Blue Rose... (open)

[Ayame]

When Landon took off, Jo was hit with a powerful gust of wind and she almost tumbled over. Instead of getting mad she used this to her advantage at at the last minute spread her wings and used the wind as an easy kick-off.

She circled around once or twice before gliding in the direction of the girls' dorms. It only took her a moment to locate her dorm room window, and then she used this as her means of getting inside. Inside she shifted, and the blue rose that had been woven through her feathers was now laced in her fingers.

For a moment, Jo just smiled down at the flower, but then she came to her senses and meandered over to her closet to find something to wear. Assuming that, as they would be by a lake, some swimming might be involved, Jo pulled on her favourite bikini and then jerked on a pair of shorts and a tank-top overtop.

With a small smile, Jo pulled her long hair back into a bun and stuck the rose into the blonde knot. Now Landon will be able to recognize me. She then gathered her Latin homework and shoved it into her bag before donning her shoes and racing back outside.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and even though she was no longer in Phoenix form she could still aprreciate the effect the breeze had on the heat of the sun. It dulled it, but kept it wrapped around you like a blanket. It was rather comforting.

Jo made for the lake, wondering idly which side of the lake was the "left" side. Her confusion evaporated when she saw that only the north side of the lake was surrounded by large rocks. Spread out on top of one of them was a boy who could only be Landon. The main reason Jo could tell it was him was because there was no one else around.

"Hey Landon!" she called in greeting when she'd come within earshot. "It's me, Jo!"

[Julias]

Landon sat up when he heard his name, a girl was walking over to him. She called herself Jo, he smiled immediately when he noticed the blue rose in her hair. He couldn't help his eyes as they trailed over her, she was very pretty in human form. He shook the thought from his mind, he didn't need those types of thoughts distracting him from his work. He stood then as she neared and spoke


"You came! I'm glad you are here." he said with a bright smile, he lowered his head to her in a kind gesture as she came nearer. He asked her with honest curiosity


"What homework do you have to do? I might be able to help?" He gestured for her to take a seat on the large rock, he noted the overhanging limb close by on another rock and figured if she got to hot she could move under the shade. He himself didn't mind the suns rays to much, he knew he needed a tan anyway.


He took a seat on the rock and crossed his legs underneath him, he sat and watched Jo for a moment before looking at he water. He concentrated and moved the water, a small ball the size of his fist came to him from the lake. It circled him once then came to rest in front of him, the sun was already started to evaporate the water he had pulled from the lake. He didn't care though, he had a whole lake full of water to work with. He looked at Jo and smiled as the ball of water hovered in front of him, he wondered what type of magic she could use.

[Ayame]

Jo's heart stuttered a little when she saw Landon in his human form, but she forced herself to remain calm. So he was good looking. That didn't mean anything. He was a nice guy, and he had been nice enough to invite her to join him.

"Oh, it's nothing all that hard. It's pretty easy, actually. We're just conjugating phrases and whatnot," she told him, waving her hand through the air impassively.

Landon sat back down on the rock as she spoke, and when she looked back up at him he had summoned a ball of water to him from the lake. She eyed it with interest, a slight grin lighting her face as she climbed up the rock to join him.

Jo stopped directly in front of him, sinking into a cross-legged position so that thier knees were practically brushing. She leaned down and looked the water ball over intently, her smile never faltering.

"Impressive," she said, glancing up at Landon.

Flashing him another quick grin, she then sat up straight and, closing her eyes, pressed her palms together like she was praying. She then tilted her head back and allowed the sun to shine down on her, soaking it up and redirecting it's heat to her palms. Slowly, she seperated her hands again to reveal a small orb of sunlight.

Carefully, Jo directed her orb of light into the centre of Landon's ball of water before releasing it. It burst, filling the water with it's fascinating light and throwing glimmering ripples in every direction. Jo tore her eyes away from the ball of water and looked up at Landon again with a delectable smile on her face.

[Julias]

Landon sat across from Jo, a large smile slowly spread across his face. He spoke spoke after a fit of laughter from the ball lighting up,

"I,ve seen this once before, it was a battle between a light and water dragon." He stopped and started to chuckle again, he slowly calmed down. He started to twist his hands, moving them up and down he muttered a small spell. The water thinned out and started to spin quickly in front of them, a cool breeze came from the spinning water. He smiled lightly and spoke

"It's just small spells, heating it up, and cooling it down. Making it move, just a lot of study I suppose." His eyes went to the ground, he smiled a little made a small move with his hands and the water slowly came to a stop. Landon looked at it, his eyes went to Jo's for a second then switched back to the water. The water rose slowly above them, thinned out quickly and came strait down like a mist. He looked at her then as it hit them and smiled brightly, the water hitting his skin felt soft and smooth. He closed his eyes and waited til it had stopped, the mist stopped slowly. He couldn't help but look into Jo's eyes, they looked bright and happy. He was glad he could make her smile, he spoke then

"Do you like my company Jo?" He asked curiously, his head sat to one side slightly. His face had a small smile on it, his eyes on her's patiently waiting for her answer. He clasped his hands and put the on his legs, his fingers intertwined and he leaned back a little.

