Feel and Conquer

How long had she been chasing after Lulu?

Too long. Way too long.

She shouldn't have had to go through all of this trouble just to make sure her cat would listen to her. From the moment she woke up, he was already being a nuisance. Constantly scratching at the doorway and mewling as though he had nothing better to do. Knocking over her breakfast, ripping apart her homework, bumping into a table with a vase. The worst part? Nicola knew that Lulu was doing it all on purpose to get attention, which was why she didn't surrender to her own insanity by now and tugged at her own hair in frustration. Quickly scribbling answers onto another copy of worksheets, she was this much away from tossing her shoe at the feline, but held back. Even if it was annoying at times, there was no way she'd hurt her cat on purpose. At least, that's what she thought.

Most of the time, Lulu was very lazy. Always taking up the couch space when it was available or rolling around on her bed, forcing her to take the ground, it could be said that the cat was stubborn as hell. But it was cute and she still adored petting it and playing around. This however, should not equate to "playing around". This was more of a hindrance, if anything. Never ever could she remember having to go on a wild goose chase just to make sure her cat would stay in the dorm while she was leaving.

"Lulu... You have to stay here!" she had said at least three or so times, using a scolding voice that only a teacher would use on a misbehaving student. But her pet didn't listen and with an annoyed growl, it had darted out the door while it was opened and scrammed through the hallways. And here she was, having run from the Summer dormitory to the Lounge with a sprint, the cold breeze biting at her cheeks. January was getting colder and colder than she could remember. If this wasn't bad enough, her asthma was kicking in, the growing pain in her chest reaching as she made her way through the courtyard. She needed to take a break, no matter how else she thought about it. Her hand reached for the door knob, swinging the door open, and glancing around. It didn't seem like anyone else was inside, but she felt too dizzy and lightheaded to do anything about it.

Keeping support on the stairway railing with hand, the other having its finger squeeze at the bridge of her nose to try and alleviate the pain, Nicola slowly proceeded down to the lower floor. Unceremoniously, she flopped onto the blue sofa. She took a few moments to catch her breath, hand resting on her forehead, and let her eyes flutter to a close. That was, until she heard a soft purring, as though...

... Oh. Lulu was nuzzling someone, sitting beside them. And that someone just happened to be someone that she knew. Best luck. There wasn't any plans to see either of the two since the little 'party' at the infirmary with nurse boy, but here she was with one of the two. Great.

Nicola immediately sat up, her elbow covering her mouth as she began to cough. Maybe running wasn't such a good idea, especially when she shouldn't be doing anything to agitate her ankle. Ugh, no more.

She didn't want to deal with this anymore.

Her dorm was hardly a safespace from the drama that was Nicola and Owen. The girl had left the infirmary a day prior, donning a cane and an awkward limp, one she had gotten far too used to. It was immensely worse in the earlier stages of her injury. She didn't seem to mind it, but sitting down was something that made her feel normal, where she didn't seem like an old woman.

It was at least mostly pain that inhibited her walking, but it was still in her lower back, a section which was intermingled with numbness. Would she need a cane for the rest of her life? Was Nicola right? She never wanted to entertain the idea of that girl being correct about anything, much less something so serious, but the aloof girl had a point. She should have been way worse. There couldn't be a way to escape permanent damage.

The pencil in her hand waved over the sketchbook, making globular lines over the page. Nicola's eyes. She made sure to make them piercing, to transmit the cyan of an icy blue without color, white to blend with the page. Her lips, thin and soft, as she remembered them clearly. Hair a stark whitish blonde, as bleak as the Russian snow. She was Russian, correct? That was something she could say she knew about the girl, right? She made sure to end the mouth in a small frown, the opposite of which she hadn't seen in ages.

But art wasn't always about realism, and Madison flinched, hesitating, and erased the small curve of her mouth. A smile. Nicola looked nice with a smile. If only she would do that more, a gesture that would make her a little more pleasant to see. Madison would not have wandered over to the vacant Tuesday night lounge to avoid the possible knock. Last time they knocked at her door, it reverberated darkness into the sunset room.

