[2009 – October]
Turning to where Laura was, I moved towards her since Arya was with her.
The dark-haired she-wolf was laying flat on her stomach with earbuds in her ears, already half-asleep as she enjoyed the warm sunlight while resting on the soft blanket.
"Arya.", I called out softly as I knelt down on the blanket, and not a moment later, a small head popped out from beneath Laura's hair, large amber eyes looking at me.
"Hu hu!", the tiny girl-owl greeted me happily as she dispersed into a cloud of dark smoke only to reappear just before me, gazing up at me with a look of loving dependence.
Smiling faintly as I communicated with her over our telepathic bond, inquiring if she was thirsty or hungry but she indicated that she was fine, hopping closer as her little head rubbed against my knee in an obvious show of affection.
Pulling off my tank top, I placed it down as a substitute for a pillow while laying down on my back next to Laura.
Arya took this chance to quickly bury herself in my dark locks, her little body pressed against the side of my neck.
Laura's head was turned in my direction and I saw her open her vibrant green eyes. She smiled imperceptively as she plucked one of the earbuds from her ears and just reached over to me and gently stuck it in my ear.
She didn't say anything afterward and just closed her eyes again, her smile a bit wider than before.
I didn't say anything either, knowing that she just wanted to share her music with me, which I had nothing against since Laura enjoyed listening to a wide array of genres. At the moment, for example, a song from Kid Cudi's feather was playing on her iPod.
It was called 'Pursuit of Happiness' and I remembered it faintly from my last life.
It was a good track and the lyrics made me smile faintly as I closed my eyes and followed Laura's example of just enjoying the sun a bit, forgetting all the trouble that the future was holding in store for us.
…
A bit thirsty, Laura's eyes opened drowsily sometime later as she reached out and tapped on Elijah's chest, feeling as if she had touched warm velvet-covered granite.
"Thirsty … ", she voiced out rather incoherently as she pulled out her earbud to avoid pulling the other one out of Elijah's ear when she sat up the next moment.
Understanding her as he always did, the dark-haired teen that had somehow become the person that she felt closest to just hummed lightly in acknowledgment, a transparent glass bottle of cool watered-down juice appearing in her lap like a blooming shadow.
Her eyes lighting up in happiness when she smelled the sweet note of grape juice and saw the light burgundy colour since it was her favourite type of juice, Laura grabbed the bottle and lifted it to her lips after uncapping it, greedily taking a few large sips before sighing in contentment.
Recapping the sports bottle made from glass, she placed it down and once again tapped on Elijah's chest, upon which shadows swallowed up the bottle and made it disappear without him even opening his eyes.
Stretching a bit while staying seated, Laura felt refreshed and comfortable all over when the wind suddenly turned and her nose picked up the scent of sweet lemons.
The last bits of drowsiness vanishing from her mind, her other senses sharpening, the deadly mutant girl turned around only to see Emma's daughter standing a few feet away with red cheeks and eyes trained on her scantily-clad form.
Her hair still a bit wet, a thin yet wide yellow sweater covering her upper body while leaving her left shoulder exposed, she wore a pair of jeans shorts that sat loosely on her narrow waist and left the rest of her legs bare, her pale skin looking as if kissed by snow.
Emma's daughter proved herself to be a rare and delicate beauty even if she was a bit too thin at the moment, her fine facial features as perfect as her mother's with large bright blue eyes, an exquisite little nose, and soft pillowy lips.
As if noticing that she was staring at Laura, Celeste's wandering eyes widened a bit and she seemed to try and avoid looking at her while she opened her lips and stammered: "I- … Jus- … I just w-wanted to ask i-if I could join you … "
She failed though as her gaze always seemed to return to Laura's own form.
A tiny frown on her face, Laura wasn't quite sure how to answer and react since she was obviously not blind to the hidden nature of the girl's stare.
She had experienced things that others couldn't even imagine, her perception of the atmosphere and the people around her being almost akin to a secondary mutation.
Usually though, Laura just didn't like to interact with strangers or those her senses told her were weak-willed and insincere, her personality clearly leaning towards being introverted.
It made her socially 'awkward' as most of the time, she didn't bother with forcing herself to act polite or formal.
And yet there was this trace of innocence and shyness about Celeste, which made it clear that the attention that the girl spared her wasn't corrupted by some kind of twisted lust, which was something that normally made her shudder in disgust.
She also knew too well what Celeste had gone through up to this point in her life, so there was a clear trace of empathy in her heart. Not to mention that Emma had also informed her that she would have to teach the girl self-defense, starting tomorrow.
