The Cure for Writer's Block (Open!)

[Amber Ignis]

Amber was sitting slightly hunched over looking out on the lake. She wore tight black leggings, a faded AC/DC t-shirt, and her signature combat boots. Her guitar and songwriting notebook were sitting right beside her, but Amber had barely touched them since coming to the lake. She thought the fresh air and clear water would offer inspiration, but the writer's block what at an all time high.

She reached into her boot and pulled out and slightly wrinkled pack of cigarettes. She opened the box to find that she only had one left. "The lucky cigarette..." she mumbled to herself. She pulled the cigarette out of the box and popped it in her mouth. She then touched the end of the cigarette with the tip of her finger and took a nice long drag. The cigarette was lit and ready to go.

One perk of being pyrokinetic was the small amount of money Amber saved on lighters. At the moment, cigarettes were her only vice. Since coming to Hammel three years ago, Amber gave up her drinking and drug days, but sometimes her old habits came calling for her. Now that she had an apartment off campus, she tried to spend as much time as should could on campus in order to distract herself. 

Her guitar was supposed to be her biggest distraction, but right now it just felt like a lot of baggage to be carrying around. She thought that maybe once she finished her cigarette some inspiration would hit. She took another drag, and waited...

[V.K Caborn]

V.K yawned and stretched her sore limbs as she walked along the edge of the lake, staring across the surface of the water as if she could see something. She couldn't, that wasn't her ability. Her ability was the reason for her sore limbs; she had discovered she can turn into a carcal, a more muscular cat than her first form which was a long-legged serval. The new form had caused quite the strain on herself but, hey, what can you do? 

Unfortunately, V.K's mind was rather one-track. As she stared at the water, she unknowingly began to walk towards it until her feet had left the solid path and ended up in a few inches of water. It would've been fine, if she had just walked back out again but no. The shock of the sudden wetness caused her to stumble, her other foot caught on the ground making her fall into the water. "CHRIST ON A BIKE!" V.K yelled in shock as she landed in the cold water, jumping up the second she could, only to fall back in. 

Waiting patiently for a while, V.K stood up and walked out of the lake before shaking herself much like the animals she could turn into. It was only then that she became aware of another person, a girl with a guitar sitting close to the edge who probably saw the whole thing.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber saw the blonde girl approaching the pond, but didn't really take much notice to her. She was still trying to figure out what to write about. There were so many depressing topics to choose from...her estranged relationship with her brother, her loneliness, her meta-human identity crisis. The list goes on and on...but what Amber lacked was the ability to write about something happy.

While contemplating what actually does make her happy, the most amazing thing happened. This girl who Amber had been idling watching had fallen right into the pond. And to make it even better, when she tried to get back up she fell in a second time. This embarrassment caused Amber to do something she felt like she had not done in a while.

She began to laugh so hard she could barely breath. This was the kind of situation where she should have gone over and tried to help the poor girl, but Amber was only human and felt more inclined to sit and laugh. She was keeled over holding her aching stomach a little bit when she noticed the girl saw her laughing.

In an attempt to not seem like a total jerk, she waved the girl over to where she was sitting and tried to calm her laughs a bit.

[V.K Caborn]

V.K averted her gaze from the girl to pull her hood off her face. Shaking her head again, water sprayed droplets everywhere. She decided that it was no use and took of her hoodie and wrapped it around her waist, tying it at the front with the sleeves. Glancing up again, she spotted the girl waving her over with an amused look on her face. Welp, at least someone's happy.

Thinking briefly, V.K slowly made her way over to the girl.  Her hair was what intrigued her the most; it was normal but not. She hadn't seen that colour before, the people back home just dyed their's purple. Or black. Or green at one point. However, this colour was different. Different was interesting. Plus her look was interesting. V.K wasn't entirely sure how to label that look so she stuck with 'fiery guitarist'. Now, curiosity might have killed the cat but cats have nine lives. And V.K had herself and two cats. Which meant she had, erm, nineteen lives! Maths was never her strong suit.

