Skipping Stones (Matthew)

[Matthew Craft]

Matthew’s glad to see that he’s not the only one lulled into a bit of a reverie by the music. Playing always seemed to have that affect on him, and occasionally on the listeners as well.

“To feel for ever its soft fall and swell/Awake for ever in a sweet unrest.” He’s a bit taken back by her choice of words, tilting his head ever so slightly as he listens to her explanation. “That’s what it reminds me of, um, sort of. That Keats poem with the star? I had to memorize it once.” Matthew smiles and looks up to the passing clouds for a moment, running the lines of poetry through his head a few times.

“I like that. It’s different.” Letting his arms give way, he lies flat on his back and places his hands behind his head. Pulling in a deep breath of the fresh air, Matthew closes his eyes for a few seconds, then opening them as he releases the breath. “I’m pretty sure that makes you the only person I know that avoids ‘nice’ or ‘good job’ when talking about music.” He grins, but doesn’t look at her. Instead, he focuses on a fluffy, whale-shaped cloud overhead. “Like I said: different. A good different.” He adds after-the-fact, just in case she felt any insecurities about his comment.

“Do you write a lot of music?” Matthew mulls over that question before deciding on a hesitant answer.

“Well…yes and no…mostly no.” He knows that what he’s about to talk about probably wouldn’t make a lot of sense to most people, but he finds that it’s really the only way to explain it. “You see…I can’t read written music. Mr. Coleman’s been trying to teach me, but I don’t think it’s something that I’ll ever get used to. So, no. I don’t write my own music, basically because I don’t know how.” He pauses briefly, letting the sound of the wind brush over them. “But I create it. That’s the part that I’m really good at. I like to make things come together, if you know what I mean. Music…to me…it’s like a giant puzzle; you just have to find where every piece fits.” Matthew blushes again, knowing he’s going off on a tangent, but he can’t seem to stop himself. “I can’t write it, but usually I don’t have to. I have this great memory for melodies and harmonies and themes, so I never seem to lose track of anything I create. It’s better that way too; I’m not stuck to playing what’s on a page, I get to do what I want.”
After another pause, Matthew clears his throat and looks back toward Laurie.

“What about you? You’re in my music class, but I don’t know what you play…” Then, trying to rid their conversation of a certain level of seriousness, he adds, “You look like a woodwind type to me. Maybe a clarinet? Oboe?” He sports a quirky smile to let her know that he’s trying to be clever.


[[Woah...lookie at all that green dialogue.. ]]

[Laurie Collins]

Laurie’s awkwardness increases when Matthew actually seems to take her comments seriously, watching her intently while she speaks and then looking upwards as she concludes, evidently mulling over what she’s just said. It’s somewhat unsettling being focused on like that when most people, however kind they might be, look at her and seeing that she’s small and quiet and nervous dismiss offhand most of what she says and does or simply don’t register it at all. She struggles not to visibly betray her nervousness by biting her lip and thanks the powers that be that he’s sitting upwind.

“I like that. It’s different.” The verdict is in she thinks rather ridiculously, watching him stretch out on the ground with his arms pillowing the back of his head. “I’m pretty sure that makes you the only person I know that avoids ‘nice’ or ‘good job’ when talking about music.” That elicits a slightly guilty smile as he seems to hit the nail on the head rather unintentionally what with her earlier desire to reply with something substantial. “Like I said: different. A good different.” You’re nice, she thinks as he reassures her at the tail end of that statement, maybe it’s like being under a microscope being taken seriously but… it’s a... nice microscope? I hope this isn’t just the remnants of some dumb pheromone emissions training you to like me from when we met… the thought jolts her a bit and she does her best to push it to the back of her mind, selfish desire not to ruin the first relaxation she’s felt in a long time overriding her constant paranoia.

“Poetry comes into things a lot with me.” she confesses softly, “From being home schooled I suppose. My mom loves poetry and literature and science and hates everything else which means I can recite the opening lines to famous novels and stanzas of poetry but when someone mentioned dividing fractions the other day I pretty much panicked.” Her nose wrinkles and the corners of her mouth turn down as she remembers a math assignment that is waiting for her in her room.

Her awkwardness is forgotten as the subject swings back around to his music and she relaxes again as he begins rather ponderously with “Well…yes and no…mostly no.” lifting her chin up off her knees and rocking forward a bit to watch his face as he talks about his unconventional composing.

“But I create it. That’s the part that I’m really good at. I like to make things come together, if you know what I mean. Music…to me…it’s like a giant puzzle; you just have to find where every piece fits.”

“Never thought about it like that.” she murmurs in response, “Music that is. Like it’s more than just a series of notes put down one after another, like…” she flutters her fingers inarticulately. “I guess that’s why you’re so good at it huh?” and because she’s pondering the ideas of his tangent, a bit removed from the conversation, the compliment comes out earnestly and unselfconsciously without any accenting blush.

