falling leaves. /open

[JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA]

And just a pinch of this... A small pink bud of a rose slowly materialized inside a clay pot, it's vine of green leaves and thorns stretching deep into the dirt that offered it nourishment. And a little bit of that... Another bud appeared suddenly in the hand of the one who summoned it, it's shade a soft blue that was rare for a rose found out of certain conditions. John smiled as he looked at his creation. A full pot of multicolored roses, all of them growing at different angles and in different stages of growth. Setting the pot down, John let out a soft sigh. Happy with what he had accomplished during his lunch break, and remembering that he had once again forgotten to eat something. He smirked, grabbing a pack of smokes he had on his desk and jiggling it about. It was heavy, but it was nothing more then his lighter when he looked inside. Frowning, he threw the pack back on his desk, tapping his fingers on the wood paneling that held the dozens of rows of plants he took care of. Standing he walked over to the small grove of trees near the back. They were smaller versions of the ones usually planted in fields. The green house wasn't big enough for him to have full size trees and bushes, but with his unique talent he was able to make the miniature sizes that still produce food. John bent down and pulled a red apple from the branch of one of the trees, and an orange from another. He didn't have much to work with so he grabbed a pair of shears and started cutting up the apple. He walked over to the side of the greenhouse, where the windows were made of a clear glass and he could enjoy the view of the gardens below. It was no secret that John enjoyed nature, it was his element, the place where he felt the most at home. And standing in the greenhouse gave him a surge of energy he just couldn't explain. John took a bite of one of the apple slices, movement caught his eyes below him and he peered through the window towards the middle of the gardens. There were two students running around the fountain that stood near the center, there were smiles on their faces and John couldn't help but watch them. He had always been a bit of a creep, watching people from far away, or from the shadows. John didn't mean to be creepy, he just enjoyed watching everyone go through their lives. He had never been big on being adventurous. He was quite boring when it came to most things, and watching people made him feel like he was apart of something. John sighed and walked back over to his desk, sitting in the over plush chair (that didn't look like it belonged there), and leaning back to rest his legs on the top of it. He took another bite of the apple, resting his head against the back of the chair and letting his mind wander.

and it's a long way up when you hit the ground TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG 520 hopefully this works!

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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[TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG]

School. What a big difference there was between the way they taught at the orphanage and here. Not only that but the kids where different too. The girls at the orphanage would just ignore Tigan like they always did because they grew up with her and knew her so well. But the kids here are so curious about her. Asking her questions about her past and what she liked to do and trying to be friends with her. Not that Tigan didn't want to be friends with them, it's just that when she gets into a social situation Tigan gets scared and closes up. Her mind stops functioning and she doesn't say anything then the other kids think that she is either just being rude or is a freak. Which she is. All the other kids at this school have such cool powers but all Tigan can do is disappear. How lame is that.

It was only lunch time and Tigan just wanted to get away from all the kids and teachers and questions and stares. So she over heard someone say something about a pool on the roof and she thought that would be a great place to do some reading while she ate her lunch. At first she got a little lost, what with being new to the school and being to afraid to ask anyone how to get there. But finally she figured it out. Once she got to the top of the stairs on the fourth floor and was out in the open of the rooftop, she could see the bright blue sky and the clear blue of the pool and the windows of the green house and the odd building in the distance that she didn't know what it was for. She saw the chairs that where around the pool and headed for them.

In her left hand was a book called 'Romeo and Juliet' another of Tigan's favorite romance novels and in her right hand was an apple she planed on eating while reading. She was dressed in a light blue t-shirt and some jean shorts with some white and blue sneakers. Her hair was in a lazy pony tail and she never wore make-up. Once she was at the pool chair out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw someone moving around in the greenhouse, but she figured it was just her imagination and looked back at the chair she was about to sit in. All the frustration of the day and all the fear that she had been holding on to suddenly escaped her mouth as she sighed loudly as she sat down in the chair. She put her legs up and opened her book from her last spot, that was being held by another of her favorite book marks. After a few moments of reading she lifted the juicy apple to her lips and bit down into it. Juice from the apple flowing down her chin.

[JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA]

His head rolled to the side, resting against the pillow attached to the back of his chair. He woke up with a start for a moment, before closing his eyes again. Nodding off wasn't anything new for John to do, he was known to sleep through classes half the time in the hotter months. And this heat was starting to get to be too much for John. His palms were sweating and he could feel liquid starting to drip down his face and the back of his neck. "Blegh." He sighed as he sat up from his desk. It was far too hot and humid in the green house for him to nap properly. He stretched, grabbed a rag from the shelf besides his desk and wiped off his face. After he brought it around to the back of his neck, letting it sit there to soak up his sweat. Looking out the open windows of the green house he spotted the pool, feeling a sudden urge to take a dip and cool off, he started taking his clothes off. His vest and t-shirt fell to the floor, followed by his slacks, with a kick he rid himself of his sandals (which didn't really fit his more classy attire) and smiled at the pair of swim trunks he had been wearing under his clothes. He never went anywhere without them, they came in handy during the summer months. With a grin he removed the rag from the back of his neck and headed out the door of the greenhouse. The sunlight beat down on John and he felt like wilting right then and there. He turned to close the door of the green house and caught sight of someone sitting at a table by the pool. He suddenly felt very overexposed and fought the urge to cover himself up. Coughing lightly he turned to the large cabinet by the green house and grabbed one of the white towels provided there by the school. He wasn't entirely sure who restocked this cabinet, but he was happy to know that there were towels provided should he need them. Holding the towel in front of him he walked closer to the pool, making sure to step lightly as the roof's tile was hot and uncomfortable for his feet. He stopped just short of the table, taking a second to look the girl up and down before setting his towel on the chair at the next table over. Noticing her reading, he glanced at the title before smiling. "Romeo and Juliet's a good one. You mind if I swim a bit, just as a warning, I may splash you."

and it's a long way up when you hit the ground TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG 445

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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[TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG]

Ah Romance. It was so wonderful to be in love. Or at least read about someone else being in love. Because Tigan had never been in love, let alone talked to a guy, teenage or adult for that matter. Not that she hadn't tried. When she was at her old school she would be allowed to go to the park every now and then and she would see guys there all the time. Once she had a crush on a guy and for a long time never had the guts to tell him. Then one day the other girls at the orphanage found her diary and read it. They then followed her to the park and ambushed her. They told the guy about it in front of her and the guy and girls started laughing at her. She was so embarrassed that she ran back to the orphanage and didn't come out of the bathroom for a whole day.

But that was then and now she's in a new school where no one knows her. She could maybe one day meet someone and have the courage to tell him and who knows maybe he will even like her. But let's get back to the romantic book. It had been a few minutes now and Tigan was really getting into her book. So much so that she hadn't even noticed that someone had come out of the greenhouse and was walking towards her. Just as she got to the part where romeo killed juliets cousin, she was snuck up on. A little squeak of a yelp escaped her lips and she jumped so high she almost fell out of her chair. So far in her life every time that this has happened her power kicks in. The girls at the orphanage would do the same thing to her. And it happened again this time. Slowly it started at her fingertips, then it got a little faster when it got to her wrists. Then in no time at all it got to her neck.

Anyone that was around her would be able to see right through her. Only at the right angle would they be able to see just the outline of her body. It didn't last for long and she was back again. "Oooh... my... goddd." She said with a slight stutter. She turned to see that it was an adult. She could only assume that it was a teacher since almost all the adults here where teachers. She had only then realized that she had dropped her book. Her Hunger Games bookmark laying next to her book. She bent down and picked it up and realized that he was only wearing a towel. She had never seen a man half naked before. She turned a pretty shade of pink and turned back away from him quickly. She was unsure what to say so she just nodded her head and waited for him to hop in the pool. Once he had she would try and sneak away without him seeing. She wasn't offended by him or trying to hurt his feelings. She had just never been in a situation like that one and didn't know how to react. Plus she was embarrassed and didn't want him to know this.

[JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA]

John watched in wonder as the young girl seemed to slowly disappear from sight and then snap back as if nothing had happened. He couldn't help but smile and then felt a little awkward that he was doing so while only wearing a pair of swimming trunks. He laughed softly, backing away from the young girl as she turned red, not wanting her to die of embarrassment, even though he was feeling sort of the same way. He didn't usually walk around half dressed and when he did he was most always alone. No one really visited him in the Green House unless it was time for classes, and his dorm room was pretty secluded from the rest of the school. (Though he preferred to spend most of his time around the plants in the Green House.) He sat at the next table over, watching her pick up her book and settle into the chair again. His thoughts of going for a swim exited his mind as he wondered what sort of gift she had. "That was pretty cool." He had a light Latin accent, something people wouldn't really notice unless he spoke for a long period of time. Which he didn't normally, because his class was mostly taught through visual presentations and the use of his own gift. "Do you have control over it, or does it just happen randomly?" John was enthralled by the fact that she could go invisible. He usually questioned all of his students about their gifts or powers and tended to make a big deal of each of them. When he was younger he couldn't control his own gift very well and would wake up tangled in vines that should not have been there. Through practice and with the help of an older woman he learned how to fully take control over his power and in return he tried to help his students gain control over theirs. Though, generally the kids had better control over their gifts than he did. He blamed it on new age technology, or maybe the fact that since so many more people were getting gifts, that people were more comfortable exploring and experimenting their own gifts with themselves and with others. He secretly wished he had had that ability when he was younger, but that had been a different time, and a different place. "Sorry, I've been exceptionally rude. My name is John, I'm the botany teacher." He felt a bit ashamed he hadn't offered up his name in the first place. He had pretty much bombarded this girl like a child in a candy store. And she didn't deserve to be treated in such a way. He offered her a smile, and a small wave of his hand as he was too far away for a shake and she probably wouldn't have been very comfortable shaking his hand. He sat patiently in the plastic chair, waiting for her to respond or to run screaming from the roof, either way he'd either get to have a nice conversation or he'd end up jumping into the pool.

