(timeskip) Hey! Mission! xi_rpg application
- PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Avie
AGE: 24
PRONOUN OF CHOICE: she / her
EMAIL ADDRESS: aviekokyre @ gmail . com
AIM SCREENNAME & MAIN PERSONAL LJ ACCOUNT: aviekokyre / aviekokyre
OTHER CHARACTERS: Satoshi "Reki" Fujio
RESERVED? no
- CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Derrick Williams
ALIAS: Canon Codename: Derek; he may try using "Derek" when he first returns, but it's obvious who he is. He'll drop it pretty fast. It's not a very good alias no matter which way you look at it.
SERIES/SOURCE: Elite Beat Agents
AGE: 16 17 due to time travel shenanigans (birthday: Nov. 14)
GENDER: male
OCCUPATION: student, band room helper
BACKGROUND:
Derrick happily grew up in the suburbs of California with his twin brother and parents. Together, he and his brother learned about their music empathy and psychic link but kept it their secret. Everything was perfect up until his brother was shot and killed when their home was burglarized. His brother's death and how the people around him reacted shattered Derrick's sense of self. Age fourteen got him down on his knees. He had been left alone to cope as they distanced themselves from him; their tunes sounded awful. Derrick blamed himself for what had happened and went into an apathetic state just so he could survive amidst all the negative changes happening. There wasn't even a way to escape because he had no place to go.
Then on the radio one night, he heard of a giant creature attacking the Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum, and it was being fought by the Avengers... and students and staff from Xavier Institute. Derrick discovered that he did have a place to go and ran away with that destination in mind. Maybe his parents would sound better without him around. He never made it though; halfway across the US by bus and skateboard, he turned himself in to the nearest police station, which arranged for him to return home. He told his parents about his mutation, how he blamed himself for everything, and how he wanted to go to the Institute. Hoping for a chance of something better, Derrick enrolled at the Xavier Institute with his parents supporting his decision.
But things hadn't turned out as he hoped. Derrick arrived just after the revival of the Brotherhood. Then there were multiple attacks on the school, some scarier than the others. It ate away at how safe he felt at the Institute. The Music of the school was at a constant dreary state with periods of pure panic and even distorted and warped. At one point, his suit wearing future self had traveled back in time to help him recover from the trauma of one attack. You don't really need to know every last detail.
However, during his time at the school, he had also made some of the best friends he had since the time his brother was alive. They started to become like family to him. They stuck together when the Music turned for the worse, and they tried to help each other out and show they cared, even when some were being stubborn, even when the school seemed to be falling apart around them. He became crazy for this girl (but she didn't know how he felt) and for a brief period, was happy.
... And then the majority of the people closest to him left the Institute for various reasons within the span of a week or two. It was almost like misery was looking for him. This left Derrick very lost and scared. Everyone was leaving again. Additionally, he continued to have conflicts of some kind with other students that ended with Derrick feeling horrible, barely clinging on to trinkets his friends had given him at their departure. Then even more people left. Nothing improved for Derrick. Things built up and finally broke when unfortunate realizations and confrontations pushed him too far. No matter what he did, it wasn't good enough or didn't matter. Why was he even here anymore? Derrick packed up his things and left the Institute with only a few people to say goodbye or anything to. He felt too ashamed of himself to even face the people who he cared about. He didn't want them to see what he become.
Disturbed that things had turned to this, that suited, future Derrick returned to the past; he certainly didn't remember things happening this way and feared the worst. Agent Derek intercepted Derrick and made him stay with Morrison (to stop Derrick from doing something stupid, whatever it may be) while he conversed with those in his present (Derrick's future) about what to do. The answer was to bring the younger to the future once more and for a much longer time, a year in fact.
Derrick arrived at the Elite Beat Agents HQ of the future where he saw many familiar faces aged at least ten or more years! They taught him the steps, taught him about the Music, taught him about his powers, taught him how to live. While awkward at first, Derrick started to relax and let their teachings sink in. And that environment was fun, energetic, lively, positive, everything Derrick had originally hoped for when he enrolled at the Institute. It really was something better.
