in the right light

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

In the right light, pretty well anything could be beautiful. In Zoe's opinion though, certain things, certain people, just had a natural beauty and grace about them. These people were often dancers or musicians or artists of some kind, though even in her limited time here, Zoe had begun to recognize that several of her fellow mutants had a beauty all of their own. The powers often were cruel, as was the case for Zoe, but sometimes they were beautiful. Zoe was almost ashamed that some of her photographs wouldn't ever be viewable to the greater public.

Like the ones she was capturing now.

Zoe wasn't sure how long the redhead had been there, though she was fairly certain that the other girl hadn't noticed her presence yet. But the redhead had come to the lake shortly after Zoe had arrived. The photographer had been wanting to catch various shots of the lake at different times, practicing her ability to capture natural beauty and essence before darkness could overwhelm it. She'd been surprised to see someone else coming, but that surprise had faded soon enough.

Especially as the redhead had begun moving the water. Zoe's first thought was actually that it was ironic that a redhead would be granted the ability to move water, which she immediately dismissed as silly. what had she been expecting, someone with brilliant blue hair? Mutant abilities didn't follow looks anyway; they followed some hidden genetic code that nobody really understood. Mores the pity.

But this girl had that beauty, especially with the light hitting her just so. Zoe's heart skipped for a moment, but she convinced herself that it was just the light and aesthetics. Zoe was a sucker for a beautiful scene, after all, and this was just another. So she began raising her camera, taking careful pictures. After a few though, she thought it best to try and move and get other angles, and she carefully shifted her stance. Which was when she stepped on a twig.

Which made Zoe jump.
Which made her lose her balance.
Which made her land on her butt, her pageboy cap slipping down to cover most of her face.
At least she wasn't crying this time; that was something.

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora had headed down to the water every chance she had since arriving here, and this afternoon was no different she had headed down straight after classes she had mostly just played around sitting on the grass twirling it lightly most days. However today she had come here for some more in depth training. Her hair was still pulled back into a pony tail, her legs encased in jeans, she had a jacket on walking down to the lake but knew once she got started that would be too hot. Therefore despite the cold she pulled down the zip and slipped it off placing it on the ground with her bag.

A few light stretches and she turned to the water focusing, she pulled the water from the lake, drawing up a larger amount then she had since transferring to this school earlier that week. She knew she could handle it but she also knew it would take more concentration as well as focused purposeful body movements to control it she couldn’t move this much water from a stationary position.

She began by lifting an orb of water above her head, her hands held up as if she were a weight lifter holding up weights, with a determined smile she began to spin, the water cascading around her encasing her in a swirling whirlpool. As the water moved around her splitting itself into smaller strands, it became both harder and easier to control. Easier because the weight seemed less, but harder as there was more individual water streams to control.

She did this on purpose as it tested her concentration, having to focus on more than one stream of water causing her to split her concentration as well, this however effective in creating a more spectacular show also meant it was easier for it all to fall apart. This is why she had waiting for a quiet day at the lake where there was no one else in sight to practice.

Nora’s body was twirling with the water in a sort of ballet style dance her arms and legs emphasizing where the water flowed. Though the snap of a twig nearby followed by a falling sound broke her concentration causing her movement to stop and the water to fall down soaking her in seconds she turned to see a girl sitting near the bushes not so delicately indicating that she had been the cause of the falling sound her page boy cap covering most of her face. With the short cut hair she might have been mistake for a guy if not for the obvious female figure.

Nora stepped over to the girl still dripping with water, “You okay?” she asked with concern in her voice as she drew closer she ran her hands threw her hair and down her body her power pushing the water from her and onto the ground more than the actual movement. By the time she reached the girl she was totally dry again. Holding out her hand to help the girl up as she got to her she waited for an answer and for the girl to take her hand and pull herself up.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Well, the pretty redhead water nymph was now speaking to Zoe, which at least meant that she wasn't hallucinating. Not that Zoe had actually expected that to be a possibility, since she'd had enough experience at this school to simply believe that there were several attractive people who just enjoyed utilizing their powers and unconsciously looking quite striking while doing so. Still, Zoe had to reassure herself of something, in order to not focus on the fact that the bottom of her black jeans felt a little wet and her cap had sort of fallen into her eyes. The girl wasn't quite sure which to fix first, and ended up sort of struggling to sit up while still fumbling to get her cap back into proper position.

"I'm alright," she managed, though the words came out in a barely audible voice. She attempted to right herself and had to fight the urge to reach out to the other girl for balance. True, they both had quite a bit of clothing to protect themselves from Zoe's touch, but that didn't mean she wanted to take any unnecessary chances. Once she got her cap resettled, she looked up at the other girl.

