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#1
Old 02-04-2014, 04:01 AM

Chemical Love
By Kat Dakuu and Tachigami


Quote:

Cian RedicanX

Name: Cian Redican

Sex: Male

Age: 22 years

Race: Irish

Appearance: Cian stands five feet, eight inches tall and weighs a very little amount because he is very small and slight. Thin and elegant in build, his hands are long and well built to handle small instruments and items that would be lost otherwise. A sharp face with gentle contours, a small nose. Large, heavily-lashed eyes that are the tone of amethyst, and coppery-brown hair that’s slightly long, always in his eyes, and only barely able to be put back in a ponytail (the front remains loose). Lightly tanned skin, a slight mark on his neck underneath his left ear. He often wears clothes based on an older style---generally a buttondown long-sleeved shirt, a vest of a darker shade, black or brown slacks, and leather shoes of a matching color.

Homeland: The States (near southern California)

Personality: Cian is a sweet, kind young man but has a problem with people. He’s cripplingly shy and tends to either go completely silent when spoken to or develops an obvious stutter. He blushes very easily, and when he does speak it’s in a very quiet tone. He’s rather easily startled, a bit of a bookworm and doesn’t like to get around others unless he has to.

Alternatively, when Cian is exposed to alcohol and has a fre drinks, he becomes talkative, energetic and ready to be around people, always becoming very flirty and sometimes losing clothing. He rarely remembers what he’s done the next day.

Positives: Very good at what he does, a very loyal friend and is always there if someone needs him. He’s a good listener and rather intelligent.

Negatives: He never branches out unless forced. Desperately shy, he’s always a wallflower at parties but can lose all his inhibitions very easily.

Known Abilities: Comes from a family of magicians, has powers that are real



He lived within sight of the school---the apartment-rental house combinations were scattered walls at the south and east sides of the school, and if one were to look out the window in his bedroom and squinted through the thick tree cover, one could see the brick school. Cian glanced up at it while he set his work on the desk, sighing a little at the sight. Beautiful though it was, he missed home. The rental house was nice, the size relatively large, but that didn't matter. He waned to be back in his familiar room, on his familiar lands. Halfway through the year and he was still terrified to step foot into the building; North Hampshin was a rather new college, but it didn't mean there weren't hundreds of students. And he had to abide by his parents' wishes if he didn't want to do what they did. Jewelry making was, in their opinion, simply a pastime, and while they were disappointed that he didn't want to follow the family tree and become a well-known magician. Cian only partially blamed them, though.

Looking down again, biting his lip as he raised his hands and brought up the gold chain he was working on. He didn't touch the gold that was being threaded intricately and bent over one another as each tiny chain link formed and threaded---it seemed to manipulate itself at his hands' command, lacing together at a swift speed. It took quite a bit of concentration, focused eyes and a clear mind to watch each tiny sliver of gold lace together, bend, then fuse together with a tiny heated spark he snapped into existence for just an instant.

On the corner of the desk his alarm rang for the second time that morning, the face showing that it was just fifteen minutes before eight in the morning. He had all morning classes---several painting and sculpting classes that lasted for three hours apiece. Scooping his unfinished work into its box, he stowed it under his bed and brushed his hair back, though it didn't stay that way for long. Grabbing the messenger bag that contained his art supplies, which laid against the wall near the door, he threw it over his shoulder and stepped into his living room. It was small, but he was the only one renting the house. Going past the couch and chair, he stepped onto the porch and closed and locked the door.

As he began his walk to the grounds, Cian's legs started to feel weak and his hands started sweating. Thinking about the next moments, when he started to pass the other students, was torture. Of course they didn't all stare at him, but he felt as if they were watching him constantly, and any tiny slip would cause them all to stop and laugh. Maybe this was his parents' attempt to remedy their past mistakes of sheltering him from everyone that tried to get near him. But he didn't think thrusting him into a different state, with hundreds of strangers, was the most effective manner of doing so.

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#2
Old 02-04-2014, 05:26 AM

Layland Richards was ranked second in the entire school. His grades made other students cry in envy, though it was his attitude that was more likely to make people cry. He was known as the dementor of the science labs, always able to suck the fun out of every assignment. This was one of the reasons he came to campus as painfully early as he did. The second the doors opened at seven, he would lock himself in the chemistry lab to get work during the only time he could be alone. He preferred the empty lab, but that wasn't the only reason he spent every out of class hour doing the same things that he did in class. In fact, there were two other reasons.

