One Small Step for Ghostkind...

Having made it as far as the library, Irina ends up staring in growing horror at the realization she cannot, in fact, pick up a book. And there are so many! Is this to be her punishment, then? Surrounding herself with, unless she misses her guess, three stories of case upon case of books, only to not be able to move a page?

That's really not going to work for her. She approaches a shelf at random, finding herself face to face with the 'Mythology' section. Hey, it's as good as any for what she needs. Tilting her head to the side, she tries to remember the lecture she got about what 'astral projection' was, and how she didn't 'manifest on the physical plane' anymore, but about all she remembers is the headache. "You," she informs a celtic knotwork-adorned book with a glare. "You will move, because I say so!"

Irina's hand motion is tentative, despite her annoyance with life in general, because whether she wants to admit it to herself or not, she doesn't want to fail this particular test. But fail it she does, her hand passing straight through the leather spine of the celtic mythology as well as the two books on either side. "Dangit!" she hisses, glaring at the bookshelf as she pulls her hand back to her side. Behind her on the long study table a few bits of paper torn out of a notebook start spinning about in a very minor tornado, no particular stimulus in sight.

The library was territory that had been left unexplored. Henry hadn't felt very... adventuresome recently. It had been over a month now, but it still creeping into his thoughts. Had he really been that messed up? The boy hadn't realized how much he was holding in until it all came out. All that hatred. He was different now though... at least he wanted to be. He would apologies to Jami if he wasn't scared she'd get him back... he did talk to that boy of hers though, even thought it was brief.

These thoughts weren't good for his head. He couldn't help but stray to them though. Maybe reading would help distract him. Upon entering the library thought he was quite... surprised. There was a girl ,ho seemed pretty pissed off, and a bunch of ripped up paper. He raised a brow at her, not really wanting to deal with what ever the hell was going on. Drama wasn't his thing . Especially now.

He quickly channged his mind though, thinking he could make an ally of some sorts with her. "Excuse me, but you seem a bit frazzled. Could I help?" He asked with a hint of amusement that he couldn't hide.

Not having expected an audience, Irina gets startled when all of a sudden a voice speaks from behind her. With a tiny sound that could have easily been "eep!" the ghost stumbles forward, into the bookshelf she was just trying to make use of. Immediately the shreds of paper behind them fall back down to the nearest solid surface, all otherworldly propulsion forgotten.

It takes a moment, but then Irina steps out the end of the bookcase, looking worse for the wear. "I hate it when I do that," she mutters very much to herself between reappearing and looking over her unexpected company. "Um, I don't really think you can help, unless you can think of a way to bring me back from the dead." The guy in front of her has obviously now seen that she's not normal, or at least not fully human (a couple categories that seem to go hand-in-hand around here), so what's the harm of saying it right out?

She bites her lip, looking away and uneasily folding her semi-transparent arms across her chest. "I wanted to read a book," she explains after a moment of silence, then shoves her hand back into the books to demonstrate.

The boy wasn't sure what should have been the least surprising. The fact she was dead, or that because she was dead she couldn't touch things. He approached her a bit cautiously. He still wasn't really that use to having such diverse co-students...if that was even a word, let alone the correct way to describe them. The fact still was though. He was living breathing and creeped out, and she was dead. Even so Henry was here to learn and more recently, to actually have a or a few 'friends'.

"Would you like some help?" He didn't sound very confident but his actions helped him out a bit. He moved towards her and looked at the books. Which had she wanted to read. Looking around he tried to see if it was already out. Unsure he plucked a random book off the shelf. He swiped at it to get any dust off. He had no clue how long these books had been here. No doubt some much longer than others.

"Is this okay? Or did you have something in mind?" He looked a bit lost, but it was obvious he was trying.

Irina watched enviously as the young man took a book at random from the shelves, the urge to smack him rising instantly. She pushed it away. Not only would it do no good to try and hit him, he did appear to be in a helpful mood, and it was a better reaction than some she'd received.

Trying not to slump, she pasted on a smile. "I didn't really have anything in mind, no," she told him. "It was mostly just... annoyance at life. Or, um." Unlife? As she debated the word she should use, it finally clicked in her head that he was uneasy. Was it because she was upset, or was it the way she was so blunt about being dead? Until now she'd assumed that most of the people she met here were used to stange creatures in daily life.

