Things went reasonable smoothly, going over the shortcuts. As they headed towards the dorm, some guys were run and crashed into Greer and Dewi. One of them hit Greer in the face by accident. Her eyes glowed and she fell backwards as her backpack suddenly had weight again causing her to fall backwards. She looked panicked and scrambled to get up as the guy was walking backwards. "Sorry man!"
Greer got up. "Woah Hold up a sec!"
One of the dude's friends grabbed him. "Dude you pissed them off come on!"
"God dammit JUST WAIT A MINUTE!" And she was trying to go after him.
Dewi reaches them slightly quicker, having stretched his arm to be able to grab the guy. "Chill. We just need to know what your power is..."
"Dude, kinda personal." He pulled away and started to leave.
"No seriously. I copy people's powers but I don't know what they are. I don't want to do something by accident."
He looked at Greer a moment and sighed. "I... create elephants."
".......what?"
He waved his hand and made a small one. "They can go full size or as small as this."
Greer looked at the ground and focused. One the size of a st bernard appeared, and was pink. "...."
"Yeah there you go. Have fun with it and don't get me in trouble. It can't go farther than 100 yards from you."
"We won't, though you guys should be more careful. There's some on campus that would have been legitimately pissed." Dewi takes Greer's (gloved) hand and starts walking away. "What do you say we go grab something to eat before continuing the tour? I'm getting kind of hungry..."
"yeah..." She started walking looking at the little elephant following them. "....it's cute but I really LIKED the last one. Managed to keep it for 2 years..."
"I'm guessing you can't just go get it back?"
"It was some outta towner stopping in town cause their engine light was on and they were on a road trip. I grabbed their kid who was playing a lil too close to some of the tools and I copied. Hell if I know where they are now." she sighed. "I'm used to it... only time I got powers were when outta towners came by. Got to where people placed bets sometimes on if I was gonna switch or not when strangers came to town."
She walked along silently for a minute. Crap I made it weird
"I um... can I treat you? I mean. You helped me out a lot today... least I can do."
"You sure?" Dewi seems uncertain about saying yes as they walk to the on campus dining hall.
"Yeah. I mean.... at least desert or something. Thanks to moving in with you guys I got some spare cash. I should be able to afford it."
"There's not many that can afford me, Princess..."
Greer smiled a bit. "Well... lemme try. It's the least I can do."
"Okay... If you want to."
She got inside and made sure her debit card was ready. Unless he was about to order 5 grand worth of food she was pretty sure she'd be ok. She smiled as she got some things she really liked. Like the walnut salad and a fruit and veg smoothie. She looked to make sure Dewi was grabbing what he wanted. "Don't be shy ok? I know you got a high metabolism or something. It's fine."
Dewi picks out a few high calorie items that were inexpensive, like pasta, grabbing two servings in some cases. The price tag wasn't high, but he seems to have based his selection on getting the most calories for cheap. Lastly he grabs a jumbo cookie.
"Nice... need anything else?" She didn't seem to be judging at all. She was just smiling away at him.
"A drink? The fountain drinks are free refills so I'll go with that..."
"What do you WANT? A smoothie? milkshake?"
"I want to buy one of those clear fountain drink cups and fill it up 75% with orange soda, and then the rest of the way with cola.... It tastes pretty good and when you do it that way, it looks like a sunset in the cup."
She looked at him a moment, trying to be sure and then nodded. "Fine, but let me know if you want anything else after."
"I will..."
She paid for everything and sat down with her food. "Oh man I almost never got stuff like this back home...."
"So, what is home like for you?"
She smiled. "Lots of woods. a clear river going through it. Big old lake with a cliff over it you can jump off. Tiny ass town tho. Everyone knows everyone. Hell half the town doesn't use cash, we just trade stuff. Only reason I think we still have cash is ‘cause of government employees like the teachers. 3 of the streets in my neighborhood is just me and my cousins' families. I was the only powered tho. Some thought maybe I was fairy touched or something. But Gran Gran said I wasn't but also said the fairy liked me best. The closest city is like... an hour away too. We're a ways from the highway. But we got good farms and stuff so we do alright. Course got the assholes... but every place does." She smiled as she enjoyed the salad. "Mmm I only got salads like this when I visit Grandma Smith... but yeah... I'm pretty country I guess."
"That's really cool. My parents own a spa retreat surrounded by woods so I spent most of my childhood there... So I guess that makes both of us forest children. I should have known with how adept you are at parkour. Let me guess, you frequently spend long spans of time in nature and are considered even more in tune with the woods than most everyone else in the town...?"
"Yeah I guess. I mean everyone hunts and fishes you know? But I loved it out there. Dad said I woulda become a forest hermit if it wasn't for my love of machines. But you know.... it's good. I was known for doing dumb ass stuff tho. Everyone had trouble finding me if I didn't wanna be there..." She sighed. "It's been a few days but I miss it already..."
"Of course. It's your source, the place that comforts you and where you will always be drawn back to, no matter where life takes you. My parents' spa is my source..." He takes a sip of his drink before continuing. "It's nowhere near the same, but I can show you some nearby woods if you want. I find it can lessen the homesickness a tiny bit."
"Maybe... I really need to focus tho. I promised my folks I was going to do my best in college. But... maybe later." She looked at the elephant offering it a leaf from her salad. "....how long till it goes away do you think?"
"When you run out of energy to maintain it, I would assume... Or you decide to dismiss it."
She looked at it. "..... how can I dismiss it? Do you see how cute it looks?" The elephant wrapped its trunk around her hand. "This is frigging adorable... if weird."
"It is really cute...." It walks over and wraps its truck around Dewi's waist and gives him a little squeeze like a hug before it plops down, its ears flapping. "So adorable..."
".....ok maybe isn't as useful but this one is in my top 5."
"It gives widdle hugs and makes you happy... I think that's pretty helpful."
“Yeah..” she smiled a bit more as she ate. Dewi continues to happily eat as well, passively watching the pink elephant out of the corner of his eye.
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