The Music of the Plants

[Drew Thornton]

"Sure," Drew answered with a shrug. "I can't do much about it here, with only the lake around and all, but back home, there's plenty of stuff to do: swimming, surfing, diving. Year round too."

He suddenly looked up and over at her. "What kind of stuff do you like to do?" he asked as if he were surprised he had never thought to ask the question before.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany was taken aback by his question. She furrowed her brow thinking on it for a moment. Coming up with nothing she asked curiously, "Wh-....what do you mean?"

[Drew Thornton]

Drew gave her an odd look back, not understanding why anyone might find the question difficult to answer. "What kind of stuff do you like to do?" he repeated speaking a little slower. "You know... for fun?"

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany knew it was a simple question, one that she'd been asked many times before. But hearing him ask her was what had caught her off guard. Drew had never asked her anything like that and they probably hadn't been able to stand each other long enough before this to have made small talk like that.

"Ummm....I like to swim, dance, take walks, explore, and other stuff like that. Most of the stuff I like to do it outdoors cause being cooped up inside seems ridiculous and like a waste of time and my life." Brittany explained, still wondering why they had never talked like this before.

[Drew Thornton]

"Me too," Drew answered, smiling back over at her. He found it odd sitting there next to Brittany... talking to someone he rarely got along with... and feeling more comfortable than he had in weeks.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany looked up to Drew to see that he was smiling at her. Giving him a smile she mused aloud, "I guess we have more in common that what we thought then...."

It came to her as a surprise that they could actually be alike in some ways. She wondered what other ways Drew could possibly be like her or she could be like Drew. Either way you want to put it.

[Drew Thornton]

Drew snorted and shrugged back. "Everyone's got something in common," he told her. "The trick is to figure out what it is. So far we've got liking outdoors stuff and nothing is wrong with us. I think that's more than most people have actually."

[Brittany Garland]

"Too true. So what else is there about you that I don't know Mr. part merman?" Brittany asked. She was quite enjoying her time with him. Plus, she was feeling a whole lot better than what she had been early thanks to his company.

[Drew Thornton]

"Now, that all depends on what you've heard already, doesn't it?" Drew asked with a small smirk. "And after that we'll have to discern between which are the lies and which are the facts."

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany nodded and thought about the things that she had heard about the Ravenclaw. There were many that came to mind but most just about the kind of stuff that he had pulled in the past. Also, there were things that she had heard from Alhana and so on.

"Well, I've heard that you are a bit of a troublemaker." Brittany explained, deciding on one thing.

[Drew Thornton]

"I'm still not sure how I got that particular label," Drew answered with another smirk and a sigh. Of all of the names he had been given, 'troublemaker' was definitely his least favorite, his contention being that he didn't actually make the trouble... he just happened to find it most of the time.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany noted Drew's reaction to what she had said. To her it didn't seem like he liked being called a 'troublemaker' too well. But she wondered why he did some of the things that got him into trouble if he didn't like taking the heat for it. It seemed odd, she had always thought him proud to make mischief but now she was seeing a whole different side to Drew.

"Well it doesn't seem like you have owned up to that so called 'label' as of lately. So I guess that would mean you're not to be called that any longer. Though it is fun, being mishchievious." Brittany responded hoping to lift up the boy a bit since the mention of him being a 'troublemaker' had brought him seemingly down.

[Drew Thornton]

"But making mischief is different than making trouble, isn't it?" Drew asked. Trouble to him implied something much more than just mischief. Sure, he had done his share of mischief making, but he never went out looking for actual trouble.

[Brittany Garland]

"Actually if you look at it from one perspective mischief is worse than trouble. Mischief is something that causes an annoyance to others, like reckless behavior and such. Trouble is just a sort of difficulty, a disturbance if you will." Brittany explained.

She didn't know which was really worse though. It would seem that trouble would be the answer to that but mischief just sounded so curious and dangerous. Thinking over what was said she asked quietly, "Which would you rather: mischief or trouble?"

[Drew Thornton]

Drew pondered quite a while, shrugging and making little thoughtful noises to himself, before he actually answered. "I don't really know," he told her. "I guess I just want to be able to figure stuff out without it being thought of as mischief OR trouble."