[color=gray][CENTER][center][sup][color=#2e2c2c]_____[/color][color=#373534]_____[/color][color=#403d3c]_____[/color][color=#494644]_____[/color][color=#524f4c]_____[/color][color=#5b5754]_____[/color][color=#64605d]_____[/color][color=#6e6965]_____[/color][color=#77716d]_____[/color][color=#807a75]_____[/color][color=#89837d]_____[/color][color=#928b85]_____[/color][/sup][sup][color=#9b948d]_____[/color][/sup][sup][color=#928b85]_____[/color][color=#89837d]_____[/color][color=#807a75]_____[/color][color=#77716d]_____[/color][color=#6e6965]_____[/color][color=#64605d]_____[/color][color=#5b5754]_____[/color][color=#524f4c]_____[/color][color=#494644]_____[/color][color=#403d3c]_____[/color][color=#373534]_____[/color][color=#2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sup][/center][img]https://i.imgur.com/mHQGrul.jpeg[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=978184][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Southern Plateau[/I] - [I]Dundas Island, Pacific Ocean[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#978184][b]Welcome Home #1.076:[/b][/COLOR] [I]in your heart.[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][center][sup][color=#2e2c2c]_____[/color][color=#373534]_____[/color][color=#403d3c]_____[/color][color=#494644]_____[/color][color=#524f4c]_____[/color][color=#5b5754]_____[/color][color=#64605d]_____[/color][color=#6e6965]_____[/color][color=#77716d]_____[/color][color=#807a75]_____[/color][color=#89837d]_____[/color][color=#928b85]_____[/color][/sup][sup][color=#9b948d]_____[/color][/sup][sup][color=#928b85]_____[/color][color=#89837d]_____[/color][color=#807a75]_____[/color][color=#77716d]_____[/color][color=#6e6965]_____[/color][color=#64605d]_____[/color][color=#5b5754]_____[/color][color=#524f4c]_____[/color][color=#494644]_____[/color][color=#403d3c]_____[/color][color=#373534]_____[/color][color=#2e2c2c]_____[/color][/sup][/center][INDENT][sub][color=#978184][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I][@Lord Wraith] - Lorcán Roth[/i][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#978184][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [color=gray][I]I Want to Reconcile the Violence[/I][/color][/right][/SUP]
[indent]It’s not something she wants to talk about, not while she watches him work with a sort of ease she envies and admires. Amma looks down at her own hands, tracing over scars muddied under lines of black and grey, the most delicate of work she commissioned, to smother those reminders. The harmonizing quality with which he works is something of a marvel all on its own, almost natural with minuscule concentration to harness those HZEs that were constantly abuzz around her, bending to her whims and spewing esoteric whips of power even without her consent. 

	[color=#978184]"Destroy... Right."[/color]

Her fingers curl inward, nails scraping, bones cracking with plumes of red billowing forth like a crimson miasma. The air that is rife with manipulated heat beckons to her own, the acceleration of temperature reminiscent of the explosions she is capable of. Amma peels her jacket from her shoulders, finding it suddenly stifling, and carelessly tosses it aside to be retrieved later. She inhaled softly, so it wasn't a nickname, but an appellation befitting to all dames, somehow that made her feel lesser, but the admission was lost amongst the roars abound through her ears as she performed a series of stretches -- almost stalling.

	[color=#978184]"They're not wrong,"[/color] Amma begins, slowly, mimicking his preparations and reaching for a piece of metal. [color=#978184]"It's all grey, black and white."[/color] She measures once, twice, three times before she concentrates on the piece in her hand, laying it flat to caress her palm against the cold surface. [color=#978184]"The dressings didn't so much as matter, as much as what was within those sterile halls."[/color] Crackling whips of energy spiral down, the HZEs surrounding her gestures alive in licks of scarlet and silver, fissuring into a line that Amma directs with a slight wince over her features.

