With Nothing Other Than A Cold Glass of Strawberry Milk...

Maya: I came to, blinking awake slowly, then realizing what had happened and sitting bolt upright. Where was i?! Worrywashed over me. What if id been kidnapped? And more importantly, where was my violin?! "Where is it?! Where am i?!" i said, panicked.

Hawk walked over to her. "Don't worry and calm down. You're in the academy...in your own room. I stayed to see if you were alright. All your stuff is over there, including your violin." He pointed to the corner.

(Back.)

It was incredible, her voice. So soft, but still so...moving. To watch the emotions dance across her face, it made her seem vulnerable in a way that caused him to feel out of place, getting to witness something so pure. When she sang, it was like she unveiled the real her to him for the first time. With no other thought in his mind, he reached down, strumming a soft melody to accompany her as she continued.

~

After some time, she paused, going up, down and around the entire Academy at least twice, just enjoying walking around with him. Right now, they were standing in Shadow's room, him setting up his things while she just followed, unknowingly still holding his hand. "Did you have fun?"

~

Violet tensed seeing Darren spot and adress her - she rarely emerged from her room, but she knew who he was, having taken sort of an interest in him. Nothing to really mention, but enough to notice his talents were similar to her own, at least when it came to art. "Hi," she said softly, the edges of her black long-sleeved sweater curling beneath her slender, pale fingers as she pulled at them absent-mindedly, raven bangs falling over her face, as they often did.

((awesome))

Nina sang more, putting her whole heart into it and her voice reflected that. She heard the guitar play and she sang the whole song.

Shadow smiled at her. "I did. It was really fun, being with you."

Maya: Not much of this registered except for where my violin was. I rushed over to it and pored over it until i was absolutely certain there was no damage. Relieved, i packed it away again. Then i realized that if i fainted out there, but was now in here, it meant id been moved. Probably by him. "Oh, e-er... thank you, for taking the trouble to bring me in here.... honestly, i.... i dont know, if i would've been brave enough to... to come in here... otheriwse." i admitted. "You.... you sound like the doctors. They tell me not to worry too.... but i cant help it. I worry.... even when i shouldnt. And sometimes i panic.... things... things are just scary." i said. "They called it.... an extreme case of chronic anxiety, or something..... they... they gave me some medicine for it, and it helped a little... but it made me feel stupid... like i couldnt FUNCTION, made it hard to think, made it hard to PLAY, and i cant NOT play, or i dont know what id do.... so i stopped taking it...." i said, starting to ramble now. It was the longest speech id made in a very long time. "Oh... oh im... im sorry... im rambling.... i do that sometimes.... when im nervous...." i said nervously, a bit embarassed. It was strange - normally i wasnt talkative around people. Just a random impulse, perhaps.


Darren: "Sorry, but... umm.... i dont actually know your name. You look kind of familiar, but i dont really pay attention to people much.... names dont stick with me too well. Im Darren. Who're you?" i asked. I was certain id seen her around before once or twice, so i was fairly positive she wasnt a new student, but i didnt know her well.

Hawk nodded. "It wasn't too big of a deal." Being the guy he was, he stepped closer to her and stroked her cheek. He didn't care that she had anxiety; he loved her. Hawk barely knew her....

Maya: A brief flare of panic flared inside of me at the unexpected touch, unwanted fearful trembling beginnign to run through me again. Id had a few friends, when i was younger, but my panic attacks had gotten so bad that id pretty much disconnected from the world for a while and lost touch with them. It had been a long time since id had any sort of normal social interaction, and i wasnt even sure that this was what one would call a normal social interaction. It occured to me that i didnt even know what this guy's name was. "E-er..... i just realized... umm... i d-dont even know what your name is. Mine's... mine's Maya. What's yours?" i managed to get out, fighting back the panic that threatened to overtake me.

( :3 )

When she ended it, Chase's hands fell away and he looked at her, eyes mirroring his ashtonishment. "Nina, that was...wow. Just, I..." he couldn't find the words.

~

"Yeah," she nodded, "Me too." Her heart began racing again. "Hey, umm...are you hungry at all? We could...go down to the dining area and...get you something." Though it was vague, there was a certain...tenseness to her when she spoke about the dining area.

~

"Violet," she said, maybe a bit too quickly. "My name...is Violet. I..."

Hawk stepped back, his icy blue eyes looking at her. "Hawk." He felt like setting a fire and his hand twitched. He hated that about himself. Hawk fell in love easily and wanted to start fires....

Nina smiled and sat next to him, not thinking about the way her stomach flipped. She was tired now, her vocal chords worn down from singing all day.

Shadow nodded and smiled at her. "Let's go." He walked closer to her as she led him to the dining area. He wondered what was in her voice. Pretty vague...

Maya: "N-nice to meet you...." i stammered out quietly, biting my lip anxiously. "Umm... im, uh, sorry... if i freak out.... i just... i just have a hard time around people." i admitted.


