Testing the Waters (OPEN)

[Cole Kessler]

Cole shifted into fourth gear as his foot fell heavier on the gas pedal; his car roaring down the highway. According to the forecasts, today would be the last day of some unseasonably warm weather and Cole intended to take full advantage. A smile cracked his blank, indifferent facial expression as he came upon a road sign, 'Welcome to Pilot Ridge' it read. With a relaxing sigh, Cole lifted his foot from the accelerator and coasted down to a slower speed. "It has been too long, Pilot Ridge..... Yet, you're still here and so am I. Let's see what kind of trouble I can get into shall we?" Cole spoke to himself as he rounded the next curve and caught sight of Hammel's clock tower in the distance.

With nothing more to say he reached for the radio and turned up the volume of the song. It had been a long ten months since Cole was last back in the foothill town that hid away the school he came to mature in. He'd let his hair grow out in his time away. In addition his face grew a bit of scruff to match the new hair. He'd spent a semester at Virginia Tech before going back to Oklahoma to stay with his grandparents for the summer and fall to help with his family's business. He'd also managed to quit smoking almost cold turkey at that. It wasn't easy after depending on Nicotine for the longest time. But Cole had the support of his friends and family to help him and hadn't had a cigarette in two months.

After everything that had happened to him in his first three years at Hammel he needed to get away. First there was Taeyeon and the adventure that she and he had called a relationship. Then came Ana, and the return of an ex-girlfriend, a fight Cole never wanted, and hospital trip number one. Then the accident in which he saved a girl's life at the expense of his own bodily well-being, hospital trip number two, and the subsequent relationship with her amidst finding out a good friend likely harbored feelings for him him as well. Then the "relationship" with said friend back in December. It had been a wonder Cole had survived through all of it.

And yet, here he was once more. Back in the very place where he'd been hurt physically and emotionally multiple times. But Cole had changed much in the last ten months, or so he thought anyway. It was only by testing the waters that he would learn if he was right about the change. He couldn't decide where to go first at this point. There wasn't a place in Pilot Ridge that didn't hold at least one memory for him. "Well I guess the lake's as good a place as any...." He told himself before jerking the steering wheel right and sliding onto a dirt road.

It didn't take long for him to reach the lake and its parking area. Across the way he could see a group of teenagers having fun in the water. Cole was merely there to enjoy the view as the sun began its slow descent onto the horizon. It wouldn't be long before the sky was set ablaze in colors of pink, orange, and red. Cole's preferred time of day to be at the lake: Sunset.

[Deleted]

Theo was out by the water, the other kids were playing in the chilly water, but Theo sat on a rock nearby.  He hadn't been himself the last two years he has been here, but it was better than the abusive past he had.  Thanks to learning his manipulation of bio rhythms, and the meaning of healing and the arts there of, most of his major wounds healed over time.  The giant gash across his right shoulder blade, left a scar that will never heal, but he has grown to accept that.  He sat on the rock nearby, with a white sleeveless shirt on, and some shorts, as he was not really comfortable being shirtless around the other guys, not that he had body issues, he's just had a bad past of such.  His knees were pulled up to him, and his head rested on them.

The sun was warm usually, but this evening it was a nice breezy evening, where the air was crisp and cool in the dim Vermont air.  The deep breath he took made his lungs chill with anticipation of the coming breath, and tingle at it's release.  It was then that he thought he heard a slight stopping noise, like breaks on a car, and looked to the side, where he saw a car stop and an older guy get out.  The guy was older, he could tell, looked like a high schooler that graduated or maybe a college kid, who knows? Maybe Theo's eyes were just playing tricks on him, he wasn't sure, as lately he hasn't been sleeping well.  He keeps having dreams of his father's assault on him two years ago, and the painful tearing of all that he was.

Theo got off the rock and decided that he was going to try and open up to a stranger, maybe try to make a friend, and break his cycle of loneliness.  He walks up to the guy, but hesitates, seeing him lost in his own memories, and so he stands there and waits, until he is addressed, but says to no one, but loud enough to sound wise, " It's beautiful isn't it, all the beauty it holds, and yet just as powerful as a hail storm."  Theo said as he looked out at the water, near the stranger.

[Cole Kessler]

Auron was so caught up in memories, in the sight of the blazing sky that he didn't even notice the boy approach. It wasn't until the kid spoke that Auron snapped back into reality. "Indeed it is." Auron's reply was short, simple, but quite sincere. "It's amazing, ya'know?" Auron questioned, "In a world that seems to thrive on chaos that there is one thing immune to corruption."

