Ni Iki Tai ((Ithica))

[Aponi Lebennon]

He was late. So so very late. It was his first day, and he'd slept in till noon. Of course, he had no meetings or lectures or anything he actually HAD to attend, he was just being nervous. He had taken a quick shower, and put on a nice dress, a silk gown he had "aquired" in India. A boy had given it to him, and asked her to marry him. He had, of course, refused and tried to give the dress back, but the boy had said "what use do I have of it?" and had scarpered. Aaran had assumed it was stolen, and kept it anyway - it was a nice dress.

He sprinted down the corridors as fast as his weak legs could carry him. Not very fast. He was still exhausted from his journey, and so by the time he had reached the antechamber, he had tripped already, and had fallen flat on his face just as he entered the large cave-like room. He got up, flushing red, and he heard people snickering. He almost cried. This was not how he wanted to start his life. He quickly stood up, and apologized in hindi by accident before bowing and changing to english. He dashed back out again as fast as he could, and burst through a door that led outside.

It was bright and shining, and the sun was high in the sky. He looked himself up and down - he wa slucky that this dress was quite thick - sunlight sometimes shone through such things. That wouldn't have been good. After all, he wasn't wearing a bra -why should he?

He slumped down. Today had been a failure so far. He hoped something could cheer him up. A pleasant breeze stroked him, and sent his hair fluttering slightly. Which he was outside, he may as well enjoy it. He could see students dotted here and there.

He got up and hiccoughed, sending little glimmers of fairy dust scattering into the wind, and he giggled. He unfurled his wings and fluttered them slightly. They matched his dress perfectly, and he smiled. He did enjoy the feeling of fresh air on his wings - he had never really been able to unfurl them before in public. Maybe life at the academy wouldn't be all that bad. He'd already made a friend! He jsut hoped he could continue to look up...

[Ithica Pettineo]

ooc: D: Sorry it's short. x.x
--
Ithica didn't mean to stalk people. But sometimes he saw people and felt compelled to follow them at a distance behind trees, rosebushes, or various other things. Today it happened to a girl was running so fast he debated giving up or not-- Ithica was very lazy. And once she entered the school, he sulked back to the lawn, climbing up a tree and watching people below him.

He wasn't very concerned about school, and he was sure he wasn't supposed to be anywhere too important. After all, he just needed to read the textbook and he was fine. Today was just too pretty to waste listening to teachers; especially the kind that would reprimand for being late. Ithi looked around, trying to find someone to play with, or at least follow around.

There the girl was again, running back out. He scuttled closer, almost losing his grip on the branch he was holding. She hiccuped, sending something that went up his nose. He sneezed, and, trying to cover his mouth, lost his grip and landed with a thump about a meter or two away from her. Ithica rolled over on his stomach, picking himself up. "Pretty wings." He rubbed the dirt out of his eyes, muttering about homicidal dirt particles.

He smiled at her sheepishly. "Sorry if I startled you. I just decided to..uhm, drop by.."

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran screamed. The stranger had just dropped right next to him, with no warning. He scrambled to stand up, while trying to go backwards, but the former failed miserably so all he suceeded in doing was launching himself backwards into a tree. This would have been incredibly painful, if his hackles weren't already raised and he wasn't using his gift of bio crystalization.

He had been humiliated again. Worse, this man was stalking him. He had bark and leaf litter over his dress, and he had been forced to use his gift which, disconcertingly for him, was becoming easyer and easyer. He supposed that it was a good thing this time, but it happened more frequently now, sometimes when he needed it, and sometimes when he didn't.

After the humiliation in the hall, and this, instead of doing his usual breakign down with tears, he became very angry. His wings fluttered violently, and dust swirled around him in a menacing conclave of glitering particles. The sky seemed to get darker and the wind picked up. Soon there was a howling gale, and Aaran was enshrouded in a golden cloud of dust.

He launched himself forwards and punched the stranger square in the chest, but a punch from a feeble person is just as feeble, even if it has been glorified. He fell to the floor, and almost instantly, the sky turned to normal, and dust scattered everywhere. Aaran was at the stranger's feet, weeping. It didn't take much. Why was he so weak?

Now he had been humiliated for the third time in as many minutes. He wasn't used to so many things shaking his emotions up like this. He was starting to feel a little ill, so he curled up at the stranger's feet. Why did he have to be like this?

