Faith, Trust, and a Little Bit of Pixie Dust (Open)

[Deleted]

Okay, okay.... This was going to be fine. Yep, Just fine. Sure, Phoenix hadn't tried flying outside of his training sessions with Mike in ages, but he was starting to build up a little confidence that he could do it and not a) crash and b) look like an absolute moron. Okay.... Maybe he still looked like a moron, but that was why he was practicing out here by the pond where hopefully no one would be watching him flutter his pixie-like wings desperately to stay afloat.

Phen had put on a loose tanktop with holes in the back to allow his wings to move around freely, but he was already regretting that choice. It was still chilly out, and the scrawny boy got cold easily as it was; he hoped he'd warm up once he started moving.

With a last glance around to make sure no one was watching (that he could see, at least - there were tons of bushes and stuff around that people could be hiding behind, but he didn't want to think about that), Phoenix took a deep breath and concentrated on powering his wings, fluttering them more slowly for a few minutes to allow them to warm up before he carefully let himself start to float off the ground. Hey... He was doing it! Granted, all he was doing was hovering, but at least it was something. He was grinning like an excited kid. Next step.... Trying to move.

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Pigtails bouncing, and lightsaber replica tapping against her leg where it hung from her belt, Misaki strolled out from the school. Classes were over, and it was too nice a day to stay inside, even with the slight chill. A slight chill was the perfect weather to wear the half-cape she'd made for one of her reenactments anyway! It felt like she hardly ever got to wear her reenactment stuff, though in reality she wore various pieces of those outfits half the time.

However, at the moment she simply wore her "I tried being normal once" T-shirt and bell-bottoms with her cape. An odd combination perhaps, but she didn't particularly mind. She liked it, they were comfortable, and that was all that really mattered when it came to clothes.

As she neared the koi pond, Misaki caught sight of someone hovering in the air, wings flapping steadily. .... That was real, right? She did a quick check to ensure she wasn't accidentally projecting an illusion. Checked one more time just to be safe. She lived in a building full of metas, so she tended to do this checking thing a lot. Better to be safe than accidentally talking to thin air and presumably crazy.

Sure that he was actually real now, she paused near-ish to where he hovered, not wanting to get too close and be fallen on by accident. He didn't look terribly confident about his flying, after all. She'd decided he was definitely familiar, perhaps they had some of the same classes, but she was sure they hadn't actually really met before. However, now she found herself standing semi-awkwardly blinking up at him. Now that she was closer, she realized he was probably practicing his flying, so maybe striking up conversation wouldn't be the best idea. But.... she'd already walked up and stopped there, so wouldn't it be even more weird to just walk off again? It felt like she landed herself in awkward social situations too often.

But hey, she just had to roll with it, right? Regaining her wits, she gave a cheerful thumbs up. "Looking good!" she called. Sure, not the most amazing of conversation starters, but it was the best she could come up with without standing there for another awkward few minutes.

[Deleted]

Phoenix, as could have been predicted, didn't realize he was being watched for a good amount of time. He was concentrating too much on not misjudging his movements and tumbling to the ground, or crashing, or flopping sideways, or any such embarrassing and potentially painful things. He tried to keep his breathing even, ignoring the fatigue that was already starting to build up in his under-developed flight muscles.

Okay... Maybe he could try to move a bit now.

Carefully, slowly, he adjusted himself to move forward a little, feeling his adrenaline spike as he dropped a little before he managed to regain his height. It was just after this moment that a voice caught his attention. Bewildered and unexpecting, he darted his head towards the source of the sound, which was definitely a bad idea.

The sudden movement caught his body off-balance, and Phoenix almost immediately tumbled to the ground in a heap of uncoordinated limbs. Fortunately, he hadn't been very high, so he didn't hurt himself apart from a few bumps and bruises, but how embarrassing! He groaned and covered his face, wings fluttering uselessly as he tried to think of a way to make up for his clumsiness. He couldn't think of anything.

".... I need more practice," was all he managed to squeak out. He peeked at the unfamiliar girl between his fingers, knowing his face was probably bright red. "I... Didn't realize I had an audience either...." Phen managed to heave himself up from where he was laying awkwardly on the ground, but he kept his eyes down, unable to meet the stranger's gaze. "... Sorry you had t'see that..."

