Only The Beginning (Invite Only)

[TearsoftheWorld]

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r108/elvenchild03/SRP%20Characters/Kara.jpg

Name: Elizabeth Thompson
Age: 23
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 101 lbs.
Hair: Blue
Eyes: Brown
Birthplace: United States

Appearance: Elizabeth is fair of face with no blemishes or scars, and her skin has a rich creamy color with a slight hint of tan. Her eyes seem to sparkle under any form light, and she always wears a smile on her face. Her blue hair is cut somewhat short, falling just about her neck but never touching her shoulders. Liz is usually seen wearing her trademark hat, a simple dark cap with a golden button on the front. She prefers loose clothing, often times wearing sleeveless t-shirts and baggy jeans or khakis.

Personality: Liz is a fairly happy person most of the time, finding little reason why she should be otherwise. There are very few instances when she becomes upset, but those phases tend to pass very quickly, and she comes back more energetic than before. Despite her laid-back attitude Elizabeth can be a very determined and focused individual, struggling hard for what she believes in. Perhaps it is her caring demeanor that has earned her friends nearly everywhere she goes. (Having a really good singing voice probably helps too)

Bio: Born January 14th, 1972 to her parents Richard and Mary Thompson, Elizabeth grew up on the east coast of Long Island, graduating from Mattituck High School and enrolling herself at Berklee College for a pursuit in Musical Education. She had aspired to become a teacher, but after graduating found it hard to settle down in one particular place. Her love of music and singing drove her to move around from city to city, stopping in at local bars and music clubs to perform for the crowds there.​

 

[RebeccaRose]

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee103/AimeeZero/MisaAmane.jpg
Name – Mia Anderson
Age – 22
Height – 5’6”
Hair – Blonde
Eyes – Hazel
Birthplace – England

Personality – Mia has a habit of dwelling on things for far too long, often leading herself into a depression from over thinking. Music has always helped her release any emotions bottled up, whether it is her poetry, lyrics or anything composed on guitar. She is the happiest when with close friends, when in her comfort zone and when performing anything she has written. Incidentally she isn’t afraid to be her own person. She tends not to care when it comes to her music, if people don’t like it then its not the end of the world, after all the reason she writes and plays is for herself, not anyone else.

Background – Mia was born in a boring market town in southern England. With nothing to do and distant parents, she turned to music from a very early age, first picking up piano, then guitar, then singing. She never aspired to be more than loved. Her search for that ‘something’ she felt had been missing all her life, finally lead her to moving to America at 19. She took whatever job she could, no matter whether large or small, to keep a roof over her head and fund her gigging in her spare time.​

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

If you're curious this AMV done by Two-Mix is the inspiration to the thread ^_^

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q1v_9fT8rck

 

[Roadflare]

Name: Allen Spencer
Age: 24
Height: 6'
Weight: 190
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Golden yellow
Birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States

Appearance: Allen is tall and lean, looking more lanky than skinny. He has a handsome face with a faint scar on his forehead from an old childhood injury. He has pale but healthy looking skin that seems to never tan, only burn. His unusual eyes are the yellow of burnished gold, leading more than one person to comment that he has 'wolf's eyes'. He's let his brown hair grow longish, usually combing it back but sometimes pulling it into a ponytail. He dressed in a manner befitting what's happening, but his favorite outfit is a plain white dress shirt (first two buttons undone) worn under a dark blue spots coat with matching pants and well worn shoes.

Personality: Allen is a thoughtful and introspective person. He is generally fairly quiet, liking to listen to others talk and carefully considering his responses. He thinks of and in music quite a bit, often humming or even singing to himself in the midst of his daily doings. He's often scribbling notes in the journal(s) he carries, on songs and just on general observations, as well as keeping a kind of 'diary.' He likes people and the places he goes to, but every time he comes to a place, he inevitably feels the need to move on and go somewhere else. It might be a day later or months, but the wanderlust always returns. He has many acquaintances, but few real, close friends.

