xp_logs | Sunday -- Terry, Crystal (Reply)

Terry and Crystal have a chat by the fountain. Terry chatters about school and manages to shock Crystal a little. Backdated to Sunday.

Terry sang to herself cheerfully, holding Patience's case as she skipped outside. She needed to practice but it was entirely too wonderful and fantastic a day to stay inside! Besides, outside, she could sing with a little bit of power behind it and she wouldn't get in any trouble for breaking things. And songs felt better when she could really sing them.

Sitting on the edge of the fountain, Terry pulled out Patience and strummed her once to check the tuning then began to play the same song she'd been singing. What a truly marvellous day it was today? How could things get better than today?

Crystal was on yet another walk on the mansion's grounds when she heard a voice singing along to music. Quietly, she approached the singer, not wanting to disturb her. Any type of practice required concentration.

Terry turned at the sound of footsteps. There wasn't a single person in the mansion who could walk quietly enough to escape her hearing. She didn't stop singing, just grinned and winked at Crystal, tilting her head to invite the younger girl to sit down.

Crystal smiled back at Terry and sat near her on the fountain, not saying a word as Terry continued to sing. This was much nicer than the last time she had run into someone by the fountain.

Terry finished her song and pushed a stray lock of red hair out of her face. The green gemstone in her ring flashed as it caught the sunlight. "Hi, Crystal. Lovely day, isn't it?" Her voice was almost giddy, expressing a joy about the summer's day that was rather out of proportion with the reality of it, no matter how nice it was.

"Yes, it is a nice day," Crystal agreed. Terry sounded extremely happy, as if something about the day was extra special. It was a nice day, though, and there was nothing wrong with expressing appreciation for a pretty day.

Folding her arms along the top of her guitar, Terry tilted her head to the side and closed one eye to block out the glare of the sun off the water behind her. "How are you doing? I haven't really had a chance to talk to you much since you got here. It's been such a horribly busy summer, hasn't it?"

Busy? Sure, she had kept herself busy, but she wouldn't really say it had been a busy summer. Maybe it had been a horribly busy summer for other people, but not for Crystal. "I have found ways to occupy my time," Crystal said amiably. "I have been working with Ms. Munroe as much as I can and practicing a lot on my own."

"Ms. Munroe is a great teacher," Terry agreed, letting the conversation wander as it would since the thing foremost on her mind she didn't dare share out loud. "How is your training coming along? You already have really good control, don't you?" There was just the faint tinge of envy in her voice. Terry had struggled for years to learn the how to use her voice properly.

"Ms. Munroe says that I am doing very well," Crystal replied. "I don't have very good control in regards to causing rain, but yes, I do have good control over other aspects of my powers. I have worked very hard, and continue to work very hard, for that to be true."

Terry smiled, "So what do you do when you're not practicing? I just realized I don't know anything about your hobbies. Do you hang out with the other kids at all or just by yourself or what?"

"I practice, work-out, dance...sometimes all at once!" Crystal said with a smile. "I like to study, too. I don't really 'hang out' that much. I did go on the trip into the city, though. It was a well-advertised, everyone-is-welcome trip. I take it that you are interested in singing and playing guitar."

"Ah, yes, Amanda's jaunts to the city." Terry smiled, "Aye, I like music. The singing's for my powers more, for control. See here." She drew in a breath and sang out a single steady note, then split it taking both a high and a low harmony to herself. Without losing the note, she grinned and spoke, "Easiest way to practice without breaking eardrums." Terry let the note go. "I'm actually a harpist. Guitar and voice came later."

Crystal smiled at Terry. "That's beauitful. I play the harp, too. I can also play the piano and violin. Did you become a harpist before your power manifested?"

"Oh, aye. Long before. My uncle had me start soon as I could sit still long enough. It was his favourite thing to do he said, watching me practice. I started taking piano a bit recently but there was too much to do and after Alison left, I couldn't really justify the time away from studying. So it's just voice, guitar and harp now." Terry grinned, unsurprised to find that Crystal was musical but a little surprised to discover that she played harp. It wasn't really that popular of an instrument. "How long have you been playing then?"

"With my hands or with my powers?" Noting Terry's politely prompting look, Crystal continued, "I started my piano lessons when I was four. A few years later, soon after I used my powers for the first time, I saw an Aeolian harp and became entranced with it. Why should I wait for wind to play it when I could do it myself?"

Terry grinned, "Quite early then. I suppose that's usual though, the way you grew up? About four is when I learned to pick locks, it's all in how you're raised. Do you keep up with your lessons? It's been a while since we've had a good base of musical students, I rather miss it."

As polite and tactful as Crystal liked to believe she was, she couldn't hold back the surprised look that crossed her face at Terry's mention of learning how to pick locks at age four. Medusa knew how to pick locks, but it hadn't been something she had taught to do by their parents, it was simply something some of her friends thought would be amusing for her to do.

"I mainly practice on my own now. I brought one of my harps with me." Crystal laughed. "I did not bring a piano, as I assumed there would be one here, but I was not sure if the school would have a harp, and even if it did, I was fairly certain it would not have an Aeolian harp. Besides, instruments are special. They are not one size fits all."

Terry hardly noticed Crystal's surprise at her lock-picking skill. After all, she was used to the fact that she'd grown up with a criminal for a guardian. "There is, a grand in the music room and I have my harp in the music room too but it's really mine so it's not for general use. We do have other practice instruments, guitars and such. You're welcome to use any of them." She sighed, "We don't have a music teacher right now. I'm hoping they'll find someone to take that over soon."

