Some time indoors (open)

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She was satiated. As far as light went, that was. She was satiated as far as food too, but the light thing was more noticeable seeing how it meant that she didn't have to intentionally let herself absorb illumination today. In fact, she could kind of feel that she'd even be alright just hanging out in the dark for a while. Yes, she was aware that this all relied on how many or little accidents she had today and how many or little times she got all worked up, but still, in general, she was all set. So, for the first time in days, she didn't feel compelled to go outside for for a handful of hours.

It wasn't that she couldn't just pull in light from the artificial sources, it was just... Well, she supposed it felt cleaner when it came from the sun rather than a light bulb, if that made any sense. And, it seemed stronger too. Though, she could better understand that than the whole clean thing. Well, either way, she wasn't going to try to worry about that right now. No, Anthy was going to put the powers thing out of her mind and with a soft sigh designed to relax herself, she sank into the couch a little and opened up her book to the last page she had left off on.

The Count of Monte Cristo. It was a classic, and she had seen the movie, but seeing the movie had made her curious about how the original story had been and how accurate the version on DVD had gotten when it came to the tale. It was a story of betrayal, greed, and revenge. Possibly not something would expect Anthy to be all that interested in due to how shy she could be around strangers, but she wasn't shy all the time even if no one here had seen that side of her just yet. Actually, once she got to know someone, she was pretty open and a good deal more confident. Playful at times, even.

She paused in her reading as she thought about that for a moment. Alright. She'd do it. She was going to try to not stutter or go too quiet the next time she spoke to someone. Yes, it was a personal goal... Though, it was easier said.... or rather thought.... than done. Especially since she currently felt like there was little to no danger of being approached right then. Well, people didn't tend to strike up a conversation with someone reading a book, right? Was.... she using that as a paper shield? Oh the pun... it hadn't been intended but it made her shake her head a little.

Okay, back to the book. She wanted to finish this chapter before she got around to doing some homework. Sometimes she felt like she had to unwind a little before getting around to it even if she was careful not to wait too late in the day. Alright. Back to The Count of Monte Cristo. Focus, Anthy, focus.

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word count: 510
outfit: Grey short-sleeved hoodie with pink paint spatter decoration, a pair of jean shorts down to the mid-thigh, a pair of pink bear-feet slippers (what, she doesn't plan on going outside...)
time of day: Between the end of class and night time.

[Piper Regalston]

Piper leaned forward across the bathroom sink, focusing on the mirror opposite her. Or rather, her reflection in said mirror. She'd just had her hair re-dyed, from a vivid purple, to a slightly less vivid, but still noticeably unnatural, scarlet. Some of her friends didn't understand why she didn't just shift her hair into the colors she wanted it, but they had obviously never had that horridly persistent and verging on painful itch that came from changing her hair. Popping down to the beauty parlor was a much more simple matter.

However, she had decided some elf ears would be worth the irritating itch. Her parents had promised to take her to a Renaissance faire sometime in the near future, and she'd never attended one of those without elf ears. Before her manifestation she'd used fake one's, of course, but now there was no need for the smelly, unreliable fake ears.

As the change took place, she tried with all her might to keep her attention from drifting. Last time she'd gotten distracted during a shift, she'd ended up with weirdly colored skin. She couldn't even put her finger on exactly why the color had been off, but it had been. Maybe a green-ish tint or something.

But his time she'd persevere! This time, it would come out perfectly, as her ear shifting always did! That's why she didn't mind ear shifts in comparison with others-- they were harder to mess up. And less painful, for sure.

There!

She narrowed her eyes at the reflection, inspecting the long, pointed ears that now sloped gracefully upward. Ha! Perfect! Except... She leaned closer to the mirror, reaching for her glasses as she did. Was the right one longer than the left? If it was, it was only by a fraction of a centimeter, but there was no way she'd be caught dead with asymmetrical ears.

Aaand, her glasses weren't in her pocket. She must have left them in her room. Darn. She bolted from the bathroom, hands over the sides of her head to conceal her ears, as she bolted down to the student lounge. Surely she could find one of her friends in there, to give her the truth of the matter.

She jolted to a stop in the doorway as she realized there was only one person in there, and that person studiously reading a book. She frowned, chewed the inside of her lip in thought, then bounded over to her. It was just one person, so if something so embarrassing as having an ear slightly off had happened, then at least there would be only one witness.

"Hey!" she said as she bounded over, "Could you check something for me?" She leaned over the back of the couch, uncupping her hands from her head. "Are my ears crooked?"

