If Zombies Attacked

Who: Alexis and Thom
When: lunch hour
Where: the music room

Though it was over a month into the school year, Alexis hadn't found her own group yet, and grabbing a table at lunch still felt awkward. Usually she was better at it than this, but with all the weird happenings in town, she'd ended up staying on the outside longer than usual. Rather than sit alone, or crash someone else's party, she wandered to the music room. When signing up for school, they'd asked her to pick a fine art's elective and choir had been her selection-- she'd never learned to play an instrument, but singing could be somewhat self taught.

The main room was empty, but that didn't mean the practice rooms were, and Alexis was quickly drawn to one from which music came in loud complementary chords. The door was just barely open and she slid in quietly, hoping not to disturb the music as she watched the boy who played. She'd seen him around school, but in a school this size, it was hard not to notice everyone in passing.

Thom had been in the music department since the beginning of the lunch period, trying to regain some sense of normality. He'd drifted through his morning classes, hardly paying attention at all. It felt weird for everything just to be 'click' normal again - even if they'd had the weekend to get used to it. He'd found himself waiting for everything to start back up again - at least until he got here. He could lose himself in music, he'd always been able to lose himself in music. It calmed him, made the stress go away, and at the moment he was just playing, his supple fingers running up and down the keyboard, sounds flowing from beneath his hands with practiced skill, his side on to the door. He was vaguely aware that he had an audience, but that'd never bothered him, so he just glanced at the blond and gave her a small smile to indicate she was welcome, then went back to finishing off his piece.

Once she knew she was welcome in the room, Alexis drifted towards the piano, leaning on the side to watch him play. It fascinated her, the way his fingers moved over the keys, just knowing where they should go as if pulled there magnetically. Music was something universal to her, something she could take with her when everything else was left behind. It went wherever, no matter what city, and she could recall long hours in the car filled with any type of music she could find. It was mood changing, or mood matching, and she shut her eyes to feel the message behind his song. When she started humming a harmony, she didn't quite realize she'd done so, only able to chime in occasionally, when he replayed a bit she'd already heard him play.

Thom glanced over again as she started to hum along and segued into something familiar, mainstream, a tune that she might actually know, changing key a little to suit what he figured her tone would be, half watching her with interest, not staring, but enough that she'd know that she was being watched. He was always interested in people's reaction to music, and again, it was nicely normal.

As the tune changed, Alexis listened, then smiled and opened her eyes as she recognized the song. It was different to be watched and listened to, as she realized he probably had been even before she'd known she was humming herself, but that didn't stop her from chiming in. With a song she knew, she could actually sing the words, and she watched him play as she sung along, determined not to let herself be embarrassed. While she had a decent voice, she wasn't used to having an audience other than her father.

Thom's eyes drifted away from her as she started to sing, knowing that not everyone liked to be watched, but he kept playing and started to softly add in some harmony, not loud, making sure that he kept his own volume below hers, gently encouraging her.

Alexis couldn't say why, but she felt her cheeks burn, and she raised her volume slightly. He had a good voice, better than she thought of her own, but it must have been okay if he was willing to sing with her. It was nice, though, listening to the natural harmony. Soothing, and very much fitting the time and place. If there was anywhere she could be willing to sing aloud, it was here, even if she didn't know the boy she was singing with.

Thom brought the tune to its natural conclusion and decided to give the girl a break by actually stopping, rather than suggesting she had to carry on. He stilled his hands and looked up at her. "You're not bad," he told her, meaning that as a compliment, his tone conveying as much.

"Thanks," Alexis smiled, accepting it as such. "You're amazing. I've never seen anyone play like that. You make it look so easy." And she knew it wasn't, not at all. She'd only sat at a piano once or twice in her life and she couldn't put a string of notes together to save her life.

Thom shrugged and leaned forward, resting his arms against the top of the instrument. "Thanks - it's kinda what I do. Or, y'know, that's the theory. Or the dream, whatever you want to call it. Either that or you can go with the story that I just enjoy it, whichever you like. You're new this semester, right?" Thom asked. The new faces weren't all that hard to spot and he was an observant guy.

