Butterfly Attack! (Zeke)

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Waaaahhhh! How did things like this happen!? Weren't butterflies supposed to be her friends??

Aerina had merely been sitting in the courtyard, watching one of the butterflies and trying to talk to it, maybe ask it to call for more of it's friends, when another one showed up. And then another. Aerina didn't think anything of it at first until it seemed like every butterfly in the state of Vermont had somehow flown to the Hammel courtyard in the hopes of landing a single spot on the small Indian girl. Though, as much as she liked butterflies....even Rina had her limits!

She ran when they started fluttering over every single bit of her. They were burrowing in her hair even! Ahhh! What did she ever do to deserve thissss!

Unfortunately, the girl was also wearing a maxi skirt and blouse while she was out on her stroll in the courtyard, so she was hardly in any condition to be running for any reason, much less trying to run away from a flock of butterflies. She held her arms up, covering her head and trying to swat them gently away(not too hard because she didn't want to hurt the poor things!), and cowered down slightly as she ran, rendering her unable to see where she was going.

"Ahhh! Stop it, go away!" she cried out in a shrill, distressed voice. She turned and waved her hand swiftly in front of her, hoping to scare them away, when her foot stepped and slipped on a rock beside the pond. She stumbled backwards, having completely lost her balance, until her feet met the edge where the grass met with the pond, where she promptly fell backwards into the murky water. She let out another scream before being silenced by the water rushing over her head.

Weeehhhh, this is terrible! Somebody save meee! she thought as she flailed around under the water, finding it difficult to swim anywhere in this frilly skirt of hers!

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Zeke had thought that his training was at 3 today, but he’d somehow gotten his schedules mixed up, because it turned out his trainer wasn’t going to be ready for him until 4:30. It was an awkward gap of time and Zeke had initially been uncertain if he should go home for another hour or so, or just stay on Hammel’s campus and wait it out. He eventually found himself wandering towards the quieter part of the piece of land and nestled down into a peaceful, people-free nook beside the pond. The occasional student passed by, but the quiet man was tucked away enough that no one seemed to really notice him. And that was good, because that was how he preferred it.

Had he known he would have time to kill, Zeke would have brought along his sketchpad to doodle while he waited; instead, he just played a couple games on his phone, thinking about nothing much in particular except maybe what he and Danny should plan for dinner later that evening. They’d been having pizza so much… Would his roommate hate it if Zeke suggested it again? Hmm…

His thoughts and game were interrupted by shrill screaming nearby. Zeke startled into alertness and sat up, watching with wide, horrified eyes to see a tiny girl streaking towards the pond like her life depended on it, with the most giant swarm of butterflies he had ever seen swirling around her. “H-hey, look out…!” he warned, but his voice was probably too soft for her to hear. Either way, he watched and gasped in horror as she stumbled and fell straight into the pond.

Oh no… What do I do?? he panicked. Zeke looked around to see if anyone else was going to help, but there was no one else here. He hesitated only a few moments more (mostly to wait and see if she would come up, but she didn’t) before scrambling to his feet and running towards the edge of the pond. He made sure his phone was safely on dry land before hopping into the cool water after her, reaching around to try and grasp her flailing limbs. Once he managed to do so, Zeke pulled her up to the surface and hurried her to the edge of the pond.

As soon as he got her there, though, the awkward man only just stared at her with his lips slightly parted. What… Was he supposed to do now?

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Aerina was a decent swimmer, so she likely would have done well enough of getting herself out of this little pickle, but the flappy clothes were definitely making it harder for her to maneuver in the water. She was almost afraid she was going to drown! It was much much better that someone came to help her, though she wasn’t expecting it at all. As such, her arms were failing when he tried to grab hold of her. She felt her elbow hit something. Then another moment passed before she felt herself being hefted out of the water by a pair of strong arms.

She took a loud gasp when she finally broke out the surface of the water and started coughing the water out her lungs. Not too much was there, but she did end up getting a healthy dose of pond water up her nose when she fell in, having had no time to prepare herself for the sudden submergence. Rina hit the grass on her hands and knees, her hair heavy and sopping down over her face, her skirt and blouse sticking to the skin of her slim figure.

