Blue Spring (Open!)

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Finally! It was warm enough to go out in something other than a thick winter jacket. Ike was certainly excited, it meant he got to go out more as Idalia was less inclined to find excuses to stay indoors. Ike was a hip high monstrosity with a heart twice his size. The Great Dane hopped on his back feet as she got the leash out. It was always an adventure trying to wrestle the wriggling creature into the leash. The good part was he was mostly behave once it was on. Idalia loved living so close to the lake. It made walks have a wonderful view and it was close to a place where it was more than pleasant to spend a warm day reading and keeping her dog out of trouble. She grabbed a jacket and slipped her feet into comfortable tennis shoes. She let go of the leash and gathered her thick hair into a tail at the back of her head. Patting her jeans pocket to make sure she had her phone she snatched back up the leash and they were on their way.

Ike strained at the leash and it took all of Idalia's will not to let the dog surge across the lawn and street to the lake. She was excited, with the lake now free of ice they should be able to get out for a row or two on the water. She glanced at her hands. Her hands had since become smooth and the blisters were going to hurt on the way to getting callouses. "Easy, Ike." She said with an air of authority making the dog look at her with a clueless expression. He knew exactly what he was and was no supposed to do so she just shook her head at him. She inhaled the clear air and sighed. She loved the weekends, but unfortunately for her power and for her job she was always on call. She shook her head, it was almost as if now she could feel the shifting of the winds or the lowering of pressure as a system started to roll through. She was so happy spring was in the works now, it had been cold for far too long.

Glancing down the street before crossing as the light bid her too she was soon on the grassy field surrounding the lake. She smiled as she looked around at the groups of friends sitting together, walking and chatting gossip. Ike knew where they were going and strained at the leash periodically stopping now and again to sniff at a patch of grass or a tree. Once they were safely away from roads and most other people Idalia let Ike off the leash. Happier than ever Ike went shooting off finding a nice stick. Dropping it at her feet Idalia smiled and walked on picking up the stick and flinging it sending her overly energetic puppy racing after it. Ike stopped stick in mouth and turned abruptly to an innocent bystander and dropped his stick at the person's feet. "Ike!" She called trotting toward the person grabbing at Ike's collar. "Sorry about that, we're still learning."

[Madison Bane]

Madison was trying his hand at a new sketch. Most of the stories he had been working on as of late turned into wisps of thin air. It was easy to start a new idea, easy to build on a fresh trail of breadcrumbs, but it was seemingly impossible to finish what he had started. It was even harder to concentrate when there were many enticing things to do in a day, like video games and reading. Mostly video games though, the comic books could wait. Sometimes. And with his best friend out of his life, Madison had turned into quite the hermit. This wasn’t something he desired, even though the spotlight wasn’t for him either. Still, it would be nice to have someone to spend time with.

So the lake made sense, to try and draw. Drawing came as naturally to him as breathing. A piece of dark charcoal was between his fingertips, thick paper taking up the bulk of his lap. Spring was an interesting time of year, where everything was blooming and dying at the same time. The old had to give way to the new. Already he had worked on a landscape of the area, the small rolling hills in the background of a small city, the water was the most interesting part. Now he was setting himself up to draw someone instead of something. There were plenty of people to choose from, but Madison didn’t really like drawing groups of people, their different features subtracted from the whole that was a portrait.

His thinking process was stopped suddenly as a dog dropped a slobbery stick at his feet. Madison pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking down. “Well what do you know,” he said, looking up as someone spoke. He shifted slightly, taking in the sight of a pretty woman with reddish brown hair and a nice smile. She apologized and he waved his hand. “It’s no big deal,” he said, a half smile on his face that turned his eyes into half moons. The dog didn’t seem to think it was a big deal either, and happily licked the nineteen year old over the face. Madison leaned back, unsure of whether to laugh or be annoyed. “I’m not much of a dog trainer,” he admitted bleakly, pushing his canvas away so it wouldn’t get ruined. But he patted the dog’s head anyways, a patch of charcoal residue in the dog’s fur. “Oh, my bad.” He said, trying to brush the charcoal away with his other hand, which the dog mistook for affection, and promptly bounced on Madison.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Getting a good look at the boy’s face she could see he was still rather young. Awkward from the look of it. Either that or a hipster. Idalia wasn’t ready to call it yet. She would like to say that Ike having gone up to the boy would show something but Ike loved everyone. Really he was the worst watchdog. She pulled back on his collar but the dog even at a young age was strong enough to resist and rebellious enough not to listen. “C’mon,” she muttered to the dog and pulled back. Idalia didn’t like to think she was weak but sometimes the way Ike pushed her around she figured she might as well have noodles for arms. Ida returned him smile, glad Ike had at least decided to annoy someone pleasant. Even as she tried to scold the dog he wagged his tail and jumped playfully. Yes, he still had a long way to go. They both did. Ida laughed brightly, “Neither am I.”

