* i WANNA make it last FOREVER * Heidi

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
Ahh, an air conditioned room... a book... and a water bottle full of cold, home made lemonade... Tara couldn't think of many things that were better than this. Her computer had (again) not been working, and so she had come to the Library in search of a computer to use. Instead though, she found herself picking up a book and plopping herself down on one of the couches to read it.

She sat sideways, resting her head against a pillow, she was sprawled out so that her ankles rested on the arm rest on the opposite end of the couch, her feet dangling dangerously off the edge. The book she stared at intently (er, read) was titled Girl, Interrupted, and she was reading it for the umpteenth time.

Tara shifted slightly where she lay, her necklace sliding slightly. She wore a black and red plaid flannel top, but it was unbuttoned; underneath it was a white tank top, and every time she moved, she could feel the cold metal of her necklace through it. She picked up the charms on the end with her right hand, fiddling with the key and lock, leaving the third charm (the heart) to dangle on its own. She left her left hand to hold up the book, only letting her right hand interrupt its business to turn the page every once in a while.

Anyone who knew Tara would find her outfit odd. For one, she was wearing shorts. Tara rarely wore shorts. Today, it was because she had run out of capris, and it was much too hot out for long pants. One might point out that she was in an air conditioned room, so this should hardly matter, but she would just wave the thought aside casually, saying that she isn't going to spend every waking moment indoors, even when, in all likelihood, she was planning on doing just that.

Another oddity was Tara's lack of knee socks, which were a staple of hers. Tara had a collection of knee socks of all different colors. Stripes and polka dots, even patterns of random things like apples and glasses or childish things like unicorns and ninjas. You name it, she either had it, or didn't think it was worth buying (like the pair that looked like an X-ray of your shins, labeling all the bones like the fibula and tibia... they were twenty dollars, and however much Tara loved Biology, that was just too much for a pair of socks).

So there Tara lay, knee sock less, and showing generally much more leg than she was used to showing, as she was sprawled across one of the large couches in the Fiction section of the library (even though the book she read was a memoir, she had found it in the Fiction section). There were a good number of people in there, but not enough to consider it crowded, and Tara didn't for one moment realize that most of the armchairs and couches were all taken. Had she noticed, she probably wouldn't have been hogging an entire three-seat couch to herself.

[Heidi Valentine]

By the grace of sheer willpower, Heidi managed to roll out of bed that morning in a slow, painful process. The night before had been a long one, spent doing nothing but wandering the school grounds and trying to get a familiar sense of where everything was. She'd only been here a few days now, and that 'new kid' air still stalked her like a pesky shadow only leaving the girl more desperate to get rid of it. She hated having that vulnerability hanging over her head like a dark cloud, and thus lead to her constant exploring of all that she could of the academy ground. One glance out the window that morning, though, and she knew such explorations would -not- take place outside today. Not unless she wanted to fry and sizzle like bacon, that is.
And so, with sleep still lingering on her body structure, Heidi had managed to whip some kind of an outfit together and decided to keep indoors. See what sort of stuff she could come across then.

Dressed, oddly enough, in a pair of comfy denim jeans and a simple graphic T-shirt over top, the girl earned herself some strange looks from the students in the halls once she rounded the corner out of the dorm. At first, Heidi didn't catch on as she thumped her way down the stairs, arching her brow in curiosity at what they were staring at. It wasn't until she caught a look at everyone else's attire that it clicked, and a chuckle couldn't be helped. Pretty much everyone she'd passed were in shorts, skirts, or some form of non pants. The girl had no intentions on going outside anyways, since the building was air conditioned, so she could have worn sweat pants and remained just as comfy.
Turning a corner here and there, Heidi eventually found herself before the wide, double doors of the library. Huh.. well, here was a room that she hadn't visited yet so, couldn't hurt to check it out! Leaning forward, she pressed her weight into the thick, wooden doors and nearly felt her jaw drop to the ground once she got a gander of the inside.

It was huge! Books lined every corner and shelf, supporting a variety of colors and thickness as they added character to the shelves. To her left was the librarian desk, stacks of novels old and new littering it's surface left and right. All around were tables set up with some pretty decent looking computer sporting them, students glued to the screens like flies. Not to mention the comfy looking chairs that were all, sadly, occupied. Bummer. A glance upwards was made as the freckled face girl moved her bangs out of her eyes, getting a nice view of the staircase that lead to the other five floors of the library.
Dumbfounded by the grand scene of it all, Heidi figured she might as well go check out their music sheet selection. Maybe they'd have something here that she didn't already know to play already. Her inner collie perked up at this idea, getting excited as the possibility of conquering another piece was within sight. New new? it asked almost childishly, speaking to her in thrilled tones.