There was a prompt nudge against the girl's leg, which had been propped on the couch as she had confined herself to the edge. Despite the pain of her injury, her alarm at the possibility of someone sneaking up on her overshadowed it, and she jumped back, fireworks of numbness searing through her back, dull and slow like burning molasses, and she knocked down her cane in the process. There was a clap as it landed next to her shoes. She realized the touch was actually that of a cat, but her biggest worries were picking the walking device up. She would have to crouch over, and that simply was not going to happen.

"Oooh..." She eyed the cat from the valley of her legs, whose tail slashed back and forth like death's scythe. It purred violently, a lifelong content in its eyes. A creature of the night pervading the space of a creature of day. The corners of the girl's mouth were not meant to rise, but they sometimes had a mind of their own, and succumbed to the animal's goofy charm. She put a hand to its ears, scratching to the crescendo of purrs the animal erupted in.

Nicola would have scared her if Madison had not been looking up at the right time. A frown, a frown. The girl gulped. The lightbulb overhead gave the slightest of flickers.

"I didn't know you had a cat," she said simply. She didn't even know that this was what Nicola had been chasing, but her sudden appearance and silent pant were enough context for a guess. Madison's mouth hung with not a frown, but an ajar comfort, a resting face only achieved by her leaning forward to pet Nicola's animal. It didn't even seemed to notice its owner's presence.

Owen had always been a dog person. They kept at least three on the farm at all times, occasionally more if one had a litter, and he spent working days with them at his heels. He wasn't opposed to cats. They had plenty of those on the farm as well, mostly to keep the mouse problem down, and he often paused as he left for school or came home to scratch the friendlier ones behind their ears. He simply preferred the loyalty, kindness, and happiness that dogs were known for.

Lying on his bed on top of the covers, Owen desperately wanted a dog. The past several weeks had been a blur of emotions that he didn't want to experience anymore. Being friends with Nicola and Madison wasn't so bad. They were nice people, he was sure, but the last time he had tried to do something nice for them it hadn't gone so well. If he had a dog, he could go for runs again, he could spend time with it and it would always be glad to be near him. No conflicting emotions, no dangerous situations, just happiness.

He knew there was a shop in Rosebury. He had saved enough money that it wouldn't be a problem to just run down there and buy a dog. But he didn't think he was ready to start taking care of one just yet, not when his life was still settling down. With a heavy sigh, Owen pushed himself off the bed and readjusted his sweatshirt so it felt warmer on him.

One step towards getting a dog was starting to run again. It had still been sunny, warm, and dry the last time Owen went for a run, and now it was rainy, cold, and wet. The sweatpants he wore would keep his legs dry, and if he got too warm, he would take his sweatshirt off. After one look around his room, he left the dorm, walked down the stairs, exited the building, and started to jog.

There was something relaxing about running. Owen could feel his muscles begin to relax into the familiar motions and his legs settled into a familiar rhythm. Every thought left his mind, the cold disappeared, and his only focus was his breathing. The trees and rain suddenly appeared beautiful from here. He watched them bob up and down in the corner of his vision as he ran along the edge of the building and followed a path that led towards the forest. He felt at ease, more in touch with himself than he had been in months.

The run was over faster than he had anticipated. His lungs were out of practice and were burning, his muscles aching from the exertion, and his eyesight was slightly fuzzy from the sweat beading on his forehead. Hands on his waist, Owen walked back towards the school buildings, fighting his own legs to walk. His breathing was starting to get under control, but he knew he had to stop and stretch before his muscles seized up. The lounge came into view, and he made a beeline directly for it.

Upon entering the room, Owen froze, staring across the room. He just couldn't catch a break from Madison and Nicola. True, it had been a while since he'd seen them, but it seemed he couldn't go anywhere without running into one or the other. With a bright smile on his face, he walked towards them, his breathing finally under control but still ragged.

As he got closer, he saw that Madison was petting a small animal. He realized it was a cat that was purring, rubbing its nose on the girl's fingers in true cat fashion. Owen stopped at the edge of the couch and smiled at Madison and Nicola.
"I see you guys have replaced me already," he teased.

