I'm Thinking of Dazzling Days (Open)

[River Tseung]

Fish. Fish had always been a bit difficult for River to use his abilities on. He wasn't sure if it was just because they couldn't hear the music under the water, or if they were beyond his abilities, but he was determined to try to get the koi in the pond to do something. The young meta was perched on a stone by the water's edge, violin in hand, pouring chord after chord off of the instrument as he focused his attention on a large white-and-orange mottled fish in the pond.

His hair was ruffled from the warm breeze blowing through the air; it was a hot day, and he had dressed casually in a loose tanktop and khaki shorts, the pockets of which, of course, hid his always-present pieces of candy with which to give to people. His flip-flops were lying some distance away; being barefoot felt much nicer on a day so bright and cheery as today.

The fish continued to swim without pause, no matter how complex River played, and so he carefully put away the instrument inside of its case and, shifting slightly, decided to try a different approach.

"You don't know how you met me,
You don't know why,
You can't turn around and say goodbye.
All you know is when I'm with you,
I make you free,
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea..."

His voice, sweet and melodious, drifted over the water. Did he imagine it, or was one of the fish coming closer? Yes, it was! Grinning, he continued the song, feeling a very slight pressure in his head as one, two, and eventually a half-dozen of the creatures had gathered closer, still wary, but obviously reacting to something.

[Mia Bell]

Mia walked out onto the grounds from the dorm building. She had just gotten changed out of her work clothes; the clothes she despised but had to wear them considering it was her uniform. It was the first day in weeks that she hadn’t done a double shift, she was in a good mood because of it. Yet it made her even more stressed out. She still had to pay for the damages to her room, and she still couldn’t even sleep in her own room, much less an actual bed to sleep in. Right now she was sleeping on the couch, and let’s just say it was not a comfortable place to sleep.

She walked down to the pond, thinking it would be good to pass the time by enjoying the weather, and writing some poetry, or a letter to her mother pleading her not to disown her. Granted she wasn’t sure if her mother was even thinking about disowning her, it was merely a guess. But considering the school most likely called her mother, she probably knew. Which meant she still had to send her a letter begging her forgiveness and tell her that she’s working on paying for the damages herself.

When Mia got down to the pond she saw a guy with a violin, a nice distraction. She walked over to the boy “Hello? I like your violin.” She had learned to play violin at a young age, and even owned her own. But she hadn’t touched it in ages.

{ooc: Is it okay if I joined?}

[River Tseung]

After a while, River let his voice trail off, and, after a moment of hesitation, the fish scattered back into the pond. Grinning, he waved them off before resting his hands behind him, closing his eyes and tilting his head towards the sky. He loved these summer days, so calm and peaceful, and no work to have to worry about doing. Hmm. Work. Maybe he should look into getting a job one of these days...

His train of thought was interrupted by a voice, and River's eyes squinted open, trying to find who had spoken. He soon caught sight of a very bright pink head of hair, and, since she was the only other person around, he assumed she was the one who had complimented his violin. A wide, bright smile crossed his face. "Thank you, sweetheart!" he greeted, his voice light and cheery. "Unfortunately, the fish didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. Do you play?" In his experience, people hardly complimented instruments unless they had some experience with them themselves.

He scooted over in case she wanted to sit, dropping a hand into one of his pockets in preparation for further greetings. "I don't know if we've met - I'm sure I would recognize that gorgeous hair if I had. I'm River." He offered the hand not in his pocket, genuine, dimpled smile still in place.

((Yes of course! ^^))

[Mia Bell]

Mia blushed deeply when he called her ‘sweetheart’, she knew he was just being nice. She called a few people the same thing, but not once has anyone her age called her that, especially a guy; not even Cameron did when they were dating. Not that she had expected anyone to, so she really wasn’t sure why she was making it a big deal in her head. It was just nice to here. “You’re welcome?” It did throw her for a loop though.

Sitting down next to River, she nodded to his question. “Yes, I do. Or did… I haven’t played in ages… I’ve recently got into playing guitar, and I’ve always been more passionate for the piano.” Granted almost everyone knew how to play the piano nowadays, finding someone who liked to play the violin seemed to be rare. At least for her, anyways.

And she was blushing once more, she wasn’t always good with taking compliments, even if it was about her hair; everyone commented on her hair. “Uh, Thank you. But I don’t think we have. I would have remembered seeing the Asian. I’m Mia.” She would have flirted with him, but she gave it up a couple months ago. She rarely flirted with the guys she had to serve at her work. She shook his hand “It’s nice to meet you.”

