❧ River Thames

@[D] Go Ara [ its from sherlock? charm must've found it cus i didnt know haha ]

The sun's rays illuminated everyone and everything in its path, tinged hair of all colors a brighter shade, and caused the squinting of the eyes in effort to not go blind. People passed by from all directions, hurrying to get to one place from another. Jongsuk's feet made their way to the River of Thames, slowing strolling through the nearby park in hopes of getting inspiration from candid captures. However, nothing in his proximity stole his attention.

That was until he saw her, sitting cross-legged in a remotely cloistered portion of the park in front of flowers. He slowly walked towards her to get a better look but stopped at a reasonable distance, observing the way her eyes fluttered shut, her long eyelashes grazed over her eyelids, her nose that sat perfectly on her porcelain skin, and her pink lips that curved upwards in a small, blissful smile.

Jongsuk raised the camera in his hands, quickly pressing the button in order to capture pictures of the female in every angle; he had finally found the inspiration he had been looking for. Removing the camera from his face, he scrolled through the numerous pictures as a grin appeared, finally recognizing the familiar appearance. Jongsuk had seen her stroll through River Thames recently, and it was a surprise to find her again, almost as if it was fated for her to catch his eyes from the beginning.

@[D] Do Kyungsoo "Well Do Kyungsoo, If you're bored, you should go see the circus. La Cirque Des Reves, just look for the place that seems to disappear when the sun comes up." She says, a teasingly mystical tone in her voice as she continued to flick her coin. The 'ding' from her nail hitting the metal and the soft 'thud' as it hit her palm once more seemed strangely loud over the sound of the english babble around them. Ding. Thud. Ding. Thud. Ding Thud. She had caught sight of Kyungsoo pat his pocket, obviously checking to make sure he still had his wallet and she snickered softly under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sure you'd enjoy it. You seem the type. After all whatever you see or do at Le Cirque Des Reves disappears at sunrise so," She clicked her tongue with a gentle shrug. "No consequences." She flicked the coin extra high and she saw a stranger reach out to grab it as it fell, her hand darting out at a speed that was hardly possible and grabbing it before ducking under the strangers arm, continuing on her path as she followed this 'Kyungsoo'.

She studied him from the corner of her eye, taking in his appearance as they walked. Her gaze lingering on him out of curiosity, wondering what would happen if she did steal his wallet, wondering what the real reason was that he wandered at night, wondering wondering wondering.

@[D] Amber Liu Kyungsoo really doesn't know how to respond to the blunt introduction. This is not the way he envisioned how this would go down for he was expecting the girl to lash at him, maybe even get a good grasp around his neck and deprive his lungs of any oxygen. Then the girl would yell at him and he would cry then he'd go home and move on with his life. Kyungsoo blinks five times and pinches himself five times. This entire ordeal leaves Kyungsoo disgruntled and elicits a groan from the boy. "Kyun-" He's cut off before he can formally introduce himself to the girl so instead he patiently waits for her to stop reciting her life story. She talks an awful lot, he notes, still waiting for her rambling to come to a swift conclusion.

At last it does. "Hi Amber the travesty, I'm Kyungsoo, Do Kyungsoo. No, I have not heard of the circus," he replies, extending an arm for a polite handshake (because that's what normal people do, right?) before quickly retracting it when he watches her casually take a twenty pound note from the man she just bumped into. Kyungsoo's jaws drop in slight shock. She just pick-pocketed a man in such a relaxed manner. People who do that frustrate him because why do you have to be such a moron for. Instinctively, Kyungsoo reaches into his front pocket for his wallet to check if it's still there. He heaves a relieved sigh when he feels the familiar warmth of his wallet.

Kyungsoo feels somewhat obligated to lecture her on her lack of social responsibility and disregard for morals but decides against it. He snaps out of his train of thought when he hears her say something. He wants to reply with, 'IT'S MY LIFE, YOU CAN'T TELL ME HOW TO LIVE IT, STOP QUESTIONING MY DECISIONS, SCREW YOU!11!!1!' in a highly defensive tone but he thinks the stranger and him do not share a great bond for him to comfortably converse in that way. Instead, he responds with a single word. "Boredom."

@[D] Lee Jongsuk ( that sherlock gif tho. e w e )

Her eyes fluttered shut. Even being obscured of her vision, vivid colours burned in her mind. They swirled freely around each other but not touching or forming any intelligible shape – as if they were waiting for a command. In that moment, the colours began merging. Ara saw black shadowing blue, yellow streaking green and orange dotting brown. All of which formed one single, coherent picture. Then, speckles of blinding white flooded in. Ara’s breath hitched; her head jerked forward, letting loose a violent sneeze.

