Even at two-thirty in the morning, Perez Park wasn't quiet. It never was.
Eric surveyed the woods from the edge of one of the larger buildings. The forest at least looked quiet, from a distance anyway. The full moon let him see the trees moving gently in the nighttime breeze, giving no indication of the mayhem that undoubtedly happening underneath its canopy.
But Eric wasn't here for that. He was here because, despite the Hellions and hydra and everything else, he found the park peaceful. Back when he'd been unable to control his powers, this was one of the few places he could go and find solitude. One of the few places he could let his powers go safely, without worrying about the consequences.
Heaving a sigh, he closed his eyes and pushed the now-distant past out of his mind to focus on the present instead.
"Nobody takes me seriously."
Speaking the words softly but firmly, Eric let their sound focus his mind better, then looked at himself as others might.
He was hyperactive. He was easily distracted, even by trivialities. He couldn't sit still. He acted without thinking.
He was overshadowed and easily forgotten.
On missions, Glacial Mass was always the leader. Eric always followed and supported. People noticed Glacial. They also noticed Crono and Stasis and Erika and… His friends were noticed because they often were out in the front, putting themselves at more risk by jumping in the fray. And when they did it, people admired them.
When Eric jumped in the fray, he faceplanted and got laughed at.
Even at school, he was forgotten. Everyone treated him well and seemed to like him, but… Well, take the boy auction. He'd told Stasis a dozen times that he wanted to be in the boy auction. He'd told everybody that he was going to be in it, he knew he had. Yet she'd omitted him from the roster, and when he tried to put himself on the block at the end, nobody wanted to bid on him. Well, Glacial did but that was kind of beside the point. Yet, earlier in the auction, everyone just ate it up when Eric placed the winning bid on Jem.
Of course they did. They found it funny. Eric was great to laugh at.
Eric pushed all thought out of his mind and opened up his kinetic senses. The world around him came into sharply detailed focus, threatening to overwhelm him. He refused to let it. He forced himself to adjust to it, and after a few moments, he reached out to work with the energy around him.
The park's solitude afforded him room for something else: He was here to practice.
Brightly Burning
Moderator: Student Council
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Eric Copper
- Posts: 569
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- Location: Back in Paragon. Yay!!!!!!!
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Eric Copper
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:49 pm
- Location: Back in Paragon. Yay!!!!!!!
- Contact:
He could sense each mote of dust floating upon the chilled November breeze. They, and the currents of air that carried them, swirled around him as he stood at the building's edge. He could feel the flows of energy beneath it, beneath everything.
He reached out, tapping into that energy. The air nearby became slowly still.
He shaped the energy around him, shifting it into something like what he saw around Erika. He couldn't do it exactly like she did, but he came close. Concentrating harder, he accelerated the kinetic motion of the molecules that surrounded him. He had figured out the trick last week, now it was just a matter of maintaining it without thinking about it.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the dancing flames. He grinned.
Jumping down to the ground, he found an empty alley and pulled out a baseball. He tried to put his energy conversion in the back of his mind, focusing on the ball in his hand.
He threw the ball hard against the wall, letting it bounce back directly into his chest with a thunk. He grinned again. It had hurt when he did it earlier, without the flame. He was doing it right. The kinetic force of the baseball had been drained, helping to fuel the fire around him.
He grabbed the ball off the ground, letting out a giggle of excitement. He threw it hard against the wall again, and…
"Owwy!"
He bounced as he put his hand to his chest, looking down with a slight frown. The fire was gone. He was supposed to be learning to do this without thinking, not forgetting about it entirely!
He giggled again, then closed his eyes to bring back the flames so he could practice some more.
He reached out, tapping into that energy. The air nearby became slowly still.
He shaped the energy around him, shifting it into something like what he saw around Erika. He couldn't do it exactly like she did, but he came close. Concentrating harder, he accelerated the kinetic motion of the molecules that surrounded him. He had figured out the trick last week, now it was just a matter of maintaining it without thinking about it.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the dancing flames. He grinned.
Jumping down to the ground, he found an empty alley and pulled out a baseball. He tried to put his energy conversion in the back of his mind, focusing on the ball in his hand.
He threw the ball hard against the wall, letting it bounce back directly into his chest with a thunk. He grinned again. It had hurt when he did it earlier, without the flame. He was doing it right. The kinetic force of the baseball had been drained, helping to fuel the fire around him.
He grabbed the ball off the ground, letting out a giggle of excitement. He threw it hard against the wall again, and…
"Owwy!"
He bounced as he put his hand to his chest, looking down with a slight frown. The fire was gone. He was supposed to be learning to do this without thinking, not forgetting about it entirely!
He giggled again, then closed his eyes to bring back the flames so he could practice some more.