Triple Dog Dare [open]

The day had started with a light drizzle, and mom backing out of the driveway before she remembered to let Emily into the car. By lunch period, signaled by the long drone of an electronic bell, the rain had stopped, and a thick soupy fog had pooled over the school. Some kids ate square pizzas out of flimsy silver trays, but she had her own sack lunch. Inside was a green apple and a peanut butter sandwich and a sappy note from dad, sharpied on a napkin and punctuated with a smiley face, and under all those things, about twenty pieces of prize candy filched from the bowl on Ms. Meyer's desk.

Cradling this ill-gotten loot in her lap turned her stomach into a mixing bowl of equal parts terror and delight. She could've bounced in place like it was Christmas morning, relishing in her silent victory she'd won with her own subtle craft and deftness, but she still had her part to play. Emily took two chunks out of the apple, ate all of the sandwich besides the crust, and rolled the candy up in the paper bag to stuff in her thick jacket.

They loosed the hordes outside for recess with another toll of the bell, and her schoolmates scattered in all directions from the wide doors of the cafeteria into the play-yard, plunging dauntlessly into the white mists. Their shapes drained of color as they ran, thinning into dark silhouettes as if she was viewing them from underwater, before disappearing completely. Emily strode out alone, hands stuffed in her coat pockets, fingers wrapped tight around the lumpy bag as if it were actual gold, and not just chocolate tokens wrapped in gold foil. She had tall boots and tights and a fuzzy coat to keep out the cold, but just a few minutes in this weather, her face felt damp, bangs laying limp across her brow.

She wandered aimlessly, toward the faceless shadows clambering over the jungle gym, and with glances in both directions, called out to one of them. "Hey, do you want some candy?" she offered, oh-so-sweetly. Her parents always said she was the angel of the family, not at all rowdy or disobedient like her brother or sisters growing up.

Stealing it was only the first step, the set-up to the whole grand scheme.

The shape of Aaron leaning against the monkey bars almost looked like a blob against the foggy air that hung over the grasses of the schoolyard. He sat bundled up as small as he could, his head leaning against the cold support as he sat on the highest of the truthfully not very high ladder bars. His feet were caught on the bar below, a small safety to prevent him from easily falling both backwards and forward while one arm was wrapped around the bar he was leaning on. He paid no mind to the other playing children, instead quietly staring into the mists with a bored but thoughtful attention for one so young.

He almost jumped when a voice called out from seeming nowhere, his green eyes flickering around until he made out the shape of another student standing nearby. His shoulders quickly locked as he pulled himself even more into a ball, shaking his head in response to her question. His mind quickly realized that chances are that she couldn't really make him out but he had no will - or even wish - to speak up to answer. Talking was...Scary when others he didn't know was around. He didn't like talking in general, but when it wasn't somebody he knew...He instead spoke up with a sort of humming noise, one of soft denial as he once again shook his head as he braced him once again against the bar.

Huh? What? Really? Impossible. She cocked her head, wondering if he'd heard her right, or maybe if she hadn't properly heard him. Um, she was asking him if he wanted a piece of candy. The answer was 'yes.' Undaunted, Emily clambered onto the first rung, and then another, shivering from the cold shock of frozen metal against her bare skin, but she continued up until she was on the opposite end of the monkey bars, more at eye level with the boy. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you sad?"

Aaron blinked as the girl clambered onto the bars, getting a better look at her as he watched with a curious gaze. When she spoke, he felt himself want to bury himself deeper into his coat as he frowned slightly. He shook his head in response to her question, but he felt so...Open. Uneasy. It wasn't easy making friends when you didn't want to talk to people - not many would bother with somebody who wouldn't respond but...The idea of talking scared him. He knew it didn't make sense, but it made sense to him...Whatever that truly meant. He could talk to his parents, to other people he knew well but silence suited him just fine. And being lonely was just something he had accepted...He paused, suddenly realizing that maybe he was sad after all. He certainly wasn't happy being ignored so often. He sat there, kicking his feet before he just gave her a shrug and a soft, uncertain noise in response...Half-heartily wondering how long it would take for her to get tire of 'talking' with him.

Was that a yes? Or a no? He definitely did not look any less sad. She pursed her lips, almost impatiently, balancing on the top rung. If he didn't want a piece, then there were easily a hundred kids she could find who did, and she felt the temptation to slip away into the fog. But she thought about mom, and against her better judgment, she stayed. Emily rooted in her jacket pocket, fishing out a piece of chocolate, and chucked it in a light arc toward where the boy sat. "Candy makes me feel better when I'm sad," she reasoned, boots kicking lightly through the air.

For a second, Aaron had stopped paying attention. A seed of doubt that the girl would stay for much longer cause his gaze to slip away...And causing him to jump when sudden movement caught his eye. His one arm wrapped around the pole tighten as he shifted, barely managing to catch what she had tossed at him with his other - almost dropping it a few times before it rested neatly in his palm and he stared down at it. It was...Chocolate. He rolled it around before his eyes flickered up to the girl, a soft smile flashing across his face as he shifted to better balance himself on the bar as he slowly started to unwrap it. "...Thanks," he finally said after a few seconds, plopping the sweet, sweet chocolate into his mouth as he rested his head against the cold bar as he just kinda...Watched her with a thoughtful but grateful expression.