Nicola eyed Lulu for a few moments and back to Madison, almost a little envious that her cat would spend some time with a stranger that it conveniently bumped into when planning its escape from her dorm. When she pointed out the fact that she had no idea that Nicola owned a cat, blue eyes blinked. Oh, would you look at that? Madison was still going to make conversation with her after all of this. The first thing she registered through her bleary vision was that a cane was by the girl's leg, or rather on the ground. Carefully, she went down on her knees and picked it up, propping it back on the side, the cane leaning against the couch for support. The second thing she saw was the sketchbook resting on Madison's lap, a picture coming into shape that looked awfully familiar. White hair, blue eyes, and--- wait, was that a smile? She wanted to get a closer look and maybe snatch the book up, but her mind dissuaded against it.

The drawing was rather accurate, for the most part. Maybe work on the anatomy here and there, but hey? What did she know about drawing? Instead, a wry smile formed on her features as she plopped down on the blue velvet cushions. After a few moments, Lulu abandoned its post by Madison and ran back over to its owner, seemingly having gained awareness, its tail swishing back and forth as he pawed for attention. With an exasperated sigh, Nicola's hand ran over its back, a satisfied purr rumbling from his throat as his dark grey ears perked up. "I didn't know you could draw, either." The soft chime from the bell hanging around his collar clicked together. "Not too shabby, by the way."

Just then, the pitter-patter of someone's footsteps sounded, echoing down the stairway. As though it were fate, the other persons he had least expected to see around again was none other than Flashlight, also known as Owen. The tall boy with blonde hair that had wound up meeting her on his first day after Madison fell into the fountain or something - she forgot - and asked to borrow her clothes. The corners of her mouth fell a little, her legs kicking up onto the coffee table and front of them as she allowed herself to feel a bit at home in a place that most definitely didn't belong to her. When she heard him make a joke about replacing him, her smile immediately brightened up as Nicola eyed him tiredly.

"Aww, you're afraid a lil' kitten will replace the one and only Flashlight?" She replied in between heavy breaths as Owen lingered around at the edge of the sofa. Her cat immediately sniffed around, seeking interest at the new person who had began to come around. Within moments, he was nudging at his hand, begging for more attention from as many people as it could possibly get. Nicola showed no signs of stopping Lulu, letting the feline do its own thing however he felt like doing, only another sigh escaping her.

"Lulu, you're a tad too needy."

Just a tad bit.

"Don't--." It seemed that before she could try and avoid it, Nicola had teleported to the other end of the couch, and she could not cover her art in time. What kind of insults would torrent down upon her like hail, when she had to umbrella, no way to run off. It surprised her at the sun Nicola presented to her. A compliment, even one as minor as that one, took her by surprise and brightened her eyes. "Thanks," she said silently, and gave another one at the gesture for the cane. "Thanks." Madison gave a final stroke to the small kitten, before it trailed away to another victim, who an upward glance revealed to be Owen. It was quite the small world.

"Hey," She looked up at the rather...tired looking boy. Her face reddened on activation from her lips. "Did you come from the gym? Um, I assume that cus--um, you're sweating, n-not that that's bad, maybe that's--that's fine, Hi." She breathed. "Hello." It was easy to get worked up if she didn't plan what she was saying correctly before she spoke. "I'm out of the infirmary now--well, not entirely--well, yes, entirely, but I have a cane now. I'm like an old woman, but not, I don't want to be old, age is scary." You're an idiot. "I'm sorry, how are you, I haven't seen you in a while." She gave a rigid turn to look at Nicola. "Nicola, how are you, I haven't seen you in a while." You're an idiot, you're an idiot. How she longed for a cat to distract her from her social woes. That little traitor! It scampered away too early, leaving her to die. And she couldn't run. Maybe not ever.

Owen smiled out of instinct rather than humor at Nicola's Flashlight quip. Absentmindedly, he stuck out a hand to the cat, which started to flirt with him as it had been with Madison.
"Nothing wrong with being a little needy, huh?" he said to the cat. He scratched the top of its head as he studied the scene he had come upon, Madison with her sketchbook and Nicola breathing heavily. He wanted to get a closer look at what the former had been drawing, but worried about invading her privacy, he stayed out of it, focusing on the sweet animal in front of him.

