Summer Twilight

The first stars were appearing in a soft purple sky streaked with wisps of golden cloud as the sun began to sink beneath the mountains. After the heat of the day, Kayla was glad to see it go. A cool breeze carrying the smells of summer swept over the lonely hill, stirring the grass and making the leaves whisper faint lullabies in her ear. She was laid back, propped up against the tree's gnarled trunk, staring over the lake that reflected the twilight sky. One hand laid across her stomach; the other held a soda can.

The strains of a hundred crickets filled her ears. She'd always hated the stupid things for being so noisy, but right now, with their voices all layered together in a tranquil symphony, she didn't mind. There were other sounds too ― the hooting of an owl, the croaking of frogs, the mournful howls of distant coyotes, other noises she couldn't identify. It was what you'd expect out of some mountain valley in the middle of nowhere. Out of sight, out of mind. They didn't want anyone to be alarmed by the freaks, she supposed. Kayla raised the can to her lips, all too aware of uncontrollable energy coursing through her fingers. I guess I'm a freak too. Was she as weird as the rest of them? Outside of the obvious differences, everyone she'd met had been either stupid or eccentric or both. Annoying, though. Annoying most of all. When she'd met Ms. Escort Service out at the front gates, she thought she'd been in for a normal ride, relatively speaking. Then somebody tried to cave her chest in with her clothing.

Lain's letter back still burned in the back of her mind.

"You're just not trying hard enough."

She closed her eyes to shut it out, but she could still see her sister's neat, practiced handwriting.

"Don't skimp out on your promise."

He wasn't exactly one for appreciating nature, never was into strolling along the park or hiking or any of that, and certainly not in the mountains. This place was far from normal for him, in the middle of no-where with nothing but trees and grass and an unforgiving sun. A part of him longed for the cold, windy weather he'd grown up with, when there was almost always a cloud in the sky or a slight drizzle, aside from winter of course, when the sharp blizzards came rolling in. Most of all, though, he missed the ocean - being able to fight against the waves, or roll with them on a smooth board, even doing dumbass cliff dives into the freezing water.

Here, there was nothing but stupid weeds clinging to his jeans, crickets who didn't know when to shut up, and the slight paranoia that there had to been at least some snakes lingering nearby. With a silent groan, he brought his own canned drink up, the bitter taste providing a little comfort at least. He knew his brother wouldn't approve for sure, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? It wasn't as if he could go driving anywhere.

Preston figured it'd be worth it walking out to the wind-swept hill. Very few people traveled the area, he'd noticed, and he thought it was a good place to be alone - until he saw a shape laying out on the hill. Maybe not, but it couldn't have been all bad. He slowed down, trying to get a better look at the stranger - or their body anyways - before being mildly disappointed. Flat-chested. His disappointed grew as he drew closer. Too young. He was just having terrible luck at this place, really. "Aren't you out past your curfew?" Preston called, raising an eyebrow and shooting a glance at the quickly darkening sky.

If Kayla's expression didn't give away her surprise, the sparks did. They lit up the night for a moment in bright blue flashes as her heart jumped in her chest, the new presence shattering the fragile tranquility around the hill. Great. Burying her embarrassment and initial shock, she slowly turned her head to look at him, summoning the most contemptuous look she could muster. "I could ask you the same thing," she retorted, not bothering to try and stand. She took another sip from the soda and eyed the can in his hand. When the realization struck her, Kayla had to fight the smirk that threatened to form on her lips and crack the annoyed facade. After the run-in with that Irish twat, it was refreshing to see not everybody acted like a smug hall monitor. "You don't strike me as a stickler for rules, though."

For a second she'd forgotten that she was supposed to be annoyed. Kayla leaned her head back, resting it against the tree trunk and watching him closely, the look in her eyes bordering on insolent. "And what are you doing up here?"

The young man paused, eying the girl curiously as she looked shockingly up at him. With the last light of the day quickly dimming away, the blue currents that danced across her were clear and easy to see. Pres raised an eyebrow. He'd seen those sparks his entire life. Hell, you could say he knew it better than most people; and if left him wondering if it was even at all possible - her having the gift, that was - considering the odds. "You're gonna set the damn hill on fire doing that." He mused.

