A View Like Home

Larita raised her eyebrows and lifted her headas the boy spoke. She had wanted him to start talking, but hadn't expected him to give her a summary of his life story. When he was done, Larita's held her mouth in a tight "o" shape, hesitating before letting any sound come out. "Ooookay.." she finally said. "Well, that's depressing. I mean really, way to bring a girl down."

She lowered her chin back to her knees, rocking herself with the balls of her feet. She went over what the boy had said, and furrowed her brow. "I didn't even think gods existed. Are you sure they were gods that got pissed at you?"

Leon laughed at her reaction. It was just the reaction he'd expected. She wanted him to talk, he had spoken. "I don't get much good new these days." He said. Then he made the realization that he'd just given practically his life's story to a girl whos name he didn't even know yet.... This place was bad for his mental health.

"And, well, they're not really gods in the all-powerful sense," he stopped himself there. Next thing he knew he'd be spilling the secrets of the universe to her. The poor girl didn't need that. "Just one powerful demon and one powerful angel that both hate my guts."

He shook his head, wanting to change the subject. There was one glaringly easy way to do that. "What about you? Why are you here?"

The 50's music began to play again. He felt kind of bad for having vented his frustration on the girl, but at least he'd gotten it out of system.

Delighted that the conversation had turned to her own, wonderful self, Larita straightened her back, letting her legs fall from her chin and back into a cross-legged position. "Me?" she said, feigning astoundedness at the fact that he could be interested in learning anything about her.

"Well, I'm here because my father finally let slip that I was half siren. I mean, how could he have hidden that from me for so long, right? But, once I found out that there was an actual legit reason that I felt so superior to my peers, I thought it was only suitable that I come to a special school like this one." She spouted the explanation with a sense of pride, but once she was finished, her demeanor sunk. "Of course. Now that I'm here, I'm not sure it was such a good idea..." She dropped her head and looked up at the boy, wanting him to ask her to talk further.

If he didn't want to talk about her, she was either unaware or didn't care.

Of course, Leon thought. She was the type that loved to talk, especially about herself. He could see it written all over her face. On top of that she was, what reffered to, as the romantic type. The kind of girl that expected respect and chivalry from absolutely everybody even if she may not have been entirely deserving of it, or if the world has moved on from it. Her attempt at securing a hoody from him was blatant proof of that. Shockingly her type was one of his favorites. They were easy to talk to without actually having to listen very much or offer too much conversation in return. That, and they were usually fooled easily, so long as everything lived up to their usually high expectations.

"A siren? Aren't they..." he stopped himself. He wasn't entirely sure what a siren was, but he always associtaed the word "siren" with the word "seductress". Maybe from some ancient history lesson from a time when he actually used to pay attention in class. Though now, he couldn't quite remember. Rather than potentianally insult her, he shook his, "What is that?"

"Weeelll," she started dramatically. "They're actually these bird-women who live on this island in Greece, and maybe other places, I don't know. They sing beautiful songs and sailors fall under their spell until they crash on their shores." As she spoke, she acted out the scene with her hands. One was the island, and the posed as the wayward ship that had been ensnared by the siren's song. It floated along happily until it crashed violently into the other hand.

"But I'm only half. Which is kind of lucky actually since I don't have to deal with these ugly bird feet or gigantic wings like professor Kale does all the time. Do you know her, Professor Kale? I haven't actually met her, but I think she's a siren or something like it. I'll have to go ask. So all I got was my mother's stunning beauty and talent for music. Also, I'm afraid to fly. Well, not in an airplane, but I wouldn't want to be all in the open air and stuff. But your wings, they disappear when you want them too. That must be pretty useful, yeah? Does it hurt when they go in like that? It looks like it does."

She stopped her rant to look inquisitively at the boy. She had said that she was glad not to have the siren's wings, and she had meant it. Well she used to mean it, but since she had arrived to Lillegard Island and was now surrounded by strange creatures, she found herself wishing that she had inherited more of her mother's side.

Leon nodded his head once. He knew they had something to do with greek mythology but his knowledge of the topic ended there. Then he shook his head, "I don't know Professor Kale. You're the first person I've met here." A slight smiled pulled at the corner of his mouth. 'All I got was my mother's stunning beauty and talent for music. It seemed she wasn't the modest type, but Leon expected as much.

"Honestly, I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't fly." Flying was about the only thing Leon was truly passionate about. He faced the girl and smiled, "It's the best feeling in the world. My wings actually burn my skin, but I use them so often that I can hardly feel it anymore. Same with this." Leon summoned some enrgy to his left hand, a small black flame enveloping it. "I do this as often, though. The only reason it doesn't hurt is because it's the same as the wings. The burns heal pretty fast." He paused for a minute, looking into the flame, then turned back to her, "What's your name anyway?"

