Testing the Claim [Illia] [PG13]

[lexi]

A figure of average height walked into the gymnasium,
a lazy, smug sort of an expression crossing his face
as he discovered it empty. Well, he had been hoping it
would empty. As usual, Niko had a plan for mischief, but
it would definitely better if no one were around to actually
see this particular deed happen. He did like to keep the
mystery and allure crap that girls always went on and on
about to him, after all, what could be so bad as what he
was about to do ? Technically, there wasn't any harm,
but he was about to test this school's claim about their
gym.

He was going to test if it was indeed fireproof.

Now the first thing one would probably wonder if they
heard about Niko's little plan, was how ? Luckily, he
just so happened to specialized in fire magic, not to
mention he was made of it... Since there are crickets
chriping and not the expected realization that was
expected, that was a hint. A hint that Niko is indeed
a pheonix. He didn't feel the need to transform right
now, since he could generate enough fire to do the
trick in this form.

Without really thinking about it, Niko summoned up
some fire in his hand and threw it at the wall, sat back
on the nearest bleacher, and watched. All the while,
amusement flickered in his aqua-colored eyes.

This was much better than scaring the freshmen.

[Iƪƪia]

Strolling down yet another hallway, Illia glanced around at the walls with a frown. She was quite tired of seeing them. After having been at Chimera Academy for awhile now, she had finally come to the point where she declared this school to be boring. Well, it had to happen someday, and she would tire of everything after awhile. Books, movies, classes, guys... Well, it was their fault for not keeping Illia entertained.

But this school with all its goddamn secrets and its goddamn students that are always kept in the dark, but they still don't give a damn... It was interesting at first, but now she'd just gotten tired of it. Though it wasn't like she could do much to solve this problem. She had already decided that she was going to stay at CA for awhile longer. She'd just have to either deal with her boredom or maybe she could stop trying to act so nice and polite.

As she walked past the gym doors, a noise from within caused her to look up and peek through the small window in the door, but there wasn't a soul to be seen. At that moment, Illia considered, simply ignoring it and leaving to find something else to do - maybe go to class for once. However, her curiosity had now been aroused and - after a slight pause - she pushed open one of the doors and took a step inside.

Before she was able to scan the gym for signs of life, a small fireball suddenly flew past, inches from her face. Startled, she jumped back and watched as it collided with the wall. The chimera merely stared at the wall for a moment, blinking, as she was still in a bit of shock.

Exhaling, she finally turned to locate the source of the attack, finding it in the only other person in the room: a boy sitting amongst the bleachers. He wasn't bad-looking at all... In fact, he was more than a little attractive. A lot, actually. Gorgeous, even. However, since he had almost torched her, she wasn't about to let any of her feeling show. Aside from anger, naturally, as she glared up at him. She didn't say a word, though it wasn't necessary, since her look said it all.

Who the hell are you and what the hell was that?![/color]

[lexi]

Niko didn't feel that surprised when someone entered, he knew it was only a matter of time. It was even less surprising that it was a girl. Probably one of his many adoring fans. Or one of his even more adoring "girlfriends." They were really just something to preoccupy his time, nothing special. It didn't seem to matter to them that there were obviously more girls in the picture, they would even cling to him at the same time ! It was amusing, really, sometimes if they stopped showering
affection on him for five seconds, they'd notice the other girl and they'd attack eachother.

Those were the more pathetic ones.

Ever since he'd been around girls, they seemed to flock to him.
It was annoying at first, but he got used to it. They made him
food, kept him company, and he was certainly never bored....
He had it pretty good, really. Aqua eyes flickered at the girl who
was now glaring over the fireball situation. He resisted the urge
to glare back as he looked her over with a brief turn of his eyes.
She was pretty, he supposed, he'd dated better though. He raised
an aburn eyebrow, his eyes twinkling in a way that meant nothing
good.

"You should take a picture, babe, it'll last longer."

Yeah,yeah, it was overdone, but the simplicity of telling her
to get lost and asking her what she wanted at the same time
was too priceless for him to give up. Besides, what was really
overdone was asking 'what ?'. Seriously, how annoying.
He sat on the bleacher in his typical pose, one that would have
looked ridiculous with anyone else but with him looked effortlessly
cool. He briefly wondered if the girl was mute, before sighing
slightly and running his hand through his jagged red spikes.