	[color=#978184]"Torres values power, individuality, and the willingness to use that power."[/color] The metal snaps suddenly at her mention, the blue of her eyes lightened to almost silver, like the frothing waves of the ocean spiraling to and fro as she sets her pieces aside and reaches for another. She checks the plans next and says: [color=#978184]"At least to their benefit. And that of the Foundation Force."[/color]

	[color=#978184]"I hated every second."[/color] The admission is sudden and illustrated in the vortex of red in her grasp, coiling wisps reaching forward, infecting the ground at their feet until they prod and dig and snap around another piece of metal and shatter it into various pieces intended for their purpose. [color=#978184]"And while that may be so, I also know I wouldn't... be what I am now. I guess I owe them that much."[/color] The words are harsh and biting, curling around her teeth and lips that drop into a frown.

[color=#fe650d]“Sounds like a total bumm-”[/color] Lorcán started, pausing, [color=#fe650d]“No, it actually just sucks. I hate that. I’m sorry.”[/color] He muttered, kicking the dirt at his feet while haphazardly tossing his current piece of steel aside.

[color=#fe650d]“You’ve never gotten to just use your powers for fun have you?”[/color] He asked, knowing the answer without her answering.

[color=#fe650d]“I wish they weren't here.”[/color] The plasma blade surrounding his hand flickered to a blue flame before crackles of lightning were snuffed out by a closed hand.

[color=#fe650d]“Slag.”[/color] He snapped,[color=#fe650d] “This Foundation stuff already had me whelmed, but knowing this is the kind of stuff they do.”[/color] 

He looked around before smiling at Amma.

[color=#fe650d]“First lesson in fun, never be afraid to seize an opportunity for it. They have Hypes who can shape this stuff with their mind. Why don't we blow this off? I’m not getting a degree anyways,”[/color]

A piece of cold steel breaks apart in her hand, unbidden sparks flying away from her gestures.
	[color=#978184]"I'm -"[/color] the words fail to fly from her lips, a soft look of confusion crossing over her face. In what situation did one require or desire an apology? Would it prove anything beyond the hopeless situation and circumstance; the very occurrences she had warned them about carelessly and harshly the night before? To speculate the future and then to be proven right still sired breadths of rage through her body which she struggled to dispel even now. 

She wasn't the only one affected.

	[color=#978184]"Fun,"[/color] Amma tests the word on her tongue. [color=#978184]"With, or without a degree. You'd still be stuck here, you know."[/color] She saw little point in feigning to his emotional state. [color=#978184]"Might as well make it worthwhile, make a point. A mark."[/color] Amma shakes out her hands, silver and red sinking beneath her inked flesh and briefly highlighting the coils of snakes along her forearms. [color=#978184]"[i]Seize the opportunity.[/i] And make them regret it."[/color] 

	[color=#978184]"In the end, that degree would've been a piece of paper."[/color] She supposed then, that it mattered not if they completed this current task or no. Amma stepped closer then, arms crossed over the other with her nails poised against the crook of either arm.

	[color=#978184]"Everything hinges on your actions and what you decide to make of them."[/color]

In hindsight, later perhaps, Amma will wonder what and why she was receptive to his words, every feature and display of power, every flicker of his molten eyes that she can’t help but capture with the depths of her own. She’ll wonder why she encroached that yawning chasm she kept around herself, why that distance shrunk just so then and there, as if a bridge had been laid to cross the void of her very soul. 

[color=#fe650d]“They can try and keep me on this rock.”[/color] Lorcán smiled, his hand dipped into his pocket. The warm pulse of Jonas's ‘charm’ vibrated against his palm.

[color=#fe650d]“But I think I’ll find a way to make it out.”[/color]

Suddenly Lorcán scooped Amma up in his arms. It was only after he was already holding her that he realized he would never have had the courage to spontaneously do this to Aurora. Focusing on the ambient HZEs around them, Lorcán pushed off the ground, an explosion of flame beneath then, his own shield of energy extending to Amma in his arms as they launched into the air.

