Names in the wind

Leah shook the hand gravely -living and breathing pseudo-pretentiousness- a very solemn shake. If he felt like adding some manly tears to the mix he would have, but that didn't seem like a terribly wise idea.
"No battle is truly won 'til all join in seraphic chorus, under the banner of the Swamp-thing and assorted Courts. So we shall abide and gird our shores, 'til that green and pleasant day."
He smiled as he sat back, letting the persona of the stage fall from his shoulders, the borrowed robes of the actor folding neatly back into the mental wardrobe that bent his shoulders and realigned his face into that of a more mundane person. The passion and twinkle of his paired orbs, veiled itself and shied away.

He was jolted from his own thoughts as Leo asked after his history of poetry, which brought something of a smile to his face. "I'm afraid that I merely have studied in the presence of those whom dedicated their life to it -as your parents did- and absorbed some knowledge via being in their presence. My only training in the rules (not that there are many) comes from acting."
He rubbed the side of his nose idly. "Darwin on the other hand, taught me that all creatures -no matter how big or small- have a part to play and each contributes in some way shape or form. Even if we can't see it, and that all these creatures shape each other and the environment shapes them to survive and adapt. It is hard to explain without rambling, but consider why the bird flies or the cow chews grass but not flesh. 'Tis those questions that Darwin taught me."

Leah adopted a more neutral expression. "He was of course, somewhat off in some of his answers. The first person to put up their hand to an entirely new question usually is."
Feeling the ramble come upon him, Leah looked out the window momentarily while he spoke. "He wasn't a genius, just able to notice what was around him. The lesson to take away here is that no matter the House you go to, you define yourself. A Lion might be brave enough to look at the answers that others shy away from." Leah paused, thinking about it. "I don't want to sound odd or anything, but each House carries connotations and people forget that there is wiggle room in the caste system established."
Here he self-consciously chuckled and rubbed his head ruefully, "But I'm probably just saying things you already know.
"How much exposure did you have to the magical world in your childhood?" Leah asked, playing his part in funnelling the conversation.

"Well, Daddy was a pureblood - Mummy, half as such - and so I grew knowing all that any fantasy-obsessed child might know." Leo grinned. "Only that all of those things were real, of course. If a child have a hope, then she should never mope - a buzzing bee of busy beliefs beat the best of brave-boned beasts." She sighed. "Try saying that six times slow."

"So Daddy kept kept my mane whilst Mummy kept me tame - and I grew in the forest and grassy plains. Like a plant, I'd like to think. Lots of sun, plenty of water - Mummy did me well." She giggled, but suddenly grew sober. "I... well, I don't know much else of the world." Leo turned to stare out the window. "The people, the places - it's all so frightening, I think. Why, anyone could come and attack me! There's many evil people in the world, you know," she turned back to address Leah. "You know, I don't really believe in 'dark' and 'light.' 'Dark' isn't evil; without 'dark,' where is light? What is 'light' but a lost little child, looking for his identity?"

(OOC: Ugh, sorry about the wait. Maths test demanded attention.)

"How about six times without moving my lips fast?" Parroted Leah idly, his hand swirling the condensation on the window (the train moved surprisingly fast, but then again, magic) and tended to experience the temperature variations rather heavily, so the condensation wasn't that odd, it did mean they'd been in for some unusual weather if his old lessons had taught him anything though.
As he did so, Leah traced his lips along the countours of the word she said to try and say slowly, even thinking about it actually made you wonder if it was possible. He'd need to get his lung capacity up to scratch again if he tried, he'd done a lot of singing back in Third Year to pass the time by himself -amazing what a silencing charm around your book stash did.
"That was a handy bit of alliteration," commented Leah after he'd familiarised himself with the words mentally while he sounded them out in his head. "My parents went awalkin' a day upon day - for all the limitless stretch of the illusionary and fractured, I could not paint a book, nor speak with any truth about them if they were not walking."

