music is life

> Terrance

Terrance was inexplicably frustrated.

Things at home were getting worse by the days and he was starting to lose it. This wasn't really the first time Terrance was this angry; he was almost just as furious when his new sister arrived in their home and they immediately got into a quarrel. Just 'almost' because at least then he could just go away and probably punch a tree outside their house.

But this was different: it was bogging down on him. He was irritable the whole day and when he thought his anger was simmering down, it comes back and bites him in the arse.

Terrance took the chance to try and clear his head in his free time and walk around a bit but honestly? It wasn't really doing him any good.

...Is what he would say if something hadn't caught his ear.

It was faint but he could hear it just enough to make him curious. Terrance obediently followed the sound which led him to an empty classroom. The door wasn't closed shut and he could hear a girl's voice resonated in the room. Terrance was entranced and couldn't tear his attention. His focus was on her that he didn't notice he was leading on the door until he accidentally pushed further, causing him to fall forward when the door creaked open.

He muttered out a hushed curse as he regained his composure. "Ah... sorry about that...! I didn't mean to disturb you," he said, pushing up his glasses as he looked up to the girl.

She didn't look like she was angry about anything, Terrance thought. Good. He was worried that she would get angry.

"You okay? And do you always sneak in to watch a girl sing?"

"O-of course not!" he replied immediately, sounding very defensive until he realized he might have spoken too harshly. He blushed a little out of embarrassment since she was giggling. Terrance cleared his throat as he got up, dusting off whatever dirt got onto his clothes when he'd tripped. It was mostly just so he wouldn't have to look up because he was honestly embarrassed from the outburst.

"I-Im alright," he said after gaining a bit of his composure back, "Sorry about sneaking around; I didn't know if you'd feel awkward if I just casually dropped by and said I'd listen in." Terrance laughed a little dryly at his own joke but quickly shrunk back and fumbled with his glasses again. "I- uh.. my name's Terrance," he managed to say. He paused just a bit to process what she had said but before he could say anything, Blythe spoke again.

"Oh wow you have really pretty eyes."

That caught him off-guard. The surprise was obvious in his eyes, as well as the sudden shyness when he cast his gaze away from her. All of a sudden, he couldn't look directly at her smiling face. In the first place, he couldn't really figure out what to say or even how to react. He scolded himself for that, geez, what the hell. He smiled at her shyly, "Thanks. You... you have a really lovely voice," he said. At the that moment, he realized he could redirect the topic back to her, "So you said you're new here? If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

Terrance was very sure she was teasing him but he knew enough he should be better off to keep it together. And he was, for the most part, right.

" I don't mind really, I do like to sing for others but my mother said I shouldn't do it. Not at least until I have full control of my songs. But I really love music and well.... sing or humming is the only way I can really do what I love. You know."

"I don't actually see why you shouldn't," he mused aloud. Having realized he said this out loud, looked almost a little surprised for a moment before he recovered from it, "But well, if you say you don't have full control than we probably don't want accidents," he added. It was at that moment he managed to peice it together. A pretty girl from that sea that sings and probably shouldn't 'until she has full control of her songs'. Wow, did I just call her pretty? Terrance would put his bet she could be a mermaid. Or a siren but he knew that would be scary because he heard sirens lure people with their voice and drown them. He hoped not.

Terrance had to bite back a blush creeping onto his face when Blythe blushed herself and for once he didn't actually reprimand himself when he thought of her looking cute when she was playing with her hair. Wow, what a day. His gaze played around their surroundings before he ended up turning to look back at her, "The sea, huh? So, um, you're like... a mermaid? Or something?" he said, almost like he was trying to impress her by guessing.

As he said that, he noticed the injury she had on her lip and immediately switched his attention. By reflex, he reached out his hand and held her head up slightly by her chin, "Bonta mia! What happened? Did you hurt yourself?

Terrance hummed thoughtfully, "It honestly doesn't sound that bad but it could probably be troublesome." For a moment, he had to pause and check if he was feeling any weird, worried that maybe she actually did lose control and lead him there. Well, at least he knew he did have an interest in music to know he went there on his own volition.

As he eased back to reality, what greeted him was Blythe's face only a few inches away from him. She wasn't all that close but it was enough to fluster him just a bit to get speechless even when she pulled away.

