[F11-PP] A Songbird without a Voice

[Astreya 0]

There was a sort of cloud that hung over the young woman's head.  Not a literal one, of course, as that would be silly.  But instead the normally bright and chipper young woman seemed to be relatively...down.  Of course, here on the 11th Floor was a place she didn't often tread, but right now she was looking for all the help that she could get.  

Despite the fact that she wasn't exactly the biggest gamer and game-player, the young woman was rather social and knew a lot of people.  Chatting away with a few people here and there had led to discussion regarding a name that she had recalled from a Christmas party some months back.  The self-professed musician, Jomei.

During the party, he'd mentioned that he was a Performer here in the game, but he also did music in 'real life' too, and so Astreya was wondering if perhaps he could help her.  Help her to not be absolutely awful at all things music.  Her father flat-out didn't sing, and her mother couldn't hold a tune, bless her, and so Astreya hadn't ever really learned how to do such a thing, but beyond that, she'd also lacked the inheritance of such a talent.

She had no idea whether or not Jomei would be able to teach her anything about the weaving of music.  If nothing else, perhaps he could at least show her the ropes a bit more on how to actually make the profession work at all.  She had just struggled constantly and so far all she'd had to show for her efforts was a single song crystal and all that it held was a single, well-held note that resonated with treasures.

The girl reached the shop, reaching up a hand as she opened the door (it was a shop, after all) and stepped inside.  "Jomeiiiiii I need heeeeeeeeeelp!" the girl wailed.

Astreya's Statblock

Spoiler

 

-Level 32 | Paragon 6
-HP: 720
-- 640(Base) + 60 (Iron Skin) + 20 (Paragon)
-NRG: 104
-- 82 (Base) + 20 (Energist) + 2 (Paragon)

-Base Damage: 17
-- 1(Base) + 7 (Weapon Skill) + 1 (Impetus) + 8 (Weapon)
-Mitigation: 122
-- 0(Base) + 35 (Armor Skill) + 15 (Iron Skin) + 72 (Armor)
-Regeneration: 5% (Currently 35)
-- 0(Base) + 5% (Battle Healing)
-Accuracy: 3
-- 0(Base) + 1 (Weapon) + 2 (Combat Expertise)
-Thorns: 0
-- 0(Base)
-EN Recovery: 2 on CD rolls of 7+
-Taunt: 2
--0(Base) + 1 (Fighting Spirit) + 1 (Accessory)

===
Gear:

Item name: Glacial Blade (ID# 203559)
Item type: 2H Straight Sword
Quality: T4 | Perfect 
Enhancement(s): [ACC][DMG][DMG]
Description: A two-handed blade with what appears to be a hilt wrapped around a growth of icy crystal.  A large central crystal comes from the center, with two smaller ones forming the guard.  While it doesn't hold any Cold enhancements on its own, it nonetheless seems to give off a slight fog from the chilled blade.

Item name: Battle Dress Mk III (ID# 203560)
Item type: Heavy Armor
Quality: T4 | Perfect 
Enhancement(s): [MIT][MIT][MIT]
Description: Keeping in with the design of her previous armor, the heavy-yet-fashionable heavy plate keeps the young woman well-protected, allowing her to ignore blows from her opponents with ease!  

»Spotlight | Rare T2 Trinket
[Taunt] - Adds 1 Hate generated from successful attacks, Howl and Furious Howl.
[Recovery] - Regain 2 additional energy on natural CD rolls of 7+. 

===
Skills:

Combat:

Spoiler

► Battle Healing - Master | 30 SP | 5% HP Recovery
► Energist | 8 SP | +20 EN
► Fighting Spirit | 10 SP | Generate 1 Extra Hate on Attacks/Howl/Focused Howl
► Howl | 10 SP | Post Action | 2 EN | 2 CD | +2 Hate on up to 4 Targets

• [Howl Addon] Focused Howl | Post Action | 4 EN | 4 CD | +4 Hate on a single Target

Weapon:

Spoiler

► 2H Straight Sword - Grand Master | 30 SP | +7 Base Damage

• Stamina Mod | 4 SP | Reduces EN by 2
• [Rank 5 Shift] ST Specialist | 10 SP | +3 Multiplier/+2 EN cost for ST-I, ST-II-, ST-B

Armor:

Spoiler

►Heavy Armor - Grand Master | 30 SP | +35 MIT

• Impetus Mod | 4 SP | +1 Base Damage
• Iron Skin Mod | 6 SP | +15 MIT | +60 HP

Combat Masteries:

