Skipping Stones (Matthew)

[Laurie Collins]

((pre-invasion kids))

Laurie likes a steady rhythm. Or perhaps rhythm isn’t the word, more a predictable impact of sound or sensation or taste or touch. Whatever form it takes, dancing, counting her steps when she walks, sitting in the back of Mr. Coleman’s music class and playing a steady percussion accompaniment to something more complex another student is working on, anything, so long as she can count it out in time. Today her rhythm outlet is skipping stones over the institute’s lake. She’d gotten good at this in Connecticut, in wooded expanse of their house on the off-season campground near the pond, sitting outside every day and practicing till her mother had started surreptitiously poking her wrist and muttering about compulsive muscle spasms. New Jersey came after that though, and not even anywhere near an ocean, just mile after mile of strip malls as far as the eye could see. Then all the way across the state, and then to Xavier’s. When she pictures her life now it looks rather like a road atlas with the dots of cities faded and small, not particularly important.

This is all a rather roundabout way of saying that she is rusty on skipping stones. Like riding a bicycle she tells herself, hefting a smooth, flat pebble in her right hand. Too bad I was terrible at that, lets it go with a flick of her wrist- one, two- plop. “Oh, fine.” she grumbles at the sinking pebble and proceeds to scuffle around to find another now that she’s sent the pebbles in the immediate vicinity to their watery graves.

“You,” she informs the next pebble she finds, holding it up on eye level and gazing at it quite sternly, “are going to skip. At least three times. Or else.” she nods once, solemnly, then closes her eyes and flicks her wrist, standing very still and listening carefully. One, two, three! four! The plop is not so discouraging this time and she laughs softly to herself, bringing both hands up to brush her loose blonde hair away from her face. It’s good to have been out by herself for a little while she decides, like recharging some sort of recluse battery needed to sustain her through the constant push and shove and give and take crowded institute life. Lighten up a little from all the tension. Can’t believe no one else is down here on such a nice day though, probably one of the last days it won’t be too cold for something like this…

[Matthew Craft]

Normally, on days and beautiful as this (you know, the ones that are unseasonably warm and there are those fluffy clouds that make cool shapes), Matthew would be happily locked up in the music room, beating out some mindless tune. But after a firm argument with himself, he had decided that he needed the fresh air. Of course, there's still some music involved; he's got his flute sticking out of his back pocket.

Aimless wandering isn't typically his thing, but like his music, Matthew sometimes just goes with the flow. In this case, the flow has led him down towards the lake. He's busy watching the fluttering bushes around him when a spark of blond hair catches his eye off in the distance.

Seems like he wasn't the only one outside today. He slows and stands back for a minute or two as Laurie sends one flat rock after another out into the water. Matthew smiles as he watches a few skip happily, and a few more bounce once or twice before going down with a plop.

"You know, at this rate, there won't be any rocks left by sundown." Matthew says, walking up behind her, his hands in his jacket pockets. He pulls the flute out of the back of his pants and sets it down on a mossy boulder. He stares at the ground for a few moments before picking up a flat stone, one considerably larger than those that had succumbed to Laurie's insistent throwing.

"Let me show you how you're supposed to do it." He grins mischievously and pulls his hand back. Adding a burst of his superior strength to the throw, he sends the stone flying out across the lake at an incredible velocity. Matthew expects the rock to skip at least seven or eight times, but its speed simply causes it to hit the water and submerge immediately, without so much as a ripple. "I--" He scrunches his lips to the side and covers his mouth with a hand, brow furrowed in thought. "That wasn't supposed to happen..." Matthew points accusingly at the spot where the rock had hit the water, embarrassed that his previous claim went unfulfilled.