“What about you? You’re in my music class, but I don’t know what you play… You look like a woodwind type to me. Maybe a clarinet? Oboe?”

The remark and the clever-face earns him a giggle and she shakes her head quickly, hair flying around her face for a moment like some small frothy cloud before settling over her eyes so that she has to purse her lips to blow a few strands away before responding. “I play… trying not to break Mr. Coleman’s ear drums.” she says sheepishly, “Mostly I sit in the back and bang on the little drums or use the recorder and plod my way through some sheet music until he lets me stop and go back to the assigned reading. That’s the part I really like, reading about composers and music theory and listening to other people play. The Beethoven reading we’re going to start soon? I read some of it already and it’s really interesting, the way he used vibrations to compose this amazing music…” she trails off and shrugs, surprised to find herself having to cut off a ramble.

She lets go of her knees and rocks forward onto them, sitting on her heels and cocking her head as she looks down at him. The novelty of the situation brings an involuntary smile to her face and she blushes as she registers the expression. “I’m taller than you for the moment. Looking down at someone for once.” she says by way of sheepish explanation for the expression.

[Matthew Craft]

"I can recite the opening lines to famous novels and stanzas of poetry but when someone mentioned dividing fractions the other day I pretty much panicked.”

"And I would have been there right along with you. Math just doesn't do it for me. Toni got all the science-related genes, and I got stuck with the insane but really impractical ability to play the piano." Matthew grins and laughs a little, hoping to let her know that he meant the music remark as a joke. There were very few things that he'd rather do besides sit down and play the piano. "But poetry, eh? Can't say I've read it outside of my English class. If you're into it, it can't be that bad. Maybe I should give it a shot."

“I guess that’s why you’re so good at it huh?”

"I don't think it's because of that one thing in particular. Some seem to think that music is another part of my mutation, since I'm considered a genius in the subject." That makes him blush an almost florescent red. Matthew didn't like talking about his music abilities. It made people gawk at him, something that made him a little nervous. Talking about music however, was very easy. In an attempt to brush off his genius comment, he quickly moves to change the subject. "Who knows, could be some naturally occurring ability, but the mutation makes for a great scapegoat. It's up there with the height, which is another questionable attribute." His height he had no trouble talking about. Matthew had learned early on that he didn't need to mention it to have people gawk at him.

“Mostly I sit in the back and bang on the little drums or use the recorder and plod my way through some sheet music until he lets me stop and go back to the assigned reading."

"Ohhh...so that's you back there? And here I thought the dying cat noises were just a figment of my imagination." He grins and laughs jokingly, hoping he didn't offend her. "But you have a good sense of rhythm, so maybe percussion is where you belong."

"That’s the part I really like, reading about composers and music theory and listening to other people play. The Beethoven reading we’re going to start soon? I read some of it already and it’s really interesting, the way he used vibrations to compose this amazing music…”

"I love the history part!" Matthew says excitedly, propping himself up on an elbow to listen to her. "Beethoven was an amazing composer. I'm a bigger fan of Henryk Wieniawski and Louis Moreau Gottschalk myself, but Beethoven was definitely way before his time." There's a sort of detached aloof look on his face as he speaks, probably destroying the pronunciation of the composers' names in the process. "If I can do up anything even a fraction as good as those guys, I'll be set for life." He rolls onto his back again and smiles dreamily, watching the clouds again.

His vision is obstructed when Laurie fills his sight, her blond falling down towards him. Matthew's smile hadn't faded from before, but it grows wider when he sees Laurie's blush and happy expression.

"I’m taller than you for the moment. Looking down at someone for once.” He laughs lightly and nods.

"It doesn't happen very often, that's for sure." He grins, then after holding her gaze for a moment longer, he crosses his eyes, inflates his cheeks and sticks out his tongue. He's only able to keep the humourous expression for a few seconds until he relaxes and laughs again.

[Laurie Collins]

"And I would have been there right along with you. Math just doesn't do it for me."

It’s good to know that there’s something Matthew doesn’t have going for him. Well, there’s the inability to skip rocks and the frequent cranial damage but that doesn’t really do much to balance out the fact that he’s tall and funny and uncommonly good looking talented at all things musical in the humanizing department. Not that she’s looking for flaws but it does help keep him not-intimidating.

"But poetry, eh? Can't say I've read it outside of my English class. If you're into it, it can't be that bad. Maybe I should give it a shot."

“You should!” she enthuses, nodding quickly. “I didn’t like it when I had it in real school all that much myself though. There it was more line breaks and iambic pentameter than… well, you know, poetry. You might like Walt Whitman though he had a nice bit about music in A Song for Occupations.” she tilts her head to the side and bites the inside of her cheek lightly, obviously getting a bit lost in thought at all of this.

"I don't think it's because of that one thing in particular. Some seem to think that music is another part of my mutation, since I'm considered a genius in the subject."

