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Lorne's arm slipped from around his cousin's shoulders, a pang of guilt rushing through him in a whirlwind. He knew he'd been curt, he really hadn't meant to be, and - oh hell, that was Nadia's friend, and he'd just effectively chased him off. He fretted for all of five seconds, winding his hands together and rocking on the balls of his feet, debating whether to let it go or not.

He couldn't.

He flashed Nadia the most apologetic look he could muster because he'd been an awful boyfriend today, what with surprise cousins and scaring off her friends, and mouthed her a quick 'sorry' before he started off walking briskly after the other man. "Wait! Wait, please, " and he was loud at first, growing softer as he drew closer in long, fluid steps - he could be surprisingly agile when he wasn't overthinking it. "Please don't go, I - I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to be so - "

Lorne drew a deep breath and steadied himself. He'd been doing so damn good today too. "C-can we try that again? Please? - I'm Lorne, and again, I'm so sorry. That was terribly rude of me."

Strickenized

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Syrie

Pixie Nyxie

frayedflower

kuropeco

Whimsical Blue

a-disgruntled-dragon

She mulled over her word choice even before Isaiah had made his comment, and was tapping her fingers on her arm when both Lorne and Colin said the words. She was in no means upset with either Isaiah for his assumption, or with the boys for defending Ash.

Ash meant a lot to her, and it was hard to describe amongst a group that also included non powered.

Isaiah got all huffy though, intending to leave and Nadia couldn't have that. Like Lorne, she didn't let him get far, but drew him enough away that Auguste and Kyle and Anna couldn't hear.

"I didn't mean special ed, this is true." She smiled at him, "Ash is special as in she means something to all of us....magical beings." She looked over at the guardian cat, "Have you heard of guardian cats? They awaken....us. They help us. Ash is known as the silver lady, in that life." She didn't know how else to explain. "She is, a person, she just can't exhibit the behavior in front of people who aren't...like us?"

It'd probably help more if Ash was able to sneak over here.

"Uh huh. Bien sûr, il est. Les filles, et souvent quelques gars, seraient souvent parler de vous à l'école. Avez-vous jamais remarqué? " Then they were talking about Lorne's mother again and Kyle scowled. "She needs to stop. She acts as if I am her own. Mother finds it... amusing."

Kyle chuckled as Lorne huffed at his plan. "You know which friend. I've been at Niall's. I knew what I was doing.. Besides, Niall knew enough that if something happen, that he should call you. He's probably bummed your number out of my phone. Do you really wanna know when I'm going to my boyfriends for alone time Lorne. Do you really." What Kyle really meant would probably be lost on his cousin, but alas. It was fun to watch him freak. "Next time I will tell you though. Don't worry."

The dark haired teen blinked at Auguste. "Ahh.. cute? Sorry, I'm not much of a dog person. Never had one, grew up with cats... What kind?"

Then Andrew spoke up and Kyle choked down a laugh. His mother had a special ed cat when she was younger. She had loved that thing till the day it died. Suddenly though Lorne was snapping at the poor guy and oh. Nope. There they went, leaving Kyle standing some what awkwardly which a handful of people he didn't know. Damn it Lorne. "Ah... It was an honest question..." Kyle said as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'm sure Andrew didn't mean anything by it." Kyle then turned to the rest of the group. "So I have two questions. First... Why is no one in the water? And second..." Kyle's expression changed once more to a grimace. "Why the ******** did Nadia name her cleavage." He dead panned.

Before the entire Ash-based incident, Lorne tilted his head quizzically at his cousin with a furrowing of his brow and a puzzled little smile. "Quoi?" He laughed softly, shaking his head and clapping his brother fondly on the shoulder. "Vous êtes drôle, Kyle." He was clearly teasing him; there was no way. Lorne had practically gone out of his way in school not to get noticed, not to draw attention to himself, make himself as small as possible. The fact that Nadia had even noticed him was still something completely uncanny he struggled to believe was in fact reality. The idea that anyone else might have spared him more than a passing glance was just inconceivable to him.

He gave a toothy smile. "I think everyone does. - and I still haven't met Niall, " and the frown was back because serious matters were serious. "It's all well and good to know what you're doing, but... I'd like to know it too, " and although he was scolding Kyle, really, he sounded worried more than anything, and even a little hurt that his cousin hadn't called him immediately when he'd come to town. Never mind the comment about what boyfriends do. He'd come back to that one later.

Then, the incident - and the apology that followed. It didn't matter that Nadia's friend called it groveling; it hardly seemed the comment phased him at all. Instead, Lorne just smiled warmly, if sheepishly, back at him, just genuinely pleased that his apology had been accepted.