[Laurie Collins]

No sooner has the thought crossed her mind than footfalls sound on the path just out of view. Laurie flicks her wrist quickly and releases the rock she’s holding, watches it skim out over the water (four skips again she notes happily) before glancing over her shoulder to catch a look at the interloper who, judging from the cessation in footfalls, seems to have paused to watch her. Her muscles tense a bit as she turns, as if the coming end of her solitude will require a fight or flight response. The realization of who it is seems to relax her slightly though and she hooks her thumbs into her pockets then takes them out again quickly and rubs her hands together, surprised as she realizes they’ve gotten cold without her even noticing while she’s been out here for some unrealized amount of time. Definitely almost too wintry for this.

"You know, at this rate, there won't be any rocks left by sundown."

The remark prompts a shrug and a shy smile as Laurie follows his movements with her eyes, lips turning up again slightly at the sight of his flute emerging from his pocket to be placed on the mossy rock. Even though she hasn’t known the other student long she can tell music is his ‘thing’ without him ever having said a word about it to her. Hard not to notice when he’s always carrying about an instrument of some sort or practicing with Mr. Coleman in the music room. It hasn’t occurred to her yet that it might be somewhat unsettling not to have said anything by way of greeting at this point in the encounter, the habits of invisibility don’t break easily, but her expressions and relaxed posture show that she’s happy enough to see him, though obviously not entirely comfortable.

"Let me show you how you're supposed to do it."

Her eyebrows arch at what is apparently a claim to expertise and she takes a step back to give him some room for the motion, rocking forward slightly onto the balls of her feet to watch as he selects a rather heavy looking rock and lets it fly at a remarkable speed. She watches it skimming just over the surface of the water like a plane pulled level after a perfectly executed dive, speeding along its diagonal path water-wards, its bottom edge just touches the water and-- it’s gone. Laurie blinks and looks over at Matthew.

"I--"

The irony of the situation and the puzzled note in his voice gives rise to a giggle that rises up through her throat and is caught and muffled in her palm as she covers her mouth to stifle it. Then she takes Matthew’s expression in, realizes that they’re making practically the same face, and squeezes her eyes shut, struggling to contain the laughter that presses insistently against her closed lips.

"That wasn't supposed to happen..."

“Well it…went really fast?” she tries comfortingly, lowering her hand from her mouth and smiling again, the humorous incident having relieved some of her tension at finding her solitude interrupted. “Very…woooosh.” she adds waving her hand vaguely about to illustrate, continuing the motion for a moment before somewhat awkwardly translating into a greeting-wave and blushing as she realizes she's neglected to greet him before this.

[Matthew Craft]

“Well it…went really fast?”

“Yes…it did that…” Matthew scratches his head, still perplexed by the disappearance of his rock. “But that was part of the plan. The other part – the part where it was supposed to skip a half a million times – that didn’t work out. I wish it would have. It would have been really cool.” He can feel his face getting hot and stares at the ground, partly out of embarrassment, and partly because he wants to find another rock.

“Very…woooosh.” In mid-squat, Matthew stops and looks back at her, his head pretty much level with hers due to do the enormous height difference between them.

“Woosh? I suppose that works. I was think more along the lines of shoooom.” He mimics her hand movement and grins, then retrieves another rock. Matthew tosses it in his hand a few times as he straightens up, the rock much smaller than his previous one. “Okay, this time it’ll skip at least five times. Guaranteed.” With a quick flick of his arm, the stone is let loose.

One, two---

Ploop…

“What?! Oh come on!” Matthew yells, smiling at his own defeat, his hand waving threateningly toward the series of ripples his rock left behind. “Okay, fine. I suck at this.” He turns back to Laurie and shrugs, still sporting a sheepish grin. Putting his hands back in his pockets, Matthew looks down at the shorter student. “So how are you liking it here now that you’ve been around for a while? The novelty of having flying and furry classmates worn off yet?”

[Laurie Collins]

“Okay, fine. I suck at this.”

“Well, only fair I guess.” Laurie replies as she watches his stone sink through the clear water, “You can… lift really heavy things, and reach the top shelf, and, uh, other lovely things like that. I get to skip stones multiple times in a row. Trade off.” See? Joking with people other than your mother is possible. Joking without fumbling every word in the sentence and looking socially incompetent as usual however…

“So how are you liking it here now that you’ve been around for a while? The novelty of having flying and furry classmates worn off yet?”

