[OPEN] Out in the Corner in the Pouring Rain

It was past classes, and Ada usually returns to her apartment in Yamaku Plaza to get her clothes changed and probably return to the gym, take care of her home or do the groceries since she isn't in a club or any other extra activity. But this time it was not the case, it was raining outside since midday and she had nothing to do but wander around and wait for the rain to cease, or at least lower enough to walk home. She had lost the count of how many times she had walked around the school in the same day, and she didn't bother looking for something to spend that time with.

While drinking a soda from a vending machine, she stopped suddenly in the middle of a hallway to see through the window. It was still raining with the same intensity than five hours ago, it was getting dark. Frowning, she began walking again to stop again and look at the other side of the hallway. There was a lonely door that caught her attention, telling her to enter. With her curiosity leading her actions, she peeked inside the door and turned on the lights to see a piano in the middle of the room. This must be the music room. It was empty so she entered and left the door not exactly open, but neither closed, like inviting to come in.

Scanning the piano, Ada saw that it was a bit dusty even though it seemed fairly new. This room isn't so popular, or at least that's the impression she got. She would've most likely sit and play it...if she knew how to do it. Instead she just walked around trying to find anything interesting. She found something that was less foreign to her. Ada took out an acoustic guitar from it's case and used the tools inside it to tune it and place a capo so she could play what was on her mind. After stretching her hands and playing three songs to warm up, she began playing in fingerstyle a popular song that made many people cry, sing and get emotional; she learned it shortly before moving from Quebec, so it bringed some memories about the old times.

Unconciously, she began humming the lyrics as she played the song. Even though her father was the one who forced her to learn to play, she enjoyed it at times. Ada was so into playing that she didn't noticed when the raining ceased and night arrived.

OOC: The song is She Will Be Loved from Maroon 5. The video of the fingerstyle is here if you want to hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETqcPMyKy3c
Oh and I found a nice image of this idea.

Shane yawned to himself while walking through the halls, stretching his back and leg with several pops. Sleeping on the pool floor did that, man that was certainly not the best idea, but could he be blamed pile of books to read, cool water, and nice rain in the background. Mari was right, it certainly was a nice sound.
"Hell my right leg is still aslee- oh right..."
Man he must have been tired if he didn't even mean to make that joke, and he had to go back to his room through this rain while in this state. Ha that was as likely as him becoming a track star unless he got some caffeine in him. Thankfully he was pretty sure there was a soda machine does this way. He almost jumped in joy at the sight, but didn't want the likely fall to occur if he did and settled for just quickly grabbing one can. He walked down a little further and noticed an open classroom before he heard the music coming out of it
"Huh least I'm not the only one here."
He glanced into the music room and almost choked on his drink when he saw Ada. He was thankful he hadn't, he wanted to keep listening and he didn't want to risk interrupting, in fear of meeting the hard end of a guitar or maybe shocking her. Though it didn't stop him from hopping onto a nearby counter and listening with closed eyes, occasionally taking a drink.

As she played the last part of the song, Ada's lips curved up slightly into a peaceful smile that denoted how calm she was at the moment. To finish the song, she gave a smooth touch to the last three strings, giving the song a small dramatic finisher.

Sighing, she glanced to the window and saw the rain had stopped. The somehow pleasing smell of water in the streets made her stand up and open the window. Leaving the guitar next to the chair, Ada stretched her back and arms facing the window, then sat down and grabbed the guitar again. Her head was empty and nothing to play came to her mind, staring to the ceiling to seek some inspiration. After a minute she gave up and stood suddenly, walking around the classroom while thinking and taking sips of her soda.

"I wonder why there isn't a music club. It was pretty popular in Quebec" she said to no one in particular

Half a minute passed and a mix of anger and impatience invaded Ada, so she threw the now empty can to the door with so much strength that it was a miracle it didn't bend

Shane had been attempting to think up another song, still in relaxed daze from the first one. Hearing her second query interrupted his thoughts at he automatically replied.
"Maybe it's cause-GACK KLANG"
This time, he did choke and even jumped enough that he fell off his little perch and landed on the floor sideways, followed by the klang of his own empty hitting the floor. He groaned from the ground as he attempted to get up before suddenly hissing.
"Stuuuuuuuuuuupid leg."
He currently hated the green prosthetic that had come loose and was literally rubbing his stump the wrong way. Shane let out a quick 'ha' at his own thought up joke before messing with straps that had come lose and bunched up fabric. It took a minute before he was satisfied and stood up to smile, albeit it was barely upward quirk of the lips.
"Sorry didn't mean to uh, well I guess eavesdrop on ya like this, it was just really pleasant and I was kinda tired and -er anyway I'm sorry"
Shane to stop his apology, knowing he was about to ramble awkward. He assumed her sudden irritation came from his sudden appearance, he was just thankful the can wasn't throw at him...or maybe it was and she missed.

