Bella stopped, mid-spin, to look over, and she shook her head and said "It can't be THAT interesting to watch me jump around on the water.  Can it?"  She didn't ask how long he'd been there, but her cheeks had a lovely rose blush on them.

He stood up a hand reaching behind his head as he flashed her a roguish grin. "You might be surprised. Seriously though I'm sorry bout that, I know this was a private moment its just...you dance beautifully."

  She blushed, and ducked her head a bit.  She padded closer, and said "I took ballet classes from the time I was three until I was about twelve.  I relax when I dance."  Her gray eyes were sad though, as she spoke of how long she took the lessons.  She self-consciously sort of smoothed at her tutu, the stiff fabric not lying down, and he could tell she was mostly just fidgeting.

Aaron stepped closer and put a hand to her face gently lifting it so she could see his eyes. "It was amazing. Your a great dancer, not as good as me but hey its my superpower." He flashed another smile at her.

  She blushed, but smiled, and said softly "It's all hard work on my part.  I have to sort of cheat when I'm supposed to have a partner, but the rest is all mundane me.  Well, when I'm not dancing on the top of the lake.  But it's not easy to get a flat stage to yourself in the middle of the night.  Thank you.  I don't dance in front of people anymore.  I stopped doing that a couple years ago."  Her hand sliding up to catch his own, and gently holding onto it.

"So what are you doing out here? I thought you were grounded. Can't even have a phone call over ten minutes and all that... You babyface your dads into letting up?"

  She shook her head, and said "No, I snuck out.  But I doubt they're going to be mad at me going somewhere I can do something harmless.  I mean, I don't THINK it's going to hurt anyone to relax and dance over the lake.  I can't dance in the apartment, or even in an empty one.  I'd be knocking out walls and ceilings.  I can do stretches, and some exercises in my room, but an apartment isn't meant to dance ballet in.  And as tall as I am . . . most dance studios laugh at the idea of someone my height and ballet."  The last part of her words sounding somehow very sad, as she looked down again.  Her eyes glittering with moisture as she recalled how her teacher had reacted when she'd measured over the height line.

He gripped his hand in hers and let it fall down in front of them. "How long do you have till they notice your gone?"

  Bella cocked her head, and said "Mmm.  Maybe a couple hours before they notice I'm not in my room.  After that . . . no bets.  What have you got in mind?"

"We could sit and chat a while? Or if you have any non ballet cds with you we could dance?"

  Bella chewed her lip for a moment, and said "Well . .. . I have a disc of Ace of Base, some techno compilations, and about five classical ballet discs.  Sorry.  I get into my 'zone' when I dance, and I can go for hours."  Clearly, she liked the idea of dancing.

"Or ya know" Aaron said as he took another step and leaned in closer to Bella. "Maybe...we could..do this" And leaned in and briefly there lips touched as he kissed her.

  She kissed back in a light caress.  Still blushing a bit, and she said "Oh.  I . . . .yes."  She stepped even closer, and gently wrapped an arm around him.  Leaning against him, even though he was taller.

Aaron placed both hands on her hips and kissed her again this one slower more lingering. "I take it you liked that?"

  She blushed, and said softly "Yes.  I've never been kissed before . . . . because Dads don't count, nor do aunts."  She smiled, clearly enjoying those gentle kisses.

He smiled at her. "Well congratulations then." He looked at his watch. "You'd better get going before they notice your gone. Give me a call when your off grounding."
This message was last updated by the player at 19:51, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

  She blushed, and said "I will.  But you may catch me out dancing before then, since I don't cause any trouble when I dance."  She hugged him, then began to round up her stuff, the boom box and the discs.  And her little bag of clothes.

He flashed another smile at her. "I gotta run too. I'll see you later. And, I'm glad I didn't ruin your first," And with another movie star grin he walked off into the night.

>>TO ????????>>
This message was last updated by the player at 20:02, Sat 21 Apr 2012.

  Bella watched him go, then took her stuff and flew home, sliding back in the window and changing out of her dancing clothes.  Putting on a plain black leotard, she just did the standard stretches and stances, not trying any leaps.  She was quiet as she practiced.  She always thought better when she moved while thinking.

  Maggie and her latest rich boy-toy met with the fellow in the park.  He handed over the money, and the fellow handed her a little paper bag with the goods.  She smiled, and off they headed, as she took the syringe out, smiling as she saw the pinkish stuff inside.  He'd guaranteed her that this would make Clarissa freak, or her money back.

  Heading back to the mall, she told her latest boytoy to cause a disturbance.

--------> Back to the Mall!

Fiona had made use of the pleasant weather and made her way to the park with a sandwich and some light reading - Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. On a beautiful day like this, even she didn't want to stay indoors, but even the nicest day was made even nicer with a good book. And what better reading than the Immortal Bard himself? Even though it wasn't quite summer yet, it certainly felt like it to Fiona, who was used to central European climate.

Sitting under a tree and munching on her sandwich, she idly wondered how it would have changed Shakespeare's writing if parahumans had existed back then. Heck, maybe they actually had, and Bottom was based on an actual person who had actually been transformed into a donkey. Some scholars nowadays argued that Shakespeare's genius and the mystery surrounding his identity were evidence that he himself had been parahuman. Fiona thought that was rubbish. As if regular humans weren't capable of producing masterpieces! Wrapping her half-eaten sandwich, she continued reading, occasionally chuckling at a well-crafted joke.

  There were many names for the Trickster God.  Pan, Coyote, Loki, and many more.  Some just called it The Laughing God.  It GD chosen this mousy metal wallflower though, for a grand trick.  He took the form of a man in a paair of shorts and a phantom mask like in phantom of the opera, and came around the tree to surprise his chosen target.  "And lo!  The Chosen one was beheld, and she read the work of the Immortal Bard.  I give to thee, fairest maiden, a seed of greatness!  A gift, a challenge, a mystery, an enigma!  Let this be the mustard seed of your beginnings, and fear not the slings and arrows of this cruel world!"  While he spoke, he leaned close to Fiona, and touched a glowing spark of golden energy to her chest, which sank into her flesh like he had just given water to parched earth.

Fiona jumped to her feet as the strange man emerged in front of her. So surprised was she by his strange attire and manner of speech that she hardly even flinched at his touch, at the jolt that suddenly rushed into her and filled her body with a strange energy that made her hair stand up. Only after the fact did she try to take a step backwards, bumping up against the thick tree trunk, clutching her book against her chest. "... Sir? I beg your pardon... what did you just do?" Her aunt had warned her that among the several parahumans in this city, there were some that were off their rocker, as she put it... had she just run into one of these nutcases?

  He grinned wildly, and vanished!

Fiona stared for a moment at the spot where the man had stood until a blink of an eye ago, and tentatively reached out a hand, only to grasp at thin air. What had just happened? The Chosen One... seed of greatness... somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had been made fun of, in a roundabout way. The electric tingle she had felt for a moment, spreading out throughout her body, had faded. That was probably it - someone with weird abilities messing with the newcomer's head. With a slight shrug, Fiona sat back down and reached for her water bottle.