It All Sounds Like

[Beth Young]

Following the two boys, Beth kept her distance. She knew the reputation the two boys had, and although she wasn't scared of them, she didn't want to give them any reason to act out. She had already made it blatantly clear what she did and why she was here, along with the fact that she was married when one of them had made... Questionable comments towards her, which although she couldn't blame, didn't sit quite well with her.

The whole ordeal of student/teacher relationships made her sick to her stomach. Maybe it was because it was so easy to put yourself in the parents shoes, especially considering how... Well, nevermind that.

"How are you two doing?" she asked lightly, gesturing towards the fountain. The courtyard was nearly empty now. Probably because most of the students were currently in class. "I know that settling in here have been rough on you. I mean, it's very different from what you were used to, no?" She could relate to that, even if the circumstances were wholly different, with the boys being part of the circus, and she'd simply left New York to come here.

But Beth knew a thing or two about losing something that really mattered to you. It wasn't always as easy as everyone made it out to be. That much was certain, and Beth would never hold it against them.

Tag: Casper & Jasper Emory

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The brothers were not fully sure how they felt about this Mrs. Young. She was attractive and seemed nice but she was quick to shoot them down when they made a comment about her, a flattering one of course. It just became quickly clear that she had no interest in following around with them in that way, but that did not mean that they had fully given up on it. It was already a new goal of theirs, but who knew how long they would actually try and achieve it.

They had been feeling off since they got back from the camping trip and were just feeling mixed up inside. Still, what a goal. To bed a married woman, and they meant woman because she was not teenager who acted like an adult; she was one. The Emory twins walked in step with one another, staying in front of her before jumping up on the side of the fountain when they saw that she gestured to it. Neither of them wanted to sit down yet, they felt all antsy and wanted to stand a little longer.

Plus the temptation of jumping into the fountain was also there, but they were keeping that impulse under control. "We don't know. It's been up and down more than usual." Jasper spoke up first as he started to walk around the rim of the fountain, practicing his balance. Casper remained where he was, keeping his balance on the side of the fountain where he had first stepped up onto it. "Very different." The brothers said in unison as they kept doing what they were already doing, only Casper looking towards her for a moment.

"Are we in trouble again?" Casper asked. He got why she was here but he didn't fully understand it. She was here to help them...but why? What could she do for them? They both could not help but to be suspicious, because well they were the ones used to control a situation and in this situation she had called upon them.

[Beth Young]

Nodding at their words as she took a seat on the fountain. She crossed her legs before lifting her chin up. She could easily enough understand their feelings. It couldn't be easy at all. That much she understood. After all, the boys had a knack for rubbing off on people the wrong way. Of course, Beth already knew the side-effects of their power. It made them hormonal, which often could make people aggressive, among other things. In a way, it was perfectly understandable, but they still needed to learn how to control it.

Laughing softly at the question, Beth's head shook. "No, not at all," she promised them both. "I'm here to make sure you're alright," she added. She wanted to be upfront and honest and saw very little need in hiding behind some false lie or shield to make the boys think she had other intentions than what she really did.

She did however notice that the boys seemed angsty and restless. It caused a frown to form on her face as she sighed. "How was the camping trip?" She figured that was a simple way to start them off. She didn't think the boys would trust her right off the bat and it would take time. She understood that, and didn't at all mind it. "Did you do anything fun?"

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The brothers were now also tempted to try and break the fountain, to use their power and just cause some destruction. They knew better, but that did not mean the temptation was not here along with the whole jumping into it thing. They also knew that it would be dumb to do that in front of an adult so they were keeping their urges in check and just trying to stay calm by distracting themselves with walking around and balancing on the edge of the fountain.

The Beth woman seemed nice; she even laughed and assured them that they were not in trouble. Hearing that this was not a punishment helped their moods a little bit, not by much but enough that they were feeling a little less destructive and a bit more willing to talk. Getting the brother's to talk was actually pretty easy, you just had to say the right words and make them feel good about themselves. "Why? Like you said why but why, why?" Jasper asked. "Like why do you care if we are alright?" Casper asked, clarifying what his brother was trying to say.