However, once more, not everything had gone to plan. During his stay in the future, music hating aliens called Rhombulans invaded the world. They turned people to stone and imprisoned more in camps. Derrick watched the EBA get turned to stone and heard the Music gradually quiet. It was only through the efforts of everyone in the world that the Rhombulans were pushed back. Music was also their weakness, and the power of music and the united energy generated from the world's population was a very powerful force. The Rhombulan mothership exploded in the skies above them, and the worldwide dance party didn't stop until days later.
Yet, one small scouting ship remained, and it detected a small rift in time and escaped in the final moments. The EBA did a flurry of scans and discovered where or rather when the Rhombulan ship ran to. It was Derrick's time, years earlier from this attack. If those Rhombulans were able to contact the main fleet deep in space somehow... they could take over the world. Even with the EBA present, they still invaded many countries before being pushed back. The time Derrick came from lacked the EBA; they were scattered students who hardly knew anything.
Derrick knew that he had to return to his time and the school. If the Rhombulans were going to attack his timeline as well, he needed to be ready for a possible mission. Derrick asked his older self if he'd ever see everyone again, having grown fond to the older group. His only response was that hoped the next time they "met" he'd be the man in the mirror with the rest behind him. (But if it looked to be the end of the world as they knew it, he could count on the EBA to answer the call.) And suited Derrick forced him to promise to come clean to a bunch of people he had been avoiding, both at the school and not.
PERSONALITY:
Derrick is still a person of few words and doesn't show his emotions outwardly as much after years of keeping a blank expression. Caring, considerate, and polite are words that still apply to him. His time in the future calmed Derrick down considerably. Compared to earlier, he's able to keep things at a distance. He learned that some things are only known as that they are or it happened; no amount of thinking will change that. It's better to accept and move on, concentrate what he can change and do. He's better at pushing aside or internalizing his emotions to be dealt with at a more opportune time when action needs to be taken now. Though sometimes, he doesn't know how he's feeling mentally and physically completely because of this, and at worse he may shut down completely if he is utterly overwhelmed and without support.
Loyal to a fault to those he cares about, their safety and well being trumps Derrick's, and he'll go to great lengths to see to it and fears failing them in some way, blaming himself when things do. For this reason, he works best in a team because they can keep an eye on him. However, he's also learned that he may need to get up on the stage and dance under the spotlight. If something needs to be said or done to get things going he will. If he sees someone needing helping, he's going to try to do so. No one deserves to be alone in times of need. Also, music is one of the most important and amazing things in the world. Derrick has learned to embrace it and have it support him in ways he couldn't understand before.
He tries to use his music empathy to pay attention to his surroundings and catch things others might miss. When he focuses on something Derrick's expression hardens and becomes neutral, and people (or at least non-empaths telepaths) can't read his poker face. This also happens when he perceives a threat. But when things are that bad, thing's are that bad, and other's will see so.
APPEARANCE:
Derrick has bright red curly hair that's a bit afro-like where it rubs against his hoodie. And just because his hair looks fluffy and springy doesn't mean people can play with it... The faint lines by his blue eyes are from too many sleepless nights and bouts with insomnia. Derrick doesn't show his emotions a lot, and when he does show them, it'll be because he's feeling really bad or panicked or both. A smile is possible, but it's rarer for the time being. For the most part, people are going to see slight variations of the same blank expression. But don't be intimidated; he's really a nice guy!
He usually wears a grey zip-up hoodie with red stripes over a T-shirt with blue jeans that are a bit tattered at the hems along with a pair of black and white skateboard shoes. However, he has come to own a black hooded jacket with yellow star arm patches and sometimes wears this instead. Derrick is starting to build a little muscle the more he works out and trains, so his clothes don't hang on him as much. Though, his height still causes him to stand out in a crowd. And that's not including the hair color. Many of his features still have a younger appearance to them, which he's well aware of.
Derrick is often seen with his skateboard nearby when weather is good. However, he does not wear any protective gear. It's not because he thinks he'll look cooler without them or something similar; he's not that concerned with his health. He has also taken to wearing a red ribbon tied to his wrist, and a star keychain among others hang off his belt. And whenever he dances or performs or just wants some distance from people, he wears red tinted shades.
POWERS:
Musical empathy: Derrick's main power is hearing the world around him as music, and it allows him to identify people and their emotions by their beat. His ability to hear and understand the changes in the music is skilled as it developed early in his life. As such, he can locate someone from a distance. He can also predict a person's movements from them, allowing him to match or avoid the moves. He has learned that he could do more with the music, such as motivating another person by channeling the spiritual energy and force within the music. His time in the future taught him how to dance and begin to motivate others. He's no expert yet, but he generally understands what to do.