All she did in reply was chuckle, and made her way over to a directory to at least begin pointing her in the right section. Her finger scanned the page quickly, jumping down to 'S' for sheet music. Luckily for her, it seemed to be only a few shelves over, rather than up on the fourth floor or something that would require a climb. Whirling around, Heidi weaved her way around grounded students who couldn't find a seat on the chairs and resorted to sitting on the ground, stepping around them carefully as she gradually made her way over. Finally locating one of the aisles, Heidi quickly glazed her eyes over the books until she found the first one that had Piano engraved on it. Plucking this out quickly and holding it to her chest, she gave an excited little sigh as her inner collie danced in circles around her heart, eager to open it up and see what she did (or didn't) know already.

Flipping her head over her shoulder, she looked back towards the main center of the library to maybe hopefully spot a place to sit out and take a crack at this baby. Spotting a sofa from it's back, and a pair of legs dangling off of it's edge, she figured she might be able to wriggle in there somehow. The closer she got to the couch, however, the clearer she could see someone stretched out over it's entire length. Hrm. Well. Maybe they wouldn't mind scootching over? One way to find out. Leaning over slightly, she tapped a finger on the girl's shoulder twice while the other kept her piano selection in place, then drew back, a light smile on her face as she recognized the book held in the clutches of the other. "I heard that was a pretty decent book... is it?" she'd ask first, genuinely curious about the book's contents. She'd never gotten around to reading it herself but, her friends back at home seemed to enjoy it. "Also.. mind if I take some leg room? Promise I won't knock you over with my immense flab or anything." She joked, a soft smirk on her lips.

TAGG? Sitara
WORDS? 904
NOTES? outfit*
CREDIT? hey it's SHMEY ! @ caution 2.0

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
Tara had read this book so many times, she could pick up any page and know what was going to happen next. For example, right now, she was at the part where the main character (and writer and narrator) Susanna was staring at her hand. She knew Susanna was going to start contemplating whether or not there were bones inside, start asking people about her bones, and eventually draw blood biting on her hand as she started a quest to see her bones, so that she would know that they were there. She also knew that Susanna's friend would then bring the nurse, who would then bring medication for Susanna, who would at this point realize how crazy she really was.

Some people often asked Tara why she read the same books over and over instead of reading new ones. Well at the moment, Tara didn't have any books on her bookshelf that she hadn't already read, so she had decided to go back and read her favorites. Not Harry Potter, a series she had stopped liking based on the disappointment of the last book. Not Red Dragon, the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series, one which she hadn't quite finished yet. Girl, Interrupted was one of her favorite books for the simple reason that it was about the field of psychiatry, but written through the eyes of a real patient, as opposed to a fictional character like in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Tara had reached the end of the chapter by now, and at the end of each chapter was a page from the doctor's notes about the main character's recovery (or lack there of). This was another thing she liked about the book; the author had managed to get a hold of her own paperwork and photocopy it so that parts of it were in the book between the chapters. As Tara squinted to read the fine print, she didn't notice someone approach until they spoke.

"I heard that was a pretty decent book... is it?"
Tara looked up and gave a small smile, glad that someone was interested in the book. "It's one of my favorites." she said. "I've read it multiple times."

"Also.. mind if I take some leg room? Promise I won't knock you over with my immense flab or anything."
Tara chuckled. "Oh, sure." she said, swinging her legs over so that she was now sitting properly on the couch. She patted the spot next to her.

Tara's eyes then caught a glimpse of what the girl's book was. She spotted the word 'Piano'. "What book is that?" she asked as the girl took a seat.

[Heidi Valentine]

Heidi stood there patiently as she waited for a reaction from the reader, hoping she wasn't the sort to get all sour when they were interrupted. Sniffing lightly, her eyes lit up as her collie senses momentarily kicked in -- detecting something. Well, two things. The first and most dominant actually had to do with the girl on the sofa before her, oddly enough. It whined and pawed away excitedly in her chest, sending Heidi's brain the needed information. Fly, fly! it spoke to her, trying to indicate just what it had detected within the other as a shift. Something that flew, apparently. Heidi wasn't totally in tune yet with her restless other half, and wasn't really in a hurry to get there. But she heeded it none the less, and tucked it away mentally to bring the point up to ask this other about their shift later on.

