Explanations `` James

[James Grimley]

James watched her smile, maybe she did believe him. He was selling it, but he'd never buy his own product. He'd done enough that no matter how hard he worked or how much he tried to help others, he'd never find redemption. James continued walking along as she answered his next question. It was a relaively simple, pointless question, but it gave him the urge to blush. Not that he was sure he even could, either way, he looked away from her as she laughed at him. It wasn't so much he was hurt, it was just awkward for him in whatever sense. He'd never really chosen to make friends with anyone, but he had to now. At least it was with Selena. She gave off the feeling where if you didn't want to talk about something, she'd drop it in moments.

James' eyes flew to hers as she told him her age. One thousand years old? That put her birth near the eleventh century. The eleventh century was near the beginning of the middle ages and most of Europe was controlled by the Byzantines, but that was slowly beginning to decline. There had been four King Henrys and gunpowder had just been invented in China. That was just the part she'd been human for, had this young looking girl really grown up to watch the world grow from a population of 300 million to 3 billion? "What was the most interesting part of history you ever saw?" He asked, hiding the curiousity from his voice. History was an interesting subject and apparently, she could tell him 1000 years about it.

James wondered why she'd only ever told him. What was so special about an eighteen year old with a past like his? "...Why'd you tell me?" Did this have to do with the same reason she'd chosen to help him in the first place? He hid the confusion from his face. Were all women this complicated? Maybe he'd ask her that one day.

[Selena Nightingale]

His reaction was priceless. He looked absolutely flabbergasted, which Selena could understand. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he processed that. It must have been hard to digest; how many people ever lived to be a thousand? Besides the Volturi, no one. He didn't look like he was intimidated by her age, but he probably wasn't expecting that. What was the most interesting part of history you ever saw? He asked. She frowned. There was so much...

God... I don't know.

She laughed, Well... my favorite stuff probably had to do with the wars. The Civil War was just bad... Interesting, but it destroyed a lot. Other than that.... I think all of it was interesting. Since I can live forever, I get to see how everything changes.[/color]

She said, shrugging. Why'd you tell me? He asked. She shrugged again, trying to put her thoughts into words. I don't know. Probably because I was sick of holding that in for that long. My best friend... she doesn't know what I am. I have no vampire friends that I could share that with. You're the first vampire that I've had a decent conversation with in years.[/color] Only part of that was the truth. She also felt that she could open up to James. He didn't seem like the kind of person to judge her on that sort of thing. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

One thousand years old... James wasn't even two hundred years old in dog years and she'd been alive for more than one hundred thousand days. "Have you ever met anyone cool? Like Shakespeare or Newton or Davinci?" He asked before he could stop himself. Usually, he avoided slang unless he was angry enough to forget to remove his accent, but he was too excited. The civil wars? His favorite part of history, personally was Greece and it's development. They may have had millions of Gods and the gods acted human, but they were great mathemeticians and social beings. They had come up with democracy and applied geocentric beliefs to aid develop society.

James smiled up at her, though the smile never reached his eyes. "When my dad got real drunk, I used to hide under the sink and sound out the letters on the detergent bottle, I was really young, too. It was how I learned how to read. It took me twelve years to get through high school and university and I still don't want anything to do with the degree I got." He looked back at the ground as he continued walking at a slow pace. "I couldn't bring myself to tell my aunt I wanted to go into music. Music isn't successful, you know? You can't make a million a year giving piano lessons." James shrugged. Being broke and alone was so much better than becoming some rich lawyer or something. "I've never told anyone I hate my degree. I really would be happy as a fire fighter."

He looked back up at her, changing the subject from him again. He could talk, but it didn't mean she'd get to delve further into the subject, "so your best friend... presuming it's a girl by the way you talk of her, what's she like? Have you two known eachother for a while?" He asked, giving her no chance to question his own words but rather making her answer some. If he opened up, it would be of course something small like his degree, of course. But it was still somewhere.

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena laughed quietly at his curiousness. This was one thing she didn't mind sharing. She had been through so many experiences and now she had someone to share them with. As a matter of fact, I did meet Shakespeare. It was total accident, but I ran into him at a pub in London. He was working on Macbeth while he was having a drink. It was a very inspiring conversation.

She listened to his story and felt a pang of sadness in her stomach. You play piano?[/color] She asked quickly. But he changed the subject to her friend.

