**A GOOD DISGUISE)) lark

Today would have been the perfect day to shove a set of headphones into one's ears and just tune out the rest of the world, but as luck would have it the last class of the day required her to actually pay attention. She had been striving to do better in her classes (courtesy of Josh's own drive for inspiration) but when your professor had an inherent stutter and you could hardly make out half of what he was saying, there was little room for focus. They had to work on a class project for most of the class period, however, so she abstained from headphones until they got things done. It was supposed to be a presentation, one that had a deadline about a month from today. Having law classes weren't too bad, except when the assignment was to pick a subject and create a court case on said subject. They still had yet to decide on anything. She groaned inwardly as her group mates argued before she jumped in with, "Why don't we just pick a case topic that's already been done? Maybe one with a result that we didn't like, and then run with that." The others thought on it for a few minutes and added it into their little pile of ideas. Anything to get them further than where they were at the current time. She refused to fail because of them.

When the professor finally dismissed class, Lark gathered up the contact info for her group so they could keep in touch and disappeared from the room without much of a word, guitar case in hand and book bag rested on her shoulder. She pushed an earbud into her right ear and decided to go and sit in the courtyard for a while. There were a few bits of homework to be done; being on campus helped her stay on task, since there were distractions at home: TV, food, and possibly calling up Ashton to spend time if he could. She tapped her fingers on the side of her leg as she walked, the song carrying a catchy beat when she walked into the courtyard. She looked around for a place to sit when she was caught off guard by someone's singing. The girl removed the earbud from her ear so the music wouldn't conflict and turned her head to find the source. A smile twitched on her lips when she saw someone playing the guitar. Someone after her own heart.

"Wow, that's an old song," Lark noted aloud, waiting until he was done singing to say anything. "I'm surprised anyone listens to their stuff anymore." Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but it had been a long time since Backstreet Boys graced her ears. They certainly weren't a favorite but they weren't awful. At least the kid's singing voice didn't shatter windows or make her ears bleed. That was a good thing. Without even asking him if it was okay to sit nearby, she sat back on the bench and dropped her bag and guitar case next to her foot. "How long have you been playing guitar?" If he hadn't wielded her favorite musical instrument, Lark may have passed right over him and went straight for the homework, but as it was guitars and music were her passion and thus had difficulty passing up the opportunity to talk about it.

Lark watched him, eyebrow raised and clearly amused as he stuttered out the response. It took a moment to register everything he said but caught on in the end. "Yeah I know," She replied lightly, tilting her head to glance up at the sky. A pretty decent afternoon. "I'm a music junkie, brah. Rattle off any band and I can tell you the who and the when." Not every genre but enough to give her a leg up when talking music. Country wasn't a favorite, as was classical and folk and blues. Most everything else was fair game. A smirk twitched on her lips. "In the music world? Yeah, it's pretty damn old. But I don't mind 'em at all." Lark shrugged, not phased by his musical tastes. Things aged quickly in the media though; people considered songs from six months ago to be old now, and if one listened to anything before the twenty-first century they questioned the choice in music. That was usually how it worked. She admired that he liked the older stuff.

When he echoed her words, she merely sat there and waited to see if it would register before saying anything more. Either he was slow or he was really that distracted. She was oblivious to him being awkward around females. Beyonce? What the fuck was he going on about? The confusion was evident on her face. "Oh." Was all she said at first when he clarified, confusion turning to more amusement. She chuckled. "Nah, it's not weird. I name my guitars too, though mine aren't named after anyone in particular. Beyonce is a nice looking guitar, I'll give ya that." It was a nice one, and gave her the urge to go and buy yet another guitar to add to her collection. She would have to refrain for now. "Ten years? Impressive." Lark blinked and nodded in approval. Dedication was good.

"I'm L--what?" This kid was just stumping her every time he spoke, first with his stuttering and then when a complement that sounded like an insult but felt somewhat like a complement. It was confusing. The small frown disappeared as she shook her head and laughed. "You really need to calm the fuck down, kid," Lark suggested calmly once the laughter died away. "Seriously, you're going to give yourself an aneurysm. I'll take it as a complement and leave it at that, 'kay?" There were far worse things than having her hair compared to a deep mud puddle. After recovering from that distraction, the girl held out her hand for a proper handshake. "I'm Lark."

There weren't a lot of people Lark talked music with, mostly because her friends didn't seem to be as into it as she was. That was fine of course; everyone had their passions. Hers was music and guitar. There were a few instruments that did not capture her attention--most of them being more orchestral than anything--but overall she would probably try and learn one if the opportunity arose. "Mostly rock bands," She replied, trying to think of any groups in particular that stood out among the others. "My favorites change randomly, though I had a bit of a Skrillex phase a few years ago." Which, to be honest, was kinda weird. She still listened to dubstep on occasion but it was not a daily thing. It was hard to mimic that on a guitar too. "What about you? Other than Backstreet Boys." The girl had a feeling it was going to be something akin to the older boy band but maybe she would be surprised. People could have more than one taste.