Spoiler

► Combat Mastery: Accuracy Expert | 13 SP | +3 ACC

Familiar:

Spoiler

► Hunting Familiar | 10 SP | Free Action | 5 CD | Roll flat LD/CD for loot

Extra:

Spoiler

► Concentration | Free Action | 5 CD | Gain Absolute Accuracy on next attack

 

 

[Jomei 0]

  

Jomei the emerald duelist

Spoiler notes Level: 32 | Paragon: 60 | Tier: 4(10)  Jomei: 880/880 HP | 126/126 EN | DMG 23 | MIT 44 | EVA 3 | ACC 4 | BH 48 | HLY BLS 19 | BLD 48 | FLN 8 | AA | LD 1 | F.Sprt. equipped Nihilim's Wrath  Vestige of St. Patrick Alatreon's Will battle-ready inventory // skills Spoiler Skills Saber R5 | TECH Spec. Combat Mastery DMG R3 Cloth Armor R5 Charge B Healing R5 Energist Fighting Spirit MA R2 Extra: Concentration Survival (x) Meditation (x) Parry Forgotten King's Authority Photosynthesize (x) Brawler (x) Hiding R.4 Mods Athletics (x) Vanish (x) Addons Stamina (x) Ferocity (x) Precision (x) Nimble (x) data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== buffs Spoiler Housing Buffs:  Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat     Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)     Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. Living Room: Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==

 

Just before the turn of the new year, Jomei had lost his muse. The constant urge he had to perform and compose had wisped away once he was, once again, left alone to his devices. Hours upon hours were spent staring at blank sheets of paper, his pencil only able to create the swirling image of a treble clef at the start of the page. No notes or chords filled the empty score afterwards, and the book would close on another failure of a day. 

During the holidays, however, things had suddenly chanced for the Irishman. He no longer looked at he various instruments lining the wall with remorse, and musical symbols began to fill those sheets left empty for another day. That glass wall of a musical block had shattered, allowing Jomei once again to tap into his musical prowess to do what he loves most. 

The first floor of his Taft townhouse was split into two halves; his music room and his living room, both accessible from a hallway upon first entering. Jomei sat upon the small dark bench in front of his piano, facing away from the large instrument. The small of his back leaned against the closed cover of the keys, with an acoustic guitar laid across his lap. Normally, he enjoyed playing the lute or something to fit the more 'fantasy' setting.. but playing the guitar was really where his heart settled; his real world heart. He was dressed in his usual home attire; a pair of dark, brown trousers and a green sweater with the sleeves pushed up just below his elbow. Fiery red bangs that normally fell in front of his face were pushed back behind his head, secured into a small, messy pony tail with a hair tie. 

Humming to himself, he strummed along to a tune he had written not too long ago, just to get some practice in. Suddenly, a voice called out his name, sounding much closer than he would have liked. Almost as if it were coming from inside his house. Leaning the guitar against the piano bench, he quickly moved to the door of this music room. Pulling open the slightly ajar door, he saw Astrya standing there, right inside his hallway. "Astreya? Wh- What are you doing here? What do you need help with?" 

[Astreya 0]

The girl gave a small sound of despair in response to the man's words, and she exhaled softly at his appearance.  "Sorry, I didn't mean, to like, just all burst in on your store," the girl responded with a small shake of her head.  "I sorta just like... came outta nowhere all, like, yelling and stuff," she spoke, breathing in a big breath before pushing it out again... before repeating the process, trying to calm herself down with the deep breaths.  Granted it left her feeling a little light-headed, but she steeled her resolve and looked back up to the irishman.

"So like, okay.  I like, ended up getting the Performer profession, right?  We were like, talking about that for a minute at Koga's party before... well, like, the whole party happened.  Sorry for like, just ditching you, by the way," the girl spoke, apologetic as she realized that she had totally left him on his own after their brief meeting.  She hoped he didn't hold that against her- there were just so many people that she wanted to talk to all of them.

"Anyway... I'm really bad at it," she admitted openly.  "I keep trying to do the music thing, and like, make stuff, but no matter what I try to do it always comes out all bad and awful.  I've got like one song crystal that hasn't been a total failure.  But then, like, I remembered.  You do singing stuff in real life too, right?" she asked, looking back up at the man, her fists clenched in front of her. 
 
A fire burned in her eyes as she looked up at the taller fellow, and she took in another breath to try to focus before asking the question.  "Can you, like, teach me how to sing?"

