Cool Zone (Open)

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Being outside was pretty fan-fucking-tabulous. Yes, Gilbert was a defiant and obnoxious mutant that liked to make guard's lives difficult, but he didn't hold any hatred for humans in general. He rather liked people, and he liked even more to show off for people. The guards had pushed all the snow on the ground out of the way for festival-goers convenience, but Gilbert had been quick to summon all the snow of the surrounding area to his cage. With the freedom of having his own space and not having to worry about freezing a cellmate, Gilbert went crazy with decking out his cage to make it his personal winter wonderland. He lined the floor with a nice snowy carpet that crunched ever so deliciously with every step. Iced bunny sentries stood by the door to his cage, dressed up as medieval knights with swords strapped to their sides and shields on their arms. An intricate insignia of Gilbert's own design, centered around a teutonic cross, decorated the shields and the bunnies' tunics.

If one looked close enough to the ice sculptures, they could see the result of being a consistent resident of the Underground for over five years and the level of precision it gave an extremely bored man with ice manipulation powers. The years of creating ice sculptures to curb his boredom gave him an easy precision making insane details with just a thought. The ice had texture to give the bunnies fur, the clothing they wore had tiny stitches and wrinkles, the scabbards that held their swords had twisting, textured designs. While such level of skill could be called impressive, Gilbert always waved such comments about his sculptures with a laugh and attributing it to boredom more than any kind of artistic ability he might have, which he claimed he did not. Was it really being artistic when the ice just obeyed what his mind wanted it to do?

A border imitating a crenellated battlement only a foot or so high ran along the outside perimeter of his cage, breaking and rising into an ornate arch around the door to his cage behind his bunny sentries. Sitting along the highs and lows of the border were an assortment of bird sculptures. One of his bird sculptures sat on the stand that each mutant had in from of their cage that displayed their basic information for curious onlookers. While the Underground organizers had been kind enough to put him in a cage under the shade of some trees, Gilbert did not want to run the risk of getting burnt by the unforgiving sun and built himself some extra protection with an ice roof. The thick, opaque ice covered the flat top as a second layer, but naturally Gilbert could not leave it with such a simple design. He built hollow and light towers at each corner, cautious of accidentally putting too much weight on the top of the cage. He added ice support on the poles supporting the cage roof, but really did not want to chance it with the weight limit.

While the roof kept sunlight from shining directly down on him, Gilbert still had plenty of light in his cage-cum-palace through the open sides. In the back corner he had himself a pile of snow for lounging in, but he also made himself an ice throne at the front of the cage to socialize with any humans that stopped to talk to him, which was essentially anyone with a sense of creativity and fun because it was impossible to walk past his palace without some kind of interest! Gilbert took pride in his attention grabbing ways and loved having the chance to chat with and taunt so many new and different people. But more than anything Gilbert loved the kids that came past. They were all delighted by his castle and he was more than happy to take requests for ice creations. Yeah he was a huge softie for cute kids, he was not about to deny it.

It was the fourth day of festivities. He had the misfortune of having an arena fight just the second day of the festival, putting a downer on his good mood of the first day... But some socializing with some kids and making them tons of cute ice sculptures had done wonders for the guilt weighing on him after his fight... It was early afternoon and not many people had started wandering back to the mutant viewing area, so Gilbert was content with lying in his fluffy snow pile, protective sunglasses on even in his shaded castle, and watching snowflakes swirl around his cage. If he was lucky, there would be lots of kids to entertain today as well.

Words: 789

Tags: wooo

made by MISSO on IOF

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She didn't like being outside. It was winter, and it was cold and wet. But the festival offered interesting things that piqued her curiosity, so Nesia wore her thickest coat and encouraged herself to take a stroll outside. At least her movements helped warming her body. Still, other visitors glanced at her sometimes; as if they were wondering why she covered her body so much in this fine weather. Well, they do wonder. Nesia mused, listening to a child behind her babbling to an adult nearby. Although her knowledge of Russian language was limited, she recognized enough words to know that the boy was inquiring about her choice of clothing. Chuckling, Nesia turned around and lowered her scarf slightly to show him a glimpse of her smile before she continue walking. Looking around, the woman realized she had seen all vendors at the streets. Which means that there was only one place left to see that she had saved for last: the cages.