Ara sniffled a bit, disgruntled from being interrupted. It was a funny sight, if not embarrassing, for her to be sitting cross-legged and barefoot in front of a patch of flowers. The woman thought lightly of what the passer byers thought of her. It was a beautiful day, and she was simply taking advantage of it; having lost her sense of smell to the common cold, she could be around flowers without being hindered by the awful scent of pollen. But, the impact of the sneeze had shook the image of the painting she had envisioned. Ara had purposely chose the most secluded spot she could find along Thames and she had just lost all the work she’s done in three hours. Why couldn’t she do anything right? Ara leaned forward to bury her head in her lap, muttering unintelligible noises of angst.

( . . . yes, angst has a sound. OTL )

@[D] Do Kyungsoo Amber's head snaps up at the sound of a korean voice standing out amongst the rest of the english babble she'd gotten used to once more. Her dark eyes settle on a shorter male making his way through the crowd and she shoved her hands in her pockets, heading over to the stranger as she followed along at his side, watching him curiously with a dork bounce in her step. "That travesty would be me, Amber, hi." She introduced, not insulted by his words, figuring she didn't have anything else to do so following a stranger didn't seem like a bad idea compared to returning to her seat. She adjusted her hat before continuing to flick her coin in the air, watching it drift up before falling back into her slightly calloused hand once more.

"What's your name? Have you checked out the circus in town? You should it's supposed to be great. Acts like you've never seen before." She put emphasis on her last sentence by dragging her hand across the air in front of her, voice carrying a mystic tone before it returned to her slightly blunt and overly casual tone. Amber had a bad habit of babbling, she'd attempted to quell it in her younger's years but had ultimately given up. Her first girlfriend had thought it was cute anyway so she didn't bother to pick herself up on it anymore. Amber bumped into a man as he passed and it was almost natural to feel her hand slip into his pocket and remove a twenty dollar note and slipping it into her own without him even noticing. "Oh god I'm so sorry." She apologised, her american accent standing out amongst the british tones before she turned back to the man she was following.

"So what's got you out here so late?"

Sometimes, Kyungsoo wonders why he frequently visits River Thames because (a) during the great time of the Industrial Revolution, River Thames was practically a gigantic pool of diseases such as cholera, scrofula and diphtheria and despite the centuries that have passed since then, Kyungsoo is convinced that if he comes into contact with the water, he definitely will contract a bucket load of lethal diseases, (b) he has an irrational fear of water - the great expanse of bottomless water was always frightening and (c) an enormous amount of people (mostly tourists) always come to see the place and Kyungsoo strongly detests people. Well, it's far too late now, he's already here, taking a casual stroll along the river, occasionally participating in awkward side-step dance with a few people as he tried to walk through the massive crowd without bumping into anyone.

In retrospect, maybe River Thames isn't so bad. The people there aren't as snotty and annoying as the people Kyungsoo has had the misfortune to meet with, the river is calm and the quiet sound it brings has a calming effect on the boy, and also the the view of London is amaz-- no, River Thames is horrible. To Kyungsoo's dismay, he hears an alto voice attempting to sing. Instead, she sounds like a flat violin - out of tune and ear-splitting to hear. It's not a pleasant sound, Kyungsoo concludes. Kyungsoo can't help but release his inner typical chick flick American white girl. "Ew. Who the f-ck is singing," he impertinently scoffs, "this voice is the travesty of the year like ew."

(In actuality though, Kyungsoo admits the said person has an alright voice, not too bad but not exactly brilliant. He thinks he secretly enjoys conflict with a stranger so he intentionally does this stuff.)

@[D] Do Kyungsoo Amber was relaxing on a seat beside the river in a small park as she played with a solid gold coin, flipping it over her knuckles again and again as she watched it glint in the moonlight, her hat pulled down over her eyes as her thick hoodie and jeans broke the cold wind. She'd finished her first shift at the Drinkery and had ended up wandering around london for a few hours, studying people and playing with a group of kids she found on the street before she'd ended up here. Her blunt nailed fingers were agile and quick as she flipped the coin up in the air and caught it between two fingers at a speed that seemed almost impossible, her eyes never tearing away from the lights of the city as she did so. She'd never been to london before. In fact she'd never left LA before so this entire trip was new. She was grateful she at least spoke some Korean to travel with the circus but she was even more grateful that their first stop had been an english speaking city.

Her lips parted as she sung a soft song under her voice, her tone an octave or two lower than most girls which didn't help her boy image but some days, she was left with the question of whether it was an image or not. The almost hypnotising lights and sounds of the city weren't helping with her pondering thoughts as her lips wrapped around the syllables of different words. She wasn't the best singer, most people had told her that, but apart from illusion tricks music was her only other passion so she decided she didn't care. She flicked the coin higher in the air and it shocked her when it travelled a few metres away, her eyes widening in shock as she pushed herself up to go retrieve it, plucking it from the green grass by the pathway.