tornado with a heartbeat.

STATS

Name: Asher Rae Bouchard. Nickname: Ash. Age: Thirty. Birthday: 17 November 1988. Zodiac: Scorpio. Gender: Female. Language(s): English, French, Basic Norwegian. Orientation: Heterosexual. Species: Silver. Nationality: French and American. Religion: None. Health Disablities: None. Distinguishing Marks: None. Drugs: No. Alcohol: Yes. Smoke: No. Traits:     + Passionate + Loyal + Hardworking + Benevolent     - Paranoid - Reticent - Pessimistic - Pedantic

PHYSICAL

Height: 5′ 8″. Build: Athletic. Eye colour: Brown. Hair color: Brunette. Posture: Straight and healthy. Right / Left Handed: Right. Typical gestures: Smiling, raising a brow teasingly, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. Typical body language: Standing straight - Asher is usually on guard when she’s around people she isn’t too close to, it’s just in her nature as a ballerina and her upbringing to do that. When she relaxes, her shoulder slumps a little and she crosses her legs in public and loves to curl up her legs closer to her body in private, but her body still remains rather straight. Typical tone: Warm and friendly. Hobbies: Obviously, dancing. But also baking, collecting vinyls and listening to them.

LIKES

Color(s): Burgundy. Song(s): Flaws - Vancouver Sleep Clinic. Book(s): Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Quote(s): “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Season: Winter. Location(s): Prima Ballerina, her home, Kolbrew Brewery, The Vinyl Factory and Kingsholm Waterfall. Flora: Jasmine and freesia.  Fauna: Dolphin.

MENTALITY

Education: High school graduate (homeschooled). Occupation: Ballerina. Talents & Skills: Dancing, good taste in fashion, good at sports and baking. Passion: Dancing, music, staying fit and healthy and admiring any forms of art. Hogwart’s House: Ravenclaw.  MBTI: ISFP.  Alignment: Neutral Good. Four Temperaments: Melancholic. 

FAMILY

Gemma smiled softly in surprise as the other responded in French. “Well, considering we’re in Norway. I suppose it’s not that odd.” When she’d just moved to Kingsholm at 10, it had taken the redhead a while to get used to the Norwegian language. Having learnt English at school in France had helped her bridge the communication gap as she slowly learnt Norwegian. And now it felt like it was the other way round; hearing someone else speak French felt very strange. Up until now, her parents were the only other people who spoke French to her. With the exception of the occasional Skype call with some of her close friends from France. “I-I’m Gemma Fontaine, by the way.” She held out her hand for the other to shake, a friendly smile adorning her lips. “I’m from Marseille. But I moved here when I was 10… Hence why I slipped into French. It’s still very much my first language. And I really am sorry about the champagne. I hope it doesn’t stain your clothing too bad.” She’d watched her mother cleaning champagne stains off clothing and table cloths following the dinner parties they hosted every once in a while. 

“That’s true, I’ve lived here long enough that I should know Norwegian well, but I tend to stick to English since that’s my safest bet,” She smiled at the redhead as she spoke. Besides dancing, Asher wasn’t really great at picking other skills up, and no matter how hard she tried to master learning Norwegian, she simply didn’t speak the language as well as she did with French and English. After all, her mother tried to make sure they were able to speak their native language despite moving to America, and there wasn’t much to do when she wasn’t dancing and she was being homeschooled anyway. Life wasn’t exactly exciting for her especially when she was a Silver. “I’m Asher, it’s nice to meet you, Gemma.” The brunette extended her hand and shook hers for a moment, before letting go once again. “Ah, Marseille? I’m from Bordeaux. But I didn’t stay there for long. It’s really great to hear someone speak French though, it’s not like there’s many people around here that knows the language.” She said, before waving a hand at her apology. “Honestly, don’t worry about it. It’s not like anyone will really notice, and I didn’t really make that much effort with my costume anyway.”

Location: Annual Silver Gala Time: 10:30pm Availability: Open to all Silvers

Emma wasn’t a big fan of parties. They were loud and she had to mostly rely on lip reading to get through the night even with the hearing aids. But after finding out about the gala happening again she couldn’t help but finally sign up. There was no better opportunity to get to know what kind of Silvers lingered in town than at this party. She had cursed herself for not knowing who Deborah Edwards was before the incident and now she hoped to be able to recognize any other Silver victim should the future make one.