With a cup of warm tea in her grasp, Nesia made her way to where the mutants are. She hadn't seen any mutant fights, so this would be her first chance to closely see a mutant. Maybe she'd get a chance to talk to them too. Except for giving orders, her parents never let her talk to their mutants. Everyone she knew from her homeland did the same. The mutant life was quite a mystery to her. They looked similar to human, but they had different life.

Although the invitation said 'cages', Nesia didn't think it would mean real cages. She knew that mutants were dangerous, but displaying them out in the open like zoo animals never crossed her mind. Bars of steel lined around a decent sized area, creating a limited space for its mutant. Some were sleeping or look bored. Others were trying to make visitors came closer. Nesia was halfway approaching a female mutant's cage, but something stopped her from proceeding. A pair of bat wings sprouted from her back, large talons on each wing were making clattering sound against the steel bars. The bat woman's laugh were heard as Nesia hurriedly left to see other cages. She was slightly annoyed, but she felt being caged must be pretty boring and the female mutant didn't have other choice to entertain herself.

Not far from that cage, a small building stood under a tree. At first glance Nesia didn't think that it was one of the cages because it resembled a small castle from afar. It was until she reached the tree she realized it was one of the cages, just more intricately decorated than the others. A bunny soldier made from ice was standing on the ground. It was dressed like a knight, and upon closer inspection she could see the details on its fur and uniform. She observed it for a minute, feeling a tad disappointed because the bunny didn't make any movement at all. It looked so real, so if it did move she wouldn't be surprised. The details were very elaborate. Nesia had seen ice sculpting festival and even the most detailed statue was nothing compared to this ice bunny.

The air was getting cold, prompting Nesia to tighten the scarf covering the lower half of her face. Being a designer herself, the woman didn't want to pass an opportunity of seeing such a marvelous design even though it's freezing out here. There were birds, all sculpted from ice, sitting on the wall. One sat on top of the information stand. A brief glance on it told Nesia that the mutant who inhabited this cage was named Gilbert. His last name was difficult to pronounce.

Her curiosity led the woman to the cage entrance. She lowered her scarf and greeted him, "hello, Mr. Gilbert," Nesia paused to rub her cold arms. "I hope I'm not disturbing you. You have a very interesting... work here. How did you make all of this?"

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Well this was an interesting guest. She was a pretty thing and her dark skin contrasted starkly with the usual citizens of Archadia. But most interesting of all: she was alone. People seemed to rather observe the cages with some kind of companion and solitary gawkers were rare, solitary women even more so. His gaze followed her as she was scared off by another mutant. Not surprisingly, his castle caught her eyes and she seemed intrigued. As she very well should be, his work was very impressive! As she came closer, Gilbert remained uncharacteristically quiet. She had startled after the other mutant had scared her and he was bored, so he decided to let her get completely enamored by his ice sculptures before he opened his big fat mouth.

She came closer to the entrance and Gilbert sat up excited in anticipation. "Hello, Mr. Gilbert," she said, surprisingly polite to his lowly mutant self. He liked her even more now. "I hope I'm not disturbing you." He snorted and pushed himself to his feet. Yeah he was so busy doing nothing. "You have a very interesting... work here. How did you make all of this?" She definitely was not from around here, not alone was she way too pretty, but way too nice too.