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica flinched as she fell into the tree, instantly stewing in guilt. He hadn't meant to terrify her, or make her land against a tree rather roughly. Although, he noticed with a little smudge of amusement, she seemed to be even more clumsier than he was. That was hard thing to accomplish, after all. His amusement quickly gave way to fear, and took several steps backwards after she got up.

He bit his bottom lip, terrified of the angry girl. In all his years of being surrounded by girls, he should have known not to piss one off -- especially one that had wings. He opened his mouth to say another apology, but at that moment he was in a dust storm. Ithica coughed, and rubbed his eyes, a bit miserable at having gotten dirt and other such disgusting objects in his mouth.

To top it all off, she punched him. Him! He waved his arms and stepped backwards from falling. He rubbed his chest, pouting. He knew he deserved it, but did she really have to punch him? He could have dealt with her screaming, or a slap, or maybe even a kick in the shins. "Ouch.."

He sat down beside her, unsure of what to say or do. Ithica had never been one to comfort...well, comfortingly. He put a nervous hand on her arm, and patted it. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He bit his bottom lip again, this time harder. He had noticed the girl was crying, and was trying to keep a dry eye himself. He hated when people were in pain, especially when it was his fault.

"Is there something I can do to help? I..I have a band-aid if you need it.." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Hello Kitty bandage. "It has your name on it...metaphorically...if it literally had your name on it, I would have given it to you sooner...which...which would have been hard, since I don't know your name.."

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran hiccoughed and some more dust poofed out from him. He giggled at the man's comment about the band-aid. He leaned his head on the stranger's shoulder - just needing someone, anyone there to comfort him.

"I'm Sophie." he smiled at the mention of his fake name. Of course, he was really Aaran. That's who he knew he was. But this person, was the same as everyone else. He didn't trust them expliccitly. So he would never tell him. He buried his head deeper int he stranger's shoulder. It was strange, how quickly his anger had subsided - even that strange thing with the wind.

"I'm sorry for that." he sighed. "I'm never usually like that. It's my first day here and things haven't been going to well so far." He frowned, the tears nearly returning to his eyes. "It isn't even like I have a home to return to." He sighed. He really was cring again now - he could feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. He asked the question again - "Why me?" in his head.

He decided that instead of moping, he should make light of the situation; "I didn't hurt you did I? I doubt it. I'm such a wimp." He sighed, but smiled. He sat bolt upright, just realizing he had been crying on a random stranger's shoulder. he blushed pink, realizing that it was a man, and that despite appearances, he was a boy. He kept forgetting that. He was afraid it would get him in lot's of trouble some day.

((OOC: by dust, just so you know, I generally mean faerie dust, unless I specify otherwise
Also, sorrt for short post!)

[Ithica Pettineo]

He rubbed the girl's back, smiling that she wasn't too angry at him. "I'm Ithica. Sophie's a nice name. It's a variant from the Greek Sophia, and it's root is soph, which means wise. It was also the name of the first known woman poet, well, at least the first moderately successful." He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it. One of the first things he had memorized was a name book. "You're probably very wise."

Ithica hugged her, standing up once she had stopped leaning on him. He held out his hand, grinning. "Ah, no I understand. First days are rough around here...especially when you feel different." He decided to the let the home subject drop, making a mental note of it. Despite his social awkwardness, he knew it was a question you saved for when you've known the person longer than ten minutes.

"I'm not sure whether my chest hurts because you punched it or because I fell out of the tree." He responded. "It was kind of rude of me to be spying on you. Sorry about that," he shrugged sheepishly. "It seems kind of creepy now that I think about it..." A strange man following a little girl around. He thought about adding that he wasn't going to lead her into any dark alleys, but he stopped himself. That's something a rapist would say. "Why the chest? Personally if someone had been following me and scared me that bad, I would have aimed somewhere higher, like the jaw. Or I would have kicked him in...well, you know. But I'm glad you didn't kick me there. So thanks for punching me in the chest."

--
ooc; okay >< mine are short, too. D: sorry.

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran grabbed Ithica's hand to pull himself up. He seemed like a nice fellow - even if he had been spying on him. Aaran didn't mind. That didn't bother him. He was just happy to be making new friends, and Ithica was obviously just a clumsy person that had shown interest in him. A few people did, especially because of his mannerisms, strong british accent, and strange dress. His dress, was a bit messy, so he quickly straightened it.

