Career Advice (open)

[Jace Murphy]

After a long talk with her father, Jace meandered into the library. Bemoaning her lack of focus when it came to trying to select a potential career, her father finally suggested something to do with her power. After all, hadn't her mother built a successful home aquarium business? She'd lost count of the lectures about proper care and maintenance for their own freshwater tank at home.

She didn't want to get into the "family business," though. The idea of learning about the fish themselves peaked her interest a little bit. She wound up in the sciences, browsing for books about the ocean. As soon as she caught sight of the spine for a thick Marine Biology textbook, she relaxed. The deep cobalt hue of the water made her release her breath in a cool rush. A little farther down the shelf, she found a book titled simply FISH. She picked the book off the shelf, flipping through images of colorful reef fish and brilliant coral structures.

"I wish I could breathe underwater," she mused aloud, stopping on a page full of shots of scuba divers floating just beyond a magnificent coral reef. She spared a brief thought for her mother, wondering why she'd chosen to keep aquariums instead of spending time working with the real thing.

Tucking the book under her arm, she selected several titles from the marine science shelf and carried the stack to a secluded table away from the windows. It was particularly sunny today, and she would rather not sit in the harsh light. Dropping her spoils onto the table, she pulled out a notebook and her faithful two-liter bottle of water to settle in for a long day of reading.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley's biology class could not have been any more boring and she couldn't wait until the end of class. But the teacher clearly had different ideas for the students who were already drifting off to sleep. She had assigned each table one different types of animals to study.

Like Haley could even think of doing partner work.

Usually, she would procrastinate and wait until the last day to do the assignment but thankfully, she got the one type of animal she actually liked. The wolf.

It was unfortunate that she had to go to the library though. Dreary old musty place. Void of life, in Haley's opinion.

But there she was, looking through the shelves, finding any book she could that had to do with wolves. She ended up with an armful, not caring where she was going or if she hit anybody.

Dropping her books at the nearest table that was occupied by another girl, Haley pursed her lips and tried to find pen and paper to jot down whatever she found out about her favourite animal.

"Mind if I nick off a pen and paper from ya?" She shamelessly asked the girl who was reading up on fish. Boring.

[Jace Murphy]

Nose buried deep in a book about bottom-feeding fish, Jace didn't hear her fellow student until another pile of books unceremoniously joined hers. She started and looked up, stunned for a moment. She belatedly registered the other girl's request and scrambled for her bag. After a moment of fishing around, she produced a pencil.

"This is all I've got, but feel free to borrow it," she said, flipping pages in her notebook until she found a blank sheet. Ripping it out, she handed both paper and pencil to her classmate. "Let me know if you need any more."

The stack of books across from her were about wolves. She half-smiled. A fellow animal lover, even if it wasn't anything nearly as fascinating as a frogfish--a fish that could walk around on its fins.

"Homework or fun?" she asked, nodding at the books.

[Haley Shapiro]

Being patient was not one of Haley's better attributes so the fact that she even let the other girl stare blankly into space for a second was admirable. She did, however, give the girl a small smile when she produced both the things Haley had asked for and even asked if she wanted more.

"Will do, will do." The younger girl nodded and cracked open the first book. It looked like it hadn't been touched in awhile. It looked both new and old. Like it had been in storage forever. She began to write what she needed for the assignment and flipped through the pages quickly.

The other girl's question brought a snort from Haley. "Who reads books for fun?" She asked with a small sneer. "'Course it's for homework. Some stupid classification shit for Biology." Haley answered as she continued taking notes off the books.

[Jace Murphy]

"Some people do...though I guess this doesn't really count..." Jace said, poking at her stack of books. "I've been trying to figure out what I 'want to be when I grow up.'"

She made air quotes and rolled her eyes. "I'm of the opinion that sophomore year is waaay to early to be worrying about the real world, though. My dad's been bugging me. I'm Jace, by the way. Hydrokinesis. Biology's my top choice, though. Fish, mostly."

