And Death, It Came...

David Burke 21 Pyschopathic "I think you'd be surprised at how much damage a caged animal can really do..." {DEPENDENT}

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

[esmeraldanash]

David was doing as well as Esmeralda could have asked anyone to be while dancing alongside her. He was a quick learner, and any mistake that he made was not made twice. She had to admit, considering the slow pace of his training in his ability, she was a bit shocked how fast he picked up dancing. She almost wondered if it was something in his family. Maybe he had a sibling in it? She wouldn’t have been surprised if he did. 

Esmeralda was also pleasantly surprised by the compliment. She wouldn’t let him know how surprised she was otherwise he might’ve been insulted by her attitude, but nevertheless his … should she have said kindness was noticed. He was clearly in a much better attitude than he was most days, “Don’t like heading back to the hot and humid Georgia. I’ll probably be here most of the summer. Do you want to work on your gift over the summer or do you want to take a break?” 

[dave-burke]

The fact that he was doing reasonably well didn’t just ensure that his ego was left uncrushed -- it also aided its growth. He couldn't’ remember the last time he’d been dancing, and yet here he was, performing with a particular excellence after only a few moments. Sure, there were mistakes here and there, but he always recovered before they were noticeable, and in general, he felt like he was doing better than someone else might’ve. In focusing on what he was doing correctly, he could even forget, for a moment, that he wasn’t doing so well in other aspects of his life -- overall, it was enjoyable.

Not something he would pursue, but enjoyable nonetheless.

“Georgia? Can’t blame you,” he replied, though he’d never been himself. He’d heard enough about its climate, however, to infer that it wasn’t a place that most wanted to spend their summers -- if she was giving him the truth, of course. She hadn’t given him any reason to suspect otherwise, but he’d always made it a habit to doubt others’ intentions, chiefly because his own were rarely what they appeared to be on the surface. He had only himself to go off in terms of others’ behavior, and he wasn’t exactly a model citizen. “Oh, uh, I guess I’d be up for some practice. Might help me get out of the rut I’m in.”

[sexyshana-blog1]

“So no welcome wagon, huh?”

[sexyshana-blog1]

 Shana laughed, grinning at the guy who had showed up behind her. “Horror movie is righ”t”, Shana agreed.. This place looks like it should be the set of a low budget Tim Burton movie”, she scoffed, flicking a finger at a suit of armor. “But hey, you’re here, so that’s something. If you ARE the welcoming committee, I wasn’t expecting you to be so hot”, she winked.

[dave-burke]

“You’re telling me. Someone should call him up and sell the idea to him -- except I think it should definitely be live action, because I’m great on camera,” he said, and though overall he didn’t appear serious, it was difficult to determine whether he’d been joking -- at least in terms of how he referred to himself. “I can be the welcoming committee, when it suits me. And you know what they say about expectations, and all that.” He paused, offering a smirk before he continued on. “You’re not so bad yourself, you know.” 

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

[sirensturning-blog]

 “Hey, how can you say suits of armor aren’t useful? I mean come on, it’s not like they just stand there and don’t do anything but creep people out….oh wait a second”, she giggled. It was nice to meet someone else around here who seemed to have a sense of humor. “Well hey, gotta have a few buffoons who think they can sing otherwise the show would just be boring. I mean, it’s funny as long as you’re not the one embarrassing yourself, I guess!”, she admitted with a laugh. 

“That is kind of true. I mean I guess when you look at it, it is kind of sad that we ended up like this. I mean, a couple hundred years ago, people were making beautiful art and writing literature. Nowadays, everyone just goes on the internet or on your phone, and any idiot can just like, splash some paint on a canvas and give it a pretentious name and suddenly it’s art”, she shook her head. “Where did we go wrong, gotta wonder!”. She nodded in agreement. “I guess so. I mean, I’m not going to lie, attention can be nice, but I think it’s only good if you earned it. Like I can’t stand people who will do anything to get noticed, but like if people are noticing you for something really impressive you did, then I like that”

“Yeah, I mean, if you need some kind of perverted art to look at, it’s probably less creepy to sculpt a naked person and call it art rather than like, creep on people who are doing it”, she giggled, blushing slightly redder at the thought. “Oh man, I almost forgot they wore togas back then….all those folds and ties and stuff seem like a nightmare to sculpt”, she shook her head. “Or maybe they sculpted the naked people because it was easier, and then put real clothes over them, like mannequins, and we just don’t know that part? Maybe those renaissance and ancient greeks and Romans are all looking down on us right now, and laughing at how us modern idiots are putting their mannequins in museums and calling it great art?”, she couldn’t help but laugh at the idea. This guy was a lot of fun, and definitely a lot easier to talk to than a lot of the people she’d met so far. For the first time in a while, she actually felt like she’d met someone who had good friend potential. “I’m not too worried. I mean, I’m so intimidating, none of those ghosts would dare come at me”, she joked, pretending to flex her muscles, as though she were a bodybuilder or something, knowing full well that she looked about as intimidating as a kitten. But that was the irony of it. If she was being honest, Siren wasn’t truly afraid of anything that might physically try to hurt her, be it ghost or person, because she knew she was far more dangerous than she looked, even if no one knew it. 

