[Tadhana & Shenandoah] Elemental
 

(('M' situations due to swearing and/or violence.))

Name: Titus Vulcan
Nickname: None
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Element: Fire
Height: 5'-10"
Appearance:
Misc. Appearance Notes: Here he is seen in traditional robes for his family's rituals.
Bio: His name, family, and everything in his life is tied into fire. Born into a temperamental and wily family, Titus is very outgoing and outspoken, rarely remembering the brain-mouth filter most employ. As such, he's well known for being a bit of a shit-stirrer. His mother is actually the one where his family name 'Vulcan' came from and it is through his sister his family legacy will be carried through. Men, surprisingly enough, within his family, are not the ones that continue the legacy of the family forward. His father, however, is no pushover and caught his mother's eye due to the fact he was as brazen as the rest of the Vulcans.
Personality: Titus has no mental strainer that keeps certain things from falling out his mouth and causing trouble. He usually acts before he thinks and his temper usually flares as bright as a match. His temper can be as easily doused if one finds his triggers to make him back down.
Other: As per family tradition for the rite of passage from child to adult, Titus was branded on his shoulder with the symbol of Vulcanus, the Roman God of Fire and the Forge (originally known as Hephaestus in Greece).


Who's Who in Titus's Life (as they are mentioned):
Daemon Vulcan: Tall, dark, and handsome cousin of Titus on his mother's side. Definitely Greek in appearance and plays American football. Typically jovial. First introduced in Post #9.

Name: Kali Staynhal
Nickname: Kaka, Kal
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Element: Water
Height: 5'3"
Appearance:
http://static.desktopnexus.com/thumb...gthumbnail.jpg
Misc. Appearance Notes: There is a tattoo of a rune on her wrist that glows when she really needs to amplify her powers for a short time at the cost of her own strength. It is the symbol of her family's devotion to Laguz.
Bio: Being one of seven children as well as being the youngest in a middle-class family, Kali didn't get much attention from her parents at home and grew up somewhat reserved and sheltered. She also has grown to be clueless of her family's history which for some reason her parents have never told her about. All she knows is that she is part of a family of mages and that she has to train in water magic, which never really became her forte. But perhaps it is because of a lack of focus on her part. She is more interested in the more normal happenings in her life like school, celebrity news and hot spring baths.
Personality: True to her element, she is as calm as water. Too calm sometimes, to the point of being apathetic to her surroundings. Although one should stay well away during the rare times that she is provoked. She is easily distracted and too addicted to hot springs or hot baths for her own good.
Other: N/A

Titus stood on the street corner, a speculative look on his face as he considered the cars buzzing past. Currently, he wore faded blue jeans with the knees ripped out and a tailored flame red button down shirt with short sleeves open in the front to reveal a snug tank top of black cotton. He also wore his favorite cowboy boots in shined black leather and a squared toe. His hair was caught in a long tail that flowed down the center of his back while his amber eyes were shielded by dark aviator sunglasses with polished silver trim.

He was on his way to see one of his many cousins and needed to cross the street in order to get to the diner he was headed for. And the light was certainly not cooperating with him. At least not at this moment.

Kali walked along the street, reading the latest issue of OK! magazine as she did. She was still wearing parts of her uniform, a plain white tetoron long-sleeved blouse with a sailor collar and dark blue piping, as well as a dark blue pleated mini skirt and finished off with chunky brown loafers. The required necktie, socks and other accessories to her uniform were gone, sloppily shoved into her knapsack which is casually slung across her back.

"She did what this time?", she muttered to herself unbelievingly as she indulged herself in pages and pages of the lastest scandals and gossip in celebrity lives while at the same time avoiding bumping into people and things without much success. She can't help to think that she needed to do something at the moment. But whatever it must be mustn't have been that important for her to have forgotten about it. And so she read on, walking towards the nearest place where she could eat. She almost forgot to eat and was feeling rather ravenous as it was way past meal time for her.

He felt someone collide with his shoulder and instinctively he turned and was about to smart off "Watch it!" when his eyes fell upon a teenage girl about his age but obviously a bit younger due to the school uniform. What made him pause was her lack of regard about where she was heading, which was straight into the middle of a busy intersection.

