Bright enough [Anthy]

[Lucas Blacke]

It had been quite a while since Luke had done any kind of training, and while his ability prevented the loss of his martial art skills he still needed to brush up on them, not only because he needed to keep his skills in check but also because of how ripped and strong he thought he was. Over the last few months he had gotten quite sure of himself, saying that the mere sight of his body could drive girls insane. Obviously, now that he had Zoelle that was no longer the case. ..the saying it part anyway, he still knew he drove girls crazy. Something about being attracted to what you can't have. Luke was enough of a dick to not be like that though, taken or not he could be persuaded to do nearly anything. Like fuck a girl he just met. He was weird like that.

So he had gone out a few days ago and gotten a new training dummy since he had broken the last one. This one, since he had some more money to spend, was a bit more sturdy and could hopefully withstand a bit more. He did ask for the strongest material they had as he spoke about metas like Axelle, she had been able to hit stuff without it breaking, so whatever material she used he wanted as well.

He set up the dummy in the courtyard and placed his bag near the same bench he always used. Luke then took off his shirt because.. reasons, and started hitting the dummy and moving in circles around it simultaniously.

However, not even done his first round he saw something bright out of the corner of his eye that looked familiar, and despite him having to shield his eyes he saw something of a silhouette he knew, and instantly his mind connected those two things. He knew only one person who could literally brighten up a day.

He stopped interacting with his dummy and ran over, the running quickly moving over in a sprint. ''Anthy!'' He yelled, totally blindly assuming that was who the person was.

As he got close he noticed he didn't care about the brightness of the light as he broke out in a smile with his eyes closed; his body could move on its own. At the last moment he opened his eyes though and took a leap towards the person, tackling whoever it was and pinning them against the ground with him on top.

''I've missed ya.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

A couple of things had happened since the incident at the pool. Actually, several things. Alright, it was a good amount of things, enough to make her head spin a little when she tried to think of them all. But the one main thing she did focus on, was on getting control. It had been something she had promised herself, an dset her mind to. Yes, she had contemplated it before with the different conversations she had had with people and with the slips she made here and there, but the pool incident had been a major eye-opener and she really had no choice bot to face the fact that she needed to stop running away and start accepting the fact that the light wasn't just going to be put away.

<It wants out, Glow-butt, and it's not going to take "no" for an answer.>

Anthy took in a breath and sighed it out. It had been a little while since her friend had spoken up, she had almost thought that it might have left, but apparently it hadn't. The thing was, she wasn't sure on if it was a sigh of relief or of anxiety at first. A small smile came though before she giggled softly. Yeah, she was happy. She couldn't deny it. And the fact that what was said was constructive made her even happier.

"I'm going to let it out. Not in public though, but I'm going to really learn how to work with it instead of against it. Against hasn't really worked out well." She commented even as she finished lotioning up.

The burns were gone now, and luckily there hadn't been much scarring. There were little hints of it here and there, but they were likely going to fade eventually. She still had to lotion up every day though as her skin needed the moisturizing to better fully recover from the abuse it had gone through. But she didn't mind. French vanilla was a scent she enjoyed anyways so smelling like it while walking around was actually nice. And the fact that she was back to wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts meant that the lotion's scent wasn't covered up and was able to float around her freely.

<You're about to go do that thing called "practice" aren't you.>

Anthy couldn't help but to smile brightly as she left her dorm room and headed for the courtyard. It usually wasn't too crowded there, and it was one of her favorite places to relax at, so of course it was her first instinct to go there. Finding herself a somewhat out of the way corner of the courtyard, she fanned herself a little as she was getting nervous then took a couple of breaths before trying to focus. She needed to do this before she would chicken out.

The warmth, she could feel it kind of just surfacing under her skin. Then, the heat became more intense. Not painful or uncomfortable, but like standing out in the sun for a while. Only, her clothes didn't block any of it from her. It suddenly increased, almost to the speed of flashing but not quite but she didn't panic, she tried to be as calm as she could. Though, she was soon becoming distracted as she heard her name being yelled. Opening her eyes, she tried to see through the haze of light, her eyes not quite having adjusted. Anthy was soon finding herself landing on the ground though as she was tackled down.

