Abstraction (Zaide)

[Lyra Caruso]

The world inside reflections was a fine place of solitude, a dim world awash in ethereal indigo save for small windows into reality. Her steps were buoyant; her body seemed to simply feel lighter, leaving to wonder if her body existed of if she becomes a figment – Lyra barely had the ability long enough to grasp what actually happens to her. For the moment, the more complex thoughts took a backseat as she meanders this world, staring at the multitude of "windows" varying in size flickering past her in all directions.

One of the windows slows to a stop and Lyra watches as bright text is formed with the letters reversed. It took a squint of her eyes before it dawns on her what it was -oh! This was someone’s smartphone! Too bad it was far too small for her to crawl out of like the creepy girl in The Ring. The smartphone’s owner, a guy with dark hair, looks up in momentary distraction and Lyra reaches out to trace her fingers along the screen. He would look down briefly to see the words he just had entered only to see a new message:



It would be gone with a blink.

“What the fuck?”

Lyra’s attention flickered away, though she couldn't help but to snicker before continuing through the reflective world. There were so many smartphones in the vicinity, but to do the same trick twice? “Meh.” She mused.

An elongated shadow above her startles her enough to stop and lift her head. Sunlight above forced her gaze into a squint.
There were more of these shadows wafting aimlessly, the rays of sun ripples in a familiar way...but what? It was calm to watch, she could easily lose herself in just watching these shadows moving. Another lone shadow peers over the others and obscures the light just long enough for her eyes to adjust.

“OH, it’s a pond! And fish…God, I’m a dummy.” The girl muttered to herself, thankful that no one could hear her. Ordinary things looked so otherworldly from the other side! From the looks of it, it was just one person present watching the fish. And also from the looks of it, Lyra could also feel a strong pull, no longer able to move forward – had she reached the edge the mirror world? A look into the darkness, she could no longer see any other “windows” or even attempt to move further than the pond.

“Interesting.” But she would leave more exploration for another occasion. Time to observe!

[Zaide Manokai]

Meta-human: that was a noun that Zaide still couldn't comprehend as ordinary. It had been only a month ago that the word had even been brought to his attention. Now he was being told that not only do they exist, but that he- a seemingly normal guy in a presumably normal environment- was one of them. It was just something that didn't seem to want to sink in. Yet, the remaining moments of his past life were slowly withering away before him; come Monday and he would be officially known as a metaphysical human.

He had already met his roommates: the merman, the tin man, and the intangible man. They were an interesting bunch to say the least, but nothing that he could consider friendship material. In order to get away from the overwhelming change, Zaide had retreated and was now relaxing at the school pond away from the others. Of course, the likelihood of Kevin Bailey jumping out of it after a chat with the koi wasn't out of the question. In fact, Zaide was half expecting it to happen.

Fortunately, nothing strange had occurred as of late. It was just him, the fish and a mini box of Cheerios. The Cheerios were for the fish originally, but that didn't stop him from feeding himself from time to time. It was nice out here: no screaming, yelling or running around; no surprises to activate his powers; no one asking him about his abilities as casually as one would speak of the weather; nothing. There was just the sound of trickling water-no more no less.

[Lyra Caruso]

The figure watching the fish would feed the fish or take a handful for himself, a manifestation of the tranquility she watched from the other side. Lyra chewed on her bottom lip for a moment - way too calm, too boring for her taste. The guy above her seemed unassuming but she wondered what would it take to startle him. His types had never been easy to shake.

The girl was not quite sure to assume she floated up or if she somehow physically beckoned the image to come within reach. Either way, Lyra was able to lift her arm up to the pond-shaped window and began to trace the image of his face...but not quite right either. Her mind is open to play and the world moves to the trace of her fingers.

All it would take would be a moment where his attentions lapsed. One look to enjoy the day or to have a handful of cheerios. As soon as he looks into the reflection, he would see his own face...if it was a fleeting glance. A closer look would grand him to see a face worthy of Picasso's paintings: half-angular face shape with cheek bones in the wrong points, a cheek stretched to accommodate an eye, an ear atop his head and a nose turned upside down.

