Some Things Should be Simple

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee felt Chloe's breath tickle the back of his neck, and he forced a smile.
"Hi," he said, craning his head to kiss her.
"Hello," she met his lips clumsily, hopping over the settee to sit down beside him. "How're you?"
"Tired," he said truthfully.
His headache from yesterday after he'd seen... that... had kept him awake all night. And now, for the second night in a row, he'd found that he couldn't sleep. Chloe yawned herself, wrapping herself around him and nuzzling close.
"Me too," she sighed. "I'm exhausted. It's been a tough day- everyone's been asking about us!"
"How do they know?!" he cried, shocked.
"More people than you'd expect saw us in the corridor," smiled Chloe. "And besides, I told Ellie and Lydia- and you know what a gossip Lydia is!"
"Hmmph," said Lee, frowning. "No kidding."
"But this is nice!" laughed Chloe, kissing his cheek. "Nothing to hide- we're out in the open and we're happy! And Madeleine- "
"Does she know?" Lee started.
"Well if she doesn't already, she will," laughed Chloe, shaking his arm. "Sorry. Tired but hyper." There was a brief pause. "You've made me really happy Lee."
He smiled warily. "I know..."
She sighed, closing her eyes. "And now you've got me thinking about sleep. Wake me if I drift off, okay?"
"Okay," replied Lee.
Sooner or later, Chloe did drift off, but instead of waking her up, he merely prised her arms away from him, and laid her down gently on the settee. She curled into a little ball, and he conjured a blanket from thin air, tucking it around her. As he did so, he knelt down beside her, brushing a few of her golden locks from her cheek.
A small smile played across her lips- she was content; lost in her dreams. He removed her glasses and slipped them into her bag she'd left on the floor, sighing. She wasn't pretty as such- more pleasent to look at. She was a nice person too- and he didn't think he'd ever seen her smile more in one day. He could do a lot worse. He was lucky. Chloe liked him. They were together, and they could kiss and cuddle and-
Who was he trying to kid?
He wanted Madeleine. Still- he wanted Madeleine! This was madness- why couldn't he just be happy with what he had?
Suddenly the door creaked open, and Will walked in- Kira's fellow Head. Lee stood up suddenly, turning around to look at her. It was nice to see a friendly face.
"Hey."

[Will Wright]

Will walked up to the common room door. She had been out in the lake all night talking to Tamika and hadn't realised what time it was. Then she had gotten out and said bye to Tamika and on her way up here she had met Anton, talk about awkward moments. It was late at night and she hoped she could sneak into her dorm not wake anybody. As she pushed the door open it creaked. Dang it she thought angrily.
"Hey."
She looked over to the settee and saw Lee...with Chloe lying asleep. She looked peaceful and content.
"Hi," she said caually. She walked over and slumped down in front of the fire. She was still soaking wet from being in the lake playing with Tamika.
"How are you?" she asked as she used her power of fire to dry out her clothes. She watched him happily as he conjured a blanket out of thin air. "You've really got that whole conjuring thing down." she watched in admiration. She wished she had that power instead of her premonition power.
"I wish I had that power!" she smiled and lay her head in her arms and started playing with a strand of her red hair. Watching Lee closley as she did so.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee smiled, tossing the blanket over to her.
"Thanks," he smiled. "Here, it'll keep you warm."
Not that she needed it. His eyes caught the copper strand of hair she was curling around her finger. Aah... gingers. The world was far too prejudiced. Will had beautiful hair- so vibrant and bright. It reflected the person she was- not to mention the flames that she controlled.
But not only that- red reflected love, and Will was probably one of the most loving people Lee had ever had the good fortune to meet. She was Head of the Carers, after all.
"Why were you so wet?"

[Will Wright]

Will wrapped the blanket around her gratefully.
"I was swimming in the Glass lake," she put simply. Lee was watching her play with her hair. She smiled at him. Her teeth showing.
"So do you like chess a lot?" she asked. Will always took people's feelings into consideration adn she wasn't going to pester Lee about Chloe or Madeleine. He was going to get enough of that tomorrow.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He laughed. "Understatement."
Finally. Something that wasn't about Madeleine, Chloe, or Kira. Something that different involve his stupid emotions- his stupid decisions and the stupid girls that crowded his life.
Just something to focus on.
"Four time chess champ," he beamed. "I'm nerdy like that."

