Deja Vu (Liv) [M]

[Olivia Baker]

Liv watched Peyton's expression as he worked to get a hint out for her. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to be a half assed attempt to impress her, but she'd give him the benefit of the doubt. It was stunning out, at least he'd picked a good day to apologize. The air was biting, but the smokey scent of fire lingered in the air and the fresh snow sparkled in the remaining sunlight. Under her feet, the snow crunched satisfyingly under her mother's hand me down riding boots. She could only imagine the horror her mother would have watching her trudge around in the snow in the antiques. 

"Well, I can say that sunset will be coming up in a couple hours."

"Coming up?" She teased, knowing he meant going down. "it'll be beautiful I'm sure." How couldn't it be? 

"There's this place, it has a really amazing view."

"Really?" She said more as a way to continue the conversation than as to doubt him. She knew there were thousands of beautiful spots in Vermont on and off campus. Surely, this one wouldn't disappoint.

They walked for a while longer, and minute by minute the sun started to crawl on a downward path, heading for the trees. When they were on their way back it'd no doubt be dark. 

Liv bent down and gathered a bit of snow as they continued. "So... Since we have such a strong connection to balls." She started, hoping that it wouldn't be too insensitive considering the uhm... situation from last time. "Think fast!" She laughed and pelted him. Maturity for the win.

[Peyton Turner]

"Coming up?"

Oh geez... Freudian slip, that one. Peyton felt his face tingling a bit, but blamed it on the cold. Winter meant rosy cheeks. That was just how nature worked. ....Yeah, totally not blushing over comments that called back to their previous meeting. Not at all.

Thank god she kept talking.

Not wanting to give anything away, Peyton avoided the question, "It shouldn't be much farther, actually." He picked up his pace, both to keep warm and because he was still kinda nervous about looking like an idiot. Not that he didn't usually look like a bit of an idiot. But he'd really prefer not to.

"So... Since we have such a strong connection to balls."

...Wait, what? It took Peyton a moment to process what she'd said as he turned to face her with confused amusement-

He barely heard her warning before the projectile hit his chest, spraying snow across the front of his jacket. For a second he stood, surprised. Then his grin widened, "Oh you are so going to regret that." He ran ahead, scooping a handful of snow up on his way, still attempting to keep on the silly-looking mittens as he balled it up and chucked it at her.

Luckily, he was able to refrain from more ball comments. He didn't think she'd appreciate the threat of balls to the face. It was just a little too graphic. ....heh...

Oh, right, they were actually trying to get somewhere. Glancing back over his shoulder, Peyton was pretty sure he could see the construction site a little further in the distance, the white tarps helping to camouflage it in the snowy woods.

[Olivia Baker]

"Oh you are so going to regret that." 

Liv squealed as he began to retaliate, running away from him picking up snow as she went attempting to create a snowball before he could, she failed and he sent a well deserved snowball into her shoulder.

"Jeeze Pey, you've got an arm!" She chuckled rubbing the "wounded" area. It was true, he'd gotten her a bit harder than she'd expect, but that tended to happen with snowballs. So light, and full of ice, it was hard to gage what was appropriate. She wanted to throw another but he seemed distracted, looking off to a construction site that was a little ways away still.

She came up beside him looking as well. "Is that where we're going?" She asked raising a brow. This didn't seem like the smartest idea, but then again neither was their last date. Not date! Hang out. 

"Lets hurry up." she said as the wind blew, sending chills into her bones. "It's starting to get cold." 

Liv started them back up in the direction of the site. As they walked, her hand bumped Peyton's. Twice. SHe wasn't sure what she was trying to do... maybe hold his hand? But she didn't want him to know that so she wouldn't actually do it... but she'd bumped him twice if she did it again it might be obvious and then that'd be embarrassing. No liv. She had to remember what happened last time she'd done something forward and stupid. She continued walking, her hand not bumping his.

[Peyton Turner]

Her squealing was kind of adorable. Like super adorable. Peyton couldn't help but grin. He was about to say something about how all his ninja training was paying off, but she cut him off.

"Is that where we're going?"

Damn, he was hoping she wouldn't notice him looking at it. She didn't sound all that thrilled. And it wasn't really the most thrilling of activities... he'd just have to make it sound like it. "It's really cool," he assured her, "Someone told me about it back in October. This house started construction like a year ago and they have to take off whenever there's bad weather, so it's always empty in the late fall and through the winter. The upstairs has this great view out over the lake." He'd explored it once, briefly, with Ryder, but hadn't been back since. He snuck a sidelong glance at her as she stood next to him, wondering how she'd react.

"Lets hurry up. It's starting to get cold."