When she heard him tell her she was missed, Anthy was able to identify him. But then again, who else but Lucas would be so unrestrained? Anthy giggled as she put the light away.

"Hello to you too, Lucas." She said with a bright smile.

With how close of friends they were, she had gotten more comfortable with him, so the closeness didn't have her stammering or burning up like she might have had the reaction of towards most other people.

[Lucas Blacke]

With other girls he might've thought something sdexual about the position they were in, but with her not so much. They had spent countless of moments together, gone through hard times and good times and always cheered each other up. Sure, Luke was crushing on her badly, but that didn't mean he didn't like her as a friend, and his mind was even leaning to just being friends also. She wouldn't get him trying to tell her he liked her anyway, or she'd just get it in a purely friendly way or something. No, Lucas would rather kiss her than hug her.

''My lil' nightlight!'' He joked as he suddenly got a nose full of what she was wearing. He bowed down and whispered in her ear as the smell reminded him of the drink they once shared. ''Ya sure do know the way to a man's heart, Anth.'' He feintly shared as he was helf tempted to let his head drop to the ground and take a pseudo nap just to take in more of the smell. It wasn't just her neck area though, her arms smelled the same way.

His body arched up and he lifted his chest from hers, taking her arm and smelling it. Yup, it smelled the same. ''If I didn't know any better I'd say ya have a thing for me or somethin'.'' He joked as he got off of her and stepped up to his feet.

He stretched out his hand then for her to take as he winked at her. ''Ya ain't afraid of bees comin' to hunt ya down this time?'' He laughed.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Anthy giggled at him calling her his little nightlight. Between him and Matt, she was going to have a good list of nicknames going. Though, Matt seemed to mainly have stuck to calling her Moonbeam. But then again, he was more of the steady kind while Lucas was more erratic. Though, if she were to think of the most steady person she knew, it would have had to have been Koty.

Lucas was bringing her out of her thoughts soon enough though and having her focus on him as he dipped his head down and whispered into her ear that the scent of her lotion reminded him of the hot vanilla they had shared before. Anthy hadn't realised it until then but yeah, it did smell a lot like the hot beverage. Maybe that was why she liked it so much. Though, as he joked about how she knew the way to a man's heart, she was giggling again.

"You're so funny, Lucas." She commented in amused tones.

She laughed softly and squirmed a little when he went to taking her arm and smelling at it, him teasing her again with a comment about whether she had a thing for him or not. Of course, Anthy being who she was, took it as him meaning she had an extra soft spot for him or something.

"Of course, I have a soft spot for you. You're one of the people I feel really close to here." She replied with a bright smile.

As he lifted up off of her and got to his feet, she accepted the hand he offered her and was soon on her feet as well. Giving his hand a friendly squeeze once she was properly standing, she released it before brushing some of the grass off of her.

"Bees? This time of the year?" She asked with a gasp before looking around.

She giggled a little though as she looked at him again, showing him she was just joking about her worry.

"I'm not too worried. I haven't seen many bees in the courtyard. The pond, on the other hand... Well, you remember how that went." The blonde said.

[Lucas Blacke]

''One of them?'' He repeated as his head slanted a bit, feeling the squeeze she gave as she accepted his hand to get up. ''Guess I'll have to try harder then.'' He joked. Really, he wasn't, but she couldn't tell what it was anyway so, who cared? Maybe he should just come clean and tell her or something, remove part of the illusion from whatever he thought. While she was nice to him, she didn't quite seem to grasp the idea of him being interested. Enough of what he'd done could be interpreted as such. ''Or hire some hitmen.'' He shrugged teasingly.

He nodded then, moving on from the comment about hitmen and, as he watched her brush the grass off her he felt a slight shiver. Was he.. cold? He couldn't be? His ability.. His eyes widened briefly. ''Is there.. maybe.. alcohol in there?'' He didn't really know what alcohol did to him, but if it was in there and it happened to have an effect on Luke merely through touch.. well, he did just touch her. He dismissed the thought though, surely she knew he was opposed to any sort of drug near him, and the reason for it. ''Might wanna get some pepper ready just in case.'' He joked. It wasn't nearly as bad as that though.

