head underwater and you tell me to breathe {Leo}

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara was listening to her calming music, standing in the middle of the training room. She was completely invisible, breathing steadily, and taking slow steps. She wanted to see how long she could stay invisible, and she wanted to be able to use it effectively while moving. It was tough work, and it took a lot of concentration, but she was slowly beginning to learn how to control her new power.

She was even starting to learn that she could make some parts of her visible, although she didn't particularly warm to this idea. She felt more secure when everything was gone from sight.

Her headphones were jammed in her ears, so when the door opened she was oblivious to the intrudor. Instead she was completely invisible in the broad training room, alone in her mind. She took another step and her invisibility glitched ever so slightly before it settled into perfect camouflage again.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

The door to the trainning room flew open, and in strutted one very arrogant human. He had decided to kick Rae to the curb, since she'd up and ran off without explaining anything to him. Besides, he had heard that his speed would stop maturing if he stayed that way, and he really did like the speedy little tricks he could do.

It was soon enough, so they were able to cure him without so many problems. But the decrease in his muscle mass and his body weakening down to human again had left him pretty sore and tense. It was for that reason he walked in here today, determined to get himself back into shape. As he entered the room he took off his jacket and threw it to the side. It landed on a weight lifting bench off to the side.

Leo stood in the, apparently, empty room in his black slacks and a white sleeveless T-shirt. He kicked out his leg once or twice, feeling the tenseness in his muscles. Yeouch, that had done a number on him. At least it didn't change his appearance yet, as his muscles were still as solid as they always were. He snapped his leg up, seeing how high he could get the kick. It still passed his nose, but the pull on his muscles made him wince.

"Argh, damn that bitch." He muttered. "All right, back to work." He added, looking around for something. He found what he was looking for in a pull up bar. Grinning he walked up to it and stopped for a moment, staring at it. It wasn't right against a wall, so there was room, and there was nobody here to see him...plus it was a good way to warm the muscles up...

Taking another glance around the room to ensure he was alone he ran at the bar, jumped, grabbed it, and began to spin around it. Changing his hand position, reversing direction, and ending with a solid flip from it, landing clean. His muscles burned, but he knew he'd just taken the first step to beating the wear out of them.

Gymnastics were a good warm up, but very un-masculine.

[ĸara вelova★]

It wasn't the door opening and closing that alerted her to someone's presence. It was the rush of aggravation that blasted into her invisible form. Her eyes snapped forward, and it took a lot of concentration to stay invisible during this startled state.

She watched as Leo worked out his girl problems. At least that was what his explosion suggested. Leo then proceeded to demonstrate his athleticism. It was a quality she would never possess, what with her constantly off-balanced equilibrium, and it could have been envy that made her bristle at his performance. Whatever it was, she took an instant disliking to him.

At his graceful landing, she lost her control, and her form faded into existence. She was standing more or less in front of him, giving him a look that would easily tell him that he was being judged. Kara's opinion didn't count for anything though (or so she assumed from the way she was treated at this school), so she doubted Leo would give a damn whether or not she liked him. But she quietly decided that he wasn't someone she would choose to socialize with. And if Leo knew who Kara was, he probably wouldn't get offended about that either. Kara socialized with no one.

The song playing in her ears changed to one of her own poorly-recorded tracks. It took her attention off Leo and to her player, and she quickly skipped to the next one. It was a song she had wrote, inspired by a certain boy, and its forlorn flavour left a bitter taste in her mouth. And it put her in even more of a bad mood.

Her calm had been punctured, and Leo was being blamed as the needle.

"I'll leave," She said, her voice nothing fascinating. It was rare one could get the girl to speak more than two words to them, and it looked like Leo had reached his maximum. She would spare him no other. Kara turned.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Leo was very much surprised when he saw a girl in front of him, and not a bad looker either. She seemed very critical though, oh great, were there any normal girls in this damn school?

"Uh...hi?" Leo said, caught off guard by her sudden appearance. Leo wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even he could figure it out. A school of super powers after all. She offered a quick announcement and then turned to leave.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute there!" Leo called as she turned. "You just show up like that, confuse me, and leave without even offering me your name? What a way to wound a guys heart, my mere presence is an insult against you! I swear to god what do I have to do to meet a normal girl in this damn school! One that isn't an axe murderer, really a guy in disguise, or a self proclaimed queen bitch of the entire damn school!"

