Dakota Armstead

"No, seriously… Not right now it doesn’t." she insisted. "That sounds like fun she commented.

"I'm not gonna budge 'til you tell me," she said. The brunette shrugged. "It was alright, but hey! No changing the topic."

"Dakota…" she started, hesitant to continue. "Never mind, it doesn’t matter." she insisted quickly. "What’ve you been up to these past few days?"

"What?" She asked. "It does matter; I can tell by the tone of your voice." The brunette sighed, crossing her arms. "You can ask me, or tell me, or whatever. I won't get mad, or upset, or anything." Dakota sighed, looking back at the girl. "Training, making out in closets, the usual. What about you?"

Later That Night || Dakota & Leyla

Leyla laughed when the girl she was walking with yawned,again.  ”Just you yawning again.  You say you’re not tired, yet you yawn almost constantly.”  Leyla watched Dakota pull out a smoke from her bag and answered, “No.  As long as we’re outside.  I don’t do well with smoke.”

Dakota rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She was trying to sound impartial, but there was an amused quality in her voice that gave her away. The brunette smiled, bringing the lighter to the joint in her lips. "Why's that?" 

"I was missing you." Michaela told her a warm smile on her face.

"Yeah?" She smiled, giving Michaela a peck on the cheek. "Well, I'm glad we're okay."

"So… Friends again?" she asked, turning her whole body to face Dakota’s.

"I'd like that." Dakota smiled, pulling Michaela into a quick hug. "I was beginning to miss you."

Michaela’s lips curved into a small smile. She got up and followed Dakota inside. “I’m not just sorry about that. I’m sorry about the other day as well.”

Dakota smiled back, wiping the snow off Michaela's shoulders. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said all those things, you know? I didn't mean them." 

They get suspicious over everything these days, seriously. First they get scared of a flying bird made out of fire, then suddenly even guys are scared of me… [Emily shrugged, watching in awe as the grizzly bear/Dakota moved around] you even keep the mind of a human being, that’s so awesome! I’ve heard that some shifters actually turn almost completely animal like. [she said, smiling once Dakota showed up again] I get some spare time here and there. Why?

Where was said 'bird of fire' flying? If it was through the halls or in a classroom, I get it, but outside or in the gym would be no biggie. [She smiled, shrugging her shoulders.] I'm usually pretty sane in animal form. When I change at will, it's all good, but not when the change is forced. Know what I mean? [She shrugged again, looking back at the girl.] I don't know, I just like knowing what classes other people are in. See if we have the same blocks and all.

Michaela wasn't listening completely until she mentioned the word "kill". Her attention snapped back onto Dakota. She was dead serious. It almost scared her. "I'm sorry." she apologized in a voice which barely reached a whisper.

Dakota shook her head. "It's alright, just... Don't you ever scare me like that again, okay?" She looked Michaela in the eyes, extending a cautious hand. "C'mon, let's get you inside. It's freezing out here."

Accepted!

"Yeah, that’s true, there isn’t.  I am very harsh on my work.  I have to have it perfect.  I once spent three months on one piece."  Leyla tried not to be intimidated.  "Tattoos?  That’s awesome!  I love tattoos.  I have one actually." Leyla said sheepishly.

The brunette nodded. "Perfectionism is good, in a sense. But sometimes... You've gotta think outside of the technicalities, you know? Just fucking go for it." That's how she worked, most of the time. It came naturally, in moments of passion or strong emotion. She grinned. "Really? What of? I've got a few too." 

"How bad can a gram of dust be? I haven't even tried it yet but I AM going to and you can't stop me." she said, downplaying the situation a little bit. "You're nothing to do with me. You don't get to tell me what to do."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she spat, pinning Michaela to the ground. "That 'dust' or whatever you call it... It took over my life, alright? I almost fucking died, and someone... Someone I loved got killed because of it. I killed because of it. And once you start... Once you go there... You'll never come back. Not completely." She closed her eyes, remembering the sickness, the cravings, everything. Dakota paused, hurt in her eyes. "Maybe I don't, but I'm still allowed to fucking care about you, aren't I? I don't want you... I don't... I don't want to lose you too." 

Accepted!

"Uh, about 4 years now.  And I mainly sketch."  She started sketching after she found out about her power.  "It’s mainly cats, to be quite honest.  I found an odd interest in sketching them after I learn about my power."  She figited with her bag again.  "Yeah, I do have one but I don’t think they are any good.  It’s back in my dorm room." Leyla paused before going on.  "What about you?  Do you have one?"

"Cool," she replied, nodding. The cat thing earned an eyebrow raise, but who was she to judge? Besides, they weren't the worst things she could be drawing. "There's no such thing as good art or bad art, yeah? It's all about perspective, and besides, people tend to be harsh towards their own work." Dakota winked, flashing Leyla a small smile. "Mine's in the art studio. I wanna do tattoos, to be honest, though."

I have been thinking....

Dakota nodded, laughing a bit. "You got that right, punk."

Michaela lay in the snow looking up at Dakota, her eyes locked to hers as she racked her mind for an excuse. "It's baby powder for Lucifer." She lied. Michaela rose from the ground slowly, reaching out for the packet.

"Bullshit." Her left hand reached the packet, snatching it from Michaela's grasp. She dipped a finger in, bringing it up to reach her tongue. Cocaine. "Michaela...." She paused, lowering herself to the other girl's level. "Listen... This..." she gestured towards the packet, "it's dangerous. You don't know what you're getting into."

Under the heavy influence of alcohol Michaela started to stumble away from where she was standing with the intention of moving back inside to her room where she could snort the cocaine in private. She slipped the packet back into her pocket without zipping it back up and wandered unknowingly towards Dakota, bumping into her, losing her balance and falling to the floor, the cocaine packet falling out onto the floor.

Dakota tapped her cigarette, flicking ash into the snow. She closed her eyes inhaling again. It was peaceful, being alone. She felt a light shove at her chest, turning to face the source. "Michaela what the fuck?" She was not gonna deal with her shit again. A small, white packet fell to the floor, and she grabbed it, eyes narrowing with disapproval. "The fuck is this?"

Michaela was sitting out in the courtyard taking one last drag of the cigarette she was smoking, playing around with a bag filled with a white powder in her hands. She’d never snorted coke before but there’s a first time for everything, right?

Dakota sighed, watching the snow fall in silent flurries. It was cold again, and she hungered for the warmth of spring. She took a slow drag off her cigarette; drawing smoke into her weary lungs. The last few days had been... Rough, for lack of a better word. Sad and dead as the world outside. She looked around, noticing Michaela. "No need to approach her," she thought. "I'm in as much shit as it is."

Accepted!

"Uh, Advanced, I think." Leyla looked down at her schedule.  "Yeah, advanced." She listened to Dakota’s classes.  When she was done, Leyla squealed with joy.  "I think we have Art together!"

Dakota grinned. "Yeah?" It was one of her favorite classes, really. Art was something she just got; something she didn't have to think about. "That's awesome! How long have you been painting, or drawing, or whatever you specialize in?" She tilted her head to the side, curious. "Do you have a portfolio?"