Ida gasped and lunged at Ike as soon as she realized what he was going to do. But not fast enough to stop it. “Oh no! Ike! Down!” She cried attempting to haul him off of the boy. “Bad dog. No! No! He does not want you to jump on him!” Ike paused long enough to jump back at her and give her a wet kiss. She sighed exasperatedly and waved her hands hopelessly. “I’m so sorry, he’s just really friendly. I promise he doesn’t bite.” She actually had no idea, but Ike had never bit anyone yet. Thinking back, Ida should have told him that it was better to ignore him rather than show him any attention. The Great Dane let out a booming bark and wiggled in Idalia’s grip. He really wanted this stranger to throw his stick. Idalia was doing her best to hold him back but this poor kid was on Ike’s level and therefore fair game in whatever when on in his puppy mind. Idalia tried to hold him with one hand and get the leash reattached with the other.

As soon as the leash was clipped on the big dog broke away. He wagged his tail and got into a pouncing stance apparently finding this a new game. Ida just sighed after him. She looked back down at the boy and realized with mortification that there were nice muddy paw prints all over him. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, are you alright? I hope none of your papers got ruined.” She winced seeing at least one of the pages had a paw print on it. Luckily it looked as though it was one with nothing on it. It was then she caught sight of the canvassed landscape. “Oh, were you drawing?” She asked her mortification growing with every second, she added after a moment of examination, “It’s quite good.” She offered her hand to him to help him to his feet. Sure her face was burning with embarrassment, she felt terribly guilty about letting Ike get away with her like that. “Ike! C’mon! C’mere!” She called but it appeared that the dog was not looking to make this easy.

[Madison Bane]

Hipster, whatever you wanted to call it, it was the new ‘in’ thing because it was rebellious. Madison didn’t really care about the trend, he just liked certain aspects of it. And it wasn’t hard to tell that his glasses were fake. He was a little too old to be attending Hammel, but still lanky enough to pass. His grades were beyond failing, because good drawings didn’t equal good grades.

Between licks, Madison was thinking of a new story. He was tired of princesses, but the story could always use a dragon. A misunderstood dragon, one who was a lot more playful than ferocious. Who only wanted friends, not to destroy the whole town. Besides, he couldn’t breathe fire anyways. Besides and anyways shouldn’t belong in the same sentence. Madison glanced at the woman, wondering if she would be the one to hunt down the dragon and try to tame it, never knowing all it wanted was to play, or be the one who found the dragon’s true nature and was condemned for it. There were always hard decisions to make in stories. She was saying something and Madison didn’t hear it – the dog seemed content though.

Glancing down, Madison noticed what she had, finally registering what she was saying. “It’s okay, I can fix it and we’ll pretend nothing happened,” he said, picking up the blank paper, the paw print proceeded to walk right off the page. Madison grinned at his handiwork. “Thank you, I know,” he said, turning the landscape so that the woman could see it. The trees in the picture started to sway as though wind were blowing over it, the water rippling. He flipped it around to show the woman.

Accepting her hand up, Madison shuffled his things closer to the tree he had been leaning against. Standing at his full height, he was taller than her. Rose, her name would be Rose. “Come here Roofus,” Mads started to say, Ike tilting his head to the side, wondering what this new stranger was going to do. Madison’s fingers were wrapped around the slobbery stick, and he took the chance to toss it into the air. The dog bounded away, and Madison adjusted his Star Wars t-shirt. “There’s an animal shelter in town somewhere, you could probably get some free training there or something.”

