Unimaginative, Oh what boredom produces...

[Layl]

The total lack of ideas on Layl's part on what to explore first didn't seem to bother her. Where would one find a water mage? Most anyone would immediately picture a beach, or lake.

Which, if fact, is where Layl was.
After immediately checking out her dormitory from her activation, the obvious plan of action for the near-sighted mage was to release all that hyper, relieved energy. And so, she went to the beach.
Upon arrival at her destination, Layl was at a loss for what to do. Last time the girl had been to one, she had been very young, and hadn't a clue what she had did for fun. As a result, Layl spent at least a good five minutes looking for anything interesting, when her unimaginative idea hit.
Two words -- sand -- castle.
While untying her sandals, Layl slipped off her white jacket, and put both next to one another on a rock, while she ran forward to the water. Giggling slightly, Layl found a nice spot that was just out of reach from most of the waves.

Time passed, and before she knew it, she had at least half a castle done.

[Ignatius]

Julius wandered along the beach lazily. Some might be shocked to find the Fire Master so close to such a large body of water. Of course, some people would be shocked to find anything out of the ordinary- this hypothetical reaction of a non-existent person didn't bother the man in the slightest. Indeed, water might not be his favorite thing in the world, but sand melted into glass and it was something to do.

Julius noticed the girl when he was a few hundred feet from her- and also noticed the sand castle. He'd never actually built one himself, and had never had any desire to, but was oddly curious about it. He walked over and crouched next to her, his bare feet sinking into the sand as he made sure the rest of his clothes didn't. He examined the sand castle for a few moments, apparently not noticing the girl working on it.

"Hi," he said vaguely, glancing briefly at her and realizing it might be wise to introduce himself instead of simply walking over and watching her. A select few might not mind that behaviour- but a great many would find it annoying and possibly insulting.

[Layl]

Layl had never really been a multi-tasker. Lost in her own world as she worked on her sand castle, Layl hadn't noticed Julius in the slightest until he spoke. The sudden, even if not loud, noise was enough to startle her, knocking down one of her main towers.
"Damn!" she cursed, and then glanced up at the one who had spoken for the first time.
Her first impression of the Fire Master: A tall, young adult, who apparently had too much fun dying his hair. It certainly caught her eye. Her stare was blank for a moment, before she remembered she should probably return the greeting.
"Oh! Sorry.... Hello. I didn't see you there." Layl laughed nervously, realizing she had stated the obvious, as usual for her when embarrassed.
'I really should stop zoning out so much. It makes me look like a fool when someone startles me like that.'
Vaguely, some part of Layl's mind was trying to convince her it wasn't just the suddenly being startled that made her not want to look like an idiot. And she had to agree, this stranger definitely was not bad looking...quite the opposite.

[Ignatius]

Julius smiled apologetically at the girl's reaction, he hadn't meant for her to destroy some of it, especially since he wasn't sure if he'd be able to rebuild it for her. And then there were various other issues including whether or not she'd even want him to or if she'd take offense that another would try to touch her masterpiece (he'd dealt with far too many artists for this not to be a possibility), etc.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that- I really didn't mean to startle you," he said quickly at her apology, wishing she hadn't said 'sorry'. "Really- I'll help you remake it if you'd like. Unless you want to do it all on your own..." Julius scratched his head for a moment, glancing at the damage he'd inadvertently caused.

"By the way, I'm Julius- what's your name?" the young man asked with a smile when he realized that, even if he wasn't able to help, he should at least know her name. It was a bit odd to meet someone a second time and only know them by 'that girl at the beach'.

[Layl]

Layl smiled, and nodded. "Sure, if you don't mind. I haven't made one of these in forever, so it's been a bit frustrating getting it to stay together."
Layl moved over to work on one of her other towers so he had room to move to fix the one she had knocked over. "My name, you ask?" She grinned mischeviously, and commenced her recital of her full name, as she always did when asked for it.
"Eilalorai Katara Mia-Leonae Deyani Fraedani Laneth Collins," rattling off the full name, she added to the end, "but you can call me Eila, or Layl. Either name works just as well as the others."
Layl knocked off the top of one of her towers, and rebuilt it, apparently unhappy with it for some reason. "If you're not very good at making these, it's okay. I was just planning to try and draw it afterward, to send to my sister, but I can always send her something else."
It hadn't really occurred to her they might not have a mailing system, but suddenly the thought struck her. She'd have to ask someone, eventually, though she didn't want to bother Julius with such a question. Teenage girls and their silly attempts at not looking like idiots in front of guys.

[Ignatius]

"I've never made one before, but for staying together... I can melt the sand on the outside into glass so it keeps it's shape- but maybe still looks like it's made of sand," he suggested when she said she was having trouble getting it to stay together. He could make a detailed castle out of glass, but when it came to simple shapes out of sand... well... It was sand.