It took several moments, but the young girl finally caught her breath from her brush with…inconvenience(really, she would’ve been fine), and she raised her head to catch a glimpse of her savior. When she finally locked eyes with the tall, dark, and handsome gentleman…

Ohhh….he was absolutely gorgeous! Where had this man been all her life? Obviously not in India, since she didn’t meet him until she came to America, but…. Aerina slowly pulled the wet hair from her face, her mouth gaping as her eyes continued to stare up at the boy…no, the man standing before her. Her lips twitched into a half smile. “Hi…..” she said, a hint of giddiness in her voice. Gosh, she must look like a total dope, didn’t she?

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Zeke let out a small oof! as something hard – her elbow? – ran into his hip. He couldn’t blame her for flailing around, but ow, that hurt! He continued on his heroic attempt to save the not-so-drowning girl in the flappy clothing despite the fact. If it bruised, he knew more than enough about injuries to deal with it himself.

At least she was breathing, which meant he wouldn’t have to perform CPR. Not that he didn’t know how, but Zeke had never actually tried it on a real person, and hoped he wouldn’t have to anytime soon. He did awkwardly pat her back as she coughed up some water, but once she stopped, he retracted his hand and just stood there uncertainly. Zeke was not a touchy-feely person by any means, and likely wouldn’t help her with her sopping hair and clothes, not out of unkindness, but pure discomfort.

When their eyes finally met, the older man’s cheeks blushed self-consciously, as they usually did when he made eye contact with a stranger. He couldn’t help it. Zeke’s gaze fell to the side as she continued to look at him, and he scuffed his foot a little self-consciously, forgetting that he was wet up to his chest too. “Uh… h-hi…” he replied back meekly. He finally looked back at her, expressionless. “Are… You okay?” he asked haltingly. “You, uh… Fell… Kinda hard…” Zeke wasn’t sure if she’d twisted an ankle or something on the way down. He swallowed hard; he hated how terrible he was at conversing with people.

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Ohhhhh myyyy gooooodddddneesssss!! <333

This Mr. Handsome, whoever he was, was just all kinds of amazing! So brave, so strong, so…so tall! So much taller than Aerina, at least(though most people were). She wondered how he managed to get so tall, maybe his parents were secretly giraffes?? Wasn’t that a thought? Tee hee…

Aerina gazed up at him, that dopey look fixed upon her face as she just couldn’t stop staring at his manliness, oh so cool!. She didn’t even notice that he hadn’t really said anything at first, or was just staring at her as much as she was staring at him. All she saw was cute boy! Oh, he replied back! And he was so meek, how precious! Aerina was on the verge of a girl-like squee when he spoke so awkwardly. She bet he got all the girl, but was so nervous around them he’d walk at least three feet behind them just so he wouldn’t step on their shadow…or something like that, Rina had heard that phrase from somewhere and while she couldn’t remember where, she was sure it applied to this situation.

Rina stood slowly from the grass, grinning like crazy at his awkward statement. “Y-yeah,” she agreed just as stupidly. “I did….” Hee heee. She was so preoccupied with staring up at him that she wasn’t paying attention and ended up stepping on her skirt as she tried to get up. Aerina tripped forward with a sharp yelp, wind-milling her arms outwards, and tumbled right into him. Oh dear, how embarrassing!!

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Zeke did notice very quickly how tiny this girl was. Like, super tiny, even tinier than most girls compared to him. Her head didn’t even look like it would come up to his mid-bicep; it was amazing she’d even managed to hit him hard enough to hurt. He was certain she was pretty, too, but it didn’t necessarily cross his mind to look at her that way, especially sopping wet like she was. She sure had a lot of long, drapey things that were all wet, long hair included.

He eventually rubbed his arm uncomfortably as she continued to look up at him with that… Adoring look. Zeke didn’t know how to feel about it; he hadn’t saved her for admiration, just so she wouldn’t… Drown. He did relax a little in relief when she confirmed she was okay, though. “Oh… Good,” he said with a stiff nod. What else was he supposed to say? Zeke might have just bailed at that point, had Aerina not suddenly collided into him. It barely rocked the older man, but his eyes widened in alarm as he caught her, holding her against his chest for a couple of moments to make sure she was balanced before awkwardly letting her go. “U-uh, you should… Probably change soon,” he mumbled. “Can… You walk alright on your own, or…?” Zeke didn’t really want to leave her only for her to end up stumbling and hurting herself somehow. He… Should probably change too, before his training, but he didn’t have extra clothes with him, and he wasn’t sure if he’d have time to go back to his place now.