The less important reason was that he was ranked second. For his undergrad, he graduated at the top of his class. Falling down to second was unacceptable to him and to his family. Whether it was his father putting the pressure on him, or he putting it on himself, it didn't matter. Layland just did not settle for second. He had been raised to think that with every cell of his body because Richards had better brains than the rest of the world. It was a given fact.

With an extra flourish, he mixed the two chemicals that he he was experimenting on for a certain secret project. A brilliant white flash like what magnesium created when exposed to fire flashed from the vial. Layland was glad that he always followed protocol and wore the right kind of shaded goggles. Leaning down, he inspected the liquid, pulling the gloves off one hand to write in a notebook. "Unexpected pink color..." he started to write.

Pouring the soda-like liquid into a drinking bottle, then cleaning up the lab, he headed for the other side of campus. A quick glance in a window allowed him to fix his straw colored hair that wasn't quite long enough for a ponytail, and to straighten his white button up shirt. The most important reason for living in the chem lab--Layland Richards was in love. And today, he planned to cure that once and for all.

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#3
Old 02-04-2014, 05:57 AM

He walked like a sixth grader just entering their first year of segregated classes---head down, hands grasping his bag, short but quick steps that sent him forward. He was a good artist, though he refused to believe that. He didn't want to believe it because he simply couldn't. He wasn't good at much more than creating jewelry, after all, and even then he used his unique power to do so. Someone in front of him stopped and he ran right into them. The instant the other student turned to investigate the large projectile that had hit him, Cian mumbled a quick apology and hurried off, feeling his face burn. He hated confrontation---hated it so much. The concept of being seen after running into someone was nearly crippling.

He went inside the school, going upstairs to one of the art classes and had to wait outside for ten minutes. He crouched down, taking out a quarter an turning it in his hand. With a quick slide of his index finger the back of the coin became the front, so that it had two face sides. Normally it was merely an illusion that needed a trick quarter, but he---his family---didn't need that cheap mystic stuff. If only he could face throngs of people. If he could, he wouldn't have to have felt as if he had let his family down. His estranged uncle was absolutely famous, probably the most famous of them all within this decade. He dazzled crowds of millions, and Cian had only ever met him in person twice.

Sliding down the wall, he curled himself up as if making himself smaller could make himself invisible. He wasn't sure if he could do that, but knew his uncle could. He knew his father could, as well, and the man often used that to scare Cian to help him build some assurance within himself. It only ever succeeded in making him feel a little more jumpy. He watched people go by, but didn't raise his head fully as if to acknowledge them. But one in particular got close enough to kick his folded foot out purposefully and laugh, sharing the instance with the trio he was with as they stalked away. Cian sighed, shakily pulling himself close to the wall. It seemed bullies were everywhere, even in college. He hadn't had to deal with bullies in any regular school---he had been tutored privately, but was tormented whenever he got up the courage to go out on his own. Now it was just worse, and now he had to deal with them.

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#4
Old 02-04-2014, 06:22 AM

The art building was normally not a place that Layland would ever step foot. In fact, he'd been here only once before to deliver a message to a freshman student who had been skipping the Intro to Chemistry class that he helped Professor Carter teach. Since Carter was also his mentor, when he asked for a student to be given a stern talking to, Layland would forever be willing. That was also the day that Layland met her. She was a nameless cutey he'd watched through a studio window as she painted poppies and chrysanthemums with the sort of energized brushstroke that captured his eye instantly. He didn't know her name, but for two months now, he'd been madly in love.

Layland took out the pink filled bottle that he'd stowed in his bag. For a second, he almost hesitated as he thought about what he was about to do. The secret project he'd been so desperately working on could only be described as chemical love. In a layman's words--a love potion. Of course to him, it was a miracle of manufactured pheromones and chemicals meant to induce love in a person's brain. Love was nothing more than chemicals after all. That was why Layland was so sure that this potion would work and work so that he alone would be the object of his crush's love.

It had taken him until last week to learn which of the little metal boxes that served as lockers for the art department belonged to the girl. Now he wrapped a ribbon around the bottle and wrote a note saying simply, "From your secret admirer," and hung it from the locker's latch. He walked out of the building and sat on one of the sunlit benches to wait until he was needed in the lab.

Unbeknownst to Layland, someone passing down the halls of the art building accidentally bumped into the lockers and knocked his bottle loose. They hung it back up in a hurry, not knowing that they hung it on the wrong locker.

