It Takes One to Know One [Maxine]

[ETHEREAL!]

*Rrriiiinng ... rrriiiinng ... rrriiiinng ... rrrii---SMACK!*

The alarm clock didn't quite manage to make it past its fourth ring before a hand darted out from the lump huddled beneath the mass of blankets beside it to swat it across the room. Oddly enough though, the clock turned completely silent while its attacker began moaning, groaning, and writhing around under its blankets piteously. Then, the blankets hatched into a human! Well, human head at least, covered in a tangled mess of red hair over a pair of amethyst eyes still dull with the last dredges of sleep.

It took a while before Ethereal managed to extricate himself from the cocoon of blankets he'd wrapped himself in the night prior. Afterwards, he stood up and arched his back in a long stretch and yawn, bare torso almost leaning back far enough to hit the bed again. Then he straightened up, scratched at his leg over the pair of dark blue flannel pajama pants he was wearing, and began making his way into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. Even with his posture slouched, feet dragging, and hair a mess, Ether was a decently attractive young man. Hell, some would have even called him the model of a bishounen boy, were it not for the fact that his entire chest, back, and shoulders were marked with the weaving thorned vines of his tattoo. Well, that and the incredibly unfriendly way he greeted the morning. Being woken up was one of the things he hated most in life, afterall.

After setting the coffee maker, Ethereal turned his attention toward the shower and began to trudge off to start his day in earnest. His home was a modest two-bedroom apartment, close enough to the school and dorms to be convenient, yet far enough away to maintain some space. He knew full well that paying for an apartment was completely unnecessary, since there were open dorm rooms, but with how anti-social a person he usually was, Ether couldn't even begin to imagine life with so many students hanging around. And he was satisfied with his place, sparsely decorated as it was. The kitchen in particular was very spartan. There was only the necessary set of refrigerator, stove and microwave (No dish washer), and a single additional appliance; the aforementioned coffee maker. Absolutely nothing else was sitting out on the counter, and only a tea kettle adorned the stove.

The living room was little different, though its simplicity was far more luxurious. A large black faux leather sofa sat facing a likewise large black flat screen television. There was a small side table by the sofa sporting a small lamp, but other than the curtains over the sliding glass door leading to the patio, the room was empty. His bedroom was slightly better, as it contained his queen size bed, two nightstands on either side, and a large armoir on the wall across from the foot of his bed. The armoir was, as expected, filled with clothes, while the nightstands contained any other miscellaneous item for the house, namely chargers to old phones and laptops. On that note, all electronics other than the TV were in the second bedroom, which Ether had converted into a study. This room was the most plain of all, sporting only a single glass-top desk, rolling chair, and a work lamp for the entire room. Books and papers were stacked neatly in a corner, though they seemed to be begging for a bookcase or something.

Ethereal, once he got going, was rather quick to get ready in the morning, so in the time it would have taken someone to study his house, he would already have been out the door. And was, for that matter. After making sure he'd put on his usual outfit, fastened his necklace around his neck, and pocketed his keys, wallet and phone, he'd quickly begun setting off for school. It was still a little early, but Ether preferred to get there before the rush of students trying to squeeze by just in time.

He was only a short ten minute walk from the school, so Ether began absently strolling down the decently busy street on auto-pilot. Which meant that he was avoiding any and all contact with any other person on the road, walking on the extreme side most of the time. The one thing he hated more than being woken up was being touched, even by accident. He could vaguely remember a time when there had been exceptions to that rule, but those times were long gone now. So off he went, giving everyone a comfortably wide berth while munching on a piece of buttered toast, amethyst gaze set intently ahead.

[MAXINE FISHER!]

Whispers became echo's in the cavern of her mind, resonating around the cell her complex brain had made for her. Max was trapped in the prison of her own nightmare, fear latching her to the spot.
She waited. And waited.
The images came and went, shattering the ground she stood on into tiny little shards of glass that pierced her skin and... she was falling. Screaming too, or, at least, attempting to; her voice was caught on an invisible wind and dragged away from her. Every night, the same thing, relived over and over again.
Why would no one help?
She was falling.
Falling with no one to catch her...

As expected, Max woke up on the floor, entangled in her bedsheets. She lay there for a moment, clear blue eyes open wide in both shock and terror. The last few tendrils of sleep were still clasped wearily over her, but she brushed them off with a curse and a shake, clambering back to her feet. Why was it always that memory in particular she dreamed about? It didn't exactly pose any significance to her, and it had been so many years ago...
Swearing loudly once more, she brushed down her panda-print pajamas, wiped the sleep from her eyes and trudged off into the kitchen.
The Fisher house was silent, another thing that was to be expected. Mr. Fisher (Or Dad as Max addressed him) was probably at work right now, doing whatever the hell you do when you're a financial adviser. Not that Max cared of course, as long as she had a house to herself she was cool. Of course, the morning luxury of having your own personal space was nearly nonexistent in the Shibusen girls dorms, and in truth Max only went there when she needed some gossip to make herself feel better about her own life. 'Cos she was like that.
Didn't really give a crap about others.

Max was never one to rush, not even when she was painfully late for class. She went through all her daily routines slowly and carefully, counting each brush of her teeth and making sure the central heating was set at exactly 15 °C.
Some would say all this effort was boring and pointless, but to Max it was the exact opposite. She found these little things could at least add some excitement into her day to day life, even if it was on a minuscule scale.
But there were the big things too.
Shibusen.
The organized weapon fights.
The friends.
But it was never enough.

After all, a fight is not a fight when it has rules, it's simply a game. And games, well, they're for stupid little kids with nothing better to do.
Alas, that was the best adrenaline kick Max could get out of attending the DWMA.
No missions.
No partner.
Just her.