"Watch it!" he said, only this time the remark wasn't aimed at a lack of manners but an apparent lack of regard for her own life. Titus's hand shot out and snagged her by the upper arm and he hoped he could get her attention away from the magazine long enough to realize the danger she was about to throw herself into.

Naturally, at that moment, the light changed and the crosswalk opened. People began to cross the suddenly paused traffic as he groaned. "Ugh... You've got to be shittin' me," he muttered, releasing her arm.

She was used to bumping into people as she read, even shouting (and cursing) at her. Usually, she just walked on without paying heed to the shouted expletives aimed at her. Placed emphasis on usually. This time though, her celebrity gossip reading pleasure was rudely interrupted as she heard somebody shout "Watch it!" and a hand roughly pulls her back to reality, making her almost drop the magazine in the process.

"How rude", she almost blurted out. But even somebody as dense as her had some sense propriety, so she kept herself from doing so. She turned around to see the person who dared disturb her only to find herself looking up, way up to a guy in some sort of cowboy outfit. "Oh, the rodeo's in town early?", she almost wanted to say. But instead, she only uttered a quick "Yes?", as she stared blankly and inquiringly at him.

((He's not actually dressed like a cowboy. He's only got cowboy boots on.))

Titus growled under his breath and ran a hand through the loose bangs on his forehead. "Nothing," he snorted as he jammed his hands into his pockets, stomping off across the intersection. "I was just made to look like a moron because the goddamn light changed on me," he muttered sourly to himself as he walked away. He hated being made to look like a fool.

((Oooh, okay. Still, she'd be clueless about what cowboys really look like. 8D))

"O...kay.", she said weakly after the stomping, retreating figure, a confused look on her face. "He's just a regular ray of sunshine, isn't he?", she thought to herself as she crossed the street and promptly continued reading her magazine. As if on autopilot, she continues on the way to the nearby place where she usually eats, guided by the growling of her empty stomach.

Titus, who had barely had time to settle into a booth that had a decent view of both the street outside the window and the front door, blinked when the absent-minded girl from the street. Like the fire that was his legacy, his temper had already cooled down some when the source had been out of his eyesight. However, now the gasoline was back, even though she didn't realize it.

Granted, it wasn't so much her he was angry at... it was the way when he'd prevented her from stepping into the street, the light changed and therefore she would never know. Minutes after she had settled down and he had ordered his and his cousin's drinks, he saw his cousin enter the shop. Daemon cut a fairly impressive figure. He was the proverbial tall, dark, and handsome as his Greek heritage showed far better than Titus's own as he was seventy-five percent Greek. Titus had more European blood in him. Daemon even played football for his college and had a scholarship.

Titus didn't even bother to wave at his dark-eyed and dark-haired cousin. He knew Daemon could see him and Titus had chosen an easy-to-be-seen booth. "Yo, Tee," Daemon said, trying to sound 'gangsta', though failing at it as he intended to do. Daemon was about as gangster as Barney was.

"Hi, Daemon." The slightly older cousin settled down into the booth on the opposite side of Titus and the waitress came to get their orders.

She walked into one of her usual after school haunts with magazine in hand like nothing had happened earlier. In fact, the memory of what had happened with that strange guy had been shoved in the back of her blissfully ditzy mind. As she walked in, she was greeted by a waitress whose name escaped her at the moment. Was it Candy or Cindy? To her, it didn't really matter. She liked this particular waitress because she was not as fussy as the others. Asked if she will have her usual spot, she nodded and headed for one of the more hidden booths.

She passed by two guys, one with noticeably red hair accompanied by a handsome fellow with dark hair. In that moment, a little flicker of recognition passed through her mind, although she couldn't place it. "Hmm. One of them seems familiar.", she mused as she took her seat and ordered chocolate pancakes with blueberries, her craving of the moment. "I don't suppose I'd forget mister tall, dark and handsome if I ever saw him, so it's not him." She smiled, leaned forward and placed the side of her head on the palm of her hand as if daydreaming as she thought of this since the dark haired guy had a striking resemblance to one of her favorite European stage actors.

