exsiliumlogs | friendship is MUSIC

Entry tags:

friendship is MUSIC

Date & Time: 8/26 dayyyytime, close to suppertime
Location: Housing
Characters: Jiro and Joey
Summary: SHARING IS CARING. Don't be so shy (kettle, pot, Jericho...)
Warnings: What a terribly sad robotman...

Well, his guesstimate was even better than he'd hoped! Not surprising on a Sunday, perhaps to some; not a whole lot of workers needing to be dropped off from the bus that day. The upped price didn't go by unnoticed, either, but Jericho didn't protest. What was money if not for spending on things, anyhow? He wasn't well acquainted with the stuff to feel ripped off, even if that was the case.

Fares forgotten, Jericho hopped back onto the street just before the Hold and hustled on over to the housing, hopping extra steps up to the third floor. It left him a little exhausted, but not in a bad way. It was kind of fun, living in a place like that with so many people around; Tibet had been...much, much different. At least, there had never been a risk of a roommate shooting a deathray through the wall! And maybe that wasn't the best example of fun, but it was hard to forget...

Hopefully Lash doesn't have another one of those, Jericho thought with a sudden twinge of worry. I don't think anyone would like visiting a place, only to get almost shot...

He found the place empty of roommates, however, which was a bit of a relief. So, for the time he had until he was to have guests (Him, having guests! And not just to deliver news of international bad guy organizations, at that!), he put his new food items away in proper place and got the guitar out of his room. It was a lovely thing, hard to deny. Sollux might have gone the whole wrong way about getting it to him, but the sentiment behind it was at least pure. It was enough to encourage Jericho to actually keep it; he loved to play, after all. And so too, it seemed, did this Jiro person. It was always nice to meet people with common interests, wasn't it?

He smiled as he sat on the floor, plucking at the strings in turn and tuning them back to proper order.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jiro spent the hour following his conversation with Jericho wandering the city in the general direction of the apartments, and by the time he reached them he felt much more alone and much less certain about his decision to meet him. What if he said or did something wrong?

He stopped by his own assigned apartment first just to see it and drop off his netbook- he didn't see anyone else there, and he didn't stick around long enough to find out whether his roommates were in. He wasn't sure how much time he'd be spending there as it was.

Making the trek to Jericho's apartment, he hesitated outside the door for a minute first. Maybe if he only stayed for a short time, he could avoid unintentionally doing anything to make Jericho dislike him. Steeling himself, he knocked on the door.

As the time drew close, Jericho got more and more anxious and excited. Silly, maybe, but what did he know about it? Just that he was...anxious and excited. And he startled at the knock, shifting out of cross-legged seat on the floor right away and settling the guitar gently against the sofa. He trotted to the door and opened quickly.

Seeing Jiro on the other side, he smiled a mix of relief and embarrassment, immediately shy. Most people gave a good greeting at the door, but he couldn't speak, so the best he could do was nod and smile graciously, stepping aside and gesturing to invite him in.

When the door opened, he blinked- he hadn't been sure what to expect, but it was surprising to see how young he was, and... how light his hair and eyes were. It took him a moment to realize he was staring, at which point he looked down.

"Ah... hello." Another moment and he got that the gesturing meant he should come in. He moved inside and looked around the apartment with some curiosity before his attention settled on the guitar on the sofa, then shifted back to Jericho.

"You're here alone...?"

Once the door had been closed, Jericho followed and soon walked around Jiro, close to the sofa. He stopped when prompted, tilting his head a little. A blink. ...Oh!

He shook his head, shoulders shifting with a brief, silent laugh. No. He held up two fingers. Two others. But they weren't there at the moment. One worked a lot and the other...Well, he wasn't really sure what Lash did in her free time.

Answering that he did a quick sweep of the room, reacting and moving toward a side table near the sofa's arm and lifting his notepad and pencil up. He chewed his lower lip as he quickly scratched out something and offered it to Jiro with his head ducked, sheepish. How else could he better explain?

My roommates are out right now...Lash and Ashraf. They're very nice!

Jiro wasn't entirely sure what he meant by holding up two fingers, at least not until he saw what he wrote. He nodded along with a small sound of acknowledgement.

"I haven't met my roommates..." His tone was a little subdued, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to meet them at all. But he stepped over to the couch then, just looking at the guitar for a moment before tentatively reaching a hand toward it as he looked at Jericho.