Madison's rambling dragged his attention away from the cat. With a bemused half-smile, he listened to her, studying her movements and the way she talked. The cat at his fingertips impatiently rubbed its face, but he wasn't paying attention anymore. Something about her nervousness intrigued him and, though he wanted to ask about it, he remained silent out of fear that any questioning would make her not want to speak at all.

"Hello, I'm fine, thank you," Owen said with a short laugh. "I just came from a run, that's why..." He gestured to his red face to finish his explanation. As the subject was brought up again, he realized he was feeling warm. The sweatpants and shirt had been covering enough for the cold weather outside, but now that he was inside and still recovering, he felt too warm. He quickly removed the sweatshirt, straightened his t-shirt, and sat down in a chair with his arms hanging over the sides.

Nicola didn't bother with giving a verbal cue to say that she heard Madison's thanks, only a small nod as she turned back up to Owen, whose breathing and sweating seemed greater than hers. Ah yes, he had just gone running. That figured. Being that tall must have its perks... longer strides, probably more energy, and a better build fit for being an athlete. His height was something she always mused at - it reminded her of a certain basketball student-player she met in a storm of cicadas. Perhaps she should drop by him later or message him or something. Yeah, she should do that.

She only rolled her eyes when he gave Lulu similar treatment that Madison had given him, spoiling the kitten with all the attention it wanted. The question wasn't directed her at least, and so she diverted her focus away from her pet and towards the girl who seemed to be rambling more than she could remember her ever speaking before. Did Madison normally talk this much? It was almost like her face was growing blue from lack of breath, getting overwhelmed over the slightest of gestures. Her wry grin grew more Cheshire-like. She really was socially awkward. At least she wasn't an awful introvert... kinda.

Before she realized it, her friend was repeating the same phrases over and over again to the both of them. Blue eyes blinked, one hand raising with a slight wave to return the greeting that she hadn't noticed they were missing. Nicola feigned a cough to clear her throat, letting the words fly freely without so much as a pause to think. "Doin' fine and dandy. Leg's been recovering a decent bit, so I can kinda run every now and then." Kinda run whenever she didn't have a brother hovering over her back or popping up in the most unexpected places when she least considered him coming. "A cane's pretty cool, though. They make decent makeshift staves or swords." She pulled her elbow over her head in a quick stretch before reaching over and taking her kitten by her fingers.

Lulu spent a good amount of time pawing at the air in protest, but once he was resting on her lap again, he was almost out like a light. Fingers carefully stroked down its spine, earning a soothing purr in response. "Though, I guess weapons aren't really somethin' we need quite yet." Yet. She wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with another demon-angel clash out in the middle of nowhere again. That wasn't the most enjoyable experience ever, but hey, there's been worse.

"Fine and dandy..." Madison found herself repeating the phrase, then realizing she said it out loud, added with a perk, "Sounds southern, kinda..." At the mention of weapons, Madison thought about how some kids carried their around freely. Lotte had told her it was more frequent at the reopening of the school, but it still persisted to her own eyes. Did they really not need it? Madison always felt like the school was preparing for something, like an attack of sorts, but that was perhaps the paranoia of her crippling. She shifted again. Her back felt wet with numbness; it was almost liquid.

The girl felt like she was in a bed, surrounded by people sitting around her recline. She hated this feeling, but was used to it. To be in a hospital setting alone wasn't too bad, on the contrary, as it was soothing. Especially at night. The infirmary was her own expanse at night. Well, save for Myles, who would show up from time to time. Night, night, it's soothing tendrils, gripping around her, calming her loneliness in a way people could not. She had hardly slept. Her servants always waited with yellow eyes pressed to the window along the front of the building. Stepping forth, she'd wobble forward and press herself to them too. It was cold to the touch, always colder than anything she had ever felt.

The worst sound she had ever heard was the beating of glass, the strongfisted boom, boom, boom, when it was incapable of being broken yet tested to a limit it would never achieve in reality. It had a twisted whistle of infinite resistance, like a kettle heated on a black night's stove, echoing in a space that was not reality, her space. Crack, whistle, splint, whirp. She was half in it at all times, in reality verses the world of the shatterless glass. She was not anyone's queen, she was just close enough for them to take her. They beat on the glass to drag her away. Everything was terrifying. Especially at night.