The Fire Master paused when she gave her full name. He counted 7 or 8 names in there... That girl needed a nickname more than anyone he'd met. "Alright, Layl, good to meet you," he said- shifting over so he had access to the tower he accidentally destroyed. He started trying to fix it, glancing over at her work occasionally to make sure he could do it properly.

"Mm, that's good. Do you draw a lot, then?" he asked at her comment about why she was attempting to build it. Julius was somewhat fascinated by artists. He was amazed by people who could draw- with or without reference. IT's why he was so glad he'd found Raiden willing to help him with his journal.

[Layl]

"Glass on the outside would definitely help." Layl laughed, mentally storing the fact he was a fire mage. She had kind of guessed as much, from the hair color, but who knew? Shaping the top of the tower she was busying herself with, she glanced at his work so far. At least it was getting built, and the glass would definitely help.
Layl smiled in response to his question. "Frequently. I'm really not sure I'm that good, but Lise, my little sister, always says I am, so I'll take her word for it, for the most part. I love drawing people more though. It's easy, because I have Lise to pose for me. She has problems staying still though. Hyper six year old energy and all. I'd probably be a hopeless bookworm if she didn't drag me away from my room all the time." Laughing, Layl moved over a bit, to reach the next tower. Her fingers slowly began to shape the top of the little guard tower.
"I'm talking too much though, aren't I?" Though she laughed, she really was worried about being annoying. She had always been paranoid about how people thought of her.

[Ignatius]

"Heh, much better than me, I'm sure. I can't draw to save my life," he said cheerfully, continuing to work. He didn't think it was working out very well... But he decided it was a moment of 'no one's good their first time'. Or, at the very least, he really hoped it was. It felt a bit weird to feel like he couldn't do something as well as someone else. Especially when that someone was apparently very much younger than him. The age difference only seemed to get him at times like this.

"Mm, you're not really talking to much. Well, maybe for others- but I really don't mind," Julius said, pausing just long enough to smile reassuringly at the girl. He quickly turned his attention back to the castle. It was starting to get on his nerves, the nagging feeling that he could've finished something more interesting in his own element in the amount of time he was taking to do this.

[Layl]

"Yes you can, I'm sure. Everyone can draw. It's just a matter of opinion how well someone draws, really. It's the same with anything though." Layl glanced at Julius's tower-building attempts, and wondered if the words she had spoken, a common saying of her mother's, was really so true.

"You really aren't doing that bad, but I can tell you probably don't make alot of these." Layl laughed a little, and moved over again, to a third tower, to fix up the battlements. Her eyes kept wandering from her own work, to Julius's, to Julius himself.

"Okay, well, so I don't end up going on about myself, I'll ask you a question or two. Then I can be the listener, for once. So, I've figured you're a fire mage, it doesn't take a genius to get that from the glass idea. But how long have you been here? And why fire, of all the elements?" Layl blinked a few moments, before shaking her head vigorously.
"I just meant.... I didn't mean fire was a bad choice. I actually might have preferred being a fire mage, if I wasn't here to be a healer... I'm going on again, aren't I?" Layl gave a humorless, frustrated laugh.

[Ignatius]

Julius smiled at her comment about 'matters of opinion' on how well people could draw. It was true, of course, but having someone in your head who could draw extremely detailed costume designs in almost perfect anatomy made it much more difficult to say that the terrible stick figures he could manage were anything more than terrible stick figures that should be burnt- and often were.

"This is my first one!" the Master said at her comment on his castle building skills. He glanced up and smiled brightly as he said it, sounding more like a five year old than one of the most powerful people at the school. Not letting that fact bother him, he went back to what he was doing with slightly greater fervor as a result of her compliment. It seemed a bit lame and rather odd that such a simple little comment caused him to try that much harder- but if the end result is good there's no real point in complaining.

"Um... I've been here for awhile, long enough to know magic pretty well," Julius said to her questions. He didn't like saying he was Fire Master at first, always worried that people would feel the need to treat him with respect and reverence as a result. He greatly preferred talking like this.
"I don't really remember why fire exactly, but I don't regret it. For what I do it's useful, but that's just me. I like having power over the flames and such- but it's kind of hard to explain why," he said vaguely, shrugging.
"And you don't have to be Water or Earth to be able to heal. Well, you do to heal magically- but mundane methods are just as useful, and in some circumstances preferable. I know that Winston, the Detonation Professor, is great with mundane healing- mainly because there's always at least one person who forgets that the difference between something irritating and lethal is two drops of the wrong chemical." Julius snarled gently as some of the sand slipped and he had to redo a bit. "Of course- mundane methods can't hold a candle to magical, but still, it's not like Fires are doomed never to heal others."

Julius shrugged, sitting back and looking at his work with mild amusement, continuing to make mild adjustments as he glanced over at the girl for a moment. Now he was the one rambling, he hoped he didn't go on too much. "By the way, what element are you?"