"Don't worry about it. Don't seem to be too many brits around here, so i guess we'd be quite interesting." He beamed. "And, I'm not very wise. I'm just some guy."He said. He realized his mistake as soon as he said it, but dared not say anything - maybe ithica would miss it.

He didn't really know why the chest. He could probably have caused more damage - but he probably would have broken a bone or somethign int he process. However, the thought was far from comforting.
It didn't really matter, because he was glad he hadn't hurt the man. He didn't reeally want to hurt anyone.

"It's hard to hurt me, because I have bio-crystalization. Or, so they say." He said. "I can also regenerate. I didn't really want to hurt you, and, being half-fae, I'm really weak, so I would have broken my foot or knuckles." He tittered girlishly. Hopefuly this would negate his previous mistake.

He offered his arm to Ithica, and gestured towards the exit of the grounds and towards the city.

"I don't know much about new york, but I haven't had brekfast, and some food would be mightily good right now. What do you say?" He asked, smiling.

(OOC: I'm really starting to like Ithiuca, In and out of character xD)

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica smiled at the British comment, remembering his father. "Yes. I have a brit radar, you see.." He put his hands behind his head and wiggled them. "It's very effective. Some guy, eh?" Ithi asked, putting his hands back in his pockets. "Nah, I bet you're a pretty cool person, Soph."

He listened with interest about her gift. "Bio-crystalization. That sounds pretty nifty, along with reggennerraattioonn." He stretched out the word, rolling his r's. "That, at least, is useful. I just remember things." He thumped a hand to his head. "Too many things."

Ithica grinned. "I kind of knew you were at least half-faerie," he teased. "The wings were a pretty clue. I myself am I half demon." He bared his teeth playfully. "But I'm probably a bigger wimp than you said you were." He shrugged.

He hooked his arm around hers. "Food sounds amazing! Food always sounds amazing, though. Except sour foods.. there was this one time someone gave me a candy and I thought, 'tsh, it's candy, Ithi, how bad can it be?' But! Ah, Soph, I wasn't being very wise that day." He paused, registering the pun he made. "Puns are fantastic, though not my puns."

--

ooc: o= why thank you, sir Domi. Likewise, of course. xD

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran smiled. Ithi was really quite funny.

"Your puns aren't that bad." he said with a grin. They strolled out of the grounds and soon entered the city. Aaran was looking for a kind of low key restaurant, maybe somethign with the title "grill". He DID have a thing for american style grilled food. But ne never over ate. That would be terrible for his guise. Having soon spotted a suitable looking place, he pulled Ithica in with him. He had, obviously, retracted wings before they left the grounds of the academy, because he didn't want a load of trouble.

The place they entered was a well styled 50's style diner, and Aaran smiled. It was a perfect little place. It was nearly empty. It was well kempt and well cleaned, and the smells coming from the kitchen suggested good food.

"I hope you don't mind this place." he mumbled slightly. "I just felt like a steak for some reason." He laughed, the sound like a tinkling bell. He unlinked his arm from Ithi's and went to sit at a table next to the window. The first thing he did was take the little childrens puzzle they preovided and the crayons, and flipped the paper upside-down, and started to draw. Aaran loved to draw - at home, he had donw some flawless sketches of his mother, which he kept with him to this day.

"Ithi, do sit down!" He said. Aaran felt more confident now - his earlier outburst and humiliation forgotton, he felt right at home in the prescence of his new friend. This made him feel kind of warm. But then, his mood was diminished somewhat when he heard some of the lyrics that were being played on the jukebox.

"You make me feel like a real woman..." This line in particular made him squirm and he nervously looked up at Ithica. But he'd held it together in worse circumstances, and he would in this one.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithi stared down at the tiled floor in distress. "Uh, no problem!" He said cheerfully, taking a long step to avoid the inital crack. Why must they be tiled? Always tiled. Ithi jumped into the seat, smiling nervously at anyone who had been watching him. "Cracks," he muttered, pulling his feet under him as to make sure he didn't accidentally step on a crack.