"The dream-- it sounds better," Alexis said. "Seems to have a more positive emphasis, at least." It was a nice dream to have, in her opinion. In the back of her mind, she wondered if she had anything similar. "Yep, just moved here in August from Tuscon, Arizona. I'm Alexis," she said, extending her hand.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Thom agreed, pushing away for now the fact that it was a dream he was never going to be able to run with - didn't make it any less of a dream though. He shifted and took her hand. "Thom, Thom Harkin. Marquette born and bred. Never really been anywhere more interesting. So, what brings you to our little town then, Alexis?" he asked her.

"My dad was transferred here," she explained. "He works in sales and Marquette's central to the area he's now servicing." It was enough information that most people believed her, seeing as how most people didn't start asking questions about her dad's profession. "It's a nice change of pace. I'm looking forward to a winter that includes snow."

"Unlucky for you," Thom offered with a grin. He would have said the same thing six months ago, only six months ago he would have meant it because this place was so deadly boring. Now he meant it for other reasons. "And, well, I'd hold fire on the judgment of snow until a week into November - see if you still like it then," he joked.

"You know, I keep hearing that," she grinned. As someone who'd gone a year without a winter season, it was hard not to look forward to it. "So what's there to do around here when things are normal? Do you play in a band? Or is this a solo gig?" she asked. The piano allowed versatility, so she knew it could go either way.

"To do? Not a huge amount, unless you're into the whole homecoming thing," Thom shrugged, though with the shit that had been going on in town lately, that seemed to have taken a bit of a back seat. "Usually though, it's more of a 'make your own fun', quiet kinda town. Not a huge amount going on in the way of entertainment. Well, apart from me, of course - I play in a band, Promise Theory," he told her, easily, not boasting or anything. "You'll probably hear us at one of the parties, if you go. We get around a bit."

"I don't know about the whole homecoming thing. It's hard to tell right now. But if I don't go, there should be a party for everyone else, just to hang out," she said. Things like homecoming didn't usually work out for her, seeing as how she was so new that no one really knew her by the time they came around. Alexis didn't mind, but she liked the idea of an alternative for those without dates. "I'll have to watch for you, and for the parties," she smiled. "Does the name mean something?"

"The band name?" Thom asked her. "No, not really - we all just sat round a few years ago and brainstormed until we came up with something we could all live with." Which had been harder than he made it sound - there'd been a few arguments, raised voices over it. Mostly from Jason, though Thom had kept it from blows, the way he normally did, the born peace-maker.

"Who else is in your band?" she asked. She knew she was being inquisitive, but the more she learned about him, the better idea she had about him as a person. Knowing his friends would help considerably. "Do you sing? Or does someone else take lead? Cause you could totally rock it of you wanted to," she smiled.

Thom chuckled. "No, I take lead already - sing, guitar, piano, that's mostly me. My friend Isaac plays bass - you might know him." Everyone knew Isaac, or so it seemed to Thom at times. The guy was good at limelight. "Senior, dark hair - plays sports. Anyway, Isaac, then there's Tyler and Jason - just the four of us." Somehow it was always Thom and Isaac and the other two. It'd just always been like that. They'd got used to it over the years.

"Good Lord! You play the guitar too?" she laughed, "All I can do is play the tambourine, or the finger cymbals. And the kazoo. Little instruments that didn't take lessons and could easily fit in the car. But I can sing, kinda. Choir music wouldn't be my choice, but it is what it is." It was really too bad they didn't get to sing rock music in class. That would've been much more fun, in her opinion. "I think I've seen Isaac, but I've never actually met him. It sometimes takes me a bit to meet everyone." She'd rather watch for a bit first, to understand the dynamics of the group. Only recently had she decided to start meeting people, since the process had been slowed by all the chaos that continued to pop up.

"Hey, don't knock the kazoo - you can get a good tune going on one of those," Thom teased, his brown eyes twinkling with mirth. "And if we're going there, I also play the harmonica, but not that much really. I mean, that's the kind of thing you just pick up and put down," he said, with the air of someone who clearly didn't think that learning a new instrument was really that overly difficult. "So - you travel around a lot then?" he asked her, picking up on the car thing.