Peyton almost let out a breath of relief. He wasn't entirely sure why he felt the need to impress her, but he did. Or at the very least, to not disappoint her. But she was already leading the way, so that was a good sign.

The walk was comfortable, but Peyton was put a little on edge as her hand sort of bumped his a couple times. He wasn't sure how to react to that. "Do you, uh, want your mittens back?" He waved the now snow-encrusted mittens, trying to keep them on his too-big hands. "They might not fit all the way, but they're definitely warmer than no mittens at all."

[Olivia Baker]

Liv nodded as he spoke about the house. She was nervous. A construction site didn't exactly sound legal or safe, especially in the dark and she knew that she didn't have any flashlights, and didn't suspect that he did either. Of course it wasn't dark yet, but it would be. She wished at this moment that her ability was light or fire, that'd no doubt be helpful. 

She glanced at him when she asked if she wanted her mittens and chuckled. "If you don't mind." She said, she looked down at her hands, her pale skin had failed to hide how cold her hands felt, they were beat red. Picking up snow was probably a bad idea. 

"You know... I can help us get there a little faster so we have a head start on the sun." She said "I can slow down time for a few minutes around us but keep us how we are now... i have five minutes tops i can control it but it'll help." She said. "Youll need to be uhm... touching me to do it though." She really didn't plan this, she didn't mind, but she didn't plan for that to happen. She took the mittens from him while she waited for his answer, slipping them onto her icicle fingers. 

[Peyton Turner]

Peyton had not thought nearly enough ahead. Not only did he not have his own gloves or mittens - he had nothing to keep them warm once the sun went down, and nothing to help them see their way. But the sun would still be up for another hour, maybe more, so he'd just avoid thinking about it until he really needed it. He was a procrastinator at heart.

As he handed over the mittens, he considered her proposition. Not that... she wasn't propositioning him. He considered her... suggestion. That was the right word for it.

"I would totally appreciate that." How had he not known her power? They'd been in English class together all year and it hadn't come up? Then again, he didn't really talk about his ability, either. Not after meeting AJ. He didn't want people to assume he was manipulating them. In fact, he had barely used his power at all, outside of training.

"I have five minutes tops I can control it but it'll help. ...You'll need to be uhm... touching me to do it though."

As they continued walking, Peyton nodded, "We should have a plan of attack before you start, then. Like, will it make it less cold? Or easier to walk on the snow? Could we just book it to the house?" He was rubbing his hands together to keep them warm, not wanting ice hands if he had to...

Wait, was that what she'd been doing before? Had she been trying to use her power to manipulate time? Or... wait... no that couldn't be right. He was definitely reading into this. He was sounding like his sister, with these thoughts about hand-holding. Like hand-holding was such a big deal. It wasn't. And he'd prove it.

Slipping his hand around one of Liv's, he continued walking, like nothing was up. Except that his ears were burning, and it was definitely not from the cold. ....Stupid sister, had him brainwashed into believing these things. Glancing down, he asked, "This is okay, right?" ...Shit, that was a stupid... why... "For the time thing, I mean. Is that... okay?"

[Olivia Baker]

"It'll be mostly the same as normal.. just as cold and the snow will feel the same but other things will move slower... too slowly to even notice that they're moving at all.' She explained. "We'll just be moving a lot faster... it's almost like super speed.. but it's not." Her power was confusing. 

When he slipped his hand in hers she felt her stomach flip. What was that? She forced herself to look away so he wouldn't notice that she was blushing and then closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate. This was going to be hard to do considering the MASSIVE distraction that was now touching her. God, she had never felt hr heart race so fast in her life and it was just a hand. But it was his hand. And he had been on her mind nearly constantly for the better part of a month whether she liked it or not.

"Ok." she said and opened her eyes. The birds above them appeared to be stuck mid flight and the trees rustled so slowly you could hardly hear it at all. They walked for several minutes and Liv wished she'd been in training more so she could simultaneously speed them up, but she wasn't sure she'd want to anyway... because the faster they moved the faster this would be over and the faster he'd let go of her hand. But it went too fast anyway and before she knew it they were at the house, and she closed her eyes for another moment allowing the world to catch back up. 

[Peyton Turner]

"It'll be mostly the same as normal.. just as cold and the snow will feel the same but other things will move slower... too slowly to even notice that they're moving at all. We'll just be moving a lot faster... it's almost like super speed.. but it's not."

It actually wasn't too hard for Peyton to grasp the concept. "Luckily for you, I watched a lot of movies in the early naught-ies-" This was the name for that span of years 2000-2009, but it didn't exactly roll off the tongue, "And I saw one particular Nick Studios movie called Clockstoppers." Thank god he had, too, because Liv's power was highly reminiscent. Or maybe that was just the way that he was able to comprehend it. The same way he saw his power as seedlings, he saw hers as a movie about a time travel watch. Naturally.