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#5
Old 02-04-2014, 07:10 AM

When the class's professor finally arrived---just a while after his meeting with that grown bully, though it felt like an hour later---he jumped up and was the first one inside. It was a large room, with a single wall of windows to let in natural light and high ceilings and pale beige walls that didn't let the light dim. On the whiteboard that took up the farthest part of the wall, the day's painting task was written down along with the week's project. He took up residence at the work station at the farthest corner, a desk and an easel and painting equipment that was generally standard issue. Each person had to buy their own utensils, and often would get their own paints at the same time. He didn't really buy his own---the school was well equipped to provide high quality acrylics and watercolors, pens, pencils, markers, and pastels of various top-shelf branding.

Today's task was to show lighting effects in complex environments that had deep overlays. As the others arrived, streaming into the classroom and going to their respective stations, he focused on preparing his easel and setting it up. It was sixteen inches by twenty, and he set it up longwise. The school was so inspiring, but at the same time, strange. He focused on the inspiring side, however, and began taking his paints out. Digging down, he couldn't find his pencil brush. He knew it wasn't at home---he never took his paintbrushes out at home, unless he were working on a project, and this time he had no project. It had to be with his carving utensils in his public locker.

He dreaded it, but nonetheless he sidled out of the room and crept down the hall, slipping out of the room without making eye contact to anyone and trying not to sprint down the hall though he was sure he'd not make it back in time to beat the bell. In the locker alcove he went to his, finding his pencil brush sitting beside a bottle of pinkish liquid. He was wary to touch it---wary more of its origin. Though he used his brush to flip its tag over and read it. Secret admirer? Surely it had to be a joke. Pink soda; there were bubbles rising from the bottom. Just that, pink soda, or some carbonated water with food coloring. Nonetheless, he picked it up and studied it carefully. Maybe it wasn't a joke. But he would have liked to know who it was from. The bell rang suddenly, startling Cian and making him pocket the bottle and grab his pencil brush and nearly sprint back to his classroom.

He couldn't bear not knowing who the strange thing was from. What it was, even. Not poison---surely not, he had no enemies, no grudges, and was only the target of some bully every now and then, when they wanted a quick object to bat around for a moment and forget about a second later. Was it really a secret admirer, then? Why?

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#6
Old 02-04-2014, 07:31 AM

After only ten minutes of sitting outside in the sunshine that Layland did not admire, he got a call on his cell. He did not hesitate to answer it. A glance at the caller ID told him that it was professor Carter. He put the phone to his ear and listened for what the man had to say, offering no greeting of his own.

"I was just wondering if you finished that report on your project for this week? I know you've been given lab time to pursue whatever research you want, but you can't skimp on the paper work. This isn't like you at all, Layland," the professor stated, also not beating around the bush. This sort of blunt conversation was the reason Layland had been drawn to him in the first place, even if right now he had to fight to keep the grimace off his face. He'd become so wrapped up in his little love potion delusion that he'd been falling behind. Or as behind as people like him got.

"I'll have it on your desk by this afternoon," Layland said before he hung up. It looked like he wouldn't be waiting around for his mysterious poppy girl to come flying into his arms after all. School was more important after all, so he gathered himself off from the bench and headed to the library which his bag slung over his shoulder. After he finished his report on the love potion--excluding the human testing details of course--he would return to the art building again. Maybe then he would be lucky.

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#7
Old 02-04-2014, 07:49 AM

Cian managed to push the little bottle in his pocket out of his mind---or as out of his mind as he could, and was focused on his work. He didn't sketch out where he wanted to put what, like the rest; his inspiration came to him and he simply painted it down. He had intended to make a forest clearing, but the clearing was now taken up by a small pond and the entrance to a stone building that had long ago fallen to ruin. Cian didn't forget the task, however---to show shadow and lighting effects. He made the sun come through the left side of the canvas and stream down, sending shadows over the rippling pond and the building and its old, glassless windows cast their darker shadows with that of the trees.

He felt lost when he painted. I wasn't like an evening of creating jewelry, where focus was absolutely critical to keep each link perfect with the rest. He painted quickly, with swift strokes to make it look realistic, painted but photo-esque. When he set his brush down, he waved his hand and the paint dried in a moment, but only when he made sure no one else was watching. He couldn't afford to let his paintings wait for hours to dry---he wanted to finish them, and wanted to do so quickly. When it was dry to the touch, Cian picked up his pencil brush again and started adding texture to the grass that he normally couldn't do when it was wet, mixing a little darker tones with the original color to give it depth.