By the time Max was ready, the sun was already high in the sky, laughing away like nobody's business. She sneered as she stepped outside, shielding her eyes from it's warm rays. She hated that sun, it creeped the hell out of her. Most of the time, however, she was too busy sleeping to notice, yet another thing Max was famed for. She could be extremely lazy when the mood took her, and the mood took her all to often.
Inhaling a giant lungful of air, she placed her hands readily on her hips and looked left and right across the neighborhood she lived in. Ah, what a glorious day!
Putting her nightmare aside, Max slapped a big grin on her face and repositioned her trademark hat. Yup, today was going to be awesome! But... there was still something she had to do first.

'Cos that crave for adrenaline... well, it can be worse then a want for drugs. And when that need builds up... boom. You can lose your head.
So, Max had a simply way of dealing with that crave for chaos - theft. Nothing too extreme, but it still gave her the kick she needed so as to not go insane.

Jogging back inside to fetch her school bag, she flung it over her back, checked her necklace was securely around her neck and then locked the door. Sighing contentedly, she looked back up at the sky again and then started off down the street into Death City Central, the main route she took to school.

Oh Shibusen, so glorious in itself, with it's turrets that rise into the blue abyss above and the air of excitement it held, what better place was there for Max to be? Life was truly purposeful now, even if she didn't get into the battles she wanted. Whistling happily, she weaved in and out of passers by as if it was any other day, nodding to the few she met in the eye.

It was about this time she first saw him, and it made her stop in her tracks. Ooh.
The hunter had found it's prey.
He was handsome, she had to admit, but, like herself, she sensed he was a bit of a mystery. A loner, even. Guy's his age would be heading to school with their friends, but he wasn't. An easy target for the likes of her.
It never struck her in that moment of blind joy that she wasn't with her friends either.

She began with the jog, the first part in the elaborate play that is theft. Max made herself flustered and clumsy, bumping into several people as she slowly encroached. They swore at her, but she ignored them. The target had her full attention.
God, already she could smell the leather of his wallet, feel her heart in her chest... it was wonderful.
And from there on in it played out like a dream, mystical and silent.
Her hand was a blur as she shoved into the crimson haired young man, and for a split second she met those amethyst eyes. There was a spark. A faint tugging at her soul.
She growled, clutching the wallet tightly to her chest as she broke out into a sprint. Man was he stupid! Keeping his wallet in his back pocket! She snorted. Men and their wallets, eh? So easy to steal.
She grinned evilly as she darted in and out of the crowd, waiting for the shout, the yell, the chase....

But that spark still lingered at the back of her mind. Had that been--
No. It was nothing.
Another false trail.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.

[ETHEREAL!]

Ether's eyes turned upward to gaze lazily at the clouds, hands moving upwards to rest behind his head. What a pretty day... was his first thought before they turned to whether or not he felt like skipping school, or at least showing up late. Between the laughing sun and the lazy wisps of clouds, today was a perfect day to spend at a park lounging around. If only I'd brought my MP3 player... And that was that. With no music, he had no reason to go off on a relaxation day. He didn't seem to give the fact that he could just go back for it any consideration.

Turn around. A slight commotion and the steadily approaching chorus of insults caught his attention, though in the din of a busy morning street he scarcely gave it any mind, despite how his instincts demanded he give it his attention. Run. He brushed those thoughts aside with a quick shake of his head. Nothing but ill-gotten instincts from a game he'd long since given up. But even though it had been quite some time since he'd last gone on a theft, his body's natural urge to react hadn't lessened in the slightest.

Then it hit him. Literally, in fact. He was shoved from behind, sending him staggering forward slightly. The place where contact had been made was overcome by an uneasy sensation, nerves causing him to feel something akin to having bugs crawling beneath his skin. It didn't hurt, but it was nowhere near comfortable. His mind was so wrapped in its dislike of being touched that his body now reacted negatively as well. His head spun to let his eyes bore into the blue gaze that was, curiously enough, set on him as well. His lips curled down into an instant grimace at the contact.

There was one thing though. One thing that made this touch a bit... different. For a brief moment there, it had felt as though his soul had 'stopped beating', much like a heart would. Just a little jolt...

But then it was gone, the sensation left to linger in the back of his mind. Ether stopped walking, a shiver running down his spine. Then a sudden sense of wrongness hit him. The uncomfortable tingling had reached his hip, down to the top of his leg. It was only a light brush, but... something was wrong about it. That touch stood out from the rest.

He wasted several precious seconds realizing that it wasn't the touch that was bothering him, but the sudden lack of it from his pocket. "Son of a bitch..." He groaned before tearing off after the blur of orange that was flickering between the crowd ahead.
His progress was constantly being impeded by the throng of walkers between him and her, and the thief had the advantage of no aversion to touching people. While Ether was ready to forgive the occasional bump of him hitting another person as he ran, he still mostly tried to keep from making contact with anyone. And the orange flickering was only getting further and further ahead.

A sudden stroke of intelligence caused the red-haired boy to cast his amethyst gaze upwards towards the rooftops to either side of the road. He was nearer to the left side, so up he went; taking one inhumanly high leap that certainly didn't fail to raise a rather impressive gasp from the crowd below before his feet touched gingerly down on the rooftops. While the footing was markedly more treacherous, he now had the advantage of not having to weave through the crowd anymore. Better yet, spotting the only other person in the crowd that was running, and in such a bright outfit no less, was a simple task. It wasn't long before he was sprinting and leaping after her once again, remarking bitterly "So this is what it feels like to be on the other side of things..."

