[ AQ ] Stormy Skies ( Felicity / Kouya )

[Felicity]

SPOILER: Click to show

{AQ}Stormy Panic

+ Description: A storm has knocked out the power in the school building shortly after classes have ended for the day; it seems to nasty outside to leave, though the building is pretty deserted, save for one or two other people who got stuck.

+ Stay put, wait out the storm: -1 Guardians, +2 Faberge

+ Venture out to try to get the power back on: +1 Guardians, +1 Faberge

+ Sneak into the staff room while no one’s around: -2 Guardians, +1 Roost

+ Look for someone else who may be stuck: +2 Guardians, -1 Roost

+ Requirements: None

+ Submitted by Hatta

---

The skies had looked grey earlier in the day, the onset of a storm rolling in above the Academy. It hadn't looked like much to worry about, just a few clouds and a steely hue. At least that was until the thunder began to rumble, booming in the distance as if warning the citizens of it's incoming onslaught. 

Classes continued without heeding it's cautionary tale, and it was those whom had chosen to stay back that suffered. The storm picked up in a matter of hours, wind whipping up leaves and debris that had been littered about. Those that left upon the ringing of the bell were lucky enough to avoid the rage that swelled within the storm, the trees bowing against the strength of the wind.

Felicity had just finished packing up her pens and pencils when the lights flickered, causing her to pause in her actions and glance about, as if waiting for it to happen again. A few brief moments, and nothing. Slowly, she collected up her bag, cautious of the interruption of electricity that had faltered the building. 
It turned out her caution was right, as the power flickered again, before going out completely. The building was almost empty, and the storm outside was atrociously loud, the rain pelting the window panes and the wind hammering against the building. It looked unpleasant from the inside, as lightning flashed and lit up the classroom; she couldn't imagine trying to brave it and leave the building.

Anxiously gripping at the strap of her satchel, the blond decided it was best to move away from the classroom and the windows, keeping her head down and attempting to convince herself that it wasn't a hurricane and that they weren't all going to die, trapped in the school building like she imagined. As she walked the halls, eyes focused furiously on her feet, she began to mutter to herself about homework and how it was always her that got caught up in unfortunate forthcomings.[/spoiler]

[kouya]

    It was ridiculous at this point. Kouya was thoroughly convinced that there was some "greater-than he" force up there that thought it was hilarious to make goddamn hurricanes whenever Kouya managed to leave his dorm room. Sure, he made the excuse that he never left the dorm or went to class because he was lazy, but this! This was a big part of it! IT ALWAYS. ALWAYS RAINED. WHEN HE WENT OUTSIDE. It was so rainy at Seiyo, Kouya gave up on trying to prepare for the weather. No matter what, he could usually count on some kind of storm or drizzle or just water. Water water everywhere.
   
    This rant came to the third year's mind as he braced himself in the torrential storm, making his way for anywhere that was shelter. He was caught in the storm without an umbrella or anyone around him. Really, he was wandering around aimlessly since seeing in the rain was nearly impossible. He had an arm raised to shield his eyes, but that was about it. At least he didn't have to worry about keeping any of his school things dry...since he didn't even bring them. Of course, he was still trying to shelter his red guardian egg tucked inside his sweater. That was probably the first time Ryoji went back in his egg willingly, wanting to avoid the rain. Kouya didn't know if guardian characters could get sick or anything, but Ryo was so relatively small that he didn't want to risk losing him in it.

    Finally, after more stumbling around in the rain and following the steady stream of students who were also trying to find their way somewhere, Kouya found himself at the entrance of the main school-building. He wasn't entirely sure how he got there, but Kouya took it as some divine sign that he should probably go to class more often. Dripping wet and soaked from head to toe, Kouya stepped into the building. He was counting on it being abandoned since no one wanted to be trapped there in the storm, but this wouldn't be the first time he was wrong. Maybe there was someone around here...some other sorry person who had the misfortune of being stuck in a would-be hurricane.

[Felicity]

[ i haVE BEEN A TERRIBLE PARTNER IM SO SORRY WEEPS GROSSLY. ]

---

Another booming round of thunder had her heart pounding in her ears; why now, of all times. At least if she was back at the dorms she could hide under the covers. Swallowing thickly, Felicity kept her pace steady. One foot in front of the other. It wasn't that hard, just one foot in front of the other.

In theory it wasn't difficult at all. But when it came to practice, the idea was to generally keep an eye on where you were going. In this case, one foot in front of the other lead Felicity straight into a wall. A very wet wall. Lifting her hand to rub at her nose which had been so unkindly squished, she glanced up to see where it was she had ended up, only to find herself staring at the chest of another person. Oh great now she'd made an idiot out of herself as well as mindlessly walking into someone else. 