"Mm, I suppose not. I don't forget a face like that.", she decided. "How about mister carrot top here?", continued her inner monologue as she turned her attention away from the two, focusing her attention instead on fiddling with the menu cards at the side of her table. "Naaaah.", she concluded right away, smirking to herself as she did so. So thus she ended her musings, not to be dwelt upon anymore, to focus her attention on more important things, like the pancakes that were just then placed in front of her, gooey and piping hot just as she liked it.

As Titus and Daemon conversed, the auburn-haired man kept a discreet eye on the girl a few tables over. He had seen her eye them specutavely for a long moment, but she then diverted her eyes. He frowned and turned his attention completely to Daemon. He was looking back at his cousin in amusement. "What?" he snapped.

"You see something you like?" he asked the smaller man. His eyes slid away from his cousin and he twisted slightly in his chair to look over at the girl Titus had saved from being run over. "She's cute," he commented, before looking back at Titus right as his cousin was opening his mouth to explain what had happened.

Titus's mouth snapped shut before he opened it again. "What? No! I kept her from getting run over!" he hissed, his eyes narrowing.

Kali had her extremely fickle attention directed this time towards stabbing a poor blueberry over and over with her knife, oblivious to the conversation of the two men a few tables away from her. As she played around with the poor small fruit on her plate, she suddenly remembered what it was exactly she had to go in the first place. "Oh...snap.", she uttered in disbelief, kicking herself mentally for forgetting for the nth time her after-school training at her aunt's house.

She hurriedly checked her phone for the time as she stood up to exit the diner. Yep, she sure was late. But she hurried, she could make it before her aunt would notice that she was missing. That was the one of the things about having so many siblings, you often get overlooked in favor of your elder siblings. And this time, that would work to her advantage.

"Just put it on my tab, Kimberly." she told the waitress whose actual name was Mandy before hurriedly walking out of the diner. Catching a final glimpse of the good looking dark-haired man and his companion who seemed to be in a foul mood, she then went out into the street and broke up into a quick jog. She wasn't in the mood to run, but she knew she had to at least hurry up a bit. Her aunt would most likely put her on mountain training for months if she caught her late for the 3rd time this week. And she hated mountain training with a passion.

Titus watched her rush out and frowned at the now empty table and the waitress shaking her head in the girl's wake before turning his sour expression onto Daemon. Daemon still had a jovial expression on his face. Where Titus was at times like wildfire or a back draft, Daemon was like that cheery fire in the hearth that everyone gathered around.

They finished their meal not too long later, paid for their tab, and left the diner.

---

((Time skip, as they don't have a lot of interaction yet, and this makes it more 'real'.))

It was about a week later and Titus had spent all the morning working on his fire techniques. He was getting better and better with forming different shapes and whatnot. Of course, it left him more lathered than a horse after a race and he chose to get a shower. His grandmother, a demanding master of fire, had worked him over thoroughly before saying he could have the rest of the day off.

He left his grandmother's estate, caught a bus to town, and went to the public library. It was one of his favorite sanctuaries. He could sit back, relax, and listen to his music while reading a book of his choice. And there were always a lot of interesting books to read.

It was a hidden, and usually unknown and therefore undiscussed hobby of his. Not many of his family realized that the temperamental young man chose a very quiet place to cool down. Most of his family assumed he'd go bully people. Not even Daemon knew of this private hobby.

Kali was utterly and completely drained. Today ended her absolutely grueling week of intensive training at her aunt's home, punishment for being repeatedly late for training. While her siblings had been meditating, she had been dunked under water, endured being hit by high pressures of watter, went through extreme temperatures and varying degrees and levels of water "training". Water torture more like it, she was convinced. She almost drowned or died of hypothermia in the midst of training on a few occasions that week. Needless to say, she was exhausted physically as well as mentally.

