Here Again [Closed]

Here he was again.. At the same room he fled before he tried to leave the school.. The one thing he hoped would calm him down but it didn't work.. Did he not do it right? Or did he just plague his mind more so with memories that made him happy, but also sad? The boy shook his head, and pushed open the doors and walked inside the room.

Magic looked around the room. Everything was pretty much the same except some instruments were moved to different spots from some students messing with them. He messed around with some of the instruments before but there was really only one he was able to play decently. That was the Piano. And that is why eh was in this room again.

After spending sometime by himself, and he remembered another Piano song. It was honestly quite nice to listen to. It was a song he worked hard to learn to play.. Well it was one of the earlier songs he learned to play. It seemed like a joyous tone to it, but one could also hear a sad tone to it. It was like someone was telling a sad story but was hopeful while telling it. At least to him anyway.

Magic walked over to the piano silently staring at the nice black instrument. He sat down on the bench, and adjusted himself slightly. He lifted the cover on the piano, revealing the keys that contrasted with the color of the Piano itself. He tapped a few keys for a moment allowing him to figure out where he needed to place his hands for the song. He played the first few notes of the song, and then his hands went to work. His hands danced along the keys as the notes, and sounds were emitted from the black instrument.

ooc: Song

There was a cold draft that night, an autumn chill permeating the air, crisp and tinged with the sharp scent of the golden leaves fluttering across and painting the stone roads with color. They were everywhere, with October drawing closer to an end, clouds overcast with a hint of rain coming in the stringing days left for the week. Wet puddles scattered themselves here and there, hedges, trees, and bushes glistening with dew-like drops from the rain earlier or perhaps it was the watering system. The dark azure sky stretched endlessly above them, and slowly, a small figure was walking through the empty campus, her arms cradling a binder with care, the cover betraying what it was: a collection of sheet music. It was already so dark outside, stars lit up above like gems, but she didn't care. It was almost curfew. What the hell was she risking here? For what reason?

Nearby, another student was sprinting pass, blowing another gust of wind by her, and she clutched the book harder. Or at least, that's what she thought. She still couldn't feel it, not a smidgen of heat or cold penetrated her numb sense of touch. It took her a few moments to realize that she had made it to the studio, almost running into the door and barely stopping herself from doing so. Slowly, one hand reached over, and grabbed the handle, relieved it wasn't locked yet. It had been too long since the last time she was here. When was that? Back when Kearn still attended the school?

The familiar thought of her brother made her pause before going into the music room, just at the intersection where it branched off into the other areas. He'd kill her. She didn't find the necklace back there. She lost the heirloom. If he found out that she couldn't figure out where something that important was, he'd reprimand her. Cast her away. Maybe did already do that - maybe he forgot about her in all of the time she had been gone. It was almost a year since she left the house again. A chance of her fading away into nothing was high... he had to take care of mother anyway. It would be better if he wasn't constantly fretting over her. Shaking her head to dismiss the thoughts, Lamia took a deep breath and approached the second set of doors with silent steps, only to see through the crossed panels that someone was already in there.

Of course.

It was the one person who she didn't want to be around yet wanted to talk to for a few moments. Things were bad enough... she should leave while she still had the chance. Lamia couldn't bring herself to move them, leaning against the door and clutching the binder close to her as she listened in. The undulating melody lingered in the air, and a peaceful calm fell over her as each note came together as though it was a symphony on its own. Was he using his gift to alter some of it? Or was it simply on his own? Something felt genuine about the song compared to when he manipulated it that one time. It was a silly conclusion and just on a hunch, but she knew he was playing it without any enhancements.

The binder hit the ground with a loud thud!, and she winced. There were so many problems with not being able to feel anything. One of them was that she couldn't tell if something was slipping out of her grip. Maybe he had been too warped in playing that he didn't hear it. You moron, he definitely picked it up. Bending down, Lamia snatched her binder back into her hands, and when she looked up, light had filled the dark hallways and the door had opened.

Stupidstupidstupid.

