Split open grin (Leta/Nina)

[Marcus Prasad]

It was a sunny mid afternoon day in Long Beach. The perfect kind of day to explore a strange new city (Well, Strange for a guy from New York anyway)
And what better way to explore than to ride the trolly through town!

Yes, Marcus had decided early in the morning (Meaning around 10am If he had anything to say about it) that he would leave his Bike at home and take a more relaxed scenic route around.
His mission? Well, he hadn't exactly thought that far yet. At the moment he was sitting on one of the trolly seats by the door, staring outside and just taking everything in from Dockyards to downtown.

At the moment the trolly was making its way around the beach area. Which Marcus had to admit, was pretty damn long.

And hot.

And sandy.

"Naught for naught then."
Marcus muttered under his breath as he readjusted his Flatcap, his Ponytail draped over one shoulder. Now, what to do while away. Well, He still needed to find himself a job. There was no way in hell Silk was going to let him freeload off her. Mabey he could pass his resume around while he was out.

Suddenly his stomach began to grumble. Yeah there was that too. It took alot of energy to be as energetic as Marcus tended to be. Which meant the poor man was, in normal circumstances, almost perpetualy hungry.

Spotting an abandoned copy of the Local Newspaper, Marcus snatched it up and began to thumb through the classifieds as the Trolly he was on continued it's route through the heart of the city.

'Right. Step one, Finish tour. Step two, Nab some eats. Step three? eeeeeeh, havent decided yet. Step Four? Profit!'
Marcus checked off in his head. In the meantime, He would see if there was a quick part time job he could work until he found something better.

[Rina Vade]

Rina

Who'd you expect?

The mid morning sun shone brightly. Three people were heading to the trolly that was on its way. Two were girls, and the other a male. Out of the two girls, - who both had black hair - the taller and lankier girl seemed more moody. Why?

Because it was morning.

Mornings. Ugh, she hated mornings.

"Rin, c'mon! We'll miss the trolly!!" the shorter and much stockier raven-haired girl called as she began running. Her silver-haired cousin followed behind, his spiky hair a disheveled mess. Like Rina, he'd peen yanked out of bed unexpectedly to go shopping with Mila. On a weekend. Oh lord. Not wanting to have Mila chewing her out for the rest of the day (damn, that woman was bitchy!), Rina took off after her. Both Mila and Senji boarded the trolly and it began rolling away. "Dammit, I wanted the top floor." Rina grumbled as she leaped onto the steps. Too many people were in the way and she knew there was no way at all she could shove her way through to the top where her roommate and her cousin were seated.

Those bastards.

With a sigh, she grasped onto the metal bar on the outside of the trolly and, when the driver's face was turned away, swung up and front-flipped onto the open-aired top floor of the trolly. Senji crowed with laughter at the dumbfounded looks on most people's faces. "Shut up, Ji, or I'm gonna punch you!" Rina growled, plopping into a seat beside him and Mila. The other girl giggled behind her hand. Ignoring them, Rina took note of how many had decided to take notice of her display and grunted in aggravation. "Stop staring, it's not like I flew into the sky, alright?" she snapped at a few who openly gaped at her. All eyes were quickly averted.

Rina sighed. "Mila, next time you want to drag me out here at freakin' 9 am in the morning, I won't cook breakfast for the next month, got it?" when Mila heard this, she pouted and opened her mouth to start whining. A short glare shut her up and Mila huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fine," she muttered. "But I got Senji up, too didn't I?"

"Not the last time."

"Or the time before that, either." Senji cringed at the look Rina gave him. "Shutting up." he said hurriedly. They didn't speak for a moment, then, "Hey, Rin?"

Said girl groaned and opened her recently shut eyes. What was wrong with them? Couldn't they let her sleep? "What?" she asked lowly. Senji looked like he wasn't going to ask his question for a second and she debated on punching him or not.

Mila finally interrupted. "Ask her later." she told her cousin. He shrugged and sat back again.

I'm not just the girl next door.

Notes;
Words; 606^^
Muse; Mui Bueno!
Other; Bwhahaha! Mean girl!!

[Marcus Prasad]

"Stop staring, it's not like I flew into the sky, alright?" she snapped at a few who openly gaped at her. All eyes were quickly averted.