"I- I'm sorry!" The blond shuffled back a half step, that stupid one foot in front of the other causing her heel to catch on the toe of her shoe, sending her back onto her behind with a dense thud, books and stationery spilling from her bag. What a mess, what a stupid, horrible mess. Stifling her need to just curl up in a ball, the student shifted herself onto her knees and began collecting up all her items. She hadn't even looked up at the person, nor seen their face. They were probably laughing at her, honestly who wouldn't? She'd just fallen on her ass after walking into someone. That was pretty hilarious from the outside.

A loud, reverberating clap of thunder interrupted her session loathing however, causing the dorky teen that was Felicity to shrivel in on herself and cover her ears, the pencil she'd inconveniently held gouging a large chunk out of her cheek in her panicked attempt at blocking the loud sound. While she didn't notice the stinging pain that would surely be caused by the idiotic action, it would definitely cause her discomfort soon enough.

[kouya]

    With everything happening so fast in the dark and in such a blur, Kouya didn't really have time to react. When Felicity stumbled into his chest, he only let out a quiet, "oof" which was lost in the loud pattering of the rain outside. It was one thing to expect no one to be in the school building, but it was another to quite literally run into someone. He might've almost thought whoever he ran into was a ghost or some spirit, but the subsequent flailing and falling told him otherwise.
The sound of the person's voice was vaguely familiar, and Kouya could've sworn he knew that voice...except his memory was absolutely terrible.

He was right in the middle of reaching out to whoever that was, but they slipped from his grasp and down towards the floor. There was a clatter of things falling down too, followed by another clap of thunder from outside. 

    "It's okay--" he said quietly, his voice too low to really be heard above the thunder. As ominous as the situation was, Kouya still couldn't help but be concerned for whoever was the unfortunate person to be stuck there with him. The tall boy extended a hand blindly downwards to help the girl up, not sure where she happened to land in the darkness. It wasn't really that dark, but his eyesight was bad enough when there was light. 
    "Are you okay?" he asked, this time actually audible when there was only the patter of rain accompanying his voice. Kouya wasn't laughing or judging, more concerned that the girl might've hit herself on the hard school tile.

    As his eyes readjusted to the darkness, there was another loud clap of thunder. The light that managed to leak through the hall was enough for Kouya to see the girl's form on the floor. Kouya crouched down instinctively. She was curled in on herself, covering her ears. He was about to say something when he recognized the big puff of blonde hair. He knew the face definitely and--now wasn't the time to try to remember faces. Kouya thought he saw what might've been blood on her and he only frowned in concern. He held out a hand to her hesitantly and repeated his question. 

    "Are you okay?"

[Felicity]

When believing that it was safe to lower her hands, she only just caught what the other had said. Are you okay. What she okay? There was a slight numbness in her cheek, but otherwise she was fine. Right? Reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes, her fingers trailed the blood from her cheek across her face, startling her slightly. It wasn't raining inside was it? Lowering her hand to try and see what it was, she squinted-- wait, no, she had to answer this person who was so kind to make sure she was okay.

"I- Yes, I-I'm fine." She responded, looking up to the face which was now so familiar. It was the guy that had given her the book-- that book that hadn't really helped much at all. The only thing it had done was cause that egg to hatch, and man did she wish it hadn't. Noh was a frustrating nuisance that was too right for her own good. "It's-- K... ouya, right?" Felicity gave a hesitant smile, quickly returning to collecting her things. She didn't mean to ignore his outstretched hand, her mind was just buzzing with everything that was happening, hoping to get her up and somewhere safe and quiet before the next rumble of thunder shook the building. Maybe the girl's bathroom-- or the library, maybe that was a better idea. Cleaner, albeit not by much considering what people did in the back aisles.

When she'd finally gathered all her things, she attempted to stand, almost headbutting him in the process but managing to avoid doing so by falling once more on her behind. 
"Sorry-- I'm, I can't really see." She half laughed, half awkwardly admitted, sliding a little back before trying again.

[kouya]

Kouya lowered his hand when she didn't take it. When it looked like she was still too unsteady, Kouya reached out to steady her by the arms. From what he felt, she was shaking, cold, and certainly not ready to be on her own in a dark, empty school. He was a little amazed that she remembered who he was but his face didn't show it. At that moment the face and the voice also clicked together in his memory.

"Yeah, Kouya, did you end up reading that book?" he said, trying to distract her with words and conversation as he gathered up the few things she dropped as she tried getting up again. He didn't bother asking if she was okay again because clearly, she wasn't. Then again, they couldn't exactly stay sitting in the middle of a hallway in the dark the whole night. Kouya sighed. He had no idea how to handle things like this. And a girl too? Not a good day.