[MAXINE FISHER!]

There was no stopping the raucous whoop that tore from Max's lips; she was lost in a plain of adrenaline induced bliss and wonder.
Her heart pounded crazily in her ribcage while her lungs struggled for breath, but no pain in the world could stop her from increasing her speed. The chase was on, the tables had turned. There was no time to be slow. The hunter was now being hunted.
Many tried to catch her, to help the crimson-haired youth, a few even grabbed onto her arms, but none of them were quick enough to stop her. She darted down Death City's main streets, but as she continued the crowed began to thin out. Not good, she needed some cover.
Taking a sharp left, she managed to catch a glimpse of the crimson-haired man as she rounded the corner.
Oh shit.
Eyes wide in surprise, she urged her legs onwards till her footsteps rained down on the cobblestone pavement.
Man! He was fast! She had certainly not expected him to take to the rooftops, how had he even gotten up there anyway? From the ground to the top of the buildings...that was like a ten meter jump.
Growling, she cast one last glare at her opponent before taking her own running jump. For a moment her speed increased to something almost inhuman before she too leaped onto the rooftops in one rather sizable jump considering her small stature. Hearing several gasps from the now nearly nonexistent crowd, Max cast her blue eyes left to be met with those of the crimson-haired boy. She hid her shock well though, not flinching under his strong gaze. Instead, she laughed and stuck out her tongue at him before leaping down into the streets opposite. God this was fun!

Alas, fun aside, she now had positively no idea where she was, as her little route had lead her deep into the back roads of Death City, which was not a good place to be. She was trapped, a mouse in a maze. Swearing loudly, she took all the cash from the wallet before discarding it on the ground. She didn't mind much though, he looked pretty wealthy, she was positive he could make up for the money she'd taken.
Even so, she didn't stop running. Revenge was like that, never stopped chasing you.
Taking one turn after another, Max tried not to panic. She couldn't even see Shibusen, the houses were so tall compared to her tiny form....

Her breathing became ragged and painful, and before long she took her first ever wrong turn.
In all her life, she'd never come across a dead end. She'd never lost.
Not ever.

Jaw slack, she ran up to the brick wall and pounded on it as if it would suddenly cave in to her blows.
"No, no, no! Shit!" she cried, but Max already knew it was too late.
She was fast, but so was he.
She'd lost.
For the first time in her life, she'd lost the chase. A headache pounded behind her eyes, but she wasn't going to go down just yet. She might be trapped up against a wall not even she could jump, but there was still a shard of hope in her heart.
And while it was certainly a big blow to her ego, but even now she knew she wasn't going down without a fight.

Correcting her hat, she balled her hands into fists and turned to face the youth.

She had a smile on her face.

[ETHEREAL!]

Leaping from roof to roof was much harder than cartoon characters made it seem. More than once Ether slipped on a shingle, sending it skittering across the roof while he fought to maintain balance while keeping up his pace. These constant annoyances were the only thing keeping him from overtaking her completely, and since he found that it was much easier to get from place to place if he wasn't trying to fly forward at full speed, the red-haired boy contented himself with merely following her. The chase wasn't quite as amusing for him as he suspected it was for her, since at one point he could have sworn he heard her let out a cry of joy... but that could just as easily have been a figment of his imagination. It was hard to hear anything over the clatter of his feet.

He was quite pleased to see that people were trying to grab the girl, regardless of how she always managed to slip away anyway. It even managed to bring an elusive grin to his lips, which persisted as he continued to give chase. Even as the crowd thinned out, at which point he was certain she'd break into a faster sprint and try to outrun him, a slight smirk persisted. This was actually... kind of exhilarating. He'd forgotten how much fun this could be, despite how he was on the chasing end. He was so caught up in the emotion that for a moment he failed to notice her increasing speed until she suddenly launched herself up to the rooftops with him. He slowed his pace to more of a light jog as she turned to face him, expression once again clouding over by a mask of calm pierced by a hard stare. He hadn't been expecting the thief to be another meister. Or... maybe it was a weapon.

Then... she stuck her tongue out at him and started running once more. That brought a slight chuckle from him, causing him to pause just long enough for her leap off the roof to give her a slight head start against him. But before long he was after her again, bounding the distance between where he was and where she'd been in a matter of moments, landing just in time to see her discard something on the road. She wasn't the only one getting tired, and though his less strenuous pace had made it a good deal easier on him, he wasn't particularly well known for his endurance.

But regardless of fatigue, he fully intended to continue the chase until his legs couldn't carry him. He was having far too much fun. He was curious about the discarded item though, enough to cause him to forsake the advantage he'd received from the rooftop in order to pounce on the place it had landed with pinpoint accuracy. He'd actually been expecting to find a taunting note or something, but when the smooth feel of worn leather reached his hands, Ethereal suddenly remembered with crisp clarity why he'd begun chasing her in the first place. All traces of amusement dropped from his face, replaced by a cold stare in the direction of the girl, who looked to be just about to round a corner.

Ethereal's new-found burst of anger was enough to give him the extra energy he needed to break into a flat out sprint after her. He wasn't really gaining on her though; it seemed that every time he rounded a corner, he was only just barely able to do the same further ahead. Even so, he kept chasing, despite already having regained what was taken (or most of it, though he didn't know that some was missing).

Then, fortune decided to smile on him. Dismayed yelling around the next corner was more than enough to let him know what scene would likely be ahead. Surely enough, when he sprinted into the alley, there she was, pounding away at a wall obstructing her path. His running slowed into a casual walk, hands shoved into his pockets (partially just to put the wallet back where it belonged).