Leah raised one hand above the other, long dexterous fingers imitating a pair of legs striding on the back of his palm. "So when I came along, these two walkers, only stopped for the shortest time possible. So there was always the need to be able to walk along with them, so they gave me shoes to ignore the cold, hard stones, a hat to block the sun and a cream to shield my skin so I could walk with them."
He withdrew his physical demonstration at this point, it had served it's purpose. "I know too much about the world. There is no shelter I can call home, no roof that has ever lasted longer then a month. But home is where the heart is, and my heart is wherever they are. The world is large, but at the same time smaller because of that. If you expand your home to many places, it isn't so dark, or as evil. If you know about something, the fear goes away a little. It doesn't bear fangs of mystery and deceit, it is merely another stage for another play to be set. And the lines sometimes rhyme or repeat if you see enough plays."
He wasn't entirely sure where he was taking this discussion, but he hoped it gave her some measure of solace and he didn't come across as someone who had no clue about what he was talking about. But really, he wasn't all that sure what he could do to mitigate that. Get older and learn more? Didn't help that much, maybe he should just stop speaking. It'd worked well enough in Second Year.

(OOC: No problem! I had a few essays to write, so it worked out. *sigh* And thus the homework beast overcomes the ambitious roleplayer...)

"That, I'm afraid," Leo sighed, "is as far as my understanding ventures. The lion hears, but does not comprehend the words."

A sudden jerk in the train threw Leo headfirst into the wall. "My head..." Leo moaned. She clutched at her hair, groaning. "I hate pain," she explained, masking a frown with a smile. "Then again, who does?"

OOC: 'tis a beast that overcomes us all eventually. I'm now running on fumes, so post is gonna be meh.

"Don't put a spoon in your eye over it," replied Leah cheerily -although by now it was more apparent that his cheer was more of a bravado act to allow himself to fill in the social gaps depending on the setting, and probably wasn't absolutely vindictive of him being an extrovert. A socially capable introvert was properly how you'd define Leah, but you couldn't tell off the bat. "understanding, like a lot of things, comes with time." But then again, some people refused to understand or accept things or change their actions to reflect reality. He didn't think Leo would have any real issue with that, she seemed fairly capable in her ability to adapt.

Leah blinked as she was tossed into a wall as the train rattled around a bend. He'd smothered her somewhat once today already, perhaps he'd let her tend to herself before getting up and hustling around her. Leo appeared to take the injury in her stride, although it did leave Leah to consider her weight somewhat - if a simple alteration on momentum had that large an impact on her inertia, then it did make something of a statement.
"Only the oddest of folk. But then again we build ourselves mental cages of habit and instinct, who am I to say they are odd?"

(OOC: If men not work then they not eat - but if a man should build then he should take a seat. Meaning, it's all good! )

"One doesn't become odd until they venture outside of who they are or will be." Leo grinned. "And I'm afraid that I'm a bit... fragile, really. Actually, I don't think Daddy wanted me to come here at all..."

Leo had been warned that she spoke like the river out of a newly broken dam - her words were many and clear; flowing yet unrestrained. "Daddy doesn't like the idea of me going away. A mother to a daughter is a water-lily to the pond - a father, the careful gardener until she moves on." She sighed. "Men be fools and children, tools, but I, a stranger, dance with ghouls." A small laugh, "Daddy said I might be swallowed by the tide and spat out with vengeful pride. A fate worse than immortality, he says." She looked up. "Am I a fool for venturing into the world?"

(OOC: I'm really not that capable a lyricist, and have no real  talent or education in it, but that was very clever.)

Leah nodded at her parent's reluctance. It was reasonably common and could be called the overreaction effect, but that was all parents in general if anyone thought about it. Good parents anyway. He'd seen some bad ones in his time, and that could possibly be applied to his parents. It was arguable that they hadn't been ready to have a child, they were still so busy living their own lives.
"I think that it'll go in your favour as long as you don't try and solo a..." nothing really special came to mind so he went simple, "a troll." It was unlikely she wouldn't have at least come into some exposure of the word, so it worked for Leah.