She hesitantly let the other subject drop as she thought about what to say about Lucy. She smiled at the thought of her friend. Lucy's great. I met her when I first moved here. She's kind of a dip, but I love her. It's a shame I'll have to move soon. I don't want to leave her here, but I couldn't turn her into a vampire. I wouldn't want this life for her.[/color] She said. She looked up at James and her smile dimmed a bit. So, do you have any friends?[/color] She asked. It was kind of a weird question. Well, the way she asked it was weird. She could admit that it made him sound like no one liked him at all. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

James smiled, she'd met Shakespeare, that must have been an amazing experience. Shakespeare made it seem like even a guy like James was allowed to find someone to love. He'd never actually tried and he was sure he never planned to but with him, alot of unplanned things happened. "What'd you and he talk about? Because if I'm not mistaken, Macbeth was about greed. I do think his seperate sonnets are amazing, though. They speak of beauty and lust and life and... love. He talks like the only thing he knows is love, you know?" James said with a shrug. Shakespeare was an interesting part about english. It wasn't exactly black and white like math, but it was understandable if you wanted it to be.

James caught her sneaking in the piano question. He chose to ignore it though, it would only lead to talking more music and well... music released emotions. James had never really played in front of anybody except his mute aunt because she was rarely home and had a beautiful grand piano he couldn't help himself. "You're moving?"Where does that leave me? He thought, "where to?"

James heard her question, it sounded sharp, even to him. How was he supposed to get out of this one? "I move around too much." He lied. He hadn't moved in months. He loved it here, it was safe, but right now he had to make a new start. "I'm not exactly a people person either. Can you really picture me at a prom?" He asked with a bit of a smile.

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena smiled a little at his curiosity about her conversation with Shakespeare. Yes, it was was about greed. But we didn't really talk about that. I told him I was a big fan of Romeo and Juliet and we got talking about love and such. I think we talked for a good couple of hours. It was pretty deep...

She said with a sigh, remembering that night. She looked over at James and smiled.

He asked where she was moving and she frowned. She hadn't thought he would have asked her about that. Oh. I'm not leaving for a while yet. After I graduate I plan to move. But as of now, I'm a 'sophomore'. I'm not moving for two years about. But when I do... well, I don't know.[/color] She shrugged, wondering what he was thinking about.

He said he wasn't much of a people person and asked if she could picture him at a prom. She eyed him up and down and tilted her head. I don't know. Maybe I could see you at prom.[/color] She looked away, not sure of how he was going to take that. She looked up again and noticed that a few stars had already popped out. Selena looked at James out of the corner of her eye and tried to see any hint of emotion there. As of now, she couldn't see anything. But hey, what else was new?[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

James looked over at her, Romeo and Juliet was her favorite? That screamed typical female romantic. She probably loved romantic comedies and chick flicks, but he wouldn't be surprised if her favorite movie turned out to be Die Hard or V for Vendetta. "I'm sure it was. The play was well written but honestly, I would much rather was a movie with a cheesy ending then see the real side to life, not that a magic potion that makes you appear dead is real. Not to mention the witches from Macbeth. My favorite play is Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night is a close second, but I also really enjoy Hamlet for one of the tragedies. As for monologues, my favorite comes from As You Like It called All The World's A Stage. Yourself?"

James asked, wondering about her favorite comedy. Knowing Shakespeare meant she came from England, which backed up the fact she said she was as old as she said, she must have travelled to the US afterwards. He already knew more about her then she thought, not that she was holding back any information. "Have you ever thought about Canada? The weather in Vancouver is similar to here, just there's more ocean everywhere." He said, most Americans overlooked Canada as anything but cold, it had some good qualities to it, but it definitely wasn't exactly the place to vacation.

James watched her look him over, uncomfortable with the fact, it wasn't like there was much to see, he was wearing a hoodie that covered most of his body, including his arms and he almost always wore jeans. "Tch, yeah. I'd hate to go to a prom. Having to wait hand and foot on some junior because she couldn't get any other guy so settled for me, then got mad when I wouldn't dance with her... I probably wouldn't even so much as get a date. But it really doesn't bother me. I hate social events." James said, all those drunk, drug abusing teenagers acting as though there was nothing better to do, it was so annoying.

He looked down at the ground and began thinking, allowing his mind to decide what was going on. He walked by a small pink flower and stared at it, contemplating picking it,. "I'll be honest, I don't usually walk through the woods with a girl I just met." He told her with a bit of a smile, looking away from the flower and at her. Sure, being a vampire was complicated, having to give up all your favorite foods and eat slim fast until the end of eternity was definitely not a bonus, but maybe it was okay if you were around people you felt safe with. James finally decided to pick it and handed it to Selena. "Thanks for all your help so far."