All eyes except for one pair. Sitting beside the door, Marcus had looked up just in time to see a young raven haired slip of a girl suddenly catapult herself up and over in a rather flashy display.
"Kids these days."
The man muttered with a wry grin.
"No appreciation for practicality."

Slowly rising to his feet, Marcus walked up to the door and opened it, not really caring whether or not the Conductor had seen him. Reaching out, he grabbed onto the bars and other various hand holds on the side of the trolly and began to effortlessly pull himself up and over the side. Before anyone had a chance to blink, Marcus had heaved himself up and over the top and landed on one of the seats that was directly across from the raven haired girl, arms crossed and a mischevious smile fixed on his face as he eyed her.

"Do you....always make it a habit to show off?"

[Rina Vade]

Rina

Who'd you expect?

Now, Rina wasn't a show-off, mind you. She did what she wanted, when she wanted. Not because it made her look good, oh no, not at all. Rina was the kind of person who cared not what others thought of her. She was selfish, yes, but when it came to those that were close to her, that selfishness vanished.

Right now, however, it was in full swing.

Turning her eyes to the guy who sat down across from her, Rina raised a brow. "Do you always speak to random strangers just because of a little showing off?" she shot back, merely half-amused. Mila, thinking that her roommate might go off the deep end at any moment, - with a little more provoking, that might very well be a possibility - she jumped into the apparently materializing conversation. "Oh! You care about that?" she exclaimed in question. "Please don't say you're going to tell the bus driver." she bit her lip, actually fearful that he might rat them out.

"He won't." Rina said evenly, settling back and crossing her arms over her chest, eyes on the man across from her. Senji looked between Rina and the other guy, then at Mila, and then back at Rina again. The air was only slightly tense. He hoped it wouldn't stay that way.

Rina sent her Psych out, reaching out to sense the edges of the man's mind who sat in the seat in front of her. The tang that was associated with the emotion of curiosity entered her thoughts and she inwardly wondered what the heck he could be thinking. She could find out, but...

Would he be able to sense her intruding upon his mind?

I'm not just the girl next door.

Notes;
Words; 380
Muse; Good good^^
Other; Nope, not really

[Marcus Prasad]

"She's right you know. I have no reason to rat you out, lest I get myself in trouble as well."
Marcus didn't quite like how the dark haired girl was looking at him. It was almost.....

Invasive.

As if she was looking past his eyeballs straight into his brain.

"Do you always speak to random strangers just because of a little showing off?"

"I always speak to random strangers. I find it's the easiest way to make new friends."
'Or route out any potential enemies.'
A small voice in his head whispered. In the time it took to think, Marcus had already performed a threat assesment on the small group infront of him (And everyone else on the trolly for that matter) Calculated his chance of winning a fight with said group (Almost depressingly high if I do say so myself) and plot out an escape route if the unforseen occurs (Which it usualy did. Marcus always had notoriously bad luck crop up at the worst times) as well as calculated his chances of escape if everyone in the trolly tried to mob him at once.

Life in a public high school turned Marcus into a Warrior, a Fighter, a Tactician and a leader.

And sometimes he hated it with a passion for doing that to him.
Making him Paranoid. Untrusting. Always hiding his true intentions and emotions behind more masks than he cared to think about.

Marcus gritted his teeth and pushed such depressing thoughts out. Now was not the time for brooding.

"You see, I find myself in the untenable position of being a stranger in a strange land. I'm from New York city, in case you couldnt tell."
His Accent WAS pretty damn thick after all.
"And I have to say, It was a treat to see someone with as much of an acrobatic acumen as I."

By this point, Marcus had dropped the Mischevious smile for something alittle more sincere. In fact he was growing rather excited.
"Tell me. Have you ever heard of Parkour? Or Freerunning as it's better known stateside."

[Leta]

Leta sat in the back of the trolly hugging her knees. Barefoot and disheveled from having just woken up, she didn't know where to go today. Why not take the trolly for a ride? It was bound to make a round trip eventually. New sounds await her on the tour of the city. She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Nothing too out of the ordinary. That is, until a loud bang was heard on the floor above her. Did someone just jump up onto the second level? Curious, Leta stood and walked toward the front of the trolly toward the stairs. She felt her way along the seats and grooves in the floor.

"OY! LADY! What the devil do you think you're doing? Take a seat!" the trolly attendant shouted at her.

Rude...

