Are waving plants signs of joy or despair? (open)

Danae-Alisse walked as she always did. Hands clasped in front of her, around her school bag. Classes were done for the day leaving her listlessly wandering. Mind blank. Unable to stand being in her room and the weather being, for once, a deterrent from going out. Not out of any particular intensity of frosty air, but simply because she couldn't make herself dress for it. This left her the campus with swift darts across the ground from building to building. Eventually, her footsteps had lead her to the library. An inevitable occurrence, if not for eventual elimination of each building, then for the redhead's continual, subconscious love of literature.

Idly wondering if her usual charges would enjoy being read to, she began to wander amongst the the shelves, seeking for a novel that she might enjoy before stopping short. Perhaps RJ might, but she was quite the fireball of energy. Getting her to sit still was in and of itself a challenge. The twins, Adam and Eve, sometimes helped, but they just as often hindered. Be it streaks of pre-teen independence, suddenly spurts of united mischief, or trying to use their powers upon her. They certainly keep me on my toes, she thought ruefully.

But Danae-Alisse wouldn't change it for anything. Each child was endearing and, if anything, kept her mid off things. Pausing, she picked up a well-worn book of eternal legend and antiquity. The Hobbit. Smiling fondly, she recalled...but as soon as she did, Danae-Alisse squashed the almost formed memory from her mind, the smile sliding off her face and back into a blank slate. Calmly, she tucked the book into her school bag and made for the checkout counter.

A sudden shift of green caught Danae-Alisse's attention. Despite her short time at the academy, she was hardly surprised that one of the potted plants that dotted the library had twitched at random. However, she knew better. After meeting Gentaro, going on a mission, and everything else, another gift that seemed to break the laws of physics and nature was hardly surprising. It hadn't been long for her to wonder, not what a gift could do, but what any gift couldn't do. Deciding that finding the source of the gift was better than checking out the book and returning to her room, Danae-Alisse turned the corner.

Sophie was engrossed, to say the least. She was on another plane. She had missed her bus home, the one she would be expected to take on a regular basis, and she had some time before it came around again. After sending a text to alert her worry-wart of a mother that she would return later than expected, she'd headed to the library. Books had always been her welcome escape from reality, and she hadn't often found opportunities to read, in the past two years. There was too much to be done at home. Now, though, she let herself be pulled into the pages, getting lost among the printed words as the scent of the presses enveloped her.

She read of a young mystic in a dream world, a girl haunted by a dark figure called the Shadow Man. Every time she fell asleep, she was plagued by his cruelty. He blinded her in her dreams, over and over again. Sophie was gripped. Her long brown hair hung over the book as she read, the spine nestled between her jean-clad thighs and her fingers curled around the top edge. She'd been reduced to an even tinier version of herself, curled up like this in the padded chair she'd claimed.

Several feet away, around a corner, a peperomia shifted uncomfortably in its pot, eager for a resolution to the nightmare that had taken over Sophie's mind. It shuddered as chills ran up her spine, its roots stretching out for security. Only the most astute observer would even notice the change, but this was, after all, a library in a school for the gifted. The astute observer was more the rule than the exception, here.

Danae-Alisse dithered for a moment upon seeing the brown haired teen. The likely source of plant activity was engrossed into some book and completely oblivious to the world that existed around her. The redhead was almost loath to disturb such an avid connoisseur of literature, but it was either that or return to her room. As she wavered upon decision, unbeknownst to her, the peperomia, in its desperation for security, wrapped a green tendril around Danae-Alisse's wrist. Surprised at the firmness, the teen gave several light, but fruitless, tugs at the plant before deciding to try and enlist the aide of the stranger.

"Um...excuse me," she called out, breaking the near silence of the library. "Excuse me," Danae-Alisse repeated with gently growing volume, "but it seems that this plant has grabbed me. Not that it's your fault! I mean, do you manipulate plants? Not that it's a problem if you do. But if you do, could you, uh, untangle me? I have a book I'd like to check out and, uh, um...what are you reading?"

She had no idea where she was going with any of this beyond that she couldn't very well just stand there until the other teen noticed or the plant released her. That would be far more embarrassing than call out in the first place. Danae-Alisse hoped that the girl was the one who had caused the plant to grab her and, hopefully, wouldn't mind being called out, or think that she was blaming her.

Someone spoke, but it didn't phase Sophie's consciousness. That is, until the word plant snapped her back into the real world. "Oh! Um..." she rose, keeping her page with her index finger, but when she saw the peperomia clutching the redhead's wrist, she paled and dropped the book with a loud thud. "Oh!" She said again, this time with more shock, as she took a few cautious steps toward the girl. "I do manipulate plants and, um... I'm pretty sure this is my fault. I'm sorry! I'm really not very..." she bit her bottom lip nervously, not wanting to admit it to a stranger, but also needing to explain why the poor girl wasn't already untangled. "I'm not very... good... yet... I haven't really learned how to use it on purpose." She smiled nervously and reached toward the vine around Dana-Alisse's wrist. She saw it tighten slightly and drew her hand back. "Oh, hm.. I wonder..." She glanced around, hoping to find an adult who could help. No such luck. "What kind of gift do you have?" She asked, now simply making conversation as she stared at the plant and willed it to let go. It silently defied her by remaining still. Maybe I just need to relax? Sophie wondered, struggling to do so as the seconds ticked by and she stood there, clearly at fault but having no idea what to do about it.

