{{ You Gave The World A Brand New Voice }}

[kalai]

Niko smiled at the laugh. He was glad he took it in good humor- Niko probably should have considered the implications more at this school- but what was done was done, anyway. So he didn't think back on it, merely brushed it aside with a smile. Cyrus approaching him, oddly, did not make him uneasy as it should have. What did he want? God, if he got raped by some kid because he was stupid enough to venture into the forest- with these thoughts in mind, Niko cringed, closing his eyes as Cyrus touched him. To find him merely ruffling his hair was shocking.

Niko let out a sigh of relief, one he didn't bother to explain, then smiled as though nothing had happened.

"Yeah? Punk? I thought black looked good. Maybe goth would suit me better."Niko offererd- a somewhat forced statement that even to his own ears sounded utterly stupid. His expression revealed his annoyance- in himself, though looks didn't tend to point fingers- before he brought himself to look back to Cyrus. Alright. So keep cool. Cyrus said he looked better- still complimenting. Hm. Niko bit his lip for a moment, pondering. Dare he say something now? And if so, what? Instead of really planing it, he just decided to go with the first thing to come to mind.

"I-ah-like your eyes? I mean. . .Hah, expensive contacts or something? Because they're definitely a great choice. . ."Niko questioned, suddenly nervous though he was definitely doing his best to calm himself back down.

Fail. Hm. Well, next statement? He wasn't sure what else to do.

"I. . like the cold in general. Like winter, and the snow. At night, I can't bear being hot, so at least in the winter I can go lay in the snow and cool off instead of taking a cold shower or drinking water."Niko tried to sound confident again, but his voice still sounded somewhat different. Uncertain, as though it were moving up from nervous. . .slowly.

[cyrus]

Cyrus noticed the boy looked a bit annoyed but wasn't sure why, maybe he hated people messing with his hair like Cy hated it when his got ruffled. Think about this for a moment with a slight blush he pulled his hand away, he blushed only because he was slightly embarrassed. It was a growing habit much like him biting on his barbell.

"Maybe." He said towards the Emo comment but he wasn't really sure and why in the seven hells was he even complimenting a boy, then again Cyrus wasn't even sure on his sexuality even if he made out with a guy before.

Cyrus pulled away from the teenager seeing that, or so Cyrus thought, he was making the boy nervous and it seemed so when he sorta started, or sounded like it, over his eye color. The young teenager smiled awkwardly, "Erm, sadly its my natural color, no contacts. I got some weird genes." He said littlely, almost a mumble.

But then Cyrus personality suddenly did a 360 and he moved further away from Nik at the sound of water! "Water? What, where? Oh god its not around this are is it?" He panicked for a moment and looked afraid and annoyed all together. He was terrified of water and just thinking about a water source being near by scared the living hell out of him!

But then he realized, that he jumped to conclusions and didn't hear all of Nik's statements.

"Oh, right, drinking water...aha..hah...ha...ha.......I knew that...." He slid his hands into his pockets, bouncing on his heels. Yeah, he just made himself look like a freaking retard.

Again.

[kalai]

Niko was relieved by the short answer. He'd have to go back to being quiet, things went over smoothly that way. Why had he been so willing to talk in the first place? Well, not again.

"No way, that's wicked."Niko objected. His real eyes? Insane. Well, didn't Niko feel. . .common? Ooh well, maybe brown was better than pink. Sure, pink would be cool for a while. . .maybe. . . Niko silently scolded himself, telling himself to stay focused. Really, pink eyes? How could you stay focused when you had that on your mind? Niko was fairly certain those were like, lottery chances, if anyone in the world had pink eyes like that. His mind definitely did drop the idea of Cyrus's eyes, not that he thought it was possible before it happened.

Niko burst into laughter at first, just amused by the sudden fear of water? Ha! He kept telling himself 'stop' but it wasn't doing mugh good. Time for a different approach?Niko coughed to help the laughter subside. His face had gone a bit red, but otherwise he was okay. Maybe a bit out of breath.

"Ha, I like you, Cyrus."Niko stated, his tone still amused. "No water, promise. Just, don't dehydrate." Niko rubbed at his cheek as if that'd take the sudden heat that the redness brought. It didn't. Oh well. Niko dropped his hand, trying to think of something not related to water.

"Ummah, so, Cyrus. . .have any interests? Hobbies?"Niko questioned casually. He wasn't going to dwell on Cyrus's fear. If Cyrus wanted to talk about it, Niko'd let him bring it up on his own time.

