Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Jul 19, 2007 21:30:10 GMT
Air Control class had now become a mini-war of its own.
Levi and Madeleine had developed an irreversible hatred of each other. Not only were they calling each other by their surnames, but were attacking each other at every opportunity. Originally, Madeleine had kept her insults to a minimum, preferring to keep her temper, but the guy just knew exactly how to rub her up the wrong way. In two days, he'd managed to insult almost every subject that she was touchy about - namely her height. Height was a big issue of Madeleine's; no one had ever dropped the fact that she was quite small. Shaun had been particularly cruel about it, in a brotherly way.
Levi had made derogatory comments about her height ("For a Warrior, you're not very tall, are you?"), her sex ("Girls shouldn't be Warriors, they're not strong enough... You'd think that they'd all be Carers, you know, to heal the wounded, like nurses..."), her powers ("Psychokinesis? What good is that?"), her methods of controlling them ("See, Baudelaire, that's how not to do that..."), her bitten nails ("Eugh, you bite your nails - that's disgusting!"), her left-handedness ("Freak."), and generally everything about her.
So far, Madeleine's responses had mainly been sarcastic, or just rolling her eyes, but lately, he was really, really, really winding her up. When he'd made the nurse remark earlier, she'd snapped back, "See, Ryder, if I was a carer, I'd just let you die."
And she was using her supposedly useless power of psychokinesis to its utmost ability by moving Levi's stuff around the room and moving his chair backwards when he was about to sit down (she'd used that one once and the spitting and swearing that followed was so good that she was determined to do it again).
Of course, Levi was making use of his own powers to get back at her. He was one of the unusual people who have control of two elements, and his other element was water. Basically, if Madeleine annoyed him, he would just flick his fingers at her back and a small stream of ice-cold water would run down her.
What his other power was, Madeleine didn't know, but she did recognise that when she was commanding the Warriors, Levi would make one hell of a Warrior (yes, he was a warrior. She'd asked). His offensive powers (unlike Madeleine's) would make an excellent attack on an enemy, and she could already tell that he was just as stubborn as she was.
And she couldn't help but wonder if Levi should have been the one to be Head of the Warriors. He had at least two offensive powers - Madeleine had none but psychokinesis, which was only loosely classed as offensive. He was stubborn, and (if he was to be believed) inordinately clever. Madeleine was smart, yes, and also as stubborn as hell, but...
However, Levi had one other notable thing about him. He was way, way, way too over-confident. He had an incredibly high opinion of himself, and apparently, there was nothing that he couldn't do. Madeleine would have attempted to take him down a peg or two, were it not for the fact that it would have rendered useless. All of the time, Levi was surrounded by fawning girls, blonde, bubbly beauties, who were constantly telling him just how amazing he was. They were all desperate to go out with him - but he didn't go out with any of them.
This surprised Madeleine - you'd think a guy like Levi would be one of those guys, but he seemed strangely uninterested in all of these girls. Yes, he flirted with them, and yes, their attention boosted his already overgrown ego, but he didn't want to be in a relationship with anyone.
She put this down to a fear of commitment. He probably made out with them behind the figurative bike shed and dropped them straight after.
Hell, she wouldn't be surprised.
But even Madeleine couldn't pretend that Levi had no reason to dislike her - she was just as bad as him when it came to rubbing him up the wrong way. She knew that he felt threatened by her and her abilities, and she was never averse to a little healthy competition - but their competitions were decidedly unhealthy. Professor Archer was constantly telling the two of them off for fighting with each other - "We've got enough of a problem with the war outside, never mind you two starting one!" - but they couldn't stop. He was determined to beat her and vice versa. The irritating thing was that they were both equally good. The competitiveness was really very pointless... but they did it anyway.
Today, in this class, Professor Archer asked for Levi and Madeleine to work on their descending skills together, in a pair. Both of them tended to struggle to find their feet - they would land on one foot, and then lose their balance a little. "Give each other friendly advice," he said, with a pointed look at them.
"Yes, sir," they said in unison, knowing that this was going to be pretty much impossible.
Levi gave Madeleine a sarcastic bow, and she curtsied icily back.
"Ladies first," he said, stressing the first word.
"Go right ahead," Madeleine smiled.
Levi growled at her and ascended lightly into the air. Coming back down, he landed on his left foot, and stumbled a little as he landed. It wasn't obviously noticeable, but since Madeleine and Levi had been being taught for years, Professor Archer was teaching them to perfect things. Landing skills were not technically part of air control. But it passed the time until everyone could fly. And a bit of perfection never went amiss.
"You're landing on your left foot," Madeleine said helpfully. "You're right-handed, so your right foot will probably be stronger. Try landing on your right foot."
Levi threw her a dirty look and then bounced into the air. As he descended, he took care to land on his right foot. When his right foot hit the ground, his left swiftly followed, and he landed almost without losing his balance - much better than before.
"Thanks," he said, straightening up slightly. "Your go."
Madeleine rose gracefully into the air, then landed, losing her balance slightly, just as Levi had done.
"Same thing," he said, gesturing to her right foot. "You're left-handed, land on your left foot."
Madeleine jumped into the air and landed on her left foot, keeping her balance.
"Well done," he said grudgingly. "You did alright, for a woman, I guess."
Madeleine immediately thought of the tin pencil case on their desk and it flew over and hit Levi on the head.
He cursed, and Madeleine gasped as she felt a flow of icy water run down her back.