"Right! I, uh, see," Danae-Alisse replied to the girl's comment on her ability and skill level. Certainly, she could just rip the tendril off, breaking that stem of the plant, but with no idea as to how a plant powered person would react to such debasement, Danae-Alisse passed over that idea. She too searched the vicinity for a helping hand and, like her counterpart, found none. Certainly, calling out was an option, but that would bring even more embarrassment down upon them. Resigning herself to standing there for the foreseeable future, the redhead answered the book reader's question.

"Oh! I can manipulate water. Can't create it, but if it isn't in anything living, I can affect it." Deciding to try and comfort, or, at least, commiserate, with the girl, she continued, "I don't have much control either." The truth of these words rang despite her success in her most recent mission. After all, her powers had continuously failed half the time. They'd only been successful about half the time. And in that half...a whip of water rose in her mind, lashing out and...and... Danae-Alisse finally struck down the surfacing memory and recovering her social grace.

"It's a work in progress," she said, "but that's the point of school, right? For us to learn how to control and build the skills we need to control our gifts and use them." Still, she thought, I do hope I can get released at some point soon.

"If it isn't in anything living..." Sophie echoed thoughtfully, a hint of disappointment coloring her tone. The tension she'd felt while reading her book was beginning to subside, but a new nervousness had replaced it, and it seemed that reaching for the plant was only making it worse. Usually, if she was angry or sad, she could simply calm down and the plant would follow. Unfortunately, actually trying to use her powers made her tense, and it seemed that the tension was the cause of their predicament; thus, attempting to relax while watching the state of the peperomia did not sound likely to succeed. Thanks to her fault in all this, she felt just as trapped as Danae-Alisse, albeit in a different way. "That is the point," she offered dispassionately, eyeing the vine warily, "but I don't know if they really thought through the potential repercussions of bringing together so many people with little control over their gifting. I mean, this is less dangerous; it's just annoying, but don't some people have the ability to... I don't know, cause explosions or something?" You should probably be talking about something that makes you less nervous, she thought, chiding herself. Whoops.

"Well...uh," she began as, immediately, the images of her flooding the bathroom, several times, flooding a basement, Gentaro simply digging through the ground with his drill, talk of a couple of dragons rampaging throughout the great hall, and other such incidents certainly lent credence to what the teen was saying. "I imagine there's some sort of method to it all. I mean, the school does have quite the history and the headmaster seems like a good man."

Naturally, she left out exactly what she had read in regards to that history. What with the school being almost destroyed several times and strange events with temporal mechanics. Apparently, several students had actually traveled here from the past. All of it seemed, to her, rather confusing and incredibly deadly. Feeling that the last thing that was needed was the traumatic parts of the school's history, Danae-Alisse tried to push her comforting tactic saying in a cheery voice, "I mean, I bet some pretty destructive powers have passed through this building. And, despite that, the school is still standing. Still teaching. Heck, even events like the Winter formal is going to happen. Are you going?"

"Winter formal?" Sophie asked, her gaze flitting up from Danae-Alisse's wrist and meeting her eyes. A spark in her own betrayed her interest, but she shifted her weight and looked down at the plant again. "Oh, I don't know..." Her mind returned to her mother, staring blankly out the open window, going through the motions, not yet ready to search for new excitement or purpose. Maybe helping her daughter get ready for the dance--helping her do something a normal teen would do--might take her mind off things. Or maybe it would overwhelm her, with the stress of trying to find a dress on an already tight budget... she mulled it over silently, then said at last, "I don't have anybody to go with. I don't really know anyone. And I'm not sure I'm making the greatest impression on those I do know," she braved a humored smile as she motioned to Danae's wrist, where the vine was beginning to loosen slightly.

Danae-Alisse kept up her smile, unsure how real it was, she tried to push it anyway. "Well, I'm not going with anyone either," she said, "I mean, I only know a small collections of..." The redhead paused for a moment, searching for the best word to describe the sheer variety of crazy that she had met so far. From the Hermans and their energetically crazy yet pleasant members, to Gentaro and his insane boisterousness and invasive attitude, to her recent team with the madness they had in following strange people in masks yet also taking, dragging more like, her dress shopping. "Individuals," she settled upon, "that I might see there. Hopefully, I'll still be able to make a lovely night of it." If I don't, you know, cause the punch bowl to explode or something, she thought.

Countering her cheerless thought, she said, "if anything, it'll make a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Plus, I've heard that the crowning of the formal's royalty is pretty spectacular." Considering all she and the team had gone through to get the crown back, she hoped that the event would be spectacular.