Once her power kicked in, however, it was weird. "Wow, I never realized how loud it was." Peyton's voice was hushed, almost as though he should be whispering, like they were sneaking somewhere in the silence. He'd always considered winter to be a pretty silent time, but when things were actually muted... it was a huge difference.

It was odd to walk with her, hand in hand. He started to worry if his palm was sweating (he didn't think it was), or if this was supposed to mean something... He adjusted their hands once, thanks to a slight nervous shifting, and it was... This feeling was weird. Just how nervous he was... he wasn't used to it.

His eyes alternated from watching their hands to watching Liv's face, trying to figure out... anything. This was just... really confusing. All of his thoughts were punctuated with ellipsis, like he just couldn't comprehend the entirety of one of them at once.

When they'd finally reached the house, he wasn't sure if he should let go first, or if she would. So he held on, even as the world came back up to speed. That was even weirder than the slowing down. Like stepping onto a moving train. ...Actually... He wasn't sure if that was the time. Once they'd stopped moving, he'd become very aware of a tightness in his gut, a sort of hollow flippy feeling that he now attributed to the time manipulation thing. ...But he really wasn't so sure.

He didn't realize he'd been staring at her, until she opened her eyes, and then he immediately looked away. He still hadn't let go of her hand.

[Olivia Baker]

Liv wanted to throw up. She was exhausted now that she'd done that, she was out of practice and she had only really taken her trainer through that way before. It was totally different bringing another person through, and moving, and slowing things down, and over a stretch of time. She was embarrassed by how much work she really had to do to be where she wanted to be by the time she graduated Hamme. Granted she had some time.

There was another feeling that came in even stronger than her exhaustion, and that was excitement. They were back, and Peyton had been staring at her, and they were still holding hands even though they were at their destination. And she didn't want to let go. 

She made herself look forward at the site. "So... this is it?" She stuttered slightly, flustered. "You're right it's cooler than I thought." She needed to feel the silence, she couldn't stop sneaking glances at him though. She couldn't wipe the blush off her face or her stupid smile or get the butterflies out of her stomach or feel like she wanted to burst into a million pieces and hide. She didn't know what to feel or what this was if it was anything. And if it was nothing she wasn't sure she could handle it because she wanted so badly to have something, with someone, and if it was Peyton she'd be thrilled. She wanted the voice inside her head to stop rambling. 

She was still out of breath. "Sorry.. I'm out of practice.."

[Peyton Turner]

Peyton glanced back at her, tentatively. She was smiling. That was definitely a good sign. Whether the whole hand-holding business was friendly or... y'know... more than friendly. Either way, she wasn't mad at him, which was a good sign.

"You're right it's cooler than I thought."

That had Peyton smiling back. Success! His last minute plan had not failed! ...Of course... he had never expected it to. ...Never. Really.

He glanced down at their still entwined hands. ...Okay. He could handle this. He could definitely....

You know, just don't think about it. Stop thinking about it, stop worrying about it, and just let things happen. Stop thinking so much. You can do it, Champ!

...His mental narrative was a loser, Peyton realized.

"Sorry.. I'm out of practice.."

Relax, you idiot.

"Do you want to sit down? I was gonna say we should poke around and try to find a blanket or something, but if you want to take a seat..." He was gesturing with his opposite hand- which only made him more aware that his other hand was all tingly. Not a bad tingly, though. Just... invigorating.

[Olivia Baker]

Sit down? No! No.. "I'm ok." she smiled and hesitated. Everything had gotten awkward, but not a bad awkward or wanting to stop awkward but awkward. She didn't want him to let go of her hand, she liked this. She didn't think she'd ever really held anyones hand before... not unless it was like required or for fun or something stupid, not like this. But it wasn't like that... it wasn't like Peyton had just grabbed her hand and wanted to hold it... but it was still being held and... uhg just stop!

"Want... to go inside?" She asked sheepishly. She didn't know why she was being shy all of a sudden. But something had... changed... or felt like it changed. Maybe it was the damn hands, she still didn't let go though. 

There was something utterly magical about the building. Maybe it was the fact that it was unfinished. It held so much hope within its structure, so much potential if someone would just come and finish it. It was much like them, the students at Hammel. Just unfinished people waiting to become something utterly beautiful. 

[Peyton Turner]

"Are you- are you sure? The room with the window upstairs is probably warmer. It gets a lot of sunshine." Besides, they'd have to split up to search the rooms, and he didn't really want to feel responsible if she fell or something - there were some rather perilous little holes in the wall areas. And if she really didn't feel well... oh crap, what if she fainted or something?

