I do hope I'm not disturbing the koi (open)

[Jared Park]

Jared was restless. Not the jumpy-jittery type of restless, but more of the I-have-energy-no-matter-how-many-chores-I-do kind of energy. It was as if he was immersed in caffeine and was super charged. He knows not why or how he this came to be; he only knows that he’s been like this since the start of the week. He can’t sleep easily and it only takes a while before he finally wakes up. And he doesn’t sleep light, but it’s just like his whole biological clock’s been rewired to wake up early. He can even do laps around the school early morning (he’s been sticking himself in Devin’s business Devin’s ‘running mate’ lately) and still manage to stay awake in Mr. Tonaya’s class. Weird part is he doesn’t feel tired, not one bit.

He tells himself that what he’s experiencing is a side effect of his ability – an unwanted accessory as his ability is probably progressing. Sure he could’ve gone to lovely Dr. Prideaux for a better diagnosis but he has this irrational fear of doctors still, as childish as it may sound. He then took his ‘conclusion’ even further and tried giving it a scientific feel to it. “This may be due to the bio-electrical nature of my abilities,” he was heard speaking to himself once. He was told that his biochemistry, specifically the ones in charge of maintaining electrochemical balance, was different, hence his ‘affinity’ for technology. He reasoned that since nervous impulses were electrical in nature, his powers may be affecting them. (Sure it was weird science, but that’s Jared Park science for you).

Jared rolled over his bed a few times, trying to think of what to do next. Class is over and so is his homework. His roommates are M.I.A. He’s already bored of the games in the lounge (he already beat the high score in DanceManiaX and even won a pink teddy from the claw machine) and ability training isn’t really a happy thought for him. He would’ve wanted to explore Pilot Ridge and maybe go to the mall, but rumors of a kid who was beat up by a gang of rowdy teens (Edward? Jeric? Elric?) made him drop the thought altogether. (That and his allowance has yet to arrive).

Hugging Dubu tightly (the pink teddy’s name), he sighed, drained of ideas on what to do. And then, it hit him. “That’s right Dubu!” he shouted, throwing the bear to the ceiling then catching it with a tight squeeze, “You’re a genius.” He grabbed his green Ninja Turtle backpack (which came with the 4 different colored mask), put his iPod, speakers, a bottle of water, some change of clothes and Dubu in (though his head is still sticking out) and went off to the one place most people forget Hammel has: the pond.

Jared wasn’t really up for some quiet time with the koi; what he needed was enough space to move and no people to really notice (he would’ve just stayed in his room, if it wasn’t too cramped). Dancing was his first love and since he came to Hammel, he hasn’t been doing such. Who knows, maybe this may make him more comfortable with the school and aid him with his inferiority issues (and even be a way to rid of his excess energy).

He threw his bag down a few steps from the pond and set his speakers and iPod up. He stretched for a bit, hoping his joints hasn’t been too rusty to hamper his popping, and then pressed play. He was working on SHINee’s Lucifer choreography before he entered Hammel; hopefully he haven’t forgotten the moves.

And as the beats of the song started, so did Jared with his magic, his art.

[Isidore Joechim]

The fish! The fish! The fish! They were so beautiful! Nothing like those little mushy clumps of things back in Antarctica. Those didn't even have fins, and here these were being so big and shiny. They were huge too. The fish that the penguins brought up to the ice were small chewed up clumps up fish they caught in the ocean. Every once and a while there would be bits of a fish head or tail, but they weren't as big as these were. Isidore was sitting in a kneeling position over the pond. Her camera zoomed in on a black and red Koi fish as it swam in a circle before going behind a rock. "Awww..." she whispered in disappointment at the disappearance of the fish she had dubbed her favorite. The camera was put down next to her as she bent down to look closer at the pond. Her nose was two inches from the pond as she sniff the water. She didn't know water could smell so funny. Back home you never got a chance to smell anything outside; it was too cold.

Before she could think of something else a fish's tail slapped the surface of the water. Isidore jumped as her nose got wet. "Well that was rude!" She rubbed her nose as she leaned back from the pond and sat on her rear. Small drops of water ran down her hand as she held it in front of her eyes and brought her tongue up to it. Just as she was about to lick it she heard steps. Her tasting experiment ruined, Isidore lowered her hand and scurried into a patch of tall grass with her camera.

