Cooling down? No thanks, I'm cool already (OPEN)

[Peyton Turner]

Ahhh, that sweet sweet smell of chlorine. Could anything really compare? Peyton's lips set in a rakish smile as he made his way into the pool area, a towel flung over his shoulder and blue plaid trunks riding low on his hips. Funny, he'd have thought more people would be in here on a day like this, when the pool was calling his name so very eagerly.

He'd only been at Hammel for a few days, and most of that had been spent in offices and training, being evaluated and taught a few basic exercises meant to help him learn to focus and control his powers. Oh, what powers? Why, just a little trick known as pheromone manipulation. No big deal. Except for, you know, the awesomeness of it.

Peyton was still psyched about what he'd gotten from the big wheel of random somewhat creepy supernatural abilities. Of course, he still didn't really get it. To him it was kind of like a little mental pig pen with tiny seedlings of feeling bouncing around, waiting to get out into the world. Or, at least, that's how he'd imagined it when they'd tried to explain. And right now, they were happily buzzing about in their pen, glad to stay exactly where they were until he needed them - though a couple of the bright yellow ones were hopping a bit more excitedly than the others.

Was that weird? Seeing his power like that? He was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked, but it was an image that stuck in his mind and cemented itself there. Little seedlings hopping about in a pen. It was cute, right? Would people consider that cute? He should figure that out, it might make for good material.

Shaking his head as he walked to a chair along the edge of the pool, he tried to get his thoughts back on track. Did he take his meds today? He wasn't entirely sure. He dropped the towel on a chair, glancing out over the pool. There were a few people, here and there, but it seemed pretty dead. He had to stop himself from doing a cannonball, though the temptation was strong. Instead, he jogged lightly toward the deep end and-

Nope, nope, his will was weak, and this place was boring. Besides, he wanted to get some attention. Attention = meeting people = friends. And Peyton was in desperate need of friends, being completely new to Hammel. Therefore...

*SPLASH!*

Oh, the water was glorious. It was slick, and cool, and when he popped his head up and flung his hair back with a spray, it made him look super cool. Because he was. Super cool.

Or, at least, y'know... they should think that.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

The way AJ looked at it, she had two choices-- hide away in her dorm room forever picking at loose strings on her sweaters and crying herself to sleep every night-- or get tough. It was an easy choice.

First she'd been overwhelmed by sadness and then anger had blurred her vision, seeped into her and colored her black and blue. She was bruised--beaten and battered and she was furious with how things had turned out.

She'd lost control and she'd manipulated people. All along she'd thought she was hurting people, that manipulating them was just something that wasn't moral--it was all sorts of wrong, no matter the emotion, but it was actually hurting her more than anything.

Slowly the mirror had started to crack and the image of herself she was so used to seeing had become distorted. She'd become as sharp as one of the shards themselves--refusing to be a broken, sad little girl, but instead angry and ready to threaten those with her power if they chose to associate with her.

She'd never gone to the pool at Hammel--but there was a first time for everything. She'd always gone to the lake, to avoid seeing people, at least many people, but she'd always loved swimming and she was determined to do what she wanted and not let people stand in her way.

She'd been floating on her back when she'd heard a loud splash followed by the upheaval of water coming over her like a tidal wave. It crashed over her and she retreated back to treading water, annoyed. She sent a glare at the respective owner of the splash as soon as he'd resurfaced, flipping his hair back.

The glare didn't look right on the brunette, but then again, nothing seemed right about her lately.

[Peyton Turner]

Ah! Girl! That was a girl!

...And he had disrupted her... floating, or whatever she'd been doing. Oops.

Peyton grinned sheepishly at her, swimming over. Hey - she'd made the first eye contact, that meant a connection had been established. And she didn't look happy. So apparently an apology would be the first thing to bridge that connection.

"Hey...." He gave her an awkward grimace. "...sorry about that." Pulling a sort of 'what can ya do?' face, he treaded water a few feet away, trying not to invade her personal bubble. He was curious to see if he could sense anything off her - mental-wise and stuff - but was still kinda nervous about prodding into people's heads, or brain chemicals, or whatever it was that was controlling this whole power thing. Instead, he patted the excited little seedlings on the head and told them to behave themselves.

