"Hey Car, stop wrapping aroun-" Bailey began to continue the conversation with a joke, but then stopped himself suddenly, self-editing. There was a time and place for jokes like that, and that was not one of them. "Nope. Sorry. Anyway, yeah those are terrible names." He coughed and looked away awkwardly, rubbing his neck again in discomfort.

He glanced down at his ice cream cone and started to think. What didn't he put maple syrup on? Poutine? No. Pizza? No. Oh! "Broccoli. I've never put it on broccoli. But... maybe I should..." He cocked his head as he tried to consider the two flavours together. It wouldn't be good, that was for sure, but perhaps it wouldn't be that bad.

"Yuck," Bailey grimaced and shuddered at her explanation of her allergy. It did not sound like fun, in any sense of the word. He wondered what life had been like for her, not being able to go outside and all. Her childhood must have been really lonely. That, however, was thankfully something that he didn't blurt out. That would have been very bad.

"So have you always been like that? How did you find out about your allergy?"

Victoria curiously tilted her head trying to understand what Bailey was about to say in regards to a kid being named Car. Wrapping around? As Bailey seemed to dismiss whatever he was intending to say, Victoria let it go as well. After all, she wasn’t quite sure what to ask about it and he looked a little uncomfortable with whatever it was anyway.

Broccoli and maple syrup didn’t sound at all appealing to the taste buds. Though there had been times she had eaten regular food and stuff unintentionally mixed like a sauce touching another food item. She had tried it as it was on her plate anyway. Most times it gave a new unique taste, but not always good ones. This was a time she wasn’t so sure about what the outcome would be if she were to ever somehow get maple syrup on broccoli or offered such a morsel. She didn’t really have too much to add to the topic of food. Especially as her preferred diet was a whole other matter.

She nodded. “Yes, I was born with it. So, I lived a mostly sheltered life growing up. I’ve really only been exploring on my own since I came here to the States. It’s been interesting, but I don’t go too far because I only have the night time to spend outside.” She finished her ice cream cone before replying to Bailey’s second question. “My parents were the ones who told me about my allergy. Do you have any allergies?”

"Oh man, that must suck. Sorry, that was rude again. I'm bad about saying things like that," he hit his head with the heel of his palm for show and made a 'doy' noise. He was such a doofus sometimes.

"Anyway though, what kinds of things do you do when you wander around at night? Other than steal ice cream with strange boys, I mean," he winked and finished off the last little piece of his ice cream cone, before rethinking what he'd just said. "Sorry, I'm, like, a total idiot. That wasn't supposed to be a jab at you. It was my idea to steal the ice cream, after all."

The teen blushed red and looked down at his hands. Gosh, he was such an idiot. Not a doofus anymore. He'd graduated to full-fledged idiot. 

"Just certain soaps, or something. I dunno. Stuff that smells really strong. Gives me a headache. Nothing like what you have, though. Doesn't even compare," he shrugged.

He racked his brain for some of the information he was supposed to be learning in biology for the cause of her allergy. He came up with a few possible ideas, but he wasn't sure which one it could be. "So what causes your allergy? A lack of enzyme in your skin or something? Or do you not know?"

“It does suck, but I do what I can when I can. I’m pretty used to it.” She gave a reassuring grin even though Bailey was literally beating himself up. Part of her felt bad, but he wasn’t hurting himself. In fact, it was more comical than punishment.

Before Victoria could give another reply to Bailey, he again started apologizing and making gestures that he was messing up. “I don’t think you are an idiot. A little goofy maybe, but not an idiot.” She winked back to him hoping to show him that she knew he wasn’t serious about his stealing ice cream statement. Besides, if anyone were to ask they could just say they were only eating the bit that was overflowing over the edges of the containers. They were just getting rid of the excess is all. Nothing wrong with that. Right?

“I enjoy finding different shops that are open at night. I like listening to music from something playing on the speakers of a store or restaurant to street musicians. Meeting new people is nice too. So is looking at the stars.” For a moment she had a smirk on her face while remembering some of those aforementioned likes. She refocused on the boy. “So, it’s not boring at all.”

Bailey returned to the topic of Victoria’s allergy as if trying to figure out a cure or at least some sort of possible idea of how to minimize her reaction to the Sun. Was he trying to be sweet or was he going to try dissecting her next? “All I know is the Sun burns me, and I was born this way.” She shrugged.