"I don't think I've ever tried playing the harmonica, but that could be fun. Seems like the kind of thing you might have around a campfire or something," Alexis smiled, wondering if it was as easy to play as he made it sound. "Sometimes, yeah, when I'm with my dad. If he's traveling in the summer, he takes me with him. It means I've gotten to see a lot of the country, not nowhere exciting. There's not a lot happening in all the little towns between Tucson and Marquette."

"And I'm sure there's a lot of them - sales must get you around, I guess," Thom agreed, pulling a sympathetic face. "As for the harmonica, it's not that hard to pick up - and there's lots of stuff you can play around a campfire." Course, the last campfire he'd been around had been attacked by demon cats, but that was another story. "So, is it just you and your dad?" he asked her, always ready with the questions.

"Yeah, my mom died when I was little. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up, but then she passed a few years ago. Now it's just my dad and I," Alexis explained. It was only half the story, but it was what she was willing to give. The details painted a picture far worse, one that most people wouldn't understand or want to hear. She'd only met Thom, so she couldn't even consider digging into it. "What about you? Only child? Brady bunch family?" she asked.

Thom shook his head, his dark shaggy hair moving fluidly. "No - it's just me and mom. Never really had much in the way of family," he told her, though he sounded absolutely fine with this. His still wondered about his dad from time to time, sticking with the theory that his parents had loved each other, but they'd had a relationship which hadn't been able to stand the test of Ashbelle's protected. He liked that story, it made sense. His mother just hadn't ever encouraged him to ask about his father, and in a family where asking certain questions could literally kill someone, you learned to be cautious with what you demanded to know.

Seeing as how she didn't want to answer questions of her own considering the loss of her mother, Alexis didn't even consider asking about Thom's father. If he wasn't there, he wasn't there, and his absence was better accepted than inquired about, at least in her opinion. "But you've gotten to stay in one place," Alexis pointed out, her smile showing she wasn't bothered by her own situation. "Old friends can be like family, right? You probably know everyone in school."

"Yeah, I know most people - enough to be able to pick you out as a newbie at a glance, at least," Thom observed. "Though that's not that much of a feat - small town life, not that many people to know. But yeah, I have kinda been adopted by Isaac's family a bit. They live right next door."

"Next door? Like, can you talk to each other from your windows?" Alexis grinned. "That has to be nice. Not that Marquette's huge or anything, but you don't even have to cross the street. I'm still working to meet my neighbors. It's always good to, just in case." In most places that "just in case" would be followed by "I need a cup of sugar", but Alexis was thinking more along the lines of "I'm escaping killer monsters".

Thom chuckled. "Not quite that close, but yeah, right next door." It was just that they both had big houses set apart on large plots. And he didn't really feel like sharing with her that fact that they'd had a shared treehouse that straddled to two properties as children - or that it was still there and in use. "Knowing your neighbors is always good," he agreed.

"Yeah, would've been nice this weekend..." Without any friends close by, Alexis had spent the weekend locked in her house with her father, fighting off the shadow monsters. Maybe if she'd had a neighbor to talk to, they wouldn't have been alone the whole time. She wasn't sure. It still would've been nice, but at least it was past.

"I take it you and your dad got through that okay?" Thom asked her, picking up on her meaning, but careful not to put any intonation into his voice that would suggest whether he was surprised at things trying to kill people or not. It was a bland, we both know things happened, but you're going to have to give on knowledge before I do' tone. Thom was sticking to his 'normal person' promise to himself. No sharing that he had knowledge with anyone else new. It'd brought him nothing but pain and problems so far. It had to stop. So, he was playing his cards close to his chest from here on out.

"We survived. Our mirrors didn't," Alexis laughed softly. "On the upside, I'm now an expert on beating something to death with a crowbar. Not that that's a skill to put on my resume, but hey, might be useful, right?" She was well aware that it read 'creepy' all around to anyone who didn't know what she was talking about, but how could anyone in Marquette have missed it? She hadn't skirted the issue with Charlotte and wouldn't do it with Thom either. "Someone told me I should stop by this bookstore if I wanted to learn more. I'm gonna see if I can't find it today after school."

"Nevermore," Thom told her. "Assuming that you're not talking about Borders," he joked. "It's not hard to find - we don't have a whole lot of town to get lost in. And they're really good in there - got a whole load of weird stuff," he told her, then realized that he was probably saying too much. "Er - I've been in a few times, just to have a look round, y'know? There's all sorts of weird titles in there. Myths and stuff?" he suggested, covering. Though they'd both lived through shadow attacks - but then again, that didn't have to mean he'd been researching things before then, did it?