"I'm Peyton, by the way-" Before she could speak, he quickly added, somewhat apologetically, "I know, I know, kind of an awkward meeting, what with the whole cannonball thing, but I just couldn't resist. My will is weak when it comes to water. Besides... If I had just-" he mimed the action as best he could whilst treading, "-slipped oh-so-casually into the pool, would you have even noticed me?" He maintained an innocent grin, not having really gotten a hang of anything that could qualify as 'wolfish' or 'lecherous.'

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ didn't say anything to him at first. Did her glare communicate the idea that she wanted to talk to him? Because it wasn't supposed to. "Yeah, whatever," she mumbled when he apologized. She didn't really know why he was apologizing. He'd jumped in on purpose to bring attention to himself. That alone was enough to make AJ want to ignore him. Who wanted that? AJ tried to cause attention away from herself. Before she'd just tried to be shy and not say much, but now she had to be rude, because people still didn't seem to get the message.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and this was definitely a desperate time. She swallowed as memories tried to resurface. "Probably not," she answered him honestly. "And it would have been better that way."

These words. They didn't belong to her, they didn't sound right coming out of her mouth, in her own soft voice, but she was saying them and hoped that they made him go away. It's all she had to rely on anymore.

[Peyton Turner]

Peyton's smile faltered at her mumbled dismissal. Well, that was... he kinda felt a little hurt. Really? But he was being so nice! He unconsciously cocked his head a bit to the side as he looked at her, his smile slipping to a look of curious concern. She didn't seem ok. He didn't like when people didn't seem ok.

He noticed her painful-looking swallow.

"Probably not. And it would have been better that way."

Ouch. Ouch ouch. Peyton knew that voice. He was used to hearing that voice from his friends when they'd been dumped, or rejected, or anytime they felt like they'd fucked something up beyond repair. That was sad girl voice. He immediately wanted to hug her, but at the same time his mind was giving him the ahahhaha, NO. That was definitely not appropriate.

The yellow seedling was tugging at the pen, but Peyton sent it a mental glare that put it back in it's place. He wasn't about to just throw pheromones at this girl and hope something stuck. That was not his style. He'd been comforting girls since before this weird-ass power had kicked in, and he could certainly keep at it now.

He moved a little closer, just enough so that his voice would stay private over the water, not traveling to anyone else in the pool. "Look.... I'm sorry about the whole splashing incident, I didn't mean to get in the way of your thinking time," his voice was sincere and genuine, and he was being serious. This wasn't a joke, this girl was sad. "I just - I wanted to make friends. Because I'm new, and I don't want to be alone." There. There was little nugget of plain truth that could strike a chord with anyone.

"I don't know who told you that people are better off not knowing you - I'm pretty sure that they're wrong." He managed a tentative smile, "I mean, I know I'm certainly glad I met you. Because I happen to be a fantastic kleenex-slash-don't-move-I'm-just-going-to-sit-here-like-you're-a-pillow." He tried to lighten the mood, but didn't know how well it would work. He just wanted to make friends and now, here he was, already returning to his old role of male-friend-comforter.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ hated seeing the smile falter on his face and the way it contorted into confusion and kind of...pain. She turned away from him quickly, her curls flopping over her shoulder. This was going to be a long road. Hurting others hurt her inside, but she couldn't keep setting herself up for disaster. She'd let her guard down too many times with people, thinking that she could make friends and that something wouldn't go wrong. But that was a mistake. A lot had gone wrong. Most of which she didn't want to even think about.

She turned to him when she realized he'd moved closer and began speaking again.

"I just wanted to make friends. I'm new and I don't want to be alone."

She couldn't believe that statement. She laughed, a short bitter laugh at him. She'd never heard that noise come out of her before. She knew all about being alone. It was her only choice. If she pushed those away who tried to talk to her, befriend her (because they did, she had a friendly sweet face and it was a curse), she'd be on her own and she wouldn't manipulate anybody or hurt anybody and nobody would hurt her.

I have to keep myself safe. "Yeah, well go make friends with her," AJ said, jerking her thumb in the direction of a random blondei n a bikini across the pool.

I told myself that people are better off not knowing me. Because it's true. There he was just smiling and trying to make it all better when he had no idea what had happened to her--and he didn't need to know. He just needed to take the message and leave her alone, or who knows what could happen.