She’s brought back quickly enough though when he picks up the thread of their music discussion, biting down harder to hide a smile at his blush as he admits to his genius classification in the subject. Aww… “Pfft, you don’t need mutation to be a genius… though it would be sort of funny if you did wouldn’t it? If all the really great composers were secretly mutants and went home to…oh…fly about or, er, other mutant-ish things.” Laurie evidently has trouble imagining any fun mutations even after her time at the institute.

"Ohhh...so that's you back there? And here I thought the dying cat noises were just a figment of my imagination."

“Jerk!” she yelps, though she’s obviously teasing back, sticking out her tongue at him and wrinkling her nose in mock-indignation. “Better be nice or I’ll start singing.” she adds, doing her best to make a threatening face which winds up resembling sleepiness than anything else with the skin around her eyes all crinkled into a mock-glare.

"Beethoven was an amazing composer. I'm a bigger fan of Henryk Wieniawski and Louis Moreau Gottschalk myself, but Beethoven was definitely way before his time. If I can do up anything even a fraction as good as those guys, I'll be set for life."

“I’ve never heard of the last two.” she admits with a small shrug, “Suppose I’ll have to listen to them while you read Whitman.” she adds with a smile that broadens as she takes in the dreamy expression on his face as he muses wistfully on his aspirations. Bet you could she thinks but doesn’t say, even in her unnaturally relaxed state she has her limits.

"It doesn't happen very often, that's for sure."

Laurie giggles at his face and rises a little higher on her knees, “Hey, still taller here. Watch yourself or I’ll press the advantage.” she lectures, though she can’t even pull off a mock-threatening face, still laughing a bit at his expression-antics.

[Matthew Craft]

“I didn’t like it when I had it in real school all that much myself though. There it was more line breaks and iambic pentameter than… well, you know, poetry. You might like Walt Whitman though he had a nice bit about music in A Song for Occupations.” It's almost kind if eerie, really. Laurie seems to think about poetry the same way Matthew thinks about music.

"Hey, if it's got a music-related word in the title, it can't be all bad." He shrugs with an interested smile. "Just point me toward the book." The smile breaks into a grin.

"If all the really great composers were secretly mutants and went home to…oh…fly about or, er, other mutant-ish things.”

"It probably wouldn't surprise me. I mean...look at Da Vinci! Sure the guy's not a composer, but he proved that the heart uses the vortex system to open and close the valves--something that was only discovered recently by the way--and he was an awesome artist. I don't think any normal person can cover both ends of the spectrum like that. The guy had to be a mutant. There's no other logical explanation." Of course that theory was probably going to land dead flat, but Matthew feigns intelligence and waves his hand around with each word in an attempt to sound believable. And maybe he was unconsciously trying to impress the pretty nice little blond girl, but she didn't know that.

“Jerk! Better be nice or I’ll start singing.” Widening his eyes and dropping his jaw into half-scream, Matthew covers his ears.

"No! Nononono! Anything but that! I surrender! Uncle! Mercy please!" Half way through his poorly presented moment of terror, Matthew breaks into laughter, but still manages to finish in an uncharacteristically high voice.

“I’ve never heard of the last two. Suppose I’ll have to listen to them while you read Whitman.”

"It's a date then." Did I really just say that? "I--uh..." He clears his throat, his face turning beet red. "I mean, I've got the CDs already, so just say when." Matthew tries to cover up his sudden nervousness with a smile, but he's sure his hot cheeks give him away.

“Hey, still taller here. Watch yourself or I’ll press the advantage.” He catches the deeper meaning behind the innocent statement, content in figuring that Laurie herself was unaware, but that doesn't stop the next potentially embarrassing phrase from leaving his mouth.

"I don't think I'd be entirely opposed to the idea." Meep. But he holds the smile, even as he feels the blush return in full force.

[Laurie Collins]

[[Featuring a cameo by my sister’s freshly caught and really freaky looking spider to appease said sibling. Hey, she collects knives. I do what she says. This is what we think it is- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_%28spider%29]]

"No! Nononono! Anything but that! I surrender! Uncle! Mercy please!”

The sight of the seven-foot nuclear bomb in human form writhing about in terror of her, however obviously pretended that terror is, is too much for Laurie who is giggling helplessly even before Matthew loses his composure. “Well, okay.” she says once she’s gotten herself mostly under control, looking down her nose at him and quite apparently enjoying the novelty of such a position. “I suppose I’ll spare you for now since you begged for your…um… undamaged eardrums so, er, well?” she tries, obviously going for super-villain and just as obviously aware that she’s falling a few miles short of the target.

"It's a date then... I--uh..."