"It's over." His voice was cold as ice, the utter lack of any other tone coupled with the intensity of his hard stare likely might have caused someone of weaker will to give up right there. Honestly, Ether had no clue why he was confronting her. He had already gotten back what had been taken from him, but... still, he wasn't quite satisfied for some reason. His mind briefly returned to the odd sensation he'd felt back when she'd run into him...

But his thoughts were soon swatted away as the girl did something rather unexpected. She turned around and balled her fists. And... smiled. Ether was 90% sure what this meant, but he chose to hang back and watch anyway. His walking stopped, the boy merely facing her head on with his hands in his pockets, posture relaxed. His eyes were the only thing that betrayed his caution and awareness, the two oddly-colored pieces of amethyst trained unwaveringly on her, brow furrowed. Silent.

[MAXINE FISHER!]

Now that he was here, standing in front of her, the air could have come alive with the energy and excitement Max was feeling. This was it, the last act in her elaborate play. She either won the audience over, or lost them completely. It all depended on how she played her cards.

She needed to get a better look at him, but her eyes hesitated, daring her to look into the amethyst ones of the figure opposite. Alas, curiosity got the better of her and she met his steely gaze full on.
A shiver ran up her spine, the icy tendrils of fear wrapping around her body. There it was again.
That spark, that tingling of her skin.
A buzzing sensation in her mind jolted into life, and she started without meaning to. What the hell was that...?
Shaking her head slightly, she rolled her shoulders and told herself to get a grip.
There was no time to think about the peculiar sensation; she needed to focus on him.
After all, this was going to be interesting.

Slowly and deliberately, she put her hands in the pockets of her dungarees, mimicking what the crimson-haired youth had done. She paused for a moment, thinking about what to do next. She could either run for it, surrender (Yeah, right) or... taunt him a little. Max smiled at the stranger once more.
She preferred the latter.

Gaze never straying from the young man, she made no comment on his remark, which was hard because, Max being Max, she could have come up with a thousand smart comebacks to snap back at him.
No, instead, she withdrew from her left pocket the wad of cash she'd taken from his wallet and waved it in the air. Of course, Max knew full well this was no longer about the money. In fact, it had never been about the cash prize in the first place. Max was from a decent enough background, if she wanted twenty dollars she could have blackmailed her Dad into giving her some.
In fact, the whole reason Max was a thief in the first place was simple - it was fun.

The ten dollar bills in her hand might have been meaningless to her, but the adrenaline that pumped through her veins told a different story. Things were starting to pick up a notch, never mind the chase here.
She might be trapped, but she certainly wasn't stuck.
This was only the first act.

Extending her hand tauntingly in front of her before taking a step forward and abruptly stopping.
That was as close as she dared go.
After all, she might be fast, but he was a well built young man.
Max could only hope he would hesitate before attacking a minor; unless ,of course, he was of the cold hearted variety. She shuddered involuntary. The way he spoke... she wouldn't have been surprised if he was.
Nervousness suddenly gnawing at her chest, the knuckles of the hand that still rested in her pocket become jagged and pointed as she utilized Partial Transformation.
Better to be safe than sorry.

Max shuffled ever so closer, arm still extend, mouth still silent. Her eyes had never wandered from his, and now that she was so close she got a better look at him.
He was decidedly taller than her, so much so that she had to crane her neck ever so slightly to look him fully in the eye. However, this was not what deterred her. It was the general aura of power that he emitted that made her hesitant to approach him further.

The grin was back, stretching across her angelic face.
She waved the cash once more.
"Looking for this?", she said suddenly, her tone not shy of mocking.

[ETHEREAL!]

The tension in the air was so thick he felt like he could raise his hand out of his pocket and draw a visible smiley face in the air if he wanted. Ethereal didn't though. Something far more interesting than drawing smiley faces was presenting itself. He, like her, was growing increasingly more interested in getting a better look at the other. The only reason he didn't move was the simple logic that animals backed into a corner were far more dangerous than those on open ground, since they then had nothing left to lose. Ether didn't see this girl as an animal, but that same principal could usually be applied to humans. He'd made up his mind to let her be the one to move for now.

Fortunately for his curiosity, she did move. And she even decided to go towards him, rather than try to leap upward between the walls on either side of the alley, something he knew many meisters would have tried. But... there was just blue. A lot of blue when her eyes met his. His gaze didn't soften though, even when his soul was hit with that same odd sizzling. It only lasted for a moment, but if the way the formerly straight line of his lips changed into a slight grimace was any indication, he most certainly felt it.

What in the name of Death was that...? His first impression was that it was some sort of long-range Soul Purge ability, but... was it? Without a way to tell, and with the girl slowly approaching, Ethereal suddenly felt a strong urge to shift stances into something a little less... relaxed.

He nearly launched into an attack when the girl held out her hand, though he didn't outwardly show it. When he saw she was doing nothing more than presenting the small amount of money she'd taken from his wallet, he couldn't help but berate himself mentally for his jumpiness. He didn't react to it, except for when he'd momentarily let his gaze leave hers to glance at the wad of cash. It wasn't until she voiced her taunt that he reacted at all.

"Not particularly." He answered in the same cold tone as before, though it didn't seem quite as hostile. He was beyond trying to scare her into submission. His posture did change substantially though. His left foot slid towards her, placing his body sideways with the corresponding arm raised in what was likely intended to be an open-handed guard. That wasn't the part that hinted at an attack though; the way his right hand was poised by his waist, again with an open palm, was what was going to be used to strike against her if she decided the time for taunts was over. It was quite obvious that he didn't have a simple palm strike in mind either, not if the way his hand occasionally danced with sparks of soul wavelength was any indication. Soul Purge.