As he did so, his other hand lingered at his pocket and felt the bottle again. It wasn't small, but wasn't obvious either. He did want to try it---to drink it just to see what it was, if it tasted good or bad, to know what it might do. Curiosity defeated any caution he had, even then. He subconsciously added a small, pink bottle at the base of on of his trees, smiling a little at the outcome. It was half-shaded, and gleamed in the sun.

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#8
Old 02-04-2014, 08:05 AM

After pulling out his laptop, Layland took up residence at a table in the back of the library. A group of undergrads in the middle of the room were ruining every concept of silence that belonged in a library. Glaring at their backs did nothing to stop them and Layland was too civilized to do more than that. As much as his grade standards, his social standards had to fall into the same category. Going to college was the closest he had gotten to interact with the 'lower species' as his father called the average person. They were the kind of people that didn't go to private and very expensive schools since birth or attend dinner parties to talk of cellular regeneration instead of playing with toys.

Layland started his report with observations of the potions physical attributes. A blush shade of pink with a strange carbonated appearance, and he also had to mention the heat and light created by the final reaction. He noted every chemical that had gone into the small bottle which was honestly too many for something of that size, but he wasn't the one paying for it. He had a sizable scholarship for that. Testing showed that under a microscope, the chemicals did react to certain pheromones. It took two pages in all to complete the report.

Printing it out and stowing it and the laptop back in his bag, Layland headed back toward the science building. He moved quickly across the courtyard that served as the campus' center, dodging the mid morning crowd with deft moves that involved shoving if he deemed it necessary. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could pursue love. A silly smile broke out on his face as he walked.

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#9
Old 02-04-2014, 08:31 AM

As usual he lost track of time, barely hearing the professor as she approached. When he snapped out of his trance, however, he shied away from her and her compliments. He didn't see what she did. Why did she like his creations? He looked at it as one big mess, except the bottle. Somehow he had made it very realistic, and when she asked about it he mumbled a stuttering excuse about feeling that it added mystery to the whole concept and kept the viewer wondering about its implications, and she seemed to like it enough to leave him alone. He puffed out a breath when he was left alone again, and began cleaning his brushes, drying them to put them into his case, then into his bag.

As he did, Cian stared at his painting. It did show shadow overlay, at least, and that seemed to be the only other redeeming quality to it. Grimacing, Cian regarded the whiteboard for the weekly project. He needed to paint a realistic human, real or fabricated. A week for that much detail? He grimaced, buckling his bag as the bell rang, signaling the end of the first three-hour class. He covered his work the way the others did, though it was nearly dry, leaving after the rest had nearly escaped. There was a half an hour break between this class and his sculpting class, enough time to eat something, though today Cian didn't feel particularly hungry. He hated braving the lines in the cafeteria, and didn't usually have much time to get home to find a quick meal. So he went to the courtyard, despite it being crowded, and stuck to the four corners where each of the four main buildings touched. As he wandered, avoiding eye contact, he pulled the bottle out of his pocket and stared at it. Sometimes he twirled it, nearly losing it though before it hit the ground he caught it in midair and brought it back up to his hand.

He felt a constriction in his heart, as if the longer he put off drinking the substance down the worse he felt. He breathed in, taking the top off and throwing it back before he could think about how stupid a decision it was. Whatever it was, it tasted somewhat plain and a little bitter, and fizzed to the point of burning, and he grimaced a little. Something seemed to fill his head, little buzzing sounds. What was it?

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#10
Old 02-04-2014, 08:54 AM

Some classes must have just gotten out because the courtyard suddenly filled with twice as many people as before, making it hard to get where he meant to go. The crowds swept Layland along with it, back toward the center of the open area. Muttering insults that compared people to schools of fish, he pushed his way away past people who were taller than him. Layland wasn't a short man, it seemed people were growing taller these days and he couldn't contend with these young wiry people of six foot.

Barely after making his way out of the pack, Layland collided headlong into a person who hadn't been walking with the crowd. He tumbled forward, knocking both him and the slight looking man to the ground. He quickly pulled himself to his feet and fixed his appearance back into it's careful neatness. He barely missed a beat, his face only showing surprise for a second before he composed himself again.

"I'm sorry, that was my fault," he said, offering the other person a hand to help them up. He may have been in a hurry, but that wouldn't stop him from being polite. It had been his fault that they collided after all. Layland got too impatient and made a mistake by not being observant enough.