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Oh dear... Misaki winced as the boy startled, then all out crashed after she spoke. Perhaps it would have been better if she'd just dealt with the awkwardness of walking away... then she wouldn't have caused someone to crash, after all. Then again, he hadn't seemed the most comfortable in the air. Perhaps he would have crashed anyway. All the same...

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly, bounding over in readiness to lend him a hand up. "I didn't mean to startle you! I just noticed you were flying, and... well." She paused as an impulsive grin flickered across her face, and she suddenly felt the insane urge to laugh. Oh Hammel... Were any of the happenings around here completely normal? Nope, and some of them were more abnormal than others. Like startling a pixie-boy out of the air. She would never have believed she would be in such a position seven years ago.

"I guess I didn't really think that completely through," she said, still biting down on the urge to laugh. She didn't want the boy thinking she was laughing at him, after all! "I could use some more practice too, I guess. At entrances." She finally allowed a faint laugh, since she felt fairly sure it would be taken as amusement toward the entire situation rather than simply at him.

"Really though," she started again, this time determined not to let her amusement distract her. "Are you all right? I really didn't mean for that to happen. I just noticed you and..." She shrugged. "You were doing pretty good. How long have you been doing that?" She assumed that he was fairly new to the whole flying thing, but she reminded herself a moment later that learning to fly would mean learning to use a whole new set of appendages. It'd be like learning to walk or something-- and toddlers didn't manage to do that well until they were nearly six! That was how her brother had been, anyways. So maybe this boy was the same..

[Deleted]

Phoenix groaned, but he waved at the girl's apology, not mad at her in the least, just embarrassed by his own lack of coordination. "I-It's okay, I should've b-been less startled by someone talking," he replied, wishing he could go hide in a hole. This was what he got for slacking in his training nearly all of his time at Hammel until a few months ago. It was his fault more than anything.

He peeked up at the stranger, wondering who she was and if he should know her name. She certainly seemed very friendly, and Phen would have been glad to meet a new, nice person, had the situation not been so embarrassing. "No, no, it's okay, really, I, um, it will just help motivate me t'get better," he replied with a tiiiny smile that still showed a load of embarrassment. Phoenix managed a light laugh back, glad, at least, that this person was sweet and not making fun of him. "Well, I guess we both just have stuff t'work on, then," he mumbled.

Phen sat up a bit and dusted himself off, checking to make sure nothing was broken before slowly standing. "Yeah, I th-think I'm okay," he told her, fluttering his wings a few times to test them. "Thank goodness... I broke my leg and my wings not too long ago when I fell on some ice," he admitted sheepishly. "Oh, thanks, um... Well, I've been here for about five years now, I think, but... I haven't really started practicing seriously until recently." Phoenix scuffed a foot on the ground awkwardly. "I-I'm, um, Phoenix, by the way," he added, looking up and offering a weak hand. "I don't think we've m-met before?"

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Well, at least he didn't seem angry. That was definitely good, otherwise the situation could have possibly been listed in a dictionary of, "Worst ways to meet someone new", or "Worst ways to make a good first impression". Both of which would have been interesting, if not highly hilarious, books to read, come to think of it...

Broke his leg and wings on ice?? "Oh, that must have been horrible!" She winced in sympathy. "I've never managed to break anything, but my brother broke his arm once. It sounds like it would hurt a lot... But it would be an interesting experience to say you had!" she added the last bit mostly as a random sidenote. She'd often wondered what it would be like to have to wear a cast. Then again, when she was younger, she'd often wondered what it would be like to need to wear contacts, and now that she had to wear them she wasn't so happy about the experience. Then again, contacts and glasses were more permanent than a broken limb...

Phoenix. Now that was a cool name. Like the fantastical bird... At the idea, she thought she saw a flash of orange and red, as a phoenix fluttered past with flowing feathers and fire, but after glancing briefly in it's direction, she determined that it probably wasn't real. All the same, she'd have to remember that for when she practiced illusion later.

