|
Post by Maestro on Feb 15, 2008 17:19:47 GMT -5
John just grinned, pleased with his joke. As a songwriter, he had a quicker mind than most people gave him credit for. Occasionally, he couldn't help but show off; that opportunity had been too good to miss.
Making his way out of the burial ground (like Zurie, being careful not to step on any of the graves), John followed the young Dream girl. Strange that one could make friends wherever one went. After all, you don't normally expect to meet people in the cemetery, do you?
((Ooo, feel free! I'm sure it will be done again! XD))
As Zurie led him to her house, John just looked around, admiring the neighborhood. He lived in a fairly rural area so that he wouldn't be mobbed if he went out his door (which had happened to him once. Not an experience he'd like to repeat).
"Nice neighborhood," he told her, smiling. John did love to be around people, but he was glad that he lived in "the middle of nowhere"; he always had quite when he wanted it.
He stepped through the gate, smiling his thanks at Zurie for holding it for him. At her words, he just laughed. "Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine," he said, amused. "Trust me; I've seen some strange things in my life; I'll be all right." John grinned at Zurie, winking to show that he was (partly) joking. "And I've already formed my good opinion of you; they shan't change it," he vowed, mock-saluting.
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 15, 2008 17:38:04 GMT -5
Nodding in silent acknowledgement of his thanks, she wordlessly shut the gate behind them, securing the latch- not that it would prevent any wandering fans of his from leaping into the yard.
"Well, okay," Zurie smiled somewhat nervously, beginning to become a little anxious about her father's reaction to her bringing a rock star home- nonetheless, his hero. "I just wanted to issue a warning, so you don't sue me later or something." The girl joked, feeling secretly pleased about his positive view of her.
Deciding not to beat around the bush for any longer, she stepped up to the front door (painted lemon yellow, in contrast to the baby blue walls of the house), rapping her knuckles upon the surface. A short succession of thumpings preceded the door opening, revealing a tall, dark haired man in his mid forties (who looked nothing like Zurie) standing in the aperture.
"Hey Dad," Zurie greeted warmly with a bob of the head. "Look who I bumped into when I went to see Cole!" With a flourish of her hand, she revealed John to him.
"R-Raven?!" The man exclaimed, voice becoming a squeal not unlike a fangirl. "Oh my God- Mr. Raven! It's an honour to meet you Sir... I'm a big, big fan of yours!"
Zurie merely rolled her eyes. "John, this is my father."
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Feb 15, 2008 23:57:51 GMT -5
With a grin, John saluted Zurie. "I'll consider myself warned, love," he told her, laughing. He put a hand on his chin, as though seriously considering her words. "Hmm, let's see, who's on my list that I need to sue...," he began, expression one of thoughtful gravity. "Ah, well, that's all been taken care of, so I think you're safe for now." He winked at her, clearly at ease.
He followed her up to the door, watching as she knocked. Artist that he was, he noted the different colors, pleased that they went together well (ma Michelle, thank you, Beatles). Smiling at the man who opened the door, John held out his hand, ready to introduce himself even though Zurie already had.
"John Raven, at your service, sir," the young Dream said, smiling. "It's always a pleasure to meet fans, Mr. Tennant," John told him. "And please, as I told Zurie, do call me John."
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 16, 2008 17:18:55 GMT -5
"F-F-Fan?" The flustered man echoed, his state of mind obviously shaken by the presence of a celebrity- a celebrity who was standing outside his house, nonetheless. Zurie instantly slipped behind the man as he stepped forward, taking John's gesture in both his hands, shaking them as if he was making sure that it wasn't a mild illusion created by his daughter. "Oh God, I just love your music John! Hear that, Zurie? He's letting me call him John!"
The Dream girl rolled her eyes. "Dad, aren't you going to let him in?"
"Oh yes! Of course!" Mr. Tennant was still in a daze, reluctant to let go of his hero. "Come on in, John!"