"Would I have to wear a dress?" She asked, lifting her gaze again. She pictured herself standing awkwardly by the punch bowl, watching other people... dance? Did people do that at formals? She guessed so, but in middle school, few people had danced. 'Winter Formal' sounded classy, though. There would probably be a bunch of beautiful-looking people who knew exactly what they were doing. It would be interesting to observe.

Sophie didn't think she'd even owned a dress since she was five, though. Her dad once joked about her being the kind of sundress-clad girl who would skip down the road gathering flowers. A pang of grief shot through her. Whatever girl he saw in her back then was gone now, lost in the breeze with his ashes. The new Sophie was a practical girl, and she dressed as such, in comfortable clothing that was easy to move in. Really, if she thought about it, she hadn't put a whole lot of effort into her appearance for what felt like ages. Part of her longed for the idea of taking the time on herself, but even if she did, who did she have to impress? Mom would probably love it, though, she thought to herself.

"I don't...know," Danae-Alisse faltered in reply. Certainly, Eliza made it sound like that everyone was going to dress up all spick and spam, but the redhead, herself, didn't actually know the answer. Briefly, she tried to imagine Durran coming in a tux. The thought made her almost laugh. If he came at all, he most certainly wouldn't be dressed for the occasion. Least, not to what anybody would consider likely. Now confident in an answer, she said, "so long as you look pleasant, I doubt anyone will think of throwing you out."

"Hmm... okay. Do you promise to let me stand by you until I work up the courage to branch out a little?" Sophie eased up and released a small smile; as she did, the vine released Danae-Alisse's wrist and fell off gently. Sophie's eyes widened and she shifted excitedly, pointing with one thin index finger. "Oh my gosh, did you see that?! Of course you did. But, wow! It came off!" She was beaming, and as she stared at the plant, little white clusters of spikes began to emerge. As her excitement grew, so did they, peppering the green plant with bursts of intrigue. She pulled her hands together in front of her and squeezed, almost like a self-hug, and two vines twisted together in an embrace. "Oh, wow!!" She giggled joyfully, "It's as happy as I am!!"

"I, uh, sure. You can hang out with me at the formal," she said, surprised at the sudden request, "I may be a bit late, however." She did have quite the dress and couldn't recall exactly which day was the formal. Knowing her luck, she'd recall the day of. But, immediately, she felt the vine releasing her. Reflexively, she shot her hand out of the plant's reach. "I, yes, yes I did. Quite amazing. They seem to reflect your attitude above anything else. Maybe that's how you can start getting a control on your power, learning how to direct your emotions."

Now, if only I could get a grasp on my own emotions, she thought. Then said, "my name is Danae-Alisse. What's yours?" While she couldn't say that anyone she had met here had been, they all at least were interesting. Still, she stuck out her hand as jovial she could be as her positivity began to collapse around her. Causing her to fall back upon her mask to cover and conceal her feelings.

Sensing a change in her new acquaintence's demeanor, Sophie complied with her inner voice's demand to chill out. She shook Danae-Alisse's hand politely. "It's really nice to meet you, Danae-Alisse. I'm Sophie. I'm sorry about my powers... I guess they are linked to my emotions." She blushed. "Boy, that could be embarrassing! I'm expressive enough, as it is!" She shook her head. She wasn't sure how to even begin getting control of her emotions! She'd never realized it could be so important.

"It's quite alright, and a pleasure to meet you," she said, "And again, that's why we're here, right? To learn how to control our powers." If only she could believe that as easily as she said it. Danae-Alisse was quickly learning that, while this place proclaimed to be a haven, the truth, to her, was more that River Pointe acted as a small world. Isolated from the rest of the planet. Kept hidden from all eyes save for those privileged few who were allowed to enter. But no one ever seemed to leave. Like an island way out at sea where nobody had decided to build a boat to survive the waves back to shore. And like any world, it had its share of beauties and problems.

Despite her brief research, Danae-Alisse didn't look into what happened to those who had to be denied access to the island. Be they accidental explorers, or relatives who were kept out for the safety of the dwellers. The redhead didn't want to know the answers, not yet. But she didn't say any of this. Not an iota showed on her falsely pleasant face. Instead, she said, "I need to be getting my book checked out. I'll see you at the formal?"

Sophie answered with an apologetic, hopeful smile. She had a feeling it was going to take her a while to learn to control her powers, especially now that she knew they were tied to her emotions. If she kept them under wraps at all, it was only for appearances. Underneath her normally subdued exterior, she was a mess! It was no surprise that this hadn't come out at home; she maintained a somber but falsely put-together facade, there. Here, at school, she had been looking forward to letting her emotions roam free a little. And look how it had gone! A plant had attacked a random student! Well, not really attacked, but it had certainly disrupted her. What if Sophie got angry or frustrated? What if something made her cry? What would happen? Then she started thinking about the plants at home, and how they, too, had seemed somber since her father's passing. They drooped but stayed alive, just green enough to fulfill their purpose. Just like her. She bit her lip.

Danae-Alisse's farewell brought her back to reality. She suddenly remembered the book she had left on the floor and the bus she had to catch. "Oh, right! Ok, see you then!" She said, turning and hurrying to re-shelve the book.