Touché. Point for Twyla. Apparently all it took to get him to talk more was for the girl to talk less. Possibly adopt a less-is-more strategy: noted and filed away for future reference. Locke's sudden burst in words may just have been in relation to bringing up music as a topic that she had assumed was 'safe'. It was apparently a safe topic indeed and she watched in interest as he explained to her how playing bass felt. She couldn't totally relate, having never played any kind of guitar or stringed instrument before, but the blond was pretty sure she knew what he was talking about--at least with the heartbeat thing. It was a cool feeling, having the beat of a song run through you and she could see how making that beat would be a worthy experience. The executive decision was made to remain listening but silent as the boy followed the train of his thoughts into the station.

He suggested that if she wanted to learn an instrument that bass would be the way to go. An urge to argue with the 'anyone can sing' comment surfaced in the girl (church choir was always in interesting experience) but then she calmed herself with: Anyone can sing, some people just shouldn't. That wasn't the nicest thought ever created, but Twyla doubted that anyone in her old congregation would argue with her about Mrs.Hein and her obnoxiously loud warble.

A hand reached across her forehead to pull at the straying bangs there. It seemed like her hair was intent on covering her face. "I guess I never really wanted to learn one--an instrument I mean. I guess I like the idea of reacting to music more than I like the idea of making it." Twyla paused and mulled over what she had said. "Does that make sense?" She bit her lip, trying to answer her own question. "I dance,er, I used to...I mean, I still dance but not in a team setting." The girl's face fell quite a bit (she didn't notice) as she admitted this. "I like to interpret music is all I meant--I totally get what you mean about the heartbeat thing." A small smile lit up her face but it was quickly covered by the storm cloud that was masking her features.

Locke squirmed on his seat. Why wasn’t she talking now? Did Eaan decide that he was going to have to be social and get a hold of this girl? He could not leave the room, and she was not going to. Why should they have to talk? People do not need to have conversation every time that they are with someone. In a library you don’t turn to the person beside you and ask them what they do for a living. As the Madagascan Tree Frog song came to an end Locke felt at a loss for what to say next. He’d talked about playing the bass, he talked about how anyone can sing, though looking back maybe he should have clarified anyone can try to sing. The Californian scrolled through the extensive play list and clicked on Overkill. Colin Haye’s song was the first thing he heard at night. A fairly accurate description of his life.

I can’t get to sleep

“I didn’t know who it was, let alone the song when I first heard it. It was just one of those songs that they play on Scrubs,” he explained, starting to scroll again. At last Twyla decided to speak up and say something. She talked about dancing which was a bit of a foreign topic. Still it connected to the music idea. “You danced? Cool. I just can do The Wiggles stuff,” Locke blushed, “One to many children’s shows.”

Explain yourself dweeb before you come across as a pedophile. “I have a little brother and sister, and I know they say that you shouldn’t let TV raise them. I try not to let them watch too much stuff, but sometimes I need them distracted.”

Twyla was confused at first, as to what song he was talking about--and then she stopped to listen the noise coming from the speakers. She'd never heard the song before, but that was no shock. The girl's musical tastes were varied and random but she didn't stray too much or too often out of her realm of Pat Benatar, random country, 90s jams, and Top 40. She did have an affinity for singer/song writers, but most of those albums featured female voices. Oh, that and she'd never watched 'Scrubs' before, just heard of it--she never watched much TV. Twyla attempted a knowing nod and a blase "Cool." to hide her ignorance.

The girl smiled normally again when the boy blushed--it was a familiar reaction to things and one thing the blond on the dryer did a lot. 'The Wiggles' she'd heard of that show too, but she could barely picture the characters. Siblings, on the other hand, she could talk about, siblings she had a lot of. "Oh, how old are they?" Another hair flip to get the stupid bangs out from her line of vision.

"I have a younger brother too..." A pause. "And an older one and three older sisters." Another pause and after it her voice was a bit quieter and her own cheeks were a bit pink. "Not that I suppose that's important in this conversation...Sorry." A shrug carefully placed in the attempt to lift an awkwardness off of her shoulders.

