Prologue - Isabella Frost

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"T-that's a very p-p-pretty name." Raven says softly, smiling cautiously. "My m-mother was a g-gypsy, at least by b-blood. I always j-just thought she was c-crazy, all her talk of p-portents and destiny. S-s-she named me Raven, b-because when I was b-born, she said she s-saw a vision of me f-flying with them, s-s-s... Surrounded by d-death."

They walk out of the front doors of the College and down the front sidewalk. The Vat's a ten, maybe fifteen minute walk from there.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"Thank you," she murmurs quietly in reply to his compliment, the corners of her lips tipping up just a bit. As he speaks of his mother's dream, she doesn't say anything right away. "Well, I know ravens and death aren't always bad things in...visions. At least that's the comforting aspect folks are told anyway. What about you? Do you think it's come to pass?"

She's got no problem making the walk, likely having done it quite often in the past, so much so that she's probably putting more of her attention on him than needing to mind where they're going.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"I-I don't think s-so. Or at least, n-not as badly as my m-mother described it." He stutters out.

Leaving the College, the pair spot a tow truck in the field across the road, pulling up by an upturned car, though they were too far off to see much more than that. "Huh, I w-w-wonder what h-happened." Raven says, not-so-subtly trying to change the subject away from talk of death.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Not that she minds. Death is not a good topic for a...first...date? Best not get too far ahead of yourself, Izzy dear.

"Maybe somebody got stupid drunk and rolled it. I don't see any flashing lights or hear sirens, so maybe they're okay. Don't usually call in the tows before the ambulance. We could cut over and take a look. Crash scene photos aren't exactly my thing, though." Seems she's willing to follow, if he's interested enough. Otherwise, she seems a little more interested in getting to the Vat.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Raven stopped for a moment, staring down the distance towards the scene for a moment before shaking his head and starting to walk again. "N-no, you're p-probably right, we'd just get in the w-w-way anyways." He says, then attempts to change the subject again. "S-so, uh, what classes are y-you in? It k-kinda sounded like we'd b-be in h-h-history class t-together..."

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

She doesn't mind continuing their walk. "Looks that way, since I don't think there's any other scheduled lectures for that one." She smiles a little. "I haven't got any art classes, though, if that's where the rest of your courses lie." As she lists her classes, she ticks them off on her fingers. "I've got a child psychology lecture this semester, history, calc, one course in elementary education, two in secondary, and I'm still debating on getting any electives out of the way now or using them to skate through my senior year." She grins. "What about you?" she asks, not seeming to have even taken a breath.

((Bear with. I was an English major and don't have my education friends online right now to suggest classes. I'm also going off of US college stuff. Dunno if Canadian college runs different.))

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

((You got me. I was going for a couple courses, but didn't have the right high school classes, and by the time I picked them up, my education fund evaporated T.T And funnily enough, despite the fact that I work in a college, the classes don't get talked about that much to me...))

"Wow, y-you and my sister w-would get along great." Raven says, sounding impressed. "I'm pretty good at drawing, b-but not much else, so I'm in n-nearly every drawing class. They told me I h-had to take something else t-too, though, and th-th-that's why I'm in history. I figured m-my sister wanted to be a history t-t-teacher, she could s-start by teaching me, r-right?" He explained. His stutter was slowing down some, and he started to walk a little less stiff-legged than before.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"Maybe I'll see her around sometime, too, especially if she's in education. She have a unique name I keep an eye out for, too?" As he comments about his art, she smiles. "I noticed a bit of your work, I'm guessing. The wallpaper? That takes some talent. Of course, I can do still life, if I'm lucky, but nothing that elaborate, that's for certain." She might even take the lack of stutter as a good sign, if it seems to be a nervous habit. Less stutter, less nervous with her. The walk, too, would be him relaxing.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Raven laughs a little, chagrin clear on his face. "Mother named her Aditi, it m-means 'boundless' in some ancient l-language. She w-w-was always the favourite..." He says, as they turn the last corner to the Vat. There was a bit of a line-up outside the door, looks like whichever band is playing inside is popular, though the music s still to garbled to hear who it is. Raven takes one look at the line, and goes pale. "T-t-there's alot of p-p-p... People, here..."

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"Mmm, no love for the baby in your family, huh? I know what it's like to be a younger sibling, but I lucked out. By the time my parents had me, they'd given up being strict disciplinarians. My sibs hated me for it." She grins. Her gaze goes from him to the line and back again. "Usually like that when there's a popular band here. It can be a little rough for dancing, but it's not too bad." She lays a hand lightly on his arm, a little comfort, a little courage. "Wanna see how it is when we get inside?"

