The Academy discussion

Shane walked into the room and lazily flopped on the couch, arms behind his head. He yawned, looking out the window.

Book in hand, Zara settles in a chair close to the fire. Her long hair covered half her face. She brushed it away and opened her book.

He glanced over there when he heard someone come in. He smiled faintly. "Hey," he said.

She jumped slightly at the sudden voice and glanced up, but smiled when she saw who it was. "Hi. I thought I was the only one in here."

He shrugged. "Well I am very unnoticable," he joked, sitting up.

Her smile grew bigger. "Not neccessarily. I'm just not that observant."

"I don't know, I think you're pretty observant." He smiled. "Is that the book about the...fallen angel, right? Something...like that." He laughed slightly.

"No, you're right." She glanced down at the book.

"Okay. Well...don't let me interrupt. I'll just be here," he said, not wanting to interrupt her reading.

She leaned back in the cusioned chair and smiled, disappearing behind her book.

He leaned back on the couch and rested his eyes, opening them and glancing at her every now and then.

Sanja walked into the room and flopped into a large leather chair.

She curled up in the chair and turned the page every few minutes. When she heard that someone else had entered the room, she looked up, gave a polite smile and returned to reading.

Shane's eyes were closed and he didn't notice someone coming in for a minute. He opened them and smiled at the new person. "Hi."

"Hey," Sanja said, smiling. "I'm new here."

He nodded. "I'm Shane."

"I'm Sanja," she said. "So do you live here?"

"Pretty much, since it's like a boarding school," he said jokingly. "What about you?"

Sanja blushed slightly. "Yes."

He paused. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel dumb or anything," he quickly apologized because of her blush.

Sanja stared into the flames. "It's fine."

Shane sighed. Looked like Zarabeth was still reading... He had no back-up. Plan B. "Okay, so... I'm guessing you're..." He tried guessing what she was.

"Yes...?" Sanja asked.

"Um..." He sighed. "A siren?" he guessed hopefully.

Zara finished the capter and bookmarked the page. She sat up in the chair and faced them, waiting for a good time when she could introduce herself.

"Nope. Would that be a compliment?" Sanja joked.

He shrugged. "If you want it to," he joked back. "And, um... demi-god? Fairy?" He saw Zara look at them and smiled faintly at her.

She smiled back at both of them. "I'm Zarabeth by the way. Can you give us a hint?"

"Hey Zarabeth," Sanja said. "Um... I use spells. That pretty much gives it away."

A smile slid on Shane's face. "Well then, I guess we're more alike than I thought."

"Hello," she replied. "Oh so you're a wizard! Just like Shane!"

"Technically a sorceress," Sanja said. "You're a wizard?"

Shane nodded. "Yeah," he replied.

Sanja smiled and sat up in the chair. "Good. Do you live in the castle?"

((Gotta go. Sorry!))

He shook his head. "I don't think so... I'm still kinda confused with that whole thing." He laughed slightly.

((Aw, okay. Bye!))

"Living in a castle would be nice," she stated the obvious in a dreamy voice.

"Yeah," Sanja agreed. She looked at Zarabeth. "What are your powers?"

Her smiled faded slightly and dropped her gaze to the floor. "I...uh, I'm a gifted human." She looked back up at Sanja with the corners of her mouth turned up.

Shane frowned slightly when he saw Zara's smile falter for a moment, and quickly said, "And what she can do is really cool." He smiled.

"What can you do?" Sanja asked curiously.

She cast Shane a doubtfull look and sighed. She folded her hands in her lap and looked directly at Sanja. "My touch is lethal."

"Oh," Sanja said. "That's interesting." She looked at the fire again.

Shane sighed and glanced at Zara. He didn't know what to say...

She gave Shane a half-smile, hoping we would understand that why she didn't like to reveal her ability. "Have you been to the beach yet Sanja?" she tried to lighten the mood.

"No." Sanja shook her head.

"You should, it's really cool," Shane said, smiling faintly. He was glad the subject changed.

Zara nodded her head in agreement to Shane's statement.

"Maybe later," Sanja said. "Do you hang out there often?"

"Well I've only been there once but I loved it," she smiled, remembering her first visit.

Shane nodded. "Same here," he said.