Madison had found herself in the grips of a sketch, a puppet of her mind's frantic masquerade. Shapes pulled themselves across the page. Lanky, bloated, tall, fat, dark. They were all dark. Yellow eyed, dark vermin. She was no queen, these were not her subjects. Lotte was wrong. She'd never go out there again.

"Who knows?" She said, turning her page a few times, past what seemed to be a dozen small doodles of her subjects, ones she did not remember. And at a blank one, she started to sketch a boy. Owen. Her eyes flicked up and down with peculiar arbitraries.

The exchange between Madison and Nicola was much more civilized than Owen had seen in a while. It made him smile, the idea that they could be a normal group of friends doing normal things. Here in the Lounge, it seemed damn near impossible that any demons or shadow monsters could disrupt their days or hurt them like they had before. Here in the light, they were safe. It was where he felt the most comfortable.

As they talked, Owen hardly moved his head, his eyes flicking from Nicola to Madison and back again. They weren't saying much, it was true, but he almost preferred it this way, this quiet company they were keeping. He had never expected to enjoy being quiet with his friends. When he had spent time with his friends at home, they were always being told to lower the volume and tone it down. It was a nice change.

Thoughts of his old friends entered his mind. Bitter thoughts and sour memories floated through, refusing to leave no matter how much he tried to get rid of them. It was a never-ending circle of a thought process. Ever since he had left and come here, the last night rang in his head in the silent moments, the ache for everything he had had that was taken away from him in just a few minutes of selfishness, the longing to return and apologize despite his being in the right. Owen had done the right thing after all, hadn't he?

Nicola's weapon talk brought the image of Madison wielding her new cane like a sword to his mind, and he had to stifle a laugh, covering his mouth with a hand in order to make it less obvious.
"Weapons seem almost obsolete when you have a supernatural power," he said, holding up his hands and gathering the smallest bit of light. It was released almost as soon as he had gathered it.

Sure, having all-powerful supernatural gifts probably negated the whole point of weapons. When you could control fire from your mouth or turn into an angel or summon an army of skeletons, something as simple as a metal blade didn't seem to do much. People could get their injuries healed within an instant around these parts and some could probably revive from the dead. Controlling people or taking over the bodies seemed plausible as well. Gifts didn't seem to have any limits to them. They could really be anything that the mind could imagine. It was like they had been ripped out of some mad scientist's head, each one dissected one by one and redistributed among random, unsuspecting children. Owen had a pretty good point to that, but he was missing too many variables for Nicola to give him any credit for saying that.

The fact that superpowers like their's existed must mean that other supernatural things existed as well. Hell, maybe some of those superstitions people had back in the Middle Ages were true as well. There were also those rumors about a cave somewhere out there in the forest - heaven knows how much of the wilderness they would have to trudge along to find it - that turned off every single gift and rendered them as useless as trash. Training their gifts was fine, but what if they couldn't use them? Nicola grimaced a little at the idea of her peers running around confused and completely defenseless in the face of danger. That situation was certainly a possibility.

With a long sigh, her blue eyes focusing on the ray of light emitting from Owen's fingertips, Nicola shook her head. "Nu-uh. Learning to fight is too important to pass up." A contemplative expression was evidently written over her features, her chin tucked gently within her palm. "Not like gifts aren't just as important, but... 'ya know." One knee had drawn itself closer to her chest, her other leg acting as a bridge between the sofa to the coffee table. If any gift could exist in the world, then surely there must be? "There must be somethin' out there that'd power down your gift. What would you do then?"

Nicola blew a stray strand of hair away from her eyes, glancing back towards Madison. At least she tried to learn that one time, sparring against D'Angelo. "Say, have you gone back to the gym lately?" Not practicing was detrimental to the progress of anything. It meant you'd forget what you were learning and have to start from square one, whether it was music, drawing, fighting, or anything.