It was truly a masterpiece on either side of the reflection!

[Zaide Manokai]

Zaide absentmindedly flicked a few more Cheerios into the water, watching the koi- which were getting a little bit chubby from the students feeding them- swim up and gobble them up. He chuckled quietly at them and then tossed his head back, eating what was left in his hand. He originally wasn't a fan of cheerios, but... whatever... he was hungry.

Munching on the snack alongside the fish, he rubbed away the crumbs an looked back down at the water to see his own reflection.... and not a pretty one at that. It was morphed into an almost grotesque shape as if someone put it in a blender. He scowled and leaned closer to the surface, one of his hand instinctively reaching up and touching his cheek.

Nope... no eye there.

He let out a sigh of relief into his hand, slowly lowering it onto the bank so he could lean in further. From there, he cocked his head and he studied the face. Despite the obvious and rather demented point of view, it was still quiet good.

"What in the...?" he mumbled under his breath, reaching down and stroking the water's edge. He was more curious than perturbed by the sight. It was obvious even to him that it was someone else's doing, but... how were they doing it exactly? Were they playing with his head? Where they playing with the light? The water? How?

[Lyra Caruso]

On the other side of the reflection, Lyra pouted. Well, glad to see he wasn't a very vain person, they would probably take the sudden crazy change in their appearance a little harder. On the other hand, she had managed to grab his interest! The girl crosses her arms in thought, trying to figure out what she could do next.

"...Suppose if I..." She clicked her tongue and nods.

Lyra felt her body lift until she was able to press her face to the same general area she had drawn the Picasso reflection of the loner. It would take some balance, and as long as she didn't push too far, the game could continue.

"Can't you tell who I am?" The grotesque reflection answers him: his voice came out of the crooked mouth moved and the eyes blinked a moment apart from one another. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"I am the you that hides."

Lyra pressed her hand to her mouth a moment to stifle a snicker. What the hell was she even talking about? That made no sense...roll with it! She pressed her face closer, the reflection bulged, as if emerging from the pool itself.

[Zaide Manokai]

He cocked his head again, this time turning it to the other side, as he studied the face. It was.... now that he was getting used to it, very cool. He kind of had the urge to poke it... just to see if he'd feel anything. He smiled a half smile and reached a hand out towards it before it spoke... in his voice.

He twitched and jerked back in shock. It spoke.... to him. It was moving from creepy to just plain bizarre. His brow furrowed again as he leaned back and waited for the face to speak again. It would... he knew it would.

And, just like he predicted, it did... saying the most unlikely thing. His expression grew grim at the idea, but he knew that it wasn't true. It didn't even speak like his conscious did. He knew that side of him well.

"I don't blame you," he answered calmly, "If I looked like that, I would too..."

He shifted in his place, crossing his legs and looking down at the now bulging creature. It was such a disturbing sight, he wasn't sure whether he should poise himself to flee or stand his ground. The likelihood of it attacking wasn't nonexistent by a long shot. He casually lifted his eyes away form the pool, looking around the area to find whoever was conjuring it. They were close by: they had to be.

[Lyra Caruso]

"Why must you deny me? Do you think me a sliver your imagination?"

His Picasso reflection voice rasped, rife with hurt and simmering anger. One of the eyes flicked to a red glow, but it would be gone with a blink. The image had paled into ghostly monochromatic colors.

And worse, a small "kukukuku" cackle wafts from the reflection.

Was he really seeing this? Was the surreal reflection trying to reach for him?

"Must you deny the truth? Kukukuku, merge...MERGE WITH ME!"

The reflection bulged and then bubbled...and then a hand reached out from the center of the reflection to try and grab him, the splash from emergence startling the koi fish in the process.

If the poor guy had not managed to jump back a few feet, he would see the hand that rose was obviously not his own. It was slim hand arm, and there was a red and black band with silver studs. And a small laughter muted but definitely not his.