[Jomei 0]

Sometimes Jomei forgot that, technically, his music room was a performer's shop. It definitely wasn't set up like one, and he sure as hell didn't craft anything to sell. Music was his passion, he enjoyed it more as a hobby than a career. "No no its fine." he said with a breathy chuckle, "You just surprised me is all."

Stepping from the open doorway, his arms crossed at his front, he would lean a shoulder on the wall beside him as he listened to Astreya's plight, also apologizing for 'ditching' him at Koga's party. Without words he shook his head, a palm facing outward as if to tell her 'dont worry about it.' Nonetheless, she continued on with her reasoning for showing up on his doorstep. She had taken the musical profession without a lick of musical talent to her name.

"You want me to what?" he bashfully questioned her, his cheeks a twinge of pink as the request settled within his mind. "I-I mean I don't remember telling you that I sing. But.. the assumption isn't wrong. None of the songs I've recorded here ever had my vocals on it. Would you be more interested in learning an instrument.. or..?" He could see that desire in her eyes to learn to perfect this profession.. specifically by training her voice. Who was he to shy the girl away after coming all this way. 

With a huff of a sigh, he popped up to his full height and took a step back, placing the open doorway between himself and Astreya. With a welcoming gesture, he invited her inside. "Alright, come on in.. lets see what we can do." 

 

[Astreya 0]

"Oh wait-" the girl began almost immediately, as soon as he noted that he hadn't stated that he could sing.  She tried to remember the conversation, but admittedly it had been a whirlwind of people, faces and topics and much of it was lost to the aether of her memory.  "Man then, like, maybe I just assumed?" she murmured aloud, not technically at Jomei but nonetheless he would be able to hear her thoughts aloud.  

She didn't miss the slight flush to his cheeks, but she didn't really...feel comfortable commenting on it either.  Still, she did file that piece of information away- that he was either embarrassed of his voice or perhaps it wasn't up to par of his instrumentation?  Or maybe just no one had asked him about it before and it'd been a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that the valley girl had inadvertently messed up just now, but if nothing else, he didn't seem to be too put off by it, which was good.

However, he moved into notating that he could sing, and that she had assumed properly.  "Um, I mean, I could, like, totally learn an instrument too," she considered, tilting her head to the side slightly in thought.  "But I just, like, figured that Performers did, like, the singing thing.  That's what I've been trying," she continued.

"But like, if that's too much, that's okay, you don't have to," she spoke, not wanting to push the man to try and do anything with his voice if he wasn't really into doing so.  "I didn't even, like, stop to think that there might be a way to just do it with, like music," the girl admitted as she moved to follow in after him.  

"I never really did much with music, like, growing up.  So I'm not, like, sure why I got this profession.  But if there's one thing I'm not, it's, like a quitter.  So I'm gonna do it...I'd just really like some help," she spoke, the young woman's fire continually puttering out now and then as she struggled.  "Do you think that like, an instrument would be easier?"

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Astreya had given him a small out, would have made him feel incredibly guilty, but that small sliver of escape was there if he wanted to take it. With a shake of his head, Jomei smiled, "Well, really, the range of performers is a bit larger than it is for some of the other professions. What I mean by that is, you can really rely on whatever your form of talent is. I've seen performers who sing, play instruments, even dance... Though how that works from a crafting standpoint.. I don't really know." A small clap of his hands ended the tiny tangent and brought him back on target, "But, what I mean is.. its entirely up to you what you want your focus to be. I, personally, prefer to play an instrument as my form of performing, but I am no stranger to singing. I used to perform a bit years ago, in the real world. Nothing big or fancy, just a fun little pub band." 

The room he led Astrya into was set up nothing like your typical shop, and more like an open music studio.. or even a classroom, as some have compared it to. Tall windows allowed light to pour over the light wooden floors, causing the corner of the black piano to glisten in the sunlight. Along the wall, underneath a chalkboard that spread across a majority of the wall, instruments of different varieties; string, wind, brass and percussion. Tripod music stands cradled loose sheet music and notebooks, while extra stands sat collected in a far corner of the room. A bookshelf just to the left of the open doorway housed recording crystals of various sizes, organized by those with songs currently contained within, and others still awaiting their turn to be used. 

"But, don't let me lead you astray from what you want to do as a performer. If its singing that you want to do, then let that be your thing." his shoulders rose and fell with a shrug. "I'll admit, I've never really taught someone to sing.. I'm not always the most outgoing of persons. But I guess we all need to break out of our comfort zones to better ourselves, yeah?" 

