2015.09.17 - Where The Wood Is

*Teenagers meet in the woods.
More Marx Brothers, less Robert Frost.*

Lookout Point, Beacon Hills

Liam Dunbar is sitting by a little clearing where someone had made a fire recently and smiling. He's wearing black gym shorts and a black muscle shirt and had obviously ran here. He was nibbling on a power bar while he looked out at the city and was just smiling a rather sappy little smile. He was so lost in his thoughts he wasn't aware of much of anything.

One thing hasn't changed Shane's life. There is nothing better than just letting go and losing yourself a long, fast run. And maybe that's even better. Whatever is different about him seems to let him run almost forever before the fatigue poisons build up and they tend to flush away fast when that happens. And not worrying about minor scratches and scrapes means no slowing down. Which is why he is fairly canon-balling through what he thinks are empty woods. He's running fast. Not inhumanly so, but without the care that most humans have to take, which makes it seem even faster. When he hits the clearing, he catches a glimpse of Liam and pulls up, panting and sweating. Dressed in gray jogging pants, sneakers and a white t-shirt, he skids to a halt and pauses a moment, torn between running on and apologizing for intruding on what looks like a private moment of thought.

The teen boy jumps up, his reflexes aren't quite what one would call super human, but they're far beyond that of most natural, one second he has been sitting lost in a though, the next he was up, spun around and in what passes for fighting stance for a wolf. He luckily had managed enough control that his eyes didn't glow and his claw weren't out. Though his finger nails were a bit pointed. However he didn't look upset more confused and startled. Then that usual sheepish look that he always gets afterwards. He rubs the back of his head and says in a shy but charming way, "Heya!' Okay... Make that in an adorkable way.

Shane Welles blinks as the other boy looks like he's going to attack and takes a step back before Liam seems to relax. He tilts his head and then grins at that greeting, "Um, hi. Sorry to interrupt you. I didn't expect to see anybody else out here." His voice and expression are somewhere between sheepish and amused and he gives Liam a casual once-over look, as one does when meeting someone new.

The usual response to Liam was 'cute.' Something about him tends to remind one of a puppy, and not mater how built he is or how cocky the grin he tends to look more adorable than hot. Apart from that he was obviously in work out clothes and had obviously jogged here. From the backpack sitting near by likely from school. And he doesn't look tired in the least. "No big. I should be at school lifting weights, but I decided to take a run and guess I kinda got lost in though." He immediately had dropped the fighting pose and was standing back more casually. hands behind his head in a little bit of a stretch.

Shane Welles watched the other young man stretch and shook his head. "I don't usually have that problem. You have to actually think to get lost in it." His tone was faintly sardonic and sly at that. "And I'm guessing that since I don't see any prep school logos, you go to Beacon Hills High? I just started there myself." He's standing across a small clearing from Liam. Both are wearing jogging clothes but it doesn't seem like they were out together, but rather distance and body language suggests they have just met or don't one another well.

Liam Dunbar looks sheepish, "Yeah I used to go to the prep school, but I uh transferred" He looks around he was still on hyper alert from being surprised by Shane running in to him. Something smelled burnt? Maybe just a wiff of smoke? He looked down at his feet and looked at the small remains of the campfire he and Ethan had toasted marshmallows on the night before. Nope they had very thoroughly doused it. He shrugs, " Its okay the lacrosse team and cross country team are pretty good."

Stepping a little closer and eyebrows tilting up a little, Shane smiled. "Lacrosse looks gnarly! It wasn't a thing, um, back home. And I was hoping the cross country team would be good. I was a decathlete, but that doesn't seem to be too popular here. As long as I get to run, I'll live, though." He blinked as he realized he was chattering on without introducing himself. "I'm Shane, by the way."

Lockie Mitchell had been doing research into various things that could help him with his 'condition' and he's sources lead him to something called a Nemeton in a place called Beacon Hills, so he faded to a point on the map of Beacon Hills unaware where the tree itself is. Now all that would be fine and good but one of those headaches made an appearance and along with that the usual flames, now walking along get a veiw of the town from a higher point his clothing is a little singed and he's actually tossing a more badly burned hoodie to one side as he approaches.