"I, uh... I think I need a few to practice on if I'm going to learn to turn pages," Irina hedged, trying to come up with a middleground between his helpfulness and her need to vent. She turned back to the shelf and scanned titles. "Would you mind pulling out these celtic myth... oh! I'm sorry, you're being helpful and I'm being rude. I'm Irina." She turned back to smile, but forced her hand to remain at her side. If she offered to shake, he'd probably respond unconsciously, and then where would they be?

Wrong book then... He looked her face over, not sure if she was angry, or neutral. It was always hard to tell with new people. It wasn't like he could tell how fast her blood was...she was a ghost! Even so, he reached for the book she wanted anyway. Turning to her he tried to smile, "Henry Quickair Junior, it was nice to meet someone who ins't..." he didn't know how to put it. The words wasn't weird exactly, "distracted, i guess."


He sighed and placed the book on the table. She needed to practice turning pages? So maybe she was learning to use ghost powers. Henry flipped the book open in half, maybe that could help. He took a few steps back and leaned on a shelf amusing himself with a screw holding it together making it come out and then screw back in.

"Distracted?" Irina repeated, smiling when he opened the book for her. "How do you mean?" Her eyes go from him to the book, reaching out with one hand to flick her fingers through the edges of the pages, not a one stirring from its place. A small frown is directed at the book, but she's cooled off in comparison to the moment he entered, and is otherwise just looking somewhat bored.

Irina tilted her head, considering the book with ill grace. If she wanted to study here, she was going to need to be able to read. Trying for the page again, her fingers make grasping and pinching motions at the edge, but nothing responds to her touch. Blowing through her teeth in annoyance, she glances over at Henry and blushes as much as a transparent girl can. Having an audience wasn't necessarily the greatest idea, but she had needed help getting the book off the shelf, after all.

A tiny puff of air stirs the scraps of paper on the table, not registering in the ghost's awareness. "I can't say that I'm particularly focused," she drawls, making a face at the book before her. "I haven't figured out how I'm going to study here with no hands." Looking down at her hands she amends, "Well, functionally no hands." Hopefully he'll get what she means before she gets any more flustered with herself.

"Everyone I met so far has something that gets to them or increases an issue. I wont count myself out of that, but I'm trying to be better. If you need examples, I got into a fight I guess with an old friend and two guys, one had too much on his mind, the other seemed to be to interested in finding character flaws and she was full of angry. I was too." He was watching her efforts and tried to smile a bit. Irina must really be determined on getting the skill.

"You just seemed determined on something that seems so simple, but it means a lot to you, doesn't it." He had been talking a lot, but it was easy with a stranger. Irina didn't seem like someone who would store his words to use against him, but what did he know. Henry had noticed the scrap paper move, just a little amused she hadn't seen it. No hands, yeah he understood.

"It's hard not having something you need. I couldn't fly a while back, I can now because I really wanted it, but it's painful." He wondered how long ago she had died. Was that painful. How did she leave her body, and what was keeping this poor girl on earth?

Irina laughed. "Oh, I was getting pretty upset about it when you walked in," she pointed out. "It annoys me that I can't do simple things." Her finger indicated the book. "If I can't do the easy part, how can I expect I'll be able to do anything else?"

She paused to look him over. "Fly, huh? I wouldn't mind flying... though I suppose I float. I don't think I touch the ground, not really." Her stare downward at her feet gets interrupted by a new thought that makes her laugh again. "And since I've been told that falling through a ceiling is a good prank, I'd better hope I float." She doesn't seem eager to try it just at the moment, but her amusement suggests it'll happen sooner or later.

Reaching out idly, the ghost tried to play with one of the scraps of paper, but it ignored her touch, lying still until the breeze blew it about a bit. Irina noticed--she started smiling at it--but twisted her fingers through the book again, still focused on trying to come up with a solution to her page-turning problem.

Irina wasn't upset over something stupid though. She needed the skill is wasn't just something she wanted. He wanted revenge of Jami, now he regretted it. The girl just needed practice, and with her current mind set Henry was sure she'd get it. "Maybe try not focusing on it, maybe it has to be subconscious, something you feel inside."

