Scout Bastien loved snow, and days like this were her favorite. The mid-December sky was light grey and the snow was floating down gracefully, landing like a blanket of feathers on everything below. The trees, devoid of leaves and grey, were covered with an inch or so of snow, and the ground was getting ready to soak Scout's boots, but she kept on walking.

In truth, one of the things Scout loved most about the snow was the way it made everything around it so silent. You couldn't hear a single thing on this kind of winter day--no footsteps on the ground, no birds calling, not even the wind blowing the trees. It was like the snow on the ground absorbed all the noise, making everything peaceful.

Scout didn't know whether to make noise or embrace the silence. She had just come the dorms, where it seemed some of the girls had decided to make as much noise as they possibly could--and a lot of this noise consisted of complaining about things. She had used her power to check out things at home, but what she had seen hadn't helped--Max was having one of her typical bad days, and her crappy mood was making time fly in and out of whack since she hadn't yet gotten a harness on her power.

So Scout had donned her favorite black boots, put a thick pair of leggings on under her jean skirt, and thrown on one of her father's old things--a tan corduroy jacket that Scout had "liberated" from her grandmother's closet before school had started up that year. He wouldn't be needing it in the hospital anyway, and it looked great with the black knit beret Scout had plopped on her head to detract attention from her messy brown hair.

Humming a little tune, she sat down on a large rock that had been brushed clear of snow. Then she turned her head skyward and held her mouth open, trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Like Momma and I used to do... she thought to herself, closing her eyes.

In the past couple of weeks, Zephyriah did not get many opportunities to visit the gardens, at least not physically. In effect, Zephyriah had been so busy on this particular morning that she almost left her dorm with nothing more than a black tank top and pajamas, which would have been potentially fatal considering the weather. Between classes, midterms, homework, activities, and college applications, she barely had enough hours in the day to sleep, eat, and clothe herself properly—though she somehow doubted the latter caused much of an uproar with some of her male acquaintances.

So, on this particular day, she made the most of her the time she had. Wrapping up the next paragraph on her essay, Adelphie closed her laptop monitor, figuring that she could use a respite from her weeks of menial labor and whirlwind chores. She leaned back in her office chair, stretching her back and looking unfocusedly up at the ceiling. The words for the next paragraph jumbled in her head, but she still had difficulty devising any worthwhile introduction to make the entire thing work. Even after mentally glancing at her outline, she still could not figure out the long and the short of it.

Deciding to take a break from her essay altogether, Zephyriah rose from her chair and headed towards her closet. She fumbled about all the hanging clothes for a moment, before she settled on a tan, suede jacket with furred collar and cuffs. She patted her pockets, trying to remember if she forgot anything—the last thing she needed would be to lock herself out of her own dormitory because she forgot her keys, something that would not surprise her considering what else was on her mind.

The walk to the gardens always seemed so much shorter when Adelphie had plenty of things on her mind. She barely noticed her surroundings as she walked the distance and turned the corners almost out of automation. She could have sworn there were a few people that gave her a passing hello and a wave, and she may have even waved in return, but she was far too dazed to remember the specific events of the passage. By the time her boots hit the exposed snow, Zephyriah moved towards the closest bench she could find, wiped the snow off with one brusque motion, and plopped herself onto it. Small puffs of white formed every time she released a breath, and she held out a leather-gloved hand to catch a few of the falling flakes.

She wasn’t alone. The gardens were so quiet that she barely noticed the approaching steps of another student, but by the time she drew near, her humming made her presence quite announced. Zephyriah remained quiet as she watched from her spot on the bench as a student she recognized (not surprising, as she recognized near everybody) walk into the clearing, mouth agape, and tongue facing the sky. Adelphie’s eyes briefly narrowed as she observed Scout’s solitary behavior, but a smile crept across her delicate features. Within a few minutes, words formed on her tongue, “Any luck?”

Memories of winters past flashed through Scout's mind as she sat, alone. Of course, all the winters she was reminiscing upon had taken place at least eight years ago, before the car crash and before her parents had become vegetables. Scout was remembering her parents as they used to be--fun-loving, caring parents who absolutely loved playing in the snow with their children.

She was hanging onto these memories when she heard a voice she recognized without opening her eyes. It startled her slightly, for she hadn't realized anyone else was there with her, but she didn't jump.

"Any luck?"