Anyway, as V.K reached the girl; she sat down cross-legged nearish to the front of the girl. Tilting her head, she watched the guitarist with undisguised curiosity before speaking in her strong British accent. "'Ello."

[Amber Ignis]

"Hey." Amber still laughed through her words a bit. "Sorry, I promise I'm not a jerk, I just couldn't help myself!" She was able to regain her composure. "I'm Amber." She held out her hand in greeting towards the very soaked girl in front of her.

At closer inspection, Amber realized that the girl was not as blonde as she had thought. Her hair was growing out to be (was Amber assumed) was her natural color. Amber thought the blonde was pretty, and wanted to tell the girl to keep it, but they didn't know each other well enough yet. Regardless, the girl was very pretty, and seemed cool enough to be able to put her embarrassment aside and approach Amber.

Amber's goal this year was to make more friends than her previous three years had offered. Though Amber loathed the cold and Vermont, this was meta-human central so living here post graduation was almost inevitable. Well, congratulations, lake girl, Amber thought to herself. You've just entered my friendship experiment.

[V.K Caborn]

V.K would extend her own arm and firmly shake Amber's. "My name's V.K. And it's quite all right, I should've been paying more attention." She announced with a grin. Her cat side wanted to sniff the girl or maybe rub against her but she resisted it. Sniffing would be weird. Rubbing even more so. The blonde teen had gotten better at controlling her more instinctive nature but occasionally it still peeked out from her façade. For example; her immobile stare that was currently focused on Amber.

Frowning at herself, V.K forced herself to look away; feeling herself almost snap away from her cat. She occasionally felt bad about it, it was her instincts after all. They couldn't exactly be contained. Her averted gaze settled on the girl's notebook. Once again, curiosity washed over her.

"You a writer?" She asked, shuffling about on the grass to rest her legs in a more comfortable position. They were less sore now, V.K had gotten used to the feeling due to her daily transformations. When she began to head back to the dorms, she would probably be able to transform to make the way back a bit quicker than normal. Plus she wouldn't have to wander around in wet clothes. Maybe she could try out the carcal. It's bigger size would mean that V.K would be able to carry her clothes with her, but it's stockier legs meant the journey would be a bit slower.

That aside, her curiosity still lingered about the book. Was she aspiring to be a musician? Or was it just a hobby? V.K seriously needed to stop being so nosy.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber found V.K.'s accent extremely charming. She loved how so many students at this school had different accents. British, Texan, Australian. Amber herself should have a New Jersey accent, but she made a point to sound a bit more neutral since those accents aren't the most popular. Amber also noticed how V.K. was staring at her very intently...it was a bit strange for having just met a person, but Amber had her weird eccentricities as well.

For example she was smoking a cigarette basically in this girl's face without even asking if it was all right. Without a second thought, she put out her half-used cigarette in the grass and returned it to the box. She'd finish it later when she was alone.

"Yeah," Amber said slightly picking up her notebook before returning it back to its position next to her. She thought for a second it made sense to show V.K. the notebook, but Amber quickly rejected the thought. Her notebook was full of songs she would play live, but it also had embarrassing confessions and stories that were not for anyone's eyes but hers. Looking into that notebook was like seeing into Amber's soul.

"I'm a songwriter," Amber continued. "Or at least I try to be," she said with a small laugh. It was really just for fun. Though being a professional musician seemed amazing, she didn't think she'd be good enough for something like that. "Are you new here? I'm surprised I've never seen you before." Amber tried to avert the attention away from herself for a minute.

[V.K Caborn]

V.K tilted her head slightly as Amber put out the cigarette. Her opinion of the girl immediately increased. Turning her gaze back up to the other girl's face, V.K saw that she was quite pretty. In a smoky, almost dangerous way. She knew that she wouldn't want to get on this girl's bad side. In honest truth, V.K didn't want to get on anyone's bad side, but there are some people that crave ill feelings. No clue why, but they do.

The blonde's gaze moved downwards again as Amber answered her question, shuffling the book slightly before putting it back down. An odd movement, but V.K didn't comment on it. Ah, so it's a mixture of the two, she thought as Amber spoke in more detail. She perked up a bit as the red-head asked her a question. Ooo, it's like a game of Twenty Questions, she thought excitedly.