Laurie’s face freezes for a moment as she takes in the words and the blushing. Does he mean…? No, no definitely not. He wouldn’t. I haven’t been…have I? The thought fragments jumble through her mind tripping all over each other on their dash through her consciousness in the beat before he adds, "I mean, I've got the CDs already, so just say when." Oh, of course he didn’t mean it that way. Silly. And now he’s embarrassed because I might’ve picked up on that wording and gotten the wrong impression she decides, firmly steering her conclusions to the most comfortable end. “Sounds good.” she says softly, “I think I have the book up in my room… I have some stuff at the house in town too though so it might be there in a moving box or something. I’ll have to check.” She still looks somewhat disconcerted though the cause is different now, it’s sort of new having someone take an interest in her company and she’s getting that benevolent microscope feeling again. Which isn’t something people think very often I don’t suppose- benevolent microscope feelings. Lovely, I really am weird. Definitely no way that he meant a date.

"I don't think I'd be entirely opposed to the idea."

“Hey! I’m sure I could think of something pretty scary to do with the height advantage.” she protests, having taken the return comment as a good-humored jibe at her inability to harm him even if she did ‘press the advantage.’ Which he is actually pretty much completely right about. “But I’m feeling nice today so I’ll spare you again. No singing and no…er…height-terrorism. Yes. I am sparing you because I am a very nice person. Not because the worst thing I can think of to do with the height advantage is sprinkle grass on your face. Of course not.” she adds, lowering herself to a cross-legged position with her hands splayed on the ground at her sides and smiling ruefully at him.

She closes her eyes for a moment as the sun drifts out from behind a cloud. Today is probably one of the last mild days before true winter sets in and it’s just warm enough that the sunlight can still warm her skin in that sublime almost-too-hot sort of summery way. She’s enjoying the moment, thinking it’ll probably be one of the last ones like it for months, when she feels something tickling one of her hands, reaches down to swat away the pesky irritant and feels the itchy pin-pricks transfer to her other hand before moving rapidly up her arm.

Her eyes fly open and her gaze darts towards the prickling area on her left arm. “Oh!” she gasps as the cause of the odd sensation becomes apparent- a large black spider with distinctive yellow markings is scrambling up towards her shoulder on its long brown legs. After the initial surprise the spider doesn’t seem to disturb her and she holds her right hand out and lets it scramble aboard, holding it up at eye level with apparent fascination for a moment as it skitters about her palm. “Look at this.” she says extending her hand with the spider in it towards Matthew, not pausing to think that some people would rather dislike having a large spider suddenly thrust towards them. “I’ve never seen one that looks like this before, have you?”

[Matthew Craft]

“I suppose I’ll spare you for now since you begged for your…um… undamaged eardrums so, er, well?”

“Oh! Thank you!” Matthew falls back against the ground in over exaggerated relief, giggling happily (is it odd that a seven-foot teenager can sound like a two-month old baby?). Teasing like that wasn’t usually his thing, but Laurie had made it far too easy for him, and he was pretty sure she wouldn’t have taken any offence.

There’s that sort of deer in the headlights look that Laurie gives him after he accidentally mentions the ‘date.’ Was that really accidental? Shut up. Come on, mom might actually like this girl. Shut! Up!

“Sounds good. I think I have the book up in my room… I have some stuff at the house in town too though so it might be there in a moving box or something. I’ll have to check.” Matthew cocks his head slightly.

“So your mom lives close by? That must be nice, getting to see her all the time. I only get to see my folks about once every couple of months…mind you, if you knew my parents, you’d think that once every few months is waaay too often.” He smiles with a little roll of his eyes and settles back down on the grass. A wispy, frog shaped cloud lazily warps and twists into an unrecognizable blob before merging with a larger, puffier cloud.

“Hey! I’m sure I could think of something pretty scary to do with the height advantage.” That earns a light laugh (which sounds more like a scoff when he thinks about it after-the-fact) from Matthew as he knits his fingers behind his head.

“Somehow I doubt that. On a scale of one to ten of general scariness, I think you rate about negative three.” He grins, sticking his tongue out childishly.

“But I’m feeling nice today so I’ll spare you again. No singing and no…er…height-terrorism. Yes. I am sparing you because I am a very nice person. Not because the worst thing I can think of to do with the height advantage is sprinkle grass on your face. Of course not.”

“Oh no, not the grass of death!” Matthew says, reeking of sarcasm, grinning all the while. “See now, your height advantage is worthless in comparison to mine. Me, I could chuck you in the lake if I felt like it. Not that I’m going to, but I can’t say I’m not tempted.” Yeah, you just wanna see her in some nice, wet, see-through clothing. Keep doing that and I’m going to lobotomize you. You’ll have to pull me out of the gutter first. Don’t think that’ll stop me.

All the while Matthew’s inner psyches are duelling (for some odd reason, one had a personality not unlike his sister’s), a long moment of silence washes over him, and he’s content to just feel the cool breeze brush against his face. His Toni-like psyche makes some smart remark after that thought, but before it can finish, he mentally jumps on it and squishes it beneath his feet.