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena listened to him talk about his opinion on Shakespeare, nodding every few seconds. She had to agree with him. Romeo and Juliet was her absolute favorite, but she did like most of the things he mentioned. He asked what monologues she liked and she shrugged with a smile. Being the hopeless romantic she was, she would say anything that had to do with romance. "Haha well... anything about love."

She couldn't really think of her favorite one at the moment.

Selena noticed that he seemed sort of uncomfortable as she looked him over, so she averted her gaze. He explained why he didn't like prom and Selena shrugged again. God... I've been to so many proms it should be illegal.[/color] She laughed.

"I'll be honest, I don't usually walk through the woods with a girl I just met." She smiled and looked over at him, and saw him eying down something on the ground. He bent over and then turned to face her, handing her a pretty pink flower and thanking her for helping him. She knew if she were human she would have blushed, which was why she was glad for being a vampire. Oh, you're welcome. It's been the most interesting thing to happen to me in a while.[/color] She mumbled. It was true too. Living for a thousand years kind of made things boring. Selena liked change, and James had given it to her.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/font][/size][/color]

[James Grimley]

James gave a half smile, but it never reached his eyes. He had been right. She was a hopeless romantic. He was pretty surprised of all the people he could have met, he'd met her. She let him be closed off and chose to listen when he wasn't. Not only that but she was interesting and that was rare to James. Of course it made sense since some of the things she said and talked about were pretty old fashioned.

"So, you like proms?" James asked. Glad she stopped staring at him. People usually were good at staring at him, especially after he came out of the swimming pool. Parts of his body were exposed that even scared some people. James nodded as she told him it was interesting, she had no idea what it was like to be around him. Interesting didn't quite sum up exactly what he was like. Being around James was usually a roller coaster ride, if he wasn't mad, then he probably wasn't even in the house and if he was neither mad nor away from home, it was a rare night or something like today had happened and he was able to keep his memoried in check because easier things to concentrate about surrounded him.

"I wouldn't exactly call myself interesting." James tried to explain but there were no words that he could really figure out. "Being around me is more like riding a psychotic horse towards a burning barn." James finally explained. "And I mean that in the most non-scary way." He told her, jokingly. "You're far more interesting than I am."

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena shrugged, not really knowing what to say to his question. She liked them, yes, but one was really only supposed to go to prom once. Selena had been to more than ten. After the first few the effect had worn off. Now, it was just a normal dance. She looked up at James and shrugged again. They're nice... they've just lost their charm for me.

She answered.

She looked down at the flower in her hand and a smile spread across her face again. He told her that he wasn't that interesting and he described it. She looked up at him and frowned. She didn't seem to find him anything like that. True, she hadn't known him for that long, but first impressions could be wrong. She just couldn't believe what he was saying about himself.

She laughed when he said she was more interesting than he was. I'm not that interesting. The things I've done in my life are interesting. Not me.[/color] She looked down at the flower again, fingering one of the velvet petals. You know, no one's given me a flower in years. Thank you.[/color] She mumbled, kind of shy. She hadn't actually done anything with a man, walk with, talk to, in a long time. It was sort of nice to do that again. Sure, she was a vampire, but she was also a girl.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

"Next time you have to attend one, you should be on the committee and spice it up. Make it zombie themed or something. I'd willingly go to a prom like that. Or you could go a little more safer like masquerade. Girls just love masquerade things and if al the girls showed up they'd bring dates and the dates would bring friends... Could work." James shrugged. He would probably attend a masquerade prom as well because no one would really bother him all that much. Or he could skip it like he did almost every other dance he'd ever attended. Maybe he'd go if someone worth it was there. But that had restrictions as well.

James watched her frown at him. He already had decided he hated that frown in the first few seconds she'd shown it to him. It was as though she would prove to be defiant about everything he just said. James knew that the next time he saw it, he wouldn't be pleased with himself, if he ever saw it again.

James smirked as she contradicted herself. "Ghandi says that your actions become habits and habits become character. What you do says everything about yourself." He was a good judge of character and he had no problem figuring out Selena. She was just like anyone else... almost. She just seemed alot more out of place.

James nodded at her final words. It was just a flower... It would die eventually, or she'd lose it, then she'd have to wait years again before getting one. Flowers were so fragile. It was why they were so pretty. Pretty things were extremely fragile. "You're welcome, miss Selena." James said with a reassuring smile, he took in a breath as though he were gonna continue but thought of nothing to say and looked on his side of the path, sighing. If only he could tell her everything about himself... That would go terribly wrong. All she had to do was catch that stupid forensics show that played late at night and she'd know exactly who he was. He looked exactly like his father and he hated it. But his personality was nothing like his old man. James turned to her, his eyes sad. But he hid the emotions in a second and carefully studied her features.

