To Live 100 Years (private w/ Kailyn)

[Forrest Waldstein]

As per the suggestion of his great-grandfather, Forrest decided to take up the hobby of taking care of potted plants. It was natural, considering his background and with a little help from his Semblance, that it would be fairly easy to do so. So far, his favorite potted plant to care for was a miniature tree that required little maintenance. It only required water when the soil ran dry and needed the rare pruning to keep the tree aesthetically pleasing. If cared for properly, these trees can live for over one hundred years. Forrest was happy for it to be the weekend now, as that was usually the best time for him to take care of his potted plants.

Forrest made his way upstairs to the rooftop, figuring it would be one of the easiest places to care for potted plants due to its accessibility and direct sunlight. He did a quick observation of his growing plants, seeing that his miniature tree was in need of pruning. He took out the small branch cutters and went to work. Extremely focused on pruning the miniature tree, Forrest probably would not notice someone else make their way onto the rooftop...

[Kailyn Keison]

A small throwing knife sailed lightly over the edge of the building to clatter to the roof well behind Forrest, followed by the faint sound of cursing from ground level. Shortly afterword, a green-and-red blur rocketed up to land heavily on the roof, where it revealed itself to be a redhead in a dark green shirt and navy jeans who dusted herself off roughly before scanning the roof for the knife. Spying Forrest instead, she made her way over to him.

"So you're the person keeping the garden up here? Sweet!" The garden looked great, and she'd been wondering who'd been keeping it. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a knife, would you? I kinda just accidentally launched it up here from the grass."

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest's focus did not waver until he heard the clang of the throwing knife several feet behind him. What really shocked him was the sudden, loud landing she made on the roof. Forrest turned and stepped back a bit, bracing slightly as she landed. He looked over at her briefly, then did a subtle double take as she began walking towards him.

"Thanks..." Forrest replied to the woman, smiling slightly at her compliment to the garden. When she inquired about the knife, Forrest quickly scanned the area before walking over towards the location. Forrest picked up the knife a few steps away from where he stood.

"Here." Forrest said after he walked back over and flipped the knife around, the handle of the knife towards her.

[Kailyn Keison]

"Thanks," Kailyn said sheepishly as she took her knife back and slid it into its holster.

Gesturing to the plants, she asked, "Did you grow up around plants and stuff? You certainly know how to keep a nice garden." The small garden of plants had just appeared on the roof one day, and had been meticulously maintained ever since: the plants growing nicely, the greenery making the roof into a much more welcoming-looking space than it had been before the plants had appeared.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Thank you." Forrest meekly smiled again.

"My home village is deep in the forests southeast of Beacon, so I guess everyone there naturally has a green thumb. My Semblance really helps with that too." Forrest responded. His mind briefly wandered to thoughts of home among the thick forest of trees.

Then he remembered something important. Forrest had neglected to introduce himself.

Ah, crap. I did it again... I really need to get better at introducing myself to attractive female classmates... Maybe she'd understand considering she appeared so suddenly up here. Forrest thought before clearing his throat.

"Oh, right. My name is Forrest Waldstein. What's your name?" Forrest inquired, holding out his hand for a handshake.

[Kailyn Keison]

Growing up in the forest didn't always mean that one ended up with a green thumb: just ask Kailyn. A village full of farmers might be a little different, though.

"Kailyn Keison. Nice to meet you, Forrest." Forrest... Forest-stone? She was pretty sure that's what 'Waldstein' meant, but she hadn't studied languages THAT hard. It would make sense that his Semblance helped with plants, though, with a name like that.

Speaking of which... "Your Semblance helps with plants? That sounds a lot more useful for everyday life than mine." She gestured to her feet, which were a few inches off the ground. "I shouldn't complain, though, since I can technically fly."

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Likewise." Forrest responded.

Forrest didn't realize that Kailyn was floating a few inches off the ground. Now that was an interesting Semblance. Forrest had not seen anything like that before, then again, who wouldn't be surprised to see anyone's Semblance for the first time?

"Yeah, I can grow plants with my Semblance. Even though it's pretty useful, I wouldn't sell your Semblance short like that. I can think of a few ways your Semblance can make everyday life easier." Forrest replied kindly.

While his Semblance did have a good amount of utility, the environment also played a large role in how it functions. Forrest found that out the hard way during a particularly harsh winter. Forrest had to physically and mentally strain himself to get the smallest plant to grow in such environments. Thus, he felt most comfortable sticking to more temperate places.