[Ayame]

Jo smiled widely as the mist rained down around them. It felt nice on her skin, soothing and gentle. It also looked beautiful as the sun caught in it and turned the tiny droplets of water into a rainbow of colours.

She found, however, that despite how much she was enjoying watching the mist as it feel around her that her eyes kept shooting to Landon's face ever few seconds. Stop behaving like a little girl! she chastened herself. Either you look at him or you don't!

Eventually, her nerves forgeited and she finally managed to keep her eyes on him. The mist had stopped by then, and Landon spoke. He asked her is she enjoyed his company. Jo thought about it for a moment, considering.

Well, his first impression itself had been promising: he'd been nice to her before he knew what she looked like in her human form, so he wasn't just some jerk who wanted her around for her body or anything like that. He was friendly, smart, funny, and all around seemed a decent guy. But still, that was just a first impression.

"I think that, as far as I know you, yes, I do like your company," she answered with an auspicious grin. "I'd definitely like to spend more time with you." There was a heavy pause before she blushed slightly and added, "You know, hanging out and stuff."

Wanting to get past the awkward--well, awkward for her, anyway--pause in thier conversation, Jo cast about wildly for something else to talk about. Nothing came, and she she made do with observing her fingernails with far more interest than usual.

"So... uh..." she stammered. Smooth, Jo, smooth...

[Julias]

Landon sat back, a small smile still sat on his lips. He held back laughter, he couldn't help but start to smile widely at her. He started to laugh, he stopped himself slowly. She knew it was an awkward conversation as did he, he didn't want to make her feel that way. He thought he would play with her, He sat back for a moment and thought about it. He smiled devilishly as he spoke in a demon like voice and said

"Well are far as you know... I might be a serial killer demon dragon..." He smiled widely for a moment before shooting forward and grabbing her ankles, he stood quickly hefting her up by her feet and swinging her away from him. He swung her quickly extending his body, She came with him easily as he tossed her up and out into the water. She left with no spin as she sailed, facing the water below.

He watched as she sailed for about 50 yards out into the water, He ran for the water and dove in and swiftly started peddling through the water to where she had landed.

[Ayame]

"Well as far as you know... I might be a serial killer demon dragon..." Landon said in a slightly frightening, demonic voice. Before Jo could say anything, he'd lunged forward and, snatching her by the ankles, tossed her almost effortlessly out across the lake.

She laughed rather than screamed as she sailed through the air, surprised at how far he'd managed to toss her. It seemed almost sudden to Jo when she finally landed in the cool lake water, and she bobbed up to the surface again in time to see Landon jump in after her.

With another pealing of laughter, she swam over to meet him. "Where'd that come from?" she laughed, splashing him in the face. Then, before he could answer her, she swam past him and back to the shore.

Jo made quick work of removing her shorts and tank top, immensely glad she'd decided to wear a bikini after all, and then clambered back up the rock. She set her clothes down in the sun and then pulled the rose from her hair and set it down with them too, letting her hair fall loose.

She then traipsed up to the edge of the rock and stretched her arms up above her head before diving back into the water and swimming over to where Landon was. "Now it's payback time," she told him ominously, though her eyes sparkled with amusement.

[Julias]

He felt her splash the water into his face as he approached, she was smiling which was good. He laughed a little and followed her towards the shore, she got out and took off her tank-top and shorts. He knew she would go swimming, he smiled brightly as she approached and told him she was gonna get payback. He laughed openly and ducked under water, shooting quickly under Jo. He twisted around and shot up behind her lifting her from the water by the top of her feet, she went flying again. He watched her float a good 30 feet back out towards the middle of the lake, he laughed the whole time and sat back waiting for her to swim back and get her so called 'revenge'.

[Ayame]

Before Jo could do anything, Landon had dived beneath the surface, swimming under her before grabbing her and swinging her out across the lake yet again. She shrieked a laugh as she crashed back into the water, and swam back up to the surface with a grin on her face.

For a little while she just floated around, catching her breath, before she turned and swam back over to Landon. "I hope you can handle a little heat," she teased. Then, centering herself, she summoned all the heat from the sun that she could.

She opened her hands to reveal an orange-sized orb of pure light--light that was as warm as the sunshine that beamed benignly down on them. With a taunting grin, she submerged the orb and instantly the water grew hotter. Steam simmered off the surface, and occassionally bubbles of heat breached the surface.