There was a catch, though. Emma hoped not to be recognized in the hopes she wouldn’t be associated with law enforcement. People tended to be more secretive and careful around them, even if she wasn’t police. With the excuse of a costume, she donned a mask and a lovely wig she hadn’t got to use since her artistic friend in college gave it to her. 

Now she was enjoying a bottle of champagne and hoping to try and make conversation with someone despite her reluctance. She turned at the sound of someone approaching the bar and smiled over at them before she could change her mind. “Nice evening, isn’t it?” Emilia asked. Ahh, small talk. “I’m not… usually at these kinds of things. It’s a nice change from sitting at home watching scary movies, though.”

Asher was here for anything but to enjoy herself at this Halloween Gala. Crowds always tended to make her on edge and feel more on guard, and especially after the events of the bonfire, she was surprised that any Silvers would be willing to turn up at an event where they were all in the same room together. No matter how much the Institute reassured that they’d be safe here, she still didn’t believe them. Not after their whole speech about Deborah Edwards that made her want to unveil more about this place that she knew practically nothing about.

She did make more of an effort than most years though; clad in an oversized shirt and an eye-mask resting on her forehead, Asher was dressed as the main character from her mother’s favourite movie - Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She was wandering around the room with a drink in hand, taking a big gulp of it to calm her nerves down, even though the Silvers showing off their powers clearly was making her more cautious than anything, before a voice pulled her from her thoughts and back to reality. “Hm, I mean...I’m not sure if people showing off their...abilities is necessary,” She answered. “But sure, it’s nice. It looks like both of us had the same ideas for Halloween in the past though. The drinks are definitely giving me a better reason to be here rather than at home.”

Location: Annual Silver Halloween Gala

Time: 10 pm

While parties could be fun, whenever the term Gala was used in the title they were never quite as fun. Having been dragged by her parents to attend anyway, she’d found a seat with a drink in hand. Out of boredom, she’d started to play with the content of her glass. Her eyes turned the telltale silver that denoted any Silver’s use of power. Momentarily distracted by something behind her, the small amount of champagne she’d been playing around with splashed over someone’s costume. With a gasp, her gaze dropped to their costume. Getting up, she scrambled around for napkins. “I’m so sorry! Oh my gosh! I wasn’t paying attention.” She desperately attempted to clear up the mess she’d made. “Merde,” she muttered under her breath. “Je dois arrêter d'être un tel clutz!”

Asher never really liked Halloween. One because it was an occasion that her family rarely celebrated, and considering how protective her parents used to be, she only really experienced going trick-or-treating a few times in her childhood, none of which were particularly memorable for her. In fact, coming to this Halloween Gala, she had other motives in mind. Although other Silvers in the room were putting her on edge, some showing off their powers like it was fine to do so when they could just easily hurt someone standing too close to them. Shuddering at the thought, she instead made her way far from the crowd and took in everything around her, hoping this would give her a little more of an insight about the Institute itself. Although that thought was suddenly interrupt by the splash of liquid on her costume. She was about the stop the woman from apologising before hearing her native language ring in her ears. “Ah,” She started. “Mais non, ça ne me dérange absolument pas.” She reassured, a small smile stretched across her features. “I have to say, I haven’t heard someone else other than my family speak French in years. Almost make me feel like I’m back in France.”

“Nah… I’m just really that smart,” he half joked, keeping up his grin. “And I know my brother.” Noah also tried to gauge Ash’s reaction to the new beer in the meantime. Getting testers and being able to talk to Stefan’s potential new flame was a win-win situation.

“Well you’re doing it really well,” Noah complimented. He leaned over on the counter as she continued speaking. This time his grin was more or less a friendly smile. When it came to talking about his little niece, he tended to soften up considerably. “Really?” He laughed. “Well, I’ll definitely take your word for it. Say- any co-workers you might set me up with?” He said, grin returning. “Joking. Or… half joking.” Noah chuckled and then raised his brows pointedly.

