Breathe Deep {Open}

[Jez Steele]

Jez almost wasn't allowed to go, but thanks to Jude's tutoring in math and her amazing grades everywhere else she was able to go. Jez had heard about the dance and knew that Callie would be there but Jez just hadn't felt like being inside one more night. She had stayed out as late as possible before she just barely made it back to her cabin in time before curfew. Now she decided to stay a little closer to him and sat on the steps of her cabin, leaning back against the wall as she drew on her sketch pad. She had her IPod sitting next to her and her ear phones around her neck as she let the music stay in the background for now. There were plenty of people walking by but Jez didn't care. She tilted her head back and took a deep breath, letting the forest air slip into her lungs.

[Noah Washington]

Noah was actually on his way to the retreat dance. He was sure he would at least find someone there who wanted to hang out and have fun. Dances were great like that; he could act like a total dork and no one really cared, because everyone else wouldn't be great dancers anyway. He'd thrown on whatever he owned that might look good enough for a dance and had set off to make his way there. He'd even sprayed himself with cologne so he would surely smell nice.

That was when he stumbled across her. She looked troubled, and he couldn't really tell why. Maybe she wasn't having fun at the retreat? But there was so much to do, how could someone not be having fun? He slid his hands into his back pockets and approached her. "You alright?" Noah asked; it was always hard for him to just brush by someone who looked like they could use someone to talk to.

[Jez Steele]

Jez opened her eyes and they came back into focus as she looked at the kinda cute guy in front of her. She instantly smiled, hugging her art close to her chest, "Yeah, I'm fine."

She looked him over, "Heading to the dance I see. Have fun."

Jez didn't want to go to the dance. The last one she went to was fine but not really worth repeating. Callie was probably at it and Jez had actually thought about it just for her but she wanted some time in nature, she was here she was going to take it all in.

[Noah Washington]

"I can go whenever." Noah replied, offering her a bright smile. She had said she was fine, but part of him knew not to trust that despite how convincingly she might have said it. He knew better than to trust that, even if she was a stranger. "You don't feel like going? I think a lot of people are." Noah mentioned, but he looked at the fact that she had an art book with her. Huh. Another visual artist? "Unless inspiration hit you. I get that too. When it happens you kinda just have to go with it, right?"

[Jez Steele]

Jez shrugged when he mentioned a lot of people were going, it didn't really matter to her if everyone was going. But then he mentioned inspiration and instantly smiled, someone who got it, "Yeah, if I repress it too long I could lose it and then just feels like I lost a part of myself."

She leaned forward slightly, "I'm not a big.... crowd person. It's always been that way but more so since my power manifested. I like to hunt alone as it were," she shrugged slightly, most felines were solitary hunters, only a few stayed in group for any length of time.

[Noah Washington]

"I get that." Noah replied, looking to the book that she held close to her chest. It was alright that she wasn't one to share that kind of thing; some people might say he chose to share his artistic skills too much. "I play guitar and sing. I brought it here with me; there's something about being here that's pretty inspiring." He explained, hoping she knew what he was talking about.

"You hunt?" He asked, a little confused by the statement. "What's your power?" Maybe if she answered that he'd get a better understanding of her statement.

[Jez Steele]

Jez laughed softly, "Only at home with my brothers, but I'm a shape shifter, I specialize as a feline shifter, mainly larger wild felines, but I'm working on shifting into domestic felines. It's harder than it looks."

She leaned forward slightly, her book falling forward to reveal a castle sitting atop a cliff, with the sun setting in the background and the green lit up to almost an emerald green and the sky ablaze like fire. "What's your power? And now you have me curious, I kinda want to hear you sing."

[Noah Washington]

"I can manipulate water. It's a lot more useful than it originally sounds." Noah replied. He'd found a lot more uses for the power than he thought he would. "It helps that I'm on the swim team too. I wanted to join track as well, but you can only do one of the two."

Noah looked down to his hands, shrugging with them. If only he'd brought one of the instruments from his cabin, then he would have no problem breaking out into song. "You caught me at a bad time. Normally I have a guitar or something with me. Then I'd happily serenade you with one of the songs you remind me of." He then realised that her book had fallen forward to reveal a drawing of hers. "Nice drawing, you're really good."

[Jez Steele]

Jez pouted slightly, "Aw, so sad. I feel like I've just been cheated of something," her words were obviously teasing but when she mentioned her drawing she looked down at it and let it fully come out, revealing the water ablaze like fire at the bottom of the cliff, "Thank you, apparently I miss home more than I thought I did. My middle brother sent me this picture in his last email. I just had to redraw it for myself."

[Noah Washington]

Noah couldn't help but laugh at her teasing words. He liked that about her, because he liked to keep things as light as she seemed to. So he could definitely appreciate that. "Well, I'll probably see you around school. So you'll probably hear me sooner rather than later," He replied, "Then I promise I'll find you and sing for you."

He looked at her drawing again. It really was beautiful. Again he had that feeling where he wished he could draw. "Where're you from? With scenery like that, it must have been hard to leave."

[Jez Steele]

Jez smiled teasingly, "Well I hope it's worth the wait. I know people say that waiting always makes it better but," she shrugged slightly, "we'll see won't we?"

When he asked where she was from she looked down at the page and smiled softly, "Scotland. It's always hard to leave Scotland but alas, at the end of every holiday I must."

[Noah Washington]

"Alright, if you can't wait that long then I'll show you while we're on the retreat." Noah smirked. Unfortunately, phones didn't exactly work when they were way out here, so the only way to make some kind of a plan was to commit to it face to face. "In the mornings I train for the swim team down by the lake. Come by tomorrow morning, I'll bring my guitar and I'll knock you out with my skills." He doubted she'd say yes, actually. Maybe she was just messing with him.

"So that's what kind of accent you have." Noah said. He had heard it but found it a little difficult to place. "I'm from America. Born and raised. I bet it's awesome to grow up somewhere else though. You get to experience different cultures and all that."

[Jez Steele]

Jez cocked her head to the side, "How early? I'm not the best morning person."

Either way she would most likely show up out of pure curiosity then probably go find Callie afterwards.... or nap. It was a close tie between the two. When he mentioned the accent and different cultures she instantly smiled softly, "I love Scotland. The accents, the history, you all have history yes, but only for a few hundred years, we have history for thousands of years."

[Noah Washington]

"Neither am I," Noah shrugged at the thought, "I'd always rather sleep in. But it's training." That and it had to do with his powers; he loved jumping into the water. "As early as you like, then."

He nodded along, and as a thought popped into his head he couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "You must find the American History classes pretty boring then, huh?" Not that there was anything wrong with that. Not by any means, "But I bet you breeze through the Art classes. Your drawings are awesome."

[Jez Steele]

Jez smiled, "Alright but I'm probably going to show up in pj's."

When he mentioned that she wasn't all that fond of American history and she laughed softly, "I think it's a little entertaining with all of the things you guys have done and how you portray it sometimes."

She wasn't actually taking Art classes, she had learned how to draw on her own time, by herself. After her brother Cameron had gone home or even before when she had some free time.