Movin Out of the Frying Pan & Into the Fire [Lyra]

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly carried a couple of bags down to the co-ed dorms. He had gotten into trouble with his roommates. Apparently decking them for washing all your paint supplies down the drain was unacceptable. To Kelly it was a perfectly logical way to deal with it. Quality paint's expensive, and now it was wasted by coloring the drain. Well, for his 'uncalled for' action he ended up moving out, and decided to try his luck with the uni-sex dorms. But knowing him it wasn't going to be so simple. He figured it was worth a shot anyways. You never know 'til you try, right?

The boy walked down the hall and to the door that had "211" written in shiny metal letters on it like a hotel. He gave a sigh. "Let's get this over with." With that he knocked with a single ringed finger and entered. It was obvious there were other students bunking here. It had that lived in feel. It had the same set up as the boys' dorm, four separate bedrooms for privacy. It would be easy enough to get used to. He only wondered if it would be easy to settle in with his new roommates.

Kelly quickly found which room was unoccupied. The door had no sign on it or anythings, and the room was a total blank slate. The walls were naked and blank. The whole room completely lacked life. Kelly stood there in his new room. He mentally recolored the walls with a mural, added a poster here, put up a current to shield the room from unwanted light. He shook his head, and dropped his bags onto the dead looking bed. He'd have to give the room personality later.

He went back to his doorway and leaned against the frame. "Hello?" He called throughout the dorm to see if anyone else was there.

[Lyra Caruso]

The first knock would have been missed by Lyra. Headphones in ear connected to her smartphone and a book about symbols on her lap, she was a momentary lost cause to the world. There was a single instance she heard a faint knock in the brief seconds between a Green Day song and a subsequent Jack White song, the errant sound went ignored.

She did however watch as a moving shadow pass beneath the tiny space beneath the door. There was only one open room left after all. Lyra narrowed her eyes: was that Deja or Sunshine looking in there?

Better question, does she pull away from esoteric alchemy symbols with Sixteen Saltines as backdrop just to find the answer?

The girl shoves her books to one side and tugs the ear buds to listen the movements from the neighboring room. Slight, unsure maybe. Lyra could sympathize, she did the same thing her first day here, bombarded with both the blank sterility of the walls and the realization of being far away from home.

Fine, today she would TRY to be sociable; the meeting with her other two roommates went less than stellar, so here was a chance to give it a go. Lyra had gotten up and just opened the door with a loud clack when she hears a question: "Hello?"

The new occupant would see a dark haired girl in a dark green hoodie peek out from her room, hand raised up.

"Yo."

Beat. Dark brown eyes flick up and down in observation. Up again, the hair is a hard thing not to look at after all. It had to be asked, a single question masquerading as a statement:

"What are ya."

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly quickly looked up to an opening door. Out emerged a green hoodie with a dark brunette in it. He lifted a hand and waved. "Hi." He watched her eyes size him up, but her gaze stay mostly at his hair. Something that wasn't all that uncommon for Kelly. By now he was used to the stares and double takes.

"What am I?" He repeated her in a questioning tone. "Meta-human. Male. Your new roommate. Canadian." He answered rather bluntly. Kelly knew the girl could figure out the first three, but he stated them anyways. That was what he was after all. To say otherwise would be a lie. Now the only question he had was whether to mess with her a little or not. It would be easy to do so seeing how she seemed already taken back by his current hair color.

Kelly smiled politely. "Who I am is Kelly Thompson. Like I said before, new roommate." Stuck his hand out to shake. It was already a bit awkward for Kelly introducing himself as going to share the dorm with to a girl. But that was also because he moved out of his old dorm. Up with the boys, he was the first one to take up that dorm, so the others had to introduce themselves to him. Now it was his turn, and it felt weird.

[Lyra Caruso]

Metahuman.
Male.
Roommate.