Magic was to into his playing to notice the loud thud caused by the binder hitting the floor. Well he heard it slightly, but when he glanced up for a moment he didn't see anyone there.. He couldn't look at the door for too long or else he would mess up his playing. His gray-green eyes returned to the piano. He let out a small sigh when he played out the last few notes.. He didn't want to leave yet.. He wanted to find another song to play..

He froze for a second. He thought he heard something else.. He listened in for a moment before shrugging it off. It was probably just another student going to another one of the rooms... And probably stopped a second to hear his playing.. He looked up at the door again this time noticing it was open slightly.. Did he leave it open? He couldn't remember.. He was too caught up in wanting to play the beautiful instrument..

He shrugged once again, and gave off a sigh. He placed his hands back on the keys, and played a few notes, trying to remember how another song went.. After a moment of random key notes, eventually he was able to arrange them into the a pattern. The notes started softly, but the tempo increased from the last song. As he played, a soft smile grew on his face.

ooc: Song

Shifting herself to the much more darker corner, leaning back onto the wall, Lamia kept her eyes on the open door in front of her. He didn't notice. Maybe it was just another luck of the draw, but she could leave without him ever finding out she had been listening in. She unconsciously tucked a strand of her behind her ear, mulling over her options. Pretend she had never been there. Go in there and apologize for watching him. Try and start some kind of conversation. Stay where she was and hope that when he left, he wouldn't notice her. Why couldn't she ever decide? Her arms drew the binder in closer as her eyes fluttered to a close, crystal clear sounds mixing into one long string of notes. It flooded into her mind, relieving her of any worries that seemed to push against her shoulders, and there was a few moments in which it seemed as though she didn't have anything to care about. Music was always an outlet from stress, and the fact that she suddenly stopped coming to this room was making her regret the decision in a world where there didn't seem to be any escape in the spiraling downhill of events that transpired.

An extension of one's self. That's what music was. A way to freely express yourself without worrying about others thought about, allowing the song to play at your finger tips, letting someone pour their whole heart and soul into each and every note as a whole. It wasn't something that worked when you split it in two. It wasn't something that could be divided. It had to be full, to be complete, like a story. You had to have the exposition, the succeeding events, the climax, and the very end. A story followed that format, but music didn't have that. Anyone could play any random combination of notes, and even if it was distorted or screwed up, it didn't change the mesmerizing tune that came with it.

A quiet, deep breath escaped her as she continued to listen whenever his fingers struck the keys of ivory white and charcoal, bringing the piano to life. Slowly, she stood up, careful to keep all of her belongings from falling and disturbing his recital, and let all of her problems wash away like the sand on a beach. Lamia cast a glance over her shoulder, pale gold eyes focused on the figure leaning over and playing it. She was half-tempted to ask what song he was playing, half-tempted to compliment him. But most of all, she knew better than to go inside. The last time they spoke with one another was after he could've killed her and she left without letting them stop her.

It was a really bad idea. Time was ticking away, and it was scarcely a few minutes before they were expected to be in their dorm. Did he know that? Should she stop him? No was her immediate thought. He seemed so much more relaxed and comfortable, there was no way she could. The very idea of it made her anxiety bubble, almost as though it would burst. Lamia took a step closer to the small crack in the entrance to get a closer look, and it was then that she made her decision. No, she couldn't. She just... couldn't. He was smiling.

Ducking back behind the door again, she only hoped that he didn't hear her steps or see that she had been there. What the hell was she doing? This was pushing her luck too far. She should've left while she had the chance.

Soon the song came to a close just like the other one. He ended it slowing down the end of song slightly like he didn't want it to end, but it had to. Both songs needed to end.. He should probably get back to his dorm, but he didn't want to.. He had locked himself in there for so long he didn't mind breaking curfew.. He was the prefect after all.


The song had ended now. He didn't have any other songs to play at the moment, or none he could think of. Magic didn't really feel like playing a repeat right now.. So he could remember three songs.. Well that was better than before, but.. It still wasn't exactly how much he remembered when he played a decent amount.. But it will do.