Jo looked at Landon with a provocative expression, her lips quirked up in a challenging smile. She wondered idly how he'd retalliate, if he bothered to at all. After all, all she'd done was heat up the water. With a swift wave of one hand, she diminished the orb of sunlight and the water cooled back down instantaneously.

[Julias]

Landon laughed a little as the heat tickled up his legs and around is body, she had taken a moment to come back from her second flight. He figured that two tosses was enough, he smiled as she put on a challenging face and looked at him. He squinted at her in a small expression of anger, he smiled as he did this though as to not give her the wrong idea. He spoke mischievously then

"I hope you like the cold?" He smiled brightly as the water around them started to turn cold, he laughed as it hit him in a cool wave. He looked at Jo with an bemused expression, his eyes watching hers. He was starting to grow attached to the phoenix and her raw emotions, he wished he could be as open with himself as she was with her own self. He floated in the water across from Jo in the cold water, he figured she had had enough torture and started to bring the water back to temperature. He smiled at her again, his eyes shining with happiness. He asked her then

"So what brings you to Chimera Academy Jo?" He asked nonchalantly, he wasn't trying to pry into her personal life. He just tried to make conversation for a moment, he figured he'd get a short answer or something waving his question off. He couldn't really tell with the girl Jo, she was nice enough but seemed very gaurded.

He knew it was for good reason around here, he floated in front of her with his head sticking far from the waters surface. He didn't swim at all, he sat in the water in solidified water chair he had conjured. He knew that was lazy to not swim and watch Jo peddle around using her arms and legs, he smiled inwardly. A small smile played on his lips as he tried to hold in his secret, thinking that she would probably notice at some point that he was cheating.

[Ayame]

Jo giggled as the water turned icy cold, sending a shiver up her spine. It was strange how easily she got along with Landon--it usually took her much longer to warm up to people, and they'd only just met. Most found her blatant and straight-forward attitude intimidating, but Landon didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. That gave her hope. Perhaps fitting in here would be easier than she'd originally suspected.

When the water returned to it's normal temperature, Landon spoke, asking her what had brought her to Chimera Academy. The question took Jo off guard, but she managed to keep her composure. That wasn't something she was sure she was willing to talk about to him.

"Well, like anyone else, I'm here because of my ability," she told him off-handedly.

That had been all she intended to share, but then, looking into his eyes, she changed her mind. Following an unexplainable gut-feeling, she decided that he deserved the truth. With a heavy sigh, she relented and answered him properly.

"Well, in all honesty, I just needed to get away for a little bit. You know, get away from my family and at least try to be normal. Here, what I am is normal. Well, more normal than anywhere else. I'm not sure why I thought that going to school of all things would help me, but..." she trailed off into a thoughtful silence for a long moment before shaking her head and continuing.

"My parents weren't overly thrilled that I wanted to leave. They wanted me to stay with them, where I could be safe and protected. But a girl can only take so much protection, and after everything my dad had taught me, I thought, what was the point of staying anymore when I could take care of myself and acheive more elsewhere?"

Jo sighed deeply, turning her eyes back onto Landon. She hadn't even realized she'd turned to look at the sky.

"In the end, my dad finally decided that I was right, and though he wasn't happy about my decision he respected me enough to let me go. Mom went into a rage, but he managed to talk her down and, well... here I am."

She bit her lip and turned away from Landon, wondering if she'd said too much. That was probably a far more in depth answer than he'd been looking for.

[Julias]

Landon listened intently to Jo, he could tell she was being quite open with him and he admired that. He listened with a soft look on his face, one of concern and understanding, he compared her story to his. He smiled at the similarities of them and spoke to her as she bit her lip and looked away from him


"So you wanted your independence.." He paused for a moment extending his hand to her, his fingers touched her cheek furthest from him. With turned her head softly to face his own and looked her in the eyes, he let his hand fall back into the water and continued looking into her eyes


"There is nothing wrong with being independent Jo." He shook his head slightly and kept his soft expression continuing once again to tell her his own story


"I have also lived with my parents all my life, they sent me here to learn what could not be taught. My parents are dragons and will stay dragons there whole lives, they like it that way." He paused and a dazed look came over him as he remembered his family, he shook the thought and came to looking into Jo's eyes. He spoke softer this time


"My parents sent me here to learn the skills I would need to become an Elder one day as the Elders before me have done." He offered a small smile to her and said


"It is custom that all dragons born under the solstice moon are to be sent to school to learn to become Elders, we learn all different forms of magic and skills for the tournament that is to be held many years from now." He nodded once and thought of the grand tournament he had seen once long ago. The battles were deadly, many dragons have perished fighting for a spot among the Elders. He knew he would have to cross that bridge as it came to him, his eyes showed a sadness as he spoke


"We live to die Jo, that is the way of the world. We can only make what is best of our lives and live with the decisions we make." He shrugged off his somber look and smiled brightly speaking again to her in a teasing manner


"So we make the best of it by playing with others." He grinned then dipped under the water and pulled Jo with him.

