Trials & Resolutions (IC)

[Semi-Autogyro]

Bayview Mall

Early January

John was sitting outside by the south entrance to the mall fifteen minutes before Etain said she would arrive. While he enjoyed the solitude, he was feeling a bit lonely during the holiday season as the majority of his friends went home leaving him one of the few still at Claremont. He had been invited over to Pankhurst by her earlier last week for New Years, and he had informed her of his continuing search for a hobby to his liking. He respected her opinions, and with her different views he might happen upon something that he would not have considered himself. In that vein they had agreed to go to the mall together, and John had offered for her to invite along someone else if she was inclined. Truth be told, one of his resolutions for the new year was to be more sociable, something that he hoped would help if he met more people. Hmm. He always could invite Victoria, as she had helped him previously in his search. He dug his smartphone out of his pocket, dialed her number, and waited for her to pick up.

"Miss Victoria? John here. I am at Bayview mall and was going to look around for further ideas for hobbies for myself, along with Miss Etain. I would enjoy your company as well, if you have the time available. The offer includes dinner, and I will pick up the tab as thanks."

[Aoiroo]

Etain all but appeared out of nowhere. Though that wasn't really the case. The truth of the matter was that she had flown here on the back of a gargoyle, though said gargoyle was a very intimidating creature and to relieve panic she had covered his flight in a veil of perception that kept him from the eyes of the civilians before he dropped her off at the edge of the parking lot and flew away to a proper perch. From there she removed the visual concealment though not the audial one as she moved down the street to the front of the mall. As such, it was only when she spoke that John would of noticed as there were no footsteps as she appeared in a simple outfit with her hands in her pockets and her hair tied up under a small brown hat trimmed with black lace.

"Hello John, how has your week off from the school been? I do not think they are opening very soon, a lot of the international students require an additional weeks travel time to make the school year."

[Azuth65]

Vicky leaned over the new tablet computer her parents had gotten her for Christmas a few weeks previous, she was still getting used to drawing on it but so far she had managed to crank out half a dozen pages of one of her comics. Just as she finished shadowing the tattered remains of duster on a zombie she was drawing her phone began chiming with the voice of the antagonist of two highly successful puzzle games. "Hey John, sounds good. I'll be over in a couple minutes."

Shutting down her setup she tucked it into her bag and changed from her casual lounging clothes into a pair of jeans and a sweater she made her way, via her smoke-producing teleports, to the mall. "Hey John, Etain," she called over, adjusting her sunglasses as she walked from the secluded place she'd landed in.

[Semi-Autogyro]

"Hello John, how has your week off from the school been? I do not think they are opening very soon, a lot of the international students require an additional weeks travel time to make the school year."

John smiled as he stood to greet Etain, his greatcoat knocking aside some of the gathered snow of the bench. "Greetings, Miss Etain. It has been very quiet on campus. Headmaster Summers had time enough for a few games of chess with me, though I fared poorly against him. While I enjoy the relative peace currently on campus, I look forward to the others returning." He gave Etain a rueful smile. "Though I was unsuccessful in remaining an impartial outsider during the inevitable snowball fights that broke out on campus during the break." John noticed Victoria approaching out of his peripheral vision. "Glad you could make it, Miss Victoria."

"Ah, that reminds me. Miss Etain, did you invite anyone? Since I already took the liberty to ask Miss Victoria."

[Scuffles]

Kristin, rugged up in the warmest winter gear she owned came around the nearby corner just in time to hear John ask Etain if she had invited anyone. She brushed her hood back as she headed over to her three schoolmates and said "She invited me! I hope you don't mind!".

She smiled at John as she pulled a gloved hand out of her pocket. "I'm Kristin! I've seen you around the gym and stuff. It's really nice to actually meet you!" she said as she held her hand out towards John for a handshake. Without missing a beat she flashed grins at Etain and Victoria. "Hey Etain, Vic! Thanks for giving me an excuse to get off campus for a bit! Why are we standing outside? There's snow. Snow means we should be inside where it's not freezing!"

[Aoiroo]

Etain returned his smile brightly,

"Well I am sure the winning side was happy for the intervention."

She turned to face Victoria,

"Hello Victoria, you look like you are having a nice holiday and hello Kristin, I am glad you could make it. I am guessing the snow is not to your liking? Then it is not so common where you are from is it? I had a similiar problem when I arrived here myself."

