One Man's Gaze

[sup]"Yea well its nothing that can fixed anytime soon. I know I can get over it but that doesn't stop my grieving." He said as he looked up. He wiped his eye and turned towards the girl opening a little hole for her to drop the photo into. When he looked her in the eye, he remembered that he had no idea what her name was. "If you hadn't smashed into me and almost killed me, I probably would have been much worse off than I am now. So I do have you to thank for that..ummm...Sorry, what's your name?" Considering her spotty English, he figured that she would have a foreign sounding name as well. His main concern was whether he'd be able to pronounce it or not.[/sup]

"Alright Lahi. Its nice to meet you, my name is Atom." He said as looked at her. True he would have liked to use her correct pronounciation but its easier on everyone if he just says it the way she told him to. Her confusion with the English language was understandable. Most people with a different native tongue think English to be unnecessary. But that's just the way its used.

"Well, we gave all these words because each on shows a degree of emphasis. For something like a car, we would call it big or large. However, for a really tall building, we would call it giant or huge. This way we can be as accurate as possible when describing something to someone else who may need directions. Its just a little easier that way once you get the hang of the language." Atom explained. The English language was a little complex to those just learning it but in the end, she'll learn its not as hard as she thinks.

After a moment it seemed she had needed ice after all for that arm of hers. Atom's suspicions had proved to be right. Now she needed something to easy her arm. Atom considered the question and theorized that he could. Though it would be a little harder than his normal thing, he probably could make ice. "I believe I could, just give me a moment." He said as he looked around for something to use. As he looked around, the roof was good of most things but fortunately there was a pile of bricks lying in the corner. Why was there just a pile of random bricks up here? Who just leaves something like that? He stood up to walk and get a single brick from the pile. His bare feet making small sounds against the hard rooftop surface. When he came back to her. He sat and held the brick in both hands. Slowly half of it became transparent and thin. A little bag. But that wasn't all, the other half, though at a much slower rate, became more transparent but appeared to be like chunks of something. The ice, quickly he had to place them in the bag, about 4 or 5 pieces of ice should suffice. Though that was hard enough as it was. He had never changed a simplistic material into something like ice which changes for on its own.

He tied the bag over and handed it too her. "I hope that's enough" He started. "Thats the first time ice turned anything into ice. It was a little harder than I expected it to be".

"To learn" He said blankly. His voice was soft and distant, almost like he wasn't into the conversation. But it was quite the opposite. He has to figure out what she was trying to say. Her choppy English was hard to follow, indeed, but given time even Atom would figure it out. "To answer your question, not many people have the same abilities so its hard to find someone that can teach you how to control them. Mostly, people learn how to use them on their own through different experiences and encounters." He explained as he took off his gloves.

"Take my gloves for example. I have to have a fair knowledge of atomic structures to make sure I put together the right things. However, some things come natural to me. Like this..." He paused as he laid out the gloves converting them back into a brick. But that wasn't it. Picking up the brick vertically, he held it between only his two index fingers, one on top and one at the bottom. Within a few seconds it began to change. A shiny crystal replaced the dark rock. "This is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Minerals, with pressure and sometimes heat, can turn into things like this given the right conditions. This brick was made from minerals but will never get to change into something so beautiful due to our using it for this building." He continued. To him, this was like a honby. He loved sharing what he knew because he spent so much time learning.

He handed her the crystal. It was gleaming in the light of the stars and moon but had the black of the light reflecting off of its every side. It was big enough to hold firmly in one's whole hand while still showing the points at each end. "The effects aren't temporary with how I do this. To put it somply, it has been changed completely."

Atom watched in a amazement as she displayed her magic once more. She shattered the crystal Atom made with ease as if she was a super human or nothing. However, what came next made Atom chuckle under his breathe. There was no mistaking his chuckle but she may have been confused as to why he would think such a thing was funny. Frankly, Atom didn't know why it was funny. Though it was the enjoyment in it that satisfied him the most.

"Lahi, you misunderstand. That was not a diamond intending to be the hardest of natural minerals. That was a crystal." Atom put as much emphasis as he could on that word. He wanted her to understand what he meant so he went on. "Diamonds are considered crystals, this much is true. But in structure, a diamond is indeed a crystal but a crystal, almost by definition, is not the same thing as a diamond. A diamond is a type of crystal in its atomic make up but a crystal in a vague sense would just simply be a mineral composed of connected ions or atoms that can come in many different patter-like shapes." He took a breath and paused. What else could he add to the explanation?

"Hmm, how do I say it more simply..." he asked himself under his breath. "Oh!" He said with a gasp. "A diamond will always be hard and strong by nature. But a crystal can be of difference shapes, sizes, strengths, and make-ups.?" He said pointing to the shattered mineral. "That crystal wasn't necessarily meant to be as tough as a diamond, but more so as a demonstration on how you can turn something ugly into something spectacular. So naturally, in making it, i sacrificed strength for the sake of beauty. Or more simply, for the sake of proving a point."

Lahi grinned at the man with cunning eyes. She teased him for his laziness and this made Atom laugh. His previous chuckle paled in comparison to the hefty laughter he was displaying right now. He hasn't laughed like this in a good long while and it felt good to his soul. "I can't say it was laziness but given my appearance you can probably see I'm not up to standard." He said as he laid himself back. His legs still dangled over the edge while his body lay still looking up at the sky.

"From the way you were before you almost killed me.." He paused to turn and smirk at the girl. "You seem to be the opposite of lazy." He continued. Every time he looked at her he wondered what it was that made her so energetic. What he wouldn't give to have some of that energy right now.