"I'm Misaki," she answered, shaking his hand with a slight bow, a habit she'd formed from frequent visits back to Japan. "No, I'm pretty sure we haven't met." She gave a light shrug. "I don't really go around meeting a lot of new people, but I might have seen you in passing before, especially since we've both been here a while." She smiled, then added, "I've been here about seven years," to answer her own question out of politeness. "Where are you from?"

[Deleted]

Phoenix nodded in agreement, rubbing his shoulder as he thought back to when he'd slipped and fell. Fortunately Oriel had been there to carry him to the nurse's, otherwise he wasn't sure what he would have done. "I have really weak bones," he explained quietly. "It... Happens more often than I would like." Not like, all the time, but he'd had his fair number of broken bits over the years. "It's good that you haven't broken anything. It's not fun." His wings buzzed behind him, as though agreeing.

Right after he told her his name, something flashed in the corner of Phoenix's eye, and he turned only to yelp and stumble away from... His very namesake itself. "What-!?" he squeaked, totally alarmed. Phoenixes weren't real! It... It must have been her ability or something. Right? That was the only explanation...

He managed not to fall on his butt again, though, and struggled to catch the name that the girl introduced herself with. "Nice to meet you, Misaki," he replied weakly, heart still pounding a little wildly. "I, uh, I don't really get out much either," he admitted. Phoenix spent most of his time in his room or, these days, working. "Seven years? Wow..." That was even longer than he, and he was already a year behind. "I'm , um, from Seattle," he replied, folding his arms over his stomach. "Y... You?"

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Weak bones... Well, that made sense, she supposed. "A bit like how the winged flight students, and birds, have weaker bones," she mused aloud as something between a question and a statement. That sort of side-effect was definitely one of the more unpleasant; breaking one's bones was both painful and longterm. Once again she felt a surge of gratefulness that her power didn't cause quite as much trouble as it could.

Misaki started, surprised at Pheonix's reaction before realizing that the phoenix hadn't just been a figment of her own imagination, but her power leaking over. Speak of power side-effects.

"That was me! Sorry. Again." She grimaced faintly. Usually she was pretty good about keeping her illusions in check, but sometimes when she got an exciting new idea... Well, it could just be difficult. And phoenix birds were definitely a new and exciting idea. "Illusion," she explained briefly. "Still kinda hard to keep track of sometimes."

Seattle? "We're neighbors of a sort, then!" she said. "Portland. Been up to Seattle a couples times. Lots of rain." She grinned. "Not too different from Portland." Of course, she still preferred Portland. Partly just because Portland was home. Then again, she liked Kyoto most of all, but she only visited there a couple times a year.

[Deleted]

"Yeah, exactly," Phoenix replied with a nod. "I guess it's what we have t'have so we can fly, but.... It kinda sucks," he mumbled. So many fractured limbs and cracks... Not to mention the wings he was stuck with were incredibly delicate themselves. He was almost - no, definitely envious that his best friend Gryphon had bird wings. And that they also didn't come with potent hallucinogenic dust.

"Oh," he blinked, staring at the spot that the Phoenix had been. He shouldn't have been so startled; he had seen so many hallucinations in his life, he should be used to it. But he hadn't been expecting it, so it took him by surprise. "That's, uh, that's really neat," he replied with a slow smile. Illusions were like.... hallucinations without the drug. He was suddenly envious of her, too. "Can you make anything?" The possibilities were endless with something like that!

"Oh, well then," he grinned. "I've been t'Portland a couple times too." Not a lot, since his mom couldn't really afford travelling much, but they had family in the area. "Yeah... Definitely rainy. I used t'joke that I'm part amphibian," he chuckled, spreading his fingers as though he had webbing between them. His smile faded slightly. "I miss the West Coast sometimes," Phoenix admitted. He'd had so much he could have chased after in Seattle, so many opportunities in the big city, and he'd squandered most of them by getting into gangs and drugs before he'd been whisked off to Hammel. "Um, anyway... I like your, uh..." He motioned to what the girl was wearing, unsure of what to call it all.

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Misaki gave a smile as Pheonix showed interest in her power. It wasn't uncommon for people to find Illusion interesting, but she rarely got tired of enthusing about it or explaining. "I can make anything, yeah. How convincing it is depends on how much experience I've had with it though." She shrugged a bit. "I like Fantasy stuff a lot," she added, meaning to explain being able to conjure up a phoenix so easily. After all, it wasn't as if people typically had exposure or experience with phoenixes. She chuckled. "It's a fun power to have-- I like it."