"So were you training or something before coming up here?" Forrest inquired.

[Kailyn Keison]

Kailyn shrugged. "I'm tall enough to reach the high shelf already," she pointed out with a smirk. "But everyday utility was actually what I was working on before I yeeted my knife up here by accident."

Setting her feet down, Kailyn floated the knife out of its sheath again and had it make a lazy rotation in the air above her palm. "If I can get fine enough control, I'll be able to use my Semblance like a third hand on an extendable arm, which would be AWESOME. I'm not that good at it yet, though - hence a sharp bladed object rocketing into the sky at a dangerous angle." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly with her other hand. "I really should find something else to use as a practice object..."

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest smiled a bit in response to her first remark, finding it funny. He continued listening as Kailyn continued explaining the capabilities of her Semblance. As she finished, an idea popped into his head, one that would surely help.

"I can probably fix something up for you to practice on if you'd like. It would probably be safer to practice on a wooden dummy rather than this one." Forrest offered as he gestured to himself, hoping that what he said would be a good solution to her predicament and that she enjoyed a self-deprecating sense of humor from him. Even though he was putting on a relaxed and humorous demeanor, that small sensation of anxiety at the back of his head still made him worry about what she thought of him.

[Kailyn Keison]

Kailyn had been expecting Forrest to be some combination of nervous, angry, and frightened at the prospect of her tossing around potentially deadly projectiles with little control. She certainly hadn't been expecting him to offer to make something she could practice with.

"Woah, really? I mean, yes. Yes, please." Then the second part of what he'd said registered, and she waved it off with a laugh. "Pfft. Sure, bro." She liked this guy already. "I'll totally cover the cost of materials for the target dummy, by the way," she added, fully expecting him to say 'oh, no, I can just grow more wood' or something.

[Forrest Waldstein]

The humor seemed to work like a charm, which was a welcome surprise for Forrest. Also, it seemed that Kailyn's expectations were correct as Forrest began to speak.

"No need, I can grow more than enough wood for that." he said, shaking his head before conjuring up a wooden dummy on the opposite side of the rooftop. As much as it would be easier and less aura-consuming to use a seed, Forrest hoped that the spontaneous germination and growth of wood would impress Kailyn. As the wooden dummy took shape, it lacked detail in its early stages, but the dummy gradually started to look more like, well, a dummy. The whole process took no longer than ten seconds for Forrest to finish his magnum opus of the day. However, it took him eleven seconds for what he just said to register in his head. It seemed it was too late for Forrest to retract that statement, as Kailyn's imminent reply was faster on the draw.

[Kailyn Keison]

Kailyn was going to jump on the line that Forrest walked into, but stopped herself when he proceeded to LITERALLY grow enough wood for that.

Then she watched as the wood shaped itself into a target dummy, and decided to take the opportunity after all.

"You certainly can," she said, waggling her eyebrows at him. "Wait," she considered. "Does that make you a grower and a shower?"

Today was turning out to be very entertaining.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Today was turning out to be very suggestive.

Now that caught Forrest completely off guard. Comically, the entirety of his face lit up bright red like a firework. He was so shocked that he didn't know how to react to a situation like this. It was definitely a first for Forrest.

Is Kailyn... coming onto me right now, or is she just screwing with me? Forrest thought, bewildered and unsure of what to do. Giving it some thought, maybe playing it cool would work. Forrest crossed his arms, trying to look cool (and failing) before he replied to Kailyn.

"M-Maybe..." Forrest muttered, still red like a tomato. He could barely make eye contact with Kailyn by this point, the best he could do was to look at the ground.

[Kailyn Keison]

Gottem.

The pure embarrassment on Forrest's face left Kailyn completely unable to keep a straight face. Arms clutching her sides, she doubled over with laughter.

After a minute, she got herself back under control. Wiping a tear from her eye, she waved her other hand at him dismissively. "I'm messing with you, bro," she told him with another giggle. "Gotta at least buy a girl dinner first, y'know?"

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest was somewhat relieved that Kailyn was only messing with him. By this point, most of the redness had left his face.

Well, I guess that could've turned out worse... Forrest mused as her laughter subsided. It was uncanny to Forrest how she knew exactly what buttons to press to elicit a reaction from him. It was as if he was an open book, and she was a speed reader. Though her comment about buying dinner made him overthink quite a bit.

