i'll lean if you let me [Memphis]

Grey eyes looked in the mirror for a long moment before her body spun to look at her best friend. "I feel weird..." Her voice was soft as she spoke, eyes locked on Etain who had been called over to assist. This was a third date, she had to admit she was nervous. He was nice to talk with, polite, and most of all a gentleman. Though she still couldn't explain her feelings for Peter and things with Rhys were still up in the air, Memphis was nice company to have around. The fact that he was gorgeous only added to the entire package. Her hand rose run down the thigh of her tightly fitted jeans before she once more took herself in again. Her eyes traced the curve of her hips without struggle as she stood there. "Maybe these are a bit tight....what if he thinks bad of me for wearing them?" And they were form fitting, snug to her frame just as the purple t-shirt she wore. Kneeling as if she were wearing a dress she picked up her jacket from the pile of discarder clothes. "I know i know....we went through all my clothes. Shopping spree soon?" Her eyes seemed drawn to her form in the mirror.

She had never seen herself in anything other than dresses, and those had been light and airy. Giving boys no reason to stare at her, had been her father's excuse. But as wear as it felt it looked rather nice and she couldnt help turn sideways to see just how tight her jeans were. "Maybe pinned up, I don't want my hair in the way." As she spoke her hands moved to pin her hair up. It now fell just below her hips. "Maybe I should have some hair donated again?" Possibly have it cut to mid-back, or to her shoulder blades who knew. She was pacing now, the feel of her clothes making her fidget slightly. A tug there a pull here. "Ugh, im wearing it no more fussing." She walked to grab her skate giving Etain a big smile before she vanished in midair. She leaned to peek around the corner before walking out, aware of any and all eyes on her. "Should have worn a dress Phridae." As she stepped inside her mind relaxed. There was no worry of her pants being too tight, the cool air touched her skin even with the fabric over it.

Her hand rose to unzip the jacket she'd thrown on just before apparation, allowing the air to touch her warm skin. It seemed these clothes heated her body up, something she wasn't sure she liked. Sitting she took a deep breath before she paused. She had only been near him a few times if that, but the feeling was becoming all to well known. The warmth that surrounded her was like the softest breeze. She could feel the airs on her arms rise, her heart speeding up. Slowly she looked around before the sound of her falling skates caught her attention. Turning she took a moment to change her shoes before slowly taking a step onto the ice. Her hand holding onto the rail next to her as she pulled herself around to look at all people approaching. It never dawned on her that he may be there already, skating amongst those who knew how. There was that feeling once more rising up around her yet this time she allowed her eyes to close. The smell of the ice, the sound of the blades as they moved. It was all wonderful to her.

When Phridae entered the rink Memphis thought he felt her. He knew what she was but the fact that he was surrounded by ice did cloud his senses a bit. Normally he would be a little wary about meeting an Elemental he didn't know very well some place that was clearly in her favor, but he had a feeling that Phridae wasn't trying to set him up. They had already been on a few dates and seeing as the topic of being an Elemental had still not come up he wondered if she even knew what he was. It took Memphis a few years to really understand what he felt around other Elementals. Obviously his like elements were easy to spot, and his counter was even easier, but Elementals of any other kind gave him a range of different feelings. For an ice elemental he felt a coolness on his skin, almost like goosebumps. It was nice, not concerning, and he didn't mind it. Memphis was no stranger to being around Ice Elementals. He had spent time when he was younger working with Peter Alva, so he grew used to the constant cold. It actually comforted him. When he felt the cold creep up on his skin he immediately looked around for her.

Memphis was not used to ice skating. He had done it a few times when he was younger but he was by no means a professional. He remembered how to do it, he just had to make sure he didn't accidentally melt anything. He was glad he wasn't a Fire Elemental because this date would of been utterly out of the question. Memphis loved the fact that air could be a little bit of both, he could manipulate the temperature in the air. Of course he couldn't create fire or ice, but he enjoyed his element none the less. When he spotted her he grinned and stood up from the bench he had been sitting on. He checked his reflection in the pane of glass serving as a border between the carpetted floor and the ice rink inside. Fixing his hair and then smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt he waited for her to make it around to him before he stepped out on the ice. Luckily she wasn't going to fast and after a bit of uncertainty he caught up with her. He hadn't fallen yet but he had come close to it before she showed up, thats why he had decided to sit and wait for her to show up. "Hello there." He said with a bright smile and began skating in time with her.

