Look you up

Briallen Luck

For some it was the season of flowing dresses, but for Briallen it was the time of spandex shorts and sports bras. It was great weather for a jog in the park—not too hot, with a nice breeze blowing through. It felt amazing against her sweat-soaked skin as she made her way around the park trail for the…fourth time? Or was it the fifth now? It was a long trail and she had already lost count.

Briallen was feeling rather defeated in the fact that her powers weren’t coming into fruition at all. It was all just headaches and passing out—absolutely nothing of use was coming to her. So, she was venting out her magic-related frustrations by focusing on something she actually had control of: her body. She was stronger and more muscular than ever, which at least gave her some level of satisfaction that she was lacking when it came to her powers. It also helped with a certain amount of bitter jealousy she was starting to experience toward, well, just about everyone else on Manta Carlos Islands. Everybody on this island had interesting and functional powers, but her? She felt like a freak in comparison.

Just up the path, she could see a girl walking alongside a big white wolf. A freakin’ wolf. Briallen would be thrilled to just have a wolf chilling with her—but no, she got migraines and fainting spells instead.

No. Briallen picked up her running pace. She didn’t want to feel this way. There was no point in it. So instead, she just continued to clear her thoughts by pushing her body as far as she could.

Of course, she had already been doing that all day. So after a burst of speed and having reached pretty close to Orlena on the trail, she realized she really needed to stop. She didn’t want to stop, but her legs were burning and demanding an end to it. Fine, damn it.

She stopped just a few feet away from Orlena and leaned against a tree as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Strapped to her hip was a belt which carried a water bottle—which she proceeded to grab and not only drink from, but pour some over her head to help cool herself off.

Briallen’s eyes wandered over to Orlena once more. She was really cute, now that Briallen got a closer look, and she was feeling rather shitty about her previous thoughts directed toward this girl she didn’t even know.

“Hey! You look beautiful today!” Briallen suddenly called out to Orlena. It was kind of silly, but Briallen felt like she needed to make up for how she felt earlier by lifting the other girl up with a compliment. Then she glanced away and poured some more water over her head, shaking her hair out and then pushing her fingers through what was now too damp to be her usual faux-hawk.

@Claire

Briallen hadn’t necessarily expected to get a compliment or to be approached from the girl in the blue dress, but she certainly had no complaints. Some attention from a cute girl would always help to brighten up a bad day.

“Ha! Yeah, I’ve been running all day and needed to cool down,” Briallen said with a laugh as she wiped off some of the water that was dripping down her face. Her breathing was still heavy from her intense running session, but that didn’t stop her from keeping her attention on Orlena.

“My name’s Briallen,” she soon added, tilting her head with a smile. “And you?”

“Very,” Briallen replied with a chuckle as she raised her hand to fan her face—hot and flush from her physical exertions.

“Orlena? We both have pretty unique names,” Briallen said as she leaned against a nearby tree, arms folded and complete attention on Orlena. “My name? Ah, well my dad wanted me to be named after his dad—but obviously I came out a girl so ‘Allen’ was out. I think they were considering ‘Alice’ at first, but came across Briallen and decided that was perfect. What about your name?”

Briallen tilted her head with a grin. As she did so, she realized she had nearly forgotten the wolf at Orlena’s side. How does someone even forget that?! Well then again, she was talking to a cute girl…

“Oh, and who is your friend?” Briallen added, gesturing to the wolf.

“Gold, huh…it’s also reminiscent of your hair color,” Briallen said with a smile and tilt of her head. While she maintained a casual exterior, the mention of her being from a rich and well-known family somehow made her slightly nervous. Like, damn, it was the Rich Girl and the Street Rat. Okay, not really--Briallen really came from a middle class family, but they obviously came from two fairly different worlds in that regard.

“Summoned, huh? How cool,” Briallen said with a grin, but inside she felt that slight pang of jealousy again. Why couldn’t she just get at least some small use out of her own powers? Well…at least she had a hot bod.

Briallen grabbed her phone that was clipped to her hip and checked the time—holy crap she had been running through the park for how long??

“Hey, if you have some time—could I treat you to lunch?” Briallen asked as she put her phone back at her hip.

“I just realized I should really eat something,” she added with a chuckle.

Briallen was beaming when Orlena gave her a kiss on the cheek. That nice little bit of affection was just what she needed after a long day. Well, not just day. Things had been rough for a while.

“Taking a pretty girl to lunch is never an inconvenience, let me assure you,” Briallen said with a wink as she started heading down the park path with her new friend. It would have been quite the disappointment if Orlena had not taken her up on the offer.

“By the way, do you go to Starlight?” Briallen asked as they walked, brushing a bit more of the sweat and water from her forehead.

“It’d be nice to know a few more fellow students there. I’ve been kind of keeping to myself since I started—perhaps for too long.” She shrugged.