And realized that she didn't quite know what to say. "I took your pictures," felt a little like something a stalker would say, though given the camera it should be almost obvious. "I'm Zoe," took more courage than Zoe could really muster. "You're really pretty," sounded a little gayer than Zoe was wholly comfortable with (despite how true it rang in her head).

So of course Zoe had to take the worst possible option: "Sorry to bother you," she mumbled, head hanging down, looking like she was ready to dive back into the bushes at the sound of a loud noise.

[Eleanor Brennan]

With a knowing smiled and slight nod Nora withdrew her hand; she saw the internal struggle from the girl as she fought to right herself without taking the offer of the hand she had extended. Nora knew that look and that struggle, not personally but she had been around this mutant power stuff long enough to see the signs. “Your power that bad eh? I’m guessing triggered by touch too” she spoke easily, Nora wasn’t one to beat around the bush she was pretty open and blunt which in all honesty could get her into trouble on more than one occasion. However she did stand at a distance that gave the girl space enough to feel comfortable they wouldn’t accidentally touch while remaining close enough to imply that she wasn’t offended in any way by the girls refusal to make physical contact and accept the hand up

The girl reminded her of some of her old friends back home, yes she had mostly hung out with other water benders for lack of a better name. However she also had a soft spot for the socially awkward, especially ones with powers they didn’t know how to control making them even more socially awkward then they might have been otherwise. It wasn’t that she felt sorry for them she just liked to think everyone deserved a chance to make a friend and just because they weren’t necessarily great with getting their words out didn’t seem a good enough reason to write them off to Nora.

Nora’s eyes lit up as the girl blurted out she had taken her picture, Nora assumed as she was water twirling and a grin lit her face as the girl introduced herself awkwardly and then blurted out that she was really pretty. “I’m Nora! You took my photo? Why didn’t I think of that! Sure I’ve seen other water benders and what they look like but its hard to stand in front of a mirror and focus on the water as well as what you look like doing it you know? Do you think I could have a look?” All those words blurted out in an excited rush Nora had always been curious at how she looked while water bending and couldn’t believe she had never thought to have someone photograph or record her doing it.

She looked down at her heavily tattooed arms showing through the tank top she wore and her jeans hugging her legs, down to her slightly heeled boots. Nora was pretty confident about her looks she knew she was lucky enough to have natural beauty, she chose to enhance it with tattoos but that was the way she liked it. Her eyes traveled to Zoe, who’s hat was no longer covering her face and smiled in approval “Thanks, your quite pretty yourself you know” she said with a warm smile, her eyes traveled down noticing the bottom of the girls jeans. “Oh your wet sorry about that” She said and with a moments concentration and a very slight hand motion she pulled the moisture from the materiel it collected in front of them for a moment before she flicked her hand and sent it back toward the lake. “Never be sorry for being somewhere you have every right to be, it’s not like the lake is my own private property love” Nora spoke easily waving off Zoe’s apology.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe was tempted to give a little shy nod as Nora pretty much nailed her power in one go. most people figured out that something was up there, especially when they figured out that she was a mutant too. It wasn't as though she were really hiding the fact, just making sure that no one got accidentally hurt. For a moment, Zoe thought she was just going to get another of those little pity parties about how awful her power was. Not that she really minded those overmuch: she had one herself every other day or so.

Instead, Nora got excited, mostly about the photographs and her own abilities. Then again, if Zoe could bend water at her will, she'd probably be excited about it too. The thought did cause another little pang in Zoe, that same jealousy she so often got when she met someone with another, nicer power. They got to do something amazing like bend water or transform into other creatures, and here Zoe was, stuck with a touch that could literally kill someone if she lingered too long. Fate clearly played favorites.

Before Zoe could say anything about her camera, however, Nora was heading toward her, complimenting her. Zoe blushed a little at it, but at least she was used to being called pretty. Zoe wasn't really vain, but she knew that she looked cute, if nothing else, and pretty by most. She was ready to mumbling a thanks when Nora again shifted the subject, then pulled the water from Zoe's pants. She yelped at that, eventually reaching down to feel the dry. Yes, definitely more useful than her ability.

So unfair.

"I can't show you the pictures," Zoe finally managed. She bit her lip, fidgeting and releasing her leg, realizing that she'd just sort of blurted that. "I-I-I mean, not that I don't want to show you the pictures or anything. This is a film camera," she held up the device, "so the pictures don't show until I develop them. I can, um, show you them then," argh, she was blushing again, and fidgeting, and seriously considering taking off. This was a lot easier when she'd just been taking pictures of the pretty water bender by the lake. "Uh, I'm Zoe," she figured she might as well introduce herself now, especially since Nora had already figured out the whole picture taking thing and all. Zoe fidgeted, trying to think of more to say and mostly failing, which, sadly, was normal for her.

