Just a Quick Swim {open}

[Izzy James]

See, the best thing about exercising at a pool was the lack of other people around. Track? Outside, noticeable, not to mention hot. Gym? Filled with muscleheads that liked to point out how much more muscley they were than the standard person (i.e. Isaiah James). Plus, Izzy had long since discovered that having personal jumps in time did not work out well when mixed with the whole weight thing. Or most physical activity.

But he figured that being at a pool, more or less by himself, should work out fine. Sure, there was all this water to drown in, but surely someone had figured out a way around that. Right? Like, there had to be a robot at the school or some other safety precaution. Or a lifeguard standing nearby with hydrokinesis or the ability to turn into a fish person. You know: something practical.

Izzy's arms were cutting through the water while he tried to cut out such negative thoughts. Just put one arm in front of the other. Because physical fitness was generally a good idea when you were in a school filled with crazy powerful people. Izzy had read enough comics to had figured that much out for himself. Now, he felt his arms sliding through the water. Then, suddenly, the water started moving slowly. The waves just weren't moving like they should. The gentle lapping and Izzy's own splashing was suddenly replaced by something relative to a storm.

Cursing, Izzy tried to right himself, to get in a general forward direction. He managed, more or less, and even managed to close his little "time bubble" around himself. Only problem was that a body moving through water at an accelerated time had a tendency to meet it with extended friction.

And, you know, walls. they hurt.

Dazed, Izzy clung to the edge of the pool, trying to figure out why his body hurt and sincerely hoping there wasn't any red in the water. Or, you know, that anyone else had actually seen that.

At this rate, he wasn't saving anybody...

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna was sick of the track. Sick of the ridiculously arrogant, brain-damaged, jocks that stuck around the gym and was just about to throw something. She needed to start working out so she could work through her stress. Was that gonna happen? Not when people were always around! She felt surrounded at all times, especially since several people heard about the break-up though she had been keeping it to herself for the most part anyway.

She decided that maybe the indoor pool would work. It was never really occupied, but then again...she hadn't been there in a while. It was indoors, which wasn't a good thing for Adrian. She preferred the outdoors, with fresh air to breathe in and clear her head with. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be happening. Not that she needed it anyway since she'd be swimming.

Adri had decided not to really bother covering up much. She had booty shorts on along with her bathing suit. Once she got to the pool she hadn't really noticed anyone so she set her towel down by the side and started stripping the clothes that covered her swimsuit. After everything else was off, she was ready to get in.

Until she realized someone was there. A boy, not much younger than her, maybe a year or so was swimming. She saw what had happened and her eyes widened. Time control. That was new. She wondered if he saw her. Unlikely with the way he was acting. "Are you alright?"

Adrianna's voice was soft, unusually so. She didn't know this guy and yet she was already being shy with him. A part of her knew why...it was so she didn't get too attached to anyone again. That was one thing she refused to do.

[Izzy James]

Sure, Izzy heard the voice and recognized that it was likely coming from above him. However, he was still moving at a slightly accelerated pace, meaning that Adrianna's voice came out incredibly slow and more than a little garbled. Dazed, Izzy looked up, matching the strange voice with the pretty face. Being fifteen, his eyes then hit her body, widened slightly, and immediately ventured back to her face, pretending that he hadn't just been checking her out bare seconds earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Izzy, waving a hand. This had the slight side effect of having him slip a little, but seeing as he was slightly accelerated and all, he managed to catch himself before the fall started. Grinning, he hefted both arms up and managed to more or less drag himself out of the pool. Standard blue and black swim trunks covered his lower half, but everything else was out in the open. Panting, Izzy rubbed at his face, and looked down at his body, which had the red that came from hitting something hard.

"Nothing's too bruised," he said. He gingerly touched the skin, wincing. Maybe not bruised or bleeding, but definitely sore. Izzy spared a look up at the girl, realizing by the strange slowness of her that he was still moving forward slightly faster. His brow scrunched as he focused, eventually righting himself in time. He looked down, hoping to check, and found that, no surprise, he wasn't wearing a watch. Squinting, he looked around for a clock.

"You know, these power things would probably be better if I had control over them," he admitted. Grinning, he looked up at the girl, extending a hand, "Izzy, by the way, Izzy James."

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna watched him. He was accelerated, but she could still focus. After all, she was a power mimic. She watched him look at her in the eyes first...then they traveled down. Smooth? Not really. She smirked and rolled her eyes slightly. "Do you like what you see?" She asked with a laugh. Adrian had gotten used to guys checking her out, it was just an everyday thing.

