Stuck on a Limb

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau sighed, running his hand over his face. This was just... embarrassing, embarrassing was definitely the word that Beau would use to describe this particular situation. He could feel the cat squirming in his grip, and the more it squirmed, the more tempted he was to just toss it back to the ground. He'd just been walking through the area, minding his own business, when he'd heard that soft, mewling sound. Sure enough, there had been the cat, perched on the edge of a branch and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. While Beau might not have been a cat person, per say, he wasn't about to let a cat get stuck up there without anyone to go save him.

So he'd climbed it, all the while thinking that this would be a lot easier with the right power. But what person would have powers that would help them climb trees? That just sounded ridiculous. It didn't matter anyway: Beau had climbed trees before, he could handle it now. Sure, his tennis shoes kept slipping on the bark, but at least he had jeans and a jacket on to protect him from the rest. He just had to hope that he didn't end up shredding or breaking something.

There had been a branch right below the cat, one that Beau had tentatively put his weight on. No sooner had he managed that when said branch had given way. Only quick reflexes had saved Beau from joining it. He clung to the tree for several seconds, feeling very much like the cat he'd been attempting to save. Thankfully, he had enough upper body strength to get back up into the tree branch. Which he'd managed, if with absolutely no grace. Then he was perched, holding a cat, and stuck in a tree.

"Yeah, this coulda gone better," he muttered. The cat meowed in agreement, looking up at Beau with far too big of eyes.

[Olivia Baker]

The sun was out for what felt like the first time in a decade and Liv couldn't help herself but burst out the door the moment she could for a jog. It'd been forever since she was able to get a good run in especially with her history of injuries over the past few months. Her bad leg stilled ached at times, but it was progress, at least she was off the crutches. 

She started off slow, her purple trainers pounding against the asphalt starting her favorite route. 

The lake was still very much so frozen, but some of the snowmen that students had made were starting to melt, leaving their soggy corpses behind. "depressing." She mumbled as her eyes scanned the scenery stopping when she saw something... different. 

Beau, a boy she'd recognized from school in a tree and- Holy shit! Her hands met her gaping mouth, gasping, her heart pounding as the branch gave way. He recovered, not so gracefully but recovered. 

She was running before she could even register that she was doing so, slowing down when he was standing from what seemed to be safely, or as safe as one could be in an ICY ASS TREE, unharmed. 

"Are you insane?!" She scolded. "I mean. Are you ok?" Mentally she wanted to add. 

[Beau LaRoux]

"Not yet I ain't!" Beau called. The cat meowed too, and the boy gave it a look that indicated that silence was perhaps its best option for future safety. The cat, being a cat, promptly ignored Beau, so Beau figured he might as well try and do the same. He adjusted his position on the tree, looking down at the girl below. She looked familiar, like a girl that Beau had met at some point in time but couldn't quite remember. She had a name though, and it was a person's name too, probably a girl person. Uh... Elizabeth or something? Something "Liz" or "Liv" or whatever.

"I'm doin' alright for now," Beau called. "Cat's alright too. Fellah got stuck up here an' I figured I could help get him out," Beau paused then looked down. "Didn't work out quite like I expected," he paused for a bit, readjusting. The tree let out a creaking noise that Beau immediately identified as being "not good," which made him freeze mid adjustment. He looked down at Liz/Liv.

"Don't suppose you got a power that'd be real useful in a situation like this, do ya? You wouldn't happen ta have wings or somethin'?" Beau would even take the fairy wings right now if they could somehow get him down. He licked his lips and tried not to breathe hard. There was still some strange part of him that wanted to be polite though, and he couldn't suppress that part from saying: "I'm Beau, by the way. Can't rightly remember your name, but I keep thinkin' it's Liz or somethin' 'long those lines," because manners were important, even if you were stuck in a tree with a cat.

[Olivia Baker]

"How very nobel." Liv playfully mocked crossing her arms over her chest watching him with the very unagreeable cat who by now was starting to look somewhat uncomfortable. "I'm sorry to disappoint but I'm a time manipulator... the best I can do is really slow you down but even then if you hit the ground it'll hurt just as bad." She shrugged. 

