Following the Music (Ivy)

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Kuni was glad classes were over for the day - he found most of the subjects interesting, but his mind often wandered in class, and it was quite likely he was going to end up spending an extra year or two at Hammel both to finish his education and get his power completely under control.  He much preferred to spend his time outdoors or swimming or doing something, even working, over doing homework, so that was usually last on his list of priorities.

He was on his way outside when a peculiar sound caught his attention.  Curious, the Inuit boy followed the noise, finding his feet trailing down a hallway to where he believed the music room was located.  Kuni couldn't quite place his mind on what the instrument sounded like.  They hadn't had a lot of the instruments back home that they had here, but he dearly loved music, so he was always curious to find out more about them.

Reaching the doorway, Kuni peeked inside, not wanting to startle or disturb whoever was playing.  He spotted a young woman inside, playing some sort of stringed instrument.  A violin?  He thought that's what they were called.  He continued to watch with awe in the doorway, wishing he could play an instrument that well.  He wanted to ask the girl about it, but he still didn't want to interrupt, so he just waited until he was noticed.

[Ivy Rose]

With the piano instrumental playing in a single ear, Ivy stood in the music room playing 'All of Me' by John Legend using one of the borrowed violin's. She had always wanted one of her own, but wasn't able to afford one. In third grade she was shown the magnificent instrument, and ever since then she wasn't able to put it down. Nobody knew of this talent except for her music teachers and her sister.

The Brunette swayed ever so slightly as she kept time with the piano instrumental in her ear, and as she did so, she turned toward the door. Blue eyes fell on a figure in the door, and the girl practically leaped out of her ratty old chuck-taylors. She was almost finished with the song, too.

"What the hell?" Ivy breathed, her voice slightly accented, indicative of her roots back in Miami. "Why are you sitting there and staring at me?"

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

The longer Kuni listened, the more into the song he got. It was a beautiful piece, he thought - the perfect amount of sad and heartfelt. His eyes actually started to feel damp, and he wiped at them with embarrassment, telling himself it was just a song.

His mind had sort of started to drift off when he realized the girl was now looking his way, looking none too pleased. The music stopped abruptly, and Kuni felt his cheeks heat up, knowing he'd be the reason she had stopped.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. "I-I just heard you playing and I wanted to see what it was..." His own voice held a slight accent, though one from a place far more northwest than hers. "I didn't mean to disturb you. That was... Very beautiful, though." He hoped she hadn't seen him get all teary. "I wish I could play an instrument like that..."

[Ivy Rose]

Ivy quickly recoiled at the sight of his hands up in the air. How pathetic she was to have been startled by a guy in the doorway. She'd had seen and dealt with much worse, so why did she find herself so bent out of shape about this? The Brunette took a breath.

"Whatever," She said with a sigh, moving over and placing the instrument back into the case. Her hair that was once flowing freely was placed in a tight ponytail to keep the long strands out of her way and to avoid getting her hair caught between the bow and the strings.

Ignoring the beautiful comment, because there were far too many mistakes in that to be considered such a thing, Ivy sat herself on one of the chairs. However, one of his other statements caught her attention. "You've never played a violin before? I thought every kid did that in like... third grade."

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Whatever. Kuni frowned at this, unsure of how to respond. Should he apologize and leave? Try to make up for his interrupting her? He didn't want the girl to be upset, especially over something he had done himself. "Please, don't stop because of my intrusion," he said, seeing her putting the violin away. "I can leave. I don't want to stop you from playing." Genuine concern and guilt were clear on his face even as he stepped further into the room, as though he could stop the girl from... Stopping playing.

He'd hardly noticed any mistakes. Then again, Kuni knew little enough about playing, so he had no reason to notice them at all. He stood a little awkwardly across from the small girl as she sat, feeling like a large, lumbering polar bear next to a little arctic fox. "I grew up in... A very remote place," he replied with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "We didn't have violin lessons." He was about to mention that their classes had been more about surviving than anything else, but he thought that would probably come across as strange to someone he hardly met.

"How long have you been playing?" he asked, finally settling down into a chair some distance from the girl. Although he'd offered to leave, he didn't really want to. Maybe he could make a new friend.

[Ivy Rose]

"Clearly." It was mandatory for elementary students to take up either the recorder or the violin in third and fourth grade. Luckily for her, she had experienced both. The brunette probably be where she was without her violin or her sister, so when one wasn't present, such as then, the other usually helped maintain her sanity.

Ivy began to feel slightly bad for the way she was treating the guy; didn't she hate to be treated like that, too? How hypocritical of her. Ivy sighed, keeping her eyes trained on the foreign boy. Where was he from? The accent and his features were indicative of...somewhere different. She supposed she'd find out exactly where relatively soon, as it seemed he wasn't going anywhere.

"Since I was 8. On and off." Ivy said quietly. "So where exactly are you from?"

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Kuni wished his school had had some sort of music program; since he'd come to Pilot Ridge and discovered what all they had in the states, he'd wanted to help incorporate some of it into his own village. He was still very much into Tikiġaġmiut traditions, and didn't by any means want to disrupt the culture in Point Hope, but there were a few things, such as this kind of music, he didn't think would cause any harm.

He thought maybe she was warming up a little to him, though. Or at least, didn't look so angry. "That's quite a while," he replied, equally as quiet. Now that the music had stopped playing, talking too loudly seemed... Weird. "I'm from Alaska... Very far to the northwest in Alaska." He offered a small smile and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "The population of my village is less than seven hundred. So... I'm afraid music lessons are only really taught through familial generations." And his parents hadn't been particularly musical, even though they all enjoyed listening.

"I'm Kuni, by the way," he added, hesitating before offering a large, strong hand to shake. "Where... Are you from?" he thought to ask.

[Ivy Rose]

"A little more than half my life I've been playing," Ivy agreed. His quiet words unnerved the brunette; from her experience, only people who were getting ready to hurt her spoke in such a soft, careful tone. She didn't like it, not even in the slightest.

"Can you stop that?" Ivy eventually said, though she heard his words and understood what he said, she couldn't respond to him when he was using that tone. The elder twin stood up from the chair, walking towards her violin in a nervous haste. "I mean, raise your voice louder, please. I can't stand whispering and quiet talk; it bothers me."

She knelt down, her hand caressing the fabric of the violin case, before opening it once more and holding the instrument by the neck. "Miami," She answered him finally, just as she stood up and looked his way. "Florida, that is. Miami, Florida."

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Hurting Ivy was the last thing on Kuni's mind. If anything, he felt protective already - a trait he had that he seemed to use with everyone even after just barely meeting them, if he liked them.

So when she asked him to stop, he blinked, startled and uncertain what he had done. "Stop...?" he repeated a little dumbly. When the girl explained herself, though, Kuni felt bad, though he knew it wasn't really his fault for not knowing. "I'm sorry," he said, a little louder, but still not too loud for where they were. "I will keep that in mind, Miss." Kuni offered a kind smile and sat back again, watching the instrument come back into view.

"Oh, wow... I bet it's very warm there," he replied, trying to imagine. "I get warm in anything above fifty-five, I'd probably melt if I went that far south." He chuckled and met her eyes, realizing he hadn't even gotten her name yet. Ah, well... She would offer if she wanted to. "Anyway, I can, um, let you get back to your playing if you want..." he trailed off, obviously not wanting to lave, but torn over that and irritating the girl by staying.

[Ivy Rose]

"Ivy," She corrected his use of miss, though didn't hold it against him simply because she never provided her name. Normally, she would perk up and be the happy girl that everyone expected around this time, but there was no pressure to pretend around this person, oddly enough.

His next comment, however, seemed to put a short lived smile to the petite brunette's face. "I practically freeze in any weather that's below sixty degrees. These Vermont winters have been absolutely brutal." And it was true, but normally Ivy wouldn't be caught dead complaining about their current situation because the situation they left was so much worse.

Her eyes were downcast, staring down at the instrument in her hand, when he offered to leave. Should she let him go? What did it matter if he left? Ivy could practice more in peace, that much was for certain, but there was a part of her that didn't want him to leave; that was an odd feeling, definitely.

"No... don't. I can play something for you, if you'd like?"

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

"Ivy?" Kuni repeated, testing the name. It was... Unique. Well, he shouldn't really be speaking, but... "That's a pretty name." Had he been a more smooth, flirtatious type, he might have added for a pretty girl, but that was way out of his normal behavior, so he stopped where he was.

Oh, look! Was that a smile? The appearance of it, however small, was enough to lift Kuni's spirits a little more. "I can't imagine what that's like," he mused. "I have to practically strip down to nothing in the summers here just to survive. I'm practically a human heater," he chuckled. And he liked giving people hugs, so it wasn't totally uncommon for people to want to snuggle with the giant Inuit boy during the colder months. He enjoyed it.

He shifted to start to stand, assuming she would like him to go, but was totally surprised by her answer. "You... You would?" he asked, excitement touching his voice. "I would love that." Kuni eagerly settled back down and looked at Ivy expectantly, hands laced together before him.

[Ivy Rose]

Ivy took her phone from her pocket, grabbing the small smart phone and flicking through YouTube without saying a word. She was attempting to get a backing track to accompany the violin for a song she had in mind; Burn by Ellie Goulding was a personal favorite of hers to play, and so she quickly grabbed the backing track, rosined up her bow, and adjusted the violin to her shoulder.

Another reason why she loved this song was the fact that it provided her with a challenge, a challenge to keep up. And though normally Ivy would probably find herself nervous in the company of anybody other than her sister, she managed to maintain the pace with practiced excellence.

It was funny the type of trance the frail brunette found herself in every time she began playing. It was as if her body took control, and her mind was lost. Though that wasn't true, it sometimes felt this way. Her body moved with every up and down bow, while still keeping the time.

It felt as soon as it started, it was over, and a rather dazed Ivy looked up to glance at the Alaskan boy. Did he enjoy it? If not, she truly didn't care, but it was nice to know whether he did or not.

"So, yeah..." The elder of the Rose twin's raised her brow.

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Kuni fell silent as the small girl went to work, finding what she was looking for on her phone and setting herself up to play. The Inuit boy watched with interest, following each movement with unwavering attention. That was one thing he was good at, at least - once he became focused on something, it was hard to draw his attention away. And Ivy was the complete focus at the moment.

Once she actually started playing, Kuni became even more entranced. The song was beautiful, and sounded complex - he had no idea how the girl could keep up. He became statue-still as he listened, only his eyes moving, following the movement of the bow. For him, it seemed to go on for ages, although once it was over, it felt too soon. Kuni blinked as he came out of his own daze, lips slightly parted as his gaze panned over to Ivy's face.

"That... That was beautiful," he murmured. Kuni realized with a jolt that his eyes were watering again, and he quickly rubbed at them, embarrassed. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Ivy." He took a deep breath and smiled, looking at the young woman again. "I wish I had something to offer in return, but I'm afraid I'm not all that good at much of anything." Except cuddling. He was a damn good cuddler. And fisherman, but who here would care about that?

[Ivy Rose]

This time, she did say "Thank you," in response to his comment. However, when he thanked her for sharing with him her playing, she didn't know what to make of it. Such kindness was foreign to her; responding to it was even more difficult to fathom.

"You really don't need to worry about repaying me; you just gave me a reason to play for someone, which I don't get often." The brunette was putting up her more personable facade then, because if she was any more 'herself', the boy was sure to leave. Most times, she probably wouldn't care, but she really did miss conversation from time to time.

"And besides, I'm sure you're good at something. Everyone is."

[Kunikpok "Kuni" Arrluk]

Kuni still felt like he should do something in return, even if Ivy thought otherwise. It was only fair, and he would feel bad, like he owed her something, if he didn't. "I think you should play for people more often," he told her honestly. "I shouldn't be the only one who has the privilege to hear you perform." Kuni didn't want to push her to do anything she didn't want to, but he was all for encouraging people if it was just anxiety that was holding them back.

He shrugged modestly as she spoke about him, trying to think of something useful to say. "Well, I've been told I give really good hugs," he laughed, looking down at himself. Probably because he could easily envelop most people. "I don't know if that's a talent, though. And I guess I swim well." But how could someone enjoy that like one listened to music? "And well... If you like fish, I could probably catch you some," he snorted.