Help! (Rya)

[Darian Barker]

On cold days like this, Darian had learned that the water was usually quite enjoyable, invigorating against his scales. It was something he didn't have to try too hard to adjust to, which was odd considering this whole school was a big leap. Every once in a while he'd sneak outside, chuck his clothes off onto the bench surrounding the school's small pond and slip in, through the bit of the pond that was exposed mostly to the sun, and hadn't frozen over.

He was down on the bottom, now; eyes closed, gills flared out. Though it wasn't too deep, it was comfortable enough, and the muck was actually soothing, especially when he fit his tail down in the thick of it. The water was good about keeping him in his mer-form for long lapses of time, so he didn't think twice about shutting his eyes and resting. Unfortunately, however, that rest became sleep, and just like that he was gone, well asleep.

And like the dormant fish floating around him (the ones he'd practiced great restraint not to eat,) he slumbered through the night. And so, he'd underestimated how cold it was, and when he woke up and sent himself back towards the surface, webbed hands reached out to breach water and instead, found more solid ice. He smacked around the ice, feeling for that hole, but it was gone.
A tinge of panic found him, and flailing his tail behind him, he darted all around the pool, feeling for a free amount of surface. When there wasn't any, his mind raced with panic. Not only had he never held this form for so long before, he wasn't sure how long it would stick. And it wasn't as if there was enough food here to sate him. God, who knew when anyone was even going to come around? It was christmas!

Now well into a panic, he tried a water-muffled cry for help, smacking the ice-surface with his hands and claws to make that extra bit of noise, or to maybe breach the ice. There was no leverage like this, however. The pond was just too small to give him any leverage at all.

[Aryana Darcy]

For the hydrokinetic, Winter was a bit more dreary than any other month. It limited her power usage, considering she could only manipulate liquid water rather than solid. Her hands itched to use them, and she was considering going to the pool to just get her hands in some warmer water. But instead, she wanted to see if the pond was frozen over or not. Sure, she preferred being in the warmer water of the pool, but Rya was sick and tired of being cramped up in the walls of Hammel. Coming out to the pond provide her some fresh air.

The brunette wore a black backpack filled with water bottles, though warm, and her swimsuit. She came prepared, just in case her idea of going out to the pond ultimately backfired on her. If such a thing happened, she would simply just fall over

Upon arrival, her heart fell. The pond was, indeed, frozen over, and she cursed her stupidity. Obviously it was frozen over! The damn thing had been for the longest time. She almost left, but then she heard a knocking sound. Rya swore the sound was coming from... the ice?

Rya came closer, the ice clouded and foggy, but she could tell something was definitely underneath the ice... and did she hear yelling? There was definitely vibrations, she could feel it. The water shifted beneath her as she grasped onto it. And then that's when she saw it. A hand. Underneath the ice.

"Holy. Shit."

Rya nearly stumbled when she jumped backwards. Someone was trapped underneath the ice... what to do? What to do? Holy shit. She wasn't used to having to acknowledge problems!

Somehow, within her panic, she managed to formulate a plan. Warm water bottles, or at least warmer than the temperature outside, were in her bag, which could potentially melt the ice. The brunette grabbed the bottles out of her bag and took them to where she last saw the hand. The Hydrokinetic poured out one of the bottle's and collected it, holding it above the ice and quickly got to work 'sanding' down the ice, making sure it was melting and not freezing over. When it began freezing, she poured another bottle until she felt it was thin enough to kick in.

"Hold on! Move over!" It didn't take long, but she was fearful that the person might have already suffocated. Rya kicked the ice once, it cracked. Twice, her foot fell into the water, but it was not wide enough. Three times, the hole was large enough to fit a person.

At that point, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't stick her arm in there, she'd freeze. Instead, Rya shifted the water underneath the ice, hoping if the person who was just there was still currently alive, then he/she noticed and would come towards it.

"Fucking hell," She bit her lip.

[Darian Barker]

Darian stopped yelling eventually, simply beating his fists against the frozen surface. His ears soon turned within his head and he stopped flailing, listening for a noise. It sounded like life, over the ice. He could hardly see, the vision obscured. A slamming and shifting of water came across the surface and his black eyes followed the motion for a few moments.

It was definitely a person now, he had had his face pressed up against the ice to watch the motion, and his head cocked when it stopped. Fortunately, upon the first stomp or so, he had the semblance of mind to pull away. He swam deep into the pit of the pond, pressing his stomach against the floor and turning his ears and head up to the strange motion.

There was a grown gash in the ice now, and the water was peeling left and right. Normally, he would have been a bit suspicious of this happening, and he would have approached with caution. Now, however, was not one of those times. He felt like he'd been let go by a shark. Up through the water he came, and when he passed through the opening he set clawed hands on either wall of it, pulling himself up and out.