Zurie pulled a face as her father stepped backwards into the hall, mouthing 'Sorry!'. The duo began to retire to the living room, though Zurie held back politely to wait for John and close the door after him.
"You can leave whenever you feel he's being too fangirl-ish," she whispered.
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Feb 16, 2008 17:53:37 GMT -5
John couldn't say that Zurie's father didn't amuse him; he was having a hard time trying not to laugh. Normally people reacted much differently, and Mr. Tennant's surprise and good manners were a nice change.
"Thank you very much," he told Zurie's father, smiling. "I love writing the music, so that makes two of us." Although, if Mr. Tennant kept feeding John compliments, he'd have to blush with embarrassment. Sure, people liked to tell him that they liked his music, but when they started to gush like Zurie's father was, it made him a little uncomfortable.
He smiled, stepping into the house as Mr. Tennant stepped out of the way. "Thanks for having me," he told his host graciously. Even though he was famous, it wasn't usual for people to have him in; they were afraid of being mobbed (not that that would happen, but hey, people are weird).
Grinning at Zurie, he winked, raising a 'regal' brow at her before winking again. At her words, he just laughed. "Oh, well in that case," he started, turning to leave. "No, I'm just kidding!" he grinned impishly, turning to follow Mr. Tennant into the living room.
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 16, 2008 18:19:17 GMT -5
Zurie closed the door to the house, and then removed her shoes, toes gratefully curling as they touched the plush blue carpet.
"If you left now, he'd undoubtedly have a fit, so it'd be better if you stayed," she grinned, hearing the animated voices of her 'parents' as John followed her father into the living room. She remained in the hall for a second, their voices echoing through the walls of the house.
"He's such a polite man!" Trilled her mother. Mr. Tennant had instantly dived to his record collection, and was already pulling out CDs to demonstrate what a big fan he was of John's music. Zurie finally entered the room, just as Mrs. Tennant was talking of how nice it was for her to have brought a 'lovely-looking young man home'.
"Mom," Zurie interrupted, leaning against the door frame. "John's here because I asked him to meet Dad. Just because he's a guy, does not mean that I'm romantically involved with him, or have plans to." Her azure eyes fell upon the large portrait suspended above the fire place, displaying the Tennant family- including Cole.
The deceased fairy-Dream was handsome, with a defined chin and eyes the colour of jade. His hair was also a shade of green, grown long enough to be styled in large spikes upon his head. Zurie stood next to him, a mingled expression of bliss and laughter from the photographer's uselessly lame joke upon her angelic face. A pair of delicate gossamer wings protruded from their backs, alice blue tinged with periwinkle surrounding Zurie, and emerald tinged with celadon surrounding Cole, respectively.
"But, uh, John?" Zurie asked, trying to catch his attention before he saw the picture. "Would you like me to get you a drink of something?"
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Feb 16, 2008 23:14:22 GMT -5
Seeing that Zurie had removed her shoes, John quickly followed suit, slipping of his black, cowboy-esque boots. After all, it wouldn't do not to observe the customs of the family he was visiting.
"Nah, I'm not gonna leave," John smiled. "Besides, I haven't met your mum, yet," he added, his tone joking. Of course, he sounded like he was joking a lot.
He laughed a bit, hearing Zurie's mum and dad talking about him. "I'm not as great as all that," he murmured, to no one in particular. He was being modest right now, but they wouldn't want to see him when he was basking in the glory of being famous; it was almost as though he had two different personalities. Such was not the case, though; John just went through separate rocker-moods, as he liked to call them.
John wasn't sure if he had been supposed to hear Zurie's comment or not, so he pretended he hadn't, looking around the room, instead. He couldn't help but follow (discreetly) Zurie's gaze, though, wondering who the young man in the picture was. Ah, well, it wasn't really any of his business, was it? John sighed inwardly, remembering. Throughout his existence, even with his good looks, he had never been the Dream you brought home to mother; the girls that had taken him home had wanted something. It didn't matter what it was, almost all of them had wanted something. John quickly turned his attention to something else; it wouldn't do to dwell on the past. It was much better to live for the moment, he had discovered.