"Do they have the real thing? Or just the fiction?" she asked. "It's hard to find a bookstore that keeps anything of value in stock. Dracula isn't gonna be of much help if a vampire attacks," she said, rolling her eyes in amusement. She didn't want to know the myths. She knew the myths. And while they were all based on fact, they didn't cover everything she wanted to know. Unfortunately, most books didn't, and the people at Borders looked at her as if she was crazy when she asked about odd titles that they didn't even carry and wouldn't order, even if requested.

The real thing, Thom thought to himself, but outwardly he just pulled a slight face. "Not sure - but it's not really the glossy mainstream kinda place, so who knows. Looked interesting - depends on what you're looking for though, I guess. I mean, until recently, shadows coming out of mirrors and attacking? Who knows anything after that kind of thing. And then, a few weeks ago..." he added, not coming out and saying that that had been vampires. Lots of people still seemed to believe it was some out of town gang or something, after all. The shadows? They had been harder to ignore.

"A few weeks ago the papers reported that gangs attacked," Alexis said, skirting the issue in a way that directed attention to the official story, as well as an indication that it wasn't the full one. "I figure a mainstream bookstore wouldn't have anything on how to deal with... gangs," she smirked. "You've lived here your whole life. Is this a new thing? Or have you always had a problem with 'gangs'." She was trying to tell if she was making him uncomfortable, but it was hard, seeing as how she'd just met him.

"No - really, until this last summer, Marquette's always been about as sleepy a place as you can get for somewhere this size," Thom told her, not at all uncomfortable, merely cautious. "Low crime rate, people'd leave their cars unlocked on the street, nothing much to report. Lately, however... Well, since the summer, things have been getting steadily - less sleepy. Crime rate's rising, people are leaving town..."

Alexis wondered what had changed over the summer that suddenly changed the tides. Was it just in Marquette, or was it everywhere? It was a question for her father, if he knew at all. "But people still leave their cars unlocked on the street," Alexis said. "Do you believe in everything or just the things you've seen?" No one was going to deny that the shadows had attacked, but making the jump to the rest, that was where it got difficult for most people in her experience.

"I doubt anyone believes in everything," Thom countered, pointing that out and dodging the question. "What do you believe?" he asked, in return.

"Everything," Alexis laughed. "Enough to get labeled as crazy if I don't keep my mouth shut. They say seeing is believing, but I don't have to see it to know it's out there. In fact, I'd probably prefer to avoid it." Especially if her father was trying to kill it. That was the problem, the potential threat of anything supernatural, including herself.

"Everything?" Thom asked, amused. "That's a big score sheet. So, are you saying that you need to have proof positive that something doesn't exist before you'll believe that?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm, well, okay, so maybe I exaggerated," Alexis grinned. "I don't believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and I'm pretty sure it was my grandmother who put a quarter under my pillow when I lost my baby teeth. But other stuff I'm pretty willing to accept without positive proof. I believe in the boogeyman, for example, but I'm not going out of my way to collect evidence just to be sure I'm right."

"The boogey man?" Thom asked. "Does he hide behind doors, or under the bed?" he asked, amused.

"Oh, definitely in the closet," she laughed. "Not my closet, but someone's, I'm sure." It was easy to laugh at such things, considering how absurd they were.

"So, you've never had a boogeyman in your closet - but I thought he got around..." Thom joked, his eyes sparkling, enjoying this. The boogeyman was one thing he'd never believed in.

"It's a big world!" she laughed. "That's a lot of ground to cover, a lot of children to scare. Maybe he got mine when I was little and I just didn't know it was him. You never know. Monsters could be anywhere." While it was half fact, half fiction, Alexis knew how to differentiate the two. The boogyman might not exist, but things that hid in closets most definitely did. If things could hide in mirrors, why not a closet? It made perfect sense to her.

"So, there's only one?" he asked. "So, they're not a race of creatures then? Lots and lots of them? All hiding under beds and in closets, eating spare socks?" Spare socks were always a problem - Thom as aware he was wearing odd ones right now and it had been gently bugging all day. He was generally neater than that.

