White Dove // Black Crow [Open]

[james thomas leroy]

James sat on the couch, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him while he looked through his book. It was a quiet evening and although there were a few people around, they were all avoiding him. Most people managed to find a good enough reason to avoid the guy. If it's because they knew what he had done, was capable of, or just plain weren't sure and wanted to live.

He didn't care though. There were still the gullible few who believe he was normal or even nice. As long as James had those few to play with, it was all fine. He could go on doing whatever he wanted to do, avoiding boring and unnecessary conversations, and still mess with their minds just a bit.

It was entertaining but then reading something he was interested in was entertaining too. Right now, a book on anatomy was fun and educational enough to keep James distracted. All the wonderful pieces of information would be stored and perhaps later come in handy if he were to... be a doctor for example, or... a serial killer. Either way, those were still real possibilities.

James did like his little experiments but he loved a good puzzle. If medicine proved to be interesting enough to keep him from doing anything impulsive or perhaps.. homicidal, then maybe he might end up being a functional adult. It was perhaps hopeful to think it but James didn't care either way, as long as he was keep busy with things to challenge him.

[kyla]

This was turning out to be one long day. The new student- no, the “new girl” as they called her, needed some time to chill. To Kill a Mockingbird was in her hand as she filtered through the place to get to the common room she was told about earlier. She needed the break, she needed the time to breathe. Most of the day her mouth was kept shut, chilling out and reading wouldn’t be any different. So far she had nobody except her possessions she brought with her, but if somebody messed with her violin then she would add a black eye to her list of achievements. She was not one for fights, but she could be protective over things and she could certainly hold her own… for the most part. Her body was toned from working out to improve at tennis and a good portion of her weight was muscle. She could probably hold her own against a girl, but if there happened to be a guy from here that started to pick on her well then, she was screwed. These depressing thoughts made her groan as she entered the common room and only looked towards an empty chair, one of those comfy looking ones where you could possibly sleep in.

She sat with a sigh before positioning herself sideways, making her legs hang over the arm and her back rest against the other arm. She glanced around briefly to see another reading, but tossed the sight aside as she brought up her book and held it out in front of her. It had been about a year since she last read this book, but she did not read from the start and decided to just flip to the middle. As she read, she placed her cheek against the back of the chair to lean against it. It was soon that she realized her eyes were slowly closing and she was vaguely aware that she was only half awake. That realization made her shift some, but her head still rested against the back of the chair that was warm form her head touching it and while she read, she was still being lulled off to sleep. The book finally rested face down across her stomach and she was out in a nap that allowed you to still briefly realize what was going on around you.

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[james thomas leroy]

James pulled the back of pen up to his lips, resting it there but not chewing the tip like some common stressed out student. No, James was better than that and besides his pen wasn't some cheap thing he got in a box of twelve, no he had better taste than that and his Montblanc pen had never failed him before.

Noticing some movement out of the corner of his eye, James glanced up quickly to see a girl sitting in a chair. He looked away so as not to be caught staring. He knew how to be subtle. Looking back over, he watched her for a second, sitting sideways on the chair. She looked incredibly comfortable there and he hadn't seen her before.

It was strange,or at least just a little odd for someone so new to be so comfortable in a place like this. Perhaps she just wasn't aware of the dangers of this place. Well she will be soon enough, he thought, though James had no intention of introducing her to the dangerous side of Hawthorne, at least no unless he happened to get her in a quiet corner where her screams wouldn't be heard.. That was a nice thought.

Quietly watching, he lost interest in being all that subtle and instead chose to imagine what horrible things he might do to this new girl and which of his knives he might use.. the thoughts were all nice but action was something he lacked in this case. He wasn't going to go through with it purely because he had a lot of other things on his mind, like Aleks and how to get rid of him, Cameron and how to keep her out of it, Eliza and how much he wanted to just kill her.. If only he could get away with it.. Then there was Emma and his little fantasy world where he would pretend to be perfectly normal only because she believed him so easily.

