Closed eyes (tagged) - [IOM]

[Timothy Carter]

O.O.C. : I suck at titles for threads, in case it wasn't obvious. Poppy Lockwood

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The forest was quiet. The birds chirped in the trees, singing whatever songs they knew. There wasn't a human soul around for a good few miles, at least from Timothy's point of view. In practice, he wasn't all that far away from the school. In fact, he could still see it if he turned around to look over his shoulder as he jogged up the hill. The teen travelled at a good pace, the sort he had been used to when he'd taken part in football training sessions. Those days were long gone for him now but his need and indeed enthusiasm for exercice hadn't left him.  

He knew this little path rather well, it ran up a steep hill near to the academy and from the top, it offered a beautiful view. The difficult and challenging part was getting there. It was little more than dirt and rocks, causing him to wonder if it even was a trail in the first place and in order to climb it, you would inevitably have to clamber over the odd tree trunk or jump a ditch. Coming this far had earned him a few scratches and scrapes and a tear in his trouser leg but it was worth it. Now, as he reached the top, he could feel it: the silence.

He came to a stop as the ground levelled out somewhat. It had taken him a while to find this place, hours of wondering the forest with no real destination in mind other than 'away from it all'. The ground here was dry and there was a slight clearing which offered some light without having it completely blocked by the trees which also offered a heaven for potentially biting insects. The only sounds were those belonging to the untamed nature and a small stream nearby, the air was crisp and clear... Perfect.

Dumping his rucksack, Timothy sat down at the base of a single pine tree. He took his water bottle out of his bag and took a couple of swigs to soothe his thirsty throat. It was quite the hike to get up here but boy was it worth it for the piece and quiet. With no class today, he'd jumped at the chance to get away from it all. Leaving in the relatively early hours in the morning, as soon as he was allowed to do so. Maybe the teachers would care, maybe they wouldn't. Frankly, even if they did he wouldn't stop trying to get away. He needed his space.

Placing his headphones in, the teen lay back and closed his eyes. It was nice to be able to relax without the thoughts of everyone within a fifteen foot radius being broadcast through your skull. It allowed him to enter an almost dozing state and to truly chill out as he lay stretched under the tree, practically asleep.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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| OOC Note: haha the title is alright! ^-^ |

The fun part about graduating high school and entering the college life was that one did not have to wake up in the early hours of the morning to attend school. Poppy Lockwood chose her classes carefully and she was damn glad she could get some extra sleep time before having to go to classes. However, those times were over when she decided to prank a certain teacher and failed at it. This resulted in her having to wake up everyday before five am for her punishment run with the teacher, Richard Buckles. It was totally a buzz kill -- even after two months since they had been at it, she still longed for her bed at times.

On that particular morning, she had just finished the torturous run. With the recent news of the cancellation of the yearly spring break trip, the prankster was well aware of the high number of pranks that were pulled at the academy. Even during the run, she thought of pulling one on Richard, but then decided against it since she already had two miles to run, there was no need for another and make it a four. No, that just would not do.

So Poppy was delighted when she spotted a boy jogging into the forest, not far from where she had came from. Not particularly concerned if he was a high school or college student or not, she sneakily followed behind him. Hey, a target was a target. Though when she saw the route he went through, she started to have second thoughts. Eh, did she really want to do this? But she was already there, might as well follow through. Using her powers to achieve 'wingless flight', she passed the obstacles easily.

Finally, the boy came to a stop. Oh thank god. She hovered behind as she watched the boy settled himself against a tree trunk. Now, she had the time to think her next move. Which was nothing at the moment. When she followed, it was all in a spur of the moment. With no specific trick to pull in mind, her gaze wondered around the forest.

Her eyes then settled on the small stream nearby. Smirking at the plan, she knew what she wanted to do and set in motion. Easily turning off the gravity around the stream, the water floated and she maneuvered it over to the boy so it was above him. By manipulating the gravity, she let the water drip onto him little by little before more poured down so it felt like it was raining.