"I'll just be going to the second level to look around. Feel free to stop if you like. I'm going anyways." And with that, she slowly but surely made her way up the stairs. When she reached the top, she listened to anything strange.

Windy up here, isn't it?

She closed her eyes, and felt the nearest seat; pausing to remember that the trolly is about 20 paces long. Making her way to the back, she occasionally touched the shoulder of a random civilian, but made no mention of it. When she reached her destination, she found an empty seat and resumed her previous sitting position, listening to the conversation ensue.

[Marcus Prasad]

As Marcus waited for the Moody girls response, he felt a light touch upon his shoulder. Despite the fact that he felt no malicious intent, instinct brought his eyes up sharply at the sudden intrusion to his personal space.

What he saw opened up a pandora's box of memories. His heart nearly stopping as old snapshots of days gone by began a slideshow in his minds eye. Memories of a happier time in New York city in the arms of a blond haired, blue eyed young woman.

Kelsie?

Marcus did a mental shake of his head. Amost a decade and he was still carrying that old flame? Why was it that in all of long beach california, he had to stumble on the one blind girl in the entire city. For one ridiculous moment, Marcus immediatly resented this new stranger for resembling his ex girlfriend so much.

'Oh common! Lets not get stupid here!'
Marcus raged internaly as the young platinum blond found a seat nearby. It was after Marcus had finished collecting himself that he noticed the scars and began to wonder who, or what, did that to her. She didnt use a cane either. Neither did Kelsie for that matter......

'Hey....why isn't she wearing any shoes?'

A few days in and already Long Beach was intriguing Marcus with a fine cast of Characters.

[Rina Vade]

Rina

Who'd you expect?

No reason to rat them - mainly her - out, he said? Of course, Mila was only being paranoid, as usual. The guy didn't look all to bad. The curiosity Rina felt from him suddenly made sense when he asked her if she knew what Parkour - rather, Freerunning - was.

A faint, interested smile adorned Rina's lips.

"I've read of it." she replied conversationally, her arms relaxing slightly. She saw from the corner of her eye as Senji and Mila settled back and began talking to themselves, ignoring her and the other guy. She inwardly rolled her eyes. They were always like that. "I've never tried Freerunning." she admitted to the man sitting in front of her. "But I always thought of doing so." Before she or the guy could say anything else, the voice of an attendant rang out.

"OY! LADY! What the devil do you think you're doing? Take a seat!"

Then, there was a wisp of blond hair as a girl reached the top of the trolly by the way of the stairs. Her hands traced along the sides of the moving bus and gently touched people's shoulders as she felt her way through to find a seat.

It was then that Rina realized that she was blind.

"No cane?" she wondered. The girl seemed to be able to get around alight enough, and none of the passengers spoke up in protest when they looked at her eyes. The girl took a seat, closer to the stairs, but still near enough that Rina caught the brunt of her emotions head-on. They were pouring off her strongly, the sting of annoyance was the most dominant. Rina was sure it was directed at that trolly attendant. Hell, she'd be annoyed too if he had yelled at her like that! The nerve. Momentarily distracted by the blond woman, - where were her shoes? - Rina didn't notice the look that passed over the man's face. She didn't see him stare at the girl in shock before wiping the look from his eyes.

But she did sense the wave of longing that passed over him.

Huh? Because of that blond chick?

Glancing up sharply, Rina tilted her head at this. "She...looks like someone you know?" she asked softly, just loud enough to be heard by him and probably Mila and Senji if they were listening. Highly doubtful on that part.

I'm not just the girl next door.

Notes;
Words; 503
Muse; Great
Other; Ummm, nope!

[Leta]

Why did they stop talking? This should be about where the bang was from someone jumping up... So one of these people around me had to have made it.

"She looks... like someone you know?"

Leta lifted her head a bit, and listened further. Immaculate hearing was the upside to her disability. Having never known sight, Leta knew her world through other means. Mostly sounds, next to touch.

People are so intriguing.

One of her favorite hobbies was listening to the conversations around her. She enjoyed trying to figure out people's personalities and motives with as little information as possible. It was a sort of game she played with herself. If she ended up wrong, then she lost. She lost the game a lot, but was hardly discouraged.

The game she was currently playing was this: Figure out who made the loud bang on this floor. She had narrowed it down to someone within immediate range. Probably... 5 feet away tops. All she had to do now was listen to the right conversation. Or ask the right questions. She wiggled her toes, and bit her lip amused. Her brow furrowed slightly, as she concentrated on the girl who she had last heard. The guessing game ensued.