He gasped the instant the air found him, though he didn't need to. In a lot of ways, his mind still had to adjust to his non-human anatomy.
Tail still in the water, he ducked his face into his hands, pressed flat against the outside of the pond. A few moments to calm down, and he turned his gaze up to the girl, his probable savior.

"Th... thank you." he managed with a drop of his head, using his arms to pull himself the rest of the way out of the water, "Ah, that was... that was close."

[Aryana Darcy]

A boy emerged, gasping for air. How he managed to survive the entire time he was underneath there, she had no clue. Hypothermia would have set in by that point, so she resisted the urge to ask constant questions. She learned, in her many years at Hammel, that nothing was truly normal. Wren disappeared completely in water, she could manipulate water around her, Carter could shift the earth around him... It was a school filled with freaks, including her.

So when the boy pulled himself out of the water fully and exposed his tail, Rya wasn't shocked at all. Maybe a bit intrigued, but not necessarily shocked. The first thing that came from her mouth was a bit typical for the foul-mouthed brit.

"No wonder you could stay in there like that. You're a fucking fish!"

Rya's boot was seeping through, dampening steadily. The cold had not reached her yet, but she figured it might be safe to remove any traces of the water that she could so it wouldn't touch her foot. She enjoyed being bipedal, thank you very much.

The brunette collected the water gently, which left the shoe slightly dampened, but not soaking like it once had been. The boy, after emerging from the ice, had covered the ice with freezing water, and she looked down at it.

"So, fish-boy, let me dry you off a bit here so you don't die." Rya didn't know how his power worked, but she knew how her own did. She grabbed a hold of the water on the boy, leaving him barely damp (aside from his hair), and went to work on the ice. Rya collected the water in a single ball, holding it above the broken ice. Then, she gently loosened her grip on it, close to the ice, so a steady stream fell back into the water with minimal splashing.

Once that was finished, Rya reached into her bag and grabbed the towel that was stuffed in there, turned back to him, and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"So, why were you in freezing cold water? And how the hell did you even manage to get in there if it was frozen over?"

[Darian Barker]

Oh, it felt nice being out of there.

When the water drew off his skin and he was left dry, he could already feel the change coming. There was that sharp pain of his gills fading, the indescribable feeling of tail becoming legs and soon, he sat there, bare on the ice. And now that his body felt that warmth, it was short-lived. Holy fuck it was cold. Fortunately, she gave him a towel which he held close to his body as he stood, wide-eyed, thin little legs wobbling.

"I fell assss... fell asleep!" he replied, shifting from one freezing foot to the other as he kicked snow aside to locate his own clothes, "Ugh, didn't expect it to ice-- over that fast!"

Finally, there... under a bit of snow, his clothes. He dropped the towel near a tree and stood on that, dressing with absolutely no shame or acknowledgement of his embarrassing nudity. When he'd spent so much time with a fish-tail, not often wearing clothes, that modesty became smaller and smaller. And hell, considering how cold it was and how his own feet burned, it was the last thing on his mind. 

He pulled on his jeans, his shoes, then shirt and jacket.  It was all a little damp, and very cold, but it was something. Partly, then, out of how cold he was, and partly out of thankfulness, he stepped up to this stranger and went in to give her a big, warm hug.

"Y-y-y-you're a watermover. I didn't know howw... long I was going to be in there."

[Aryana Darcy]

He fell asleep? In freezing cold water? Why would he even get there in the first place? Apparently the whole fish-deal that he got when he manifested made him immune to temperature changes? Because the minute his fish tail turned into a legs, he started shivering up a storm, and that's when he began speaking. Well, he should have thought about that before going in!

Wait, when did she give a fuck about anything like that... and when the hell did she start sounding like her mother?

"Well, you judged wrong. That would have definitely been an interesting spring headline."

Actually, now that she thought about it, it would have been funny to see all the non-powered, anti-meta humans freak out over a frozen shape shifter in the pond... As much as the thought amused her, she wasn't the kind of girl to just let things like that happened. Plus, Hammel would have some explaining to do, and as much as she said she hated it here, she loved the institute like it was her home.

Home didn't give you homework though, so there was a downfall. But still.

Rya turned when she heard snow crunching beneath someone's shoes, and saw the boy reach out and hug her. Rya let out a strangled gasp, and stood there awkwardly, her hands falling to her sides. Now that he stood up straight, she realized he was her height. This meant one of two things: Either he was young, or he had shit genes. The tone of his voice and his actions seemed to indicate the former.