[Peyton Turner]

He was surprised when she laughed at him. Was it that hard to believe? "What?" He was honestly baffled, asking why she was laughing. "Is that so hard to believe? Everyone wants companionship. And love. And all that good stuff." He fumbled kind of awkwardly with the L-word around girls, and his finish was less than stellar. All that good stuff? Really? You certainly know what you're talking about. His inner self snickered at him, but he ignored it.

Maybe he should let that little seedling have it's way... Nope, nope, not yet, he would stay the course. His eyes barely glanced away at the girl the brunette pointed to, determined to win with her. Couldn't she see he was just trying to help? Just to get a smile on her face? (Her totally charming yet painfully hollow-eyed face?) "I don't -" he shook his head, looking to the ceiling as though something there would tell him how he could get her to understand his good intentions. "I'm not about to leave you alone with that attitude." Gah! Not the right words! Definitely not the right words! Must fix!

Shaking his head slightly, trying to clear it, he attempted to correct himself with a deep breath, looking at the water to collect his thoughts. "I know... I'm an idealist. But no one should ever have to end their day wishing they'd never started it." That twinge in his gut hit him again, that twinge that reminded him of Laina, and Evvie, and each girl that he'd had to watch fawn over another guy without realizing that he was there. He'd had his down moments. But they were in the past. And now he just wanted to help. That's all. Just help.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"Of course everybody wants that, but it doesn't mean that they get it," AJ told him, bitterly. Of course he didn't know what she meant. Who would? Nobody had walked in her shoes. How he was thinking was so naive. It was how AJ used to think, how she refused to think anymore. She'd always been so busy yearning for companionship, for somebody to understand and not hate her because of her power and what she could do...and often did on accident. She tried to stay away from others, but just couldn't because she wanted to be around them...and now she realized that it was all a huge mistake.

I'm not about to leave you alone with that attitude.

He was stubborn. She noticed that right away. "First of all, you don't know why I have this attitude and you definitely don't want to find out," she spat, turning away, her wet curls flipping over her shoulder as he began to speak again.

No one should ever have to end their day wishing they'd never started it. "Yeah?" she asked, sinking down into the water. No one should have to, but that didn't mean that it didn't happen. Being an idealist only got you crushed. "Well, I have a few days in mind that I wish never started."

[Peyton Turner]

"First of all, you don't know why I have this attitude and you definitely don't want to find out."

Ouch. That stung. He wasn't used to people being so abrasive. The hurt flickered on his face for a second - a sort of questioning hangdog look - but then it was gone, replaced with a focused determination. This was frustrating. Why was she making this so difficult?

"Well, I have a few days in mind that I wish never started."

That gave him pause, and his head cocked a bit, subconsciously, as he wondered what she meant by that. They couldn't be that bad, right? He was about to say that, too, when he thought better of it. She'd brought out some of his darker feelings despite himself, and they formed into startlingly sincere blunt statements.

"We can't change what's in the past. But you can always change what hasn't happened yet." His words were raw and honest, his true view of the world, open for her to mock or ridicule, he just hoped she wouldn't. And then his mind - so easily distracted - caused another thought to bubble forth, a simple observation that came out as naivety; "Haven't you seen all those time travel movies?" It wasn't his most eloquent attempt at levity, but it had just sort of come out. He tried to bolster it with a crooked hopeful smile, trying to cover his random distraction with the guise of a joke. Shitty joke, though.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"We can't change what's in the past. But you can always change what hasn't happened yet.

He sounded so philosophical. She wasn't at the pool for a therapy session with some guy she barely knew. She could go to Dr. Neville for that. She was at the pool to take in the chlorine fumes and try to relax with how on edge she'd been lately.

She tried to prevent things from happening, but all it did was make things worse in the end. You couldn't fight what was meant to happen and maybe AJ was just doomed from the start. Time travel movies... Of course she'd seen them...people went back into the past to try and stop something from happening in the future and then it just usually ended up screwing things up and they realized that they were happy with how things turned out. It was cheesy and ridiculous and she was suddenly reminded of all the times she was curled up on the couch with her father and her beagle, Bagel, watching these ridiculous movies. A pang of happiness hit her at the thought--a simpler time....that she'd never get back.

She could have said something really rude, but instead she merely put forth a thought. "But what if your past only seems to repeat itself?"