He seemed to be aware he was ranting and just sighed.

"Sorry, got a little frustrated there. Forgot my manners. Names Leo, nice to meet ya?" He said offering a cordial handshake.

He wasn't even thinking about hitting on her now, he was just hoping she at least was a normal girl.

He could pray.

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara paused at his request for her to wait, but she didn't turn. Not yet anyway. She listened to him speak, and found it extremely ironic what his desire was. It was at his apology she turned around, and she spoke the same time he introduced himself.

"Why look for a normal girl in a school full of freaks?" Kara was far from normal. Leo would find that Jessica might be more desirable to be around. Although Kara and Jessica were opposites, the two girls were identical when it came to manipulation and drive. Their reasons for their actions may vary, but they were both equally as strong. Kara was a quiet chameleon whereas the other girl was a boisterous resilient. Leo probably wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at her though.

"You can have the room. I'm done with it," Kara insisted, very much wanting to leave before it became absolutely necessary to give him her name. In common, acceptable conversation it was necessary. Kara would just come off as rude when she refused.

She clawed a hand through her dark hair. One of her earbuds popped out and she quickly replaced it in her ear. Kara wanted to will herself to be invisible again, but dare not reveal any more of herself than she already had. She wasn't fond of others possessing too much information about her. There was that short-lived week where she was the topic of conversation among the girls of the school, back when Eiji and her were inseparable. When she gave them no more gossip to feed on, they stopped with their questions and let her live in peace. This was the way she preferred to live. If you knew you were going to die in a few short months, you didn't want to make memories.

At least you didn't if you were Kara Belova.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Leo just shook his head. "I don't mean normal normal, just not completely crazy! What is this an insane asylum in disguise?!"

He was frustrated, and he was still coherent enough to see it, but then he got an idea. "No, no your aren't leaving." Leo said, and in a flash he was in front of the door out of the training area. "I'm not allowing you to leave here." He stated flatly.

It was stupid, made no sense, and was borderline illegal, but he wanted to see how she reacted. The calm and quiet type were always fun to get a rise out of when they weren't 'in control'.

Leo had started to revert back to an 'old jerk' mode, so now he was having fun at Kara's expense.

OOC: Ugh, shitty post, but I could have spent a week and not come up with anything better, Sorry!

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara couldn't agree with him more. There were psycho's in this school, that was for sure. What he didn't know (yet) was that Kara was one of them. Maybe on a more subdued level, but there was no way anyone could call her 'sane'.

And then he did something she hadn't expected. Catching her off-guard, he antagonized her. On purpose. There was no rhyme nor reason for it, none that Kara could see. The introverted brunette took an invisible, calming breath before she reverted to the person she always became when she was bullied.

She closed up and hid in her shell.

"Okay," Kara whispered, and she turned up the volume of her music. She wouldn't look at him; Kara rarely looked at anyone directly. She'd never be able to tell you what colour eyes they had. She didn't pry, she didn't intrude. She kept to herself, and wished everyone else would do the same.

It would be just her luck that Leo would choose to ignore her unspoken wish.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Oh no you didn't! Leo wasn't letting her hide from this. She had caught his interest now, and he was going to see to it that she wasn't getting out of here without actually using the little bit of personality she had. She wasn't looking at him, or listening to him, so with a quick dash he was behind her, his hands gently on her hips. It was probably intimidating for her, but Leo knew himself very well. He wasn't a rapist, didn't mean she knew that though.

He leaned in quickly, putting his face next to hers, and pulling one of her ear plugs, the loud music now free, allowing her to hear him. The funny thing was, he pulled the plug out by pulling softly on the wire, with his teeth of all things! If this didn't fluster and get a reaction out of her, well then he'd just have to turn it up even more.

"Aww, what's the matter? You don't want to listen to me?"

[ĸara вelova★]

She didn't see him move - he was too fast. But the hands on either side of her hips made bile crawl to her throat, and his hot breath against her neck, and the smell of him so close to her, made her physically ill. She swallowed back everything and forced a giant calm into herself.