"...No shit." The girl’s eyebrow would quirk at those extremely obvious answers. Why the hell else would he be here? Besides, that had not been a correct answer to her question.

Canadian.

Dark brown eyes narrowed. Lyra never had a good track record with Canadians. The most of them had been unkind to her; the last one she knew alienated himself from many people by spouting more acerbic words than her own, and then wondered why he wasn’t liked. That one was almost kindred spirit, had it not been for asshole behavior turning on her- and she did not stand to be pushed around by damned hoser.

“Just...please tell me you don’t believe Canada owned the US at one point and then just gave it back one day.”

Just to be sure. And even if he didn't understand the question, she would move on quick. Besides, he gave the right answer to her question! Lyra would actually shake his hand before finally responding.

“Pinky, dude, your parents must’ve hated you.” And she says as if it was the most natural thing to say to someone, even coupling the observation with a nonchalant shrug. It wasn't an insult, it was simply an observation.

“You could just call me Lyra. It’s easier than to remember my real name.”

[Kelly Thompson]

"Yes shit." That was Kelly's only reaction to her. He didn't even have to think about it. The words just came out of his mouth, word vomit. That happened more than he'd like to admit, hopefully it wouldn't get him on anyones bad side this time.

Kelly chuckled. "If Canada owned the US, why would we give it back? I mean, parts of New England were parts of Canada at one point, but we lost them after treaties and crap. It wasn't like we got bored with it so we handed it over." He was just glad that she wasn't one of those people who believed that Canadians were preparing to invade the US, so that's why they all live near the border. Some people were just crazy like that. Kelly learned that from experience.

Pinky.

He stood there soaking in the new name she just called him. "You... Did hear my name, right?" He then shrugged and moved on. He wasn't going to make a fuss about it. "Why would they hate me?" He asked jokingly as he ran his fingers through his hair. With that it turned from a light shade of red to bright orange.

He went back into his stale room and grabbed a towel out of a bag to wipe the waxy feeling off of his hand. It never really did much, but it did help a little. "So Lyra, are there any other inhabitants in dorm 211?"

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra actually opened her mouth to explain further what she meant by her earlier statement, but better to let certain things remain in the past. At least this one didn't seem to be so delusional, so she contemplated removing a mental strike from his record. However, she did at least attempt an answer - HAD she heard his name?

"Your name is Kelly. You're Canadian. I like Pinky, far less gay at this point - you're welcome."

And that would answer the majority of his questions: yes, she heard his name she already stuck a nickname on him pink hair or not. No, he didn't get a choice in the nickname matter. And that was obviously why she thought his parents hated him.

The dark haired girl would thumb over her shoulder. "Deja and Sunshine are the other two here. Actually, I don't actually remember their names, so I just call them that. One's a happy idiot and one's a scene chick that has no capacity to lie but has sweet guitar talent. You'll meet them eventually, can't miss either of them."

Spoken again as if that was fact rather than generally insulting. Lyra actually had nothing against Deja, but Sunshine made her cringe. The girl would actually enter his room, familiar with the bare walls that plagued his room.

"Did you see the mural in the common room? The three of us did that recently and I completely fucked with the walls in my room too."

The girl stuffed her hand in her pockets, suddenly bowing her head and grumbling to herself. Good god, she was no good at this.

"And...like, I got a lot of paint from that and sharpies if you wanna just break in your walls. It breaks the monotony."

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly stood there listening to her answer. "That was a yes or no answer. Recap wasn't necessary. Also, Kelly is a unisex name, y'know... Thanks?" He wasn't going to object anymore. Lyra already ended the discussion with the 'you're welcome' so there was no need to keep it going.

"Deja and Sunshine... You really aren't one for names, are you?" He didn't need an answer, he figured yes with his new nickname and the lack of real names of the other 211 residents. He'd have to find out their names in person. "Can't miss 'em? What? They're flamboyant too?"