He smiled when she talked about flying a floating. He didn't look at her feet. If she was floating it might make him shiver. He was still trying to get use to the fact he was talking to a dead person. "Yeah, I'm a Fairy. I have to say that sounds like a hilarious joke. I'd love to see that." He couldn't help but laugh a little. Maybe she would not registered he said fairy. The though must be so...girly. He was definitely a man. Very manly, yes.

Her smiling at the breeze was good. Maybe she was picking up something. His questions were getting more curious, but he chose still not to share.

Irina waved her hand through the book again, looking at Henry this time. "Nah, I think it has to be focused. Maybe eventually I could do it without thinking, but when I focus on something else I feel..." The ghost trailed off, looking slightly confused. "I feel less... here." She shrugged immediately and smiled at him.

"Seems like I'm meeting all sorts of people that don't exist..." Her eyes widened and she stumbled to clarify. " I mean, compared to what I thought was real before. Ghosts, fairies... fairy tales." Her smile lights her eyes at the teasing last words. "We're not supposed to exist."

((Sorry for short, I'm too distractable today.))

Eh, she could do it however she wanted, it was just a suggestion. He was being so helpful today, it was really surprising. Helping others wasn't exactly something he was use to, and certainly not a constant thing. He hoped he got over this ...phase. She felt less here though? Well wouldn't be moving on to where ever dead people go be a good thing? What ever.

What hit him though was the fact 'he shouldn't exist.' "You were human weren't you," he shook his head and sat on the edge of the table, "I don't see why we shouldn't exist. I know colonies of fairies all over the world and this Academy, it's proof that there are amazing creatures all around. Humans are just so in-tuned to their societies to realize us." He was pretty miffed at the girl now and summoned his wings.They shimmered into place and they twitched a bit.

He felt bad for ranting to her though and reached out at her trying to make a point by passing his hand through her. "You shouldn't exist than. If that's how your thinking."

(...im sorry he is a bully D:)

"Yep," Irina agrees. "Blockheaded human through and through. I didn't mean offense," she adds, pulling away when he swipes his hand at her. "I just didn't know before." Her expression darkens when he still manages to swing through part of her, and she doesn't look particularly pleased at whatever sensation it gives her.

"Kindly don't."

The wings are new to her, though, surprisingly enough in an academy full of winged creatures. "Now the comment about flying makes more sense." She hadn't quite followed his logic before, just taking it as one more strange thing she was learning here. But then she recalled he'd said something about it being painful. "Can I ask... you said it's painful? Why do it?"

He took a deep breath, he really needed to cool down. Going into the girls personal space wouldn't make him feel any better. He picked up the book she had been trying to turn pages in and seemed to be about to read it.

Henry couldn't help but smile, he needed to be less harsh on her, really, "Why do human's make mistakes if they only hurt you? Because it's in their nature. Fairies were born with the ability to fly for some reason. You can't ignore it. "Putting the book down, closed, he stood up again and rolled his shoulders letting his wings buzz. They made a faint sound from moving the air and vibrating, very insect like.

Fairy wings had a wide range. They depended on genetics rather than power and skill. Henry knew many male fairies with wings more butterfly like, Greer had been an example. His wings had been solid in color though, it had been because e was in the sub-species Faerie. Jami was a fairy, until her powers proved to be too... thick. Henry's powers themselves were borderline. Metal manipulation only just passed as a light power because of its usefulness, unlike Jami's fire which was destructive. Yes she could heal but the fire ruled that out. She was exactly like her father.

Henry realized he had let his mind wander back to her. Quickly he tried to focus on the dead girl again.

"We like to think we're intelligent, but we're really just idiots with delusions of grandeur. It's almost pathetic, really, how little I actually knew about the world until now. I might've thought"

Irina could tell the other had something on his mind, just from his quiet lack of attention. But she didn't mind in the least, just averting her eyes idly to one of the books on the table and prodding at the corner of the cover with a finger. Surprisingly, the third pass at it lifts the leather, and in her shock Irina promptly drops it. Immediately focused on the book, she tries again, and again she's got nothing. "Da...rn it," she stumbles, mentally shaking a finger at herself for her language.

"I think you were right, I need to be focused and yet not..." She sighs abruptly, voicing the breath in a melodramatic fashion, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. "I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do I?"