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia’s imagination wasn’t as advanced as this kids, while he was thinking of dragons she was merely thinking of how she was going to ever be able to show her face in public again. A hard thing considering her face was on the news. Idalia had never wanted to broadcast, or forecast for that matter. But it had fallen into her lap and being a presence for the public was part of her job. If she had it her way she’d never get in front of a green screen. Ike was going to be the death of her. She couldn’t fathom why anyone would have children. Granted her nieces and nephews were angels, most of the time at least. But she couldn’t even control a dog, how was she ever going to handle a baby! She didn’t even know why she was thinking about children, she needed a man for that and she was fresh out of those. It would just be nice if her mother stopped nagging her.

She gave the boy a curious look but before she had a chance to ask what he meant the print walked off the page. Walked! She gasped aloud her hand flying to her lips as if to hide the sound. She had not been expecting that. She breathed out in awe her eyes widening as the landscape moved. “Incredible. It’s beautiful.” She reached out a hand to touch the canvas as if to prove to herself that that was just what it was. A few inches away she thought better, she didn’t want to smudge something so beautiful by accident. It was mesmerizing. He was a meta, it didn’t take a genius to deduce that. Idalia felt the distinct stab of jealousy. Her power was so… anticlimactic. She could say she had foresight but that would be only half true. This boy could, well she wasn’t exactly sure what it was that he had done, but it was a whole lot more interesting than knowing if it was going to rain tomorrow. Any model could help with that.

Idalia realized she should probably either inform him that she didn’t care that he was a meta human and was one herself, but she didn’t necessarily go around advertising it. She huffed a little to herself when she ended up having to look up at him. Awkward, she decided. It was times like this that Idalia realized she had grown old. “Roofus?” Ida asked giving him a look as though he had gone mad. He launched the stick and Ike was distracted again. Idalia felt her face heat with embarrassment and she gave him a pleasant smile. “Thank you, I’ll have to see if they’ll help me out.” She was working on it, and Ike was a good boy, he just was in his teenage stage and ignoring everything she said. She didn’t need training. She was doing fine. Ike knew what he was supposed to do he was just ignoring her.

“Your drawing,” She said changing the subject, “You did that with your power?” Ike came trotting back proudly with his stick. He dropped it and barked when she took more than ten seconds to toss it. And he was off again. At least he would get tired out a little and be less of a menace at home. “Do you go to Hammel?” She asked wondering if she was prying too much. Sometimes she felt she was turning into her mother. As soon as she asked the question she realized how old she was. She had graduated, what was it? Eleven years ago? Almost. Class of 2002. Had it really been so long? How different life had been then. Ida tried not to think of that too much. It had been a long time, but now she had a successful career and she was proud of her work. She honestly would only give that up for a chance to sleep in every once in a while. She did miss that.

[Madison Bane]

Madison smiled, feigning humility as he shrugged slightly. He had drawn these landscapes a hundred times. What he really wished was for the opportunity to travel abroad, see different things to draw and bring to life. Being in Pilot Ridge was like being in jail, and he didn’t need a school to tell him how to work his power. “You can keep it,” he said, and if she disagreed, he would probably be offended, his expectant gaze said so.

“Roofus, yeah, it’s a dog name. Duh.” Didn’t she know he was deciding on names? Madison shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair again. People didn’t know he was working on stories while he lived them, and therefore missed half of whatever was actually going on in real life. He hadn’t caught the dog’s real name, and most of the time he didn’t like people’s real names or their circumstances. He’d much rather make it up.

“No, I slipped you some crack,” he smirked, “of course it was my power.” Madison watched as the dog went after the stick again. Ah, to be so simple minded... “Yes, did you?” He asked, assuming she was too old for a place like that. Not that she was too old for other things. She seemed familiar, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. And then it clicked. She was the local weather lady, the one he had managed to find some... interesting pictures of. His face darkened slightly and he put his hands in his pants’ pockets.