"See, now you're confusing him with the sock monsters," Alexis teased. "There's lots of sock monsters, but only one boogyman... which probably puts him on par with the tooth fairy, so who knows. I generally find monsters that have exclusive roles don't really exist, but there could always be exceptions." She always wondered if there was ever really a Dracula, but she seriously doubted it.

"Do you read Pratchett?" he asked her. "Because his theory is that the Tooth Fairy is a franchise. Course that's on another planet carried on the back of some elephants, so anything's possible, I guess," he added. "So, okay, specific roles don't exist - so no Santa, no Tooth Fairy, no Easter Bunny. But... Hmm, where do you stand on zombies?" he asked.

"I need to! The only thing I've read by him was Good Omens with Neil Gaiman and that was hilarious. He could be right, for all I know," she grinned. She'd definitely have to go check out some of Pratchett's other books. "Zombies are tricky," she said, "Can the dead walk? Sure. On their own? Mmmaybe, maybe not. I think most occurrences of the walking dead are connected to black magic, rather than the dead crawling out of the ground on their own. I don't know if that's better or worse than some of the virus theories."

"Or voodoo - I think that's where the vast majority of quasi-zombie lore comes from if you're not buying into the horror movie actual-walking-dead myths," Thom contributed, conversationally. "Or maybe some kind of deep trance, coma-like induced state where the body is reanimated by a master controller?"

"I think that sounds about right," Alexis said. "I don't know a lot about voodoo, except that it's another form of magic based highly upon belief and ritual. Either way, both require reanimation by a puppet-master of some sort. I wonder if that means they'd still want to eat my brain?" As a conversation topic, this was probably a bit odd, but Alexis was enjoying herself.

"True - unless you want to take the Max Brooks route, where zombie-ism is merely a form of contracted virus which enters the bloodstream and then kills and reanimates the host. I hardly think you could call a virus a puppet-master, given that there's still biological debate about whether a virus even can be classified as a lifeform for classification purposes. As for the brain thing," Thom mused. "As I understand it, that's a purely horror-movie thing. Before, like, the Living Dead movies, zombies were just generic flesh eaters, rather than going for brain per se."

"A virus wouldn't be a puppet-master. In that case, the zombie itself would be a supernatural creature, brought by a viral force. I think. I guess it would be a kind of metamorphasis, the way a human becomes a vampire, right? Feeding habits change, along with body construction. So is the zombie the creature, or just a host to the virus? Or do they become one? If the zombie is just a host, then I don't think it can be classified as a lifeform," Alexis theorized. "You know, movies make this complicated, adding in their own little details."

"Plus, what makes a vampire? In some legends, the person dies and their form is inhabited by a demon of sorts. In others, it's merely a change of feeding habits, plus getting a little longer in the canines. Often I think it's got more to do with special effects budgets and cinematography than any real theory about what may or may not be likely," Thom said, still dancing around any admission that he was talking about things that he may actually know existed rather than just being a teenager who watched a lot of movies. "As for the zombie-host thing, possibly you could view the thing that turned the human into a zombie as some kind of parasitic lifeform - though usually the presence of a parasite means that the host remains alive," he allowed. "And, generally, a living host is more along the lines of your average haitian zombie, which calls for zombie dust."

"Zombie dust?" Alexis grinned. "Is that like fairy dust? Or is it ground up zombie, which would really just be rotting human flesh with viral contact?" Zombies weren't something Alexis actually knew anything about, but she enjoyed the discussion around them. Even if none of it was remotely true, it showed Thom knew something about the subject, even if it was just movie knowledge. Besides, it was fun! "With vampires, it depends on the bloodline," Alexis said, actually moving into a topic she did know something about. "The way a vampire changes depends on it's sire. I don't know how all the different types came to be, but it's definitely passed through the blood. Personally, I think the person remains, not a demon inhabitant, but some may lose their minds."

That peaked Thom's attention, though in his usual relaxed way, he didn't betray it. Generally only Issac or his mother could see through his subtle physical responses. "Really?" he asked, with some curiosity. "What are the different types?" he asked her, a question born out of curiosity of what she knew and hope that he could fill in the gaps in his own knowledge. He knew some, but if she knew more, he wanted to know.