Score! Brothers and sisters were a safe ground, as long as Locke stayed clear from landmines such as why he was doing most of the child raising, and any other things that might have happened with Twyla. No wonder gossip is so popular. It is easier sometimes to talk about others than to talk about yourself. That was what the problem had been with laundry and music. One topic was entirely too impersonal to hold any interest to both parties, while the other could be an indication of your persona. Siblings had a mix of the two. "They're five and can be a riot," Locke zoomed the mouse about the screen, opening a folder to pictures of his little sibs. The first picture that popped up had two blurs of color and smiles. Someone had snapped a picture of kids in play-motion, running and leaping through a sprinkler on a rare cloud free day. "Riot meaning both funny and disastrous." Next up was them looking in two different directions, both having been distracted when he took the picture. Chris and Mai looked more like their mother then they did their father, and therefor Locke. The hair color was about the same, Locke's a touch darker, and the nose shape was right for Mai, but Chris had the eyes.

For some reason Twyla blushed when she talked about her own family, prompting a similar reaction from Locke. Some people will start laughing at the sound of another's laugh. When you spotted someone yawning you yawned as well. Locke, well, he turned red when others turned pink. It was as if his body was programed to react that way whenever anyone felt the slightest bit uneasy. He did the math. "There's six of you? I mean it's not like you're part of that Dugger family or something, not that there's anything wrong with them but whoa.. I thought it was crowded with just us three."

Locke told her that his siblings were both five and then he started messing with his computer. A moment later a picture popped up on the screen and Twyla hopped off of her precarious perch to go and procure herself a better peek. The first picture was blurry but the girl could make out the outlines of two children. She smiled without even thinking about it. Kids had that kind of effect on the blond girl, she loved babysitting and one of her main goals in life was to have a family of her own. The next picture gave a better idea to Twyla of what they looked like. They were cute. Brown eyes flitted from the screen to compare the twins to their brother. There was a decided family resemblance.

"They're really cute. I bet having two younger siblings is a handful." Twyla remembered when her younger brother, Johnathan had been that small and how angry her older sisters always got at them when they had to babysit. Johnny was almost thirteen now but last she'd heard he was still getting babied. At least Johnathan never acted like a brat, or the babying would have stopped a long time ago.

Another glance up from the screen was given and the girl noted that he had blushed when she did. Maybe the pair had more in common than they knew? The color on her cheeks faded after it seemed she hadn't rambled about something un-conversation worthy. And then she laughed, just a little bit. "It wasn't too bad. My oldest sister is almost ten years older than me, so we weren't all in the same house for very long. We lived in a farm house with an attic, my sisters got the attic--we were never sardined." Twyla shrugged. "It's only really crowded over the holidays, because everyone's bringing their husband or boyfriend or girlfriend or roommate home with them." Not that she'd been home for the holidays in a while, but still.

And then, becuase it suddenly occurred to her and she was curious. "So what's it really like, living in California, I mean. I know what it looks like in the movies...but...yeah." Another shrug.

"Still, that's about the same age difference between me and my sibs," Locke pointed out. His mind was still trying to process how loud it had to be in a house like Twyla's. Especially around the holidays. Unless her parents were as strict about a schedule as he was, it had to have been chaotic. The mentioning of a farm house with an attic brought up images of Little House on The Prairie, a show that Locke had no choice but to listen to, and eventually watch while in the hospital. Everyone had been so busy in that show, and it had to be that way for Twyla. "I've never had to share a room. By the time Chris and Mai are teenagers I'd be at that age where I have to be on my own anyways."

Twyla changed the subject faster then a chorus girl in Vegas changed costumes, and Locke found himself now having to talk about his home state. "Uh, well," he blinked trying to figure out where to start, "I guess that all depends on where you are. Yeah there are parts that are like in movies and TV, sunshine and surf. There's also some cold parts. San Francisco doesn't have as many hot days as I'd like. Normally it's under eighty, and we have a lot of fog. It moves pretty fast. The fog that is. Earthquakes I guess can be pretty frightening, but for the most part everyone prepares for it. At least everyone I know. I tried surfing once. It was alright I guess. Is Wisconsin all cheese and cows?"