Larita nodded. So he was new to the campus, perhaps even newer than she was. She was surprised then, that he wasn't down at the castle trying to meet more people. She widened her eyes as he shared his passion for flying. She couldn't imagine loving something so much that she would be able to tolerate it actually causing her physical pain. The girl raised her eyebrows as the small black flame engulfed the boy's hand and she leaned back slightly as if it would burn her. "Hey, careful with that!" she scolded.

"Oh," she said, not realizing that they hadn't exchanged names yet. "I'm Larita." She thought about extending her hand to shake his, but then thought better of it as she remembered the flame. "And you are?" she asked, still eyeing the flame suspiciously.

Leon extinguished the flame, since she seemed to be afraid of it. He kept his hand still for a few seconds to allow the burns to heal. A few seconds later it was back to its normal tanned, and calloused hand as if it hadn't just been on fire. It still felt a bit warmer than normal from the receeding energy, but not enough to burn something he touched. The ball of energy was about the only spell he knew other than the one for his wings and the one who's english translation was "gate through matter".

He let his hand fall then held out his right for Larita to shake, "Leon," he introduced.

Larita looked suspiciously at the offered hand before shaking it, smiling slightly as she did so. Then she dropped his hand and looked out over the cliffside. The clouds were puffy and the air was warming up slightly from the morning chill. The waves below rolled over the rocks, making a calm, rushing sound; repetitive and hypnotic. As the warm air brushed against Larita's face she closed her eyes, as if making a very difficult decision. When she opened them again, the look was determined. She stood up, brushing grass off her dress and straightening out the folds that she had been sitting on. She turned to Leon with a stubborn look but she didn't smile.

"Okay," she said. "I want to try. You can carry me or something, right?" She was making great effort not to sound frightened, but she could feel her heart beat start to quicken. She wasn't sure what had made her make this decision to fly. Perhaps she wanted to experience a part of what she could have been. But it didn't matter. Now that she had voiced her choice, she wouldn't back down. The only thing left was the possibility that he would refuse. And Larita couldn't decide if this would be good or bad.

Leon got surprised at Larita's sudden eagerness, and we she asked to fly, he became almost suspicious. He eyed her from head to toe partially trying to gague her weight but mostly looking for gold jewelery. She definitly seemed the type that would own and wear it.

He wasn't even sure he'd be able to carry her. He'd carried Rachael flying before, but since then he'd been attacked by an angel who gave him aq nasty gold-scar on the "elbow" of his left wing. He hadn't been able to fly properly for about a month after that.

"How much do you weigh?" He knew full well that she may have been offended by the question, but it was something he needed to know. To be honest, he didn't want to take the risk of flying with her, not with the gold-scar. On top of that, the girl he'd carried before must have been about the same age as her, and she was an angel. Most likely she was lighter than Larita. Leon wasn't confident he'd be able to carry her.

Larita dropped her arms at the boy's question. How dare he ask her weight... of course, it was nothing she should be embarrassed about, and she guessed that he needed to know for, technical purposes. "115," she stated, even though she was actually closer to 120, the extra five pounds just sounded like so much more, and she didn't want the boy to think that she was fat or anything.

She was wearing her dress, but otherwise was pretty simply decked. The only jewelry she wore was a simple pearl necklace on a silver chain. Seeing Leon's hesitation, she was actually starting to regret her spontaneous desire to fly, but she wasn't going to admit that fear. She shifted nervously, waiting for the boy's decision.

Leon himself weighed about 130 lbs. That totaled to 245 lbs. It wasn't a whole lot, but he wasn't sure he wanted to take the chance. Looking back at Larita he saw that she seemed nervous about it anyway.

He shook his head, "I don't think it's a good idea unless you trust me enough not to drop you into the ocean." He paused then added, "That's also not a good idea," referring to the matter of trust. "You're too scared right now anyway." He leaned back again, pillowing his head with his hands the same way he had been before Larita arrived.

Larita furrowed her brow and stomped her foot at almost the same time, showing without a doubt, that she was frustrated. "I am not scared," she insisted. "I'm standing here, aren't I? Stop being lazy and fly me!" She breathed heavily when she was done, and immediately began to regret the outburst. She was, in fact, scared and now she was worried that the boy might accept just because she was so persistent, but falling into the ocean didn't sound like an adventure that Larita felt like having at the moment. She put her hands on her hips and tried to think of a way out of it.

"Fine," she said finally. "Just lie there all day for all I care. I'll find someone else to take me flying, since you just don't want to admit that you're too weak." She turned her head back down the hill and then looked at her feet. They were still all blistered, but she could make it back, she thought. So, she turned on her heel and started walking away from the boy, down the hill and back towards the castle. She didn't give any word of goodbye, since her pride was sort of bruised. She walked quickly down the hill, not looking back.


((Sorry, I couldn't keep up with them all and I felt like I kept taking too long for this one. Hopefully I'll get another chance to RP with you!))

((No problem lol. I guess Leon;s leaving too then))

Leon laughed, darkly as Larita turned the argument back on him to avoid admitting that she was truly scared out of her mind. When she was gone, Leon stood and threw himself off the cliffside, releasing his wings at the very last second before leaving the scene.