[Peyton Turner]

Something tugged at Peyton as he watched her. There was a click in his head and that little tickling feeling he'd felt before. It was like the deadbolt on his mental pen had come undone, taking away one level of security that would've kept his seedlings in, and they were resonating with something. But that didn't make sense. She wasn't happy. She so obviously wasn't happy.

The feeling was fading fast, the buzzing calming, the bolt slowly beginning to slide back. Well... maybe he could. It obviously wasn't this girl who was happy, so it was probably coming from someone else. And why not make someone's day just a smidgeon brighter? Heh. Smidgeon. Funny word. He plucked a tiny seedling in his mind, nudging it out into the world, just a tiny pinch of happiness headed out to find it's match, whoever it was.

"But what if your past only seems to repeat itself?"

It was hard to concentrate on anything else for a moment, and he was somewhat preoccupied as he parroted something he'd heard time and time again, especially when he'd done the executive function program: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results."

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

Something was wrong. Completely wrong. Well, everything was wrong. But AJ knew that in this moment, something had gone wrong. The world suddenly felt a bit brighter and she suddenly felt a bit like everything hadn't totally gone to shit.

"Insanity is repeating that statement which is something you obviously regurgitated," she said, a light-hearted, joking tone to her voice as she pointed it out. It was the tiniest change, as if the sun had just managed to poke through the clouds on a really rainy day. It was strange. A fleeting thought about her father...about simpler times and....that feeling had been turned into something more, just a bit more but it was still noticeable.

She could recognize this. An alarm instantly went off in her brain as she looked at the guy in the water before her. "What's your power?" she deadpanned.

[Peyton Turner]

"Insanity is repeating that statement which is something you obviously regurgitated."

Her lightness had him elated. She was joking with him! This was a good sign! This was success! She'd finally managed to see the-

"What's your power?"

Oh. Well fuck. "Sorry, I didn't realize that that was you," he babbled, apologetically, feeling awkward and kinda guilty for manipulating her, "I didn't realize you had any sort of buzzy thing happening, I thought it was someone over there," he gestured halfheartedly, vaguely referring to the people on the other side of the pool. He wasn't exactly good at words. They didn't seem to want to shape themselves into nice coherent explanations. Buzzy thing? What was this?

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"Sorry, I didn't realize that was you.

AJ swallowed as he went on and on, explaining that he was sure she wasn't the one that had been 'buzzy.' "Buzzy?" she questioned practically interrupting him. "You mean, happy?" AJ was good with words, she did write and read a lot after all, but this guy was so bad that he'd used 'buzzy'? What did that even mean?

"You didn't answer my question." It was true, he hadn't, but she had a feeling she already knew the answer. "You...you manipulated me." It was a startling realization, what he'd done. "That's not something that you play around with!" If anybody should know, it was her. If he really did have her same power like she was thinking...then he'd used it on her. "You don't just make people feel something. That's not fair to them. They might not want to feel that emotion! "

She was saying way too much, but she was just so shocked that somebody else had her power and that they were using it as if it was no big deal.

[Peyton Turner]

"Buzzy? You mean, happy?"

No, he meant buzzy - he meant that feeling he got when there was something he knew how to work with that was nearby and able to be amplified - and he was about to explain that, but she cut him off.

"You didn't answer my question. You...you manipulated me. That's not something that you play around with! You don't just make people feel something. That's not fair to them. They might not want to feel that emotion!"

He felt himself flushing, but also felt the need to defend himself welling up in him - "You don't understand, I know you shouldn't manipulate people, but I thought - the way it's happened before I just took someone who was already happy and made them happier!" He hadn't meant to offend her, he really hadn't, "I didn't know it was you! I thought you didn't have anything that would-" Oh, right, the buzzing. He should attempt to explain that.

"See, with this whole-" he gestured around his head, somewhat wildly, not sure how to refer to his... power? ability? condition? "-business, it's like I get a little - like a little buzz in my head when what I have," he put out one hand, "-and what someone else has," he put out the other, "-matches up," he locked his fingers together and shook them gently, trying to make it clear. "And if they do then I can kinda - just - I don't know, it's like little seeds." He managed, lamely.

This was going horribly. He'd only wanted to help and now he was busy stumbling over an explanation of something he still didn't really understand. And he still felt guilty that he'd done that to her. He didn't even wonder how she could have noticed. He'd never really done it to someone unwilling before.