After she was released from the torture chamber that was her aunt's house, she hitched a ride with one of her many relations in the city and was dropped off at the library. She wasn't that much of a bookworm, but she loved the library because of its quiet and solitude. Living with several siblings and some cousins in one house, one didn't get any privacy, peace or quiet. Going home was the last thing she wanted after feeling almost every muscle in her body cry out in pain as she was sure she won't be getting any rest there. Besides, the library had beanbags.

Admittedly, she did like to read things other than celebrity gossip and fashion magazines, as evidenced by the books of costume history and art that she had picked out before heading to the nearest bean bag and plopping herself on it with a sigh of relief. If she had looked a little to the left, she would have noticed an almost familiar head of red hair there, indulging himself in a book or two. But since this is Kali, she was already engrossed in her own choice of literature, earphones already stuck in her ear.

Titus noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Instinctively he looked up and frowned. He was sure he knew her from somewhere. He thought about it for a long while, turning back to his book to think on it. Then it clicked. It was the girl from the street corner.

He glanced at her again, confirming what his passing glance had registered the two other times he'd seen her. She was cute, like Daemon had said, but she looked a bit mousy and certainly didn't look very well at the moment. To Titus, she looked downright tired.

He diverted his eyes once more, the strains of La Grange thrumming in his ears. It was her problem, he supposed. But her exausted look didn't leave his mind even though he wasn't looking at her. He frowned at his book, the usual scowl adorning his features becoming more heartfelt.

Twenty-seven minutes after the girl entered the library, Titus stood and closed his book. Tucking the slender book to his side with the fingers curling under it and the thumb hooked in his jeans pocket, he pulled his headphones off to dangle from his neck as he approached her.

"Hey," he started, looking down at her with some concern in his features.

Despite the upbeat beats of Lady Gaga pounding in her ears, Kali was feeling so tired that she was falling asleep in the middle of turning pages. Slowly but surely her eyes were drawing shut, sheer fatigue taking over them. She was startled back to full awareness, however, when she felt a shadow fall on her and the book that she was currently reading and a short greeting muffled by her music was apparently directed at her, causing her to look up at whatever was blocking the light.

The first thing she saw was flaming red hair, so vivid that it stirred a faint recollection on Kali's part. "It's that guy. From...that place." was the best she could muster at that moment. He did seem familiar, but for what reason? Did she owe him money? Had she wronged him in a past life? There was just something about his demeanor that reminded her of a predator about to lunge at its prey, which made her doubly wary of him.

But then curiosity got the better of her. Whatever did he want from her, she wondered. Twisting a finger around the cable of her left earphone and pulling it off, she addressed this stranger with an ever eloquent...

"Yes?"

Now that she was looking at him, he gave her a once-over, his frown still fairly worried. Titus opened his mouth and let his thoughts just fall out.

"You look dead tired. Are you all right?"

While not the most tactful way of edging into what could potentially become a personal conversation, Titus didn't believe in dancing around the subject before finally asking the question he wanted to ask. For most people, it was something of a major turn-off and are the type to ignore him blatantly. Others found it rude, but just ignored the rudeness or scolded him about a lack of manners. Yet there was the occasional person that found the directness refreshing and Titus wondered which category she'd fall under.

Kali blinked and blinked again. That wasn't what she expected to hear from the guy towering above her at all. She more expected him to bully her than to ask such a question as if he were her friend. She didn't have much regard for social etiquette or had any idea of what to do in situations like these, so she straightened herself up as much as she could in that beanbag and started to answer his question anyway.

"I'm okay..." she said softly with a note of weariness. She hesitated a bit and added, "Just tired from practice. Swimming practice." Why she was volunteering more information, albeit made up, to this stranger was beyond her. Ever curious, she ended what seemed to be a monologue to her with "Why?"

His eyebrow shot up in a patented skeptical look. "Can't I take an interest in the health of the stranger I kept from getting run over, regardless of the fact the light changed an instant later?" Titus asked dryly, his brain-mouth filter still non-existent. He was saying whatever came to mind and while this time it didn't include swears, that didn't mean he'd forgo them the next time if he thought them.