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#11
Old 02-04-2014, 09:09 AM

He'd slid the bottle into his bag and buckled it again, still not quite looking at anyone that might get too near. Cian was away from them and had little chance of getting caught up in the throng of people that had simply seemed to appear randomly. If he got near them, he would break down into a panic attack that would last for an hour. He couldn't have that---people would crowd around him even more, make it so hard to breathe that he was sure he'd pass out. People just didn't seem to know how to handle a person having a medical issue. He turned his back to them, gathering his messy hair in his hands and starting to tie as much as he could back, but the action fell flat when someone seemed to simply fly into him and knock him down, almost sending him into the wall of the nearest building.

He felt a stinging sensation run through the hand that had caught him, and lifted it to inspect. A little blood marred the soft skin of his palm but nothing else, and at someone's voice directed to him, Cian finally made himself look up and blink a little. Either it was the direction of the sun or some play of the eye, but whoever it was seemed to be glowing. He tried to speak but couldn't, and simply offered his uninjured hand in turn, pulling himself up and rearranging his dark clothing and bag. "Yeah..." He muttered in a light tone, and caught himself. "I-I mean, no... No, i-it wasn't your..." Some new form of shyness had bloomed in Cian's stomach when he finally decided to look up to hold a somewhat real conversation. Something very different, but he couldn't be sure what it was. A light feeling, and it made his heart beat a little faster. He looked down when his face grew warm from a combination of the strange, alien feeling and his usual embarrassment.

"It's okay..." He whispered at last, feeling an urge to run coupled with a faint desire to stay a little more. It was strange. An attraction? Why was it so immediate? It wasn't normal. The only solace Cian found in such a revealing place was that his hair seemed to be built to hide his face and eyes.

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#12
Old 02-04-2014, 09:27 AM

Normally Layland would have moved on once his little duty to politeness was dealt with, but something held him back now. After helping the other to his feet, he stopped to look at him in the face, to really look. What he saw made him tilt his head in confusion. His mind collected observations--the other's discomfort, his unfinished speech, the spacy look on his face, and the flush spreading across it. Observation was the first step in the scientific process. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again. "You look a little..."

Layland's scientific mind tried to put theories to his observations, putting things together like a puzzle. Everything was a puzzle after all and puzzles needed solving. Without thinking about it, he started to mutter aloud. Bits and pieces of scientific jargon, half formed ideas floating out of context, jumbled out of him in no particular order. He dropped his chin onto his fist, his other arm crossed over his chest. Although he was staring right at the person he'd run into, he saw only equations and mixtures with his eyes. He completely forgot he was in the middle of the courtyard talking to someone.

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#13
Old 02-04-2014, 08:37 PM

Cian found himself nodding shakily, keeping his gaze down as if he were a misbehaving child coming clean about what bad thing he did to his parents. He was used to being ignored, or at least being passed after the initial apology was said and done. This was new to him, and coupled with the unexplained, confusing sense of immediate attraction, Cian felt as if he were on an alien planet, something that was even more new and frightening to him than a different state altogether.

"Yeah, I... fine... Just... I'm n-not used to... to people." He bit his lip, feeling the self-consciousness that came with his stuttering problem magnified a dozen times by the sensation of absolute enthrallment with this one person. He hadn't felt it before, and it brought a brighter coloration to his face. "Sorry, I sh-shouldn't have been i-in your way." He backed up, feeling the wall behind him and sliding down to sit, and he grasped his bag and put it in front of him. His mouth felt dry in the way that it became when he had nowhere to escape from human contact, and he dug in his bag for the small water bottle he usually kept in case the sensation made him feel sick. It was there, and full, alongside the empty bottle whose contents he had drank just a few moments before. Was that the culprit? The reason he felt so odd? He took it out and glared at it.

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#14
Old 02-04-2014, 10:17 PM

Layland really didn't know why he was still here talking to this person. He didn't care about him and his watch was beeping thirty minutes before noon. He needed to leave. When the other man moved away and sat against a wall, Layland followed him with his eyes. He didn't follow after because he didn't want to be close to the other person any more than they seemed to want to be close to him. "I told you it's my fault, so just shut up and accept that!" he snapped, irritated by this person's stuttered apologies.

A second later, his irritation evaporated only to be replaced by shock. The other man had pulled a small bottle out of his bag and there was no mistaking it. "H-how....that bottle. How did you get that bottle?!" Layland cursed the stutter that was so uncharacteristic in his voice. Panic started rising in him, driving all of his calm rationality away. How could this other person get that bottle? It wasn't meant for him. Maybe...maybe he just picked it up off the ground somewhere, already empty. He still had a chance with poppy girl.