A small smile broke unto the Autumn's face as watch him in mild amusement, following her gaze to the aluminum can in his hands. "Nothing wrong with a little healthy rebellion," he said, walking up to the tree and leaning against it. The Autumn opted to stare out at the lake, taking another sip of his drink."Getting away from the crowd," He said simply, "Figured I might and try someplace that didn't completely blow." So far, his search had been for naught. "You?"

That struck a nerve, but Kayla tried her best not to let it show. She turned her gaze away and up towards the stars, which twinkled and shone like chips of ice in the dimming sky. "I've got it under control," she assured him with a small smirk, wanting to believe her own lie. A lonely spark ran down her arm, flashing and smoking, tickling her bare skin. It scurried up her hand and to the tip of her finger where it fizzed into nothingness. Kayla didn't look at him as he sauntered up and leaned against the tree, but from the corner of her eyes she caught him gazing over the lake. "Same, pretty much," she admitted, her grin turning sour. "Too many asshats, too little places to get away."

She took another swallow of soda and set the can aside. The asshats seem to find me anyways, though.

Preston didn't seem to buy it at all, simply scoffing instead. "Bullshit." he muttered, eying the small blue flash that disappeared at her fingertips. He himself never had to worry about being a living, breathing bug-zapper. The moment that his father had discovered his gift, he'd been taught to keep it under his thumb. Clearly, she had never had the same opportunity. He supposed he should've thrown her a tip, or make some lame comment on how careless she was, but he didn't even know her name - and it sure as hell wasn't his job to lecture her. "Are those small ass sparks the only thing you can manage?" The Autumn wondered aloud. He didn't bother to comment on much more than that, simply a little pleased he wasn't the only one a bit fed up with this place.

Her smirk died.

That small flicker of annoyance flared up into a blazing inferno. At once the little sparks scampering up and down her body seemed to burst and flash into a dazzling bright blue, transforming into writhing snakes of electricity that coiled around her arms and hissed angrily in the air.

She pushed herself onto her feet and held out her hand, where a crackling blue sphere the size of a golf ball formed in her palm. A leaf that'd been ripped from its branch fluttered too close to her face, and sparks shot out from her hair like an electrode. One lick of electricity lit it on fire. It burned up within seconds, curling and blackening, before scattering into ashes and embers. Kayla took a sauntering step forward, turning the sphere over in her hand. "People here really know how to get on a girl's nerves," she sighed. Strands of hair from her ponytail were beginning to stick up in odd places. "Is this good enough for you?"

The sphere raced up her finger to the tip of her nail. She pointed it up into the air and snapped, and with a sound like a gunshot, a spear-like bright blue beam shot off into the sky. It was more like a laser than lightning, and thunder seemed to rumble around them with a slight delay. The beam's afterglow still lingered, its image burned into the air. Kayla stuffed her hands into her pockets, looking bored and irritated. "I just can't catch a break, can I?"

While her smirk quickly died off, his only grew in mild amusement, leaning back on the tree and looking back down at her. He did not flinch once the currents around her erupted, his green gaze merely glinting with interest as he watched the stranger pull herself unto his feet. Even as the lightning reached over and licked at the tree and ran over his skin, he didn't move an inch - eyes narrowing as he saw the sharply made sphere hovering loosely in her grasp. Preston didn't seem truly impressed until the orb turned over in her grasped, shooting out in a blinding beam of light towards the sky.

"How'd you do that?" He wondered aloud with wide eyes, watching the last traces of her gift disappear into the night, allowing the stars to return into view. Pres glanced down at the girl, wondering how she could focus her gift enough to do - whatever it was you could call that, but couldn't even control her small off-set sparking. If that made sense. With a crooked smile, he shrugged and seemingly relaxed again. "I guess that wasn't too bad." Even as he tried to play it off as nothing, his actions betrayed him.