Scout didn't open her eyes, but she pressed her lips shut before she answered. "Hardly. It all seems to be landing in my hair... and on my jacket." She smiled and held her mouth open for a few more moments before opening her eyes and straightening her neck.

Just as she had thought--Zephyriah, more commonly known as Adelphie. Scout grinned, not at all embarassed to have been caught trying to catch snowflakes. "My mother and I used to do that. It's frustratingly difficult, but it is so rewarding when you manage to catch a few."

She tilted her head, regarding Adelphie for a moment. "What brings you out here?" Somehow, she had a feeling it was much the same as what had sent Scout out here--some peacefulness, away from work and being busy.

The gardens surely brought forth many unusual parties, but few individuals were more unlikely than Adelphie herself. She was not used to the weather, even after four years at the school. The freezing winters were a huge contrast to the sixties she regularly saw in December Bay Area weather. The contrast was large enough that she frequently didn’t even bother to pack anything to take home over their winter break, as her wardrobe at Aura Academy and at home was so stupendously different that she didn’t need any of the clothes that she wore anyway.

But even Adelphie admitted that the snow-fallen earth was a very beautiful sight. She saw very little pristine nature, unless perfectly manicured lawns, moss-covered fence walls, and the occasional brilliant lawn décor counted as nature. It was quite amazing to Zephyriah how much her neighbors were willing to spend for views they could get free if only they chose to walk past their bay window and flush balconies. Her own parents’ bills for landscaping and gardening were sometimes eye boggling, even by a privileged girl’s standards.

That contrast also made her time at Aura well spent, and she would always make time in her schedule to go to the gardens or the oasis in town. It was a great spot to relax if she was alone—in fact, doubly for those sparse moments when she was actually alone. Recent days and their accompanying workload, however, made her seriously consider the marginal benefit of enjoying the lush landscape that Aura Academy had to offer. It was in these times that she almost disliked how she had to share the area with hundreds of squabbling teenagers, not that she was indicting Scout of anything.

“I would hope so,” she replied brazenly, “they are much larger targets.” She flashed Scout a wink. Those that knew Adelphie well enough generally recognized it as a sign more of friendliness and badinage than any flirtatious intent. Then again, she knew Scout, but the twain’s relationship could hardly be considered intimate.

“I don’t know,” she replied slowly. She thought of a billion quips to reply, which would probably more typical of her usual demeanor, but Adelphie always mixed in surprisingly candid and serious moments with her usual playfulness, which served as great speed bumps in her outward personality. People at the school were probably drawn in by this strange mixture of teasing and depth. She hadn’t really given much thought about being out in the gardens, other than she preferred it to her dorm. If she had planned ahead, she would have likely brought her laptop out to continue working on her essay, but that thought never crossed her mind.

After a pause, she decided that Scout deserved a more detailed response, “There’s a certain intimacy with the gardens. I’m sure you’ve experienced it before.”

“There’s a certain intimacy with the gardens. I’m sure you’ve experienced it before.”

Scout closed her eyes again, nodding. "I have," she whispered, aware that Adelphie may not have been able to hear her. The garden was intimate, a place, usually, for quiet introspection--at least on a day as silent as this--or for a chat with a friend. That was one of the reasons Scout loved it. When it was time to get away from the noise that she usually felt a part of, she could always come to the gardens.

"I have experienced it," she repeated, a little more loudly. "It's nice. It's quiet." She smiled, returning Adelphie's friendly wink, mostly to let her know that it wasn't too loud between the two of them, that she wasn't upset that Adelphie had joined her.

She stood up from the rock, brushing the dirt off the back of her skirt, and moved to sit on the arm of the bench that Zephyriah had placed herself on. "I haven't seen you aorund very much lately; are you very busy?" Scout had breezed through the school year so far with little work, especially in the way of homework, but Adelphie, she knew, was in her senior year, and probably laden down with all sorts of essays, reading and homework to do before she graduated.

[[OOC; please pardon the fact that this is complete and utter shite. i'm a little sleepy. =] ]]

Zephyriah observed a subtle moving of Scout’s lips, but she heard no sound come from the girl. Figuring that the words were simply inaudible, Zephyriah leaned her head back to rest on the backrest of the bench. She had to slide down a little bit to accommodate her torso height, but eventually settled into a comfortable position. It wasn’t proper posture, and would probably be in poor form to be spotted this way, but after hours spent in class and on her essay, she reasoned that taking a moment o rest her head would be better than passing out on her bed.

