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.

Gwen watched Zach go. She felt like something had come out wrong, but she couldn't exactly figure out what. Gwen had never had a boyfriend, she had never lived anywhere long enough to hold a title like that. It wasn't to say that she wasn't sought after, she had a few talks about boys and girls with her mother but... Gwen never felt a need to classify a relationship. Plants don't, most non human animals don't, why should I? Gwen thought to herself, wondering why this title mattered to much to people.

Gwen smiled and rocked a little to the beet of the music. The song had changed to an instrumental cover of some pop song Gwen couldn't remember the name of. Gwen crawled forward a little and put a hand on the Orange tree. It had stopped growing and the sun was about to come up over the horizon in a few short minutes. Gwen was worried that it might be shocked by its exponentiation overnight growth. She turned back to Brian. "Have your powers grown or changed since you came to Claremont?" She rested on her knees, looking at him while she embraced the tree with both arms.

*headdesk* I got them backwards, sorry. I'll fix the IC.

Off to the side bounced a short girl, about 5ft in height practically bouncing on her heals. Her long brown-red hair flowed out around her, it was adorned with beads and feathers. She wore a blue and yellow claremont uniform and there were vine like tattoos extending down her arms and legs, they moved on her skin. She was also barefoot and waving frantically. "Hello! I'm Gwen!" she squealed, her olive freckled skin flush with excitement. Gwen had spent all day greeting new students, large, small, blue, orange, extra limbs, no limbs... she was elated to meet so many new people. "Welcome to Claremont!"

Gwen's head snapped up and she locked eyes with Zach. "No one should EVER tell you what to do or what to think. You are your own person and no one but you should be making those decisions for you." Gwens eyes went wide for a moment and her fists tightened into balls, she began flexing them. "I... I am young. I don't think its the right time for me to get into a a friendship with anyone. Titles like boyfriend and girlfriend are superficial and they just..." she stared off somewhere over Zach's left shoulder for a moment. "It's hard to explain, I'm sorry."

No, I mention attacking targeter and then looking around for Steel.

Gwen's vines continued to snake around the street and after a few moments they found a hold again. The vines had crept right up to one of the women. It was the steel woman again who had wandered into the Vines. They reared back and Gwen heard the satisfying thwack of the Vines contacting metal skin. She let out a small sound of triumph. She looked around to try and get an eye on the other woman but so far had no luck locating her.

Gwen blushed a bright shade of red and looked up at the foliage of the tree "I...It...uh..." Gwen stumbled over her words and took a deep breath looking back at Zach. "No. He's not my boyfriend..." Gwen thought about that for a moment. "He's a boy I enjoy spending time with, but I--We, we aren't in a relationship." Gwen clarified while she rubbed her hands on her jeans. "I don't do the relationship thing."Gwen finally said her hands settling on her knees.

Gwen let herself be pulled down next to Brian, she tucked her tiny frame up against his and nestled herself down under his arm. She opened her mouth, closed it, and looked deep in thought before she spoke again. "I was in a fire when I was small..." Gwen trailed off and let the silence resume for a moment. "It... it hurt." She went still as a tree for a moment. "Its hard to talk about." She seemed to shrink down deeper into his arm and took a deep breath.

Gwen looked Brian in the eyes. He had a point. "Yeah..." Gwen's voice trailed off and she walked over to the orange tree. It had stopped about 5 ft tall. "I guess it must have been more stunted than I originally thought." She said as she sat down in front of it facing it and looking at its new bright green and thick foliage. Several white blossoms shown through the green leaves. "I guess now I have to finish those bee keepers for pollination."

1d20+10=13 to hit Steel, if that hits in her current condition DC25toughness save against getting smacked up again.

Gwen stepped over to another potted plant, another rescue. This one had several dead leaves and looked quite on its way out. She reached out a hand and it began to glow even before she laid her hands upon it. She looked up at Brian and looked back to her hand. The crumbled and decaying leaves shivered for a moment before they began to turn green again. Gwen's jaw went slack and her eyes went wide. "It *is* me..." she murmured.

Gwen handed Brian the shovel and just pointed to the now small tree behind him. It was now about six inches taller than before and subtle movements in the bark indicated it wasn't finished yet. New leaves budded from new branches, the trunk was noticeably thicker. I... I think I did something to it..." Gwen's mind ran with the ideas, she had been researching plant oriented heroes since coming to Claremont. "I think... I made it grow? That can't be right..." Gwen paced around the pot, her small feet leaving delicate imprints in the recently overturned earth. She sprinted off to the seedling table in the back corner. She cupped her hands around the sprouts but there was no green glow to them and nothing happened. "No, not Growth." Her scientific mind now in overload.

Gwen put her hands back on the small potted Orange Tree. She began to run her fingers through the small stunted branches and again there was that pale green glow. Her hands froze and she stared at it intently. "Can you see it again?" she asked Brian without taking her eyes off her hands. The branches of the orange tree began to thicken under Gwen's touch. She removed her hands but the tree continued to grow, slowly but surely. Gwen couldn't wait for Brian's reply. "Help me move this pot down to the ground floor!" She stated, standing up and throwing herself off the railing and landing in a crouch. Her feet pattering across the dirt till she made it to the tool shed. She removed a large spade head shovel and began digging right in the middle of the greenhouse.

