you'll see this won't make you happy

[Courtney Ross]

An excellent start, she was off to scaring children. Biting her lip and immediately looking at the ground, Courtney tried to think quickly as to how to save the situation. She probably seemed entirely crazy to the first two people she had met and it bothered her that she really couldn't make a decent first impression.

After the girl recovered from Courtney's outburst, she seemed friendly enough and breathing deeply, Courtney tried to formula a competent sentence, preferably one that didn't dissolve into her buzzing like a fly. Trying to look up and failing, Courtney settled for watching an ant crawl.

"I'm Courtney." she said softly, testing her voice and making sure it came out human. "Courtney Ross, sorry I yelled." She was just frustrated and confused and a little nervous about being alone but how could she tell them that?

But wait, what was this about roommates? This girl would be living with her, near her? She would have to see this girl again, even get this girl to like her? She didn't even know her name, they were strangers, this was a bad start!

"So we're roommates?" Courtney asked, noticing that the ant had begun to climb up her pants leg. "Erm, what's your name?" The boy was named Niko, she assumed, and she hoped he wasn't too afraid of her. What she really wanted to do was find her room and maybe her bag and then find some place to breathe, someplace she could not get lost. "And sorry again."

Nudging her toes together, Courtney tried to imagine what kind of power this girl could have. Maybe she could talk to fish, and that was why she was here? Most likely her power was completely unrelated, like flying or explosions or something useful.

And the Niko child, he was little, why was he here? Maybe he was someone's child, or little brother or even just some normal kid from Vermont who had wandered in by accident and didn't expect seemingly insane girls to show up and scream. Maybe she was thinking too much.

She focused back on the ant, which had somehow gotten onto her hand, and just watched it. Ants never had to worry about startling their roommate, the lucky things.

[November Adams]

Ember couldn't help but let the smile cross her lips at the girl's unusual shyness - still refusing to look her in the eye, instead directing her words toward the ground of the forest. "Courtney, that's what it is. My bad, I'm bad with these things," She laughed a little, scratching her neck. "And it's alright, but I think you might have startled Niko a bit more than me." She admitted, looking down to the blonde boy beside her with a curve of her lips. "What was that noise though? Like... uh.. before words started forming?" The teen questioned the strange sound that had come from the taller girl, the noise that had initially startled her into turning around. Sounded like a giant bug, or a fluorescent light.

"Yeah, dorm advisor decided to mention that we would finally get another roommate this morning. I didn't expect you to be here so soon though. Have you got your stuff in the room already?" She questioned, studying the girl again. "Oh yeah, November. Like the month." The brunette introduced with a smile, giving a short wave to the awkward teen. Truly she didn't mind her name, her mom was a little wacky and gave her and her sister kind of bizarre names. But she couldn't say she hated it, though it did get annoying when people asked the date during that month and she continuously thought the teacher was calling her name.

Leaves were tossed carelessly into the wind, fluttering by the students who stood around a pond with splashing koi fish. A large shiver finally racketed through Ember's body, bigger than her normal ticks and twitches. "Alright, it's frickin' cold out here. Let's go inside, shall we? Maybe get a bit to eat?" She offered, looking from Courtney to Niko with a hopeful smile. Offering her hand to Niko, she glanced back at the other teen situated further away from them. She offered a hand to her as well.

[Courtney Ross]

Oh, the girl was laughing, that was good. Laughter meant that she was at the very least not completely repulsed by Courtney, which was absolutely a not bad thing. The ant probably would agree, if it was listening, or cared.

Oh, and she had definately scared the Niko, dang it. It was bad to scare children, that was not good, she probably should try to be calmer... And then the girl mentioned the bug voice and Courtney bristled. She had hoped that maybe they hadn't noticed her moronic buzzing, stuck talking to bugs instead of acting like a human, talking like a human... Her stupid, irritating voice.

And the girl was her roommate, an almost good situation provided the girl still liked her and man, she was still talking, wasn't she? Courtney could hear her - November? Was that actually a name? - saying so many things and she was listening, really, watching both the ant and Niko's feet.

November held out her hand and Courtney bit her lip, looking at the ant in question as it walked in little circles, not giving her the slightest semblance to an answer as Courtney was sorely tempted to follow her, take her hand and not be lost and not be cold.

