If I Only Had a Brain {open}

[Izzy James]

Izzy James was covered in birds. Well, not exactly covered, since it was technically impossible for a bird to alight upon his chest without digging claws in or something, and that would just be unusual. This wasn't to say that the whole "became a bird perch" was usual, but to say that there were limits that even Fate wasn't quite willing to cross.

"Uh, can I get some help here?" Izzy called. He had thought about just moving, since it was likely to scare all the birds away at once. The only problem with that was the fact that birds leaked. Leaked things that Izzy didn't want on him. Plus, a handful of the birds seemed attached to Izzy for some reason, and one had even sort of nestled down.

See, Izzy had been doing his homework, his powers homework. Anya had suggested that he focus his ability in, tighten it and place it just in a specific area. Izzy had figured that the courtyard would be a safer place than, say, the student lounge. What he hadn't counted on was his time bubble collapsing around himself, sending his personal time accelerating into the future.

Basically, he'd been frozen in place for several hours real time, while his body had only felt a few minutes. So one moment, Izzy had been birdless, the next, he was as covered as a statue. He suspected that the sunflower seeds he'd been munching on, which the birds were digging at in some corners of his sleeves and pants, might have had something to do with it too.

He tried waving his arms, which earned him a poke from the closest bird, who had decided that Izzy was to be the food provider for all feathered friends.

"I could really use some help about now!" Izzy yelled again, staring down the bird with something akin to worry.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony was also using her free time to power train in the courtyard. She had considered using an empty training room, but after her first training session she had no real want to go back there anytime soon. She’d managed to teleport across the room by the end of the session and then spend the rest of the day resting in the infirmary from the effort.

So she’d decided that perhaps her time would be better spent trying to move only a foot or two at a time. (Her trainer might have suggested the exact same thing, but she preferred to think of it as her great idea.) Although she didn’t get very far very quick, it was better than passing out or throwing up from trying to do too much at once. Besides, the effect almost made her look like she was a speedster if someone wasn’t paying attention too closely. That had to be worth something.

Of course, it would help if she paid attention a little more closely. Like when she was heading towards someone covered in a flock of birds.

Although smacking into Izzy did solve his problem of being bird covered, stumbling into a boy and then falling on the ground was not exactly how Harmony liked to be seen. Clumsy awkward meetings weren’t the coolest thing in the world. The birds she had scared off were flying a few feet above here head, angrily cawing at her for disturbing their peace. “Nice friends ya got there, bird brain,” she said, shooting the animals an angry glare.

“Oh,” she said, realizing who it was she had bumped into and blushing slightly. “Hi Izzy.”

[Izzy James]

Suddenly, girl. The collision nearly sent Izzy tumbling, but had the nice benefit of sending most of the birds flying. Most, as there was one on Izzy's shoulder that felt that holding on to pluck at a sunflower seed was so worth it. Since he had both arms free now, Izzy easily managed to brush off that last bird.

"Tell me about it. I was afraid I'd have to do a song and dance number to get rid of them," joked Izzy. Laughing, he bent over to offer Harmony a hand up. "Harmony, right? It's been a while. Were you practicing your power or something? I swear I didn't see you coming till you were, you know, plowing into me."

Though that also could have been because Izzy had been quite focused on the birds covering most of his body at the time. Those same birds were still hanging about, hovering nearby and eying their perch/feeder and the interrupting girl with some disdain. One got a feeling that they were secretly planning an attack or something, with the decidedly suspicious way in which they glared.

Not that Izzy noticed.

"Sorry about the birds. I was practicing my whole time stopping thing and that kinda happened by accident. Which shows just how awesome I am at the whole control thing. So what about you? that seemed pretty cool, the whole showing up where you weren't thing."

He was really hoping that was it, otherwise it was Izzy's brain doing that crazy thing it had been doing lately, where it skipped entire sections of conversation and existence. It had been doing that less and less since Izzy's last training session though, so he was hoping it was balancing out.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony grinned to herself when Izzy started apologizing. After all, she wasn’t the one to blame for their collision, right? And she had helped. “No worries,” she said, brushing herself off a bit. “Time stopping thing, huh? So, like, how long can you stop it for?”