Shuffling about again, V.K pondered the question. She guessed she was new, though she had been here for almost two weeks already. Nobody had made much of an impact to her yet, besides Amber. So, she might as well of been new. Glaring at her legs, V.K decided to sit with them crossed. A combination of restlessness and laziness, just to make her life a bit more awkward. Lovely.

"Yeah, I'm pretty new. My parents' decided to send me here so that my sister could keep an eye on me. " V.K said, her voice cheery. She actually felt more comfortable in Hammel, rather than the other meta-school in Switzerland. Two out of three of her current forms had short fur so Switzerland's cold wasn't the best choice.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber was very interested in V.K.'s odd mannerisms. The way she tilted her head and continuously changed positions intrigued Amber. She was also still continuing to stare at Amber like she was trying to get to know her just by looking at her. A lot of people looked at Amber strangely, but V.K.'s staring seemed to be more about curiously and less about judging.

When Amber shifted the conversation to V.K. she noticed the girl perk up. Amber loved when people liked to talk about themselves. But it pained her a little to hear that V.K. was here with her sister. Though V.K. couldn't have known it created sore memories for her, Amber couldn't help feeling slightly sad for her brother. It made perfect sense that both of the twins would have manifested powers, but in the end Amber had to leave Jonas behind. There relationship had never been the same and she wished more than anything that he was here with her.

She put her sadness aside and reassured V.K. "That's awesome that you have your sister with you. It's good to have someone looking out for you!" Amber was pretty sure she was able to mask her thoughts and keep the conversation moving along pleasantly. "But hey, don't worry about being new, you'll make friends in no time." Amber said this as if she'd been extremely lucky making friends, but in truth she's been more of a loner.

[V.K Caborn]

V.K would advert her gaze again, it felt weird to just blatantly stare at a person. Instead, she would direct her attention to a beetle crawling through the maze of grass near her feet. Reaching down, she lightly poked at the bug; her attention easily distracted. She leaned down slightly, keeping a finger near the beetle, her instincts kicking in again.

Thankfully, the second Amber began to speak again, V.K was snapped from this trance and flickered her gaze back to the girl. Her back straightened and the beetle was happily forgotten. "I guess it is kind of awesome.." V.K said, a slight hesitation hidden in her voice as her grin fell to a normal smile. Her sister has never been her favourite sibling. Sarah was rarely around since she lived abroad, that alone V.K could understand and tolerate. However, the second V.K had developed meta abilities, her sister began to see her more and more like... almost a test subject. It wasn't bad but it was noticeable enough that Sarah didn't really see her as a sister any more. 

To a happier subject, about friends. V.K felt her mood lighten slightly and her usual grin popped onto her face. "I hope so! Most people get scared that I'm going to scratch them. Not that I mean too." She laughed. Oh, look! Up comes her curiosity again. "Hey, want kind of meta are you? If you don't mind me asking of course." V.K quickly tried to erase any offence she might of caused, sometimes people get offended by the smallest things. Sadly, the blonde wasn't too good at holding back her tongue.

[Amber Ignis]

When V.K. replied, Amber realized she may have struck a nerve. Though she felt bad that she might have made V.K. uncomfortable, it was nice to know that maybe she wasn't alone in her family drama. Amber always knew that drama came in all shapes and sizes, and wasn't always so cut and dry. Just because V.K.'s sister was meta, too, did not mean that their relationship was sound. Amber wondered what would have happened if Jonas was meta, too. Maybe he'd talk to her more, but she still didn't think it would have been an instant fix to all the hurt she caused before her manifestation. And regardless of if V.K. was upset or not, she continued on being the bubbly girl Amber was slowly growing very fond of.

Amber wondered what V.K. meant by her scratching people, but she figured it had to do with her power. She would ask about that in due time. "Of course, it's not a problem. I'm a pyrokinetic...so people have to worry about me burning them," Amber replied with a laugh. She may have been laughing, but it was actually pretty serious. Amber was mostly in control of her dangerous power unless her temper got the best of her. She was trying to keep that a secret from her trainer. "What about you?