Shortly after, he was flanked by Nadia, his yellow eyes widening with visible surprise. She was talking about Ash's nature so openly, so - like us - so he was powered, then? The sudden scramble of paws on his back, tips easily digging in through the thin fabric of his t-shirt, almost startled him - but when he realized it was Ash perched up there on his shoulder, really, she could have gone ahead and used his back as a scratching post and he would have been a thousand percent alright with it.

"My apologies for the climb, " he teased lightly, tilting his head to a side to nuzzle back against her soft fur, reaching up with one finger to gently catch her under the chin and give her some pets. "You too, Miss Ash - I've wanted to meet you for some time now, " and had he said that alright? Did it matter? It never hurt to hear something like that again.

That confirmed it, if nothing else; the stranger must be powered. Lorne wondered to himself if that's how Nadia knew him; it happened often with people like them, although it wasn't always a given. A glint of mild excitement lit in his eyes - was he a senshi? A page? Only one way to know.

Then, he turned his full attention back to Nadia's friend, and flashed him a slightly bolder smile than before as he extended a hand in greeting. His cheeks were flushed from a combination of embarrassment, pleasure, and the warmth of the sun's rays beating down on them. "Mont Blonc, Page of Saturn. And you?"

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[Mistress Morbid]

Pixie Nyxie

Whimsical Blue

Strickenized

Chris followed Paris’s lead into the water, only a little relieved when she let him know that she would tell him if there was anyone he knew around. Or should know.

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled, easing into the water. “I just don’t want to seem like I’m ignoring anyone, but I don’t want anyone to pity me, either. It would be easier if I knew who I already know.” He knew it was pointless to worry about all of this, and he lowered himself down into the water more as Paris put her hands on his shoulders, but he couldn’t help being just a bit stressed out.



Well, this girl seemed to be rather… spirited. At least when it came to being around people. Ilian was usually the same way, so it was a little strange that someone else was prompting him to join in whatever was going on. Not that he really minded, of course… Then again, Lovely was there and being more bratty than usual.

“Come on,” he agreed, taking hold of Lovely’s other hand so that both he and Chailee could pull him into the water together. Ilian had no problem going in, and was soon trying to drag Lovely down into the water.





”Yeah, well… They only know because Paris outed me,” he said with a small huff, but wasn’t too upset with her. He’d been telling his parents for years that there were monsters attacking the city, but did they believe him? Of course not. “After the whole New Years thing when Chris and Paris were in the hospital… Dad kinda sat them down and Paris kind of just… told them everything.

“They stopped harassing me about things, at least… which is really weird. I think they might be trying to use reverse psychology on me… or maybe they know I’m going to go out regardless of what they do to try and stop me. Maybe that’s why mom let me move in with Michael. Who knows. But you’re researching youma?? That’s awesome. I want to help,” he said, although she probably thought it was weird that he was so interested.

“You'll be fine,” Paris said. She continued to rub at Chris's shoulder even as he lowered himself into the water. “People aren't going to pity you. They'll feel sorry about what happened to you, but that's not the same thing as pity.”

She could at least partially understand his worries. She wouldn't want to be in his position, lacking four years worth of memories, and four years worth of experiencing. It must be very disconcerting to look around and not know if you knew someone. But at the same time, Paris didn't want Chris worrying about it too much. That's what she was there for.

“Just let me handle everything,” she said. Then she leaned forward to press their lips together.



So startled was he to be dragged into the water against his will that Lovely didn't think to struggle until he was in the water up to his knees. By then Ilian was trying to drag him down. Surprised and horrified, Lovely stumbled and went down with a splash.

“No no no no no, stop!” he shouted.

He clung to Chailee's doughnut floaty for dear life. Even though the water wasn't very deep, they were still too far in for his liking.

“Stop, stop!” he said again. “I can't swim!”]





Haven didn't think it was weird that he was interested so much that she thought it was weird that he wanted to help her. She couldn't remember a time in which either of them had helped one another on a project. They tended to go about their own business, each trying to outdo the other.

Then again, researching youma wasn't your typical school project.

“I'm not really sure where to go from here,” she explained. “There's only so much I can find in news reports and articles, and most of that information isn't very reliable considering no one really knows what's going on in the city. I wish we'd had more time to observe the youma at the funhouse. It didn't seem like your typical youma.”

Of course, they'd been in a rush to save the captives at the time. There's hadn't been much of an opportunity for much observation.