He considered his options and dropped down next to her in the beanbag that he had chosen. Truthfully, he wasn't a fan of them, but it did allow for a better range of movement to get comfortable and the library could sanitize them better than upholstery as they were vinyl rather than fabric. And the only reason he chose to drop into the bag next to her was because for the moment, he wasn't interested in going back to the table he was previously occupying.

Kali looked at the redheaded stranger who just sat down next to her with confusion written all over her expression. Maybe he had her mixed up with somebody else since she had absolutely no recollection of that incident. But then again, she admitted to herself that she did have a lousy memory. Supposing that he might have seemed familiar, only hazy recollections came to mind as she thought more of it.

"I suppose you could..." she said slowly. Her brain was just too tired to second check her thoughts right now. "...but who are you again?" she finished with a deadpan expression.

"I never introduced myself," Titus said as he cracked his book open again and turned it to the appropriate page. His eyes roamed the print before settling back where he'd left off. Absently, he replied to her. "I'm Titus Vulcan, though. You?"

((Short post! DX))

Kali stared at Titus for a while, taking in a very unreal picture (to her) of him peacefully reading a book before settling into her bean bag. Staring at the ceiling either deep in thought or just spacing out, she spoke as if she were miles away. "Kali Staynhal."

If Kali had a bit of manners, she would have added a 'Nice to meet you.' but she thought that it was best not to since she deemed it a mechanical and unnecessary routine. And she really hated routine. So, satisfied that what she had said so far was enough, she then proceeded to turn a little to her side, diverting her attention to the book she was holding open with her left hand and scanning the pages she was on before the brief interruption took place.

[[EDIT: OK, not so short post. x.x]]

Titus froze upon hearing her name. Staynhal was a family of water mages. He turned to look at her. "You're a Staynhal?" he asked, his posture growing slightly rigid. "And you didn't recognize my name?" he blurted a second later as he spoke that line of thought, followed by another line. "Or did you recognize it and just didn't care?"

He wasn't sure which prospect was worse. If she didn't recognize his family name, she was either inattentive or mentally deficient. If she did and didn't care if he was a Vulcan and one of the up-and-coming within his family despite the matriarchal leanings of the Vulcan house, she would be fairly powerful and not worried about an attack.

Then again, he reminded himself, muttering lowly under his breath the words he thought: "Maybe she doesn't worry because we're in a public place, but that can't be it because water and fire will always react, even if it is in a place where others could see."

He weighed his options and came up confused. Titus had several choices: leave and not look back, force her to leave, or try to see what came of staying in her immediate vicinity. And that last choice had three potential outcomes: they tie up and fight, they potentially form an alliance (which was highly unlikely in his book), or nothing comes of it and they go their separate ways. Titus weighed his options... and decided to stick it out for a few minutes to see what happened.

Kali turned back to look at him with a blank look on her face. He seemed agitated to have heard her name. "What, does my family owe him money or something?" she thought. Is the name Vulcan supposed to mean something to her?

"Ah, of course." she muttered, a wry smile forming on her lips. She had heard her aunts and uncles mention the name often a few years ago behind closed doors at a family meeting that she was trying to eavesdrop on with her younger cousins. Something about a rivalry of sorts, was what they gathered. She never could really forget that particular event because of the punishment her strict aunt Victoria gave them when she caught them. What it meant to her, however, she did not know.

Being the youngest in the main branch of the Staynhal family and being the only one to not have reached 18, she has no full knowledge of the other mage families existing. This was decided so the Staynhal children would have had a happy and relatively normal childhood outside of their 'special training'. So, Kali had no other choice but to honestly say "I still have no idea what you're talking about, though."

Titus looked up at her with a bemused look. This was entirely too good to be true! She had no preconcieved notions about the rivalries between their houses, their magic, and their very dispositions towards one another.

He figured he could win some points if he was to 'disclose' it to her. With that in mind, and a lingering look of bemusement twitching the corners of his mouth upwards, he spoke. "I guess I should tell you a bit, then, so you aren't talking to me without a clue... We're supposed to hate each other's guts. Your family and my family have been fighting against one another for ages on the simple principle your family uses water and mine uses fire."

