The music room [loverIdon'thavetolove]

[Jay]

Soft sounds of the guitar floated from the music room, and made their travel through the open crack of the door, going as far down the hallway as they could before fading away. The school was empty, for the most part, save for the teachers that had gotten there before others and a few students that had gotten there to talk with said teachers, be it about test marks or school problems, or even the occasional chat about life. Gabriel had arrived to find the music room door open, and had taken the opportunity to make himself at home. The music teacher was not in the classroom, but he still sat himself on the back window ledge, cross legged, guitar in lap.

The room was mostly dark, the only light filtered in through the blinds and caught on swirls of dust motes as they were picked up by the delicate gusts of air the slightly open window offered them. The effect was overall more than a bit eerie, and Gabriel was more than happy to dispel the eeriness with one some strums from his guitar.

A soft voice joined in with the sad chords.

“I picked you out
Of the crowd and talked to you
Said I liked your shoes
I said thanks can I follow you.”

His fingers stumbled a bit as he tried to keep his singing and chord changes in perfect time.

“So it's up the stairs
And out of view
No prying eyes
I poured some wine
I asked your name you asked the time”

Gabriel stopped suddenly, and looked up. He was almost certain he’d heard some sort of noise. His singing had stopped, but aide from getting marginally slower his playing continued. Once he’d confirmed to himself that no one was around, he kept playing. He sang the next bit more quietly, hesitantly…

“Now it's two o'clock,
the club is closed we're up the block
Your hands on me
I'm pressing hard against your jeans
Your tongue in my mouth
Trying to keep the words from coming out
You didn't care to know
Who else may have been you before”

He lowered his head, taking his eyes away from the door. Paranoia dissipated as he kept singing. His voice grew harsher.

“I want a lover I don't have to love
I want a girl who's too sad to give a fuck
Where's the kid with the chemicals?
I thought he said to meet me here but I'm not sure
I got the money if you got the time
You said it feels good I said I'll give it a try”

He kept singing, words flittered away like the very dust motes that looked so pretty in the sunbeams. He kept playing, eyes fixed on his converse as he sung. Sure, it wasn’t the best way to project his voice, but at the moment he was less inclined to project it than ever. The nagging sensation that maybe someone had heard was still there, creeping in the back of his mind. He got nearer to the end of the song, and was finally starting to lose his fear.

“I want a lover I don't have to love
I want a boy who's so drunk he doesn't talk
Where's the kid with the chemicals
I got a hunger and I can't seem to get full
I need some meaning I can memorize
The kind I have always seems to slip my mind
But you but you…”

He looked up, hearing a slight creek at the door once more. He couldn’t see anything, but he once more lost focus. He practically slurred out the rest of the song in an attempt to both watch the door and play the whole thing through

“You write such pretty words
But life's no story book
Love's an excuse to get hurt
And to hurt
Do you like to hur-,”

Gabriel cut himself off, now glaring at the door full force. He tried to keep his voice low an calm, but didn’t get the same composure he’d been going for in his words

“All right for fuck’s sake who the hell is there because I swear to god I will brutalize you if you keep listening.”

[Jay]

(song: ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iuXkhE0VMcw&feature=related.
Lover I don't have to love, Bright Eyes)

[damasin]

Defeated, the door creaked again. "Oh, bother. I've been discovered." A musical female voice floated around the door, "and here I thought I was being so sneaky!"

The owner of the voice peeked playfully into the doorway, obscured somewhat by the darkness of the room, and also by what appeared to be sticks glued to her head. Her green eyes were faintly illuminated and dancing with mischief. "You see-" She began, taking a few steps into the faint light, "I was walking along, minding my own business when I heard singing! Imagine my surprise." A fangy smile took over her face before she went on.

Cue the dramatic hand movements. "And like a muse, you led me right where I needed to be!" This sentence was punctuated with a dignified flipping of the light switch, and a small curtsy after the lights had come on. The girl reached around the doorway and grabbed something she must have left there while intruding on Gabe's song; a violin case.

It was now evident that she did not in fact have sticks on her head. She had small, rounded antlers like an elk. They jutted out from the top of her head; little accidents just waiting to happen. They were bone-colored, contrasting her dark brown hair. The tips of said hair were professionally dyed a rose pink, and the entire affair was neatly pulled into pigtails.

