all the pretty girls {seren&olwen}

iris

    Things had gotten pretty eventful for a girl with crippling anxiety. She unintentionally (and definitely indirectly) caused a student to be sent to the nurse, but also managed to make friends with a boy who showed her colors for the first time. Were these instances common at Foresta? With so many gifted kids in one building, maybe they're statistically inevitable, but Iris was never too good at math so she couldn't be sure.
    She'd finally made her way back to the courtyard, this time in a fuzzy knit sweater and skinny jeans, otherwise known as appropriate attire for winter weather that she should've been wearing when she first got lost. Maybe that's a little harsh, she thought to herself, always seeming to find herself wrapped up in self-depricating behavior.
Seated on a nearby bench, Iris had taken out a sketchbook that Minnie had lent to her, and was drawing what she could of the scenery. The frigid temperatures wouldn't be enough to deter Iris from taking advantage of Foresta's beauty. The sky was blanketed white, as if pregnant with the next snowfall. It would be a sin to waste this opportunity. The drawing itself was pretty sketchy and abstract so far, and entirely lacked people. Of course, she stuck to strictly shading the few gnarled trees that stood out from the rest, what with her coloring skills being less than sub par. Slower days like this, when her schoolwork was lofty and she didn't have anything on her agenda, left her to her own devices, which, more often than not, were artistic in one way or another. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, or maybe it was a genuine hobby. If she had to guess, Iris would suggest it served both niches. As the courtyard slowly began to materialize onto the girl's paper, she couldn't help but smile and wonder what her caretaker would've thought of this. Sheltered beneath the hands of the other caretakers, Minnie was always pushing Iris outdoors, and now she couldn't have been more thankful for it.
    A small, quiet hum filled her chest as she drew, her mechanical pencil moving more fluidly with each passing moment. This was the closest to peace she would probably ever get.

{ooc: song muse & tagged Seren & Olwen , doesn't matter to me who posts first}

The day was average at best for Eris, classes had flown by and anything that the young man had missed in lecture he was already being told by either Gaia or Athena as he walked toward the Court Yard to get some fresh air. With both of them being the motherly type, it was very hard for him to forget anything without being reminded by either one of them what he needed to do.

As the puppeteer made his way out into the Court Yard, Eris took a deep breath of the crisp air. Glad the he had decided to take a moment to walk outside, as the young man started his stroll a sudden word from Poseidon stopped the young man right in his tracks.

'Eris, look over there to the left.'

Eris turned his head slightly, not realizing that a girl that he had met just a few days before had been in his peripheral vision this whole time and he hadn't noticed. Sometimes, only sometimes was Eris thankful for the other people looking through his eyes.

Wordlessly, Eris made his way over to Iris - stopping in his tracks as she was only a few feet away from her. He wasn't quite sure why he had decided to come over and talk to her, but the way things ended the first time they had meet - Eris just felt as though he couldn't leave her impression of him being like that. "Hi," Eris said to the girl then, not taking the moment to consider if he was interrupting anything important that Iris was doing.

    The stars on his ceiling finally faded after brightly shining from exactly ten minutes. He rolled out of bed and sat with his feet pressed firmly on the ground. The radio was silent and had been for a while. Silas had honestly expected Kaeru to be all over him and giving him orders right after she'd accepted him as her servant. Alas, there had been no word from boss; it was unlike her to be so quiet, surely there were things to be gossiped over at Foresta? Kaeru's dorm was far enough away that Silas didn't bother to go find her. If she needed him, she could find him. 
     He slid his feet into comfortable shoes and slipped a grey and blue sweater over his skull. Popping earbuds into both ears he grabbed a key, his backpack, a camera, and fled the dorms. The mechanism bounced on his chest as he went down stairs and out into the frosty air. With a flick of a few buttons he was in business. Taking pictures for the reports Kaeru did wasn't really necessary but pictures did tell stories. After the little run in with monsters he wasn't going anywhere without being able to prove that certain things happened here. Upon returning from that misadventure he had told a teacher of the event and was told to take a rest, as if it didn't matter. Silas scoffed at the memory. 
      Taking the camera in both hands he started snapping shots of the mid-winter scenery. Despite preferring the spring/fall settings, he continued to search for potential images. As he turned to gaze at the tree line he saw two figures talking. It wasn't clear at first who they were but slight adjustments made Silas' stomach twist. It was Iris. With one hand on the camera and the other raised high in a friendly wave, he jogged toward them. Without much thought he created an illusion for Iris, one that would provide her with the color her world lacked. Eris wouldn't notice the difference unless he too was slightly colorblind. 
        Coming up to them he smiled warmly to her and gave Eris a knowing glance. Not enemies, not friends. "It's been too long, Iris."
           