The second thing the dog picked up, though, was less inquisitive. Something wild was stirring up outside, something rather.. vicious blooming on the horizon. Her eyes flickered upwards towards the ceiling as a howling wind cracked outside, slightly rattling the library with it's intense force. Huh.. just where had that come from? Just earlier, not even half an hour ago, the sun was blinding them all outside! And was that... Rain? she thought, mystified. Man, weather on this island was no joke. Perhaps she ought to bring an umbrella with her at all times. Looking back down, she saw the smiling face of the stranger as she momentarily stepped out of her thoughts about the freak weather going on outside. Smiling back, Heidi whipped herself around the arm of the couch, and took a seat next to the girl who didn't look like she was much older than herself.

Body sank into the plush material, almost sighing with gratitude at the soft texture. Plush as it was, there was still some space between herself and the stranger so it didn't look like she was trying to sit in her lap. Heidi had a terrible habit of getting too friendly with people too soon, and throwing her trust around like a flag to others. It had to do with her dog counter part, curse it's naturally extremely friendly nature, and often times she had to remind herself to stay calm; not to get too excited. Least she look like she was high on something.

Chin turned toward the previously reading other as she thought over her words. "It's one of my favorites. I've read it multiple times." Hmm, must mean that it's good, right? "And you never get tired of it? Ever?" she questioned, baffled and intrigued at the same time. If a book was that good, then she'd certainly have to check it out sometime. "What's it about?" came the curious question as she leaned forward slightly.

Then, her attention escaped her once again when she heard - and felt - the library shift once again, the wind louder and stronger than it had the first time. Rain pelted the roof of the building attachment, thunking with a solid echo that could easily be related to a mob of people running around and tap dancing. Though she was pretty sure there weren't any people up there. She jerked her head to her left, peering out some of the windows as a dark shadow cast over the school grounds, almost like an eclipse. "How freaky..." she mumbled more to herself than anyone else. Back home, they never got weather like this before, which left her clueless as to what sort of a storm it might be. Thanking her lucky stars, she was more than grateful to have stumbled into the library today rather than venture outside. No doubt her clothes would be soaked, by the sounds of it.

"What book is that?"

Oh, right. She was in a conversation! She sheepishly turned her head back around, realizing that the prolonged silence that came after the question was because she missed her 'cue' to answer, distracted by the weather going on outside. "Oh, this?" she blinked, looking down at her arms as she'd nearly forgotten she had a book there. A little more focused now, she tilted the black covered book towards the girl, and used one hand to pry open the paperback cover, snagging some of the pages under her grip as she flipped through it slowly. "It's a fake book, written for piano." Came the explanation with a smile, her eyes watching as the black notes dotted the pages beautifully as they flipped on by. "It's where songs of all sorts can kind of be... 'condensed' into a simple piece, and they give you some optional chords to work with," she explained further, unsure if the other even had an interest in music or not. "Basically, gives the pianist some wiggle room and kinda.. improvise."

A friendly grin, then, as her fingers closed the book shut. "I'm Heidi, by the way. Heidi Valentine. And, sorry about before." A finger jabbed upwards towards the ceiling as she gave a little shrug. "The weather kind of.. startled me."

TAGG? Sitara
WORDS? 855
NOTES? *inserthurricanehere*
CREDIT? hey it's SHMEY ! @ caution 2.0

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
Tara shook her head when Heidi seemed surprised that she never got tired of it. "Each time I read it I notice new little things." she said. Then Heidi asked what it was about and Tara smiled. "It's a memoir about a girl who has Borderline Personality Disorder and is sent to a psychiatric hospital in 1967. It's really interesting cuz it's from her perspective, so you see her thought process." she told Heidi. "I'm a psychology major, so I like looking at the little things she does and finding which are symptoms of her disorder and stuff." she shrugged "So to me it's interesting on multiple levels." Firstly, it was interesting in that there were many funny and heart wrenching stories in the book. Secondly, it was interesting in that you could see into the mind of someone with a psychiatric disorder and see which symptoms fit her mindset and her actions. Lastly, it was an interesting view into what that psychiatric hospital was like, since few people who wrote about psychiatric hospitals had ever lived in one, and so most books about them were littered with errors and stereotypes, like about evil nurses who just lobotomized everyone who entered the hospital, and how the hospital was like a prison and nobody had any fun. This book actually made living in a psychiatric hospital seem tolerable, if not fun, and it made Tara wish there was one nearby so she could work there when she grew up.