"You're free to keep it, if it's that important," was the next, and decisively more mellow, thing he said. But... attack me with whatever extension of your wavelength your using again, and this pleasant chat want be quite so pleasant anymore." Ether was a decently arrogant fellow. even though he didn't particularly want to hit a girl, he was convinced that he'd win if it came to blows. A consideration toward loss never even entered his mind. His body lowered itself into a bit of a crouch, leaning forward slightly, the tension causing him to look like a tightly wound spring looking for any reason to uncoil.

[MAXINE FISHER!]

There was a silence in which Max's smile faltered, and for a split second her face betrayed her emotions. Her grin contorted into a frown, her brow playing it's part in making her face look like the very picture of rage. Her blue eyes flashed threateningly, and for a moment Max had difficultly refraining herself from lashing out.
But then, all too soon, the look of utter detest gone, replaced with her normal cheery grin. Yet... there was something else in those eyes, something that made her take a step back from the young man. She was wary, no longer carrying the bold demeanor she had been previously.
It seemed she was taking this all a little too seriously.
"Calm down Max," she thought to herself in a vain attempt to sooth herself, It's nothing to get worked up over...".
But even so, she couldn't help but feel a little pissed that he wasn't playing along with her. I mean, where was the fun in that?

Sniffing, she corrected herself and stashed the money back away into her pocket. "Whatever," she sighed, taking her gaze away from the man for the first time.
Hmph. Well, if he wasn't going to play the game the way she wanted him to, than neither was she. Kicking a pebble that lay by her feet, she watched as it scooted down the alleyway before landing with a clang amongst the rubbish bins, a frown etched on her face.
It never really occurred to her that the way she was acting was a lot like how a stroppy child would act when they didn't get what the wanted.

Her blue eyes slowly trained in on the crimson-haired youth once again, and what she saw made her heart jump. He was taking on a defensive stance, and because no partial transformation had been used, she could only presume he was a meister. Oh, thank Death! She'd ran into a meister! Well then, this changed everything. A grin spread across her face, eyes wide in both anticipation had excitement. This was it, there was no backing out from the inevitable fight that was about to take place. Not for Max, anyway.

Withdrawing her fists from her pockets, the metal bars of knuckle dusters instantly wrapped themselves around her hands as she got in gear, taking up a stance of her own; both fists out in front of her, knees bent, head bowed. In all seriousness, she looked as if she was about to go in for a boxing might.

But then it happened again, for the second time that day. Her smile wavered on the brink of a frown. "What the hell are you talking about?", she snapped at him, blue eyes darting to meet his, "It's you doing that! So whatever it is, stop it!". Her voice had naturally become annoyed and frustrated - why couldn't they just get on with the fight? That feeling had nothing to do this. Nothing did. Not even the money mattered anymore, the reason for this was simple; for him this was about the indignity of getting robbed (Or so she presumed) and for her... well, for Max this was just another way for her to get a legal high.

"By the way, I'm Max," she added.
Might as well introduce herself before she beat the shit out of him.

[ETHEREAL!]

Ether stared curiously at the girl as her attitude went through a montage of changes, going from furious to grinning, then to a bit of poutiness, and then finally to excitement. The clang of the pebble against the trash can was enough to draw his eyes wearily toward the noise, then return back to her a moment later. Unlike the girl, who had constantly been letting her guard down, Ether had absolutely no intent to leave an opening now. Especially after she withdrew her hands from her pockets.

Weapon. That much was obvious now. He'd made it quite clear that he was a Meister, so the fact that she seemed so excited about the fight now that she'd shown her partial transformation. That transformation though... it didn't seem quite strong enough to make her autonomous, unless there was more to it than the jagged, bladed knuckles that were presented to him. It was certainly something to be weary of, but he hardly counted it as being more dangerous than being hit with a Soul Purge. His comparison placed the abilities they displayed at about an even state. Repeated blows from her fists could be fatal, as could repeated blows from Soul Purge.

Her posture made it clear that he was going to have to work for his hits. A boxing stance seemed quite appropriate for the transformation she'd revealed, while he was going to be utilizing a very rough form of Aikido. On top of that, she was small and quick, if what he'd seen up to this point was any indication. His advantage in speed and acrobatics usually won him the day, but this time he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be presented with someone of similar skill.

That train of thought ended as soon as she snapped back at his accusation angrily. His eyes widened a bit, calm of his face replaced by a slight degree of surprise. Then he went white. White as a sheet, in fact. The only color on his face were his low hanging crimson bangs and the purple of his eyes. Suddenly, when faced with the knowledge that the girl was a weapon, Ether seemed to realize what had likely happened to his soul. Especially if she had felt it too, and hadn't done it herself... There was always the chance she was lying, but she seemed too wrapped up in emotion for that.

How does it feel when two souls resonate? Ether didn't have the answer to that question. He'd never asked anyone about it. No one had ever mentioned it while he was within earshot. But somehow he expected that two souls that could match wavelengths would know somehow. And he'd always thought that that somehow would be be remarkably similar to what he'd just experienced. His face regained his color, a grimace dominating his features. "An unclaimed weapon meets a weaponless meister." He was musing aloud at this point. "They touch. Their wavelengths match. What would happen...?" That she had no meister was merely an assumption on his part. Hell, pretty much all his thoughts on the matter up to this point were merely assumptions.