“Oh!” Matthew jumps slightly at Laurie’s exclamation.

“What is it?” He hoists himself up onto his elbows and shoots her a puzzling look.

“Look at this. I’ve never seen one that looks like this before, have you?” Matthew reels back in a brief instant of surprise, not particularily fond of having funny looking spiders shoved in his face. But he quickly leans forward again, his brow furrowing as he studies the small yellow spider scurry over her hand.

“No…” he says slowly and softly, mesmerized almost. “It’s kind of pretty.” He sits up properly and continues to watch the arachnid crawl in erratic little circles up Laurie’s hand. “Do you mind if I just…” Matthew trails off and gently touches her hand in hopes of catching the small spider, paying no heed to whether she answers her question or not. The insect eater evades him, scurrying further and further up her arm until he’s finally able to get it to crawl onto his hand.

It’s not until after he’s got it that he realizes that he’s still carefully holding onto her arm. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Matthew let’s go and pull the spider up so he can look at it more closely.

“So do you like these sort of things? The creepy crawlies, I mean. Cause most girls usually go running at the sight of one of these guys.” He leans back, setting a more comfortable distance between the two as he continues to watch the spider busily roam around his hand.

[Laurie Collins]

“So your mom lives close by? That must be nice, getting to see her all the time. I only get to see my folks about once every couple of months…”

Laurie nods idly, plucking a few strands of grass and attempting to tie a knot in the green stalks, slim fingers poking clumsily at the grass-blades as she answers, “Oh, yes, she moved to this little house about an hour away when I enrolled here. We didn’t have a, ah, permanent home really, we were just sort of staying in a motel trying to figure out what to do next when she found out about this place, so it made as much sense for her to be here as anywhere else. I’m really glad though. I go over there once a week for dinner but I still miss her a lot.” Oh, good job, tell the really cool guy who for some reason wants to talk to you instead of run away screaming from the amazing human mood ring that you miss your Mommy. That’ll go over great. Dork. The piece of grass she’d been knotting snaps apart in her hands and she rubs the fragments nervously between her thumb and index finger, staining their tips a light green.

“…mind you, if you knew my parents, you’d think that once every few months is waaay too often.”

Her eyebrows arch slightly, Matthew is obviously quite fond of his family but his wording here and his earlier teasing of his sister is making them all sound like a rather terrifying lot. “Why, do they blow up plumbing too?” she asks, only half-joking before the topic swings back to her own terror-inspiring abilities.

“Somehow I doubt that. On a scale of one to ten of general scariness, I think you rate about negative three.”

Which is a little weird because even though she knows she’s small and rather faded-looking she knows, and Matthew knows, that if she really wanted to she could do some pretty scary things without moving a muscle. She’s so used to being scared of herself and thinking of other people being scared of her once they realized what she was that she blinks at him blankly for a moment. Right. We’re joking. It’s fun. Stop with the seriousness.

“See now, your height advantage is worthless in comparison to mine. Me, I could chuck you in the lake if I felt like it. Not that I’m going to, but I can’t say I’m not tempted.”

Laurie widens her eyes and holds out her hands, palms facing Matthew, as if this is a realistic defense strategy against lake-throwing. “Yes well keep that ‘not-going-to’ in mind because I can’t swim at all and I really don’t feel like drowning today.” she informs him then pauses for a moment before adding, “…or any day really. I don’t think I ever have or ever will wake up wanting to drown. It turns your face weird colors. And, you know, er, kills you.” she blushes as she stops herself rambling. Once she’d gotten past the one syllable answers coupled with stammering and looking away she often found herself doing that occasionally as if her tongue, realizing it was going to be given occupation, hastened to make the most of it. “So, no lake-throwing. Murder is bad.” she adds, shaking one finger at him and smiling slightly even as she attempts to sound stern.

Then there’s the spider and her fascination with it causes her to forget most of what they’d just talked about. She feels a little stab of embarrassed guilt when Matthew initially reels back, not everyone just had to see the latest thing she’d plucked from the grass after all, but she’s reassured when he leans forward again and seems equally as fascinated with the arachnid as herself.

“Do you mind if I just…”

Before she can ask what exactly he’s going to “just” his hand brushes hers. Oh she thinks rather distantly as she awkwardly concentrates on not tensing, not blushing, not releasing pheromones, not wiggling, not shivering, not anything but sitting there completely calmly. Oh for goodness sake he’s just getting the spider don’t be…just stop…it’s not as if either of us feel that way about each other right? Because however he feels about me if I… well I’d just have to stay away from him. So I don’t. I don’t at all. I’m just being dumb. her brows had furrowed unconsciously during her internal lecture and her teeth had begun worrying at her lower lip. She’s so caught up in convincing herself of what she needs to believe that when he jerks his hand away she doesn’t notice his flushed face, returning to awareness in time to catch his last words.