"So yeah, this is no problem. I like food! I don't necessarily need to eat it, but you can imagine life without eating? I can imagine a world of sadness, despair, and bleakness. And agony. Lots of agony.." He leaned his head into his hand, staring off into space dramatically. He giggled, not being able to keep serious for long.

He watched her draw. "You're an artist?" He asked. He had never been able to draw worth anything, and although he had memorised several tutorials, he just couldn't get his hand to listen to his head. Of course, he always just ended up bringing the pencil to life and making a sketch, but that wasn't really drawing it. It was sort of cheating.

Ithi noticed her mood change, and felt a little uneasy. "Soph, you okay?" He asked, immediately thinking of the worst situation. Maybe she had realised that he was a weirdo and was debating leaving him right there with all the cracks. Maybe she had just seen something behind him. Maybe she really hated this song and was going to kill the jukebox.

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran dropped his sketch on the table. It was a drawing of a person singing. Due to the crayon quality of it, it wasn't too clear but she appeared to be quite beautiful. She was a singer he had heard of in India, and, although she had not published many songs, she had become a backstreet sensation. She was actually from new york, but her shows were always broadcast in the neighbourhood he lived in.

"Yeah, I'm ok." He said, smiling happily. "Ithi, why don't you need to eat? Everyone needs to eat. Or they..." He didn't like saying the word "die". It made him think of his mother. His ears twitched slightly as a woman approached their table. She was redheaded, and quite busty, but her Shirt was buttoned up all the way, much to Aaran's approval. He didn't mind women showing off their bodies - he usually agreed with it. But in work was probbly not the best place. Or, so he had been told.

"Can i take your order?" She asked. This startled Aaran as he hadn't even looked at the menu. He had to improvise.

"Can I just have a lemonade?" Asked Aaran. The woman gave him a quizzical look, but then raised her eyebrows, in a gesture of understanding. She then turned on Ithi. Aaran hoped he wouldn't scare her - he didn't mind that he talked a little fast, and knew so much - it made him seel better, but he wasn't sure about "normal" people. But He was a nice guy, and he was charasmatic plenty, so things shouldn't go amiss.

[Ithica Pettineo]

He put his head on the table, staring at the sketch. He had to giggle a little because such a nice work was drawn with a crayon. Ithi supposed that it was rude to giggle. "She's very pretty. Who is she?" He inquired.

Ithi was about to respond to her question when the waitress came. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to have been looking at the menu. He took a quick glance at it, and ordered the first thing that he saw. French fries, although he didn't like calling them as such. They were potatoes fried in a French manner. He wasn't a huge fan of potatoes, but he was hungry.

"I'll have French fries and a water, if you don't mind." He smiled up at the waitress, in a desperate attempt to not let his eccentricities shine. "And a steak." He added as an afterthought.

He didn't really want the steak, but he had remembered the girl saying she wanted one. Ithi didn't know why she hadn't asked for one. He figured it was probably because she had been caught-off guard. He also wondered whether it would be a good time to ask her about her family.

Ithica dug in the pockets of his pants to see if he had happened to put his wallet in there, and, to his relief, he had. How would it had looked if neither of them had money, or if he had to bum off her? Not good.

(ooc; why yes, I aamm going for the lamest/shortest post of the year award! 0: )

[Aponi Lebennon]

Aaran giggled once again. The waitress probably thought they were there as a couple or something. In truth, Aaran was currently more interested in her. But, Ithi was rather eccentric. But Aaran was a ghuy as well! He kept forgetting it. Which was odd, considering he had a painful reminder of it every morning in the form of a shower and a mirror.

"It's a woman called Aponi Lebennon. In India, they played broadcasts of her songs in all of the alleys. When i came to New York, I got exited about meeting her, but I hadn't realized how big this city was." He giggled again. He found it quite funny the way Ithi just passively asked for a steak. The waitress walked off, obviously eager to get off her shift.

"So, why DON'T you need to eat?" Asked Aaran silently. He was quite curious - the man seemed perfectly normal. But then again, he had met him at the academy. And he was finding there was all sorts of people here - even dragons. Maybe Ithi was somethign like that. But everything needed to eat, right?

The waitress returned quickly with Ithi's food, and Aaran's lemonade. She then deposited a plate of fries on Aaran's table and whispered;

"We work on a rota, but if we serve a certain amount of people, we can go when it isn't busy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date!" She said. Aaran giggled but called after her.