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Aerina clung to the tall boy who had not only saved her from certain doom in the pond(not really), but also caught her before she fell and hit her head on a rock or something! It was like hitting a (soft) brick wall, completely unmovable when she collided into him. So incredibly strong! Rina bet he would have no problem picking her up and moving her aside if he so wanted(most people wouldn’t actually). She slowly, shyly turned her gaze up at him, rolling up a shoulder in what she hoped was a very feminine manner. “Thank you…” she breathed, feeling her heart thump thump thump in her chest. Ohh…he was perfect!

Could she walk? Aerina thought about that for a moment, glancing down slightly towards her feet, one of which was lifted from the ground as she leaned further into him. “Um…” she hesitated. Aerina tested her other foot, slowly applying pressure to it as she set it to the ground. She flinched and buckled her knee. “Ohh!” she gasped dramatically, clinging to him even more. Rina shook her head and pouted up at him. “I think I twisted my ankle when I fell into the pond. Or worse, sprained it!” How terrible! There’s no way she’d be able to walk all the way back to campus now, no by herself! Guess he would have to carry her! ;P

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Apparently Zeke wouldn’t be getting rid of this girl very easily. Not that he really wanted to be rid of her, but he was just feeling very awkward now that he’d saved her and he didn’t feel like he was further needed. Surely she would be on her way soon? Why would she want to stick around him? Zeke noticed the girlish movement and felt his cheeks warm up, very conscious that there was a pretty girl in his arms, leaning against him. “It… Was nothing, really,” he mumbled. “You’re v… very small.” It would probably take ten of her to knock him over.

Zeke looked down, too, as she did, expecting her to say she was perfectly fine. She’d seemed alright just a moment ago, after all, apart from tripping over her skirt. That’s why his face lit up with alarm as she suddenly buckled, and he quickly shot his arms under hers to catch her and keep her from falling again. “You think so?” he asked worriedly. “I’m… I work with a physical therapist, s-so, um… I can help?” he offered, meekly and quietly. “You… You shouldn’t, um, put any weight on it, so…” Zeke trailed off, looking down again. “… Would you… w-want me to carry you to your d-dorm…?” Assuming she said yes, the older boy would awkwardly scoop the tiny girl up in his arms, cheeks still red and face turned nervously away from hers as he started walking back towards the dorms. He didn’t know how to make conversation with her, so he didn’t try.

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She gave a girlish giggle and playfully tapped him on the chest as if he were the funniest man in the world. “You’re right, I am very small, tee-hee.” How observant of him to notice! (kinda hard not to) He really was shy, wasn’t he? Was it because he was just that way naturally, or was it because he just didn’t know what to say to a pretty girl? She hoped that it was her feminine wiles which froze him up. That meant she had a chance!

If only she was fine, then she would have to trouble this poor young man into helping her….or maybe she really was fine, and just wanted an excuse to keep hanging off him. How long did she have to be wrapped up in his arms before he fell head-over-heels in love with her? she wondered. It couldn’t be too long! The movies always showed it happening right away, sometimes almost immediately after the girl accidentally tripped into him. This situation met all the criteria! 1. She was saved by a guy. 2. The guy was superbly handsome and manly. 3. She’d tripped into his arms, completely by accident! (It really was an accident! That meant it had to be real!) 4. Now he was going to carry her back to the dorms! There’s no way this couldn’t work out, this was the exact recipe for the start of a passionate, dreamy love story~

She meekly looked up at him with the most apologetic face she could muster, protruding her lower lip slightly. “I don’t want to be any trouble…” she pouted. “But I don’t think I could walk. It’s so far away!” It really was quite a ways to walk. That just meant she could snuggle up in his arms like a princess even longer! She squeaked as she suddenly found herself scooped up in his arms. Oh so strong~ <3 He looked so serious and determined to be the manly hero, with that strong and silent face he was giving. Rina took up a dare and wrapped her arms around his neck in order to ‘hold on’ tighter, as if she were terrified of being dropped. It took all her might to suppress another giggle. She fluttered her eyes up at him. “So….do you go to school here?” she asked, ready to fill the silence herself if he was too shy to speak.

