Sorry, I Burned The Door [OPEN]

A sizzle hit Hunter's ears as his fingertips pushed the door to his dorm open. The boy swore and jerked his fingers away, groaning at the blackened wood. A clear handprint was left on the surface. He shook his head, elbowing the door the rest of the way open. The initiate dorms were nothing special, but it was his home until his placement. His mind was buzzing with terrifying thoughts. Would his mother be mad that he left without a goodbye? He tried not to think about it.

Hunter ran a hand through his auburn mane and parked his suitcase by the door to one of the bedrooms, claiming it for himself automatically. He took his fingerless blue gloves from his pocket and slipped them onto his hands, studying the flame-retardant material. They belonged to his sister, and they were her favorite color. His brown eyes scanned the room. So far, nobody had arrived yet. The boy collapsed on the couch, worn out from the busy day. He walked all the way up to the academy from where he was dropped off. He started to regret it as he kicked up his feet and cracked open a can of soda. He heard the door creak and sat up, peering at the entrance. He narrowed his eyes teasingly at the person who came in, a smirk curling at his lips. "'Sup?" he greeted casually, taking a swig from his drink, "I'm your roomie, I guess."

Young Ben had flinched at the sight of the burned wood and a clear handprint centered in the now charcoal coloured door. Glancing up at the metal plate with a few small numbers etched nicely into it, he gave a little sigh. Glancing at his papers, the same number stood brightly against the rest of the text, indicating his dorm number until his dorm placement test. Was he living with a pyro? Finding out his ex-girlfriend was a fire user was enough of a scare for the small brunet, but now he was to live with one?

Letting out a shaky breath, he pushed the door open and peered inside. A flame-haired boy sat-- no, lazed across the couch with his feet up and a can of soda grazing his lips. Attempting to swallow the rising lump in his throat, the boy gave a swift nod and pushed into the dorm, his duffle-bag hanging loosely in his arms.

"I-I'm Benjamin. You can call me Ben," he introduce, placing his bag by one of the bunks and holding out a hand, completely forgetting he wasn't wearing his gloves.

She was returning to the dorms after a long day, Tara didn't even notice that a small part of the door was burned but when she had heard some chatting from outside the door it had peaked her interest, maybe a new roommate? She had opened the door to the dorm and glanced around, noticing someone that she didn't reconize. Laying on the couch with his feet up! There was no way that she was going to live with someone with no house manners, even though Tara was only going to be in here for a couple more weeks until she got sorted. "Listen, you can't just put your feet up like that, its disgusting." She had said giving him a glare, "I dont like to live with slobs."

Hunter smiled sincerely for once at Ben, gripping his hand in a firm shake. He set down his drink and quickly ruffled his hair, staring the boy down curiously. "Hunter Hart. You look kinda nervous, dude. I don't bite, and I have gloves on, so I won't burn you either." The taller boy tapped his finger against his other hand. "Forgot to put them on when I came in, though. I'm just so hot that I burned the door!" Hunter flipped his hair jokingly, showing his "beauty." His tongue poked through his teeth as he laughed, another quirk of his. 

His laughter faded when a girl marched in and instantly branded him a slob. He cocked an eyebrow at her, an unintentional attempt to charm her into silence. "Well, let me at least buy you dinner before you turn into my wife," he teased, "Though you are very pretty, I'm not ready for an elope." Even with the sarcastic remark, he put his feet down and picked his drink back down. He waved her over with a smirk. "I'm Hunter. To whom do I owe the honor of marrying?"

Ben was about to relax when he felt the boy's skin touch his. "Oh no..." he mumbled and pulled away as fast as he could. Just before the brunet pulled away, he caught the sight of small, golden feathers appearing on his body, and almost felt nauseous to the core.

Pulling his hand up to his mouth, the feathers receded, as well as the sickening feeling. This display of his power, along with the blatant flirting Hunter was doing caused him to blush furiously and pull away from him and the new girl. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his gloves, he slipped them on quickly and held his hands close to himself.

"U-Um, I'm sorry," he mumbled, fidgeting with his hands. His mother saw Power Replication as a gift. The boy only saw it as a curse. Especially when he had no control over it.

Tara had only smirked slightly. "Sorry to decline,I already ate." The blonde had said with a slight look of disgust in her eyes. Only to look completely flustered when Hunter had mentioned marriage and eloping."Sorry don't marry slobs, I like my house nice and clean." The blonde had glanced towards Hunter raising an eyebrow noticing how red and sicked he had looked. "You okay..?" She had asked him before her eyes had glanced back over towards Hunter, introducing herself. "Tara Reyes, but I will not be your wife, sorry to say."

Hunter let his instincts kick in when he noticed Ben quiver and he leaped from his seat. The redhead realized the other boy's power instantly. Ahh, Ben has no control over it too. Hunter let his hand reach to the other's shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay, I understand," he assured, "You're not the only one who's still fumbling with your gift. I literally burned my hand into the goddamn door!" He released Ben and took another swig of his drink. He shoved the other hand in his pocket and eyed the two down. Tara was an acquired taste, but Ben was nice enough, a little tame, though. He tilted his head slightly and smirked. "You guys aren't half bad, ya know? For roommates I've never met before, you could be so much worse."

The boy nodded a yes towards the blonde girl. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." She seemed to be rather formal and harsh with her words, although her apparent concern for Benjamin could have just meant she disliked their other roommate. Scratch that, she obviously disliked him. Or she had no sense of humour.