[Timothy Carter]

It was nice not to have to worry about others for a change. Timothy was more than aware of the current 'prank war' which seemed to be raging across the campus for no real reason apparently. He couldn't care less about the cancelled trip, such outings weren't really for him, especially as far as school buses were concerned. Far too many people in too much confined space, headaches were inevitable. Frankly, he'd rather stay on the familiar campus where he knew where everything was and how to escape the crowds should he have to than go travelling with his classmates. A lot of them however seemed to have a rather different opinion to him.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, the teen considered actually dozing off. It would be nice to have a little sleep here without picking up his roommates thoughts as they dreamt. It was just then, that he felt a drip of water hit his face. Strange, the skies had been clear when he'd left... He didn't think much of it, for a moment thinking that he had imagined it but when it became obvious that it was actually raining, he let out a disgruntled groan and opened his eye a crack. What in the name of-?!

The sky above was clear blue with only a few wispy white clouds occupying it, a pleasant late winter's day by any standards. Yet here it was raining. This rain however had the peculiarity of being present in the form of a large body of water floating right above him. It was possible that he was dreaming of course but water in his experience didn't feel this real in the world of dreams. The teen paused, wondering what to do. He had a sneaky feeling that one of the other local mutants might be responsible for this. Perhaps he should call out to them?

"Listen! I know you're there! You better stop this now! Or I swear, I'll-" He'd what? Timothy found himself unable to finish the sentence. He'd never use his powers like this that was for sure. Somewhere deep inside of him, anger began to grow as he lay there looking up at the body of water wondering if he was about to get drenched. How was it possible to be so irresponsible?! He hoped for whoever the prankster was' sake that they didn't decide to dump their load, he might just lose his temper if they did.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She let the water drip one droplet at a time, gradually increasing the speed. From where she stood, she watched the boy, waiting to see his reaction. It was one of the things she loved about pulling pranks. The victim could be shrieking in surprise, or groaning in annoyance or whatever it was, most of the times it put a huge smile on Poppy Lockwood's face. Of course, pranks were solely just for her benefit. Never one to consider other people's thoughts, she went along and did what she liked. It provided her with entertainment and even though it would only last for so long, she was quite alright with that really.

When the boy finally acknowledged her presence, the nineteen year old girl tried to contain her snickers. He was still just sitting there and staring up at the blob of water directly above him! She placed her hand over her mouth when laughter escaped her lips. It was funny how he was still in the same position even when he knew someone was purposefully pranking him. She supposed if the boy did move, it would not have made much difference since she would just direct the body of water to follow his every move.

But this was not enough for Poppy and she most definitely was not going to stop just because he said to. So she let more water droplets fall. The thought to dump everything onto the boy did cross her mind, but she decided against it. Not just yet. For now, it would just be a downpour.

[Timothy Carter]

Timothy waited patiently. All the while he was becoming increasingly damp. This water was threatening to wash away the gel in his hair and he didn't particularly like having his fringe and longer hair hanging down, it made him look a little too... square for his liking. His irritation was gradually building however, he had come out here to escape the world's troubles not to be pranked and considering that the extremely isolated meteorological phenomena seemed to be persisting, he was becoming increasingly convinced that this was something to do with the chaos going on around campus.

Apparently diplomacy wasn't going to work. He was fairly certain that whoever was responsible for this was nearby. This volume of water had to come from somewhere, the stream perhaps? In any case, if their powers were anything like his, then distance would be a factor. Besides, they would probably want to watch him suffer under this downpour and to do that they would have to be close enough to be able to see.

There was only so long that Timothy was prepared to play the victim for and his patience was fast running out with this prankster. He knew the dangers of getting angry, especially when you had powers. All it took was once, one time for you to lash out having lost control and you could ruin a life. Steadily and carefully he got up slowly, still weary about the prospect of all that water still being dumped on his head, intent on finding the culprit. His eyes scanned the forest, considering the clearing, it was unlikely that they'd somehow gotten behind him which meant they were likely somewhere in the direction of the academy.