The second time the girl spoke, Adelphie heard her. Her head perked up and before flashing a warming nod. She had the suspicion that Scout had said it before, but her repetition quelled any doubts. If it were not for her fatigue, Zephyriah would likely have demonstrated far more curiosity into the actual response the first time, but the girl’s usually endless curiosity and imagination reached their end when she had spent the last few weeks in one big blur of work and activity. She barely had time to talk to her parents—though that was not necessarily worthy of complaint.

Casting an idle eye to Scout as she sat down, Zephyriah straightened up a bit, tilting her head, first left, then right, knocking off snow each time that had managed to accumulate in her cloche and brunette hair. The past few weeks had been busy that she had not had the time to color her hair, and only the very tips retained the deep blonde color she had tried many months ago. The rest of her hair had returned to their usual deep chestnut color. The look wasn’t at all displeasing, just a tad bit unusual.

“I’ve been pretty busy,” she answered, systematically making eye contact. Zephyriah always had a thing where it was difficult to talk to people if she couldn’t see them. She always was more sincere when she could see the eyes. Many of her friends would comment that she always seemed more distant, detached, and sarcastic on the phone, which—while still distinctly her—was a bit of a shift from her usual compliant disposition. “College essays are kicking my ass,” she elaborated. Her early enrollment application from Wharton was due back soon, and Zephyriah hoped she got in, if only because it would give her a reason to half-ass the rest of her applications.

Scout watched Zephyriah slide down on the bench, taking in her somewhat strangely-colored (for Zephyriah, at least) hair--brown all over, except for the blonde tips. Scout had sported something similar in the past, but she had no doubt that, in Adelphie's case, the coloring was not intentional, and probably a result of lack of time to dye.

“I’ve been pretty busy. ...College essays are kicking my ass.”

Scout nodded, half-grimacing. College essays, preparing to go out into the world and do something, or at the very least find a college--Scout wondered how Adelphie stayed standing. Sure, Scout had learned to multi-task, a bit of a requirement for an omnipresent high-schooler, but she doubted she'd make it through her senior year alive. Then, of course, there was the matter of the Bastiens who still lived in Maine--Scout's grandparents, cousins, and sister Max, all of whom Scout mostly took care of. College, though possible, and probably with scholarships, was something Scout didn't want to think about until Maxi was safe at Aura Academy.

"So where have you applied to?" Scout asked, desperate to make conversation. She reached a hand out in front of her face, grinning slightly as she pretended to catch her breath in her hand. "I remember you saying something about Wharton." She smiled, having no doubt that Zephyriah would be able to get accepted there, and probably to several more of the places she'd apply to. Not only was she a hard worker, but colleges seemed to find Aura Academy fascinating--the prestigious academy that supposedly chose its students at complete random.

Scout stood up, landing on slightly-numb feet. She felt the need to move, perhaps to get away from the idea of graduation and college. Unfortunately, with no opportunity to change the subject, and no subject to change it to, she had nothing.

The truth was Zephyriah sometimes wondered why she was bothering to apply to all of these prestigious colleges. If it wasn’t for her parents and guidance counselor pressuring her to do it, she likely would have opted for a safer and less cumbersome route. Her grades were good, even great, and undoubtedly, a result of her parents getting on her case if she so much as received an A-minus—the pressure produced an excellent grade point average, but an untold amount of stress, stress that she swore was not placed on her brother.

Still, Adelphie had heard enough horror stories at the seemingly arbitrary and legacy-ridden bias of these elite institutions to scoff at her own chances. Sure, her parents had plenty of money and relative fame in the financial district, but even she doubted that they would be so amenable as to make million dollar donations so their darling daughter could attend the best business school in the world, even if she had silently harbored hopes for the longest of time. That was, precisely, why she had chosen to apply to Pennsylvania’s famed Wharton rather than the host of other top-flight universities for her early decision—should she be accepted, she could effectively shut down her application process early.

But yet, the nearing date of her decision seemed only to add further pressure on her. What if she was deferred or rejected altogether? The prospect cast a shadow over every task altogether. And should she be rejected from all of her activities and have to go o a second tier backup school, she doubted she could ever live it down—even if her parents weren’t alumni of world class wonders themselves.