There was a pretty boy! He was setting up weird small boxes and a flat thing. It looked like a floppy disk, but she wasn't sure. Isidore zoomed in with the camera on the odd flat object (Ipod) and saw it had an odd circle and square shape on it. It must have been a floppy! The boxes were going to be harder to explain though... Maybe he had something in them? They had weird little holes in them. The boy pressed something on the floppy disk, and then Isidore's eyes grew wide. That was amazing! She had never heard anything like that!

Isidore zoomed in on him as his body began to move to the odd sounds. It was all in sync, when the beeps and the voices slowed down so would his body. When they got more excited and lively so would his body. It was like the song was made for his motions or something! She had lowered the camera to watch the odd movements on her own; after a minute Isidore brought it up when the camera might only be catching half of the boy's body. Her eyes widened even more as she watched an empty space of air in the place of the boy. She looked up to make sure he wasn't invisible, then back to the camera. He wasn't showing up on the camera, but he was in front of her! How was that possible? Unless...! He was a vampire!

"VAMPIRE!"

[/color] cried Isidore as she stood in the patch of tall grass; it still covered her to her chest even standing. The girl blended into the grass with her light sky blue vest, white long sleeve blouse under it, and blue jeans. Her dark blue sneakers were hidden by the grass. The camera was still in front of Isidore's face as she pointed it's lens directly at the boy who had been doing all of the odd jerks and motions earlier. [/blockquote][/font]

[Jared Park]

Jared was in a world of his own. For the moment he cared not about the world, not minding the fact that people might come and stare at him (it could happen, but very unlikely, given that the pond is one of Hammel’s least known, or at least visited, places). The serenity of the pond somehow emphasized the strong beats of the song even more, capturing Jared fully in its clutches. He moved with ease and grace, the choreography coming out of him despite a month or so without practice. Jared couldn’t even stop a smile from forming on his face.

As the song came to an end, Jared laid down on the grass, his lanky figure sprawled carelessly on the ground. He was tired, yes, but fulfilled. Somehow he felt more relaxed despite the rough routine he just did. Also, he could feel the excess energy slowly being released. Another idea hit him. Maybe he was just too tensed and nervous about his stay in Hammel, his anxiety manifesting in an imbalance in his internal biochemistry, hence giving him an unwanted energy boost for the week. He pondered on the thought for a moment and then suddenly said, “That seems to be a better explanation!”

He laid down on the grass for a few more minutes before crawling towards his pack to get a drink. His dance was refreshing to the psyche, but dehydrating to the body. “I did good, right Dubu?” he asked his pink teddy, giving it a light pat. Always the child, Jared loves his stuffed animals, and talks to them like they can respond. (Like what he told Ann online, his stuffed animals are like his imaginary friends, only he could hug and squish them if he wants).

He stared at the pond for a bit then stood up and decided to dance some more. He was tired, yes, but he still has energy to try and finish another routine. After all, dancing is his ‘meditation’. He stretched for a bit, rotating his hips and doing a cartwheel to make sure his joints are still ok. He gave out an audible “Huff!” before shuffling through his iPod and finding a good track to dance to. His eyes widened when he saw HwanHee’s Hadaga and selected it with glee. Granted it was a ballad, but it left enough room for Jared to move and groove to.

He was nearly finished with the second verse when he heard a shout. ‘VAMPIRE!’ it said, with full-blown conviction. And the shrillness of the voice only added to the surprise it gave Jared.

Needless to say Jared was thrown off-track. He skipped a beat and missed a move, his eyes looking for the source of the voice. He was so into finding the source of the voice that he didn’t notice his legs twirling on each other, causing him to lose his balance. He took around three steps back, trying to gain his center of gravity back, but a small stone just decided to pop behind him, causing him to fall backwards and land butt first on the pond.

“What was that?” he asked, blowing his now wet hair away from his face. He was even more surprised when he saw a child looking at him, camera in her hands. “Wait? Was that you?”


ooc:

Yey Izzy. *cuddles*. Creeper, just a little thing, Jared's powers also make his clothes invisible. Haha. He still doesn't know why, it just does. And it makes him feel comfortable instead of walking around nekkid just to stay out of a camera's sight. :3.

But cyeah, no problem really, it's just a small thing, so no worries really. Haha. .

I lol'd at the vampire comment. X)

- Jam

[Isidore Joechim]

The boy had an odd pink thing with him. It looked soft! Maybe it was a raccoon? Isidore had seen a picture of one on the internet a few months before coming to Hammel and it had been so cute, but the pink thing didn't have a long tail. It didn't have the little mask raccoons had either. Maybe it was a possum? Yeah! It sure did look like a possum to her, a pink one at that. The boy seemed to be talking to the possum, and the possum's name was Dobu apparently. Isidore zoomed in on the possum; even if the boy wasn't visible, the possum was. It was even cuter through her zoomed in digital camera.