Hm... He was no tracker and unlike some he didn't possess super-senses. What he did have however was his own personal form of 'sonar'. It didn't rely on sound but if he wondered nearer to the forest's edge, he should theoretically be able to pick up their thoughts and thus locate them. Hopefully, he could do so before his good humour wore completely thin.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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What was up with this boy? He was not showing much of a reaction, at least none that she had wanted to see. It was not fun to pull a prank if she could not get a laugh out of it. So again she increased the speed of the water droplets falling. What was wrong with him? He was not yelling pointlessly for her to come out, or run away and try to outrun the body of water, or do whatever it was in order for him to not get drenched, or something. Anything. Poppy got a few laughs earlier but she wanted more.

The fact that the boy got up, she considered it as small progress. Then she realized he was searching for her. Oh! The girl giggled as she now hid behind a tree, but still had a good view of the boy. Now we're talking. The stream was her source of water, she added more to the blob of water she had so it would rain heavily on the boy. Never one to regard other people's feelings and not particularly caring how the boy felt about getting wet, Poppy was enjoying the non amusement look on his face.

After a while, she decided to cut the prank short since the water she used was from the stream, she should not use up all of it because that would just be a waste. Mother nature probably would not appreciate it very much. Damn you conscience. But instead of returning the blob of water, that was directly above the boy, back to where it came from, she returned its gravity back and that big ball of water just fell on the boy.

Poppy laughed hysterically. Finally, she revealed herself and leaned against the tree trunk as she stared at the victim of her little prank. "Well hello stranger. Fancied the shower?"

[Timothy Carter]

The drop of water were falling even faster now, great, just great. His patience was wearing increasingly thin. For a moment, he considered simply running away and trying to get away from whoever was doing this to him. It wouldn't have been glorious or dignified but at least it would mean that he wouldn't have to face the culprit. He was going to be in a bad mood if and when he found the prankster and frankly, he was no longer sure that he was going to be able to control himself.

All he had wanted was some peace and quiet, some time to himself! Was that so much to ask? Apparently so... His telepathy began to twinge slightly in the way that it did when he was getting near to someone but wasn't quite close enough to actually pick up on their thoughts. It was like a buzzing at the back of his mind but let him know that he was getting warmer... There was a sudden crashing weight on his shoulders, as if someone had just dumped a bucket of water over him. Well, at least he couldn't get much wetter.

The teen coughed and spluttered, spitting out some of the stream's water before he unwillingly swallowed some before wiping it off of his face and rubbing his eyes. It was then that he heard the giggling which only added to his growing bad humour. Timothy had no idea who this girl was, she was a little older than him but not much, only a few years, probably not even that. If he was her target, then he suspected that she was one of the college students. He hoped his glare would tell her that he didn't find this funny. It wasn't the being wet, so much as how she'd used her powers which bothered him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked her, his voice low but angry as he struggled to avoid yelling.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Pranksters she knew would rarely stay back especially when the prank had been executed. It was probably a given anyway, escape before getting caught. Never stay too long no matter how much fun it was, because once caught, it would not be so fun anymore.

Yet, Poppy Lockwood revealed herself anyway. Perhaps she was too self absorbed in her own amusement that she did not care about the consequences. Basically, all she did was just dumped water on a young man without his consent -- and probably put a dent in his morning, but whatever. How much trouble could she land herself in for making a boy wet?

Leaning lazily against the tree trunk, she stared head to toe at the now drenched boy, clearly pleased with her handy work. Whilst Poppy wore a lopsided grin, the male did not mirror her expression. Instead, he looked the exact opposite. What a shame. It really was a shame that he saw no amusement in the whole situation like the girl did. Tsk tsk.

"Aw, I was just having fun. Would you have preferred a hot shower instead?" she cooed, talking to him as if he was a little boy who just got his candy stolen.

[Timothy Carter]

Anger, frustration, exasperation... Timothy felt all these things as he fixed the girl with a look such obvious irritation that he found it hard to believe that she didn't pick up on it. In fact, one of the few benefits of his condition was his ability to know roughly what she was thinking and sorry wasn't part of it. The way that she leaned against the tree, her entire demeanour got under his rather damp skin. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to wring out some of the water from it. He was probably going to have to change later, maybe even get another shower...

The teen's patience was thin enough before he heard the slightly older girl's comment. There were better things he could be doing with his time rather than talking to her, he wondered if this might all be pointless and if he might not be better just going back to his dorm and drying himself. Call it a hunch but this girl didn't seem like the sort to listen to what he had to say and generally, he wasn't the type to give lectures but he was frustrated and he intended to let her know about it.