He fought back the itch to have a cigarette as he continued to lean on the front of his car. He noticed the boy was still nearby, "It's funny, you said it's as powerful as a hailstorm. But I don't see that. What I see is something that is undoubtedly beautiful, majestic even. Like a new car as it first rolls off of the lot. Like a thunderstorm cloud as it builds to tower over the landscape." Cole said, his eyes locked onto the horizon. "I see something as majestic as lightning." Cole let a little static discharge off between his fingers.

Finally, he looked back to the boy, "Name's Cole." He explained while offering a handshake, "Got a name, kid?"

[Deleted]

Theo looked out at the water, as Cole spoke about how majestic the beauty of the landscape currently is, and especially took note of how it was like a thunderstorm cloud, and how beautiful as lightning.  Theo nodded his head, " Yeah, that's what I meant."  He said with a nod.  " It's so breath taking, almost makes you feel like you're legs just don't work any more, due to the fact that you'd never want to leave this sight."  He smiled, letting the wind gently push his hair aside.

He heard the slight spark, as he looked at the hand that was extended.  " I.. I'm Theo"  He said as he shook the guys hand, though he was almost reluctant but he pushed it aside.  " It's a pleasure to meet you."  Theo felt that this guy could be different, but he wasn't sure if he should open up about his powers or not.  He's got good control over his powers, still slightly stresses out when he heals for a long period of time, and only twice has it ever passed out from it.

" So, I have never seen you around, are you new here?"  Theo asked as he turned back to the water and landscape, watching Cole closely every now and then.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole smiled as the boy introduced himself. The smile grew bigger he asked the electrokinetic a question. "Not even close." Cole quipped when Theo asked if he was new to Pilot Ridge. He stood from the hood and picked up a rock from the ground. He curled his arm back behind him before rocking the same arm forward flinging the rock out over the water.

As it skipped, Cole spoke again, "I'm what you could call a 'Wiley Veteran' around this town. Spent three solid years of my life here, Theo. Then spent a semester at V. Tech before going all the way back to my hometown in Oklahoma." Cole explained, but stopping there as he wasn't to tell his life's story to Theo, "I could say more but then I would prolly bore you to sleep with my life's story."

Thinking of something else to talk about, Cole looked back at him, "You from H.I.?" Cole asked bluntly. It wasn't like it was a big risk. Most people in Pilot Ridge knew about Hammel and the students there. To Cole his powers were once a secret but were no longer a secret worth keeping to himself. Eventually people would find out. Being honest about it up front made Cole feel much better. However, he was still careful who he revealed them to. It wouldn't quite be fun for him if the wrong persons found out and took him to be dissected in a lab somewhere.

[Deleted]

Theo looked out, over the water as Cole spoke, " A veteran huh?" Theo said as he chuckled, " Sounds more like a vagabond to me." He kind of laughed at the fact that he was right about the guy being a college student, he just looked like one, and was more built than Theo.  " Well, welcome back to Virginia."  

Then then thought about it, as he was kind of cautious about letting people in about his powers, for fear that people would take advantage of him, but in this case he figured, that Cole showed his, Theo could oblige in return.  " Yes, I am from the institute, I... I was picked up when I was fourteen, and brought to the institute."  He said, not revealing how his father had thrown him through the window, and left him unconscious and bleeding in the front yard.  " I would assume you know of it."  Theo said making reference to Cole's hand, " I mean must have been a real shock huh, finding out."  Again with the lame reference to the powers.

" I am a bio-molecular manipulator, I can heal mainly right now, as I haven't really gotten a grasp on the other major aspects of it.  Right now I know I heal myself, and can mend others as powerful as broken bones, but anything real major, starts to hurt, real bad."  He took a deep breath, " I have been afraid to really say anything about it because I feared that people would take advantage of it.  "

[Cole Kessler]

"No pun intended, eh?" Cole chuckled once more as Theo referred to the shock of finding out about his power. "I found out while fending off a group of bullies in the middle of a thunderstorm while walking home from school." Cole explained. The memories of that night had faded long ago and the emotional scars had healed up. Cole no longer held the preference of not talking about it.

Cole looked at Theo as the boy explained his gift, "Damn, you could make a killin' with that kind of power. Not to mention cure cancer and shit once you master that power." Cole jested, "Well, maybe not that but at least you don't have to worry about dying from getting shanked or some shit." He said with a large grin.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna shank you." Cole assured Theo. "So how long have you been a student, short stack?" Cole asked him.