“How long have you had your dog?” He asked forcefully. This conversation better be over soon, it was getting too close to reality now.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Ida was completely fascinated by the moving picture. For a moment she started to wonder if it was really some sort of film work. She looked back up at the boy and her eyes brightened with her smile. “Really? Are you sure?” Idalia asked then looking at his face her smile broadened. “Thank you so much!” Now she did press her finger against the canvas. It felt like any normal canvas. The texture under her fingers felt just slightly rough. She gave a little squeak as some of the charcoal moved under her finger. She blushed in embarrassment looking up at him for a moment hoping that he didn’t think anything of it. She looked at her finger to find it clean and the moving image unmarred. Fascinating. Idalia glanced up at him and rubbed her fingertips together to get the strange feeling off of them.

Idalia covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. “That it is,” she agreed then pointed at the fawn colored Great Dane, “His name is Ike.” In her opinion Ike was a much better name than Roofus. Roofus was so generic. So ordinary. She watched the dog bound back and forth and she glanced out the corner of her eye at the boy. Unconsciously she shifted so that she was half facing him and half looking after her puppy. Idalia crossed her arms and for a long moment held in a breath and wondered if he too knew who she was. She was still getting used to this familiarity. She was flattered a lot, but it was kind of nice to have a bit of privacy. At least, outside of the Northern Vermont area her face was known only to those in other Meteorological positions. She wondered what would happen if she decided to quit and do research. Would people wonder what happened to her, or would they just pass their attention on to a new Meteorologist, or worse one of the several actors that were taking the broadcast area by storm.

She held up a finger to stall his smirk and found she couldn’t find any definite argument against him. “Shush you,” she muttered in what she had intended to be a stern way but it came out light and without any malice or threat. Idalia nodded and bounced a little on her heels. She was starting to feel a little bit old standing next to a high-schooler who was towering over her at the moment. “Yep,” she gave him a smile and waved a hand dismissively, “Probably a bit before you.” She didn’t want to admit how old she was. This year she was going to hit the big three zero. Ida looked after Ike again. 30, and no husband, no children, hell she didn’t even have a boyfriend. Maybe she was meant to be alone. She blinked and schooled her features into pleasantness. Well, that wasn’t anything she could fix at the moment.

“Um, almost a year. The woman I got him from did a lot of the primary training and,” she paused and gave a whistle that stopped Ike in his track and his ears perked looking at her. “He’s really good, he’s just got so much energy.” Ike retrieved the stick and dropped it at her feet. Ida had brought him home when he was just weaned and he had made a lot of progress, he was just still in his adolescence and forgot that he was no longer knee high. Unsnapping his leash so he didn’t drag it through the mud much more, she used the distraction to steal the stick from under his feet. He snapped at it and she jumped out of reach. If this kid thought she was one of those girls that was afraid of getting dirty he had another thing coming. She waved the stick around dodging when Ike decided to make a leap for it. She launched the stick again. “So are you a senior this year?”

[Madison Bane]

A cocky smile consumed Madison’s face. “I even signed it at the bottom. You never know, I might be famous some day.” And then he wouldn’t need school or his parents to try and tell him what to do. What was the point in wasting time on something he didn’t like doing, when he could be drawing and writing stories? He pushed up his faux glasses as she inspected his work. “Just don’t call me Harry Potter okay? The joke is getting old.” So his pictures could move like pictures in the Wizarding World, they were completely different things. She didn’t seem like the type to go and make fun of someone who just gave her a piece of art, so he felt pretty safe.

“Ike, right. Sorry, I must’ve missed that.” Obviously, or he wouldn’t be calling the dog Roofus. Roofus was a much better name in his opinion, but it wasn’t his dog and he would probably call him Roofus in his mind anyways. The name was so ordinary, no one used it and now it was extraordinary again, back in style! Well maybe, Madison didn’t really keep up with these things. Madison grinned broadly, finding her charming. No wonder she had the job she did. “A bit? You’re what, thirty two? I’m only nineteen, that was a long time ago.” Not that she wasn’t attractive, just that they probably didn’t have a lot in common. He was young and beautiful and let’s face it, she’s not getting any fresher standing here with him.

