Duck and Cover {open}

[Kaytee Palladino]

The cold October air bit into her yoga pants as she jogged around the field, dribbling the ball between her feet. Kaytee knew the season was ending soon, but the cold wouldn't stop her from kicking a ball around for fun. Her breath could be seen on the evening's air and her mind wandered around the tasks she probably should be doing instead of playing with a ball. She glanced around the lonely field, a little surprised that no one was out here. Usually there would be a couple on the bleachers kissing or something along those lines. No such luck this evening, maybe it was too cold for everyone else. Growing up in Minnesota had its perks, and she had definitely grown accustomed to the cold. Not to mention, her powers managed to keep her cooler in the first place. Getting cold for Kaytee was not an easy task.

The bright colored leaves looked dead in the fading light of the day. The moon was already in the sky and some of the stars were beginning to appear. Kaytee continued jogging around the field, even as the sun began to set. The sky turned many different colors and vibrantly shone on her face. She figured she might need to head in soon, but her mind needed more time to think. She kicked the ball into the upper left corner of the goal and plopped onto the ground. She let out a sigh and laid back in the cool grass and closed her eyes for a moment.

Puffs of air came from her mouth as she caught her breath. She had been jogging around for a good thirty minutes and her body was telling her that it was enough for the day. Although she was in really good shape, the altitude of Vermont always messed with her later in the year. Even after spending years at Hammel, she never seemed to get used to it. She hopped up and ran to the goal, kicking the ball out, straight at someone approaching her.

She quickly covered her mouth and ran over to them, not catching if she had actually hit them or not. It wouldn't have felt to good, but she wasn't kicking at her full power, so the poor soul wouldn't be too injured. However, a bruise would appear if they had gotten hurt. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Are you okay?"

[Tate Desmarais]

Unlike others out wandering, Tate had grown up in the south of the United States, and she was freezing. In the Carolinas, October was the beginning of the autumn season; there wasn't any need for a jacket until nearly halfway through November, which it certainly wasn't. She had every plan to return home for the Thanksgiving holiday, even if it meant getting on a plane and flying the entire way. If only she'd been back in the Carolinas--because the second weekend of November was the SCEA conference, a whole four days off not even counting Thanksgiving. But no. She was in Vermont, and it was freezing.

And also, she was lost.

It wasn't that Hammel's campus was hard to navigate, it was more than she hadn't been paying attention to her tour guide when she'd arrived and, well, things looked a lot different after dark. Not just a little bit different, but a lot, a huge, marked difference. This school seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere as far as she could tell, having been to Pilot Ridge a grand total of two times. Both times they'd only gone to the post office, and then straight back with more packages. Apparently after class she could go down to the town on her own, but she'd never really had a reason. Today she was wandering back from the library, and also lost.

When she spotted another person, she made a beeline for them. Perhaps if she had called out she would have attracted Kaytee's attention before the soccer ball came rocketing towards her, but she didn't think of it; she'd barely even noticed the soccer ball in the first place. At least she appeared to have learned something in gym class, and that was duck and cover. Upon seeing anything going for your face, hit your knees and drop what you're carrying to cover your head. Or else, suffer the consequences, which in Tate's experience included broken glasses (when she'd worn them) and concussions (whether she had the glasses or not).

"Jesus," she said, more a reaction to the speed of the ball flying over her head; it actually ruffled her hair as it went past, and she lowered her hands to watch it go. "I'm fine, just, what? Was there a reason for that? Did you have a really, absolutely horrible day or something? Because I don't know what the soccer ball did but if it's so bad you've got to send it rocketing around at blastoff speed, I'm sorry, you probably didn't deserve it."

[Kaytee Palladino]

Kaytee ran after the ball before it got too far away and flicked it into her hands with her foot. She ran back over to the girl, who looked like she was freezing, to make sure she was okay. The ball went back on the ground and her foot messed with it as she listened to the girl talking to her. She couldn't help but laugh at her remark, finding it quite amusing that she thought she was angry. Not at all, it was just practicing, and Kaytee couldn't imagine what her reaction would have been had she kicked it at her full power.