[dave-burke]

“I’ll say they’re useful when we get some knights in here. Hey, here’s an idea -- why don’t the security guards start using them? That way they’re protected and we don’t have to see them being a bunch of grumpy assholes all the time. It’s a win win! Sure, it’ll make them slower, but there’s always a sacrifice somewhere, right?” He grinned, barely holding back another bout of laughter -- he’d always preferred being a more collected man, even when the situation didn’t always call for it. Strong emotions in general made him somewhat uncomfortable, even when they came from himself (with the exception, perhaps, in anger). “Yeah, as long as you’re not the one going up there, it’s hilarious!” He didn’t think he’d have anything to worry about if he did ever happen to, by some strange divine intervention, find himself on that stage, but then, he wasn’t most people. He was something extraordinary. He felt like he could’ve won the entire thing just by walking up there, with who he happened to be.

“It is kind of sad, isn’t it?” he agreed, nodding almost solemnly -- of course, he wasn’t sure there was much to be appreciated about humanity to begin with, the exception only in himself. He’d never found anyone else (save for one person) to be anywhere near as interesting and exceptional as he was, and such was an opinion that almost became obvious whenever the subject arose. Of course, the conversation had to be directed in a more subtle fashion, as he wasn’t keen to give himself away unless the opportunity was one he couldn’t resist -- a few psychologists he’d talked to had been quite good at this, something he found frustrating to no end. He’d liked to think he’d learned from those mistakes, of sorts, but of course he hadn’t. “I guess humanity just isn’t as great as some people would like to believe.” He shrugged as she continued, not willing to admit (even to himself) that he valued attention (any kind of attention, unless it involved his humiliation) more than the average person. “Yeah, those kinds of people are always the worst.”

It was hard to keep himself from grinning more as she blushed, her inexperience with the subject more than obvious -- but of course, he found no issues with it. “I bet they had models pose for them once in a while, at least. It was kind of like an acceptable way to creep on people, you know? Pretend it’s for art and people will do almost anything.” He snorted. “Oh, god, that’d be more ridiculous than if they were meant to be naked! Can you imagine finding out we’ve just found a bunch of their shop mannequins?” This time he couldn’t hold back his laughter, though again he managed to stifle it before he lost his composure entirely -- he’d pride himself for that later on, as he always did. “Yeah, I can totally picture it! Any ghost who comes at you will definitely regret it, for sure.” Really, she looked about as threatening as a stuffed rabbit, but he of all people knew that looks could be deceiving. Either way, he doubted she was anywhere near as intimidating as he was, when he wanted to be.

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

[esmeraldanash]

Esmeralda followed the beat with a mid paced tango allowing her feet to drag occasionally as the beat temporarily slowed down. Much like the boy near the back of the room that was jumping up and down high on cough medicine, Esmeralda felt the beat deep in her bones. However, instead of drugs, Esmeralda’s soul had attached her to the beat. Dance was the art of making the beat tell a story. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Esmeralda mused realizing that was one of the nicer things that he had said to her. She wasn’t going to ask for more than that. She decided not to push him that night for why he hadn’t been around. That night was about relaxing and enjoying one night of freedom between the both of them. “Are you going to be on campus for the summer or are you returning home like some people?” 

[dave-burke]

He thought that he was doing reasonably well, given his lacking experience, which allowed his ego to breath a sigh of relief. For the moment, she hadn’t given him a reason to feel foolish, though he had to wonder whether she was merely being kind -- with her particular power, he felt like she might’ve done that more than the average person. He knew absolutely nothing when it came to empathy, though he often pretended otherwise (and very well, at that), but from what he did understand, that seemed to be the primary reason for showing kindness towards others. 