“He’s probably not the problem then,” Madison said, wondering if maybe someone who had such a demanding job should have such a big dog who needed a lot of attention and affection. She should’ve adopted an old dog. Madison crossed his arms in front of him, stepped around the flailing leash. He had no desire to continue interacting with the dog. Weren’t people like him the ones animals tended to love? He tried to remain in the present. “Ha! I wish!” He shook his head ‘no’. “I’m a late bloomer or whatever the school likes to call it. I’ve been going to the high school down the hill and now in my last year they transfer me. Well, it’s not my last year anymore...” Hopefully she would just assume it was because his powers weren’t up to par with those who were his age. Really it was a combination of that and his poor grades from being lost in la la land most of the time.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“Oh, I shall look forward to it,” she teased, “I’ll sell it, quit my job and live happily ever after in the Florida Keys.” She actually had all the confidence in him that he would indeed be famous. With these works that were brilliantly skilled and the fact that they moved, he was more than likely than not to become famous. She would be rooting for him, that was for certain. Ida giggled and shook her head. “Well, maybe if you didn’t wear the glasses.” She teased lightly laughing a little to show she was kidding. She took a step back and surveyed him for a moment her head cocked to the side as she pondered. “I’m definitely getting more of a Neville from you.” She commented teasingly. Neville was awkward but definitely one of the most heroic characters in that whole series.

Idalia shrugged her shoulder. How had he missed it? She had been shouting her lung off at the dog for a full five minutes, or what felt like it. Roofus. She almost laughed out loud again. It was so ridiculous. All she could imagine with that name was a dopey puppy similar to a cartoon character with its tongue lolling out of its mouth and looking rather ridiculous. No. Ike was a strong and regal name. The name of a president and the name of her favorite video game character, though she’d never admit to it. Idalia gasped at him and couldn’t restrain herself. She swatted his arms. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that! Young man let me give you a bit of advice. There are a lot of things you shouldn’t say to women but I’m going to give you the magic three.” She held up her fingers and counted off each one. “Her appearance, her weight, and her age.” She crossed her arms giving him a pouting expression. “And for your information, I’m not even thirty yet.” Close, but not quite. She was only ten years older than him. Only. Only. She sighed wistfully, for all he knew she was ancient. The young were like that. If one were older it was shocking. She didn’t think she looked that old. She didn’t even have wrinkles. At least, she didn’t think so. She’d have to check when she got home.

Idalia gaped at him for a moment. She gathered Ike’s leash and crossed her arms across her chest, clearly not pleased with his reply. “Excuse me?” She said insulted, having had enough of his snide comments. She could let the age things slide but this. This was a whole new level and he had no idea the beast he had just poked. He didn’t know her life. “Are you saying that I’m not capable of taking care of my dog? Is that what you’re saying?” She knew that was what he was saying and it lit her rage on fire. She kept her voice level but clearly distain now laced through it as she gazed up at him. He was only a high schooler. What did he know? She knew that was unfair but he had just made plenty of assumptions of her. She didn’t even comprehend when he talked about school. She was so furious it blocked out everything else. She took his painting in her hands and gave him a overly fake smile before shaking her head at him. “You know what. Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think I have a place for it.” She shoved it forcefully into his chest and let go, not caring if he caught it or if it fell to the ground.

“Ike!” She called the harshness in her tone catching the dog’s attention. She smiled back at him. “Have a nice day, Mr. Potter.” She said her voice like ice. With that she turned on her heel and stalked away. She didn’t even know if Ike was following or not until she felt his wet nose nudge her hand. She scratched his ears and paused to put his leash on. “Sorry, love.” She kept walking and swallowed back tears. She was not going to let that, that child get under her skin and tell her of her own capabilities. She was not failing. She was working through it. He barked and pulled on the leash. “Ike stop.” She said frustrated. He would not stop barking. Then it hit her.