Titus's eyes went out of focus as he began to ramble a bit, remembering his own lessons. "Our family is matriarchial. I can continue the family name, but none of my children will be considered legitimately heirs of the family's legacy. They will be a part of the branch families, if they are proven to have fire in their veins. The only way I could have a child part of the family legacy is to marry one of my very distant cousins." He shrugged. "It's happened before."

He turned his head and looked at the book before him, a pensive look on his face. "I'm personally gaining a bit of fame in my family. I'm an instigator, not to mention a hot-head, and have a good measure of power backing it up. And as a result, I'm fairly certain your family has spoken of me at one point or another."

Titus then looked up at her, a dark look on his face. "Not to mention, I wouldn't likely have saved you if I'd've known your family name. It wouldn't have been that big a deal to let you wander into traffic. That's the kind of emnity between our houses."

Kali didn't say a word, quietly observing him as he spoke of magic, and family rivalries. She couldn't believe such a thing would exist if it weren't for the proof of her own powers and the training she had to endure. Why didn't anybody in her family ever tell her? Surely, something like this was important!

She couldn't help but blush deeply at her ignorance of her own family's history as he talked on about his. She knew well enough about the branch families and her own family being the main branch. But then again, the only one that mattered in the family were the eldest son and the best mage, which often turned out to be the same person anyway. And given the size of her own family, nobody really gave much notice to her, the only exception being if she got into trouble.

She should be afraid of him, as she was sure that he was much more skilled in his magic than she was with hers despite the fact that water extinguishes fire. But if her aunt taught her one thing, it would be to never panic. It would be of no use to her if she did. He hadn't made a move to hurt her nor did he seem that he intended to. One never knew, of course, but she saw that as a good sign. Besides, he wouldn't be this open with her if he did see me as a threat or an enemy, she reasoned. She then waited until he finished talking, thinking of what to say. Better be honest, she supposed.

"Nope, never heard my family mention you." she said sheepishly as he finished. "Then again... I don't think they would have ever imagined me meeting you like this." she continued as she shrugged.

Titus considered that with a frown. "Probably not," he mused aloud. After a moment, he snorted. "Your family is stupid to leave you in the dark, though. Not that they should turn you into mini-soldiers or whatever, but it is a parent's duty to inform their children of the dangers in life... at least when they hit puberty."

He gave her a considering look and then a slow, devious smile spread across his face. It was the kind of smile one would associate with someone that was plotting something. "You wanna be friends? I know ultimately my family would have problems with it, but it'd be fun to stick them one anyway and I'm sure you have your own issues with your family. We could screw with all their heads."

It would give her a chance to freak out her family when she mentioned her new friend. Send them panicking and worrying about the safety of her if they didn't want her barbecued by the 'enemy'. And his family would go one of two ways after flipping out. They'd either be angry and tell him to not see her again (which would ensure that he would, in fact, go see her if possible) or they'd be intrigued and ask him to continue the 'pseudo-friendship' for information (and thereby forcing him to rebel and ignore them still). Titus knew he'd likely do something his elders didn't like after they caught wind of the situation. In fact, if they were to tell him to pretend friendship to her in order to gain information, he'd probably be contrary for the hell of it. It would likely get him in trouble, but he didn't care.

Kali looked at him strangely. Was he for real? For someone who's supposed to be the enemy, he sure was being friendly. Maybe she was right in keeping her cool.

She didn't have much friends although a lot of people like her in school and she hardly gets any attention in her family save for her aunt's wrath and 'special training'. Of course she had her siblings as friends, but they're family. So having a friend, especially one who's a mage like her, would be something different for her. Of course, he might have ulterior motives, but she didn't care about those. Not at this moment, at least.

"Sure, why not?" she said with a small smile. 'Don't ask, don't tell' was one of the sayings she lives by. And knowing her family, they don't really care enough to ask.

Titus flashed a grin right as his cellular phone went off at his hip. "Aw crap. There's Mom," he said, glancing at the display once he had fished the slender object out. "And she sent me a text message telling me I need to go over to my aunt's house this evening instead of home. We've all been invited to dinner."

