Wasting time

Noah had climbed nearly to the top of the mountains, and was now perched comfortably on a boulder, surveying the rough terrain below him with a most befitting regal air. He squinted, realized he couldn't actually see anything with much clarity, and pushed his thin glasses back up his nose. He was freezing, fingers and toes and cheeks stinging with the harsh wind, and he hadn't eaten since breakfast, but he was obstinately persisting in his wonderful mood.

It was a saturday, so he'd woken up that morning with a choice to make - do his homework like a sensible human, or go out and climb the mountains.

He had found the decision easy to make.
It hadn't been nearly as hard as he'd remembered it, and for a bit he'd been just a little hopeful that his leg was getting better; but then it started aching again and he'd remembered why he wasn't normally the hopeful type. Then his cane had slipped out from under him, and he'd found himself with a new rip in his blue jeans and a gash in his knee. And so he'd climbed the boulder and sat awhile and somehow found himself in a disgustingly wonderful mood for the first time in ages. He'd tried to drag himself back into his normal horrible mood in fear that he might start humming or singing, but it hadn't work and he'd finally given up. Besides, he rather liked not being miserable now and then.

He picked up his cane for the first time, inspecting it carefully for whatever had been damaged. The handle and shaft, besides the pre-existing wear and tear, seemed to be fine, but the rubber ferrule had been worn down almost beyond use. He slipped his shaft through his index and middle finger in an absent-minded imitation of a pool cue, finding it difficult to care too much. It was most definitely stupid of him to walk up without considering it, but he could always buy a replacement; it wasn't like the tiny rubber booties didn't come in the dozen. Besides, it was an old cane, and he was fairly certain that that was the original one. He twirled it in one hand, hoping that it'd be steady enough to get back down, at the same time reminding himself that his hopes usually went unnoticed by life. He'd figure out a way, if he got bored enough.

A harsh wind pushed his light blond hair this way and that, stinging his eyes and making him turn up the collar on his long black coat. He was wearing his gloves, but they weren't designed for warmth - he cursed this fact once again, slipping his hands into his pockets and grinning.

Truly, a wonderful day.

Noah turned, startled but trying not to let the girl see. He'd been lost in his thoughts, he supposed, but he couldn't imagine how it was possible for someone to sneak up on him when he could see everything below him.
A few minutes passed in silence before he finally nodded, ever-so-slightly reluctantly accepting her presence. The students of SA contributed to many of his horrible moods, and normally he'd completely ignore one of them. But she was sitting on his boulder, and he didn't want to try and walk down with her watching him. He knew he'd be falling quite a few times with his cane compromised, and that didn't exactly give off the most imposing air.

"Noah." He finally announced, pale green eyes slipping over to watch her once again. "I'd shake your hand, but... You really don't want me too." He grinned, not expecting her to get it.

"So tell me, Atalia, what are you doing up here?" He'd found a few pebbles in his pocket, and was launching them off the rock, one after the other. His hands were throbbing underneath his gloves, sensing the presence of another human being; he balled them into fists, willing them to stop. "Seems like you'd rather be off..." His hands hurt, and he couldn't think of something most teenagers liked to do. "Planning for that party." He finished lamely at the memory of a flyer or two advertising a festivity of some sort, picking up his cane and twirling it to give his hands something to do.

He shrugged, the pain in his hands momentarily subsiding. "Last time I came up here, someone tried to commit suicide." He hadn't thought it in a while - it hadn't really been that rare, someone attempting to kill themselves, and he'd figured she'd probably just jumped the next time an opportunity arose. "It seems like that's all people use this place for... Which is a shame, really. The beauty is kind of wasted on them."

He coughed, realizing he hadn't answered the question and glancing over at her to see if she'd noticed - in truth, he wasn't exactly sure why he'd decided to climb it. "For the challenge," he finally decided, looking down at the emptiness below. "Not as much of one as I thought, though."

He frowned over at her, mildly surprised. The prospect of talking to someone who wouldn't be blathering on about their date - or lack of one - intrigued him. "It's some sort of... Fireworks and Karaoke, that sort of thing. An evening of choreographed fun, courtesy of dear Starlight Academy." He shrugged, tapping his cane against the boulder absent-mindedly.

"How long've you been here, anyway?" The question was out of character for the male - normally he'd let the other person do most of the talking. "The school, not... The mountains."

"I wouldn't come here to kill myself, even if I were, I'd forget all about it, because I'd be too busy admiring my surroundings."

He grinned at this, nodding in agreement. "Probably the only place I'd be able to kill myself is at the actual school - it's really the only depressing place around." Staff was cracking down on student depression and suicide, and he didn't want to land himself in a support group, so he added "I am not depressed or considering suicide, just so you know," flashing a lightning-quick wink at the girl sitting beside him.

She was looking at him. No, not at him - straight in his eyes. He was most definitely not used to eye contact - most people avoided looking at him altogether, and normally he greatly preferred it.
...Her eyes were extremely blue.
He blinked, realizing too late that she was talking and only catching the last few words of whatever she'd been saying.
"-sn't planning on going."

"No?" Well, duh. She'd just said she wasn't going to go... "Neither am I... I'm afraid I've not yet met the girl who can make going to a festival fun." He grinned, shrugging his shoulders in obvious artificial regret.

"Ah... What is it? About a year, I think. I'd be out of here, but my powers..." He flexed a gloved hand absent-mindedly, bringing some of the feeling back into it. "I'm not sure if they even can be controlled."

He went back to toying with his cane, looking anywhere but her. "I'm a bit of a mind reader. It'll only work if I'm touching you, though, so no worries." He held up his hands, showing off the misty gloves with a grin. "I also... Heal. No, I can't heal myself. The first one - no one wants somebody reading their thoughts, yeah? The second one'd be nice, but seeing as it also only works if I'm touching the person, I inevitability invoke the first as well... Thus, they're both more of a discommode then anything else." He shrugged, long past caring.

"What are your powers, then? I'm going to assume they've got something to do with those," he said, motioning pointedly to the twinkerbell like wings fluttering gracefully.