Darren: I grinned. "Its nice to meet you, Violet. Anyways, what're you doing wandering around? Are you looking for someone or just bored like me?" i asked. She seemed.... off? I wasnt sure. Slightly abnormal, perhaps? But normal was overrated anyways. It wasnt like i was one to talk. Besides, i didnt know her well enough to judge what normal for her was.

Hawk chuckled. "It's fine." He found her quite amusing, even though she had the anxiety.

Maya: I managed a smallsmile. "That's a relief. Sometimes people... think im wierd, or cant handle it when um... when i panic... when they show up.... or say anything to me....." i said. Because of this, i was even more loathe to approach people out of fear or worry of ridicule or rejection. It caused problems. But.... but i HAD made friends before. I tried to remember that. Hawk seemed pretty nice.... now that i was over my initial fear, he wasnt quite so scary. Maybe it was about time i had friends again.

Hawk nodded. "You should get some rest. I don't want you to have another panic attack...and it was my fault you fainted..."

Ravyn wrote:(Wow, Flaggirl, our characters are like, almost tiwns O.o my artist boy is also bipolar, although he's into drawing/paining, and my musician girl suffers from anxiety, although she plays violin, not flute...)

(Lol! Really? That's kinda crazy. I just pulled my charries off the top of my head and random google searches. Now, can someone tell me how to jump in?)

Maya: I frowned. "Resting wont make those go away... although it would be nice if it would." i said thoughtfully. "No, the fainting was just hyperventialtion.... it happens sometimes.... no big deal." i said. And it really wasnt often that i said something wasnt a big deal...

Hawk sighed. "Please....just please rest..." He worried about her; his mind was suddenly on her. Everything was about her.

Maya: I sighed. "Now you sound like my parents. I wont be able to sleep... but i can at least do the one thing that calmsme down..." i said, pulling out my violin and bow. I perched on the edge of the bed, beginning to play, pulling teh bow slowly, precidely across the strings. My fingers stung a little where there were semi-healed scabs from playing too much, but i ignored it. I continued to play, a slow, haunting melody, my heart and breathing evening out as i played, my almost perpetual panic and terror fading, a small smile on my face.

( I'll post for Chase a bit later. )

Kandy was oddly quiet while going down to the dining hall, gaze locked onto the floor, watching the floor as her feet moved across it, taking in step after step. She stepped under the archway, leading Shadow inside with her as she moved over to the selection of food. There was practically anything you could ever hope for (under what would be considered appropriate for lunch, of course.) and you didn't have to pay for any of it. "Have at it, Shadow."

~

"I...didn't want to be stuck in my room. I was given free reign to do I wanted today, so..." Her hands went up to stroked her clothed arms. He was looking at her, eyes fixated as if he were searching her for something? He knew she was different. Because she was. Violet was one of the students that had to be watched rather frequently. It was one of the rare occasions where she didn't actually want to stay holed up in her room. Today she was free-lancing...

Hawk listened to her play, a mysterious melody seemed to haunt the strings and came out as she pulled the bow across. He listened intently; he had never heard a violin before.

Shadow stared into the room. "Geez that's a lot of food." He looked at her. "Are you going to eat too?"

Darren: My grin widened. "Freedom is a good thing. I like my art cave, but sometimes you really do just have to get out. Its good for your sanity." i said, mentally chuckling at my own little inside joke.


Maya: I could have kept playing forever, but then something dripped onto my pant leg and i stopped, setting my violin down and glanging at my fingers. The scabs on the hand that pressed down the strings had opened up again, and were bleeding a bit. "Oh dear.... not again." i said, frowning. I hated it when that happened.

Hawk saw the blood and quickly ran to his room, not very far, and came back with the needed supplies. He cleaned it then wrapped it. "Just relax..."

Maya: I sat quietly, slightly stunned when he started bandaging the cuts. "Th-thanks! But, umm... i have a first aid kit... in my bag. This sort of happens quite a bit..." i said, slightly embarassed. It was wierd having someone do this for me - i was used to cleaning up these cuts myself.

Hawk didn't say anything. He finished and sighed. He didn't like it that her violin strings cut her. Hawk leaned on the wall.

Maya: I frowned. "Darn.... this isnt good... i probably wont be able to play for a bit. I dont really want the cuts to get deeper...." i said, packing my violin away carefully. I didnt know what to do now and wound up pacing as i often did, trying to remain calm and think of something i could do that wouldnt further injure myself.

"What, oh...no, no no...No. I-I'm fine. I ate...earlier, yeah...I...you go ahead. I'm fine." She wouldn't look at him, and was standing a good ways away from the table, no longer holding his hand. Deep breaths...none of this stuff can hurt you unless you do it yourself. Kandy repeated this, over and over again in her mind, gaze locked upon the silver forks, knives, glinting sinisterly at her, mocking her...reminding her of just how weak she really was.

~

"Sanity," she repeated, thinking over what he had just said. In her experience, freedom did nothing but lead to your downfall. She glanced at him. "Is it really...?"