With a thump and the rustle of clothing, the short girl with antlers was sitting in the chair next to Gabriel, smiling warmly and holding out her manicured hand, palm down. "I'm Damasin. Charmed to meet you, songbird."

[damasin]

((I posted this before I was actually approved to be here! I think the mod is away from the board so I jumped the gun a little. I mean no disrespect!))

[Jay]

((I think it should be fine, as long as you get accepted, which you will be C: ))

[Jay]

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he looked the newcomer up and down critically. He laid his guitar flat on his lap, looking down at it and plucking one of the E strings harshly. He quickly plucked the opening riff of the song, ignoring the girl and her extended hand. He finally decided it would be best of him to answer, if only to break the awkward silence that had descended.
He kept his face and voice passive as he spoke, or that was at least his intention, but he couldn’t help the low growl in the back of his throat from escaping.

“My name is Gabriel Crow. Not Songbird.”
‘Crows aren’t songbirds…’ he thought to himself, letting a small grin flit across his face for a second before evaporating.

He stared at the hand, not sure whether he should take it or not. After careful observation he decided to ignore it. “And I don’t shake hands.” He added as an after thought.

Gabe’s dull crimson eyes locked once more onto his worn shoe and he tried the best he could to avoid eye contact with Damasin. The song he’d been playing was still running through his head and kept on until the end, fading into another song. He started humming along and plucked one or two strings on his guitar.

His head snapped up, the feeling of Damasin’s eyes on him was starting to get on his nerves. He looked up, a sigh escaping his lips.

“What are you even doing in here anyway, kid? May I be so bold as to request some privacy? I don’t like when people listen to me play.”

[damasin]

Oct 20, 2008 15:38:24 GMT -5 Jay said:

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he looked the newcomer up and down critically. He laid his guitar flat on his lap, looking down at it and plucking one of the E strings harshly. He quickly plucked the opening riff of the song, ignoring the girl and her extended hand. He finally decided it would be best of him to answer, if only to break the awkward silence that had descended.
He kept his face and voice passive as he spoke, or that was at least his intention, but he couldn’t help the low growl in the back of his throat from escaping.

“My name is Gabriel Crow. Not Songbird.”
‘Crows aren’t songbirds…’ he thought to himself, letting a small grin flit across his face for a second before evaporating.

He stared at the hand, not sure whether he should take it or not. After careful observation he decided to ignore it. “And I don’t shake hands.” He added as an after thought.

Gabe’s dull crimson eyes locked once more onto his worn shoe and he tried the best he could to avoid eye contact with Damasin. The song he’d been playing was still running through his head and kept on until the end, fading into another song. He started humming along and plucked one or two strings on his guitar.

His head snapped up, the feeling of Damasin’s eyes on him was starting to get on his nerves. He looked up, a sigh escaping his lips.

“What are you even doing in here anyway, kid? May I be so bold as to request some privacy? I don’t like when people listen to me play.”

Damasin felt much like a prize cow at the fair while Gabriel Crow's eyes rolled over her like a monster truck. 'Oh well-' she thought, 'If you got it, flaunt it!' She stuck out her chest and hip, and gave him the famous Bav family sexy eyebrow.

She chuckled and withdrew her hand after his denial, unabashed. "Sometimes, even crows want to sing with the songbirds." She thought she saw the faintest grin on his face at that, but it was gone so quickly it must have been her imagination.

Damasin stretched, catlike, and let out a massive yawn as Gabe vented his annoyance at her. Even though she was probably twice his age, she decided to let the 'kid' comment slide. After all, the guy looked frazzled enough already. "Oh, I have class here this morning!" She grinned, enthused. "First day here! Thought I would come in and practice beforehand." She motioned to her violin case. "Care for a duet, little bird?"

[Jay]

Gabriel bit his lip and shifted uncomfortably. He suddenly felt wrong being in the classroom. He had History first period, so by that logic she had much more of a right to be there than he did. His hand tightened n the neck of his guitar and he looked away, out the window. He saw more people filling the grounds. He didn’t have a watch on, nor was he in the right angle to get a good look at the clock, so he was unsure just how close it was getting to first period.

