Right to Chance

Alicia laughed quietly at his loose modesty, a little relieved that he seemingly had no trouble with her questions. Her eyes trailed up to the ceiling light above them, watching as it slowly engulfed the brightness and near left them in complete darkness. "I wonder, could you cover other things with it too?"  she thought aloud, "Can you feel the darkness?" Although she couldn't see the dark mass above them, she gazed upwards, her imagination getting the best of her. She didn't say much after that, her smile seemingly mirror his own as the lights slowly returned to them. "Imagine what you could do once you've really gotten the hang of it, though." She mused. Hey, she was also 99% sure there was a girl here who had similar control over light also in summer. She wondered what would happen with the two of them in the same room.

The young woman noticed the giant stack of papers in the corner of her eye once again. Oh, that's right. She probably shouldn't delay that work much longer. The questioned returned to her mind as she gazed at the sheets of, did she even want to go to the dance? For once thing, she knew, that Montare was going to be there - some clueless person had nominated him for prince. Him of all people. Alicia shuddered at the thought of him being there and seeing him again. She'd even switched her school schedule around so she wouldn't have to think about him anymore. "Um, Jacob - I would really like to go with you, but there's someone that will be there that I just couldn't - I mean, I could but -" Poor girl had no idea how to put this. "There was somebody that stalked me a few months back and I can't stand to see him, though I would like to go with you because you seem like a nice guy, if he were to get close to me I would probably freak out and/or ditch you."

With the darkness lifted, Jacob nodded at Alicia's next questions. "If you mean covering non-light sources, then yes, I can. Although it can tip people off when there's a singular blog of darkness within a well-lit area." He laughed softly, even though his jokes still weren't funny. Her own laughter encouraged him, though. "In darkened areas or in the shadows, I can hide items within the darkness, though not if the item is too big." As for the other question… "Yes, I can feel the darkness, but I try not to dwell on it. The darkness is a completely void and empty feeling, and it'll drag you down if you fall in. Metaphorically, of course." She seemed really nice to listen to what he had to say, if a bit overestimating on just how useful his power was, especially now. "Well, that's the dream, right? I think I can do a lot of good once I fully realize my powers."

At first, without the rest of Alicia's thoughts being brought out into words, Jacob initially figured that her reluctance stemmed from an old flame of some kind that would be at the dance too. He would understand that; sympathetically though, not empathetically. There were no old flames in his life, but that wasn't everyone's life. That was only an initial thought though, and it was rendered null when the girl finished up what she was saying. A stalker? Yikes, that's terrifying. That would explain the whole reluctance thing. Gently laying a hand on the back of his head, he smiled softly at her nice guy comment. "Well, I'm flattered you think I seem like a nice guy," he began, though he didn't want to seem like he was making fun of her plight. It obviously had a deep effect on her. "I understand though. I mean, I haven't seen the room they're hosting the dance or anything, but it could be big enough that we can avoid anyone we wanted, but I wouldn't want to make you go somewhere that made you uncomfortable. I hope I haven't been keeping you." His eyes glanced over at that stack of papers once more, having been made aware of the girl doing the same. He'd have to go to the dance stag, he guessed, which wasn't necessary the end of the world. He didn't have any antlers, though. No, stop, you're the worst.

Alicia looked at him thoughtfully. It was strange, how darkness was near a metaphor for everything bad and terrible in the world, and yet this sir thought so lightly of it - and didn't seem to be quite so much of a "dark" person himself. Or at least, that's the best way she could've thought to put it. "Is it - um - Would it be considered a bad thing if I was curious as to - erm - how it felt?"She asked, hiding her face behind one hand. Curse her innate curiosity, she honestly couldn't come up with a regal - or even decent - way of saying, 'I want to touch it'.

In a bit of shame, Alicia gently folded her hands in her lap, staring down at the ground. It wasn't exactly the most wonderful thing to admit - nor the easiest, especially to a stranger. Her eyes narrowed as he spoke up of his flattery, not of spite or anything of the sort - she just wasn't sure how on earth he would react. It sounded like one of those sentences that always started with "but" and led straight to disappointment. The summer squeezed her hands together tighter, bracing for the worst. How surprised she was when near the exact opposite words left his mouth. "O-oh, you really think so?" The girl brightest up instantly, though there was a blush spread across her face, she put her hand to her cheek - looking as she felt rather silly. "Maybe you're right, I mean... It is a very large space. Maybe it'll be okay..." The girl shifted around, "Don't worry about it, you're not keeping me much."

Despite her original hesitation, Alicia seemed to be wavering about whether or not to go to the dance. That was at least a positive thing for Jacob, though he still would feel pretty bad if that stalker guy did show up and caused the poor girl to have a panic attack. "Well, I'm glad I'm not keeping you. That'd be a problem, huh?" Those were a lot of flyers though, and the dance wasn't all that far off. Perhaps he could help her pass them out. He would have to remember to ask her if she needed any assistance on that front.