He took another sip from his drink before tossing it in his other hand and stepping away from the tree. Where her movements were hasty, brash, and and angry in nature; his were far more loose and carefree - his concentration only apparent in the way he narrowed his eyes as he brought his arm out. The sparks that gathered under his palm were small and numerous, a blurred fury at his fingertips. In a single heartbeat, they flashed to life, a blinding sphere of his own under his grasp. However it was far larger in size and Preston found himself gritting his teeth to even keep the shape together. Whips of electricity escaped, lashing out at whatever they could find, running through his body, alongside the hill, and up the tree behind them.

Preston soon gave up, muttering a curse under his breath and throwing the sphere away from him. It broke almost instantly, breaking apart into several sharp strikes across the sky. "Clearly too good for me." He smirked, shrugging and taking another drink, the last wisps of lightning disappearing from his grasp.

OOC: Shitty post inbound.

IC: A sudden fatigue washed over her, but Kayla was far too pleased with herself to pay it any mind. She bent her knees in a mock curtsy as her smug smirk returned to her lips. "Thank you, thank you," she near sang, annoyance momentarily forgotten. The little light-show was her ace-in-the-hole, so to speak. Her abilities had always come naturally to her, but it'd taken time and concentration to master that. Even after becoming so well-practiced with it, it'd sometimes leave her dizzy or off-balance. Occasionally it wouldn't even work at all. Kayla found that it depended on her mood more than anything, like every other aspect of her gift.

Her thoughts fled her mind when she saw him amble out from under the tree, sparks racing up his arm and to his fingertips. For a second she was afraid she'd hit him until it all flared up in a brilliant flash of light. A bright sphere was held in his hand, crackling, hissing, growing. She took a step back as electric tendrils flicked out at anything and anything they could find, jaw dropping, before he tossed it up into the air. It exploded like a firework.

It took a few moments for her to regain her composure. Kayla smiled again, curiosity tugging at her. "I thought it was impossible for two people to have the same gift?" she said. Currents zapped quizzically in the air around her head. "Or... two family members can't have the same gift? Was that it?" She contemplated it for a few moments, staring up at where the ball of lightning had exploded, and shrugged. "Something like that. I didn't pay much attention when they told me about it."

Preston shrugged, glancing back down at her - smiling a bit as he saw the small shocks that buzzed around her head, a tell-tale to her obvious confusion, if the look on her face wasn't enough. He wasn't exactly one to pay attention in class or to lectures either, but after hearing it repeated after so many times, it finally stuck. "Unlikely between strangers, but not impossible." He mused, watching the last trickle of sunlight disappear over the mountains. "My dear old dad has the same gift and they think my sister might have it as well." The Autumn shrugged, sitting down on the grass and taking another drink. "Maybe you and I are related somewhere down the line." He held the can out to her, offering for her to have a taste, if she liked. "What's your name anyways?"

Was that how it worked? Past caring, Kayla plopped herself onto the grass beside him. "Related, huh?" The idea didn't seem too farfetched. Supposedly she had family members here already ― some distant cousins from Nebraska whose names she'd already forgotten. It'd make sense for there to be more. Does that mean Lain has powers too? Somehow Kayla found that harder to believe. Even if she closed her eyes, she imagine her sister shooting sparks out of her fingertips. The image just wasn't right.

The can scattered her thoughts and left her mind blank. She stared at it, not comprehending what she was seeing, glanced to the mountains, and then back to the can again. Kayla offered him an uneasy smirk in return and took it. A queasy feeling settled in her stomach. Dad never guarded his open cans so well, but she'd never dared steal more than a sip, except for that one time. It'd been one bottle for Lain's birthday, hidden in a makeshift pillow fort, but she couldn't tell you whether it was the nervousness or the alcohol that made her vomit all over her sister's pajamas. After that, dad was the only one sipping beers in the house.

Kayla brought it to her lips and swigged it down. A burning taste like piss mixed with water washed over her tongue and down her throat. She set the can aside, wrinkling her nose, and pinned her stare onto the horizon. Terrible. "My name?" she repeated, turning the words over in her mouth. It struck her that this was the first time anybody had asked her name. "Kayla," she answered after a moment of deliberation. "Kayla Croft. You're not a Croft too, are you?"