{open} Studying Outside.

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

It was too lovely to be studying inside, but there was studying that needed to be done, so it had too be done outside, or not at all, for a tantalizing breeze would drift through an open window elsewhere and sweep the mind away. So here Leda was, sitting under a large oak tree with a history text book cradled in her lap. She had a test on World War Two in a few days and she could not afford to do poorly on it. As she flipped through the thick book she let her gaze wander. Now when Leda's gaze wandered, it didn't just drift about the landscape, it went anywhere and everywhere. This time it followed her thoughts and went to a world that was currently embroiled in their own Second World War, as far as she could tell from her limited vision, looking into another world was like watching a T.V. show or movie, you only saw what was in front of the camera.

Leda let her eyes go completely out of focus, her body relaxed and all thoughts slipped away as she watched the scene after scene of violence and blood unfold before her. It was too terrible, she blinked once and was looking at something different. A normal scene, people, trees, no weapons, no dying. Much better.

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

Vanessa hated being alone. It was probably deep rooted since when Wyatt found and saved her after she set her parent's house on fire--accident or not. She'd become completely dependent on other people and when she was alone she was scared someone would attack, like the occasional slap when she was a child. Or that something would burst into flames. Nothing scared her more than fire.

Van wasn't about to hang around during gym with the other, if one of the fire types got angry... that would be all it took to get Van in a bad place. So she went outside. She felt sort of listless, her powers had almost no good application. Certainly not if anything went wrong...

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

Leda blinked hard, trying to focus her eyes, she was supposed to be studying. History was really not her thing, she could never remember dates and names, and everything was taught from an American perspective here at Foxglove. And not a single British History class to be seen in the Course Catalog, she would have done well enough in that class she already knew it all from her primary school days. No, learning new history was not her thing, that had been her father's, he always loved history. Leda on the other hand preferred Maths and Science, they had formulas and steps and procedures that once you learned never changed, not matter what world you were looking at.

Leda flipped aimlessly through the text book, looking at a picture here, a map there. God she was bored. It was too nice out to be studying inside, but now it was just too nice to be studying at all.

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

She looked around and found the shape of another girl, flipping through a book. Vanessa made a silent prayer for the girl to be friendly and not have anything to do with fire or smoke. Any other power was welcome.

Vanessa wandered over and paused before sitting down in the grass across from the girl. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked, her own voice seemingly very loud to her, but only because it was so quiet out here. No wind, few kids. Quiet. Van preferred a bit of noise, background noise.

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

Leda jumped a bit when she found herself being addressed by a voice she didn't recognize. She blinked desperately, and tried to pull herself back in. It took a few moments but eventually Leda could focus on the girl who had seated herself in front of her. She didn't know who she was. Why was this girl, a complete stranger, sitting here and talking to her.

Shuttering a bit leda replies," I suppose so, if you would like." Leda didn't know this girl, but maybe she knew Leda. Had they been in a class together at some point, maybe she knew Leda's roommate Mel. That would be possible, Mel knew so many people it seemed sometimes. "I don't mean to be rude," she added hesitantly, "But do I know you? I'm really sorry if we have met, but I just can't seem to place you."

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

Vanessa smiled a little weakly. "No... we haven't met before. I just, I'm just feeling a little lonely, you don't mind do you?" She asked, biting her lip. Vanessa didn't want to ruin the girl's time, and perhaps she was studying. But Wyatt was sort of MIA, and without him, Van felt completely lost and scared. Like a goddamn child. She tried to pull herself together, she really did.

"I'm Vanessa," She said with a smile, hoping the girl didn't mind her being there, and hopefully she didn't sound like a basket case, that certainly wouldn't help her. But even normal people felt lonely, just not as often as Vanessa did.

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

"No, no, I don't mind. Not at all." Leda smiled nervously, she wasn't really what you would call a people person. Oh, of course she could be if she wanted too, and sometimes she did, but she didn't have enough practice, she didn't know enough people. "Of course I don't mind." she repeated, more to herself than to this new girl, Vanessa. Maybe this was a chance to make a new friend, if she could just keep her focus. She blinked hard, several times, the edges of her vision had begun to blur in a way that signified the onslaught of visions.

"I'm Leda." she responded, extending her hand to shake, still blinking hard, trying to keep Vanessa in focus. She set her text book aside, "I needed a break from studying anyway. It was starting to get to me anyway. What brings you out here?" She was trying to make conversation, she wasn't really very good at it, but an effort was almost always appreciated.

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

Vanessa smiled, biting her lips slightly as she shook the strange girl's hand. leda blinked quite a bit and Van wasn't sure what that was all about. Probably something to do with a power, but Van couldn't decide what exactly.

"I'm avoiding gym class. Do you have something in your eye?" She asked. Vanessa had xray vision, but she couldn't zoom in, it was hardly like she'd know if the girl had something in her eye the size of an eyelash, or grain of sand. It seemed the only reasonable explaination.

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

"Something in my eyes?" Leda raised a hand to her face, about to rub her eyes, just to check. But then she cottoned on, "Oh, all of the Blinking?" she asked, and not really waiting for a reply, it had been a rhetorical question anyway, she launched into an explanation. "It's my power. I see things, other worlds, other dimensions. I blink to try and keep this world in focus. I can't hear things from the other dimensions unless it really loud, so I can always listen to people when they talk to me, but a lot of people seem to think that it's rude for me to not look at them when they're talking. So, I try to blink the visions away."

Leda hoped that was a good explanation. She had always found it hard to tell other kids about her powers, they didn't really have a name, or even a succinct summary. While other kid could say, 'I have super strength,' or 'I'm a telekinetic' Leda had to go into and explanation of advanced theoretical mathematics and quantum physics. You see, to everyone who didn't know Leda parallel dimensions were only a vague, unproven, theory in complex physics.

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

She listened carefully and came to the quiet conclusion that this girl's powers were sort of useless, sort of like hers were. sure they were good for something, but you couldn't save lives or anything. " I understand." Vanessa said with a nod.

"I have x-ray vision." She said. Van's was able to be turned on and off and worked within a reasonable distance, but she was trying to learn to push it.

ooc- sorry for the shortness ><

[Leda Elysse Clarkson]

"That's kind of useful." Leda said pensively, thinking of the possible uses for Vanessa's power. "Though I guess it depends on how deep it goes. Like if you could see people's bones you would be very handy to have around a hospital. On the other hand, if your vision only penetrated through clothing and you saw people in their nickers, that's just awkward." Leda blushed a bit, it would really be awkward, she didn't always deal well with awkward situations.

"At least," she added after a moment's thought, "you can see things that are here in this worlds. And I gather that your powers never really got that much in the way." Leda thought about how she was always bruised and scraped because she couldn't clear her visions away while she was walking or moving around, she ran into things, except in her dorm room, where she had memorized the layout, so that she could relax from grueling work that was trying to clear away worlds that insisted on being seen.

[VANESSA CARLY BOOTH]

DO I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY?
of a thousand rainy days since we first met_________________

____________________________its a big enough umbrella
BUT ITS ALWAYS ME THAT ENDS UP GETTING WET

"True." I'd be very helpful in a hospital. She could see bones, she could see clearly enough to see tumors and such, but beyond that, she wasn't much help. And her range wasn't fabulous, but she'd been improving, and knowing you could improve was something in and of itself. "I'd be quite helpful in a hospital." But only in a hospital that didn't mind people with powers.

Truth was, Van liked Leda's power. Growing up, she wanted nothing more than to forget where she was. Her childhood hadn't been a happy one and she was still a frightened thing these days, at the age of seventeen. But she wasn't about to go discussing that with her new found maybe friend.