skipping stones.

Quietly, the young man rolled a smooth stone in his hand, thoughtfully recalling his encounter with the headmaster. He just didn't see how it was fair, or even logical, to ban someone from seeing his friend. Regret was easily coming on him, to say the least. He had defied the headmaster's orders later, going to her dorm to see Rose; Desken had caught him, although he didn't know why the guardian didn't turn him in for it. He had just come to explain and maybe hang out a bit, hope that little meetings like these would be no big deal and that they could continue being friends, but she had something else in mind -- other things happened. Damn, he couldn't deny it was nice, but he was regretting that too. A lot.
The student smiled a little bit, not that it mattered that much more anyways. She had a boyfriend now, and so far the only thing that was thrown -- or shot, more accurately, thus far as an arrow. Thank god it didn't hit his knee. And he looked stupid in front of Melody and Trina too, but whatever...

Nathan flicked his wrist and sent the stone skipping across the lake. 'One, two...' He counted the times and bended over, picking up another one and turning it in his hands once again. There was something that was really bothering him though. The Headmaster, with his emotions, the room just seemed to get colder and colder. It wasn't just his imagination either. He was shivering. He could see his breathe. What was with that?

He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't even noticed when someone else had walked by.

The teenage girl watched her own stone sail from her hand and at the water, skipping twice more than Nathaniel's previous throw. She was hoping to scare him, or at least startle him a little. The girl found it fun to mess with people at times- it entertained her.
She had her caramel blonde hair pulled back with her brown lowlights showing beneath. She was clad in a plaid skirt and a light wool jacket that appeared to be a ugly shade of moss green. Her reddish brown eyes shone in the light.

Melody had come out for a walk to ease her mind. She hadn't expected to spot Nate by the lake, even though it was a fairly popular spot for students- except for today, where it was just the two of them. "Hey." She finally said, a moment or two after her old stone sank down into the water.

"Huh?" The sound came out of his mouth in more of a breathe of confusion, seeing another stone skip across the water, farther than his he noticed. He glanced back on the shore, seeing a familiar shape. Nathan couldn't help but laughed under his breathe, it figured, out of the entire school, she would be the one to come and show him up at what he was doing.
He momentarily noticed her strange choice of style, though not being one to judge, he himself was wearing nothing but a plain black t-shirt and a pair of comfy jeans; he really just had never seen her out of the school uniform before. It was kinda interesting.

"Hey." Nate echoed back, giving her a small smile, though there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm behind it. "What are you doing here?"

Melody walked over to him, staying close to the slippery shore, keeping careful not to fall in. She smiled softly, a little nervously. Melody seemed a lot calmer now than any other time Nate had seen her. Perhaps it was being outdoors that changed her, she wasn't really sure. But soon the good old Mel was kicking in as she was only a few feet away from the boy. "Taking a walk, of course." She retorted, as if it was obvious. "Why so glum?" She questioned, looking like a child with her hands in her pockets and her head tilted to the side in curiousity.

He didn't really say anything as she walked up to keep, more-so keeping his eyes on the lake. You had to admit, it was purdy. Though, at her comment, Nate near rolled his eyes, still turning the stone in his hands. That didn't take long. "Right. Idiot, yes." He said rhetorically and bit his lip, sending the stone flying across the water. Much to his disappointment, it still didn't outreach Melody's.
Nathan couldn't help but glance up at her second comment, giving her a strange look. "Who said I was 'glum'?" He shifted his gaze back at the ground, looking around for any rock. Honestly, he wondered if she was just guessing, or if he were that easy to read at the moment.
Dude dun even know what's going on. D; AND HE SAID HEEEEYEEEYEEEEYEYEAH.

"Honestly, you don't need empathy to figure it out." She replied with a roll of her own eyes. She leaned back on her heels and then forth again, teetering a little, but not falling. After a short pause, she continued. "And a little annoyed, it seems." Mel murmured in amusement, eyebrows raised.

Nathan didn't know what to say, so instead he picked up another rock brought up one his legs, using it to leaning on. Damnit, he just couldn't exactly say that he was wrong. The situation that was growing was kinda making him a little uncomfortable. He was used to reading everyone else, even if they didn't notice, even if he didn't want too; it wasn't exactly all that nice someone figuring out him. Had anyone even bothered to try? And she was probably just doing it on a whim.

Nate looked up at her, his bright gold eyes having see through his bangs. "Well, I guess you could say I screw up. More than once. Both times pretty badly." The young man smiled and started tossing the stone lightly into the air, catching it. He decided to add the last bit on, mostly to toss the current subject away. "Nice jacket, by the way." he said teasingly.