"Nice to meet you." She called flashing one of her 1000 watt smiles " and close.. it's Liv short for Olivia." She corrected as she made her way to the base of the tree, stepping onto one of the thicker knots. For once she was quite happy she was tall. "If you can make it down towards me enough to give me the cat I can bring it down... then you're free to jump or whatever but if you do it from there that cat will maul you." She called up making it up one more branch, sitting on it and reaching her arm up. She could hear the tree crack and she let out a yelp, her hands firmly replacing themselves on the rough wood. 

[Beau LaRoux]

Time manipulation; Beau winced. Those abilities always played havoc with his senses. Too much proximity to Liz/Liv and he'd be thinking it was next Tuesday or something. He swore that he got the worse end of the stick when it came to the whole backfired power thing. As if that weren't bad enough, the ability tweren't helpful in getting him outta this mess.

She smiled though, and Beau returned in kind (manners). He ended up losing the expression when the cat shifted, causing Beau to shift, which caused the whole branch to creak, which made him stiffen with nerves for a few moments. He glared down at the feline, who responded by wiggling a little, obviously deciding that whatever happened, being held by this human had to be better than not.

Liv (hey, she had a name now, progress!) had come up with a halfway decent suggestion for at least dealing with the feline. "Right, I'll give a shot. Gotta warn ya though; he's a bit of a squirmer," Beau shifted as best he could, hearing the branch again creak and moan. He managed to get the cat in one arm though. He altered his position into a better seated one, reaching down to grab the branch. The cat squirmed again, which meant that Beau had to shimmy a bit. Beau thought he had it, and he turned, cat outstretched toward Liv.

And her branch creaked. "Careful!" he called, lunging forward slightly, which wasn't necessarily the best reaction. Thankfully his leg was hooked tight and he still had a decent grip on the branch. Not so much the cat, who was starting to slip through Beau's fingers. "Oh darnit, this dang cat's about to make a break for it!"

[Olivia Baker]

She nodded watching the animal contort itself. Cats were so weird, they were like boneless. Why on earth did he go up to get the cat anyway? Surely it wasn't REALLY stuck. It was a cat! Cats climbed things and cats got down from things. It was what they did! Regardless, she'd passed the point of no return, and the opportunity to make a friend was always too tempting to resists no matter how stupid she felt the situation was. Of course, she'd keep that to herself. 

"Let it!" She called deciding she didn't care if the cat did bolt, she just hoped it didn't use her face as a launch pad. She had a tendency to get into accidents and unfortunately her powers weren't honed in enough to simply go back in time a few moments and get out of the way. Oh no, if anything she'd grant herself the pleasant experience of reliving the mauling 36 times, getting stuck. She really wished she had a more functional power and envied those with the cool ones.

Liv braced herself as she watched the cat squirm, it's eyes fixed on her. It was going to kill her. She was positive. As the cat lunged at her she screamed jumping from the branch, the cat landing on her shoulder it's claws digging in to steady itself as they both fell to the ground, Liv slipping on the icy snow and landing on her ass with a big thud. "OW!" She groaned peeling the claws off her shoulder and the cat into her arms. "

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau didn't even need Liv's call to release the cat. He really didn't have much choice in the matter: the feline was heading for the girl regardless of any human intervention. The Southerner flinched as he saw the furred animal heading toward the girl. He really wished he could have done something there, but the last thing he needed was to use meta powers to make things worse (which seemed to be what they were best for in Beau's esteemed opinion). The cat launched himself, there were claws, and then falling.

There was no thinking on Beau's part. He heard that "ow" and he was already swinging down out of the tree. He at least had enough outdoor experience to manage that with surprising amount of skill, at least without having a cat to balance in one arm. Both of Beau's arms grasped the branch as he swung. It probably would have worked too, had the branch not been cold and a little slick. His hands slid, his palms scraping on the wood, and he landed with only a little more grace than Liv and the cat. He at least managed to remain mostly upright, though both of his legs were regretting that decision.

After a few staggered steps, Beau turned to look at the girl. "Ya'll'right there?" he asked, extending a hand and walking over to her. "Didn't look like a great fall there," not that his was much better. Beau was a little shy about the contact too, but he was pretty sure that time manipulation took a lot more thought than he planned on putting toward it. He did feel a little weird-headed, but that was probably the fall.

