An itch [Open]

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod winced, looking down at his hands and glaring at his fingers.

He'd been running down the Courtyard since very early in the morning, wanting to keep his body moving after having nightmares all night. It was easy to wake up early when you couldn't sleep after all. So he'd put on his pullover, shorts and tennis shoes and went out to train, hoping to calm the nerves his nightmares had left. Sadly, after a half hour or so of trying, he was still tense, and it was starting to show in his hands. 

He stared at his fingers as his nails pushed the skin on the top of his fingers like a blade slowly making its way into skin. His nails were getting rough and uneven, making the whole process even more painful. He looked up, noticing students were starting to show around, there for their own morning walks and runs, so he couldn't very well do what he needed here.

Rod ran toward the lake, the emptiest place he could find and absentmindedly walked up to a tree. He pulled his nails out and scratched the tree, wanting to even out the painful blades, closing his eyes as the pain hit him. Good. They were getting scratched enough. The pain made him wince though, not liking the sensation of his nails being pulled from fingers, and the cutting feeling of the nails growing against his skin. 

He really should've checked better if someone was around though, because when he opened his eyes, he saw someone staring at him. 

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ sat on the tabletop of a picnic table, notebook on her lap. She was glad it at least hadn't snowed in a while so she wasn't getting wet. One thing AJ loved about writing was the inspiration that came from writing in different places. Being outdoors had always been a source of inspiration, but it was hard to get outside in the winter and not completely freeze. That hadn't changed when she moved from Minnesota to Vermont. She'd bundled up though, a purple beanie over her unruly curls, a sweater and her bulky black jacket, along with boots with legwarmers. She was fairing alright, just lost in her writing.

A scratching noise, not unlike that of a cat sharpening its claws, caught her attention and jarred her from her current state. She looked up, pen stopping in the middle of a word. Her hand lingered over the page. It was a person, a guy, scratching at a tree like a cat with a scratching post. She should have been accustomed to seeing strange things in Pilot Ridge, but instead, she stared.

[Rodrigo Santos]

Yup. Some random girl was watching him. He flushed, angrily staring at her right back, growling in frustration. "Hey!" He yelled at her from his spot, pulling at his hands and wincing as the tree gave in and left splinters in his fingers. He ignored the pain and walked up to her, still glaring angrily.

"Ye tell nothing to anybody 'bout this, got it?" He said, looming above her. His eyes went down to her notebook and he raised an eyebrow. "Ain't it too soon to be doin' homework?" Maybe she was crazy. He'd met his handful of crazy, nerdy girl already and really was in no mood for any more of them.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ flinched when he yelled, somehow not expecting it. She hadn't been trying to intrude, she was merely surprised by what he'd done, even if she was constantly living around meta-humans.

"About the fact that you're a meta?" She raised an eyebrow. Mostly everyone in Pilot Ridge knew about meta humans, it wasn't a secret to keep. She didn't understand why he was so angry that she'd seen him. "It's not homework. I'm journaling." She was slighty threatened by him as he loomed over her.

[Rodrigo Santos]

"What?" He asked dumbly at her question. "Why would I care anybody knows I'm meta? We're at Hammel." Stupid girl. He cracked his neck, rubbing it nervously. "No. The eh-" He flushed, "The sharpening thing." He was mumbling now, embarrassed of that display. Last he needed was some idiots in Hammel teasing him about it. Hell, he'll start punching some guts and breaking noses if that ever happened. Just thinking about it made him angry.

Journaling? "Ya mean like a diary and shit?" He flopped down in front of her, looking down at the notebook with interest. What could possibly be interesting enough so early in the morning to be writing about? "Ya know, it's kinda like all cliché ta read some chick's diary." It only made him more curious. Would she let him read it?

He grinned at her and then leaned closer. "Whatcha write about in that thing? Sex escapades or something?" THAT he would love reading. For a rule, he avoided anything with- well, with written words, but if the chick was easy and playful enough she might have something interesting in that little notebook.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

She hated to tell him, but that was exactly what it sounded like he was insinuating, like he didn't want to be found at as a meta human. AJ passed on making any other comment, cringing as he cracked his neck. She hated the sound.