[Layl]

"Well then, it's even better. I haven't made one in a while, but I guess this is one of those things that you just remember how to do." Layl replied to his announcement of never having made a sand castle before. He really wasn't doing as bad as she had thought, in that case.
While her two index fingers pushed together a piece of one of her towers, she knocked over part of the battlements of another.
While she worked on fixing that, she answered his next question.
"Water. I was just activated though, so I don't know a thing. And, yes, I know very well about 'mundane healing'. My father does it for a living, where we live. But, there is a problem, that he can't cure. He was never really that good with his magical healing. He said he left the school really early. So, that doesn't really help very much. He didn't really like the idea of me coming at first. When I was little, I used to be scared to death of water." Layl laughed at the irony in that fact, as she finished up the battlement she had messed up.

"My mother tried to suggest Earth, because they heal too. Well, more because that's her element. She's a much better mage than my dad, for sure, but she didn't study as a healer. She was a... rock mage, I think." After finishing the tops of another tower, Layl stood up, and brushed some sand off her simple black dress. Her hands on her hips, she looked at the castle from above.
"It's really coming pretty good..."

[Ignatius]

"Heh, thanks, I think it makes it worse that I never built one before. It seems like a part of growing up or something," Julius said, smiling vaguely as he continued working. He was glad that it was one of those things you just remembered, maybe that meant if they ever wanted to try this again he'd do better. He was, in reality, doing almost as well as the girl, but he felt like he wasn't doing anywhere near good enough.

"Ha, a water mage that's afraid of water? I can see that happening..." he said with a slight laugh at her comment. He knew that wasn't what she meant, but it was still amusing. He highly doubted they would be accepted, but it would be interesting to see. Definitely would've made the lessons more amusing.

"That's pretty good about your Ma and Dad, though. It's nice having mages for parents, I'd think, gives you a better idea what to expect. Neither of my parents were mages, dad might've been- but I don't know for sure," Julius said vaguely, wondering if giving up might cause less damage than if he continued working on the castle, "But, yeah, if you leave too early you really can't expect much. You learn waaaay too much in your last year here."

Julius stopped as she stood up, watching her look over the castle. He wasn't sure what she wanted, and was glad to hear it was coming along well enough. A warm smile crept over his features for a moment before he returned his attention to the castle, not feeling too troubled by the concept that it might take awhile to finish and add outer glass coating.

[Layl]

"Well, my dad was sure I got over that little fear early on. So I'm fine now, but he was still a little worried." Layl added, as she sat back down on the sand, working on building up the central kind of keep. It was short, as she had worked on the other towers first, for some reason.
As he commented on why leaving school early was sort of a waste, Layl wondered how he knew that you learned so much the last year. Was he in his last year?
"Are you in your last year then? Or have you just hear that you learn alot then?"
For some reason, the young appearance and attitude of the man next to her made him seem like anything but a teacher, so she didn't consider the thought at all, really. She should have known better, as both her parents appeared much, much younger than they were. In their teens, while they were truly in their early thirties. It had never bothered Layl, because she had gotten used to it. People looked at the family with speculation, that two eighteen year olds could be the mother and father of a fourteen year old and a five year old. Or that a eighteen year old was a doctor.

[Ignatius]

"I've just heard about it. People always expect to be able to slack off then, then they get to that level and are assaulted by a bunch of work and spells, etc. Apparently it's one of the more difficult things you'll ever have to deal with," Julius said cheerfully. He had been through the last year himself, and it was definitely difficult- but because generally people were trying to slack off they ended up going through last minute panic all too often. Julius didn't like putting things off like that, so he got along well enough. That and they got a serious case of insomnia at the time and had 8 extra hours a day to work on everything.

"From what I've heard it's really worth it, though. After that- anything you encounter in the real world is pretty simple," he added so as not to scare her too much. This he didn't know from experience, but the Professors and various mages he'd spoken to had assured him this was the case.

[Layl]

Layl nodded. "I don't really put things off that much, so I'm pretty sure I'll be okay. Neither of my parents got that far though. But they always say I'm more stubborn than either of them ever were." Layl laughed, and nodded, while she drew in a door for the keep. After finishing that up, she continued building up the height, and trying to keep it compact enough to stand.

"Probably. Though I'm sure, it'll be odd, looking like a teenager while being so many years old. I know both of my parents are looked at a bit weird for calling me their daughter, when they only look maybe five years older than me at the most." She vaguely recalled an incident when she was eleven, and some one had thought her parents had kidnapped her, because of their young appearance. It had taken a lot of convincing, and shows of magic, to get the elderly woman to believe their story.
Layl began on the top of the keep, trying to create a little sand flag, which kept falling under the weight of the banner. Finally, she just decided to leave it flat, save for battlements, like the other towers.