Curiosity filled him now. Even more so when she introduced herself. "Ethereal," he replied, casually introducing himself. His gaze softened a little, face filled with what seemed like a cross between disappointment and resignation. At this point, he didn't want to fight her. On his list of people he really didn't want to touch, she was at the top. It was nothing against her; on the contrary, this girl was rather amusing. But... he didn't want to feel that jolt again. Ten seconds ago, nothing would have pleased him more than trading blows. Hell, he still wouldn't mind it if he could manage making it so they only touched when a blow was being delivered. But with how unlikely that seemed, he quickly decided it was time to leave. He didn't really know where he was, but it was fairly obvious where he needed to go. The school was at the very peak of the city, so if he kept going up he'd eventually have to get there.

With that, he dropped his stance and spun around, placing his hands back in his pockets. "Keep the money. We'll forget this ever happened." His jacket flowed out behind him as he began his retreat, a casual walk towards the entrance of the alley. He'd have to make a stop at an ATM to pull out some more lunch money, but that wasn't a big deal. He was already going to be so late it didn't matter. Hell, stopping by at some restaurant for lunch on the way there didn't sound like such a bad idea.

[MAXINE FISHER!]

The silence continued, and Max registered a number of emotions on the Meister's face, surprise being the most noteworthy. A coy smile toyed at her lips as she watched him, her hands flexing in anticipation. Even the wind had stopped howling through Death City's streets, as if waiting in silence for what was to come next.
You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife; the tension was so strong it made Max shiver. Finally, an opponent she could brag about.
Even so... she still had to be wary. Meister's were always strong, and if he was as tough as he looked then she would be in a tight position. Those deep blue eyes watched his every move closely, noting he chose some sort of martial arts stance, the name of which escaped her. Her brain kicked itself into action, and her undiscovered talent for tactics soon went into play. She would go all out, using primarily punches to try and get through his defense. Max sensed he would try and block before going on the offensive so she'd ---
Wait, what did he just say?

The affect of his words was instantaneousness. Max's rosy red cheeks, once glowing with excitement, drained of all color until she was as white as a sheet, her wide blue eyes contrasting to the ghost-like hue of her skin. Impossible, and entirely irrelevant. The chances of two complete strangers, one Meister and one Weapon, and having their souls resonate... it just... didn't happen. Not to people like her anyway.
And suddenly her mind was flushed with memories of that exact same feeling, only different. The taste of failure hung at the back of her mind as she thought about the months gone by, and how no one, no one at all had been compatible with her raucous soul wavelength. But now, after feeling the spark between this arcane stranger and herself, there was no doubt left in her mind.
He was the one

Max knew that Ethereal was talking, but his words sounded far away and muted, as if they were talking between two rooms. Not that it mattered, he was unimportant to her right now, she needed to focus on keeping her head straight. Incoherently, Max's arms dropped to her sides, the desire for battle wiped from her system. The knuckle dusters had gone, leaving her with only a strand of remorse. She had desperately wanted to fight him after all, but was now aware that was never going to happen. Not now anyway.

And then all of a sudden she was back, looking as surprised as she felt. The crimson-haired young man was nowhere to be seen, instead a faint cloud of dust was settling where he once stood.
Max blinked, dazed and scared. All of a sudden, she felt terribly alone, as if the warmth she'd been feeling previously had left her in the dank shade of the alleyway.
Death City exhaled, the cool breeze ruffling Max's loose blonde hair.
She shivered, and shook her head as if the whole experience had just been one awful nightmare.
Yet... this feeling was so terrible, so unearthly and alluring, that she couldn't help but chase after it.

"Hey, w-wait!," she said, the cry tearing from Max's lips before she even knew what she was doing, heart pumping in her chest as she caught up with the purple-eyed youth.

And then she made a mistake; she reached out her hand and grabbed him on the shoulder in an attempt to stop him. Now, under normal circumstances this would be fine, but in all her excitement Max had forgotten that these were not normal circumstances and that even the slightest contact between them previously had nearly fried her brains out.

The shock was short lived but immense, overpowering Max's entire being. Her skin tingled and burned while colors and forgotten memories flashed before her eyes, and through the haze of power that was suddenly surging into her body Max could feel the prickly hot sensation of tears forming behind her eyes.
But the thing was... the sudden connection of skin, the burst of energy that was flowing in her veins... it wasn't like the other times they'd touched. In fact, it felt pretty damned awesome, and if she hadn't known better she would have gotten drunk on all the crazy shit that was enveloping her.
And then, just like that it was gone; not even the buzzing at the back of her mind plagued her conscience anymore. It had left for good, leaving only a faint ringing in Max's ears.
Somehow, while the "spark" between the two had lit up, she'd fallen without noticing, knees splayed out to the sides of her, hands supporting her tiny frame.
A tear slid down her ivory colored skin before she briskly wiped it away.
This was no time to cry.

A sly little grin spread across her lips.
No, this was her time to shine.

[ETHEREAL!]

It would take more than just a cup of tea, the playing of music, and a sky filled with clouds to cause him to forget these events. Hell, something told him that even if today turned out to be absolutely perfect, this morning would still weigh heavily on his mind when all was done. But then, no one enjoyed it when their armor was stripped away. Ethereal especially hated knowing that he was, in any way, vulnerable. He thought that everything about him was as it was for a reason, and no outside interference should be allowed to change that. He wanted to change the world, not himself. To fight evil, be a superhero, be strong. Untouchable. He accepted life as a Meister because it enabled him to do just that; fight the corruption in the world, and change it for the better. But everybody wants to change the world. And nobody wants to change themselves.