“Good, because it was a compliment,” he replied, flashing another of his trademark smirks. He didn’t dabble much in flattery, preferring to be the one dealt compliments rather than giving them, but on occasion the words that left him weren’t edged with sarcasm. Sure, it was rare and probably came as something of a surprise, but it was known to happen, and such was the case in that moment. “Ah,” he paused, the question having caught him off guard -- he didn’t have anywhere else to stay, “I think I’ll be staying here for the summer. What about you? Got any family plans?”

[sexyshana-blog1]

“So no welcome wagon, huh?”

Shana dragged her suitcase across the entry way. Great. So they were just going to leave her here?

“Could’ve at least left a map if they’re too lazy to even show up to sign me in”

[dave-burke]

“If I were you, I wouldn’t expect one of those -- I think they’re trying to keep the whole horror movie vibe going. Not exactly something you can do if you’re giving people gift baskets when they walk through the door,” he said, offering a smile that was only slightly haughty -- much less so than usual, at any rate. “Anyway, you’re probably already signed in.”

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

[sirensturning-blog]

“I went to the library once!”, Siren nodded at the suggestion. “It was like, really dusty though, and the librarian lady in there gave me a dirty look when I started humming, so I didn’t really look around”, she laughed at the memory. It was odd how most of the people at Thornewood seemed irritated by her cheerful attitude, the staff in particular. Though she was used to people thinking she was too cheerful, she’d never had people so determined NOT to be happy or cheerful before either. “This might be kinda silly, but like thanks for being honest at least! I’ve totally seen the nurses around here being super patronizing to the patients and I hate that. Like sure it sucks that I suck at playing, but like, I don’t need anyone telling me I’m great and it’ll be fine. Like we might be stuck in a mental hospital but that doesn’t mean we’re delicate little flowers either”, Siren shook her head with a small scoff. She couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that whoever had invented the recorder had been just having a laugh the whole time. “That’s a great theory, but you’re right, most people probably aren’t that creative!”, she agreed. “Also, come on, by now people should totally know better than to try to make something people will hate. I mean, there’s always someone out there who’ll like something, no matter how awful or weird it is. Like there’s people out there who actually like bagpipe music. And Donald Trump. And Justin Bieber. And Tentacle porn”, she shrugged. “If that was their goal, you’d think they should’ve figured it would backfire!”

“Fair enough”, she shrugged. She honestly couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to try and show off to her, of all people. After all, she’d been told multiple times that she resembled a living cartoon character, and was probably about as intimidating as one as well. “I can see that. But I don’t know, if you’re looking for that kind of attention, you probably have something else going on, right? I kind of feel bad for them. Like if you’re that desperate for someone to listen to you. I don’t mind them so much. Just gotta remember to take everything they say with a grain of salt”, she shrugged. She had to admit, she did like attention herself, though it depended on what kind. She did love the spotlight, but only if it was for something good, or a talent she had. The last thing she wanted was any sort of sympathy, or awe, or pity, or to be noticed for her problems. She just wanted to make people happy and spread positivity with who she was. 

“Well every culture has its perverts, probably!”, she couldn’t help but giggle quietly. “I mean, they didn’t have the internet back then. Naked sculptures were probably the next best thing”. She couldn’t help but blush slightly. The subject of sex and anything related were topics she was still unfamiliar enough with to be embarrassed by. “But to be fair, clothes do seem like they’d be pretty hard to sculpt. Like all those folds and wrinkles and everything”, she shrugged. “That’s a good way to describe this place! Like seriously, enough to almost make you want to carry garlic and stakes around with you. And it’s so big too. Like how hard would it be to put in a map somewhere? I still get lost around here”

[dave-burke]

“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I remember it. You’d think with how expensive this place is they’d be able to hire a proper janitor, but I guess they’d rather spent it on new suits of armor than anything useful,” he said, offering an only slightly melodramatic sigh and lifting his shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. He was well aware that the building wasn’t new by any means, but they seemed so determined to stick with their Victorian Gothic scheme that they’d decided dusty was the new black -- in his opinion, it was ridiculous. “It’s always better to be honest with these sorts of things -- if you know you’re god-awful, you can improve. If people convince you you’re great, well... you’ll end up being one of those people who embarrass themselves on American Idol.” Really, he agreed with everything she’d said -- the patronizing nature of the nurses nearly had him tearing at their throats. Here he’d thought he’d made impact in the media for others to realize he wasn’t that kind of sick, but he supposed that expectations always led to disappointments, and that nurses in general seemed to be that sort of person.