Crystal did not tell Terry the first thought that entered her mind due to Terry's last statement. We don't have any type of teachers. Of course, that wasn't exactly true. There were teachers, they just seemed to be in a sorry state, and didn't the school need more of them? "I will not touch your harp," she promised solemnly. "Do you know if the school is actively searching for a music teacher?"

"Not that I know of. It's not a priority right now, I don't think. If it becomes an issue they'll just hire someone, there are a couple outside teachers who come in for classes like that. You'll meet them when classes start again." Terry frowned, "I start my own classes soon. It's going to be strange, going somewhere else. I've never been to a big school before, you're not the only one with a cultural shock coming."

Silly me. Of course it wasn't a priority. The school's priority was to dress people in leather and send them somewhere to get broken and battered. And as far as Crystal was concerned, she had already been subjected to all sorts of culture shock. "Which school will you be attending?"

"I'm off to Pace. As universities go, it's quite small but still," Terry smiled guilelessly, "I'm just a simple Irish lass. Still, after Xavier's it's not likely that the classes will be too hard at least. Just getting used to the size of it."

"Are the classes very hard here?" Crystal inquired. She had to wonder how big the classes at Pace were. To her, the average class size at Xavier's was large.

Terry shrugged, "I'm not really sure. I've never gone anywhere but here in the US and things were very different back home. But they give standardized tests here and I never thought they were very hard so...aye? I suppose they are. The teachers usually want you to know more than just what the book teaches. They expect you to understand, not just remember."

"That makes sense. It is good to know facts, but comprehension of information is very necessary." Perhaps she had misunderstood Terry's previous statement about how hard the classes were. "Of course," she added with a smile, "how you view the classes can depend on what you are used to as far as schoolwork, and it seems you feel that being here at Xavier's prepared you for your time at Pace."

Terry smiled, "Academically, aye. For being a wee Irish lass among the masses? That's what I'm not so sure of. This school is quite small and college courses are anything but." Of course, she remembered that Crystal had never been in even an Xavier sized class, so explaining it to her was entirely useless. "Never mind. I'm sure it will be fine. It can't be any harder than some of the jobs that my uncle took me on, right?"

Crystal shot Terry a quizzical look, not quite sure what she meant. "I do not know what type of jobs your uncle did when he took you with him, so I do not know how hard they were." Something told her that, more than likely, there was a connection between learning to pick locks at age four and these so-called jobs, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

She laughed, "Of course, you wouldn't. Sorry. My uncle...he's a bit of a rogue. I grew up helping him with a bit of robbery. He's in jail now. I've had a bit of a curious childhood." There was no shame in her explanation. She didn't see the need for one. Terry may not have agreed with her uncle's choice of lifestyle but she'd not turn on him after all that he'd done for her. "It wasn't really meant to be a question."

Looking a bit embarrassed, Crystal replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. I did not realize it was a rhetorical question." Now she had made Terry tell her about her childhood as a criminal. At least Terry was open about it. Jennie hadn't been so forthcoming about herself. "You must have had a very interesting childhood, and from your question that wasn't really meant to be a question, it would appear that you also feel that your upbringing also helped prepare you. After all, everything that happens to us becomes a part of who we are, and it is up to us to decide whether these events will will help us or be used to our detriment." She sincerely hoped that came out right.

"Sorry, just the way I phrase things sometimes. Like Canadians and their 'eh', right?" Serenely, Terry shrugged, "There's a little bit of all of it in you. What your born, where...and how you're raised. Sure and I'd be a very different person if my uncle had never been caught and I'd never met my father. And even more a different person if I'd never come here. You have to just embrace all of it I think. Hard to learn anything if you don't." It was something of a little pep talk to herself.

Crystal nodded. She was attempting her version of embracing it all, but it wasn't quite working out as well as she had hoped. As hard as she tried, she just couldn't understand the way the people here, both adults and teenagers, worked. All she could do was watch and try to keep in mind that different wasn't always equal to bad. Still, some things just didn't seem right no matter where, when, or why.

"I would like to hear you sing and play another song, if that is all right." Terry had seemed so happy earlier, and now she was shrugging and looking serene. Maybe a request to hear her play would help.

It did, in the way that every musician loves to show off at every turn. Terry sat up a bit straighter and lifted Patience with gentle hands, "Sure, I love to. Do you have anything in particular you'd like to hear?" Her smile returned, just a bit eager.

"Oh, anything you wish to play will be fine," Crystal said. She knew some people had aversions to specific songs for one reason or another, and she didn't want to risk that her song choice would happen to be one that would upset Terry.

Terry gave it a moment's thought, evaluating what kind of much Crystal probably liked and what she'd absolutely hate. Though her personality could be rather mischevious, she did eventually reject the impulse to play a drinking song or two. Even if they were in Irish, it wasn't the sort of thing that Crystal would appreciate. Instead she picked something a little staid, but safe enough. Besides, Terry had a fondness for it. "I actually recorded this for my da for Christmas," she explained as she picked out the opening notes of Isle of Inisfree.

As Terry thought about her song choice, Crystal kept her face calm and smiling, even though she had just remembered, far too late, that on more than one occasion Terry had used her journal to showcase the lyrics of a questionable song. From the first few notes, Crystal could tell that this song was very different from the song Terry had been singing earlier. If it was one she had chosen to record for her father, it would be a nice song, right? Or maybe her father liked songs saying that women shouldn't get married...

Terry's voice was softly wistful as she sang, the sweet longing for home made all the sharper by her recent visits back. She'd have never left Bobby, but that didn't make her any less a girl outside her homeland. It seemed appropriate now, sitting with another girl who was far from home.

As Terry sang, Crystal relaxed. It was a very nice song, and it was obvious that it meant something special to Terry. It would be a good song to learn how to play.

As always, Terry's song can be found here: Isle of Inisfree