A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (River)

[Kelly Thompson]

Much like a winter up in Canada, Vermont experienced cold weather and snow. Especially snow. There were some icy patches just outside the buildings which now dawned 'Watch out for falling ice' signs by the doorways. By four in the evening, the sun was halfway, if not more so, beneath the horizon, and the snow was tinted blue from lack of direct sunlight.

Kelly found no reason to be outside on this fine chilly evening. Instead he decided to curl up on a couch in the common area of the dorm's first floor. There were a few other students lingering around, playing a board game together, or just chatting. The Canadian instead stayed in his corner on the couch. He placed in some earbuds before hitting play to some rather loud, upbeat music. With the volume it was on he was more likely to just hear the voice of someone talking to him than he was to actually know what they were saying.

This didn't bother him though. He was really only down there to get out of some of the monotony of his dorm. It wasn't like he knew all of his roommates to spend time with anyways (if they were even the kind of people he'd want to spend time with). Instead of going out of his way to find them, he people watched, he'd meet them eventually.

His deep voice hummed along to the lyrics that played into his ears, and he quietly mumbled the french lyrics of Grace Kelly as the english chorus played. It was just a slow evening for the bright haired boy.

[River Tseung]

River had just finished eating in the cafeteria as he headed back to the dorms. On the way back outside, however, the easily excitable boy had gotten distracted with some lingering snow, and had promptly built a tiny snowman by the pathway before heading inside. He was dressed warmly, but not too much, so by the time he arrived back inside he was rather cold, especially his bare, damp hands.

Nevertheless, he had his normal happy smile in place, his curly, autumn-colored hair mussed all over from the hood of his jacket. River was about to head upstairs to his dorm room when a deep voice caught his attention nearby. Normally he wouldn't have thought too much of it, but the fact that it was in a different language intrigued him. Being a native Canadian himself, he wasn't extremely fluent in French, but he knew enough to understand bits and pieces of what the voice was singing. And, well, River was drawn to singing like bees to honey, so he immediately changed direction and skipped over to the source of the sound.

The guy looked familiar, though River couldn't put a name on him. "Bonjour!" he greeted cheerily, making no hesitation to flop down next to the bright-haired teen. Sooo pretty! "I don't mean to interrupt, but I don't hear French all that much, let alone singing." His cheeks were dimpled in his grin. "What are you listening to?" One thing River wasn't so good at were personal space bubbles; hopefully the stranger wouldn't mind.

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly, unlike River, had grown up with hearing both French and English constantly in his house. Granted, was really only used when someone was angry and between the family, if a guest was over everyone would be talking in English. Thus he understood the lyrics, and could most definitely tell the difference between the two versions of the song.

The young man would've dozed off in his spot if it had not been for him noticing a rather happy looking boy approaching. He looked at the kid who plopped beside him, and pulled out an earbud just in time to catch the french greeting. "Ah, salut." Kelly looked over his round dimpled cheeks and face… Had he seen him around school before? The kid did look familiar, so probably. "The song's called Grace Kelly by Mika." The bright hair Canadian offered the dangling earbud to the other boy.

"I'm Kelly, by the way." He introduced himself to the cheerful kid. There was a friendly smile across Kelly's face. Was happiness contagious?

[River Tseung]

River beamed at the response to his greeting, wrapping his arms around a pillow and snuggling it to his chest as he listened to the stranger's reply to his question. Now that he looked closer, the guy definitely seemed like someone he'd seen around, but River wasn't quite sure where. Probably a classmate, or something? Whatever the case, he was attr- a good-looking guy. Yeah. "Ooh," he breathed, reaching out to take the offered earbud. "I can't say I've heard of it before!" But he was more than happy to give new music a try.

Before he got too engrossed in the music, River jumped at the chance to introduce himself back. "Nice to meet you Kelly! I'm River." He offered the hand that wasn't holding the earbud to his ear, his smile much like that on Kelly's face. After that, he gave himself a few moments to listen to the music, catching snippets of words that he knew, and some that he didn't. It wasn't the type of music he usually listened to (which, really, was mostly Disney music), but it was enjoyable nonetheless. When the song was over, he handed it back to his new acquaintance. "Thanks for sharing! I might check out some more of his stuff." Eager to talk more to this near-stranger, River pointed out the obvious. "Your hair is super cool, by the way," he breathed. "I don't think I'd pull that off nearly as well." He'd tried blonde, but he'd quickly switched back to auburn - he thought it fit him best.