After throwing the can, Ada heard the sound of something falling, but it was much bigger than the soda can. She instantly became alerted to the thought that maybe some sort of perv or kidnapper had been spying on her for some time. Decided to face the threat, she grabbed the guitar she was using as a weapon and rushed out of the room.

Seeing Shane on the floor made her frown, and she had just raised the guitar to hit him when Ada saw him completely. Since he was fixing his prosthetic, she knew he was a student, and she returned to her neutral expression while lowering the guitar to the level of her leg. Still, she was still with the suspicion that he was a perv. Keeping her gaze on him, she recovered the can she threw and walked back to him, now on his feet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after he cut his apology, not even bothering to ask if he could walk.

With an intention that not even she knew, Ada crushed the can with her free hand.

Shane quickly raised both hands in a mock surrender, not wanting to end up like said can.
"I uh kinda fell asleep in the pool room cause of the rain and I was reading and then I went here to get a soda cause I didn't want to walk in the rain without something to wake me up and then I saw the open door and figured I'd sit in a classroom while I drink, maybe read a little, then I heard slash saw you playing and wanted to listen but not uh scare you...kinda failed at that."
Shane was red faced at this point, even putting his hands down on his knees before immediately regretting the one on his prosthetic and just let it hang at his side instead.
"I'm Shane Mcloud by the way...please don't go El Cabong on me...I uh can't run like I use to, even with this supposed leg up on the competition"
He let out a weak chuckle while slightly patting his fake leg for emphasis.

So far, it was the most chaotic introduction Ada had in a good while. She stared at him as he explained, but didn't understand due to his fast explanation. The situation had became a bit more relaxed, but Ada still kept untrustful towards him. She interpreted that if he told her his name then that meant he somehow wanted to befriend her. She answered by pure courtesy.

"Pearce. Ada Pearce"

She left the guitar laying on the wall inside the music room and crouched to see his prosthetic, checking for anything out of place even though she knew nothing about how those things are supposed to work. But certainly, she had seen more since she arrived the school than in her entire life.

"Can you walk?" she said while standing up again

Shane had let out breath, he knew he had been holding, when she introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Ada."
It was said on reflex, but he smiled a bit awkwardly at her to show he meant it. The disappearance of the threat of his face facing off with the guitar was a great relief. He once grinned again at his little pun before looking up to answer
"Yeah, this things durable seEEE"
His voice had shot up on an octave when he took a step, to demonstrate he could walk, and realized his stump on the other hand was not okay.
"I myself, on the other hand, am not...stump must still be sore from that stand up act."
In spite of his grimace of pain, he let out a small snicker at his attempted joke.

Her face didn't show it, but his sudden change of voice alarmed her, making her look down to his prosthetic before he explained it. It was pretty obvious that it was the issue. She knew nothing about how pain feels like because of her analgesia, so she didn't want to take any risk.

"You better sit down. I can hold your weight, come on"

Ada slid her right arm under his left shoulder, leaving her other hand in front to prevent him from falling. She wanted to lead him to the chair she was sitting at inside the room. It was the first time she had helped someone in months.

"Probab-oh uh thanks"
Shane was surprised but extremely grateful for the help, making it so he only had to put a little pressure on his 'leg' before he was led to the chair. After sitting down he undid the straps he had fixed a few minutes ago, and removed the prosthetic.
"May as well not aggravate it any more..."
He stared at the stump for a little bit, some days he still couldn't believe it was gone or the trouble it caused him. He soon shook his head clear of the thoughts and looked with her a wide smile.
"I'm still sorry for eavesdropping by the way, but I have to say you play fantastically."