She waved off one of the birds that was starting to circle her head. “Freakin bird! Go mind your own beeswax!” she yelled.

“Yeah,” she said, still smiling. “I do that sometimes,” she wasn’t about to tell him the details of her power, especially not her current lack of real control. Not yet at least. After all, she didn’t want him complaining that she hadn’t teleported them back to the school after the lake incident. “Who knows, maybe I’ll become the world’s greatest thief?”

[Izzy James]

"Uh, I haven't really tried to figure out how long it can last," admitted Izzy. He'd thought about it, but the fact that length meant more nausea was something of a deterrent. Not exactly a detail you wanted to share. Just thinking about it made Izzy shift nervously, which only ticked off the still clinging bird (he'd left for a few seconds after Harmony waved, only to return and nestle in again).

"So you disappear and reappear?" asked Izzy. He looked to the distance, as if trying to figure something out. The clinging bird pecked at Izzy's arm, but he only absently swiped at it, still focusing on the thoughts and milling over what Harmony said. "I guess thievery is definitely possible, but, haven't you thought about how useful something like that would be? You could get places nobody else could, like to get supplies to trapped people or something."

Izzy stopped looking into the distance, instead focusing upon Harmony again. "I guess it's not all cool though, right? There's probably some killer drawback."

More birds were gathering, and Izzy looked up at them. "Though maybe we should move...?"

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

“Umm…yeah…”Harmony said in response to his question. She decided there wasn’t really much of a chance of her hiding her power anymore. Hopefully he wouldn’t ask why she hadn’t used it the other day. “I disappear…and then reappear somewhere else,” she said, looking down at her shoes. Truthfully, she felt a little idiotic for not having better control over her ability. Not that she was about to admit that to Izzy. It didn’t matter that at her age she wasn’t supposed to have mastered it yet. She just hated the idea of appearing weak in any way.

“Yeah…I guess that’s an option,” she admitted. Although thievery sounded way less lame. But she didn’t feel like arguing the point. Which was odd for her. But there was just something about Izzy that made her was to be more agreeable. Maybe it was his smile.

She looked up along with Izzy, noticing the birds circling their heads still. “Yeah, they still look pretty pissed. You must make a pretty good birdhouse,” she smiled, waving away one of the lower birds. “Got any suggestions? Or should we track down a BB gun?”

[Izzy James]

"Sounds a lot cooler than my power," said Izzy, shrugging. Though if you asked Izzy, sneezing blue snot instead of green would probably be a better power than his. "I mean, I suppose you randomly teleport or something though, which would kind of suck. But still, such an awesome gift."

Izzy would likely have gone on for some time about the amazingness of teleportation, but there were fortunately other things hanging about. Not least of whom Harmony herself, who was keen to point out the other things hanging about. Izzy looked skyward again. Yep, definitely birds flying overhead, just like he'd noticed.

Wait, had he just rewound himself again? Izzy dug into his pockets, pulling up a phone and flipping to the clock. No, still more or less the same time. Maybe he was just spacing out worse than usual. Great, because that was exactly what he needed right now. Sighing, Izzy slid the phone back into his pocket, which dislodged the bag of sunflower seeds he'd crammed in there earlier.

The seeds hit the ground, spilling their contents. There was a half second where Izzy looked at the seeds, where the birds all seemed to notice it as well. Then, it was as if someone had started shooting a cartoon. The birds began gathering, pecking all over, figuring that Harmony and Izzy clearly leaked good things. Izzy started dashing toward a nearby bush, waving for Harmony to follow. Maybe she could just teleport away or something.

Really, there had to be a better option than letting the birds peck you till you bled.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

"It sure does!" Harmony agreed. Although personally she saw a lot of drawbacks to her power, she liked it when anyone else thought it was awesome. "Showing up in the wrong place kinda sucks," she mumbled. Passing out or throwing up if she went to far sucked worse.

Too bad that the birds were attacking them. Harmony would have enjoyed listening to Izzy continue telling her how awesome teleportation was. As it was, she was a little wrapped up in protecting her head.