“Yeah. I’ve submitted my early to Penn,” she said, referring to Wharton. It was such a prestigious school with such a low admission rate that she certainly didn’t expect to join the class. “But I’m applying everywhere. Right now, working my way around the Ivy’s right now. I suppose I’ll submit some apps to a few backup colleges too, and Tufts, UNC, Virginia, Washington, Wake, Lehigh, USC, UM, Northwestern, the UCs… probably a submission to NYU. My dad is also partial to MIT—they have a good business school too…” she trailed off. She cast a hesitant glance at Scout, as if hoping that the girl hadn’t fallen asleep from her list. It was at this time that she was glad for the common app, even if she still had to do all the supplementary essays. She even wondered what it would be like to take classes at several different universities simultaneously.

After a slightly comedic pause, Zephyriah broke into a smile, “Can we talk about something else?”

“Can we talk about something else?”

Scout nodded, laughing breathlessly. "Sure, of course we can," she said, racking her brain for something to talk about. "Well, my sister's definitely exhibiting signs of time manipulation," she said after a few moments. "She should be coming here in a few years' time, in fact. I won't be here, but my brother should be." Scout's brother was a freshman at the time, but her sister Maxine--mostly called Max and occasionally Maxi--was only 10, and already making time fly, crawl and stop completely. Scout couldn't wait for her to get to AA, mostly because she needed the control classes desperately.

"It'd be funny if it wasn't so awful. She's disappearing for hours at time, comes back later swearing she's only been gone a few minutes." Scout laughed, the sound ringing through the silent gardens, as she recalled watching her home. "For her, time changes as quick as her temper does."

Scout remembered that Zephyriah had a brother, also, another freshman, though Scout had never actually met him. Aura wasn't that big a place, and Scout had at least seen, in passing, most of the students in it. But he was only a freshman, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

"What about your family? Anything interesting going on with them?" Off the subject of college, Scout had become, once again, quite cheerful and talkative.

Happy enough with the change of topic, Zephyriah flashed Scout a relieved smile. As much as the senior joked around with others, many of her own smiles were forced or earned through repeated attempts from friends to bring a smile to her face. Somehow, her naturally pouty lips did not contort into a natural smile very frequently, and whenever she chose to do it, it seemed beautifully out of place. But as odd as it may have appeared, Zephyriah was certainly very grateful for the change in pace—she was not there in the gardens to discuss the endless stress of a hundred and five different essays that she had to finish by January 1st.

The mention of time manipulation unconsciously reminded Zephyriah of Jamey, one of her best friends. He would always use his power to steal away her cat, Amara. Not that he really needed to anyway, her cat got around far more than she did. It was an intriguing power, she thought, and one that was sure to have infinitely powerful applications. She always thought about having that kind of ability. Sure, time manipulation, so she heard, was a very taxing ability and the users of it could only manipulate it in bursts, she still thought it was one of the best abilities to have. In fact, if she could pick any of the powers demonstrated at Aura, she would probably pick that one.

“That sounds like such an interesting power. I wish I could slow time whenever I needed to,” she joked. Zephyriah could think of an endless list of tasks she could accomplish with that power, but she settled on mentioning just one, “I wonder what happens if two time manipulators tried to freeze the other, though.”

The scenario sounded rather interesting; sort of like the idea of two snakes simultaneously swallowing each other’s tails to form a smaller and smaller circle. Se wondered what the limitations of time manipulation and its uses were, but at the same time she wondered about the limitations of her own ability. How much could she project with her slightly off-kilter omnipresence? Despite her ambition, she had never been pressed to test the full limits of such a thing, and perhaps a bit out of fear and hesitation, she never bothered.

“And my family is fine. My parents nag as much as usual,” she said slyly, “and my brother’s quite well adjusted his first year. He’s an energy sourcer. The first time we sent him to get an X-Ray, he ended up punching holes in walls.”

"That sounds like such an interesting power. I wish I could slow time whenever I needed to."

Scout silently agreed. Though Max's predicament wasn't something Scout envied at all - she was with Max at the moment, in fact, home in Maine, trying to help her sister out with her issues - time manipulation, once able to be controlled, would definitely have its avantages. Imagine being able to literally "take time for yourself," to freeze time in the middle of the day and catch up on sleep, to freeze time for a much longer time to do whatever you needed to do.