She poked her book by way of explanation, silently berating herself for running her mouth. Complete strangers do not want to know one's life history right off the bat. She grinned nervously and went back to her own reading.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley looked at the stack of books and then up at her table companion and then looked back at the books. "You wanna be a fish?" Haley asked with a deadpan expression.

As the other brunette spoke, Haley multi-tasked by writing down stuff she found from the books in front of her. Unintentionally rude, Haley didn't realise this until she was actually expected to respond. Proper table etiquettes or something? Lani taught her something about this.

"Uh Hales. Well, Haley but you can call me Hales. Or Shapiro. Don't matter to me either way. Super strength." Haley responded, using the pencil to jab her covered arm, hearing it crack lightly. "Ah shit...sorry man. I'll get you another pencil if ya want." She tried smoothening it down but only made it break even further.

"Ah damn it. Yeah, I'm just gonna keep using this if it's all the same to you. I'll give you mine. Which dorm you in?"

[Jace Murphy]

Jace let out a snort of unexpected laughter at the girl's comment. "Studying fish. Being a fish would be kind of cool, though. I kinda wish I could breathe underwater. My mom owns a shop that specializes in home aquariums. I'd rather spend my time with the wild ones, though. I think..."

Shut up, shut up, shut up... she chanted to herself silently. Nerves made her run her mouth incessantly. Before she knew it she'd probably be saying something to offend. She shrugged and tried to focus on reading again, but couldn't quite get her mind back on topic.

She nodded when the girl introduced herself, letting out a wince when Haley snapped her pencil. "It's no big deal. Go ahead and keep it."

"I'm in 403, but you don't need to replace it. I've got plenty of them. I swear my mother saved every single one of my brothers' school supplies."

[Haley Shapiro]

Things clicked in Haley's head when Jace explained, feeling a little stupid for even thinking what she had thought. Of course the girl didn't want to grow up to be a fish. That was highly illogical. What a dork. "Yeah...so cool." Haley said with an equally deadpan expression. She really needed to work on her people skills.

This...this is why she needed constant parental guidance.

"Ah cool. Thanks man. I keep breaking things that aren't mine and...yeah. If I don't get a semblance of control over this shit by the time I graduate, the world's gonna need a bubble to protect it from me." She shook her head and continued to write.

"That's nice." Haley said absent-mindedly, the thought of being an orphan clearly on her mind but she was really getting to the point where she was getting okay with that fact, really! "There's a name for what you wanna be right? A dork?" She teased, trying to ease the tension she had created in herself.

[Jace Murphy]

Jace wrinkled her nose at Haley’s lack of enthusiasm. Not many people were interested in biology the way she was. Her elder brothers were both engineers, and when she got Thomas to stand still long enough to listen to her latest passion for nature the most he had to say was “You’re so weird. Are you sure we’re related?” Disparaging remarks about “real science” were also typical. Davie was hardly around anyways, so she had no idea what his thoughts were. He called their mother usually once every other week, but that was it.

“That sucks,” she said lamely when Haley mentioned her lack of control. “I don’t know much about physical powers. Do you think you’d really get put into isolation if you’re not under control?”
She shook herself all over at the prospect. She hadn’t heard of such a thing, at least not in America, but the idea was terrifying.

Jace laughed at Haley’s joke, mostly to assure herself that it was a joke. “Marine biologist,” she answered. “The only thing I’m not too excited about is the possibility of smelling like fish all the time. I assume from your remark that you are not interested in science?”

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley saw the look on Jace's face and gave a small huff of laughter. She didn't fault the other girl for it. At least her lack of enthusiasm wasn't just limited to her alone. Haley still needed to find that polite little girl she was clearly going to grow up to be. Until then, everyone should just be happy Haley was even talking to them at any rate.

"It does, okay. I accidentally broke my bedside table the other day because I needed it for support. Six stitches from that," she held up her healing hand that was still in stitches. "If this stupid power came with rapid healing, it'd be fine but no, it bleeds out and I only feel the pain after I pass out. Fun times."

Jace's question brought a frown on Haley's face. "I don't know man but if they do...I don't think...nah, they're all about political correctness here and kumbaya this and happiness that. I don't think they'd do that." She shook her head, even though she was a little scared of the thought.