[Zaide Manokai]

The creature in the pond was obviously angered now... and it was Zaide's fault. He grimaced as it spoke in a pain and hate-ridden voice, but refused to answer any of its questions. How could he without saying what it obviously didn't want to hear?

To make things worse, it also started to change and bulge even more. By this time, Zaide's instincts were telling him to run for his life. Even if he wanted to, his legs were like cement lying on the bank. Wait.... was he actually...

Scared?

Zaide watched in horror, planted to the spot, as the creature shifted into 3D and a hand reached out for him. He yelped loudly and threw himself backwards and onto the ground in a pathetic attempt to evade it. His heart was hammering away wildly in his chest and the only thoughts that were clearly coming through were

Make it stop. Make it stop. Stop.

If the girl was unlucky, the shock would make Zaide's powers start up. They ultimately would try to do one thing: stop her hand from reaching for him. Whether it was by weakening her powers to where she couldn't move out of the pond or make her hand feel much, much heavier, that was unknown. Zaide had just recently learned his abilities existed: he had no control over them yet.

[Lyra Caruso]

Oh, his reaction was fantastic! It was exactly what Lyra wanted to see hear! Inside the reflection of the pond, she was laughing aloud. Oh this felt like those first few days before the Hammel recruiter showed up.

Of course, now there was a downside to scaring people with powers. She felt something...off about her hand. She normally felt it when crossing the threshold between the reflection world and reality. When physically crossing, the usual sensations she would feel melt away. Her body would feel light and airy, like she could fade away if she remained too long.

Part of her felt that way at the very moment.Her exposed arm could feel the the elements; cool and wet water, sunlight in her palm, the soft waft of the wind.

"The hell?" She muttered. Nope, she didn't like the duality of the sensations. It was interesting to note, but the difference felt too weird. Lyra tried to retract her arm without success. Was she stuck? How was this even possible? Was her powers not working?!

"Ow! Oh what the hell is this crap?!" She shouted, which coming from the pond, sounded like a disembodied voice. An extremely annoyed disembodied voice! The exposed hand was very real now and clenched with the effort of returning into the reflection. No matter how one looked at it, it was a very strange sight.

[Zaide Manokai]

Zaide sat up from his pathetic, cowering position and looked to the disembodied hand. He could hear the voice clear as day... and it was certainly a feminine one. In fact, everything about the 'person' in front of him was female. As the girl struggled to get free, he struggled to calm his body down: feats that both of them were finding far from easy.

Finally, though, Zaide managed to calm himself down enough to climb back onto his knees (and let his powers fade). He swallowed the lump in his throat and reached out, grabbing the girl's wrist. He squeezed it tightly, telling her that he had no intention of letting her go any time soon.

"Who are you?" he snapped, glaring towards the area her hand was protruding from. She had scared him half to death and, to top it all off, had been laughing about it before things got complicated. Was this a cruel joke of her own accord or did something or someone put her up to it? Well, he was more than willing to demand answers. Now.

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra had been trying to retract her hand with such determination that she flinched when she felt a new sensation - a grab of her wrist. His grip was tight on her and from her view, he wasn't too pleased with her prank. There was a give, she'd be able to pull her hand back if it wasn't for the one holding her there.

The girl in the reflection glared at the boy for a moment. It would be nice if he, you know, let go of her. What to do...she never really understood why people get so mad when pranked on. It was just a joke! It was still early to tell if this one had a sense of humor or not.

Time to play it safe.

A smile crosses her face. It could be a sweet in one light and yet a smirk in another. Lyra lacks the charm she had seen other girls have on this campus - the girly ones could always get away with it better than she could.

"You want your answers, Zen? Tell you what, mind pulling me out? Do that and I'll level with you, 'kay?"

[Zaide Manokai]

Zaide wasn't exactly sure if he could trust the girl. She had, after all, came up with the rather crude scheme of scaring the pants off of him. He hesitated for a while, trying his best to decide what he should do. If he pulled her out, would she do something creepy, like detach her arm, in order to disturb him further? Would she pull him in with unforseen strength? Could she do anything to him through physical contact? Several possibilities and predictions scanned through his mind until he decided. While it was quite possible for her to continue her practical joke, she couldn't inflict any serious harm onto him, correct?