The winter prefect rose from the piano bench, but froze when he saw something shift pass the door, and the sound of soft footsteps.. but they didn't continue on. "You can come in here if you want to." He said to the person who was ducked in the hallway. He didn't exactly know who it was. They were probably worried about curfew or something like that. Something he couldn't care less about.. "I'm done with the piano if you want to use it."

Lamia perked up a bit when she heard him speak, opening her mouth to instinctively reply, but immediately shut herself up before she said something stupid. He didn't know it was her. Would he still be inviting her in if he knew that? As much as she wanted to play the instrument, there wasn't any way she could if he was in there. It was so stupid of her to have stuck around, listening until the very end, and to go so much as to try and get a closer look. Without giving him a reply, she walked away back towards the exit at a brisk pace, her eyes constantly darting around as though there was something for her to be nervous about. Casting a glance over her shoulder, long, slender fingers grabbed the handle of the door to leave, but it wouldn't open. A small bead of sweat dripped down from her forehead, and she tried again, the loud, clicking sound only telling her that it was locked. Was the custodian early? Did they even check to see if someone was inside before they shut it closed? The answer was obvious and she was silently mocking herself for even thinking about it. Where would she be if they had taken a quick look around and forced any student inside to leave?

Her lips thinned and she stood still at the front, digging the ball of her right foot into the ground as she tried to think. If it was locked from this entrance, would the back exits from the art studio or music room be sealed as well? There was the emergency escape route, but leaving from there would only signal a false alarm throughout the entire school campus. Not only that, he wouldn't appreciate a loud, buzzing siren ringing through his ears after blasting himself with gentle music. It was always an option to try and break the door down, but that would be damaging school property, and personally, the faculty wouldn't appreciate it if a prefect even thought about doing such a thing nor would they enjoy replacing it after all the havoc mishaps with gifted caused. A broken door would just add onto their worries. What choice did she even have except to stay inside for the night?

Maybe she would've been fine with it if it was just her alone.

But with him in there? No way. Her expression darkened as she lowered her head, forcing herself not to imagine what would happen. She already knew it was going to be bad. He already suspected something was up, and with the way things were going, she couldn't keep hiding it forever; he wanted answers that she was too scared to give. Every single time. It never ended well, and Lamia knew that much already. It'd practically be a repeat. He'd get mad at her and she'd still keep hiding everything as far as that went. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, a mental count to ten coming to her head as she tried to clear it to think more logically. There wasn't any answer that she conclude from where it was except the one that she didn't want to go through with.

"Wh-what should I-I do...?"

Magic blinked when he heard the person move away from the door more.. Guess they were afraid of him or something? He looked down at the ground.. Yeah.. that's how it should have been.. People being afraid of him was common. They would rather avoid him than talk to him. He let out a small sigh, and started walking towards the door of the room.

The winter boy was frozen in his spot when he heard the person whom he could not see speak about something. Lamia? What was she doing here? Then he remembered the soft clicking of the door that wouldn't budge.. Great.. they were locked in.. He poked his head around the door and looked down the dark hallway at the girl. He was leaning on the other door to support himself from falling over. "Lamia?" He asked in a normal tone. "What are you doing here?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Magic's voice, his words interrupting her train of thought just as she was about to reach for the door to try and open it again. Turning to where she believed she heard him, Lamia blinked as she tried to search for what to say. It wouldn't be bad to tell him that she had been planning to use the piano and coincidentally bumped into him. Or should she lie and pretend she had been looking for the teacher? Maybe that she had heard someone playing and wanted to check who it was at this hour? You still want to hide after everything? Lamia bit her lip, a rush of phrases and options coming to mind, tensing a bit as her hands lifted the binder up to cover half of her face. The hallways were too dark and she didn't know where the lights were, yet she still felt the need to back herself behind. There was only a small inner relief that he didn't immediately begin questioning her motives from the day before. Or anything along those lines.