After leading Shane to the chair, Ada returned to get the guitar and seek for another chair to sit down next to him with the instrument on her hands.

Unconsciously, she stared at the stump. When she saw him for the first time, she didn't thought it was sadder than it actually looks like, only impulsed by the expression he had. His voice brought her back to Earth, and she nodded just slightly when answering.

"Is that so? Thanks, but don't worry, it seems you aren't a perv or something like that so I have no reason to act hostile with you anymore"

The idea of playing something else crossed her mind, but she had a gigantic lack of ideas. Staring to the floor, she just made some conversation.

"Know that song? It's the type you would like to have on your own romantic comedy"

It isn't like her to ramble about anything, but she has found herself doing this much more often than usual. Perhaps it's the curiosity she has about the way people live their lives despite their disabilities.

Shane felt his smile widen at her first bit of information, in both humor and relaxation.
"I can be thankful for that, I like to think I'm not a pervert"
He laughed before perking up when she picked up the guitar, curious what she would play next. He knew the difference between a recording and live performance and was excited to hear more.
"It's a catchy tune alright, though it probably wouldn't fit mine...'Don't wanna be in love' or 'Code Monkey' would be the more likely soundtrack."
He was staring up now at the ceiling, a little bit in his own world as he imagined said rom com.
"It'd be an interesting one, if I was in it, to say the least."

Ada completely ignored Shane's words about his own romantic comedy and just tightened her eyes trying to remember something that was eating on her mind.

"Don't wanna be in love... where did I hear that one?... Never mind" lately, her memory seemed to be worse.

In the end, she began playing something she also considered very easy. It was one of the first songs she learned and that enjoyed playing also in fingerstyle. Yesterday, from an english band from the 60s was it's name. Ada really enjoyed playing like that.

"It's not a very common song, if I remember right, I'd be shocked if you heard it."
Shane glanced down at his stump as he remembered who'd showed it to him before his head bounced up when she began playing. Right focus on music, he thought, not the past she wouldn't want that.
"Yesterday...all my troubles seemed so far..."
He mumbled and hummed along to the tune, feeling a twinge of melancholy that he attempted to ignore, while unconsciously wiping a few tears away.

Ada's head tuned to Shane when he sang the first words of the song, actually expecting for him to sing it completely. However, as he cut himself, Ada shrugged and focused on playing again.

Since she was looking to the window, she didn't notice how he seemed to be sensible. Ada herself was feeling rather calm, thinking about her past. Her adventures with her mother in her father's workplace, the times with her old classmates, Angela...

As the song continued, she had a wish that it never ended. She thought that song had that effect, because it's so beautiful and yet so short that you cannot enjoy it enoughly.

"Now I need a place to hide away... Oh I believe... in yesterday" she unconsciously always sang that part, though it was barely audible, only Shane could hear it. Probably.

Shane smiled as he flashed through several memories with himself and his sister Val. It had a taken a few moments after she sang the last part before he remembered where he was and blinked away any remaining tears.

"That...was nice."

He could feel his slightly awkward voice almost break like the silence. He smiled again, a bit smaller than usual before turning to her

"That one definitely has to be in my romantic comedy."

On the end of the song, Ada couldn't resist to whistle what was for her, the most nostalgic part of the song, the last humming. She was actully calm once again that she considered unsettling the amount of mood changes she can have in a short time.

This time, Ada turned to Shane to hear him speak. She couldn't understand the feeling behind that voice, but it was one that was vaguely familiar.

"Heh, I don't really see where" she said, trying to keep the serious atmosphere.

However, given how Shane seemed to be, it was probably a hard task. Of course she would hear whatever he had to say, probably because it's the only thing to do. Ada looked at her cellphone to check the hour, it was... just a little bit late, not too much. She putted back her phone in her pocket and looked at him again.

"Probably near the end, I don't think I'd have that much luck with the relationship and screw it up..though now that I think about it 'I'm a Loser' would fit me better with that logic."

He chuckled humorlessly and attempted a grin, in spite of how fake it was. Shane knew his sister would kill him if she heard him at that moment, so he distracted himself by thinking of the musician. He wouldn't lie that Ada kept him interested, she had humored his few attempts at conversations and played some great songs. He did notice though how she always she seemed to think a little more before she spoke, as if to figure him out...Shane then figured he was over thinking it, he wasn't that complicated. He nervously rubbed the back of his head at the thought before glancing down in embarrassment as he thought about what he said and the mood the room was in, kind of the exact opposite of what he normally did.