He clicked out of the message and looked over at her. "You got a cell phone?" he asked.

Realizing that her grandma or mother might be calling her, Kali quickly rummaged around in her knapsack for her own cellphone. Finally grabbing its strap and pulling it out, she checked her phone for any missed calls or texts. "Yeah, here. Wait..."she said with a small grin.

Eleven missed calls? Crap. They all were from her mother. It must be really important if she even bothered calling her this much. There was only one text, however. "Go to grandma's as soon as you get this. Important. Text Ev or Var if you need a ride." she slowly read off her phone's display before texting back in the affirmative.

"I gotta go too. I think my mom's at grandma's." she said as she shrugged. She had to text either her cousin Evian or her brother Varun to get a ride to grandma's as it's a good hour going to her house on foot. Texting both of them with the intention of going with whoever replies first, she diverted her attention back to him and said "Here, I'll give you my number." as she made to enter her phone number on his phone.

He paused for a long moment before maneuvering his screen to the address entry book. He handed it over to her at that moment. "It's an iPhone, so... virtual keyboard. Here." He handed it over to her to allow her to put the number in.

As he did this, he nimbly snatched her phone from his fingers. He entered his number into hers after a moment figuring out the configuration. He finished up the entry, conveniently leaving out his last name on the entry, and held it out to her. "And now you have mine."

She stared at the gadget in front of her like a foreign object before figuring out how to input her name and number. The latest technology was usually unknown to her. It took her a while and a little bit of poking, but she finally managed to do it in the end, putting in just her first name in the phonebook entry.

Handing his phone back to him as she took her own back, she flipped it open to see if any of her relations texted back. "I gotta go, it's my brother. He's just around the corner from here." she said. And without really waiting for a reply from him, she gathered up her all her things and left the library to meet her brother Varun.

---------- a few months later ----------

It was a few months since that day in the library and only a matter of a week to go until her 18th birthday. Her turning 18 was pretty much the event of the year for the whole Staynhal family which called for a grand family reunion. Preparations were already underway for her coming of age ritual.

She wasn't about to make a big deal of it as of yet. Let them worry about it for a week, it's their choice to make a huge celebration out of it. Life still went on as normally as life could allow.

During all that time, they still texted each other. How she managed to keep her family from knowing she had ties with a rather notorious Vulcan, she'll never know. Then again, she wasn't all that surprised. They don't ask, she doesn't tell.

But she felt that her aunt Victoria had an inkling of what's going on because her training was harder and more specialized than ever. Instead of the basic meditation and forming training, she was now more being focused on combat and healing magic. It was grueling, soulcrushing and absolutely draining. But somehow, she had grown sufficiently competent with her magic. Maybe all this training was in preparation of something, but for what?

It was evening as she stood at the river's edge a little outside of town, absolutely drenched and tired from training. Dipping her toes into the water, she sighed and tried to relax as she listened to the chirping of the crickets around her. Nowadays, she was just glad to have a moment to herself nowadays.


[[Super sorry, flu knocked me out the whole week. x.o]]

((More than fine. I've had my own issues to deal with.))

Titus had had his own rough time dealing with training a few of his younger cousins how to even play with the flame in a fire pit. They were young and still in elementary school. The idea of playing with fire excited them and it took everything that Titus had to keep them from burning down the training grounds. No wonder his Grandmother had turned them over to him. They were all pyromaniacs from the get-go and Titus was probably the only one that could reign them in. His grandmother had to whip the same tendencies to burn everything in sight out of him as well.

Needless to say, he was glad that he had a free moment. It had been a while since he could clear his head. He grabbed his phone, his wallet, and his keys and headed out the door. It was time to get on the road.

On impulse, he messaged Kali before he turned the engine over.

"You free? If so, where are you?"

It was a shot in the dark. Most of the time, she was busy with one of her aunts. She had intimated as much with him about her whacked out training regimen and what she suspected her aunt had suspected... if that made any kind of sense to him, which it had. He knew that there was a chance the aunt knew. Titus himself had snuck off to her house to see if he could catch a glimpse of her without being seen. He had managed, but there had been a few moments where he had been nearly spotted. It was interesting to get a peek into the inner sanctum of the water mages, but at the same time it was a bit worrying.

