It can't be late if you can't see stars. [OPEN]

[dinaah]

It had been a long day for Gabriel. The classes always start early. Since he was late, he had to jump out of his bed and dress himself with such hurry, no wonder his hair looked even messier than before. His roommates were still sleeping, or had already gone, he was on his own. And even if they were there, he hadn't talked to anyone yet, so he couldn't say he knew whomever he shared his room with.

Luckily, however, no one had touched the little rooster miniature he kept besides the window, or any of his belongings so far. Not that he was egoistic, he just tended to get a bit possessive, nothing to worry about. He knew he'd be mocked for his strange habits and quirks, and since he hasn't seen anyone particularly creepy, he'd better watch out.

Classes were boring, the morning dragged itself in a way he could swear it would never end. Some teachers were cool, yes, but some others were so ridiculous he'd puke. Still, he had met two students, who seemed interesting so far, but he'd have to wait and see. Just because they seemed nice, it didn't mean they were - villains were just great at lying and pretending.

Anyway, nothing lasts forever. Classes ended some time after lunch, or near the afternoon, the sky looked the same. Actually, it seemed so early, he started to wander around school, a bit aimlessly even, until he ended at the track field. Gabriel knew, however, since he couldn't control his night vision, it was useless trying to guess the hours by the sun. The sun always looked the same, aside for a faint change from blue to orange and then green.

"Então, cá estamos..." (So, here we are...) He muttered, allowing himself to go back to Portuguese before some other student, prefect or teacher showed up. Well, it wasn't this late, at least the sky was still somewhat bright, a bit green, though. Besides, he could always run and hide before getting caught, his reflexes would work, right?

The young man threw himself on the grass, resting his hands above his face as he stretched his legs, his backpack lazily tossed at his side. He curled next to a tree after, frowning a bit at the fact that there weren't many students outside. Sure, his cell said it was something around 9pm, but he had until 11pm to go back to his dorm.

Come to think of it, the school was quite nice - back in Lisboa, he'd have to be back always before 10pm, not one minute after.

Sighing, Gabriel looked up, staring blankly at the sky at first before he let himself daydream, escape reality. Luckily, no one would bother with his presence and snap him out of his little trance.

[k]

It was rather late; by this time, she was usually already in her dorm and studying. But there was something about today that made her restless, at least even more than the usual. She simply couldn't sit still and read through her ever-growing pile of History reading assignments or work out the kinks in her Math proving problems. Worse than all of that, she couldn't even lie down in peace and dawdle around without twitching and wanting to go around and simply do stuff.

Mei decided that there was no use denying herself something which she seemed to want, so she went out of their room and headed for the track field for a quick jog to quiet herself.

She tied her hair in a ponytail as she walked towards the track field and then stretched her arms above her head. She shivered a little as the night breeze went past her. She could feel goosebumps on her skin. She wished that she'd taken a jacket or jersey with her, or that she'd worn those leg warmers; she'd thought that she wouldn't need any of those after jogging.

The sky was too bright for it to be that late, but appearances, apparently, were deceiving. It almost seemed as if it was just six in the evening. However, there were too few people out for it to be just six. Yes, it was a little weird to be walking around campus and not hearing a gaggle of students making some noise. That was one of the reasons why Mei preferred being inside her dorm. Sure, all of her dormmates did seem to be really... really quiet folk, but she could talk to them anytime she wanted.

When they weren't busy, that was.

There was hardly anyone around that she could talk to during nighttime.

She sighed. She spotted the track field. As expected, it was empty. Some company would have been nice though. She made her way towards the grass where she'd stretched some more. No good pulling a muscle over something that was supposed to just stop her from being so restless.

It was while she was stretching when she'd spotted a figure lying on the grass not too far away from her. They appeared to be... Oh, but what an odd place to take a nap in! Wouldn't they get a cold after staying out so long?

[dinaah]

Gabriel snapped his eyes open as soon as he sensed something. It seemed weird at first, that he knew someone was watching him even though he couldn't see it, but he was so used to his reflexes, he didn't care. First, he looked up at the sky, yawned and stretched his arms - it certainly wasn't a teacher, couldn't be - until he heard a crack.

He slowly stood up, shaking his head and trying his best not to look weird as he tugged his bag closer with his feet, looking around. No one nearby, save for a small girl with Asian features that he could see clearly, hair tied into a ponytail with a single curl popping out. He frowned and stared at her, studying her features and wondering what was she doing there, staring at him... It was so late, it didn't make much sense that she was going to start running now.

Or maybe it was him who was laying down in the wrong place to begin with. He wasn't even wearing the uniform for P.E., obviously. But, still, classes had ended a long time ago.

She didn't say a word, and neither did him as he stared at her, his green eyes flashing out like those of a cat - his pupils had become so tiny, they were like dots. But he wouldn't know this, the physical effect of his power, the Night Vision. Still, he surely looked like a creature far more adapted to the darkness than a common human, with those eyes.

"Hey!!" He called out after a while, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "Who are you?!"

She would either run or answer, and quite frankly, he'd give her a lot more respect if she did the latter. Plus, he didn't know her powers, she looked defenseless, but she could be hiding something quite powerful under her sleeves. His sparring teacher always warned him that appearances could be deceiving, and he wouldn't be the one to ignore this warning. No way.

