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Where the ******** had the time gone?!

It felt like only yesterday Izume recalled meeting Lovina in the cafeteria after class one afternoon. It'd been the start of something amazing, or at least Izzy considered it as such. She'd certainly enjoyed the late night adventures and the trips into the city on the weekends. It'd been great to finally find someone to forge a real connection with. Not just a classmate or an acquaintance, but someone Izzy felt she could call a friend.

And then, she didn't really know what happened. Part of it was Exams rolling in and an increase in workload. Part of it was Izume starting her violin lessons again in preparation for a post grad audition with the city symphony. Of course Lovi had gotten busy as well, and under the combined weight of so many external forces, it was easy to just sort of...lose touch.

When Izume finally realized the time between texts and visits was growing longer and longer it was alarming.

Determined to put an end to the degeneration of their friendship, the shorter of the two girls wrapped up her violin practice a bit early, pocketed her phone, and headed for the lawns, and a particularly nice, shady tree the two had sat beneath a number of times. On the way she sent a text, asking Lovi to meet her there.

Her back against the thick trunk, Izume had her nose buried in a book as Lovi sat herself primly down beside her and gave her shoulder a nudge. It brought the smaller girl's attention up, a smile already spreading easily along full lips as she folded down the page she'd been on and put the book on the ground beside her.

"Dude, seriously it's not just you. I've been crazy busy, too. Between trying to get my grades up to make the 'rents happy, and keeping up with violin," she groaned audibly, head tipping back as she shoulders sagged in the perfect vision of exhausted defeat. "Ugh!"

She slouched to the side, cheek pillowed on the other girl's shoulder. "Is it just me, or does it just keep getting harder year after year?" Which she supposed made since, begrudgingly, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

Eyes rolling up, she pegged Lovi with an interested look. "What extracurricular thing you have going on? Is it like extra credit?" A thin brow lifted. "Cause I'll tell you what, I could use some of that right about now." Her grades were hurting. She knew the material, whizzed through her tests, but homework? Nope. Couldn't seem to manage it. Her mind just would not sit still long enough to deal with that s**t.

The smaller girl shifted just enough to Lovi to move her arm, and then settled in comfortably against her side, cheek moving against her shoulder before stilling again. Weeks and months had seemed to fly by, and there had always been the want to reach out, to check on the Lovi or even just to touch base, but more often than not the opportunity had slipped by. She'd remember while lying in bed, too late to risk a text, and then curse into her pillow and promise to do it the next day. Only the next day had always been just as busy as the last, and the cycle repeated time and time again.

Every so often she'd manage to get a text out at a decent time, but one or the other of them would fail to keep up the pace, and then they'd be back to racing through the days.

Sitting here like this, to Izzy it felt like someone had hit pause on their lives. For this moment, as long as it lasted, they could breath, and relax, and shift the weight from their shoulders to remember what had brought them together as friends in the first place.

The gentle tap-tap-tap against her shoulder was soothing, and the smaller girl let loose a long, settling sigh as she listened to Lovi talk. Opening her mouth only once through the bulk of it to answer a question, but closing it again as she figured it out for herself. It made her laugh, and at some point she snaked her own arm down around Lovi's hips.

The lowered voice sharpened Izume's attention. She tipped her head back so she could see the other girl out the corner of her eyes as she spoke, but lifted her head completely at the mention of super heros and jumping buildings. For a second or two she thought it was a joke--and why not? But the little smile faded and brows dipped. "Wait, you're serious? How the ******** does that happen?" And where do I sign up? "You get extra credit, and physical boosts, and you just gather energy...what does that even mean?"

Understandably skeptical, Izume's face showed her doubts as she looked up at the other girl. However, the more Lovi spoke, the easier it became to buy into what the other teen was saying. It was still far fetched, like something out of a summer blockbuster, or a comic book, but hadn't crazy things been happening in this city for as long as anyone could remember?

Maybe it was possible, and if it was how did she get her hands on the same sort of deal?

Granted, there was certainly a few less glamorous aspects of the story, mainly having a hand shoved into your chest. How even was that supposed to work? And then there was the pain. Not just a little discomfort, but worse than broken bones. Izzy had never so much as fractured a toe, let alone broken anything. So she wasn't exactly in a hurry for that, but if what Lovi said was true, and it only lasted for a moment, and when it was over you were better, stronger...

"I want that." She hadn't meant to say it allowed. It'd just slipped out, barely above a whisper. She didn't take it back, though, after realizing she'd said it. Instead she turned at lovi's side, hands planted on the grass beneath her, her chin on the other girl's shoulder.

A flicker of an apology flashed across Izzy's face as she read the anxiety in Lovi's. She certainly hadn't meant to put her friend in an awkward situation, but here they were, and Izzy could have pretended as if she'd never heard any of this, but the longing of it wouldn't just disappear. If anything, it'd probably just get more intense. What Lovi had, the help with her grades and the powers, Izzy wanted that too.

And if it's let them spend more time together...

Crossing paths in the halls and in class just wasn't enough. Even if they'd both been busy in their own rights, Izzy missed the other girl. Things were just better when they were together. Maybe time apart had made her forget that a little bit, but sitting here now, talking, it was clear as day to the shorter girl.

So she waited patiently, or maybe anxiously, for Lovi to say something again, eyes glued on that pretty face as she thought it over. Ready in that instant to tell her not to worry about it, that she didn't want to put her in that pain if it was going to be a problem. The words were on her tongue when the brunette got an idea.

And what an idea. Izume felt get shoulders relax, anxiwry bleeding away again, and she grinned up at her friend. "That sounds great!" Not just the prospect of joining as well, but of getting to spend her evenings with the other girl. Having more time together.

"Just tell me what I have to do." What ever would make her look like a perfect fit.

This was really happening. Izume grinned giddily at her friend, giggling along. It was going to be great! They wouldn't have to worry about their grades as much, and they'd get to spend more time together. Maybe even wrestle up some free time for themselves besides what little they were afforded now, or managed to carve out for themselves by sneaking out at night.

Which, by the sounds of it, they'd be doing more often now.

She brought her focus outward again at the questions, thinking about her own merits and what might make her a good candidate for whatever this was. "Um, I'm alright in PE. Not really great at sports, but pretty quick on my feet." She was also prone to diving into things headlong. Fearless, to the point of being a bit reckless. "I get great marks on my tests, if she's looking at those. It's just the homework...ugh." She loathed it. The time it took. Cutting into what little free time they had.

The hug was sudden and unexpected, but Izzy her stomach give a happy little flip. The grin was back, bigger than ever, and she returned the hug with enthusiasm before Lovi as drawing back to take her hands. What do I say? What else was there to say? "Let's do it!"