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Everyone enjoys something; it’s just sad that billions of years of evolution ended with some of us liking the recorder. Or anything else you just mentioned, for that matter.” He offered another shrug, wondering if his particular likings would ever end up on a more extended list of things she disapproved of -- one could never tell in a place such as this, but he thought that it was likely. For a moment he was so caught in the ambivalence of the notion that something he enjoyed might be hated enough to end up on the same list as Donald Trump that he hadn’t noticed she’d continued, but he quickly brought himself back to attention. “Oh, definitely. It’s probably one of the reasons they’re here in the first place, you know? Attention seeking behavior can be dangerous -- even dangerous enough to end up here.” Not that he was speaking from any experience, or anything; never in his life had he done anything for attention. Not once. In fact, he’d go so far to falsely admit that he despised attention; seeking it out was beneath him.

He barked with laughter, barely reaching up in time to stifle the noise, which had been louder than he’d intended. “Humanity in general is full of perverts! You’re not wrong, though -- without weird internet porn they had to use more drastic measures. Maybe they could appreciate it more when it took months to finish.” His lips twitched with the beginnings of a smirk as he noted her blush -- was she shy? Unused to the topic? Both? He found it didn’t quite matter to him; he enjoyed the reaction no matter the cause. It was always more fun when people were uncomfortable, even just slightly. “Yeah, I can see why it’d be easier to sculpt dicks than some elaborate toga, whatever. Still, you’d think they could put in a little effort, when it comes to decency.” He couldn’t help but allow another breath of laughter to escape him as she continued, a wide grin stretching across his face. “That’s exactly how it feels. I feel like I’m going to end up being attacked by some haunted armor, or a ghost, or something!”

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

[esmeraldanash]

Esmeralda couldn’t help but grin as she watched him try to brush off his awkward expression. She knew dancing made most people uncomfortable it was the one thing that Esmeralda had picked up the side that seemed to have no reason to everyone else. If she was entirely honest, picking up dance had meant to teach her balance which it did, but now it left her far above the curve than most of her fellow students. 

She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and offered her hand for him to take. “I was beginning to think not to. Then I saw that dashing face, and I just had to.” She laughed softly and began to move about. “I’m glad that you came. It’s been a while since I saw you.” 

[dave-burke]

As per usual, he hadn’t thought things through before speaking, choosing to save his pride in the sort-term instead of thinking forward to the future. He didn’t know the first thing about dancing, and for all he knew he’d been cursed with two left feet! He might’ve kicked himself if he weren’t certain he could improvise -- really, how hard could it be? It didn’t look particularly difficult, and being that he was a quick learner, he felt like maybe he could save himself from his possible blunder. It wasn’t impossible at least, right? Should he need to, he could even delve into her thoughts slightly; the risk of a worse headache was nothing compared to the anger that came with humiliation.

Any doubts he’d had were quieted as she drew his attention again, the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. “Can’t blame you for that, really,” he said, barely resisting the urge to break into another exaggerated grin -- he’d never admit it, but even joking praise did wonders for his insatiable ego. “I know I have that sort of effect on people.” He took her hand, mirroring her movements the best he could, in the hopes that he’d do something right -- good enough not to look like a total fool, at any rate. “You are? That’s nice to hear. Can’t say I’m not glad to see you, too,” he said, wracking his mind for a viable excuse for the avoidance act he’d been pulling lately, though nothing came to mind. “I’ve just been, you know... around.”

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

[sirensturning-blog]

“I just wish they had a guitar book or something. I could probably pluck at that stupid thing all day and still sound awful. I should probably stop before I make everyone’s ears bleed. I mean, everyone here’s already obviously got enough problems without being subjected to that too!”, she grinned. Despite her failure at managing to teach herself guitar in the mere twenty or so minutes since she had starter. She couldn’t help but laugh at his next comment. “Oh man, I HATED those things!”, she shook her head. “They’re so screechy. Sound like a whistling cat being tortured. Whoever invented those things must have been deaf or something”. Being stuck in a room full of elementary school kids with recorders, none of whom could play yet tried to do so anyway had been almost miserable enough to put her off music, to say the least. She shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t know why anyone would be trying to impress anyone else here, considering we’re all kinda stuck in a mental hospital.”

“I know, right? Seriously, they all had a real thing for naked sculptures. Like we get it, you guys are all real good at sculpting dicks. Real challenge would be if you could sculpt some clothes on everyone too!”, she laughed. “I went to this like ancient Roman art exhibit at the Seattle Art Musem with my brothers a while back. I feel like I probably would’ve appreciated the art a lot more if it wasn’t all naked people. But that’s just me. I mean, whatever floats your boat, if you like seeing creepy naked people sculptures, I won’t judge. Well, not too much”, she joked. “I haven’t even met my doctor yet, and I’ve been here for what….oh, probably a week now”, she tried to mentally count back in her head. “And I know, right?! This place is so dreary! Could use a bit of color. And humor. Seriously, it’s like there’s either no staff staff around, or when there are, they’re all grumpy. And yell-y.”