Doesn't everyone think they are intelligent though? Henry most definitely did. But as a species maybe, fairies weren't so self praising as humans. If they did something wrong, it was wrong. Henry got up and looked on the shelf for a book that would possibly interest him. Finding none her frowned and sat back down on the table. There was so much here, but he just wasn't in the mood for it. He wanted to see Jami again, but he was supposed to be not thinking about her.

Looking at the girl he decided his curiosity was great enough to ask her such personal thinking he wanted to ask, "So, how did you get this way in the first place? Do you have any idea what was supposed to happen after you died?" In other words, would his father be happy where he was now?

Irina turned her attention from her foolishness to Henry's question. At first she wanted to hedge, to avoid answering such a personal question, but so far he'd been pretty frank with her and she realized she probably owed him the same. "I've no idea... in answer to both questions. Well, the obvious answer to the first being I died. But I don't know why I'm hanging around, I certainly didn't want to." Several expressions flitted across her face (most of them involving frown lines) as she dwelled momentarily on the event, but with a jerk she shook herself out of it and returned her gaze to Henry.

"I was, er... am... uh, fifteen, and pretty clueless about death and whatever followed, despite attending a private Catholic school. I didn't actually attend services much of the time, it wasn't a requirement. In case you couldn't tell." She plucked at the uniform-style shirt she's wearing with a chest patch of the Lillegard crest... and then stared at it. "Um, well, it was the AHS crest." Taking a moment to look herself over, she realized that she had no idea when that appeared. She rarely looked at herself, disliking the view through her own body. When she boarded that godforsaken boat she knew it was still her old school crest, she'd been clutching her crystal pendant (currently hidden under her shirt) and staring down at it instead of looking at the huge expanse of the dreaded substance they were floating upon.

A forceful blink brought her attention back to the present, once again having gotten distracted by a less than pleasant sidetrack. "I guess I'm a student here now," she stated as if it hadn't already been obvious. A small shrug indicated her continuing cluelessness.

Henry realized that those were probably really stupid questions.... It was strange she thought she had a different patch on her silly uniform though. He stretched and looked around again, clueless of what to do. Damn, 15. That was a shame. When he was fifteen he was to distracted on wanting to die. Luckily he hadn't done anything or he'd be like this sorry girl. "I turned 15 on my own. My girl had killed my dad the year before, and I never knew mum. Well. She isn't my girl anymore. Be nice if she was, but I hate her." He laughed a little. Yes he hated her, but there was something still there that connected him to her... The years had gone in her favor as well, he couldn't help but notice. Except the hair, that was unexpected.

"I almost killed her not to long ago. Her friend went after me. Been hiding since really. But it is what it is. I was stupid. " For some reason, talking about it felt better then avoiding the topic. What the hell would he have done if she died... He'd have no purpose. Seeming to be a bit frustrated he looked away from Irina. She wouldn't get it. He didn't get it.

Irina nodded at the first comment, inserting, "Same here. Not dead, my parents just left me at a boarding school so dad could keep traveling back and forth for work. For how often I saw them, though, it might've been the same as you."

The acknowledgement that it was his girlfriend who had murdered his father belatedly clicked in. What does one say to that? It's bad enough if your parent(s) died of natural causes, or even an accident... but murder? And by one's friend? She didn't notice his internal tangent as she was too busy trying to think of something to say in reply.

And then he dropped the following 'almost killed her' comment. In an odd way, that she could comprehend. If someone had killed her father, she knew she'd want some kind of payback... especially if she had the gifts she had now. The thought gave her chills. How easy would it be for her to kill someone if she could enter any room without detection? And closing off someone's throat while they slept... or even stopping his heart... it would be easy for her.

Irina shuddered visibly behind Henry's back, dragging her mind back to what he had been saying. Unpleasant sidetracks appeared to be the norm today. Something in his posture required a sympathetic response, but for the life of her (bad joke, sorry >.<) she had no idea what to say, so instead spoke the first thing to come to mind... for better or worse. "Not too long ago? Are you a new student too, then? This seems like the place to be, it's a haven for all sorts of us."

It was obvious to Henry the girl wasn't comprehending. It seemed she got that Jami had killed his father after not to long though. Of course she was more interested in the time though. "Yeah, like a month or so. I rather this place not have haters but I'll have to deal. It's better than at home." Henry looked at the ghost waiting for her stupid comments.