That coaxes a smile out of her as she remembers her complete awe and terror at all things mutant the first time Matthew had met her. “Oh it’s…” she hesitates, not wanting to say ‘good’ since it isn’t really and despite her careful correctness empty social niceties aren’t really her specialty. If her mother showed up tomorrow saying it had all been a mistake, opening the car door, she wouldn’t even go back for her stuff before getting in. Really? a nagging voice says at the back of her mind, but she ignores it and finishes her sentence with, “…not so completely terrifying anymore. I met Mr. Wagner a few days ago and managed not to, er, make anyone explode with shock when he teleported near me. I suppose he qualifies as, ah, fuzzy, but I haven’t met anyone who can fly yet. That I know of. So the novelty remains.”

The new student rigmarole is beginning to wear, this whole ‘new kid with mutation issues, fragile, this side up’ role just too much scrutiny for her liking.

“So… someone told me there was a Miss. Craft teaching Chemistry here. Are you two related?” she asks, switching the small-talk focus.

[Matthew Craft]

“You can… lift really heavy things, and reach the top shelf, and, uh, other lovely things like that. I get to skip stones multiple times in a row. Trade off.” Matthew snorts in laughter a the mention of his ability to reach (literally) over and above the norm.

"I suppose that's reasonably fair. But you can do other stuff besides skip rocks. You can actually fit into the shower every morning without worrying about hitting your head." He grins and rubs the back of his head, as if to prove his point.

“Oh it’s…” The pause makes Matthew a little hesitant. Did she hate it here? Was the whole mutant thing making her uncomfortable (it had made him uncomfortable at the beginning too). It would be perfectly reasonable for her to be weirded out by other mutants, especially since she had never met any before. Matthew at least had had his sister, and she had weirded him out even without the mutation.

“…not so completely terrifying anymore. I met Mr. Wagner a few days ago and managed not to, er, make anyone explode with shock when he teleported near me. I suppose he qualifies as, ah, fuzzy, but I haven’t met anyone who can fly yet."

"Yes, of the bunch of mutant folks around here, Mr. Wagner is definitely the oddest one of us all. It took me almost 2 months before I stopped jumping every time he showed up." Matthew grins. "But just wait until Warren gets back from his business trip, then you get to see a flying mutant. Josh does it too, but Warren's cooler to watch. He's got the wings and everything!"

“So… someone told me there was a Miss. Craft teaching Chemistry here. Are you two related?” Matthew clears his throat and walks over to sit on the edge of the grass.

"Oh yeah. We're related." He sports a look of mock fear. "It's kind of scary, knowing that you've met her. I don't think that Toni's all there sometimes. I mean, I'm her brother, and she still spooks me." Matthew doesn't really mean any of it, and hopes that Laurie takes it as simple sibling mockery. "Do you have any of her classes? Or are you preferring to take the arts like me?" He hadn't seen her around a lot since she'd arrived at the school, and he just assumed that they had different classes.

[Laurie Collins]

"I suppose that's reasonably fair. But you can do other stuff besides skip rocks. You can actually fit into the shower every morning without worrying about hitting your head."

Laurie winces in sympathy, she’s something of a morning person (meaning that she’s civil to whoever wakes her up and human before caffeine if still a bit zombie-ish in her movements and speech patterns) but any sort of impact first thing in the morning is cause for major unhappiness. “Point.” she concedes, “Skipping rocks and showering without cranial damage. I’ll take it.” And the speaking continues… she thinks in mild amazement. She’s met plenty of nice people at the institute but Matthew’s very…normal. Or maybe it’s that he’s so at ease, or at least seems to be, that he makes it harder to be shy and silent around him than to just open up and talk. She’d been scared stiff the first time she’d met him, beyond anyone’s efforts to calm completely, but now that she’s settled a bit she finds it almost startlingly easy to talk to him.