"It was stupid. Waste of time and everyone there was lame." Jasper quickly spoke up when she asked about the camping trip. Both the brothers started to mumble under their breath about a few things about that stupid trip and why they disliked it equally. "I slapped a bitch. That was fun." Jasper pointed out letting out a short laugh. "Excuse his language." Casper added as he started to walk along the side of the fountain as well.

[Beth Young]

The repetition of the word 'why' had Beth chuckling softly. It was cute in a very odd way. "It's my job to," she replied softly, shaking her head. "Well... I suppose it's not quite that technical. I mean, yes, it's my job to care, but I have this job because I care. Does that make any sense to you?" she asked as she looked over to the brother's. It was hard to explain, but essentially what Beth meant was that she wouldn't have taken this job if she hadn't cared. There was little point in having a job where you helped people if you didn't care about them.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Beth replied at one of the twin's first words. It seemed to be a common trait though. Not a whole lot of the students had seemed to enjoy the trip very much. She could essentially see why; being forced to stay in the forest for a week? What had they expected to happen, honestly? That the kids would all get reformed? No, it didn't quite work like that. "Oh no, I don't mind the bad language," she assured them.

"Do you want to talk about why you slapped this person?" she asked then and turned to look at the twin who'd said he'd slapped someone, which she assumed was another student. She sincerely doubted they'd hit a teacher. If they had, they probably wouldn't have been walking around like this at all.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

For once Jasper didn't get upset at someone chuckling at him, he got that what he said was confusing. He himself was not even sure what he was trying to say and was thankful that he had his other half to help him out. Sometimes Casper just knew what to say the right way, he did a lot more listening then talking so that might have been why. Jasper liked to be the one that did the talking and Casper was supposed be the one to do the thinking. He was the older brother after all, that they knew for sure in their foggy memory of their past.

When she said it was her job to, the brother's shared a look. That was the answer they expected to hear so didn't say anything. When she went on to say more about it they were looking at one another, doing that silent communication that they did with their eyes before looking to Beth. "Maybe, but I don't buy that you care about us." Jasper pointed out, just being flat out honest. "No one really cares about us, save our talents." Casper added, just being honest on how they felt other viewed them deep down.

The brothers would have possibly enjoyed the trip if they had not had that encountered with Lucy. They were blaming her for why they did not have fun since that whole event had left them in a sort of bad mood even at the moment. It was good to hear that she didn't care about their language, that meant that they at least didn't worry about having to be careful about what they said. They had expected with how sweet she was she would have said something about them needing to wash their mouth out with soap.

Her next question had them both being silent for a moment, Casper not really planning on saying anything at the moment. "This girl...her name is Lucy James. I slapped her because I'm so sick and tired of how she is. That girl needs some serious help and worse yet I know for a fact that my brother liked her and yet she is all cozy with some other guy and is nice to him but still is a jerk to my brother. Used him for sex that resulted in her stupid brother coming after my brother and almost killing him." Jasper just let it all out, which got him a glare from his brother.

[Beth Young]

It was a little sad, the way the brothers didn't seem to believe her, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. In fact, she couldn't even blame them for thinking the way they did. Beth had done next to nothing in order to earn their trust and if life had taught her anything, it was that trust was one of those things that didn't come easily, and she was okay with that. "I suppose I'll just have to prove myself then," she replied with a warm smile. There was little else she could do. Especially as it seemed her words weren't enough and Beth had no intentions of leaving their sides.

Not unless they specifically asked her to.

Beth, with a thoughtful expression, listened carefully to what the boy had to say. She remained quiet until he'd finished and once he had, she nodded. "Lucy James," she repeated. She'd seen the girl's folder. She was from Beth's memory quite the troublesome kid. "Violence is never the answer, although I doubt I really have to tell you that. I understand getting frustrated and angry with someone." She offered the boy a smile. "But how she acts and who she spends her time with is her decision, and although you might not agree with that, I doubt you would be very glad if someone told you who you can and cannot see." It was a tricky situation for sure, that much Beth gathered. "She doesn't sound like a very nice person, but that's all the more reason for you not to sink down to that level."