[k]

To think that she had just been asking for company a few minutes ago! Now she wouldn't have to feel all paranoid about walking around the school by her lonesome self.

"It's my lucky night," she murmured with a grin.

So he -- she'd assumed that that figure belong to a guy because of the voice -- wasn't sleeping at all unless he was the sort to sleep-stand. Perhaps stargazing? Mei looked at the sky and thought that it would be a little weird to stargaze when there were hardly any stars outside at all. She shifted her attention to him again. Not that she could exactly point fingers as to who was weird here; not a lot of people exactly went out a few hours before the dorm curfew kicked in just to take a jog.

When he'd asked for her name, she moved closer to him so that she wouldn't have to shout. "Mei," she said and she'd stopped half-running when she was near enough, "and you?" She waved at him.

She peered at him. He was rather tall, then again most people tended to be a bit taller than her. She looked at his eyes. There was something particularly odd about them that she couldn't quite put her finger on. What could possibly be differe--

His pupils looked so small. This was highlighted by the fact that his irises weren't darkly colored.

Still, she'd seen stranger things in this school. It was plausible that the size of his pupils had something to do with his power. A sight-based ability, huh? This would be the first time she'd ever come across one of them. She wondered exactly what kind of power he had and if it was sight-based, how did it work?

"It's awfully cold tonight," she added. "How long have you been out?"

[dinaah]

Gabriel raised both eyebrows at the question. Why did it matter how long he had been out? The Portuguese chuckled, before sighing and walking closer to the girl, until they were face to face, dragging his backpack along. "It's not so cold for me... oh, is it night already?" He seemed surprised, raising both eyebrows, "Then it must be awfully dark for you..." Unless, of course, she had Night Vision herself. Gabe was sure it was dark, couldn't be otherwise, but no matter what, he'd never see things that way.

"Oh, and.. I'm Gabriel!" he smiled softly, offering her a hand. "I don't think we've met, though..." He added simply, keeping the cordial smile. The girl seemed nice, if not a bit too curious, but he was like that himself... She was nothing like Vash, and much less like Aali, but still, maybe she was cool as them, he wouldn't try to guess.

He also wondered what powers she had... Better start talking, Gabe. "See, I'm a junior... My powers are Superhuman reflexes and Night Vision..." He smiled, his Lusitan accent adding a little charm to the English words. Gabriel liked to play the cordial type, towards everybody. As long as no one tried to hold him down, lock him, or test his nerves, he could fit the 'friend of all' role. Oh, yes, unless of course, you were a Turk.

Luckily, she didn't seem like danger to him. He blinked to come back to reality, and waited for her reply. Too bad he didn't have a coat to offer her, but she certainly wouldn't die...

[k]

"It's around nine now," replied Mei. "Surprisingly, it's not that dark. It feels pretty weird, actually."

Perhaps he was some sort of a human heater, she thought when he'd said it wasn't cold -- the coldness was probably the only factor that made her think that it really was late outside. A human heater, huh? Certainly a handy power and one she wouldn't mind having!

She had tried heating herself up, but, safe to say, that did not turn out well at all.

She shook his hand. Well, it wasn't any warmer than a normal person's hand. She returned his smile. It was a good thing she'd found someone who seemed friendly enough. "I don't suppose we have." Usually, she remembered the faces of the people she met. It helped that everyone, or almost everyone, in the campus looked so different -- yes, even the twins -- that it was hard to forget that she'd met them.

Superhuman Reflexes and Night Vision? "Those are pretty cool." She grinned. Well, the night vision probably explained why he wasn't all that aware that it was somewhat near curfew. Mei had no problem thinking that he was in the heroes group wit his Superhuman Reflexes.

"I'm, erm." Oh, what did they call those here again? "I'm in the year below you. My powers, I mean, power is biological manipulation." She flushed. Please please please let him not be one of those 'nothing escapes me' types. She really would not rather talk about that other power. Besides, what she used most of the time was bio manip anyway.

[dinaah]

A year below? Well, Gabriel had only met elder students so far, younger ones... it was a change of pace, no doubt. He nodded at her and grinned as she commented about his powers, cheeks going red. He was a proud man, but compliments worked wonders on him, no doubt. He felt like such a lady sometimes...

But her power wasn't bad. Biological manipulation was a strong power, and he wouldn't be surprised if she said she was a hero herself. Still, Mei seemed so tiny and fragile, maybe she was playing safe on the sidekicks' side. Sometimes, Gabe wanted to be there himself, it all seemed so easier, the grass was so greener on the other side.

He shook his head, blinking a bit before he noticed the girl was trembling. Funny, it wasn't so cold for him, just a chilly, normal wind... He blinked, offering her a tiny smile before he bent down, opening his backpack and scrambling with it, handing her a red and green pullover after.

"I hope you don't mind, mamãe sewed this one some time ago, it's kinda old, but it's warm anyway!" he hummed, almost chirping as he handed Mei the wool cardigan. Watching her for some seconds, he sat in the grass after, back to his previous spot again, back pressed against the tree. "Hey, sit down!" He hummed, looking up at the sky.

Sometimes, he wished he could see starts - there surely would be a dozen of them soon enough.