This couldn't be any weirder.

[Iƪƪia]

Briefly, a snarl flashed across her face as she continued to watch the boy who had almost injured her. Awfully smug, wasn't he? If she had been any less angry, Illia might have noticed the similarities between them, though there was no hope for that now.

Forcing all signs of anger out of her features, she smiled sweetly as she slowly walked further into the gym. Since he ha gotten the bright idea to make her angrier, she'd better let him know that she didn't approve. Her plan was as simple as that. Hands clasped in front of her, she looked him over once again, giggling softly, playing the role of a flirtatious schoolgirl.

"Ya know..." She began, sidling closer to him, "That wasn't a very nice thing to say." She giggled once more, though as it came to an end, so did her friendly facade, and when she spoke again her voice was thick with sarcasm and annoyance. "Yeah, maybe you should have said something like, 'Oh man, I'm soo sorry for almost hurting you! I didn't know what I was doing, I'm just a moron, see? Please forgive me!'"

Nodding to herself, she cast another glare up at him. This always happened. She, herself, was simply so incredible that she had a habit of judging everyone else with such high standards. As she walked away she decided that she'd really have to work on that someday.

"Oh, one more thing," She turned to face him again, summoning some power into one of her hands, "Don't call me 'babe' again."

With one, swift flick of the wrist, she sent a single bolt of magic to collide with the bleachers. It looked much like a lightning bolt, though instead of lightning it was composed of ice magic. Her forte.[/color]

[lexi]

He watched the snarl appear on her face, a smirk appearing on
his own handsome features as she put away for her anger to use that
innocent school-girl act. Pft, as if that was going to work. He crossed his
arms and leaned back a bit, not really bothering to put his guard up since
he didn't consider her a threat. Heh, not even close. If anything, she was
an annoying brat that thought much too highly of herself in his opinion.

She wasn't even that good looking !

"Hn, I'll make sure to hit your face next time then!"

Deciding to put the brat in her place when she insulted him, he flipped
gracefully off the bleachers landing on his feet and looking back. It
had frozen the bleacher he had been on, an a scowl darkened off his
face. Seriously, was that all the little brat could do ? Throw a temper
tantrum when someone didn't think she was the best thing ever
and stomp off like a troll ? He chuckled at the mental image he got
of the girl as a troll before turning to watch her stomp off.

"Heh that's fine with me, your more of a brat anyway."

[Iƪƪia]

She gazed upon the bleachers, a finger pressed against her lips, as if studying her work. She was pleases at how her skill in conjuring ice had improved, though she'd really have liked to see what happened when it came into contact with flesh. Shrugging indifferently, she turned away from the bleachers, letting the ice immediately thaw, creating a man-made waterfall as the ice water flowed to the gym floor.

"You should have let that hit you. Maybe you'd have made a better-looking ice sculpture," Leaning back on her heels, she looked him over once again before giving a short laugh, as if she considered his entire appearance to be a joke, "Or maybe not."

Illia no longer attempted to appear friendly, though she also put away all signs of anger. She still smiled, though it was more condescending than anything. Crossing her arms she strolled casually toward him.

"Listen, I don't recognize you, so I'm gonna be nice and just attribute your rude comments to sheer ignorance. You're welcome."

There wasn't many other possibilities, were there? After all, anyone who knew Illia knew not to get on her bad side. Nothing was beyond her when she decided that she wanted revenge. And while the phoenix may look good, he didn't seem like he was the brightest or strongest guy out there, making him an even easier target if it came to that. Though Illia rather hoped it wouldn't. It'd be a damn shame to eliminate something that cute.[/color]

[lexi]

Niko watched her for a moment, wondering if this girl was
actually being serious. She seemed to think she was above
everyone else around here, and he was wondering why someone
hadn't proved her wrong yet. Guess that was where he came in !
He had a knack for bursting people's bubbles, and this one's was
her pride. Sure, it was good to have pride in ones-self, but to much
was irritating. Maybe he should have been taking his own advice..

Nah, not really !