Turning towards the lake, Melody smiled. "Thanks, my grandmother got it for me before she passed." She replied calmly, mostly to make Nate feel like an ass. Even though her grandmother did get it for her, she never really met the woman and had no ties to her.
Noticing how he attempted to change the subject, Mel frowned. Leaning down, she wrapped her hand around a round grey stone and stood up. Rubbing it between her fingers, she turned to Nathan again. "What did you do?" She asked.

Well, good job, Melody. :D It worked. Nathan near flinched, not expecting an answer like that. "Oh, well... I'm sorry." He replied, being a derp, he pictured a small Melody with an old lady on her deathbed, with an over-sized sweater. How sad. ;_;

Nathaniel bit his lip. He didn't really want to say -- one might put it as practically seducing his friend, which really, that was exactly what it was; There was just no way in hell he was going to Melody that, though. He already felt bad about it, he didn't need her adding onto it, -- or thinking bad of him for it, not that he cared, of course... ahem.

"I sorta used my powers on Rose." Nate answered, glancing back up at her than at the lake. "I changed her feelings. Right in front of a guardian." He laughed at the irony, it was such a stupid move. " 'Took me to the Headmaster and said I wasn't allowed to see her anymore... I did anyways, but it led to... other things. She had the wrong idea, not like it was her fault." He let out a sigh, "And I think I just insulted your dead grandma's choice of fashion."

Melody laughed loudly, peering at the lake. "It's fine- I didn't really know her." She assured, dismissing the subject with a wave of her hand.
She shut up as Nate began talking. Changed her feelings? Led to... Other things? Wrong ideas? She inwardly finched, somehow hurt, even though she wasn't certain why. It wasn't like he said that they did anything. And it wasn't like she liked Nathaniel or anything- oh God, of course not! Sheesh...

"Yeah, my grandma's probably gonna haunt your ass now." She joked weakly.

Nate suddenly froze, an inward smile growing on his face. "So you're making me feel worse for nothing?" Did something between a laugh and a scoff, "Real nice, Melody..." He flicked his wrist and sent his stone skimming across the water, going farther than her's this time. Nate paused for a second, catching unto her momentarily hurt feelings. What was that about?

"Well, that wouldn't be to bad compared to the things we've seen so far, right?" He joked back lightly. Though he didn't say much, telling Mel what had happened seemed to help a little bit. He grab another stone and stood up, patting the dirt off his back-side and having to look down at her once again.

Melody watched the stone previously in Nate's hand practically glide across the water. She watched it ripple as it sunk in, and then she turned to the side, and did some weird, sideways, underhand softball pitch, sending her stone bouncing across the lake. She smiled triumphantly as it gave in a little past the growing circles marking Nathan's own throw.
"Nothing makes my day more than making you feel like crap." She retorted to his formed comment sarcastically. Looking up, she smiled devilishly.
"Oh, I'm fairly certain it would be a lot more horrible. Just imagine an old, cranky, bitter me following you around all day." She joked back, crinkling her nose at the image.

Nathan rolled his eyes and rubbed the back back of his neck, both at her comment and the fact that she showed him up again. "I'm just going to have to find something I can best you at." He smirked at her and glanced at the ground between the two of them. They were some slippery rocks, but a decent step or two and he'd be on the other side, no problem.
He crossed his arms for a moment, stumped; he tried to think of a comeback, but none came. "I think I could handle it." Nate jumped on one of the rocks, trying to keep his balance for a moment. "You know, I'm getting the feeling this grandma of yours isn't as cranky and bitter as you're giving credit for." He smiled, a small insinuation.

Melody smiled softly, shaking her head. "Good luck at that. I accept a challenge." She laughed, flashing him a wink.
Her thoughts turned to her grandma. "Well, yeah. I've never really met her aside from when I was a child, but from what I can remember she was the kissy, cheek grabbing type. The kind that knitted ugly green sweaters and smelled like old lady perfume and cat? Yeah, that was her." She rambled on, staring at Nathan's feet and the stone he teetered on, lost in distant memories of her grandmother.
"Careful Nate," She finally said. "Those rocks are slippery, I wouldn't want you to fall." Her voice was stern, a little like a mother.

Nathan simply smiled at her comment, "Well, you're grandma sounds like a nice woman, but I was kinda talking about you." He said a little oddly. He had kinda meant to say that Melody was actually nicer than he appeared. Note to Self; Nate, you are not good at hinting things. D;

He couldn't help but scoff at her a big, "It's just one quick jump." He said as if it were no big deal. Nate took a step and simply leaped over. "See, that wasn't so terrible, was it?" He stood up in front of Mel and smiled, turning to the side to walk away, not watching where he was going. He slipped right into a crack. His foot got stuck and he fell to the his hands and knees, his leg twisted. "God, damnit..." He hissed under his breathe. Just his luck.