He got pulled back to earth with Damasin’s simple statement ‘care for a duet’ … he hadn’t even heard the bird bit.
He looked over at her, eyes narrowed “That honestly depends…” he looked at her violin case curiously. “What do you play, for one… what type of music that is… and two, how well do you play it?”

Critical questions from a critical person, he supposed, but it was well warranted in his situation. He didn’t much like playing in front of anyone; period, and for the most part duets were out of the question. If he were to do one, he didn’t want to play along with what was essentially shit. He did have some limits. Many limits. Too many limits, in fact, but he didn’t want to get into that.

“So? What have you got?” Gabriel finally met her eyes, something of a challenge in them “Go on then.”

[damasin]

The famous sexy eyebrow made another appearance, and the tiny smirk on her face turned into a wide grin. Here was her chance to impress this raincloud of a boy! After all, Damasin probably spent as much time practicing the violin as he had been alive. It wasn't that she was more mature than a normal seventeen year old girl, she just had more time on her hands - she had two years to be seventeen, so to speak.

"Blackbird, I accept your challenge!" Standing proudly, Damasin stood and rifled through her violin case, barely avoiding a hanging lamp with her antlers. Gabe balked at this but she took no notice, completely absorbed in her new task.

She pulled the shiny black-and-red violin from its case, placing it gently to her neck in practiced ritual. The bow was also pulled from the case and waved dramatically in the air for effect, as Damasin shot Gabriel a sly look.

Inhaling deeply, she placed the bow to the violin, and began to play "A Time to Say Goodbye." Her brows furrowed in concentration and she bit her lip, fingers flying over the strings. She winked at Gabe during a pause in the song, but was surprised to see his eyes closed. He was immersed in the melody, so peaceful he almost looked asleep. The tune flowed from her fingers, rich and longing and pained. As she played the last note, she took a deep bow and waited for Gabriel Raincloud Songbird to say something.

(( This is the song she played, from my favorite Opera... it's so beautiful. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwtWFzCOntA&feature=related - - I also changed it to better reflect what Gabe does below!))

[Jay]

He hadn’t been expecting her to be any good. Probably as mistake on his part, seeing as she definitely knew what she was doing. Even just seeing such a lovely instrument hinted Gabriel to the fact that maybe, just maybe, she actually knew how to use thing thing.

Gabriel closed his eyes while she played. He often found it was best just to let the mind wander while listening to music. Watching it being played took some of the majesty out of it. It was something he could never accurately explain to people, but when you heard the music disembodied it added a surrealism to it. He just preferred it that way.

He smiled despite himself. Damn. She was good. Really good. Not just your run of the mill school level good, but… he opened his eyes finally as she neared the end of her song, lips subconsciously moving along to the words he’d heard maybe once or twice before. Such was his personal knack with music. He could hear it but once and know it by heart, but god be damned if he knew who it was by and what it was called. And in this case, what it meant.

‘con te io li rivivrò.
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,’

Te didn’t dare make a sound for fear of interrupting herm but still moved his lips, mind subconsciously rifling though Italian artists he knew. He drew a complete blank. Had it been the blind one? He couldn’t remember.

When her song was finished he drummed his fingers against the side of his guitar, probably his haughty form of applause. Though any sound from him whatsoever was more often than not unexpected. The small number of people that knew of his private love affair with the musical world knew he was exceptionally critical of anything thrown at him by a peer.

“So you’ve been playing since you first stepped out of the womb, I imagine.” Gabriel looked down at his pale hands and stopped drumming his fingers.
He kept his gaze fixated on a small cut on his knuckles as he continued to talk/
“Duets still won’t work though, you do realize. Unless I can teach myself to sing opera… that or you could play something a bit less... pretty. Besides, I already told you, I don’t like when people listen to me play.”

[damasin]

"What a sweet thing to say!" Filled with joy at Gabriel's praise, Damasin sat down next to him again - but this time she felt welcome. She wanted to hug him but got the definite vibe that he did not like touching, so she stifled herself.