"Honestly it just looked kind of creepy in my opinion," she mumbled nervously. It scared her more than anything, but she also understood that being a meta wasn't easy and if that's what he needed to do so he could deal with it, then so be it. "I don't know why you're worried about me telling people." He was confusing, mostly.

"No, it's not really a diary." She'd tried keeping a diary on random occasions growing up, but she'd ended up filling it with pointless details of what she was wearing that day and what the weather was like. It was mundane and not at all amusing to look back at. "I just write whatever's on my mind. Whatever comes to me." Did he seriously want to read her diary? And was he asking to? She'd never had a sibling who had tried to do so, it had always been private and so she hugged the journal to her chest and looked at him uneasily. Sex escapades? She felt herself blush, her cheeks reddening as she lowered her head and shook it. Is that what he thought girls wrote about? And she didn't even have sex escapades. She had one, and it wasn't really an escapade...

[Rodrigo Santos]

Creepy? He smirked. "Hell, yeah. Downright scary!" He added, waving his fingers at her. "Can do lot of damage too." He was meaning to be impressive, not the bad kind of creepy he was being. Why didn't he want people to know? He scratched the back of his neck nervously, looking away and actually flushing. "It's embarrassing." He muttered. "Don't expectcha to get it." He stared at her again and wondered. "What's yer power anyway?" He wondered, figuring it wasn't something as embarrassing as his. What were the chances, right?

She wrote stuff she thought of. "So a nerd." He said with narrowed eyes. He had his deal of nerds, thank you. He grumbled under his breath, suddenly throwing himself to the floor and stretching next to her. Why were all the cute girls nerds? Nerds were hard to get! And he was- well, sure he had his deal of Sydney to go with, but that wasn't enough, right?

He stared at her as he mentioned her sex escapades and his eyes widened at her reaction. Oh, so cute. He suddenly turned, raising an arm toward her, trying to grab her little book. "Lemme read it!" He said excitedly, thinking he'd hit jackpot. "Come on! I ain't judging! I wanna read it."

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"Do you think that people will be afraid of you?" AJ asked curiously. That seemed more plausible than thinking it was embarassing. He may not expect her to understand, but she was trying because he was obviously terrified that she'd seen him.

When he asked what her power was, she tried to not hesitate. She'd never been a fan of her power. It'd done a great job of ruining her teenage years and a friendship she regarded very highly. She'd lost herself for a long time. "Pheromone manipulation," she told him, her voice not wavering. She was shocked. Maybe he'd be able to relate. People were scared of the power she held too because it could make them do things, act on thoughts or impulses that they didn't plan to.

"I suppose?" She phrased it more as a question. "Do you classify everyone but yourself as nerds? To be interested and passionate about something doesn't make you a nerd, it makes you human." That was just her own perspective of course.

She held her journal closer to her chest. "It's not going to be as exciting as you think," she told him. She supposed it talked a lot about Travis and losing her virginity and all of that. And it also talked about Oliver, which was as personal as the journal got. It talked about the night he'd planned on telling her how he felt and how he'd ended up almost ravaging her in public. It wasn't by any means sexy. It was just how she felt.

[Rodrigo Santos]

What? Afraid? Rod blushed and ran a hand through is hair, pursing his lips. "No- uh... They'll think it's lame." Hell, he'd love it if people were afraid of him. Fear was equal to respect, according to his brother and father, and having a power that caused that would be actually pretty cool. He thought he could get away with stuff if people feared him, just like his father had. But with these? He frowned down at his hands. This power sucked and it hurt and did nothing but cause problems for him. Nothing like wearing boxing gloves over nails that grew into your own skin.

Wait- her powers were pheromone manipulation? Hot! Rod smirked at her, leaning closer as he examined her. Not bad. "How does that work?" he wondered, actually interested. "Can ya make me fall for you?" Ha, tough. He was too into- cough, other girls for that to happen, but it was still funny to think about.

"Makes ya a nerd." He replied back, rolling his eyes. She held her book so close to her chest and he tried to peer at it. Plus boobs. "So what's in it? If it's boring ya wouldn't be holding it back like that, yeah?" Rod leaned forward, "Come on, gimmeee." He waved his nails at her teasingly, meaning to scare her, but the silly grin on his face gave away he wouldn't hurt her. He just wanted to read the damned book, dammit!