Two wars... and now she was fighting with one of her own warriors. Excellent.
Levi and Madeleine had developed an irreversible hatred of each other. Not only were they calling each other by their surnames, but were attacking each other at every opportunity. Originally, Madeleine had kept her insults to a minimum, preferring to keep her temper, but the guy just knew exactly how to rub her up the wrong way. In two days, he'd managed to insult almost every subject that she was touchy about - namely her height. Height was a big issue of Madeleine's; no one had ever dropped the fact that she was quite small. Shaun had been particularly cruel about it, in a brotherly way.
Levi had made derogatory comments about her height ("For a Warrior, you're not very tall, are you?"), her sex ("Girls shouldn't be Warriors, they're not strong enough... You'd think that they'd all be Carers, you know, to heal the wounded, like nurses..."), her powers ("Psychokinesis? What good is that?"), her methods of controlling them ("See, Baudelaire, that's how not to do that..."), her bitten nails ("Eugh, you bite your nails - that's disgusting!"), her left-handedness ("Freak."), and generally everything about her.
So far, Madeleine's responses had mainly been sarcastic, or just rolling her eyes, but lately, he was really, really, really winding her up. When he'd made the nurse remark earlier, she'd snapped back, "See, Ryder, if I was a carer, I'd just let you die."
And she was using her supposedly useless power of psychokinesis to its utmost ability by moving Levi's stuff around the room and moving his chair backwards when he was about to sit down (she'd used that one once and the spitting and swearing that followed was so good that she was determined to do it again).
Of course, Levi was making use of his own powers to get back at her. He was one of the unusual people who have control of two elements, and his other element was water. Basically, if Madeleine annoyed him, he would just flick his fingers at her back and a small stream of ice-cold water would run down her.
What his other power was, Madeleine didn't know, but she did recognise that when she was commanding the Warriors, Levi would make one hell of a Warrior (yes, he was a warrior. She'd asked). His offensive powers (unlike Madeleine's) would make an excellent attack on an enemy, and she could already tell that he was just as stubborn as she was.
And she couldn't help but wonder if Levi should have been the one to be Head of the Warriors. He had at least two offensive powers - Madeleine had none but psychokinesis, which was only loosely classed as offensive. He was stubborn, and (if he was to be believed) inordinately clever. Madeleine was smart, yes, and also as stubborn as hell, but...
However, Levi had one other notable thing about him. He was way, way, way too over-confident. He had an incredibly high opinion of himself, and apparently, there was nothing that he couldn't do. Madeleine would have attempted to take him down a peg or two, were it not for the fact that it would have rendered useless. All of the time, Levi was surrounded by fawning girls, blonde, bubbly beauties, who were constantly telling him just how amazing he was. They were all desperate to go out with him - but he didn't go out with any of them.
This surprised Madeleine - you'd think a guy like Levi would be one of those guys, but he seemed strangely uninterested in all of these girls. Yes, he flirted with them, and yes, their attention boosted his already overgrown ego, but he didn't want to be in a relationship with anyone.
She put this down to a fear of commitment. He probably made out with them behind the figurative bike shed and dropped them straight after.
Hell, she wouldn't be surprised.
But even Madeleine couldn't pretend that Levi had no reason to dislike her - she was just as bad as him when it came to rubbing him up the wrong way. She knew that he felt threatened by her and her abilities, and she was never averse to a little healthy competition - but their competitions were decidedly unhealthy. Professor Archer was constantly telling the two of them off for fighting with each other - "We've got enough of a problem with the war outside, never mind you two starting one!" - but they couldn't stop. He was determined to beat her and vice versa. The irritating thing was that they were both equally good. The competitiveness was really very pointless... but they did it anyway.
Today, in this class, Professor Archer asked for Levi and Madeleine to work on their descending skills together, in a pair. Both of them tended to struggle to find their feet - they would land on one foot, and then lose their balance a little. "Give each other friendly advice," he said, with a pointed look at them.
"Yes, sir," they said in unison, knowing that this was going to be pretty much impossible.
Levi gave Madeleine a sarcastic bow, and she curtsied icily back.
"Ladies first," he said, stressing the first word.
"Go right ahead," Madeleine smiled.
Levi growled at her and ascended lightly into the air. Coming back down, he landed on his left foot, and stumbled a little as he landed. It wasn't obviously noticeable, but since Madeleine and Levi had been being taught for years, Professor Archer was teaching them to perfect things. Landing skills were not technically part of air control. But it passed the time until everyone could fly. And a bit of perfection never went amiss.
"You're landing on your left foot," Madeleine said helpfully. "You're right-handed, so your right foot will probably be stronger. Try landing on your right foot."
Levi threw her a dirty look and then bounced into the air. As he descended, he took care to land on his right foot. When his right foot hit the ground, his left swiftly followed, and he landed almost without losing his balance - much better than before.
"Thanks," he said, straightening up slightly. "Your go."
Madeleine rose gracefully into the air, then landed, losing her balance slightly, just as Levi had done.
"Same thing," he said, gesturing to her right foot. "You're left-handed, land on your left foot."
Madeleine jumped into the air and landed on her left foot, keeping her balance.
"Well done," he said grudgingly. "You did alright, for a woman, I guess."
Madeleine immediately thought of the tin pencil case on their desk and it flew over and hit Levi on the head.
He cursed, and Madeleine gasped as she felt a flow of icy water run down her back.
Two wars... and now she was fighting with one of her own warriors. Excellent.