Knowing she was waiting for him to retort so she could twist his
words, he merely allowed a dark look to cross his face, his eyes
darkening to an emerald-jade color, the previous twinkle gone
as he turned slightly away from her. He should have just torched
the chick when he had had the chance. Now she was going
to try to make him seem inferior and weak, but he decided ignoring
her was the best course of action.

He allowed a flame to flicker in his hand once more, simply
watching the mesmerizing dance that was the flicker of
the flame.

"Don't bother. I don't have time for you and your false kindness."

[Iƪƪia]

Illia watched as he turned away, apparently deciding to ignore her. What a moron. Ignoring her was even worse than insulting her! He was just doing everything wrong, wasn't he? And yet he continued to act as arrogant as ever. Such pride was most unbecoming and she absolutely hated to see it in others. Though it was true that she was just as, if not more arrogant than he was... She, at least, had every right to be!

Placing her hands on her hips, she looked away, giving another short laugh.

"As if you really have anything better to do," She responded, rolling her eyes.

Exhaling sharply, she watched her breath crystallize in front of her before fading away. That always happened when she was angry or upset... Which was quite often. She looked away, up at the high gym windows. She was beginning to think that no one at this school was really worth her time. Sure, she'd mess around with them sometimes when she was bored, but being surrounded by inferiors all the time got rather tiring. No one here was good enough to be considered worth her time. However, she'd been forced to settle so often in her life that she was used to it by now.

[lexi]

A growl left him as he felt his normally stable control flicker
in the back of his mind. Although he enjoyed the familiar
searing heat the surrounded him, he didn't feel like melting
the gym and getting lectured by Crane about how he
needed to control himself and his emotions. Who did he
think he was ! Telling a pheonix to control their emotions !

That man always managed to get on his last nerve.

Thinking about Crane made him even angrier, and he blocked
out the arrogant brat that was nearby. He seriously needed to
go somewhere and vent. Better yet, kick her out and vent here !
He was here first actually, and since she was so great she could go
find some perfect person to hang out with. He really didn't care
where she went.

"I never asked you for your damn opinion ! Go pester someone
who actually wants you !"

He snapped at her, feeling the satisfaction that releasing his frustration
gave him, wishing she would just go away. A venomous sneer came
onto his face that seemed as if it belonged there, but those who knew
him thought better. If she knew how close he was to just snapping her
neck and leaving her for someone to find, then she wouldn't be here
right now.

He really should have just torched her.

[Iƪƪia]

Hearing the new, angry tone in his voice caused Illia to smile. That was precisely what she had been waiting for. After all, why waste one's energy by attacking someone physically when doing it mentally was so much easier... And much more fun.

What made this even better was the fact that he was a phoenix. The birds of emotion. It wasn't hard to get them upset at all. The only problem was that their triggers were often tied to their emotions, so a giant bird of fire could be standing here in a minute. That would be rather uncomfortable. She could take the heat, of course, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Hearing his last sentence, Illia laughed softly. Whether her assumptions were right or wrong didn't matter to her, but still, she began to look upon his demeanor in a whole new light.

"Aw, is that what's wrong with you? Upset that you can't have any of this?" She asked, gesturing toward herself.

Well, she couldn't really blame him. Who wouldn't want to have her? Many of them would deny it, but she knew the truth, of course. She had to admit, that it was easy enough for someone not to like her - because of jealousy, mostly - but for someone not to want her? Now that was just laughable!

Turning away, she strolled toward the bleachers, looking up to inspect the windows once again.

"If you wanna leave, then just leave! No one's forcing you to stay."[/color]

[lexi]

Niko glared at her, his emotions getting the better of him as he thought.
She really thought he wanted her ?! That was the most ridiculous thought
he'd ever heard, and he had heard many of them over his time. A scowl
was on his face as he mulled things over in his head, not even bothering
to watch her anymore.

This girl would drive him insane eventually.

"Actually, to be totally honest with you, you're repulsive and hideous."

He hid his smirk behind the mask of anger on his face, allowing the
scowl to remain as he looked at the top of the bleachers. He felt
awfully irritated right now, and he was just itching to let his skin
drop and let his true form be released. He wondered how she
would react to be called what she truly was. Horrible. She was
conniving and manipulating, and just plain mean.