Kelly knew exactly the mural she meant. It was just there one day, either that he wasn't observant at all. He was wondering who painted that, and now he was bunking with them. "Yeah, I've seen it. You three made quick work of it." He had to admit he was impressed by them.

"I'd like that, thanks." He shifted his weight from one leg to another. "I'd use my own, but some bastard washed them down the drain." He grumbled still holding a grudge at his former roommate. He appreciated Lyra letting him borrow the paint. He had some other supplies he could use, but paint would be best.

"But if it weren't for him I wouldn't be bunking here, now would I?" He shrugged it off trying to think of the bright side of the situation.

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra tilted her head to one side. She had an answer to the name thing already but pondered how it would sound. It wasn't often but the girl was capable of of stopping herself from speaking exactly what was on her mind. Truthfully, aside from being a Canadian, Pinky had done very little to stir her ire....and that alone bothered Lyra.

"The other two are...well, not like me. Y'know?"

The girl linked her hands behind her head. "It's not that I'm not good with names, I just don't feel like following arbitrary rules. Like really think about it."

And she pointed at him, not polite at all. "Why do you do what you do? Why do you introduce yourself when technically, you don't have to? It's all programmed into you, no? So what part of you truly has free will when constraints come in just by socialization alone."

Again Lyra stops herself. She could probably go on and on about this, but honestly she didn't want to bore Pinky. The girl wasn't even sure he was following her train of thought. Very few did, it was a sad fact the girl had to contend with often. So far, the exceptions have been few and far between.

"Short answer is I like nicknames better."

She'd wave it away. "The hell did you do to get bumped here anyways?" Given his comments, it was bound to be a little interesting, right?

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly, or now Pinky, stood there with a blank expression. "No, not really. I don't know." He couldn't really say much else because he didn't know her too well, and didn't want to insult her by making assumptions about the others.

He went cross-eyed to see the tip of her finger. She seemed really into the point she was trying to make. "I have to admit you make a good point. Not only introductions in general, but names. We always introduce ourselves by our real names when we could say any name we want. The other person wouldn't know the difference. You use nicknames that you prefer instead of real names that don't satisfy you." He tried to figure out her thinking. Kelly had a pretty good idea of what was going through her head, but had yet to board her train of though.

"Oh, why? uh..." He leaned the back of his head into his hand. "Well, you know those really good acrylics? The ones that act a bit like oils so they blend better and don't dry as fast?" He didn't wait for an answer, and continued, "I had a whole bunch of those, they're pretty expensive, and for sake of space I put them in jars. Glass jars, the kind that usually have jam or marmalade, and they were up in a cupboard. Well, the bastard I mentioned earlier needed that space apparently for hell knows what, and dumped the paints down the drain. Now, that is NOT something you do with paints like those, so I decked him. Gave him a bit of a black eye and a bloody nose." Kelly smiled, he was proud of that last part. The guy deserved it, and moving out seemed now to be a bit of a blessing. Not only was he no longer rooming with the guy, but he had a roommate with paint that he could borrow.

"Why? Did you think I blew up the last dorm?" Kelly jokingly asked.

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra blinked in partial astonishment. Maybe this thing had the ability to think? He didn’t seem to have trouble getting some of the gist of her preference in nicknames. Pinky wasn’t wrong per say, it was more of an incomplete answer based on a partial rant. Still, it was enough to give the guy some credit – if only he knew the weight of the words she was going to say:

“Decent enough.” A smirk crossed her face. “Now I’ll let you wonder if the name I gave you was my real one.”

The girl spins on her heel without even the slightest hint of an answer incoming, opting to hoist herself onto the bare mattress and sits with legs crossed, all just to listen what he had to say. She wasn’t one to appraise the value of certain art supplies – paint was paint, brushes were brushes. There was a reason why she was not one to be an art student. Even her mural had been mediocre in quality, but it conveyed her love for Green Day, The Offspring, symbols and swearing all in one colorful mess.
But still, the dude touched his stuff! No matter what it was, to Lyra, it was full right to deck someone in the face.