With every moment that Gwen's hand was away from the plant the soft green glow faded. "No..." Gwen's remark was soft and her voice heavy with hesitation. She looked down at the plant, to Brian, up at her hand, back down to the plant. The disbelief in her voice and on her face. "What is that?" She turned her hands over one at a time. "How can I...?" In Gwen's mind her thoughts raced, was it her, or the Vines? Could the Vines even do something like this, let alone while they slept?

Gwen melted at Brian's touch. She really loved the way he made her feel, almost like she was the only girl in the world. She laughed out loud at the radioactive potatoes comment. When their lips met Gwen could feel excitement well up inside her. When his head pulled back she slowly followed it, and started biting her lip. "Yeah, Most of them are asleep still, but they'll be waking up soon with the sun. Music and talking is good for them." Gwen smirked. "It's like medicine for them." She shrugged and her hand let go of Brian's as she moved to the next pot. "Someone was trying to get this orange tree to grow outside, here in Freedom..." Gwen rolled her eyes like it was stupid idea. She put her hands into the small branches, caressing them, avoiding the thorn like projections. She looked at Brian and smiled. "See, no glow. Just kind words." but there was that same pale green glow from Gwen's hands.

"I had ni--"Gwen started to talk but noticeably changed her words. "I couldn't sleep either." She pushed some of her hair behind her ear, the motion almost subconscious, but she was suddenly aware of how 'home-girlish' she looked. "I thought I could better spend my time tending to the plants than laying in bed sobb-- she cut off again. "Staring at the ceiling." she finished and she folded her hands across her chest. Gwen looked at Brian, as he continued talking. Confusion played across her face. "Glow?! I didn't glow." Gwen choked it out as she unfolded and started looking at her hands.

Gwen nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice. She turned, ready to pummel the person but her eyes rested on Brian as he floated above her. Gwen's encounters with Steelshank, Targeter, and the shark things had her on edge and she lowered her hands, suddenly and painfully aware that without the vines awake she couldn't actually DO anything to Brian, or anyone who sneaked up on her. She flushed red, wondering how much of her silly behavior he had actually seen. "What in goodness name are you DOING in here!?" Gwen shouted at Brian.

OOC for this thread.

Nothing had yet gotten planted on the main floor but she had quite a few planters hanging from the ceiling around the second floor. Her first stop was two giant pots about seven feet apart from each other with thick wooden trellises between them. They were large grape vines that Gwen had gotten from a business downtown. She watered them, taking their large leaves in her hands and caressing each of them. A soft green glow passed from her hands to the leaves and the plant seemed greener. Gwen brushed her fingers over the other planter and the same soft green glow passed. It was so faint that it might not be noticed in daylight. Gwen continued her routine, going from planter to planter, all the plants on the catwalk got the same glowing green treatment from Gwen's touch. Gwen began to sing again, this time Katy Perry's Firework. "JUST OWN THE NIGHT LIKE A FIREFL--" Gwen was cut off as she pranced and danced her way across the catwalk and stopped dead in her tracks. She could hear something or someone else in the greenhouse with her.

Gwen raked the surface of the dirt gently with her fingers and laid some molding bread from the container there for the worms. She knew that they liked that. She repeated the task for the other seven containers scattered around the grounds. Summers had liked the idea of having a better organic matter recycling system for the cafeteria and Gwen liked the idea of having fresh compost available for the newly turned dirt, it needed quite a bit of enriching. Gwen stood up from the last box and pranced around the bare dirt to the stairs. She seemed to be dancing to a Shakira song and was belting it out in Spanish along with the woman. Her red hair flowed up and out with her twirls and jumps across the bare dirt. "Oye a tu dios y no estarás solo-- Gwen took a step and twirled. Llegaste aquí para brillar y lo tienes todo Gwen swung out her arms and tiptoed on one leg and lept a few paces. La hora se acerca, es el momento, Vas a ganar cada batalla, ya lo presiento" Gwen bellowed out as she went, thankful that the greenhouse was soundproof.

Gwen reached the main door to the greenhouse and pushed it open. She took off her Teva's and left them in the foyer hanging on a post meant for book bags and jackets. She tiptoed to reach the button for the radio system she had installed in the greenhouse. She knew that plants loved music and she plugged her new iPod into the jack. Vicky had convinced Gwen she needed one on a shopping trip and Gwen had found she enjoyed the convince of having music around all the time. She walked barefoot into the main area. The building had gone well and those who had helped erect the building had, in Gwen's eyes done an amazing job. She felt the cool of the paving stones beneath her feet. The stones made a winding path around the main floor and to the spiral stairs that led to the catwalk. Gwen diverged from the path and headed to the first of the compost containers to check on the worms.

August 23rd 2011 5:30am, Inside the Greenhouse. The grounds were dark, the sky full of stars because the moon had already set. It was indeed twilight but the sun would be up in about Forty-five minutes Gwen noted. Sleep had eluded her for the most part, she had nightmares again and after barely not waking Jeena with her sobs she couldn't think of anything to do but come down to the Greenhouse. She might as well get some tending done if nothing else. She wore a plain black tanktop, a pair of grey yoga pants and her Teva Sandals. Her hair was loose and hung around her body like a cape. The vines were all retracted into their baseflower and its petals were closed over itself so it looked like a normal henna tattoo of a bud and its leaves. The bud sat on Gwen's exposed shoulder, the red of the henna dye sticking out against her skin. Her complexion may have been darker than the ink but not by much to begin with. Gwen's time in non tropical area was starting to show as she lightened a few shades over the past month.

BAH! Damned sharks!