Mental Exercise (Open)

[Kirby Wakefield]

The gym. It was once again time for some more fruitless exercise by one Kirby Wakefield. Zie always came here after classes for a simple workout, which would have seemed pointless to a casual observer. For some reason whenever Kirby switched, zie would keep barely any of the muscle gained or fat lost during exercise.

No, the extra work out was for an entirely different reason: it helped focus Kirby's mind whenever zie got distracted by others reacting to zir power or even mocking zir for it. Terrible, people these days. Always trying to class things into groups, and when they encounter anything that doesn't fit into one of their groups, they try their best to ignore or remove it from the equation. God, how Kirby hated those people.

Why did Kirby have to get such a powerless power? Really, Zie had no control over it at all, and it had no practical capabilities whatsoever. How was such a thing even scientifically possible? People didn't spontaneously change genders according to science, but here Kirby was, living proof of the fact that such impossibilities were possible. Kirby's powers were a major annoyance as opposed to any kind of assistance to anyone!

Kirby was currently male and pumping iron. Zie wasn't really lifting any serious weights, but it still produced a nice burn in zir biceps. Kirby was beginning to sweat when Zie was distracted by a rather loud racket outside of the weight-lifting room in the main gym.

Who could that be?, zie thought.

[Appoline Meian]

The bars clattered to the floor in a metallic, ringing heap, rolling around lazily as Appoline tried to catch her breath and ignore the too-tight muscles in her shoulder and legs. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, her breath ragged to her ears. That had been close; the uneven bars were obviously old, but she hadn't expected that the whole thing would come apart so easily. Strands of white and black hair listed lazily about her face, yet she didn't care much about that at the moment. Without her powers, she could have broken her neck.

But with them, she wasn't normal.

Slowly, the small girl pulled herself into a proper crouch and then stood, wincing as the over-extended muscles pulled back into a less hyper-vigilant state. She rotated her right arm, working the shoulder back into some semblance of relaxation as she walked lightly towards the fallen bars. She sat, her pale bare legs crossed as she picked up the metal pole and examined its end. The bolts attaching it to the stability bars had worn through - likely had been wearing for years. She must have been just too vigorous for the old set.

A door opening from the area of the weight room caught her attention, and Appoline stood abruptly, wincing as her legs protested. She adjusted her old gym uniform a bit, tugging the t-shirt straight and making sure the bottoms weren't riding too high, fidgeting nervously as someone came through the door - another student, by the looks of it, who had been in the middle of his own workout. Biting her lip, Appoline wiped the sweat from her brow and called out shakily.

"I... I'm sorry f-for disturbing you." She gestured to the nearly demolished bars sheepishly. "I was... practicing. The... the bars are... were... old..." She trailed off, dual-toned eyes shifting to the side in dismay as she longed to flee. But she'd promised Amos she'd try not to run anymore. So, there she stood. Her left ear felt muffled, and she was sure its hearing aid had fallen out when she fell. The right one remained, however, so she could still hear any response the other student had to make.

[Kirby Wakefield]

As Kirby sauntered through the door, zie managed to wipe off some of the perspiration that had accumulated on zir forehead. If there was someone in the next room, Kirby really didn't want to make a bad first impression. Zie had had enough of those during zir time at Hammel. First impressions were really important, as he had been taught by his parents, during a point in time where zie was actually perfectly normal.

As luck would have it, there did happen to be someone in the gym when Kirby came in. Not that zie had expected otherwise, of course. The girl was standing among a heap of obviously worn down and old bars of metal. She held one in her hand, examining what was currently the most likely cause of the crashing noise that had alerted Kirby to her presence in the first place. She was breathing hard, probably frightened by the sudden collapse of the bars. The girl herself had differently colored eyes, one light brown and the other a dark blue. She also had a lock of white hair, which was a bit strange, or so Kirby thought. Kirby then proceeded to scold zirself for thinking such a thing. Weird, zie was one to talk. This girl was fairly beautiful, actually!

It was just then that she noticed that Kirby happened to be standing in the room with her. She spoke nervously and not at all smoothly. But the bars weren't the only thing. She looked to the door nervously, as if she might flee the room. She certainly looked like she wanted to do so. The fact that she had interrupted his daily workout didn't matter much to him. Zie could do that on any other day. Right now, zie was more concerned with the girl's safety and mental state, because she was definitely not too calm at the moment.

So, it was with genuine concern that Kirby asked the girl," Are you okay? You don't look too great."

After finishing his question, Kirby ran a hand through zir hair and stuck zir other hand out slowly in greeting. "My name's Kirby. What's yours?"

[Appoline Meian]

Appoline had been doing gymnastics since she was a child, learning how to balance on bars and beams and rings and ropes as if they were the solid ground. She'd learned to do flips and spins, rolls and jumps, spread eagles and arches. She could hold herself upright with one hand and bring herself through a routine in slow motion, or whip through background music like a tornado. According to her teachers at Eisai, she was one of the best; if she hadn't had her particular meta powers, she may have gone to the Olympics some day.