She kept the camera on him as he did the cartwheel, or rather the area he should have been in doing the cartwheel. It was soooo weird! Like watching one of those CG videos online and having to figure out if it really was a ghost or just some person playing with thin strings. Isidore looked up from the camera to make sure the boy was still there. He was. This was really interesting, not interesting.. No that wasn't the word for it. The correct word would be 'Freaky'. Yeah that's what this was! Freaky! Not in the bad 'Omg it's gross and disgusting' way either, but in a 'Wow that's so different and cool!' kind of way.

The guy started up another one of those beeper boob bops, but it was different than the last. When he fell into the pond she zoomed in on the splashes of water. The water was moving around his body even though she couldn't see it through the camera. That was freaky! Isidore clicked her feet together and let the wheels in the heels of her sneakers pop out. Rolling over the soft stone that surrounded the pond, she approached the boy in the fish puddle.

Isidore zoomed in on the vampire in the pond as she knelt down on the edge of the pond. She leaned over toward him, no less than four inches from him. "Vampires don't show up on Cameras right?"

[/color] she asked as she looked up from her camera at him. Was she invading his personal space? Yes. Did she care? No. "Yeah, I shouted vampire. You don't show up on my camera."[/color] Isidore brought the camera back to her eye as she raised it to the boy's face. "Kind of freaky,"[/color] she giggled as she played with the camera's zoom function and watched the camera zoom in and out on the boy's invisible face through the camera's preview screen.[/blockquote][/font]

[Jared Park]

Jared shook his head rapidly, hoping to remove the wayward water droplets on him, looking like a dog drying itself up. It was actually a good decision to dress down; he wouldn’t want his expensive clothes get wet with water from the old pond (sure it was Hammel’s but still, pond water is pond water). He gave a sigh of relief as he looked at his drenched sweats, the bright orange color slowly turning brown due to the pond’s murky bottom. ‘I just hope the detergent Jasper sent would be strong enough to remove this,’ he thought.

He was about to stand up and dry himself up when he turned back and saw the kid he saw in the bushes earlier staring straight at him. And what’s worse, she’s hovering above him a bit too close for comfort. He would’ve fallen down into the pond; good thing he had his hands quickly anchor him to the dirty pond floor.

“Uhhh…I think…” he said, his mind juggling between getting his wet butt out of the pond, getting the kid off his personal bubble and answering her question. While he isn’t really the touchy-type of person and wouldn’t mind people occupying his space from time to time, the kid came in an unlikely situation. If she invaded his space in a normal day, Jared would’ve replied with a smile and gave her a pat in the head. But now, with Jared’s emotions playing between embarrassment and frustration, he couldn’t help but let a low growl and a frown escape him, his eyes giving off a stern look. “Would you mind?” he asked, his eyes moving from the kid to him, hoping to tell her subtly to move because he would like to get out of the water now.

It took him a while to realize the anger in his tone. The girl might probably be too young to understand the concept of space, so he felt bad as he might actually sounded mean to her. “I mean,” he added, his tone suddenly becoming softer, “Can you move for a bit please? My butt’s so wet and I don’t think the koi would like me sitting in their waters too.”

He then saw the camera she has with her. It seems, from her onslaught of questions, that she was filming him. He blushed for a bit, then laughed when he remembered his ability. This is the first time he was actually thankful that he can’t be seen in video; not only was his dancing a bit off, the potential embarrassment scenario can’t be connected to him in any way too. “I know vampires have no reflections, but I don’t think they don’t show up in videos,” he laughed, “Yeah. ‘Cause that’s what I do. I turn invisible. And if you’re here, you must be some kind of freak too. Haha.”

[Isidore Joechim]

Isidore didn't seem to understand the concept that the pond water had filth in it. To her it was a fascinating little hole with water and fish in it, maybe a few plants as well. The fact that it had fish poop, dead leaves, bugs, bird poop, and many other horribley unsanitary items were far out of her frame of mind. Isidore didn't think much of a person, or a vampire as she believed, being in a pond; heck the only reason she wanted in there was that she had always been raised to never go into water outside of buildings.

Her attention went from the vampire in the pond to a fish that swam by him. It was her favorate fish! It's black scales were sprinkled with red dots and adorned every so often with full red scales. Ignoring the vampire for a moment, Isidore following the fish with her camera as it swam around the invisble boy. When the vampire spoked, she jumped. In her moment of fishy glory she had forgotten about the vampire in the pond. "Would I mind what?"