A glance up and she could see a flash of a smile on November's face, drawing her in. Very slowly, she lifted her hand, the one without the ant, an took November's in her own, telling herself it was only only so she wouldn't be lost anymore.

"Inside and food sounds... great." Courtney whispered, looking up at November, then down at Niko, hoping her smile looked friendly. "If you'll have me.

[Nikolai Campbell]

At the mention of his name, Niko looked up attentively. Startled him, yes, that was a word for it.

"I'm. . .fine,"Niko objected softly as he stayed focused on her, even while she went on to talk to Courtney. Niko had yet to meet his own dorm mates, and he didn't want to. He decided to stay out of their conversation in general for that reason. Not that he had much to say anyway.

Niko, despite November's reassuring words, was not as easily convinced. Yet, the more the girl talked, the less frightening she seemed. Or, that was to say, she didn't seem mean now. But the ant she let crawl on her . . . Niko wasn't about to touch the ant anytime soon, and by association, he wasn't going to touch her hand while it was on there. He wasn't scared of ants, he just wasn't their biggest fan by any means.

Spiders, though, spiders were scary. And the way they were fuzzy? Well, Niko loved the taste of peaches, but he didn't eat them because they were fuzzy like spiders were. The association was frightening for him, no matter how delicious peaches were. Heights were also a problem for him. A very big problem. It was such a risk, being up high like that. And drowning, or opening his eyes underwater, those were things he avoided at all costs. Niko had a very strong sense of self-preservation now that he was nine. He also had more nightmares than he used to have when he was younger. He knew there was danger in the world, where as at eight he didn't seem to. He also knew how to be responsible now that he was nine. Nine was much funner than eight in Niko's mind.

Niko did think that it would be alright to go in- especially since November seemed cold. So he took her hand willingly. When Courtney said that she would go in, too, Niko didn't mind. Even so, he wasn't going to answer her, to tell her it was okay for her to go with. He wasn't the one that wanted to go inside and, ultimately, he wasn't the leader in the situation. So November could answer the question. On the other hand, Niko did come to the conclusion that talking to Courtney was okay after all, at least when he had a reason to. So far she hadn't seemed willing to bite or anything like that.

[November Adams]

Ember smiled when they both agreed to take her hands - she liked holding hands, it was just something she did with her sister whenever they went places. She never really lost the love for the feeling of someone else's hand in her own. Pointing them in the direction toward the school, she lead them back out of the woods where the pond was, up to the large buildings on campus. Thinking about it, it was probably easy to get lost at this school. It's like a frickin' castle, after all. Though she offhandedly wondered how Courtney got into the woods...

Giving the new girl a side glance, she noted a bug twitching on her hand. A small, black ant. One of the bajillion that inhabited the mountains. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up to the girl's face. Not that Ember hated bugs, but it was still... a little bizarre. "Erm, make a friend?" She offered, referring to the twitching ant on her hand. Maybe that had something to do with the buzzing noise earlier... Her ability was bugs? That didn't make sense. But she had grown tired of everyone questioning, "What can you do?", "What's your ability?" continuously on the first day - so she decided to just let it go. She'd find out in group training soon enough, granted if the girl was at her level.

"Hey Niko, what do you like to eat?" She asked the boy who had been quiet for some time now. Maybe it was the appearance of another person, or the fact that she had startled him. It made her feel a bit bad for the obviously shy new girl - November didn't think she had meant to scare them... Well, she hoped she hadn't. That would have just been mean. "And you too, Courtney. 'Cause if there's nothing in the cafeteria that you like, I can drive us to town to get a bite to eat." She offered, then wondered in the back of her head if Niko was allowed off campus. Or Courtney... She had never run into that problem - she already had her license and van when she arrived at the Institute. Ember hummed in contemplation as they neared the school buildings.

[Courtney Ross]

Courtney liked the feeling of November's hand in hers because it was warm and she had that comforting grip, like she wouldn't drop Courtney or let her get lost again. It didn't hurt that November had a nice smile and really pretty eyes. Still, Courtney's eyes shifted back to the ant on her hand, then over to Niko. Maybe if she could get the boy to like her, she wouldn't feel so nervous. How did one get children to like them exactly? She remembered liking candy as a child, but she never carried candy, the flies would eat it all in a heartbeat.

