Early Birds [Open]

[Larissa Scott]

[Larissa's music]

The doors to the theatre-slash-classroom closed softly behind a young woman. She eyed the empty place and smiled to herself, it wasn't rare that the place was silent but it was nice to be alone. Thankfully it was also hardly ever locked, except when the rest of the school was. She walked down the steps carefully in her heeled boots, not willing to risk a sprained ankle from rushing.

Larissa placed her shoulderbag down on the top of the stage to remove her iPod speakers and plugged in her iPod nano, setting it to the song that was thrumming in her veins. She moved herself onto the stage and having already stretched, pressed play on her iPod. A tan coloured tank top covered her torso while a light skirt covered her thighs, both pieces could be used as casual clothing or were loose enough for her to practice in.

The moment the light beat started, she rose from a starting pose and began to do an impromptu ballet routine. Although Larissa hadn't choreographed anything, she never faltered in her steps and merely flowed from one position to the next and only pausing for effect.

It had felt like it was months since she was able to dance so freely, seeing as there was hardly any other place to do so other than the theatre. Briefly she entertained the notion of bringing up the proposal for a dance studio to the principal and had resolved to do so when she had the chance. But for now, all that concerned her and that occupied her mind was dancing to the end of the song.

Dance like no one is watching, like today is your last...

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[Russell Brown]

While Russell wasn't always right there in the theater, it was a safe bet he was always around the theater. For example, he was currently up in the sound and lighting booth, trying to fix the lights. However, he paused, sitting up as he heard music. His head came out from underneath the table with the buttons, and watched as the girl moved around on the stage. He tried to remember if she was familiar, but with only a year of teaching experience under his belt here at CIAA, everyone looked familiar. He leaned on the table and watched for a minute before he leaned back down to connect the wire he had just been finishing. He pushed a button, and the house lights came up, earning a nod of approval from Russell. He then stood up, brushing his hands over black skinny jeans and a low-cut black shirt. He then moved, easily running down the steep stairs and then heading down the aisle to the stage.

"Don't be alarmed," he told her, his accent thick from the streets of Britain, where he was born. "Just needed to check the lights and all that, make sure they were workin' alright. Keep goin', if ya want."

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[Larissa Scott]

She twirled and dipped, sweeping her leg across the floor to spin back up into a straigher position before continuing on. Just for kicks she began to integrate street moves as the song progressed longer and closer to the ending. It felt perfect, although a little bit unrefined without choregraphing.

Suddenly the house lights turned on and she faltered for a moment before recovering to continue on. As Larissa twirled, she looked for the cause of the lights turning on in time to catch sight of none other than the head of the theatre department. Her lips twitched in a wry smile, of course he was here with this being his classroom. Seeing as there were only a few precious moments left of the song, she did as he told her to and finished her impromptu dancing.

Larissa followed the ending of the song with more street than ballet, before she finished with a fondu position. To do so, she lowered her body by bending the knee of her supporting leg in finish in a sort of bow-like pose for her audience with her arms curved at her sides for support.

She straightened up a few seconds after the song stopped and lifted her arms to the ceiling to stretch out her back. "I didnae, didn't, realize that someone was here." Her voice carried down to Russell as a smile continued to spread on her mouth. Just as his voice carried a British accent, her own carried the lightest of Scottish from her father no matter how she corrected her words and it only got worse when she was upset. "I'm Larissa. Larissa Scott, I'm in your class."

Larissa moved to the edge of the stage as she spoke, gathering her things before sitting down with her legs hanging off the end. "I gather that you're almost never away from here anyhow?"

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[Russell Brown]

Russell watched her, dropping into a seat in the front row to watch her, calm eyes following her movements. He grinned as she finished, politely clapping before he shrugged and dropped his hands.

"It's alright. Just had to fix a few things, you know. The house lights were getting a bit funky and wouldn't do what they were supposed to, so I put them in their place."

Russell was grateful that she had told him her name. He was really working on it, but there were so many people to remember that it was hard to do. He smiled and watched her.

"Right. I stay here all the time... there's always something to do to get ready for the school year, the first show, whatever else comes up. And seeing as there aren't any techs here just yet, I get to do all the hard work myself." A grin crossed his features at this, and he shrugged. "The theater is my life."

