August 20, 2010
Participants: Aleksei, Leigh, Jacob
Summary: Aleksei crushes on Leigh and discovers a telepath
This late in the evening (that being, after the sun has STARTED to descend), Leigh is not supposed to be out of the house. She's skipped out on her parents, though, and turned off her cell phone. She'll be grounded when she gets home, but all things considered, it's worth it.
Because it is open mike night at the Coffee Grounds, and Leigh has brought her guitar and is pretty pleased with herself. She taps her foot to the music of the guy who's up on the miniscule stage right now (he's not very good, but that's okay — she'll do better) and waits her turn, sipping something with far too much sugar and caffeine, and getting more pumped by the moment.
With still over a month to go until his classes start, Jacob has time to explore his new city, at least as much as he can before curfew. (Luckily, his own isn't as restrictive as Leigh's.) So far, he's found a book store, a library, the local EB Games, and the local comic shop. Now, he wanders into the Coffee Grounds, black eyes moving to the stage a moment before he makes his way up to the counter to order. "Do you serve iced cappucinos here? Awesome. A large one, please."
Aleksei is enjoying these waning days of summer vacation, and he has an unlimited train pass and it's afraid to use it. So, he's been exploring some of the city on his own, getting used to the new world he finds himself in. He gets a small coffee and one of the pastries, then looks for a place to sit down. The live music has brought in a lot of people, though, so he's having to stand for now. He looks at the musicians, then at the nearby tables, eyes stopping for a little too long on the girl at the closest table because, hey, he's fifteen.
Leigh sort of expects to be looked at. She's attractive, and she knows it. It's not like guys haven't been telling her as much, verbally and visually, since she was, what, fourteen? Probably about that. She catches Aleksei's look, flashes a grin at the younger boy, and tilts back half her remaining coffee drink as the musician on stage finishes his song. Applause is, sadly, half-hearted.
Jacob looks around for a seat after he has his drink. With no full tables visible, he instead wanders over to Aleksei's table, and asks, just a little shyly, "Mind if I sit here?" He looks up to the stage then, not applauding at all since he has a drink on one hand.
Aleksei's reaction is immediate: blush, look-away, caaaasually look back to see if she's looking at him. Still blush. He fumbles with the coffee and manages to sip some without burning himself somehow.
He looks to the stage as the audience golf-claps the guy off, and he finds a table next to Leighs as a couple moves off. Jacob surprises him and the boy nods, then remembers his voice. "Certainly, dah," he says, gesturing to the other seat, his voice rich with a strong foriegn accent.
Leigh grins to herself. She does love making boys blush — it's why she teases Derek half as much as she does. However, with the performer leaving the stage, it's now her turn. The host/announcer, such as he is, gives her a lackluster introduction — 'And now, uh, we've got a, uh, girl? Leigh Sunderland?'
Leigh makes her way up on stage, guitar hung about her neck, waving to people and clearly pleased with the whole situation, even with the horrible introduction. "Hi, everybody," she says cheerfully. "I'm Leigh Sunderland. I'm gonna sing a couple of songs for you all, and then I've gotta run, 'cause it's almost my curfew!" This gets, at least, a little laugh from the crowd.
Jacob answers, "Thanks." He sits down at Aleksei's table, and looks up to Leigh at her introduction. Much like Aleksei, he blinks and stares for a moment, but at least most of the attention is on the girl at the moment. He does glance back to Aleksei then and adds, "I'm Jacob."
Aleksei is probably unaware of his lips saying her name as a way to remember her name, something quickly covered up by his sipping at his coffee again. "Oh! I am Aleksei," he says, offering his hand to Jacob. "She is.. very pretty, yes?" he says quietly as they listen to Leigh sing.
Leigh can only grin as she notices the eyes of both boys on her. They're closer to her age than most of the guys in the coffee shop, and so their attention probably means more. She starts to play, and really she's very good — she's a talented musician. The song is by Sheryl Crow — she's not a song-writer, or at least isn't presenting anything original — but 'Soak up the Sun' sounds very earnest, coming from her voice.
Jacob shakes Jacob's offered hand, and says, "Very!" His attention goes back up to Leigh, listening to her sing. He grins and adds, "She's an awesome singer too." He sips his drink then as he listens.
"She is, isn't she?" Aleksei says as he looks to Jacob and then back to the stage. "Oh, I know that song…" he says.
"I… wanna soak up the sun, I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up…" Leigh sings brightly and with great feeling. It's a song she almost hesitates to sing before she gets on stage. It's one of her favorites, but given the nature of her mutant powers it hits pretty close to home. But she's pleased to note that the crowd seems to be enjoying it a lot more than the last guy's music.
Jacob nods quickly to Aleksei and says, "Yeah, I've heard it too. It's a cool one. She does it great, too." His iris-less eyes stay focusd on Leigh, watching her perform until the end of her song.
Aleksei is indeed tapping feet and letting himself get into the music, watching the girl singing it yes, but also enjoying it just for itself. He finishes his coffee and pastry quietly, and looks over to Jacob. "I wonder if she plays here often? I will have to come back, and see."
Leigh finishes the song — it only takes a few minutes. A glance at the bored announcer, though, tells her that she needs to get off the stage. She smiles at the group. "You guys have been great, but I need to get going. Thanks so much — hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did." And with that she rises and hops lightly off the stage.
Jacob applauds along with probably everybody else. Added into that, he touches Leigh's mind briefly, not to read but simply sending the thought, « You did fantastic. » Just a quick message, and he says to Aleksei, "I dunno, maybe."