[Astreya 0]

She gave a small sound of thought as she followed along with him further into the room.  "My talent, huh?" she mused as she wondered about that, following the man toward the room, listening to his lecture, of a sort.  Music was not something that she had ever been invested in, when it came down to it.  The young woman had a number of other interests in her life that had led her to this point, and unfortunately, the idea of song and dance hadn't ever actually reached her as she had done all sorts of other, more physical activities.

"Oh, but that's like, so cool though!" she spoke as he admitted that he'd played in a band.  "I had some friends back in high school that did that sorta thing.  I was always, like, so jealous of their stuff!  I don't know if they, like, went anywhere with it, but all the same, it's still really cool.  Having that kind of passion in your life can like, really help to keep going some days, y'know?" she offered, beaming a sunny smile onto her features toward Jomei, clapping her hands as well (both in a teasing imitation of his own clap to end his lecture, as well as to change the subject.)

As they came inside, her eyes widened, looking around.  "Woooow!  This setup is so cool!  Way nicer than mine!  I'm gonna have to, like, take some notes," the girl spoke, looking all around, not stopping herself from hopping around here and there, looking at all of the various instruments, the chalkboard, the window, and so forth, unable to help a small grin.  "This totally looks like a classroom.  Probably good for teaching me," she admitted with a small grin.

But at his words, she nodded, turning to face him.  "I kinda promised someone a song, so like, I'd really like to be able to do at least a basic one, y'know?" she offered in return.  "But yeah!  My dad always said, like, if you're comfortable, you're not growing.  So I was pretty uncomfortable most of my childhood," she responded, not showing any actual negative thoughts toward her upbringing.  "But I can teach you how to be more outgoing!  Or help with girls- I saw you chatting with that pretty blonde at Koga's party," she teased.  "You seemed to be doing okay but like... just offering~"

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Moving across the room, the ginger reached down to grab the guitar he had haphazardly placed before responding to Astreya's call. He listened to her as she spoke, a small smile on his face as he retrieved the instrument and began walking it over to an empty stand along the wall. At the mention of seeing him 'chatting with that pretty blonde' his cheeks flushed red, despite facing away from Astreya at the time. The instrument nearly slipped from his fingers as her comment caught him off guard, accidentally tapping some of the strings as he caught himself. Finally setting the guitar down, he would clear his throat, turning back to Astreya with a fist in front of his  mouth, cheeks still flushed. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine. I don't have any problems talking to girls.. especially ones that are just friends." 

He began walking back in her direction, towards the bench of the piano, a bit more composed now. "It's not like I'm shy, or have issues with talking or being in a crowd.. its just.. Hm.. I guess singing is just something I don't do in front of others very often. Especially not since being stuck here." he pointed towards the ground, but generally meant stuck in the game.. not his house. "When we used to play at pubs, half the time it was for a bunch of folks more focused on their pints or own conversations.. so I never really thought much of performing in that environment. 

"But that's beside the point." he looked towards Astreya as he sat down, resting his elbows on his knees "You said you had already recorded a song. Do you mind playing it? I'd like to get a sense of your natural talent and where we can begin." 

[Astreya 0]

Despite her outward demeanor, the young woman was perceptive when it came to watching people, and it showed as she noted that her would-be teacher nearly dropped the guitar that he'd been holding when she'd commented about the girl he'd been chatting up back at the Christmas party.  And as he turned around, she noted that he was still flushing red again- it must be an Irish thing, she decided, but despite how amused she was, she kept any sort of teasing look off of her features, just keeping to her usual smile.  "Whaaat, really?" she asked in response as Jomei denoted that he and the other woman were just friends.  "I totally thought you were like, into each other.  Well I think you look cute together," she offered off-handedly, but she didn't want to push this particular note too hard with him.  

While she did genuinely think there was some chemistry there, based on how Jomei and the woman acted around one another (not to mention the hug she'd given him, unless she was just a really huggy person) Astreya knew she shouldn't torment her potential teacher.  Instead as he changed the subject regarding the pub-playing and the people therein being a bit more focused on their drinks than the band that was playing, and that he hadn't sang as a performance, necessarily, the girl nodded along.  "No, like, I can get that.  It's not like being all in the limelight and junk.  Like you're singing, and there's people, like, there, but it's not the same thing really," she agreed, nodding.

"Sure!" she responded to his query about her own song that she'd recorded.  Pulling up her inventory, she removed the sound crystal, before moving to set it on the window sill next to the piano.  Activating it, what would emanate outward would almost be a sort of almost soothing melody, like the humming of a mother to their child to get them to sleep.  Unfortunately, Astreya's note was barely held, and was certainly more on the 'flat' side rather than a full note.