"It's not that I'm wet." He clarified gesturing at himself as if she hadn't quite noticed. The water he could live with. Who knew, under different circumstances had somebody thrown a bucket over him or even blasted him with a water pistol, he might even have laughed along in good humour and sportsmanship. This was different though, as he saw it far more severe. "You used your powers!" He snapped informing her of a fact that she doubtlessly already knew. "That's my problem with it!"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The two young adults differed in so many ways at that moment. The glare he gave her pretty much showed her how he felt about her little prank. But Poppy Lockwood was never an empath and most of the times she disregarded other people's feelings so easily, with no qualms at all. Just like how she was disregarding how the boy was feeling now.

A small smirk tugged on the girl's lips as she observed the boy dealing with his drenched state. Water pranks were funny, simple and perhaps a little messy but overall it was still entertaining to watch. Whilst the boy did not squeal like how she knew some would if water was dumped onto them, Poppy managed to get her laugh out of it. The girl did not really see how such a harmless prank could get the boy all so worked up.

Apparently, it was not even about the water at all. The nineteen year old was taken aback when she heard his reason why. Well isn't that something. That was not her first thought as to what was bothering him. They were mutants after all so she was puzzled, what his the deal with her using the one thing that set her apart?

"Excuse you?" She tiled her head, crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him as if he was speaking another language. "What has your panties in a twist?"

[Timothy Carter]

He knew that there had to be some mutants who were rather nonchalant when it came to using their abilities, some even seemed to enjoy them. For Timothy, his were a curse, something he had neither asked for nor wanted. If he could, he would give his powers up in a second. They made his life a veritable hell at times and had already cost him dearly. Some might say that with time he would get a handle on them and they would no longer trouble him but the fact was that they had already caused him too much pain to be able to make up for it.

This girl was different to him in that respect, maybe that was what angered him so much. That anyone with abilities such as theirs could be so reckless with them. Even now, she didn't seem to be capable of seeing what the issue was without him spelling it out for her. That might lead to some slightly awkward questions being asked about just why he had such an extreme reaction. The teen was only too aware that he was likely going a little O.T.T but couldn't help himself. Powers and more importantly other's occasional misuse of them was something of a touchy subject for a boy who'd almost killed his own mother with his telepathy.

It was nearly impossible to answer Poppy's question without revealing some things about himself which he would much rather remained secret or failing that at least known to as few a people as physically possible. There was no real reason guard his past so much from others but bringing it up brought back terrible memories which he would much rather forget or at least not dwell upon.

"Okay, first thing's first. I do not wear panties!" He frowned not appreciating anyone commenting about his choice of underwear; boxers were just fine. Now came the slightly more tricky part. "My problem is you! You can't just use your powers like that! You'll hurt somebody!"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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When you lived in a school of mutants for about eight years, Poppy Lockwood never had to experience what it was like to be ashamed of her ability. Admittedly, she was scared at first to know that she was part of the minority of the population, but after spending more and more time learning what her capabilities were, the girl fell in love with her power. Hence why she used it so often without much care as to the consequences she was putting herself through. She was reckless like that.

The brunette rolled her eyes, as the boy denied not wearing the piece of undergarment she had said. After all, she was only kidding about it. She did not honestly think he wore panties considering he was the opposite sex, because that would just be weird no matter how funny of an image it would look like. Heh.

However, not every student in the academy felt like the way she did about their power. Of course, Poppy did not usually have to cross paths with those, but once in a while it was inevitable. And apparently, this was one of those times. "Oh god, who are you, my guidance counselor?" The girl scoffed. Honestly, she knew the advises and the warnings, but it seemed like almost everyone was intent on reprimanding her about it. God.

"Well, are you hurt?" As a prankster, she tried her best to only pull harmless pranks. That way, she could not be charge with anything really. "Besides your pride being bruised, I don't think so. You only got wet and it was unlikely you would even slip and fall into a drain or something."