Bio: Born in February of 1971, Allen grew up in a caring middle class family that taught him to work hard and value what he had, as well as to treasure education and self improvement. From a young age, he loved both books and music, and his time was spent between the two. Long trips to his grandparents' farm also gave him a love of land and gave him plenty of experience and some skill with all manner of physical labor. His musical studies included many instruments, but he focused mostly on the piano and other key instruments, even playing the organ at several local churches. He went to college and studied music further, but something happened at school. He doesn't talk about it, but some event made him drop his studies, sell most of his belongings and start wandering the country. Even he doesn't know what he's looking for, or why he can never be happy in one place for very long, but he continues to wander, writing music, playing where he can, and seeking whatever is out there.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

A young woman with short blue hair leaned against a steel fence that separated a city walkway from the water below, her chin resting on top of her folded holds, arms outstretched to each side. The cool night air offered for her a comforting atmosphere with a slight breeze gently waving a few strands of her hair in front of her soft brown eyes. Elizabeth Thompson came here almost every night to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, preferring the solace that only the parks and small village life could provide. A peaceful smile remained on her face as she looked out over the river to the city before her, the bright lights glittering under the light of the moon. Even the stars up above decided that tonight was a good night to shine.

'The city that never sleeps' Liz thought to herself, perceiving from her position quite a few of New York Cities trademark buildings, including the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. She had been staying in a small apartment in the city for the last couple of weeks, offering her beautiful voice for local bars and clubs that lined the busy streets of New York. For the most part her gigs filled the house, but lately she's just felt holed up and empty inside. Nothing exciting ever seems to happen to her anymore.

Every now and then someone would walk behind her, the sound of their footsteps on the concrete walkways breaking her concentration.

'Oh well' she said to herself, and with a sigh stood up straight and tucked her hands into her jacket pockets. Liz caught a nightly cab and paid for a ride back to her apartment complex.

"Hey Mark." Liz said with a wave of her hand as she glanced at the passed out drunk that slept by the steps of her building every night. She made her way inside and up a few flights of stairs to her room, her keys jingling around in her pockets. Unlocking her door she stepped inside, shutting it behind her with her feet as she flicked on a few lights. The alarm clock on her small wooden desk read 1:14 A.M.

"Lovely." Liz said to herself as she shed some of her clothes, tossing them onto a fairly worn out chair off to the side. Locking her door Liz turned the lights back off and fell asleep on her couch.

 

[RebeccaRose]

Caressed ivory filled the dank, dark bar with wave after wave of beautiful haunting melody. Not a single nook of the bar was left untouched be the wondrous sound emanating from the baby grand in the corner. Over the haunting piano melody floated a voice. Strong, high, soaring, the voice held a distinct British twang as it lulled the patrons in to an odd sense of security; softening there hardness, cleaning their wounds and washing away their troubles. If only for three short minutes, it was worth it, worth every minute to hear the young blonde English woman’s gorgeous song. The room was warmed and lit up by each and every note, as her long delicate fingers played out last few solitary notes.

She got not a single cheer, not one round of applause. She had truly stunned them into silence with her story.

~~~​

“Thank you so much” The blonde spoke as she was handed a small ad of dollar bills for her troubles.

Mia Anderson was not worried one bit that she had hardly brought in enough for more than the taxi home. The joy for her was warming the hearts of all who had decided upon drowning their sorrows this very night. The joy was truly touching their soul with her ethereal music. Taxi money was more than enough payment for doing something that she adored with ever last bit of her heart.

Stepping from the bar, her guitar hanging in hand she stuck her hand out and waited for a taxi to pull up near by.

~~~​

 

[Roadflare]

Tendrils of smoke curled through the air of the dingy little club, patrons of various ages sipping their drinks, conversation a low hush as a lone piano player made his way through a soaring tune that sparkled of blues but lifted the soul.

"Well, the moon is broken, and the sky is cracked,
Come on up to the house."
"The only things you can see, is all that you lack,
You gotta come on up, to the house."

It was an unusual performance. Not because it was just one man, or because he played so well. This particular club attracted very talented, but mostly underground musicians. It was that he was white.

"All your cryin don't do no good,
Come on up, to the house!"
"Come down off the cross, we can uuuse the wood,
You gotta come on up to the house, yeah."

His clever fingers danced over the keys, his light baritone belting out the lyrics to the last song he would play tonight. A glass jar atop the piano was stuffed with bills and change, his only payment.

"Come on up, to the house."
"You gotta come on up, to the house!"
"The world is not, my home,
I'm just a-passin' through,
You gotta come on up, to the house."