"Smooth move," Harmony said as Izzy's sunflowers fell out of his pockets. She tried to swat the birds away, but they just kept coming. Her power kicked in and she disappeared.

If her aim had been better she might have re-appeared next to Izzy by the bush. Instead she showed up in the middle of the bush. "Crap!" she yelled as several twigs poked her at the same time. She shoved them away and rolled out of the bush, landing in a heap near Izzy.

Just great, she thought to herself. Why do I always do something incredibly stupid around this guy? "Are you some sort of magnet for trouble?" she asked, pulling twigs out of her hair.

[Izzy James]

Izzy nodded; he understood all too well the drawbacks to powers. Still, being in the wrong place sounded a lot less drastic and horrible than most. He'd probably have said so, and likely have fulfilled Harmony's need for more pleasant talk, had there not been the whole bird attack thing.

It seemed like Harmony had the right idea there: get the heck away from the crazed wildlife as quickly as possible. Izzy tried to follow suit, stumbling away while swatting. He had a feeling that his power was likely to kick in again, most likely in the most dramatic, drastic way. Because that's how Fate tended to treat Izzy.

"I'm filled with smooth moves," muttered Izzy. He looked up, finding that Harmony had really gotten away, even used her power and stuff. "You alright in there?"

A pause, while the birds gathered themselves up for an attack that would likely make a decent video game. Izzy blinked and stared at Harmony, at first wondering if she were referring to the actual dog Trouble. Thankfully, his brain pointed out how unlikely it was that Harmony had encountered the bundle of troublesome fur.

"Uh, kind of," said Izzy. He shrugged, then reached back and rubbed the back of his head. "I think Fate hates me or something."

Indeed, Fate likely did, as the birds were starting to mass for an attack. Well, some of them. Most were going "oh, sunflower seeds" and ignoring the humans. It was just a handful that had determined that food leaked from the talking blonde thing. The talking blonde thing who was at least moving toward Harmony, extending a hand and trying to help the girl out.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

"I'm fine!" Harmony said, scowling as she continued to pull twigs off of her. She wasn't sure which was worse, the attacking birds or looking like a total idiot. Looking back towards the flying mass still heading in their direction, she decided that the birds were slightly more of a problem.

"Fate definitely hates you," she agreed. After swatting away Izzy's hand, she helped herself to her feet. For a moment, she considered using her power again, hoping that maybe she could get a little further away. But the idea of landing in the middle or another bush, the lake, or on top of someone wasn't something she was ready to risk just yet.

"Can't you do something?" she asked Izzy, attempting to shove him towards the birds. "Use your time mojo. Slow them down. Something?" After all, he was the one who wanted to be a hero. Shouldn't he be saving them instead of running away?

[Izzy James]

"no kidding," muttered Izzy. He kept glancing over at the birds, but mostly got himself near Harmony. She seemed stuck, and the birds seemed to be circling overhead. In other words: not the best circumstance to be stuck in.

Can't you do something? Use your time mojo? Oh, how Izzy wanted to. His body almost ached to try it. But... but he knew that the power wasn't likely to work the way he wanted it to. The last time he'd tried to use his power against something like this, he'd accidentally sped it up. Sometimes he still had nightmares about balls bouncing into his body at top speeds. Unpleasant, ugly nightmares.

But he had to try, right? He couldn't very well leave Harmony abandoned there, stuck in a bush and working her way out. So Izzy turned, flinging his hand up at the birds. His fingers were spread, and he could make out the shapes of flitting birds through his fingers. Muttering a prayer, hoping God was listening and playing nice, Izzy focused his power. He remembered what Anya had told him. Imagine it. Close a bubble about it. Do your thing.

Slowly a bubble of time formed around the birds. They slowed, or at least slowed while they were within the bubble. One or two birds were caught outside the bubble, flitting about and staring. The moment they dove in, however, they were just as stuck as the others. Oh, they were still moving. If you stared you could even see them flitting closer, but they were hardly a threat, at least for the moment.