[Anthy Blacksmith]

At first, Anthy hadn't been aware of the presence in the room with how deep she had gotten into the story she had been reading. But, as the scarlet haired girl came almost dashing over to her, Anthy was quickly and suddenly brought back to reality with a gasp and a slight jump as the voice had registered about at the same time she'd caught the movement. maybe it had been briefly before, but like mentioned before, she'd been pretty deep into the book. Hopefully, the jump hadn't been visible.

The other girl was soon leaning over the back of the couch, her hands lowering from where they had been previously shielding her ears. Then, Anthy was asked possibly the oddest question she'd had directed towards her before. Though, it shouldn't have been that odd, should it? Considering where she was and the nature of the place she was living in right now? No, she supposed not.

Okay, she had to do it. She'd set a goal for herself and she had to go through with it. No stuttering, no shying away, no stammering. Just talk normally, and be very glad that this time the person she was meeting was a girl. As, it was much easier for her to relax around her same gender than the opposite one. Anthy took a breath and calmed herself down before tipping her head from one side to the other to get a good look at the other girl's ears.

"Y-your ears look... they look pretty straight to me." She replied a bit softer than she had intended.

Damn it, Anthy. Well, it seemed she wasn't going to be giving herself any extra credit today. But at least she hadn't latched onto the ceiling or anything when she'd been startled earlier. Not that that was physically possible for her. Maybe someone else in the building, but not herself... But still! She was going to take a win where she could.

[Piper Regalston]

Piper didn't notice the jump. She might later, but at the moment? No, really, she had to admit that unless he actually tried, she didn't tend to be the most observant person. Unless she was supposed to be focusing on something.... and then she was the most observant person in the room. Like during lectures, when she could easily tell anyone how many flies had been in the room, how many people had coughed during the lecture, how many times the teacher said "um", and countless other sundry things.

But that was beside the point.

"You sure?" She wrinkled her nose up as she felt her ears. "I thought the right one was a little bigger.... just a little... but dang, can you imagine how embarrassing it'd be to go walking around with one ear cockeyed?" She shook her head and hopped up to crouch on the back of the couch.

Perks of being not quite five foot-- you could perch on the back of things like couches and chairs. Sure, it wasn't necessarily considered "socially acceptable", but did she care? Traveling around on the verge of civilization for the majority of one's life rather influenced how one interacted with people, socially acceptable or not. At least she'd figured out that some people had a very large personal space bubble. Not that she went around hugging everyone, but she'd always considered playfully shoving people to be much the equivalent of hugs in showing affection.

"Anyway," she mused. "So long as you don't notice anything major about them, I guess they're all right for now." She shrugged it off and noted the other girl's book. "What're you reading?"

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She was lively. Very much so, the redhead. Well, Anthy considered her a redhead, even if it didn't look like a natural shade. But, for all she knew, that might have indeed been her natural shade. Well, after mata-puberty or whatever one preferred to call it... But yes, lively. With the hopping onto the couch and all. Onto the back of the couch, anyways. She reminded her of an almost friend, friend-ish type that Anthy used to have a couple of years back... Or rather, a few seeing how more time had passed than she'd realized. Energetic, forward, and lively. And without a single worry about if someone was new to them or not. She kind of missed Riley, but they hadn't really kept in touch after Anthy had started going to public school and her mother left and all. Not in that order, but still.

Anyways, yes, this person she was now interacting with was certainly quickly reminding her of her. The fun type, the outgoing type. Oh there was the word she had been looking for before. outgoing.

"I'm... I'm pretty sure. At least... I don't notice any difference. They're... they're cute by the way. Where did you.... or did you... Are they.... attached?"

Very smooth. BUT! It was still better than her record so far, so that was a plus. It meant she might have been starting to get somewhere. And for once, the meeting hadn't happened through an awkward first impression.

Anthy's lip tucked lightly between her teeth for a moment as she looked briefly away from the other girl and to her book out of reflex, but then she got herself to make eye contact again. It was only polite. And, she needed to really grow a pair, as some would have worded it. It was much easier at the moment, as the redhead was more familiar to her thanks to gender. She mentally thanked the girl for being, well, a girl.

"It's... it's The Count of Monte Cristo... I've been meaning to finish it for a while now." She replied, offering a small smile.

"You.... you can look at the summary if... if you want."

She paused for a moment before remembering her manners more.

"I'm... I'm Anthy, by the way. Nice to meet you."

[Piper Regalston]

This girl was one of those quieter types, it seemed. And that was totally fine with Piper. The super chatty, talk-your-ear off types got on her nerves. They could talk about anything and everything, and it wasn't natural. Well, natural for them maybe, but it shouldn't have been.