[kyla]

Why did her back feel weird? Oh yeah, sleeping sideways on a chair, she remembered and sat up after opening her eyes. How long had she dosed off for? Sighing, she brought herself to sit up in the chair and brought her legs up to cross them. Her book fell into her lap and she left it there as she brought up her hands to gently rub her temples. A headache… just great. A glance around the room and she froze, her fingers still at her temples. Had that guy been there when she first walked in? Then she remembered that she had fallen asleep (she didn’t know how long for) and wondered if she had snored. Snoring wasn’t her thing, but she might as well apologize in case she did. ”Um hey, sorry if I snored.” Simple apology even if it wasn’t needed and since she was done saying it, she straightened up her back and brought her arms up and above her head to stretch.

Briefly she had closed her eyes, enjoying stretching her back after a long-term awkward position. A yawn managed to ease past her defense and she managed to bring a hand down in time to cover her mouth near the end of the yawn. She should probably just head off to bed and call it quits for today, but at the moment, was rather warm and comfortable on the chair with her simple black hoodie zipped halfway up. Another glance towards the person on the couch and around the room settled her curiosity for the moment and she looked back down to her lap to draw up her book and start reading another random page.

She ended up reading the same paragraph over again, still not understanding what she had just read. It could have been due to the fact her thoughts were preoccupied with other things. For example, is it always this quiet around here? Kyla thought that it would at least be louder with some chatting… from her book, her eyes drifted back up to the person on the couch and then back to the paragraph she had already read about five times, but didn’t really read it. Her eyes moved across the page however, pretended she was reading at an average pace. In that head of hers, she was actually pondering why nobody seemed to position themselves anywhere near him. Was he somebody you didn’t want to tick off or was he some sort of outcast- what? For now, she seemed to be the outcast with being the new girl around the school and all. She nibbled on the inside of her bottom lip now and let her eyes rest on the right page of her opened book.

[james thomas leroy]

She was sleeping but did he care? Not so much. James was still lost in thoughts of what he could potentially do, things he knew by now to avoid unless he was absolutely certain he could get away with it. He was still prone to bouts of impulsiveness but he generally took great care to not do anything he couldn't easily fix. Right now, keeping himself in check was very easy. Everything was all in his mind, the thoughts of taking his pen and just stabbing her with it, thoughts of pulling her up off the couch and snapping her neck.. Fun.. Quick.. Satisfying.

James said nothing she spoke. He hadn't been paying that much attention so instead he just looked away and continued to study his book. It may have been rude but what did he care? After a moment, he tried a subtle glance in her direction. She was reading a book but she hadn't even turned the page, wasn't it time she did that? She couldn't be reading that slow.. James hadn't paid much attention to his book but at least he had fake it by turning a page in the right intervals.

He made sure not to look directly at her. Only looking over over of the corner of his eye every now and then or at a reflection on the glass coffee table of the mirror that hung on the way. In fact, for all intensive purposes, he wasn't looking at her at all, but he could feel her eyes on him. She was watching him now too, at least a little. James took a deep breath in then out, one sign of life since he was otherwise sitting perfectly still except when he turned the page. He was simply staring at his book now. He hardly had to look at her to know what she was up to.

"If you're not really going to read that book, you might as well put it away," he told her, eyes still focused on his own reading material and he hadn't even moved as he said the words. He didn't have to watch her closely to see things. James picked up on the subtle signs more easily than most.

[kyla]

Even though she had apologized, he did not say anything. That must have meant that she actually did not snore like she thought she had. Either that or saying “it’s okay” was too much for him. Then again, some people did not like talking anyway. She shrugged it off and tried reading her book again. However, it was not like that was actually happening at the moment. Her thoughts were a mess and well, headaches did not help anything at all when you were trying to read. She stole glances at the guy every now and then and wondered if he even talked. Maybe he was just one of those people…

Then he spoke and her eyes quickly shifted back to him. So… he did speak. She did not answer him right away, but eventually she told him, ”It’s not like I’m not trying to read it.” At this point, she leaned back in the chair and let the book rest closed on her thigh. ”Headaches just don’t help.” It was not a lie. Sure, a headache was not the only thing that kept her from understanding what she read when she decided to focus on the page, but it’s not like he asked for the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Wait a minute now… how did he know she wasn’t really reading? If he had been stealing glances at her too, then he wasn’t reading all that much either, right? Screw it, she frowned and let her head rest against the back of the chair.