[Marcus Prasad]

"She looks... like someone you know?"

Marcus looked at Rina with Alarm before going red in the cheeks and letting out a drawn out sigh.
"Is it really that obvious?"
he asked with a rueful smile as he took off his hat and ran a hand through his thick hair.
"I used to date a girl who happened to be blind you see. Used to."

Marcus stole another glance at the little blond girl. He took a moment to study her body language. A tilt of the head. The angle of which she positioned herself, the furrowing of her brow.
Oh yes, she could definatly hear them.

"Anyway."
Marcus turned back to Rina, fixing his hat back on his head. Better to wrench the subject back on track.
"Yeah. Le Parkour, or freerunning. If I could sum it up in one word, always that word would be freedom. It's not just about climbing walls and running across rooftops, no. It's about finding your own unique way to get from point A to point B where Obstacles become just another paint stroke on the Canvas. Where the entire world becomes your playground. No boundries. No rules. No Do not enter signs."

Marcus spoke with a quiet passion and with a dreamy smile on his face. When he was done. He sat back and looked up at the great big blue sky above them.

"It's Not allowing anything to stop you. Not anything. Freedom pure and true."

The man could feel his heart swell. It was true. There was no wrong answer in Parkour. Every wrong turn was just another oppourtunity for creative expression.

[Leta]

Hmm. They were talking about herself. Well, assuming there weren't any other blind girls on the bus. Leta had apparently inadvertently brought back some unwarranted memories to the man. But then...

PARKOOUURRRR!!

Her eyes lit up, and she leaned forward a bit further. A small smile found its way to her lips.

Parkour. It's him. He's the one who jumped on.

Leta listened to the man's enthusiastic descriptions of true freedom.

"It's not allowing anything to stop you. Not anything. Freedom pure and true." As much as he was enthralled in his Parkour, Leta was in her game. It was all that mattered to her at times. Challenging herself to evaluate the world through what little means she had. She wanted so badly to prove herself right and ask... but that would have to wait. She would have to listen a bit longer, or she risked losing.

[Rina Vade]

Rina

Who'd you expect?

At the guy's reaction, Rina froze, inwardly cursing herself for her impulsiveness. She'd mentioned the girl because of a feeling, not from what she saw. Maybe he wouldn't notice that she had not been looking at him? He was busy looking at the blind girl - with good reason, she noted -, but...even with her two roommates beside her, Rina knew they could never understand. If they couldn't understand her Qi abilities, who could?

Certainly not the boy across from her.

Without answering his first question, she continued to listen to his words about Parkour. "I see." she said, an amused gleam in her ocean blue eyes. "No wonder I wasn't the only capable of such a...feat." she gestured to the edge of the open-aired trolly, to the side she had leaped over. His words seemed to strike a chord in her when he spoke of freedom the way he did. In this world they had now, freedom meant everything. Could Parkour, freerunning, give her that feeling?

A sense of unbridled freedom with nothing held back...?

The sense of excitement breezed over Rina from the blind girl's direction as the guy spoke of Parkour. She glanced over at her from the corner of her eye and could tell that she was listening intently to what he was saying. The insistent tugging of thoughtfulness was also coming off of her. What was she thinking, Rina wondered. Pushing away those thoughts - they'd only get her into trouble if she kept at it -, she focused on the conversation at hand. "Freedom is hard to come by these days." she answered the young man with soft-spoken words, eyes trained on the floor. It was hard for her to speak to people on a less strict level, hard to say what things were really on her mind. She didn't look up, but for the first time that Mila or Senji had ever known her, Rina asked him, "Think you could show me sometime?" Her roommates' gasps made her haunch her shoulders and send them a glare. "What?" she growled.

Mila beamed and Senji looked awestruck. "You just...did you just act friendly? You? Are you sure you're Rin?" the silver-haired boy gaped. Rina scowled at him and he snapped his mouth shut, still appalled. His cousin shook her head at him and grinned. "Idiot." she told him.

With a sigh, Rina turned away from them and looked over at the guy sitting across from her. What would he say?

I'm not just the girl next door.

Notes;
Words; 536
Muse; Pretty good^^
Other; ...

