Practicing {Open}

[Oliver Torlen]

Oliver had found for himself a little tucked away corner on the school grounds, covered by bushes and overhanging trees completely hiding him from sight. Excellent, as he did not intend for anyone to see him as he practiced. He tossed his school cloak on the ground and coughed, clearing his throat. His voice was dark and melancholy, as was appropriate for the character.

Oliver was always cautious about practicing his songs in front of other people, it felt like he was exposing a part of himself for judgment. He really only felt truely comfortable performing on stage but there was no such stage for him to use and he wanted to get the lead role in this years musical at his muggle acting school he attended in the summer.

He sang the second-half of the introduction, a rapid, quiet song with relatively little high notes. Satisfied no one had heard him, he practiced one of his most favourite musical scenes of all time, with some slight variations to allow for the lack of a Mrs. Lovett. He jumped around the clearing, making aggressive movements and attempting to make himself look as spiteful as possible, a small stick acting as his knife.

I had him!
His throat was bare beneath my hand.
No, I had him!
His throat was there and he'll never come again.

When? Why did I wait?
You told me to wait -
Now he'll never come again.
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And it's filled with people who are filled with shit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.
But not for long...

They all deserve to die.
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because in all of the whole human race
Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two
There's the one staying put in his proper place
And the one with his foot in the other one's face
Look at me, Mrs Lovett, look at you.

Now, we all deserve to die
Even you, Mrs. Lovett, even I.
Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death will be a relief
We all deserve to die.

And I'll never see Johanna
No I'll never hug my girl to me - finished!

Alright! You sir, you sir, how about a shave?
Come and visit your good friend Sweeney.
You sir, too sir? Welcome to the grave.

I will have vengenance.
I will have salvation.

Who sir, you sir?
No ones in the chair, Come on! Come on!
Sweeney's. waiting. I want you bleeders.
You sir! Anybody!
Gentlemen now don't be shy!

Not one man, no, nor ten men.
Nor a hundred can assuage me.
I will have you!
And I will get him back even as he gloats
In the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats.
And my Lucy lies in ashes
And I'll never see my girl again.

But the work waits!
I'm alive at last!
And I'm full of joy!
(See it here)

He took a deep breath, puffed from the amount of effort it took and composed himself for another attempt as he turned, he stopped in mid-step. "How long have you been there?" he asked the observer, who had paused in the bushes.

(Open to anyone, I'm off to listen to that song again)

[lucychiang]

Lucy had been strolling wearing a black based tartan skirt with white tights, a white polo shirt, her school tank top and her house cloak. She'd been let out of the hospital wing but still had to take things easy. So she'd avoided Myrtle for now otherwise she might have lost her temper with the ghost and done bad things to her. Her anger when it did flare up wasn't pretty to see and quite a few boys had felt her punches over the years.

She'd followed the voice and seen a boy she shared classes with. "I only arrived here and I followed your singing" she quietly replied. She'd been shaken up by Myrtle and had retreated back into her shell for a while. If Myrtle knew she was a lesbian just who else did? That ghost might well have spread the rumour around but Lucy was strong enough to deal with it.

[Oliver Torlen]

Oliver was annoyed over his privacy being invaded and replied bitterly to the girl as he picked up his cloak, hastily tying it around his neck. "You didn't answer my question," he told her, already thinking of another place to practice. "I said how long have you been there, not please state the obvious for me." He didn't recognize her and felt more comfortable being rude to her than what he normally would. He began to walk out of the clearing, shaken.

He couldn't even get ten minutes. Where the heck was he meant to privately practice?

[lucychiang]

Lucy didn't want to get angry but he wasn't exactly helping her keep her cool. "I did answer your question. I only heard the last half of the song and followed it here" she replied, a bit of anger showing. When Lucy got angry it flared quickly and didn't last long. By then the damage was done one way or another. Lucy wasn't a normal Hufflepuff and wouldn't have hurt a fly when she was sorted. Now she was a very different person.

She followed him. Her dark eyes flashed dangerously as she nearly punched him there and then. Instead she simply said "Thats right. Just walk away and be a f*cking prick. Just like most of the boys here. " She sounded as if she could hit him but the clear thinking part of her mind was telling her he wasn't worth the time or effort.

"Just suit yourself. I might have said it was good singing by the way" she added as turned on her heel her left hand dropping to her side. The place her wand was just in case she needed it.

[Oliver Torlen]

"I said how long, you said you only arrived there," Oliver called over his shoulder, dodging a branch. "But hell, it's only proper language." He enjoyed being this sarcastic, anonymous person with no accountability, he also liked how she was the first one to swear, it made him appear so much more mature. He rolled his eyes when she said most of the boys. He hated people who generalized, there were plenty of nice guys at the school.

He stopped when she complimented him though and turned. "Really?"

[lucychiang]

Lucy's comment about most of the boys in the school came from her personal experience. If he had known anything about her he would know how often she left her mark on people who annoyed her. Usually with a left handed punch and leaving a bruise when she was angry and lost it.

"Yes, I really meant it. You're a good singer" Lucy replied as her anger simmered instead of going away or escalating. Again dark eyes sparkled as she turned her head and seen the Ravenclaw symbol on his cloak but her control held for now. She was a badger that could bite back.

[Oliver Torlen]

"Well," Oliver hung the word over the air awkwardly while he tried to find the right way to finish it. "Thanks." It was impossible to remain angry when there was no reason to be. Okay, she had sworn at him and insulted him when he had made one little sarcastic comment and turned to leave. Sure, she was clearly a feminist or very lonely. Sure, she was aggressive and...

