Mapping {open}

[Naomi Green]

There was a breeze. It tugged at Naomi's hair, pulling it out from under the cap she'd placed specifically to prevent such things from happening. Each waft of wind nudged a loose strand, making it rise and fall slowly. However, it wasn't just Naomi's hair that kept getting caught by the breeze. That would simply make it an overdone description. Indeed, the piece of paper clutched in Naomi's hands kept getting tugged as well, yanked.

The girl holding it frowned at the paper. She walked over to the side of a building, paused to look around, then began scribbling something onto the paper with a sharpie marker. An average passerby would see lines and words written at what appeared to be a semi-random pattern. They criss-crossed, the words overlapped, and on a whole, the thing was simply a mess. However, someone who looked closer would realize that there was a logical order present, an order that very closely mimicked reality. For what Naomi clutched was a handmade map of Pilot Ridge.

Currently, Naomi was fleshing out the downtown region, adding details and measurements. It had occurred to her that she could simply ask someone to print off a map from the Internet. Yes, she couldn't use it herself, but that hardly meant she didn't have to trust someone else using it. However, she wanted something she'd created, and walking through the town inch by inch would provide her with just the informaiton she needed, information that Mapquest likely wouldn't be aware of.

Perhaps there was a slight distrust of machines and/or other people in there.
Perhaps.

Regardless, the breeze tugged at Naomi's work, threatening to pull it from her hands. She'd thought of that ahead of time, attaching paperclips to the corners, weights to keep it in line and, more importantly, added something magnetic that she could call back, if need be.

That didn't stop the wind from catching it, or blowing it away. Cursing, Naomi ran after it, her hand outstretched as she tried to utilize her power. All that did was cause it to lurch backward after every few feet. She needed more, or for someone to stop it.

So she called for just that, sincerely hoping someone was paying attention.

[Kaytee Palladino]

Kaytee loved the wind blowing through her hair. The cool air made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and it was one of those feelings that made her comfortable. Most people would hate the sensation, but for obvious reasons, Kaytee loved it. It was a gorgeous afternoon in her mind, and that just put her in a mood. She smiled at everyone that she past, and had a little bounce in her step. She had no plans for the day, and that was the only down side. Classes were done and it was the weekend, but Kaytee was left with nothing to do.

The wind snapped her coat against the silent air. It was abnormally quiet down town for being a Friday afternoon. It was probably just that most of the students were napping after their classes and sleep deprived weeks. It always amazed Kaytee at how students would do that to themselves. How difficult is it to get to bed at a normal time and get some sleep. She would rather enjoy her first after noon of freedom than sleep. Perhaps, that was the difference between her and other people. Everyone was different after all.

A piece of paper came flying at her and Kaytee quickly stopped it, looking up to see who owned it. As she looked up, her roommate came jogging toward her, a look of panic on her face. Kaytee smiled and clutched the paper tightly in her hand before pushing it through the wind to her roommate. "Hey Naomi, seem's the wind is playing tricks on you today. What are you up to?" Kaytee sincerely thought it was fate that they ran into each other, this way, they could spend a little time together outside of school. It had been a while since that last happened.

[Naomi Green]

Dear lord, it was one of her insufferable roommates. Naomi couldn't quite recall the girl's name, especially as she generally lumped all her roommates into the category of "annoyances." This one had proven herself useful, and society dictating that Naomi at least feigned politeness and gratitude.

So she smiled, extending her hand to take back her map. "It's for a school project," what was the girl's name? Likely something chipper. It seemed as though all Naomi's roommates possessed names selected by overeager suburban parents with a desperate need for attention. Likely Kelly or Brittney.

"We're supposed to map Pilot Ridge," explained Naomi. Assuming Kaytee handed over the map, Naomi would then proceed to show how she'd done exactly that, even pointing out some of her own markings as she continued. "We're supposed to note various businesses and important details."

This would explain away the notations, though it might be a little more difficult if Kaytee read any of them too closely. Several of the notations involved escape routes or possible locations of other metas. Naomi wasn't about to give Kaytee much time to look though, snapping the map closed. Now that it was in hand, the paperclips would make manipulating it all the easier.

"What brings you out here on such a blustery day?" asked Naomi, again falling back on casual conversation. She was still desperately trying to remember the girl's name. Kitty? That sounded close. "Shopping, perhaps?"