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora wasn’t completely oblivious she noticed a small flicker of jealousy from the girl in front of her; it made her wonder just how bad the girl’s power really was. Surely every power no matter how awful had to have some form of an upside and she decided she would help the girl find the upside to her whatever power she had, though she wasn’t going to tell her that she was stuck with Nora as a friend just yet she would let her figure that out for herself.

Nora’s expression dropped slightly when Zoe said she couldn’t see the pictures but she shrugged it was understandable not everyone liked to show their craft to people for some it was quite a personal thing which Nora could totally appreciate. When she held up the camera explaining that she had to develop the photos first Nora’s grin sprung back into place. “Wow that is totally awesome not enough people stick to the traditional ways anymore, so do you develop them yourself? Because if you do that is even more awesome, it must be amazing being their seeing a blank sheet of photo paper turn into a beautiful image right before your eyes.”

Nora was going off on a tangent again she could be a little hyperactive at times and could be quite a full on person, usually she used all her concentration and focus to water bend which required her to focus her calm which kind of resulted in all of her bubbly energy exploding after a session into a hyperactive explosion of random.

She decided not to point out the fact that Zoe had introduced herself twice the girl seemed nervous enough with just conversing and didn’t want to make it any worse, “It is lovely too meet you Zoe” Nora said with complete sincerity she loved meeting new people and Zoe was adorable she just needed to have a little more faith in herself, maybe Nora could help her come out of her shell a little bit. “So how do you like this place Zoe? Have you been here long?” she asked curious to know a little more about the girl but not wanting to bombard her with awkward questions they could come later once she realized they were friends.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe kept her attention on the girl, but she kept finding her gaze drifting toward the lake or to her feet. She knew she should be trying a little harder to keep eye contact, but she couldn't help but feel guilty about being caught like this. It was one thing to take pictures of someone you thought was either beautiful or doing something beautiful, it was quite enough to have that person fully aware of things. It had been easier with Shiloh, since he'd seemed a little more withdrawn about it. With Nora, Zoe had to keep fighting her urge to make a break for it.

"I..." she began, pausing and shifting, "I always---there's just something about the traditional manner, and the photographs just... look better," it sounded lame, not to mention difficult to explain without having an actual physical photograph in hand to show. "I do like seeing the beauty coming out of the blank page though. It works as a metaphor for the whole thing, really, capturing beauty on film and bringing it up to the surface."

That was what Zoe kept telling herself, anyway. She seemed to get enough people to agree with her though. The photographer took another deep breath, letting the intake of air help steel her nerves. Then she felt she could actually turn and face the redhead, ready to go further into the whole conversation thing. Lovely to meet, which just made Zoe flush a little more, though thankfully just a little. At least she had questions that she could answer easily enough: "It's quite pleasant here, very scenic," she flicked her eyes toward the lake again, as if wanting to suggest that the scenery was more to do with the place than the people. "I haven't been here very long though. They, uh, found me a few weeks ago and brought me here," she fidgeted again, letting her eyes slide downward. At least she didn't put her hands up to protect herself; she considered that progress. "Have you been here a long time? You certainly seem to have quite excellent control over your ability." which made Zoe think that Nora must have spent some time in honing it. Unless water bending was just something that came naturally; it wasn't as though Zoe had a lot of experience with these things.

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora wasn’t an idiot she could see the girl before her was nervous and she wished she could help her feel more at ease but she had never been very good at diplomacy she wasn’t totally insensitive. Heck she tried not to be insensitive at all but she was a forward upfront sort of person and there weren’t very many situations in which she felt ashamed or embarrassed by her actions or those of others, she simply chose to hold her head up high and roll with the punches.

“I think that is awesome, more photographers should be like that, anyone can point a camera and then make the picture look good on the computer it takes a true artist to make the shots work first go” Nora spoke almost going off on a kind or rant with it but pulling herself back. She had known many photographers back home in Australia who thought they were all that because they could make their crappy photo’s look alright once putting them through hundreds of filters on a computer.

The one who had impressed her the most however was a quiet boy who had been out there silently taking photos as Zoe did with an proper camera not some digital cheat. She had loved spending hours with him in his black room or whatever it was called watching him bring those pictures to life the developing process was as much an art form as being able to take that perfect shot and not knowing if it will turn out until that development moment.