"Did her brother mean to hurt your brother, or was it an accident?" Beth wondered. So many of these children lacked proper control over their powers. Emotional conflicts could get so very, very dangerous in the heat of the moment simply because emotions tended to weaken the already little amount of control some people had.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

It was not just her that they did not believe; they would not have believed anyone. Except maybe Franck or Alex, but Alex had also pissed them off. They had found out that she was hanging out with Artemis, so the next time they saw her it was not going to be fun for her. That was if they even bothered to go around her anymore, she had a new friend. That was how they saw it anyways, her picking that stupid boy over them. Especially considering the fact that Artemis had almost killed Casper and yet she was hanging out with him.

They hated that whole James family. "Guess so." Jasper muttered out, not wanting to talk about it. She seemed nice so far so it was likely she would get it, but they had to wait and see. Both the siblings nodded at the mentioning of Lucy's name. They also knew that violence was not the answer; well they knew that was what people would say. They found violence to be the perfect answer, in most of the situations that made them want to be violent. "It's not THAT! WE DON"T GIVE A DAMN WHO SHE HANGS OUT WITH! IT'S JUST...ARGH!" Jasper yelled out.

He then went ahead and jumped into the fountain, jumping up and down several times and causing water to splash everywhere. He just could not hold himself back from doing something to get out his frustration. "There is just something about her...we don't know. Like she can hang with whoever she wants it’s just..." Casper tried to explain, but he could not come up with an answer either. They hated the girl, but yet at the same time they didn't want to. They didn't understand it and it just made them equally frustrated. Thankfully Jasper's splashing had been enough to calm Casper down so he did not retaliate as well.

"No, I don't think he did. That was why I didn't let Jasper go beat him up when he found out about it. But he did steal one of our toys away from us...one of the people that we actually liked and thought liked us back." Casper admitted as he took a deep breath. All of this was stupid, he felt awful, Jasper felt awful, and the world could just burn. They wanted to burn the whole world down and not deal with anyone anymore. "We hate this place." The brothers said in unison as they both sat down on the grass and let out a sort of defeated sigh. Now they were feeling just awful.

[Beth Young]

The sudden outburst had Beth's brows furrowing, but she wasn't offered much of a chance to react before the boy was jumping around in the water. Immediately, the young woman got to her feet an moved away, trying as best as she could not to be hit by the water that splashed around. She didn't get soaked, thankfully, but parts of her clothing got sploshed. Clearly, there was a lot of suppressed frustration and anger hiding behind the pair of identical eyes of the boys. Beth wondered just how she was supposed to help them figure it out.

They clearly needed a way to get rid of their excessive energy - and anger. That would surely help them not act out on it.

The other brother talked then, and Beth turned her attention towards him. There was something about her, but they didn't know why. So, clearly, despite their best efforts, in some way, the boys felt drawn towards the girl in a way they couldn't quite explain, and that was probably one of the sources to their frustration. The simple fact that they couldn't explain nor understand it. Beth nodded sagely.

The conversation moved on to the girl's brother, and as she'd thought, he hadn't attacked the twins on purpose. Good. That was one less thing Beth had to worry about. There was a word that stuck out to her though. "Toys". Clearly, the way these two viewed other people was a little out of the ordinary. Instead of viewing them as subjects and individuals, they viewed them as objects.

She wondered briefly if the boys should have been diagnosed with ASPD. There was a clear and pervasive disregard for and violation of the rights of other people, and callous unconcern for the feelings of others. There was also a clear gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligation, along with impulsive and aggressive behavior. And the tendency to dehumanize via objectification, such as referring to people as "toys". Maybe even a incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having no difficulty in establishing them... Marked readiness to blame others or to offer plausible rationalizations for the behavior that has brought the person into conflict with society.

"Come on," Beth said, offering both the boys a warm smile. "Let's go bake some cookies."