[dave-burke]

“You could always check the library,” he suggested, though he wasn’t sure they’d hold books of that genre -- then again, he hadn’t looked. In fact, he didn’t think he’d been in that particular room more than twice since he’d arrived, as his interest in reading had been dulled by the same negative energy he’d gotten by being there. Inescapable scenarios often had that affect, as far as he knew, and though he denied it a great majority of the time, he was aware of his change in motivation. “Yeah, probably. As funny as it would be to see if anyone tried to stop you, I have to think of the greater good here -- that sounded awful. Don’t worry, though, you get points for effort.” He bared his teeth in another grin as she continued, a breath of laughter building in his throat. “I know, right? Sometimes I wonder if that was the point, you know? Like they were trying to make something that nobody would like. Then I remember that people aren’t that clever, and that they were probably stupid enough to actually enjoy that kind of noise.”

He offered a halfhearted shrug. “Honestly, I think people are more likely to want to impress people here. Think about it -- nobody’s paying attention to them except for the doctors, and that’s just to drone on about how broken they are. I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds like the kind of thing that would create a few attention-seekers.” He did his best to hold back the laugh that’d threatened to escape him, but in the end he wasn’t entirely successful. “I know exactly what you mean. I don’t know if they weren’t good enough to sculpt clothes, or if they just secretly enjoyed making statues of naked people -- to be honest, wouldn’t surprise me if it was the latter.” His brows lifted in slight surprise as she continued -- a week? She was new. Much newer than himself, at any rate. “A week? Christ, they probably haven’t even had the time to do your paperwork yet.” He snorted. “Oh, definitely. But I think they like the whole ‘gothic horror’ vibe the place gives off -- why else would they make it so you feel like you’ve walked back into the nineteenth century?”

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

[esmeraldanash]

Esmeralda laughed softy knowing that he was right about these kind of things not really being her kind of things. She generally preferred staying in her room or in the library reading her books. She was the kind of person to shy away from boring conversations, because the person in front of her was so exhausting to have to feel whatever is going on with them. Every day she struggled with conversations due to the gift that she never asked for.  She truly didn’t really have that much of a place at the dance. 

However, she really was glad that she was there. Her time with Phillip alone was worth putting that dress on. Sure it was heavy, and it was a little too pouffy, but never in her life had she felt more beautiful than she did standing there with pouty red lips and vibrant blue eyes. 

“The party don’t start til you walk in.” Esmeralda laughed looking him over again before asking, “Do you know how to dance? Would you like to?”

[dave-burke]

David’s abilities also happened to pose a problem at large events, especially since he hadn’t seemed to make any large strides in terms of progress -- in fact, while he’d never admit it outright, he hadn’t seemed to improve very much at all. Then again, when it came time to practice he’d been lagging behind more than usual, his motivation killed by the idea of failure. Ironically enough, it was precisely for that reason that he failed at all. Regardless, it was a fact that showing up had given him a heavy dose of discomfort -- such was the price to pay for his vanity, he supposed, though he didn’t refer to it in the same way.

“Now you’re getting it,” he only half-joked, offering a playful wink. His (overly, perhaps) cheerful expression seemed to falter somewhat as she continued, a brief hint of something like awkwardness flickering in his expression. Before it could be confirmed, however, he’d wiped it away, replacing it with another of his trademark smirks. The unfortunate fact of the matter was that when it came to dancing, he was woefully under skilled. Of course, admitting that was... beyond him. “That an offer, then? I was beginning to think you’d never ask.” 

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

[esmeraldanash]

Esmeralda had been more than glad that she had arrived since the moment that she laid eyes on Phillip that night. There he had been with his beautiful green eyes and wide smile leaning against the banister as if he was carved against it as if he was a piece of art. It was nice that for one night it wasn’t about the drama or grades. It was simply about dancing, poetry, and talking until the night turned dark. It was nice that for one night she forget about all of her pain.

Phillip and Esmeralda had separated to talk to different friends for a little while, and Esmeralda realized that neither of them really had anyone else to talk to. The young girl had been tempted to go talk to Olivia, but the girl seemed to be having enough fun without the other girl bothering her.

She decided to stand by the punch bowl hoping that she might be talk to. She was the head girl now after all. She had a lot to offer someone. Maybe one of the teachers would congratulate her.