        

iris

    The girl nearly leapt off of the bench as a voice pierced the silence of the courtyard, "Hi." She quickly turned over her sketchbook and placed it next to her, setting her mechanical pencil down alongside it as she peered up at the newcomer. It took her a few moments to recognize him, but images of an immature underclassman and Eris being escorted to the nurse quickly flashed across her mind. "O-O-O-O-Oh, h-h-h-hello Eris," she murmured, a weak smile pulling at the corners of her lips, "H-H-H-H-How've y-y-y-y-you been? Y-Y-Y-You a-a-a-a-already l-l-look better, really. I h-h-h-h-hope that I-I-I did n-n-not c-c-cause y-y-y-you too much t-t-trouble, a-a-a-and I t-t-t-tried e-e-explaining to th-th-that teacher th-th-that the i-i-i-i-in... I-I-I-In.." Iris was speaking so fervently that she got stuck, as if her stutter had rendered her incapable of speech altogether.
    After a few moments of concentrated breathing, she resumed her sentence, "Th-Th-The i-i-i-incident... W-W-W-W-W.. W-W-Was n-n-n-not your f-f-fault. S-S-S-S-Sorry, sometimes m-m-m-m-m-my s-s-s-stutter is r-r-r-really b-b-b-b-bad.." She paused to take a deep inhalation, but it was quickly interrupted when something blossomed across her vision. She stood, peering around as colors shifted from people to the landscape around her. The grass appeared dully green with envy, and the courtyard painted with brick reds of frustration and whites of calm. Sure, she still associated colors with emotion, but it was something else entirely to see them like this. "Silas!" she cried instinctively, remembering the boy that granted her with such sight. "It's been too long, Iris," the boy mused. She turned towards him, excitement pouring from her very being, "I-I-I-It certainly h-h-has! S-S-S-S-Silas, th-th-th-this i-i-is so b-b-b-beautiful!"
    Before she could continue on her rant of gratitude, Iris recalled her formalities. For someone who didn't socialize very often, the ins and outs of each social nuance often escaped her. "O-O-Oh, right," she murmured to herself while gesturing to Eris, "I-I-I-I don't th-th-th-think e-e-e-either of y-y-you have m-m-met, so this i-i-is Eris. And E-E-E-Eris, this i-i-i-is S-S-Silas. S-S-S-Silas can make i-i-i-i-illusions s-s-s-so that I-I-I can s-s-s-see color." The illusions brought back another memory of Silas collapsing in the meadow after a particularly lavish illusion. "S-S-S-S-Silas, a-a-are you g-g-going t-t-to be all r-r-r-r-right? I-I th-th-th-thought th-th-that illusions t-t-tired y-y-you out, a-a-a-and I wouldn't w-w-want to c-c-cause that," she breathed, turning towards the blonde-haired boy in earnest.

Iris had started off with asking how he was and the young man patiently waited as she spoke. "I'm doing fine, are you doing alright?" Eris asked the girl then with a tiny bit of concern. She then started talking about what happened the last time they were together and Eris shook his head, waving his hand in the air as if he were waving away the memory in general. "They let me off with a warning, everything turned out fine." Eris explained to the girl then.

It was when he was starting to talk once more that Iris called out another boy's name and Eris turned toward the male in question, immediately feeling a tension in his chest. 'Oh! Someone is jealous!'

"That's not true," Eris mumbled, quickly bringing himself back to reality. It was very easy to forget that other people couldn't hear the souls inside his head and more often than not when he did speak to them he just looked like a crazy person to the people around him.