Quickly turning in Zurie's direction, John smiled. "Uh, yeah, sure," he murmured, ever polite. "Just water's fine," he told her, thinking of what would be best for his voice.
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 17, 2008 17:15:07 GMT -5
"So modest!" Mr. Tennant declared, slapping a probably unsuspecting John on the back as he came up behind him, trying to break the brief silence between them. "You know, Mr. Raven- John," he swiftly corrected. "I've always wanted to see you play live- but I've never gotten a ticket."
"Oh you're so subtle Dad," Zurie groaned, nodding in conformation of receiving John's choice of beverage and briefly going out to the kitchen and then returning with two glasses in her hands. "Here you go," she smiled brightly, handing the one containing the water to John, taking a sip from the other (pink lemonade, her favourite non-alcoholic drink).
"But it would be great to see you live," she added to the conversation of her father hinting for a free pass into a Dreamcatchers gig.
"It could be a family outing!" Mrs. Tennant interjected, causing her daughter to sigh.
"You see John, I don't have much of a social life," Zurie began, glaring at the older Dreams. "Because these two frighten everyone off. Hey uh..." She was already formulating a plan to relieve them of her parents' banter. "I want to show you something in the back yard." Not wanting her family to embarrass her any further, the girl decided it would be better to leave them sooner rather than later.
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Feb 19, 2008 12:50:24 GMT -5
John hadn't been ready for that slap on the back; he moved forward slightly from the force of it. Quickly recovering, John grinned at Mr. Tennant's 'subtle' hints.
"I can get you tickets, if you like," he offered, knowing full well that that was exactly what Zurie's father had been hinting at. "It shouldn't be much of a problem, three tickets and backstage passes," he added, amusement quite plain.
"Oh, thank you," John responded, taking the glass of water with a smile.
Going back to the conversation about seeing him live, he just laughed. "Well, to tell you the truth, we can't play some of the songs, live. The effects we get in the studio are rather hard to recreate on the stage, sometimes." Laughing, he continued, "And it's bloody hard to play two instruments at the same time, so we stick to the more basic songs."
With a slight flourish, John pulled out his notebook and scribbled a note for later in it. "Right. Three tickets and backstage passes." Looking back up at the family, he told them, "Yeah, like I said, shouldn't be a problem."
"You can socialize with me, if you like. That would be something, at least," he winked jovially. Turning to Zurie, he nodded. "Right, then." He stood up, bowing to Mr. and Mrs. Tennant, a gesture that would have seemed unusual for someone else, but was perfectly natural for John. "If you'll excuse me," he started, then turned to follow Zurie.
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 22, 2008 9:55:52 GMT -5
((I'm so sorry for the wait you had for my reply. ;;;; My family dragged me away with them for our annual 'vacation' (basically, e were stuck in a cold caravan in the middle of nowhere alongside some hooligans). Forgive me? :3)) The expression in Mr. Tennant's eyes was far from that of sobriety- reaching high levels of ecstasy and excitement. It took a moment or so for him to speak, his lips mimicking the movements of a fish as he tried to express his gratitude. "Oh, oh, oh my, thank you so much! I'd give my right arm to see you playing live, even if you sang 'Twinkle Twinkle'!" He finally stammered. Zurie once again rolled her eyes, but she wore a slight grin on her face. "Yeah, thanks John," she giggled at her father's happiness, stopping in the doorway to stare at their faces and chuckle even more. "I owe you one," Zurie added, slipping out into the kitchen and unlatching the back door. The night breeze rushed into the house, warm air convecting into cold, settling on Zurie's bare skin. She shuddered, stepping out onto the patio (taking care not to tread on the grass, for she had nothing on her feet) and hopping from concrete slab to one of the many circular stepping stones which where embedded into the lawn. "I'm sorry about them," she murmured, turning back to smile at him ruefully. "Like I said, I'm not a very social person. I lost a lot of my friends when..." The girl had to cut herself off mid sentence, in order to prevent herself from disclosing the nature of her relationship with her 'brother'. Quick Zurie, think of a reason which won't envoke too much question. "When I lost my wings," she 'corrected', lacing sadness into her tone.