[V.K Caborn]

V.K's eyes grew wide as she learnt that Amber was a pyrokinetic. "That's really cool!" She exclaimed, flopping her body backwards onto the grass so she could stare at the sky. Without falling asleep this time. The blue hurt her hazel eyes slightly so she covered them with an arm, the cloth still slightly damp from her fun in the lake.

Having fire as an ability was pretty useful, not to mention cool. Of course, V.K understood that it was also dangerous and she wouldn't trade her powers; even if they could. But, in a difficult situation, she imagined that fire could trump fur. Fire could keep you warm, cook food. Fur also keeps you warm but only to a certain point, and you can eat raw meat, but that's kinda gross. Anyway, her attention flickered back to the present time as Amber asked her the question back.

"Oh, I'm a shapeshifter. I can turn into wildcats that weigh less than 50 kilograms." V.K said. At least, the others thought that she could. Tilting her head, she moved her arm to look at Amber Though she had seemed dangerous at the start, V.K was really starting to like Amber. Like a tiger, almost. Damnit, need to cuddle. "Though I only have three forms; a serval, a caracal and a snow leopard." V.K sighed, more relaxed than upset. She liked those three forms, any more would be a headache.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber smiled genuinely in response to V.K.'s excitement over her power. Honestly, she thought having the power of fire was pretty lame. Other people had even told her they thought it was lame, too.

Amber watched V.K. shift her position once more to look up at the sky. There was something nice about how free V.K. was in her movements. It was as if she didn't care if anyone was watching her. Amber wished she could move so effortlessly. A lot of the time she felt herself slouching over and appearing even smaller than she was. She liked to hide in the background.

Amber thought V.K.'s power was really something special. Being able to escape yourself to become a powerful animal was sort of amazing. If they got to know each other better, Amber would have to ask her to shift. She would love to cuddle up against a big furry cat... Okay that was a weird thought as Amber remembered the big furry animal was also a human.

"Wow! A snow leopard..." Amber laughed. "At least one of us will do well this winter!" Amber loathed the wintertime, especially in Vermont where it could be very brutal. "I bet your fur would make a nice warm blanket." Amber froze realizing what she had just said.

"Shit. That was...not what I - I just meant that...I'm sure you're really warm. Not that I'd make you into a blanket or anything...because that would be..." Stop talking Amber. She grinned apologetically hoping she didn't offend.

[V.K Caborn]

"-would make a nice warm blanket."

V.K frowned slightly, more in confusion than anger. Very slowly, she sat up and turned to stare at Amber; a raised eyebrow and questioning smile on her face. The comment had not offended her, it was rather hard to offend the blonde teen. But that statement was still really weird.

Bubbles of laughter escaped her throat as she watched Amber's face just freeze as she realised what she had said. V.K wrapped her arms around her sides as shameless laughter poured out of her. The teen managed to tone down her giggling whilst the redhead stuttered as she tried to fix what offense she might have caused.

Out of breath and very amused, V.K flopped down onto the grass again and rolled onto her belly; resting her face on the ground so that her voice came out rather murmured. "You say some odd things Amber, you are quite funny!" She chuckled into the ground. Rolling around, she pushed herself back upright. "You can use me as a blanket with my fur still attached, as long as I get to use you as a torch." She joked with a friendly smirk.

[Amber Ignis]

Amber laughed a little, too, as the young blonde's laugh was quite infectious. She was also pretty happy she didn't offend her. If she was being honest, she really enjoyed this girl's bubbly presence. "Sorry... I get a little awkward sometimes," Amber remarked while still laughing. "But anytime you need a little warm, I got you, girl!"

Amber thought it might be nice to have a friend like V.K. She was someone Amber wouldn't really have to worry about offending, and she probably wouldn't be able to spark Amber's fiery temper. "What do you like to do for fun? Besides falling in lakes, obviously," Amber said with a wink. She wanted to see how much her and this cool cat (pun intended) had in common.