“It would have been more awesome if you blew up the last one. With fireworks.” Lyra answered his question with a shrug. She was a fan of explosions and fireworks after all.

“But honestly, I wouldn't have blamed you for decking the douche in the face for that. Double points if he actually made the effort to go INTO your room to take the paint just to dump them. That’s complete violation of space.”

She’d nod at her own statement, completely believing that this was the absolute truth.

“So how much trouble did you get into, aside from reassignment?”

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly opened his mouth to speak then shut it. He had to word out his sentence first. "You did say Lyra was easier than your real name... Now didn't you?" He had to be clear of that. He was pretty sure she said that earlier.

He chuckled, "yeah, it would. Or at least only blow up his room." He had to admit that would be a pretty awesome way of getting back. Sure, that would lead to much more consequences, but Kelly definitely thought that would be worth it. "If he did go into my room just to dump them then I REALLY would've blown him up." He hated people going through his stuff without permission, especially his sketchbook and portfolio. Lyra entering his room wasn't a bother, as long as she didn't start digging through his bags. Then he'd really show her an explosion.

"Other than moving out I have to see a counselor for 'anger management' crap. It was just a punch I through, it's not like I beat him senseless or anything." He shrugged, he didn't see it as such a big deal as the teachers were making it.

[Lyra Caruso]

Ah, so he had been paying attention! Most people were so into themselves that posing that question left most in a loop of confusion if they really had not been paying attention. It happened a lot more than she liked. So imagine her approval, something that would remain silent and tight-lipped.

"Hm, certain there's a working brain in that dyed head of yours. Five points for you then." She flashed a smile. It had been a while since she actively used her arbitrary little game for the hell of it!

The girl's amusement was quick to turn, unable to help but quirk an eyebrow at the mention of 'anger management'. Being forced to that just for a single punch?! She shook her head, grinning at the stupidity of the punishment, and counselors.

"No suh! That's fucking funny. You're, like, the least aggressive thing I have ever come across next to Sunshine. Unless you got a secret temper underneath all that..." Ah, she couldn't think of the right word to explain what Kelly was but wiggled her fingers during her pause.

"Blithe. Yeah, we'll go with that one. It's retarded and a waste of time to make you attend something like that." Lyra had her doubts about it, as it made logical sense to her that punching someone was okay if they touched personal items had been messed with.

"What do you even do anyways? And seriously, if you can explode things, that's wicked awesome and all but I'd prefer to know beforehand. Ya get me?"

[Kelly Thompson]

Five points to 'Pinky.'

"Sweet. I got five points and I'm not even in Hogwarts." He said with a smile like they were actually worth something. Kelly had a feeling like this was going to be good room arrangement after all.

He shook his head. "Yeah, I think blithe would be a good word. It's not that I'm some crazed maniac, trust me I'm not, but I just have rotten luck. I always get the consequences dumped on me even if it isn't my fault, or me who did it." He shrugged it off. It was frustrating, but he began to accept it by now. That didn't mean he was going to make it easy on the authority figures though.

Kelly laughed. "I wish I could blow things up!" That would be a power Kelly would love to have. Granted, he'd really be in trouble, but it would be so worth it. He leaned his hand against the wall, which changed the color from boring white to lime green. It was a larger area than his hair so it would end up fading sooner, but that was fine with him. "Hmmm.... What is my power?" He asked jokingly. He reached for the hand towel again to wipe off the wax. The feeling wasn't pleasant, but he enjoyed the power. But explosions were always better.

"And does Lyra cause explosions, or does she do something else?" He asked his with a grin.

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra shrugged; honestly it could be a lot worse for him. From what little he talked about, she was able to gauge a few things from her roommate.

“Rotten luck and consequences are so bad if you just expect them. What can go wrong, will go wrong. And considering adults, it doesn't even matter what the circumstances behind anything that goes on. Still, you got off a lot easier than most. What matters is you didn't let the douche step all over you.”

