Do They Even Sell Cigarettes At School!? (Nesia)

[LARS ZUIDERDUIN]

Lars couldn't stop tapping his foot against the linoleum of the classroom floor. As if the sweat that was beading up on his forehead wasn't a signal enough that he was lacking his much needed nicotine fix, his lack of concentration and the headache that was beginning to form was only making matters worse. However, this wouldn't have been so bad, his little brother just left his shit alone. 

Nico had the annoying tendency of taking his cigarettes and hiding them around his dorm room in the weirdest places. it took Lars a good whole day to find them, and he ended up finding his (unusually empty) pack this morning before class, with no time to sneak one in. 

So now here he sat. Fidgeting restlessly in place, knowing full well that his whole unusually dramatic withdrawals were because the pack was so close yet so out of reach. It wasn't as though he could just pull the pack out of his pocket and just start smoking right in the middle of class! There were certain standards he had to uphold at the school, and getting in huge trouble for a box of cigarettes and being "under-aged" definitely wasn't one of those standards. Besides, he who would help Nico with sidekick things and boy things if he weren't there? He had a responsibility!

The very second the bell rang, Lars shot up from his seat, shoved his notebook into his bag, and darted out of the room.

He wasn't ready to waste time. He needed to get rid of these jitters quick. He hated being this way so much. He hated having to rely on a stupid white stick to get him through the day. It made him feel annoyingly dependent and almost childish in nature. He often tried to hide just how much he relied on the damn things, but he was pretty sure his friends and family knew. Many of them too, hated his ridiculous habit. 

But that wasn't important right now. What was important was getting somewhere out of view so that he could get rid of these stupid cravings and get back to normal.

And he knew just the place. 

Taking it upon himself, he easily hopped the fence into the training maze, and sliding into one of the more isolated dead ends, he slid slowly onto the dirt floor. As he lit up, he leaned his head backwards and let out a breath of air, before taking a deep huff of his cursed addiction.

As he started smoking, he could slowly feel relaxation working it's way through his body, despite the fact that he was sitting on the disgusting floor. 

That didn't even matter. He was in his own little world now.

[NESIA NOTONEGORO]

Just how the heck did she forget about that one math homework? That must be because she spent last weekend marathon-watching soap opera on her laptop. But it wasn't entirely her fault; one of her sisters back home informed her that she had started watching the next season while Nesia hadn't even started yet. So she did the marathon, just so she could talk about it the next time Nesia called her.

When one of her classmates asked her about said math homework, Nesia panicked. So she used the first two periods to do her homework secretly everytime the teacher was not looking at her. And to make matters worse, Nesia felt an urge to smoke halfway through the second period. It was incredibly annoying and made her want to snap at her younger classmates. Younger kids were so loud and plain bothersome sometimes.

The bell rang, freeing Nesia from the classroom. She ran back into her dorm, glad Emma wasn't there yet. Nesia hoped her roommate knew nothing about her habit; apparently one of her family members was also a smoker and she had been trying to make him quit. Nesia felt that wouldn't be good if Emma find out about her own habit, not to mention it'd also make her feel bad for keeping that secret from her.

She took her pack of cigarettes from underneath her clean clothes. There were only six left inside. Nesia only smoked about once or twice a month, but since exam week was coming up, she might needed another pack soon. Not that it was illegal for her to purchase it, but the school banned tobacco in the building. Oh well, she wouldn't have any problems purchasing tobacco next time she went to the town. But for the actual smoking... now that's a problem. She never smoked at the same place twice in a row, but lately other students occupied her hiding spot, so she got to find a new one.

And who would even think to hide inside a maze? Many students got lost during training session in the maze. No one would even bother to hide there.

With her bag swaying in one hand, Nesia ran into the maze. She lit her cigarette using her breath while taking a turn. Her mind was relaxed and paid no attention to her surrounding, making her froze in the spot when she saw that someone else was already there. Her first instinct was running away, but she dropped her bag and the papers - her homework - now scattered on the ground.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit--" she cursed, setting fire to the wrong end of the cigarette. Nesia swallowed it wholly, hopefully before the other person saw her smoking.

[LARS ZUIDERDUIN]

The quiet and solitude of the maze was quite relaxing to the Dutch boy. To be truthful, he couldn't honestly say that he used this maze all that often to hide away and smoke, but every once in a while it was a good place to hide away from everyone else. Especially when he wanted to smoke. 

But his quiet didn't last for very long. It was just like his luck to have someone tumble along out of the blue right into his secret spot, and right as he was about to open his mouth to say something, when a flurry of books and papers slid to the ground in front of him.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit--"

Lars shot upward to help the girl pick up her things, genuinely unsure as to why she was losing her mind so badly, however as he glanced up to steal a peek at the trespasser, she swallowed the cigarette that she had just lit, completely whole.

He could not react. He didn't know how. How does a person react to someone swallowing a lit cigarette!?

"A..Are you okay?" His voice came out barely a whisper, as he was still not quite sure what to say. Was she going to be okay? Lars did have healing powers, but how much affect would that have on a cigarette?! Would her body put out the cigarette? 