So he'd left. Just spoken his cryptic thoughts, then left. He hadn't waited to see the girl's reaction. He didn't want to see it. He couldn't deny that there had been a spark, but if he didn't know for sure that she had felt it the same way, he could easily pretend that he was the only one. Just him, alone. As it should be. He actually found that he was pleased when there was no audible reaction from her, even as he spun around the corner and began walking down the street, pace picking up to a brisk walk. He had, for a moment, expected her to attack him from behind. Maybe she hadn't heard him, and saw his retreat as an insult... but nothing came. No attack, no nothing.

"Hey, w-wait!"

Time seemed to stop for a minute. In reality, it was only him that had stopped, his heart even skipping a beat in dread... and... relief? His mind screamed for him to start running, but his body screamed out in protest. The resulting conflict ended up causing him to just stand there in the middle of the road, hands in his pockets with an indecisive frown on his lips. He felt her soul approaching long before his ears were capable of hearing the footsteps. His eyes shut almost instinctively to let his mind picture for him the blonde girl that called herself Max sprinting up behind him, blue eyes trained on his back. However, his mind didn't prepare him for what was going to come next.

A shock as her soul seemed to collide with his, the resulting force greater than the last times they'd made contact. If instinct had been able to take over, he'd likely have automatically retaliated to an enemy Soul Purge attack. Hell, the only thing stopping him was how this shock was... different. More pleasant than a Soul Purge, or at least as pleasant as a jolt to the soul could be, and at that moment the cries of body and mind switched. His body, reacting to the touch of another person, screamed to pull away while his mind, caught up in the brief euphoria, demanded he stay. This time though, he didn't end up being wrapped with indecision. A third party intervened; his soul. And its authority was absolute. Ethereal wanted to run, but the spiritual tugging he felt to turn around and face the girl was a little too much for him to resist.

Turning was easier said than done though. Sheer force of will had kept him upright, and it was several seconds before he could even feel his legs. Though... when he did, looking over his shoulder at the young girl on the ground was the first thing he did. The second was to turn, as gracefully as he could manage with what little motion he was comfortable allowing. Then, finally, he took a knee in front of her, face blank as his amethyst gaze riveted itself to her own eyes.

But now he was at a loss for what to do. He couldn't think of anything to say; he was still far to conflicted about the situation to think of a proper thing to attempt saying. While a normal boy of his age would probably have embraced the young female before them, he was, by no means, a normal boy. But... action seemed like about the only answer to this one, so his hand rose from where it had been laying loosely by his side toward her head, then pausing inches above her hat. Was he seriously about to touch someone? I must be out of my goddamn mind. He sighed then, a long, drawn out exhaling of air before finally, with more than a bit of stiffness, he patted her head.

"... Um. Hi." His eyes averted themselves. Clearly he saw this as a highly awkward situation, though there wasn't a trace of a blush or anything similar on his cheeks. "Max, was it?" So much for running away. God, I'm such a weak-willed dumb-ass. For now though... he really didn't mind being a weak-willed dumb-ass.

[MAXINE FISHER!]

Unexpectedly, the smile faltered. The head bowed. The seriousness of the situation crashed down upon her.

She wanted to wake up, to know that the happenings of this morning had all been some horrific nightmare, and that this boy, this... Ethereal was just another figment of her imagination.
And then she could go back. Back to counting her brush strokes, back to her own bed, back to everything she knew was right.

No, that's not you want.

The voice came out of nowhere, tiny and pitiful in the chaos of her mind, yet it spoke to her so deeply that those morose blue eyes snapped wide open.
No, it wasn't what she wanted.
All her life, she'd searched for a reason to exist. For most of her childhood the only way she could possibly get the attention she craved was through stealing and bullying; even if the eventual outcome of that attention was anger. Max didn't mind. She'd do anything to get noticed. Anything to get some meaning in her life.
And the little things, the obsessive tasks she did on a daily bases, was her own vain attempt to try and put some own personal excitement in her life.
Suddenly, everything clicked, and the mask she'd worn all her life started to crumble.
The nightmares, the fears, the doubts... they were all washed away, instead replaced with this unexplainable feeling of... of happiness.

'Cause now she knew, there was no reason to be scared. She was Max. The unbeatable, the brilliant Maxine Fisher who didn't let crap like this get her down. Her grin grew as she felt the reassuring pat of Ethereal's hand on her head. Any other person, she'd freak out but... well... she was kind of starting to like him.
The tiny voice shard of hope in her head chuckled.
She'd found someone to catch her.

The grin grew and grew until it almost hurt her cheeks, but the sudden delight that was welling up in her chest was not expressed by her mouth, but by her eyes. Slowly, those deep blue orbs slid up from the ground and were met by the amethyst ones of Ethereal.
Her smile could only widen further, eyes shouting excitement and determination as she studied the concern (And slight embarrassment) on Ethereal's face.
"Yeah," she said, the normal mocking tone hinting at the edge of her voice, "It's nice to meet you".

High above them in the cloudless abyss, the sun looked down upon them and laughed.
By mere coincidence, the two had met.
Weapon and Meister.

[ETHEREAL!]

Ether's gaze returned to the girl slowly as she responded. His hand kept patting her head, the boy's brow quirking as his eyes continued rising past her face and up to where his hand was occasionally making contact with her hat. "Just so you know," he muttered, "I don't like touching people." With that said, he retracted his hand and returned his eyes to hers.

He'd accepted it, hadn't he...? That they'd be partners. It hadn't been spoken aloud, but it seemed to stand regardless. One of them would probably ask eventually, just to confirm it, but he didn't plan to be that person. Not directly, at least.
He briefly toyed with the possibility that this was all some ridiculous misunderstanding, that they were really both Meisters somehow. Maybe the jagged edges he'd seen on her knuckles had been real weapons instead of a partial transformation. But, honestly, that was absurd. He knew that just as soon as he thought it. It was just an amusing concept.