"I'm glad you're okay, didn't want you to drown or anything," She said softly as he pulled himself out of the pool. She folded her arms across her chest and couldn't help but check him out as well. Nice body for sure, and very pretty eyes. She was a bit more subtle about her evaluation of him. She looked down quickly and gritted her teeth. So much for keeping a distance. Adri mentally shrugged. Well too late now, why not keep going? He seemed nice enough.

Adri looked at his red skin and frowned slightly, "Maybe not bruised, but it looks painful." She locked eyes with him and she kept control of her heating skin. She watched closely as he slowed down to normal speed again. Time control was a little strange, but definitely cool. She wished she could learn how to use it. Power mimicry was amazing, she got to try out all the awesome powers.

"I know that feeling, I'm a power mimic. My power is based off of the abilities of the person who's power I'm mimicking. It gets a little hectic sometimes," Adrianna smiled and took his hand. "I'm Adrianna, but you can call me Adrian or Adri." She got a more clear sense of his power once she had physical contact with him. Physical contact made her more aware of the training and weaknesses of the power even though she didn't need contact to use the power.

[Izzy James]

Like what you see?

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean, yes, but I'm not-- so yeah, that," said Izzy, attempting to lean forward and look as suave as possible. This proved rather difficult as he was still nearly glowing red from his recent exposure to his own power. Not to mention the discomfort that came naturally from being exposed while staring. He liked to think he'd caught her looking, but he couldn't be sure.

Hands touched. Hers felt soft, and Izzy felt his hairs stand on end. He ended up grinning though, already pleased at getting physical contact in the first few seconds of meeting. And he was bright red. Score, major score.

"Wait, power mimic?" said Izzy. He immediately drew back his hand, his mind going over the orientation packets that he should have read a lot more carefully than he did. "So, you don't like, suck away my powers or something? Wait, you'd better be careful. I supposedly control time or something, but it's more like, like time controls me. So if you suddenly skip forward or something, you should probably concentrate and," he scrunched up his face, putting on his "focus face, "think about how things should be or focus your chi or whatever or," he looked at her, his expression returning to normal, "or you probably totally know this already, because you've been here for more than a day. Don't worry," smile, "I'm not always this much of an idiot, I swear."

He rose to his feet, stretching. The gesture hurt his still sore skin, but it also felt better than just squatting there. What he really needed was to jump back in the water before he exploded or the red from impact faded. Because then she might realize that he was blushing more from his idiocy than from any contact with walls.

"So, you here to swim?" he asked. Blinked, then smacked his head. "Yeah, I just ran into a wall, so I'm blaming that for the stupidity."

Now would be an awesome time to actually rewind time like he was supposed to be able to do. Shame about that whole control issue, huh?

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna smiled as he tried to figure out an answer to her question. It was entertaining seeing boys get so nervous around her. She didn't understand why they did, but she didn't mind it. He was cute when he tried looking cool and not really succeeding. She sighed silently and chewed on her lower lip. Why did she always crush on guys so quickly. She didn't even know this boy.

Once their hands made contact, her cheeks turned a soft pink and she smiled. He had typical boy hands, but his were warm and smooth. She couldn't help but blush.

"I don't suck away powers, no. I can usually get a feel for whatever the power is within seconds of being near someone. Physical contact helps it a lot. And I don't think you're an idiot. Trust me, my first day here...I was exactly like that." Adri smiled warmly at him and laughed lightly. She was surprised at how easily it was coming to her. She was returning to her normal, flirty, fun self.

Adrianna giggled and smiled, "I understand, don't worry. I won't tell anyone anything. Promise." She said with a nod and a wide smile.

((OOC: Short post sorry =/ ))

[Izzy James]

Hey, had he just gotten her to blush? Or was that a flush from the thrill of exercising or swimming or something? No reason to dwell on it, not when there was things to do and stuff to talk about or something like that. Though that didn't stop Izzy from glancing over every few seconds or so.

"So you just stand near someone and you pick up their power?" asked Izzy. He chuckled, leaning back slightly. "Lunch must be a pain then."

The water was lapping at his feet, reminding him of his whole purpose in coming down here in the first place. If it wasn't for the cute girl in a state of near nudity, plus, you know, the whole misfiring powers thing, Izzy would totally be back in the water by now. Instead, he was just alternating between staring at the water and glancing over at Adrianna.