Questions did not help a stupid headache either. Sighing, she left her book in her lap as she brought her hands up and placed them behind her head. If only she could do this, but be outside, laying on the grass in warm weather, and looking up at the sky with no sign of storms in sight. She missed her family. Subconsciously, she brought her right hand down across her torso to place it on her left side. The scar was still there, she rubbed her hand against her side briefly before just letting her arm just rest. Nope, she was not going to cry about it. Not in front of other people anyway. To occupy herself, she stared up at the ceiling, wondering what time it was.

[james thomas leroy]

James didn't have to look at her, he knew his words would have caught her attention more than anything else. In fact he found that the least you said, the more people listened when you did speak. It made sense in a way but he didn't particularly care. He would speak when he had something to say but he wasn't one of those people who would ramble on about topics that didn't even matter.

James stayed comfortably on the chair, feet still resting on the edge of the table as he read his book. When she spoke back he listened but hardly moved. The pen resting against his lip, moved down to the page and wrote a few neat notes before he even thought about giving her a response.

"Infirmary's downstairs," he said simply. She could go down there and get something for the headache easily enough, unless she happened to be a drug addict, then they would be a little wary of giving her anything at all. She was new, thus hard to decipher. She was most definitely not like him. She didn't appear to be an addict, anger issues were always a possibility, eating disorder.. Perhaps. Phobia, suicidal and other were the most likely possibility. Looking at her she seemed to have toned arms, she took care of herself.. Eating disorder and suicide were ruled out.. And what was left..? Anger, Phobia and Other. She seemed nice enough, unlikely to get angry but then his room mate wasn't the type to go off at someone for no reason and he was here for anger issues... Hmm.. Curiouser and curiouser.. James thought it through quietly as he stared at his notes then turned the page.

"Though I suppose distractions wouldn't help either," he told her a few seconds after mentioning the infirmary. The slightest hint of a smirk played on his lips as he continued to study the page as though to say 'I knew you were watching me'. Perhaps she might be a fun distraction for him as well. It would be a reason to drop the more homicidal thoughts and just have a bit of fun for a while. Eliza was fun.. Until she did everything he told her not to do. It was her own fault and perhaps getting stabbed an left in a storage room for a while would teach her a lesson. Either way she survived and it didn't even matter. It was between him and Aleks. They were the kids in a sand box and she was merely the tonka truck the fought over and guess what? James just pulled the wheels off and threw it across the playground. He was proud of it too, it was an indirect hit to Aleks and thus one extra point for him.

Thinking back now, people seemed to notice him at times. He kept to himself but Eliza was drawn to him, a few others had been as well and they didn't know any of the dangers that getting too close to him might pose. He was highly organized and smart but he could also be impulsive, possessive and obsessive at times.

[kyla]

The guy sure did like to keep her waiting when it came to responses, though she did not answer him right away either. As long as he did not expect her to reply as soon as he just finished speaking, then she was inclined to let him have his time to respond. He mentioned the infirmary and she frowned up at the ceiling. Going there to get some painkillers would take care of her headache, but she just did not want to go to the infirmary. Call her lazy or stubborn, she just did not want to go to some creepy infirmary first thing after starting to attend the school. It was weird enough as it was and meeting some weird man-woman nurse was not something she wanted to deal with at the moment. She would just suck it up and deal with it. Besides, a little sleep might cure that right up. Although, she did not know how her sleeping habits would be just yet with new surroundings and she supposed she could end up tossing and turning all night and not get any sleep at all, thus making the headache worse. If she did happen to toss and turn all night, then she would go to the infirmary for some ibuprofen. That was good stuff, that was for sure.

He mentioned distractions and she grinned up at the ceiling, a retort already coming to the forefront. ”Yes, I suppose that wondering why you seem to be a repelling magnet is a rather good distraction,” she said collectedly as she still gazed at the ceiling. Whether or not she was using sarcasm, she would leave that for him to decide. She had wondered why nobody seemed to be sitting near him so that was not a lie either. This was rather fun, seeing how much truth she could use. Ever since reading Richard III in her AP English glass back at her old school, she had always wondered if she could be capable enough to use equivocation. Other times she just spoke and did not think anything of it, but here might be an opportunity to try it out if she managed to stay on her toes –metaphorically of course, as she was still sitting on the chair.