and it's a long way up when you hit the ground TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG 517

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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[TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG]

 'Of course he's staying.' She thought to herself as he asked her questions and then sat down at a table across from her. "N-no. I-I can't always control it." She said in almost a whisper. The whole time she was looking down at the ground. She still didn't want to see him half dressed. When he told her his name and waved at her she looked up for a second then looked back down. "Tigan. N-nice to meet you."  She said being as polite. When a few seconds had past and he hadn't left yet she realized that he was looking for more of an explanation behind her power. "W-when my power started it was during one of the most upsetting moments of my life. I had just found out that no one at the orphanage had any information on my birth parents. So I was a true orphan. No family, no friends, totally alone. From then on anytime that I was scared or upset or just really emotional it would come without warning. It's only been a few times when I've been able to control it." She said with more guts then she's displayed since she got to this school.

Tigan turned towards a table that was near her and set down her book since she was not going to be reading it. She then turned back towards John. Again the sight of him being half naked was an unwanted view so she looked back at the ground. "I-if you don't mind me asking. What's your power?" She asked him wondering what kind of power he had and if he could help her with hers. If she couldn't get rid of the power then maybe she could keep from ever having to use it. She waited the allotted time for him to answer but she was starting to get very uncomfortable with him being half naked. "I-i'm sorry but can you please put on at least a shirt. This is uncomfortable."  She said hoping that he wouldn't get offended by it. Yes, she did want to be more social, but she wasn't ready to jump right into a full blown socially akward situation.

The thought of the last time that she was in an awkward situation like this one popped into her head and she shuttered. The girls at her orphanage locked her in the bathrooms with another girl. The other girl that was in the bathroom with her was one of the meanest girls at the orphanage and she turned out to be a lesbian. All the girls knew that Tigan was a freak and they would always torture her because of it. So the girl would make moves on her just to freak her out and scare her. It lasted for an hour before one of the sisters saw the group of girls outside the bathroom door laughing. Tigan cried herself to sleep for a week because of that one. Tigan then folded her hands and waited for him to answer.

[JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA]

Extraordinary. John had always been fascinated by other's abilities. He sometimes wished he could have picked his power instead of having it given to him at birth. Though he supposed his ability to even have a power was an anomaly and wasn't something he could have chose to begin it. Still, he found that other people's abilities were usually more fun and intriguing than his was. Then again he was generally surrounded by children most of his time and none of them really appreciated botany. Not at this age anyways. He supposed if he went to an elderly home or even a House Wife Convention they'd have more appreciation for him. I wonder if House Wife Conventions are a thing... He chuckled lightly at the thought and then turned his attention back to Tigan. He listened to her speak, his face unwavering from a smile, but he felt a pang of shame again as she spoke. His mother had abandoned him when he was a toddler, and his father had only ever been around to beat John up and leave him a weeping mess on the floor. In John's case he didn't care to find out who his mother was and he didn't care to know where his father was. He was better off alone, but he had also never lived in an orphanage. And from the way Tigan acted, it didn't seem like an orphanage was a very good place to be. He felt a bit of a blush reach his cheeks when she asked him to put on a shirt. He supposed sitting around half naked with a student wasn't his brightest of ideas. He sometimes forgot about boundaries working at Masquerade, everyone here was like a family instead of students and teachers. "Oh, right, sorry. Here..." He stood up from the table and rushed over to the Green House, opening the door and bending down to pick up the shirt he'd been wearing before. He threw it on and took a moment to chuckle at how horrible the plaid shirt clashed with his bright blue swim trunks. Ah well. He grabbed one of the planters inside the doorway and headed back out to Tigan. Sitting at the same table he was at before, he set the pot on the table and waited a moment. "My ability isn't as awesome as yours, but watch." He rested one hand around the outside of the pot, his other hovered over the dirt inside and a sort of energy seemed to fall from his skin and into the soil. After a moment a stem burst forth from the dirt and grew upwards, John's hand moved as he shaped leaves and near the top he circled around the tip. From there a deep red rose bud grew and bloomed into a full flower. He smiled at his work for a moment and then moved the pot across the table, closer to Tigan. "Like I said, not as cool as yours, but I suppose it's not the worst ability one could have." His smile stuck to his lips as he looked from the rose to Tigan's face and leaned over onto his arms. "I'm not terribly great at teaching people how to use powers that I know nothing about. But I could help you learn to... Uh, what's the word." John thought for a moment. He didn't know how her power work, so claiming he could help her control it was out of his ability. But he could help her learn to calm herself when she felt like she was losing control. "Learn to calm yourself. You can learn control after you've learned to keep yourself calm and focused." He offered her a warm smile, waiting for her answer.