Liam Dunbar listens and nods, "The Lacrosse team here is the most popular thing. But our coach wants us in shape so he makes us going teams year round to stay in shape." That obviously wasn't an issue with Liam, who seriously looked like he spent all day exercising with a private trainer. Then his head jerked up as he saw the other boy appear. " Wow... Popular spot today. Wait ... Did you two come here to like make out? Or Something?" Yep that's where his mind goes. Then again he and Ethan had been making out roughly were Shane was standing just last night so it wasn't /that/ far a reach.

Shane Welles turns his head as Lockie approaches, his expression first surprised and then curious and then faintly disapproving. Littering? Really? He gives the stranger a nod of greeting and then glances back to Liam when the other teenager speaks. "Yeah, coaches are like that. And if I ever figure out the rules, I might give a try. It looks fun, but brutal." And then at that question about making out, he actually blushes, cheeks and ears going red. "What?! No! I don't even know him!" And then, after a pause, "Not that I would...." And then another pause as he realized his expression and tone made it sound like he thought Lockie was carrying the Black Plague or something, "Not that I'm saying I wou.... You know what? No. I'm just leaving it at that."

Lockie Mitchell rolls his eyes as he continues his approch to look at the town, directed at Liam, "You might want some kind of filter, clear things before they leave your mouth", Liam is lucky Lockie is the kind of sociopath who is totally unbothered by sexuality or that could've been nasty, he returns Shane's nod, he' soulless, not manners-less.

Liam Dunbar isn't a push over and is rather hard to kill or even hurt permanantly. He looks at them and shrugs, "Well you guys are standing where my boyfriend and I... Uhhh anyway!" He flushes and looks around and shakes his head, "This is look out point, or most people our age call it make-out point. And two people show up pretty close to each other." He shrugs around here sexuality wasn't a bit thing one way or another, sure it occasionally raised eyebrows or caused some stammering but that was it really.

Shaking his head and noting to himself yet again that the future is a strange (but not exactly bad) place, Shane grins at Lockie and says, "Hey, at least he's honest. About zero on the Kissinger Tact Scale, but honest." And then looking back at Liam he adds, "I haven't been here long enough to know the details of stuff like that. But thanks for the tip." His tone is wry and amused, as much at his own prudishness and Lockie's non-reaction as Liam's cheerful openness.

Sweat in his hair and shirt slightly matted down, it is pretty obvious that Timothy's been going for a good run. The blonde freshman needed it after a long day of constantly being bombarded by teenage hormones, and not even his own. Slowing down and stopping not too far from the trio, he bends slightly to catch his breath, chest shuddering a little bit as he forces his lungs to expand again.

"Again filter, will stop you babbling about things you don't want to say", he looks to Shane, "Sometimes it's good to keep things to yourself, honesty is not always the safest option", Lockie looks over his shoulder at the sound of approaching feet, then looks to Liam, "Your boyfriend?"

Liam Dunbar huffs! "Nah. He's much hot... well. Okay he's just much more buff?" He shrugs a few months ago he'd have been no where near this open, but he is now and doesn't give a rat's ass about what anyone else thinks. He does wave at Timothy, not that he knows the other boy's name or anything but he's seen him at school in passing. "Oh yeah I'm Liam. " He always forgets introductions. Then he remembers the Powerbar in his hand and starts nibbling on it some more. debating working out some more.

Shane Welles gives the newcomer a friendly look and nod and then lets out a snort of laughter at that filter line and the question from Lockie. Liam's response makes him roll his eyes a little. Well, apparently, being loopy about teenage relationships is something that transcends time. His tone is wry as he says, "I'm not how anybody gets any necking done around here as busy as it is."

Lifting a hand in greeting, Timothy catches what Shane says and laughs,"Who says that they let a little thing about people being around slow them down from doing anything?" He asks with a little bit of a smirk as he walks towards the trio and putting his hands behind his head as he stands there now. Best to not think overly hard about the others. Usually that ends up with embarrassing situations for him.

Lockie Mitchell um hmms then gets to looking at the town making note of a couple of thing, "Either of you three know the woods round here particularly well?", may as well hit up the locals for directions, this tree seems near immune to locator spells, "You appear to have a lot of them".

