jack and the beanstalk [closed]

Zelo

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Dec 6, 2013
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<div align=center>Callie stared.

She didn't know how long she'd been staring, but she knew that her neck was beginning to cramp from how long she'd been craning it and her eyes were beginning to glaze over. The gold words emblazoned on the spine of her desired book had blurred together a long time ago: 'Hte Spnashi Clivi War'.

If she had to estimate how long she'd been stood there staring, she'd estimate about ten minutes. Ten minutes denial of the fact that she was simply too short to reach. She had, of course, considered levitation but it wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Was there anything in the library rules about levitation? She wasn't sure, but she didn't particularly want to risk it. So instead, she stood and stared with gaze so intense that it was almost a scowl. For such a diverse school, they sure didn't take into account the fact that people of only-slightly-on-the-short-side-of-average may require a book from the top shelf. She could lasso it with her scarf, maybe? No. That would never work.

In one last ditch attempt, she stretched upwards to totter precariously on tiptoes, fingers reaching to just a few centimetres short of 'Hte Spnashi Clivi War'. The result was no different from the last fifty attempts. She dropped back down to the flats of her feet with a grunt.
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Knox!

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Aug 4, 2013
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<div align=center>If he was quiet he'd be okay. If he stayed out of the view of that God awful librarian he'd be okay. His eyes darted around the room, hunting for the little black ball of hair that prowled around, waiting, watching. It took a second or two for the boy to decide that he wasn't going to get attacked in here, the Baron was probably sleeping somewhere, he hoped. His eyes flickered over to a girl, staring somewhat intently up at a shelf that he assumed had something she wanted on it. He watched her for a moment, a book tucked into the crook of his arm. The girl reached up for it, her fingers almost brushing the spine of the book, but she fell short, and the girl appeared to give up, defeated.

William shuffled forward a few steps, taking a second to gather up the courage to say anything. He squared his chin, and cleared his throat, attempting to get the girl's attention. It probably wouldn't have been any kind of problem for William to reach the book. He was tall and gangly and he could generally get to places that a lot of people couldn't. "A-Are you okay..?" He finally stammered out, blushing just a little and frowning. Had she even heard him? He wondered. His eyes darted up to the book again, then back at the girl. She didn't seem all that threatening, the vibes radiating off her made him relax just a little, "I.. I can reach that for you.. If.. If you like."</div>
 

Zelo

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Dec 6, 2013
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<div align=center>"A-Are you okay..?"

Callie snapped out of her anger induced reverie to look at the stranger. Her immediate impression was that of a rather timid looking boy, approaching her in a way reminiscent of a skittish pony. Her second impression was that he was tall; so tall, in fact, that she still had to crane her neck just to look at his face. She evaluated him to be around two years older than her, maybe give or take a year. He had a friendly face, she decided, under his evident anxiety. Instead of forming a verbal reply to the question, she gestured weakly to the shelf she was trying to reach with a sheepish half-grin.

"I.. I can reach that for you.. If.. If you like."

At this, Callie beamed, warming to the gangly stranger instantly. "Really? Thanks! That'd be great, actually. You're like, the first person to offer even though I've counted..." Her eyes flitted briefly around the vast room, counting under her breath and narrowing her eyes accusingly, "... at least twenty other people in here."

Abruptly collecting herself, she pointed. "Oh, it's that one, by the way. Spanish Civil War."</div>
 

Knox!

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Aug 4, 2013
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<div align=center>William reached an arm up, grabbed the book and pulled it off the shelf, glancing briefly at the cover before handing it to her. He wondered why no one else had bothered to help her, there were other people around that probably would have been able to reach it. He would have liked to think it was because they hadn't noticed, rather than they simply hadn't bothered to help her. A small, nervous laugh left him, "how long have you been there?" He asked her, running a hand through his hair letting his eyes shift down to look at his feet. His gait had relaxed though, and after a few moments he brought his eyes back up to look at her.