[Olivia Baker]

"Dandy." She answered as she rubbed her shoulder, she could feel the torn fabric from the cats claws, the down from inside her jacket coming out. At least she had a coat on, had she been wearing just a t-shirt she'd be making her third trip to the ER this year no doubt. She really needed to start being smarter when she was outside, clearly she was accident prone. 

She grabbed his outstretched hand pulling herself up off the ground. "Well mission accomplished.... that cat is out of the tree." She decided there that she didn't like cats. Surely it could have gotten out of the tree by itself and it was taunting them now, watching from just a small distance as it rudely cleaned itself. Gross. 

"How are you? You didn't land too gracefully either." 

[Beau LaRoux]

Liv was now upright; the cat was now down, as was Beau; so the country boy was counting this one as a win. Despite his partner in cat-saving's response, he still gave her a once over. The cat had done a bit of a number on her jacket, but there didn't seem to be any blood anywhere, so, again, win. Beau definitely could have done without the cat sitting a short distance away, cleaning itself. As he turned to look, said cat lifted its leg, licking the parts of itself generally not for public viewing. Beau quickly turned his head back to Liv, enjoying the much prettier sight immensely.

"What that?" he chuckled, sticking his hands into the pocket of his coat, "I've had worse tumbles afore. looks like you got the worst of it," he pointed at the closest tear on Liv's coat. True, Beau's feet were a little sore and he had some scrapes here and there, but nothing that you couldn't cover up with a decent band-aid. He turned and looked at the cat, sighed, and pointed with his hand, which remained in his jacket.

"I suppose we'd better 'round him up an' get him to the shelter," the way Beau made it sound, you'd think the cat was a gator. The accent helped with that comparison too. "Don't reckon you've done a lot of animal wranglin' in your past?" he looked over at Liv, smiling wryly, a brow raised. Even Beau, country as he was, hadn't done much chasing and herding animals. He certainly hadn't tried it with cats. He seemed to recall a saying about herding cats, one that he really didn't want to remember right now.

[Olivia Baker]

He wanted to round up the cat now? Was he crazy? They were lucky they didn't catch anything the first time they went after the cat. "If you say so." she chuckled. She was off her game today, she wasn't the peppy smiling ray of sunshine she normally was. She took a breath, she had to get out of the rut. Catching a cat. They could do that. 

"I have an idea." she smiled, though it might ruin half the fun. "Mind if i..." She touched his arm lightly and slowed down time so slow that the image of the cat licking it's genitals was almost painful to look at. "Shouldn't be hard to catch him now." she chuckled "Though maybe I should have let him finish.." It was disgusting. 

[Beau LaRoux]

"Ain't my idea o' fun," admitted Beau. He frowned as he looked at the cat again. He could've sworn the animal was openly taunting them now. Beau started toward the animal, only to feel a hand on his arm. He felt that little tingling sensation that let him know that he could now use the most "powerful" version of someone else's power. Not that he would even think about messing around with time manipulation; he'd probably end up getting them stuck or something.

As for the idea, Beau just nodded toward the cat, figuring that whatever Liv had in mind had to be better than his plan of "I'll go around behind him and herd him to you." Time slowed, which, sadly, Beau was used to. The cat paused in, well, perhaps not the most flattering position. Beau wasn't sure whether he should be staring or not.

"Dunno, he prolly ain't gonna be expectin' it now," drawled Beau. He sighed, running a hand on the back of his neck. No use putting it off: he started toward the cat, moving slowly. He was half tempted to try and see if he could maybe speed himself up too, though he wasn't sure how that was gonna help. Instead he just bent low over the cat, reaching out slowly, ever so slowly. "Here's hopin' this works out well," he mumbled, touching the cat, half expecting it to suddenly jump into the normal timesteam. He licked his lips, hoping, praying that there was not a mauling in his very near future.

[Olivia Baker]

Beau's drawl became more and more apparent the more she spent time with him. It was cute. She could see how girls, or boys knowing Pilot Ridge's demographics, would be attracted to him, had he been taller she probably would have fell into that category. She cursed her height, she probably had at least four three inches on him and that was if she didn't wear shoes. Then again she practically toward over Reece too.