"Sorry I'm kind of being depressing huh?...hey uh do you know how to play um faraway by nickelback?"

"Come on, stop being like that. It's not that important" Ada answered, she wasn't the type who liked depression.

As an opinion for herself, she thought that Shane was being a little overly dramatic. But she refreined herself of saying it since she probably didn't know what has happened in his life so far, and she didn't want to ask because it was probably a faux pass of the worst kind. But at least she said that he should cheer up... in her own way.

Ada didn't know that much about the guitar, just some popular songs and easily playable, she didn't considered the guitar as her path in life, just like something she knew how to play. To make it short, she didn't know, but she knew the band.

"Sorry, don't know that one. But I know the band, I've heard 'If everyone cared' and 'If today was your last day', good songs for training" Not exactly the best, but they were good for keeping a good rythym.

Shane's eyes widened a little at her answer before he suddenly chucked, loudly and true. She was really interesting, didn't ask why he was sad just said to stop acting like it, wouldn't be surprised if she was part Irish. Shane let out a snicker at this thought before he smiled widely at her. Maybe it was the rain, the fall, or the song that had got him into that dramatic mood, he didn't know nor care he was just happy to be pulled out.

"Thanks I really uh needed that."

He rubbed the back of his head when he heard her second answer and laughed, a little embarrassed this time.

"Though I'm sure those are good tunes, I uh only know that one, I don't listen to them all that much."

"It's nothing"

Ada was glad things seemed to calm down a bit, especially now that he returned to what she thought was his normal mood. She still had her doubt about how he lost his leg, though she'd never ask. Ada remembered something she had to do before it was too dark.

"Oh well. Hey, can you walk now? I actually have to do the groceries. But if you can't walk then I'll have to leave you outside of the dorm since I ran out of bread"

She also though about asking if he wanted to help her because it was a rather long list. However, she would wait for his answer first.

"I think, give me a sec"

Shane quickly went about strapping his prosthetic on, before standing up slowly to test it. After a few slow steps of walking around the room, he flashed a grin and thumbs up.

"It's still a little sore but good to go...um er mind if I come along, I kinda owe ya for the show after all."

He too nervous to add that his sister would've killed him for not showing manners to a girl who had helped him like she did.

His answer wasn't so important for her, but kept the mannerisms and looked at him stand and walk around the room. After a while she began repacking the guitar in it's case and leave it in the place she found it. When she turned around, she nodded at his hands' gesture and walked to the door.
She was surprised to hear the answer to her question before even asking it, but didn't show it too much and just opened the door.

"I was just going to ask you that, it's a long list. See by yourself"

Ada produced a folded piece of paper from her pocket that she unfolded about four times to it's full size before showing it, it was from a notebook with words on the two sides. Her cooking skills in develpment constantly caused her to run out of ingredients.

"Come on, before they close the convenience store" she said as she returned the paper to her pocket.

"Aye."

Shane quickly walked and caught up to her side with a smile, unable to hide his eagerness at her answer. Though he let out a low whistle after seeing the double sided list though.

"One heckuva shopping spree, can you cook?"

He was actually curious about why she needed all the ingredients that he saw, half of them he actually didn't know what the hell to do with. He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I ask cause I can't, well kinda can, I can bake...well I can bake one type of cake and cookies and should probably learn not to live off just like fruit and ramen hahahaha."

Another thing his sister would kill him for.

Ada began walking and in the meanwhile answered his question. She wasn't great cook, she just knew how to prepare basic stuff, but from time to time she added some extra ingredients on her food to see if it works. Unfortunately, most of these experiments become a failure.

"I know how to cook without blowing myself up, to say the least" she shrugged to compliment her words

She slipped her hands in her pockets as she walked. Ada didn't know what it was, but she felt like joking around nearby Shane, probably a consequence of his continuous attempts of making her laugh.

"Fruit and ramen? Well, it's better than eating fast food and desserts at least"

Thing is, she never seemed to have a great talent for jokes. In verbal form at least; she enjoyed cheap comedy consisting of people getting hurt, the type you see from clowns.