Celestial Cuisine [Private]

[Nova Starr]

Forty minutes ago, she entered the gymnasium with every intention of walking away as a paragon of peak physical fitness. Instead, she threw herself at and/or was thrown around by a majority of the exercise apparatus, and was finally bested by the dreaded pull-up bar. A bleak outcome, no matter which way one looked at the situation. The only silver lining? Sean, a smooth-talking gymnast, who offered to get her on the right track by showing her where to get started with her fitness journey. That, she wasn't looking forward to so much.

A date, food, and drinks, though? She could get behind that. Nova thought he kinda cute, if a little full-on, but that was probably a good thing. Being far too mellow herself sometimes, she gravitated toward the energetic kind, and first impressions told her that boy had oodles of pep oozing from him. Maybe he could teach her a thing or two about brightening up a little?

The Starr wondered as she went about getting ready, having picked out clothes, showered, and had just started getting her ready. Playing it safe, she wore her typical makeup, hazy pink eyeshadow, and a dark red lipstick in an attempt to draw attention away from her freckles. Her outfit was more a casual affair, chunky black boots and jeans with rips at the knees, and a loose black jumper with a star embroidered on the front and back, tucked into her jeans with sleeves rolled to the elbow.

By the time Nova started to walk from her dorm to the airships, she was... "Twenty minutes late?" She let out a quiet 'oops' and sped up a little, sending a quick message to Sean as she drew nearer to the docks.

Sorrysorrysorry!! close to the airships now - Nova, 6:08pm

[Sean McCabe]

Shit shit shit shit shit
Sean was LATE. As in he'd promised Nova he'd be there in twenty minutes, and it had now been forty minutes, late.

Having no time to waste and hoping that she wouldn't be too mad at him, he was burning through his Aura as he made his way toward the airship dock as fast as his Semblance could carry him - parkouring, tumbling, and sprinting his way along, he skidded to a stop at the dock before looking around to see that she wasn't there.

Damn.

He couldn't fault her for not waiting up.

bzz bzz

Sorrysorrysorry!! close to the airships now - Nova, 6:08pm

Sean burst out laughing. He flopped down onto the ground, arms splayed out in much the same way Nova's had been when he'd first spoken to her, giggling uncontrollably.

[Nova Starr]

When she saw that Sean had left her on read, it didn't take much for the obstructive thoughts to settle in. Walking as briskly as her boots would allow, Nova turned the last corner before the docks, praying to the cosmos that he wouldn't be too mad at her; or worse, that he thought he was being ghosted and hadn't stuck around to find out.

Cue Nova's look of confusion when she spotted a boy splayed out on the ground like a starfish, cackling like a hyena. Wait... Sean? Is that where the eruption of laughter came from, she wondered? If he was trying to be easy to spot in a crowd, then, well.. it was working. She approached him at a comfortable pace and stood beside his head, bewilderment in her eyes yet amusement in her smile.

"Hi," she greeted, sending him a little wave from up high. "I keep you waiting long?"

[Sean McCabe]

It took nearly a minute for Sean to get his laughter under control once Nova arrived.

"I got here literally right as you texted me," he managed to get out through a few lingering giggles as he stood up.

"I totally thought you'd got tired of waiting," he admitted as he dusted off his shorts. "That's the first time being late has worked out for me," he added with a wink before giving her look a proper once-over. He shook his head. "Damn. You clean up good, girl!"

[Nova Starr]

"Thanks?" she responded, wondering if her earlier appearance was so offensive that a shower and some makeup changed her image so drastically. "I didn't really know what vibe we were going for? I just put on whatever, so... Ready for any food-based occasion! Unless we're like, going to a campfire roast or something." Jamming a heel into the floor, she pointed her toes to the side to show off her boot. "These'll get stuck in the mud real fast."

Given he was no longer horizontal nor giggling, Nova gave Sean a quick once-over. Besides the lack of sweat and well-fitted gym clothes, she didn't think to look all that different, but she liked that. The more casual, the better, especially when the plans were such a spur-of-the-moment thing. However, something did make her suppress a smirk as she looked him in the eyes. "Got a little dust on your, um..." She traced a small circle in the air, pointing at his butt.

