran a hand through his hair. “What’s your power?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 6, 2022 2:13:34 GMT
"Plants. Or, I guess making them grow, specifically." Bella waved her hand and the grass got greener and a few inches taller, and a few more dandelions sprouted. "I probably shouldn't do too much on the lawn though. The groundskeeper will get irritated or something." She gave a little laugh. If she had it her way though, she'd put a few more flowers around the grounds, maybe even a dogwood or cherry blossom tree. Bella always loved seeing their petals fall, it was like a flowery snowfall in a way.
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 6, 2022 5:43:30 GMT
With a wave of her hand, the grass around Zuko grew quickly. More dandelions sprouted. At least he didn’t have to worry about the black spot glaring at him any more. If she could do all that with just one sprout, he could imagine what she could do with bigger plants. “Well, hopefully no one pins spring allergies on you.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 7, 2022 23:04:04 GMT
Bella gave a little laugh. Things felt a lot less awkward now. Maybe her staring earlier hadn't completely ruined thing. And the guy had a sense of humor. Although Bella quickly realized that she had no idea what his name was. It was possible they had some classes together, but the school was kind of big. You could probably have several classes with the same person and not even notice. "I don't think I know your name," she said. "Mine's Bella."
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 8, 2022 0:43:20 GMT
He hesitated. This was really the first time anyone had been willing to come forward and introduce themselves. Most of them shrank back in horror because of his scar or his display of fire powers. Or, he assumed, they had connections with his mother and didn't want to get on her bad side, and the less he thought about her, the better. Bella looked sincere and sweet enough, but...well, he couldn't read the future. Finally, he caved. Better to have allies than more enemies.
"Zuko."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 10, 2022 0:15:34 GMT
The boy responded with his own name after hesitating for a second. Maybe he was as awkward with introductions as Bella was? She didn't think that was possible. Or maybe she just felt awkward compared to her sister. Utena got along well with people, at least people who weren't jerks or bullies. And she'd had to fend off a couple from Bella over the years. She took her role as the protective sister seriously, maybe a little too seriously sometimes. "So, how long have you been at Hero High?" she asked as she brushed her hair out of her face. Some kids transferred here when they were older instead of starting as freshmen. But the school was always good at catching people up if they were behind.
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Post by zuyuri on Jun 10, 2022 2:16:23 GMT
"Uh...Well..." Zuko froze. The question was so simple. So why was he not able to answer it? Was it because Bella's intiation of conversation was so unexpected that it caught him off guard? Maybe. He was used to answering questions at his job with simple answers. This was something entirely different. He came here at age fourteen, or at least that had been Cinder's plan. Him coming here on his own terms wasn't part of her plan, but it worked. "I was supposed to start a few years ago, but it took some time for me to get here, so I guess I'm pretty green."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jun 11, 2022 20:40:33 GMT
That was understandable. Life happened sometimes and people didn't start here immediately. Heck, Bella had heard of a few cases where a kid's powers were so dangerous that it took some extra time for them to control them enough to be in an environment like this. Granted, you weren't expected to be a professional with your powers by the time you started, and hiccups still happened. Bella couldn't count how many times someone had accidentally set something on fire, or froze it, or punched a hole through a wall. Staff just wanted to be sure you weren't going to accidentally kill someone. "Maybe I could show you around sometime?" Bella suggested. As soon as the words left her mouth though, she felt like that sounded a little forward and her face turned red again. "I just mean, uh, my sister and I have been here for about a year, so this place isn't as confusing as it used to be," she stuttered, her fingers anxiously playing with her hair.
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