Stillness {open}

[gingercutie]

Areli sat in the shadows beneath a tree, laughing and watching as the shifters around her socialized. A few girls were pointing towards the boys playing soccer a few yards away. Smiling to herself, Areli pulled out her DSLR and snapped a picture, angling the camera towards the girls and zooming. She angled it to get the girls on the side of the screen, closer to the corner to make the pointed finger the focus point of the picture. Her human side wanted to join the girls as they gossiped and laughed, but the Arctic Wolf was very awake today and already her skin was crawling with the heat. She'd chosen the tree in the hopes of avoiding the sun, but the tree cut of the breeze. Nothing was working. She groaned but didn't bother to move, she'd rather stay warm than burnt. With her skin, a burn would be inevitable had she still been in the sun.

The sound of laughter drew her attention to a couple behind the girls. Smiling to herself, she watched them flirt for a moment before drawing her eyes away. Never again would she let herself have that, and the temptation was far too strong when she saw the loving actions of couples. It was better when she viewed the jerks who cheated and we impolite to their girlfriends, then the lust she had for a relationship disappeared. The Arctic Wolf wanted a mate, someone lifelong who would truly love her, yet at the same time preferred the solitude that single life offered. Today was not a good day for her as her two beings rivalled inside of her.

Reaching into the small purple purse beside her, she pulled out some Tylenol and took out two small red tablets. Areli placed them in her mouth and pulled out a bottle of water, swallowing them before their vile taste could set in. A hint of the chalky texture remained at the back of her throat, but the worst of the taste was non-existent. She let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the tree when the ball that the guys had been playing with hit her foot. She jumped up, a growl out of her throat before she realized what was going on. There she was, growling like an animal at another student with their hands up to show their defencelessness.

[Oliver Lacer]

There's lots of crazy, crazy things
This world will offer you, and there's no way
To fake what you've been through so
Just hold hold to what you know is true.

The day had been . . . weird. It's like Oliver had walked through the day without really realizing anything was happening. He actually wondered, at one point, if it was a school day, or the weekend. Or if he had sloughed classes. That would have been just a tad bad. Oliver, being Oliver, had never done that before. Sure, some people say that as a senior, one deserves to slough every once and awhile. But really? That wasn't Oliver. What was Oliver when it came to school? Goody-two shoes. That was it. But at least he passed, and that was good. He would be rich! Well, maybe someday. But dreaming wasn't bad, right?

Except he was a mathematician. Of course he had to pay attention. Missing one class could throw him off for the rest of the year. Only few understood that; and the ones who did, were crazy. Like himself.

Oliver, laying on his bed on his dorm and staring at the ceiling, felt extremely worthless. He felt like he should do something. But what? He had nothing to do. But he did. He rolled over to look at the stack of math books, and the piles of paper, sitting by his bed. He narrowed his eyes, then looked at his alarm clock. The glowing numbers said it was only afternoon. "Aaah," he groaned, pushing himself off the bed. He grabbed one of the books, and the papers that corresponded with it. Homework. Joy. He shoved the books in his bag and shouldered it, slipping on his shoes and going out the door.

When he pushed open the dormitory doors, he was hit with the sound of people enjoying the afternoon. People running around, socializing. Hey look, some other people actually doing homework. Maybe he isn't such a nerd after all. Well, to be honest, he was. Oliver smiled to himself as he thought that. Well, let the truth always be known.

Instantly, Oliver made towards 'his tree'. A while ago, Oliver's room mates were bugging him really bad. Really bad. So he made his way outside: and found the perfect tree. It fit his back perfectly, and always had shade, no matter what position the sun was in. It was really perfect. So he ducked and avoided all the people until his tree came in sight--and somebody was there. His eyebrows came together. What now? He walked towards her, going to kindly explain that was his tree and to please move when something hit is calf. Boys playing a game had kicked the soccer ball in his direction. "Hey, kick it back!"

Well, Oliver being Oliver, with no sporting skill whatsoever, kicked it---right into the tree girl.

(ooc: that was a different direction than what you were probably going)

[gingercutie]

Areli's foot really didn't hurt, the ball had been more of a shock. She rubbed it absently on the ground, trying to feel some pain so her reaction could be justified. None, just the dirt she was covered her new sandals in. Well, this would be fun to explain. Hey, sorry I growled at you, it was just a shock that a bunch of guys with no aim would hit me. Yeah right. That would just end up with her looking stupider than she already felt. Sighing, she kicked the ball to the guy in front of her and muttered, "Sorry." The ball rolled just past the boy when she'd realized she'd used too much force. Areli's human side tried to turn away, but the wolf wanted to chance the ball, run for a while and be free. With all of her force, she shoved the wolf to the back of her mind and turned.