[cyrus]

He turned red, once again from being embarrassed but this time over his fear of water. "Oh shut up!" He remarked over Nik's laughter. He felt uncomfortable and tapped his teeth with his barbell again and scratched at his overly pierced left ear and looked way. Well at least he thought his eyes where cool and he did cheer up a bit but still was slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, they are cool, until you get picked on from them in school, but oh well and yes let's drop the water and I promise I will drink...other things." He pointed out and slid his bracelet ridden hand back into his pocket and shifted his weight, leaning back on the tree again. Cyrus blinked for a moment when Nik pointed out that he liked Cy, but he said nothing but averted his eyes again.

Now hobbies that was going to be interesting, "I like music and play the guitar." He stated with a nod, "That's probably my biggest hobbie right there, how about you? Got anything interesting, Nik?" He asked, shorting Nikolai's name verbally as he looked up into the sky, he thought he felt a rain drop touch his nose for a moment.

God he hopped that was just his imagination. He was sure it was...damn sure.

[kalai]

Having Cyrus tell him to shut up was hilarious in it's own way but he bit his lip to renew the laughter. He had to keep it together. . .

Anyway, yeah. Kids could be mean, it'd suck to be teased over it. And he could only imagine how mean kids were to Cyrus. . .It made him feel rather bad, if anything. Maybe eyes weren't the right thing to talk about, in that case. So, what he'd said after the comment about his eyes; Niko hadn't meant 'I like you' that literally. It was more his way of saying he didn't totally hate him, or that he wasn't laughing because the person was a total idiot. . .But he wasn't too concerned with how Cyrus would take it, because it didn't seem important. . .really at all. If the kid thought he liked him, so what? It only mattered when Niko had a boyfriend.

"Guitar? Eh, I play the piano. . .Yeah, I swear that's all I ever did when I was little. Guess I was supposed to be modern Beethoven or som-"Niko stopped, trying not to laugh as he came to realize it was raining himself. Before it hadn't hit him, but now. . . Keep a straight face, keep a straight face. . .

"S-Cy-"Niko tried to get through his name to say something random, but he couldn't manage it without stopping to chuckle. Ha, raining, that was so perfect! Yet. . .he was really terrified. Niko's expression suddenly grew serious.

"'iight, man."Niko muttered,"You're safer here than braving the distance between here and the school. The trees offer some shelter, at least. You can just stay against the trunk or something. . ." Well, until he froze to death, or until the water began to seep into the ground. . .Niko wasn't going to mention that.

[cyrus]

His pink eyes remained on the sky hidden through the thick branches of the trees. He didn't think much on the like subject anymore, it was pleasing to know someone could stand him but the feeling of raining hitting his forehead made him a bit edgy and took his mind off a lot.

"Ah, the piano, fun instrument, I love its sound and can only play it a little bit. I'm better with string instruments," he paused and lowered his eyes as he heard Nik starting to chuckle again and he knew why as he looked back up at the branches. "haha...." he said nervously.

"It's alright, rain can't drown me unless it floods and then I'm just screwed," Another pause, "And not in the fun way I might add." He chuckled at that, trying to keep his mind off the rain that was coming down through the branches at a slow pace.

He shuddered at the substance that threatened to soak him if it got heavier. "It would rain..." He laughed a bit, but more so out of a twisted sense of humor and fear. It was nice to know that Nik thought it was safer for him in the trees and that it was! Cyrus was not moving...not anytime soon now.

[kalai]

"Mhm."Niko agreed shortly. Wasn't going to admit his mother made him play it, wasn't going to. . . After all, he did have a passion for it now, even if his beginning with it had been less than. . .well, great? Niko hated being forced into things, especially by his parents. Which was why he was here, wasn't it? Happy thoughts. Rainbows. Butterflies. When Cyrus nervously offered the 'haha', Niko's grin widened. Haha indeed.

"Drowning? So, not water? I don't want to drown, either. . ."Niko's voice shifted after he said so. It became quieter, more thoughtful. His expression changed too. Drowning. He was scared of that, too! But he wasn't scared of the rain or water. Huh. Well, at least he could understand it a little better, right? Cyrus had a point, though. It couldn't get him, not really. What really caught his attention was 'and not in the fun way'. Niko's grin returned. Fun way, ha, too many thoughts. . . If Niko let himself, he very well could lose himself in his own mind. He did it often, hence the silence. It was like, 'I'm going to be quiet, why not do something fun?' Yes. Time spent in his mind was fun.