"You look lovely." Memphis told her and he meant it. In the dates they had had so far she had always been dressed very conservatively and always in a dress. Memphis appreciated dresses, they were pretty and useful, but there was also a lot of good things about jeans. Like the fact that they were tight enough to really show off a females curves. He made sure not to stare too long, not letting his silver eyes linger, because he didn't want to seem like a creep. However he knew he was going to be sneaking peaks of her all night. "How are you?" He asked and then fumbled a little after hitting a small crack in the ice. Luckily Memphis managed to catch himself before he fell and smiled to her. "This may come as a shock, but I haven't been ice skating since I was a kid." He chuckled a little and continued to cautiously skate around the rink with her. He really wanted to talk to her about being an Elemental. It had been on his mind most of the day and he was anxious to get on the topic. Memphis wanted her to know who he was because he was proud of it, and it gave them a connection that most people would never even dream of. However he wasn't entirely sure how to bring it up, especially in such a public place.

"Do you ice skate often?" He asked instead, hoping if he got the ball rolling on the conversation of ice skating eventually it would lead to the topic of ice and finally to her gift. Even if they never talked about being Elementals he was confident that he would have a good time with her. He had had fun in her company on all of their other dates so he knew this one wouldn't be much different. Even if he did wipe out and smash into the ice soon, and that event seemed to be guaranteed at this point.

She had to admit that the more time she found herself spending time with Memphis, the more she seemed to break a little more out of her shell. She was far less concerned with how people saw her and more concerned about connecting with someone new. He was refreshing, like air to a drowning person. Nearly clear grey eyes rose slowly to scan the people before slowly allowing her body to move along the rink. Hand still attached to the rail as she got more comfortable on the skates. Only a few moments passed before she let her hand drop, keeping a steady pace, hands ready to fall out to break her fall. She felt the temperature in the air change, even knowing he was close his voice still startled her. She felt her footing coming undone, her heart speeding up as her hand came out to catch herself in case she fell. Weirdly she felt herself gain balance, her brows coming together slightly, before she looked back to see what had helped her.

It was strange, this new gift of hers. She wasn’t sure if it had helped her keep from falling or not. All she knew was she liked being in places liked this. She loved for the cold air to touch her skin. She’d had to charm Domino’s cage to give off a false heat so he didn’t shiver all day within the apartment. There were times when she could feel the temperature in the apartment drop drastically, those being moments she was either upset or stressed. She had to be honest this was all still a lot to get used to. Keeping this secret from her loved ones and those she came into contact with. How was she supposed to cope if she could never talk about the one thing worrying her? There had been a time when she worried of not fitting in, of being significantly different then her peers. Now she was worried about dying alone, because it had been made clear that she would out live most of the people who’d come into her life. How was she supposed to love someone knowing that the time she share with them would be short and they could never know why she never aged?

Her eyes shifted to land on him and she gave him a smile that showed the dimples in her cheeks perfectly. “Thank you…I was worried about this…” Her hands dropped to touch her jeans before her hand rose to push a stray strand of hair behind her ear slowly. “I do hope I’ve not kept you waiting long.” Her hand reached out to test the distance from the rail, before she moved out of his way slightly as he stumbled, momentarily forgetting he’d asked her a question. “Oh, are you okay?” She gave a soft laugh as she reached out to grab his arm as he righted himself. She gave a slight shake of the head. “I’ve not been on ice skates in years, I skated some as a child…but my father loved the piano more.” She looked at the ice ahead of her for a moment, it was beautiful. “I always like coming the few times that I was allowed though.” Slowly she pulled her gaze up with a grin. “Something about this place is comforting to me….” She had to be careful she was dangerously close to revealing something she knew she wasn’t supposed to.

“But I assume it was that it gave my fingers a rest from the constant practicing..” She played better than some of the greats, her father had made sure of it. Always standing over her with a small stick in his hand, popping her fingers if a note was out of place. She remembered the nights she barely got sleep from his need for her to play a song perfectly before she was able to get up. As the time passed she began to play more for herself than for him, finding an escape in the notes that filled the air. Soon she was composing her own music and that caused a new set of problems. Her father wasn’t too happy about this, but what was he to do about it? He heard of her time with Memphis and he wasn’t too pleased with that either, but really she was an adult now. That didn’t stop the man from trying to arrange her dates with suitable young men, but she had to be honest she preferred his company more. Memphis made it easy to be herself, there was no stress. There was no awkward moments shared between the two. And now as she thought of it he made her think of more grown up things as well.