Despite the blues melody and rhythm of the the song, Allen Spencer was flying. He loved to play and perform, and tonight he had an actually appreciative audience. When he'd wandered in earlier, he hadn't been sure he'd be allowed in, or even make it out of the neighborhood in one piece, but it had all worked out. Music had smoothed everything over.

"There's no light in the tunnel,
No irons in the fire,
come on up, to the house!"

"And you're singing lead soprano, in a drunk man's choir,
You gotta come on up to the house."

He'd been in a blues mood lately, but he could feel it passing, swinging back towards rock, maybe even punk. But for this night, he lived and breathed the blues still. Holy, soul music.

"Don't life seem nasty, brutish, and sho-ort,
Come on up to the house!"
"The seas are stormy, and you can, find no port,
You gotta come on up, to the house."

"The world is NOT my home,
I'm just a-passin' through,
You gotta come on up to the house."

---------------------------------------------

An hour later, Allen stumbled into the dank and dark motel room he paid for on a weekly basis. In the closet hung a few changes of clothes, all very close to what he was wearing now. He took the wad of cash that remained after buying a few rounds and the cab ride home, considering it. "Almost enough to move on...and it's about time." His feet had that traveling itch again. It wasn't bad yet, but he could feel it. He wouldn't be here in this city much longer.

He took a seat at the small table by the tiny window, looking out into the night. Perhaps twenty feet away, the elevated train tracks shook and thundered, a train roaring past moments later. Allen watched it pass by with a slight smile on his face, looking up at the moon. Kicking off his shoes, he curled up in the window, softly humming the tune of Tom Waits' "Downtown Train" as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Liz woke up slowly as sunlight began to shine through her window, illuminating her small apartment room and dispersing the remaining shadows. Rubbing her eyes, Liz yawned as she got up from the couch that she had slept on. She remained stationary for a few moments as she thought about why she was up again.

"Ugh." she groaned, glancing at her alarm clock.

6:30... great

Liz moved slowly as she walked to her bathroom, leaving the door ajar as she undressed and took a shower. With the door locked and bolted, and no one living with her, Liz had little reason to shut the bathroom door. When she was finished Liz dried her hair and body, then began dressing herself and getting ready for the day ahead. She had no idea what she would do, having no other job than performing for clubs and such at night. It was a pretty relaxing lifestyle, but was void of any excitement. Using what little food was left in her tiny kitchen, Liz made herself a small breakfast sandwich, sitting at the only table to she owned. By the time she was ready to leave it was close to 9 o'clock in the morning.

---

"Hey Mark." Liz said as she walked down the steps to her apartment. Mark was still sound asleep, passed out on the sidewalk. Shaking her head but smiling she figured she'd pick him up some food later. Every now and then she'd come back home and place an apple on the top of his head, and when he'd wake up it'd fall down into his lap. She continued on her way down the sidewalk, crossing the street until she became lost in the usual sea of people that made New York their homes.

 

[RebeccaRose]

Mia sat up in bed, her sheets falling down around her waist, the morning sun light bathing her bare flesh in it flattering glow. Apparently she had gone to bed with out blocking out the world. Anyone could have looked in if it wasn't for the fact that she was on the tip floor. A good job really. She sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. And, skirting around the edge of the room just in case, she pulled the cord closing the blinds. Blocking her form from the world. Clad in only last nights underwear the English girl shuffled across the room and into her bathroom.

She turned on the shower, hoping it would help with waking her up. She had no work today, which all in all was a slight annoyance due to her lack of money. So with nothing to do per say, Mia took her sweet time, let the warm water rain down upon her washing away yesterday.

While it didn't matter to her that she hadn't pulled in much money from the gig last night, when she checked her finances it suddenly mattered. She was lacking in money and probably should have found herself a second job if she wanted to keep her appartment. Her landlord was one irritating bastard and given the chance he would have gotten rid of her without a moments notice. Best to keep on his good side really. A new job was in order. Either that or she would have to start asking for more money to play, that would immediately cut down her list of venues, which would have sucked, but was their really anything else for it. A second job would cut even more into her music time as well.