“I wonder what happens if two time manipulators tried to freeze the other, though.”

Scout looked up, tilting her head slightly as she pondered the question. "Well, I suppose the powers could negate each other if they were equally powerful - but since such a match is rare, the more powerful of the two would probably overpower the other." She smiled slightly when she realized the overabundance of the word "power" in her last sentence, laughing at herself.

"Energy sourcer?" she asked Adelphie, intrigued. "Now that does sound interesting. I assume he abrsorbed the enery from the x-ray machine, or something like that?" Scout wasn't entirely sure how energy sourcing worked, but it sounded quite interesting. "And I'm glad your family's doing well. Wouldn't know about the nagging, though," she laughed. "Don't have any parents to do it."

Scout chuckled again, not sure whether to laugh or frown. Certainly it was true; she had no parents to nag her, but she probably wouldn't have complained if they nagged at her every day. It would have been enough to have them awake - she settled for a smile.

Adelphie couldn’t help but offer a minor smile at the explanation of dueling time manipulators. Perhaps the thought was so unusual because time itself seemed such an abstract medium. Certainly time progressed in only one direction, and no time manipulator can make it go in reverse, but slowing, speeding, or momentarily impeding the inevitable seemed so enticing—it was a power that definitively seemed worthy of “magic.” In comparison, Zephyriah’s strange form of ‘omnipresence’ did not even allow her to be in too many places at once, though she did have the luxury of projecting mental images into tangent physical form.

The subject of her brother was a much more sensitive one. Zephyriah did not have the most time to meet up with the aspiring majestic. He knew that Nicholas had a lot more ambition than she did, at least in the social sphere. Honestly, Zephyriah always felt more comfortable in the world of academia, where her inquisitive and sometimes downright bizarre questions had their rightful place. Nicholas, on the other hand, seemed much more into reading other people and observing the hierarchy of social relationships. If he wasn’t a natural anthropologist, he certainly would become an amazing poker professional. At just fourteen, he was already fleecing money from Zephyriah whenever he had the chance—mainly because she was too morally against cheating against her little brother.

“Probably.” Zephyriah was oblivious to exactly how Nicholas’s power worked, nor did she even know exactly how her own seemed to work, in fact, she knew arguably less about the logistics of her power than that of her brother’s. At the very least, energy sourcing was the absorption and conversion of real energy, explainable through the laws of physics. Zephyriah’s powers seemed to extend more into the realm of the mystical, and she certainly had no explanation for that. “The truth is I have no idea what he can absorb. If I had to guess, I would say that any type of electromagnetic wave would make him stronger. He can go days without eating a thing. In fact, I tend to think that he prefers recharging in the sun to eating real food.”

The thought of not having parents really struck Zephyriah. She had witnessed the plight of many an orphan before, but she had not realized that Scout—for whatever reason—did not have any parents. She had never brought that up in conversation. However, she guessed that her ease of talking, and the disarming smile she put up indicated that the event happened some time ago and she had already adjusted. It was either that, or she was putting up a mask of formidability. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Adelphie managed to say.

"The truth is I have no idea what he can absorb. If I had to guess, I would say that any type of electromagnetic wave would make him stronger. He can go days without eating a thing. In fact, I tend to think that he prefers recharging in the sun to eating real food.”

Scout nodded, trying to understand. So he didn't have to eat, he could just recharge in the sun? It was fascinating, the possibilities of such a power. And punching holes in the wall was something everyone liked to do at times, right? She made up her mind to ask her brother if he knew Nicholas Beccaria; though more likely than not, he wouldn't, always having his head stuck in a cloud.

“I’m sorry to hear that,”

This surprised Scout a bit; she had thought Adelphie already knew about her parents. Raising her eyebrows slightly, she replied, "I suppose that's a lie, though. My parents are still alive, they're just not... they've both been vegetables since I was nine. There was a car crash. I live with my grandparents and some other relatives." She didn't mention that her grandparents were exhibiting signs of Alzheimer's disease, or that her aunt seemed to be becoming dependent on her whiskey. It was best not to scare people off with details.

"I've mostly accepted it," Scout said suddenly, looking off into space. "They're not coming back. It helps just to live life." She smiled again, looking over at Adelphie. If there was one thing Scout had learned in her life, it was that: you have to move on.