The melody ended after a moment and she gave a sheepish smile. "It's bad, right?" she asked, knowing full well it was- but that was okay.  That's why she was here.

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

Into each other? No, not likely. Was he into her? ... It was starting to seem that way. But she was still in a relationship, albeit not one that made her very happy, and he was just out of a long term one. It just wasn't in the cards right now, so it was probably better he kept those thoughts to himself. He simply dismissed Astreya's assumptions with a sigh. 

Finally getting down to it, Jomei had requested Astrya show him the song she had composed on her own. Green eyes watched as she procured the palm sized crystal from her inventory. Tapping on the surface of it caused it to spring to life, emanating the music from a speaker-less source. He sat in silence as the song played out, which consisted of Astreya humming a lullaby-like tune. As the song came to an end, the crystal gently fell back into the palm of her hand. 

"Well, you're not tone deaf. So you're not a lost cause." he said, teasing the girl. The voice was there, unpracticed, but there was potential. 

Tapping his chin, he thought for a moment where to begin. "Alright.. First off, lets work on your breathing." he placed one hand on his chest, and another on his stomach. "Take a few deep breaths.. inhale and feel the air gather in your stomach." Demonstrating, he takes in a deep breath, his abdomen extending slightly. "And then slowly exhale, pushing the air out from your stomach and through your diaphragm" he taps on his chest, "Don't let your chest collapse as you exhale. Practicing this will help with sustaining your notes, so they won't fall flat if you start to run out of breath." 

[Astreya 0]

At the teasing words from Jomei about her not being a lost cause, equal parts indignation and relief spread through the girl's body.  She was glad that she wasn't going to completely be out of her element.  Of course, she still had no idea how to actually do any of this singing business.  She was just going by feel, and that didn't seem to be working, if her track record had anything to show for it.  "Well, like, at least it's not a total failure," she murmured, unable to help some of her own heat spreading across her cheeks now, finally on the receiving end of it all.

"Okay.  Breathing," she responded, and moved to follow suit with his hands on her own body, if only to see if she could mirror him and follow what he was trying to show her.  This wasn't actually all that different from her cheerleading- maybe she could bring some of that practice into it.  She followed his words and actions, bringing in a swath of air into her chest and then down into her lower abdomen, just letting her chest rise as she gathered the air.  "All right so like... out from my stomach..." she murmured.

The young girl took in a few of the deep breaths, but unlike before where she was trying to calm herself, instead she focused on how the breathing felt as it came in, and then left her body.  On the fourth breath, instead of just exhaling as she normally did, the young woman began to try to mimic the sounds that she'd done before with the melody from her sound crystal. This time, of course, instead of listening she was singing the same melody.  It was one that she knew from her childhood, although admittedly she couldn't place where.

As she finished, she couldn't help a small sound of thought.  "Like...that felt a little better, I guess.  Did it like, sound any better?" she asked, glancing toward him.  It wouldn't win any awards, she was sure, but it might not make ears bleed anymore.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei found himself breathing along with Astreya, sitting with a straight back at the piano. Flowing through the motions, he took in an inhale, imagining the air heavy as it entered through his lungs and plunged down into his stomach. Then, like pushing air out of a bag, he allowed the air to flow back up through his lungs and out a slightly parted mouth. The only sounds filling the room, aside from the muffled noises of passerbys outside of his window, were the deep inhales and exhales each of them took. That was, until Astreya attempted her lullaby once again, this time in front of a live audience. Singing from her diaphragm this time, she allowed the notes to flow, not the most perfect pitch, but she managed to sustain the notes rather than faltering between semitones. 

The breath he held in was released as a small, proud laugh. "Hey hey, there you go!" he said. "At least you were able to hold your note that time, which is a great start. As you start to use this breathing technique for singing, you'll really see a difference. If you try to sing a song with just a shallow, regular breath.. you'll find you won't really be able to hit the right pitch, or even the right octave. And you'll might end up needing to take a breath sooner.. like in between a line, breaking the flow. But with a deeper breath, you'll be able to hit a larger range of notes and hold onto them longer. Even helps with volume." He finished with a nod, before swinging his legs around the bench of the piano. 