A little goofy. Hey, well that was better than an idiot, Bailey reasoned. He grinned at her sheepishly, his face flushed, and muttered a "thanks." Goofy he could live with. People didn't really hate goofy people. They only sorta did, and even then, it was only part of the population, really. He could probably get a job with goofy. Idiot, not so much.

"Wow," he breathed, listening intently to her description of what she did each night. "That actually sounds super cool. I didn't really know that that many things were open late at night. What's the best thing that you've found so far? Oh, and where do you go to see the stars? I can never see them in the city."

“All I know is the Sun burns me, and I was born this way.”

"Huh. Alright, but aren't you ever, like, curious, or something? I dunno, I guess I would be curious if I were you. I know that when I was trying to figure out the weird things that I can do, all I did for like three days straight was research stuff on the internet. Not the best way to do it, I know, but it worked out alright," he shrugged.

Man, he really wanted some more ice cream.

“There aren’t as many places open as during the day time I’m sure, but there are enough to keep someone occupied at least. The best thing I found was a music store. The many who owned it would let me play on some of the instruments and sing songs. I think part of it was because people would hear me and come into the shop. Then most times he’d end up selling them something. So, I guess it was a pretty good deal.” Victoria paused and looked down at the counter. “At least it was.”

Looking down at her hands and fidgeting with her fingers she recalled the night those punks ruined everything. She sat there not showing any sign of her previously cheerful demeanor. Now she was as expressive and as warm as a statue. Victoria was suppressing the emotions she felt that night as best she could. It was a terrible time and she needed to try to move on.

Shaking her head slightly and blinking as if coming out of a daze she looked bac to Bailey. “I’m sorry.” She diverted to the topic where she could learn more about him now. “What kind of weird things could you do? Like hop on one foot while juggling eggs?” It was the first random thing she could think of.

Bailey's mouth twisted into a sort of pitying position as he watched her talk about her time in the music store. It sounded as though she had really enjoyed it, but something had happened to change that. She didn't say what did happen, but she became so somber after talking that even Bailey, who had absolutely no filter, knew not to ask about it.

He cleared his throat a little and steered the conversation in a slightly different direction. "So... uh... what did you play? What do you like to sing? I play trumpet at school. Not all that good, but it's fun. I sing, sometimes, too. It's a lot of fun. I get it." As always, his rambling was punctuated at the end with a large grin. 

"Weird things?" Bailey chuckled. He had to think about that for a minute. "Uh... well... I can recite a bunch of things from different Shakespeare plays, and I have a sock collection? I dunno if either of those really counts as weird."

"What about you?"

Talking about music was always a good thing with Victoria. She loved music! It was something that reminded her of her mother as well as being something she enjoyed listening to or performing. When she was able to play and sing at Ned’s music store she felt happy and free of worries. The fact that Bailey also played music made Victoria cheer back up and straighten her posture.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! I bet you’re good at it.” She smiled in a cheerfully reassuring manner. “Do you only play at your school or do you play at other times too like with friends or on your own?” It was great that she found someone with a similar interest. It was great that it was her favorite interest. “I can play piano, guitar, violin and a few other instruments but not as well. As for singing, I love singing lots of stuff. I like some modern songs and some older ones too. Just kind of depends what mood I’m in I think, but I’m starting to like more rock and metal songs. What about you? What do you sing?”

The list of ‘weird things’ Bailey listed off made Victoria giggle a bit. Not what she was expecting at all. Not even compared to what she brought up as a possibility. “That’s actually really impressive that you can recite Shakespeare. I’ve read some of his plays and that’s about the extent of it for me.” Another soft smile was directed at Bailey. “And umm…now I can tell people I know where all their random missing socks are.” Victoria stood up, and as if talking to a crowd, turned to her side while pointing at the boy. “He’s got your socks! Right here!” She couldn't help but laugh this time.

After taking a moment to recompose herself she shook her head. "I don't think I do anything weird really." Not unless you count drinking blood weird.

"Eh, I'm alright at it," Bailey grinned sheepishly. He was actually pretty good, but he felt weird about saying that out loud. It was actually one of the few things that he was really good at. "Here I mostly just play at school. Back in Canada I was part of this jazz band that would play in the town square all the time. That was really fun. We even won a few competitions."