Her position on the chair did not last long and she shifted again to bring her feet to one side and placed her elbow on an arm of the chair and held her head in her hand. This position clearly would depict to him that she was in fact, studying him openly now and that the previous statement of figuring why he acted like a magnet was true. She watched him blankly, her gaze traveling from his feet to his face. A rather impolite thought crossed her mind at the moment and she grinned in an almost Cheshire-cat way and tried to contain her laughter. It worked, her laughter being subdued despite the fact the brief picture of this guy holding magnetic charges, the one that attracted other magnets as his north pole and the one repelling people his… south pole. Oh was it funny, if not albeit crude. That grin remained intact, a little flush drawn to her cheeks as the effort to contain the laughter. Leave to her mind at a time like this to come up with something like that. Eventually she had to look away as she chuckled softly and shook her head to rid herself of the image. She took the time that she was looking away to calm herself again, but a smile was still on her lips.

[james thomas leroy]

"Maybe I'm just everyone's polar opposite," James said, not even missing a beat this time. He couldn't help but throw that in there. It was almost too perfect not to but then James wasn't always about the smart responses. He specifically tailored his responses according to the sort of image he wanted to present to the world, or at least to the particular person he was speaking to.

"Or maybe I just smell really bad," James joked with a smirk. He didn't of course and she was more than welcomed to come over and find out just how much of a lie that was. He was too much of a perfectionist. his shirts were always ironed, his clothes and hair were always neat and in place and he smelled good with the Hugo Boss cologne that he still used on occasion. James had great taste and he always knew what he wanted, even if he did change his mind fairly often.

Besides, the joke kept a bit of a mystery around it. Why did people avoid this mysterious guy? Good question new girl but you'll have to figure that out on your own. The casual back and forth of this conversation was nice though, James quite liked it. There was no point in getting to know her when he didn't particularly care what her name was or what her favourite childhood pet was. He didn't care. This was just a filler; it was a way to keep boredom at bay because boredom was the one thing that James couldn't handle very well.

The girl seemed to move about quite a lot in her chair but James stayed in his place, seeing no point in fidgeting when he was already so comfortable. She kept her eyes on him and she was grinning, almost at the verge of laughing, he could tell because he paid attention to these things. James noticed every tiny detail, it was just what he did. She was thinking of something, something funny, something to do with him. Considering what they just talked about, he had a slight chance of getting it right.

"What are you picturing right now?" he asked, turning to her finally. Bright blue eyes watching her as he spoke again. "If it's to do with me and magnets, I suggest you stop immediately," he told her, feigning seriousness but following it up with a charming smile. He had one that could melt hearts should he feel like going in that direction. James was a master of deception. Emma was a great example of this.

She had a phobia of men, and she knew the horrible things he had done. How he tortured and mutilated animals for fun,how he set his house on fire to kill his parents and in one short hour he had convinced her it was all some elaborate lie, got her to go ice-skating with him and convince her that he could be trusted. There was a lot that a good grasp of human behaviour and a great smile could do.

"I'm James, and you are?" he asked, finally taking that step toward getting to know this girl, or at least of convincing her that he was this person that he was pretending to be. He could be incredibly charming, and nice but he was never honest about it. No one ever seemed to pick up on it though but that was fine with him. In fact, it was better that way.

[kyla]

At his own retort, she grinned and then laughed when he mentioned smelling bad. She raked her eyes over him one more time, the grin still on her face, ”Yeah, you’re just rotten.” For added measure, she rolled her eyes despite the grin on her face and couldn’t help but to laugh a little more. He did not look like someone who could possibly smell. His clothes did not look disheveled or dirty and she honestly thought he looked more so like he belonged in an office setting. His seemingly studious position, the pen, just perhaps his figure in general. Although, she was not going to risk getting close to him just in case he did happen to smell for some odd reason. That stinky smell that he could just happen to contain would probably make her headache worse and depending on how bad the smell was, make her nauseous. She was going to play it safe and stayed on the chair.

The image her mind had conjured was… still there even when he had seemed to catch her in the act of thinking it. She merely shook her head and tried to conceal a grin. What she was picturing was no his business even if he happened to be a part of the image. It was her head and not his. When he guessed correctly about him and magnets, however, the grin faltered and then dimmed into nothing soon after. Even with his charming smile to counteract his serious tone, she frowned at him as if telling him “you’re no fun” and moved her head so she looked away from him. At this point, her laughter was gone along with her smile. She left the silence between them along and settled for picturing a meadow randomly along with pretty country scenery. Until he managed to introduce himself, she was doing a pretty good job at ignoring him.