[/color] she asked, not getting the hint at all. Isidore moved the camera back to him, almost hitting his nose. "You're not bothering me at all, so why would I mind?"[/color]

"Okey Dokey,"[/color] she hummed as she backed away from the boy several feet, sitting down next to the pond Indian style. Her camera was still infront of her face recording him, and it moved from him every so often. "I don't think they'd mind someone taking a swim, it looks like it could get boring be in that puddle all day."[/color] Isidore zoomed in on the pond waters and caught a glance of her favorate fish swimming a white and orange one. When the vampire started to laugh she moved the camera back to him. "...They don't? I thought it went they had reflections up didn't show up on camera,"[/color] she muttered as she lowered the camera and looked down with a pout.

Isidore hated being wrong. She nodded as she put the camera down and clapped her hands. "Anyway! What were you doing just now?"[/color] she asked as she leaned back toward him. Isidore had never seen anymore move in that way. She thought that mayeb it was called dancing, but the way her parents had described dancing had set it was a much slower set movements involving two people. Isidore scrunched her nose as he pointed out the freakiness of herself. "Well at least I show up on camera!"[/color] she huffed as she crossed her arms and turned from him. [/blockquote][/font]

[Jared Park]

Jared sighed in relief as it seems, the kid is far too young (and innocent) to understand that slight changes in tone and facial expression may mean something else entirely (well they mean the same thing, but in a different way). After all, Jared would most definitely not want to be looked upon as a bully by the kid; he is far from that, only she caught up with him on an unlikely time. Sweat combined with the dirty pond water (the composition of which he doesn’t even want to know) does wonders to one’s mind, especially if they combined in an unexpected moment.

As she backed away from him, Jared noticed that her captivated stare. He made a mental note to himself to thank the big koi fish in the pond for distracting the kid, sparing her of what may be a scarring event (since she’s a little kid and all). “Hah. I guess. But I’m not exactly a fishy relative you know,” he laughed, amused at the kid’s sense of humor (or was it her logic already?). He puffed his cheeks and made his crude imitation of fins on the side of his head using his fingers. “I mean, would you welcome strangers to your house?” He gave the kid a light pinch in the cheek then asked, “You think they get bored swimming all day? Would you get bored swimming all day?”

It took a while for Jared to notice that she’s still filming everything. Jared wasn’t used to a camera following his every move, hence being a bit uncomfortable around her. He wasn’t a video blogger, nor was he a superstar. But then it occurred to him that due to his abilities, the footage will show nothing, not even a single strand of his hair or a loud yelp from him. He somehow felt sorry for ruining her video, as playing it back would show her focusing in thin air.

Jared panicked as he saw the change in the kid’s facial expression. She won’t get mad at being told off rudely but will take jabs at her vampire belief personal – nice. She really is a kid. “Hah, nevermind,” he said, chuckling to make the kid happy again, “You found me out. I’m a vampire.” He even bared his teeth and raised his arms as if pouncing on her.

He was squeezing the water out of his sweater when another question erupted. Kids. “Me? Earlier? I was dancing,” he answered, albeit a bit puzzled. Was he that bad? Gosh, guess he needs to practice more then. “Fine. You beat me,” he chuckled, “if you’re not here for being a vampire, then why are you here? Here to see a brother or something?” Jared figured she’s too young to have manifested a power, so she must’ve been a visiting relative.

[Isidore Joechim]

Isidore played with the buttons on her camera as she sat by the pond with the pretty male vampire. For a brief moment she wondered how he would look in those stylish French dresses her mother and her had looked at before she came to Hammel. She bet he would look darling! Isidore zoomed in on the area where his face was suppose to be and frowned. How she wished her camera would record the vampire. Those weird movements earlier would have been so much fun to send back to her mother! Isidore sighed as she lowered her camera and looked up to the vampire.

"I dunno!" Isidore muttered as she raised her hands to frame the vampires face, putting the camera down next to her. She giggled at his attempt to become 'one with the fish'. "You look like you'd make a good fillet to me."