Iris was then introducing the two of them and just as Silas nodded toward him, Eris did the same - not bothering to really say anything to the boy, instead letting Iris talk about whatever she wished.

    The look of joy on her face was priceless. He didn't know how it felt to be gifted with the ability to see what was once invisible, but being able to give that gift to her always made him happy. Silas turned to Eris a bit more formally now that he'd properly said hello to his friend. He tried to ignore the expression on the other guys visage but couldn't help but wonder if it was what he thought it was. "Glad to see you are both in good health." The statement was mostly true.

    The young man took to making himself comfortable on the ground where he had a good view of both Eris and Iris. She expressed some concern for his use of his abilities though he waved it off as though it were no big concern. "I've had time enough to rest, and what you get see is no strain for me at all. So don't worry yourself too much, please," he smiled warmly up to her, making sure that she would trust in his words.

    Scratching the back of his neck lightly he glanced over at Eris. "How are your classes, Eris? Have any teachers worth noting as particularly peculiar?" On the inside he was grimacing painfully; it was such an awkward start to the conversation but hey, someone had to do it. Silas looked to Iris as well and pulled her into the conversation, "Anything or anyone catch your eye?"

iris

    Even though both boys seemed pleasant enough, a few muddled shades of green that swirled around their heads appeared to think otherwise. There was definitely a level of discomfort here, but for what? Sure they might've just met each other, but it seemed too tense for nerves... Regardless, she wasn't about to let it consume the conversation. "I-I-I'm a-a-a-all right, E-E-Eris, I-I-I'm just g-g-g-glad they let y-y-you off w-w-w-with a warning," she responded, beaming at the boy in earnest.     He did indirectly rescue her from those schoolboys, so to some degree, she was in his debt.
Silas's words landed her back into the situation at hand, reassuring her that his health was at its peak. She smiled broadly and nodded in agreement to his kind-hearted words, sitting beside him and letting herself drift off when the two started a small conversation. She made sure to pat the ground next to her as a friendly invitation towards Eris; the last thing she needed was for him to feel excluded. Still, tensions were high, and Iris absent-mindedly ran her fingers along the stone around her neck. A sweet sense of relief washed over her as she pricked a small hole in the skin of her fingertip. Just enough to draw some blood, but not enough to garner more attention than she was used to. Somehow, it was a comforting kind of pain.
    "Anything or anyone catch your eye?" the blonde-haired boy asked simply, but the question brought just a hint of rose into Iris's cheek. Anyone? Maybe her obliviousness couldn't protect her from every suggestive remark. "O-O-Oh, I-I-I don't th-th-think.. U-U-Um... I-I-I've experienced a-a-a-anything l-l-like that, b-b-b-but I've b-b-been trying t-t-t-to hone my p-p-powers a little bit," she managed to say, "I-I-I think s-s-seeing you two u-u-use your powers s-s-so freely k-k-k-kind of i-i-inspired me. I-I-I rarely u-u-use mine..." With those words, Iris paused, lifting up her hands and inhaling a deep breath. Blue-green energy swirled and materialized at her fingertips, slowly lifting from her palms and up into the air. The liquid-like substance curled and bent to her every whim and basically mirrored her limbs. But, just as she was preparing to send the turquoise column around Eris's head and back towards the other, her bloody finger gently brushed against the side of Silas's cheek.
    She squeaked in horror, immediately dissolving the energy she'd formed, "I-I-I'm so sorry, S-S-S-Silas..!" Pulling her sleeve over her hand, she leaned forwards to dab the droplet off of his face, "D-D-D-Do you w-w-w-want t-t-to go t-t-to the nurse? I-I-I'm sorry, I-I-I c-c-can be a l-l-little clumsy s-s-sometimes, o-oh jeez..." Her eyes shifted nervously to Eris, "D-D-Do you th-th-think h-h-he needs d-d-disinfectant? O-O-Or.. U-U-Um.." There were no words that could truly quantify the amount of humility and awkwardness Iris was feeling in that current moment.

[ooc; Will retcon later. Court Yard. ]