Meeting of Two Minds

[Ryan Alexander]

"Heeeeeerrrreeeee spidey spidey spidey!  Come to mama.  I won't hurt you, and I won't let anyone else."  She looked up and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Then again, you're probably not super worried about that, are you?  You are a tarantula after all.  It was honestly kind of stupid for someone to accidentally bump your tank and let you out.  Stupid people in the science room.  But I'm a art major, so I'm not nearly as stupid and uncreative as they are.  You'd like me.  I promise."  She smiled and crouched on the floor.

"Here spidey spidey spidey."  Then she felt someone bump into her back.  Oops she guessed they hadn't seen her crouching there.  Maybe they weren't looking where they were going.  Or maybe it was just because she was in the way.  She'd seen the spider come towards the training rooms, hence why she was hurrying.  She didn't want anyone in the training rooms to accidentally hurt the poor fuzzy little guy.  She loved spiders almost as much as snakes and bats were a close third.  Ryan wanted to find that tarantula quickly so she could see it.  Tarantulas were cool!  But...oh right.

She still had someone who had tripped over her in the middle of the training room.

Seiji Lockard

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji didn't actually really need to train that much with his power at this point in his life, since he tended to use his power every day. He always had one of his snakes on him at all times so that had him having to at least use the communicating bit and things tended to happen in where he would have to give an order. Then with his work he would use their eyes when he was trying to cover reading a multitude of information at once. "Ghost, you can't climb all over me when I'm walking." Seiji warned his snake as he tried to compensate for a four foot boa moving around his frame.

Ghost was his largest snake, an albino boa constrictor that he had since he had come into his power years ago. Despite how old Ghost was, the snake was always pretty lively and behaved more like a dog then a snake. Right now he was being all attention needy as he crawled up further up Seiji's body instead of hanging half on his shoulders and wrapped around his waist. They were just passing through the training room area, on their way to pick up some files from Charity in regards to a power he asked her to look into for him.

"Ghost, I'm going to fall." Seiji warned the snake again, just as Ghost moved up and started to cover his eyes. Seiji struggled for a moment to try and move the snake and also could not see because of the pale scales blocking his vision. As a result he missed what the girl had been saying and the fact that she was even there. All he knew was that he bumped into something and ended up half falling onto the ground. He had managed to catch himself, but sprained his wrist a little in the process, thanks to the added weight of a snake and trying to prevent it from getting hurt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." Seiji quickly apologized as he winced slightly in pain as he moved to try and stand back up.

[Ryan Alexander]

She looked around and sighed.

"No spider down here. Unfortunate that fact." Then she realized the person who had tripped was talking about something. Apologizing? Ryan arched an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Naw it's cool. My fault for being down here. I was just looking for an escaped tarantula. Someone from the science room was a total moron and accidentally let the little guy out. I'm trying to find him before he gets hur-" Then her eyes widened.

"Your snake! He isn't hurt, is he? Awww...he's so cool, and cute and...and...and..." She was shaking slightly with the excitement at seeing such a big snake.

"What a big beautiful...male or female? Boa constrictor right? Oh damn he's not hurt is he?" She was still in her crouch, but now her face was very clearly marred with worry.

"Oh. And you of course. Are you okay?" That was an afterthought though.

[Seiji Lockard]

Wait, did she just say something about a spider? Seiji was pretty sure she said something about a spider and that meant he had to get out of there as soon as possible. Yet he also heard a bit about there being no spider, so it was safe? He was still on edge and the pain in his wrist became irrelevant as he first checked on his snake and then his attention on the woman he had run into. “Es-escaped tarantula?” Seiji asked, stuttering a little bit.

Yup, it was time to leave. Get out right now and hide in his room until that bug was found. Seiji did know that a spider was not actually a bug and he knew a lot about them, but his fear made that knowledge irrelevant. He would create anything that would wipe all spiders off the earth if it would not really mess up the balance of life. He didn’t hear the rest of her words; his eyes were already looking around for where this spider could be. He was also asking Ghost to take a look and as he was going to look through his snake’s eyes, the girl semi exploded with excitement and distracted him.