Her lack of experience in those areas played a part in her hesitancy to bring them up. “Do you play an instrument?” Her eyes shifted to watch as a pair of skates caused a bit of the ice to mist up. She seemed drawn in by the sight, momentarily forgetting that he was beside her. It seemed as if her breathing became slower, shallow somewhat. Her eyes watched as the specks that had been lifted up by the hard turn dropped back to the ice, and in that instant she wanted to reach out to it. Just to feel the coolness against her fingertips, but there was none of that. Her gaze rose in time as she nearly ran into someone. Her feet instinctively caused her body to come to a near sudden stop and she shifted to her left slightly almost colliding with Memphis. Thoroughly embarrassed the blush rose in her cheeks. “I do apologize…I was not paying attention..” She needed to be more careful.

Honestly he had no idea why she would be worried about her jeans, they looked great on her, but Memphis offered her a kind smile any way. She really did look good. Memphis knew females loved to be complimented but in Dae's case it was completely the truth, she always looked beautiful when he saw her. She was so refined and it sometimes made him feel a little underdressed when she was around. Memphis was a halfblood, he grew up mostly in the wizarding world, but he avoided classic wizarding robes almost religiously. He found them are to be comfortable in because they were always weighing him down. He liked that they floated around in the wind, but the weight of them was a deal breaker for him. And he never really worried about getting cold because he could just adjust the temperature around him or go some place warm in the blink of an eye. "You haven't." He replied when she mentioned keeping him waiting, he hadn't been there long. After nearly falling Memphis let out a small chuckle and nodded to her. "Yes, I'm alright." He was glad that he hadn't fallen down yet because that would be a bit embarrassing. Memphis was no stranger to doing cute embarrassing things in front of females to impress them but he had a feeling smashing his teeth in on the ice rink wouldn't exactly be a cute little event.

After asking if she went skating a lot Memphis kept his eyes on the ice for just a moment, watching for anymore ruts in his path, just in case. When she spoke he of course turned all of his attention back to her and listened closely. He found it quite entertaining that she thought the reason the ice comforted her was because it was a break from playing piano. Memphis had a feeling it was something else entirely, something he could relate to. Every Elemental found solace in their element. The corners of his mouth curved up just a little as he listened to her tell him about playing the piano. He remembered her mentioning it the last time they went on a date and it reminded him, "I would love to hear you play sometime?" He said half as a request half as a statement and hoped she would be okay with it. From what he could gather she seemed to have mixed feelings on the subject. She seemed to truly love the instrument, maybe resent her father a little for pushing her so hard as a child, but over all proud of her achievements. Memphis never spent enough time doing any one thing to be as skilled as she sounded like she was in piano. He had a poor attention span and left most of his projects unfinished, collecting dust in a corner some where.

"No, can't say that I do." He replied when she asked him if he played anything but he soon found his eyes following her gaze to the ice on the rink. He wanted so badly to bring the topic up, it seemed almost comical that they had decided to come here and the topic still had not come up. She was enveloped in her element and Memphis loved the look that was on her face. To him it looked like intrigue, interest, and total devotion, it was quite beautiful. When he saw her eyes shift and her almost run into someone he instinctively held his hands out to catch her if she stumbled. She moved close to him, closer than she had been on most of their dates and he felt his fingers brush against her forearm. Offering her another warm smile he held his arms up in case she needed his assistance to regain her balance. "Its alright, are you okay?" Memphis knew what he wanted to say, that she had been paying attention to something else and he knew what it was, but he bit his lip and steered clear of the non-topic for now. He was glad she had also not falling down when she stumbled because he would hate for her to get hurt or embarrassed, especially if it caused her to leave. He really liked being around her she was refreshing and a change from his normal pace of dates. She was intelligent, beautiful, and he hoped one day he wouldn't have to keep any secrets from her, they could keep each others secret.

Memphis had told a few people about his true nature, his father, Farren, Eloise, only the people closest to him that he knew would keep it a secret. Now he wasn't sure if he should of told them about it. After the Rogue attack on Beauxbatons and the Elemental's non existence during the war that had just torn through the wizarding world he felt they didn't really understand him anymore. The former Ravenclaw knew it would be nice to have more close relationships with people who were part of his world, he longed for it really. Yes he had Motya, but as always, Memphis wanted more. Letting his thoughts run away from him Memphis licked his slowly purple tinting lips and looked back to her, speaking so the conversation wouldn't die out. "I did play Quidditch in school. I know its not the same as playing an instrument but being a beater takes a lot more practice than people expect." He grinned at her and the thought of the good old days in Hogwarts, even though they were less than five years ago, made him happier than he thought they would. He missed the innocence of youth. For Memphis things really were a lot easier back then, sure he didn't have the freedom he did now, but he was quite carefree. The biggest worry he had was which girl was he going to try to date next. There was no war, no death or heartbreak, just studying and having fun. "Are you a Quidditch fan? Or did you play?"