Has she gone back to the gym lately? Madison looked up from her sketch, surprised to find Nicola looking at her. That was directed towards her? "It's kind of hard to work out not w--if I can't walk--well, I have a cane, you know..." Wasn't this the same girl that, just days ago, announced that there was a good chance she'd be paralyzed in some way. There were bristles of annoyance that went through her neck, the spine that occupied her mind. Mostly, however, Madison was curious if this was even Nicola. She was being so nice all of a sudden. She was never one to partake in doublethink.

"No," she reiterated silently, swallowing nothing in particular. Her eyes were glued to her book. "I haven't been able to for weeks..."

What would he do? It was true, Owen relied on his gift for a lot. When the power went out, he always gathered the family together, no need to keep a flashlight on his nightstand. He could solar power his own house if he needed to. But if it was taken from him, he would only be somewhat inconvenienced, forced to keep a flashlight and power his house in a way that was bad for the environment. Then again, he had never been in a fight with someone who had a gift like him.

Nicola changed her focus to Madison and it distracted Owen from his thought process. He wondered why Nicola would be asking her about going to the gym. They had both been there when she was injured, they had both seen what happened to her. They had come away with their own injuries. She had a cane with her.

Maybe they could all start going to the gym together. That would be something else entirely. He smiled to himself, leaning his head on the hand that had its elbow propped on the armrest. He was starting to lose track of the conversation and situation, simply watching the other two interact, the exhaustion from his run wearing on him just the slightest.

It wasn't like she had completely forgotten about Madison's cane. She even picked it up for her just moments ago and that little soiree in the infirmary certainly made her remember the paralysis tidbit. After all, that was the truth and here Ms. Queen of Darkness was, unable to walk properly without some kind of device to aid her. She definitely should've specified what she meant. That question was overly vague and it certainly wasn't something that she would've liked; anything that included "lately" usually spanned within the last few weeks, a month at maximum. Setting a good range would've been a much better option, but she honestly didn't feel like digging through the gears that spun in her mind to find a memory of that one time that they had run into each other and Madison pitted herself against a boy that was practically Owen's height - she held her own at least. Nicola sighed again, turning her head towards the ceiling, allowing it to fall back lazily and be cushioned by the couch's soft plush. "Oopsie. Probably should've elaborated, huh?" Her intention hadn't been to bemuse Madison after all... that might come at a later time.

"Have you been there since we met up with D'Angelo that one time?" That seemed too long ago, but it must've only been a few months since then. Or was it already a year? Time flew by so quickly like a small fire spreading around, infecting everything with its heat in a matter of moments before anyone could react until it was too late. It could be a virus like that one that everyone that would be a pandemic so many years ago. Ebola, if she could recall correctly. People get paranoid so easily, don't they?

Glancing over towards Owen, the corners of her lips turned down into a frown at whatever he was amused of. What was he smiling for this time? Nicola rolled her eyes, loudly clearing her throat. "Got an answer or not, Flashlight?"

"No," said Madison absentmindedly, looking down at her stomach. Did she look overweight? She certainly didn't feel overweight. "I don't train like that anymore. Lotte Redwaltz doesn't make me train like that--don't...I'm fine." She was ready to defend herself, before Nicola's onslaught, but the words backtracked on themselves and bubbled out in a sideways glance. She frowned, and her eyes seemed to cross over themselves and she grew cross with herself. The sounds of her sketching were loud, a sketch she didn't want to do anymore, but she was compelled to act for the sake of keeping herself focused elsewhere.

The lightbulb overhead flickered.

Owen looked over as Nicola addressed him, the smile falling from his face so that he could look interested, as though he had been listening the whole time.
"Uh, no," he answered her. Thanks to her question, he was now considering taking up some sort of weapon training. What exactly would he use? The best thing he had ever worked with were his fists. He couldn't think of anything else he would want to use, yet his power was practically useless in any sort of fighting scenario.

He was distracted from speaking further when Madison seemed to become uncomfortable and tense, focusing hard on the sketchbook in front of her. Wanting to ease the situation before anything worse could happen, he sat up straight.
"Maybe once Madison is feeling a little better, we could all go together," he suggested. Even if the dark-haired girl was unable to do anything herself, he and Nicola could perhaps train together. What he could train for, he didn't know, but surely it would do him some good.