[Kelly Thompson]

It wasn't a surprise for Kelly to hear the kid didn't know MIKA. The singer was big in France, and in America was mostly heard in French class (where Kelly was first introduced to it actually) to learn reflexive verbs. Kelly explore the music farther and had a couple of albums worth of the man's music on his iPod.

Kelly nodded to River. "Nice to meet you too." He took his hand and shook. When the song ended, he just let the earbud hang down, so he could hear what his new acquaintance had to say. It would be rude to just block him out after all. Kelly did have manners. "Ah, thanks." He peeked up at the bangs that just hung within eyesight. He'd been dying it blue lately to match the snowy season. "I'm sure there's some color that'd fit your complexion." He could imagine River with a streak of purple in his hair, or blonde highlights. The whole head of hair might be a little much for this kid though.

"I can't say I've really seen you around. What year're you?" The kid's round face and bubbly attitude gave Kelly the impression that he was maybe fifteen or sixteen. He doubted older, but he could wrong. If he was younger that'd explain why they haven't really run into each other. Different classes in the most part.

[River Tseung]

River should take French classes... He was interested in the language, even if he was already bilingual with Mandarin. And his French wasn't awful, just needed a bit of work! Maybe music was just the ticket he needed to push himself into pursuing the language further.

The subject of hair made the easily distracted boy quickly forget about languages, though, and he pondered Kelly's comment, running his fingers through his curly locks. "You seem to have good taste, so maybe you can help me decide something fun?" he chirped. "I'd love it to be more colorful!" Heck, he would make it a rainbow if he thought he could pull it off. He lived for brightness and cheeriness, both socially and physically. "I mean... If you don't mind," he added a little meekly. He was trying to get better at realizing not everyone was outgoing as he was.

"I'm a senior, actually," River replied, eyes widening. "That's so hard to believe... I feel like I just came to Hammel last week. The time's flown." He wasn't unused to people thinking he was younger, though - his appearance, along with acting like a five-year-old most of the time, made him seem younger. "What about you? I... You look familiar to me, but maybe I've just seen your hair around," he laughed lightly. As he spoke, he pulled a pack of Starburst out of his pocket and popped one into his mouth, offering the pack to Kelly with a very child-like smile.

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly chuckled. "Thanks. I'll be glad to." Even with brunette hair, River was quite a colorful guy, personality wise at least. "I think maybe a soft purple? But just in the bangs." Now Kelly wanted to experiment with colors on River. He reached his hand out, but stopped before actually touch his hair or anything. "May I?" He wanted to make sure it was alright before playing with someone else's hair color. Even if it was temporary.

River was senior too. Kelly wouldn't've guessed that he was seventeen or eighteen. He just seemed so… Youthful. "Huh. I know what you mean. I'm a senior too." It was possible that Kelly's been seen around school, and only identified by his hair. He always had it a bright color. His naturally jet black hue never seemed to be fun. He smiled and took a Starburst from that pack. "Merci," and stuck it in his mouth.

[River Tseung]

River tugged at his bangs, looking up at them with crossed eyes, and nodded eagerly as he grinned back at Kelly. "I think purple sounds awesome!" he agreed. Definitely a good color (although all colors were pretty to him). As Kelly reached out for his hair, River leaned forward, unsure of what he was doing but already deciding he was fine with whatever it was. "Yeah, sure!" he chirped with a smile. "But, uh, what are you doing?" He didn't realize Kelly could change colors with just his hands. That ability would be awesome.

River blinked, a bit surprised himself. "Well, at least we're meeting before we graduate," he said cheerfully, cheeks dimpling. He wished he could meet and befriend everyone at Hammel before he graduated, but even he knew that was unlikely. He nodded as Kelly thanked him, sticking the candy back in his pocket as he chewed on his own piece. "You seem fluent in French," he commented curiously. "Do you mind if I ask where you're from?"

[Kelly Thompson]

"Thanks." Kelly took some of River's bangs in his fingers gently, careful not to pull. "Just seeing how the purple would look." And with that the bangs changed. A wave of purple went from the ends up to his roots. Letting go, and brushing it back into place, it didn't look too bad. Maybe a bit of getting used to for people who knew River, but it wasn't a bad color on him. "There. It looks pretty good." He gave a satisfied nod with a little grin. He was happy with his decision. If River didn't want it to be that color though, he'd be fine with changing it back for him. Otherwise it'd be about two weeks for such a small amount to fade.

River had a good point. It was nice to meet your classmates while they're still actually your classmates. "Yeah, it'd be weird to see each other after school, and realize we were classmates." Kelly'd probably feel embarrassed and a bit bad about not knowing him earlier at that point.

"Oh, I'm from Montréal, Canada."It's hard not to know at least some French around there." He chuckled. The funny thing about that place was that a person could be speaking perfect English without as much as a accent, and then switch to French and speak like they've been doing so all of their life. "What part of the world do you come from?"

[River Tseung]

River continued to look up cross-eyed as Kelly touched his hair, gasping as he watched the strands change from auburn to purple before his eyes. "That's so cool!" he exclaimed, mouth agape. "You... Are you a color manipulator!?" That was the only explanation, right? As soon as Kelly pulled away, he reached up and touched it, still almost disbelieving. "You think so?" he grinned. "I think so too!" It wasn't so much the looking good reason as just he liked being colorful in general, so this was definitely an improvement in his opinion. "Thanks, Kelly!" He'd have to repay his new friend. Like... Give him more candy, or something.

He nodded in agreement, chewing loudly on his Starburst. "I'm probably going to end up at the U of V, so I'm hoping I'll see people I know there from Hammel," he told Kelly with a smile. He had no idea what the other boy was doing, but at least River sort of had a plan for himself.

"Wait, you're from Canada too?" River asked incredulously, smiling widely. "So am I! Not that far, either - just up north in Saguenay," he beamed. "I know some French, but Mandarin was much more common in my house, so I'm more fluent in that than I am in the other." He chuckled at the coincidence. "I should get your number, so we can hang out and be Canadian together sometime," he joked, pulling out his phone and handing it to Kelly. "I have a sister, Rain, from there too, and also my cousins, Forrest and Skye. They all go to Hammel, too," he said conversationally. "Maybe you know them?" They were all younger, though, so he wasn't sure.

[Kelly Thompson]

"Yup. It's pretty handy for hair dying." Why go to a hairdresser or waste Koolaid when he could just run his finger through his hair and have it turn whatever hue he wants? It really was convenient. "Mmhmm, no problem. It'll fade completely in two weeks or so." He didn't want River to think it was going to last and have it just disappear one day, or maybe want it to fade sooner and have to sit through another week of purple.

Kelly nodded. UVM sounded like a good idea, and he's heard a few other say they were considering the same thing. It was close and had plenty of majors to pick from. It was a plan that made sense. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Probably take a gap year as a street artist or something. I don't really have a plan." He chuckled quietly. Maybe he should start planning soon.

Too? Kelly's smile widened. Two Canadians meeting in America. Nothing weird about that. "I can't say I know any Mandarin. I'm just what you'd expect from a Quebecois. French and English." The bright haired boy nodded in agreement as he took the phone and entered digits. Handing back the device he added, "just give a call or text sometime."

His head whipped up at River. "Oh, I know Rain. We're both in art club. I never would've guessed she's your sister." Then he thought for a moment. "I can't say I know any Forrest or Skye."

[River Tseung]

"Yeah, no kidding," River chuckled. "If I ever want to get a rainbow, I'll know where to come." He pondered for a moment. "So you can change the color of like... Anything?" he mused aloud. "Could you, I dunno... Turn your tongue blue or something?" That would be ridiculous and hilarious. Two weeks... Sounded perfect. River didn't think he'd get tired of it, but maybe he'd want to try something else!

A gap year? That'd be fun. River had considered it himself, but he wasn't sure what he'd do besides goof around and eat way too much sugar. Which... Sounded awesome, but his parents would never forgive him. "A street artist, huh?" he grinned. "Sounds awesome! Maybe I could come by sometime and play some music with you." He'd tried that once before, with a friend, and they'd been quite well-received.

"Hey, maybe I can teach you Mandarin, and you could help me brush up on my French," he suggested with a chuckle. He popped in another Starburst as Kelly gave him his phone number, taking the device back with a flip as he put it back in his pocket. "Definitely!" he agreed.

"Ahh, yeah, we don't look anything alike," River laughed, which was, of course, because they weren't actually biological siblings. He was a tad surprised Kelly hadn't heard of his mischievous twins though. "Ahh... You'll probably meet them eventually," he said, starting to stand with a grin. "If they see you, they'll probably either flirt with you or try to prank you." Kelly was very handsome, after all - even if River was confused about his own sexuality, it was obvious.