Tapping on the cover that rested over the keys, the dark panel of wood pixelated, revealing the line of ivory slabs underneath. "Alright, now take what you've learned with the breathing, and we're gonna work on your tone. So, I'm going to play a small scale, and you'll just repeat it with your voice... like this." Sprawling his fingers out on the keys, he would press down, producing a chord. He would then follow with playing a shorter version of a major scale. The notes would move up in pitch before climbing back down. He then repeated a second time, this time, accompanying the notes with his own voice. " ♫♪♪ Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Mi - Re - Do ♪♪♫... Or, simplify it like.." he played the scale once more. "♫♪♪ La - La- La - La - La - La - La ♪♪♫"

[Astreya 0]

Astreya blinked slightly as she came down, waiting for her 'teacher' to give her some advice on the subject and to correct whatever she'd done with that previous note.  She had thought she'd messed it up again, but he seemed to be more positive about it, the young woman brightening a little at the praise.  "Okay so like... I imagine that the more I do it, the more, like, natural it'll be.  Maybe I won't have to think too hard about it?" she asked, mostly just wanting to make sure she was on the right path with this.  Or maybe she'd always need to think about doing it to make sure that she was doing it.

However it seemed that Jomei was going to push her further on this, and she swallowed, her hands tightening into fists. "Okay," she agreed as he moved his fingers to the keys, explaining what it was he was going to do.  As he played, the girl couldn't help but to be suddenly aware of just how smoothly the keys moved under his touch.  It wasn't any sort of attraction, but genuine appreciation for a talent that she didn't have.  The man did so with a practiced ease that made her feel inadequate in comparison, but she had come to him for assistance for this reason- he knew what he was doing.

The second time he played through it, she heard him singing the small scale of notes, and she knew that one- that was one that she'd learned in school when she was younger- something that never left her.  The third was just a single word, but sticking to the keys being played.  She wasn't necessarily completely tone deaf, but learning what constituted each step of the scale was daunting.  Still, she would try.

"Okay.  Like, go ahead.  Let me try," she spoke, before taking in the deep breath that he'd taught her.

"♫♪♪La- La- La - La - La - La - La ♪♪♫"

She winced a little as she came down, feeling the last two were more than a little off.  "One more time," she spoke, the girl's sapphire eyes burning with an azure flame as she sought to repeat the motion, trying to perfect what was being taught.

"♫♪♪La- La- La - La - La - La - La ♪♪♫"

Better.  Not great, maybe not even good... but better.  "Who thought'd be so hard to like, make voice sounds," she murmured, frustrated, but not completely out.  

[Jomei 0]

"The breathing will come second nature to you" he said with a nod. "You don't want to think too hard on it, or else you'll focus more on that than your singing." His shoulders rose and fell with a quick shrug, chuckling to himself. "Honestly, I sometimes finding myself breathing this way even if I'm not singing. If I'm just taking in a deep breath. You'll get the hang of it." 

He began to play the smaller scales, allowing Astreya to mimic the pitch of each note after he had concluded. 'Do' was a little flat at the start, but she managed to climb the scale a bit better, the descent, however, were all semitones higher.. a bit sharp. Before Jomei could even open his mouth to say anything, Astreya asked to try again.. Good, she had an ear good enough to know that she was a bit off. Playing through once again, she repeated, correcting some of the mistakes she had made prior, but still faltering on a few notes. 

"No ones born a perfect singer." he said as he let the last note ring out, turning his green gaze towards Astreya. "Even if there is some natural talent there, still times time to perfect it. But you have the confidence, I can see that for sure. That is one of the most important things about becoming a great singer." 

"So, how about we try breaking it down a bit.. maybe having you sing scales right off the bat was a bit of a jump. Not that you didn't do a great job, but I think it may be a better approach to just work on single notes."

Turning back to the keyboard, Jomei situated his hands once again on the correct keys, "I'm going to play through the scale, one note at a time. Try to match the pitch of each note after I play it." Once he saw she was ready, he played through each note of the full major scale, slowly and one at a time. Do - Re - Mi - Fa - So - La - Ti - Do and back down. If she felt uncomfortable with her performance, he would play through it again.

[Astreya 0]

Mentioning that if she tried to think too hard about the breathing that she'd end up probably spending more time focusing on that instead of her singing caused Astreya to blink, nodding in response.  She didn't speak, mostly just wanting to make sure they got some actual time to practice, although as he mentioned that this was something that he even did now all the time, just from all the practice that he'd done, she couldn't help but to give a slight laugh, unable to stop herself, thinking of all the times that she had just gone through some routines for cheerleading even when she didn't need to.

As she finished, Jomei gave his thoughts, and she couldn't help but to give an embarrassed smile at the 'natural talent' that she supposedly had.  "Like, if you think so," the girl commented, mostly just amused despite herself.  She was glad that he thought so, but she was still more than a little self-conscious about it.  She didn't so much mind singing in general, but she was mostly concerned about singing poorly in front of the musician.  "Really?  Like, I guess confidence makes sense.  It's like.  You can't sing if you're like, afraid of singing, right?" she asked, glancing toward the man.