"Do you know where fat cat's bureau is? I'm looking for a woman named Aponi Lebennon." He said. The woman looked at him rather oddly. She raised an eyebrow, before saying;

"Fatcat's Bureau has been closed since the 50s. Aponi Lebennon died in a freak accident there - the reason it closed. Where've you been?"{/i] she asked quizzically. Aaran's eyes widened. Was shen telling the truth. He then put on a nervous grin, and scratched the back of his head.

"My mistake then. Good luck on your date!" he beamed, and she hurried off. She knew Ithi would be asking questions - she had a feeling that he was avoiding one question in particular. He couldn't have figu- no, maybe he had! Aaran cried internally. What if the man had another gift, and had known from the start that he was a boy!? He hoped that he'd ask soon, so that he didn't have to deal with the suspense for much longer...

[Ithica Pettineo]

"Aponi Lebennon." Ithi mused. "I suppose we would listen to different things, considering I don't listen to music very often." He would add that his iPod tried to strangle him on more than one occasion, but decided to leave that for a different day. "This city is pretty big.. I haven't really explored much of it. I don't see what the point in getting familiar with a place is if the school just moves."

"India. I've been to India once with my father." He looked at Sophie, raising his his eyebrow. "But you're not an Indian, although now that I think about it, your dress is Indian, isn't it?" He tapped his head. "India isn't on a lot of peoples vacation list. Most people want to go to Paris, or within the big radius of money. The only reason I could think of going is...well, I can think of three. You're a Hindu worshiping the goddess Ganga, which I don't think considering the choice of food. You could be a fan of the Indian food, because I know that's why I would go. Or you could have been trying to escape from something. I'm probably wrong." He smiled broadly. "I don't claim to be an expert on Sophie, or on India's tourism."

"I don't need to eat because I'm half-demon. Demons don't really need to eat." He shrugged. "At least I can eat, though! Vampires, man, they must have it rough. Can you imagine not being able to eat? I can't. I'm quite partial to food if you haven't noticed."

Ithi pushed the steak towards Sophie, listening to the conversation with interest. When the woman left, he was debating whether or not to ask her about her home comment she had made earlier. He could ease into it. It could be a touchy subject, after all. He cleared his throat, and straightened his sleeves, fidgeting with how to word the delicate issue. "Why don't you have a home to return to?" So much for delicate phrasing. Ithi pinched himself.

[Aponi Lebennon]

"I never used to. But I've never had enough money to buy music, never mind listen to it." He had however always loved listening to the musicians playing their instruments in... India. He found that he was reminiscing about it more than Britain. At least more had happened there.

He visibly winced when Ithi said the comment about his home. Not for his own sake - he was just glad to have someone listen. Though, it did make him feel rather sad. But, the reason he had winced was that the other man had before appeared slow to broach that subject, and he had obviously let it slip out. He wouldn't stir too much emotion, and make him feel worse than he did - Aaran found that seeing his new found friends upset was the worst thing.

"I went on a pilgrimmage to the holy river several years ago." He said quietly. His eyes distant with the clouds of the past.

"I left a broken home - my mother had died, and my father had gone insane. With no friends, no family, and, well, numerous other reasons, I left." he said. It would be quite hard not to tell his newfound friend his secret. "I traveled - partly on foot - to the banks of the Ganges, and went into a rural area where i worked as a washerwoman, doing various jobs." He felt guilty st not sharing with ithica, so he decided to let him know one of his secrets. "I found solace in the mother and godess Aditi. To this day, I thank her." he mumbled.

"After a while there, I learned of the academy, and decided to come here. I didn't know it moved." He smiled weakly, glad to get his story off of his chest. It felt like a great weight had gone, but he still felt a bit gloomy about it. The truth really is liberating he told himself internally, and sighed. He ate his fries in silence, occasionally glancing up at Ithica.

"To answer your question," He finally said, weakly, "I have no home, because my mother is dead, and my father is either insane or dead." Such a sad sad sorbet. Suddenly a new song came on the jukebox, and Aran smiled. it was by Aponi Lebennon.

(OOC; LOL, Steak is an after thought. And Sorbet is actually supposed to be story, but I changed it because of a meme Also, note (if you listen to it) that the song is done by Aponi's faceclaim, and Aponi is based as a seezyer version of her faceclaim.)