She grinned at the amphibian comment. "Glad to meet a fellow rain-lover. Not everyone likes it that much. Seasonal Affective Disorder and all that. Or just not liking the wet," she added giving a half grin, hoping she didn't sound like too much of a geek for spouting off the S.A.D. comment. Sure, she didn't typically care if people thought she was a geek, but sometimes people took geek-dom as showing off, which wasn't really what she aimed for.

"Oh, my cape?" She flicked her arms a bit to make it flutter briefly. "Thanks! I like it too. They're fun to wear. And dramatic." She grinned. "You watch many movies?" Aside from various historical things, movies, manga, and anime were about the only other things she could think of that were terribly connected with capes. And movies the most common for other people to connect with. "Anyway, shorter things like this are called capes. Longer ones are cloaks." She nodded.

[Deleted]

Phoenix had never had as much control over his hallucinations; he could usually predict what sort of things he would see depending on his mood, but oftentimes they were rather random. The idea of being able to make whatever you wanted sounded awesome. "That's so cool," he breathed, eyes wide. "So you could make, like, a dragon? Or... Or a giant hotdog!" Two completely different things, but Phen was always one for random. And of course he would be the first to think of a hotdog... "I should get you t'make a huge danish for my boyfriend," he giggled. That would be funny; Oriel was obsessed with the things.

"Ribbit," Phoenix joked with a giggle. He didn't mind the rain or getting wet, but deep water still terrified him; living close to the Puget Sound, where he'd nearly drowned, had been a constant anxiety-provoking stress on him. "Yeah... I liked all the neat shops and things too," he mused. "I didn't really realize how much of a, um, big city kid I was until I moved here." Although then again, he did like how much less claustrophobic it was to live in a smaller, more spread-out town; and there were a lot of bad memories from Seattle he'd rather forget.

"Yeah, that!" he chirped with a crooked smile. It almost made her look like she had wings too. "Um, I don't watch a lot... Mostly Disney," he admitted sheepishly. And that was only recently; Dani had helped him discover the children's movies he'd never experienced as a kid, and he adored them. "I see," he breathed, nodding seriously at her explanation. "You look like... Like you're about to go fight bad guys or something," he giggled. "I want one too!" Maybe he could ask Oriel if they could try to find one in town or something. Knowing his boyfriend, he'd probably laugh but eventually agree, after calling Phoenix a bunch of teasing names. "Where did you get it?"

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Misaki laughed as Pheonix began throwing out ideas for various illusions. "Yes, yes, I could make those. Fantasy creatures are hard, since they're not real and so I have to sort've meld together things I do know to get it to work, but I've totally done dragons before. Never tried giant foods..." She tilted her head to the side, curious as she focused on a danish--she had more experience with those than hot dogs. One about six feet around, filled with cream cheese, flickered into existence. It looked a little off, since she'd never seen a giant danish, but the smell she nailed. Smells didn't really change... All the same, she gave a sheepish smile. "Needs a little work," she admitted.

"Yeah, living in a small town was weird at first," Misaki agreed. "We visit family in a smaller city fairly often though. So it wasn't too much of a shock for me. Feel like you've adjusted now, though?" she inquired politely.

Looked like she was about to go out and fight bad guys? She grinned. She'd accept that... "I take that as a compliment," she quipped. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't be brave enough to go out and fight a real battle or anything like that, but she liked the idea of being that brave nonetheless.

"Oh, um..." Misaki hesitated at the question of where she'd gotten the cape. "Er... I made it." She shrugged. "I enjoy sewing and crafts and things. I do reenactments, so I sort've have to." She gave a wry smile, hoping she was managing to downplay well enough. "My mom started teaching me to sew since I was really young, so I sort've grew up with it, I guess. I could recommend some good websites though!"