Gilbert grinned and skid across the small distance of his snow pile and the entrance. "Well pretty lady, I got this little thing called a mutation, whole reason I'm in this cage and you're looking in on me and know my name from a nice little plaque." Oh wait he wanted to make this chick stay and entertain him for a bit. Whoops. He smiled a little sheepishly and gathered some snow in his hand to make a small bouquet of flowers, but then realized that that was not going to work, considering the chain link fence. He sighed and dropped the bouquet into flurries again, then made the bouquet again on the other side of the fence on an ice podium, easy for the woman to pick it up from. "I can manipulate snow and ice, aint that cool? I get bored so I've become a pretty fucking awesome sculptor, don't ya think so? I think so. I mean look at that detail!" He leaned against the cage next to one of his bunnies. "I get down into the fur of this suckers! And their little faces are so cute! I take requests, want a pretty ice sculpture to take home? Stick it in the freezer and it will last a while!" He winked and crossed his arms casually. "But first how about a name, hot stuff? Do I need to be concerned about a boyfriend wanting to punch me for flirting with you?"

Words: 459

Tags: @derpinesia

made by MISSO on IOF

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Snow was the first word that came to her mind when Gilbert the mutant appeared behind the chain fence. If snow could become a human then he's definitely its embodiment. Pale skin, pale hair and the fact that this freezing temperature didn't seem to bother him at all. Apart from his unforgettable appearance, he also possessed an air that made people hard to ignore his existence. Nesia felt that if they were in a crowded room, she would be able to spot him easily. She averted her gaze, just aware that she had stared him longer than she had intended. Luckily, he didn't seem to realize this.

"Well pretty lady, I got this little thing called a mutation, whole reason I'm in this cage and you're looking in on me and know my name from a nice little plaque."

Nesia raised an eyebrow. She disliked his speaking tone, which gave a cynical impression. Didn't all mutants are taught to be polite and respectful towards humans? Or he might simply didn't want her to be here, despite the wide grin that indicated otherwise. Nesia could linger here for a minute or two before moving away, no worries. There were more interesting cages to see anyway.

A small pile of snow in his hands transformed into a bouquet of flower. "Oh, beautiful..." Nesia commented, then startled when Gilbert dropped it on the floor. Nesia wanted to see it closer and look at all the details. But before she asked him why he did that, Gilbert conjured up another bouquet - this time outside the cage. It was materialized within her reach, so without hesitation Nesia took it and placed her cup on the podium. She held it close to her chest, similar to holding a baby, because it was too cold to be touched. Her thick coat could endure it longer than her gloves. Water began to seep into her gloves already.

Gilbert suddenly began to talk quickly. "I can manipulate snow and ice, ain't that cool? I get bored so I've become a pretty fucking awesome sculptor, don't ya think so? I think so. I mean look at that detail!"

When he leaned closer, Nesia instinctively took a step back. She had leaned close to the cage to talk to him. Keeping some distance between them is an essential matter in interacting. Especially with mutants. Curiosity was good, but she also needed to be cautious too. She didn't want to repeat the incident with the female-bat mutant.

"Your work is marvelous," Nesia began, keeping her voice calm. "And the details are exceptional. For a moment I thought these bunnies are alive." The woman chuckled. "I really like seeing such work around here. To be honest I never think a mutant would possess such talent..."

Her cheeks went red and she took another step back. "B-boy... oh no. I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, no..." this question embarrassed her a little. "I'd say I worry more about my father punching you, but he's not in Archadia." She laughed, shrugging off the awkwardness that began to stir within her.

"A request, hm? Ah, how about a piece of jewelry. Like a hair accessory. Can you make that?" The snow bouquet was enough as a souvenir, but as a designer Nesia wished to see if he could create something that's better than her own design. "And by the way, from where did you learn about sculpting? Also, if you used colored snow, will your creations have other colors than white?"

"It seems I forget something. My name is Nesia."

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Oh good, she took the bouquet. Gilbert was honestly concerned that he had scared her off for good with his originally crass response. It was so hard to remember to be nice to humans he wanted to stick around and entertain him. She held the bouquet like it was made of glass, which it kinda did look like that, did it not? But nah, it would not break that easily. Although maybe she was holding it like that because it was probably cold. More probable. She took a step back as he leaned forward, but he took no offense. It was a pretty intelligent move all things considered. His eyes watched her attently through his sunglasses as she spoke.