"That's really cool!" Bailey enthused after hearing her list. "That's a lot of instruments! Do you ever play them toge- no wait, that's stupid. Of course you don't." He shook his head and sighed. He was always speaking without thinking.

"Uhhh... I sing just about anything. I really like alternative music, but I sing classical stuff too, sometimes." He looked to either side of him quickly to make sure no one was listening, even though they were the only two in the shop. "And I also really like Ed Sheeran, but don't tell anyone."

He threw his hands in the air and grinned, a little red faced. He laughed awkwardly as he said, "shoot, you got me!" He didn't dare mention the time he had actually stolen an armful of socks from some guy at the sanctuary. That was a dark moment for him.

"Nothing weird? That can't be true," he cocked his head and studied her. Everyone did something weird, even if it wasn't all that cool. "C'mon. You have to do something weird. You can trust me, I promise." He winked at the end of that statement, just as any good charmer would do. 

“Oh wow! That’s really great that you won awards with your band! I haven’t won anything like that. I just really like to sing and play music, but if it brings joy to others then that’s the best part of all.” She gave a warm smile. It was wonderful to find someone who enjoyed music in more ways than just listening to it.

Victoria giggled softly when Bailey caught himself after tripping over his own thought. “You know, I’ve never tried playing them all together. That would be something though wouldn’t it?” She shot him a playful wink trying to help him recover some dignity.

“I’m not sure why you don’t want anyone to know you like another person’s music. Music is to be enjoyed whether you like the beat or the song holds a deeper meaning. It’s all about expression, and even though a song might be written to express less happy feelings it could still have a sound to it that someone else might take joy in.” At least that’s how she felt about it. “If you want to listen to someone different I recommend an artist named Kerli. She’s from Estonia also.”

Thinking for a moment Victoria cocked her head in the direction bailey had so she was looking right at him. “Well.” She leaned forward and motioned for him to get closer as well. She waited until he was as close as he dared to be then took a quick glance around before returning to Bailey. “I did just have ice cream in a shop that was closed, but because a boy that worked there had to find his phone I ended up getting ice cream.” She blinked at him a couple times with her big red eyes then sat back and giggled.

"Yeah," he agreed with a long breath on the end of the word. Making people feel something with music was the best part of it. That was, after all, why people did it, wasn't it? Otherwise, what was the good in it? "Peoples' reactions are the best part of it by far. Sure, the awards are fun, but making people happy is way better."

"You'd be a one woman band!" Bailey replied excitedly. He tried to imagine her playing violin, piano, and guitar all at once. That would have to be one pretty cool contraption that would likely involve all of her limbs. He snickered as the image came to his mind.

Blushing profusely, Bailey realized that he'd said something wrong when he'd talked about his secret love of Ed Sheeran. He hadn't wanted to say something wrong, but as he listened to her explain why he shouldn't be ashamed, he felt as though he'd messed everything up. "You're right. Should I, like, send him fan mail, or something?" He laughed awkwardly, trying to backpedal a bit to save face.

"I'll look her up when I get home. What's Estonia like?" He ventured curiously. She'd told him a little bit, but he wanted to know more. It sounded really cool.

"Hah!" Bailey laughed loudly as she made her joke. "Man, who would do that? Crazy story."

Nodding, Victoria agreed with everything Bailey said. Performing music for people really was fun when you could see their reactions. That just made it all so much better when you’re already doing something you enjoy. “Yes, I completely agree with you.”

“If I could play all those instruments at once, that would be quite an accomplishment. Maybe if I had more arms I could do that.” She moved her arms in wobbly motions as if they were tentacles from an octopus and giggled as she did it. “I could open my own show in Las Vegas or something. Or! Maybe you could play some of the instruments too.”

Watching the boy’s cheeks fill with red embarrassment was quite a thing to behold. His awkwardness was rather amusing in a way. “Oh yes! You should most definitely do that! And send him pictures of yourself with a cardboard cutout of him also.” She nodded as if being serious, but only briefly before giggling and shaking her head letting Bailey know she was kidding. Of course she was but it was fun joking with the boy.