Stepping from the shower, she dryed off and got changed into some fresh clothes. A blouse and mini-skirt combo, red tarten and white. Pulling on some leg warms, draping her gothic cross necklace around her neck and pulling a thin jacket around her, she grabbed her guitar and stepped out her door, ocking it behind her.

~~~

Walking down the street she blended into the mass, almost. Most didn't have an acoustic guitar with them at this early hour. It was around 9.

In her daze, she wasn't looking where she was going and walked into a soft feminine form. She bowed her head and rushed an appology before taking in the woman she had hit. She couldn't have been much older than herself, unless she had some really good beauty secretes, but yeah...

"I'm sorry" Little did she realise it was only the beginning.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Liz had her mind up in the clouds, thinking about life and whatnot, until she was brought back down to reality when someone walked right into her. She felt pain course through her side and quickly looked around for the person responsible. She wasn't mad or anything, just startled. That doesn't mean that the first words out of her mouth weren't 'Hey, watch it.'

"I'm sorry"

Liz looked at the young girl with a surprised look on her face, but quickly shook it off.

"It's fine. Just um, keep your head up and watch where you're looking. Could really hurt someone." Liz said, rubbing her sore shoulder. After a quick inspection Liz saw that she was carrying a guitar, something that one didn't really see walking the streets of a busy city like New York.

"Nice guitar." she said with a smile.

 

[RebeccaRose]

"Oh I hope not" Mia replied. Last thing she wanted was to hurt someone.

"Nice guitar."

"Thank you" Mia said in her strong british accent. She clutched the shiney dark red electro-acoustic guitar tighter to her chest. "Plays pretty good too" It was nice to meet someone who would even bother to pay her any attention after she had walked straight in to them, someone who was apparently interested in her guitar.

"You play?" She figured that if they had started talking she might as well keep up a little bit of a conversation. Mia was surprised this woman hadn't just shouted at her and moved on.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

When Mia spoke again Liz really noticed her accent, though she really shouldn't have been as surprised as she was. New York City was home to a lot of different kinds of people, including British. Liz smiled when Mia held the guitar to her chest and carried it with pride.

"I bet it plays really well. But no, I don't really play much." she admitted. Liz had picked up a classical acoustic once or twice but never really mastered it.

"I'm actually going to stop inside and get some coffee. If you'd like to join me you're more than welcome. Not a very good idea to just stand here on the sidewalk." she said, all the while being pushed and shoved by people as they walked to and fro. Liz nodded off to a coffee shop just down the way, pointing out where she was headed.

 

[Roadflare]

In the coffee shop, one of many such trendy places, Allen Spencer was working on something. He wasn't behind the counter making coffee, though when he'd first gotten here three weeks ago he had shown the girl on day shift how to work the espresso machine, and he wasn't the one mopping up a spill. Allen sat at one of the tables, pages of sheet music spread out in front of him. Some here filled in, but most were blank. Nearby a trash can had been pulled over, and there were seven crumpled balls of paper within it.

He stared at the sheet he'd been scribbling on, then frowned. He crushed it into a ball, tossing it negligently into the basket along with the others. The owner of the cafe, busing a nearby table, looked over at him. "Trouble with this one, huh?" He was used to the young musician's presence and his writing, the young man had even performed on the cafe's piano a few times.

"Yes." Allen ran a hand through his hair, then pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just...I can't make it work." "I have it perfectly here, and," he dug into the trash can pulling out the lowest ball of paper and unfolding it, "and here...but I can't perform this." "I don't have the right range, or the right instrument to accompany it." "And I just cannot figure out any way to do it as well on my own."

The mustachioed owner shrugged, "Hey, you'll figger it out." "Jus' don' think about it so much." "Hey, maybe play some an' that'll help." "Help me out too, bring in some asses t' fill these seats."

Allen smiled, "Good for a free drink?"

The man laughed, "Shit, kid, I'll give ya all day free, if you can get the place full." "Fair?"

"More than." Allen stood with a small smile. It would be good to play a while. Who knows? The answer to this song could just fall into place while he played. He paced over to the piano, idly thinking through what he wanted to play. Sitting down, he cracked his fingers, picking at a few keys to find the tune of the instrument. Close to true...not as much as he'd like, but it was close enough.

His clever hands spread over the keys, and he started to play.

 

[RebeccaRose]