“So do you like these sort of things? The creepy crawlies, I mean. Cause most girls usually go running at the sight of one of these guys.”

She drops her hand quickly back down to her side and blushes. “They do?” Of course they do. You’ve seen the cliché in movies and on TV, girl sees spider, girl screams. Girl does not pick spider up and proceed to offer it up to guy like she’s just found an i-pod growing out of the ground. Gosh how weird do I probably seem now? the thought is punctuated by an uncomfortable shrug, “I mean, um, I…suppose? They’re little and they don’t hurt anyone, at least not the kinds around here, so I don’t see any need to step on them or be scared or anything…” she adds quietly.

[Matthew Craft]

“Oh, yes, she moved to this little house about an hour away when I enrolled here. We didn’t have a, ah, permanent home really, we were just sort of staying in a motel trying to figure out what to do next when she found out about this place, so it made as much sense for her to be here as anywhere else. I’m really glad though. I go over there once a week for dinner but I still miss her a lot.” Matthew nods and stays silent for a moment, staring out at the rippling lake, then smiles.

“I’m envious. Really. As much as my folks drive me insane, I still miss them. And so does Toni, but I’m more willing to admit it.” He says the last bit with a hushed voice filled with amusement. “I don’t know what I’d give to have my parents that close…and a nice home cooked meal. Man…I really miss my mom’s Risotto agli Asparagi. It’s to die for.” Covering his mouth with a hand, Matthew yawns dopily.

“Why, do they blow up plumbing too?” He laughs and scratches his head.

“No…no…that’s still Toni’s job. No matter how much she wants to be a teacher, she’ll end up in demolitions when she graduates. Guaranteed. But yeah…the folks…they’re…intense. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but jeez…they can be a bit much sometimes. It’s a wonder I’m not as insane as my sister.” Matthew grins sheepishly, but wide. “And I’ve got this huuuge extended family on my mom’s side. All Italian too. I’m sure you can picture what that’s like.”

“Yes well keep that ‘not-going-to’ in mind because I can’t swim at all and I really don’t feel like drowning today.”

“Oh! Sorry! Right. No lake-bound Laurie-tossing. Got it.” He points at her and nods, locking that little tidbit into his memory for later usage.

“Murder is bad.”

“Won’t try to argue with you there. Murder is very bad. I’m not the ‘killing on-purpose' type. I swear.” Matthew places one hand over his heart and the other up (er…well…as close to up as one can get when laying on the ground) in a boy scout-like testament. “Actually, I’m not the ‘accidental killing type' either…” He adds after a bit of hesitation. Rather not let the poor girl know about his ‘nuclear manifestation’ incident, which ended with the death of a newborn. He’d be more than a little crushed if she decided to finally be scared of him.

Trying to hide the blush after his moment of bold contact with her, Matthew focuses on the spider roaming over his hand. He focuses so intently actually, that he barely remembers to listen to her as she speaks.

“They’re little and they don’t hurt anyone, at least not the kinds around here, so I don’t see any need to step on them or be scared or anything…”

“Yeah, definitely. We’re about a million times his side. Or at least, I am.” He smiles jokingly, poking fun at her. “Do you like snakes too? Toni’s got a boa up in her room that’s a total sweetheart. You two’d get along, actually. Personality-wise, I mean.” Wonderful. Now you’re calling her ‘sweetheart.’ Go sappiness!

[Laurie Collins]

“I don’t know what I’d give to have my parents that close…and a nice home cooked meal. Man…I really miss my mom’s Risotto agli Asparagi. It’s to die for.”

Laurie ducks her head, hair curtaining away her face for a moment as she conceals the small smile that’s curled her lips involuntarily. The expression has something to do with the dopey yawn he’s just let loose and then something again to do with the way he’s so… well comfortable doesn’t seem quite right but it’s the only word that comes to mind with the way he’s so readily himself, offering up his homesickness to the conversational arena like it’s nothing while she, with her blushes and her stammering, clutches at every word that leaves her mouth as if she wishes she could stuff it back in. There’s awkwardness too of course, his stumbling over the phrasing of their music/poetry future rendezvous being the most recent example but even that’s unabashedly itself not hidden behind some attempted veneer of another emotion.

“Risotto algi…alga…” she shakes her head rapidly as she tries to repeat the name of the dish, “No wonder you miss home cooked meals if your mom cooks things I’m having trouble saying. The last time I ate with my mom we had Easy Mac, or, well, almost had Easy Mac. My mom forgot to add the water before she put the bowl in microwave so it was just a bunch of crusty black things and a bowl with a hole at the bottom.” she recalls, wrinkling her nose and looking rather wry at the memory of the smell. “Though it isn’t her fault really. I was distracting her and it isn’t as if she’s had a lot of time to learn to cook what with working full time and home schooling me and all that.” she rushes to add, obviously willing to defend her mother vehemently even if it's against her own joking prod. “Do your parents live really far away?” she asks after a moment, looking rather sympathetic as she imagines trying to acclimate to this place without the relative normalcy of home nearby. Though he does have his sister here. That must help.