“Smart, huh?” A brow raised at him, although Asher wouldn’t doubt that he was smart. At his next words, it only confirmed her thoughts earlier. She couldn’t help but smile, looking down at the bottle she had been nursing since Noah offered it to her. “In that case...I hope you’ve only heard good things about me.” She grinned, taking a sip from the bottle. “I’m liking this new beer though, so maybe it was worth me coming here today then.”

“I’m flattered, really. So thank you. It’s always a pleasure to make a kid happy.” It meant a lot to her that Asher was doing her job right and heard positive things about it. Just as much as after any of her past shows and the reviews meant everything to her. “Ah, you’re making a good choice there,” She said, before laughing lightly at his comment. “Huh, are dancers your type then?” She grinned. “Maybe —I mean...I never played matchmaker before, so there’s always a first for everything, right?”

      Asher Bouchard as Holly Golightly from Breakfast at                                                                   Tiffany’s

         “We all feel like we’re losing control sometimes.” Even Leon, who liked to think he was the epitome of control thanks to his father’s training, did at times. It was hard to be in control all the time, no normal human being could do that. And especially in a situation like the one Asher had been through, it was hard to do so. Leon himself probably would have set the place on fire. “I think you did what you could, Asher. No one’s perfect, but I probably would have lost it more than you did in that situation.” Leaning back, Leon folded his arms over his chest, teeth chewing on his bottom lip at her words. She was right, of course. Trying to dig into this was incredibly dangerous. He might put himself at risk, but even worse, he could put his wife at risk. But weren’t they already at risk, if the Silver Council started killing them off one by one?

            “I might know a thing or two. My dad told me a lot about them. But that was… a while ago. Some things probably changed since then.” Leon was never allowed to accompany his dad either. He told him he would have to wait until he was a grown man – but as a grown man, Leon wanted to get out of the Silver community, not deeper inside of them. So he had never actually met them, or seen their place. “It’s fine, Asher. Don’t worry about me. We’re already in trouble if they start killing us off, we might as well find out why.” Exhaling a deep sigh, a crooked smirk appeared on his lips when he glanced over at here. “See? There we agree.”

“How do you do it - staying in control? I’ve always struggled with it but recently...I feel like I’m taking more steps back than going forward.” Asher admitted. It was something she always admired about Leon, being able to be in control and able to get married, living a happy life with his wife. Even when the topic of family seemed to cause a bit of strain in their relationship sometimes. She wanted nothing more than to even have half of what her friend had, that alone would be enough for her. At his words, she couldn’t help but give him a sad smile. He was right, there was nothing more she could’ve done about this situation. “You’re right,” She sighed. “Can’t reverse what happened, can we? I’m just...worried what might unfold from this that’s all.”

Listening to Ash, it was so easy to get caught up in her voice, particularly when she tried to speak a fleck of German and recited it almost perfectly. Given, it was just a word, but it made Stefan grin like an idiot regardless. Agreeing that six was the meeting time, he gave her a rough indication of where he lived, before then noting that he’d just text her the address. That was smarter hindsight. He was… for lack of better words, overwhelmingly excited though. His knees were bobbing in the car on the drive home, and he couldn’t help but agree with every nice thing Ida said she liked about Asher when they were both alone again. Telling her to go get dressed as they walked in the door of his small home, Stefan then made a mad dash around his house to clean up any stray clothes, garbage or just all-round man-ish clutter he’d rather Asher not see on her first visit. Whatever he’d been doing for the last hour or so though, it felt like it completely vanished as he hadn’t even been able to put on a new shirt himself before the doorbell rang. The TV in the lounge room was blaring with a Youtube app and some JoJo Siwa crap that drove Stefan nuts, but that Ida loved to dance to — and so when he opened the door to greet Ash, he made a face of apology. “Yeeeeaaah… Sorry, we’re going to have to be listening to that… probably all night.”