Areli was about to sit down when she noticed that the guy in front of her had not been one of the sweaty and overexcited boys that had been kicking the ball before. Great, so she'd growled at a guy when it wasn't even his fault. She tried to convince the Arctic Wolf to sleep just long enough for her to relax and then return to her dorm. Sitting down she intended to close her eyes again when she realized how rude she was being. "I'm Areli," she said, titling her head to the side like a confused wolf as she waited for him to reply.

[ooc: I like this better, it's interesting.]

[Oliver Lacer]

There's lots of crazy, crazy things
This world will offer you, and there's no way
To fake what you've been through so
Just hold hold to what you know is true.

Weird things seem to flock to Oliver. Well, he did shift into an owl. That was pretty weird in and of itself. But that is a completely different matter. Normal weird things always happened. Like when a whole class randomly started laughing at him. Or when he went into his dorm one day and all his drawers were mixed and so were his sheets. (Yes, it was probably his room mates, but it was strange nonetheless.) Or when he . . . Let's just say weird things happen to him.

Or when a girl growled at him.

His eyebrows came together and he took a step back. Sure, it was wrong of him to kick a ball at her, but it was an accident, right? He hadn't kicked the ball that hard. Hey, he couldn't kick the ball hard if he wanted to. He wasn't exactly athletic. But still. It really was an accident, nothing to get all worked up about. But the girl seemed to think otherwise. Well, at least she did, because she was backing away now, relaxing. Strange. But Oliver didn't mind, because at least he wasn't going to be pummeled by a girl today. Hopefully never. Huh. At least he hadn't so far, because sadly he might, but sometimes you have to admit defeat, right? He shook his head, wondering what had gotten him on such a strange path. Well, maybe it wasn't a strange path. Just a path less traveled, maybe.

The girl sat down, obviously going back to relaxing, or whatever she was doing before. He was going to open his mouth to kindly explain to her that this was his tree, and she needed to move. The more he thought about it, he wondered if it was safe, considering she had just growled at him moments before. But it really was his tree. Not technically, but he had sat by it enough that he felt he could claim it. Finders keepers, yes? That could almost play into effect here. Almost. But it wasn't like he could bring that up. It was good he was thinking this through a little bit, because he probably would have let all of that tumble out without reserve, and then made an idiot of himself. He just wanted his blasted tree. He didn't want to turn around, because his dorm was boring and bland.

So he opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he was cut off. "I'm Areli," the girl said with a tilt of the head. It caught him off guard, and his mouth hung open for a few seconds. Then he snapped it shut and inhaled quickly. Well, what else to do? "Oliver," he said with a shrug.

[gingercutie]

She sat there waiting for his response for a moment. His mouth was open, but he wasn't saying anything. She wondered if he was okay and was about to jump up to help him. He couldn't be choking, if he was there would be gasping. It was as if he was frozen, and the way his eyes almost stormed over, she sensed that something was wrong without the Arctic Wolf's help. Sighing, she wondered what she'd done - besides growl at him - that would make his eyes that stormy. He was probably some big animal with an alpha's attitude. She was worried at first that a shout was building in his throat when he spoke. "Oliver." He broke his stillness to shrug.

With a small smile, she took a guess at his animal. The key word being guess, considering the large range of animals that he could be. "Are you a wolf or a tiger or something?" She settled back against the tree to wait for his response, going over the other species he could be. There were always the other jungle creatures like jaguars. Though she'd never met one, the look of them suggested a vicious personality. African creatures like lions could also be a possibility, what with their "king" persona. She gravitated her thoughts farther north to Canada, where polar bears were typically found. They could be an option, but the only way to know for sure, was to wait for his response. Luckily she was good at waiting, but she typically let her mind run wild while waiting.

Absently, she glanced beside him and noticed the way the light was falling on the grass. Being the natural photographer that she was, she couldn't help but risk looking like a freak. Pulling out her camera, she leaned to the side to get a better view of the scenery and snapped a few picture, playing with the settings on her camera between each snapshot. She knew that it was weird for her to be paying more attention to the scenery. Yet, she couldn't help herself from taking a few more pictures, almost forgetting about Oliver.