Gwen looked down at her cup. Wasn't much left to the wine she'd intially poured so she downed it and joined ELysha in preparing for the water. She dropped her hat on her towel before reaching down to the hem of her swim suit cover and pulled it up over he head. Shoes were no issue as she slipped off her flip flops and soon was joining the other girl at the water's edge.

Seemed the lake was where the party was it with so many people enjoying the cool water. And cool it was. Gwen stopped short of the lake water hitting her hips. Her green bathing suit bottom just getting wet at this point. "I was expecting it to be a bit warmer with how hot it's been lately." She mused out loud.



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Chailee grinned at Ilian when the boy helped her drag Lovely into the water. She giggled and pulled at the blonde's arm. She didn't even notice his distress until he practically yelled at the two of them.

Chastised Chailee left go of Lovely's arm as the boy grasped at the donut inner tube as if his life depended on it despite that they all could quite easily stand with where they were. "I am so sorry Lovely! You can stand here." she said frantically. "Why didn't you say something? I wouldn't have forced you in."

To say that Chay felt bad would be an understatement. She felt horrible for doing this to Lovely. "Here, let's go back in. We can get food and drinks or something if you want." She tried to amend the situation and looked over at Ilian for any kind of guidance since the other boy was Lovely's friend.

The roar of a motorcycle was heard briefly before dying off all together as the rider killed the power and parked. Removing his helmet, Angus tucked it under his arm and waited for his passenger to dismount.

"Och, I don't know why you're so nervous riding, Daisy. You've done it before," he muttered, Scottish accent thick and musical. He turned to watch the girl swing her leg around and over as she got off of the bike. Moss green eyes glinted with wicked amusement as she removed her own helmet and glared.

"The bike does not make me nervous, a*****e. Your driving of said bike is what makes me re-consider religion in my life. Though I will admit the flapping in the breeze kilt was a nice touch. I kept expecting to be pulled over for indecent exposure or something."

Stretching and dismounting, Angus grinned and, not for the first time, wished that Daisy was a little shorter. Grinning into her eyes, he straightened out his kilt and flipped it quickly to prove that he hadn't gone commando.

"Relax, lass. This is a family affair. I'm not the type to risk flashing any bairns. 'Sides, y'know very well that it was only the veriest edge of the kilt flappin'!"

"Oh, whatever, sword-boy. This is why we only dated for a month."

"As y'like, pokémon-girl. I like the new bikini, by the by. You made it y'self?"

Even through their friendly, if somewhat bristly, bickering, he could see she was pleased that he'd noticed. And she should be. Girl had many talents and deserved some recognition. Even if only from a friend.

"Daisy, be a love an' help me cart this stuff in. How much are y'willin' to bet they're all swilling store bought crap?" Angus' disdain for store bought beer was exceptionally clear. Frankly, he thought that most American beer was utter s**t and tasted like so much camel piss. But try telling that to the people who slugged it down so happily. Insane. Utterly insane.

Hurriedly divesting herself of the rest of the protective jumpsuit, Daisy adjusted her denim cutoffs and made sure her bikini top was covering what it needed to before sauntering to where Angus was unlatching the storage box on his bike.

"You brought some home-brew? Do I get to have any or are you gonna be all law-abiding and s**t?"

This time, it was the blonde-brunette's turn to grin as she jabbed the Scot with an elbow. Where she knew that he sometimes was annoyed by the lack of difference in height, she reveled it in. And when they were both 6'3" and muscular, it made them look almost twin like. It amused her.

"I might share if you behave yourself, Daisy. You take one end, I'll the other, yeah?"

Silently, she did as told, wondering just how they would be striking anyone else at the lake. Wearing nothing but a kilt, speedo and combat boots, Angus looked terribly intimidating when one added in his tattoos and piercings. Daisy knew she had to look odd as well with her pokemon bikini and bulk. Still, they could at least amuse each other by noting the different reactions.

As the pair headed up the path with the small crate of home brewed ale and the towels they'd brought to sit on, she saw Angus brighten up a little as she caught sight of someone.

"Looks like we might not have to amuse ourselves entirely, darlin'. Here, let's find a place for this stuff and go say hello."

They found a reasonably nice shady spot for their belongings and Daisy followed along curiously. It wasn't often that she got to see Angus in giant, friendly puppy mode. Though she winced a little as he bellowed out a greeting to a slim blond.

"Oy! You've not got the camera clicking away today, y'skinny runt? Wasted opportunity, m'friend! Have y'not seen all the lovely lads an' lasses wandering about?"

Feeling her hand caught up in Angus', Daisy allowed herself to be pulled along.