She's probably just messing with you again... but what if it's like her way of implying she wants a date?... Forrest pondered, definitely overthinking this interaction. If his mind was an old-fashioned machine with gears and cogs, it would be smoking and straining, trying to figure out what she actually means. He decided on the safe option...

"Yeah... that's fair." Forrest said, laughing quietly in slight embarrassment while his hand rubbed the back of his head.

[Kailyn Keison]

This guy was way too easy to tease. He hadn't asked her out, though, and Kailyn was grateful to him for that. She wasn't really looking for a relationship right now - it would probably be a year or two of aggressive socialization at Beacon before she was ready for that. Two friends grabbing food, though? She'd totally go for that.

Looking around for a change in subject, Kailyn's eyes caught on the training dummy that Forrest had... grown? summoned? made? made.

"This thing is really detailed for how quickly you made it." Floating around it, she saw that it wasn't just flattery - this thing really WAS high-fidelity craftsmanship, especially considering what it was, where it was, and how it had been made on the fly. "You ever think about selling these things? I'm sure you'd get some takers."

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Thanks." Forrest replied with a warm smile.

"Well, about that... the plants I grow need a constant supply of my Aura to stick around." Forrest began, feeling like a demonstration would be especially helpful to get his point across.

He held out an open hand and conjured a little sapling in it. Then after a brief second, it began to decay and decompose very rapidly. But this process was unlike any ordinary process of plant decomposition; it practically disintegrated once it had outlived its usefulness. The dustlike remains wafted away into the wind before shrinking even more into nothingness.

"It would be great if the plants did stick around, it would be just like my great-grandfather's Semblance..." Forrest added wistfully.

[Kailyn Keison]

There was always a catch, wasn't there? "Always a catch, huh?" Kailyn asked wistfully as the sapling disintegrated.

Another thought occurred to her. "Wait, does that mean you're burning through Aura to keep this thing from falling apart?" she asked, flailing her arm at the target dummy. "Please don't do that: I'm not that hard up for practice dummies - the training rooms here are really nice!" She waved her arms in front of her to emphasize her point before slowly coming down to land on the roof.

Great, now it was just awkward...

[Forrest Waldstein]

"It's no big deal! I can keep it up for a good while!" Forrest sputtered awkwardly, waving his arms in front of him, unaware of his incredibly poor choice of words. He sighed, realizing just how excellent he was at making a situation even more awkward.

"Don't worry about it, Kailyn, I insist." Forrest reiterated, more collected this time. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything about it burning through his Aura... No, it wouldn't have done him any favors to tell a white lie, especially to someone he had just met.

[Kailyn Keison]

It was only after she spoke that Kailyn realized that Forrest was using this to practice his own Semblance.

"Alright," she acquiesced. "Let's get our practice in, then." Pulling out a knife, she floated it by her hand and considered the target briefly.

Thirty feet, same height, crosswind is— she licked her finger and stuck it above her head— that way, I can ignore local default gravity at this distance, minimal correction for crosswinds, ohhhhhKAY.
Keisan ga kanryō shimashita. Smirking at her own mental joke, she launched the knife at the target dummy.

The Finger shot toward the dummy, narrowly missing its head before turning around mid-flight to rocket back toward the target from behind. As it passed by the dummy again, this time missing the torso on the other side, its trajectory changed once more. This continued for a bit until it settled into a stable pattern of whizzing around the dummy, narrowly missing various body parts due to Kailyn's manipulations. The whole time, her eyes remained locked to the little knife, biting her tongue in concentration.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest watched intently as Kailyn practiced using her Semblance on the knife, having it weave around the dummy, narrowly missing its mark each time it whizzed by. He continued watching for a while as Kailyn's concentration didn't seem to falter as she kept focused on the knife.

She's quite skillful with her Semblance... Forrest mused as he continued watching Kailyn manipulate the knife around the dummy, seemingly with ease. Forrest remained silent yet intrigued as he watched Kailyn's knife fly around its target.

[Kailyn Keison]

Okay, time for the next exercise, Kailyn mused to herself as the knife relaxed its orbit to spin lazily around the dummy's head.

"The real challenge is being able to hit a target in a specific place from distance without burying the knife in them - hitting center mass is easy, but if I do that then I don't get the knife back," she explained as the knife whizzed back to her outstretched hand and she resleeved it.

Taking a breath, she dropped into a crouch and turned so she could only see the dummy out of the corner of her eye. After another quick set of mental calculations, one of her knives launched itself out of its sleeve and rocketed toward the dummy.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"I see..." Forrest replied, continuing to watch Kailyn practice her Semblance.