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Isabella felt Raven tense under her touch, but he steeled his jaw and nodded. "Y-y-yeah." He said, walking them both up to take their place in line. It moved fairly fast, and when the time came, the man at the door let themin without much of a fuss, apparently the band playing had no cover charge, which was nice.

Once they got inside, Raven took a look around and tensed up further. The band was some local talent, the type that just screams the words out so nobody can recognize what they're saying, so they don't actually have to know either. Despite this, it was still crowded in the place. Raven mumbles something too quiet to hear, but Isabella can pretty much guess that he isn't very comfortable in the place.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

She does admire his moment of courage, though, sticking close to him while they wait, but not clingy-close. Just enough to let him know she's not going to leave him alone. He might catch the face she makes as they get inside and can actually 'enjoy' the music properly.

"Surprised we didn't hear them outside," she mumbles, likely too quiet for even herself to hear her say that.

Normally, she might like it and encourage him to stay, but even she's not feeling this scene tonight. At least they wouldn't be out any cover. Leaning close to him so she can bring her lips close to his ear and be heard, she catches up his hand at the same time. "Let's find somewhere that we can hear ourselves think." He can feel her tugging him back toward the door, toward the fresh air, and toward the blessed, sweet silence of the evening.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Raven nods and follows her outside eagerly. "W-w-wow, that was l-loud..." He stuttered quietly once they were outside. "W-where else is there?"

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

Isabella makes a show of pretending cleaning out an ear with her finger. "What?" she asks with a bit of a grin. "No kidding, though. Okay, so Vat's out." She glances around, getting her bearings. "Well, there's a movie theater close by and they sometimes have late night shows. Or we could just...keep walking. There's a park nearby that's open and we can head there, maybe enjoy the lost art of conversation." Regardless of his choice, they're both roughly in the same direction, so she gently tugs his hand again and starts leading the two of them away from the club.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"A-alright..." Raven says slowly. "We can see what movies are playing, and g-go to the park, if there's n-nothing we want to w-watch."

They looked at the board outside the cinema at they walked by. All the movies were either started or uninteresting. There was an old film, 'Dracula', starting in about a quarter hour, but Raven shook his head at it. "I g-guess we'll go to the p-p-park then. Lead the w-way" He says. The continue on past it, and Isabella notices the few vehicles in the lot, including a tow truck, of all things.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

((I am so waiting to hear how *that* gets there, though I have an idea.))

Some people just can't leave their work behind, she muses as she notices the tower. She seems in agreement as far as the movie goes and smiles at him. "All right. Just a bit more walking, but I don't mind if you don't." She leads him onward, heading for the park near Bower Ponds. Nice enough place and one she knows is open this late. She also seems to realize that she's still holding his hand and casually releases it, not wanting to make him nervous again by still holding on but not wanting to give off the "Ew! Boy cooties!" vibe either.

"Is it just you and your older sister, then? Or there more in the family?" she asks, taking cues from him on safe topics to talk about, starting there, at least, and moving on to other things as they walk to the park.

((I'm leaving the interior stuff to you, Shrike. You have at least passing more info on it than I do.))

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

((If only barely. Its an open-air park, with a community hall styled building, though that's closed. There's a bike path and scenic benches, and pedal-boats during the day, though they're locked up now.))

Raven hadn't noticed they were still holding hands either, but realized when she let go. He put his hands together and started playing with them, wringing them in turn and pulling on individual fingers.
"N-nope, just us three. H-how about y-y-you, any s-siblings, or f-f-f... family around?"

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

((Still better than I got.))

"Around? No. Back home, it's mom, dad, and three older siblings, two sisters, one brother. The baby decided she needed to leave the nest for a little while, so I opted on college here. Close enough to keep in touch if I need to but far enough away to not drive me out of my mind," she chuckles. "And you said your sister wants to be a teacher, right? And you're the artist." She smiles at him, having noticed him worrying his hands. She reaches over again, brushing her fingers lightly against the back of one, not seeming to mind if he wants to hold hers again while they walk.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

"I've always had a steady hand, a-and I'm good at drawing what I s-see." He says. He seems to recognize the brush as what it was and slipped his hand in with hers again, holding her gently as if he was afraid to hurt her. They reach the park itself, and start along one of the paths leading in a circle around the pond.

 

[Copper]

Re: Prologue - Isabella Frost

She doesn't mind the light hold, maybe even giving his hand a squeeze as he mentions having a steady hand. "I've always admired people's ability to draw," she admits. "For as much as I grumble about artists, if they're personable, I can tolerate them. I guess I just don't like the attitude some of them get when they become artistés. You know, the one that does the painting with a single black dot in the middle and expects people to fawn all over how deep it is?" She makes a raspberry sound. "I like stuff that takes skill." From the smile that she gives him at that, he falls into the latter category.