"Well..." he began, eyes drifting away again, though this time with a purpose. He was looking up the hill in the direction of the academy. "Looks like we're a little late for class, and I'm hungry." Ether stood up slowly, dusting his knees off as he rose. He was about to turn around, trying to act as casual as possible in a situation that was still confusing the bloody hell out of him when he was suddenly reminded that she was still on the ground. There was a moment's hesitation when he just looked at her somewhat awkwardly, then he extended his right hand slowly down to her, a clear offer to help the girl up. "I'll treat you. We'll need to stop by an ATM first though." It seemed like he'd already completely forgotten that she'd taken the money he had set aside for meals.

Honestly, that entire ordeal seemed rather trivial now. His previous anger toward her was replaced by... well, he wasn't actually sure how he felt, honestly. The only thing right now we was decently certain of was that what had happened this morning, up to the point where she'd chased after him out of that alley, was utterly meaningless by comparison. Nevertheless, his expression was kept carefully guarded, blank and devoid of as much as he could hide. For all anyone else would know, unless they happened to be particularly good at reading his face (or even soul) would have had a hard time guessing whether he was pleased, angry, or was simply the calm he looked to be. Ethereal had an amazing poker face. Only his eyes displayed the glints of curiosity, confusion and interest that plagued the mind beneath. "And... I think we probably need to talk a bit."

[MAXINE FISHER!]

She shook her head when the hand was withdrawn, the loss of his palm leaving only a peculiar tingling on her skull. Inwardly shivering at the sensation, she swept her hat from it's allocated spot atop her crown and ran a hand through her sweaty blond hair.
"Yeah, well, me neither," she replied, offering him a somewhat crooked grin from her awkward position on the ground.

They were both thinking the same thing, but no words were spoken to confirm this fact. And even though it stood boldly out in front of them, it seemed the two chose to ignore it. For now.
Maybe Max would pluck up the courage to ask. Maybe she wouldn't. All she could rely on was her steel-like nerves, but even so, after this experience... they were a bit worse for wear.

There was a moment of awkward silence that seemed to last on for a lot longer then it really had, and for a few seconds Max thought with a jolt that Ether was leaving her there, a thought which, for some reason, disturbed her greatly. Her fears, however, were soon put to rest when the amethyst-eyed figure turned to her and offered a pale hand up.
Grinning, she thrust her hand into his - pulling herself up with as much force as she could muster, the gratitude showing on her face. Brushing her bruised and scraped knees down, the young girl stretched before placing her hat back on.
For some reason, Max did not share Ethereal's hidden fear; instead excitement and general optimism pounded through her chest. But why was that?
Under Ether's smooth, regal features all she could sense was hesitance and confusion, but the young man hid his emotions well (unlike Max) and the had a hard time figuring him out completely.
Perhaps that wasn't hesitation, maybe it was an undiscovered shyness that he possessed? Hmm. The two of them seemed to be opposite in every way.
So how come this had happened?
These questions and more flew through Max's head like birds, but she pushed them aside and focused her attention in the figure in front of her.

She sighed, and for a brief second her eye's focused in on the turrets of Shibusen that could be seen in the distance. Oh well, it wasn't too much of a big deal. Wasn't like she hadn't been late before. "Alright, but there's no need to go to an ATM," she smirked, withdrawing the money from her pocket, "This one can be on me."

Suddenly, the smirk vanished, replaced by something that could only be described as embarrassment, something which was quite unlike her. She did not speak but simply nodded at him, stowing away the cash in the pockets of her dungarees.

[ETHEREAL!]

Ethereal nodded gratefully when she said she didn't like being touched either, a look of relief actually visibly washing over his face. The reason was simple; if she didn't like it either, then he wouldn't be subject to hugs, or worse yet, those running tackle things... what were they called? Oh, yeah. Glomps. Ether hated those almost as much as long hugs.

He hadn't been expecting the force she returned on his hand in response to his offer to help her up almost caused him to stagger a bit, front foot visibly and audibly sliding forward some. It had even caused a bit more expression to show on his face, since at that moment his full attention was on not falling onto her. He was pretty glad she didn't keep holding onto his hand, partially due to how he wanted to regain his composure a bit before continuing on. The conflicted expression hid itself away behind his blank mask again as he turned around to once more face up the hill leading to the academy, stowing his hands in the pockets of his pants.

The sound of the money being pulled from her pocket coupled with her reply caused him to, quite vividly, remember why he'd been chasing her in the first place once again. "This one can be on me." is what she had said, but... wasn't that his money she was offering to use? He sighed a bit in exasperation (secretly fighting a small grin)."I can't say I really care where we go," he began, casting a glance over his shoulder at the little blonde girl, "What about you?" Honestly, he was more interested about the talk they probably needed to have than what food would be on the plate. The weight of the situation was catching up more and more with each moment.

To banish thoughts of just walking away from her again from his mind, he turned his head back away from her as one of his hands rose from his pocket to run roughly through his hair before the boy shook his head several times and looked down at the ground for a few moments. Then he turned around and was just about to speak before he noticed the rather odd expression on her face. "Something wrong? He asked, quirking a brow as he asked the obvious, knowing that he could count at least a hundred things that were quite wrong right now. Guys like him could be a little bit sensative sometimes too, right? Even if his tone had only carried a little bit of emotion to show whether or not he actually cared. You'd have actually had to listen pretty well to hear it. "If you'd prefer, I can just walk you to school." Now that was something he really didn't want to do, even though it would let him take the easy way out without making an ass of himself.