Late Walk

[Olesya]

The cafe closed at 10, and after closing the register and helping her family clean up the shop, Olesya paused outside the darkened front of the cafe. She could go home and relax, but she felt oddly restless. Perhaps a walk would seem more appropriate. At least it would allow her to clear her head rather than continue to fill it with junk by flopping down in front of the television.

She made her way down toward the beach, jumping the barrier between the road and the sand. She kicked off her shoes and socks, leaving them on the concrete barrier. Olesya dragged her toes through the sand, kicking over a small sand castle that had been built by a child tourist earlier in the day.

[Aureus]

It'd be months since Aureus had felt like going to the beach. Sure, he loved standing like a wall against the surf, taunting it, daring it to knock him down. Even the salty, nautical scent was pleasant, but it brought back memories of the past he'd been trying to avoid. And so he had timidly approached it, but decided to keep some distance between himself and the water. Perched on the wall that stood between the beach and the road, he watched the moon play tug-of-war with the ocean. It was a beautiful, starry night with no clouds lounging ominously in the sky. There was a small bonfire with a group of people further down, but he wasn't in the mood to approach them. The dull-eyed boy preferred to just sit there, not thinking, not moving, but just taking in the scene, hoping it might wash away the thoughts he dammed up in his head.

He had almost dozed off when he heard someone fling themselves into the beach and kick over a sand castle. A bit bored with all his lonely rumination, Aureus decided to make a snarky comment. "That's not very nice, ya know." He shouted over to her.

[Olesya]

'That's not very nice, ya know.'

A voice broke out, aimed in her direction. The brunette looked up, spotting a figure chilling on the wall not too far away. Yeah, sure kicking over sandcastles wasn't too nice, but they had long since outlived their use. The tide was going to knock them over anyway, smooth away any trace of existence before daylight. This was sort of a vice for her, a small bit of harmless darkness, a dirty little secret.

"What are you, some sort of sand castle police?"

The ex-pillar sneered back, shrugging him off and continuing her walk.

[Aureus]

"What are you, some passive-aggressive little girl with daddy issues?" Aureus fired back, hopping off the wall and following her as he did. He wasn't completely sure why he said that, but it always seemed like he arranged himself to be at odds with women. As mean as he was being, he just wanted company. He missed having witty arguments with...people.

[Olesya]

"Oh please."

Olesya whipped back around, a displeased frown on her face. Her nose was wrinkled slightly to further convey this expression. She didn't know who this guy was, she didn't recognize the voice or anything, but she did know that he was pissing her off.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Bug off."

She forced herself to open her palms back up, which she found were curling into fists.

[Aureus]

Sheesh, has my personality rubbed off on you THIS much? Levi asked as the girl snapped back at his brother. "Uh oh, you've got quite the temper on you, hmm? I'm sorry, I'm just...bored. So, what're you doing out here this late? Do they pay you to kick sandcastles over?" The teen replied, trying to start more of a conversation than a fight. This girl looked like she could handle herself pretty well too, so either way he didn't think he'd end tonight on a boring note.

[Olesya]

Olesya narrowed her eyes. What was this guy's deal? One moment he's picking a fight, and now was he trying to make conversation? 'Sorry I'm bored so I'm going to pick at your every motive.' is all she heard. The ex-pillar didn't move, simply looked at him with a steely gaze, muscles unmoving. The soft breeze ruffled her disheveled hair a bit, but other than that she didn't move.

It was partially that she didn't want to reply, and partially because she wasn't sure how to respond to that. Instead, she kept her gaze on him critically.

[Aureus]

There was something in the intensity of her gaze that interested Aureus far more than anything else about the girl. She seemed stubborn and for some reason or another, he liked stubborn people. "Not in the mood to talk? Ah, well I can't blame you. I'm just an mean loser with nothing better to do than sit on the beach and ruminate on the past." He answered with a hint of a smile and a stare that swallowed her's whole. It was a fairly self depreciating thing to say and it was true, but he said it with such confidence she might think he was mocking her. She wouldn't fight back, so he did it for her. "You from PHS 42?" he inquired while cracking his knuckles.