"If you're hurt I can heal you.. that is my power.." Lars rubbed his hand at the nape of his neck and tried his best to smile, but his level of astonishment was just too overbearing at the current moment. And this was coming from a guy who had a hard time being phased by other things.

[NESIA NOTONEGORO]

The cigarette was stuck in her throat. She crouched down, facing away from the blond student, to gather her scattered papers and pound her chest at the same time. The lingering taste of tobacco on her tongue was bitter and made her wanted to puke, but she held it. The heat from her stomach went upwards, and soon Nesia's throat was no longer blocked. She let out a long smoke that smelled like cigarette, then stood up with papers in hand.

The male student had picked up some of them, how nice. Nesia reached for them and ready to say her gratitude, but her attention was brought to his lips. He was smoking.

"If you're hurt I can heal you.. that is my power.."

She shook her head, denying his offer. "I'll be okay, but... you're smoking too?" she asked him, feeling disbelief. "If I know you're here for smoking, I wouldn't have wasted a cigarette." Nesia put her homework into her bag, then took out another cigarette. She held it in her hand, examining the features of the other's face from the corner of her eyes. Somehow he seemed to be familiar, yet she never knew his name.

Suddenly it dawned on her. How weird it looked like to him; a girl randomly swallowing a cigarette after dropping her papers to her ground. Nesia glanced to the side, apologizing, "I'm sorry about that, I was panicked..." Nesia let out an awkward laugh. "I thought you'd report me to the teacher," she added, letting the tip of her thumb heating up to lit her second cigarette.

[LARS ZUIDERDUIN]

"I'll be okay, but... you're smoking too? If I know you're here for smoking, I wouldn't have wasted a cigarette."

How on earth did she just come back from that as though it were nothing? Honestly, Lars was beyond confused. But it didn't matter. If she was telling him that she was fine, then he had nothing to worry about, right? He still couldn't get the idea out of his head that there was definitely something off about this girl.

"I'm sorry about that, I was panicked... I thought you'd report me to the teacher,"

Lars straightened up and listened to her with a raised eyebrow. It was bad enough that someone caught him smoking, but the fact that it was another smoker led to some annoyance on his part. It really wasn't okay for people to be smoking! What if she got lung poisoning or something? Okay, maybe he wasn't really worried about her getting sick, but what if she wanted to borrow his cigarettes? That wouldn't work at all!

Blowing out a puff of smoke, Lars simply shook his head at the girl.

"I won't report you. You'd better have another one left if you're planning on relighting." Lars didn't add the fact that he had a few to spare, and could share if she desperately needed to. He just was never much of a sharer when it came to things as pricey as his cigarettes. So she'd just have to suffer if she didn't have another one.

With that, the blond went and sat back down where he had been. He was definitely feeling a bit better by this point, even with the latest incident that had just occurred, that maybe even possibly scarred him permanently. But for now he would just forget about it, and relax. Although....

Lars glanced at the girl. 

It was a little rude for him to not introduce himself he supposed.

"I'm Lars and I'm a seventh year here. Nice to meet you." He left off the whole 'hero or sidekick' thing. He always did. Although based on what he had told the girl about his powers already, he was pretty sure she could make her own references as to what class he was in, "Who are you, again?"

[NESIA NOTONEGORO]

"I won't report you. You'd better have another one left if you're planning on relighting."

"No problem," Nesia mumbled her answer so she would not drop the cigarette between her lips. The girl clicked her fingers together, then put her thumb on the other end of the cigarette. Her thumb skin turned redder as smoke began to appear from the friction. She took a long drag, then exhaled it with a relaxed sigh. Nesia gripped her own thumb to cool it down; otherwise, it would leave burnt marks on everything she touched. "There," she politely smiled at the boy.

Nesia knew there were smokers in this school, but she never encountered anyone nor deliberately sought them out. One, because she didn't like people knowing this habit and Nesia preferred to keep it a secret. Two, because she could buy her own cigarette; she was eighteen years old. No need to ask someone else to buy it for her. If possible, Nesia only smoking outside the school grounds, but sometimes the need for nicotine supply couldn't be predicted, so she always kept a pack in her bag. The risk was she would get caught eventually.

But at least it was a fellow smoker. That way they could keep each other's secret stayed as secret.

Once her belongings returned safely into her bag, Nesia seated herself a bit away from the boy. She still hadn't figured out where she had seen him before.

"I'm Lars and I'm a seventh year here. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself. "Who are you, again?"

"Nice to meet you too, Lars," Nesia nodded at him. "I'm Nesia. Fifth year. Should've been seventh year if my power is easier to control," she added with a sigh. "Yours is healing, right? That's nice. Wish I could trade mine for yours." Healing power means she could help injured people and no longer worrying about accidentally triggering smoke alarm. Having such a destructive power was cool and allowed her to be included in Hero class, but it had its own downside as well. Including rumors among her younger classmates. Kids these days...