She was a pretty girl, he judged her to be younger than himself. She was certainly shorter, though he supposed most people were, with the exception of Gabriel who stood about a head taller than himself. He'd never met a girl taller than himself, though he supposed there were probably Swedish supermodels that might match him, in both height and stature, give or take a few... Vital parts. He wondered if he should introduce himself, that was what normally happened now, right? "Are you alright now...? Uh.. I'm.. I'm William by the way..."</div>
 

Zelo

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Dec 6, 2013
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<div align=center>Callie took the book gratefully and tucked in under her arm, grinning up at William and ignoring the slowly developing crick in her neck. She answered his inquiry happily - he seemed less nervous than before. She was glad; she couldn't understand how she could make anyone nervous. "How long have I been here? Not long. Ten minutes, maybe. But yeah, I'm okay now," she stuck out her hand boldly. "It's nice to meet you, William. I'm Callie."

Looking at him, Callie couldn't possibly imagine what his ability might be. She'd found that people's appearances or personalities often reflected their power. She'd once met a girl in power classes who was so shy that she was invisible even when not, technically, invisible. With that in mind she paused, face scrunching up slightly in thought. "I hope this isn't a sensitive question or anything but what's your... thing? I was thinking of levitating up to get the book - that's my thing, you see - but I figured it might be inapproriate." At this, she glanced around guiltily, as if she'd actually committed said inappropriate act. </div>
 

Knox!

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Aug 4, 2013
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<div align=center>Ten minutes was still an awfully long time to struggle to reach a book for, that was one thing Bill was always useful for, he was good at reaching things, you couldn't hide anything from him in cupboards, like candy. That made up for how clumsy it made him, he supposed. He was glad to know that he'd helped, and tentatively shook her hand as she stuck it out towards him. Callie. That was a pretty name, he wondered if it was short for anything, though he didn't ask. He laughed awkwardly at her question, he didn't often talk about his powers. They weren't something he enjoyed.

Her power sounded like fun though, levitation. It would be fun to be able to float around, you'd never have to walk anywhere again, and that sounded to him, like it would be an awful lot of fun. "It's okay," he answered, with a shrug, it wasn't as if his powers were embarrassing or taboo, he just thought they were boring and bothersome. "I've got telepathy." He told her, "that's why I have to wear this stupid foil hat, it keeps peoples thoughts out of my head." It wasn't even a useful power, what could he do with it? Nothing. Nothing at all. "It's a boring power." He cursed himself for not being born with something exciting. Like wings, or being able to control fire.</div>
 

Zelo

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Dec 6, 2013
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<div align=center>Ignoring the 'boring' part of William's description, Callie's eyes widened to almost twice their natural size and her mouth formed a little 'o', the picture of awe. "Wow, telepathy." Although, when she considered it, she supposed she wouldn't really want to hear everyone's thoughts either; she found it hard enough concentrating in Maths as it was without having to hear twenty odd trains of thought trying to figure out the meaning of x.

Pushing any thoughts of Maths to the very back of her mind, she craned her neck to eye his foil hat and smiled. "You never know, it might catch on. I think I could probably pull it off, hm?" At this she paused, a furrow appearing between her brows. "Actually, maybe I'd better not. I already get in enough trouble for wearing this," she tugged absently at her scarf, pulling it down from where it ridden up her chin slightly, "The teachers would probably have a field day if I started wearing foil on my head too. Uh, no offense!"

The furrow in her brow deepened and she gnawed at her lip slightly, afraid of having offended her potential friend. It wouldn't be the first time she'd put her foot in her mouth. Not by a long shot.
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Knox!

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Aug 4, 2013
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<div align=center>William nodded, though he didn't think it was much fun to have it around. It made it difficult to concentrate most of the time. He tended to favour the company of small groups over large ones, and therefore spent the majority of time lazing around in his boyfriend's dorm who never really thought of much anyway, and therefore it gave Bill a nice bit of peace and quiet for a while. He shrugged, and laughed, "you could style it differently, like a pirate hat." He'd never thought of that, maybe he should stick a feather in it next time, that might be fun, though it'd probably be questioned.

He wondered why the school wouldn't like her wearing her scarf indoors, he supposed it was outdoor wear. That shouldn't have stopped her though, he thought she should be able to do what she likes. "I told them it was because I get headaches without it... Which is true, really... It's like a lot of people yelling at me." William didn't like yelling, it was even worse when it was inside your head. "I can only really take it off when I'm not with anyone... It's okay with Gabriel, because he doesn't really think about very much." And besides, he was happy more often than not. It felt good to spend a lot of time around someone with a mind as positive as his. He hadn't taken any offense at her comment, merely laughed quietly and given an idle shrug. </div>
 
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