"May I...?"

Jiro certainly was a...somber kind of guy, wasn't he? Jericho felt a little twinge of worry, wondering if anything he himself was doing made him uncomfortable. First impressions were a hard thing to do right, after all.

Of course, he didn't have to flounder in an awkward silence, what with the other steering things straight to the point of the visit. Jericho's glance bounced from the guitar and back to Jiro again, eyebrows lifted, confirming the half-finished request.

Well, of course! That's why he was there, wasn't it? Jericho split another smile, nodding. He almost stepped back a pace, but seemed to think against it mid-move and instead moved toward the guitar and lifted it, holding it out carefully to Jiro.

Go ahead!

Jiro was a little surprised again when Jericho moved forward to take the guitar and hand it to him himself. He really seemed like a nice person... though that was probably because he assumed Jiro was human, right?

He smiled faintly as he took the offered guitar, though he was careful not to touch Jericho's hands in the process. Lifting the strap into place and moving his hands into position, he tried a single note. The sound had a subtly different quality to than that of his own guitar, but it was unmistakably the instrument he'd grown fond of.

He sat lightly on the couch and began to play a simple, melancholy tune.

As Jiro sat to play, Jericho too found a place nearby on the floor, cross-legged with his elbows draped on his lap. An audience, whether the other fellow was used to it or not; Jericho was very interested to find out what sort of musician he was. It wasn't every day he had a chance to exchange skills with someone else, especially in his quiet little exile in the mountains where so few ever even saw a guitar before.

It was a somber sound, for sure, but the rhythm was nice and well-timed. He'd obviously played it many times before. Jericho had a faint, fascinated smile etched on his face, watching fingers move up and down the frets and flicker glances at single strings plucked here and there. He folded his arms a little and hunched forward, eventually letting his head tilt to the side and eyes close to listen.

He'd almost been hesitant to play at all; after all, this was someone else's home and someone else's guitar. But soon enough he was lulled into the act and sound of his own playing, and he closed his eyes as well to experience it more closely.

His mind wandered a bit through the few memories of his own he'd acquired, back to the first times he'd played this song when he was alone. Until he'd met that young girl... much younger than Jericho, but she had been just as kind and accepting of him, in her own way. Until...

He stopped on a chord before it could resolve into the next, leaving a light tension in the air. A moment later he looked up to see Jericho on the floor, frowned sadly to himself, and removed the guitar strap to hold the guitar in his hands.

"...Thank you, for letting me play. But I shouldn't stay."

The sudden stop was startling; Jericho's eyes snapped open and he straightened out of his slouch, staring about and back at Jiro for the problem. He frowned, seeing his unhappy expression matching his unhappy tone. Jericho couldn't help but wonder what was the matter. It could've been any number of things, really – he was new to Exsilium, and that was always weird; there were probably people left behind he was thinking of. Or maybe he just didn't feel comfortable playing in front of strangers? That thought made his mouth twist in an uncomfortable little frown.

He glanced down, feeling a small flush of embarrassment, and looked back up not a moment too long, nodding. He smiled a worried kind of smile, though; Jiro didn't have to leave if he didn't want to, but...if he wanted to, of course...! Saying shouldn't made it hard to be sure.

He leaned and twisted himself to write on the paper sitting at his side, face scrunched up in an impatient way. More on his mind meant more on paper, which meant more time with empty responses in the air; he didn't like to keep people in suspense like that, but he had to at least be legible. With a silent sigh, he let the pencil drop back to the floor as he tore the page out and handed it to Jiro, this time as something for him to have, rather than just see. And, having given it up, Jericho stood and turned his attention elsewhere, embarrassed for all the trouble of having to speak his mind, second-guessing moment by moment.

Thank you for letting me hear your music.
It was kind of sad but really pretty, and you play really well!
I hope you come back to play again (if you want)...I wouldn't mind at all.
It's really nice to know people who like the same things I do, so I hope we can be friends!

Jiro waited patiently as he wrote out his response, something about the way Jericho was acting making him wonder if it was especially difficult or shameful somehow, to not have a voice.

He set the guitar on the couch to take the offered page, reading it through in mild awe. It made him happy, but at the same time added to his sadness; he wanted to stay, and he wanted to be friends. He really did. And from what he'd seen, he was starting to wonder if Jericho was lonely, too.