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus tilted his head quizzicaly. If she had read about it before, surely she would know that there were thousands of Traceurs in the world. Marcus gave The girl a searching look. She seemed distracted. Unfocused. it reminded him of his Middle brother when he tried to Play PSP and watch tv at the same time. Unfortunatly for Marcus, He had never been exposed to Qi or Qi users back in New York City. If you ever asked him about it, he would probably scratch his head, look at you funny and ask if it had anything to do with accupuncture.

"Freedom is indeed hard to come by."
Marcus responded with a nod of his head.
'Then again, if it wasen't, it wouldn't be worth near as much. People wouldn't bother fighting wars over it or write music celebrating it.'

The moody girl then suddenly became not so moody and looked to the floor in a manner that Marcus had to admit was quite endearing.

"Think you could show me sometime?"

Marcus couldn't help but laugh. Not at the girls (who if her friends were to be believed, was named Rin) request, but at her friends Sudden and loud reaction to it. Something about the whole tableau gave him some deja vu from a VERY long time ago. So long ago that the memory had nearly faded completely away.

"Of course!"
He exclaimed with a beaming smile that made his mellow eyes light up. This was definatly something new! Noone had ever asked him to teach what he knew before. A Student......

Just as he was to Leon-Sensei All those years ago.

Marcus clapped his hands together in excitment.
"I tell you what. Give me a few days to find a good spot to set up shop. Somewhere nice, spacious and cluttered. Back in New York, we had a place near the aquaducts called the 'Reservoir'. A Place where every Traceur went to hone their skills. Training grounds so to speak."
Reaching down to his hip, the man pulled his Cellpone out, holding it up for Rin to take.
"Here. Put your number in and I can give you a call when I find a suitable place. Heck, You can even bring your buddy's along too! I'm sure I can teach them a trick or two. More's the merrier I say."

Marcus couldnt quite help but feel like he was forgetting something. Suddenly he looked startled, as if he just got pinched on the bottom by satan himself.
"Ack! Can't believe I almost forgot! You can call me Marcus."

[Leta]

Leta was on the edge of her seat, listening to them. She gripped the seat in front of her, disturbing a man sitting there.

"Can I help you?" he said.

"Shhhh," Leta whispered back, "I can't talk now. I'm listening."

Left with nothing to say, the man turned around again. "Ohhh," he whispered sarcastically.

"No wonder I wasn't the only capable of such a...feat."

Whaaatttttt... Leta thought. Well, now it could be either of them.

"Think you could show me sometime?"

At this inquiry, Leta's original suspicions returned. Why would she ask to learn if she already knew, right? The man happily agreed to take her on a Parkour Extravaganza around the city. They both appeared to be rather eager. He her a cellphone for her to put his information in before exclaiming that his name was Marcus.

Marcus....

Leta squinted her eyes, and stood. She sat on the nearest seat to them. Facing the man, Marcus, and the mystery woman, who she could only assume was "Rin", she spoke.

"Marcus," she started, "Clearly, you are a Parkour enthusiast. Therefore, I think you are the one who jumped on the trolly."

Yes. Case closed. The game was finished, and Leta won. She knew she won. The woman seemed too mellow to have done that. And Marcus--all he had been talking about was Parkour. Yes. She was right this time. She could feel it. Hopeful eyes, and a delicately friendly smile crossed her visage, while she waited for her suspicions to be confirmed.

[Marcus Prasad]

"Marcus," she started, "Clearly, you are a Parkour enthusiast. Therefore, I think you are the one who jumped on the trolly."

"NOOOOO! I Can't go back to Jail! I'm just too damn pretty! They'll eat me alive in there!"
Marcus cried out, hands on his head in dismay before he slowly began to realize what was going on.
"I mean.......wait what?"

It was the blind girl. So THATS why she was listening in on them. Marcus wanted to defend himself, but unfortunatly he wasent too sure which one, him or Rin, had made the loudest thump going to the top of the trolley.

Normaly Marcus prided himself on being able to move with such fluidity, that he rarely left any trace of his movements. That was why he slipped into his seat rather than taking Rins Approach of just leaping onto the top.

He wanted to refute her. Marcus never liked being accused of doing anything he didnt actualy do. But seeing her look so sure of herself........

It was just too damn adorable!

"Well Copper! Looks like you caught me!"
Marcus' accent made this statement even better. Most Gangsters on TV had new york accents.
"But You'll NEVER take me alive, see?!?"