Broken telepathic link: In addition, he has a telepathic link that was once connected to his brother; it's broken now. Sometimes it causes Derrick to unknowingly sync up with others or a song. When he does so, the others may gain fuzzy glimpses into his thoughts and emotions or feel a bit more energized. Derrick may match their movements, move to their tune, or the song. Spontaneous, automatic dancing may occur. The link is mostly one way in this state. Derrick cannot glimpse into their thoughts. The others will not unconsciously sync up with him. He may be able to use this link more consciously to help him purposely match others, hold telepathic communications with those he trusts (link becomes more two way), hear them from a greater distance, and energize another. Empaths and telepaths might sense that Derrick is constantly searching for something or someone not there. Derrick knows this link did not fully disappear with his brother, and gaining and keeping a sense of himself aids him greatly in controlling the link and the side effect of the break.
Musical energy conversion: The broken aspect of his link also caused his musical empathy to partially manifest itself in a strange way. Derrick channels the inherent energy of music and brings it into the physical world. It naturally forms into glowing spheres that hover around him. Derrick can take this energy and channel it to himself, other people, and things. If the energy is absorbed to a beat, it energizes. If the energy is absorbed out of sync to the beat, it feels like an electrical shock and disrupts the natural rhythm of the absorber, though it can energize slightly. These boosts of energy are short lived, and anything lasting needs more than a couple of energy spheres. Derrick understands this "ability" a lot now. He can power a machine if he puts himself to the task, and he knows he can channel the energy to people and create energy from the Music itself. He just needs to follow the melodies to do so. Derrick still depends on music to augment his own energy as his leaks out through his broken link. Some of his own energy also is taken along with the orbs. Creating too many spheres or channeling most of them to another target will exhaust him, potentially causing him to fall unconscious. His beat will sound dangerously quiet and unstable then, and he'll be out for days if his body doesn't shut down completely.
ANYTHING ELSE?:
This is Derrick with what I imagine a canon update might be like in a non-AU game. Nothing is retconed from his time previous at the school. A more detailed write up on his past before XI can be found in his first application, but it's summarized here.
- RP SAMPLES
First-person sample:
There's a dance coming up, right? Time's kinda...
[There's a long pause, though sounds of shuffling in the background keeps the audio from being pure silence. Finally he starts to spit out his actual question.]
If... I wanted to ask a girl to the prom, but she doesn't go here, is that okay? Some schools don't allow that, and thought maybe security might have problems. ... She used to go here if that helps.
[The audio feed cuts abruptly. Thank the Music this wasn't video. He can already feel his face turning red. Why does this always happen?]
Third-person sample:
Derrick walked down the Institute's halls with a clear destination in mind. It was hard for him to think that it had both been about a year and also about a month since he had walked down it. So much had happened, and he wasn't looking forward to explaining it all. It seemed very confusing and impossible to understand without accepting that it couldn't be fully understood. Though... time displacement wasn't new at the school really, only his had been planned to some extent and forward in time. Maybe the staff and his classmates wouldn't expect him to explain.
He turned into the band room causing him to gain the instructor's attention. "Derrick? I thought you left the school." The band instructor set down a few music sheets, faced him, and gave him a curious look. "You seem... different."
So, it was noticeable that Derrick had been gone and had changed without him having to do much to show it... he'd have to be prepared for that. Derrick responded with a nod. "Have something still to do here." Mainly involving the Rhombulans. "Also... was wondering if you needed help here... keeping things in order or something."
"Like an assistant? Well, if the cooking and gardening staff can have one--We'll talk later after class. I have to be going now. Faculty meeting." The instructor did seem busy, shoving a few papers into a bag.
"Yeah, later." After saying goodbye, Derrick watched the instructor leave and stayed still until the footsteps faded down the hall. This was it then, Derrick was on his own to readjust to-no. He grasped his wrist where a red ribbon had been tied once more, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. He wasn't on his own. But he had a lot of work to do. He promised himself that he would, and it was something he wanted to keep. It would happen in good time, however. Rushing in without thinking would just cause him to stumble. For now, Derrick would stay here in the band room, find the bass he had liked, and play a familiar song.