[Will Wright]

"Haha, it's not nerdy. I played with my dad until he was murdered, but I haven't found anyone who will play with me since!" she beamed back.
Lee looked relieved by the fact she wasn't pestering him about relationship problems. She sat up and walked over to the table that had a chess board on it.
"Care to join?" she smiled mischievously and him. "I'm black by the way," she added quickly.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He raised an eyebrow, amused by her cheeky grin.
"How come you're black?" he asked, taking a chair.

[Will Wright]

"I'm always black," she simply put. "You know that you're going down and going down quickly!" she challenged him as she laid out the board. She liked chess. She always had, her dad used to be nice with her and let her win but as she grew older and wiser he made it harder for her.
"Your go." she said starting to concentrate. Chess can be a tricky game and if you're not concentrating then you could lose very very quickly. Will was a fighter not a coward.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee moved his pawn forward, deciding to humour her. He was going down, was he? Well, he wasn't the chess champion for nothing...
"Your go," he smiled, welcoming her challenge.
He was glad to have this game. It would help him to relax- and to focus. This was what he was best at. This was the part of life where he always knew he would come up top.

[Will Wright]

A little later on in the game Will fell for one of the last moves he had made. She moved her bishop forward two black squares.
"Check," she smirked. She now had him surrounded. He is sooooo gonna lose!.
She stared into those blue eyes of his. Those hypnotizing eyes. Will snap out of it. He's with Chloe now!
You're right. God that was annoying.
She looked at him concentrate.
"I've got you beat en!" she laughed breifly.
She spoke to soon. Nooooooooo. She saw one flaw in her plan. No wait. One, two, three, four and five, five flaws in her brilliant yet sucky plan to win.
It was all over.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee smirked. He felt a little bad about this. She'd played right into his hands. Saying that, she'd very nearly wriggled out of his trap a few times. He could tell that she was probably quite a good chess player. He just hadn't given her a very fair deal. He'd just gone straight for the kill.
He moved his king.
"Checkmate."
He never tired of hearing that word.

[Will Wright]

"Dang it. Ah well I tired, good match," she shook his hand. "So you play chess often?" she pulled the blanket around her as she suddenly she felt cold.
"Achew!" Will sneezed suddenly. "Sorry," she blushed. She hated sneezing around people.
Why?
Why?
Why?
I never used to lose. Will sat looking at him in mock outrage as if he had committed a crime by beating her. She was reminded of playing against her own dad. Ah the good ole days and then he was shot and she hadn't played chess since now.
"I haven't played chess in a loooong time. But yeah, back to the question. Do you play chess often?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Four time chess champ mean nothing to you?" he laughed, eyeing her blanket.
Lee whipped out his hands and drew himself a blanket from mid-air, hopping onto the setee beside her and following her gaze into the fire. It was nice just to sit there, and not have to think about Chloe or Madeleine. The chess game had left him in a pretty good mood, and now he found himself surprisingly cheerful.
That was nice.
"You're good you know," he said after a few minutes. "I'm just... more practiced."

[Will Wright]

"Thanks," Will said distractedly and her smile faded. She was lost in the flames. The light's went out, so did the fire.
"Great!" Will sighed. She shot her hand out and the fire relit instantly. They were surrounded by silence. Peaceful silence. The only sounds were the crackling fire and Chloe's soft steady breathing. Will yawned.
"It's cold all of a sudden," she shivered.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee frowned at her. "How can you be cold? It's roasting."
But he didn't mind. As if sifting through an invisible drawer, his hand skimmed the air and pulled another, thicker blanket out of it. Grinning, he passed the blanket over to her, this time making sure she was tucked up properly.
He was definitely getting better at this Conjuring thing. It'd been too bad he hadn't got to show it off at the camp. Oh well, he could conjure anytime. It didn't really matter.
But his other power had to be a surprise... He loved to fly. But his favourite part probably had to be the fact that when he did, large, scaley wings burst forth from his back. Whenever you told someone you could fly, they often imagined wingless flight. It was, after all, more common.
But Lee much preferred his method. He often thought of it as a little hiccup on Nature's part.
His eyes drifted to Chloe, and sudden inspiration hit him. He was determined to make this thing work. Now that he had her- despite the strange circumstances they'd gotten together in- he wanted her to be happy. He'd screwed up his dream. If it was true, what Chloe said about him, then he could fix her's.
And in the long-run, it'd be better, wouldn't it? He'd get better. Eventually, he could... maybe... end up feeling just as strongly about her as he did about Madeleine.
Maybe.
Almost.
"Comfortable now?" he asked Will, following her gaze into the blackened depths of the crackling fire.