"Yeah, apparently so. You don't seem to have the best luck."Once more, Niko's voice seemed a bit distant. Not too much so, just enough to detect it seemed. Kinda like he was silently arguing with himself to either talk or just walk away- not that he literally would walk away.

[cyrus]

"Eee, I would say both. I am afraid of drowning and water. A nice combo if you ask me." He stated with a slight moan as water touched his shoulder. "Man..." He was in disgusted at the rain and raised his fist to the heavens and shook it. "You were supposed to be clear tonight, damn'it not raining!"

He had the urge then, to grab a metal rod, shake it and scream that all the god's were bastards. But he wasn't dumb, knowing his luck a god (or God) would smite him instantly. His pink eyes climbed back down and looked at Nik, "Your the silent kind aren't you?" He mused on this for a moment as he wondered what could be going on in the boys head. But he didn't think to much on it, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Cyrus Makoa was getting wet from the rain and he hated being wet.

"And no, my luck isn't the best half the time." He moved back over to Nik, but didn't not leave the cover of the branches, so he reached out and poked Nik in the shoulder. He wasn't sure why he did it but it was something to do. "You are going to get wet."

Which was true, the rain was picking up and Cy wondered if it would be worse of better staying out doors or running back to the school because he was getting edgy. When Cy got edgy, he often put his foot right in his mouth or cussed as much as a Sailor which was soon demonstrated when he felt water on his hand.

[kalai]

Both. . .Yeah, very nice combination indeed. Hearing the moan from the other boy made Niko's smile disapear. Hm. This was a problem. . . What could he do? Aside from taking off his shirt and placing it over the other boy- Niko's eyes lit up. Hey, he had another shirt on! Niko smiled yet again, feeling fairly proud as he unbuttoned the cuff of his sleeve. It wasn't too obvious of an action, but it was an action no less.

Silent kind? Hm.

"I was doing so well,"Niko muttered. He meant doing so well at hiding it, but he didn't state this additional clarification. And his voice held little indication of if he was sarcastic or serious.He, himself, didn't quite know. Was he mad? Mad that Cyrus pinned it, mad that he couldn't fake him out? Mad that who he was showed through even when he didn't say it? He tried not to let himself get too worked up over it. With a slight smile he decided to try to think of something else.

"You're the first person I've talked to since boarding the plane to come here."Niko added with a shrug as he unbuttoned the second cuff, then tugged down at it- it needed to be unbuttoned in the front, but him tugging at it was somewhat necessary in his mind, anyway.

"Obviously not."Niko agreed. It wasn't hard to tell that. The kid had pink eyes, and the kid freaked out about water, so it rained. How much more unlucky could you get? Niko did his best to not be amused by this realization.

When Cyrus poked him, Niko nearly stepped back. He lifted his foot as if he were going to- why was he touching him? Less then a second later he'd concluded it didn't matter, and set his foot back down.

"Oh. . .So I am. . ."he muttered hotly. Well, forget the shirt idea then! Niko's mood was definitely dampened now. When Cyrus swore, Niko's anger disappeared - momentarily.

"Are you alright?"Niko questioned in reference to him swearing. He didn't mind it, it wasn't like he'd say please don't or anything, he just wanted to ensure that Cyrus didn't have a headache now on top of everything else. . .or well, anything else.

[cyrus]

Cyrus blinked and noticed the mood change and he had to wonder if he was just damn good at pushing this kids buttons or if he was normally like this all the time. He wasn't sure so he didn't question, but its foot went right into his mouth as it usually did when he was upset over something.

"You don't have to look so pissy!"

"You look like you are about to bite me!" He said with wide eyes, "I warn you, I am not tasty and very stringy." He pointed out as he took a few steps away from Nikolai feeling like all he was doing is pissing the kid off. He blinked in confusion when Nik started to undo the cuffs of his shirt, "Why are you doing that?" He asked, staring at the cuffs and then shook his head, "Im fine, I just um, getting a bit...erm yeah when I get bothered by something, no offense." Cyrus stated, trying to think of something to do or at least keep himself busy so he would stop annoying the boy.

That was a hard thing to do really, as he was having his nerves twisted and then afraid the boy here would eat him alive and hide the body.

Maybe the other guys where right, Cyrus belonged in a horror film.