[Kaytee Palladino]

She looked over the map as best she could, but Naomi quickly pulled it away. Most likely, there was something more to it than she wanted to say, and that didn't bother Kaytee one bit. She had gotten used to Naomi wanting a bit more privacy and she desperately tried to find the balance between that and including her. She snapped the map closed by using the paper clips she had installed, and Kaytee raised her eyebrows. A power like that came in handy, sometimes she felt like hers didn't. She could freeze things, that was about it. So if someone got a warm pop and they wanted it cold, she could do that. Other than that, Kaytee felt pretty useless with her power.

Naomi was never really a warm person, and she probably couldn't even remember her name. Kaytee's name wasn't that unusual, but it seemed that it was hard enough for her own roommate of several years to remember it. She smiled at the question and shrugged her shoulders, "It's Friday. I just really needed to get off campus and feel some cool air in my lungs. Its days like this I love, because they're about the same temperature as me."

Kaytee chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the wind starting to pick up. Sure enough, both Kaytee and Naomi's hair began to fly in the wind. Kaytee tried not to show her delight in the wind, but Naomi probably noticed it. She went back to wondering where everyone was for a moment, wondering what exactly the best thing was to say from here. "If you want some help with your map, I'd be glad to lend a hand. It looks like fun."

[Naomi Green]

Kitty, for Naomi was certain that was this girl's name, had an empty reason. No real surprise there, given what she knew of her roommates. The Brit felt like sighing. It didn't look like Kitty would easily be deterred, and if Naomi acted too cold and aloof, her roommate was likely to start talking. The last thing Naomi needed was for Kitty to talk about how she'd caught the strange foreign girl mapping out Pilot Ridge.

"It's more a chore than anything," said Naomi. She might as well try to deter Kitty. "I'm sure you'd much rather do something else. Besides, I don't need the company."

Naomi paused, feeling the wind pick up, catching her hair and flinging it about. It snagged the edges of the map too, making it flutter alarmingly. Naomi adjusted her grip, wishing that she'd brought more paperclips. This was a bit of an awkward task, with just the two hands. Perhaps she should take Kitty up on the offer?

"Then again, if you're really insistent upon helping, I'm not going to turn down some extra hands," said Naomi. There. Add a friendly smile, just like that, and hopefully Kitty would be all for it. Naomi held out the map, hoping that Kitty could hold it and that Naomi could make the notations. In her experience, most of her peers had atrocious handwriting.

She blamed computers.

[Kaytee Palladino]

Kaytee could tell Naomi didn't really want the company. It wasn't hard for her to see, especially since Naomi had always been the stand offish roommate. Besides, Naomi had never really fit into the group of girls that were rooming together. She didn't seem to like them either. Ther was always something sinister about the girl and Kaytee had never really gone out of her way to spend time with her. Mainly because she didn't want to be on her bad side. The less she annoyed Naomi, the better their relationship seemed to be. But calling it a relationship wasn't exactly what Kaytee would have said.

She was really surprsied when Naomi decided that Kaytee could be of help. It really had taken her back and she couldn't help but show the surprise on her face. She stretched her hand out and grabbed onto the map that Naomi was thrusting toward her. She didn't want to chase after it again and she was asking for help. She cleared her throat, "Uh, sure. If you really want it."

Part of Kaytee was suspicious of her roommate's intentions, but didn't push the thought. At least she was being civil, which she normally was with Kaytee. She let out a sigh and looked down at the map and back up at her roommate. "Where to?

[Naomi Green]

It didn't seem as though Naomi's roommate suspected anything, not that Naomi thought she would. While Naomi was hardly the social butterfly (despite associating quite frequently with Zachary LaRousse), she was more cold than maniacal, at least, on the outside. And even now, she was all smiles and "thank yous," pointing out what she'd done on the map.

Where were they heading? "I'm thinking we can walk toward downtown; map out a path from here to the city hall."

Naomi had intended upon studying the city hall anyway, since it was one of the major points of import in Pilot Ridge. Control the seat of government, or at least the symbol of it, and you controlled much. Besides, Naomi was fairly certain the route would take them across many other sites of interest, and it made perfect sense for the assignment.

Thus determined, Naomi began slowly strolling toward the city hall, counting on Kaytee to keep the map. After a few steps, she went back to the map, asked Kaytee to spread it, and began quickly sketching some notes, her pen darting across the page.

"I don't suppose you received any assignments like this?" she asked. She had to keep the other girl distracted, if nothing else.