Tara didn't feel the library shift, but she heard it. She didn't see the rain hitting the window or it getting dark outside, but once again, she heard it. Of all her senses, her hearing was probably the best (which was surprising considering how much time she spent with her iPod headphones stuck in her ears), partly because she was a bat shift and partly because she had to have SOMETHING to make up for her poor (when uncorrected by contacts) vision. "Yeahhh... the forecast said it was gonna be hot all day but surprise surprise, the weatherman was wrong once again." she joked. But then as the rain came down harder she began to realize that this was no light drizzle; this was a full blown storm.

Tara's eyes widened at the word "piano". A pianist. Heidi was a pianist. And, given the fact that she was good enough at it to be reading about improvising (something Tara only dreamed of being able to do), Tara guessed that she was an instrumental music major, or was at least a really good pianist who had been playing for years. "You're a pianist? Me too!" she said. "Although, I've only been playing for a few years and I'm not that good... you're probably way better than I am, I could never do improvisational music, I just get sheet music and teach myself to play, usually popular music." she said.

"I'm Sitara Asman. Or Tara, whichever is easier." Tara always gave her full name when she introduced herself, because she was proud of it. Well, not her entire full name; that was Sitara Neela Asman, and it meant "starry blue sky". Yet, she always gave the option of using her nickname, because Sitara was a mouthful and not everybody knew how to pronounce it.

[Heidi Valentine]

The rain was getting heavier and heavier by the second, relentless as the storm intensified. Vicious wind howled outside, demanding attention as it snapped twigs and branches off of the trees; forcing them to bow at the power that be. Not that Heidi could see all of this, of course, as she was still inside of the library. Luckily. The wide, grand room seemed sturdy enough from what she could tell, but she was no architect, so whether or not the library was the safest room to be in for the moment or not was oblivious to her. All she knew was that the walls weren't currently caving in around her, the glass wasn't shattering, and most of all, the girl sharing the couch with her didn't look too worried about it.

Unlike herself.

Though, the calm attitude of the girl was comforting, and Heidi desperately grasped onto this. Canine whined and paced inside of her as it tried to calm it's self down, with no such avail unfortunately. Leaning forward in an attempt to ignore the happenings of what was going on outside, she ground her elbow into her knee and propped her chin into her palm, listening intently as the explanation of the novela was given. Oh so it was about psych stuff, huh? "That's actually really pretty cool," mused the she-dog, eyes bright with entertainment. Heidi loved to read herself, and couldn't fathom how such an interesting book had slipped her collection. "So you must be into all of that.. Psycho-Analogy stuff, huh? Like, getting into people's heads and figuring out how they tick..?" She wasn't sure exactly if this was -exactly- how it worked, but that's what it seemed to look like on the T.V. with all those crime shows.

As much as she loved people, and socializing with them, Heidi couldn't picture herself as any sort of analyzer for the human brain, like taking it apart and seeing what motives pushed this person to do whatever. Figuratively speaking, of course. Her smile broke into a giggle then at Sitara's crack on the weathermen. They were clearly dead spot on wrong today! "Haha! Yeahh, I'd hate to be in their position when their boss gets a glimpse outside." Which was the truth. No doubt whomever he or she was that ran the whole ordeal would be getting lots of complaining phone calls about their mistake, and she could only imagine that the weathermen crew were going to get the blunt of the blow. Poor people. She had to admit, though. It wasn't like this morning gave way to any sign that there would be a drop of rain to spare, what with it's intimidating rays and all.

Maybe she ought to send the news station a sympathetic card or something, and let them know that there was at least one person out there who didn't hate them. She mentally snorted, then, as these thoughts were shooed aside. Who does that? Sending cards to the news people? It was that sickly loving dog trait that was driving these thoughts, she knew, and resisting wasn't going to help. Perking up suddenly at Sitara's mention of being a pianist herself, her eyes brightened as a broad smile tugged at her lips. The piano was her favorite instrument of all time, and anyone who could play it - even a little - got some serious brownie points in her book. "No way, seriously?!" she half squealed, lifting her head up off of her hand.