"Yeah, dork." She grinned lazily. "Let's just settle with the fact that I'm not interested in things I'm not good at." Which was her way to say she wasn't good at anything. Not that she would say that out loud. Jace could infer whatever she wanted from it.

"There's this guy in my class that smells like fish all the time. I think he turns into one. Maybe you could study him."

[Jace Murphy]

Jace gaped at Haley as she described breaking her nightstand. The craziest things had ever gotten with her power were during the middle of a swim practice when she lost focus on controlling the water and she shot it up her nose. Several minutes of sputtering later she was back in the water doing laps with everyone else.

She stood up and leaned across the table to look at Haley’s injury. “Ouch. Rapid healing? How does it work? You still need stitches? Do you—”

She caught herself mid-question and winced, sitting back down. “Sorry. I sort of just say the things that come into my head. Apparently I take after my grandmother. I think at the very least they’d let you stay here at Hammel long enough to get everything sorted out.”

Jace tried to keep her face smooth as she struggled with the internal horror she felt at her poor conversation skills. She couldn’t think of anything to say to backpedal her word vomit, but luckily Haley mentioned her classmate.

“He turns into a fish? Like…an actual fish? Not just gills? I would love to see that…”

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley couldn't help but laugh a little at the slack-jawed expression on Jace's face, a little proud of her little injury at that moment.

"Rapid healing is like...once you bust open your knee or whatever, it closes back up. Which is not what I have. I just feel the pain later. So like...I got this hole on my hand at one in the afternoon but I only felt the pain at like three. Everytime I bump into things, the pain is there, ya know? But like I just don't feel it while it's happening. You can punch me right now in the nose and I won't feel a thing. Until say two or three hours from now." She explained in length. And Jace thought she was the chatty one.

Haley shrugged at the apology, not even caring. "But I don't wanna stay here, man. This place sucks." She wrinkled her nose, only saying that because Lani was no longer there. She really missed her 'big brother'.

"Yeah, he almost died flopping in the sun one time." Haley shrugged. "I could totally introduce you two. You'd make a very fishy couple." Haley laughed at her own joke. "So wait, you were actually reading up on this," Haley pointed to the book in front of Jace. "For researching a career?"

[Jace Murphy]

"That sounds like it has the potential to be dangerous," Jace said when Haley finished explaining the rapid healing part of her power. She nodded in agreement to Haley's desire to leave Hammel. She loved the school, but she couldn't wait to get out and explore. Pilot Ridge was a town where everyone was welcome, but it was still so small compared to the rest of the world.

"I'm sure it will be alright," Jace said, offering a weak smile at Haley's expression.

She glanced down at her pile of books, reminded of her original reason for coming to the library. "Yeah, I guess. My dad says it's never too early to start looking. I think it is, though. Maybe I'll finish this later. Go meet your fish friend?"

[Haley Shapiro]

"It...kinda is. I went to the hospital because of it actually." Haley scratched the top of her head as one corner of her lip quirked up slightly. She wasn't all too bothered that it happened, even though she remembered how freaked Lani had been.

"Eh, I guess." She threw her shoulder up slightly and wrote on the piece of paper with her broken pencil.

Haley nodded, a little distracted before Jace mentioned the friend. "Oh yeah sure. I mean...I don't need to finish this any time soon anyway." Shrugging lightly, she flipped the book closed and folded up the piece of paper before stuffing it in the back pocket of her jeans.

Not even bothering to return the books to their original places, Haley got up and gestured for Jace to follow her.

"Come on. I feel like I'm getting smarter by the minute by being here. Not a good thing." The smaller brunette shook her head and started walking to the exit.

[OOC: Shall we call this a wrap?]

[Jace Murphy]

"Who needs homework?" she laughed. Jace grinned and followed suit, leavin her books in a neat pile on the corner of the table. She packed up her notebook and stood. She realized that Haley was halfway to the door and jogged to catch up.

"Hey, what's wrong with being smart?" she called after her.

[OOC: sounds good to me]