She nods at his comments about Warren. The one from the television shows, she recalls, Bob said he was the reason those people went around wearing X’s all over their clothes. He might look cool but I don’t think I’d want to meet anyone famous…too scary.

"Oh yeah. We're related. It's kind of scary, knowing that you've met her. I don't think that Toni's all there sometimes. I mean, I'm her brother, and she still spooks me."

After taking a moment to decode the fact that Matthew’s joking with the ‘not all there’ remark- what with being an only child and probably too serious for her own good the tone takes a moment to get through as sibling banter- Laurie replies, “Well I haven’t really met her yet… I was talking to Bob, uh, Drake I think it was, and he mentioned a teacher named Miss. Craft blowing up the bathroom. If she teaches science besides Chemistry I’ll be meeting her soon though I suppose since I signed up for Biology.”

"Do you have any of her classes? Or are you preferring to take the arts like me?"

Guess mission objective Please Don’t Let Anyone Notice Me has been a success so far, Laurie thinks wryly, forgiving him for not noticing her in Mr. Coleman’s class as he’s seemed rather intent on his music and she tends to blend into the scenery when she tries to. “Er, well my schedule isn’t entirely sorted out yet but, yes, I’ll be taking Biology and Literature with Mr. Sheppard who, uh, I hope has forgotten that I called his action figures dolls.” she blushes at the memory and brings a hand up to fiddle nervously with a strand of hair, “Then there’s history, ethics, Spanish if anyone around here knows enough of it to tutor me in it and music with Mr. Coleman. Arts are probably my area too, though I really like science too so…well anything but more formulaic math really. It’s just really… dreary, I suppose, having to follow variables around the paper.” she wrinkles her nose at the thought. “Literature’s definitely my favorite though, or at least it was when my mom was teaching me.” she pauses and looks over at the flute and then back to Matthew, “I’m guessing music’s yours?”

[Matthew Craft]

"I was talking to Bob, uh, Drake I think it was, and he mentioned a teacher named Miss. Craft blowing up the bathroom." Matthew groans and drops his head into his hands.

"If you ever see her holding a bunch of chemicals and she has that big stupid grin of hers; run away. Run away as fast as you possibly can." He peeks through his fingers up at Laurie. "They're still pulling pieces of toilet out of the wall in there."

"If she teaches science besides Chemistry I’ll be meeting her soon though I suppose since I signed up for Biology.”

"Well, I think you're safer in there. The worst she'll do is make you dissect a cow's eyeball....And maybe she'll hide it in your bag or something, but I can guarantee that it won't explode." Matthew offers a weak thumbs up at the mention of his sister's un-teacher-like antics.

“Then there’s history, ethics, Spanish if anyone around here knows enough of it to tutor me in it and music with Mr. Coleman."

"Oh, cool, you're in my music class! Have you already started? I haven't seen you in there..." Pausing to think, Matthew smiles sheepishly. "That may be because I'm always glued to the piano...nothing seems to get at me when I'm in music mode. Sorry." He shrugs apologetically.

“Literature’s definitely my favorite though, or at least it was when my mom was teaching me."

"Home school? You mean you never went to public school? That's not a lot of fun."

"I’m guessing music’s yours?” When she looks at his flute, Matthew resists the urge to grab the instrument and scream 'Mine!' There were very few things that we was protective of. His sister and his instruments definitely topped the list.

"Yeah. Music is pretty much the only thing I can do well, besides cooking. I just got this flute a few months age as a gift from my parents. I've been working on a piece with Mr. Coleman. Did you want to hear it?" Matthew pulls the flute off the rock and wiggles his fingers over the keys, excited at the possibility of playing.