How. Dare. He.

His voice sent a shiver down her spine, but she smothered it with her power, making herself entirely numb to his advances. It didn't matter how fast Leo was now; unless he vacated the room, he wasn't going to escape this. He was going to get exactly what he wanted, and more. He wanted her reaction. He probably had no idea how terrifying she could be.

The power she began generating was frightening. Invisibility would be no good, not for someone who clearly had the ability to sweep the entire room in only a few seconds. He'd find her instantly. So Kara resorted to her favourite power.

Leo would begin to feel fear. Just a small feeling of anxiety at first, but it would grow and grow until it commanded his respect. Kara put her hands over his, and to her numbed state they just felt like rock under her palm. It disgusted her to touch him, but it would help her overall. Because the moment her skin landed on his, she pumped more fear into him. Her touch would be like his worst nightmare scalding him. Kara wanted him to back the fuck away so she could leave.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Leo smirked at first, and then his smile faded slowly. Why did she worry him so much? I mean sure, it was true that some girls back home might carry something for a case like this, mace or something like that, but she didn't seem the type.

Then again it took all kinds, maybe she did have something hidden. His mind was in overdrive trying to ponder if this girl did indeed carry a weapon of some sort she intended to use when she went to remove his hands, at the touch he yanked his hands back as if burned. She was going to do something he just knew it. He just wasn't sure what.

He didn't notice, but he had recoiled from the girl a good five feet, more then a little agitated by...by something, he wasn't really sure what.

Wait a minute...this made no sense.

Leo wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even he knew something wasn't right here. He'd faced down bouncers three times his weight in pure muscle, a demoness who could shatter bones like powder, and a supernatural being with the power of the sun, and here he was terrified of some seemingly normal girl? Something was up...wait a minute, wasn't this like what that Jessica girl did? Mind tricks and all that?

He was afraid of her, very much so, but now his brain was trying to convince him this feel wasn't real, that there wasn't anything to be afraid of.

It was a losing battle.

"So what now?! Are you one of Jessica's little friends, playing around with people's heads?! Is that how you get your jollies since you can't do it normally! Grow a damn spine!" He shouted at her, though he was disgusted to find his voice shaking.

Honestly, was everyone with a super power completely reliant on it?

[ĸara вelova★]

She couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction when he released her. And when she spun to look at him, she clawed her messy hair out of her face so she could watch his reaction. It wasn't as though he was in pain, but his confusion and his fear... it was delicious. And then when it seemed to peak, he exploded with wild accusations that made her pink with fury.

"Fuck Jessica!" Kara spat, pointing at him with such ferocity and zapping him with even more cowardice. The room was eerily quiet; a violent wind storm might be more fitting because of the energy crackling in the air. Kara didn't want to be accused of being like Jessica. She certainly wasn't one of her 'friends'. The quiver of his voice seemed to snap her back to reality.

What was she doing? Kara didn't fight back. She never fought, not even in self-defence. But there was something about Leo that made her rise to meet him, and definitely not in a good sense. She withdrew everything, pulled all that fear back into herself, and dulled it until she was numb. Her skin paled to its usual colour as she suppressed the anger in her, and she swayed a little from the massive demonstration of power. Kara looked a little sick.

"You should..." She started to suggest, then stopped. She grimaced, disgusted with herself, but she wouldn't let him know of her self-flagilation. So she lashed out in the only way she would allow herself. "You should choose your victims more carefully."

She said it as though she was something powerful. She said it as though she were someone to be wary about. She said it as though she wasn't a victim. And it made her feel stronger, somehow. A little more secure. Seeing Leo fall away from her made Kara's confidence raise just a bit. The look of poorly suppressed terror on his face gave her a shot of charisma she'd never felt before. Maybe she wasn't defenseless.

She'd never thank Leo for trying to hurt her. At least not out loud. Because what had come from her reaction, and his response to it, gave her what she needed. What she would need that confidence for she didn't know, nor would she for a long time. But closer to the 'end' of her life, she would recognize it as the reason to live.

Somehow from all this, Leogare Lasteulf saved her.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Leo cowed back from Kara's shout, and was half way to apologizing to her when suddenly the feeling in the room left. Now it seemed normal again, his mind working the way it should. Though now he was afraid for another reason, just what kind of power did this timid little girl hide?