“I am new to this school, but I have been studying my water bending at a school in Australia for the last 7 years, I have been working hard to be able to do what I now can, and I know whatever your power is you will find a way to control it too. It never seems like it in the beginning but trust me as long as you’re willing to work hard you will get there.” She laughed at herself at the end of her speech a bit and covered her mouth. “Listen to me I sound like a preacher or something preaching the way of my people” she said with a slight giggle. “Sorry honestly didn’t mean to come off all preachy or all knowing or anything” The last thing Nora wanted was for this girl to think she felt herself to be all high and mighty or some such. Nora had simply been in her shoes before with being new to the power and all and had witnessed many new starters since arriving.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe flushed at the praise that Nora piled upon her. She certainly knew that she was good at what she did; she'd been working at it for at least as long as Nora had been studying and honing her waterbending, but she still couldn't help but get a little embarrassed whenever someone outright praised her for it. That became even truer when someone took notice of the time and effort that had to go into what she did, the lack of digital art to fix it (Zoe had never really liked the way digital photos looked, let alone having that much understanding of how computers worked).

more interesting, however, was Nora's explanation of her position at the school and how she trained. Zoe forced herself to look up at this, focusing her attention upon the other girl. Seven years; and Nora didn't look that much older than Zoe. The photographer had always known that she was a late bloomer, but hearing that made her feel like everyone else had a lifetime of experience ahead of her. It was as if they were all training for an event and everyone had been training for years, whereas someone had just seen Zoe doing whatever was done in the event and thrown her into the mix.

"No, it didn't sound like that at all!" Zoe blurted. She immediately flushed and lowered her eyes to her feet, shuffling. "I--um, that sounds, impressive, the seven years thing, and it's nice to know I might be able to control this someday," though somehow, Zoe wasn't so certain of that. She couldn't suppress this niggling feeling that Fate had trapped her into this situation, that her power would always be "on" to some degree and that she just needed to learn to accept that. It was less a matter of learning to control and more a matter of learning to live this new life that had been handed to her.

At least Zoe still had her camera. She placed her gloved hands on it now, nearly cuddling it like it was some kind of security blanket. Nice to have something that had come from her old life, at the very least.

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora was feeling fidgety she wasn’t very good at standing still talking she liked to be moving or at least be messing around with water if she had to be ‘still’ she could see that Zoe was still uncomfortable though and clearly not used to taking a compliment she smiled slightly as the girl flushed when Nora praised her on her work. She liked people who weren’t outwardly cocky about their talents, it was a true talent to be talented and still be modest about it. Some days Nora herself even managed to pull off some modesty but mostly she enjoyed the show and the awe of people who could only dream of doing it. Though she also liked to praise and encourage them in whatever their talent or power was as well so she wasn’t totally up herself or anything.

"No, it didn't sound like that at all! I--um, that sounds, impressive, the seven years thing, and it's nice to know I might be able to control this someday," Nora wasn’t a fool she could hear the doubt in the girls voice and again wondered what her power could be that made her so afraid of everyone. “The 7 years got me to be able to do tricks and not concentrate as severely but within a year most people gain basic control you just have to want it and work for it, the only people I have seen who fail are the ones who don’t try, and looking at you love if you have the patience to master that” she spoke pointing at the camera clutched protectively in the girls hand. “then you can learn to control anything you have been handed” she finished with full belief in her words.

“Now I feel like walking, would you like to walk and talk or do you have other things to do? Sorry I find standing still awkward I like to be moving I don’t know about you” her voice flowed easily as she gestured to the path near the lake, she figured with the girls reservations it was best to offer her an out if she wanted it after all Nora wanted to make a friend of her not scare her.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Most people got control that quickly? That sounded amazing to Zoe, and she found herself fervently hoping that it might be true. To think of being able to touch people again in just under a year. She didn't particularly think she'd manage to do any tricks, not that she particularly wanted to. Just the thought of being able to be somewhat normal was something worth aiming for. Just try, not to mention the added vote of confidence that made Zoe nod. She certainly felt a little inspired, and definitely eager to agree when Eleanor made her offer.

"Oh, that would be nice," she said, nodding. "I, um, I don't mind walking and talking. Or standing still or whatever," she shrugged, again looking down at the camera, her gloved fingers moving nervously across the device. She fidgeted for a few moments before at least taking a few steps closer to Eleanor. if nothing else, that should show that Zoe was willing to follow, right?

"Um," she managed after a bit, "is there something you wanted to talk about?" she wasn't sure how great of a conversation partner she'd actually be. She supposed she knew enough about quite a few things, enough to at least respond and the like. She could certainly talk about poetry or photography for quite a while. Or death. Or, well, herself, but who would want to talk about that?