[Laurie Collins]

She listens to his description of his sister’s antics with a mix of amusement and apprehension, simultaneously looking forward to meeting this famed destroyer of toilets and vowing to keep a very close eye on her bag and/or any spare bits of gore lying about any sort of lab they might work on. He’s really close to his sister, she realizes, recognizing the fondness in the way he seems to brighten at the topic of his relative even when joking about her in a rather uncomplimentary fashion.

"Oh, cool, you're in my music class! Have you already started? I haven't seen you in there... That may be because I'm always glued to the piano...nothing seems to get at me when I'm in music mode. Sorry."

She smiles and shrugs unconcernedly back. “I’ve been a few times, yes, but I’m easy to miss.” the statement isn’t made with any sort of self pity, if anything it contains a sort of odd pride in the accomplishment of being utterly invisible to the casual observer for reasons having nothing to do with mutation. “Even if I wasn’t I wouldn’t blame you for not seeing me though.” she adds lightly, “From the way you play I think the whole class could…” she flutters her fingers vaguely as if she can pluck a suitable example out of the air around them, “turn into fire-spewing elephants and trot up to you announcing our intentions to tour Broadway and you’d just finish the piece without even looking at us.” as the last word leaves her mouth she blushes hotly. Oh, great, good job. That was a completely ridiculous thing to say and I made it sound like I was watching him which could definitely be construed as sounding pretty creepy. I think this is why I don’t usually talk much. Hope he didn’t pick any of that up from my pheromones.

"Home school? You mean you never went to public school? That's not a lot of fun."

The remark evidently surprises her and she blinks then shakes her head quickly. “Oh, no, I liked it a lot actually. I get along really well with my mom and she’s a good teacher so… I did go to public school twice though, once for a year in middle school and once for a few months of freshman year after I took the cure.” Her mouth shuts with an almost audible click after she lets that last remark slip and she shoots him an anxious sideways glance, having learned already in her short time at Xavier’s that the cure could be a touchy subject to bring up.

"Yeah. Music is pretty much the only thing I can do well, besides cooking. I just got this flute a few months age as a gift from my parents. I've been working on a piece with Mr. Coleman. Did you want to hear it?"

“Sure!” she responds with seemingly genuine enthusiasm, feeling a sort of fond amusement as she watches his fingers wiggle in anticipation over the flute. She reaches her arms out in straight diagonal lines behind her, plants her palms, and leans back on them, cocking her head slightly as if assuming some sort of official listening position.

[Matthew Craft]

“From the way you play I think the whole class could…turn into fire-spewing elephants and trot up to you announcing our intentions to tour Broadway and you’d just finish the piece without even looking at us.” Despite Laurie moment of awkwardness immediately following her bizarre statement, Matthew can't help but laugh.

"That sounds about right," He agrees, giggling at the thought. "You and my sister are probably going to end up being best friends if you keep saying things like that."

"I did go to public school twice though, once for a year in middle school and once for a few months of freshman year after I took the cure.” Matthew's smiling face instantly falls into a look of confusion and bewilderment.

"You--really?! You did 'it'?" He'd rather not call it a cure, since that was exactly what it wasn't. "Why?" He shuts his mouth. He had no right asking such a personal question. "I mean...that's just really surprising..." There had been a few students at the school that had decided to take the cure, and Matthew hadn't agreed with the idea, but he hadn't tried to stop anyone either. He just couldn't imagine giving up something that was so obviously a part of one's self. He hated the fact that he posed such a huge risk to others, but that didn't mean he wanted to rid himself of his radioactive abilities. And Laurie just seemed so quiet and reserved and completely under control (well, except for that one incident when they first met, but that was understandable).

“Sure!”

Matthew raises the flute to his lips and takes a deep breath, holds it, and...drops the flute.

"You know what? Let's start with something you might know. You've probably heard this song..." Pulling the instrument up again, Matthew keys the first note and starts to play, letting each tone hover on the cool breeze.