[/color] Isidore picked her camera back up as she lowered her arms and began filming him once more. His fish impersonation was funny, but she wished it could have been filmed. "Strangers in my house?[/color] she asked, mimicking the question. It was a new concept for her. Everyone who ever came to her home would know about six months in advanced if they were coming, three if they were spontaneous. "We knew if anyone was coming to our house six to three months in advances."[/color]

As for swimming... Well she knew penguins did it, but they always brought fish up and had layers of thick feathers. Her mother always told her she couldn't go swimming like they could or she would get frost bite. Isidore knew she was right. In fact her power was discovered because she almost went into the water. "Ah...I've never swam, but I grew up on a beach! Swimming looks like so much fun."[/color]

She knew it! He really was a vampire! Isidore grinned as she squealed with delight and zoomed in on him, even though she knew he wouldn't be picked up. "I knew it!"[/color] she giggled as she stood up and dusted off her pants. They still felt odd and foreign. So thin, nothing at all like what she had worn for the past decade of her life, and that had been almost all of it! After admiring her jeans for a second more, she turned her attention back to the vampire. He was answering her last question.

Oh! So that's what it was. There must have been different types of dancing then. Isidore nodded as she brought her free hand to her chin and thought about how her parents described dances such as 'The Walt Disney'. (The Waltz) "Ah... that was different than what my parents told me about... What about the musical floppy disk and the boxes?"[/color] she asked as her hand motioned to the odd devices. "They had been making all that weird beeping bopping stuff with the voices, right?"[/color] Her eyes grew wide with curiosity; this was her first time encountering such wondrous devices. She hoped Mister Vampire could show her how they worked. "Oh, I'm an only child,"[/color] Isidore said, blinking. Why would he think she had a brother or was here to see someone? "I just moved to the school."[/color]
[/blockquote][/font]

[Jared Park]

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) for Isidore, seeing Jared in one of those old Victorian-inspired clothes is far from being impossible. Despite his relatively short stay in Hammel, his reputation as a fashion terrorist “fashionista” has already circulated around campus grounds. Animal print hoodies complete with animal parts, neon-colored tops and pants, glow in the dark underwear – you name it and chances are Jared’s got it. (He may already have some Victorian-esque outfits in his closet, we’d just have to look)

“A fillet? Me? Haha. You’d get nothing from me but skin and bones.” Jared looked down on his drenched clothes and saw how well they hugged his body. He tried looking for areas of fat or flabbiness, but all he can see are bones, bones and more bones. Jared isn’t really the type to get chubby, and he’s actually tired of people telling him that he’s underweight and needs to eat more. It’s not his fault he’s got a fast metabolism. He actually gulped a few more meals last week, but it seems to have done nothing to improve his physical appearance. “I’m more toothpick than meal really,” he joked, pulling his skin on his arm to prove his point.

Jared cocked his head to the side at Isidore’s next reply. Knowing who’ll come three to six months in advance? How can that be? Oh, that’s it. One of his parents must be a pregoc. Yeah, that seems to make sense. And further prove that she may have been here to visit a sibling, as meta-human parents have the greater possibility to produce meta-human progeny. “Cool,” he said, “So one of your parents is precognitive?” He suddenly stopped, realizing that she might not know technical terms yet. “I mean, can one of your parents see the future? So you know when someone is coming and all? That seems nice. You don’t have to make a blitz, I mean speedy clean-up if ever.”

Izzy’s next reply made Jared even more confused. Living in a beach but never really swimming? What sick condition is that? Isn’t that like, torture or something? That’s just pretty mean. Did her parents see that a disaster will strike her if ever she steps foot on the water? Surely she had no allergy nor fear of water as she doesn’t mind getting near the pond (and him) when Jared fell down. “Why won’t they allow you? Swimming is so much fun,” he smiled, “I’m not that great of a swimmer, but I do know that it is very relaxing.”

Jared couldn’t help but smile as he saw the girl giggle. She looked so innocent and adorable. “You are so cute,” he said, lightly pinching the girl’s cheeks. He tried his best not to do that but he just couldn’t. She was just so endearing that you couldn’t help but “awww” at her antics.

“Yeah. That was a dance. Haha.” At least that explains it. For a second there Jared thought he’d become so bad that his dance moves were more like seizures.

Deciding to ride on the girl’s adorable logic, Jared answered the kid with a loud laugh. “You see, as a vampire, I keep my victim’s souls in that floppy disk. Whenever I feel bored and want to dance, I force them to sing for me using the box. Don’t you find that amazing?” Sure Jared, lie to a kid. Nice job really.

Jared was just laughing so hard at his reply when he heard Isidore speak again. What did she say? She just moved here? Moved in Hammel here? So that means…she’s a meta too? At that tender age? No way, no freakin’ way. “Seriously?”