Instead she was greeted by the face of the boy who had been working on his gift alongside her in Mental Abilities class. Somehow they had ended up with some kind of bond that she could not seem to create a name for. It just was what it was.

For some reason, she had a hard time adjusting to the fact that he was even there. He just didn’t seem the kind of person who would show up to these kind of things, but there he was dressed to the nines. He looked absolutely breathtaking, and for a moment just exactly that happened to Esmeralda. After she finally caught her breath, Esmeralda grinned sideways, “I didn’t imagine that you were the kind to show up to functions like this.”

[dave-burke]

She didn’t answer him immediately, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist for him to infer as to the reason -- his ego filled in enough of the blanks for him to take it as a sort of compliment. His less egocentric side figured that surprise also fit into the equation somewhere, but he chose to disregard such information in favor of feeding his pride. As it happened, he himself was somewhat surprised to see her at such an event, as he’d come under the impression that she was more of the introverted type -- nothing she’d ever said or done had indicated otherwise. He wondered briefly if she’d been dragged along by another friend (or some other outside motivation), but didn’t care enough to continue on with that train of thought.

Instead, he widened his smirk and offered an only mildly haughty shrug. “I could say the same thing about you, Ez,” he said, avoiding the question for an extra moment or two in order to piece together something acceptable for his own motivations. For some reason, he got the feeling that telling others that he’d only showed up in order to flaunt himself (and though he’d deny it, not for their benefit) wasn’t something that would be well-received. After another careful moment of thought, he decided that perhaps the truth wasn’t so terrible after all -- a shocking revelation, but one he had nonetheless -- so long as he spun it in a way that could’ve been interpreted as joking.

“But you know me, I never like to miss a party. Wouldn’t be one without me hanging around,” he said, baring his teeth in a white-toothed grin. He might’ve been laying the dramatics on a bit too thickly, but anyone who stuck around him for more than a few minutes (provided they weren’t subjected to his anger) knew that it was something of a personality quirk. He’d always been the dramatic sort, and though he’d never paused to consider why, it was a compensatory action -- shallow affect expressed as more emotion than usual.

[dave-burke]

Gatecrashing | Ezzy & David

@esmeraldawhitlock

He’d decided against going until the very last minute, and unsurprisingly, his motivation didn’t come from nothing other than his pride. No, he didn’t particularly care for any events that were hosted by a school, of all places, as institutions in general tended to irk him, but really, it’d been utterly ridiculous for him to assume that he’d resist missing an opportunity to show himself off. He never had thus far, and judging by his lacking abilities in actual change, it was doubtful he’d break the habit in the foreseeable future.

Which also meant that he wouldn’t be going the conventional way.

            As always, David Burke had to break the rules.

Truth be told, it was somewhat surprising that gatecrashing would most likely have been the largest rule he’d broken since he’d arrived at Atlas, as his track record (and his criminal record, for that matter, though the files were locked) was riddled with issues in conduct. Anyone who knew him -- truly, honestly knew him -- knew that anarchy was always his preference when compared with law and order. Good behavior, when set beside his name, came closer to appearing as an impossibility, but thus far he hadn’t truly done anything worth causing an upset.

Not yet.

He slipped through the doors without any trouble, peering through the crowd for any signs of a familiar face -- he didn’t much care if he knew anyone or not, but there had always been a certain appeal to showing off in front of those who could appreciate it more. Whether that be through actual appreciation or something more negative, such as irritation, was completely irrelevant to him. His usual smirk spread across his lips as he caught sight of someone he knew -- she wasn’t a friend, really, but he didn’t think he really had any of those -- and he sauntered over, oozing the same infuriating smugness he always did.

“Fancy catching you here.”

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

[sirensturning-blog]

“That’s true. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying!”, Siren shrugged, carefully setting down the guitar. “I really love music. I can’t play it, but I like writing songs. I just wrote this song that I really like and I wanted to make it more legit by trying to make some background music for it, but I guess that’s not going to work. Or maybe guitar just isn’t my instrument. I’m sure eventually, if I play around with all the different things in here, maybe I’ll find something I can actually play!”, she joked, giggling, gesturing around the room to all the other instruments lying around. “I bet there’s plenty of talented people here. I just met this guy the other day actually who says he used to have a recording contract. Or almost had them. I don’t know if that was true, but he played some stuff for me, he was really good!”, she smiled, thinking of Spencer. “Normal people are boring. Us crazy people in here are more interesting anyways”. 