Layland suddenly grabbed the other male by the shoulders and dropped down so that their faces were inches apart. "Did you drink it?!!!"

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#15
Old 02-04-2014, 11:12 PM

No amount of sudden obsession could dislodge the huge, freezing block of dry ice that seemed to be lodged in his chest when the man confronted him so intently. Cian gasped, feeling his breath catch in his throat and tears start to well in his eyes. He wasn't used to this kind of confrontation, avoided it when he could, and had never been faced with such close contact. It forced his heart to beat so quickly that Cian couldn't even feel it anymore. "I... I... I-I... I d-di-did... I-it... It w-was... was i-in my... m-my locker..." He struggled to the side, backing away from the other student and scrambling up. "I... S-sorry, I d-didn't... Didn't... kn-now... I sh-should have... known... N-n-no one..." He gasped, turning away and running to the nearest corner as if it were a sanctuary.

Such rough confrontation---especially from someone he didn't even know---triggered his panic disorder. He felt the temperature had risen a dozen degrees, his legs shook and didn't want to hold him up, his heart beat similar to a humming bird's, and his throat felt as if it were closing up. Cian leaned against the wall behind him, closing his eyes to begin to calm himself. It was hard when he didn't have a source of moving air to cool his apparently malfunctioning body. He should have known the bottle hadn't been for him. He should have put it on the floor so it wasn't in his locker. Why would anyone be interested in him? He never reached out, never gave anyone a chance to even speak to him.

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#16
Old 02-04-2014, 11:57 PM

It felt like the world stopped and suddenly upended itself in one moment when he heard those words. The wrong person drank the potion. Layland stared at the stranger, his feet stuck to the ground. "This...can't be..." he whispered. His mind could come up with no more words than that, not that he would have had a chance to speak them. The other male turned and ran. By the time that Layland figure out how to make his legs move, he'd already lost sight of him.

"This cannot be happening," he muttered again, louder and with more irritation. He hurried to the science building so he could try to understand why this was happening. He literally threw his report onto the professor's desk, then slammed the door shut, cutting off the words that were yelled after him. Layland didn't care. He stomped straight to his assigned lab space and one glare from his had the others in the room clearing out.

Months of research and trials, and it all had gone to waste. "Maybe it doesn't work?" he questioned with a nervous laugh. Of course it worked! He never failed. With one sweep of his arm, Layland knocked all of the equipment off the black topped table, not caring as glass shattered across the floor. "That was my one chance. Oh god...I need to make a cure. I need to..." He dropped onto his knees and a minute later, his research notes were spread out in a sea around him as he grasped at them like tiny plastic straws. For the first time in his life, Layland had no idea what to do.

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#17
Old 02-05-2014, 02:17 AM

The bell rang, but Cian didn't acknowledge it. He didn't want to go to his next class. Not because he was worried that he would see the nameless man there---no doubt he was a chemistry student. His hands shook too much to work on something intricate, and he didn't want to try and fail and feel even worse. The ice in his chest started melting when he was alone, but a permanent shard was still there. It was uncomfortable, but hurt now. He couldn't shake the shocked, then angry expression on the other student's face, yet at the same time could get past that and dwell on him. But it had to be the result of whatever was in the bottle. It had to be. A love potion of sorts that really worked. He took his bag off his shoulder and settled it beside him, and picked up the bottle he still had.

It had been meant for someone other than him. Not him, of course not. That would have been too good to be true. Having a secret admirer was simply not a reality for him. Not Cian, the cripplingly shy social recluse who was forced to take art classes by his parents to overcome the despicable social phobia they had forced him to develop. He sniffed deeply, finally managing to stand up and walk shakily out of the courtyard and to one of the great trees that the school had been built behind. They stood proud in the front grounds, and were heavily shaded. Cian flopped down against the rough bark and put the bottle in the air, letting it hang. He didn't want to touch it anymore. It wasn't his. It hadn't been meant for him. For someone else. Perhaps the person right beside his locker. He sighed, feeling an emptiness inside him begin to well. Cian motioned his raised hand to the bottle and it began to expand as if it were a balloon, and formed cracks in the glass.

Though he knew it hadn't been for him, Cian couldn't stop thinking about the man. It hurt to do so, but he was on a single track and the cart was threatening to spill over. He sighed, and crushed his hand into a fist, and the expanded bottle shattered. Opening his bag, Cian let his energy bring out a sketchpad and pencil and flip it open to the first blank page. He didn't even watch as the pencil seemed to begin work on its own, sketching something out that he refused to pay attention to. Instead, Cian studied his hands, blinking hard to keep his thoughts from wandering.