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena laughed, liking his idea of a perfect prom. Yeah, that would make a fun prom.

She said with a smile. Maybe she would have to do that. She had never had an interest for doing things like that, but when he put it that way she couldn't really see herself passing it up anymore. She had tried everything else a school had to offer and that was probably one of the last things she hadn't done.

Selena looked up at him as he spoke again and she smirked after. True... very true...[/color] She mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say. But that just made her wonder more about James. From what little he had told her, he didn't like his past much. Which of coarse made her curious. But, as she had been doing, she wouldn't push him to tell her.

He responded to her thanks by calling her Miss Selena and she looked up at him the same time he looked down at her. His mouth opened as if he was going to finish, but nothing came. Her eyes met his and she saw sadness there, but only for a second before he hid it. He studied her, almost intensely, and it made her squirm a bit. But what really bothered her was the way he could hide his emotions so well. It was like he was wearing a mask the whole time and he only took it off occasionally. Which wasn't very often at all.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

James listened to her laugh and smiled. She had a beautiful voice. Her laugh was like crystals or something... Some unexplainable phenomenon. James quietly walked along as she spoke once more to confirm his words. She didn't seem like she felt safe around him. Maybe safe wasn't the right word, maybe uneasy, but he certainly had that effect on people.

James noticed how uncomfortable she was by his look, but it didn't stop him from trying to figure her out. He allowed the silence to continue as he stared into her eyes, trying to maybe understand why she was the way she was. Finally, he broke the intense stare and looked up to see her home coming into view in the deepening dark. "I do play piano. I'm not the best, but it's because I always let my emotions get the best of me..." He finally told her. He'd listened to every word she said. Whether he answered or not was a different story. "I prefer guitar. I'm better at it. I think I like it so much because I love country music and all you need is a guitar... "

James said, his eyes not meeting hers. He owed her at least this much, if she asked a rather non intrusive question, maybe it would be fair to talk about it. She'd already told him alot about herself. "Do you like music?" He finally looked up at her, to see the expression on her face. She wasn't good at hiding it and her motions often times gave it away. Her body language made it easy for him to understand everything she was saying and alot of what she wasn't.

[Selena Nightingale]

Selena looked down, unable to keep his gaze anymore. Things were starting to get familiar again. She looked up and saw her house a little ways off. Of coarse she frowned, wondering if James would stay any longer or if he would leave right away. She didn't really have anything to offer him anyway. He could no longer sleep, and they had just gone hunting so maybe they would just talk. As they had been doing. But she couldn't be sure. You're putting way too much thought into this. She thought to herself.

He started talking about music and she looked up at him again. So he did play piano. Awesome. She hid a smile and he said how he preferred guitar. So he liked country? Selena liked anything with a melody, really. And as if he read her mind, he asked her if she liked music.


Mhm... a lot. I like anything with a melody really. Rap just sucks. Can't stand it.

She shook her head, smiling again. She looked down at the flower again, unable to think of anything else. I used to sing, you know. I was pretty good too.[/color] She mumbled. Of coarse her mind wandered to those days as a singer. Why had she given it up? She had no idea... probably because she didn't like all the people watching her pour her heart out into those songs. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/color]

[James Grimley]

James turned to her as he realized he practically had no place to go. He could go back to his aunt's, but that was too complicated. He'd have to explain the eyes and he'd have to explain his absence. If he brought Selena back, it would cover for his absence but wouldn't explain the change in physical appearance. "Let's say you had a scar on your arm... what would happen to it after you became a vampire?" James asked, he'd rather have her tell him then find out the honest way. If his scars weren't there maybe he could start fresh somewhere and do something good with his life, or hide somewhere and just avoid all humans. Maybe, if he asked nice enough, Selena would let him stay with her.

James smiled at her hate for rap. "If you had a choice, you'd choose a song for its lyrics before the catchy beat. Like for instance, a song about love. I bet your favorite song is about a man and woman falling in love." He said, it was just a guess, but an educated one. His favorite song was country. His favorite song was by the Rascal Flatts and it reminded him to wake up every morning because eventually it would get better. "Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks is your favorite song." It wasn't a severely popular song, but any girl who loved Romeo and Juliet would love to hear a guy sing the lyrics to that song. Maybe if she had a guitar, she would sing it for him.

"Do you it might be possible to stay with you for a while? Just until I get my feet on the ground. Then I'll figure something out." He told her, forcing the words from his lips. If she said no, it wouldn't mean much, he'd just have to try a little harder to survive. "Please." James added, politely.