“David? Like the Michelangelo naked sculpture?”, Siren giggled, covering her mouth at the thought. “That’s funny! I mean, in a good way, not a bad way or anything!”, she added. “I mean it’s a good sculpture. A little too naked, but still good!”. Despite his apparent cheeriness, Siren was starting to feel as though his attitude wasn’t necessarily genuine. She wouldn’t have suspected anything was off about him if it weren’t for his eyes. There was something darker in them, that most people wouldn’t have noticed at all. The only reason she did was because she had the same look. It took one to know one-as someone with as many dark secrets as Siren, who was so careful about keeping them, she could sometimes spot similar signs in others. Though it didn’t matter anyway. Her bright attitude was genuine, and no matter what was going on with anyone else, she was always happy to try and make friends with anyone. She was just a little more intrigued now. “So how long have you been here? And seriously, is it just me, or does it seem like there’s never any staff around? All I ever seem to see are security guards. And they’re always grumpy”, she pouted. “This one yesterday yelled at me because he caught me drawing silly faces of the helmets on the suits of armor in lipstick. Some people just have no sense of humor”

[dave-burke]

“True enough,” he replied, though he wasn’t sure how much good the statement did when it came to instruments -- especially when he doubted there was anyone qualified to take up a teaching position in the subject. Not that he’d know, when he generally chose to avoid the music room like the plague. It wasn’t his fault they’d decided a gigantic grand piano was a wonderful addition, and it definitely wasn’t his fault he felt a bit... strange whenever he caught sight of it. It wasn’t anxiety, of course (or at least, that was what he continuously tried to convince himself of), merely a slight, perfectly manageable aversion to something that had served as a sound of torment over the years -- and he really did hate the sound, nowadays. So why was he there, if it bothered him so much? Truth be told, he didn’t know -- walking through the door had been an entirely impulsive decision. “Yeah, maybe they have a recorder lying around,” he teased, seeing that grade-school plastic tube to be nothing more than something meant for the talentless. “I’m pretty sure he was lying to you -- they don’t get anyone successful in here. I mean, sure, maybe he was good at what he did, but my guess is that he was trying to be impressive.” It seemed like an entirely logical conclusion, if one ignored that he despised hearing that others had held better lives than him in the outside world.

His lips twitched with a more genuine smile (though the distinction wasn’t anything visible to the untrained eye) as she continued, the comparison not one he’d heard before -- he approved. Much like the statue, he considered himself to be something of a masterpiece, really; the only people who disagreed were those who didn’t understand him, or who chose to abide by concepts that didn’t belong in his worldview -- or, more commonly, both. “Yeah, something like that,” he said, amusement lacing his tone. “Those Greeks really did like showing off, didn’t they?” As far as art went, he couldn’t say he possessed any real interest in the subject, but he considered himself to have gotten a relatively well-rounded education and thought that he could probably have held a conversation on the subject, though he would have preferred other things. The unfortunate reality was that his preference in conversation wasn’t others, and putting up his charming facade took precedence over anything else. “I don’t know, a while? The days all seem to blur together. I’d say it’s just you, but I’ve noticed the same thing. I’d prefer the doctors over those damn guards, honestly, and I hate therapy -- anyone with any sense would have seen what you did as an improvement!”

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

[sirensturning-blog]

“Judging by that horrible noise I just made, I’d say you’re probably right!”, Siren laughed, smiling brightly at the newcomer. “I don’t know if I’m even holding this thing right”, she admitted with a laugh, shrugging her shoulders at her own cluelessness. “I always wished I could play the guitar. When those musicians like play and sing at the same time, it always looks so easy. But as it turns out, apparently not! Do you play?”

“Hi, by the way! I don’t think I said hi!”, she chirped cheerily. “I’m Siren. Who are you?”

[dave-burke]

He nodded in response, his eyes flitting down briefly to the instrument she held in her hands before returning to her face. He’d admit (maybe) that he wasn’t quite sure she was handling it correctly, either -- he, personally, couldn’t play any instruments. He’d been forced into lessons for the piano once or twice for choir, when he was younger, but he’d fought against it until the teacher refused to continue on without a significant pay raise. Thankfully, his caretaker was never willing to give out more than the bare minimum when it came to him.

“Everything’s harder than it looks,” he pointed out, lifting his shoulders in a somewhat apathetic half-shrug. He couldn’t say he really cared about the instrument beyond its position as a topic of conversation -- really, he’d never shown any interest in anything like that. He appreciated music, but he couldn’t muster up the motivation to create any himself. “I don’t play myself, no. Someone else around here might, but I’m not sure how much talent they get around here.” Aside from himself, that was. “I’m David,” he answered, his expression taking on nearly as much cheerfulness as her own.