After taking a moment to settle down from the joking Victoria sat up straight and looked at Bailey as if trying to project her mental images from her eyes to his. “Oh good! I think you’ll like her. Estonia is beautiful! It’s magical! You almost expect fairies and other mythical creatures to just step out of the forests and greet you. The more modern cities aren’t much different than here. Lots of lights and events such as concerts. One time my family took me to a park on the edge of the city at night and they set up candles all around. It was amazing!” She took a few moments to reflect and smile. “What is it like in Canada?”

Victoria burst out laughing when Bailey continued joking with her. He was very polite and fun. She was enjoying her time in the ice cream shop.

"That would be kinda crazy," Bailey grinned at the thought of playing at a club in Vegas. He'd never even been to Vegas, much less thought of performing there. It did sound like fun, though, and he like talking to Victoria. "But kinda cool, too. I think we'd both have to grow crazy arms to really sell it," he grinned and mimicked her tentacle arm display. "The Octopi band! We could sell merchandise!"

Bailey could take teasing. He was more than used to teasing, having grown up with four brothers. So, he was glad that Victoria had switched to teasing him rather than point out the fact that he wasn't as good of a person as he wanted to be. His grin grew wider, and he decided to go along with it. "Alright, but you'll have to help me find the cutout. I'm not sure where to buy those."

Fairies and magical creatures. That sounded really cool. Bailey tried to picture it, but couldn't quite manage. He decided that he would have to see it in person at some point. "That's super cool. Are you a fairy, then, or some other mythical creature?"

He paused for a minute. What was Canada like? Well... there many answers to that question. "A bit like New York state. Where I'm from, anyway. It's a little bit colder, but it looks similar to this. Just... more maple trees and fewer guns."

Bailey glanced at his watch. It was late. Really late. "Wanna walk back to my house?" He asked Victoria. He had to go, but he didn't want to stop talking to Victoria. 

“Yeah, it would be crazy and cool. Even crazier that we’d need to grow more arms to do it though.” She giggled more at the thought. She pictured the two of them hopping around the stage with multiple wiggly arms playing musical instruments as they went. Oh, the name though. “That’s a terrible name.” Again she giggled shaking her head.

Things only continued to be silly. “I will definitely help you find a cut out. Or you could cut out a poster of him and paste it on cardboard.” She gave him a look as if to say ‘Now there’s an idea’. She drove home the thought with a wink and a playful pointing of her index finger at him. “Eh?” Another giggle.

Was she a fairy or mythical creature? “Of course I am! I’m a fairy princess.” She straightened up her posture a bit more and raised her right hand with her pinky up. “Couldn’t you tell?” Holding her little pose for a moment she winked playfully at the boy.

“So it’s a city surrounded by maple trees to keep your maple syrup craving satisfied. Ok got it.” More giggling. She was having a lot of fun talking with Bailey. The best part was he was being playful right back. She hadn’t had this sort of interaction before. Not [i[this[/i] fun anyway.

Bailey’s mentioning of time caused the girl to look for a clock on the wall in almost a terrified manner. How late was it? She hadn’t been paying attention to the time. Was the sun coming up already? God she hoped not.

Then her thoughts were thrown off track before she could register what time it was. Did he really just invite her to his house? “Umm…how far do you live from her?” Did she have time to go or should she try making it back to the mansion instead. What time was it?

The teen frowned, trying to think of a better name than the one that he'd pulled from the top of his head. He grinned as soon as a good one came to mind. "Fine, what about 'The Arm-y', or something?" He suggested and flailed his arms around in the same manner as before.

So she was a fairy. Bailey chuckled at that thought. "So where are your wings, then? Oh, and do you also grant wishes?" Granting wishes would be awesome, Bailey figured. Way better than just plain old power nullification. Plus, it'd be super useful, especially in school.

"Not far, really. Just a few blocks. Fifteen minutes tops," he shrugged. He wasn't exactly sure why she seemed so nervous about it, really. It would be a short walk, and it was better than standing around in a closed store.

Unless... she was scared of him? He went a little pale when he realized that that was very possibly the case. He was a stranger that she had just met, who was asking her to come to his house (well, walk to it, anyway) in the middle of the night. 

"Uh- you don't have to come if you don't want to though! It was just a suggestion 'cause you're fun to talk to! If you think it's weird, then don't worry about it. I promise that I wasn't gonna murder you or stick you in my basement, or something. I don't even have a basement, actually." He rambled, wanting to make it clear that he had no malicious intentions.