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

Things often did happen suddenly when it came to the brothers, especially with Jasper who had a lower tolerance of keeping himself in check. He didn't see the point in holding back what you felt and let it build. When you let it build, when you exploded you were that much more of a danger to those around you and yourself. He had seen how his brother was when he did reach that point, that was why Jasper didn't hold back. Casper did and so when he exploded, he exploded.

Casper got a little wet, but it was mainly Jasper that took the full blunt of getting wet since he was the one doing the jumping and splashing. "Ugh..." Jasper said, not pleased that his shoes were wet and the same with his pants. He didn't think about that as a result of his little anger outburst but it was a bit too late now. Jasper simply crawled out of the water and went over to his brother for a bit of silent comfort. The two of them sitting down on the grass while Jasper worked on removing his wet shoes and socks. His jeans were wet too, but that was mainly at the bottom so he was fine leaving them on while they dried.

It was important to note that Beth had pretty much hit the nail right on the head with what she was thinking about in terms of ASPD. The brother of course could not read her mind and even if they could they had no clue what that word meant. They would explain to people why they viewed people the way the did, if a person just asked. No one ever did so they didn't bother. It just made sense that people were just toys. Toys in the game of life that one thought they had control over but they didn't until they realized that they were toys and broke away from the way things worked in the world.

That and the boys really didn't know much in the ways of how things worked in the world, but they were learning bit by bit. The siblings looked up at her and blinked several times when she spoke up about baking cookies. They didn't see that as a good way to get them to get over their anger, but it was free food. "We don't know how to bake." Jasper spoke up. Hell, the brothers didn't know how to cook at all unless it was something you could toss in the microwave. "We also don't have cookies to be baked." Casper spoke up, since they only really had snack food in their room and ate what the school made for them. The brothers did stand up however, expecting her to want them to follow her soon and they were interested in finding these baked cookies.

[Beth Young]

"That's fine - I do," she replied softly. After all, one of her best talents was baking and cooking. And it surely sounded like the boys could use some cookies right about now. In Beth's experience, cookies - or food in general often made things a little less gloomy. Nothing was ever quite right on an empty stomach. The best way to keep a man happy was to keep his belly full. Her mother had taught her that.

Tossing a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the twins was following her, Beth started moving towards the main building. The kitchen was usually unattended right about now, so it was unlikely they'd be bothered.

The walk there itself didn't take more than a few minutes, and once they reached the door, Beth pushed it open and held it as such as she waited for the boys to walk through. Once they had, she swiftly closed the door and bounced towards the cabinets as she started pulling out various ingredients. "What kind of cookies do you guys like?" she asked as she opened the fridge to get some milk.

"And do you like warm chocolate?"

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The woman that was supposed to be helping them or something said that she had everything that was needed. The brother's figured as much. That was why they were already following her as soon as she started to move. They did keep their distance however, not fully trusting her. They didn't trust anyone at the moment. Things that were done out of 'kindness' just seemed like a lie to them of late, unless they were in control. They were more so following her around and doing what she said, so they were not in control. Still, she had said cookies, and that was a food so the brothers were pretty much sold for the moment.

Jasper carried his shoes in his hands while his brother worked on wringing out his socks, using his power a little to really squeeze the water out. They didn't say anything, just walked in silence. For one they didn't really have anything to say to her or each other. They just shared glances with one another, some silent communication going on there, but for the most part nothing. Jasper was calming down, but he still felt like breaking something. "Any, so long as it’s not raisin." Casper spoke up when she asked a question. The siblings were quick to scamper into her room once she opened up the door.

They did take their shoes off and leave them off at the entrance before they started to look around and touch a few things. It was basically a habit whenever they were in a new location, especially a location that was someone’s private home of sorts. At the question about warm chocolate the brothers looked at one another and then to her. "Is that like hot chocolate?" The brothers asked, just wanting to be sure. They nodded their head yes all the same, because even if they possibly never had what she was talking about, they were willing to give it a try. "Nice place." Casper said as he and his brother went back to looking around. It looked pretty much like all other dorm rooms, just with that adult feel to it.