After Stefan headed home with Ida, Asher pretty much tried to wrap her day at the studio, grabbing the paperwork for him on her way out and headed home to quickly freshen up for their plan tonight. Excitement and nervousness were stirring at the pit of her stomach as she drove home. She had spent time with him several times now, yet there was something about being in his company in the confines of his house that made it somewhat more intimate than before. The last few times they hung out together, it was always in places where people were around despite still she got lost in their conversations anyway. But it was another side of Stefan that she was curious to get to know more about, especially with the presence of his daughter there too. Changing out of her dance clothes into something more casual as she made her way to his place, her thoughts ran wild as she wondered what his place looked like. After all, she felt as though a person’s home often told a lot about the person living there. When she arrived and the door swung open, Asher was confused as to what Stefan was talking about, until the song travelled to her ears, a look of realisation suddenly crossed her features. “Ah,” She chuckled. “Can’t say I’ve ever listened to that before, how has it not drove you insane yet?” She asked, amusement glinted in her eyes. “Oh, so is that why you’ve decided on a sugar-filled night then? So...maybe your daughter can crash early?” She said jokingly, a brow quirked upwards at him.

Noah chuckled, leaning with his hand casually against the counter. “Hmm. I don’t know… educated guess?” He said, obviously playing around with her. The cheeky grin on his face hadn’t yet disappeared but he subtly eyed her with curiousity, noting for the first time how nice her smile was and liking her bit of attitude. All in all, it was no wonder his brother had been so easily smitten. 

“Been meaning to thank you, by the way. My little firecracker of a niece has been gushing about how much she loves her dance classes.” That was his favorite part about this woman so far - that he was making his beloved niece so happy. “Although…” He chuckled. “She’s been trying to get me to play classicals on my guitar for her to dance to which is new. Had to learn Waltz of the Flowers. By far the manliest song I’ve ever strummed…” He said, tone lighthearted in humor.

“Hm, I mean, I guess you do seem like educated man,” Asher trailed off, grinning lightly at him, before finally dropping the act after she took a sip of the free sample beer Noah offered her. “So, that obvious, huh?” She asked, quirking a brow at him. She really hoped that she wasn’t being too obvious, she would feel slightly embarrassed if she did. It was still early stages after all, she was still trying to get to know Stefan and wondering if he felt the same way about her.

Her grin widened at the mention of Ida, feeling delighted that her lessons brought so much enjoyment to the young girl. “Oh, there’s no need to thank me. I’m just doing my job. I’m flattered that she loves them so much.” It was one of the many reasons she volunteered to teach at the dance studio more often, there was nothing more rewarding than to see children getting excited over dancing. She did too, when she was a child. At Noah’s comment, a soft chuckle fell from her lips. “Hey, if anything, I think that makes you manlier. You might just be tugging on plenty of women’s heartstrings playing these classicals. Better than the modern rubbish these days, right?”

“Oh. Alright. No worries. Best to keep it that way. Truly nasty habit. And hard to kick, to boot,” Bente joked with a chuckle, taking a step backwards. Though she was glad that non-smokers were starting to outnumber the smokers, it was annoying in moments like this. “Sorry to bother you, though. Hope I’m not keeping you from anything.  I guess I’ll just have to stop the next person who comes by and hope they have one.”

Jade gave the woman a smile to show her that she meant no harm. But, she did watch the woman’s body language as she tensed up for a second. Her smile seemed tight and too wide…forced. Jade tilted her head to the side as she continued to watch the woman. “Asher Bouchard, yes?” She gave her another reassuring smile. “I have some questions about the bonfire,” she said. She’d read about the bonfire in Katya’s journals and then scoured the newspaper archives. Katya’s journals were more helpful than the newspaper articles, but there were still holes in the story. “Could you come down to the station with me? Or are you too busy now?” Even if the woman couldn’t come with her, Jade would still ask her questions. She just figured it’d be more polite and professional to take the woman to the station rather than asking her out in the middle of the streets. Frankly, Jade was still getting the hang of being a cop. Even though she mainly knew about American and Canadian law enforcement, she thought that some protocols couldn’t be too different for Norwegian law enforcement.