[[Ummm...for songs, I'd say '100 years' by Five for Fighting. It's such a good song and I think it fits. Just imagine the voice getting replaced by a flute ]]

[Laurie Collins]

Laurie ducks her head and tugs lightly at a strand of hair as he laughs at her music-immersion comments, relieved that he hasn’t decided she’s weird or insane, glad she made him laugh.

"You--really?! You did 'it'?"

Her head jerks up, pleasure fading and eyes wide as her muscles tense instantly, easily, as if reverting to their natural state after her semi-relaxed posture during the earlier parts of their conversation. She nods slowly, warily, keeps watching him carefully.

"Why?"

She opens her mouth and closes it again. Why? It’s the last question she ever expected to have to answer. Isn’t it obvious? Wouldn’t you? Only one person to trust and you remind her every day of the person… of the reason… nervousness, guilt, fear, she feels the familiar combination whirling up in her stomach, churning away her carefully maintained calm. Her lips part again, a thousand different answers crowding out to rush through them and an apology mixed in because if this topic doesn’t make her emit than nothing does, but he beats her to speech.

"I mean...that's just really surprising..."

The remark earns him another disbelieving look and Laurie turns her head away, taking a few deep breaths. Other things. Think about…other things… “Sorry if you caught that.” she murmurs. “There’s… I can’t really… It’s not the, uh, safest topic. Sorry.”

"You know what? Let's start with something you might know. You've probably heard this song..."

She relaxes again as he starts playing, obviously one of those people for whom music is an automatic relief or distraction from stresses around them. She’d often used her CD player as a sort of security blanket, listening to quiet music on buses or in crowds to help keep herself from causing trouble. A smile turns the corners of her mouth upwards as she recognizes the song and her lips part to unconsciously form the first few lines in a silent motion of an echo.

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew immediately feels guilty as silence washes over them. He didn't mean to sound so intruding when asking about the cure, it just...caught him by surprise. He didn't quite understand why someone as kind, gentle, and quiet (and pretty...Shut up.) needed to take the cure. She seemed perfect harmless to him.

“Sorry if you caught that.” Matthew tilts his head to the side in question.

"Caught what?" Then it hits him like a ton of bricks. Right...pheromones. "No worries," he says gently, spreading his arms out and leaning into the light wind. "I'm upwind." He offers a small half-smile in reassurance.

“There’s… I can’t really… It’s not the, uh, safest topic. Sorry.”

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't my place." Matthew changes the topic with his flute.

As he plays, he closes his eyes letting himself be captured by the music. When he opens them again, he notes that Laurie's mouthing along. Finishing the song prematurely, Matthew smiles.

"You do know that song." He murmurs, enraptured at the idea of someone to share his music with. "Any requests?" If there's anything Matthew loves more than playing music, it's playing music when there's an appreciative audience.

[Laurie Collins]

"No worries, I'm upwind."

Laurie holds her hand up and closes her eyes as if lack of vision is an essential step in concentrating on wind direction. “Oh! You are!” she says, opening her eyes again and smiling. “That’s good…” her posture relaxes a bit more as the edge she usually feels in her interactions with anyone she feels any sort of fondness for eases off.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't my place."

She looks down and bites back the urge to apologize. You deserve some sort of explanation for the spastic reaction… but I don’t think you really want to know. Or maybe I don’t want you to know. Matthew seemed to have the miraculous ability, or grave oversight, not to mind that she could manipulate him into anything she wanted and she’s finding that the last thing she wants to do is scare him off by bringing up the ultimate example of what someone like her is capable of.

"You do know that song."

“How did you-“ she starts to tilt her head then realizes she’s been mouthing the words along with the tune and blushes, clapping her hand over her lips and nodding sheepishly. “Er, yes, I do. Good song.” she adds, lowering her hand, “It sounds really nice to flute.” she wishes she had some more articulate feedback to offer there, feels rather silly and young with her complete lack of musical terminology and ear for anything besides good or not-so-good sitting in front of someone who could probably dissect the entire piece in words she’d understand about thirty percent of.

"Any requests?"