[River Tseung]

River noticed the slight pink rise in Mia's cheeks, and the small changes in her expression after he spoke to her. He had an itch that this was a girl that was not used to being complimented, and that made him sad - she should be! He would have to change that.

He kept his eyes on her as she sat, listening with curiosity to what she was saying. "Ooh, guitar and piano, nice," he nodded. "I wish I could say I'm multi-talented like that, but violin and some squeaky vocals seem to be the only thing I can accomplish now." He laughed. "That's really cool, though - I haven't met a lot of people that have played violin at all."

He chuckled brightly as she spoke again. "I've been told I have a pretty recognizable face, yeah. A pleasure to meet you, Mia." River was still smiling; it was more often that he was than not. He took her hand gently but firmly, before dropping it and pulling the other hand out of his pocket; inside his palm was a Starburst. "Want one?" Maybe it was a little weird to offer to a stranger, but that was just his thing. "What brings you out on such a lovely afternoon as today, Mia?" he asked after she chose, squirming a little on the rock to get more comfortable. He felt a sort of sadness coming off of the girl; he couldn't quite place how he could tell, but he had always had a sort of empathy for these sorts of things. He was surprised sometimes that it wasn't his ability.

[Mia Bell]

“Yeah, I’m in a band, you should check us out. It’s called scripted love.” Yes, shameless advertising, how else was she suppose to get her band noticed? “I heard your voice, you’re a really good singer. Yeah, same. It’s weird, maybe it’s to complicated for most people to grasp.” Yes, she was secretly saying River was smart.

“the pleasure is all mine!” River smiling made Mia want to smile, he was so cheerful, so different from the guys she usually hung out with. It was a good different though, she was getting tired of the certain attitudes her other male friends were having. She smiled at River “Sure! Thank you.” She took the candy from River, starting to unwrap it. She didn’t have anything to give him, she felt a little bad about it. Maybe she could make it up to him some other way. “Oh, I was going to write poetry.” There was another reason, but she rather not state it. “What about you?” He was right, not a lot of people could tell that there was something underneath the mask that she put on; but she was okay with that.

[River Tseung]

"Oh, a band?" River asked with interest, visibly perking up. "That's awesome. I'll definitely check it out! Just give me a time and a place, and I'll see if I can make it." Chances were, he could - it wasn't like he had classes or homework to worry about at the moment. Her compliments made him smile shyly and glance away. "You're a sweetie. I'm better than I used to be, but I still take voice lessons to help; at least it seems to be working better with my ability now! And I've been playing violin since I was, like, seven... I had some great teachers that really helped." Why had River never met this girl before? She was super nice!

He giggled lightly as she spoke again, tilting his head back to look up at the sky again. "I'm sad we haven't met before, Mia - you're really chill! What do you do in your spare time?" He was glad when she took the offered candy, replying with a simple,"Yeah, of course!" A cloud shaped like a rabbit distracted him for a moment, before Mia spoke again and he turned his attention back to her. "You write poetry too? Wow, talk about being talented!" He wished he could write, but he got distracted way too easily to be able to pay attention to something for that long. "Oh, I was just practicing my ability. Melodic animal manipulation? I can sort of control animals with music." He nodded at the water. "Fish seem to be pretty difficult, so I was working on them. I guess they like Follow Me," he chuckled. "Who knew fish had good taste in music?"

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded “Yeah, I’m the main singer in it…” She blushed a little, even though she didn’t think she had the greatest voice, she was surprised that she was able to even make the band. “Oh awesome. We haven’t gotten any gigs yet. We’ve been mostly practicing and making songs and stuff. But when we do, I will totally let you know!” They needed a manager or something, maybe that would help a lot with getting their name out in Vermont. She blushed a little bit more “You are an angel.” She said in the friendliest way she could. “I have never taken voice lessons.. Maybe I should start to take them..” She never thought about taking them, she really wasn’t sure why. But she didn’t have the money to take any kind of lessons. “I started taking violin lessons since I was six, same with Piano. But I stopped taking lessons two years ago…” Mia thought the same about River. How was it that the friends she attracted ended up being jerks?

Mia smiled “Well at least we have met. That’s something.” She looked up at the sky, “At this point in time. Work, and volunteering have taken up most of my time. But when I’m not doing that, I’m either in the auditorium, or my room, or food shopping, or working out. What about you?” After she unwrapped the candy she placed it in her mouth, and started chewing. Mia laughed “yeah, well poetry is my song writing.. I write poetry and then if it’s not too personal I will turn them into songs..” She shrugged, she didn’t think writing poetry was very hard. Poetry was easy, and it didn’t take a lot of attention, at least not for Mia. “Oh that sounds like such a cool power! I wish I had a simple power like yours…” Having weather control was such a pain, in more ways than one. “Maybe it’s not the music, but the person?”

