Arcane [open]

He wasn't sure what to expect out of a place like this.

Maybe he'd had some stupid ideas in his head when he'd walked in. No matter how he pictured it, he couldn't shake that haunted feeling off his shoulders. Just walking down the halls felt like every eye was on him, but in a lot of ways, it was just like you'd expect out of a normal high school. People laughing, yelling. Math, English. Stupid drama. He didn't know anyone yet besides the two he'd bumped into on his first day, at least on a personal basis, but he couldn't help but pick up the little snippets of gossip from around the rumor mill. Not that it meant much to him when he couldn't pick out one name from another, but some of them got disturbing...

There were all those little reminders that this place wasn't normal.

For other people, you'd be desensitized. After awhile, it'd become your new normal. Maybe you wouldn't even notice half the little subtleties and telltale signals, even if you'd never imagined a world with gifted before fire started shooting out of your hands.

But for him, it flashed out like police sirens. Warning signs. It wasn't enough to call them red flags. For him, it was that sharp anxiety that tiptoed down your spine, the cold in your face, the chill in the room. Sometimes, he got caught up in that wholly irrational fight-or-flight instinct, where every muscle screamed at him to bolt, even in something as simple as a normal conversation.

It was stupid.

He wasn't a coward. Even most of the other initiates would adjust quick enough. But for him, it was more than just nerves, or unfamiliarity. It'd be wrong to call it that. He knew where he was and he knew the ins and outs, and that was the problem. Elliot was a sheep in wolf's clothing. Sooner or later, they'd smell it on him.

But that was just his mind running away from him. He was a normal student here, like everyone else. There wasn't anything to hide. Elliot scratched the back of his head, sighing, and thumbed through the rows of spines.

'The Book of the Law'
'The Great Gatsby'
'The Sound and the Fury'
'The Winds of Winter'

Still, he couldn't shake that crushing pressure of invisible isolation.

He shuffled further down the isle, toward the weathered, less flashier tomes crammed in the furthest corner of the shelf. Elliot ran his finger along the length of the cover. Dust. He couldn't help but crack a slight grin. What kind of library were they running here?

Elliot pulled the book from the shelf and flipped it open. It didn't have a title, just a faded symbol scratched into the cover and a name on the first page.

"Whatcha got there?" A short, small-framed figure had come up behind Elliot, her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. While most would have probably looked down at the book while peeking from behind someone, Pax didn't solely due to her short height making it somewhat unnecessary. At least, until she bent down and moved slightly to look at the cover of the book. Freaky cover. "Learning the dark arts, oh mighty wizard?" Pax wore a lighthearted smile as she spoke the words, meaning them more playfully and jokingly than anything. While you weren't supposed to go around judging books by their covers, this one looked pretty cool. She'd never heard of Caerwyn Owen though.

He almost jumped out of his skin.

It was a small voice, but you weren't supposed to sneak up on people like that. He snapped the book close and turned his head to glance at the stranger. Another girl. A small smile spread across his face, rubbing the back of his neck. "Something like that, at least." The old thing did give off that kind of vibe. Fitting, for this place. Elliot had just been curious if they would've had it. Curiosity satisfied. Now it felt like poison in his hands. He clutched it tighter, obscuring the sigil with his sleeve. "You shouldn't read over people shoulders, y'know," he teased.

Pax shifted her gaze from the book up at Elliot with a mischievous grin, who almost towered over her. He was kinda tall, but Pax was also a huge shorty... er, especially short shorty? He had looks going for him too, although that cleeearly didn't matter. Pax definitely wasn't that kind of person to care about appearances. Definitely. Totally. "Maaaybe, but I do a bunch of shit I probably shouldn't be doing. You better not be a boring goody two-shoes either, because you sure seem like a pretty cool dude, mister...?" Pax trailed off, waiting for him to respond with his name. She'd meant what she said, too. He looked like he was definitely a pretty fun guy. She sure as shit didn't wanna be wrong about that.

Mischievous. Fitting. That probably meant trouble. "I don't know what'd give you that idea," he laughed, shifting. He was as about as boring as you could get, and he wasn't exactly a stickler for the rules, but you could call him a bit of a goody-two-shoes. If she was looking for the up-to-no-good punk types, she probably wouldn't find them in the library. "Elliot. Nice to meet you."

She nodded as he spoke his name. "I'm Pax." Not a common name by any extent of the imagination, but she personally liked it plenty. It was kinda funny how it sounded following the name Elliot though. "I dunno, you just don't seem like you'd be a boring guy. Don't worry though, I'm not some kinda hardcore rebel who runs around breaking every rule I can yelling 'FUCK THA POLICE!' every five seconds. So Elliot, what's with the book, anyways? Planning on summoning Satan? He's a busy man, y'know." Pax made sure to deepen her voice at the mention of disregarding the constabulary. While she didn't actually believe Elliot was planning any satanic rituals, she couldn't help but be curious as to why he had the book. Maybe just because it looked fucking cool as hell?

Pax? Was that short for something? "That's a nice name," he said, just out of instinct. His sister had always told him to compliment a girl's name. Always. He winced at her volume. "This is a library, y'know..." he said with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. N.W.A. and some chattering about summoning Satan, that wasn't the kind of stuff you were supposed to shout out loud, especially here. Elliot pulled the book tighter against him. "Sorry to disappoint, but it's nothing that exciting. It's something I've read before, actually. Kind of a tedious read." She didn't look like the academic type. "Think of it like a biology textbook."

Awwww. That was a hell of a lot more boring than black magic or demonic rituals. Maybe it was time for a topic that was a bit more interesting, since the cool looking book turned out to be not so cool after all. A biology book didn't deserve to have a cool cover like that. "Oh. Yeah, biology is always boring as hell. Did you know mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell? I bet I'm the only person on the planet who knows that oh so interesting fact. But you know what isn't mind-numbingly boring? Magic powers and shit. What's your gift, Elliot? Can you shoot lasers from your eyes? Can you lift things with you mind? C'mon, tell me."

Magic powers... Well, you could look at it that way. "Nothing that cool. I guess I'm a mind-numbingly boring kind of person." Elliot's mind was whirring. "It's a bit too complicated to explain."

Too complicated? But what if it was really complicated because it was cool as fuck? "Aww, come ooooooon, tell me! I'll tell you my gift." Pax paused for a moment, and a mischievious grin snuck onto her face for just a moment before Pax forced it to look more flirty than amused. "If you tell me, I'll show you my boobs~!" Aw man, this was hard. Pax used every ounce of her will to keep her amusement hidden, and even then, her smile looked off, at least of you paid attention to it. She didn't plan on actually flashing Elliot, but she wanted to know what his cool gift was, not to mention the look on his face would probably be funny as hell. If he fell for it and did tell her, she'd still share her gift. Pax planned on playing this little prank as long as possible either way though. She gripped the bottom of her olive hoodie, looking at Elliot expectantly. Sayitsayitsayitsayit!

Jayson wrote:

  Jayson