Turning towards the entrance she lead them forward into the warm mall,

"Anyway, you should know, we are looking for something for John, and it will not likely be in any of the department stores, accessory, electronic entertainment or footwear stores, so do not think you can use that for an excuse."

She said this all with a playful tone as she walked over to the map outlining the mall a few yards from the entrance,

"So, where would you like to go first John?"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John tried to keep up with the rapid fire pace of the new arrivals' conversations, along with Etain comments. He had a chance when she offered her hand in greeting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Kristen. I am John if you have not already divined that information." He replied with a slight grin as he took off his gloves and shook her hand.

He kept up the conversation as he moved to the doors and held them open for the girls. "Indeed, no sense in standing outside being exposed to the elements."

Once they were all inside, he turned to address them focusing on Kristen. "Thanks for coming. One of my continuing goals has been to find an enjoyable hobby, and as Miss Etain has indicated I have tried numerous ones. I suppose if we could continue in the vein of my last few attempts, which were focused on more artistic hobbies." John gestured in Victorias' direction. "Miss Victoria and I however can attest to my lack of talent in the drawing department per my last attempt. It went...poorly." John paused for his moment trying to ascertain where to start things off but coming up blank. "As to where to begin in our search today, I am open to suggestions. I do not mind if you want to go to other shops as well, since I do not want to monopolize the reason you are all here."

[Scuffles]

Kristin stuck her tongue out at Etain for daring to suggest that she might have an ulterior motive for visiting the shops. Such slander! And besides, sports shops were her weakness, not shoes.

"Never seen snow before in my life!" she said with a smile as they moved inside. "It just never gets anywhere near this cold in Queensland where I come from!"

"A new hobby hey? I can totally sympathize with being bad at drawing!" She chuckled as she tilted her head and looked at John curiously. "I can even make stick-figures look wrong! It's so bad! We're going with artistic hey? What have you tried? What about an instrument? What kind of music do you like? Maybe dancing? That's always fun!"

[Azuth65]

"Well there's that new Star Wars game I wanted to pick up but I'm in no real hurry, just remind me to swing into the Best Buy on the way out," Vicky said, unzipping her jacket as they entered the well heated mall.

She looked over at Kristin, "Must have been nice. Chicago gets more than a little every year. The fun part is when we get almost a foot of snow in three days."

At John's comment about the last time they tried to do any sort of sketching she smirk, "At least I don't work with paints, that shirt would have been ruined if we had."

"Well, I think we've got a fairly easy choice ahead of us, either we load John down with various replica models he can build or an instrument. I'm thinking we should start at the musical end of things myself."

[Semi-Autogyro]

John cocked his head to the side slightly as he tried to explain. "The list is rather long of the things that I have tried, but what I have generally found out is that more physical oriented hobbies are not something I think I could ever appreciate as a pastime. They all seem too similar to my daily training. While there is a certain satisfaction in hard work and improvement, I do it because I need to do it. I consider it work, not a hobby."

He gave a small sigh of frustration. "As for my last few attempts I have tried drawing, woodworking, pottery, cooking, and astronomy. Cooking was interesting, but I was limited in what I could do because I only had access to the communal kitchenette and supplies in the dorm."

John blinked twice in surprise at Kristens' direction. "I had not considered dancing or a musical instrument yet, but I do not know the first thing about either." He turned to peruse the nearby mall directory. "So where should would we go to look for an instrument?"

[Aoiroo]

"I had seen snow before while traveling, but the place I was never cold enough to experience it. In fact, it was always warm, which was nice because we could go swimming all the time."

She spoke all the while she was looking at the map skimming down the rows before she found what they were asking,

"Here,"

She pointed at a store on the second level just a few blocks away from the food court called Firehouse Music,

"The directory says it is a specialty store, so there should be something. As for dancing I could probably teach you a bit later if you would like. Partner dancing for example I could show you. It is comparable to sparing in movements when you dance with a partner, you likely would not have terribly much trouble with it. An instrument is an excellant idea though as it is a more independant training endeavor."

[Scuffles]

Kristin laughed "I can help with the dancing too!" as she reached out and caught Etain by the hand. She struck a pose and then twirled in under her arm. The two girls worked their way through a short and simple dance in time with the music playing in the mall, then broke apart again.

"Nice one!" Kristin chuckled at Etain, then turned back towards John and Victoria. "Her sparring is like dancing. Mine not so much!" she laughed. "I don't think anyone would mind if we tried some dancing in a corner of the gym though! You don't even really need anything except the floor and some music!"