[Deleted]

Dragons would be so cool!! "You could be like Khaleesi," Phoenix said with wide eyes. Yes, he totally watched Game of Thrones, and thought the dragons were awesome. He was musing about this when the giant danish suddenly appeared, and the scent hit him, and omigod Phoenix nearly fainted. "Ah! He'd love that!" he squeaked. Then Phen thought a moment and added,".... No, he wouldn't, 'cause he couldn't eat it." Still... It'd be a funny prank to pull on Oriel, so he giggled nonetheless. "I'll keep you in mind if I feel like teasin' him," he grinned.

Phen had hardly known life out of Seattle, so it was no wonder the transition was harder for him (along with the fact he was struggling with drug addictions at the time...) "Um, yeah, I think so," he nodded. "I mean, I don't wanna leave anytime soon, so..." He wouldn't mind visiting home for once, though.

It was definitely a compliment. Phoenix bet he wouldn't look nearly so good in a cape, he was too scrawny and wimpy-looking. Then again, he had a mad clawing ability that he pretended could rip a scary person apart it he had to... He shook his head and snapped out of his musings again just in time to hear her say-"You made it!?" he repeated, gawking slightly. "Ohmygosh, I wish I could sew. I'm trying out the new sewing club soon, but I'm afraid I won't be any good." He was't good at very many things. "Maybe... Maybe you could teach me!" Phen said hopefully. "I've always wanted to dress up as somethin'. Like, um, an anime character, or something?" He hoped that didn't sound dumb.

[Misaki Kobayashi]

Misaki brightened as Pheonix mentioned the tv show. "I've pretended that before." She laughed. "My imagination gets away with me sometimes. Dragons are some of my favorite animals, so I get a little obsessed with them sometimes." There were worse things to be obsessed with, right? Anyway, this guy had just earned some points with the mention of the tv show, which was among the many she was a fan of.

She nodded as he said he felt like he'd adjusted pretty well. That was good... however, her attention had been effectively distracted by the comments about Game of Thrones, anime, and sewing. Lots of points.

"Sewing isn't that hard," she said. "I'm sure you'd pick it up just fine. And capes are really simple so long as you have a good pattern-- I could trace one off for you from my set." Of course she kept all of her patterns, even after she'd used them. Never knew when you might need to remake something because of an accident, or, like in this case, someone wanted the same pattern because they liked it well enough when they saw the finished product.

"Anyway, I'd be more than happy to help you learn! I'm part of the sewing club, too." If it was one thing she loved more than her power, it was sharing her passions with people. She was definitely glad she'd stayed to talk to Phoenix by this point, despite the awkward beginning to their meeting.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she'd meant to. "Cosplaying is so much fun, and so fulfilling, especially when you make the costume yourself." She was beaming by this point. "What characters are you thinking? Or what anime, if that's easier? It can be hard to pick..."

New geek out buddy? Oh yes. This was definitely great.

[Deleted]

"I love dragons, but... I am biased for phoenixes," Phen grinned with a laugh. For obvious reasons. Which was why he'd been so astounded at the appearance of one earlier. "If there was a Queen of Phoenixes on that show, it would be even better!" Now Phen imagined himself with a flock of fiery birds on his arms and the image made him giggle with amusement.

He chuckled. "Believe me, you'd be surprised by how many 'easy' things I fail at," he told Misaki with a shake of his head. But he did brighten at her offer. "Doesn't stop me from tryin', though! That would be really great, I'd love t'give it a shot." And if it turned out horrible, at least he'd given it his best try. "You'd help? Really?" Phen squeed and grasped one of his new friend's hands excitedly. "I have the day off from work tomorrow. Are you busy?" He wanted to do this as soon as possible! Maybe Oriel would even want to try? Maybe? He already cooked and cleaned, after all.

He jumped a little at her loud exclamation, but his eyes were still bright. "It looks like a lotta fun," he gushed. "Me and Oriel are plannin' on goin' as something t'the Disney prom that's comin' up!" Phoenix wasn't sure as what yet, but they'd think of something. "Um, um... I don't know, I guess I really hadn't thought about it," he mused. "M... Maybe Fullmetal Alchemist? Or... Attack on Titan!" Those were the ones he knew the best, at least. Phoenix didn't watch a lot of anime, but he'd seen some of the more popular ones. "Unless.... You have any suggestions?" he asked meekly, looking up at his new friend.