He had plenty of reasons to be angry at her and he had known her for all of twenty seconds. Yet the anger was squashed and replaced with embarrassment, just like normal. He turned stiffly, "Sorry then." He began to leave again, his cheeks burning red. She had seen him perform. NO ONE in the school saw him perform and NO ONE in the school except his close friends saw him sing or dance. And he had apologized when there was nothing to be sorry about.

[lucychiang]

Lucy did have a great deal to be frustrated about. Reasons going back years since she couldn't punish the Slytherin boys who stole her innocence. The trauma had made some details too painful to remember and those crucial details were those boys faces. Then she was also frustratrated since she couldn't find another girl like her.

Then her anger drained as she tried to get rid of it. At least for now but she was determined to find out what could hurt Myrtle and humilate her back. Then she'd have a good reason to flood her bathroom again.

When her anger drained she usually felt small and stupid for a little while. She didn't regret what she'd said about boys but she said in a quieter voice as she kicked a stone away "I shouldn't have exploded like that. I've a reason to be sorry too."

She seen what she'd done to him when she looked at his red face;she was also in danger of going back into her shell for a while as she watched the stone bounce once and travel about 30 feet from a single unaimed kick. By Merlin she really needed to sort this part of her life out as she gracefully sat on the grass. At this rate she was only going to self-destruct even with her trying to find some level of normality. She'd never be the sweet trusting girl she was prior to Hogwarts again but she was at least trying to live a life.

[Oliver Torlen]

Oliver clenched his fists as he thought of making a smart comment but quickly quenched the thought. Instead, he turned and sat down next to Lucy, a bit too exhausted to care. Trying to take his mind of the bad emotions, he hummed the tune to Epiphany and sat himself up cross logged.

"Bad day?" he asked, observing where the rock had fallen. She definitely had some anger issues. Should he be there talking to her? She looked ready to punch something. He hated that. Needing to take out anger with physical violence. People never grew out of that.

[lucychiang]

"More like a bad few years" Lucy softly replied. She didn't want to end up like Myrtle; moping and flying of the handle at people. She did want to get better so badly but she'd still need more time to do so. There were still questions she couldn't answer such as what she would do if she found somebody like her. She didn't want to be clingy but she'd no idea if she could make a relationship of that type work. Or would it set her off a journey that would give her a bad reputation? She didn't know yet.

Feeling so small she looked full of doubts. Yet she would still prefer to live in Hogwarts than exist in St Mungo's.

[Oliver Torlen]

"Been a hard few years for everyone," Oliver told her, cracking his wrists. He picked up a stick and began to draw in the dirt, humming again. He didn't really know what the real problem was with her and just chose to ignore it for now. He was hardly willing to become a close friend to her.

"What makes these years different for you?" he asked, not unkindly.

[lucychiang]

Where to start? Given she felt she couldn't tell the source of her problem to a boy and only about three people knew the full story. So she pondered the question carefully before she spoke quietly.

"A lot of people have had a hard few years. I'm just another one of them but I'm still rebuilding a life even now. I was a student during that year of hell and I still need the nurses counselling. I lost my innocence in a big way and took two years to get into second year and back to some level of normality. "

She did look small and perhaps a bit down but she did want to live as normal a life as she could. Lucy really did want to move on and make a future for herself. In a job she could help her world but first she needed to sort out her anger issues. Otherwise she'd never have a normal life with a partner and a person who loved her. Most likely a witch.

[Oliver Torlen]

"Lots of people lost their innocence," Oliver continued. "I don't see why people dwell on the past, complaining about what happened to them. It doesn't do anything." Realizing this probably sounded heartless, he elaborated.

"Grandpa explained to me we all have duties to Fate and Destiny. What happens to us, happens. It's life to grow from the experience and become stronger and if you happen to collapse, well.." He thought carefully. "If you can't be a good example to someone, you have the duty of being a horrible warning. You know?" He laughed, not really taking any of it seriously.

The girl was probably just on her period or something.

[lucychiang]

"Oh really Sherlock. I don't care much for so called deities, fate or destiny. Nor do I want to be a horrible warning to anybody. You know once your life on this planet ends thats it. Theres no afterlife unless a vampire turns you" she replied her tone staying the same but with a little hint of sarcasm. She hated it when religious people knocked on her door when home and she told them just where to stick what they were preaching.

His laugh almost made her walk away but there was no way she was going to appear weak before him. Her anger always remained with her but these days she could tap into it as well as explode from it from time to time.

"I might be able to be a good example if there was a quidditch cup. I want to play quidditch professionally but whats the chances of a team seeing you if you can't get the chance to play matches? Figure that one out" she added. Lucy knew she'd have to be much more proactive as a result even with being highly driven.

School quidditch was the link that brought new players into the professional game and that simply hadn't been taking place. Tapping her anger again she looked at the stone she'd kicked looking focused. She was pondering just how to find another lesbian in a school where it was still seen as abnormal behaviour. Just how many gays and lesbians had hidden what they were over one thousand years?

So she posed this question. If he had an enlightening answer all the better. If not it wasn't a waste of her time to ask the question.

"What do you think off same sex relationships?" she added. Se hoped it might lead to something interesting. Otherwise she could just summon her broom and risk her mortality again.

[Oliver Torlen]

"Oh, I'm not into the whole god crap," Oliver told her, laughing. "But there are forces out there greater than us. Destiny and Fate must exist, otherwise how would we be able to tell the future? Prophecies would be impossible." He shrugged off the quidditch comment but was taken back by the same-sex relationship reference. He was visibly surprised.

"Why, you wanna go out?" he joked, avoiding the topic. It's not that he was embarrassed, he just preferred to avoid the rather sensitive topic. People had some rather strong opinions towards homosexuality.