Melody blinked, clearly missing the point. Yeah, seriously, come on Nate. D:<

She watched Nathaniel as he turned back around, and spotted the crack in the ground. She was about to call out and warn him, but it was to late. "Nate!" She cried, rushing over to him, careful to watch where she stepped. Kneeling down beside him, she quickly examined his leg. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it was broken. "You should have listened to me.." She murmured lightly, unsure of what to do. Then she remembered- she was a nurse. But she didn't have training for this yet. "Can you stand?" She asked gently, looking at the Academy in the distance and trying to figure out how far away it was.

Shut up, he's trying! D;

"Yeah, maybe." He groaned, sitting back and grabbing his foreleg. It hurt so much, but he'd had to get it out. "My foot is stuck." Nathan's voice actually cracked a little at the end, he had to sit forward and put his fist in front of his mouth, trying to give himself a moment to calm down. "C-c an you give me your hand for a moment?" He held out his own to her and asked a little awkwardly, a nervous smile on his face. "This is probably going to really hurt." Nathan glanced up at her. haha. >:D suffer, my puppet. suffeerrrrr.

Melody nodded fiercely as she stood and clasped her hand around his own. Her eyes shone with both pity and fear, and an extreme protectness. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. We just need to get you to the clinic- I'll even help you get over there." She promised in a soothing voice, trying to make him feel better.

Nathan's gold eyes shown brightly at her. "Thank you, Melody." He said. His gaze then dulled as he took a deep breathe, turning himself to an emotionless state to prepare for was about to do. With his free hand he bent over and got a good grip on his foreleg, and with one sickening jolt, he pulled the rest of his body out from between the earth.

He let out a short shout of pain, gripping Melody's hand fiercely for a few moments before slowly regaining himself. Nate looked at his leg. The rock had to have pinned him pretty good. It was bleeding in quite a few spots where it had jabbed him. Stupid arse rock, he'd get revenge for this! >:U

Melody winced in pain as Nate's grip tightened, but she stayed quiet while he hulled himself up. Whenever she saw his leg, she had to look away and bite her bottom lip so she didn't whimper. She was doing this to calm him down, but that probably didn't help with his empathy and all. Turning her head back, she smiled gently. "Alright, good. We can fix that as soon as we get to the clinic. I'm going to help you walk, alright? Feel free to lean your weight on me- don't worry, I can handle it. Then we can get you back, alright?" She ordered, a little condesendingly, almost in a kindergarten teacher tone. It was a lie- she knew she probably wouldn't be able to hold him up, but it was worth a shot.
She crouched down and stood by him. Melody wrapped one arm under his own and grabbed his hand, leading it over her shoulder. Then she began to slowly stand. Yes, Mel was in super nurse mode now. >:3

DON'T HURT YOUR CHARRIES. D8 *breaks Desken's back*

"You don't have to do this. I can drag myself there." Nathaniel forced a smile and started to get up on his own, wincing the moment he had put pressure on his injured leg and settling back down. He knew he was worrying her, and she really didn't have to. This was his own fault.
He held his breathe as he finally allowed her help, standing up together with her slowly. It was kinda an awkward pose, seeing as he was taller than her and trying to lean on her for support, but I'm sure they made it work... somehow.

BUT IZ FUN D8 *throws Irene off a cliff*

"Shut up and let me help you." She mumbled with a shaky laugh whenever he objected. She rolled her eyes as he tried to stand on his own, and waited for him to break and accept her help. When he finally did and they both stood, she bit her lip and began to trudge forward. Melody toke no notice to how weird they may have looked as the made their way towards the school, as simply put her mind on the task ahead.

NO IZ NOT. D8 *shoves Carter into a blender*

Nate tried to help keep himself up as much as he could, but it proved a difficult task. God damn, he could be such an idiot at times. Was even his brother this bad? "If anyone asks, I saved you from a mountain lion - or a bear --." He suddenly pondered his own words a moment, wondering if asking to set up such a lie would result in a smack across the head from her. "Or, well - You could have helped. I'd just prefer a story ... a little less embarrassing than the truth?" He suggested, his voice a little hopeful, playful at the same time, though he couldn't help but wince now and then.

ooc;; should we make another topic or what? cx lolidk

Melody was about to slap him for that, but sighed as he went on talking. "Yeah, I suppose we could throw something together. But I am not going to be the danzel in distress, okay?" She retorted with a smile chuckle. "Why don't you save a kitten from a bear or something?" Mel recommended.

Nathan sighed melodramatically. "I suppose so." He smiled a little, taking a moment to avoid a large root in their way as they kept walking, "And yeah, Kittens are cute and all, but you know - I think it'd be nice to play the knight in shining armor for once." The young man shrugged against her.