***
NAME: Avie
AGE: 24
PRONOUN OF CHOICE: she / her
EMAIL ADDRESS: aviekokyre @ gmail . com
AIM SCREENNAME & MAIN PERSONAL LJ ACCOUNT: aviekokyre / aviekokyre
OTHER CHARACTERS: Satoshi "Reki" Fujio
RESERVED? no
- CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Derrick Williams
ALIAS: Canon Codename: Derek; he may try using "Derek" when he first returns, but it's obvious who he is. He'll drop it pretty fast. It's not a very good alias no matter which way you look at it.
SERIES/SOURCE: Elite Beat Agents
AGE: 16 17 due to time travel shenanigans (birthday: Nov. 14)
GENDER: male
OCCUPATION: student, band room helper
BACKGROUND:
Derrick happily grew up in the suburbs of California with his twin brother and parents. Together, he and his brother learned about their music empathy and psychic link but kept it their secret. Everything was perfect up until his brother was shot and killed when their home was burglarized. His brother's death and how the people around him reacted shattered Derrick's sense of self. Age fourteen got him down on his knees. He had been left alone to cope as they distanced themselves from him; their tunes sounded awful. Derrick blamed himself for what had happened and went into an apathetic state just so he could survive amidst all the negative changes happening. There wasn't even a way to escape because he had no place to go.
Then on the radio one night, he heard of a giant creature attacking the Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum, and it was being fought by the Avengers... and students and staff from Xavier Institute. Derrick discovered that he did have a place to go and ran away with that destination in mind. Maybe his parents would sound better without him around. He never made it though; halfway across the US by bus and skateboard, he turned himself in to the nearest police station, which arranged for him to return home. He told his parents about his mutation, how he blamed himself for everything, and how he wanted to go to the Institute. Hoping for a chance of something better, Derrick enrolled at the Xavier Institute with his parents supporting his decision.
But things hadn't turned out as he hoped. Derrick arrived just after the revival of the Brotherhood. Then there were multiple attacks on the school, some scarier than the others. It ate away at how safe he felt at the Institute. The Music of the school was at a constant dreary state with periods of pure panic and even distorted and warped. At one point, his suit wearing future self had traveled back in time to help him recover from the trauma of one attack. You don't really need to know every last detail.
However, during his time at the school, he had also made some of the best friends he had since the time his brother was alive. They started to become like family to him. They stuck together when the Music turned for the worse, and they tried to help each other out and show they cared, even when some were being stubborn, even when the school seemed to be falling apart around them. He became crazy for this girl (but she didn't know how he felt) and for a brief period, was happy.
... And then the majority of the people closest to him left the Institute for various reasons within the span of a week or two. It was almost like misery was looking for him. This left Derrick very lost and scared. Everyone was leaving again. Additionally, he continued to have conflicts of some kind with other students that ended with Derrick feeling horrible, barely clinging on to trinkets his friends had given him at their departure. Then even more people left. Nothing improved for Derrick. Things built up and finally broke when unfortunate realizations and confrontations pushed him too far. No matter what he did, it wasn't good enough or didn't matter. Why was he even here anymore? Derrick packed up his things and left the Institute with only a few people to say goodbye or anything to. He felt too ashamed of himself to even face the people who he cared about. He didn't want them to see what he become.
Disturbed that things had turned to this, that suited, future Derrick returned to the past; he certainly didn't remember things happening this way and feared the worst. Agent Derek intercepted Derrick and made him stay with Morrison (to stop Derrick from doing something stupid, whatever it may be) while he conversed with those in his present (Derrick's future) about what to do. The answer was to bring the younger to the future once more and for a much longer time, a year in fact.
Derrick arrived at the Elite Beat Agents HQ of the future where he saw many familiar faces aged at least ten or more years! They taught him the steps, taught him about the Music, taught him about his powers, taught him how to live. While awkward at first, Derrick started to relax and let their teachings sink in. And that environment was fun, energetic, lively, positive, everything Derrick had originally hoped for when he enrolled at the Institute. It really was something better.
However, once more, not everything had gone to plan. During his stay in the future, music hating aliens called Rhombulans invaded the world. They turned people to stone and imprisoned more in camps. Derrick watched the EBA get turned to stone and heard the Music gradually quiet. It was only through the efforts of everyone in the world that the Rhombulans were pushed back. Music was also their weakness, and the power of music and the united energy generated from the world's population was a very powerful force. The Rhombulan mothership exploded in the skies above them, and the worldwide dance party didn't stop until days later.
