there you are

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded, then forced herself to meet Olivia's gaze. "yes, it's, well, it's bad enough that it can, um, kill," she lapsed into silence for a moment, again fiddling with her food, her nervous fingers twitching. Olivia said it was interesting, and that had Zoe looking up, almost startled.

Then again, she supposed that several people did find her power interesting. Dr. Campbell did, and he was supposedly working with some kind of side effects specialist to figure things out. Olivia also insisted that it was because Zoe was her friend, which had Zoe flushing. "I'd rather be interesting for my talents, really," she admitted, playing with more food.

At least Olivia's last comment was considerably lighter, and had Zoe laughing a little. She looked up, a little bit of teasing coming into those expressive brown eyes: "Or maybe you just really love cheese and are using your power as an excuse," she said, smiling as she took a little nibble, feeling far too proud about being able to tease her friend.

[Olivia Chance]

"Obviously you're interesting for your talents as well. But your powers, even if you don't necessarily like them all the time, are also part of you and therefore something you could take pride in if you wanted. I mean...I can't control mine that well but I like them. I feel they're part of me." She heard Zoe talk about cheese and she grinned, nodding.

"Of course I'm using it as an excuse to eat cheese! I don't really need an excuse really, but my powers do make my metabolism work faster. Either that or it's just that my adult body is able to eat like a horse without gaining anything." She smirked, taking another bite from her food.

"Whatever it is, it's totally awesome. I can basically eat what I want and not have to worry."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe flushed as Olivia insisted that she was interesting for her talents. Really, Zoe should have figured as much. Olivia hadn't meant to belittle them or anything. The thought of taking pride in her power though... "Well, I don't think I actually can control mine," Zoe offered. "Besides with, um, drugs and stuff," which made her flush. That felt decidedly wrong to say, like she needed to take medication just to do what everyone else did.

Again, the subject of cheese saved them from the semi-awkwardness of the conversation. Zoe smiled and nodded. "It does seem unfair that some powers give benefits like that, doesn't it? Though I suppose that people who have those benefits aren't enjoying it..." Zoe pursed her lips as she finished, taking a few more bits of fruit and nibbling on them.

"Maybe it's your body adjusting. You said you were in a coma, right?" Zoe asked, looking back up at Olivia. "Maybe it had something to do with that?" it made as much sense as anything, really. Zoe hesitated for a moment, chewing on the fruit and studying Olivia. She really did have a striking face, and Zoe definitely knew she wanted to see if she could talk Olivia into posing for her sometime. But that wasn't what was on the forefront of her mind: "What... what put you in the coma, again?" she asked, speaking softly. "If you don't mind talking about it, that is. You don't have to. If you don't want to," Zoe looked about ready to say that she shouldn't have even asked but, well, it was something nagging at her.

[Olivia Chance]

"That's still more control than I have. I just keep blowing up water fountains, making water bottles fly, freezing the dew on windows...freezing vases with water in them. I was angry that last time. Ended up shattering the vase and feeling really sorry for the flowers." She shook her head.

"Well, generally the benefits don't really outweigh the negative effects so I don't know. They're nice to have though." She smiled. But then Zoe asked why she'd been in a coma in the first place and Olivia frowned slightly. It wasn't that she had any issue talking about it with people. Her emotions were still locked away, after all. But...

"Well I can't exactly remember the whole thing. It was also my first power manifestation. I can't remember it though. I've forgotten. I read something about traumatic events being blocked by the brain so that's probably it. So I don't really know how my powers worked. Or what really put me in the coma. But I can guess. Just before the memory gap, I can remember my brother at the top of the stairs in our house. I think he was holding a baseball bat." Olivia sighed, shaking her head.

"Just...yeah. That's why I've locked my emotions away for now. That wasn't a one-time thing."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe was actually fairly certain that they had about equal control. She just happened to have taken the necessary steps to have drugs that could work against her power. She herself couldn't do more than avoid touching people, and she didn't think there was really an off-switch.

She also wasn't sure that she wholly agreed with Olivia's assessment. For them, yes, it did seem as though the negative effects. But for the people who could teleport, or the ones that could fly or talk to animals... it just didn't seem quite like that for Zoe. Though she didn't want to dwell on her own troubles, not with Olivia beginning to think of her own.

That did sound rather traumatic. Zoe actually stopped fidgeting or eating, looking at Olivia as she spoke. "That does sound awful," she said, nodding. "Maybe it's best to just... avoid that for now," though part of her was tempted to suggest confronting it too. But she was hardly one to talk: she still hadn't done much to attempt to contact her family and figure out what happened there. She sighed, smiling sadly. "It's a shame that so often we have trauma to go along with our marvelous powers," She played with another bit of fruit, finding that her appetite was waning. "I suppose that's how it really is sometimes..."