Blushing a little, she reached over and plucked the E string of his guitar. "I know just what we can play! Any guitarist worth his salt knows Canon in D, right? No singing needed." When he continued to look sceptical, she huffed at him, "Just play the cello part. You're talented and I KNOW you can play this song."

Reluctantly, Gabe strummed out the beginning notes of the song. Damasin, grinning from ear to ear, joined him on the second verse. The high string sounds of the violin and the low of the guitar wrapped around the air, permeating the atmosphere. The joy of making music filled the two of them, making Dama giggle and play faster, Gabe matching her splendidly. Soon it became a race, the tune getting faster and faster, until finally it was over. Damasin looked straight into Gabriel, chest heaving slightly from the exertion and eyes glowing.

"I'm so proud of myself!" She exclaimed happily, resisting the urge to grab Gabe's hand. "Not even first period and I already have a friend!"

(( Here is the duet they did and it rocked and it was AWESOME and it blew my mind! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybr5g8d7HtA&feature=related ))

[damasin]

((Did I do something wrong? It's been a while since you posted - if this is out of character for Gabe, say so and I'll change it.))

[Jay]

((Nononononoono! I've just been bogged down w. work (just started my job) so when I can manage to get on it is only for short periods of time.. I'll prolly be able to reply later tonight, no worries~))

[Jay]

Damasin was good, very good, and even though Gabriel was defiantly anti-duet, he couldn’t help but enjoy playing along with her. As the speed rose he completely lost himself in the playing, and it stopped registering that someone was even playing along.

When the song was over, he looked up at Damasin, the glint in his eyes and faint smirk giving away how pleased he was with the result of their combined playing.

Damasin looked about to burst with pride, and was grinning wildly. “"I'm so proud of myself! Not even first period and I already have a friend!"

Gabriel’s smile vanished instantly “Sorry, dear, but I think I’ve maxed out on friends. I’m sitting pretty with none, thank you very much.” The low growl in the back of his throat had returned, and a flush covered his cheeks. He pulled his guitar protectively to his chest and looked away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He seemed to need quite the effort to loosen his own grip on the guitar. He put it in it’s case carefully, handling it with so much care, one would imagine if he’d put any more force to the touch that it would snap into a million pieces.

“I have to go to… uh…” he hesitated, looking out the window and losing track of his sentence. He shook his head violently. “History. Goddamnit. I have to go to History.” He shut his eyes and swung the strap of his case over his shoulder. “Fuck.” He hissed out “uh. Bye.” He shuffled towards the exit, leaving a very confused Damasin behind him.

[damasin]

Oct 24, 2008 20:31:44 GMT -5 Jay said:

Damasin was good, very good, and even though Gabriel was defiantly anti-duet, he couldn’t help but enjoy playing along with her. As the speed rose he completely lost himself in the playing, and it stopped registering that someone was even playing along.

When the song was over, he looked up at Damasin, the glint in his eyes and faint smirk giving away how pleased he was with the result of their combined playing.

Damasin looked about to burst with pride, and was grinning wildly. “"I'm so proud of myself! Not even first period and I already have a friend!"

Gabriel’s smile vanished instantly “Sorry, dear, but I think I’ve maxed out on friends. I’m sitting pretty with none, thank you very much.” The low growl in the back of his throat had returned, and a flush covered his cheeks. He pulled his guitar protectively to his chest and looked away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He seemed to need quite the effort to loosen his own grip on the guitar. He put it in it’s case carefully, handling it with so much care, one would imagine if he’d put any more force to the touch that it would snap into a million pieces.

“I have to go to… uh…” he hesitated, looking out the window and losing track of his sentence. He shook his head violently. “History. Goddamnit. I have to go to History.” He shut his eyes and swung the strap of his case over his shoulder. “Fuck.” He hissed out “uh. Bye.” He shuffled towards the exit, leaving a very confused Damasin behind him.

Confused by the quick change in Gabriel's behavior, Damasin plopped down in her chair again. She watched him walk out the door, irritated at herself for alienating him after such a fun performance. "Real smooth, Bav." she muttered.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she knew class would begin in ten minutes. Putting the bow to the violin, she played a few notes of practice but wrinkled her nose at the result. It just sounded so sour now without the grump playing along.