[Olesya]

Olesya quirked an eyebrow at his words. What was he playing at? She didn't buy what he said for an instant, because he was probably just trying to get her going. She couldn't read him well, whoever he was, especially in the dark.

"Yeah, what of it?"

She challenged. She wasn't going to inform him that she wasn't originally from PHS 42, but rather PHS 259. For all she knew, he could be just another transfer-hater wanting to pick a fight. And from the odd feeling she picked up from him, Les wouldn't put it past him.

[Aureus]

"Just curious. But if you're too busy to talk..." He said, trailing off as he walked away from her and went back to the wall and hopped back up to his previous spot. Leaning back, he dug into his bag and pulled out a fifth of Jamesons. It'd been months since he had a drink, but at this point he was tired of staying sober. "Hope you find what you're looking for!" The graduate shouted to her before pouring the whiskey down his throat. The ball was in her court now. She could wander off to wherever it was she was going, or keep him company, it didn't matter much to Aureus.

[Olesya]

...

That was it?

Olesya was irritated now, like a bird with its feathers all ruffled. He called her out for her sand kicking, belittled himself and then left in a jolly flair? What. the. hell. Now in a decidedly worse mood than she came with, the junior grumbled and kicked sand in his direction.

"I'm not looking for anything. Bastard."

She grumbled, more to herself than anything, though she didn't care if it drifted up to his stupid ears. She walked to the waters edge, dipping her toes in the cool dark water, taking deep breaths in her nose and out her mouth to calm her emotions.

[Aureus]

Haha, I think you've regressed, ya know? You're even worse at dealing with people than you used to be. Levi said, mocking him. It was the first time he had been mean to a complete stranger for no real reason and it was obvious she wasn't in the best mood to start. Who was he kidding, he cared how she reacted. He didn't want to be alone.

With a deep sigh he jumped down from the wall, bottle in hand and followed the girl to her spot at the water's edge. Any hint of his old exaggerated mood was gone. The teen was back to his normal, somber(yet not sober) self. "Sorry for being a prick. I'm not bored...just in a weird place right now." Aureus said plainly, his voice hollow. "Want some?" He asked, holding out the bottle to her.

[Olesya]

Rather than calming her down, the added oxygen to her body simply fueled her muscles, almost like she could feel the bright red blood cells rushing through her veins like some sort of mad energy drink. She felt alive, angry, something she hadn't felt since she was locked up in the correctional facility, forced to fight to survive.

The toxins injected into her system to make her stronger. A monster.

When he came close again, she didn't move, keeping her gaze locked on the ocean. His voice sounded like he was talking through water, muffled and unrecognizable. She turned when he held out the bottle to her. Taking on glance at it, Olesya raised her arm....and smacked the bottle out of his hand and to the ground. The liquid drained from the bottle, soaking into the sand.

She raised her gaze to meet his challengingly without a word.

[Aureus]

Considering how much the girl had been huffing and puffing when he walked over, her violent reaction didn't surprise Aureus all that much. The sideways glance she threw at him was meant to intimidate and so he countered with a nice big yawn. That could be enough of an insult to set her off though, so the ex-Pillar kept his guard up. If the brunette was able to contain herself, the empty-eyed boy would stand back up and walk a few feet away from her.

"Alright, I get it. Lets go, hit me as hard as you can. Preferably in the face or body, no low blows." Aureus droned while planting his left leg forward, offering his would-be opponent only his side. "I haven't been hit in a while and it seems like you've got some anger issues to work out, so maybe this'll be good for both of us."

[Olesya]

[ooc: Im gonna activate Sonic Boom for this thread...AKA Xin physics to the max. You ready?! ]


"Stop....rationalizing...everything...!"

Olesya's voice had grown wild, primitive. It would be an understatement to say that 259's hero had become unhinged. She had once been a savior of the school, a defender of the defenseless, a public school student with a conscience!! But now...now the toxin from Barker's sadistic plans flowed through her veins, the same toxins that twisted the enforcers to his will.

Stepping forward with a burst of speed, she cocked her fist back and aimed it straight at his face. If it connected, the unfortunate target of her anger would not feel her fist, but simply feel the impact of raw power in his indie face. If he dodged it, he would still feel the breeze of her fist, like standing right next to a speeding subway train as it whipped by.