[Sean McCabe]

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a casual sit-down, but we should totally go to a bonfire shindig sometime." The parties the troupe would throw at the end of every show were the thing he missed the most about home. He definitely needed to see about finding something in that vein while in Vale.

"Do I have a dusty derrière, dear Nova?" Sean asked as he craned his neck to look at his behind. Indeed he did. Oh well. "That's easily fixed," he said, and with a bit of concentration the dirt that had ended up on his clothes when he'd starfished while laughing fell off of his clothes to form a small ring around his feet. "That's honestly the coolest thing about my Semblance," he said with complete sincerity. "My clothes never get dirty unless they get wet."

[Nova Starr]

A bonfire? This boy was hitting all the right notes. "Yes," she responded, absolutely no hesitation in her response. His derriéere, indeed, was dusty. She followed his eyes as he stared at his booty, an overwhelming sense of amusement washing over her as she giggled.

Alright. The next couple of seconds took her for a loop. The gears in her brain were struggling to turn; what was she looking at, exactly? "Uh..." Her voice dumbfounded, she shook her head, wondering why his booty dirt had formed a ring around his feet. It was a lot to take in. "... Your semblance is... protecting your butt?" A quiet snicker fell out of her. "Sorry. I don't... really know what your semblance is. Uh, how come it doesn't work when you're wet?"

Despite it being still fairly light outside, some darkness had begun to trickle in from beyond the horizon, so she felt it appropriate to show off her semblance as well. Holding her palm between them, a bright ball of light materialized, lighting up the area around them.

"You know," she started, smiling. "Just as long as we're showing off semblances."

[Sean McCabe]

"Yes." Her immediate acceptance of the idea caught his attention. It would appear that a second date was happening, then.

"Water makes friction weird," he replied when she asked about his Semblance. "Since I control friction, getting wet kinda makes..." he trailed off as Nova conjured, well, a nova.

That was really cool.

It took him a moment to realize that she'd said something, he was so caught up in looking at the ball of light. "Hmm? Oh, sure. That's so pretty," he managed to get out.

It wasn't exactly a smooth recovery, but it was still a recovery.

[Nova Starr]

Despite words failing Sean when he became enthralled by the starlight, she got the gist of what he was going to say; 'water slippy, slippy make friction weird.'

Like a moth to a flame. Nova smirked as the light in her palm began to fade away, eyes rolling to the side. "Smooth. True, though, it's kinda pretty... oh, nuts." Her gaze landed on one of the nearby airships, of which the pilot seemed to be preparing for take-off. Knowing how long it would take for the next one to come by, she pulled on Sean's arm and dragged him along in a jog. "Quick, we're gonna miss it!" she cried, hurrying over to their ride into the city.

Seeing the pair of students approaching, the airship would wait for the two to board before sealing its doors.

[Sean McCabe]

Oh, right. Airship. Yep.

The distance wasn't too far to sprint for a pair of Beacon students, and they made it in enough time to not make the pilot too frustrated.

"But yeah, essentially water and friction don't play nice together," he concluded, managing to get back on topic. "How many lights can you make at once?" he asked curiously. He could definitely see how those could be useful in a fight.

[Nova Starr]

Unsurprisingly, tons of students were flooding into the city for the evening, and idle chatter filled the cabin as the city-bound ship finally took off and conversations bloomed. Nova and Sean were no exception, and the least acrobatically-inclined of the duo pondered the other's question for a moment.

"Four? Most I ever tried was five, but I almost passed out halfway through the last light. Ugh, it's actually how I got the dumbest scar in the world." She brushed aside some hair that covered her left eyebrow, revealing an half-inch scar just above it. "Slashed by nightlight. Hit my head on the way down and got this little number as a consolation prize. Bet you can't beat that?" She hid it behind her hair again to not attract any unwanted eyes. "The Grimm tremble in my presence, obviously."

[Sean McCabe]

Four was a good number for tactical use. "Good thing you don't need a nightlight, then," he joked.

The airship ride was smooth and short, and they soon found themselves in the city proper. "Okay, so confession time," he said as he disembarked and offered his hand to help her down. "I have absolutely no idea where to get a drink around here, so I was kinda hoping you did?"