"When I said more than a day, I was talking about you. I've been here a while longer. Not a whole lot longer, like the whole spurting forward in time bit wasn't enough to prove that, but, you know, long enough," Izzy sighed, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. What was it about cute girls that turned him into even more of an idiot than he usually was? Definitely well past time to just get back in the water and start swimming.

"So we should actually be swimming now, right? Maybe you can stop me if I suddenly go super fast or something?" hey it was worth a shot, right? Izzy was already sliding in the water, glad that he had something to do. Talking was clearly going to expose him for the idiot he was.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna nodded and laughed, "Yeah, lunch is pretty crazy. I get a really bad headache when I'm surrounded by large groups of people. Distinguishing through what powers are what can get pretty stressful," She shrugged and smiled.

Adri had been completely distracted from what she had came down here to do. What was it again? Oh right, swimming. Hence the pool in front of her. She didn't really care about the pool at the moment considering there was a half naked boy in front of her. His skin wasn't as red, so now she had no reason to look at his body. It was a shame really.

"Gotcha, well I've been here for a few years. I'm from California, where are you from?" Adri asked curiously as she heard him sigh. She wondered if she was doing something to annoy him, though she didn't know what it could have been.

Adrian nodded, "Definitely. I love swimming and I'll help you out if something goes wrong." She smiled and stepped into the water after him. It felt nice, but even if it hadn't, she'd have gotten in. She was a typical teenage girl with raging hormones.

This boy was cute, how was she supposed to not look or flirt?

[Izzy James]

Izzy chuckled and shook his head. He couldn't even imagine dealing with something like that. All he had to deal with was jumping forward or back in time. Reliving conversations was always fun, or at least, it could be, but missing out on everything was more annoying than anything else. Dealing with every power? Izzy's respect for Adrianna just went up several notches.

Even more when she slid in the water. He still had that smile, and it seemed to widen slightly as the girl joined him. Been there a while. Came from California. Because he was totally paying complete attention to what she was saying. Totally.

"Huh? Uh, Colarado. Green Mountain Springs, Colorado, actually. Which is outside of Colorado Springs," offered Izzy. He was nodding, just remember his hometown, and pushing slightly off the water. Adrianna had agreed to help, and anyone from California could surely swim. Wasn't there a song about that? Izzy only paid so much attention to pop.

Thoughts of music left for a few moments, as Izzy again fell into the rhythm of swimming. One hand in front of another, feet steadily moving, head only coming up for breath (and the occasional glance to the side, though Izzy was betting he was about to be outswum by a girl). Eventually, his hands were gracing the other side. Grinning, Izzy turned on his back, looking to make sure that Adrianna was keeping up.

"Why do I have a feeling that the California girl is about to beat the trunks off the Colorado boy?"

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna slid deeper into the water. It felt good against her hot skin. She dipped her head back to get her hair wet and then brushed it back out of her face. Her bikini clung to her more closely than before. She watched him as he smiled wider when she got in and she returned the smile.

"Colorado huh? That's pretty cool. I've never been there, but my mom has. She said it's very pretty," Adri said quietly. She had always wanted to travel around the country and then the world, much like her mother had. It was one thing she planned on doing after she graduated from college.

Adrianna kept pace with Izzy pretty easily. She was a very strong swimmer. After all, she had grown up near the ocean and in a very hot environment. She learned how to swim at age three. She had taken lessons for a few years and had even been on the junior swim team right before getting recruited to Hammel. She sped up a little and turned on her back once she saw Izzy turn.

Adri laughed at his comment and smirked, "Well maybe it's because this Cali girl didn't get this rockin' bod from crunches. This is a swimmer's body hun." She winked at him and giggled again.

[Izzy James]

Colorado, pretty. Well, yeah, most states were, if you knew where to look. Or so Izzy had heard. He'd only really experienced his own, and even then, only so much of it. Definitely not something to share, unless he wanted sympathy. There were more important things to focus on.

Like how Adrianna's bikini was now wet. Not that Izzy was staring; that would just be all kinds of awkward and creepy. But you'd have to be dead not to notice that, and Izzy most certainly was alive. Perhaps that was what was tugging his lips upward toward a smile. Or maybe it was just the fact that he'd finally done a lap without crashing his head into cement. Amazing how much better you felt when that happened.

Touch the cement, turn while talking, and there was Adrianna, already caught up to him. Izzy smiled yet again, showing some teeth this time.

"Ah, so that's how that started. I just figured it was how all California girls were born. Guess that's what I get for not going any further west than the mountains, eh?" he chuckled, turning to move, kicking off the wall again. He hadn't expressly said that Adrianna should catch him, but he was counting on her to more or less figure it out. He did want a workout, after all, and why not see if the girl could swim as well as he suspected.