The description of his family moves from being slightly ominous for plumbing everywhere to intriguing as he begins describing them in a vague sort of way and Laurie tilts her head slightly to one side as she listens.

“And I’ve got this huuuge extended family on my mom’s side. All Italian too. I’m sure you can picture what that’s like.”

“Other than a vague memory of a scene from a Sopranos episode not really.” she admits rather sheepishly, “My mom and I are the only family either of us have so even one cousin would seem like some big weird crowd to me.” she adds with a shrug and a half-smile.

His reassurance that she isn’t going to join her skipping-stones at the bottom of the lake as well as his agreement about the undesirable-ness of murder prompt another small, wry, smile and Laurie subsides from her rambling to watching the spider scurry about on Matthew’s hand. She inches closer unconsciously as the spider starts to scurry over to the other side of his palm, a bit lost in wondering what kind it is.

“Yeah, definitely. We’re about a million times his size. Or at least, I am.”

The good-natured jibe at her size brings her back from her musings and she huffs out what’s supposed to be an indignant breath. “Yes well I’ll still feel impressive being about five hundred thousand times his size thank you.” she responds, reaching out towards his hand and jumping slightly when the arachnid takes the opportunity to scramble back onto her palm rather more quickly than expected.

“Oh! Hello again.” she mutters, blinking and turning over her palm to accommodate a rather spasmodic scramble. “It’s getting winter-y for you to be out here whatever sort of spider you are.” she adds idly, then pauses, a line creasing the skin between her eyes and her eyebrows drawing together in sudden consternation as it occurs to her to wonder for the first time what exactly spiders do in the winter if they don’t just, well, die.

“Do you like snakes too? Toni’s got a boa up in her room that’s a total sweetheart. You two’d get along, actually. Personality-wise, I mean.”

She gives another rapid blink, called back from her musings on the mortality of spiders by the question. “A boa, really?” the intrigue of the idea distracts her effectively from being compared to said reptile however favorably. “They let her have a boa constrictor here? Does she ever bring it to classes or anything do you know?”

[Matthew Craft]

“Risotto algi…alga…” Matthew smiles up at her, fighting to hold back a laugh as she mutilates the pronounciation of his favourite meal.

“Risotto agli Asparagi,” he says slowly and sympathetically. “È specialità della mia madre.” Matthew says in quick, rough Italian, smiling sheepishly as he clears his throat. “Risotto is an Italian rice dish, and asparagi is just asparagus. It doesn’t sound too appealing, but it’s actually really tasty.”

“The last time I ate with my mom we had Easy Mac, or, well, almost had Easy Mac. My mom forgot to add the water before she put the bowl in microwave so it was just a bunch of crusty black things and a bowl with a hole at the bottom.”

“Yeah…ew. That doesn’t sound very appetizing…I’ll eat just about anything you put in front of me, but I draw the line at lamb brains,” Matthew frowns in disgust, “And crunchy, black Easy Mac.”

“Do your parents live really far away?”

“No, not really. They live in New Jersey, so it’s only an hour or two away. They believe in,” he raised his hands to make the appropriate quotation indication, “’inspiring independence’. That’s why I don’t see them very often. They figure it’s good for Toni and I to live out on our own for a little while. I don’t think my parents realize that the Institute takes better care of us than they do.” He jokes lightly.

“Other than a vague memory of a scene from a Sopranos episode not really.” Matthew laughs rather heartily at that.

“The Sopranos aren’t exactly an accurate depiction of the average Italian family. We’re not all in the mafia and we don’t run around shooting each other. Mind you…I do have two cousins that are involved in that sort of business. And Toni and I have received some pretty nice job offers from them too…” He grins well naturedly, oddly amused at the thought of being a mafia henchman. Not that he’d ever truly considered accepting their offer.

“My mom and I are the only family either of us have so even one cousin would seem like some big weird crowd to me.”

“Wow…three’s a crowd to you? I’ve got 100 relatives, give or take a few, and they’re all pretty nuts…but in a good way. I couldn’t imagine having a family as small as yours. It just seems so…uncomplicated. I kind of like having so many cousins that I forget their names, you know?” He’d only ever really forgotten a relative’s name once, but he’d never heard the end of it.

“Yes well I’ll still feel impressive being about five hundred thousand times his size thank you.”

“Five hundred? You think?” Matthew says sceptically. “I’d say more like forty thousand, but even then that may be a little generous.” He’s about to make another smart size-related remark when Laurie’s hand touches his again. He clams up tight, both nervous and excited at the thought that he wasn’t making her uneasy around him. Thankfully he’s distracted when the topic changes again.