Aleksei applauds, smiling broadly as the girl finishes. He looks to Jacob, then. "I hope so. Maybe the manager, he will know." The boy looks around, but his eyes move back to Leigh and he settles back in his chair. "Is good that I came; that was fantastic."
Leigh hears the voice in her head, blinks for a moment and peers around, looking for the source. Her brows furrow. She has no idea who the telepath is, but knows full well what she's heard in her head. She worries her lower lip briefly, glancing left and right before she returns to her guitar case, not far from the two boys.
Maybe emboldened by having someone else there near him wanting to know the same thing, but after a momentray shyness he says, "Well, let's ask her." He gets up, and makes his way over closer to Leigh. "Hey. You did great. Do you play here a lot?" Same voice she heard a moment ago, just outside her head this time.
Aleksei hesitates, then nods quickly. "Yes, you were fantastic," the boy says, trying and possibly failing not to sound too eager. The youth glances quickly at Jacob, then awaits her answer.
Leigh turns toward the two boys as they approach, a broad smile appearing on her face as she slides the guitar back into its case. "Well, thanks, guys," she says brightly. "I play here when I get the chance, but since I'm technically out past curfew I figure it's going to be a month before my parents give me enough leeway to sneak back here on open mike night again." She rolls her eyes. Parents. "Gotta do what you gotta do for your music, right?"
Jacob nods quickly then and says, "Oh, totally get that. My parents are pretty strict too. My curfew's not until later, but still, they'd flip if I broke it. My mom thinks some meta-haters will grab me, and my dad's just big on rules."
Aleksei quickly looks for a poster or something that tells him when the next open mic night is, then tries to smile at Leigh. "Um, goodbye, then. I hope I can hear you play again, soon." He cuts eyes to the other boy, puzzled. "Meta-haters?"
Leigh pauses a moment, taking another look at Jacob, expression going thoughtful. "You're the telepath, huh?" she says quietly. She heard that voice in her head. The eyes — they'd give it away, even if he hadn't already spoken in her head. She smiles at Aleksei, though, and nods. "I do too. I'll be looking for daytime play-time for the rest of the summer, but it's not easy to find."
Jacob nods again to Leigh. No more shier about this than about if she asked about his hair colour, "That's right. Sorry if I scared you. And don't worry, I don't read minds without permission, unless someone's in danger or something." He nods then to Aleksei, "People who hate metas, or Supers, or whatever you wanna call people like me."
Aleksei can't help it. He blinks, looks at Jacob. He's /heard/ of telepaths. The Russians… have no good stories about mind readers. He swallows and tries futily to 'feel' if Jacob is in there, someplace, learning about the stone, his own powers.. nothing, but then.. /would/ there be? Or is he making me forget it even as .. no, stop, this is stupid. He opens his mouth, closes it, then nods. "I, um, yes. I see. That is.. um, I have never met a psi, before," he says. Stop rambling!
"Don't worry about it," Leigh says nonchalantly. As though she deals with metas daily. Which, of course, she does. If not for the presence of Aleksei she'd drag Jacob outside with her right now — let others think what they want, she'd just be showing off the reason her parents don't want her going out after dark. She glows. "You guys look about my age," she adds. "You go to Hughes?"
Jacob definitely doesn't show any sign that he's rooting around in Alek's mind… probably because he's not. He does get a slightly sheepish look, he may be picking up on his emotions… or just noticing like everybody else. He looks back to Leigh though, smiling more, but shakes his head. A little shyly still, he says, "I'm starting at UCSA next term. Probably the youngest one there by a couple years, though."
Aleksei nods to Leigh, trying to school his own thoughts into something cohesive. "Dah, I do," he says. "It is not so long now until school starts. It will be interesting." He looks back to Jacob. "Wow, you're starting university? My father teaches there."
Leigh ahs softly, nodding in understanding. "Cool that you could go to college so early," she says. "You can't be much younger than me, though." She flashes the telepath a grin, then lifts her guitar to her shoulder. "I'm sure I'll see you there," she tells Aleksei. "But for now… I gotta fly. See you guys around!" And with this said the girl hurries toward the door. She's gonna be SO late.
Thank goodness she really can fly.
Jacob waves to Leigh with a smile, "Bye. Nice meeting you." He looks back to Aleksei as he moves to sit down again, nodding. "Yeah. I start classes next month. What does your dad teach? Anything for freshmen? I can't wait to start, but I'm kind of nervous too," he admits.
Aleksei returns to his seat. "He teaches theoretical physics. I do not think so; I think he is mainly teaching the graduate classes and working with the doctoral candidates. Ah, but you must be very smart to be going there. You are like my little brother. He would be in the same classes as me except mother does not want him away from people his own age."
Jacob nods to that and says, "My parents had the same rule, until I got to high school. I wasn't allowed to skip grades, because they already knew I was smart, but wanted me to learn social skills. That's hard when everybody knows you're different," he admits. Then he blinks, and frowns, "My mom wants me home. I gotta go. Good to meet you and everything." He finishes his iced capp and stands up then.
Aleksei blinks. "Did she just.. talk to you?" he says, curiosity overcoming his caution.
Jacob nods quickly and says, "She's a telepath too. If I'm on the same side of the continent as her, she can send to me. And I can send to her. Or just about anybody else within a couple thousand miles."
Aleksei stands, flashes Jacob a smile. "Of all the things to be thankful for, having a mother that cannot read my mind tops the list," he says. "It was good to meet you, Jacob," he says, preparing to go as well.
Jacob nods to that and says, "Yeah, nice meeting you! Hope I'll see you around again." He waves then, and hurries out.