Clearing both the construction site and Blackjack’s campsite, they begin their descent on a pillow of hot air before Lorcán’s feet touched firm ground again. With a smile, he took a few running steps forward before jumping again with a rocket thrust of boost.

Three more jumps and Lorcán had successfully cleared the plateau and carried his new friend to the forest that separated the plateau from the campus. Setting Amma back on her own feet, Lorcán motioned for her to follow him as he entered the thick bush.

[color=#fe650d]“So what have you always wanted to try, brah? You want to like cut down a tree? We can basically do whatever we want in here. No one can see us from the plateau or the campus. Couple of years ago, bunch of groms totally got busted in here for a dueling club.”[/color] He shook his head while continuing to speak.

[color=#fe650d]“Kooks were just blasting each other till they were wiped out and pulled under.”[/color]

He was not what she expected and with her arms cinched around his neck as they suddenly were, Amma could only marvel at the rush of wind and flame that propelled them up - and up. Being at such a height elicited a gasp that rushed away from her as Lorcán ran on, the strength of his body cradled around her figure not going unnoticed and neither was the soft breath of a laugh that came after their second leap. It was a sort of rush that simmered away betwixt her ribs as she found her footing thereafter, her exhale swift and near breathless as she followed through the browse.

	[color=#978184]"More secrets,"[/color] she mused aloud, taking the initiative to explore their surroundings, separated from the world, a hidden expanse of endless forest without the eyes of those who still saw fit to chain her. Contain and use. [i]Where none can see.[/i] She tilts her head slowly, a grin curving against her lips at his words, she glances back towards Lorcán and keeps her stare pinned there. 

That well and void pitched within, a baying call that rose from the depths of her power and sounded out in a low drone that vibrated the very ground beneath her feet. Amma slowly stretched out every piece of herself, as if her heart suddenly yawned open along with the fractured remains of her soul that glimmered black and red and smudged grey at the edges. Allowing that eternal containment and barrier to fall away, for just a moment, as the HZEs within a thirty-three-foot radius came alive in whipping lines of scarlet and silver, almost serpentine in grace until they dug themselves into the earth, and burrowed true and deep.

What did she always want to try?

Amma felt the quakes from below, fighting to control the hissing chords of her power demanding subjugation, and slowly expanded those throes of dominance until threads of crimson lit up every follicle of grass and dirt and rock - until a tree only a few feet away from him suddenly too was lit from within. It took only a thought, maybe a breath before it slowly began to fall apart, bark and leaves and branches and all. Fissures through the earth spread out towards where Lorcán stood as well, a soft challenge in the form of a singular strike.

[color=#fe650d]“Did you bite your thumb at me?” [/color]Lorcán replied amused by Amma’s choice. He was anticipating perhaps carving a tree stump into a bear or the Venus de Milo. 

[color=#fe650d]“Sure, brah, we can throw down.” [/color]He replied before cracking his neck while bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

[color=#fe650d]“Just give me a second.” [/color]

Taking his shirt off, Lorcán folded it and placed it aside and quickly slid out of his shoes before spinning around on his heel. A boosted jump led to a kick that launched a small ball of fire from his foot towards Amma’s direction.

She waited until the last moment, the sphere of fire coming closer and closer until Amma simply stepped aside, allowing chunks of wood she had severed to receive the blow instead. She cannot help the laughter then, something true that punches straight from her belly, something she curls in on and attempts to smother beneath her fingers. Her eyes dance at the revealed expanse of bronze skin, tracing over every displayed inch of muscle. 

	[color=#978184]"Couldn't help myself. Decent reflexes, though."[/color] She confesses and drops to her knees on the grass, concentration furrowing her brow as the tendrils of her power spiral up and out, until she curls her palms around them, cradling the energy within her grasp with a sort of reverence. It hums and spits like a rabid sort of creature barely contained by her touch.