[Ayame]

Jo cast her eyes downward for a moment as Landon gently touched her cheek, but then forced herself to look into his eyes without fear as he turned her face in his direction. He then began telling her his own story, and she hung to every word.

She felt a rush of sympathy for him. The way he spoke, almost bitterly, suggested to her that there was something more he wanted to do with his life than become an Elder. She knew that she certainly wanted more in life than just looking after the family salloon.

After being trained in all varieties of combat, it just didn't seem right for her parents to expect her to want to sit around and run a bar for the rest of her life--essentially, forever. She loved her family with all her heart, and every once in a while of course it would be nice to just kick back and serve patrons their drinks, but she wanted to find her purpose in this world.

Before Jo could say anything, Landon suddenly ducked beneath the surface of the water, pulling her with him. She only just managed to suck in a breath before she was plunged under, and she had to work not to use up her air by laughing. She forced her eyes open and found herself looking straight into Landon's.

With a propituous smile in his direction she shot back up to the surface, and just as she'd hoped he would Landon followed. She steeled herself then, taking a deep breath in through her nose to hide how nervous and uncertain she acutally was. Her smile never faltered.

"You're right," she agreed. "We have to make the best of life and live with the decisions we make. Variety is the spice of life, after all."

And with that, Jo planted a brief but delectable kiss on his lips before turning and swimming out into the centre of the lake as quickly as she could, her heart pounding. While she'd always had a direct personality, she'd never been that direct in a coquettish manner before. What if she'd just ruined a perfectly good friendship?

ooc:: Landon can react however. They don't have to get together, after all, and even if they do it doesn't have to be rushed like that. So, if you want to go and have him flip out or whatever about her kissing him, I dun mind ^^

[Julias]

Landon felt Jo's lips touch his own, she kissed him for a moment before swimming off to the middle of the lake. He sat in the water for a moment stunned by her action, he hadn't seen anything like that coming from her. True she was strait forward and honest about a lot of things with him, he just didn't realize she thought of him like that. His heard raced as he thought of what to say or do, a smile stuck to his lips as he sat looking into the water. He was rather confused but all the while liked the way she had made him feel then, he shook his head and decided to go after her. He swam out to her in the middle of the lake, gliding through the water swiftly. His head broke the surface next to Jo's head, he turned and smiled at her and spoke curiously

"What was that for?" He asked with a smile, he raised an eyebrow at her and sent a splash her way. He wasn't one to let a moment like the one they had put a damper on their fun, he would wait and talk to her of it later. He ducked under the water, this time swimming a large circle around Jo. He lifted his arm from the water to make it seem like a shark was circling her, his hand broke the surface and curled around her in a circle. He knew she would get a kick out of that, he ducked under the water again. Swimming behind her he grabbed her by the waist and started to swim with her in his arm dragging her backward. He kept her head above water and took her to the very center of the lake and let go, he turned around and poked his head above water. He shook his head to shake the water from his eyes and looked at Jo, he floated a few inches in front of her with a smile on his face. He spoke softly

"I like you here." Before ducking his head under the water again, he shot down a good ten feet before stopping and looking up at Jo. He watched her float at the surface for a moment, he stayed under water and watched. Thinking of what to say to her about their kiss, he would not be rude or mean in any way. He liked her to much to hurt her feelings like that, he figured he would just talk to her over a couple of drinks and see what she truly felt.

(OOC: He's to nice to blow up on anyone for something so trivial, he will want to talk about it later though. Maybe they can head to the Bite Cafe after this, i dont know its your call.)

[Ayame]

Jo had managed to pull herself together again by the time Landon had caught up with her, and she managed to laugh freely when he began circling her with one hand above the water like the dorsal-fin of a shark and smile at him when he resurfaced.

"Cute," she snickered, splashing him playfully. She then shrieked a laugh when he snatched her around the waist and dragged her out to the exact centre of the lake. He then let her go and dove down under the water.

Jo leaned back so that she was floating on her back, focusing on the way the warm sunshine felt on her skin. Her thoughts drifted around lazily, roaming from the fact that she'd more or less abandonned her Latin to what she should say to Landon about her kiss, if anything.

Would he prefer if she didn't broach the subject, or would he want to talk about it? Personally, she wasn't sure. She liked him, yes, but did she like him that way, or was it just her enthusiasm at meeting someone who didn't shy away from her immediately that had caused her to react that way?

Sighing, she realized she wasn't sure what the answer to that question was. The latter made more sense--she'd only just met Landon, after all, and so the former was just slightly ludicrous. But he was kind and funny and attractive, so her liking him wasn't overly hard to believe either.

With a frustrated grumbling, she straightened up and glanced around, starting to wonder where Landon had gotten to.

ooc:: meh, if they hook up, cool, if not it dun really matter