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[Larissa Scott]

Larissa swung her legs gently as they hung over the lip of the stage, barely tapping the edge when they touched the wall. She nodded when he explained what he was doing in the first place. Her fingernails tapped in a slight beat against the edge as her hand supported her upright torso and was not much different than the music she had just danced to.

"Well at least you are here than to keep track of everything. It would be horrible if something went wrong without someone to keep it in check." The woman made a hum of agreement as she spoke, "I know how you feel about the theatre, although more of my passion is in dancing." Larissa crossed her ankles, but did not stop the slight swaying motion of her legs.

"Lately, I've been finding that with more of my time being spent here in the theatre, I've been falling deeper in love with it. By far my favourite are Shakespearean plays, both to watch and to act."

[Russell Brown]

Russell listened to her, watching as she kicked her feet. He smiled when she said that at least he was there to keep things in order, and nodded in agreement.

"Things tend to go wrong when no one's around. So, I try to stay around all the time, just to head things off." He grinned at her, listening as she spoke again. When she mentioned Shakespeare, he shifted in his seat, leaning forward a little.

"Shakespeare is often the first person that people think of when they start thinking of theaters and actin' and the like," he said, his accent getting thicker. "The truth is that Shakespeare is the very forefather of theater for what it is today..." he trailed off, realizing he was about to enter lecture mode, and grinned at her.

"What's your favorite??"

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[Larissa Scott]

"Aye, I know such. But tis only because of the very fact that Shakespeare founded theatre that people think of his accomplishments first. My personal favourite of his is a tie between the Merchant of Venice and Macbeth."

Larissa shifted slight on the stage, the hard floor was starting to become slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't too terrible. She moved her hands from holding the ledge to being placed in her lap, rubbing the circulation back into them so they weren't tingling anymore. "I like Nevermore and musicals such as Wicked, or the Sound of Music." The woman rubbed her thumb into her palm gently, only glancing away from Russell once to check the colour of her hands.

"What about you? I imagine that you have your own favourites."

[OOC: Sorry about the shortness. Long day >.>]

[Russell Brown]

lRussell listened, nodding as she told him her favorites. He shifted his long legs, making himself more comfortable. He watched the way she rubbed her legs to get the circulation back for only a moment before he though over her question.

"That's actually a very easy one. My favorite Shakespeare is Hamlet, though Macbeth is a close second," he said. "For musicals, I'm a fan of Cats, Wicked, and Ragtime, which I saw recently." He seemed to be thinking for a minute, and then shrugged. "Anything, really. I haven't found one yet that I don't like."

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[Larissa Scott]

"That's always a good thing, when being a professor of theatre I suppose." Larissa smiled, "I actually haven't had the chance to attend Cats yet. I hope to at some point." She idily played with her iPod that had slipped out of her purse, scrolling randomly up and down her list of songs. For the most part it seemed as if she had ot have something in her hands at all times, and usually that was correct except for when she was dancing or acting.

She stopped swinging her legs and rested them on the front of the stage, keeping them crossed at her ankles. "What made you move from Britian? You are from there, right?" Larissa asked curiously, she was always interested in hearing about others somewhat more than talking about herself. And who knows, it might be the only chance that she got to talk to him on an informal level. Her pale green eyes flickered across his reclined form slightly, having never really been able to see him in class. He was interesting and eccentric, both of which usually meant that the person was fun to be around.

[Russell Brown]

Russell listened to her, crossing one long leg over the other, watching her calmly. He didn't examine her as she did him, mainly because he believed that a person could be figured out by their eyes. Her eyes told her story, at least to him. He blinked when she spoke, grinning slightly.

"I have a DVD copy of it. I may play it in a class, but since classes don't start for a while yet, I could let you borrow it. It's a very good musical," he said. He leaned back in the seat, relaxing as she asked her next question. It was a good one, he had to give her that. Why did he move here from Britain? He shrugged.

"Honestly, I didn't really like it in England," he said, watching her. "It was alright, and the theaters were amazing, but it wasn't what I wanted. So, I came here and here I am," he said, grinning at her. "It's not a very interesting story."

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