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Feb 26, 2008 20:14:51 GMT -5
John laughed a bit as he saw Mr. Tennant's expression. Apparently, he had done something unexpected. Well, now that he thought about it, it probably wasn't what your typical rocker-type would do. Oh, well; John wouldn't consider himself "typical."
"Really, it's not a problem," John grinned. "I'll make sure you have transportation, too." After all, it was only courteous to make sure that they got to the concert, since the would have tickets and everything.
He just grinned, turning to follow Zurie. Taking a deep breath, John closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the peaceful, relatively quiet night. He opened his eyes, just in time to see Zurie's shiver. "Cold?" he asked quietly. Without waiting for an answer, he walked over to Zurie, shrugged his leather jacket off, and draped it around her shoulders. "There," he murmured, smiling.
"Oh, they're not so bad," he told her, grinning back toward the house. As Zurie started to speak again, he turned back in her direction, listening intently. Hmm. There seemed to be more to her story than just her wings, but he wasn't going to pry. "Well, if I had been around, I wouldn't have wanted to lose your friendship." He paused a moment, then asked, "How did you lose your wings, if you don't mind my asking. Feel free to ignore me, if you want to," he added, small smile on his face.
((Of course I forgive you! And sorry about the past few days; John wasn't cooperating.))
|
|
|
Post by rose on Feb 28, 2008 17:10:39 GMT -5
((It's okay! I've been ill recently, so haven't been able to get online. T_T; ))
"Thank you," she smiled politely, grateful for the garment about her shoulders- usually when she ventured outside for her night-time musings, Zurie would adorn herself in a shawl or a blanket. There was a reason for why she had wanted to escape to the garden other than the presence of her parents, but that reason she kept to herself. The Dream pulled it further about her form, hoping that he wouldn't become cold himself as guilt from her lie began to coil itself about the web she had created.
"No, no, it's fine." Zurie smiled, deciding on telling him a half-truth to ease her conscience. "When my brother died, I became depressed- we were close, you see. My wings... They died alongside my happiness. They withered away- how was I meant to fly alone, without him?" Her voice became shaky, but the girl composed herself. "In the end, I had them removed. My friends were all fairies- once they saw me wingless, it was bye bye Zurie."
Zurie pondered whether he would still be willing to be her friend if she allowed herself to tell him the truth. "But okay- enough about me," she smiled weakly, restraining the urge to weep. "Tell me an interesting story about you. I bet you've had loads of fun experiences."
|
|
|
Post by Maestro on Mar 3, 2008 12:23:22 GMT -5
John just smiled; he didn't really want to say 'not a problem' again. He probably wouldn't get cold, for some reason, he usually didn't. Looking around the garden, John smiled. He had always loved being in nature.
"This is a pretty little place," he murmured, kneeling down to place a hand in the grass. It was just one of his quirks; he tried to be in touch with the world around him.
He listened to her explanation gravely, nodding when she was done. Rather than saying "I'm sorry," John stood up, walked over to Zurie and placed a hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was sympathetic. To him, it was always a little strange when people said they were sorry: what did they have to apologize for? He always felt better when someone showed that they cared.
John could tell that there was more to the story than Zurie let on, but he wasn't going to pry; there was a reason she didn't want to say anything else and he would respect that.
Laughing at her question, he shook his head. "Nah, I love what I do, but a lot of the actual work is boring to a lot of people," he murmured, slightly saddened by that fact. "Most people don't appreciate the art behind my music; they just see me and see someone famous." Sad, but true. Fortunately, John seemed to be able to calm crowds enough so that they would actually listen to the music rather than just screaming or talking through a concert (silly people).
|
|