[Deleted]

Theo laughed at the "no pun" thing that Cole said, as he agreed, " Yeah, no pun intended."  They laughed for a minute before Cole explained how he found out, and confirmed what Theo was thinking.  He listened, and heard how it happened, and kind of shook his head, " Wow, must have been horrible.  I hate bullies, I was picked on most of my life, for not being the jock that everyone thought I should be, always being small and tone, never bulky and built like everyone else."  He skipped a small stone in his hand, watching it bounce.

" A killin'? Doing what? My powers don't kill."  He said kind of shocked, as he's never heard the lingo before, and it kind of startled him, but he figured it out the longer Cole talked.  " Oh, heh, well I am still working on curing diseases and such.  I can take out some minor disease like curing a fever of a cold, I can't cure the cold, at least not right away."  Theo said, " I first learned of my powers I cut my finger on a piece of glass"  He said 

His head perked up as he grinned slightly breaking the depressing thought in his head, " Short stack?  what do I look like pancakes?"  He said smiling.  " I have been a student here for the past two years, I was picked up at home, and brought here, and I have stayed here ever since." Theo lied some, but he didn't want to just out right say that his father beat him for years, and then did the unthinkable to him, he was just starting to make a friend, and couldn't scare him off with that.  Theo didn't want pitty, he wanted a friend.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole chuckled as Theo admitted his disdain for bullies, "Well, at we least we both hate them. Don't get me wrong though, I wasn't picked on because of my looks or size. No my being bullied was more to do with my compassion for others even those less popular kids; those deemed undesirables by those more popular than them. I was picked on because when push came to shove, I threw in my lot with the less popular kids." Cole drifted into a story, "One of my teammates on the football team got into it with a kid who I grew up with because he was talking to the ball player's girlfriend. I stepped between them and the jock got even more pissed. Started shouting in my face and threatening me." Cole explained, "Which was something you don't do." And that's where the story ends. I ain't drunk enough to tell 'war stories' to people I don't know all that well." Cole told him.

Theo's next question made Cole blurt out a wild laugh. Cole's joke about Theo's healing powers had gone over the kid's head. "When I said you could make a killin' I meant that you could make a shit ton of money, Theo. If you get outta Hammel and can't figure out what to do with life, the world will always need doctors." Cole told him.

"You're shorter than me. Short Stack was a natural choice for a nickname." Cole explained, "But you're right. It really doesn't suit you that well." Cole admitted. It was true. Cole would rather use that nickname for someone abnormally short. "After all, you're no dwarf." Cole said referencing a favorite video game of his.

"Two years, eh? Well, that's not too bad." Cole told him. He pushed off of the front fender and walked around to the trunk. As he popped it open he stepped back a step to keep from having it hit him in the face. "I swear spring loading this thing was the worst idea I have ever had." Cole said with a smirk. Once it was fully open Cole reached into the ice chest and grabbed a beer, "Thirsty, youngblood?" Cole ask Theo. The electrokinetic wasn't usually one to beak the law and contribute to a minor's delinquency, but beer was different. Cole felt that everyone should enjoy at leat one drink of alcohol before they're legally able to indulge init.

[Deleted]

" True, war stories are suppose to be a thing of the past that you shouldn't have to relive."  Theo said, as he turned from Cole and lifted the back of his shirt, revealing a good 5 to 6 inch scar across his right shoulder blade.  " That is all I need of my reminder." he said pointing to it, and it was extremely visible, as it was white like a ghost from the skin difference.

Theo put his shirt down as the killin reference was explained, " Yeah, I thought about being a doctor, it was a profession that made sense to me."  He explained, as he watched Cole move, " I just don't do well with like delivering babies and all."  He chuckled, hopping up on a rock nearby, and sitting down, it was close enough to the car that he could hear with out talking any louder.  " Short stack heh. At first I thought you were referencing me to pancakes."  Theo said as he laughed with Cole.

He again watched Cole get up off the fender of his car and head to the trunk, making a reference to spring loading, causing Theo to laugh a little.  When asked if he was thirsty, he just shook his head, " No thanks, I just had a soda a moment ago." Theo said, blowing off the youngblood comment a moment ago.  " Do you really think it could be that much better?  I mean I haven't really seen any real change before or since I got my powers.  I just don't know what the future holds."  He said with a sigh, putting his head on his knees.  

[Cole Kessler]

"Well, looks like we both have our battle scars." Cole told him as he looked at the scar on Theo's back. He brought a hand to his face and pulled his hair aside, "Head trauma's a bitch though." He chuckled. Cole's memories took over once again as his fingers brushed over the scar over his eye.