A warm blush then came from her cheeks as the compliment was given, Heidi waving her hand in the air nonchalantly. "Aww, thanks! But, legit, it takes some serious skill to teach yourself music and read the notes, Sitara; you should be proud of yourself!" And then, just barely after she'd managed to get the sentence out, the lights above them momentarily went dim, casting a dark gloom in the room. Just as quickly as they'd lowered, however, the lights strained and flickered back to life. Hazel eyes shifted from the lights, back to Sitara, then back to the lights again. "If we survive whatever freak storm is going on out there, I'd love to hear you play sometime." Came the offer as she shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch, grinning. "Man I hope these lights hold out.." Truth be told, Heidi was thoroughly scarred of dark places; not just the night time. She'd always had that issue, and it didn't help that her canine counterpart naturally had poorer vision at night -- just another excuse to hide from it.

"So, Sitara, what's it like here in this school?" She'd open up then, tilting her head to the side. "I just got here a few days ago, and I'm still fumbling around."

TAGG? Sitara
WORDS? 799
NOTES? None
CREDIT? hey it's SHMEY ! @ caution 2.0

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
Tara giggled at what Heidi said next. Actually it was psychoanalysis, not psycho analogy, but she wasn't about to correct the girl who could possibly be a new friend. "Yeah, sort of." she said. "Though I find people with mental illnesses more fascinating... I mean, the brain is a fascinating thing, but what makes it even more fascinating is when things go wrong, you know?" she said. Heidi seemed curious in general, so Tara hoped she would understand her curiosity, at least a little.

Tara giggled again when Heidi mentioned the weatherman's boss. "I know right?" But then the rain became louder and Tara started to get a little scared inside. Outside, she tried to remain completely calm. After all, it was just a rain storm, right? Granted, they usually didn't have rain storms in the middle of the summer... Tara tried not to worry, but the nagging feeling just kept coming back that something should be done. And yet she didn't know what. They were already inside, after all, and it wasn't like the library was gonna collapse.

"No way, seriously?"
Tara nodded, smiling. "Though only for a few years, I'm not good enough to major in it or anything even if I wanted to..." she said. She giggled when Heidi said she should be proud of herself for teaching herself. "Well I used to take lessons, but I stopped when I started here, so since then I've just taught myself stuff." she explained.

And then, the lights went out. Tara's eyes blinked as they adjusted to the dark. Lucky for her, being a bat meant she could see in the dark slightly better than she could during the day, although that wasn't saying much since her vision was horrible to begin with. Which was why she usually wore contacts, like she was wearing now.

"If we survive whatever freak storm is going on out there, I'd love to hear you play sometime."
Tara gave a small but nervous (because of the weather) smile. "Yeah, I would love to hear you play too." she said. She noticed the girl seemed just as nervous, if not more so than she was, so she decided to keep them talking about music so that they could think about something other than the awful weather. "What type of music do you play?" she asked. Tara mainly knew popular music, like Coldplay and Evanescence and Mae and Jack's Mannequin... anything she heard that she liked, provided she could find the music for it. She had learned more classical music back when she was taking lessons, and still learned a few pieces by Bach and Debussy when she found one she liked. Like the Invention. She hated the Invention, yet she loved it. It was hard, complicated but fun. Besides, Tara loved challenges.

"So, Sitara, what's it like here in this school?"
Tara thought for a moment of how to explain it. "It's pretty fun. The people are nice, even the teachers are really friendly and cool. And it's good to be able to actually pick your classes out of more variety. Like I'm gonna be taking anatomy in the fall. They didn't even have an anatomy class at the high school I would have gone to if I wasn't a shifter." she said. "Plus it's fun to figure out how a person is like their shift. Some people only have slight similarities but for others it's like their entire personality." she said to Heidi. She then began to wonder what Heidi's shift was. Heidi was curious, nice, friendly... some sort of cat or dog, maybe?

[Heidi Valentine]

Heidi gently placed the book beside her as she drew up her knees to her chest, arms lightly wrapping around them like a wreath as her back reclined into the soft material of the couch arm. She always found it best for her to be able to listen closely to others when she was comfortable. Not like it was hard to achieve in a sinly comfy sofa such as this. Heidi's natural canine sense to follow directions always posed for her to have good listening skills anyways, but it couldn't hurt getting comfortable, right? She flicked her bangs out of her eyes once more before waiting for Sitara's first response. Jeez, these things needed to get cut.. Preferably not by her, least she lose an eye with a pair of scissors. Being graceful with an instrument was one thing, but sharp, pointy objects?
No.