There were a lot of questions then, ones that he could answer but he didn’t want to cut her off so he waited. The wait also allowed him to temporarily forget about the wild, deadly, and killer spider that was wondering around free and looking to slaughter them all. Most of that of course was in Seiji’s imagination even if he was fully aware of the actual nature of that species of spider. “This is Ghost. Yes, he is male, yes he is a boa constrictor, and he is one hundred percent okay.” Seiji assured her.

Ghost was nodding his head, already moving to reach out to the girl in an attempt to flick his tongue against her cheek; in a way to lick her face like a dog would. “He says hi and I should be fine.” Seiji assured her as he gave her a friendly smile. His wrist hurt a lot but he didn’t want to worry her, that and she seemed more worried about his snake then him.

[Ryan Alexander]

"Yes an escaped tarantula. No need to be nervous. It won't hurt you if you don't hurt it. Which is why I'm looking for it. To find it before someone, the person or the spider, gets hurt. It wouldn't end well." When he introduced the snake, she grinned. And then she found he was okay. And the snake flicked his tongue against her cheek. She raised a hand to her cheek gently, putting it over the place he'd licked. She looked at the snake.

"You are a really sweetheart. I mean that in a very good way. I love any kind of snakes, but boas really are one of my favourites. And you are a very beautiful snake. Or...I guess considering you're male, I suppose I should say you're very handsome hmm?" She smiled and then turned to the guy.

"So you talk to snakes. I'm assuming that's your power. I'm Ryan Alexander I, and I manipulate metal. Who might you be?" His snake was handsome, and the owner wasn't far behind in looks, Ryan had to admit. She was mostly into girls, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the attractiveness of a guy.

[Seiji Lockard]

She repeated that there was an escaped tarantula out there and likely around where they were since this was where she was looking for it. Yes, it was most certainty time for him to get out of here as soon as possible. Now he just had to figure out the right way to do it so he didn't come off as rude or anything like that. While he had his fear, he still didn't want to be seen as a rude or bad person but if he saw the spider all bets were off. He was going to either stomp it out of existence or bolt in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

The latter being a higher possibly because it involved not going anywhere near the spider. She was talking to Ghost, who would have started blushing if that was something that he could even do, but he could not. So instead the end of his body; his tail, was wagging back and forth in a very much dog like manner. He had learned at an early age how to wag his tail in a do like manner and it was something that had stuck around through the years. "He says thank you and that you are also a very beautiful human female..." Seiji repeated back what his snake was telling him but stopped at a certain point.

Ghost was going into about how he didn't really know what was beautiful among humans and merely said it because she said it to him and he recalled Seiji telling him it was polite to provide someone with a complement back. He didn't think she needed to know all of that so just left it off at Ghost giving her a complement in return. "It's more than talking to snakes. It goes to snake manipulation with some added bonuses and disadvantages." Seiji informed her.

He looked her over when she informed him of what her power was, already figuring what possible side-effect she likely had to deal with due to her power. "Nice to meet you Miss Alexander. I'm Seiji Lockard; Side-Effect Specialist and college student, but feel free to call me Seiji." Seiji informed her as he gave her a friendly smile. He would have extended his hand out to her but he had hurt the hand he shook with.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan arched an eyebrow and looked at the snake.

"Well I appreciate the compliment back. It wasn't needed though." Then she heard him describe that it was more snake manipulation.

"That's pretty awesome." Then he introduced himself and said what job he had, and she smiled.

"Well Seiji, Side-Effects Specialist, mind if I ask you a question? I just manipulate metal and don't have any metal on me for fear it will hurt me when my emotions get out of hand. So why do I set off metal detectors? I'm wondering whether my powers enhance the iron in my blood or something. Any ideas?"