What was interesting was just how curious this girl was about his powers. He had never met anyone who was so intrigued by how darkness felt. It was honestly something he never really thought about, but he did know that letting yourself fall into that darkness was a real emotional drain, and he didn't want to expose her to that, especially if she had some emotional scarring. Still, it shouldn't be too bad as long as it didn't last too long. Maybe there was some way he could show it to her, let her experience it. "Of course it's not a bad thing. Curiosity is only bad if you're a cat, after all." Why must you say these things? "Here, if you really do want to feel it, I'll try to show you, okay?" With that, he reached out and gently took the hand she had left laying in her lap into his own hand, resting it upon his palm. He knew that this was probably too bold of a mood, and she might understandably freak out and jerk her hand back away from him, but hopefully she would leave her hand still so he could demonstrate for her.

Staring down at the union of their hands now, he began to concentrate until the familiar sphere of darkness started to form upon his palm. However, now that there was another's hand upon his own, the shadowy orb took shape around Alicia's as well, bathing them both in the darkness. Jacob knew this feeling well, but it would be a new sensation for the pretty girl: the feeling was rather like dipping your hand in a bucket of water, but at the same time it was nothing. It felt like nothing: not cold, not warm, just empty and dark. Thirty seconds of this passed, just the two of them sitting alone in the lounge, hands bound together by darkness, before Jacob broke concentration and dispelled the darkness, casting it away. Her hand still upon his own, he looked up into Alicia's eyes, slight concern in his gaze as he searched her expression for any signs of distress. It could've been from the sudden feeling of emptiness cocooning over her hand, or it could've been from him taking her hand in his own so suddenly, and either way he was concerned that he had stepped over some line with this girl he had only just met. She had wanted to know how it felt, though. Hopefully it was enough that she understood and was still okay with it, with him.

The young woman smiled weakly, still fumbling around with her hands. Perhaps there was a little Spring in her, that longed to be diligent and get her work done efficiently and exactly right the first time; but then, there was the even larger Summer part of her that would much rather have her sit here and try and make friends out of this new friend of hers - Jacob.
Alicia laughed quietly under her breath, "I suppose I should be thankful I'm not a cat then?" She mused, a slightly teasing coo to her words. The brown-haired girl blinked a bit blankly as he suggested that he actually show her his power, which left her a bit confused. Was he going to be putting out the light again?

She near visibly flinched when he grabbed her hand, laying it across the palm of his. Alicia couldn't really do anything but stare, not having expected this in the least. Suddenly, her heart was racing and she could've sworn it had gotten at least twenty degrees warm in here. It had to have been, she felt so hot - her hand was sweating. He had to have noticed, how could he have not? Alicia felt the urge to snatch her hand back, but some uncertain feeling kept her completely still.
She honestly couldn't be sure of what to expect as the darkness gathered seemingly out of nowhere around their hands. The feeling - or complete lack there of - completely threw her off. Alicia had suspected it'd be cold, beyond freezing - or like a sharp wind. She hardly had any idea what to think, for how could you apply a feeling to a lack of light? What she felt though was completely nothing, a complete lack of everything, and for some strange reason - it felt almost a bit comforting. She couldn't quite explain it.
"Wow." Was all Alicia could say, at a rather loss for words as the darkness disapparated between them. She gaze lifted, finding his own.

She seemed impressed, or perhaps that was distant. Silence hung over them as their contact was through. Jacob had felt the sweat form on Alicia's palm, but he tried not to pay it any mind for fear of offending the Summer. The papers lay almost forgotten on the table as they sat facing each other, the general question of the dance still hanging in the air between them. He felt that it would be a bit pressing to ask once more, but if he didn't, it could get lost in the moment and then it wouldn't ever get resolved. Steeling his own resolve, he put it out there once more. "So Alicia, I hope I don't seem rude for asking again, but would you like to go to the dance with me?" He said this with a warm smile, hoping she would say yes. Hopefully she wouldn't find him too eager or pushy. He liked her: she was already nice to be around. Maybe that was a very Summer-like thing.

It was perhaps a very good thing that he mentioned it again, because she certainly didn't plan on bringing it up again, and she would've left and left the question floating in the air. At least he had more resolve than she did. The girl's eyes flickered to the ground for a few moments in thought before answering, though there was no hiding the soft blush on her face. "That sounds... nice." For some reason, it was difficult to simply say 'yes', so she found herself smiling gently and nodding her head instead - hoping that would suffice as an answer. "Perhaps we could go and get coffee sometime too?" It'd be nice to get to know the boy who had asked her out.

Her positive response was relief to the young man, whose smile brightened at Alicia's small head nod. She even blushed, which was way too adorable a sight. However, he was surprised when she went one step further and suggested a further activity: getting coffee. He had never had coffee before, but there was no way that would deter him from accepting the invitation. There was a first time for everything, after all. "That sounds wonderful. I'd love to." Not only had he gotten her to accept a first date, but there was even a plan in place for a second date. How lucky was he? "Oh, but first, perhaps those flyers still need to be passed out?" He had just remembered their existence, and with a twinge of guilt he knew that he was basically the reason why they were still here instead of plastered around the school. Maybe she'd let him pitch in and help.