"Sure!" she cheered at his words, the girl nodding to show that she was ready, clenching her fists on top of her armored skirt as she watched him, trying to listen for the notes.  As he began to steadily go up the scale, she tried her best to match the notes as they were given.  Each one was done to the best of her ability, and her lower ones were a touch flat, and the higher she got, the more sharp she got as she hit some falsetto-like tones.

But of course, as she tried to match, she knew she was missing it.  "Yeah.  Once more," she spoke.  If nothing else, she had determination, trying to master this art in which she had no experience.  She had nothing but time on her hands, really.  Why not?  

The second go was much the same as the first, although it was clear she was trying a bit too hard to try and keep the 'sharp' notes near the top from being too much so, which actually caused them to be borderline flat.  She frowned as she finished.  "This is so hardddd," she whined.  "Okay, okay, Astreya.  Like, just take it one step at a time," she talked to herself, directly in front of Jomei.

I don't wanna like, take up a lot of your time though if you're like...busy on working on something," the girl spoke, actually letting a frown crease her features for a moent.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei sat there at the piano, with his hair tied back into a messy bun, wearing clothes that.. if he was being honest.. he sometimes slept in. There were no boss fights coming up, he had no guild to attend to.. he didn't have too many friends to worry about anymore. Days like these where he sat in the confides of the music hall, plucking away at the strings of a lute or pressing the keys of the piano until the night fell, were days when he had absolutely nothing of importance on his mind. So looking around the room, he turned back to Astreya, a bit of a sheepish smirk painted his face. "Don't worry, my schedule is completely free." 

Pulling his hands from the ivory keys, he would rub his eyes with the tips of his fingers, a slow sigh passing through his parted lips as he allowed his hands to fall back to his sides. "Hm" he hummed in thought, pondering the best approach for Astreya. It seemed she had the basic idea down, the correct breathing and posture, and the confidence needed to perform.. but her current predicament lies with her pitch. 

"Alright.. maybe lets break it down even more." After listening to the song she recorded, and where she excelled in matching the pitch versus the notes where she fell flat, he was able to gauge the girl's comfortable vocal range.. at least, what he assumed it was. The single note in the scale that she had sung without issue, he found the corresponding key on the piano and pressed down on it as his foot pressed down on the pedal at the base of the instrument. Rather than a single, cut note, the sound droned on and sustained. Like an echo that very slowly faded, the singular note filled the room. 

Without explanation, Jomei matched the note with his own voice, vocalizing with an "Ahhh" sound. Taking his finger off the key and foot off of the pedal, the sound came to an end, and silence filled the room again. "Lets work on one note at a time, just so you can practice tuning your voice on the fly. I'll play a key and let it ring. You match it with your voice. If its flat, I'll tell you to bring it up. If sharp, you'll know to bring it down." He allowed his finger to rest on the key before playing it, "We'll go through the scale again. One at a time." And then he began, one note at a time. Letting the single sound ring so Astreya could get comfortable with matching the sound of her voice to it.

[Astreya 0]

Astreya was starting to feel a little bad, but she couldn't tell if the man was getting frustrated with her in her inability to be able to start where he'd like to, or if he was finding more interest and challenge in trying to find out just what her level was.  Astreya was one of the latter sorts of people.  If reading someone's reasons or intents was difficult for her initially, it just pushed her to find out more about them, and to learn more in how they ticked- it was one of the reasons she'd started college for criminal psychology... well, before all of this happened.

But as he noted that his schedule was free, at least, she felt less bad, although still bad.  At least she wasn't keeping him from doing anything that he needed to do.  Just what he wanted to do.  

Eventually he spoke, and he mentioned breaking it down more, which led the young woman to let out an embarrassed laugh in response.  "Sorry, like, I'm really just kind of new at this, y'know?" she spoke, giving him an apologetic smile.  "I really appreciate you trying to, like, teach me this stuff.  I'll try to like, make it up to you somehow too!" she offered, leaning forward a little.  She wanted to learn, she just had zero experience with this.

The singular note that followed his finger pressed had her somewhat confused at first, before he began to match the note with his own voice, resonating with it as it hung in the air for a moment longer before it faded away.  "Okay," she agreed, nodding at him.  "Like, let's see if we can like... make this work," she murmured under her breath, actually going so far as to close her eyes to let her listen a bit more to the notes.