With a heavy breath, Lamia forced a feeble smile. "W-well, I was uhm... tr-trying to, I-I mean..." She didn't dare glance in his general area, shrinking slightly behind her book out of embarrassment. Her heart was beating so loudly against her chest, and as much as she thought she was acting naturally on the outside, everything inward betrayed her actions. "Th-th-there was s-some sheet music s-s-sent to me th-this morning, and I-I uhm... y-you know..." Her voice faltered, the words caught in her throat as she silently thought about whether she should say anything more. He knew? Knew what? Who had sent them to her? Why she hadn't left when it was already occupied? Something like that? This was all so stupid and the desire for the ground to just swallow her whole was growing stronger by each passing second. Every time they talked to each other, it just seemed to get harder and harder to the point where it was like she was talking to someone from another planet.

"I-I'm sorry f-f-for listening in l-like that..." There were so many things that she apologized for. Maybe if she hadn't come in, he would have heard the custodian and would've been able to leave without being shut in this kind of situation. Maybe he wouldn't have stopped playing and enjoyed himself a little longer. The amount of things that he should've done was overwhelming and all of them were better than this. It didn't help that she was tempted to ask him what he had been up to, but... that would be a touchy subject, wouldn't it?

He straitened up from leaning on the door. It was still kind of hard to see the girl but he knew where she was from where her voice was coming from. That was one thing his hearing was good for. He was about to reply to her when she started speaking again about listening in. "It's fine. I expected someone would, seeing how it happened before."

He moved to the outside of the door, and sat down against it. He wasn't going to get close to her. Things were still very weird, and awkward. Having a good distance between them would be good. He didn't bring up about knowing they were locked in. He could probably break them out if he wanted to, but then there would be alarms going off, and it would be bad.. "If you want to use the piano go ahead. I'm done using it." He was kind of interested to hear her if she would play but she most likely wouldn't.

He was done already? Lamia hesitated for a few moments before taking a step closer and turning to face in his general direction. Should she play? Holding the binder closer, her eyes flickered from side to side and she kept her head low, almost as though she had been expecting him to reprimand her for even thinking of staying in the same place as him when they hadn't been on good terms. It wasn't that she was mad at him for nearly and possibly killing her nor did she have anything against him; there was that small feeling that kept crawling into her mind that he still worried about her when he didn't need to... it'd be better if they didn't talk to each other for awhile, but here she was. Alone. In a dark corridor. With only him in front of her. Fate never agreed with what she wanted in the end, but may it was for the best. Kearn would've pushed her to reconcile or come to terms or something, or at least that's what she thought. He had sent the papers to her and all she ever did was reply with a thank you, even after he asked how she was doing or to send a picture or anything that proved she was doing well.

Her brother of all people would be able to notice that something was wrong just from looking at her. He'd know she had been pushing herself and would force her to stop. And most of all, he would have to divide his concern between mother and her. That wouldn't do. Mom was sick still, and he shouldn't have to pay attention to a twin who didn't even live with them anymore. Lamia blinked, her voice shallow and wavering with uncertainty as she distracted herself before warping back to the past. "A-are you sure? I d-didn't m-m-mean to interrupt before, a-and..." She couldn't relax. If Magic saw her in a room filled with light, it'd probably take him a few moments before he noticed something was off. The darkness was her friend. It let her hide so that nobody had to know anything.

"You s-s-seemed happy... I d-don't want to m-make you st-st-stop j-just because I-I'm here." All the more reason to believe she was just a hindrance and dead weight to everyone around her. Magic was just giving up his time on the piano because she practically implied that she wanted to use it. What the hell was she thinking? He couldn't see the cover of the binder, so he wouldn't know what it was. She could've just said that she had come in to study or anything like that. She could've even given him the notes he missed from when he had been skipping classes. You're a fucking idiot.

Magic just shrugged, but she wouldn't be able to see that. "I really only have three songs I can play. Or three songs I remember how to play. I played two of them just now and I played the other one the other day. So I don't have anything else to play." He brought his legs close to his chest and rested his arms on top of his knees. "Also you didn't interrupt me." It would take him a while to remember how to play any other songs.

The boy did have questions for the winter girl, but like before it was just best not to ask them.. He was almost tempted to give up on the whole thing. Honestly it was kind of clear she didn't really trust him too much. At least that was how he saw it.  The whole thing was really confusing.. He didn't really know what to do.. Either they would have a good day in each other's company or things would go down the drain. An uneasy smile made it's way onto his face from his thoughts, but it was hard to see.

For someone who seemed to be so proficient with music, it almost came as a surprise that he remembered just three songs. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her feet shuffling themselves, Lamia looked up a bit. "R-really...?" She debated whether she should even got closer and managed to stop herself before she moved again. Opening the book in front of her, her eyes could dimly make out the notes and titles of each composition inside, her smile widening a little. It was the typical that her brother picked. He almost never seemed to change. After all, why would he? The perfect kind of person who never seemed to have any troubles and was too blessed in every way possible. And it was just as typical to see him send her sheet music that she couldn't play on her own. Duets. Kearn always said that she could play piano better than him and he was too clumsy for it, personally preferring guitar or violin; yet, whenever they could perform with one another, it was just another thing. She was internally glad that he hadn't forgotten that.

"A-are you able to r-r-read sheet m-music?" The question came out almost too quickly for her liking, but it was half because she was having trouble containing her tiny bit of excitement and half because she was genuinely curious. He learned from his grandmother, right? Did she simply teach him to where his fingers went and what it should sound like? Was it something more like a professional mentor-student kind of lesson? All of her guesses seemed to pave the wrong road every time, and suddenly, she wished she hadn't asked in the first place. But common sense kicked in after awhile. Her assumptions weren't anything outlandish, and even if they were, it was just her musing to herself. To herself... right. Magic couldn't read her mind.

Sound Manipulation had too many applications that she wasn't even sure anymore. Hopefully, he actually couldn't.

Magic had to think on the question for a moment.. It had been so long.. It would take a moment remind himself of what everything was.. Those songs were different cause it was basically muscle memory. "I'm a bit rusty. If I had a piece of music in front of me I would have to look at it for a bit and try to remember what everything was again." He could probably play a basic piece easily, but if it was more complex then it would take a bit of time.

The boy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "It's been so long since I actually looked at a piece of music.. Ten years I think?" His mother never bought him any music. Always complained that it was too expensive for a piece of paper. So he mostly learned to play things by ear after his grandmother died. The winter boy recalled breaking into the school's chorus room a few times to play on the piano a bit after he felt like he could play a song. He got caught a couple times.. but he kept doing it.

"O-o-oh." To be fair with him, she hadn't even touched the piano in maybe a year or two. Or at least, the one the school owned. But ten years was so long ago that maybe it was a bad idea that she came up with this. Anything that came to mind was always something that would go wrong - subtle or not - and snowball into a giant pile that would go out of control again. Lamia let out a breathy little laugh, halfheartedly hoping that it would dismiss her concerns for awhile. There was still that lingering anticipation that her fingers could sit on the keys and press each one down, to create a song that would wash away all of her worries, even if it was just for a few minutes. The only problem was whether her hands would cooperate... could she even read the sheet music and play at the same time when she couldn't feel it? You can't, her mind told her, but if she messed up, she could always say that she hadn't tried in awhile. It'd make sense, after all. She just wanted to put her hands over the keys and play.

Something about music made her feel normal, that she could have a passion and an outlet, just something that she could be decent at. And a part of her wanted to share that with someone, outside family. It made her feel bad that she was using Magic for that purpose, and somehow, this whole thing was proving his point that she was being selfish. Hell, he probably caught onto what she had meant to say by now - it was something obvious, maybe a little misleading, but it was there. "D-do you want t-t-to tr-try, th-then?" Those were words she hadn't meant to say, but they had slipped out before she got the chance to stop herself. Lamia bit her lip, hastily taking back her words. "I-I m-m-mean, you don't h-have to... b-but, I was j-just... S-sorry."

Try? Oh she had sheet music with her.. He could certainly try, it would most likely end up terribly though. "I can try. It might end badly though." He stood up from his spot. Honestly he was kind of excited to try and read a sheet of music again. He knew there was gonna be many screw ups but, he did really want to try. He turned back towards the door to go into the room. "So what is this piece like exactly?" He asked, as he moved back into the room. He wanted to get a general idea of what this was going to be like. If it was super complex then there were gonna be mistakes everywhere.