"They darn well better be attached." She reached up to tug on one of her ears. "I'm a shifter, so if my ears go falling off or something, that'd probably be a bad thing. Runs in my family," she added, unashamedly proud of the fact. "Being a shifter, I mean," she added. "Not having ears that fall off." Not that she really thought unreliably attached ears could actually run in someone's family, but...

Count of Monte Cristo? "Never heard of it." She plucked the book up as the offer was made for her to look at the summary, and she read over it, albeit somewhat laboriously. Reading had never been her strong point, as most of the stories she'd grown up with had been orally related by her parents.

"Looks complicated," she said finally, handing the book back with an unimpressed air. Unless it was on audio book, she'd probably never hear the story.

Oh right, introductions. "Piper," she stated, flicking a couple pieces of hair out of her face. "... What's 'Anthy' short for?" she inquired. She'd never heard of such a name, so that must mean it was short for something, right? If not, well, she'd find out. She gave a wry smile.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

As the redhead commented about her ears and how they should be attached, Anthy sucked on her lip a little to hold in a giggle, not knowing just how serious or light-hearted the other girl was about the matter. A smile was still unable to be held in and it curled at the corners of her mouth despite her efforts to contain it. Luckily, she didn't seem offended by that, so that was a plus.

Anthy's unintentionally clenched back and shoulders began to relax, settling back to their normal places even as the book was plucked from her fingers and acquired by the other teen. Well, she was assuming she was a teen. She certainly looked like it. But, then again, she did mention being a shifter, which Anthy assumed was short for shape shifter. Still, the personality fit a teen, didn't it? She thought so?

The interest wasn't there it seemed, as the girl was handing Anthy her book back without hiding the fact and paired with a comment about it looking complicated. Well, she supposed it was a bit complicated. And a bit thick in the number of pages. Anthy looked the book over again before setting it down on her lap.

Piper. The girl now had a name. She smiled a little, trying to seem friendly even if she wasn't the boldest person in the world. But then, she bit back a grin as she was asked about her own name.

"Oh... it's... it's not short for anything. It's.. just simply "Anthy" as far as I know." She replied.

"I.... I think it's Australian? At least, when... when one of my friends... well, former friends... had looked it up, it came up as that?" Anthy said, trying not to be too timid, but some of it seeping out anyways.

[Piper Regalston]

When the other girl smiled at the ears comment, and seemed almost hesitant about it, Piper grinned. Why did this girl seem so at ease? It wasn't as if an elf-eared midget had just interrupted her reading time to perch on the back of the couch and get ear size counseling.

Oh wait, that was the situation.

However, the other girl did seem to relax at least a little by the time Piper handed the book back over. She took the liberty of sliding down the back of the couch, to sit in a less odd position on the cushions, as she tilted her head to the side at Anthy's answer.

"Huh, never heard of that as a name," she mused. "And that's sayin' a lot." She nodded. "My family traveled a lot, so I heard a lot of names of people and towns and things." She pulled her knees up to her chest and held onto her sneakered feet. Fidgeting, yes, but it was okay since she wasn't in a classroom setting.

"Australian? That'd make sense, they have some weird names for things over there." It didn't even occur to her that the comment could foreseeably come across as an insult to Anthy's name. "Mine's an English name. Obviously." She rolled her eyes. Much as she made fun of her own name, she was actually quite proud of it. Piper was a perfectly awesome name, after all.

"And I'm not going to bite you, you know," she added, raising her eyebrows at the timid girl. Sure, maybe that wasn't exactly the best way to un-timid people in relation to you, but she was still working on some aspects of her social skills. "What's your 'superpower', anyway?" she inquired. It was always fascinating to find out what other peoples' powers were. Sometimes she met more than one person with the same power, but there were still those people who showed up with a new power that she might not have even heard of before.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

As Piper commented on the fact that she hadn't heard Anthy's name before, Anthy wasn't really all that surprised by that statement. In fact, she probably have been a little shocked if the redhead had said that she'd hear the name and was familiar with it. Her mother had chosen it, and having wanted her daughter to stand out, she had picked out an uncommon name while keeping it short. Something she had felt would work out in childhood as possibly being adorable while sounding proper enough in adulthood. At least, that was what Anthy had had told to her when she had asked a long while back.

As Piper went on to stating that they had a lot of weird names in Australia, Anthy noted that the girl seemed to have no problem saying anything that just came to mind. She did blush a little at the choice in words though, becoming a bit embarrassed. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but to marvel a little at how the other girl seemed to have absolutely no problem or issue with making herself comfortable. Not just in conversation but in position. Like she didn't have a worry in the world. Some were lucky like that, she supposed.