Liv maintained the slowed down time as he captured the cat toying with the idea of speeding it up just to mess with him but decided against it. Had it not been exhausting her to maintain it she also probably would have kept time slow long enough to put the animal in a cage or something to keep it from getting away before they could get it to a shelter. But alas, she could feel her head start to strain as the fatigue started it's way in and was forced to drop it, time moving normally again. "You did it!" She smiled congratulating him. "Now we just have to get him somewhere safe... granted he's probably a stray and will most likely hate us... unless he's a hammel student who shifts into cats which is also... a possibility" She said becoming suddenly skeptical that the cat was some new student who hadn't had any training yet and was stuck. 

[Beau LaRoux]

And time suddenly started moving normally. Beau nearly sighed with relief, nearly, because the animal in his hands had started to squirm a little. Beau readjusted his grip, moving the cat into as comfortable a perch as could be managed. Given the claws he saw, Beau was thankful that he was wearing winter gear. Wasn't likely that the cat was going to be much damage like that. Now he just needed to figure out what to do with the animal.

Seemed like Liv had some ideas in that department. Somewhere safe had Beau nodding, and he had to agree with the stray. He hadn't even thought about her other suggestion, which made far, far too much sense. He didn't feel the tingle though, and, well, if this was a Hammel student, they probably would have shifted back by now. Anyone without enough control would have passed the ability on to Beau, and he'd have gone feline by now.

"It ain't a student," offered Beau. He sighed, altering his grip. "My ability's pickin' up other people's abilities. So if this was a student, then I'd be all catlike. An'..." he focused for a moment, concentrating, and time slowed for the cat and him for a few heartbeats. he had no idea what that looked like from the outside, and he didn't want to hold it long anyway. Beau was just thankful that Liv had some decent control over her ability. He released it along with a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "Yeah, I still got yer ability. So I'm thinkin' we can jus' drop this little guy off at the shelter an' call it a day..."

[Olivia Baker]

Power mimickers always made her feel weird when they actually used her power, draining almost. So when Beau slowed down time, even for just a second, Liv felt dizzy and ended up putting a hand on his shoulder to catch herself." Sorry" She said taking it away. Of course it didn't help that she'd used her power a decent amount already today. While she did have a decent handle on it, her stamina was a huge hole in her training. She needed to learn how to hold it for longer periods of time and to deal with the fatigue that came with it.

It was settling to know that the cat wasn't a student. That was at least a step in the right direction. "Right." She nodded agreeing that it was best to take the cat to a shelter and call it a day. Part of her wondered if that was her cue to go... she wasn't so sure he wanted help to begin with and while he seemed friendly... Liv was socially awkward and terrible at reading social cues. 

"Do you know where the shelter is?" She asked as they started to walk away from the lake and back towards the school. She'd been there a couple times and knew where it was hidden in town. "I volunteered there a few times over the summer." She explained. "I know it's kind of tricky to find it your first time."

[Beau LaRoux]

There did seem to be a strange drop of energy there, and not just with Liv. For a moment, Beau felt... tired, like he'd just gotten done running a few laps or something. He guessed this had something to do with Liv's powers or training or something; he certainly wasn't going to bring it up either way. They had more important things to worry about: a frustrated cat foremost among them.

They'd started moving away, heading in a sort of general Pilot Ridge/Hammel direction. Liv stuck with Beau, which suited him just fine. She clearly had at least some handle on things, or at least knew how to handle herself when things went pear shaped. That she knew the exact route to the animal shelter was an added bonus in Beau's eyes. He nodded, then chuckled, shaking his head.

"I always wanted to go an' work there. You know, volunteer an' all, but I ain't never seemed to find the time," he was pretty sure he'd at least visited there before, and Beau thought he had a rough idea of where he was going, but: "Probly best if you show me," the cat squirmed, "us, the way. Last thing I need is to wind up gettin' lost in Pilot Ridge haulin' some darn cat around." Though as soon as Beau said it, he had a feeling that he was going to experience precisely that at some point in time. Call if Fate, if you will.