There was another clap of thunder and Kouya almost jumped himself. He had no problem with the thunder, but she certainly did.

"Is there anywhere you want to go? I'll help you get there," he asked the question gently, which he REALLY wasn't used to. His eyesight wasn't much better, but at least he could make sure she got somewhere without falling and hurting herself again. Cause she...technically was his friend?

[Felicity]

His hands were warm, large and comforting on her arms as he steadied her. How embarrassing. That she should need this person whom she had met once to help her. Felicity gave a nervous smile as she nodded at his question, watching him collect up her things; she couldn't even do that right.

Her mouth opened, as if to respond to his question, his kind attempts at a distraction, but the booming thunder that reverberated throughout the hall only coaxed a frightened scream, and the instant reaction of throwing herself against the closest solid thing she could find; Kouya. She buried her face against his chest, hands over her ears as she attempted to block out the sound, the memories. This was horrible. If she were by herself, no one would be there to see her melt down. That was always preferable-- that way no one could laugh at her. A teenager, scared of the dark-- scared of thunder. When was she going to grow up?

When the rumbling subsided, the blond opened her ears and pulled away, grabbing her bag and standing in one, staggering motion. It took a moment to steady herself on her feet, but she managed to stay standing.
"I-- I'm sorry, please I don't want to trouble you." She blathered out rather quickly, the words spilling from her mouth in a quick torrent of syllables. She gave another, wonky smile that was clearly forced. It was hard to draw her lips up in an upward curve when all she wanted to do was sit in the corner and cry. "Thank you for your help-- But I really- I should go."

[kouya]

Kouya wasn't laughing at her. It took him by surprise when she threw herself against him, and all he could do was let out a quiet oof. Kouya was slowly starting to realize that she wasn't just scared of the thunder. He thought he could tell the difference by now, the girls that liked to tackle his chest and the ones who...the ones who were genuinely scared like right now.

Again, Kouya had no idea what to do. It was only instinct that told him not to let her go out on her own, especially when she reacted the way she did, and when she was reacting the way she was now. He couldn't let her go out like that. "Wait--" he called after her, rushing to his feet and almost slipping from how wet the floor was where he knelt down too. This wasn't some act of great kindness or friendship all of a sudden. It was really his subconscious telling him that he wouldn't be able to sleep with a clear conscience if he let her go out in that state. 

"Wait," he repeated again. He wasn't sure what to say to make sure she didn't run off and do god knows what, "Wait, just...I need to get back to the dorms too. We can make a run for it back to the dorms?" It came out as a question, but then again, wasn't it a question? Questioning why the heck he was doing this.

[Felicity]

The blond hesitated. He seemed genuinely concerned for her, and he didn't appear to be laughing at her childish fears. Swallowing thickly, Felicity seriously considered his offer for what seemed like the longest moment, fidgeting quite visibly even in the dimly lit hallway. With a sharp inhale, and a long exhale, she gave a nod.

"I-- is it really safe though?" Her voice was shaky, barely audible over the heavy patter of rain. "To go out there?" No matter how much she just wanted to be back in her room under her covers, the idea of actually going out into the storm was somewhat more terrifying than being trapped in the school building. Usually, she'd just put headphones on and wait for the storm to pass, but she had no luxury at this stage. Her iPod was in her room, her phone was dying, and she didn't have her headphones. This was one hell of a kettle of fish.

Just as she was thinking it was hopeless, even if she wasn't entirely alone, the rain began to soften against the roof of the building, the patter dying down just a little every passing moment. Was the storm hitting a lull? Would it be possible for them to make a run for it while it was a little calmer?

[kouya]

Kouya shrugged his shoulders at her question. He didn't really have an answer for that, especially since he wasn't really a weather man. It was comforting to know she wasn't about to break down on him right away. It probably wasn't that bad. He heard the softening of the rain, and waited for a clap of thunder, but it never came. Safe enough? Probably.

"Yeah, we can run for it," he said, pausing for a second, "You can run, right?" He asked really only because his eyes were still drawn to the blood on her face. The lights in the school flickered as he spoke, and Kouya thought it might've been the power coming back on. Only it wasn't. There was a last zap and flicker before the lights gave up completely. Yup. There was no point in waiting for lights.

"If we run now, we won't get that wet," he suggested. The wetness didn't really bother him, considering the fact that he was...well, he was wet already. His sweater was still drench and his hair was still plastered to his face from the rain.

"It won't be that bad, probably..."