Twyla shrugged for the millionth time in the conversation. "I guess I don't remember ever feeling crowded. There was always something to do outside or in the barn I guess." The only crowded memories were related to holidays, but she'd already said that--as her sisters had slowly moved out the house had actually felt smaller. With the attic empty there were only two stories with people and Twyla had never dared enter her sisters room, even when she was safe for their wrath (it's hard to take out your wrath on someone when you're at least an hour away and in college).

"I didn't have to share a room either, the older girls got the attic and my brothers got the sitting room area on the second floor. My parents and I were the only ones with real bedrooms..." Guests didn't go beyond the first floor unless they were in search of the upstairs bedroom that all of the children shared (scratch that, those were crowded memories). The girl with the pink highlights had the smallest space to herself in the house, but she liked it that way.

Her question was answered with a description of the weather in different parts of the state and the girl noted to bring pants with her if she was ever going to spend any time in San Fransisco. Fog she was decently used to but earthquakes she did not think she would deal with very well, they always looked scary on TV and in the movies she'd watched for a history class once. "Alright..." She'd nodded and smiled with his response and then he asked her the reverse of that question.

"Well, I grew up on a dairy farm--so I obviously had a lot of cows in my life but most places aren't farms. Some of the smaller towns in my area, sure, most of what you see is corn and dairy cows but the population that actually farms is a lot smaller than you'd assume, I guess. There's some cool stuff too--like Madison is an amazing city and I've heard that Green bay is pretty cool, even if I haven't actually been there." Yet another shrug.

"Surfing?" She asked after a moment. "That's pretty cool--I hadn't seen the ocean until I...left but we hung out on the river in the summer...the Mississippi, that is. What else do you do for fun besides making songs and things out of mud?" The girl retreated once again to her post on the dryer (which was over halfway done with her order) and looked at the boy's face intently with a politely interested look on her own face.

"Mississippi River?" Locke asked, a little confused. He'd done ok in geography as a kid, and probably could name the capital of a few states, but he wasn't all that clear on where rivers and such were. "I thought you said you were from Wisconsin." He had some doubts that the Mississippi River started all the way up there. If it did wouldn't they call it the Wisconsin River instead? Twyla said that she had left her home state. So did that mean that she had traveled south before going north? Even if he had ridden in the train across the country and through many states Locke did not consider him having stopped in any of them long enough to claim he'd been there. It would be like saying that he been in them while flying in a plane.

Sadly he did not have much to offer when she asked what interests he had other than music and his mutation. He had to stop and think up what to say. We covered music, and since I said I did more lyric writing then music that leaves writing covered. I talked about Chris and Mai, which is most of it, and Twyla's ruled out the mud. I am boring."Uh, I guess that's about it. I like movies I guess, but everyone does. I try to catch as many horror and psychological thrillers I can talk my step-mom into letting me see. I got all the Saw movies."

Oh my god. You have got to be kidding me. Now, normally Twyla Ashby was a very tolerant, nice, forgiving, and easygoing person but he'd just......basic geography....he lived in the States and....how does someone not know basic things about a river that splits their country from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico? Twyla knew about California and the rest of the states and about mountain ranges and large bodies of water and even if she didn't know the names of everything she could still picture a basic geographic map of the U.S.A. in her head. The girl on the dryer almost fell off of her seat after his words and she choked a little bit on air.

Some rapid blinking and Twyla had recovered...for the most part. Her tone was a little sharp when she replied: "The Mississippi starts in Northern Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. I lived near the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin so I was right near the river..." There was some more blinking right after her little explanation and the girl had the strong urge to slap whoever taught Locke geography. Had she been a more violent person she might have slapped the mutant boy in front of her in an attempt to hit the ignorance out of him. Luckily, she wasn't a violent person by nature.