And she had to cut herself off from saying more, but Lyra found the trait admirable. It was better to kick back than lie down and accept the consequences in her world. Attention to thoughts were quickly swept aside! The entire fucking wall turned fucking lime green, how could you not stop and notice!

“…Where the fuck were you when we were making murals?” Spoken flatly, but not as an insult, because seriously. That was useful as hell, and far easier than stepping on a stool to reach untouched parts of the damn wall. Well, that answered her question fine enough! Now it was her turn. The girl glanced around for something. She hopped off the bed and moved to the window, frowning.

“Too faint.” It was far easier at night than the day. She’d turn and kept a pointing finger on him as she stepped out of his room.“One sec.”

It probably would not matter to her if he followed her or not. Her room wasn't a mess other than the numerous band posters taped up: Green Day, Offspring, Rage Against the Machine. Several symbols variety of sharpie colors had been etched onto on the walls to fill spaces between the posters. There would be sounds of rummaging as she crawls under her bed and returns with a gaudy, small-sized mirror under her arm. The frame was art deco in style with intertwined patches of red and gold. Very showy, like something one would find at an Italian neighborhood thrift store. The girl would set it down and looks at Kelly with a smirk.

Watch.

And she would jump onto the mirror, but instead of having it shatter into a million pieces beneath her feet, she would slip inside the mirror as easily one would jump into water. It even rippled like water, Lyra is engulfed into the mirror and solidifies once more.

[Kelly Thompson]

"True. But you gotta think of it like telling a pessimist to look on the bright side of life. Don't expect results right away." Kelly had to admit Lyra was making a good point. If you think negatively you're bound to get negative reactions. He always had that 'unlucky child' idea in mind, but maybe this odd girl, with a point of view all her own, could drill it out of his head. Humans are creatures of habit; he knew that all too well. If Kelly's holding a pencil and there is a paper in front of him he will doodle. His hand would just naturally move on it's own as a habit he had to keep himself from clicking pens to the class' dismay. But if humans could make habits then they could break them too, it would just take time.

The boy couldn't help but chuckle at Lyra's question which seemed to be more of a statement. He usually didn't change something so large as an example of his power, his hair was a quick change that made a good enough impression, so he wasn't used to the draw to the floor reactions. Lyra's jaw didn't hit the ground, but her words definitely gave the same impression.

"Upstairs probably painting my bedroom door at that point... All that effort was put to waste." He was a bit discouraged by that. Kelly had put some thought into how he was going to make that door to his room his very own. "Couldn't I've just taken that door off the hinges and switch it with this one? They should be the right fit, so it wouldn't really matter." He was mostly joking as he thought up that little idea, but it did sound good. He liked how it turned out, he didn't want it painted over with one boring solid color.

Now Lyra's power was being put in the spotlight. She too seemed to want to give an example rather than explain it, seeing how she went straight to Kelly's window and rejected it. The Canadian flopped onto his bed where Lyra sat a moment before once he was given the 'one moment' finger. She left in search of something, which intrigued his curiosity. He carefully watched the mirror she returned with. The design on it was interesting, but Kelly wasn't keeping an eye on it for that. He was expecting something to pop out of it, her reflection per se, making two Lyras. Instead it was set down on the floor, and Lyra went to jump on it.

Kelly expected to hear glass shatter, and to see pieces goes sliding across the floor from under his roommate's feet. Unexpectedly, he watched as Lyra slipped into the mirror before his eyes. The glass rippled like water! Kelly had seen some pretty amazing powers, but this was up on the list. She could go into mirrors for pete's sake! He looked down at the mirror wide-eyed with a fascinated grin.

"Mon dieu.." He muttered with fascination. He didn't know if it was 'the grass is always greener' thing, but he thought her power was great compared to turning an orange not so orange anymore.