[kylamaret]

“You must be really fun at parties,that’s if you go to them to be that fun”

[dave-burke]

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but If you can’t tell the difference between one of these stupid school events and a party, you’re not going to the right parties.”

[sirensturning-blog]

*In the music room*

Siren frowned at the guitar she was holding. She’d been working on another song, and she really wanted to try putting it to music. The only problem was, she had absolutely no idea how to play the guitar.

She hummed the tune she’d come up with to herself, and tried to pluck a few of the strings. A few off-key, unpleasant notes were all that came out, and she wrinkled her nose, frowning. “No, that can’t be right….”

[dave-burke]

Every day was exactly the same in his personalized version of Hell -- or at least, that’s what he often told himself now that he was trapped in Thornewood. The activities they offered weren’t usually something he could find an interest in, and without much else to do than wander, he’d been plunged into an unbearable state of boredom. David, as it happened, had trouble tolerating the feeling, and it was amazing he hadn’t done anything rash thus far -- he chalked it up to the fact that really, there wasn’t anything wrong with him at all, but it was more than likely due to a lack of opportunity.

Given what he’d taken to referring to as his torture, his issues with irritability had only been exasperated, which is why he surprised himself when he didn’t snap at the woman trying (and failing) to play the guitar nearby. “I think you’re going to have trouble learning to play that all by yourself,” he said, his tone and expression much more pleasant than the reality of his emotional state. It appeared that, even with his horrendous temper, he still held the same abilities in hiding himself from the rest of the world -- thankfully.

[kylamaret]

“Areyou sure about that,I mean something might happen in a school likethis. I don’t agree with you on that,I fell asleep after I finishedone of my exams,in the exam hall”

[dave-burke]

“Like what? It’s all monitored, so even if something interesting did happen, it’s not like it’d go on for long enough for it to be worthwhile.” He didn’t bother to stifle the sigh that’d built in his throat, but held back from crossing his arms over his chest -- that felt too hostile for the situation. “I was exaggerating.”

[hayden--sanders-blog]

Coming to Thornewood

[hayden--sanders-blog]

Hayden couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips at the man’s sarcasm. For a second, he found himself wondering if the man was just a sarcastic sort of person, or if he, like many before him, was more annoyed at the fact that Hayden wasn’t talking. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it were the latter-a good number of people had gotten irritated at his refusal to speak before. It was funny, some people tended to let themselves get worked up over it, and Hayden’s continuing refusal to speak would continue to infuriate them, while others just got used to it. Offering the guy a smile, he held out a hand for a handshake, hoping to show that despite the fact that he didn’t talk, it didn’t mean he was stuck up or anything. He hardly saw himself as being better than others….he was actually a generally pretty upbeat guy, it was just hard for him to get to know people, since most of them were put off by his silence. Smirking faintly, he opened his sketchbook to the last page. A while ago, he’d started a series of drawing that he used to help communicate with others. On the last page of his sketchbook, the drawing was a self portrait, except his mouth was almost cartoonishly sewn shut. He pointed at the drawing, and shrugged noncommittally. 

Reaching into his pocket, he found the paper with the room assignment on it that the guard had given to him, and he held it out, raising an eyebrow, silently asking if the other man knew where he should be going.

[dave-burke]

As quick-tempered as he happened to be, the large majority of the time he found difficulty in holding onto his anger (or any of its variants) for longer than a few moments, at most. Thus far, he didn’t believe there had been any exceptions to that rule -- it even applied when whatever had annoyed him didn’t stop, which he would readily admit didn’t bother him. Maybe it was just because it couldn’t bother him, but either way, while anger was a worthy emotion, of sorts, anything strong and long-lasting in that regard was viewed with the same level of disgust. He’d never appreciated emotional outbursts (with the exception of when he was bored enough to cause them in others) and found those prone to them (perhaps hypocritically) to be entirely unbearable to be around.

In any case, his cheerful facade became less fake as the seconds ticked by, a steady level of content overriding anything less pleasant. When the stranger stuck his hand out towards him, he eyed it for several long seconds before he finally took it, internally wondering when his little rescue mission had become something more of a greeting. He supposed it didn’t quite matter either way. His first question -- regarding his lack of any actual speech -- was finally answered when the other man flipped through his sketchbook, the cartoonish drawing an obvious indicator of the problem. So he was mute, was he? Perfectly fine by him -- he preferred the sound of his own voice, anyway. 

“Yeah, I know where that is. Bit of a walk, but it’s no trouble. Follow me.”