"We'd better get moving," said Izzy, turning back to Harmony. "Because they're gonna get ugly here in a bit."

He reached for Harmony, extending a hand and hopefully helping to get the girl into a better position. Behind him, a mass of birds flew through air made of Jello.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony was still a little frustrated at herself, which of course she expressed by continuing to pick twigs off her hair and throwing them with disgust towards the ground. And by picking on Izzy.

“You should seriously get a sign or a t-shirt or something,” she said. “Something like ‘Warning! Walking hazard!’, you’ve got to give people fair warning before they get within 50 feet of you.”

Sure, the first time Harmony and Izzy had been in trouble, it was mostly her fault for falling into the lake in the first place. But she was going to pretend that didn’t happen. Besides, she felt she would have been better off on her own. And this time, she was technically the one that had pissed off the birds. Still, Izzy was the one who had collected them all and then excited them by dropping a pocketful of seeds. So it was totally his fault.

When Izzy’s power finally kicked in, Harmony’s jaw dropped a little bit. Even she had to admit that seeing a bunch of birds in jello-like air was pretty cool, but only to herself. “’Bout time,” was the only thing she said out loud to Izzy, but at least she did it with a smile.

She allowed, just this once, for Izzy to take her hand, “Maybe we should hand indoors,” she said with another look at the mass of birds.

((sorry this is so incredibly late))

[Izzy James]

{s'no problem at all. I know you've got stuff}

"I've seriously thought about it," admitted Izzy. He was blushing; he knew it too. Was it really his fault that he kept running into troubles? Seriously, Fate had to have it out for him or something. Bad luck. Or some twisted, all powerful controller who wanted to screw with people's heads. So, yeah, Fate all over.

'Bout time indeed. The power was definitely slowing most of them, and it probably helped that the few remaining didn't have much in the way of brains. Free food was one thing. Free food that screwed with you was something else entirely.

Izzy probably would have started moving already, had he not still been marveling about his power kicking in. Hearing Harmony, he shook his head, turning to flash a grin and a nod at her. "You got it. Let's get outta here."

With that, he grabbed onto Harmony's hand and took off. Thankfully, the birds were more or less in one area. Unless some ninja squirrels dropped out of a tree or something, they weren't likely to run into any more trouble, really.

... There weren't ninja squirrels at Hammel, were there? That did seem like something Fate would come up with...

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

((thanks for being so understanding. sorry again that this is so late.))

Is this kid completely worthless? Harmony asked herself, watching Izzy stare at the jello-air that his power had created to trap the birds. Still watching him enjoy his handiwork, she couldn’t help but envy him. Something about the way he seemed so content, it was such a striking moment.

Harmony shook her head to clear her thoughts. She reminded herself that Izzy was an annoyance, nothing more. Trouble followed him around like a puppy dog. Still, she allowed Izzy to take her hand as they ran away from the birds.

“I think they’re gone,” she said. “Unless you decided to pull another stupid move and sick them on us again.” She paused and realized with a shock that she actually felt a little bad for being harsh with him. What the heck is up with me? she thought shaking her head again.

[Izzy James]

They got free of the birds, which meant that Izzy could let go of Harmony and attempt to relax. He let out a long breath of air, leaning against a tree and sliding down till he was sitting, his legs spread out before him. His head fell back, his eyes closed, and he tried to rehash what had just happened to him.

Another stupid move? Yeah, that seemed to sum up what was going on here. "I seem to have a knack for it, don't I?" asked Izzy. He peeked open one eye, staring at Harmony. He smiled though, eventually chuckling slightly. "I don't know what it is. Seems like ever since I came to Hammel, I've been heading into one thing after another."

It probably didn't help that he kept trying to save people who probably didn't need or want saving. Which, now that he paused to think about it, was exactly how he'd ended up running into Harmony. So, yeah, if it kept getting him relationships like this, he figured he could put up with a little craziness every now and then.

"I don't suppose it's you rubbing off on me?" he asked, his tone light and teasing. "I mean, the first time I met you, you were in a lake."

That was Harmony, right? Izzy's brain kept crossing these wires in his head, and the end result was never pretty.