It was cool to see someone love their guitar as much as she loved hers. Really, they were like inanimate friends you could always rely on for everything. Something you could vent to, cry to, all without feeling weak. That was something Lark hated, was feeling vulnerable in front of others. Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she had to blink a few times to regain focus. "Hm? Oh, My acoustic is Nani and my electric is Ikaika." Her Hawaiian accent was evident as she spoke. "The first means beautiful, the second means strong." She felt it suited their appearances and the way they carried sound; electric was a bit more grainy and rough, whereas the acoustic was smooth and almost gentle. She lifted a finger to gesture to Beyonce, still finding amusement in the name but not questioning it. "Is she your only one?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

The girl huffed in agitation, shaking her head. What was up with him? So quick to apologize over something she didn't even think to be offended over. Maybe it was because she hardly ever offered up the word 'sorry', even to people she was close to. "Seriously," Lark warned, holding up a finger, "Saying sorry over and over again isn't necessary." He needed to chill out or something, because really he seemed so incredibly high strung. He avoided her gaze while they shook hands, something she only noticed because of how fidgety he had been this entire time. Poor guy. Lark actually felt bad and wasn't even sure why. She chuckled again; Colby was incredibly amusing. "I play whatever comes to mind. Whatever I feel inspired to play at that moment." Sometimes it was soothing strums, other times a bit of rock was tossed in, and if she was in the mood she'd set up her amp and belt out a few heavy chords. Some were her own songs and others were favorites she taught herself.

With a swift movement, Lark reached out and gave the guy a light but solid knock on the shoulder. "No. Apologies." Then sighed and nudged her bag over a little so she could make her sitting position more comfortable. "Play any other instruments?" She asked this as though the previous comment had never been said aloud.

Lark was quiet, listening to him. Initially she felt annoyed by his comments on dubstep; whether it was an awkward phase or not, she never considered it to be a genre that required drugs to enjoy. She could've taken it as a joke but her mind did not instantly register it as such. "So you're saying I'm a druggie? Thanks." Her voice was low, lacking humor and laced with frustration. It didn't last long but hopefully it was enough to show she didn't appreciate his likening her to a drug addict because of a brief phase in musical taste.

She chuckled as he listed off the bands he listened to, not hesitating to point out, "That's not a lot of different kinds of music, but I getcha." Most of his band choices weren't bad at all, just older and ones she did not listen to anymore. Except Owl City and Maroon 5; those were open for an appearance on her phone's playlist. "It's not something to be guilty over anyway. 'S why they have so many genres. Do you know how boring the musical world would be if we were stuck with just rap music? Or just classical?" There was a crinkle in her nose to mirror the distaste she felt towards those two genres in specific. They weren't favorites by any means, but if other people enjoyed them then so be it. That was the glory of freedom of musical taste. She knew that going into teaching would mean exposing students to every form of music so might as well adjust to it sooner than later.

Oh, so the kid was right on the money. Was a Hawaiian accent that obvious? Maybe it was difficult for her to tell since it was, to her, normal. Others considered it an accent. "'Ae, very warm, brah. Nice catch." She did miss the beaches, the warm water, and the decent weather that usually occurred year round, but here was home now. She smirked when Colby mentioned his other guitar; naming an instrument felt a lot like naming one's car. "Of course Beyonce is better," Lark said with a shake of the head, as though it were obvious. "Or maybe I'm biased. Never liked Spears." And there was no need to explain it, really. Just personal preference. It was nice to see the kid was finally realizing that apologies weren't going to do much more than agitate her, and gave a small nod of approval when he resigned. Lark liked to be intimidating but repeating 'sorry' was simply annoying. "It's a bad habit. People take advantage of you if you roll over all the time." And she spoke from personal experience, though it sounded more factual than reminiscent.

She snorted. "I'm sure they're fine. You played well enough when I first walked over here. And your singing wasn't bad." People were always self-critical and would rather critique their own work than wait for someone else to tear them down. Lark could be the same way at times. Luckily her apartment was all her own and so when inspiration hit there weren't many times where she had to wait until company left. Ashton was the only one who probably hung around the most in between his comings and goings, but she didn't mind him listening. "Good," The girl looked decently satisfied when he bit back his apology again. "Piano is nice, yeah." For whatever reason her expression went distant before glancing back at him, the question easy to answer. "I play the drums, working on piano, and I'm looking into the standing bass." She wasn't sure why, but it caught her attention and she hoped to get a few lessons in the future. The luxury of working at the music store meant that discounts might be possible.