“The piece you were working on, the one you were talking about.” she answers quickly, seeming just as pleased to be an audience as he is to have one. Hearing someone recite or play music has always been a calming factor to her, a way to ease off the pheromones, and here with Matthew evidently protected from her influence by the wind while she watches his fingers play over the flute like a kid bursting to unwrap a Christmas present she has a moment of feeling more relaxed than she has in a long time- since before the institute, maybe even since before the cure wore off.

[Matthew Craft]

While still on the topic of Laurie’s cure-taking, Matthew feels increasingly guilty about demanding a reason why Laurie wen to such an extreme extent. And her silence doesn’t help his conscious any, but he’s grateful when they finally move onto his flute.

“Good song. It sounds really nice to flute.” Though he’s used to receiving compliments on his music, Matthew still can’t hold back the light blush.

“Thanks, I thought you’d like it.” He smiles softly and, avoiding a brief moment of silence, checks one of the valves on his flute.

“The piece you were working on, the one you were talking about.” Matthew, without saying a word, raises the instrument to his lips again and begins playing. It had been a piece that he had been working on with Mr. Coleman, and while the teacher had been able to provide some useful insight, Matthew had composed the entire piece himself.

Playing from memory was hardly a challenge, considering he hadn’t yet learned to read sheet music. It was probably better that way, since Matthew often made changes mid-piece if he felt it needed it.

The music is soft and it flows effortlessly from note to note. Matthew had originally gotten the idea from the Lord of the Rings theme, but had since altered it greatly so that no one would recognize its famous roots. It’s a happy but slow string of notes, and occasionally he through in an antagonistic note that implied sadness, but for the most part, he felt it inspired a general sense of optimism.

After playing for a few minutes—covering only a fraction of his original piece—Matthew brings it to a suitable end. The music could have gone on for an extra ten minutes, but he didn’t want to bore her.

“How was that?” He asks quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't want to disturb the peaceful mood set upon them by both their environment and his music. Matthew lays the flute across his lap and leans back against his hands, eager to hear Laurie’s response.

[[No real set plan for this music. Just use your imagination! Muah!]]

[Laurie Collins]

“Thanks, I thought you’d like it.”

Laurie nods idle agreement, wondering silently at the flush of his cheeks that accompanies it. Goodness if I were seven feet tall and could play music as natural as I could breathe I don’t think I could ever find a reason to blush.

Her puzzlement at the other student’s embarrassment is cut off, however, when he launches into the piece she’s requested. It’s different than the last one, less plucky, smoother. She brings her hands up from the ground and draws her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms loosely around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. It’s telling that even in her more relaxed state Laurie’s posture is somehow defensive, unconsciously erecting a barrier between her and the rest of the world. Her eyes stay open as she listens to the piece but drift to a patch of grass and the rate of her blinks slow as she listens to the notes rise and fall.

She stirs from stillness as the music winds gradually down, feeling rather like she’s being lowered back down to the ground gently after hovering somewhere above it.

“How was that?”

Beautiful, she thinks but casts around for something better, something more substantial than ‘oh good job’. “To feel for ever its soft fall and swell/Awake for ever in a sweet unrest.” she quotes softly after a moment, omitting the parts of the poem about lying on someone’s ‘ripening breast’ because honestly even Keats himself couldn’t be angry at her refusing to quote such a line to a boy her own age sitting right there. “That’s what it reminds me of, um, sort of. That Keats poem with the star? I had to memorize it once.” She blushes, shaken from earnestness as the words translate from thought to speech.Lame, lame, lame. Not everyone wants to hear about poetry, in fact the vast majority of people don’t at all and I can’t explain the whole timeless thing without sounding even lamer and, well, it serves me right for trying to find something clever to say even if it is really a little like the lines with the happy-sadness in the music, sweet unrest and…lame!

The mental soliloquy is the matter of a few rushed seconds and she fidgets slightly at its conclusion. “It’s…really good.” back to sure ground, “Do you write a lot of music?”