She wouldn't bite. Anthy blinked. A couple of times, actually. And she had a little trouble focusing on anything else that Piper said after that statement. She was the third person to have told Anthy that the shy blond wouldn't be bitten. Anthy's lip trembled slightly and though she tried to keep it in, a grin slowly took over her face. It was soon followed by a giggle. It started off small, mind you, but as she thought about how people just kept telling her that, it just struck a funny spot, she supposed. The giggle turned into a little laugh, one she tried to cover up with one hand so not to seem like she was laughing at the other girl.

"I'm... I'm sorry... it's...."

Her words were interrupted by another giggle and she shook her head, trying to stop. But it wouldn't. No, it just grew stronger until she was having a bit of a giggle fit and blushing all the while from being embarrassed about it.

"It's just that..."

More giggling but a little calmer this time.

"Ahem... Sorry. It's just that you're the third person to tell me that in a short amount of time. The biting thing." She commented finally.

"At this rate, I'm going to wonder if I actually do look edible and people are saying it for more of their sake than mine." She joked.

"Um... As far as power.... well.... I..... I glow. Or light up." Anthy answered, trying not to leave the other girl hanging.

[Piper Regalston]

Piper blinked as the other girl began giggling, confused as to what had sparked this mirth. Apparently it had been the biting comment, but she had little idea what was so funny about it. She'd heard several people use it before, so she was pretty certain it wasn't because Anthy hadn't heard the phrase... But what then? She raised a skeptical eyebrow at the giggling girl, not intending to join in the apparent hilarity until she knew what was going through the girl's mind.

And that explanation did eventually come, and along with it came the resultant grin of Piper. "Oh, I see." She snickered. "Not surprised though-- You act enough like you think people are going to start chomping on you. Your superpower being able to make yourself taste like certain things or somethin'? That's the only reason I can see to be so nervous about people." She tilted her head. "Why are you nervous about people? Or were you, I guess, 'cause you don't seem quite as nervous anymore."

Of course, Piper had met plenty of shy people, and actually tended to like them better than the ultra talkative one's, but that didn't mean she wouldn't say anything when she noticed their shyness. In her opinion, if people didn't like how she talked or acted, it was their problem, and they'd just have to deal with it. Or get lost. It wasn't as if she was in dire need of new friends anyway-- she had a comfortable circle already. Of course, she tended to care a little more about what they thought. But that was beside the point.

This new person glowed? Well that was an... interesting power. "That's handy," Piper mused. "Don't have to have a flashlight or nightlight or anythin'. How well can you control it? Apparently pretty well, or else you'd be randomly glowing right now, right? Do you glow instead of blush when you're embarrassed?" She couldn't help throwing out that last question.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

It was like this other girl was running a hundred miles a minute. So full of energy and so forward. Yeah, she had thought that forward part a couple of times already, but it was being proven over and over again, so that was only natural, right? Anthy just had to hold on until the ride was over and hope that she didn't get lost along the way so she could answer the different things that had been asked. Though, she supposed the power of taste question had already been answered by the time things slowed down and the redhead had taken a breath.

Now, what to answer first? Well, she supposed she could start from the older questions and work her way to the newer ones? Yeah, that would work. Or, at least, the blonde believed it should. Anthy stopped biting the corner of her lip, not having realized she had been doing it until just then. Then, she spoke.

"I.... I actually don't... don't really know why.... The shyness thing, I mean. I didn't used to be like this... it... it just happened. I don't even remember exactly when. It's... it's not that I'm scared or anything, it's just that.. Well, I don't know. Sorry." She said, the back of her neck burning a little bit.

"And, as far as the glowing... actually, it does replace blushing sometimes... and that just makes me glow more because I get embarrassed from it. I also have accidents with my "power" all of the time, random glowing here and there..... some times flashes... So.. So I guess I can say that I .... don't really have much control." She said, having become more shy again due to the topics that had been brought up.

"Like right now, apparently." She added, barely containing a groan.

The back of her neck was lit up, and the glowing went all the way down her spine, showing through her shirt most likely.

[Piper Regalston]

Piper studied Anthy as she spoke. She'd looked kind've taken aback. By what exactly she looked taken aback about, Piper wasn't completely sure, but considering the other girl was obviously shy, she took a guess that it was her energy level. Just because she didn't consider herself to be the most extroverted person around (well, extroverted in the sense of wanting to chat with anyone about anything), didn't mean that shy people like Anthy wouldn't consider her to be extroverted. She was outgoing, she would agree with that. But whatever people called her personality, she wondered if she should tone it down a little for the other girl's comfort.