''An' I do remember the pond. That's why I'm sayin' this, really.'' He smiled at her. ''What if that bee remembered ya or somethin'.'' He joked as he reminisced slightly about that fateful day. He was okay with what happened then though. Okay, maybe not the stuttering she did, but she had grown past that now.

Luke shrugged. ''I dunno.. I guess.. maybe bees communicate an' the entire hive is after ya or somethin'.'' He said as he poked her to imitate a bee flying into her. ''I know I'd snatch ya up in a hartbeat.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She was smiling to the point of almost giggling again when Lucas teased her about having said he was one of the people. She did end up giggling though when he commented on having to try harder, before shaking her head a little. Before she could give him a reply though, he went on to joking about how he might need to hire some.

"Oh goodness." She chuckled out, a hand coming up to cover the lower half of her face loosely as she giggled again.

Though, the amusement died down as curiosity flooded in when his eyes widened. Her hand lowered and she tipped her head a little to the side as she watched him for a moment before he spoke up. Alcohol? Why was he wondering if there was alcohol? Her eyes widened slightly when he commented on her possibly needing to get some pepper spray ready and was getting ready to reach in her pocket for the lipstick sized pepper spray that Matt had gotten her until she realised that Lucas was just kidding with her. Giving an amused sigh, she went to just hooking her thumb in her pocket and shaking her head a little.

Her smile turned a bit shy when he told her he remembered the pond, her remembering to where she could almost feel how embarrassed she had been that day. Ant how terribly shy she had been too. It seemed like such a long time ago with all that had happened since, but at the same time, like it had only been a couple of days ago. Memories were strange like that sometimes. The shyness passed though when he began teasing about how the bees might have been out to get her and as he buzzed, she giggled some, before an amused smile grew on her face. As he went to commenting about it as if he were placing himself in the place of a bee, she laughed softly and pushed him playfully.

"Well, if you were a be, then I'd have to be running away from you, wouldn't I?" She teased before taking a couple of steps quickly away.

She stuck her tongue out a little before turning and beginning to run. She had reached that point with him. That level of comfort that allowed her to be able to feel playful. He wouldn't think she was being too childish, would he? No, she didn't think so.

[Lucas Blacke]

Luckily she did get the joke part about the hitmen. She did get it was a joke, right? ''I've gone a bit too long without yer laugh, I s'pose.'' He said as he smiled and scratched the back of his head. He knew the context was lacking and a segue was missing entirely, but at the moment he failed to care. ''Glad ya see it's just a joke though. Don't think I have th' money.'' He wondered momentarily, did they charge extra for a cute blonde?

''Buzz buzz.'' He said as his finger landed on her, his finger feeling her skin and the texture. Stupidly enough he touched her again, even with the cold he had just felt. Oh well, only lived once, right? ''Buzz-y buzz buzz!'' He added with a bit more volume as she gently pushed him away and said something about him being a bee and if he actually was how she'd have to run away from him. Darn hindsight. ''Buzz..?''

She took a few steps backwards before turning and running away. Luckily Lucas knew it was a joke, though he did find himself quite surprised that she did this, never before had she done something like this. ..had she?

With a moment between her running away and his comprehension he finally shrugged and set in a chase, mumbling out a few buzzes under his breath. But instead of trying to catch her, he just ran up next to her and adjusted his steps to run in sync with what she did. ''Ya come here often?'' He joked as he halted suddenly, giving her yet another lead.

Some might see this as proving you're the better person, but he saw it as her trying to play, and if she did, so did he.

He once more began running and this time intensified the buzzing sounds as he came closer. ''Buzz buzz!'' He ominously sounded out as he came close enough to touch her shoulder. He waited until he could embrace her though to minimalize what she would feel. Luke threw his arms around her and threw himself in front of her this time so she would be on top instead of lying on the ground.