[River Tseung]

"Hey, maybe you could give me some extra singing lessons," River joked. He hadn't heard her voice yet, but he was sure if she was chosen to be the lead singer in a band, she had to be good. "It's a pretty new band, then? You don't happen to be looking for an background violin player, do you?" He was only partially kidding; being in a band would be cool! Only problem was, he might make a bunch of little critters crawl onto stage when performing... It had happened more than once during band practice. "But yeah, let me know!" He giggled again as she spoke, wiggling down onto the grass so he could lay on his back. Angel? That was new, but definitely not unwelcome. "I mean, if you're already good enough to be lead singer in a band, I don't see why you would need lessons," he told her. "I just need to get a lot of control over my voice in order for it to work with my abilities." If the melody got off-key, his powers stopped working. It was much easier with instruments. "Do you have instruments to play here?" he asked. "If not, you can borrow my violin to play if you'd like. It's nothing special, but it works." He grinned up at her from the grass, his already narrow eyes squinting in the sunlight.

"That is something," he agreed. "A good something." River nodded as she spoke. "Where do you work? I should probably look into getting a job, considering I only have a year left at Hammel..." He mused. "And that's sweet that you volunteer. I try to spend time at the local animal shelter as much as I can. Ahh, working out... Do you run?" Maybe if she did, they could be running buddies! He could always use more of those. River had yet to write a song, but what Mia said made sense. "Seems like an effective way to write. I think a lot of great musicians write songs like that. I don't think I have enough emotional background to write very personal songs though," he said with a small laugh. "I tend to stay away from that sort of stuff as much as possible." Relationships, drama... Not really his stuff. "It's a pretty interesting power, definitely!" he agreed. "I've always loved animals too, so I love it. Can I ask what your ability is? If you don't want to share, that's totally okay, I understand." Some people were pretty touchy about their abilities, he knew. He giggled again. "Maybe I just look like another fish to them," he joked, pursing his lips to make them look bigger.

[Mia Bell]

“Oh.. I don’t know.. I never gave singing lessons to someone.. I’ve never even took one. I wouldn’t know how to..” She hadn’t gotten the hint that he was joking.. She really thought he was serious, “besides.. Like I said I don’t think my voice is the greatest..” She chuckled “I don’t know, it depends, are you into rock music? Because that’s the kind of band we are.. If you really are interested in joining you should come by one day when were practicing!” She wouldn’t mind having a violin player, that was actually a very unique idea to have a violin player in a rock band. But she wasn’t the only one in the band and didn’t have the final say. “I love singing, I mean most people do it doesn’t mean they are good at it.. But I guess it’s just me being me.” No matter how many people told her she had a great voice, she never believed them. “Oh I see. That’s why you take lessons.” Mia nodded to his next question “Yeah, My violin that I got years ago, and a keyboard I got just last year. I usually use the piano in the auditorium when I’m in the mood to play piano.. I also use the school guitar to practice too, since I don’t have one..” She placed her hand on his arm “We should totally play together one day!” That would be fun.

Mia nodded, but it really wasn’t good. Lately she had been really stressed out, and she didn’t feel like she had enough free time, or any free time. But that was her fault for getting into too many things, and for destroying her room. “Oh you only have one more year? I have a couple more… It depends on how long it takes me to control my power..” Mia nodded “Yeah I volunteer at the animal shelter, hospital, and homeless shelter.” She loved spending time with the kids, and animals. “Oh yeah I run, I run in the morning.” Or whenever she woke up, which had been later in the morning now that school was over. “Oh, I tend to stay away from the cliché of writing about relationships.. I want to write more inspirational songs.. Like Icon for hire does. If you don’t know them, you should really look them up. They are great. “ It was only around November of last month that she decided to stay away from relationships. She was tired of getting hurt, she had enough of the drama and the idiots she fell for. “Oh yeah, I can control the weather.” Not that she had any real control over it. Mia laughed a little “Maybe, I mean aren’t they Asian fish? And you’re Asian…”

[River Tseung]