[Beth Young]

Turning her head towards the boys, Beth nodded. "Yes, it's the same thing." She offered them an apologetic smile at the miss communication, but it seemed they understood it all the same. She walked over to the sink and reached for a kettle. Pouring water into it, she placed it onto the stove. She tossed them a curious glance before looking around. "This?" she asked, chuckling. "It's one of those teacher kitchen's," she explained. After all, Beth didn't live on campus, and somehow, bringing a student home like that didn't seem all that appropriate.

At least not with the twins' reputation.

"It's not used a whole lot." She reached for a package of chocolate and pulled out a decanter that could withstand the heat of the hot chocolate. She poured the chocolate at the bottom, before pulling out the ingredients they needed to make cookies. Giving one of the twins a bowl, some eggs and sugar, she offered him a smile. "Mix this together." She then turned to the other brother and pointed at the kettle. "Pour that into the decanter and use a wisp to stir it."

She moved over to the fridge to get some milk, cream and butter. "Once you've mixed the eggs and sugar, pour three cups of milk into it and then add three cups of flour." She pointed at the cabinet holding the cups, and then at the one where the boy could find the flour. "And you can mix this cream with some sugar until it becomes a firm like substance."

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The brothers nodded when she said that it was the same thing, so they were pleased that they assumed the right thing. They did like hot chocolate, it was one of those drinks that they felt that you could drink year round but it just tasted the best when you were cold. It was true that this was just one of those teacher kitchens, much like the ones in the dorms, but they had never seen the teachers one and she had brought them in here.

So either she trusted them enough that they would not cause a problem or she brought them here before she didn't trust them. They were assuming that latter but didn't say anything about it. Instead they moved to grab a seat, but then she started to tell them what they needed to do. She was putting them to work? She was not going to bake the cookies for them and instead was making them do it. In hindsight, it was smart on her to have the boys do something other than try and sit still, but the brother's felt like this was some kind of set up.

Casper was the one that ended up with the bowl, looking at it for a moment before setting it down on the table. He knew enough about how to handle eggs and mix things, but it was still weird to actually being doing it in not a class room like Home Economics. Jasper was giving a weird look as well, but he moved over to the kettle to do as she said, staring at the wisp for a moment before holding it up at her. "This thing...right?" Jasper asked and waited for her okay before he would do any stirring. The paid attention to what she was saying as they did their best to do what she had already told them to do.

Casper had managed to handle the sugar bit but was having some difficulty with the eggs, to the point that once squirted a little in his eyes. "Ah! I'm going to go blind!" Casper quickly yelled, but he made sure to still finish cracking the egg into the bowl while keeping his one eye closed and moving around like he had to pee or something. Jasper meanwhile was trying to measure out the flour by now and ended up getting some on his shirt. "Am I going to turn into bread?" Jasper asked concerned as he looked at the flower on him, he heard that it was used to make bread. Right?

[Beth Young]

"Yeah," she said happily and nodded. The boys seemed cautious, but honestly, she couldn't blame them. After all, she sincerely doubted that the boys had been taken out like this before by a teacher or faculty member. She had a feeling the boys got yelled at a lot, as opposed to trying to understand them. Thankfully, Beth wasn't here to judge them based on what had happened in the past. She would judge them on what they did here and now.

Turning her head, she looked at the boy who'd yelled. Stifling a chuckle, she waited until he'd finished the eggs before putting her hand on his shoulder. The boys were much taller than her meek 5'3", but that hardly deterred her. "Let's get that washed out of your eye, hm?" Before she could do anything, she turned her head to look at the other boy and chuckled. "No, don't worry," she promised, as she gestured for the boy that had gotten eggs in his eye to follow her to the sink.

"You haven't done this a lot, have you?" she asked, smiling. It was amusing, but at least they seemed willing enough to learn, which was always a good sign. She was always happy to teach people how to cook, even those who seemed rather cautious and suspicious. All in all, the boys weren't doing too badly. She had seen much, much worse.