Private Finished Catch Flies With Honey

The school day came to a close, students were dismissed but Jae lingered behind. On a normal day he would head straight to his aunt's home and wait in his room for dinner. Passing the time with magazines from Korea sent by his other aunt and her husband. It was preferable to spending time with his mermaid aunt who, though kind, deeply pitied him. Jae couldn't stand to have her look at him like he was some kind of invalid. Not today, when that old familiar tug of magic seemed to blanket his lungs and swell with every breath. The magic had to come out.

The sport's field was large, and most importantly, not too many students were about today. The far end of the field was quiet, and a lonely storage shed provided cover from sight. Jae settled against the far outside wall and simply sat for a moment. He was stalling, and once he accepted that he began to sing. The siren's song was like waking up from a deep sleep, only to find that the nightmare was real. Jae sang quietly, and fought the urge to vocalize to his fullest extent. The song pulled on his loneliness, it called for listeners to join him. Keep him company forever. To their final breaths. Jae grimaced as he sang because he was lonely, but this wasn't how he wanted to gain friends.

The song spilled from his lips, and with it the feeling of slow suffocation by magic. Just a few more minutes and he can stop, to go home and ignore his aunt.

@Big Jeffe

Jae began to relax as the primal magic exhausted and retreated to the deepest parts of himself. It was like a noose had loosened itself from his lungs and he could breathe again. Then a sudden noise made Jae jump, the song choked in his throat. Jae, incredulous, turned to see another person with him besides the shed. Where? When?! Shock turned to dread. This student must have heard him sing and was drawn in by the song.

"I-" Jae stammered. He got his legs below him and stood in a single fluid motion. What does he say? A million apologies popped into mind, but how does anyone apologize for accidentally mind controlling someone? Jae didn't even want to do it but if he didn't sing then his magic would tear him apart. Magic he wasn't sure he wanted but that was a different can of worms.

"Um, hi?" Jae mumbled, because maybe he could pretend that this wasn't the super awkward situation that it really was. "Uh, I. . . feel like I've seen you around school?" He may have, someone tall like James and with that bright hair was always noticeable. He looked American, and confident. Jae was the new kid in school, and new to Manta Carlos in general, having transfered in only a few short months prior. "I'm Jae." He finished, thinking he may as well give his name.

James held out his hand, and Jae tentatively shook it. If he played it cool then maybe this wont be so awkward. Or not, as Jae flinched the moment James mentioned singing. "I-I don't think it sound stupid. There's a lot of strange stuff on this island." Jae glanced at the nearby forest and wondered if he could blame this on some weird mystical creature. This was his fault, but why should he have to admit it.

Jae fiddled with the hem of his school uniform to contain the nervous energy slowly creeping up his legs. "What? Oh, um, I was. . . looking for animals." Jae wouldn't call himself a good liar, his tone was flat but he didn't have any cues that would signal obvious lying. "I figured I'd have a better chance with no one around." Jae looked to James and wondered what he was doing out here.

"What about you?" Jae asked, hoping to turn conversation away from himself. "I could ask the same." James didn't look like he was dressed to play any sports. Maybe they were both weird loners who liked to get away from people. Though, Jae would say his loner status was forced upon him.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Jae said, relieved James hadn't caught on to his lie. "That's kinda disappointing." At least in Hawaii you could find lizards or iguanas if you looked hard enough. Though Manta Carlos and Hawaii are both islands in the pacific, the two were night and day. Not that Jae missed Hawaii. The island had its perks, but it wasn't home and there nearly everyone assumed he was Japanese.

"Heard the singing?" Jae paused. He can't pretend to ignore the singing but this could be his out. "Yeah. I did." Which technically wasn't a lie? "I, um, thought it was strange. Like maybe it came from the forest? I didn't see the source." This felt wrong, but Jae couldn't bring himself to admit that the singer was him. Accidental mind-control was still mind-control. "Wait, what to you mean, um, messing around with your powers? What kind of powers do you have?"

James looked like a normal human. Jae supposed he looked the same but like, James didn't seem supernatural. Then again, if James were completely normal he wouldn't be on an island like Manta Carlos.

Jae shook his head at the mention of being drawn to the singing. Which was true. Perhaps the secret to lying was staying as close to the truth as possible. It still felt wrong to mislead James like this, but what if word of this got to his aunt? Jae was not scared of any guardian fury, but rather the knowing disappointed look she'd level him with. Like it couldn't be helped and it was shameful to have happened. The teen clenched his fists before relaxing them.

The moment James mentioned fire, Jae gaped. Fire? Seriously? The golf-ball sized flame produced in the other's fist, then casually juggled, made Jae's mouth feel dry. His hand brushed against the small water bottle he kept attacked to his belt for emergencies. Then blanched at the mention of dousing oneself in flames. "My powers?" Though fire made Jae nervous, he still felt a twinge of jealousy for James. Fire was a simple, easy power to have.

His first impulse was to hide his abilities, but that was kinda dumb. Manta Calros was the safe haven for the powered and the supernatural. It was only natural that people would be open with their abilities. Well, to an extent. Jae was proud of himself for not hesitating with his mostly honest answer. "I can shift into a merman. And I can produce electricity." He glanced at the sky, noted the overcast clouds and summoned sparks of electric current to his hands. Streaks of electricity zipped and darted across his hand and between outstretched fingers.

Soon the current exhausted itself and vanished. Jae, finished his answer, "And I can sense where bodies of water are located. Which, I guess isn't as cool as the other stuff." A simple, clean answer.