"Though I find people with mental illnesses more fascinating... I mean, the brain is a fascinating thing, but what makes it even more fascinating is when things go wrong, you know?"
Heidi bobbed her head in agreement, completely unaware of her mistake from earlier. She wasn't the most educated person in that field of interest, but she got the general gist down. She could, however, completely relate with the curiosity that seemed to drive Sitara's interest, and smiled broadly with her nod. "Oh yeah, I totally get you there. That's what I love so much about music -- I try to think of what mindset the person must have been in to write that kind of style, and what emotions they might have been feeling or trying to express." She blinked then, surprised, as the words came from her mouth. Huh. Small world, with similar interests out there and linking things together.

Perhaps this 'psycho analogy' stuff, as she called it, was more linked to other things than she thought. And not just limited as she had originally thought before. Pretty cool... Also oblivious to the other's fear of the weather going on outside, the collie did, though. It hadn't sent the news to Heidi's brain that the girl sitting across from her was more or less just as scared as Heidi was, as it was more focused on trying to decipher just what sort of animal laid beneath the human facade; working eagerly. To Heidi, Sitara seemed pretty calm and collected what with the activity going on, and she couldn't help but gravitate herself to it and try to apply the same characteristics to herself. She did, however, start to calm down some as her heart beat stopped thumping like a race horse on the track, which was a plus side.

"Though only for a few years, I'm not good enough to major in it or anything even if I wanted to..."
"Nahh, don't look at it that way!" she urged, a grin picking up on the side of her face. "Just look at it as.. raw talent, yeah? You just gotta tap into it, that's all!" came the reassurance, and she stood by what she said 100%. Heidi wasn't the sort to lie and tell people what they wanted to hear just to make them happy, she liked to keep things honest and out in the open. Keeping secrets was a whole different department, though, but this wasn't like she was keeping a secret from her hopeful friend to be. She just honestly believed that if anyone put the time and effort into learning an instrument, then why shouldn't they be successful if they wanted it badly enough?

"As interesting as your major is, and the novelas that I've read, I don't think I'd be good enough either to delve into something that deep of a career." She chuckled, thinking about this for a moment. Yeah, brain stuff wasn't for her. "Especially those awesome television shows. Guess I'm not cut out for that stuff, but I'm glad you are! Gotta have someone to solve the mysteries of the brain gone wrong, right?" Then the question came about what sort of music she played, her hand reflexively popping up before her as she counted off the categories on her finger tips.

"Pop.. jazz... contemporary.. swing, classical.." a giggle then, "Basically anything that has a unique sound, interesting flow, or anything that catches my interest! I'm none too hard to please when it comes to learning new stuff and styles." Momentarily forgetting that they were in the middle of a dangerous hurricane, her head tilted curiously then as she spoke up, speaking from her animal half. "Mind if I ask what animal shift you are?" She listened intently then, as Sitara gave her view on the school's credits on students, staff, and just about anything. It sounded like for most kids here, this was a better choice both academically and to compensate for their feral halves. It only made her that much more eager to meet some of the other students of the school and see what they had to say and what their experience was like. Because, as she knew, everyone was different. She grinned as a thought came to her mind at the mention of Sitara's last statement. "Wanna have a crack and see what mine is then?" curious to see what answer would come up.

TAGG? Sitara
WORDS? 875
NOTES? Sorry it took so long. D: Got distracted.
CREDIT? hey it's SHMEY ! @ caution 2.0

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
Tara nodded when Heidi mentioned music and thinking about what the compozer thought. "Oh yeah. That's another thing I like about psychology, you can apply it to anything. Like music, like you said." she said, gesturing toward Heidi at the last part. "Oh! You know, a friend's mother is in psychology and she's actually studying the effect of music on the brains of people who are like, Autistic, and stuff. She's still working on it but wouldn't it be cool if they discovered music could like, help them be calmer or work better at stuff, or something like that?" she said. Music was very theraputic, so it would be no surprise. And hadn't there been a fad where people played classical music to babies to make them smarter? Had that been proven true or not Tara wondered.

Tara giggled at what Heidi said about raw talent. "Well I guess it's more of just a hobby for me. Some people live for music. I don't." she shrugged. Then Heidi said how psychology wasn't entirely her thing and Tara said "See? Psychology's more my thing than music is. You're the other way around; music seems to be more your thing than Psychology. Doesn't mean you can't be interested in both tho. I mean, I'm guessing you're a music major, right?" she asked. Based on how excited Heidi got about music, she had to be a music major. It was the same type of excitement Tara got for Psychology.