She turned in the direction of the music shop. "That way right? I've never really played an instrument. I did drums in primary school but that wasn't so good for anyone nearby! I'd love to learn guitar or something!"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John watched the pair intently. "I see. It is somewhat similar to the idea of katas. Thank you both for the demonstration. I can indeed try dancing when either of you have time to spare while in the gym."

Firehouse Music was on the lower level of the mall, taking up about three smaller shops worth of space. Musical accouterments and various instruments lined the walls/rows, with little handwritten signs denoting the price. At one corner of the shop was a small collection of stools and amps with the words 'Try before you buy!', 'Stairway Allowed!', 'Need Assistance? Just ask!' hanging nearby. There was nobody currently in the store, save a older man in his 50's with a name tag that read 'Tom - Owner/Operator' reading a magazine behind the register. What little unused place remained on the walls were taken up by photographs of local bands and talent with Tom. A chime rang as the group passed threshold of the shop and went inside, Tom glancing at them before returning to his magazine.

John looked around the store, looking a bit bewildered as he turned to the girls. "There...There a lot more variations than I was expecting. Where should we start?"

[Aoiroo]

Etain danced with Kristin, spinning the girl and more or less just having a good time to the music that echoed before smiling and following John down to the store. It was pretty large, she hadn't been inside this particular store, but wasn't unfamiliar with instruments.

"It all depends on you, we can narrow it down very quickly. There are string instruments, which one usually strums or rubs with another piece to the strings, woodwind which are instruments you would blow through, or percussion which are generally instruments you strike to make a sound. There are hybrids between, like pianos but they are rather expensive in any form they take."

She had played flutes and such a little in the past, she really wasn't fond of the experience. String instruments were much more fun, though she had become rusty with the simple materials used in the strings here that she could not touch with her bare hand which really eliminated the point of playing at all.

[Azuth65]

Vicky watched the girls dance, making a mental note of their moves for sketching later. When the duo finished their impromptu display she gave a quiet bit of applause. After dodging the post-Christmas crowds the four made it to the music store. "My parents tried to sign me up for piano lessons as a kid. I nearly tied my fingers in a knot I was so horrible at it."

The snow-haired teen gave a small impressed whistle as she looked down the row of guitars, drum kits, electronic keyboards and easily a dozen more instruments. "Very nice. Seeing all these makes me want to give music lessons of some kind another shot... I think I'll sit down until that feeling goes away," she stated before making good on her comment.

[Scuffles]

Kristin grinned at Vicky as she sat down, then strummed her fingertips idly along the strings of an acoustic guitar. "Ooh come on Vicky, you know you want to!" she chuckled.

Turning to John she asked "What kind of music do you like to listen to? You would probably be best off picking an instrument that fits in with your favourite music. Otherwise you'll be stuck playing songs you don't really like. And that doesn't sound like it would be all that much fun to me!"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John considered his options. "I in all honesty I would prefer something that is rugged, portable, low maintenance, and easy to store." he gestured to the larger instruments present: keyboards and drums. "I think it would be safe to exclude these, on those grounds." John moved through the isles before pausing at a collection of harmonicas. "These fit my prerequisites, but I am not keen on the ones that use the breath to operate, as they strike me as...unhygienic." His walkabout the store brought him next to Kristin, where he responded to her question.

"I do not have a preferred genera of music, nor do I posses a predilection towards a group or style. I have listened to various due to Miss Victoria, Miss Etain, Mister Morgan, and Mister Brian loaning me their musical devices and through the Claremont library plus the internet." John examined a nearby bass guitar. "I think these string instruments would be a good place to start. What types are there?" He addressed the latter part to all of the girls.

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled at Kristin then walked over and pulled down the instrument John pointed to on the rack,

"This is a base guitar,"

She held it gently like a preformer and strummed the strings a little with her gloved hands,

"It is a string instrument that produces a lower pitch then a regular guitar. In a group setting it adds background harmony to the rest of the song by helping the drums maintain a beat. This is an electric one, so you can practice without one, you need an amplifier to really hear the sound it makes. They sell those here as well. You could get an acoustic or hybrid one which play fine without the amplifier, they have a thicker basins then the electric ones."

She pointed to the bottom of the guitar before putting it back on the rack.

[Semi-Autogyro]

John leaned in closer to inspect the instrument in Etains' hand before gravely voice spoke out to them. "Looking for an axe, son?" Said Tom, who was giving John a appraising look. "Axe?" John replied to the man, confused. "A guitar. You really have no idea what your looking for or getting into, do you?" John parsed the information before affirming with a negative nod of his head. "No, Sir."