Liam Dunbar would answer that he knows them pretty well, and add and unneeded comment about knowing them cause he tends to run around naked, but luckily for his own embarrassment, he got caught up with a statement that Shane had made. "Necking? Are you a Vampire?" He steps back with a comic display of fear, forgetting that he's not THAT far away from the cliff, "Don't bite me I wouldn't taste good honest!"

Laughing openly, Shane shakes his head at Timothy and says, "I only wish you were kidding." And then at Lockie's question, he shakes his head, "Sorry, I'm the new guy. Been here about a week." And then Liam gets momentarily worried expression followed by another grin. "I ... don't think so. It is still daylight. And we had spaghetti last night at home, so I'm pretty sure garlic doesn't bother me." And then, taking a step closer to him, he reaches out a hand as though to steady Liam and then stops in mid-gesture, suddenly giving the fit boy a searching, surprised look as he can feel a ...vibration... or something from him. "Er ... careful of the edge?"

"I sort of know my way around but not that well. Only been here a couple of months. It's pretty backwater compared to New York." Timothy says with a bit of a laugh,"And it's not so bad. Some of the ones doing things even are attractive to look at, while others... really should be doing it in private." He says cheerfully and running fingers through his blonde hair absently,"Where are you from?" He asks looking at Shane.

"So none of you know anything about a large, very old tree in the woods round here, nothing you'd tell tourists or anything?", Lockie watches Liam step back and considers giving him a little telekinetic push but then that feeling kicks in, the one that's been stopping him from killing for killing's sake, the feelings he desperately wants rid of.

Liam Dunbar doesn't really need help from anyone to nearly kill himself he's got that covered. He dances back a bit from Shane thinking its an attack. Then takes another step back as Lockie asks about the Nemeton. Granted he knows what and where it is. He'd decapitated some big metal men the there the other day. But he is pretty sure he's not supposed to tell people whe.. wait what is it getting hard to stand still... "EEEEP!" And he's falling flailing and grasping at the edge. Yep that's Liam.

Shane Welles glances at Timothy and shakes his head. Jesus. Whether it's the town or the time, people are very, very different than back home, when it comes to being open about things. He grins faintly at that quip and starts to reply when Lockie's question derails him. "Um, a big tree that they hide from tourists? Why would you do something like tha.... Whoa!" He makes another grab for Liam, this time in earnest, trying to catch the other boy's arm or his shirt before Liam can go over the edge. Even with that hint of power coming from the hyperactive little jock, he's pretty sure that Liam isn't ...whatever Shane himself is, and thus falling from that height is a bad, bad thing.

Yeah. Timothy is pretty low on the shame quotient. When Liam starts falling that triggers Tim to let out a sharp breath. His eyes going wide for a moment before he gets himself back under control. It wasn't like he knew Liam well but that's besides the point. When Shane goes to grab Liam, so does Tim. It's just an instinct thing. He's pretty sure if Liam survived the fall that he could put him back together but there's that whole surviving the fall thing to worry about.

Lockie Mitchell sighs and with a very slight finger gesture telekineticly aims to pull Liam forward and out of harms way, he really doesn't need police attention and even in an accident they'd want to talk to witnesses, "So that's a no from the three of you on the tree thing?"

Liam Dunbar was falling backwards, then he was grabbed, and because you know he doesn't know his own strength he was about to pull the other two with him... when suddenly he's yanked the other way and soon he's playing on top of Shane. And its in a very non 1985 way, chests together and faces very very close to each other, in such a way that well... He's blushing. He didn't notice that Tim was beside him and sort of fell half on him. And The question about the tree again gets ignored because there are more important things at hand, like piles of cute guys!

Shane Welles isn't sure what happened. One second the energy and momentum was in one direction and the next, it was reversed. He found himself flat on his back with a very healthy young man (and a half) on top of him. His blush was sudden and intense as his hands went to Liam's hips, pushing up lightly as he noticed that the other boy had very nice eyes. And a boyfriend. Apparently a really big boyfriend. He cleared his throat and looked away to Lockie and said, his voice very dry, "I haven't seen any unusual trees from down here. Sorry."

There are worst things to end up being than tangled up with people like this. Timothy gives a small laugh as he lays there,"As for a strange tree, nope. I haven't seen anything remotely resembling that sort of thing." He says laughing at the whole thing. He really did feel this had turned quite comical. His blue eyes look over at Shane,"Is this every day for you? Having a guy fall for you?" He asks teasingly.