"Pop.. jazz... contemporary.. swing, classical.." Heidi giggled "Basically anything that has a unique sound, interesting flow, or anything that catches my interest! I'm none too hard to please when it comes to learning new stuff and styles."
Tara's eyes widened slightly. "Woww... I mainly play pop and classical." she said. "Well, now that I'm teaching myself stuff, it's more pop than classical, since I listen to it more. But back when I took lessons, my teacher found me all sorts of cool classical pieces to play." she said.

Tara grinned when Heidi asked what her shift was. She liked it when people asked her this. "I'm a golden-crowned flying fox. Also called the golden-capped fruit bat." she said. "Technically they're bats, but they look like foxes with wings. I think they're adorable." she said with a smile.

Then Heidi asked Tara to guess her shift and Tara made a concentrating face, squinting slightly as she thought about it. Dog or cat. Well if she was a cat, she was probably like a puma or something. A big cat. Big cats were more social than domestic cats. But she seemed more like a domestic dog than a wolf or fox or something...

"I'm gonna guess a domestic dog. I don't know much about breeds, but I can't see you as like, a poodle or something... though you're probably not a pitbull either so probably a medium sized dog." she stopped. "Oh, either that or one of the big cats. Though I guess you could easily be something obscure like a lemur." she giggled. "Okay you're not a lemur, but that's the first obscure animal that came to mind."

[Heidi Valentine]

Heidi was growing more and more comfortable around the 'not so stranger' Sitara across from her, thoroughly intrigued by their conversation. Even though it was only based around two things, psychology and music, the two had managed to find a middle ground to communicate on that they both could understand and relate to, each somehow appealing to the other's delight. Heidi was a social sort of person anyways, but it was nice to feel comfortable around people, just as it was nice to sit in this comfortable sofa. She couldn't get over it! Dogs absolutely loved rolling around on couches because of their texture and plush characteristics, so it was no surprise that she was attracted to such feelings herself.

"Autistic people, huh?" she mused, snapping back to reality and away from the couch. Heidi had never thought before that music could actually help to calm down people like that, but, then again, the power of music was one not to be looked down upon. Even she knew that. "Wowza, that's amazing that she's discovered something like that! I've never even heard it done before, which is surprising, since I'm usually ontop of things like that." She chuckled lightly then as the lights above them flickered once again, threatening to go off. They didn't though, thankfully, and held on strong to keep the light going. Heidi didn't know what she'd do if the lights went out for good. Of all things, she hated the dark. Was absolutely scared of being in dark places and being alone. Although, she was in a library with other students inside so she wouldn't really be alone. Even still, the thought of the grand room losing power wasn't a fond one of hers.

Sitara had made a point, though, about their slight differences in choice in career paths to take. There -were- such things as having hobbies and doing things you liked to do just to...well, do them! You didn't have to take them seriously or explore them too much unless you really wanted to, which was a true and valid point to make. She couldn't help but nod in agreement at this as she brought her chin to her knees as they pressed together, looking kind of like she was balled up on the couch. Like a little kid might. "Actually that's a good point... I almost forgot there were things out there called hobbies," she laughed, knowing this to be true. "I've taken music so seriously my whole life I... I guess I forgot that there's other things out there to spend my time no and not take so seriously. And just do it for the sake of having fun!"

She made a mental note to look into other activities to get involved with at the school later on when things were back to normal. It'd probably do her some good to get into other interests and explore the other half of her likes and desires that she hadn't ever gotten to do before. Of course not switch her major; she'd never dream of that. But just.. little things. Like maybe, oh, a sport or something. Like track. She wasn't big on sports, but her natural ability of speed and stamina that came with her collie was a terrible gift to waste, so she might give it a try. At least once. Maybe even cooking! Heidi could always appreciate a delicious brownie. Although... she was a lethal weapon in the kitchen, so that might take more practice and work than the other. This thought made her chuckle aloud, then, as she explained her thought process to Tara.

"I was just thinking... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for me to get some other hobbies on my plate, y'know? Like baking or something. I love sweets but... I just might end up burning down the kitchen. And the school with it." Her laugh subsided into a low chortle as the image played out through her head, cooking never being her strong point. Coming out of her momentary day dream, Tara's explanation of her species made Heidi arch her brows in surprise. "Whoa, really? A bat? I haven't seen any of those around before." she leaned forward slightly, studying the girl's face as she tried to picture it in bat form. She had said that they looked like foxes, and she could definitely imagine Tara having a fox-like face. A grin spread as she saw the resemblance, and then grew even more at her guess of Heidi's own species.