He had no doubt that they were tough to go against, but he also knew that if he could spy with that kind of ease, if one was truly serious about it, one could divest more secrets than how the poses were formed and what holes were in each form. And that was a fairly serious secret to find out. Knowing how an enemy moved was a near sure-fire way of beating said opponent.

Kali was still sitting by the edge of the river, having her toes nibbled by small fish when her phone vibrated. She had it attached to a strap which she wore on her wrist when she was outside so she can be easily accessed by family whenever there need be.

As she read his text, Kali can't help but smile a little. It seemed that Titus was free tonight as well. It's been a while since she had seen that veritable hothead. Training really had been brutal for the both of them, it seems. Chuckling to herself as she imagined him in training and probably training his younger relatives (seems like the type to barbecue them on the spot, she thought), she immediately replied to his text, not as if she had anything better to do at the moment.

"Yeah. I'm just here by the river outside town."

And sent. The fish splashed happily around her feet as she wondered where he is and what could he possibly want. Perhaps it's nothing, perhaps it's something important. But no matter. Right now she was bored and the entertainment of the night presented itself in the form of a text from a certain redhead.

Titus received the message and smirked slightly.

"Cool. Where exactly on the river? Pier Park?"

Pier Park was essentially a small park that had a fishing pier going out into the water with a rail around it to keep the more adventuresome out of the water. It featured many things, including picnic tables, benches, and a small play area for children. It was actually called Pier's Pointe Park, but everyone called it Pier Park.

With that, he began driving that direction. At least it was in the general right direction. It'd take a bit more to pinpoint her exact location.

With another vibrate from her phone came a new text from Titus. Reading the text, Kali considered her current position for a while before replying.

"No. I'm more upstream. You coming here?"

Sure, Pier Park was nearby, about 10 minutes away from where she currently was. She could walk there, but from what she can see and hear from afar, there was a huge crowd there and she didn't particularly care for crowds right now. Why they would construct such a monstrosity by the river, she'd never know.

Besides, she thought while taking a look at her surroundings, she was easier to spot here by the riverbank. She was the only person for yards and there was nothing but grass growing around her. It'd be much easier if she stayed put where she was right now instead of squeezing and forcing herself into the crowd.

Titus flicked his eyes over the message and didn't reply. Instead, he took the quick jaunt out to the area where she said she was and proceeded to turn down the small dirt road no more than a path for fishermen to more secluded areas than Pier Park. He figured she'd be more up this direction anyway. Pier Park was across the road. He pulled the truck off to the side and shut the door behind him, locking it up.

He pulled the phone out again and texted a single word to her.

"Marco"

Kali could have sworn she heard a vehicle pull up somewhat near where she is right now. A slam of a car door confirmed what she heard at first as she looked around and saw the silhouette of a truck parked not too far in the distance. It must be him, she mused as her phone vibrated again and she checked it for a new message from Titus.

A gleam of amusement lit up her eyes as Kali stared at the text on her phone's screen. Marco? She didn't get it for a second or so, but as she understood she almost wanted to laugh. It can be a game if he wanted it to be, she thought as she replied to his one word text with something just as eloquent.

"Polo. :D"

Titus actually got vocal at that point and chuckled. "Kali! Come out, come out where ever you are!" he called out in a sing-song tone that he layered with a bit of playful menace. He had a moment of inspiration and thought about what he'd do when he did find her. Grinning more widely, he called out rather than texting: "Marco!"

Kali stood up, her ankles submerged in the water. She can already see a little bit of movement and Titus' figure as he walked towards the general area of her position, still quite a distance away. She stiffled a chortle as she heard him call out to her in such a childish tone. Never knew he could sound like that, she thought, clearly amused as she stood still in the water.

She decided to let him find her. It was only a matter of time before he did, anyway. Hoping against hope that the hothead wouldn't do anything rash if he did find her, she hollered back to him, laughter ringing out in her voice.

"Polo!"