Tell me where have you been? (Open)

[Cianna "Cici" Rivers]

Today was not Cici's day. The small teen sat on the shore of the lake knees pulled to her chest, staring over it absently. Her normally cheerful eyes were uncharacteristically sad, and though she would deny it if asked, just moments earlier she had been on the brink of tears. What was bothering the normally optimistic girl? She had just received a letter from her father. Normally, this would seem like a good thing, however, she had only received one letter. One. Meaning her older brother Seth hadn't, for reasons unknown to her, replied to her letter. Again. She hadn't heard from him in years.

She didn't know why he had been ignoring her, but the last letter her father had sent her had been very specific, saying, "Your brother is well, Cici. He doesn't however, wish to write to you. Nor does he wish to see you at all. I'm sorry." It wasn't the first time her dad had written her something like that, but nevertheless it still stung. She was hoping she would've gotten over it by now. Apparently not.

In fact, the said letter was in her hand, and she clenched the hand holding it, screwing the letter up. Why was her brother cutting her out of his life? What did she do? If only she knew, then maybe she could do something to fix it, after all, he was the most important person to her in the world! Even more important than her parents, if only just. Staring at the screwed up letter in her hand, she clenched her fist tighter as a fresh wave of sadness swept over her, and lowered her head onto her knees. She probably did do something to upset him all those years ago. Why else would he cut off all contact and avoid seeing her completely? Though she felt as if they were about to cry, no tears came, and the kiwi girl sighed. She wouldn't cry. She refused to. It would do no good anyway. In fact, her whole relationship with her brother reminded her of that song by Sleeping With Sirens, A Trophy Father's Trophy Son, and she began to sing the sing softly, the emotion in her clear voice palpable. The only thing was, instead of that song being about her father, for her it was her brother.

"Father, father, tell me where have you been?
It's been hell not having you here
I've been missing you so bad
And you don't seem to care
When I go to sleep at night, you're not there
When I go to sleep at night, do you care?"

[Samantha Emerson]

The steady drum of her own footsteps on the ground was almost enchanting in its own right. Samantha shook her head a little to clear her mind, ever mindful of how vulnerable she was to anything her brain could spin into music. It was stupid, really, how something that she loved had grown a slightly dangerous edge. She had gotten pretty good at recognizing what would tip her off, if not better at actually controlling her power. 

Samantha had discovered that running helped ease her mind, and often went jogging on the weekends. She still wasn't an athletic person by any means, but the semi-regular exercise had helped keep her figure trim at least. She could feel her body and mind relax as she pounded her stress into the pavement. She was slowed to a walk and took the chance to look around a bit, especially now that spring was beginning to show its face.

She rounded the bend and her eyes fell on a small figure facing the lake. As she got closer, her sensitive ears picked up the tune the girl was singing. The emotion in her words tugged at Samantha's heartstrings, and she headed off the path and walked over to stand on the shore, a respectable distance away. "There's something about the water isn't there, that brings your emotions out." She said, at a volume just loud enough for the girl to hear but could also pass for talking to herself. Some people were more self-conscious of their public image, after all, and Sam wouldn't want the girl to feel even worse by noticing her distress.   


Clothes

[Cianna "Cici" Rivers]

Hearing a soft voice, Cici looked up quickly to see a girl standing a bit away from her. Was the girl talking to her? Staring at her for a bit, Cici gulped, shoved her hand with the letter in it in her pocket and straightened her back, though she remained on the ground with her knees up.

"Mmm..." She hummed softly in agreement. "Water 's a symbol f'r emotions. T' bad it's so easy ta drown in both..." Normally, you wouldn't find Cici saying something so philosophical, but that line happened to be part of a song she had written. Ah, song-writing, and singing the said songs, the things that could make Cici feel smart, and like she could actually do something well. It was funny, you couldn't really hear her New Zealand accent when she sung it, but when that line was spoken, her accent was strong. 

Blinking, the girl realized how depressed she seemed, and clapped her hands a couple of times on her cheeks to break her self out of her down mood. Blowing out her breath, she looked up at the girl again, and offered her a small smile, before stretching her legs out in front of her. "My bad, s'rry. M' name's Cici..." Whilst her smile lacked her normal enthusiasm, it wasn't insincere. Realizing that as she had clapped her face, the note had fallen out of her pocket, Cici simply looked at it for a moment, before sighing and picking up the abused paper, putting it back in her pocket.

[Samantha Emerson]

Samantha turned her head a few degrees as the downcast girl spoke, just enough to catch her words. Or at least, for most people it would have been enough. However, the girl's accent caught Samantha off guard, and she ended up turning to look at her directly. "Samantha." She said, introducing herself with a smile. She walked the short distance over to the dark-haired girl, and took a seat a respectful distance away, facing the water. 

Samantha looked out over the gently lapping waves and referenced Cici's earlier statement. "Learning how to swim can help you out, though sooner or later you'll need a lifeline. Whatever you're drowning in." She leaned back on her hands and glanced over. "Mine's painting. Well, one of mine." She added. Her go-to had been piano up until she manifested and playing music started becoming a bit more problematic. Unfortunately...

If Cici seemed alright with Samantha's presence, she knew what she would ask next: "You got a lifeline?" Otherwise, it would be back to the jogging trail for Sam.