"Haha nope! Can't say that I'm a lemur, although having an opposable thumb would make a lot of things easier." Huh. A monkey-like Heidi would be a good laugh indeed. Offended, her collie half growled quietly to her at the mention of being one of the large, wild cats that she'd seen roaming the schools often, and she couldn't help but shake her head happily. "And nahh, no feline in me. Complete opposite, actually. You were right the first time -- I'm a Border Collie, kind of like.. Oh! Like Lassy. Er, sorta." Everyone knew Lassy, right? So hopefully that would give the other girl a pretty good visual as to what Heidi was. Even though her coloring was different. But the legistics of it didn't matter so much. It was close enough. She gave a mini applause to Tara with a grin, "Looks like those books you've been reading have taught you well!"

And then suddenly, without warning, the lights went off again.

This time, for good. A hushed gasp rose up from some of the students around them as the computers shut down, turning into a blank screen and the library's book check out system went offline. Heidi's body froze, her eyes wide with fear as her fingers clutched her jeans tightly around her knee, body completely rigid and stiff. The same could be said for the collie inside, as it too froze and became silent. It wasn't totally pitch black in the room, but still darker than she would have liked. Her heart rate started to accelerate as it thumped heavily against her chest like a race horse, threatening to burst free as the anxiety picked up.

TAGG? Sitara
WORDS? 1034
NOTES? Whoa. That came out to be longer than I thought lol!
CREDIT? hey it's SHMEY ! @ caution 2.0

[Sitara Neela Asman]

~outfit~
"Wowza, that's amazing that she's discovered something like that! I've never even heard it done before, which is surprising, since I'm usually ontop of things like that."
Tara grinned. "I know right? She hasn't published her findings yet, which might be why you haven't heard of it. But yeah. This just proves how theraputic music is. I mean, people have been saying that for a long time, but it hasn't been scientifically proven." She thought that the study of music on the brain was an important and fascinating one, as it not only dealt with two things she loved, but music was something that was natural and created by people, and to be able to use it in therapy to help people (with no side affects of course) was a wonderful idea. Tara wasn't a huge fan of medication, and much preferred therapy, so if it was found that music therapy could work really well... that would say so much for the field of psychology.

"I've taken music so seriously my whole life I... I guess I forgot that there's other things out there to spend my time no and not take so seriously. And just do it for the sake of having fun!"
Tara nodded in agreement. "Well I mean, you do need something fun that you can be serious about. For you piano, for me psychology. But I dunno. I actually have the opposite problem. I find so many different things that I find interesting that don't involve my major and I get all distracted." she said. "Like piano. Like writing. Reading. Computers. I try to do a lot of different things and I always end up doing more of one than the other." she said. Recently, she had been writing a lot, so she spent less time reading and practicing piano.

"I was just thinking... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for me to get some other hobbies on my plate, y'know? Like baking or something. I love sweets but... I just might end up burning down the kitchen. And the school with it."
Tara's eyes lit up. "Baking is so much fun! I mean, I'm not as good at cooking like, dinner and real meals and stuff, but I love baking." she leaned in as if about to tell a secret. "I found this amazing recipe for chocolate cupcakes with cookies on the inside. Ingenious. They're soo good." she said. "If you really do wanna learn baking, I could help." she offered.

Heidi mentioned that she hadn't met a bat before and Tara nodded. "Yeah there are no other bats on campus. That I know of anyway. There are plenty of foxes, but no bats." she made a face. "It kind of sucks, but at the same time, it makes me original, ya know? Like, wolves and panthers... there are plenty of those, but only one bat." she smiled.

Heidi mentioned not being a feline and Tara laughed. "Yeah cats are a little more solitary, right? But you're more... sociable." she said. But then Heidi mentioned she was a collie and Tara's eyes widened. "Dude, I know exactly what you're talking about. I used to have a dog and she was half Border Collie." she said.

Heidi gave her a mini-applause and Tara jokingly bowed, laughing. But before she could answer, the lights turned off. Students gasped. Computers turned off, and Heidi was frozen still. All they could do is listen to the wind and the rain and hope that it would all be over soon. "Woah..." Tara involuntarily let a word that had been floating around inside her head escape her lips.