Alexis didn't notice the difference. She couldn't, having just met him, and so she continued on. Besides, at this point, if he called her crazy, she could just laugh it off. It didn't matter if they'd moved into a subject she actually knew to be fact, even if she still couldn't come up with it's origin. "Well, there's the Faryngael, that I like to think of as the pretty vampires. The Ann Rice vampires, if you will, but that's based on Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt playing them in the movie. They're the opposite of the Strigoi, which are the hideous ones. Think Notsfuratu-- long ears, claw-like-fingernails. And the Acherus, the fast vampires that like to kill things. They travel in packs. And then there's the Renfields," Alexis said, trying to keep the hatred out of her voice. "They would be the crazy ones."

Thom recognised the Acherus - he'd never forget the Acherus, even if he hadn't always had a name to put to them. "So, pretty, ugly, killing machines and crazy," Thom surmised. "All dangerous in their own special way? Or are you going to pull the punch and tell me tehre's meant to be some nice, friendly vampires out there?"

"Oh, I think some of the ones I named can be nice and friendly, but that doesn't mean they're not vampires," Alexis said. "The Faryngael are supposedly kind to humans, but in the way that you might be kind to a dog or cat. Or, let's say, a cow. You wouldn't kick a cow. Maybe, if you're really bored, you'd tip a cow. But you'd leave it alone. Unless you got hungry enough. That's what we are to them, all of them, when it comes down to it." It wasn't a very pleasant thought, but it was the truth as she saw it. Alexis hadn't exactly had a good experience with vampires. So far, she hadn't met anyone who had.

Thom considered this. "You know, I think humans are so used to being top of the food chain that it's automatically a skin-crawling sensation when anything crops up that suggests we're not."

"So we learn to fight it," Alexis said. "And the first step to fighting it is knowledge. Gotta know what you're up against, right? Only then can we move on to be slayers," she teased, wondering how silly she'd look in place of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"And so the hunter becomes the hunted," Thom observed. "I'm sure you'd still be alive at the end of a horror movie - you sound like you're prepared for it, at least."

"What about you?" Alexis asked, turning it around. "Any tricks up your sleeve if the dead invade Marquette? I'm not just talking vampires; zombies are fair game as well." Aware as she was that vampires had been in Marquette, she knew he'd at least made it through that much alive.

"Lock myself in my basement and hope for the best?" Thom suggested with a smile. Well, it had actually worked during the shadow attack. Of course, that had involved barricading the entire house and he and his mother standing guard with weaponry, but he didn't need to mention that.

"Aww," Alexis laughed, "Though you're probably right. That would be the best approach. Though look how it turned out for the guy in Return of the Living Dead? Gotta keep in touch with those around you. Don't let them mistake you for one of them. Not that that should be a problem." Thom didn't look like a zombie or a vampire, and she couldn't imagine him ever looking like one, regardless of the situation. Well, unless he actually became one.

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment - you don't look like the kind of person who thinks vamp goth is the height of style, anyway." not that he considered himself to be either - really, he didn't ever really worry about what other people thought about him and he carried around with him that air of confidence only found in those who really couldn't give a flying fuck whether you thought they were 'cool' or not. He was quite happy being outside the high school cliques. "Of course, if it was a longer lasting invasion, then I'd be in trouble - stores only last so long. But at least with vampires you can go out during the day. Zombie invasion may be a little more problematic," he added.

"It was a compliment," she grinned, turning the thought around in her head. Thom with black eye-liner was a greatly amusing thought. "With vampires, the trick would be to move during the day, to keep one step ahead of them and kill them while they're at their weakest. With zombies, I think you'd need to take a different strategy. Maybe stick to high places. Create a network that they can't break through. I don't know. I actually think that zombies pose a much greater long term threat, depending on how long the virus keeps them animated without fuel." Though she certainly wasn't an expert on the subject, Alexis had had far too much time to think about it all.