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Zeke allowed the tiniest of smiles to cross his face as she poked his chest. It was an awkward smile, but at least it was there. Despite how he was acting, the older man wasn’t against interacting with a pretty girl; in fact, he quite enjoyed it, but he was still uncomfortable enough in social situations that it was hard for him to express his feelings properly. Maybe after some time, he would be able to loosen up a bit more around her.

He wondered what her name was, but didn’t know if that would be awkward to ask or not. Probably not, but that meant he would have to ask a question, and that meant stumbling over more words and looking more like a fool. So Zeke stayed quiet. If she asked, he would give his, but until then, she would remain the mystery girl that fell into his arms and made him feel nervous and shy with her feminine ways. He was oblivious to her train of thought about this being the set-up to a love story, but he had to admit it was a strange situation that he’d never really found himself in before. Most people probably hadn’t, actually.

“Ah, no… i-it’s okay,” he replied with a small shrug. Zeke definitely wouldn’t have time to go change if he carried her to her dorm, but maybe the walk would help dry him off a little. At least the weather was still nice. “It’s not a problem, you, uh… Y-you don’t look heavy.” He could probably lift a couple of her, no problem. Zeke held her firmly, but not too tight, in his arms as he started heading towards the dorms (he’d picked up his phone before then, thankfully), looking around at nearly everything but her, and how close her face was to his. He wondered if she could feel the nervous heat radiating off of him, especially when her arms wrapped around his neck. Zeke didn’t say anything, but he stiffened a little at the contact, unsure of what to think about it. He finally gave her a glance when she spoke, then continued walking as he quietly answered. “Not exactly. Well, I, um, I come back for training a couple of d-days a week, but I graduated two years ago.” He spoke slowly and haltingly, as though it was difficult for him to say so much at once (it sort of was). “Do you?” Oh that was a stupid question. “… Sorry… That was stupid, of course you do…” She was too young to have graduated, surely.

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Aerina had completely flaked on giving her name, but she hadn’t forgotten that she still needed to know his name! She was just waiting for exactly the right time! A time that would seem romantic and natural and get his heart fluttering as much as hers was~

These things had to be dealt with delicately, after all! They only worked out if things worked exactly right! At least, that’s what her research had told her.

She clung to him as they walked, gazing up at his strong, silent demeanor. Ohhh, it was enough to make her swoon right there in his arms! He was no doubt just nervous from her charms. Aerina beamed up a smile when he replied to her coyly phrased question. “Oh…I see. So you’re a college student now?” Aerina giggled and shook her head when he returned the question back to her. “No…I mean, yes, of course I’m a student here,” she answered, a touch of a laugh on her voice. “But I’m also a college student, actually. I only have a few classes here along with powers training.” It wasn’t a lie, but did sound more impressive to say she was in college rather than outright giving her age. At fifteen years old, it was hard to get older people to take her seriously, no matter how smart or accomplished she was in school. Saying she was in college made her seem older. At least, that was the hope.

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Zeke was starting to think this had been a bad idea. His face was incredibly hot, his body was stiff with nervous tension, and now, he was dripping wet while carrying the tiny girl to her dorm. But what choice had he had? He couldn’t have let her just stay there with an injured ankle. No, no matter how uncomfortable it made him, this was necessary. He would definitely be telling Danny about it later, though, and asking him to make sure he’d made the right choice.

He nodded a little stiffly at her question. “Yes…” Zeke replied quietly. “At the c-community college.” He thought about telling her what it was that he was studying, as well as the job he held at the time, but that was too many words to probably stumble over, so he kept quiet. “Oh, really?” he replied to her information, mildly surprised. He had to wonder how old she was. Maybe she was just one of those really tiny girls that always stayed short. “That’s, um… neat.” What else was he supposed to say to that? Zeke carefully stepped over a couple of logs on his way towards the dorms, unintentionally holding Rina a little more tightly to make sure she stayed in place. It was only when he loosened his hold again that he realized that he had. “Oh, I didn’t squeeze you t-too hard… Did I?” he asked nervously with a small glance downward. “I’ve… I-I haven’t really done anything like this… before, so…” So hopefully she could cut him some slack for being so uncomfortable and awkward. He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bob, and looked away again.