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#18
Old 02-05-2014, 05:06 AM

"Richards, would you mind telling me why you're disrupting the other student's lab hours?" The voice had Layland looking up from his furiously scribbled notes. Not that he was making any progress. He quickly smoothed his glare into a painfully polite look, though the stretch of his lips that should have been a smile held too much hostility in it.

"Mr. Carter. I didn't realize I was in the way. The other students are free to use their space, just as always," he said. The other man just raised an eyebrow at him. They both knew that Layland was sabotaging the rest of the department with his mood. This was not said though. They both reviewed the mess in the lab and the professor leaned against the door frame.

"Just tell me why so I can write an excuse for you."

Layland surged to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table. "I'll tell you what's wrong. My project is ruined. Some bastard stole it!" he snapped. Finally professor Carter looked like he understood, but he did no more than sigh and say the words that Layland dreaded, but ultimately expected. He had no idea what Layland's real trouble was, considering he could make another batch of the potion easily enough.

That's too bad, now get out. The words echoed through Layland's head as he spun out of the building, not even bothering to take off his white coat. The place he needed to be was the lab, but no one understood his distress. He could make due with this though. There was one thing else that needed doing, so he headed for the administration building to figure out just who this student he'd accidentally drugged was.

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#19
Old 02-05-2014, 06:31 AM

He wasn't alone anymore. A young woman skipping class had seen his acts and approached before Cian could escape, sitting down and asking him how he made things levitate. He pressed his book close to him, looking at the resulting sketch and was horrified to see a semblance of the student that had confronted him. Closing it, he simply replied that he'd practiced for a long time. It was a lie, especially since levitation was the simplest of magic tricks one could perform and he was doing it since he could walk. She smiled at him, and he returned it rather hesitantly. "Can you conjure something or whatever you call it?"

Cian pursed his lips. Though he didn't often like to be around others, he felt content while doing magic for others. Perhaps it was the smile on their faces when they were amazed, or the excitement they felt that seemed to be so contagious. "Sure..." He said quietly, and pulled a velvet cloth from an outer pocket of his bag, placing it over his hand and pulling it away quickly. A bloomed lily was where empty air used to be, and the young woman gasped. "Oh, wow! How do you do that...?"

Cian shrugged, managing a little smile. "Ah, magic is magic. I can't tell..." He squeezed the bloom, closing it up and bringing it off its stem, and threw it into the air; instead of a crushed flower, however, several butterflies flitted into the air and the young woman laughed. "Wow! Oh my God, that's so good!"

Cian smiled a little wider, looking away from the brown-haired young woman and out over the grounds. Then he sighed. It was impossible not to think about the man who didn't even mean for him to have the mixture that had enthralled Cian with him. Even his angry expression kept flitting into his mind. "Excuse me..." He muttered quietly, grabbing his bag and standing. Maybe he could find out who it was in the admin building. He at least needed a name. That was all. Just a name.

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#20
Old 02-05-2014, 06:08 PM

The person behind the desk there didn't want to give out information to a student. It wasn't the school's policy, to show someone school photos of everyone in the art department after all. All Layland had to do was throw out his father's name and young woman became panicked and promised to give him all the information he wanted. It was no secret here that his father and the head of the school were sleeping together. Rumors of the affair whispered through the halls without regards of who would hear them, not that Layland could have cared less. That fact along with his father being a generous donor allowed him to get what he wanted.

Layland picked out the person who'd stolen his potion from a picture. A minute later, he had a manilla folder filled with xeroxed papers about the person in his hands. "Cian Redican..." he muttered as he looked from the photo to the name beside it. He looked less impressive in the poorly printed photo, but Layland studied it carefully anyway. He had not been looking carefully when they met and it took him a while to find the right picture based on his memory. He wanted to be able to pick out this guy from a crowd. Layland may not have known how to fix this problem yet, but at least he knew Cian's schedule now and exactly where to find him when he did create a cure.

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#21
Old 02-05-2014, 07:58 PM

He made his way quietly down the walkway, pausing at the flowers and taking in their calming color. Blue and violet. He breathed out, then picked up his pace, half-jogging to the door and pulling it open. He could get what he needed in a moment's notice, but it required a good amount of focus and a strong voice, only one of which he could muster very easily. His palms were already starting to sweat, and by the time he stepped inside Cian's heart was beating loudly in his ears. He faltered, though, when he saw someone already at the desk, and gasped aloud when he recognized the form.