And what a devilish scheme she'd had in mind. She's go out into the playground, find someone she didn't know so well, ask them if they wanted any candy. They'd say yes, because they always said yes. Emily would hand a piece over, saying nothing about the other nineteen, and let them know, "Since I gave this to you, you owe me a favor now," and then move onto the next person, and the next person, until she had a small war-band for the true raid on Ms. Meyers' candy bowl. Instead, she just twisted the corners of her mouth in a tight-lipped smile, nodding at the quiet boy on the other side of the monkey bars. "You're welcome. What's your name? I'm Emily."

He paused as he swallowed the piece of chocolate, failing to realize that there might have been any nefarious scheme behind such a sweet (and tasty) gesture. As she introduced himself, he nervously shifted on the bar. Honestly, it was already rather amazing that he had said something as simple as thanks...Introducing himself seemed like a whole different ballpark. He sat there for a few seconds, kicking his legs...At least as well as he could with them being slightly wrapped around the bar beneath the one he was sitting on to keep himself from falling both forward and backwards. "Aaron," he said with a slight dip of his head, before letting out a soft cheerful hum, his spirit being rather picked up by the piece of chocolate.

Emily let the name hang in the wet air for a moment, declining to answer right away in favor of popping another chocolate into her mouth. "Do you have a power yet, Aaron?" she asked once it was gone, stuffing frozen fingers into the depths of her pockets.

Aaron perked up as the girl once again spoke up, a soft smile almost drawing across his face that she kept talking to him - most wouldn't when they realized that he wasn't super fun to be with. There was the hesitation as always about just...Not wanting to talk but the fact that she kept trying to make small talk...He nodded his head, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his coat as his gaze flickered down toward the ground. "Hmhm," he mumbled, a slight frown falling across his face.

He...Didn't like his gift. It wasn't a terrible one, he was told it could have been worst but it had ruined his favorite thing. Whenever he had trouble sleeping, his mother would sing and he would drift right off - a use of her gift and so he had taken to music, to singing along but when his gift happened...Well, hard to sing when it could hurt those around him. He had to be careful with singing, making sure nobody is around until he got control over it and it was...It was annoying. Singing had been his one way to bypass the fear of talking - for some reason it didn't bother him but now he was just stuck to humming but even if he got to caught up in that, he could...

"Wh-When I sing, I...I make people...Freeze," he explained in a soft, slightly sad tone as he shrugged his shoulders before pausing. Freeze? No, that wasn't the right word. His parents had tried to explain what it was - a mixture of their gifts or...Something. His mother could put people to sleep but he would...He almost did it without the sleep factor? He... "No...Stun them," he said, the word finally dawning on him. That was the word. Stun. But it was worst then stunning at the same time - he had seen the effect a few times but it felt impossible to describe it with what little words he knew. So...Stun it was. He shook his head, waiting not to dwell on it much longer. "You?"

He had trouble coughing it out, like it was a confession or a deep secret. When he finally did, she felt her face brighten. "You're just like my sister!" Emily said. "Well, a little bit. My grandma can sing people to sleep, and my sister—..." She had to stop and think a second. Good things happened, or bad things happened, you never knew until it hit you. "—... it's a mixed bag."

Emily felt herself shrink as he flung the question back at her, as if she could blend into the monkey bars. Like, really blend, as if in demonstration, but nobody would know what they were looking at. None of the teachers had discovered her power was developed as much as it was, even. Her gift felt absent that way, and she could only feel its presence reflected off the passing faces of others. Even she wasn't sure, sometimes, if her power was working or not. But she still practiced, mentally flicking the switch in her head, on, off, on, off, and experimented. "They think I'll have my mom's gift... Or, something like it." How to even describe it? "It's like invisibility. Except, um, I'm not actually invisible. I wish I had a power like yours."

There was a flicker of surprise across Aaron's face as she mention her grandmother's gift. Th-That was just like his mom's! He frowned for a quick second, tilting his head as he tried to remember what he had been taught about gifts. Did that mean they were...Family? People with the same gift tended to be family, right? Whenever he went to any big...Group...Er, gatherings of his families, he tended to hide in the back. It wasn't fun being around all the people who talked about things he just didn't get and it wasn't fun either to interact with the kids when he didn't like to talk to them. More or less, he would just cling to one of his parents until it was time to leave.

He also didn't miss the way she sank back a little, a sad look flickering in his eyes as she nervously started to explain her power. It certainly sounded confusing - being invisible but not being invisible? That did that work? He could clearly see her right now. He however gave a simple shrug as she spoke about her gift and her wish to have one like his. "It isn't...All that cool," he mused softly, giving her a sad smile. "Liked to sing but...Can't control when my gift happens when I do so better to...Not. Now I hum instead. Not the same but...Almost. Almost the same thing, I guess."

Imagine all the candy she'd get if she could scare people that easy. But she just nodded along, pursing her lips in consternation. "You could whistle. Or play guitar. That won't shock anybody." And you could still sing when you were by yourself, probably. So maybe neither of their gifts were all that great, but that wasn't any reason to be sad. "Hey. At least we're not blanks, right?"