''Got my prize.'' He said with a bit of a sigh, still holding her tightly.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

It was more than likely the fact that they were both playing around, that had gotten Anthy loosened up enough to get as playful as she had. Maybe it was the confidence that had been gradually accumulating in her due to the different friends she had been making at Hammel. Maybe it was because she was working so hard to try not to bottle her power away and it was possibly spilling over to her personality as well. She didn't know which might have been the actual cause or if all of them combined was what triggered her playfulness. Either way, she was running away from the Lucas bee and spared from getting embarrassed as he decided to play along with her.

As he ran up next to her, her eyes widened. Well, she knew she wasn't the most fit person in the world, but wow. She was lucky he wasn't really a bee. As he joked and asked her if she came here often she laughed a little.

"Oh no fair, you're faster than me." She kidded a brief moment before he was suddenly not beside her anymore.

He had dropped back behind her and began buzzing, getting a laugh out of her. They weren't running for too much longer though. Not only because she was getting a little out of breath, but because he was suddenly bringing the both of them down to the ground again. She gave out a soft yell of surprise a brief moment before they landed, him being on the grass and dirt with her ending up on top of him. When he mentioned getting his prize, she gave an amused sigh.

"Are you sure you didn't get squished in the process?" She joked.

She knew she had a little padding around the middle, but it wasn't something that bothered her. Still, it did allow her to kid around a little about it. Though, it didn't take her long to get shy.

"But really though, I don't want to squish you." She said, getting a little worried about being on top of him like this even with how he was holding her.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Aw man, I knew I should have been on top!'' He joked as she lay on top of him, asking if he wasn't squished and then actually voicing that she feared actually squiching him. To this he laughed. Could be seen as a dick move, but still. ''I was gonna make a joke, but luckily ya talked me outta it.'' He said with a smile as he looked into her eyes. ''An' to be squished by a beauty like ye, well, let's say I would die happy.'' He was almost expecting a slap after that one as he let go of her and held his hands in front of his face defensively. ''I don't really care 'bout weight or shit like tha'. What matters is that I love ya, right?''

Somewhere, someone was extremely happy he didn't hear his own words right then. He had wanted to tell her, and supposedly he did so right then with a seventy percent chance she would see it as some other form of love, but his idea was to bring it some other way. How exactly was still a question without answer though. ''That bein' said, yer not squishin' me.'' In fact, she wasn't even really denting him. Sure he needed to inhale more oxygen, but that was automated and he didn't even notice that. He spoke normally and acted like he always did. ''I could stay like this for days!''

''..an' I think I want to-'' He said in a whisper, and when he noticed Anthy was still close to him and could probably hear he looked at her questioningly. ''Nice weather, huh?''

Perhaps he had saved himself from the potentially awkward situation. ''I can see why ye'd be hesitant to squish me though.'' He said with a smile. ''Those cookies of yers are a bit too yummy to put down. Got a batch of them at home, by the way.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When Lucas kidded about having known he should have been on top then followed it up by telling her she had talked him out of a joke, she giggled and shook her head at his silliness. Then, he went on to telling her he didn't mind being squished by a beauty before letting go and moving his arms as of to shield himself. Anthey shook her head again.

"You're just trying to see if you could get me to glow again, aren't you." She playfully accused.

Well, he did like her glowing. He had even said it himself. And, he also knew that she tended to do that when she felt shy or embarrassed. As it was, even in knowing that he was playing with her, the ends of her hair were lighting up. She got shy about compliments, even from a close friend. Yes, he was a close friend, especially after the emotional whirlwind they had gone through a while back. It was kind of hard not to go to either becoming close or becoming alienated in that kind of situation. And the fact that neither of them had called their friendship quits, meant that it was the former that had happened.

"Oh now you're really trying to make me glow." She teased, though obviously very happy about it.