She started shying away, and Leo knew he'd struck a chord with her. "Well jeez, I just wanted to get a rise out of you. It's interesting to see what it takes for the shy ones to get offensive, guess I found your limit. And yeah, I'm not a rapist or a mysog-a-whatever that word is or something like that. Just wanted to see if people in here are just as normal as outside, seems to be. You got angry, you got really angry. And yeah, I'll be honest, should be a little more careful in a school o' super heroes, but hell, what is life without a little risk?"

He walked around her, as if observing her. "I dunno why you act all weak and timid, with something like that why would you be afraid of anyone. I mean, I don't much get them all, but you can make people feel things? Fear? Courage? Anger? Humor? The amount of stuff you could do with that is awesome, why don't you flaunt it a little more?"

He waved his finger as if taunting her. "You keep acting all shy and let people walk over you, sooner or later someones gonna come out who does wish you harm. Let's face it, if I wanted to I had plenty of chances."

He shrugged. "Well whatever, you gotta do what ya want, it's all ya got to go on." "Or do you have something else to base your life on little Ms. Terror?"

[ĸara вelova★]

He felt qualified enough to coach her on how she should live her life? Well screw him!

"Maybe I'm not the type to flaunt," she spat, as though the words were acid on her tongue. He was cocky when he wasn't fearing for his life. He still believed he could touch her if he really wanted to. But what struck her the hardest was knowing that he could. Anyone could. Those scientists... she was weaker then, and couldn't defend herself so easily. People could shake off the feelings she injected into them with reason and logic. Now she was strong enough that even if they realized what she was doing to them, they couldn't do anything to stop her.

Then Leo spoke words that hit closer to home than he probably knew. They rubbed her the wrong way completely, and she was suddenly very defensive again. She didn't like him walking around her, looking at her like a puzzle waiting to be solved. It was Kara's intention in life to be an abandoned enigma, something no one cared to understand. Like Malaria. Or Alzheimer's.

"Stop," Her eyes narrowed and followed him as he started his second rotation. No more questions. No more prying. She didn't need this, not when she only had a few more months. Her teeth clenched and her hands fisted tightly. "Are you going to let me leave now?" Her words hung heavily with a threat she'd never carry out. She wasn't going to touch him with her power again, not offensively anyway. If she saw him, she'd immediately scan him for any antagonizing emotions, but other than that he would be unscathed. Kara's eyes left him and looked toward the door.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

When she asked if she could leave, Leo just shrugged. "If you want I guess, go on ahead, I won't stop you." He then moved towards the door first.

"Oh and by the way Ms. whom-ever-you-are." He added, stopping to look over his shoulder. "You aren't a bad looker when you lose the 'stone-faced' expression. Try to have a little more emotion sometimes, it does wonders for your appearance." He touched a finger to his cheek as if thinking. "I guess you are kind of cute when your mad. Maybe you should try it more? Eh, maybe not. Later." He gave a half wave and slid the door open, walking out while whistling to himself.

Sure he was still out of shape, but at the very least the first meeting of whoever she was, was interesting.

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara promptly started moving to the door once he gave her 'permission' to leave, however when he did the same, she stopped to let him pass first. She didn't want to accidentally touch him; it might make her sick. Then he shocked her again. He... complimented her? Kara might not be like most girls, and it might shock some people to learn that she actually was female, but unaccustomed to being complimented for her looks, or for anything really, Kara flushed just a little. And this reaction pissed her off, so she turned even more red. Leo was so frustrating!

As he turned his back to her and left, Kara had the very strong urge to shoot him with another pang of fear before he completely left her line of vision, but she refrained. Her new offensive desires stemmed from the confidence Leo's intimidation generated, but she wouldn't act on them.

At least not yet.

Kara went back to the middle of the room and forced a calm, and practiced her invisibility as though Leo had never entered the room. Later, when she felt more focused and more confident with her new ability, she left with her headphones singing the piano notes of Chopin. She found a spot at a window and looked out at the school grounds while her music played. Vivaldi's violin replaced Chopin's Nocturne...

And then Jessica arrived.