fandomtownies | The Park (near the playground), Wednesday Night

Raven had been feeling restless, and meditation wasn't helping settle her thoughts. She decided to go for a walk, not sure where she was heading. She hadn't been paying much attention to any singing going on today as she'd spent most of the day in her room, but when music kicked in and words started pouring out of her unbidden as she neared the playground, she had the sudden realization of what kind of day it was in Fandom.

At least this time she didn't fight it as much as she had in the past. It was a much more energetic song than she was used to singing, and she just gave into it, whirling around the playground as she sang.

Do what you, what you want
If you have a dream for better
Do what you, what you want
'til you don't want it anymore (remember who you really are)

Do what you, what you want
Your world's closing in on you now (it isn't over)
Stand and face the unknown (got to remember who you really are)

Every heart in my hands
Like a pale reflection

Hello, hello, remember me?
I'm everything you can't control
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to believe
We can break through

Do what you, what you want
You don't have to lay your life down (it isn't over)
Do what you, what you want
'til you find what you're looking for (got to remember who you really are)

But every hour slipping by
Screams that I have failed you

Hello, hello, remember me?
I'm everything you can't control
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to believe

Hello, hello, remember me?
I'm everything you can't control
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to believe

There's still time
Close your eyes
Only love will guide you home
Tear down the walls and free your soul
'Til we crash
We're forever spiraling
Down, down, down, down

Hello, hello
It's only me infecting everything you love
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to believe

Hello, hello, remember me?
I'm everything you can't control
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to learn forgiveness

Hello, hello, remember me?
I'm everything you can't control
Somewhere beyond the pain
There must be a way to believe
We can break through

Remember who you really are
Do what you, what you want

She was tired by the time the music faded, and she sat down on a swing, blushing and panting and wondering where that had come from.

[Open I suppose if you want to embarrass her by witnessing her singing. ;) ]

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Jack had been curious enough about who else was singing in a park after dark to wander over to see -- only in part because he was curious about whether she'd heard him before.

Huh. Raven. Well, she'd seen him naked, so if they got drunk together they'd complete some kind of embarrassing situations trilogy. He clapped a few times.

"Your voice isn't bad."

Raven's cheeks turned even pinker as she realized someone had heard her, but she hoped the darkness in the park hid it.

"Hello, Jack," she said, still a little breathless after her song. "And...thank you. I have been learning to sing for several months now."

Jack smiled, realizing he could tell her breathing had sped up. That was interesting.

"Is it a class now?" he wondered. "I haven't been as in touch with the school as I used to be."

"There was a Glee Club for a time that I was a member of, and I participated in the winter showcase at the Boards last month," Raven said. "I was very afraid of singing when I first came here because it is such a release of emotion, but I have come to enjoy it a great deal."

She stood up, smoothing her skirt. "How have you been? Are you visiting Fandom or have you returned to stay awhile?"

"Just a visit," Jack said. "I went home and ran into some trouble, and Ronan invited me to stay a few days. I didn't expect the island to be so --"

He waved a hand vaguely. "Musical."

She might pick up that his emotions were more unsettled than he was showing. Not that that had ever been unusual with Jack.

Raven found a tiny smile. "It can be somewhat embarrassing" -- Raven had far too vivid memories of serenading Anakin with "The Wind Beneath My Wings" -- "but I welcome days of strangeness like this more so than the dangers that often threaten the island."

Her own feelings were still a bit of a mess, but she could still pick up on Jack's emotions. "Is everything all right?" she asked. "You seem somewhat distressed."

"There is that," Jack admitted. "A song lyric never killed anyone."

He shrugged a little. "I was attacked," he admitted. "I'm still feeling out the effects a bit. But it's -- likely nothing you need to worry about."

How good was she as a healer, he wondered? He'd never really known.

Oh, Jack, don't open that door.

"Are you certain?" she said, moving closer, concern on her face. "If you are still in pain I can heal you easily. It is no trouble."

"No, physically I'm fine," Jack assured her. "It's just taking some time to get my head around."

Either he wasn't desperate (yet), or he had something approaching common sense. Or both.

"Actually, do you know anything about curses?"

"I do not know much," she said apologetically. "But enough to know that they are not something I can likely heal." To her displeasure.

She struggled with a little surge of anxiety; she knew Jack had a vampire companion, and by "curse" she assumed he'd been transformed into one as well.

"That's what everyone says," Jack said, and only looked a little sad. "It's all right, Raven. I know the most famous sorceress in my world and she doesn't know what to do either."

"What happened?" Raven said quietly. "If you do not mind me asking."

"I need to get used to telling people sooner or later," Jack said. "It's fine."

He turned to face her. "We were trying to kill a monster -- the spirit of a werewolf, bound to obey a sorcerer. The creature attacked me. They saved my life, but barely."

That actually made her relax a bit -- werewolf, not vampire? -- but she frowned. "But you were bit, and the curse was passed to you?" she said. "I am very sorry. I wish that I could take it from you. Some weres are content with what they are, but as this was an unwilling transformation...."

Jack frowned. "Why would anyone want to be a lycanthrope?" he wondered aloud. "From what I can tell it's bloody awful."

He scratched his chin and reconsidered. "The night vision is nice, but it doesn't make up for the chance I could kill someone."

Raven shivered a little, drawing her cloak more tightly around her shoulders. "In Sookie's world, many of them embrace what they are," she said. "They take pride in it." Some of them in unpleasant ways.

"But George was not so pleased with his condition -- I do not know if you knew him, he was a student here some time ago," she went on. "His transformation pained him most grievously, though I was able to help him through it so he did not suffer."

"I know him," Jack said, and explaining more than that would be a very long story. "Probably still have his number somewhere, actually. We had some similar interests."

He would call. Sometime. Just not yet.

He shrugged a shoulder. "Sookie's world ... well, Eric's the only wampyr I've ever met as old as my Sebastien, so I'll give them that."

"I have never inquired about Mr. Northman's age," Raven said. "But yes, I believe he is quite old."

He was strangely fascinating, but she kept as much space as possible between her and a vampire. Issues, she had them.

"He's over a thousand," Jack explained. "I don't know much more about him than that, but he told me one of the weekends we were children."

"I cannot imagine living that long," Raven said, shaking her head. If living were the word for it, since, well, undead. "And your Sebastien has reached that age as well?"

Jack nodded. "It's not as if they get sick," he said. "Stay away from stakes and sunlight, and you can just last."

"Is there animosity between lycanthropes and vampires in your world?" Raven asked with sudden concern. She knew it was that way on some worlds, and causing a rift between Jack and his friend on top of an unwanted transformation would just be too much.

Jack smiled a little. "Werewolves are supposed to have been extinct for hundreds of years," he said. "I don't know much about other lycanthropes, they all tend to end up soldiers and I've never met one. Anyhow, I can talk to Sebastien fine, though we both seem to prefer not to touch."

The Park (near the playground), Wednesday Night

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