"Want... to go inside?"

"Oh! Yeah." Why did he sound so surprised? He'd known this was happening. Wow, he probably sounded so stupid...

Right, right, shake it off, loosen up; go inside.

The house wasn't hugely far along - there wasn't any drywall or fixtures, no wiring or plumbing - it was mostly just floors, outer walls, the mostly empty frameworks of inside walls, and the staircases to the basement and top level. Peyton had some vague idea of where someone might have stashed a blanket or maybe a coat or something, but didn't really remember seeing something the last time he'd been there.

[Olivia Baker]

Liv let him lead the way inside, still holding onto his hand. By now he had to have noticed and she was going to go ahead and say no, this wasn't a mistake. That if he wanted to let go by now he would have and he didn't. She felt herself smile. But she'd play it cool.... as cool as Olivia could... which was about as cool as a fanny pack over some mom jeans.

Inside the house was as expected, but a little slippery. They had to be careful, the snow that had been falling for the better part of the last month gave the wood a slippery finish. So they proceeded slowly.

Once they got to the second floor Liv gasped. The view was even better than she thought it'd be, showing off the stunning snow blanketed vermont mountains as the sun started it's decent over the trees, starting to cast the most magnificent colors she'd ever seen, only to be reflected back by the sparkling, pristine snow.

[Peyton Turner]

Entering the house, Peyton was a lot less nervous about the whole 'still holding hands' thing, and more nervous about Liv hurting herself, which just served to make him hold her hand more firmly, hoping he could keep her up if she slipped.

But she didn't, which was a relief. And they made it up to the second floor no problem, heading into the first room at the top of the stairs, where almost the entire wall to the outside was cut open to install windows later on. The view was even better than Peyton remembered, which was also a relief.

Glancing around the room, Peyton realized that, especially with the cool breeze up here, even the sun wasn't going to keep them warm enough. ...Now this was the awkward part. "Um..." he gave Liv's hand a sort of awkward pat as he let go, his ears going pink again. "I'm gonna check around downstairs for a blanket or something. You can, um... I mean, you can wait, I guess, or check around up here..." He let the statement hang awkwardly for a moment, before he sort of excused himself and left.

Once he thought he was out of sight, he banged the heel of his palm against his forehead. That was so lame. Ugh, so incredibly lame. That whole patting business? Geez...

The good thing was, he didn't need to poke around for long - in the first room he checked on the main floor (the one that wasn't visible from the entrance, since he figured teenaged delinquents wouldn't want their stashes found right away) he managed to find one not-so-useful thin blanket, and a much more useful half-full bottle of rum.

Skipping back up the stairs (well, whatever the masculine version of skipping would be), he was in far better spirits than when he'd been going down them. No pun intended. Or very much intended, actually.

"So the news on the blanket front isn't so good, but this should keep us warm," he held up the bottle with a somewhat excited grin (he didn't drink much, it still held novelty value for him), the thin blanket draped over his other arm, and then went to lean up against the wall directly in the light of the sun through the window. It was pretty obvious this room had been designed for this purpose, whenever it was finished, because it faced perfectly West, giving the best view of the sunset possible.

"Arrrrr you interested in a drink?" He was grinning. Yup, pirate jokes were fast approaching. So many of them.

[Olivia Baker]

She nodded as he squeezed? Patted? Her hand to let go of her hand to go and look for a blanket. She wasn't entirely sure if she was happy that he'd let go first, or wished it was her who did. The bright side was he didn't bring up the hand holding, or make it seem like it was a mistake but rather accepted it as something they did? She let out a large sigh once he was out of the room and racked her hands through her dark curls. She really had to get out of her head.

The room was vast, she couldn't help but wonder who was building this house and what it'd be used for. Maybe a great room. It'd probably be amazing in the winter around Christmas time with the big windows and a giant tree, with lights and garland framing the stunning sunset. 

She didn't have a whole lot of luck, she managed to find a dry tarp that had been stored in what looked to be a closet space once it had a door installed and she draped it over her shoulders as Peyton came back up waving around the alcohol. 

She smiled, awkwardly. She'd never had a drop of alcohol before, but that was probably so lame. "Cool." She managed, she really didn't want him to know how lame she was. 

The pirate joke she should have expected and she facepalmed shaking her head. "Oh Peyton..." She laughed "I... I don't even know what to say about that one." 

She figured just setting up camp would be best, so she brought the tarp towards the edge of the room where they could have the best view and set it down. 

"So... do you drink a lot?" she couldn't help but wonder now.