Tom broke out into a deep belly laugh, before sitting down on one of the nearby stools. He wiped a tear out of his eye before continuing. "Well, if you'd like to hear my recommendation, a good beginning place is to use a hybrid acoustic/electric guitar. From there you can try the electric or acoustic side of things based on your preference as you gain skill. We have numerous comprehensive starter packages as well that provide everything you need, including some one on one instruction time. The package deal knocks a good chunk of change off the price if you bought them all separately."

John considered it for a moment before nodding. "I defer to your expertise in this matter. My friends can help me stay within my allocated budget." Twenty minutes later, John was weighed down with a guitar, an amp, plenty of cables, and a few introduction books. Despite the load he shot a smile to the girls. "Well, we have achieved my objective for being here. Anything else that you all would like to do I would be more than happy to assist, plus my offer still stands of taking you all out to a restaurant of your choosing as thanks for today, on me."

[Scuffles]

Kristin couldn't quite contain her smile at how out-of-his-depth John looked and how amused the store owner seemed to be by it all. That didn't stop her from enthusiastically pointing out her favourite guitars, although her advice seemed to be mostly based on the ones she thought looked the best as opposed to the ones that were the best deal.

"You know I can help carry some of that stuff right?" She offered as John completed his purchases and looked a little weighed down with his new gear. "I'll let Vicky and Etain pick somewhere to eat," She decided as she turned to the other girls. "What's good around here?"

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled as the store owner took over and managed to pull John into getting a good little set of things. The guitar came in a case and the amp in a box with the wires as well. She went ahead and found the map for the food court,

"There is a good Chinese place here, very tasty chicken and rice. Though there are several others if Chinese is not to your liking."

Etain was already decided where she was going to eat, if only because she needed to take some of the plastic bags with plastic cutlery for later use. No other place was as convinent to that aspect as the Asian restuarants, even if chopsticks were difficult to eat rice with.

[Azuth65]

Vicky moved next to Etain and looked over the map's list of eateries in the food court. "I don't know if it's the stereotype or just my metabolism but I'm always hungry an hour after eating Chinese. Oooh, nice, there's a Wendy's right next to the Chinese place. Handy, I've had a craving for steamed dumplings and a spicy chicken sandwich."

She shot a look over her shoulder at John, grinning as he managed, barely, his collection of new musical toys. "You want a hand with any of that? And don't worry about covering my lunch, John, the offer is appreciated but the way I put away the calories I'd obliterate your budget."

[Semi-Autogyro]

John adjusted the strap slung across his chest so it did not dig into his shoulder, while waving off their offers of assistance with a small shake of his head. "Thank you for the offer, but these are my burden to bear. If it does become too intolerable, I am sure Miss Victoria could rapidly get these back to my room back at the academy."

He was happy when Etain had chosen a place to eat, since he was still shady on the various types of ethnic cuisines. "That sounds fine, please just place your orders and I will pay for them afterwards." John had a small reminiscing smile cross his features when he noticed the chopsticks in the Chinese restaurant as he followed the girls inside. One of the first noncombatant skills he had picked up was the use of chopsticks when he was in Tian. John turned his attention towards Vicky when she had declined his payment for her meal. "Very well. Would you at least allow me the favor of buying you a dessert or handling the tip?"

[Scuffles]

Kristin wasn't quite about to give up that easily. "Your burden? It's a guitar and amplifier, not some epic responsibility!" She grinned. "And besides, if you share your burdens with your friends they get lighter. Come on, hand it over!" she said as she gestured at the amplifier.

"Chinese sounds great to me, but I'm with Vicky. I can pay for my own! If you really really insist though you can buy the icecream."

[Azuth65]

"About a minute there and back, tops," she said before continuing in a lower voice only her companions could hear her, "Though, there may be some amount of protections on the dorm rooms to prevent girls from teleporting directly into a guy's room and vice-versa. Still, worst case they sit in my room for a while until we get home."

"Well, if you insist John. I'll grab a pack or two of the sugar buns," she said, grabbing a tray and moving down the line in front of the row of delicious smelling choices, ordering some General Tao's chicken, steamed dumplings, pork fried rice, and the sugar buns. "I'll go pick a table while there's a chance," she said, glancing at the bustle of the food court after paying the woman working the register.