"No pressure," River assured her with a bright smile. "I'd still love to hear you sometime, though." He wasn't buying the whole 'I'm-not-really-a-good-singer' thing. She was probably a natural! "I'm into any music," he replied honestly. "I'm a bit more of a pop/foreign music fan myself, but I definitely like to jam out to more hardcore stuff too! If you could let me know the next time you guys are practicing, I would be honored to watch. I've been interested in picking up electric violin anyway..." That was a little more rock, right? Yeah! "Well, you-being-you should know that people don't give compliments for no reason," he said cheerfully, nudging Mia lightly. "Seriously, I've only been talking to you for a few minutes and you're, like, one of my favorite people at this school." He was being honest; there were a lot of not-so-nice people at Hammel, but he could tell Mia was a genuine sweet person, if a little lacking in self-confidence. He could help with that! "Ahhh, cool cool," he nodded, lacing his hands underneath his head on the grass. "Oh my goodness, that would be fun!" he agreed, noticing the touch and smiling affectionately.

"Yeah, at least that's the plan. My ability, fortunately, isn't too hard to control other than just getting really good at creating melodies, and I'm able to get pretty good grades. Not sure what I'm going to do after I graduate though," he mused aloud. He whistled with admiration. "That's a lot of volunteering! I'm surprised I haven't seen you at the shelter before... Although, I don't get over there as often as I would like." Oh, she did run! "I usually go later in the day because, to be honest, I'm lazy in the mornings... But hey, maybe I can muster up the energy to go sometime if I have a partner," he chuckled. "Inspirational songs are great! I've heard of that band before, but I don't think I've listened to their music. I'll have to check them out!" River had had a small number of dates in the past, but no real steady relationships, which he was fine with. He had good friends, and that was all he needed for now. "Oh wow! That's neat. My dad was actually a weather manipulator too... My mom was a hydrokinetic. That's why they named me River, and my sister Rain." He laughed. "Well, Koi, if I remember right, come from Japan... And I'm Chinese-Canadian. Still, it's hard to tell the difference sometimes," he told her with a grin.

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded “Alright. I wouldn’t mind singing for you.” She could sing right now if he wanted her to. “Oh! That’s awesome! Then you should totally come by!” She nodded “I’m more a rock type of girl. But that’s cool too. I don’t think I have ever listened to foreign music…” Maybe that would be something else they could do together. “Yeah, I will let you know! We would be honored to have you watch. Oh electric violin would be awesome.” Yeah, it was very rockstarish. Mia smiled a little, “True. But the reasons might not always be right ones…” As in there was a million reasons why someone would give another compliments, but most guys rarely did it to not get something back. Mia laughed out of nervousness “Oh.. Really? Woah.. I never thought I was that great..” Usually someone met her, than found someone better, or already had someone better. She wasn’t trying to make things about herself, but it always seemed like she got put on the back burner when it came to friendships, or even dating. “You’re a really great person, you know… I have never met a guy as nice as you are.” Yeah, there had been Noah, but that had it’s own complications. “But, I’ve kind of learned not to judge a person from the first meeting… It has nothing against you, though.” She was just so much more guarded than she was a year ago when she first arrived at Hammel. “You can totally come over to my dorm anytime, my dorm is two o one.” She didn’t see anything wrong with the touch, most of the time she forgot about people’s personal bubbles.

“There aren’t any down sides to your power?” She knew most people’s power had some sort of side effect. Hers was migraines, and ruining the weather, even if she was actually happy (she hated the heat). “You still have time to think about it. I don’t think there’s any rush for you to figure it out.” She hadn’t actually figured out what she wanted to do either, she had a few options, but didn’t know which one she wanted to actually do. “Yeah… I started out just at the hospital, because my mom is a doctor so I spent a lot of time at the hospital. So it kind of feels like home, a little.” She felt like that was weird to admit, but it was true; but mostly it wasn’t home that being in a hospital reminded her of, it reminded her of her father, because he was a doctor too. Yet, at the same time it was hard for her since it was a hospital where she had to watch him die… Mia chuckled “Oh, I get up at like around five in the morning to go running. But I could go later in the day, since it was summer..” Doing it early in the morning during school was just easier for it. Since it did take her forever to actually get ready, with having to shower, do her hair, makeup, and get dressed. She wasn’t girly, but there was a lot she had to do to look at good as she did right now. “You should! We should just get together and youtube each other’s bands and stuff…” that would also be fun. Mia had a two steady relationships but both ended up destroying her, and also with the one guy she dated didn’t help either. “Oh wow! That’s so cool! I don’t think I would name my child because of my power. But that’s still cool!” She scratched the back of her head “Right! Sorry…” She frowned “I don’t want to be offence, but I can never tell between the different Asian races…”