She shrugged as Anthy stammered through a reason... that ended up not being a reason... "Well, you don't need to be nervous," Piper stated. "I don't judge. Unless you end up being one of those people who can talk for an hour about toilet paper or something pointless like that. Which you don't seem like."

Well, at least she'd thought about toning herself down, even that thought didn't exactly reach reality. But it was the thought that counted, right?

Piper's eyes widened as Anthy's comments about glowing actually ended with the other girl glowing, all the way down her spine. "Heyy, that's pretty cool." She bounded up off the couch and peered at the back of Anthy's neck, moving hair out of the way if she had to. Sure, the glowing showed through her shirt, but she was more interested in seeing what skin looked like when it glowed. And she had just enough common sense to know lifting the back of Anthy's shirt to see her spine wouldn't go over well.

"You're like a lightning bug," she mused. "Do you only glow on your back?" It must be awfully inconvenient and annoying to glow rather than blush. Piper herself didn't often encounter circumstances that were blush-worthy for herself, but in the rare instance that she did, she found it perfectly infuriating. Which, as Anthy had commented about the glowing deal, only made matters worse.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When she was told that she didn't need to be nervous, it didn't really help as she began becoming self conscious about being as nervous as she was. Anthy was about to state that she got less nervous the more she got used to someone but the lively redhead was speaking again and Anthy waited rather than talking over her. Though with as strong as a personality as the other girl seemed to have, it might have been pretty difficult to do so anyways. Anthy might have found her fun if she wasn't too busy being so shy right then.

As Piper went to continuing on to the topic of not judging her unless she was one of the types that could go on for a long time about mundane things, Anthy but her lip to contain the grin that tried to form. As, she had known a few people like that before. And no, she wasn't like that even if she usually stuck around for such conversations to be nice.

When Anthy felt the heat up her spine, she had known the glow was there, and had mentioned as much. But, as Piper was suddenly moving and trying to get a better look at it, Anthy's eyes widened and the glowing became a bit more intense before spreading a little. Probably not where the other could see just yet with her being behind her lifting her hair out of the way and all, but it happened.

"Um.... I.... I actually.... it.... it happens all over... just.... just it picks random spots sometimes." Anthy stammered out.

"And... sometimes, I guess it's.... it's like a lightning bug.... but sometimes I... I give off a flash too."

The glowing on her body wasn't just down her spine by this point but it was like it had passed through to the other side, creating an almost thick fray-edged band from her chin and downward.

[Piper Regalston]

Piper did notice that Anthy had seemed just about to say something right as she herself had started going on with the conversation. Oops. Oh well, hopefully the shy girl would speak up later. And hopefully she herself would remember the whole, Shy people are easy to be talked over thing. It wasn't as if she meant to prevent shy people from talking, it was something she was working on. Working on very slowly.

"Fireflies flash too," Piper commented, in answer to Anthy. "So I guess you're like a cross between a glow-worm and a firefly. 'Cause fireflies flash and glow-worms glow. That's pretty cool." Curiosity sated, she plopped back onto the couch again, knees up to her chest as she held her ankles, as usual. She squinted at the other girl as the glowing had spread. "You're really bright," she stated.

And she decided to leave off questions, this time, instead falling silent and watching the other girl. Giving her a chance to talk-- right? That was more progress! Good for her! She gave herself a mental pat on the back. Now Anthy would have a chance to say something. And Piper could listen. If she ever wanted to get into the line of work she wanted, she would definitely have to learn to listen better in the moment, rather than in hindsight.

What was that saying? Hindsight was 20/20 or something? Whatever it was, it was true, and it was a pain in the neck, too. One of these days though, she'd be as good as her dad, and super awesome at paying attention all the time.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

As Piper commented that fireflies flashed too, Anthy thought to herself that it wasn't exactly the same kind of flashing. She doubted if fireflies blinded each other. But she didn't correct her just yet. Instead she tried to focus on bringing her glow to a perfect minimum. As in, turning it off. She even closed her eyes at one point to try to focus on it more as she took a slow breath.

"I.... actually flash more... more like the bulb on a camera or something, but.. but I guess it's just a fast version of something a... a firefly does in a way too if you look at it a certain way." She said, not wanting to make Piper feel like she was being silly or something.

"It's pretty bright... And I've never had it happen on purpose. But luckily it... it doesn't happen too often." She explained.

By this time she had opened her eyes and was looking at Piper. Well, she had opened them when she had started to speak, but yeah. It would have been kind of rude to sit there with her eyes closed during a conversation.

Anthy gave a soft sigh of relief when the glowing finally stopped. It was like someone had flicked a switch off inside of her.