Yet, one small scouting ship remained, and it detected a small rift in time and escaped in the final moments. The EBA did a flurry of scans and discovered where or rather when the Rhombulan ship ran to. It was Derrick's time, years earlier from this attack. If those Rhombulans were able to contact the main fleet deep in space somehow... they could take over the world. Even with the EBA present, they still invaded many countries before being pushed back. The time Derrick came from lacked the EBA; they were scattered students who hardly knew anything.
Derrick knew that he had to return to his time and the school. If the Rhombulans were going to attack his timeline as well, he needed to be ready for a possible mission. Derrick asked his older self if he'd ever see everyone again, having grown fond to the older group. His only response was that hoped the next time they "met" he'd be the man in the mirror with the rest behind him. (But if it looked to be the end of the world as they knew it, he could count on the EBA to answer the call.) And suited Derrick forced him to promise to come clean to a bunch of people he had been avoiding, both at the school and not.
PERSONALITY:
Derrick is still a person of few words and doesn't show his emotions outwardly as much after years of keeping a blank expression. Caring, considerate, and polite are words that still apply to him. His time in the future calmed Derrick down considerably. Compared to earlier, he's able to keep things at a distance. He learned that some things are only known as that they are or it happened; no amount of thinking will change that. It's better to accept and move on, concentrate what he can change and do. He's better at pushing aside or internalizing his emotions to be dealt with at a more opportune time when action needs to be taken now. Though sometimes, he doesn't know how he's feeling mentally and physically completely because of this, and at worse he may shut down completely if he is utterly overwhelmed and without support.
Loyal to a fault to those he cares about, their safety and well being trumps Derrick's, and he'll go to great lengths to see to it and fears failing them in some way, blaming himself when things do. For this reason, he works best in a team because they can keep an eye on him. However, he's also learned that he may need to get up on the stage and dance under the spotlight. If something needs to be said or done to get things going he will. If he sees someone needing helping, he's going to try to do so. No one deserves to be alone in times of need. Also, music is one of the most important and amazing things in the world. Derrick has learned to embrace it and have it support him in ways he couldn't understand before.
He tries to use his music empathy to pay attention to his surroundings and catch things others might miss. When he focuses on something Derrick's expression hardens and becomes neutral, and people (or at least non-empaths telepaths) can't read his poker face. This also happens when he perceives a threat. But when things are that bad, thing's are that bad, and other's will see so.
APPEARANCE:
Derrick has bright red curly hair that's a bit afro-like where it rubs against his hoodie. And just because his hair looks fluffy and springy doesn't mean people can play with it... The faint lines by his blue eyes are from too many sleepless nights and bouts with insomnia. Derrick doesn't show his emotions a lot, and when he does show them, it'll be because he's feeling really bad or panicked or both. A smile is possible, but it's rarer for the time being. For the most part, people are going to see slight variations of the same blank expression. But don't be intimidated; he's really a nice guy!
He usually wears a grey zip-up hoodie with red stripes over a T-shirt with blue jeans that are a bit tattered at the hems along with a pair of black and white skateboard shoes. However, he has come to own a black hooded jacket with yellow star arm patches and sometimes wears this instead. Derrick is starting to build a little muscle the more he works out and trains, so his clothes don't hang on him as much. Though, his height still causes him to stand out in a crowd. And that's not including the hair color. Many of his features still have a younger appearance to them, which he's well aware of.
Derrick is often seen with his skateboard nearby when weather is good. However, he does not wear any protective gear. It's not because he thinks he'll look cooler without them or something similar; he's not that concerned with his health. He has also taken to wearing a red ribbon tied to his wrist, and a star keychain among others hang off his belt. And whenever he dances or performs or just wants some distance from people, he wears red tinted shades.
POWERS:
Musical empathy: Derrick's main power is hearing the world around him as music, and it allows him to identify people and their emotions by their beat. His ability to hear and understand the changes in the music is skilled as it developed early in his life. As such, he can locate someone from a distance. He can also predict a person's movements from them, allowing him to match or avoid the moves. He has learned that he could do more with the music, such as motivating another person by channeling the spiritual energy and force within the music. His time in the future taught him how to dance and begin to motivate others. He's no expert yet, but he generally understands what to do.