When November mentioned her 'friend', Courtney's hand twitched slightly, something the ant probably didn't like. Maybe she wouldn't guess that Courtney had such a nasty ability, maybe they could be friends for just a few moments before the Creeper in her came out, hissing at bugs for hours on end because she had failed to remember how to talk to humans. Her power was dreadful, and as she though about it, a fly landed on her shoulder. Insects always came to buzz around her when she was worrying.

"I'm... good with anything to eat." Courtney said, feeling a ladybug in her hair, never mind how she knew it was a ladybug. She tried to calm herself and will the bugs away, something that quite rarely worked. "Preferably some bread." Oh yes, asking for bread was certainly normal.

"And... Niko." she tried, really wanting to make a decent impression. "Hope I haven't startled ya too badly... Uhm, do you wanna see if we can... be friends?" She tried to smile, tried to make eye contact with Niko and before she really could, a butterfly landed squarely on Courtney's nose. "Oh my." This was making her the most talkative she had been for days. As long as she kept speaking human, maybe this could turn turn out okay.

Or terribly terribly wrong. That was always an option. And as the butterfly flapped its wings, Courtney tried to think of what she could do next.

[Nikolai Campbell]

{My keyboard just died like ten minutes ago </3 I have a backup wireless keyboard but the keys are hard to push down/get stuck. I have spell check, but if there are typos, I apologize in advance and am hopeful that after I use the keyboard more, the keys will be more comfortable.}

"IUmm, I like lots of stuff, like pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pickles."Niko suggested. He typically ate anything so it really depended on where they were, but the things he listed were some of his favorites. And really, now that she mentioned it, he did realize he was hungry. Far from starving, but eating would be a good idea. But good ideas didn't amount to much at his age. Nikolai was at the age where he enjoyed eating candy more than dinner. Where mixing drinks were made for mixing just as much as foods were. Days were best spent having fun, imaginary was another word for a lot of fun, and stuffed animals could soothe almost anything, even though he was not a young child. He wasn't yet old enough to abandon all of his old childish tendencies.

When he heard his name, he immediately looked to Courtney curiously.

"I'll be your. . ." Niko trailed off as the buttrefly landed on Courtney's nose. He seemed to forget what he was saying entirely in favor of gazing in awe at the butterfly and the fact that it was so close to Courtney.

"Woah,"Niko murmured."I thought butterflies were scared of people. How do you do that?" At least, every time Niko tried to get a butterfly, be it to touch them or catch them in a net, they flew away. It seemed odd to him that the butterfly would trust her enough to be that close, let alone on Courtney. And seeing the butterfly made him consider the ant on her hand- did all bugs like her? That was the conclusion Niko drew. Ants may not have been Niko's thing, but butterflies held an undeniabe appeal just because they were more elusive and bigger. Plus they were less annoying. Niko hated when ants crawled on him and he was always worried they'd bite him. Small or not, a bite was a bite.

[November Adams]

The teen hummed in response to their food choices. "We have bread... and peanut butter and jelly. Probably pickles too. I can ask," She said, glancing down to the nine year old. "Pickles are kind of bizarre." Offhandedly said. The statement was true in her mind - pickles were cucumbers... just soaked in sour tasting liquid. She never quite found the appeal of them. Ick.

Glancing over to her new companion/roommate, she was startled to see the orange butterfly flapping on her face. Her eyes were crossed as she looked at the insect. November gave her an incredulous look, "Ah... I think it likes you." She laughed a little, "So that's what you're here for then? Insect communication." Betraying her previous thoughts of how bothersome it was to ask powers - the curiosity had become too much. It seemed that the girl just attracted these bugs, like they were drawn to her. She idly wondered if they would protect her in fights. That'd be useful. "Hey, if I wake up with any cockroaches in my bed, I'm going to kill you." Said in a playful, teasing voice with a broad grin as if to show the girl that she was only joking. Ember got the feeling that if she didn't make it completely obvious that she was only kidding, this teen might actually think she would kill her.

The trio reached the buildings, November guided them expertly between the classroom buildings and dorms, across the campus to the kitchens. She figured dinner had just started by the numerous other students making their way across campus to get their fixes. She smiled at a few classmates, spotting one of her other roommates out of the crowd but choosing not to shout and wave. Not exactly the way Ember worked. Glancing between her two new friends, she wondered what was going through their minds - were they scared? Giddy, perhaps? Was the fact that she was holding onto them both securely helping at all? The time manipulator didn't voice these questions, instead silently smiled comfortably at both of the new students.