Henry had another question for her though, "How did you die, I honestly am curious." Had she been attacked, or had she been ill? Had she done something herself? Why? He drummed his finger tips against the wooden table, a random rhythm. Looking down he watch as a strew undid itself and went back into the wood. Playing with it was at least a little amusing.

(nice joke XD)

Haters here and at home were two concepts Irina understood quite well. Her silence lasted for as long as it took to remember her own unpleasant circumstances back at one of the places she'd been stuck in--hardly worth calling "home", but then she didn't have one really--and probably lasted longer than necessary, her mind dragging through all sorts of old drama that she would've been much happier forgetting. "I think most places would be better than where I lived last," she finally whispered. "Too bad, though, I would've liked to get on without that sort of nonsense."

She fell silent again at Henry's question, almost long enough to think she wasn't going to answer. "I was at a boarding school just north of New York City, and I drowned." She didn't seem to want to answer the question Henry really wanted to know, about motivation or cause, leaving it with 'I drowned' and a half-hearted shrug.

(I accept your approval of my crap humor! XD)

Henry had to agree with her first statement. It was better living here then in the village, even if Jami and her friends were here. Huh, drowning. What a stupid way to die. She was obviously holding back, or at least Henry assumed she was. New York city, she had said she lived in a boarding school there? What was that place like? "I've only been in two countries. England and here." From what he hear New York was marvelous.

He flipped through the pages of the book he had earlier and left it open on a ghost tale. He shoved it enough so it landed next to the girl. "At least your not one of those creepy ghosts that kills people."

About to respond to his traveling comment, the book sailed across the table and she chuckled. "I might need to figure out how to touch things before I could pull that off," she pointed out, still smiling. "But, uh... okay, that came out wrong." Irina raised one hand to smack herself lightly in the forehead, which appeared to work much the same as it would for any other non-ghost.

From behind her hand she changed the subject. "I was born in America, but my parents are Icelandic. Spent most of my childhood traveling back and forth, until high school, at least." The boarding school had not been her favorite place, but it had at least been one place, rather than several. "My mom didn't have time to home school me when I got to that level, not if I wanted to get into college." This comment is spoken drily, with as little emotion as she can manage, but her reasons are about as obvious as her trouble turning pages. She's hardly on her way to college now, is she?

"What was England like? I didn't stop long between the port and here... I don't even know what port it was, just somewhere on the mainland... er, main island? Whatever Britain is, relative to here."

Henry chuckled as she regretted her word chose. She better not go around killing people. There was honestly enough people around her doing that. It was a bit obvious she was from America, hearing her tone. At least boarding schools were nothing new to her. But home schooling was something Henry had been familiar with. When he was younger his father had taught him as he quickly found a strong suit for learning. But Henry always wanted to know more.

"It's nice, at least the part I grew up in. Lots of... green. The main land of the Island would be Scotland. I believe." Henry went to reach for the book but stopped looking around, "Say, would you pass that book over there?" He was still interested in seeing if she could figure it out. Maybe she didn't have to think. If she just acted just maybe she could touch something.

"I think it was somewhere in Scotland, not England, but I wasn't really paying attention. I know I went through part of Glasgow, but I don't remember if that was where the airport was or not. It's hard to tell distance when you aren't expending energy forcing one foot in front of the other." She reached out to slide the book back to him, one finger skewing it sideways for a fraction of a second, but then she blinked in realization and her hand slid into the pages instead. "Damn it! Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to swear." What a way to make an impression.

There must have been wheels turning in her head, because her thoughts had progressed when she started thinking aloud. "It was working, but when I realized, it stopped working. But, um... last time I tried to do it without thinking, it didn't work. What was different?" Glancing at the fairy she made a face. "Admittedly, it's hard to try something without thinking about it, because on some level you're making yourself do it." She looked embarrassed by her assumption, but the whole point of thinking aloud was to get feedback from others. If she hedged now, he might not comment on what she was getting at, just on her pithy sentiment.

Thinking about him brought her attention to him, and this time she considered. "When you fly, do you consciously tell your wings to start moving, or is it subconscious? I wonder if it's similar."