But the one thing that always failed her was performing in front of an audience, in any way. She was terrified of people; scared of screwing up and making a fool out of herself, out of her family. She spoke softly and hesitantly, stuttering when nervous and in a voice that carried about as far as a mouse's squeak. And besides - she couldn't even pass for normal. What normal girl looked like her?

Pulling the escaped strands of hair back and tucking them behind her ear, Appoline looked back to the boy as he asked about her well-being. With a shaky nod and a sheepish, timid smile, she answered, "I... I'm okay. Just... recovering. My powers, you know?" She gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, wrapping her arms about herself in a self-comforting hug. "I move fast. I'm not... not hurt. I promise."

She glanced at his face, scanning the youthful features as if they might give her more insight to this boy. He seemed genuinely worried about her... but why? What the heck was this school? The Meian girl hesitated a moment before taking another step forward and grasping his hand lightly. "Kirby... my name is Appoline."

She flushed slightly at the close proximity of another person, her fair cheeks turning rose colored as her eyes dropped, attempting to break the scrutiny. She wouldn't run, but that didn't mean she couldn't try and hide

[Kirby Wakefield]

Kirby furrowed his eyebrows and frowned at the girls voice. She sounded rather nervous and hesitant about talking to zir. Wow. She was really shy. She must have been. There was no other explanation.

Well, that just meant that Kirby would have to try and make her feel as comfortable as possible around zir. Zie didn't want to make anyone feel bad. Well, besides people that made other people feel bad. There were quite a few of those at Hammel, as sad as that was. One would think that everyone being different from normal human beings would make them sympathize with others, but no. They continued bullying no matter where they went. Hurting others with words. Oh well, there wasn't much Kirby or anyone else for that matter could do about that.

As the girl mentioned her powers and how she wasn't hurt, Kirby let zir shoulders drop and let himself breathe again. Funny, zie hadn't realized that zie had been holding zir breath, but it was nice to know that she was okay. Still, that didn't stop Kirby from asking,"Oh, good. Are you sure you're okay? Those bars look they could really hurt someone if they fell on them. If you want, I could get you a doctor?"

After the last question, Kirby pointed at the door to the gym behind zir, to emphasize zir point. If she asked him to, zir would go and find the doctor. No, not that doctor.

The girl told zir her name. "Appoline. That's a nice name. It's nice to meet you," zie said taking her hand firmly but carefully and shaking it up and down, as zir father had taught zir expertly so long ago.

"Well, you told me your power, so I suppose I should tell you-"

Zie was cut off by a familiar clenching in his gut. Oh no. Not here.
Not now. Not when zie was actually having a conversation with someone. Why did this always happen to zir whenever zie was meeting someone new? It's as if the universe was constantly and consistently messing with zir.

No,zie thought. Zie would finish talking to this girl, even if zie was humiliated in the process. Zie gritted his teeth and spoke through the pain that now consumed zir body.

"Well, I suppose you'll see my 'power' soon enough."

[Appoline Meian]

The sudden frown from the boy almost made Appoline wince. She was being judged again, though it looked like he might not be mad at her, per-say.

After being bullied for quite some time, shyness had become wariness and then a crippling sense of self-doubt. School girls were quite good at that, you know; anyone that was different, prettier than them, not as pretty, smarter, dumber, had different interests or quirks... anyone outside their realm of normal was automatically someone to be teased and tormented. Not that Appoline didn't deserve it; even some of the nicest people in her old schools thought she was weird. She wasn't pretty, either; you can't be pretty when you can't even pick an eye color. Add that she was broken and well... self-loathing starts from without.

A sigh dropped from the boy, almost in relief from what the small girl could tell. She stared quizzically at Kirby for a moment, unsure as to why news of her lack of harm was a relief. Maybe it was because he was afraid of being held responsible? She didn't know, but it was unlikely that it was just because of her well-being. Few people were that nice. Or, maybe more people were, but she hadn't found them yet.

She shook her head at the question. "N-no, I'm really all right," she answered softly, wringing her hands. "Just a few pulled muscles, I think. I-I don't need to see the doctor." Besides, what would her mother say about this? Using old equipment in an empty building without supervision or even safety mats? She was lucky if she could hide this from her father and get away without a lecture. Her mother would only be worse.

Blushing at the compliment, Appoline turned her head away shyly with a slight smile. "My dad picked it," she muttered softly, accepting the handshake easily. "It's Greek, silly as that is for a Japanese national."

Then the boy suddenly doubled over, as if he had been punched in the stomach. Appoline started, unsure of what was going on but unable to flee out of concern. Hesitantly, she placed her hands on Kirby's back, looking him in the eyes as she tried to understand what was wrong.

"Your... your power?" Oh, this must be a side-effect. Which meant that he couldn't control his powers. Subconscious? Genetic? Why couldn't he control them? "Is... is there anything I can do to help? What's going to happen?" From his words, she'd see soon enough, but Appoline really didn't want to leave him here all alone, even if his powers were destructive. She only hoped that they weren't, because she didn't want to leave someone who was in pain.