	[color=#978184]"Here, try and aim your heat at it. I want to see something."[/color] Something she felt last night in the core of a flickering flame. [color=#978184]"Unless you'd rather go blow for blow, to which I'll say - [i]you will lose[/i]."[/color] The sphere struggling against her fingers seemed to wail in response, a haunting note of the arcane that was heralded as something otherworldly. 

Lorcán hesitated for a moment, he had nothing to gain by going toe to toe with Amma and honestly sparring was probably the furthest from his personal idea of fun. 

Matching her posture, Lorcán knelt in front of her and reached out. Igniting the air within the sphere as he felt the feedback of Amma’s own abilities begin to crawl over his skin, the vibrations reaching through and traveling his body. Silver and red alternatively glowed orange and blue as their abilities meshed.

It was an electric feeling. The power of two Hyperhumans coursing like an active current through his body was elevating. They of course had taught students in the wake of Hyperion how to bend HZEs against one another, essentially blocking the abilities of another. But they had also taught the students that when two or more Hyperhumans were in sync they could lend or boost the abilities of another.

This was still [i]different.[/i]

Lorcán closed his eyes, reaching out through his abilities, he could feel Amma. He could feel all of her and he was sure she could feel him. Tendrils weaved their way through him, weaving along the nervous system and neural pathways. Exploding fireworks of endorphins and serotonin.

	[color=#978184]“There it is,”[/color] she breathed, almost as an afterthought, eyes suspended in a crystalline glow that speared through her lashes even as her eyes drifted shut. [color=#978184]"I thought,"[/color] Amma continued, her voice dropping to a near whisper as pure sensation ignited through the entirety of her being. Through skin and pores and every follicle of nerve, down to the very marrow of her bones that ticks up every notch of her spine. [i]Within and without[/i]. [color=#978184]"I felt something in the fire last night, a small piece of flame; a small little flicker even after I left."[/color]

She felt the sphere within her grasp beginning to pulsate in tandem with her beating heart, the sphere of influence that surrounded them also becoming lost within a quivering tempo. Amma felt Lorcán; felt every facet of his power, felt the coiling ambiance of HZEs that flocked to them and immediately heated in response. She felt her power curl and sweep through his own, conjoining as a singular construct of pure and raw origin that immediately swelled and grew and grew until she could barely contain it. It was a revelation that Amma discovered in the merging of their differing strengths: it was a sort of intimacy that she had never known. Not like this. Never like this. 

And within that divulgence, she couldn't help the abundance of 'Whys' that speared through her lobe then and there. For everyone else was scared of her, some terrified, some wary, and some that barely acknowledged her. She was the unknown. She was the void. So why did he not balk or run or scorn her? Why? Was it displaced chivalry; or was he the knight and she the dragon? Amma wants to ask, but a small part of her wonders if she is ready for those answers.

Why did she even care?

With a gasp, their power pistoled from the cage of her palms and twined up both of her arms, eliciting a sort of euphoric expression that curled her lips and fluttered her lashes. 

And just as quickly as the sensation came, it suddenly went, and it dissipated in glittering showers of red and silver and black sparks as grass and rock too disintegrated as if it had never been. The forest was a secret, a place he had brought her for fun, but she knew Lorcán was a man many were fond of, people flocked to him easily as many flocked to fires for warmth and comfort. The world outside, in this moment, is only so far away.

	[color=#978184]"I imagine,"[/color] she almost struggled to say - [i]breathless[/i]. [color=#978184]"They will come looking for you soon."[/color] 

[color=#fe650d]“Uh yeah, probably.”[/color] Lorcán managed to reply between catching his breath. His entire being was numb, like his essence had been drained and returned.

[color=#fe650d]“Brah, I’m just going to need a sec here.”[/color] He added after looking down and realizing that the athletic shorts perhaps could benefit from a compression layer under the outer fabric.

[color=#fe650d]“You’re like free to go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]