[Timothy Carter]

Timothy didn't know how many mutants there were in the world. It was only a small percentage of the world's population, he'd been taught that much but couldn't say how many for certain. He was sure, that for many of them, their powers would seldom pose a problem and were comparatively harmless but there were others who could cause damage, even if they didn't want to. The ability to communicate with those around you might sound harmless on paper but he'd already proved that that wasn't necessarily the case.

She accused him of sounding like her guidance counsellor, that lead the teen to believe that this wasn't the first time she'd pulled a stunt like this. If that was the case, he may very well be wasting his time. For a moment, he attempted to put himself in her place. Some might have thought that for a boy who could pick up on others thoughts like a satellite in space detects radio messages from Earth that it would have been an easy task; sadly, these days he found himself increasingly segregated from the world around him, largely by his own doing it had to be said. Pretending to think like an average 18 or 19 year old had become something of an alien task to him. The girl's tone was rather irritated and he was fairly sure his powers were picking up the same; he supposed that had he been her being lectured by a stranger, then he might have reacted in the same way.

Letting out a sigh, he was about to concede defeat. There was no point arguing with a brick wall and bizarrely enough, he didn't want to sound like the same counsellors that he occasionally had to deal with. "Well, that's the last person I want to sound like." Sure, they meant the best but he found that they often seemed to struggle to relate to him, how could they understand what he'd been through, ultimately they weren't the ones who had to live with it? Well, that's how he perceived it anyway.  

There was nothing worse than a 'holier than thou' type telling you what to do. Seeing as this girl didn't know him or his story, he supposed she was unlikely to pay any heed to anything that he had to say. Still, he couldn't help but add. "It only takes one mistake..." He muttered almost more to himself than the older girl. He hoped that some of this at least might sink in; maybe prevent her from pulling a prank next time when something might go wrong.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The girl laughed and gave him a look as if to say ya think? Thanks to her tendency to pull pranks on the other students and even the teachers at the academy, Poppy Lockwood had spent a great deal amount of time at the guidance counselor's office.

Just because she had been on the pranking for many years, it did not mean she was an expert. She had gotten caught a handful of times, thus the many visits. But each time the session ended, she was right back out the door plotting her nice trick in mind already.

So the disinterest as to what he had to say could clearly be seen on her face. She was already receiving these kinds of talk regularly, Poppy was really not looking for another unscheduled session. Plus with the prank wars going on in Bellefonte, no doubt her trips would be more frequent -- if she got caught. A small smirk appeared on her face as she thought of seeing her guidance counselors.

One mistake. Even though he had muttered it, she had heard him. She almost laughed at it, but the carefree expression she had on almost immediately fell away. Her hands instinctively went to her wrists as she remembered one of the incidents. "Yeah, and I learned not to pull that kind of trick again..." or at least be more careful when or if I ever do it again, she continued off silently in her mind. Of course, now her hands looked perfectly fine, there were no more of the bruises.

[Timothy Carter]

Were he not soaking wet and beginning to feel the chill and otherwise frustrated, he might have chuckled at the look that she gave him. Yes, sounding like a guidance counsellor was many things but by no means a compliment, at least from one patient to another. "You seem like a trouble maker..." He deduced not just because of his wet state but her apparent frequent visits to the counsellor. He didn't know this girl, heck, not even her name but she seemed like the mischievous sort who would always been at the centre of an incident whenever there was one.

There was a time when he'd been in trouble a fair bit himself, it was harmless stuff really around his old high, usually with a gang of friends and where nobody other than them got hurt. He missed those days and wondered if he hadn't harmed his mother whether or not he would be the sort to join in the mischief. One thing was for sure as he saw it, his words weren't going to have much if anything of an effect on this girl. Still, he lingered for a moment as some more of her thoughts reached him or at least be more careful when or if I ever do it again...

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should react to her thoughts. Some people took offense, even if he explained that he really couldn't help it - they would often be dubious about that - and that he didn't want to. Still, something told him that she hadn't bothered herself when it came to whether or not he'd like to be on the receiving end of her powers. "If you've already hurt somebody, or yourself-" He wasn't too sure which one she was referring to and wasn't about to risk using his ability to find out. "-Then why do it?"