"Oh not at all. I'm a soccer player, so kicking balls is what I do. And I suppose you can take that any way you would like, but you know what I mean." Kaytee kicked the ball between her feet and smiled at the girl. She was happy to see someone out here and be able to meet someone new. That was always a fun experience for her. "I'm Kaytee, sorry about nearly nailing you there. I didn't see you at all. You didn't get hit did you?"

She looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting pretty dark. She started to wonder if the girl was lost. If that was the case, Kaytee was going to have to quit practicing and show the poor girl to where she was headed. Kaytee could remember when she first came here how confusing the campus was and how much she wished she had someone to show her around. Such is life, she supposed, and she could at least step in for someone else.

[Tate Desmarais]

Tate's expression could be best described as ill-natured when she looked up. Exactly how was she supposed to know what was just soccer player antics and what was a genuine expression of anger? She couldn't, that was how! She puffed out her cheeks a bit, let a sigh of air out between pursed lips. Well, it was good practice for when she returned to the unfortunate realm of high school athletics. (You'd think someone bumping up against six foot two without shoes on and without being full-grown would be good at basketball; it was not so.) Pressing her hands to her knees, she rose up to her feet again after gathering up the collection of books she'd taken out from the library. She shuffled through them to put them back in proper order, then looked back up to the girl who had introduced herself as Kaytee.

Once the girl stopped talking, she figured she ought to give her own name. "Tate," she said, shifting the books over her chest as another person might have adjusted their armor. Her mother would have preferred her to introduce herself with her full name, the entire my name is bit, but it'd always seemed so unnecessary, what else could Tate be but her name? "It's fine."

This girl seemed a little, um… Well, who told strangers to take possibly-suggestive phrases as they would? That could go so badly, so fast. Her eyebrows had dipped down, green eyes a bit narrow, and lips drew themselves into a thin, disapproving line. Oh, how badly it could go indeed. "I'm fine. Gym class, it hones the fine reflexes, doesn't it." Now on to the more pressing and interesting matter: Tate leaned forward a bit and asked, her tone that of keen interest, "Do you usually tell people to interpret possibly euphemisms as terribly as they can? Because that is a very good way to find yourself in a trap you might not want to be in."

In case Kaytee thought she was threatening her, Tate added after, "Not that I would ever do such a thing. I don't care for it. Do you know where the co-ed dorms are from here?" It was probably blindingly obvious, but she was uncertain. And also, cold. She didn't want to have to end up having to ask a teacher for help--if she could even find one so late.

[Kaytee Palladino]

Kaytee smiled, ignoring the fact that she had said something pretty stupid. She wasn't really in her right mind at the moment. She had been so concentrated on her thoughts and soccer playing that she wasn't really thinking normally. Besides, she got snapped out of it so suddenly and she wasn't really prepared to think rationally. The ball and thoughts running through her head were still clogging up her judgment, and if Craven were here, he would probably be interpreting for her anyway.

She let out a sigh when the girl introduced herself, but tensed up again when she called Kaytee out on her stupidity. She looked down for a moment to compose her thoughts before she spoke. Her brain needed to snap into the conversation so she didn't sound so stupid. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked up, smiling nonchalauntly. "Oh you're right. Thanks for letting me know. I need to think things through a little more don't I?"

And then she asked where the co-ed dorms where. Kaytee looked up at the sky and figured that now was as good a time as any to pack it up and head in. She kicked the soccer ball into her hands and smiled at Tate. "Sure, I'll take you there. Again, I'm sorry for that scare just a bit ago. I honestly didn't see you there. I hope you'll fogive me."

Kaytee smiled again and turned toward the dorms. They were spread out a little strangely, but she had grown accustomed to the lay out of the campus. Once you got used to it, it wasn't bad at all. The dorm came into view and Kaytee motioned in the direction, "There it is. Have a good night, Tate. It was nice meeting you."