Hunter's tone of understanding relieved the initiate quite a bit. That's right. He was in a school filled with struggling gifted who, like him, didn't quite understand their abilities yet. His blush faded until is was faint, but still present. Letting out a small, but genuine laugh at Hunter's comment about the door, he nodded and smiled. "The same goes for me here. You guys know how to make a first impression," Ben remarked, loosening his tense attitude a bit.

"Nice to meet you Tara, Hunter. For future reference, my power is the one that replicates yours. So I'd keep some distance if they're not the friendliest gifts," he advised and glanced over at the red-headed boy. What exactly was his ability? Feathers? Fire? He couldn't put his finger on it.

Looking like a slob was a good impression to Ben? Tara didn't mind Ben but she didn't really like Hunter mainly because she didn't like slobs but other then that he seemed to be a nice fun dude. Clearing her throat she smiled "Thank you, I do like to impress people." She said simply chuckling softly. An eyebrow raised at the mention of Ben's gift, power replication? that was a interesting gift. "No need to worry, my gift isn't dangerous at all." Wanting to say something but quickly stopped herself from saying it. Instead she gave Ben a friendly smile.

Hunter sucked in a breath. Dangerous? Try deadly. An image popped in his mind, a house on fire, the woeful cry of a bird, a woman sobbing and crying out for help. He was very little then, but he remembered it clearly. He masked it expertly as he looked up, chuckling, a weakness hiding in his eyes. "I can turn into a phoenix and burn things with my hands," he started, "When I'm wearing my sister's gloves, I don't burn stuff. It's not like I shoot fire, either, I just scorch wood and fabric by accident sometimes." A quick chug of his soda hid the negative look he couldn't seem to wipe off. "Ironically, I hate fire with a passion. Terrified of it."

Ben was about to open his mouth to ask Tara what her ability was, but the sweet smile on her face told him to leave it for another day. Instead, he returned the expression, thanking God that her ability wouldn't cause them to explode instantaneously.

Ah! So that's what it was! Glancing up and down Hunter's form, he was a little surprised. A phoenix, huh? He didn't quite look the part, minus the red hair. One would assume someone with such a majestic form would be prim and proper, and present themselves very nicely. Rather than a messy head of hair and average looking clothes.

As he listened to the boy speak, he came to understand his situation a bit more. The way his face looked rather solemn told the brunet that Hunter wasn't fond of his ability. Much like Ben himself. "I'm not a big fan of fire either. It's kind of what made me discover my power, and I still don't know if that's exactly the best thing or not," he spoke with a reassuring smile before gesturing to the door. "But hey! That handprint gives the door some more character now. Maybe people will tell the story about it one day. Right?"

Tara had stayed silent only listening to Hunter as he rambled on about his gift, she found it interesting how he could turn into a phoenix a beautiful majestic bird that Tara heard of in bedtime stories as a little child. Although as he explained it looked like something was bothering him, but Tara ignored it not wanting to push him further into what he was feeling. She laughed quietly when he mentioned that he was deathly scared of fire, and since it was his own gift he was going to need to deal with it. "Well eventually everyone faces their fear and conquers it. " The blonde had said with a small shrug. "Im sure that you'll conquer your fear of fire as well, just give it some time." She also chuckled at Ben's comment, "Thats true, people will wonder who's handprint that is and you can tell them all that it's yours."

Hunter laughed heartily at Ben's comment. "The headlines! 'World's Most Awesome Heroes Leave Mark On Their Initiate Dorm, Monument To Follow.'" The redhead finished his drink and tossed the can to the trash bin in the corner. He punched the air as it bounced off the wall and into the bin. "So, now that we're roommates," he started, "We should probably have ground rules, right? I've got some. Number one: Unless I say I'm not kidding, chances are I'm probably messing with you. Number two: the code for 'I'm getting frisky tonight, so stay at someone else's dorm,' is "We're out of whipped cream for the enchiladas.' Any of us can use it, okay?" He pointed at the two with a questioning look. "Ben, Tara? Any rules you wanna set?" The boy was starting to realize the heat in the room. Maybe it was just him..? You couldn't have the physiology of a bird and not expect to be uncomfortably warm. He removed his baggy sweater regrettably, the tiny golden feathers and scattered burn marks and scars on his arms visible in his purple tee shirt. He rubbed his left arm awkwardly, trying in futility to cover a nasty, angry red burn on his wrist.

Ben laughed lightly at his comment and clapped quietly at his expert goalsmanship.

But Hunter's next words startled him. They would only be roommates for a short time, unless they were lucky enough to end up in the same house, but the red-head was all ready to set rules in place. And it seemed he was especially ready for the second rule. Benjamin's face flushed once again at the mention of "getting frisky". Covering his mouth with his hands, the poor boy didn't know what to say. Hunter confident about this rule, it seemed. "I-I-I've n-never run out of w-whipped cream! I-I d-don't think I wi-will any t-time s-so-soon..." he stuttered, trying to bury his face in his hands.

It wasn't until he peaked out between his fingers and saw the boy removing his sweater that he realized just how warm the room was. Especially for the brunet in his coat. Following suit, he quickly pulled off his coat and rolled up his button-up's sleeves before returning his hands close to his beet red face. Shaking his head to indicate he had no rules, he turned to Tara, slightly curious if she had anything besides keeping the room clean.