Broken telepathic link: In addition, he has a telepathic link that was once connected to his brother; it's broken now. Sometimes it causes Derrick to unknowingly sync up with others or a song. When he does so, the others may gain fuzzy glimpses into his thoughts and emotions or feel a bit more energized. Derrick may match their movements, move to their tune, or the song. Spontaneous, automatic dancing may occur. The link is mostly one way in this state. Derrick cannot glimpse into their thoughts. The others will not unconsciously sync up with him. He may be able to use this link more consciously to help him purposely match others, hold telepathic communications with those he trusts (link becomes more two way), hear them from a greater distance, and energize another. Empaths and telepaths might sense that Derrick is constantly searching for something or someone not there. Derrick knows this link did not fully disappear with his brother, and gaining and keeping a sense of himself aids him greatly in controlling the link and the side effect of the break.
Musical energy conversion: The broken aspect of his link also caused his musical empathy to partially manifest itself in a strange way. Derrick channels the inherent energy of music and brings it into the physical world. It naturally forms into glowing spheres that hover around him. Derrick can take this energy and channel it to himself, other people, and things. If the energy is absorbed to a beat, it energizes. If the energy is absorbed out of sync to the beat, it feels like an electrical shock and disrupts the natural rhythm of the absorber, though it can energize slightly. These boosts of energy are short lived, and anything lasting needs more than a couple of energy spheres. Derrick understands this "ability" a lot now. He can power a machine if he puts himself to the task, and he knows he can channel the energy to people and create energy from the Music itself. He just needs to follow the melodies to do so. Derrick still depends on music to augment his own energy as his leaks out through his broken link. Some of his own energy also is taken along with the orbs. Creating too many spheres or channeling most of them to another target will exhaust him, potentially causing him to fall unconscious. His beat will sound dangerously quiet and unstable then, and he'll be out for days if his body doesn't shut down completely.
ANYTHING ELSE?:
This is Derrick with what I imagine a canon update might be like in a non-AU game. Nothing is retconed from his time previous at the school. A more detailed write up on his past before XI can be found in his first application, but it's summarized here.
- RP SAMPLES
First-person sample:
There's a dance coming up, right? Time's kinda...
[There's a long pause, though sounds of shuffling in the background keeps the audio from being pure silence. Finally he starts to spit out his actual question.]
If... I wanted to ask a girl to the prom, but she doesn't go here, is that okay? Some schools don't allow that, and thought maybe security might have problems. ... She used to go here if that helps.
[The audio feed cuts abruptly. Thank the Music this wasn't video. He can already feel his face turning red. Why does this always happen?]
Third-person sample:
Derrick walked down the Institute's halls with a clear destination in mind. It was hard for him to think that it had both been about a year and also about a month since he had walked down it. So much had happened, and he wasn't looking forward to explaining it all. It seemed very confusing and impossible to understand without accepting that it couldn't be fully understood. Though... time displacement wasn't new at the school really, only his had been planned to some extent and forward in time. Maybe the staff and his classmates wouldn't expect him to explain.
He turned into the band room causing him to gain the instructor's attention. "Derrick? I thought you left the school." The band instructor set down a few music sheets, faced him, and gave him a curious look. "You seem... different."
So, it was noticeable that Derrick had been gone and had changed without him having to do much to show it... he'd have to be prepared for that. Derrick responded with a nod. "Have something still to do here." Mainly involving the Rhombulans. "Also... was wondering if you needed help here... keeping things in order or something."
"Like an assistant? Well, if the cooking and gardening staff can have one--We'll talk later after class. I have to be going now. Faculty meeting." The instructor did seem busy, shoving a few papers into a bag.
"Yeah, later." After saying goodbye, Derrick watched the instructor leave and stayed still until the footsteps faded down the hall. This was it then, Derrick was on his own to readjust to-no. He grasped his wrist where a red ribbon had been tied once more, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. He wasn't on his own. But he had a lot of work to do. He promised himself that he would, and it was something he wanted to keep. It would happen in good time, however. Rushing in without thinking would just cause him to stumble. For now, Derrick would stay here in the band room, find the bass he had liked, and play a familiar song.
***