The smell of lightning laced through her and her hair stood on end. She was standing at the edge of a lake. The sky above was black and boiling with fury. From here she could feel the wind whipping her hair and taste the rain in the air. The place was deserted but for a few stragglers. Lightning flashed overhead. The crackle that followed chilled her to her bone and the rain broke from the sky like a wave soaking her through in moments. A tree swayed dangerously then a branch broke sailing into the sky like an eagle. She could only look after it in wonder. She wadded through water up to her hip. It threatened to wash her away but she knew nothing but that there was something important, crucial, that she needed to get. No. Someone. She had never been frightened of weather. Fascinated and awestruck, but never terrified. Wind whipped her hair and she almost reached her goal when fire laced across the sky. And she opened her eyes to look at the clear and calm blue sky overhead in the present. She gasped for air and her limbs started to shake. Ike emitted a low whine and Ida hugged his neck clinging to him and reality. She had never had a vision so graphic, and this was only the third time she had ever passed out during a vision. She could still feel the chill of the air and the rain on her skin, it had been so vivid. She shuttered and buried her face in Ike’s neck as tears spilled from her eyes.

[Madison Bane]

Madison smiled at the thought, his imagination bursting with colour and rolling hills. “Don’t forget Prince Charming, unless you’re substituting him for Rex, uh, I mean Ike over there,” he said, nodding towards the playful dog, who was taking his sweet time getting the stick back over to them. He was distracted by rolling around in the grass, the stick hitting the ground at awkward angles every time Ike decided to roll over. “He’s entertaining,” Madison pointed out, as though trying to persuade her of the idea. Touching the specs, Madison shrugged. “I guess you’re right. But do you see a scar? Like come on.” He smirked then, and shook his head. “Neville? Please. You’ve got the wrong house.” If they were going to do this they were going to do it right.

The teen had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He knew what he was doing by calling her on her age, it was just his brand of humour. Either people liked him or they didn’t, though he wished more did – he was pretty amazing after all. “You’re just mad because I’m right. You’re thirty two aren’t you?” He smirked to himself, putting his hands up in mock defense. “Hey, I was close, you have to give me that. And what if I’m not interested in advice about women?” He wasn’t really sure who or what he liked yet, and he wasn’t trying to decide. Madison was quite happy sitting in his room in the dark, reading and writing.

“Pretty much,” Madison said, unphased by her reaction. Most women were like this, lighthearted and cheery one second, but say something general and they take it as a personal attack. So much for the image of a princess in his head. “You can’t just let him have all the control, dogs work in packs, someone has to be the leader. And if you knew anything about dogs, you would know that.” Madison’s truthfulness just came off as harsh, that was all. He didn’t really see what he was doing or saying as being mean, it was just how he was. Frowning slightly, Madison took the painting. “Look, if you can’t take constructive criticism that’s not my problem.”

Madison managed a laugh. “Ooo, sure I won’t cast a spell on you when you turn your back?” He shrugged. Most people didn’t want to be around him when he was honest, but he didn’t like being fake. Except for the fake glasses he wore constantly – he liked those. There was nothing left to do but get back to the school. Everything was stuffed into his backpack in a hurry, and he took off the glasses for swiftness while he walked. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Madison started walking along the lake’s shore at a brisk pace. But that stupid dog, it wouldn’t shut up! Turning around to walk backwards, Madison watched with his mouth slightly open as the hot weather lady waded into the water without a swimsuit, which was really unfortunate but also weird.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” He yelled at her, but she didn’t seem to be listening. In fact, it looked as though she were about to pass out. Watching with interest, Madison wondered if there was something he could do to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. Running back to where she was, Madison didn’t dare enter the water, but he wasn’t going to let her drown either. Ike seemed like enough support for her though, and after a while, she came to. “You sure you’re not on crack?” Madison asked, knowing those would be the last words he’d say to her, but he had to make sure he wouldn’t see her in the obituaries tomorrow – that would just be the worst ending to a story that just started.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“What?” Idalia said in an exaggerated tone, “Ike’s better than all of the Prince Charmings put together.” She ruffled his head affectionately. Idalia didn’t say so but she was one of those girls who would want nothing more than a Prince Charming. So long as said Prince Charming did things her way. She supposed every girl at some point in her life wished for that knight on a white steed. She smiled at her thoughts, she was the one that always ruined the relationships. She pushed them away afraid of what it would mean when she was willing to give up everything for one person. That terrified her, she had worked hard for her job and she didn’t want to give it up for some man. They called her a workaholic and they weren’t wrong. She smiled up at him and nodded in agreement. Ida laughed. “Well how about that Colin kid? He was all about taking pictures.” Though didn’t he die at the end?