Just so long as his powers didn't activate or something...

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna saw his eyes travel down her body yet again, but she didn't say anything. She smiled and touched the cement wall as she spoke. She loved the smile he gave her once she caught up to him. It was a very very nice smile at that. She couldn't even really focus on anything else. She looked away quickly so she didn't seem creepy or weird.

Adri laughed lightly, "Yeah I guess that would be a problem." She took off after him, pushing off the wall for more speed. She wasn't really planning on doing laps around the pool. What kind of girl does that when there is a perfectly hot guy in front of her? Not Adrian. Adrian planned on catching that gorgeous boy and well, she wasn't sure what she'd do once she had him. She was pretty close behind him, but she was gaining speed.

So much for staying quiet and away from any guys. All that happened was her getting hurt. Why did she always set herself up for it?

But maybe this time she'd be different. Adrianna didn't want a full on relationship right away. She wanted to have fun and date. She wanted to be somewhat of a tease. After all, she had been pretty good at that before. Now she just had to put her magic to work. She had to make this boy want her more than she wanted him. From the looks he had given her, she knew it wouldn't take too much for that to happen either.

Adri wouldn't rush into a relationship this time. She would have fun being flirty. Or so she hoped.

[Izzy James]

See, now this was more what high school should be about. Just swimming in a pool while flirting with a cute girl. See how easy that was? No powers or drama to worry about, just a few moments of bliss. Izzy could tell that Adrianna was hurrying to keep up with him, and it was definitely becoming quite obvious which one of them was the better swimmer (hint: it's not the one from Colorado). Perhaps, just perhaps now, Izzy slowed down slightly. While the chase was fun, getting caught was generally a whole lot more fun.

Then time slowed down. The world around Izzy crawled to a stop, the waves suddenly becoming almost solid. To make matters worse, he'd somehow managed to speed himself up. He wasn't entirely certain how he'd managed to do both, but he could just tell. The combination was making him little more than a blur, and suddenly he was having difficulties.

Izzy tried to get under control. Focus, concentrate, draw in the time around him. But time was difficult enough to control for those who actually knew what they were doing. Izzy was still a decided novice at this. He could feel himself slipping, fully entering his own time stream.

"Crap!" he managed, flailing his arms. Control was difficult to maintain when panic set in, and panic had a tendency to set in when you went from "impressing the hottie" to "watching your powers spiral out of control."

Yay?

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna noticed him slow down a bit and she smirked as she was about to catch him. Catching the hot guy would always be the best part. How could it not be? She was just about to reach for him when everything slowed down. She felt the weight of his power on her and she knew she had to think fast. What was something that could help her? Obviously using his power against him wouldn't work because he had little control over his power.

What else was there in her arsenal of powers? Then she thought of Ash. Power suppression! That was perfect! She watched as Izzy tried to control his power and she focused on her own as well. Ash was well in control of his power so it helped a lot. She could feel the wave of power suppression flow over her and she finally felt it working.

Things started to speed up a little and she watched Izzy to make sure he slowed down a little. She honestly didn't expect it to work very well. No matter how well Ash had control of his power, this wasn't just blocking out a telepath, this was setting time back to where it was supposed to be.

Damn time control. It ruined everything!

[Izzy James]

Izzy hadn't yet had the experience of going under power suppression. In fact, he hadn't even heard of such a thing before. All he knew was that he'd been cutting through the water and nearly panicking one moment (he was definitely going with "nearly," though evidence might prove to the contrary); the next minute: time was slowly coming back to normal.

The still freaking Izzy flailed for a few more seconds, turning in the water and looking around. "what the?" what the indeed. He finally got a clue and turned to look at Adrianna. But his wild power was struggling against Adrianna's weak control, or something. Because their personal time was shifting ever so slightly, jumping like a jerky fast forward.

"What are you doing?" Izzy finally managed. now that he wasn't flailing, he was getting better control over himself, if not his powers. Enough that he was treading water instead of fighting it. Considering the awkward flow of time right now, this probably was one of the best options available. Izzy did pull slightly aside, heading toward the edge of the pool.

Deep breaths. Adrianna was clearly doing something, maybe using Izzy's own power to try and regulate time. Whatever. Point was that she was calming Izzy down, making it easier for him to control his own power. Time was still out of whack though, but the bubble of, well, "whackness" was starting to compress. Now it was more or less just around Izzy, instead of the pool, and the time-distressed young man was looking at the girl, almost pleading with her to do something.