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji's mouth opened to say something but he just closed it and decided to not to comment on her words about not need a complement. That was her choice and he had not right to try and change her mind on the matter or assure her that it was not that big deal. So he let it go and instead double check to make sure that Ghost was fine and tucked away his injured wrist inside his coat pocket. Ghost knew that he was injured; he could pick up on the smell of pain from his master and was asking him about it. Seiji just assured his snake that it was fine and he would look at it when they were done having a little chat with this woman.

It was rude after all to just walk away from someone, even if you were in a lot of pain. Plus the pain was not all that bad, at least not bad enough that it was easy enough to ignore it as he was more focused on his current interaction. She then asked him if she could ask him a question but didn't even bother to wait for him to give her an answer to that first question. He was fine with that, since he would have said yes in any case, so instead focused on what she had to say. He had to think on it a moment as she described her power to him.

"I would have to take a closer look at your power and do a blood test to be sure, but it is possibly that it could be the case. Since it is in your ability to control metal and our blood has trace amounts of metal in it, you could unknowingly be effect the iron level in your blood." Seiji informed her and then then started to think about the risk of her blood having too much iron in it. That was a little worrisome, but again he actually needed to run a test before he could say without a shadow of a doubt, that was the case.

[Ryan Alexander]

"Great. So I'm always going to be flagged as a possible terrorist then. That'll make the next vacation flight with my parents a blast as always." She rolled her eyes. But she wasn't blind. Ryan could see him favouring his wrist slightly.

"You ARE hurt. I'm just being a pain in the ass, but you have an actual pain because of me. Let's get you to the nurse's office or something. I can look for that tarantula later. He will turn up."

[Seiji Lockard]

"No, I didn't say that." Seiji clarified when she seemed to write off that she was always going to be flagged as a terrorist. That might have been how things were now but that was why he worked at the school and again why students were slightly forced to train. If they ever wanted to have normal lives, then some of them had to work at it a little harder than others. It just all depended on their power and there were plenty of things and people out there that could help them. "Feel free to stop in my office sometime and we can run some test on your blood. See if it’s something that involves training or if there is a medication we can provide to help your blood out. That is again if it is actually an increased amount of iron in your blood." Seiji said.

He didn't want to say anything in definite because he had to run test to be sure. This was all based on what she said and a few guesses, so there was room for error. He wanted her to understand that, and that was why he preferred for her to allow him to actually check before she was set in a certain way of thinking. She was not the first to just assume the worst case; some students didn't know that they had options. Typically because some students just didn't bother to try and preferred to wallow in their short comings. He started a little when she exclaimed that he was actually hurt and how she was being a pain in the ass because he was in actual pain.

Seiji didn't know what to say, and kind of stood there a moment in confusion as he tried to think of how to assure her it was fine and that she was not being a pain. Then talk about the tarantula was brought up. Part of him was yet again all for leaving that moment, but then he was worried about running into the foul monster later. Like it would track him down specifically or something because it could taste his fear. "I will be fine. I have medical supplies in my office. If you are sure you wish to give up your hunt for the...spider..." Seiji said, unable to keep talking because he was pretty sure he spotted something brown quickly move across the floor and under something.

[Ryan Alexander]

"It's a really weird side-effect. It isn't so much that it bothers me. It's more like I want to know what causes it because it's so odd." She shrugged. And then the guy played down his injury and she sighed.

"I am giving up the hunt for the spider. It was my fault you got hurt. Besides, you have an awesome snake and with me, snakes always trump spiders in how cool they are. Always."  Ryan began walking towards the nurse's office.  Only she was walking backwards so she didn't lose sight of Seiji.

[Seiji Lockard]

“It’s not as odd as you might think it is. Considering your power it makes perfect sense for that to be possibly the case. Again, I would need to get a sample of your blood and run some test to be sure. Then I'm sure I could come up with something to help you with it, if you so desire the assistance." Seiji offered, still giving a friendly smile. He didn't get why she was repeating wanting to understand it when he had offered to tell her about her power. He just needed to run some test and for that all she had to do was give him the okay, come in to let him get some different samples, and then they would be set.