[Olivia Chance]

"You understand now why I refuse to see my powers in anything close to a negative light, right?" Olivia smiled weakly.

"They saved me. Without them, I might be dead. Or I might still be alive, caught in that impossible situation. Either way I wouldn't be at the Academy and I wouldn't have had the chance to actually know what having friends feels like." She bit her lip, taking a bite of her food with a shrug.

"Sometimes a traumatic event can trigger other events. Kind of like the buddhist philosophy about how the flap of a butterfly's wings can eventually cause a tsunami...I hope I never cause a tsunami with my powers."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded. yes, she could definitely see that. Though part of her couldn't help but see the irony there: her own manifestation being the horror-filled event that it was. She remained silent, thinking as Olivia continued, outlining, well, pretty much what Zoe herself had come to realize throughout the year she'd spent here. It almost made her embarrassed though, to hear that lesson coming from someone who'd been here significantly less than Zoe.

"I certainly know what you mean," Zoe agreed, smiling. "It's all the trauma that brought me here, after all," she said, gesturing. A sort of sadness crept into her smile though. "But I have a suspicion that there's going to be more in the future. Fate's clearly dealt us a different hand then most people."

Zoe looked down at her nearly depleted fruit cup, then played with a few of the last few strands of cheese. She let out a little laugh, looking up and smiling. "But I suppose we'll be alright, won't we? After all, we've gotten this far, and look at us now," She held the cheese up to Olivia, almost as if in some sort of salute or toast.

[Olivia Chance]

"Yet I refuse to let Fate have any hold over the decisions I make. Rather, something else will govern me." She smiled slightly. Then Zoe held up the cheese in a toast and Olivia laughed, lifting cheese of her own.

"If we do this, does this mean it's cheese toast?" She laughed.

"Come so far and look at us now sounds like a song lyric. Therefore, I agree wholeheartedly."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled. "Well, maybe we'll all just be in control of ourselves then," she said with more confidence than she really felt. It sometimes felt like she wasn't in control of any aspect of her life, ever since she'd gotten these powers they often felt like they controlled her... and then coming out and... but now, now she was different. She knew it, and she could say as much to her friends now.

The awful joke had her giggling again, but she bit into her cheese regardless, nodding. "It probably is," she said as she swallowed, raising a finger to her mouth to do so. "I am a poet though, you know," she smiled a little teasingly and ate another bit of her fruit. As she did, Zoe heard her phone let out a soft chirp. She jumped, reaching down to check.

"Oh, I have to go!" she said, pushing up. She nodded and looked to Olivia. "I'll see you at the show though, right? Oh, and we should do something during Spring Break! Alice and I have already signed up," Zoe nodded, taking a few steps away, pausing to make sure to hear any and all confirmations before she continued on.

[Olivia Chance]

"I will definitely try to make it to the show. Although unfortunately I can't guarantee anything because that means finding a ride to town I think. But I will do my level best. And yes, we should totally do something over Spring Break. I've already signed up too. Thought a change of scenery could be good. Plus, it's on a friggin' boat and being around water makes me feel peaceful. Should be a good relaxing vacation." She smiled, shrugging.

"Go on. I might have to go to a class or two myself. Although I'm more self-directed than anything, but still." She shrugged. She finished off her meal and stood up, picking up her book, headphones and music player.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, there's, um, this shuttle you can take, and there's a bus that goes from here to town," she offered by way of explanation. Zoe knew both options fairly well herself, having taken them fairly regularly. It wasn't as if town was too horribly far away, but having a vehicle to ride in certainly made it better.

At least Zoe could just leave it to smiling and nodding as Olivia agreed to try and do something over spring break. "Yes, breaks are always, um, nice," she offered, flushing slightly. She could quite easily remember how some of the breaks ended up being a little less relaxing than others.

At any rate, that was most definitely something to consider for the future. Olivia apparently had to dash off as well. So Zoe simply nodded and headed away, raising a hand to wave to her friend as she departed. So many things to do before they could break...

[Olivia Chance]

A shuttle and a bus. She'd have to find out the schedules and stops for those. Maybe she might be able to make it to the show after all. She was also well aware that some spring breaks could involve things getting pretty wild. But seeing as Olivia was more of a chill personality, she figured that wouldn't really affect her. She smiled, waving as she walked off. Perhaps to class. Perhaps just to read. Perhaps to sing and listen to music. Even Olivia didn't really know what she wanted to do at the moment.

END