"First off, the term is hydrokinetic, and the name is Rya." She slowly pried herself away from the boy and brushed herself off. She wasn't cold (Thanks to layers of clothing), but the whole hugging thing was not her cup of tea. "Secondly, I don't do hugs. Just no."

She grabbed her bag and headed over to the now damp towel, shoving the item in her backpack. Being an ass was pretty much in her nature at this point. All remnants of her old self were hidden behind, but again, she did have a heart buried deep down, and it was pushing forward at that moment.

"Well come on," She called over, "I don't wait forever, fish-boy. You want hot chocolate or not?"

[Darian Barker]

Darian was really a hugger, he always had been. It was why he hugged her with no warning whatsoever, and also why it took so much doing to actually pry him off. But when he let go of her, he stepped back and folded his arms, teeth still chattering but now thinly masked by a shaky smile. Hugging his chest instead, he offered a quick "Sorry" but honestly felt it wouldn't be the last time he tried for one. People didn't generally get away with knowing him without a few good embraces. 

"Hot chocolate?" his eyes lit up when he heard that, and so did his expression. Right here, right now, that sounded like the most amazing; most comfortable thing in the world to him. He couldn't really feel his legs, but he ran after her with an enthusiasm, slowing with a hop that stomped down a small mound of snow. And when he was at her side, he slowed to keep up, occasionally pushing the pace or hopping ahead to stomp a snow mound. For whatever reason, it really amused him to do that.

"Hydrokinetic..." he seemed to reflect on that word briefly, aloud, "I think I like water-mover a lot better. Oh! Or water-master! I mean-- you don't have to think about what it is. Plus--"

He stopped for a moment to point right at her, as if he were expressing something of the utmost importance, "It sounds really, really cool."

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya hadn't expected such difficulty when it came to prying the boy off of her, but it was almost like he tried gluing himself to her. Even when he had said 'sorry', she had a feeling that he was only saying it because it could be something 'socially acceptable' rather than because he really meant it.

The brunette tried to mask her smile when he hopped over, jumping on snow mounds like a child. She had once been like that, carefree and happy. And then... Rya cut off her thoughts, her scowl back on her face. She wasn't that girl anymore, and that was for the better. Nobody could hurt her now; she wouldn't let them.

He fell into step with her, and she kept her eyes trained in front of her. However, she did listen to what he had to say, and when she heard the crunch of snow stop from beside her, Rya turned to face a boy whose finger was pointed straight at her. Her brow raised as her arms crossed across her chest.

"It's Hydrokinetic, Fish-boy. Just a hydrokinetic." And with that, she continued on the track to the common room. She was curious about his name and power, but first she wanted to get out of this goddamn snow.

It brought up too many unnecessary memories, anyway.

[Darian Barker]

"I'm Darian." he decided to finally disclose as they moved into the building, not a minute two soon. It wasn't something that took a large amount of consideration, he just hadn't actually considered it. After all, he did have her name already. It actually was kind of rude. Feeling the need, he immediately followed up with, "I'm a merman."

Merman. People always said 'mermaid' if he didn't say that first. And then if they realized their mistake, they'd move to 'merboy', which was... well, it wasn't nearly as flattering as far as he was considered. Even now, Fishboy seemed to be his newly established nickname, and he was still deciding whether or not it was affectionate or full of mal-intent. He had to suppose the former, she just seemed like that kind of person that was rude, but -- endearingly so?

"Are we going to the Common Room?" he asked, honestly just walking alongside her, "I know they have a lot of hot chocolate out there and they usually don't even charge...!"

[Aryana Darcy]

"Okay, Darian," Rya started, looking at the blonde child beside her. The brunette was used to having men be taller than her, but boys? It still freaked her out. She wasn't in heels today, obviously, so she was her typical height of 5'5". "I think I'll just call you a fish."

This was Rya, looking to irritate as best she could. This boy seemed like the 'attaching' type, where he would get attached to anybody quite easily. He was so naive, and so carefree, Rya couldn't ruin his innocence with her push away and bitchy attitude.

"Yeah, the common room has the better hot chocolate machines, and they have whipped cream too." The brit nodded, her gaze still in front of her. However, she couldn't help but smile at his optimism. It had been a long time since she had acted like that, so it was nice to see that not every child's life had to be as fucked up as her own.

[Darian Barker]

It was actually quiet in the common room, at least to Darian's surprise. There were a few students sitting around and chatting, a couple of them actually in line to have some of that hot chocolate. The boy's energy impossibly relaxed as they arrived at it, as did his mood deflate when the warmth of the fire to the left of the table. He folded his hands and rubbed them together, stepping forward when the line moved.