"Your work is marvelous. And the details are exceptional. For a moment I thought these bunnies were alive." Gilbert's smile rivaled the sun as he nodded with pride. Damn right his work was lifelike. It was great to be recognized for his talents. Although his smile faltered as she continued. "I really like seeing such work around here. To be honest I never think a mutant would possess such talent..." Right because less than human mutants obviously could not be talented with creative energies. They were just animals after all. But he bit his tongue, despite the simmering anger beneath his skin. She was here to entertain him, he could let her ignorance slide. Besides her blush was cute.

"B-boy... oh no. I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, no..." Which was obviously an invitation to ignore the rest of her statement and push his sunglasses down to give her a rosy eyed wink as he licked his lips. There really was no acting on his part when it came to his playful flirting. She was attractive.

Her request was simple enough, but Gilbert really wanted to impress her. He flopped to the ground and pulled his legs into criss cross as he thought about what design to make. The rest of what she said only filtered through the back of his mind, to mull over for another day. Colored snow. Genius really. But for now Miss Nesia wanted a hair accessory.

Girls liked hairbands right? Yeah a hairband would be cool (heh). Nesia seemed to like the critters he had made around his cage, so that was a good place to start. It was all too easy to create the silhouette of a bird in flight, but like hell Gilbert would leave it there. Tiny imprints of feathers decorated the bird and along the headband itself he created wispy feathers so give it a look as it the headband itself would take flight. And he did all of this to a patch of snow outside the cage, within reach for Nesia to pick up. He looked up with a proud smile. "How's that to your taste hot stuff?"

Words: 478

Tags: @derpinesia

made by MISSO on IOF

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He winked. She blinked. Confusion froze her body on the spot. It sounded absolutely impossible, unimaginable, far beyond her wildest thoughts! Yet he was here, his shades pushed down, and one of his red eyes gave her a wink. He even licked his lips too.

A mutant was flirting with her.

Her mind fled to the past, when a sister of hers was having several friends at home. Nesia didn't know how the real event went, but apparently one of the boys flirted with her sister when her father arrived at home. According to the gossips, the boy switched school not long afterwards. Her father then explicitly stated that none of his daughters were allowed to date people before they finished university, or he'd deal something bad to their dates.

She couldn't imagine what he would have done to Gilbert if he saw him flirting with her. The loss of the mutant's life might even be possible.

Nesia took three steps backwards. It wasn't because he's a mutant, but it was because he blatantly flirted with her. The designer felt awkward when it comes to flirting. What should she do if someone expressed an interest at her like this? Laugh? She did exactly that, but it sounded sheepish and soft. Thankfully Gilbert had been busy making her requested trinket, so he didn't see her laughing.

Nesia crouched down so she could see how he made it. The snow near her feet began to take shape. He made her a hairband. Tiny feathers decorated it; each is as detailed as the bunny guard's furs. And the fact he produced such a work in a mere minutes caused her to be a little jealous. As a designer, Nesia poured hours of work just to design a pair of earrings. She always started from a sketch, then she made a three dimensional model and chose the materials for them. Afterwards, she began to work on the actual jewelry. Gilbert here, on the other hand, didn't need to sketch anything. The finished work was there and ready to be used.

If she had a power like him, Nesia would save so many time to work on her designs. And she'd have more time to sleep and do whatever she wanted.

"How's that to your taste hot stuff?"

"Beautiful..." came her short reply. Nesia wondered if he had forgotten her name. She placed the flower bouquet on the ground and took the hairband. She tried to put it on her head, but it was too small. Forcing it might break the hairband and Nesia didn't want that to happen. Besides, it'd melt later and make her hair wet. "Oh, and my name is Nesia. I've told you before." Not 'hot stuff', she added silently.

An idea suddenly popped in her head, sparked by her curiosity. Nesia moved closer to the cage before she uttered a question. "Say, if you're free, not enslaved, what would you do?"