He didn't know how to respond to her metaphorical analysis of the father and mother's habits in regards to their offspring. He was a genetic reflection for them- true, but he was really brought up by Thomas Tinker. "Take your time and pick the swell to ride, for some are devious and filled with crushed dreams and hope to scourge more." Was all the advise he would give there, still considering his parentage mentally.
"No more a fool then I, or any other on this train." Replied Leah succinctly, another answer had been on his tongue that went more or less like, "At a juncture of a road, there can be many lanes, but draw back and many become overlaps of others. Further still, they recede into yet more generalised crystallisations. A clever fool and a wise man. The wise man does not move from his home, as he knows that hurt waits him in the world. The clever fool takes it on without pause, because he is young and confident. Everyone whom climbed on this train is that fool, now we must make do with wits to survive the ordeals we encounter."
But it had been too long and dramatic for his taste.

(OOC: Neither am I, but I do enjoy a bit of rhyme and reason. And I couldn't tell - you're playing extremely well at my rhyme game. You've got really good prose.)

"Rhyme and reason become you well, Leah-sir," Leo smiled. She tapped nervously on a knee, sometimes drawing circles in the skin. "Then a fool I be, like summer's heat, who wastes away at dusk of day - but where we stand is where we take our chances. Is not the bird who never hopped the nest so worse-off than those who risked their lives with natures? With instinct?" A sigh escaped Leo, and she shook her head. "I really don't know what I'm talking about. I've just begun to approach the edge - ready to leap, but too afraid to die."

"But trolls and bulls and gold and ghouls - do I sense a story there?" A glint of curiosity and amusement glimmered in Leo's eyes.

(OOC: Imo, I've written poems before and have some opinions on it and what I like. I should probably get back into the game actually, sorta been dropping the ball due to fatigue. It also nicely reflects that Leah isn't as good at thinking on his feet as Leo. Seeing an unexpected amount of development in this topic insofar from Leah, definitely getting a better feel for him- thank you very much!)

Leah smiled somewhat at the compliment, he -like most people- generally liked being complimented. It didn't quite leave him with a soft glowy feeling inside but it most certainly gave him a bit of a boost to his self-esteem which wasn't his most highly supported mental currency, so it was highly susceptible to external injections, something he tended to watch out for.
"You dress me most colourfully, but I dare not borrow the garments of the Queen- for this crown most surely rests with you as much as me." When complimented, counter-compliment. It was social protocol.

"Instinct is the last fountain of knowledge. Take a chance on life, for our puppetmaster does not roll the die with life. Fortune favours the bold, and what is more bold then a fool?" Leah rubbed the side of his nose idly, a voice in the back of his mind wondering if it would grow any bigger.
"A cliff? Fear not if water lies below, better yet if the abyss stares back. For the monsters of the dark are shadows of the mind, and what can be destroyed by truth should be." This last was spoken with an odd passion, as if it was a greater truth that Leah merely relayed rather then spouted himself, as there was always an aspect of self-doubt in his tone this came across a good deal stronger then his regular speech.

"Perhaps two of the four, and the lonely half might have their own tale to tell from another. But 'tis not the subject of amicable discourse, for a ghoulish bull is a horrible find- whereas a troll with gold might bring delight." Or to some it might, you would need to be a clever fool however.

(OOC: Totally. Yeah, I have to write my characters for a little bit to get the hang of them - sometimes I feel like they're writing me, instead of me writing them. Ha.)

"'What can be destroyed by truth should be...'" Leo tapped her chin. "Should a man always know the truth? Should the secrets of the dark always come to light? If a man sees all light or all darkness, then what is he than blind?" She stared drearily into space. Unsure of where she was leading the conversation, Leo ventured onto the controversial ground. "What do you think, Leah? Do you really want to know everything?"