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“Ohhh, at the community college,” she repeated with excessive interest. “What do you study there?” she asked. Clearly, she’d missed the part about him being a physical therapist, though Aerina would argue that he could very well be studying something else and simply working as a physical therapist as he went through school for something better. Though, he was in community college….Aerina wondered if there was some special reason why he was there instead of the University. She didn’t know if she should ask though, it might be considered rude…

Aerina nodded, finding his lack of words utterly adorable! He really didn’t know what to say, did he? Such a sweetie~ Aerina could imagine that he would treat his girlfriend like a real princess! Which made her wonder….did he have a girlfriend? Again, that wasn’t something Aerina thought she should ask just straight out..

“No, not at all,” she said, shaking her head with a silly smile. “Actually, it helps. I’m so afraid of falling~” Aerina pulled herself up even closer. Oh, she could see his cute little pores, and that Adam’s apple, and wahhh, Rina didn’t know what to do! Her ears keyed in on his nervous revelation, though. “You haven’t?” she asked curiously. “You mean, you’ve never done this with your girlfriend?” Yes! The perfect way to find out if he had one or not! Because….it would seem strange for this catch of a man, with how handsome he was, to not have one.

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“Oh, um… exercise science,” Zeke replied meekly, uncertain if he should explain it or not. Most people, he found, hadn’t heard of such a program before. “It’s, um, mostly… You know. Human ph-physiology. And stuff.” Okay, that was enough words. Zeke shut his lips and kept quiet until the younger girl would voice another question. The main reason that he was at the community college instead of university was for monetary reasons – it was cheaper, and closer, which meant less money spent on gas. And since he had to stay close to Hammel anyway for powers training, it made the most sense. He might transfer… Someday.

He hoped she didn’t think he was weird because he was having trouble speaking. It was hard enough for Zeke to talk to normal people in normal situations, let alone a pretty girl that he was carrying around in his arms. What was he supposed to say?

“Oh, you are? Really?” he murmured, concerned. “I… I won’t drop you. I promise.” Oh, jeeze, talk about pressure. Zeke hadn’t planned on dropping her before, but now he really had to make sure he didn’t. She would probably get hurt, dropping from such a height. He felt his cheeks heating up once again as he felt her eyes on him, and kept a steady gaze away from her towards where he was walking. “With my…?” he repeated numbly. “No, I….. No, I don’t have one, so I h-haven’t,” he stammered awkwardly. As if his face wasn’t hot enough already. Why would she ask such a thing? Zeke swallowed hard and nodded forward as a distraction. “We’re, um, almost there,” he told her as he neared the doorway. He hoped she couldn’t tell that his palms were starting to sweat.

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Ohh, exercise science! That was…. “What’s that…?” she asked cluelessly. She hadn’t heard of that field before. But her question was answered almost right away, and….oh, that made sense. “Oh, okay,” she said, not really getting it. Well, maybe she did, but not entirely. It sounded impressive though! “What kind of jobs can you do with that?” she asked, curious to know more about it. Expressing interest in thing the other person did was a good way to charm them, right?

Even if he did have a bit of trouble speaking and answering her questions….Aerina just found it more attractive, honestly!

Aerina nodded. Yup she was afraid of faling….not really, but he didn’t have to know that. “Okaay, I trust you~” she gleed, pulling herself in closer. Though she really did hope he didn’t drop her, because that would probably hurt anyway…then she might really sprain something. Aerina focused in intently, waiting for the answer to her question about his girlfriend…and was brought into a smile upon hearing that he didn’t have one. Great! That meant he was available! “Oh, that’s too bad. I think any girl would be lucky to have you as a boyfriend.” Mainly me, she thought to herself. Rina turned her head when Zeke announced their arrival, feeling disappointed that their time together would come to an end so soon. Awww… “Oh….thank goodness,” she said anyway. Maybe he’d stick around and help ‘treat’ her ankle….hopefully he didn’t notice there wasn’t anything wrong it it. Boo, you’re so bad Aerina! she scolded herself silently.