He grimaced slightly and then released her, resituating himself before he gripped her hand again and pulled. There was some heavy resistance before a heavy slurp came from the water and she started to pull free, her entire arm slowly rising out of the pond. By the unstability of thier stances, agood push or pull from Lyra's direction would cause both of them to tumble in an awkward direction.

((I wonder how Zaide would react entering the reflection realm? Could he even do it without

A. having complications like his body exploding, imploding, can't breathe, can't move etc...
B. The A scenario if he doesn't keep constant physical contact with Lyra.
C. Having the realm reject him entirely and thus just ends up swimming/colliding with glass...

A possible twist, don't you think? We don't have to try it now... or ever. In fact, Lyra giving out the invitation to her realm would be an action based on trust and familiarity, which Zaide isn't even close to having. It's just a thought I just had.....))

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra grimaced at him while he took his damn sweet time deciding if he was going to let her go or pull her up. The option was there for him, it was a matter of actually choice! She would give the guy the answer he wants if he pulled her out of the uncomfortably stuck position. Besides, her arm was going numb, pretty good reason to indulge in a little grumpiness.

Anytime now, genius.

He released the grip on her and she felt a more tactile give of her arm between reality and the mirror world, enough that she felt herself responding to movement. Thank GOD! This was beginning to feel really freaky. Lyra wasn't strong enough to pull him in her direction and the distortion of the pond originating her arm on the outside did not give a very good indication of how much reach was needed.

The hell?

A slight pain in her limbs, it felt like static encroaching into her airy limbs. This was new...and unpleasant! Fight or flight kicked in-

OHSHI-notgoodnotgood!

The sensation startled her enough that she launched herself out of the mirror world and into reality. Two unfortunate results rose from the scare:

1) She would end up toppling onto the poor guy she had just scared.
2) Her clothes were now soaked, because being in fluid reflection did not make her immune to being wet.

If anyone had walked onto the scene, it probably would be embarrassing.

((PMed you possibilities later, we discuss this for later :3))

[Zaide Manokai]

He continued to pull on her hand, seeing that she slowly, but gradually, coming free. After her whole shoulder and some of her head was out, the pressure suddenly gave way and came towards him faster than he was ready for. He yelped loudly and fell back flat onto the bank, having the girl land in the center of him mere seconds later. He groaned at the new weight baring down on him.

"Get off..." he ordered. lifting his head from its resting place. He was dizzy and, to a degree, a lot more fatigued and tired than he had been before she came. He looked down at her as he recollected his thoughts, finding a small brunette in the center of him. Who was she? Why did she bug him? He was waiting for her to remove herself from on top of him before he'd start asking questions.

((ehh... I feel like a loser here, since I had no idea what to say. Sorry for the pathetically short post))

[Lyra Caruso]

Lyra blinked, moved a limb or two to make sure every one was present and still connected. Her eyes were wide in worry a moment, not even registering that she landed on top of someone. What in the world WAS that?

"Get off." And then a voice had the gall to throw orders from beneath her. Instant glare falls upon him.

"Oi! Will you wait a fucking second?!" Lyra snipped at first, then maybe it dawned on her that it was probably for the best to actually physically get off from him. The brunette huffed in annoyance and got up, allowing him to at least get up from the ground. She would be wringing water out of her shirt in the meantime.

"Dammit, should have figured that appearing in water would mean this. So much easier to use mirrors."

Who was this girl? A crass one that could feign cute if necessary. A flat gaze snaps fully to the guy she had scared. The girl made a promise to him: answers, right?

"It was a prank, ya dweeb. Not the last part, I got a little freaked out in there, not important. Honestly, I don't get why people get so mad over something as minor as a prank."

A cheerful grin crosses her face. "Your face was priceless!"