That was when Liz and Mia walked into said coffee shop inhabited by only a few patrons and a musician sitting at a piano. He had been writting, Mia could tell. If not from the screwed up sheet music in the bin then from the fact that he was concentrating rather hard on the piano keys. Well, maybe this wasn't such a bad choice of coffee shop on Liz's part.

Mia placed her guitar carefully against the table and sat down. The idea of playing along crossed her mind for a second before she shrugged it off figuring he might have not wanted any distractins when he was trying to finish a piece off. Instead Mia simply sat and watched his fingers dance over the keys, humming a simple accompanying melody all to herself. Hoping that she wasn't being too distracting by simply sitting, watching and humming.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

Mia had followed Liz, much to her delight, and they made their way down the sidewalk into one of the coffee shops. There were only a small handful of people sitting down, but that's kind of what made coming here more appealing: there wasn't a lot of noise and plenty of seats available. Both girls sat down at an empty table and watched the young man playing the piano.

"He's pretty good." Liz said, smiling as Ali hummed a soft melody to herself.

One of the waitresses came over to where they were sitting and asked if there was anything they wanted to order. Liz asked for a toasted bagel and some coffee.

"And what about you? Can I get you anything?" the young woman asked, pen in hand.

 

[RebeccaRose]

She was completely mesmerised by the young man at the piano. Sure she could play piano pretty well but she wasn't a patch on this guys composing skills. She was only a singer/songwriter when it came down to it. The stuff he was coming out with was absolutely amazing. Quite plesent on the ears as well of course. Though it did feel like it was missing that special something, kind of like an unfinished piece of music. The urge to play along was getting stronger now, she had to keep herself reigned in to only a simply bit of humming.

Her attention was finally pulled from the piano man when the waitress asked her for an order.

Mia smiled at the girl, "Expresso"

With that said she turned back to diligently staring the piano man.

 

[Roadflare]

Allen was pleased with the piece so far. It sounded good played, and it seemed to have put the people in the cafe in a good mood. Two beautiful girls came to sit near the piano, one carrying a guitar. He smiled at them as they passed. Ah, New York. Such beauty to be found everywhere. Ugliness too, but...not with those two around.

He shook his head from the distraction. He didn't have much of the finished part left to play. After this...was the section that was still lacking. He hated to have to play it...but nothing was coming like he'd hoped.

Then he heard the softly hummed melody. His fingers kept playing, but he craned around in his seat, trying to find where it was coming from. The blond girl with the guitar. He listened for a few moments. Close...it was close. It was better than the hollow nothing he had....

"Miss." "Excuse me, Miss." He spoke to her, his fingers still dancing on the keys. "That's it, well, almost it, what I need to finish this piece." "Please, would you play that melody on your guitar?" "Please, indulge me." He smiled an eager smile that demanded nothing, only asked and even needed this song to be complete.

 

[TearsoftheWorld]

OOC: sorry for the short post ^_^;
---

Liz couldn't help but smile.

"Expresso, huh?" she teased, knowing that Mia meant Espresso. But the waitress got the idea and she took off to prepare their orders. In the meantime both girls turned and watched as the young man played out his musical piece on the piano. It was a tune that she was unfamiliar with, and so she figured that he had probably written it himself.

The smile on her face brightened up as the piano man turned to look at Mia, encouraging her to take up her guitar and play along a bit. Liz looked at her and patiently waited to see whether or not she would. From her humming Liz figured that it couldn't hurt, and more often than not beautiful scores were made up on the spot... just like now.

 

[RebeccaRose]

Mia giggled, sure, thats what she'd meant. Liz was just teasing, she could get herself worked up about such a silly little mistake anyway.

"What?! I don't have much coffee usually, okay? hehe" she spoke, with a giggle on her lips.

Her attention was quickly drawn away by Allen's invitation. She grinned. She'd been itching to play along for a couple of minutes now she definately didn't need to be asked twice. Taking up the guitar with a lot of care, she pushed herself away from the table and, placing the strap over her shoulder, she walked over to stand next to the piano man.

Firstly, her fingers picked out the melody floating around in her head as he played, she was making it up on the spot but already the piece begun to flesh out. They were even drawing a little crowd, although Mia had yet to notice. After she had gotten a feeling for the flow and stye of the piece, she added harmony underneath. Mia was apparently quite amazing at the classical finger picking style.

Getting lost in the tune, a smile spread across her face. For the first time in ages she was actually making music with another person. Oh ... and it sounded good all right.

The crowd seemed to think so at least.