Asher could feel panic coursing through her, although she tried not to overreact since if the Silver Council claimed that they had everything under control, then this should be nothing more than what she hadn’t already told the police already. But a part of her could help but think about the worst case scenario in this situation, would she end up like Deborah Edwards if the truth came out? It was a thought that crossed her mind more often lately, one that was causing her to lose sleep at night. “Yeah, that’s me,” She nodded, the small smile on her face still plastered across her features. Although at her question, her stomach sank. It took her a little more courage for the next few words to fall from her lips, one that she had on her mind since the woman stopped her. “The bonfire? I’ve already let you guys know everything that I saw at the bonfire,” She started. “Do you mind if I ask why you need to ask more questions?”

She felt awful because it was only after she’d said it all that Phoebe realised how she might have been making the other woman feel. The devastation was clear on her face, and that wasn’t Phoebe’s intention. She didn’t want to hurt the woman’s feelings, Hell, she hadn’t even wanted to dip into her private life to see what had transpired earlier. But here she was again, knowing too much about a stranger all because she couldn’t control herself. Her self-hatred was almost palpable, but Phoebe knew that was her own burden to bear so she tried to rein it all in. If anything, she was the type to always suffer in silence.

“I guess I’m just tired.” Phoebe sighed, looking over as a woman left the store to go and get in her car so she dropped her voice lower. At least here, on the corner of the shopping strip, they were alone. “Because I have tried,” She said, looking at her feet in shame because she didn’t want to be hostile to the woman. She didn’t even really want to talk to her anymore, not because she wasn’t curious, but because she was afraid of saying something stupid. She felt really stupid when it came to her abilities. She wasn’t comfortable with them at all. “I know I shouldn’t give up. My mum, she’s like me. Like… us. She’s been trying to help me, and I’ve been seeing a psychologist, one that knows about our kind… They say it’s all… I don’t know,” She sighed, feeling a bittersweetness fall upon her. She wanted to be dealt with. This waiting game was going to kill her eventually, she felt. “A process.”

It was a never ending cycle for her. One minute Asher would feel optimistic about gaining better control of her own powers before the next came the doubts seeping into her mind, doubting if she would ever be able to live a life without being scared of killing someone one day. It was one of the many reasons why she tried not to think about it; getting lost in dancing itself was a great distraction to her and it was why she would always spend as much time dancing at the studio before exhaustion came not far behind, and then the cycle went again. She didn’t like thinking, and having a free day alone was enough to cause that much problem for her. Not that it was the woman’s fault though, neither of them would have foreseen this happening.

Her gaze fell back to the woman at her comment, knowing all too well what the feeling was like. Asher had felt like that when her father pushed for her to conceal her own powers, or at least try to control it. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t a Silver that never helped her, no matter how hard he tried to understand her lifestyle, it was just never enough. “Tell me about it, I know that feeling.” She nodded, before her curiosity piqued at the mention that her mother was a Silver and the fact she had been seeing a psychologist. “A process,” She echoed, shaking her head at the comment. Being a Silver wasn’t something anyone could get over with, after all, it was something that was stuck with them for the rest of their lives, there was no changing that. “Does it help, talking to a psychologist?” She asked, because Asher hated talking about her being a Silver, especially if that conversation had to be with a stranger. “I guess part of the reason why I can’t...fully control myself is because neither of my parents are like us. But surely it helps, right? That your mother at least understands what you’re going through.” She said, before glancing at the woman again, feeling rude that she was asking all these questions when she still hadn’t introduced herself. “I’m Asher, by the way.”

             “I did go, yes. But I was only there on Saturday, on Sunday I was here in the bakery, so I didn’t really see or hear anything when it happened. I only saw it on my way home when the damage had already been done.” Frida shook her head with a sigh, unable to get rid of the pictures in her mind. “You’re right. I mean, I’m not from here, but ever since I moved here… it’s kind of hard to imagine myself living anywhere else, to be honest. I loved living in a bigger city, but it’s just so much nicer how much people care about each other here.”

⭐️- Aksel

Living her whole life in fear of her own powers, meeting Aksel was the first time that thought didn’t immediately cross her mind. Instead, Asher grew curious of his power and actually embraced a little about being a Silver when she’s in his company. She finds him fascinating since they both have this huge thing in common. She doesn’t look at her power as harmful whenever she is speaking to Aksel, it’s almost like he has this calming presence over her, which is very rare since she’s very skittish around the topic of Silvers.