Ryan might have been saying something to him, but he didn't hear a single word of it after he saw what ran across the floor. He could understand why she might have missed it since she was not facing the direction he was. However; he at least expected her to know something was wrong just by the terrified look on his face as soon as he saw the brown thing crawl across the ground. Seiji didn't even notice her walking away, he could not even move at the moment. No, he could see the spider now, moving out from cover as if it was checking where it was going to head off to next.

He could not say anything and while Ghost was aware of what was going on with his master, Ryan did not seem to. Ghost could not talk to her without his master and even while he was trying to let Seiji know to tell he what was going on, Seiji could still do nothing. So Ghost let out a hiss to try and get the girl's attention, pointing with his tail in the direction Seiji was looking with a petrified look on his face.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan was all ready to bounce away to the nurse's office with Seiji when she turned around to look to see if he was coming. He wasn't.

"Come on man, we need to get that looked at..." The snake was signalling her. She held back her excitement at her favourite animal signalling her and actually paid attention to the 'why'. That's when she saw the tarantula. She looked from the tarantula back to Seiji, and then back to the tarantula. And then back to Seiji. And back to the tarantula. She finally sighed and shook her head.

"Afraid of spiders. That's manly of you. We're just breaking gender norms all over the place, aren't we?" With that, she strode over to the tarantula and pulled a leather glove out of her purse. Then she gently picked the tarantula up. That's when the science kids busted through the door, falling all over each other. Ryan grinned and held up the spider.

"Found him for you! Next time don't knock over the bloody tank!" They nodded and rushed over, taking the spider from her. And one of them paid her a small wad of bills too. She fanned herself with them briefly before sticking them in her pocket and walking back to Seiji.

"You can...talk again, right? It would be a real drag if you were still in shock. Then I'd never know why I set off metal detectors after all." She gently patted Ghost on the head.

"And you're really sweet, looking out for your owner like you just did."

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was happy that Ghost was getting help because he currently could do nothing about the problem that was skittering across the floor. When Ryan came over to him, he almost jumped up on her, but that would have been a very bad idea. He was taller than her, heavier than her, and he had a snake on him so that would just add to the weight. So he just remained frozen, practically internally screaming for her to step on the bug, for him to stomp on it, or for him to be able to at least run. Yet he was still just standing there, horrified. His head nodded so much he might as well been a bobble head when she asked if he was afraid of spiders.

"Hey, a fear of spiders is very common among the human race and it affects both genders equally. Many people have a fear of spider, snakes, or both. Mine just so happens to be-KILL IT! KILL IT NOW IT’S MOVING!" Seiji started to explain but lost it when the spider started to come near them. Clearly if he was not afraid of them he would see that the spider was likely used to being around people and didn't mind them. But his fear told him that it was coming to bit them and shoot its butt hairs into his poor eyes. When she picked up the spider, he was gone. As in he had left the visible area once the eight legged monster was in her hand and people were coming into the area looking for it.

He hid, around the closest thing he could and waited until the spider was long gone before he moved back into view. "Ye-Yes, I am fine now. Thank you for asking." Seiji said still a little red and breathing a bit hard. Clearly he had suffered from a small heart attack or what felt like one to him, but logically he knew that was not the case. Ghost flicked his tongue at the hand that patted his head, pleased that she praised him for his help. "He had always had my back, since the day I first got him when he was really little." Seiji confessed, already moving now to head back to his office, which was in the same direction of the nurse office.

[Ryan Alexander]

"You have a serious aversion to spiders. That was...interesting. Just so you know, I'm trying very hard not to judge and failing." She grinned, her eyes dancing with mischief and laughter. Then she heard him talk about the snake as they walked towards the nurse's office.

"He's very sweet. I still can never understand why some people don't like snakes. I can understand those with the pathological fears. I mean, I was chuckling at you for it, but I do understand. But the people who don't like snakes for actual reasons? I can never understand those people. Snakes can be really sweet. And they're cool. My parents got me a corn snake once. He was my favourite pet. Unfortunately I had to give him away when I was recruited for Acton Vale, but my love of snakes hasn't really changed. Them, spiders and bats."