“They let her have a boa constrictor here? Does she ever bring it to classes or anything do you know?”

“They don’t mind Hector that much. He doesn’t cause any trouble and it’s not like he’s going around strangling the younger kids.” Matthew grins. “I don’t know if she takes him to class or not…she’s never mentioned it. But something tells me that she won’t pass up the opportunity if it gets a good scare out of someone…did you want to meet him? I can take you up later…if you want, anyways. I know some people don’t like snakes…”

[Laurie Collins]

[[Crappycrapcrap. Um. *gives shiny things to make up for it*]]

“Mind you…I do have two cousins that are involved in that sort of business. And Toni and I have received some pretty nice job offers from them too…”

Laurie gives him a sideways look at that, wondering if he’s joking. I should have asked Bob to have Mr. Sheppard implement the whole ‘joking flag’ thing as a school wide policy she thinks wryly, spreading out her fingers so that the spider can weave between them and listening to Matthew move on to respond to her description of her own familial situation.

“Wow…three’s a crowd to you? I’ve got 100 relatives, give or take a few, and they’re all pretty nuts…but in a good way. I couldn’t imagine having a family as small as yours. It just seems so…uncomplicated. I kind of like having so many cousins that I forget their names, you know?”

“It does sound interesting I suppose.”Laurie concedes, comfortable with speculating on and even slightly envying such a big family but knowing it would probably intimidate her. Uncomplicated? She bites back an ironic smile, of course there’s no way that Matthew could speculate on the various guilt, identity, and co-dependency issues that crisscross the seemingly simple ties between the two members of the Collins family but the statement is a little funny all the same.

Then they’re back to height-mocking and she sticks her tongue out at him and crosses her eyes. “That is my only response.” she informs him in her haughtiest tones, putting on a jokingly self-satisfied expression as if she’s just delivered the ultimate verbal come back instead of pulling faces like a ten-year-old.

“…did you want to meet him? I can take you up later…if you want, anyways. I know some people don’t like snakes…”

“Really? You don’t think she’d mind?”Laurie looks intrigued and nods slightly, “That would be nice, I’ve never seen a boa constrictor.” she pauses as something occurs to her then holds up a finger, “Um, does she do the whole feeding him live mice thing though? Because I don’t think I would want to visit during that. Death is still bad.” Which reminds her again of the spider on her hand. Do they die in the winter? I hope not. Maybe I could just keep it in my room for a little while, find out what kind it is in the library and everything… oh goodness I can’t be attached to it already can I? I really am a loser.

A sudden, rather sharp gust of wind takes her mind off her spider-thoughts for a moment as she shivers. “Definitely almost winter.” she says, mostly to herself, then looks up again and smiles slightly at Matthew. “I haven’t seen a really good snowfall or gone ice skating or anything in years. The last two states I lived in were Florida where we get nothing and New Jersey where we just sort of got a lot of sleet and freezing rain.”

[Matthew Craft]

“That is my only response.”

“Oh my poor self-esteem. What am I going to do now that the short—but proud—Laurie Collins has made a semi-rude face at me.” Matthew tries to act mock-offended, but he quickly remembers why music is his gift, not drama. He concedes to just grinning goofily.

“Really? You don’t think she’d mind? That would be nice, I’ve never seen a boa constrictor.”

“Nah, Toni doesn’t care. She trusts me well enough not to do anything too bad to the little guy. And you’ll like him, he’s pretty friendly. But…just warn me if he gets too friendly.” Matthew doesn’t look anything like his sister, but if they had to share one common physical trait, it would be the mischievous grin they both tend to sport.

“Um, does she do the whole feeding him live mice thing though? Because I don’t think I would want to visit during that. Death is still bad.”

“Death is very bad. I would prefer avoiding it for at least the next seventy years or so.” He jokes. “And Hector gets fed about once a month, and Toni just fed him last week, so he should be pretty happy. Just…uh…don’t open the vanilla ice cream container in the kitchen freezer, cause it definitely doesn’t hold vanilla ice cream. Unless the ice cream comes in fuzzy, mouse-looking balls…” Too many times Matthew’s seen that container get opened and then promptly dropped with a shriek. "Hey, sis is out of her room tutoring some students, so did you want to go see him now?" He pushes to his feet and tucks his flute into his back pocket before descending a hand to help her up.

“I haven’t seen a really good snowfall or gone ice skating or anything in years. The last two states I lived in were Florida where we get nothing and New Jersey where we just sort of got a lot of sleet and freezing rain.”

“Heh, I can agree with you there.” He chuckles lightly before a daring idea waltzes into his mind, and before he can stop himself, the proposal has already left his mouth. “Hey, when it finally gets cold, how about you and I go into the city and do some skating. Ever been to the Rockefeller Centre? It’s pretty amazing. What do you say?” He holds his breath, hoping his seemingly casual request would appear as such.