He knew she was a few years younger than him, but not by much, and they had shared a house. He wondered if she watched Quidditch at all, maybe she would remember some of the games he played in. It wouldn't be the first time he used his Quidditch history to try and impress a girl. Memphis didn't have many tangable skills that he could actually bring up in a conversation. Sure he was social, but being able to woo lots of girls isn't really something dates like to hear about. Quidditch was one of the few things in his life that he was good at, and it was a magical sport to boot. Memphis could barely get Lumos to work with his wand, but he could fly a broom pretty good. Skating slowly he took a deep breath as they rounded the rink again, the cool air hit his lungs and he waited for a reply from her.

“Hear me play…” The anxiousness was clear in her voice. No one other than her parents and a select few people of her father’s choosing had ever heard her play the piano. Grey eyes rose to lock on his face for a moment almost as if gauging his expression before she looked thoughtful. “That’s fine…if you allow me one request…” Her gazed shifted so she could look at the ice below their feet for some semblance of comfort. “You cannot watch me while I play…it will be make me greatly uncomfortable at least the first time I play for you..” Her voice was low before she looked over at him. “I value your opinion…and the piano is a piece of myself I don’t often share with people whose opinion I actually take into consideration…” It was her vague way of saying she liked him without actually uttering the words.

She had wondered what it would be like to get close to him, to allow his hands to run over her skin. In her mind she pictured it being far different than it already was. Her arm snatched back instantly as the heat of his touch and the air around him made it feel as if she had been hit on the arm. Instantly the room became unbearably cold to accommodate her in her shocked state. Her hand reached out as she pulled her body away from him, to rest against the rail. Gripping the rail her eyes closed as she took a few slow deep breaths and slowly the air returned back to its previous state.

What had she just done? She had been careless enough to allow herself a moment to forget that she was not supposed display her gift. Yes, she had little to no control of it but she had learned to keep just the air around her the way she wanted. Her eyes opened and her gaze landed on him before she took a measured step back. “I….” Thankful he had been speaking when she had moved to compose herself she shook her head softly. “I’m not as graceful on a broom as I appear to be otherwise…excuse me please..” She shifted to move past him, careful this time not to touch him as she stepped off the ice. She looked around at the confused looks of a few skaters as the passed by where she was now standing.

Her  hand rose to undo her hair letting it fall down her back before she ran her hand through it a few times, instantly relaxing herself allowing the air around her to become normal for just a moment. She needed to talk to someone about this; she needed to get a lot off of her chest. Her gaze dropped to the ice before she was once more lost in the beauty of it. “Have you ever wished that you weren’t completely different from the person next to you, so that on some level you had a feeling of normality?” She hadn’t looked up to see if he had followed her or not but she spoke anyway. She could no longer hold it in; she could feel the walls breaking down. Soon she would have to tell someone and she knew that the likelihood that it would be him was strong. There was something about him that let her know that she could trust him with this secret.

Peter had been easy to talk to but the air around him was so overwhelming that it made her feel lost within herself half the time. He caused a longing in her that she had never experienced before; this longing was far different than the one Memphis had sparked within her core. She wanted to be next to him, to soak in the coldness that was simply him. With Memphis however she wanted to laugh and enjoy life, she wanted to experience the things that had been kept from her. She wanted him to touch her, she thought of the strength in his hands. The softness to the look of his lips, the fact that when she looked at him she saw strength and control; mostly he gave her a sense of peace whenever he was around.

Yes, the air shifted in his presence but not in a way that caused her alarm. It was almost like a melody sang to put on to sleep or soothing words to an upset child. With a few strands of her hair in her hand beautiful grey eyes closed for a moment. She would tell him, yes it was decided. “Can we go someplace to talk…privately…” Shifting she moved to sit down to undo her skates slowly. Yes she needed to talk to someone so the weight of the world would lift from her shoulders finally, and she knew at this point Memphis was her safest bet. There had to be a reason she could feel him, it was the only thing that gave her reprieve to make this choice.