Her head turned so that she could face him again and nibbled at her bottom lip for a moment before using the hand not supporting her head to gesture between them. ”Apparently I am your polar opposite.” Her tone was neutral and she resisted using the word “darling” after that. She did not think she was being a little stubborn until the word popped into her head. So maybe it was a little pay back for the tone he used earlier, but it was not like she could get in trouble for not telling him her name right away. It was a joke and if he could try and pull one off then she would return it. He had started it; why not go along with it?

[james thomas leroy]

James took great pride in his appearance. It was just more things to control and he did love control. He just smiled when she spoke. There was no need to say anything to that.

James just chuckled a little when she frowned. He had gotten it right. He had to stop and mentally congratulate himself on a job well done. He was very perceptive but when taking note of things paid off like that, it was always fun. It made him feel almost all-knowing and superior and of course James liked that feeling. It all tied in to the sense of control and the need to dominate in some situations.

He could let that go for a while. He had done it before with Cameron but he knew how she worked and he could almost predict how far she might go and in a way that was still like his controlling the situation, simply by knowing. They saw knowledge is key but in James' hands, knowledge was everything.

James watched her. There was no need to hide it at this point. "No," James said. "You can't possibly be. You don't know me well enough to stay away," he told her. She needed more of a reason to stay away and guess what? She didn't have it.

Dropping the book to one side, James stood and moved to her couch leaning over her, staying close but not touching her as he gave her more proof that there didn't need to be this distance between them. "Besides, why would you want to stay away?" he asked with playful smirk and a seductive edge to his voice, almost daring her to move away while explaining that staying close would be so much better.

Standing, he took a step back, his 6'4'' frame more obvious now. James had always been tall and he enjoyed it. It may have led to him standing out in a crowd but he never minded it. "You still haven't told me your name," he pointed out, sitting back down, this time facing her and giving her the attention she would require if they were to have a proper conversation.

[kyla]

He did not say anything when she called him rotten, but she sort of did not expect him to. It had been proven earlier that neither of them cared to answer right away. They only seemed to care to reply right away when they had witty remarks to share. Speaking of witty and all that good stuff, the guy- James- laughed at her. Maybe not at her and maybe it was only a chuckle, but she still resented that fact he sort of ruined her fun. Getting that rather odd image out of her head was not necessarily a bad thing, so maybe she did owe it to him a little that he stopped her imagination for a brief moment.

When she had mentioned being his polar opposite, she mentally patted herself on the back. Clever little thing to pull on him and it was right on topic too. Being watched by him now did not seem any different than before, but when he suddenly said “no” the fingers on the hand she had used to gesture at the space between them (and then placed on her lap) had twitched. After they twitched, she decided to curl her fingers to make a fist as it still rested on her lap and she listened to him speak. If he doubted having her attention before, he had it now as she gazed at his face. Was he saying that she needed to know him better before staying away from him? First of all: bull. If she did not want to be around someone who she just did not want to be around, then she would do it. She did not in fact, need a reason other than she just did not want to. She opened her mouth to protest, but it shut as her gaze snapped to the book being placed to the side and then snapped back up to James. Had he always been this tall?

At the point where he leaned in, she took in a deep breath to hold herself together before slowly exhaling to keep her calm despite that she had slightly leaned away from him. Without further invitation after he finished speaking she replied, ”Because I was right- you smell.” No smile this time, but she would hold his gaze with her narrow one as long as she could and refused to look away until he stepped back. He did not smell badly per say, he actually smelled all right, but he reeked of an over-the-top self-confidence that she did not like. To better clarify that, she did not like the way he was using it with her right now. She looked up at him again while he stood in front of her and fought the urge to grimace. Why did guys have to be so freaking tall most of the time?

A precisely deeper, more darker giggle escaped her when he pointed out that she still had not said her name. She knew that and glanced over at him with a smirk upon her lips as he sat. By all means she had no intention of giving him her name just yet. What to say though in order to stall him? ”What’s in a name?” If she remembered correctly, that was a quote from Romeo and Juliet and instead of the exasperated state Juliet seemed to be in, Kyla made sure to say it teasingly and grinned after she asked.