'A party to celebrate and break-in Cole's new apartment. An uninvited guest and her attempt to win him back. Her so-called new "boyfriend" there with her and threatening Cole and his friends. Cole charged in valiantly, yet, foolishly. The sound of glass shattering as his head went through a car window.....'

Cole flashed back into reality and opened his beer. "I said be a doctor. That doesn't mean you have to deliver babies and shit like that. That's an OB doctor. And from all the one's I've ever known, that sounds like a miserable existence." Cole took a drink, "Don't get me wrong, man. I love poon just as much as the next guy, but I am fairly certain that watching a woman deliver a baby would scar me for the remainder of my days." Cole laughed and took a large gulp of his beer, "Damn, I sounded like an asshole there. Whoops. Oh well. Been called worse."

Cole looked at Theo as he said it hadn't really changed for him, "Actually, it can be better." Cole quickly interjected. "Look at it this way: At least you're not alone. I think I know why it's not gotten any better for you." Cole said while he looked Theo over, "You need to get laid. Still a virgin aren't you? Yeah. Gotta be. You're too tightly wound, kid. You're what? Sixteen? Live life, Theo, and don't let anything stop you from doing what you want." Cole explained, "Trust me, life ain't gonna sit and wait for you to decide what to do. As Coach Marty Daniels once said:" Cole was referring to his favorite TV show "Blue Mountain State" at this point, "You gotta grab life by the tits and squeeze." Cole finished. IT wasn't terribly inappropriate, but then again Cole was anything but appropriate at most.

[Deleted]

Theo kind of perked at the war story comment, as he noticed the gash on his eye.  " Wow, and for a while there, I thought I was the only one who had a something like that happen.  " You know what though, speaking of doctors and such, even while I was unconscious when I got this, I became aware of my healing powers.  It was almost like I could see the inside of me healing, everything was normal except that scar in a day or two."  He chuckled, " If the guy from the institute hadn't shown up, I'd probably be strapped to an examination table right now."  He shook his head and laughed.

" I know, I know, I didn't mean it literally." Theo laughed at the baby reference, " Yeah, that would probably scare me for the rest of my life too."  Theo couldn't just get a grip on this guy, one minute he figures him out, the next he's a different person, and Theo loved a good challenge.

Theo perked at the mention of getting laid.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing, this guy was spot on on his age, but still, not many people go around mentioning their virginity to anyone.  And all the sudden he just went secluded, all that extraverted energy just went inward, as Theo pulled his knees up to his chest, and just about started to cry, as flashbacks of his past took him over.  "I.. I don't really h.. have any interest.." He said holding back the urge to just crack as the memory of what his father did to him just about took him over, and he started to cry.  A single tear fell from his eye.

[Cole Kessler]

The stutter was a definite sign of something going on behind the scenes. This kid was apparently not one like the generation that Cole grew up in. Cole noticed the tear as the sun caught Theo's face. Something had definitely clicked in Theo's head. Cole felt bad. What was the cause of this? Did Theo think Cole was making fun of him or something? Quickly, Cole fired off an apology, "Wasn't trying to make fun of you or anything, kid. Definitely wasn't trying to make you cry. You wanna wait 'til you're married, you go right ahead."

For the life of him, Cole couldn't figure out what he had done, if he had done anything at all. Thinking quickly, Cole grabbed another beer and walked over to him, "Here." He said offering the beer to Theo. "This'll help you calm down. Wasn't at all trying to upset you or anything, kiddo....." Cole explained as he continued to hold out the beer.

[Deleted]

Theo looked up, his poor judgement to cry like this hurt his first time relationship, God, he wished he could just forget everything that has happened to him, but he can't.  He wiped his face, with only a solitary tear on his cheek, he looked at Cole and just kind of shook his head.  " I, it wasn't your fault, I'm sorry."

He looked at the beer, " I don't drink, not that I am rejecting your offer, but m.. my father was a drunk, I just don't like the stuff."  He put his head back on his knees, " I tried it once, and I couldn't wash the taste out of my mouth, I think I coughed on it for days."  He said, not mentioning why he really hated it, just the cause.  Theo looked ahead instead of making eye contact with Cole again.  " I guess I'm just to shy to get a girlfriend or whatever, maybe I just need to be less scared and more open, but some things are not so easily done."

He then looks over at Cole, " You have nothing to be sorry for, it wasn't your fault, I.. I just have issues to work through, ones that shouldn't be bothering me anymore.  You didn't offend me, it's literally all my fault."