Don't Stop the Music (IC)

[Breella]

Gwen shrugged, her shoulder dimples deepening as she did so. "Until the Vines, the only thing I could do was talk to plants, and I've done that for as long as I can remember." Gwen could feel the sun coming up, she felt energized and ready to run a marathon as the first streaks of bright light hit the glass and radiated into the greenhouse. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure they are an extension of my powers...Sometimes I think they're their own being. Gwen kept her fear of them one day leaving her to herself. She was scared of what Brian would think. She could feel the orange tree stiring beneath her and she began to explain the predicament to it of how it had nearly quadrupled in size over night. The Vines did what Gwen could liken most to a yawn and stretched their mental link with Gwen, brushing into her mind with a glow of green. They snaked off Gwen's arm and reached out to Brian. MORNING! they chirped excitedly and Gwen conveyed their greeting to him.

[Raveled]

Brian smiled as the vines snaked across the ground and up his leg. He put his hand out flat and they crawled up his fingers; he closed his hand into a fist and they wriggled inside. He evidently hadn't forgotten that Gwen was there, though. "From what I've seen of them, it must be like having a puppy on your shoulder all the time." Brian opened his fist and the vines wrapped around his fingers. He engaged in a simple game of tug-of-war, allowing them to pull him down to the ground until he was stretched out on the ground, hand almost to the tree, face nearly in Gwen's knee. He shook the vines off with a laugh. "Man, it must be wild with those things. I remember the first time I used my powers, I... ah." He grimaced and sat up, looking away from Gwen. "I kinda put a cop in the hospital. Two cops, actually. And an AEGIS agent."

[Breella]

Gwen watched the sweet exchange between the Vines and Brian. She was beginning to love the way that he interacted with them, it pulled on her heartstrings and made her melt to see him like that. "More like an inquisitive child lately." Gwen thought about how they'd been getting more inquisitive since coming to Claremont. She quickly swept the idea away, it was something for another day. Brian's last comment hit her and she did a double take. "You...what...?" she couldn't actually process what Brian said.

[Raveled]

Brian winced and opened his hand, looking at the vines rather than Gwen. "It was about a year ago. Just before Christmas, in fact. My parents and myself sat down for dinner, and all of the sudden the front door just exploded. Big boom, woosh, no more door and lots of scarey looking guys in tactical gear and guns. A couple of them grabbed my dad, pulled him out of his chair and wrestled him to the ground. Well, my dad's kind of a scrawny guy so that wasn't too hard. One made a grab for my mom and... She just." Brian closed his eyes tight. "We were having spaghetti. Mom grabbed the serving spoon for the sauce and hit this SWAT cop in the throat. He went down, choking. The other one came behind her and she jammed the handle of the spoon into his side, where the bulletproof vest doesn't cover. It... sort of stuck there."

He was breathing more heavily now, the emotions rising high in him. "One of the cops had a shotgun and he winged my mom in the shoulder. There was so much blood and... It all happened so fast. I was frozen in my chair. But I when my mom went down I... I was literally seeing red, Gwen. Like everything was on fire, all I could see was red. I think I went through the table, just ripped it apart. I hit the guy with the shotgun in the chest and he flew back, just flew back like in the movies. He hit a guy in power armor, and they both went through the front window of our house. I turned on the guys that were holding my dad down and kicked one so hard he flew up and hit the ceiling. Then I think they hit me with a stun gun or a tranq, because I went down and I don't really remember anything until I came to in the interrogation cell."

Brian's eyes were screwed shut and he bowed his head in towards his chest, breathing so hard he was nearly panting. It was the first time he'd ever told the story like that, and he wasn't prepared for the emotional impact. "It was the first time I ever used my powers," he said quietly. "If Summers hadn't found me, hadn't brought me here, I'd be in prison right now."

[Breella]

Gwen could feel her stomach turn. A memory she wasn't sure was hers surged into her already confused head and she felt like the dirt was no longer below her. She closed her eyes for a moment, unable to say anything to Brian. What he described sounded similar to her, yet different. All Gwen could think to do was to close the distance between them. She reached out and threw her self into his arms, holding him in a tight bear hug. The Vines said not a word in Gwen's head, quite unlike them for the early morning. They could feel the collective sadness that surrounded the two teens and recoiled, instead pulling themselves tight around the two in a hug of their own.

[Raveled]

Brian curled in on himself even tighter as Gwen touched him, but after a second he relaxed and folded his arms around her, holding her tightly. He didn't even seem to mind the vines as they crawled around him, pulling the two teens even closer. He didn't say anything but she could feel his body shuddering with quiet sobs. Whatever the story had meant to him, it was obvious that telling it what was long overdue.

After a few minutes Brian pushed Gwen away, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. "Wow. I'm... I'm sorry, Gwen. I've just... never told anyone that story. At least, not like that." He inhaled deeply and got to his feet. "You should probably get back to your dorms. It's almost dawn. If people find out we spent all night in the greenhouse together, well, they'd probably talk, you know?"

[Breella]

Gwen could feel Brian's sobs. She had not ever had anyone tell her something so obviously personal. She could feel him pulling away and the Vines released their grip, remaining quiet. Gwen shrugged. "People will talk anyway, such is human nature." Gwen looked around the greenhouse, trying to remember if she missed anything major that she wanted to get done before Brian came in. "I have to stay back for a moment and tend a few things. I'll see you at breakfast?"

[Raveled]

Brian felt a genuine smile over his face. Breakfast with Gwen promised to be far more interesting than John's business-like demeanor, or enduring Morgan and Vic's morning infatuation-fest. "I really would like that," he said, "but I've got to grab a shower before that." The young man let himself out of the greenhouse and headed back to the dorms with a spring in his step. Another appealing thought occurred to him; if he was fast, he could get into the showers before anyone else. There might actually still be hot water left!