[james thomas leroy]

If anyone ever thought that James did things without a reason then they would be sorely mistaken. Moving up to her, and staying so close had its reason. He had managed to strike out a whole list of phobias that were common in this place. So far two girls had a fear of men and one guy a fear of being touched, this girl didn't have any of that and he had managed to get himself that information. Storing it, he moved on the next thing.

James just smiled as he sat back down. She could say what he liked and as long as he could play his little game and try to figure her out with no help, he was happy.. Or his version of it at least.

"That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet," James said, finishing the quote for her. "Does this mean I should come up with my own name for you?" he asked. That one line alone might imply it but it was still very much out of context. "Though she wasn't trying to hide her name, she was wishing he had a different one," he told her, so then she should still tell him who she was. Were he not a Montague, things might have gone better and the play never would have become quite as popular as it had. At least with a name he might have better luck finding out more about her from Cameron.. Which, come to think of it, was a possibility.

Pulling out his phone he texted Cameron. Girl, red hair, brand new, he wrote. Giving Cameron a few ideas on what she definitely wasn't here for, he typed out two questions. He wanted her name and why she was here. If anyone could find that out, it was Cameron and James only hoped she wasn't too busy.

[kyla]

When he finished the quote, she smiled ever so slightly and shook her head when he asked about coming up with a name for her. She stopped with the motion, however, and tilted her head to the side to seem as if she was thinking of something. ”Well I suppose you could, but that doesn’t mean you would, and doesn’t mean I would respond.” Satisfied with getting that little bit out there, she returned her head from its tilted position. His voice called her attention soon after so she gave it by simply turning her head.

So she had used the quote out of context, she knew that, the whole point of it was to stall him, get him to think, and partially to test him. Out of those three goals she had in mind, she decided she would only share one of them with him. Why share any at all? Well… Kyla was just nice like that sometimes. ”I used it out of context,” she spoke as if dismissing something and made a shooing motion with her hand, ”but it got you to think, didn’t it?” To make it seem harmless she smiled before turning away once more, not caring to keep his gaze any longer.

As her gaze was occupied elsewhere, her thoughts swirled around this James character. As of now, she was not sure if she liked him or not. You could not judge a book by its cover, but people still did so anyway. People did however, ask their friends or other people what they thought about the book. Ky could do the same with this James person, but who was she kidding? As far as she knew, she didn’t really have any “friends” yet. Loyalties would probably be hard to come by in this school.

Her hand was still supporting her head at this point and she drummed its fingers across her cheek. Telling her name now could not be too bad, right? It was only fair and she nodded to herself before speaking, ”Kyla.” After she said it –however quiet it seemed to her- she once again returned her gaze to James. At least he was pretty pleasing to the eyes and didn’t smell of bodily odor. Was he happy now, knowing her name and all? This was assuming he actually had heard the name that came out of her mouth.

[james thomas leroy]

"I wouldn't expect you to," James told her. He certainly wouldn't respond to some name that wasn't his and so he wouldn't expect her to either, but then saying that, he did expect things of others that he wouldn't necessarily do himself. Perhaps it was a little hypocritical but no one had ever caught him in it.

"Didn't take much to respond to it," he told her. Not a lot of thinking was necessary. James was the type to get everything filtered through in his mind, coming up with plans and routes to take and various other fall back options should things go wrong. Thinking was something he did often and this was hardly all that stimulating.

The reply to his text message came so quickly that James was certain Cameron really did have nothing better to do. Though in reality, he knew she was more than likely already at her computer, doing her research. The girl never failed to provide him with the necessary information. With a smirk he put his phone away, ready to use this new information but it proved unnecessary when Kyla gave him her name.

"Kyla Annett Hardt. I know," he said, as though he had known it all this time while he back in his previous position with his book in his hands, as though it was it perfectly normal for him to know all of this. In truth, he was less interested now that he knew but he still liked to play the game and pretend to be perfectly normal, though admitting the knowledge he had would only make that more difficult. Ordinary people didn't go about skulking in the darkness, and whispering to each other.. Not that James ever did that literally.. It was more metaphorical. With all that he needed to hide, he practically did live in the dark. He was probably akin to one of those creatures that went bump in the night. Still, he got an answer to his question. Astraphobic.. Not particularly interesting, at least not right now but should a storm start brewin' James' opinion would probably change along with the weather.