An internal panic began to rise immediately; Cian scuttled to the side of the doors, leaning against the wall and turning his back to the front desk and the man that was already there. The one he couldn't stop thinking about. The one he was so artificially enthralled with. No matter how many times he thought it, Cian couldn't call the feeling artificial. He felt it, after all, and it was so strong. Strong enough to warrant a subconscious drawing. It wasn't his feeling to have, though---it was meant for someone else and he stole it. Cian gritted his teeth, pulling his bag around to feign searching through it and hoping the other man would leave soon enough.

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#22
Old 02-05-2014, 08:29 PM

Layland thanked the receptionist with polite coldness, then turned and walked toward the door while still flipping through the file he held. He looked up only to push open the door and that's when he noticed someone standing against the wall. He looked down at the picture, then back up again at the person. The two were the same and he almost blamed chemical fumes, but he also recognized the guy's bag. He wasn't imagining that the same image from the page was in front of him. Layland cleared his throat loudly to catch the other's attention.

"Cian? That's your name right?" he asked as he moved in front of the man. A quick glance over him told Layland that the guy wasn't really searching through his bag like he was pretending to. So why was he turned around in the corner like that, pretending? Layland shook his head and skipped that question. From the looks of Cian, he didn't think he would get an answer even if he did ask. "What are you doing here?"

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#23
Old 02-05-2014, 08:52 PM

Cian's breath caught when he was inevitably noticed, and squeezed his eyes closed. His legs felt weak when he turned to face the other man and pulled his bag with him to hold against his stomach, and nodded with a little grimace. He didn't look directly at the man---it felt impossible to do so, but he did spy a folder in his hand. That had to be how he knew Cian's name. He was sure he could slip the file away without even touching it---This man, though Cian was so caught up in him, didn't need to know Cian's family history. Who he was related to. What he could or couldn't do and just how famous his family was. No doubt his parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles would be listed there.

He shuddered inwardly, biting back a terrified moan. "Ah... Just... wanted to... wanted to come here... It's quiet... N-not many people here wh-when... classes are on." He felt like breaking down---but then, he always felt like breaking down when he was confronted. It was stronger now that he couldn't fight the chemically-altered emotions that were bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

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#24
Old 02-05-2014, 09:59 PM

"Oh..." Layland said. For a second, that was all he could think to say in response. So Cian was just here to hide. He wasn't here looking for information like Layland was? Well of course Layland wasn't actually important to him. He didn't want to be important to Cian. But of course he should be; that was the point of the love potion and there shouldn't have been any way for Cian to resist him. Assuming Layland made the potion as strong as he thought he did. It'd be hard to test that now. That made him think, and his eyes went slightly wide with the thought. If Cian was just here to hide, then maybe...

"Does it work?" Layland asked. "You're not...Since you drank that potion. You haven't been feeling different have you?" he asked. He couldn't quite bring himself to ask if the other was feeling in love with him. He didn't seem to be acting like it though, so maybe Layland had some hope. "It's possible it didn't work. That would be best..." he sighed.

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#25
Old 02-05-2014, 10:17 PM

Cian shuddered, biting his tongue. He couldn't bring himself to say that it did work, and worked, probably, as powerfully as the chemistry student had wanted it to. That ever since drinking the mix and seeing the man he couldn't stop thinking about him and that every moment of growing shyness was slowly killing him. That his shyness was affecting Cian's ability to just tell the man what he thought and felt. That it hurt to be so completely rejected, though logical thought process tried to tell him that Cian hadn't been the man's choice, that it was someone else, and Cian had ruined that chance.

Instead, he pulled his sketchbook out of his bag and ripped the sketch of the man out, folding it in half and shoving it into his hand. "I dunno. T-tell me if it works." He stepped back, but was stopped by the wall before he was able to sidle away and run outside. All he did was run---it was what Cian knew, because confrontation paralyzed him, even if he were so entranced by the one confronting him. He stopped halfway down the walkway and collapsed onto the nearby bench---there were two, each with a dedication to some names that helped fund the building of the school. It didn't seem to matter who the man was. He didn't really care who Cian was, though he had gone a step ahead of Cian to figure out who his new, unwanted suitor was.

It was hard to accept that the chemistry student wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, that he actually hoped he had gotten the mixture wrong just because Cian had accidentally thought it was meant for him. He cradled his head in his hands, feeling his face burn with humiliation, and his vision blurred with tears that fell steadily to the dry sidewalk between his feet.

 


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