“How about no?” She laughed good natured but secretly she swore one more crack about her age and she was going to deck him. She probably could he was pretty boney. Ida lifted her hands and gave him a look. “Oh, well if you play for the other team, I’m not one to judge,” she said with a pleasant smile, “But I’m not much help with men.” It was easy to play the cheerful roll, she had to do it on camera so many times. She hated to think of herself as one of those easily offended girl, but she was being just that. She huffed, frustrated with herself. She was stronger than this. But she also wasn’t going to let him walk all over her. Perhaps that was her problem. She found problems and reacted to them even if they were only in her mind. But the comment about her dog was the last straw. She was a good mother to him.

She just stood there shaking her head. Not because she disagreed with what he was saying, but because it was grating on her nerves that he was right. “That’s not constructive criticism.” Idalia snapped. When she left she was more angry at the situation, the young man had really done nothing but been honest. But he was insufferable! Cocky, thinking he knows everything. She shook her head, sounded like Idalia. She gestured in a dismissive manner obviously not concerned about him bespelling her. The more she walked the more it was pride and not actual anger that made her unable to turn back. He had actually had some good advice.

Idalia didn’t hear him call out the first time. She looked up at the sky and once she was sure there was not a fragment of a cloud in the sky, save some gentle cirrus floating blissfully high above. There was no thunderstorm, no wind, no driving rain. No lightning. But why was she wet? It was only with that thought she realized she was in the lake! In the lake! She gave a startled scream and realized the only reason she hadn’t gone in farther was because Ike, glorious puppy, was pulling back as hard as he could at the leash around her wrist. “Oh my God!” she shrieked and scrambled for the shore and she would have kept retreating if she didn’t run into someone asking if she was on crack. She looked up into the eyes of the insufferable boy and shook his shoulders. “What happened?”

She covered her head and turned away before abruptly pulling out her phone. Ruined. She swore in language her mother would have slapped her for and threw the phone at the ground. This had never happened before. She had seized once and passed out the other time she completely lost consciousness during a vision. She had never walked right into a goddamn lake! She hugged herself, partially from cold and partially to block out what terrible thing could have just happened. Idalia closed her eyes and made herself breathe trying to make herself calm down. She hadn’t even seen what she was trying to get. But it was a person and if she didn’t make it. He was going to die. She hated this. It wasn’t supposed to work like that. She was supposed to see weather. Somehow weather related events fixed onto that as well. Someone was going to die. And she didn’t know when or where. She took a deep breath and whirled on him still wiping her eyes clear. “I need your phone.” She demanded then after a moment realizing how she had left him added, “Please.”

[Madison Bane]

Madison shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat lady.” Honestly, he wasn’t into bestiality himself, but that wasn’t his business. Letting out a sigh, Madison shook his head. She was only embarrassing herself at this point, it was starting to irritate him. She was ruining the image he had for his story! Fuck, if only she’d stop talking. “Are you one of those people who’s just seen the movies?” Because if she was, this conversation was clearly over.

“I don’t really know what my time is, so don’t start rooting for any teams just yet.” Madison wasn’t too worried about his love life or lack thereof. He was content in his own little world, with his electronics and imagination. He was probably going to end up being one of those weird people who drew animations for YouTube. Oh well, the thought actually excited him. Madison was too wrapped up in his own mind to really notice that the weather lady had a small rain cloud forming over her head because of him. Madison was honest, that usually didn’t mean he was pleasant to be around. “Sure it is,” Madison insisted, “that’s why you’re so offended right now.” But she was already walking away, so he’d have to yell the rest out. “You’ll go home and listen to the advice when you think it’s coming from your own mind and then Roofus, Ike, whatever, will do whatever you want! Even lick peanut butter off of you!” Now that, was some kind of prince charming.