'Do' and 'Re' posed a little difficulty at first, with her being a bit flat on both, but she listened to his tutelage, and after a few more repeat attempts she managed to find the note on the subsequent tries.  The middle of it she actually did without too much difficulty, but once they got back to the high end she started to get a bit too high, and forced her own sharp notes down, getting flat in the process.  

But after some effort and repeated attempts, the two of them went through the scale once with only minor corrections, and Astreya exhaled softly.  "Singing is way harder than I thought," she admitted with a laugh.  "You like, hear people singing on the radio or whatever and sing along with friends but there's like, a ton more that goes into it."

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

"Nah" the ginger said with a shake of his head and a soft smile, "You don't owe me anything. This is a learning experience for me just as it is for you. An old teacher of mine once said, 'what is the point of knowledge if not to share that gift with others.'" He shone a bright grin, "So that's what I'm doing."

Astreya continued to show dedication to learning this craft and discipline by keeping on top of herself to correct any mistakes. If she sang a note wrong, she tried to fix it. If she couldn't fix it, she'd try again. The more they played through the single scale, the more she was able to pick up. By the end, she was able to travel up the scale at, at a slow pace, and catch herself on only a few slip ups. Major progress on the major scale.

"That's also where the confidence comes in. If you're belting a song our with some mates just for fun, you don't really care about what you sound like, and you'll just sing it from the heart. All of your voices mixing together might also mask any errors in pitch.. so you're less likely to hear them come up." 

Jomei took a moment, gently tapping a finger on a key of the piano, though not enough to let a note ring out. "You're doing a great job, you really are. I want to try something t, if that's alright. I've always felt that just jumping straight into it can really pull out the talent, instead of working our way through boring drill that make you think more."

"Do you mind showing me that song you recorded again?" He would extend a hand out towards her, palm facing upwards. 

[Astreya 0]

Kind wasn't a word that Astreya attributed to people very often.  Most people were nice out of a perceived need to be, or because it was something that won them favors.  Even Astreya found herself in that latter category now and then, as much as she tried to be genuine about it.  But so far, she had only really a handful of interactions with Jomei, and yet every time he had seemed in the same way.  His words now, indicating that she needn't do anything to pay him back because he was learning from the sharing of this knowledge just added to that singular definition that she had given him- kind.

The compliments were nice, although she wasn't entirely sure that she could hear them as easily when she'd be on her own once again.  It was easier here with a guide, and who knew the scale easily enough to walk her through it.  She didn't balk at all at his words regarding how things could be with friends, because she supposed that was true.  Besides, the radio in the car was often loud enough that it won out against anything that they were singing anyway.  It was really only karaoke that one really got to hear them singing, and even then they never did it alone- it was always with friends.

"Uh, sure, I'm like, down to try something," Astreya agreed, nodding at him.  She didn't really know if that was going to be a good idea or not, but 'jumping right in' mostly sounded like just... going at it and singing without practice.  "Yeah, totally!  Here," she spoke, retrieving the item once more from her inventory to hand over to him, allowing him to do with it as he willed.

"So like, are you gonna make me sing a song like, totally on the spot?" she asked, giving a slightly nervous laugh.  She'd do her best, based on what she now understood about the music- but she couldn't help but to feel a touch nervous, like she might disappoint this guy who went out of his way to teach her.

[Jomei 0]

"Yep!" he said with a small laugh, "Not on your own at least. I'll play the piano along with you." 

Taking the recording crystal from Astreya, he placed it on the ledge of the piano that normally held sheet music for the musician to follow along to. "There's two types of learning a skill.. Those that do research and study so they can learn the ins and outs, and those that learn from experience. So we could sit here all day just working through drills, and mulling over sheet music. Or, we could just jump right into it. Its a lot more fun that way if you ask me." he said with a smirk. 

"Just give me a minute or two to get this song down." Gently pressing the tip of his finger against the surface of the crystal, music began to pour into the room. A soft melody made up entirely of Astreya's humming. Jomei said there with his eyes closed, trying to match Astreya's octave and vocal range within his mind. After listening in silence for a moment, he began to press on the keys of the piano, eventually matching the pitch after a few tries. Following the melody after that was simple, and eventually he was playing along with the musical recording until it eventually fell silent once again. 

"Alright." Jomei said, turning his chin to look at Astreya. "Are you ready? I'll follow your lead.. Just take what you learned today and put it to practice to try and clean up the performance you recorded on the crystal." 

Once she was ready, Jomei would play the piano alongside Astreya. Hitting the same notes that she sang.