"I was here first you brat, you can leave anytime. Although
don't show your face to anyone, they might be scared to death."

[Iƪƪia]

Illia simply couldn't stop smiling as she turned to look at him once more. For some reason, the angrier he got, the more pleasure she felt. Did she really grow to dislike this guy so much in such a short time? Or maybe she was just sadistic. Or maybe there was some other reason. Ah, well, who cared?

Striding up to him, she crossed her arms over her chest, she behaved as if she were speaking to a small child.

"Aaaw! There's no need to be embarrassed. It's perfectly understandable for you to have a crush on me." Then, as she walked away she added, "Unfortunately, you're not my type."

Not entirely true. Illia didn't really have a type. She usually just went for one of two types of guys: those who were good-looking, and those who were useful. So far, this guy fit one of those categories, but how about his usefulness? He didn't look rich and he didn't seem like he had any interesting or useful skills, so that was probably a no. Then again, there was also a third category... One that encompassed just about everyone. That was guys that she would go after when she was bored. And she wasn't that bored right now!

Walking along the end of the gym, she reached out an arm and traced the wood paneling down the gym.

"You see... I own this place. That means I can do whatever I want and you just have to deal with it. I think I'd like to stay here for a bit. You, on the other hand, may still leave at any time."

Of course, was she really going to stay for long after he left? Of course not! What did she have to do in an empty gym? However, she wasn't about to back down, and right now she'd have rather slept in the gym than walked out before he did. Some people might call that being extremely stubborn. And over something so trivial! But hey, it was the principle of things!

[lexi]

He turned with a graceful movement, aqua eyes flashing with a danger
signal before they returned to their normal size. So.. that was her game
then ? The effect of his realization sent a grin upon his face that could
mean nothing decent. Most called it his 'scheming look', but what did
they know anyway ?

"Well then, since neither of us will leave, I propose a game of sorts."

The naturally sinful tone of his voice was beautifully clear as he spoke,
running a hand through his scarlet spikes.This would take the girl's
overly sized ego down a couple sizes. Niko was very fond of games,
especially when he won them. Let's just say he was incredibly good at
games, and rarely lost. Now the type of game was easy, really. Time
to make the girl back up her big talk with a little competition, and of
course a little fighting was the best way to do that.

"How about we have a little fun ? Just you and me ?"

A flame danced in his palm making sure she knew just
what kind of fun he meant.

[Iƪƪia]

Illia rolled her eyes at his words, still not looking back at him. She was rather hoping he just realize that the smart thing to do would be to leave. But, of course, from the way he talked she knew how unlikely that was. And so, here they were, both too stubborn to leave, and this guy was now proposing... Wait, what was he proposing?

"A game?" She repeated, finally turning to face him again.

His next words were lost to her as she only noticed the flame dancing in his hand. Her smug smile dropped as some of the color drained from her face. So that's what he meant...

Inhaling sharply, she glanced around the gym, as if she was expecting to find a solution to her problem written on the walls. She couldn't fight him, right? Fire was her one weakness, and this guy was made of fire. Literally! But she couldn't really back down either... Well, she could... But she wasn't going to. So, what then?

Well, when faced with a difficult decision what was better than ranting your way out of it?

"Ha! I don't have to prove myself to you! If you're too stupid to see my superiority already, I'm not gonna waste my time to show you! Besides, I wouldn't want to get in trouble if I accidentally killed you. Then I'd have so many questions to answer and everything and that just wouldn't be worth my time either."

There, that sounded good, right? And besides, most of it was true, anyway. Hopefully he'd see that, and that would just be the end of it.

[lexi]

He would have been lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the fear
his little proposition struck in her. Especially the way the color and
confidence drained from her face. It was simply too much ! The
air around him sizzled as he moved forward, seemingly unable to
handle the sudden rise in temperature. Niko was quite sure if the
gym wasn't fireproof, the floor would be melting at the moment.

"Come now, what happened to all that confidence we had before ?"

The amusement in his tone was both irresistable and yet
painfully obvious as he kept the flame alive in his hand
with practiced ease. A grin flashed across his features as
some red strands of hair that escaped his goggles fell in
front of his aqua eyes. The best thing about his eyes ?

The flame danced in them perfectly.