Madison looked her up and down as he was being shaken. “Hey! Calm down crazy lady!” He said, pushing her away by the shoulders, taking a gulp. “You looked like you were about to portal into the sky or something, I don’t know, nothing happened.” Madison had already set down his backpack again, rummaging through it. He was a hoarder (though he’d never admit it), and pulled out a woman’s sweater from his bag. “Here, you’re shivering,” he said, plopping the sweater unceremoniously around her shoulders. At least she wouldn’t be all sniffly on air tomorrow. “You’re welcome,” he said, before she could say anything about it. Handing over his crappy cell phone, Madison took a step back and simply watched, wondering what was going to happen next. “Are you calling an ambulance or something?” In his mind, it was already done.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

“What? I love my dog and don’t need a man to be happy. Something wrong with that?” She was starting to get just as annoyed with him as he was with her. Ida laughed at his question. “Listen kid, I read the first book before you could even read.” Wow, she thought, so much for not looking like an old person. She was just starting high school when the first book came out. Now it was hard to image that she hadn’t grown up reading those books. Idalia was glad to say she had missed the Twilight obsession. Her younger sisters had gotten caught up in it and so she had read the series but after the first movie she refused to pay money to see any of the ones following. That right there was a terrible piece of literature. No, it wasn’t even fair to call it literature. Idalia had a harsh opinions on some books. Harry Potter, however, she loved rereading those books.

She nodded flushing a little at having assumed. Well at least she could say she knew for sure which way she went. She had had that moment in college… but that was never to be spoken of. If she hadn’t already resolved to stalk away from him she would have hit him. He didn’t know anything about her. There were times to be honest and there were times to hold one’s tongue. Idalia would have probably been hurt if one of her best friends had said the same thing to her, but she would have listened because she cared about their opinion. The opinion she did not care to hear about was some stranger she met at the park. She couldn’t believe how rude he was being! No wonder he didn’t have a girlfriend! No one could stand to be around him for more than ten seconds! Idalia was struggling now and if it weren’t for her godforsaken visions she would have left him in the dust.

But when she came too she freaked out rather thoroughly and he was the closest human being to her. Great, so she was the crazy lady. Maybe she should have gotten cats instead of a dog. But then a cat would never have kept her from drowning herself mid-vision. Well she probably looked like a crazy lady right then. She shook her head. So it had been here. This lake. Her mind worked through it and she examined the sky with a critical eye. She blinked in surprise and turned to look at him. She resisted the urge to ask why he had a woman’s sweater in his bag, but it did help. She gave him a sour look before giving a soft, “Thank you.” She repeated the phrase as she took his phone and turned away. She shook her head. “Of course not.” She froze as the breeze tugged at her hair. But it was nothing like the monstrous wind her vision had had. She dialed quickly and then realizing that she didn’t want to call her mother and have her come rescue her she dialed the station number. It took a moment to answer but their intern answered.

“Lacy, hi, it’s Idalia,” the intern stammered out a greeting calling her formally, she was going to have to get her to stop calling her Dr. Tsavaris, they were technically coworkers. “Listen, is Chris there? Dr. Lanior. Yes, thank you. Put him on please. Now Lacy.” She rubbed her forehead a headache growing. “Hey, good, you? Good. Can you… I know, I’m borrowing someone’s… It’s a long story. Chris… Chris, I need you to pull up the radar for me. Do you see anything?” She listened as he told her it was showing next to nothing. A flock of birds to the north but nothing else. “At all? What about to the West?... Nothing? Damn.” Chris knew about her visions very well, they had gone to undergrad together. When he asked what she saw she bit her lip and slipped a few of the details under the rug. “Thunderstorm, huge one by the Pilot Ridge Lake…. I don’t know…. I don’t know. Listen it’s big. Potentially severe. I want you to keep a close eye on the radar until I get in there. Okay, thanks. See you soon.” She hung up and handed the phone over. “Thank you.”

She looked down at herself, maybe she could just get clean and run in. She could never go in without looking professional. She sighed as she worked out how long it would take to shower and throw on something nice. It didn’t sound like the radar showed anything dire. Maybe she should stay here and wait. Though she didn’t know if this storm was going to happen today, tomorrow or next month. Idalia smiled at him and did her best to ignore all of his ‘constructive criticism’ from before in favor of the good Samaritan he had been. “Thank you so much for you help,” She bit her tongue hating to apologize for something she didn’t feel she had to. “I’m sorry for overreacting earlier. And you really are a great artist. Good luck with school.” She stuck her hand out to give him a hand shake and be on her way out of here.