Biting her lower lip, her intense green eyes focused on the lithe blonde, Laura just nodded her head before laying back down, not forgetting to pinch Elijah's side as if to signal him to take over after she placed the earbud back into her ear.
It was the obviously easy way out and a bit of a cowardly move, not that she would ever admit that out loud to someone else but Elijah, but Laura wasn't really great when it came to forcing herself into awkward situations.
She was a killer, after all, and not a stand-up comedian.
…
Having been invited to join the inhabitants of the Hellion Mansion to enjoy the strangely sunny day outside by Clarice, Celeste had gladly accepted the invitation after having been told that Elijah, Jean, and Laura as well as some of their friends from school were already waiting for them.
Though since she had just finished some private lessons in psychic control with her mother, as well as having done some basic yoga exercises that she had shown her to help her build up some physical strength and flexibility, she had first gone to take a shower, having promised to join later.
The cobblestone path opening up in front of her, Celeste saw a wide patch of grass surrounding a well-taken care of sports field and a small elongated building. There was a running track, a tennis, volleyball, and basketball field, as well as a neatly trimmed grass field for football and/or soccer.
It was pretty much the private sports club of the Hellions, which was rather extravagant but it also made sense considering that they all possessed powers beyond normal humans and her mother didn't want them to use their abilities in front of the other students without any restraint.
This private area allowed them to train and play without any care about keeping their powers hidden.
Naturally, there were also the underground facilities beneath the mansion for that, but only training there could get a bit suffocating with time.
Quickly spotting most of the Hellions playing volleyball in teams of five. Jean, Angelica, Haroun, and two unknown girls made up one team while the other consisted of Clarice, John, Allison, Rahne, and Marie-Ange.
The others were mostly relaxing and sunbathing on large blankets or towels, though even amongst them Celeste only recognized Sharon in her panther form, as well as Elijah and Laura.
The silver-grey-haired young man and a girl with white strands in her dark hair were strangers and most likely the friends of Jean and her uncle that Clarice had told her about, including the beautiful Asian girl with bright blue strands in her black hair and the gorgeous short-haired girl.
Approaching Elijah and Laura, a large towel in her hand Celeste noticed the latter moving as if roused from her rest before sitting up and grasping a bottle that had seemingly appeared from the shadows, a barely noticeable smile brightening up her whole demeanor as she quenched her thirst.
Stopping dead in her tracks, she felt her heartbeat accelerating, nervousness rising in her mind when she looked over the form of the dark-haired girl.
And when Laura started to stretch Celeste seemed thoroughly enchanted as she watched the other girl move, looking like a feline hunter as she stretched with impossible grace, shadows of her well-toned muscles visible under her unblemished skin.
It didn't help that there was more skin exposed than there was covered either, making it hard for her to tear her gaze away from the supple curves and taut skin.
To be honest, Celeste was too entranced to notice that she was staring at the other girl before Laura turned towards her, her intense green eyes looking over her form with somewhat impassive curiosity.
Finding it hard to find her voice for a moment, embarrassment washing over her, Celeste had to force herself to be as bold as Phoebe to prevent herself from shrinking back under the other girl's intense stare and asking if she could join them.
With a bit of hesitation in her demeanor, the gorgeous dark-haired girl thankfully nodded, though it hadn't escaped Celeste's eyes how she had seemed to communicate with Elijah without actually exchanging any words up until this point, so she noticed it when Laura pinched her uncle's side.
She was only half-sure that the gesture was a plea for him to take over the conversation but that didn't stop the contradicting feelings rising up in her heart, relief clashing with disappointment.
Celeste wanted to converse with Laura, get to know her, and generally just be around the other girl. But at the same time, she found herself lacking the courage to really do those things.
This was mirrored by her feelings for their supposed training session the next day, which she looked forward to with equal measures of anticipation and trepidation.
Her young uncle's voice though brought her back to reality, those thoughts pushed aside for the moment.
"You can just put your towel next to ours if you want, Celeste.", Elijah invited quietly, his unfathomable green eyes expressing kindness as he looked at her before adding, "You can also go and play with the others, I am sure they won't might letting you join in."
Nodding in understanding, Celeste felt herself calming down inexplicably, her uncle's words seemingly reaching into her mind and soul to soothe her nervousness.
Having no interest in joining the ball game for the moment, she placed down her towel while stealing glances at Elijah, her uncle still representing an unsolvable enigma even greater than the dark-haired beauty next to him.