"Ummm.... If I told you what I am I afraid you be scared of me. Mom said I am not the best combination for people to trust." What could possibly be bad enough of a combination to be scared of? Other than demons but he decided to get that out of his head. "Ummm... Are you human?

"Well, yes. I am... I think. I kinda have a thing going on with some celestials so the question's a little up there.." his voice trailed off a little when he realized he was about to ramble. Terrance decided he didn't have to delve on that too much.

As she explained what had happened, a frown showed in his expression, "That's really rude of him. He'd have the nerve to pick a fight over a mistake and hit a girl." He breathed out heavily as he tried to think about it. Honestly if he were there, he might have actually jumped in and actually hit whoever that guy was. That was no way to treat anyone.

While he was in his thoughts, Blythe's voice brought him back to reality when she repeated his words. He took a moment to process it, almost like he didn't know what was wrong until it finally sunk in. He realized he accidentally reach out his hand to her face and pulled away his hand abruptly. "Oh, sorry about that. I sometimes just blurt out Italian every now and then," he said, a followed by a small chuckle. "I grew up elsewhere so there's that."

Terrance took a half step back, realizing he'd stepped off bounds just a little and worried it could have made her a little self aware. If that blush she had on her face wasn't an indication, he wasn't sure what that was.

And then she spoke again. Terrance looked back up at her. A little confused, a little curious. Both words registered at the same time in his head and for a moment, Terrance had to figure out what she mean. "Reaper siren?" he echoed. The first that he could process was the word 'siren' but the reaper part didn't flow in well. "By reaper, you don't mean... not to sound rude, but the..." Terrance was trying to figure out how to say it in any other way, for a second all he was doing drawing circles in the air waiting for a word to come to him until he just gave up. "Yeah, like death reaper?"

"A lycan?" Terrance echoed. That can't be good. He had a very thoughtful look on him for the while that Blythe continued to explain. He'd at least learned about werewolves even before he found himself in Manta Carlos. As far as he knew, they were the type that should never be crossed; other than their brute strength, he'd learned werewolves had quite a bad temper. It wasn't surprising now that he'd attacked Blythe.

Even so, Terrance wouldn't have it. "You.. you should try and avoid that person. I heard werewolves are really hot-headed and all." He paused, as if hesitating to continue. "We... don't really want you getting hurt for no reason," he said, almost in a whisper.

"I..Italian? Oh, i wanna learn, Maybe you can teach me and I will sing a song for you in it."

He couldn't miss the blush on her face and it was equally making Terrance a little flustered, but as usual, he tried to keep it together. "Well, honestly, I'm not really the best teacher for language," he said, almost shyly. He gave her a smile, "But I bet you'd sound amazing."

Terrance couldn't exactly say anything more than that. He was sure he he tried any harder, he was going to stumble and stutter. She had a really nice smile and the blush made her look really vibrant to him. Damn it, I should really stop thinking like this! he scolded himself. "I grew up in Italy; er.. it's somewhere in Europe and it's pretty far from here..." he halted from speaking. The part about why he was here and the part about the angels was pretty complicated to explain, he honestly thought.

But just as he was trying to piece it together for her, he noticed the worried expression she had on. She bit her lip and he swore he'd almost panicked as he saw the blood trickle down her chin from the re-opened cut.

"Sorry I didn't mean to... scare you or anything." She shrunk back as she said those words, "I know... I understand if you are afraid.. most people are... at least that what my dad would tell me. But I shouldn't lie if I want to make any real friends." she said to him smiling weakly but still there. "But yes a reaper as in death... but my dad doesn't deal with death he a business man and mom a music and dance teacher."

"N-no! It's not that... I.. I just got a little self conscious. It's not you, I..." Terrance took a moment to breathe and collect his thoughts. After which, he raised his gaze back up and reached a handkerchief to her so she could wipe the blood off, "I'm not scared. Not at all," he said, smiling at her. "I guess I admit I got a little startled. I don't really have a problem against reapers but... I guess I'm mostly just surprised since I didn't expect it."

If there was anyone he'd be wary about meeting, it would have been his counterpart Sin. Now that he was standing in front of a reaper-siren, it didn't really feel as scary as he used to think. She was alright--heck, she was more than alright. He didn't have to repeat himself.