"You make it look pretty easy, though I guess there's a lot of variables to account for." he added as he observed the knife fly out of its sleeve and into the dummy.

[Kailyn Keison]

The knife flew past the dummy again before turning around and zipping back to Kailyn's hand as she stood up. "There aren't as many as you might think," she commented with a dismissive gesture as she floated over to examine the dummy. She was looking for...

"HELL yes!" she cheered, bending her knees and giving a double two-handed fist pump. "I am finally getting the hang of this!" she added as she examined the two small cuts in the dummy more closely.

The first was on the right side of the neck just under the jaw, where the jugular vein was in humans. It was shallow, but enough to draw blood. The second was on the inside of the left leg, a few centimeters too low to be where the femoral artery was in humans, but in the right place for most Faunus. This cut was much deeper, and Kailyn winced.

"Mom always said I was too good at math to find any fun in it," she sulked as her brain was already working out how much to adjust for her next try. She wasn't trying to use this technique to kill people - just to draw the slightest amount of blood from a very dangerous area. It was an intimidation tactic more than anything else: if she was aiming to kill, she had her swords for that, but most of the time, when you were fighting another person the job was capture, not kill.

"It just looks easy because I'm standing twenty feet away from the dummy without moving my hands at all," she responded to his last comment with a shrug. "Making specific shapes with your Semblance wasn't something you could just do without practicing first, right? It's kinda like that. I can just kinda half-ass it and throw stuff, but that's not really practice, y'know?"

[Forrest Waldstein]

"That's a fair point..." Forrest admitted as he observed Kailyn's handiwork. His inspection revealed that the cuts would not be fatal. Still, it would likely be quite unsettling to be on the receiving end of those wounds.

I'll make sure to stay on her good side... he mused as he drew his conclusions.

That being said, Forrest's mind lingered on what she said about practicing their Semblances. Yes, he had become somewhat proficient in creating a variety of shapes, though another idea had come to mind now that the dummy was around. Focusing on the dummy, he first healed the abrasions on the dummy with Sylvan Anthem.

"I just had an idea, you might want to step back a bit." he said, continuing to focus on the dummy with his Semblance. Though previously standing still, the dummy seemed to animate, slowly and clumsily moving its arms and legs to resemble a robotic gait. Now that was something he had no idea he could do. It expended more Aura to do so, but this rudimentary parlor trick could be a gateway to more advanced techniques with enough practice.

[Kailyn Keison]

And just like that, the dummy's wounds healed.

"Oh? Aight," Kailyn shrugged as she floated herself back to a safe distance.

Then the dummy started to move. Slowly, like it REALLY wanted to keep being a tree and was still figuring out this whole 'walking' thing, but if it ever learned hand-to-hand combat it would be the coolest horror movie villain ever.

"Hey, Forrest?" she asked, a shit-eating grin creeping onto her face as an idea took shape in her head, "are you doing anything later? Because I just had the best idea how to get back at Allison for turning my room ninety degrees."

Please say yes. This was gonna be a riot.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest seemed impressed at his newly discovered trick. After all, with enough practice it would likely be useful enough for more practical applications. Then he noticed Kailyn's smug grin beginning to form...

Uh oh... Forrest immediately thought.

"Hold on a minute. Allison? And she did what to your room?" Forrest asked both astonished and perplexed, hoping Kailyn's answer would fill him in on whatever context was necessary.

[Kailyn Keison]

"She's this chick in the same dorm wing as me,"[/color] Kailyn responded with a flippant wave of her hand. "She got it into her head that I'm an easy target for pranks, so she took all the furniture in my room and attached it to the left-side wall. Joke's on her, I just left it there. It's good Semblance practice."

She grinned at Forrest, eyes twinkling with mischief. "She's about to find out that I give as good as I get, and I've got just the idea..."

[Forrest Waldstein]

I see... Forrest thought, mulling over his options. On one hand, he had no idea what Kailyn had planned to do. On the other hand, maybe a little fun was just what he needed...

"I'm open to what you have in mind, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone." Forrest replied, the tiniest fragment of a smirk forming in the corner of his mouth.

[Kailyn Keison]

"Right on!" Kailyn cheered and motioned for him to follow her. "We need to go into town to pick up a few things first. And I should probably eat," she added as her stomach made a very unladylike noise.

"I'm on a mission to try every restaurant in Vale before the end of the school year. Wanna check one off the list with me?" she asked. "Food always tastes better when you're out with friends."