He stared at the page for a long moment before looking up, voice hesitant.

"Jericho... would it be all right if... before I go, I could hear you play?"

It would have sounded silly said aloud, wouldn't it? Jericho couldn't help but feel so. He was grimacing just moments before being prompted, a little startled as he looked back, blinking. He stared for a few seconds as he processed the request.

...Oh. He felt his ears heat up. He was sure he wasn't as good a player, and in any case, he didn't know any...good songs. At least, nothing established as one. Just things that came to his mind, putting notes to words and such. But...

But he was just being silly, he thought. He shook his head of those thoughts, nodding quickly and reaching over to gather up the guitar and settle it on his lap, eyes fixed on his task. He was sure he looked silly, and he sure didn't want that confirmed in Jiro's expression. Settled, his fingers drummed on the fretboard with a bit of anxiety while he tried to fish out a tune from his memory. Half-baked choruses and combinations...

He took a deep breath, let it out, and let his fingers wander across the strings. Simple, peaceful things, staggered here and there with no clear ending in place. A kind of stream-of-consciousness song, if it were patched up all together; he'd seldom thought to structure things the way songs typically were. Whatever he liked, he played, and if something else came to mind, he'd change right away.

Jericho's reactions were interesting to watch, though he wasn't always sure what they meant. Hopefully he hadn't offended him somehow...

But he took up the guitar and Jiro watched closely as he prepared to play. Once he began to play, he watched and listened intently, not unlike a child hearing their first live performance. He'd only heard someone else play once before, and it was nothing like this. A tune full of disjointed melodies and chords strung together without too much structure, it felt more... personal, somehow, than playing a complete song.

As Jericho played, Jiro didn't take his eyes off of his hands on the strings, even as he slowly slid off of the couch to sit on the floor across from him. He imitated the way the other boy was sitting but with his hands settled in his lap.

One transition found itself a lot more slippery than it was meant to be, as Jericho looked up and did a sudden double-take to find Jiro sitting there at the same level. Whoa, when did that happen?

Of course, that wasn't signal to stop – far from it, actually. Jericho's eyes dipped down, following the other's gaze and finding it right where his was the whole time. He just wants to watch it closer... True enough; he saw fingers plucking the imaginary strings right along with him. His mouth quirked a little, feeling a little less foolish by the second. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, was there?

The chords came out with more confidence then – more slides down the frets and strings plucked in unusual pattern. It wasn't playing for show, it was playing to play, and it was actually pretty fun to see the movements matched so well. He's really good!

Jericho's shoulders shook with a little, silent laugh.

He kept up with Jericho even as his playing became a little more complex, though he paused when he saw him shaking that way- it took him a moment to realize he was laughing. Once he did, he smiled despite himself. If only he still had his own guitar, he could play along with him.

Which was pretty well against what he'd been trying to do a few minutes ago, he realized, though he wasn't sure he wanted to think about that now. Not when he was enjoying himself like this.

Music had a way of chewing away time like very few things could; it was probably one of the lesser reasons Jericho was so fond of it, giving him a means of passing long, lonely hours out there in the mountains. It was all very beautiful and nice, of course, but flowers and mountain goats weren't always the right company.

Strange, somber strangers like Jiro were better than goats.

Of course, he wasn't that brilliant an improvisor to keep the melodies interesting, and eventually there were repeats. It was later than that when he actually picked up on it, of course, and tapered off into some kind of conclusion chord, shoulders rising and falling heavily with a big sigh.

He smiled over at Jiro, nose crinkling a bit. It'd been pretty fun, hadn't it?

Jiro was a little disappointed when it finally ended, but he was mostly content with how it had gone. He smiled again, looking directly at him.

"Thank you. I've never had the chance to really see someone else play. I enjoyed it."

Sheepishly, Jericho scratched at the back of his neck. His head shook a little bit before he seemed to correct himself – no, it wasn't nothing, was it? And he seemed to succeed in getting Jiro to be a little happy, didn't he? That was pretty good!

The hand moved, fingers hovering over his mouth before bringing the hand forward, signing you're welcome before thinking. Maybe the gesture made no sense, but the expression, perhaps, helped emphasize it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

friendship is MUSIC

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject