Bask in the Moonlight

[Fiona Thorne]

In these moments, gazing up at the Moon as it shined down, Fiona really didn't mind having to spend her life in the dark. Others might see it as scary, but really....it didn't bother her all that much. Although maybe that was because she could feel everything in the dark. That and the fact that she'd had to live in it for years now, and even more to come. It wasn't so bad, but she missed the outdoors. Even if they were particularly cold. Speaking of which, Fiona hugged her arms around herself more tightly, keeping the coat tight to her body to keep her warm. She was a bit used to the cold, since there was no sun to warm her. Still, this was winter. It was far, far colder than the dark basement of a heated building.

Still, Fiona was happy, sitting on the fountain and staring up at the stars even as little clouds of her breath wafted up and disappeared. Smiling a little, she exhaled deeply to make an even bigger one, but she wasn't paying far too much attention to that. She was far more fascinated by the stars, gazing up at them with awe. They were one of the few lights Fiona could look at that didn't kill her eyes now. The stars and the moon. The only light she could stand. Ironic how it was just reflecting light from the sun, which could very easily kill her. Thinking about that made her sigh and rub her arms. 

She really should get inside. It was cold, even for all the layers she wore.

[Seiji Lockard]

"You can't hibernate out here Sapphire, come on." Seiji said to his snake who had decided she had enough of dealing with the rest of the snakes and slithered off. Of course she told her master because he was the only person she liked, but she still had slithered her way on out of the dorms and outside. It was a good thing that it was dark so most people were sleep so Seiji didn't have to worry about people freaking out at seeing a poisonous snake just slithering down the halls and then outside. Seiji followed her the whole time, rubbing his eyes and trying to convince her to go back without having to give her an order.

He didn't really like to make his snakes do too many things, especially if they were not happy about something. Clearly Sapphire was unhappy about something else that she was not thinking about and so Seiji could not figure it out. As soon as the reptile hit the outside, she was quick to go back to her master but she still voiced that she wanted him to carry her to the woods, dig her hole, and allow her to hibernate. Seiji complied as far as deciding to head towards the woods to allow her to see what it really was like, but he was still trying to verbally convince her it was a bad idea.

That was when he spotted the young women outside, by the fountain no less. Was she not cold? It was pretty cold outside and Seiji was pretty bundled up himself, and thankfully was natural pretty warm. "Excuse me, miss. Are you alright?" Seiji could not help but to ask as he carefully approached her. Of course he was going to ask to make sure that everything was okay and that she was not out here in the cold for some sad reason.

[Fiona Thorne]

Fiona really wasn't expecting anyone else to be up this late, or to be outside at this hour when it was this cold. She really thought she was alone. So when she suddenly heard a voice, she literally jolted off the fountain and stumbled back, her heart pounding. "Oh! Oh..." She said, holding a hand to her heart as she tried to calm down. He didn't seem to wish her harm, from the question he asked. He also looked vaguely familiar, but Fiona wasn't sure. He was probably a school official of some sort, but Fiona couldn't remember all of them.

"Oh, yes! I'm um... alright. Sorry." She replied sheepishly. "I was just stargazing at...." She rolled up her sleeve to look at her watch. "Um....midnight. In the cold...." She trailed off, feeling a blush rising in her cheeks. It always did sound a little ridiculous whenever she tried to explain herself. She didn't exactly enjoy mentioning how she had to live in the basement since light could essentially burn her to a crisp! Still, she didn't want this man worrying about her. "I'm fine. I promise. I'm actually the new maintenance person. Night shift though. Fiona Thorne." She said, giving him a small shy smile.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji immediately felt bad when he scared the women when he spoke up to get her attention. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Seiji quickly apologized. It was already clear on his face that he felt really bad for doing such a thing, even if it was on accident. He would have felt even worse if she had fallen into the fountain because of him. He also would have likely quickly helped her out, covered her in his jacket, and carried her back to his room to get her out of her wet clothing, and warmed up. All completely with innocent and true intention because this was Seiji Lockard she was dealing with.

He did relax only a little bit when she assured him that she was alright. At least he didn't have to worry about her being out here all alone because she was fed up with life or really under the weather in terms of depression. If it was in terms of her being already sick, then he would have had to scold her, but that didn't seem to be the case. At least not yet, but he had a feeling if she did stay out here to long she could run the risk of catching something. "Oh, you have nothing to be sorry about. Nothing wrong with stargazing at this time of night. I was just worried because you were all alone and it is very cold at this time of night." Seiji assured her.

Yes, she was clearly a grown woman but that didn't mean that Seiji could just ignore her and leave her to herself out here. If she made it clear that she wanted to be alone then he would leave he be but now he didn't plan on going anywhere until he was one hundred percent certain that she was going to be okay. Sapphire had a few choice words to say about that within his pocket but Seiji told her to settle down with his thoughts and focused on the women before him. "Oh, I see. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Thorne...or Fione if you would prefer. I'm Seiji Lockard, the...well you can call me the Mutant Specialist since that is easier then saying both the jobs I have." Seiji admitted with a slight chuckle as he extended his hand out.

He was a polite gentlemen after all but if she didn’t want to shake hands he was not going to lose sleep over it. "Are you not cold?" Seiji quickly then asked, since that was his biggest concern at the moment.

[Fiona Thorne]

"Oh it's quite alright! I mean, you couldn't have expected someone up at this hour....especially outside in the cold..." Fiona said, trailing off a little at the end. Yes it was a little ridiculous that she was up and outside in the cold at this hour. A blush suffused her cheeks and she stared at the ground for a bit. Although she did assure him she was alright. A bit cold perhaps, but fine enough. It seemed to reassure him, and he said it was fine for her to be stargazing. Thankfully that made it seem like less of a bad idea to herself. He was mostly concerned at her being alone and freezing.

"I'm alright, really." She assured him again before introducing herself. He introduced himself as well, even extending his hand too. Fiona took it while flashing Seiji a tiny shy smile. "It's nice to meet you, Seiji. Um, if I can call you that? Fiona is fine for me." She offered before dropping his hand. A mutant specialist? He must've had his work cut out for him after that SPRITE problem. That must've been very scary, or at least hard for him. He seemed very kind though.

Which was why his next question wasn't as much of a surprise. "Oh no! Erm, I mean not as terribly as you would think. It is indeed.....well cold, but not freezing." She explained. "Although maybe we should head back in at this point. I think I've stargazed enough for one night."

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji smiled slightly as she assured him that it was alright, which did help him feel a little bit better. However, it also pointed out his point for being concerned with her due to the hour and the fact that she was all by herself. Her job cleared the one aspect up on why she was out here but it still was pretty cold out and he didn’t like that she was all by herself out here. He spotted the blush and was quickly working on removing his jacket, assuming the blush was because she was actually pretty cold.

She still assured him that she was okay, but he still could not help but to worry a little bit. At the very least he already had his jacket off and kind of held it there in a half awkward sate of wanting to give it to her so she was warm or leaving her be since he didn’t want to bother her if she in fact wanted to be alone right now. Sapphire was currently not pleased because she was in that very jacket, but he master likely forgot about that aspect since he tended to have a one tract mind when he was worried about someone.

“Yes, you can call me that. Call me whatever you like.” Seiji assured her with a friendly smile as he moved his coat around a little, to draw attention to it and his way of asking her if she wanted it on or not. She assured him that it was cold but that it was not freezing, so that helped ease his worry a little bit. “It would be best for you to head back in but if you wish to stargaze I would not mind keeping you company and at the very least you should have at least one more layer on so you are warm.” Seiji pointed out, because it was important that she didn’t get sick or too cold for that matter

[Fiona Thorne]

Fiona didn't even notice Seiji was taking off his jacket for her, so caught up in how strange this all seemed. Should she go inside then? He really appeared concerned with her sitting outside alone. Enough that when he said she could call him Seiji, he was holding out his coat towards her. It took Fiona a few seconds before she realized he was offering it to her. "Oh! Um I'm-" She started before he went on, offering to stay outside with her if she really wanted.

Fiona was so surprised. So many of the people here were so kind to her. She truthfully had not expected so much kindness from the place, but slowly Fiona was starting to realize how sweet everyone was. Granted, there were a few nastier people about the academy (she had met one after a chocolate run). Still, most of them seemed very sweet. This man was no different, and a blush bloomed in her cheeks- although she did smile.

"Thank you. But you should keep it for yourself. Really, I'm not too cold. Besides, I think I'll head in soon." She answered. Which did bring a question to the forefront of her mind. "May I ask what brings you out here? Are you stargazing as well?" She couldn't think of any other reason.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji really didn't mean to bother or get in the way of Fiona's alone time or enjoyment of the stars. He had just been worried since she was all alone, in the dark of night, and in the cold. He had automatically assumed the worst case, which was wrong of him but he had a habit of jumping right into being worried about someone. At least he did ask before he just started to cover her up with a jacket and carry her inside. He would never do such a thing. Well he would if she was being stubborn and he actually knew her.

However, he didn't know her so he was all about asking, checking, and making sure that he was not being too forceful. She was hesitant about taking his jacket, which made him feel a little bad because he wondered if it smelled bad or looked dirty. He was certain that the scent would be pleasant and it should not have been dirty at all, but he might have been missing something that she noticed. She was assuring him that she didn't need it and that he should keep it, which made him feel a little better. Except the fact that could have been her just being nice to avoid touching his things or something.

"I'm pretty warm. The only thing reverse about me between me and my reptiles." Seiji said with a slight chuckle as he still held out his jacket a little while longer, just in case she changed her mind. He was sure he saw a blush, but it was cold outside so he didn't think too much of it. She was going to head in soon, which was good but he didn't want her to go in if she didn't want to. He was about to say as much but then she asked her question, which then reminded him that Sapphire was still in the jacket he was holding or on the women and was now letting out a loud hiss.

"Oh, I forgot. I was out her fetching one of my snakes by the name of Sapphire. She was sort of running away...or slithering in this case." Seiji responded, chuckling a little since the whole slithering snake thing, but he quickly blushed and covered up the rest of his chuckle with a cough.

((Tag: Fiona Thorne))