"I think that the threat level's of a different type," Thom mused. "With zombies, it's a mindless 'take over the world' thing - if we're talking generic movie zombies of any form. The generally accepted idea that they're mindless killing machines. They kill because they're driven to - they're a constantly moving force. Whereas vampires have higher brain capacity - they can plan and think, much like we can. Their hunting is driven by hunger and that hunger can be sated by feeeding, the way that the kill-drive in zombies isn't. Therefore zombies are more driven to take over the world, with no thought to what would happen if their food supply runs out. With vampires, you'd be looking at a situation where they'd either integrate and feed quietly, or, worst-case scenario, they'd be looking to take over the world and farm humankind - but at least we'd still be alive to fight back, form a resistance, something like that."

"Vampires shouldn't be inclined to kill all of us off, or they'd lose their food source, sick as that sounds. So you're right, we'd be alive, compared to the zombies that could mindlessly destroy the whole world without thinking of it. Hence, the lack of brain," she smiled. This was a fun conversation. Much more fun than anything she could have started up in the cafeteria, where people would have looked at her as if she'd lost something in the brain. "So, are you a huge horror movie buff? Or just a sponge of useful supernatural information?"

"I'm just a sponge - not just supernatural," Thom admitted. "I obviously have far too much time on my hands - I pick up all sorts of useless bits of information from all over the place. What's your excuse?" he asked her, tilting his head to one side a little as he watched her.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's better than how some people use their time, at least," Alexis said. "I guess I'm a little bit of both. Maybe one because of the other. The supernatural interests me, so I watch the movies. Or maybe I watch the movies and become curious? Always trying to expand my circle of knowledge. I should probably add on a few normal subjects though." This was probably the longest conversation she'd ever had on such things, apart from talking to her father.

"Well, you always have the kazoo," Thom joked, giving her a smile and relating them back round to the beginning of their conversation with ease, allowing in a break from the talk about things which they both seemed to acknowledge, but neither was really and truly openly admitting to knowing about. Especially not him - he wasn't entirely sure about her. The way she'd been talking, he figured she knew at least something about what was going on. but then again, after the last week, he had a feeling that the supernatural was going to become a whole lot more of a mainstream topic of conversation. Unless everything settled down and time was given for people to start questioning what they'd experienced.

"Very true," Alexis laughed, surprised when the lunch bell rang, signaling them to head to their next class. "Maybe I'll start practicing, make myself a name as a professional kazoo player. Do always come play during lunch?" she asked, picking up her bag from where she'd set it on the floor. Since she couldn't remember seeing him in any of her classes, it would be nice to know, just in case she wanted to hang out with him again.

"Yeah, mostly - and most frees as well. I kinda haunt this place and generally people don't seem to mind, long as I keep out of everyone's way," Thom told her. It wasn't something that they allowed everyone to do - he knew Kaysen's complaints about not being able to use the school's dark rooms during lunch, but Thom had always been a bit of a pet of the music staff and was given mostly free reign. He stood and picked up his bag, slinging it over one shoulder, before hoisting his guitar in its carry bag up onto the other. "Maybe I'll see you around," he added, easily, always happy to chat to people - and he'd enjoyed the conversation, it'd been fun.

She couldn't imagine why anyone would complain; he'd played beautiful music and was a good conversationalist. She was honestly surprised that he wasn't out in the commons chatting it up with everyone else, but better for her that she'd met him here. "See you, Thom," she smiled, lingering slightly as she headed towards the door. "It was fun singing with you." And chatting too, though she thought that much should have been obvious.

"You too," Thom allowed as he followed her to the door. "Hope choir goes well for you," he added, standing back so that she could leave first.

"Thanks," she said, leading the way out. "We'll see. I tend to like things a little less... choir-like, but I'm willing to learn." Songs played on the radio just weren't the same as what they learned in school. Still, it was fun, and it was a class she could relax in while listening to music and being a part of it.

"Yeah, know how that is - that was never really my thing either. Band, choir... Far too structured for my liking - anyway, I play piano and guitar, which aren't generally 'band' instruments, y'know? And standing there with a group of people, all singing the same thing? Not my idea of a good time. Music class, mainly they let me just go off and do what I like."

"See, you're lucky," Alexis smiled, "They wouldn't let me do that-- don't know me well enough, maybe." Or maybe she didn't have the talent; Alexis wasn't sure. What she did know was that she only had her voice, and they weren't likely to hear much of it blended with a crowd. The point of a choir was to sound good together, not to stand out. "I'll see you later," Alexis waved, turning the opposite direction from him. "Bye, Thom!"