When he told her that weight didn't matter and that what did was that he loved her, she of course took it as him saying it in a platonic way. But it still meant a lot to her that he felt that comfortable with her. Though, that didn't mean that she didn't laugh when he told her that he could stay not so squished like this for days and joked about thinking he wanted to. Before she could comment about it still getting pretty chilly at night and that he might change his story when it had been a while, he was speaking up again, changing up the topic by commenting on the weather.

Anthy moved off of him and to be laying on the grass so she could be looking up at the sky. She was about to say a comment about the weather too, but he was speaking up again so she remained silent. Though the silence was broken by a soft giggle and a light playful push at him at his comment about the cookies being a possible reason for her being worried about squishing him. Though, she smiled at him at the part he had said about having a batch at home.

"You have a batch at home?" She asked, a little surprised.

"It's looking like the cookie addiction's spreading." She commented, her eyes widened slightly.

There was already one of her friends that had ended up with a slight extra padding due to her cookies. Though, Koty had gotten hooked to them while working on trying to perfect the recipe. But still, it amused her and made her a bit warmer inside to know that she was spreading the joys of peanut butter cookies to her friends. So far, the ones she had exposed to her addiction, had loved them. And, knowing that she could bring a little bit of happiness like that made her happy too.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Guilty as charged.'' He said in an attempt to save it all. He hadn't been trying to get her to glow, not consciously anyway, not since last time they met. Lucas had offered to help with it time and time again, but to see what it could do to her made him second guess that, he had no intention of losing her. Couldn't her power be something less potentially harmful? Yet he still liked her ability, if only bits of it were genuine, and when the ends of hher hair lit up he took notice, both liking and disliking that she did so. He could have sworn he felt warmth coming off of it and he felt pleased with it, but he also knew that that same warmth could injure people. He could care less about himself, but she didn't deserve to have to live with something that could.. he gulped, stopping himself of even thinking about it.

His hand ran through her hair and slid down to the ends to feel the glowing tips, his other hand doing the same as he looked at her on top of him. ''Just wanna make ya happy, Anth.'' He told her as she said he just wanted to make her glow. He smiled at her and planted a kiss on her forehead. ''Glow or not, I love the person behind the glow.''

As she moved off of him they both lay side by side looking at the sky as he jokingly commented about the weather to change the subject. And it seemed to have been working. As he was playfully pushed though he looked to the side and smiled when he looked at her. His hand fell upon his own stomach and his head turned back to the sky again.

''Aye, never really forgot 'bout it.'' With him that was actually pretty impossible to do, once he'd see it his body had a hard time forgetting it. It helped him though. ''I can pretty much make 'em with my eyes closed.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

She gave a smile of amusement when he had told her that he was guilty when it came to him wanting to make her glow, but then she got a bit shy when he went to running his hands through her hair. It was due to her being still self-conscious about the glowing, about the heat it gave off. While she might have been trying to learn how to control it and trying not to just bottle it up and put it away, she was still nervous about the light. She felt she had good reason to be nervous. Even if the burns weren't all over her anymore and she'd end up healing all the way eventually, it didn't take away the fact that it had happened.

Lucas was helping her from being pulled too deep into those thoughts by speaking up again and she was smiling again when she heard him tell her that he just wanted to make her happy. That was really nice of him. He was a good friend. She wanted to make her friends happy too. Though, she was surprised when he kissed her on the forehead. Had they grown that close already? Did he feel like she was one of the family? As he told her after, that he loved the person behind the glow, she glowed a bit more. Freckles of it were showing over her skin even as she moved to lay on the grass.

"I wish I could make them with my eyes closed." She mused.

"I probably could, though. I mean, I've made them... wow, I've lost count how many times. But then again, I'm too nosy to keep my eyes closed while doing anything." She commented with amusement touching the end part of her statement.

"Am I holding you up from training? You don't have a shirt on and the last time you didn't, you were training with that wooden dummy thing." She asked him.

She wasn't trying to get rid of him or anything. Oh no, not that. She was just worried that he might have had plans and this was cutting into them.

[Lucas Blacke]

His mixed feelings on her glowing didn't mean it wasn't cute, and as he ran his hand through her hair he felt himself to be liking that fact more than he disliked it, and when she moved off of him to lay on the grass the way she glowed then made him kind of giddy. He never really liked freckled girls, but like this.. he shivered a bit. Which he hoped she didn't see.