Without anymore comment she let the conversation go into a place she'd set it in. Movies, huh? Twyla shuddered at the mention of the 'Saw' movies. "Oh man, I can't watch anything gory like that--psychological thrillers maybe...but anything with buckets of fake blood totally freaks me out. I--" Ding. The machine beneath her face a shuddering sigh and she realized that her clothes must be de-wrinkled, at least she hoped so. Hoping down, the girl opened the dryer and pulled out a pair of shorts. They seemed better so she folded them and placed them in the green basket that had been discarded earlier. "Hah! Victory for me." She murmured as she pulled out a tank top.

"So do you read at all, Locke?" Movies Twyla knew a few things about, but for the sake of learning newer information quicker she decided to go off in another random direction yet again.

"Don't have a cow. Geography was just the names of states and capitals. US History never goes past World War 2, if you have a textbook that doesn't end with 'Someday man will get to the moon', and in high school they start teaching you about Europe, as if there were only two continents in the world," he said quickly, hoping to diffuse her. Yes, Locke was intimidated by a girl. And for good reason. They fight dirty. He might not be able to read thoughts, or even be remarkably in tune with females, but her nearly falling off the dryer and her lecture told him that he had hit on something that annoyed her. Locke would be the first to admit he had not learned everything that he could have from school. Part of it was a lack of funds, and another part was just the curriculum. History is only what people deem to be important, and a map only includes what the cartographer thinks is important.

Having just stepped on a land mine Locke was relieved that she moved onto movies. "It's not just about the shock value," he defended himself and his favorite movies with, "It's the incredible amount of thought and precision behind each one of the traps. Jigsaw puts his victims in a situation where they are in charge, no matter how unlikely that seems. The reason why people get hurt and maimed is they don't take the second to think and see what is there, and what is wrong with them. I'm not saying that what he does is right, but they do point out a fatal flaw with humanity. I can name at least three examples where the people die because nobody thinks that someone else can help them. Oh, and buckets of fake blood can be good. Evil Dead is just so horribly B rated it's not even a horror movie in the end."

Did he read? "Yeah, I guess I read some. I have a library card. No real genre, but I'm not a fan of science, both fiction or non."

Apparently her tone was sharper than she'd assumed. Telling her not to have a cow: not appreciated. There was more rapid fire blinking (it was truly a bad way to try and deal with her problems) and then the girl internally rolled her eyes and said nothing. Nope. Not a thing. There was no reason trying to argue with Locke because: 1. She didn't like to fight and 2. She was pretty sure that the boy in front of her would enjoy/carry on the argument much too much for her too feel vindicated about her responses. It was much, much better to just let things slide.

Again, it seemed, their conversation had turned into an argument. The girl watched the boy respond and defend himself (she hadn't realized she'd attacked him) and tried her best to see his side. Twyla had never gotten through the first Saw movie (she'd left the room half crying--scary was not her thing) so she really had no idea what he was talking about. She'd have to take his word on it. "Not my cup of tea, I guess." Twyla responded weakly as she continued to fold her summer clothing. A peek into the dryer showed she didn't have much left to fold. Maybe she wouldn't have to argue much longer.

Talking about reading was a dud. Epic fail. Oh well, she really was almost done anyway. "Oh, okay." One pair of shorts left and once those were done he could be left to his own devices. Standing up, the girl brushed off her knees. "Well," She put the basket on her hip. "I'm all done here, so I'll see ya around, Locke. It was nice to meet you--keep practicing with that mud." A friendly smile was thrown his way and then the girl was gone, back out the way she came.

it was not running away.

Strike two The teen thought when Twyla became even more mute than she had been before hand. He had only meant to diffuse her on the whole Mississppi misconception, but somehow he went from stepping on a landmine to running into a tank. Twyla was hurrying now, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Strike three… “Locke you are a total dweeb,” he scolded himself as Twyla left. Not that he wasn’t happy to be left alone. He had no idea what to say, as was usually the case, but she had at least given him something to go on and he had totally blown it each time.

”Should have mentioned Orwell, or Norvik,” Locke might not have been the most prolific reader, but he did have his favorite authors. To him it was better to read a few books that he really enjoyed rather than just follow what was the popular trend. He slapped himself in the forehead. ”Or even Robinson Crusoe. Idiot.”