He'd seen that brief smile and he already knew how rare it was. It made him glad that his personality alone was enough to elicit something like that from her but to be fair, it was a rare mood for him to be in as well. But then, as far as he was aware at the time, he'd only just escaped death this morning! Well, maybe not death per se, but it could have happened.

"So how long have you been at Hammel?" he asked, trying to pick conversation. It wasn't, however, awkward. He didn't act as if it were, anyhow. She seemed like someone who was a lot older than him; if not a little on the short side.

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya stayed silent for most of that time, only truly relaxing when they had entered the common room. Most people had the same idea she did, apparently, since there was a line at the Cafe Machines. It wasn't packed, but she wouldn't go as far as saying it was empty, either. Just... emptier than usual, which suited her fine. The whole point of the day was to get away from those she didn't want to deal with a just relax, and, though she was considered extroverted, the Hydro was not in the mood for general human interaction. It could be tiring at times.

Her attention snapped back to Darian at the question. "Hm?" She hummed before the question truly processed. Before he could respond, it registered in Rya's mind, and she went about answering the question provided to her. "Five years. Manifested when I was 13." It wasn't a subject she liked speaking of, so she simply reversed the question.

"I've never seen you around, so i'm guessing you're relatively new. How old are you?"

[Darian Barker]

At this point, it was fairly evident to Darian that she probably had an awful childhood. That, or it was simply something she preferred to keep mysterious. That was alright by him, if it wasn't something she wanted to bring up he didn't plan on doing so. But on the subject of himself was he well-learned and happy to contribute. It was really the first time anyone, other than one other person, showed any interest; even if it was probably only to change the subject.

"Oh, yeah, I'm new. 13, so I guess we did it at kind of the same age. Since, like, it was only a few months ago." he chuckled, offering a shrug. His smile really was large and infectious, endearing buck-teeth and all. Darian actually found that when he smiled, he tended to make other people smile. It had already proven true once today, with Aryana, here. The smile even stayed as he moved on, "I didn't really want to come but I guess everyone doesn't have a choice, right? Mom's got my brothers to look over anyway. A big brother Lewis and a little brother Harry. Harry said he wants to manifest when he turns my age but I told him -- It's actually the cutest thing -- I told him he'd have to go here and he changed his mind real fast."

Unaware that he was going on, he laughed at his own anecdote, remembering the look on Harry's face. The way he figured it, if Aryana wasn't willing to talk about herself, he'd have to take reigns on the situation. Fortunately, however, as he opened his mouth to continue on, his turn in the line came up. He poured two cups and offered one to Rya, in a very gentlemanly way. There seemed to be a fairly interesting toppings table beside it, with even... Rainbow marshmallows. Oh, yes.

[Aryana Darcy]

The boy went on about his childhood, and it was a nice change. The fact that she didn't have to sit there and explain to him that she was grateful to actually leave. However, she didn't mind saying a bit about her adventure here. "You're lucky you came to Hammel first. I lived in England, so I immediately was transferred to Kocher before coming here. Switzerland is not a very pleasant place to live in the winter."

Though when he laughed, she had to keep her lips in a tight line. It had never been this hard for her to maintain her stony expression, but with this boy (who was obnoxiously as tall as her), she couldn't help but struggle.

His change in attention was a relief, as she took her cup. "Thank you," She gave him a quick nod before heading over toward the counter with the toppings. The Brit placed a few marshmellows in her drink before covering the liquid with whipped cream. It smelled absolutely delicious.

Not knowing whether Darian cared for the topping or not, she slid it in his direction. "If you tell me you don't like whipped cream, I will leave right here." She threatened, though it was halfhearted.

[Darian Barker]

"Oh, you're English!" he remarked, catching the cream as it was slid his way. It was an absolute surprise to him, impossibly, despite her accent. He had never been very good at accents, if his other friend hadn't told him that he was german, Darian would have never guessed. On top of that, there was the anxiety to go out on a limb and be wrong, look like some kind of bigot or whatever.

The boy didn't answer the whipped cream question with words, rather with a lift of the cup and a very gracious plop of cream. He tried to put marshmallows on that, though it was leaning over the brim of the mug, putting one in at a time. A sprinkle of cinnamon came next and his drink was perfect. It was mostly the same hot chocolate he always had, same toppings. He wished there was Cardamom among the toppings, however... It always gave it that perfect, Christmas-y balance.

Starting to take a sip, he quickly pulled it away and made a face as the liquid ran down his throat and scalded his tongue on its way. Ugh, too hot for the whipped cream to fix...

"That's really cool, I always wanted to go to England." he mused, sticking his tongue out for a moment and feeling it with his pointer finger, "Is Kocher a bad school, though? Or is it just the winters? I heard a lot about it, it must be soo hard dealing with all those languages..."