Lucas laughed and moved his free hand closer to hers as they both stared up at the sky and the drifting clouds. ''I could show ya sometime. Help ya out a bit if needed. Actually have all the ingredients up in me room.'' It enabled him to learn where everything was in the area he knew. He wouldn't know how to do it in any other place, but at his own place he no longer had the need to watch. ''We should do a cookie date or somethin'.'' He said, turning his head to look at her with a smile. ''Play with th' batter 'n shit. It'll be awesome.'' He would so take that chance to lick her body, even if just playfully.

He wondered though.. not closing her eyes.. that'd be creepy. ''So.. how do ya kiss?'' He asked. ''Do ya.. keep yer eyes open for that too or naw?'' Lucas started imagining it and started chuckling a bit. ''It'd be a new experience, I'll tell ya that!'' He laughed.

As the laughter died down though he coughed and shrugged. ''I dunno. I mean, I have set it up, but I'm not sure that was what I wanted to do.'' He answered her as she inquired about his dummy. ''Besides, hangin' out with yer cute face is fun enough.''

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Lucas laughed and she felt his hand brush against hers a moment before he began speaking about showing her how to bake blind. When he went to saying that it could be a cookie date, Anty giggled a little. He seemed to like hanging out a lot, like it really made him happy. That was nice though, seeing how she liked hanging out and doing things too.

"Sure, it could be fun. But don't blame me if I end up stepping on your foot or something, I'm not really the most graceful person in Hammel." She told him with amusement in her tone.

Well, if she was doing it with her eyes closed, there was bound to be some stepping going on, seeing how her ability wasn't the kind that let her sense how close people and objects were or anything like that. Her thoughts screeched to a halt though when Lucas said what he did next. Her eyes widened in surprise when he asked her how she kissed and about if she kept her eyes opened or closed them. The freckling of light spread further over her skin and it wasn't just the ends of her hair glowing anymore. She was blushing from embarrassment which caused the glowing around her cheeks to be pinkish.

"I... that's... Well... I've never kissed before, so I wouldn't know." She told him.

When he spoke about having set it up and not being sure if it was something he wanted to do, she got more than a little confused. Maybe he was talking about the dummy? Yeah, that must have been it. It had been a somewhat swift switch of topics but at the same time, it could have made sense, she supposed.

"I like hanging out with you too, Lucas." She stated, her embarrassment starting to die down, and her blushing and glowing following after.

[Lucas Blacke]

He let out a chuckle. Graceful people in Hammel, now there was a funny thought. No one he had met there was the most graceful person, he was sure he had plenty of ungraceful moments himself, like not being loyal. Maybe that'd change in due time though. ''Ya don't have to be graceful when ya serve as an emergency flashlight.'' Maybe even one of those other things in due time, not that Luke knew about those, he wasn't that fucked up. Yet. ''But to be safe I'll wear steel-tipped boots when that goes down.'' Heck, her stepping on his feet was the last of his concerns, she could cut herself, burn herself, or even worse; walk back far enough to bump into him entirely. Though that wouldn't really be bad as much as arousing.

When she said she liked hanging out with him too and her glow dying down a bit Luke took it as something very positive, like, he knew she wasn't thinking about love in that way, but to stop being embarassed by a single thought it had to mean something. Perhaps she had some kind of revelation in the time they hadn't seen each other. ''I was beginnin' to think ya might.'' He teased. ''Wasn't all too sure, with that whole 'you seeing me cry' deal an' all.'' He told her with a smile, his face still pointing to the sky.

Finally his head turned to the side and he looked at Anthy while wearing a smile. Even if she just wanted to be his friend she was exactly what he was looking for, though he still felt he needed to break to her that he loved her somehow, and not just love as she figured it, he actually had romantic feelings for her and he felt she should know them even if he couldn't act upon them, not really anyway.

''I could show ya how to kiss.'' He said casually, turning his nose to the sky again.