and it's a long way up when you hit the ground TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG 626 hopefully this works!

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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[TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG]

Tigan couldn't help but notice that John was smiling almost the whole time. Didn't he realize that this was horrible for her, it was nothing to smile about. Then Tigan remembered that boys loved superpowers. Tigan never understood this. Boy and thier toys. But then John jumped up and ran back to the greenhouse and put on a shirt. He came back with a pot of soil in his hands. He set it on the table then waved his hand over it for a few seconds and a beautiful red rose came bursting from the soil. Tigan gapped in aww. "Wow, that's beautiful." She said in aww of the beautiful flower.

When John said that he could help her control herself, that wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for. "I was kind of hoping that in coming to this school, someone could help me get rid of my power. Or at least help me to never have to use it. I hate this power." She said with true fear and hate on her face. Again the memories of all the times that she was teased because of her power came flooding into her mind. This upset her again and she could feel her power acting up again. This time it started in her head then went down to her neck and then her shoulders. But she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly for a few seconds and she went back to normal. "See. It's embarrassing and I hate it. I just want to make it go away forever. I never want to have to use my power again." She said putting her head in her hands and starting to cry.

Tigan took a deep breath, then with her tear filled eyes she looked back up at John in hopes that he would be able to say something to make her feel better. After all he was a teacher and he was suppose to be good and helping kids out. He's had his power a lot longer than she did and he had to know someway or at least someone else who was able to suppress their power. "Have you ever heard of anyone who was able to make their power go away or at least never had to use it again?" Tigan asked him now looking at the spot on the ground where her tears where landing. She waited now for his answer.

TAG JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA WORDS four one four

[JOHN MICHAEL DE LUCA]

John had a sad smile on his face. In all his years (which really weren't that many really) he had never known someone to lose or get rid of their powers. On the other hand he had heard many rumors of people having their powers forcefully taken away. Those people generally ended up dead or unable to function properly though. The thought terrified him. As silly as being able to grow plants on a whim was, he couldn't imagine not being able to do it. It had become part of his routine, his life. He had gone to great lengths to keep the gardens and his greenhouse lush with flora and fauna. And suddenly not being able to do that made him feel uneasy. A shiver ran up his back and John rubbed his arms to rid himself of the goosebumps that rose. "I'm sorry, Tigan. I've never heard or seen anyone that has lost their powers." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but questions started to form in his mind. Why wouldn't she want to embrace her gift? Why wouldn't she love and accept it? "Perhaps in learning to control it, you'll be able to learn not to use it?" He shrugged lightly, turning his head to the pool and falling into deep thoughts. Then something caught his attention and he turned to look at her again. Suddenly her head and shoulders were turning into nothing, disappearing before his very eyes and while he was fascinated by her ability, he understoof her frustration. He would probably be frustrated too if he could randomly see through parts of his body. Then more questions popped into his head. Can she go through things? Are her limbs still tangible? Does she still see her body or can she see through herself as well? The questions seemed to run through his head a mile a minute. He generally didn't harrass his students, but Tigan's gift was one he truly enjoyed. "Have you ever thought, that by embracing your gift, you would be able to better control it?" John turned to look at her again, leaning back in his chair as he drummed his fingers against the table top. "Perhaps if you were not trying to fight against it so much, it would be easier for you to learn how to keep it from happening when you do not want it to."

and it's a long way up when you hit the ground TIGAN CORRY THORNBURG 400 xo

MADE BY VEL OF GS

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