Lockie Mitchell again considers pushing all three off the cliff then just fading home, nothing more than your usual mundane high schoolers, "Great", he rolls his eyes at the ball of hormones on the floor.

Liam Dunbar was blushing he'd been okay until there were hands on his hips, sure they were pushing and not pulling. but well, it till caused a certain reaction. One he was fairly certain that Shane could feel. But while times had changed and he was a very open guy, there are certain things you'd rather not be broadcast to everyone. He was crimson but too embarrassed to move. Truth be told this was the first person other than his boyfriend who had , caused such a reaction. He trembles a but at the joke that Timothy made. And had to remind himself over and over how much he loved Ethan. He distracts himself. He looks at Lockie grateful for the distraction, "Uh there is a huge tree in the woods. But well I can't tell you how to find it, its pretty deep and even if you know where it is it always takes forever to find it.

Laughing despite himself, Shane replies to Timothy, "Or two. No. But, um, it beats getting hit by a bus." Which is about when things get a little more intimate. He blinks and looks up at Liam with an expression somewhere between surprise, discomfort, amusement and excitement. "Ah. Yeah. Maybe you should show him where the wood is." A blink. "TREE! Where the tree is! Big tree! In the woods!" He starts wriggling, trying to get out from under Liam and put a little distance between the two of them.

"I think that's an understatement." Timothy says laughing a little bit,"Mind getting off of me though? Much as I don't mind, we're not in the right mindset and I think Shane probably die since I haven't even introduced myself." He says not really trying to get away from either lad. "And I really do think we should exchange names before that sort of thing happens. Normal even in New York."

Lockie Mitchell rolls his eyes again as the other three get overexcited and giggly, seeing the under two wiggling to get out he gives another slight gesture aiming to flip Liam off Shane, "If you can point me in the general direction I should be able to find it myself", he's got a trance spell he figures he can try that should lead his way as long as he knows vaguely where to look.

Liam Dunbar is very grateful to be thrown off Shane, so much so he doesn't even ask how it happened. He is blushing like mad still. Not that he'd ever you know... but well.. Anyway he stands up quickly and blushes again, "I I think I said, but Um I'm Liam and I'll see you around!." He starts to run off them remember his back pack so he has to run back right next to Shane. Then another blush he starts to run off again, remembering the question. He closes his eye visualizes a map. Gets distracted by visualizing things he shouldn't, then gets back on track and points in roughly the right direction for the Nemeton. Give or take.

Shane Welles blinks as Liam seems to fling himself off. Damn, that boy is crazy agile! He sits and then stands as Timothy speaks, still blushing himself. He watches Lockie get his direction, more or less, and looks sidelong at Liam as the other teenager goes running by. Clearing his throat, he looks between Timothy and Lockie and says, "Um, I'm Shane. And this is not quite how I usually meet people."

Tim O'Donnell. A pleasure to meet you and the fleeing Liam." Timothy says laughing at the whole thing. "I should be getting a long myself. Still have some homework that needs wrapped up by tomorrow and it's a bit to home still." He says as he offers Shane a hand to shake before leaving. Proper manners and all that.

Lockie Mitchell nods to Liam before he flees, "Thank you", then pulls out his phone and starts scrolling though it muttering something about 'Tirer La Couverture', and frowning at something on the screen, at the very least his time here wasn't wasted.

Shane Welles shakes Tim's hand, still blushing faintly and grinning. And at that contact, he feels something like that same vibration or buzz he did with Liam, but with a different 'tone'. He wasn't sure how to parse that feeling. It made his eyes widen and he paused a moment before saying, "Um, pleased to meet you. See you around!" He glances at Lockie, who seems preoccupied and clears his throat again. "I think it's time for me to head home myself." With that, he starts to leave, stopping only to pick up the charred remains of Lockie's discarded hoodie. "I'll drop this off in the trash on the way out." Apparently somebody used to be a boy scout. Literally.

Liam Dunbar is finally well, gone he runs at speeds that aren't impossible for a human, but at the very least point out that he's a very fit boy, fleeing or running off to... Let's stick with fleeing. And Liam is running, blushing, and pulling his phone out to give Ethan a call and tell him how much he loves him, of course he leaves out the reason why he feels the need to make such a sudden call.