[F11-PP] A Songbird without a Voice

[Astreya 0]

"Oh yeah, just play along with it but like, not actually singing with me.  I see how it is," she spoke, sticking out her tongue at him even if it was all just in good humor.  She didn't expect him to, honestly.  Because they both knew she'd just let him lead and she'd support what he was singing.  To have her on point and being the only voice was something that she'd have to do in order to get better- even if she was singing in front of someone else.  At least he was letting her use her own song, rather than trying something completely new.  She didn't quite know the origin of it, but it was a song that she'd probably heard when she was younger that had just sort of...stuck with her.  

As Jomei began to focus on learning the notes from the song, Astreya instead focused on her breathing, recalling the first few steps of what they'd been talking about.  Of course, she had been using those methods during the entire time they were practicing, but she needed to make sure she reminded herself of the process before she actually tried singing her own music- she didn't want to fall into any of her own bad habits that were apparently not helping her.

"Totally jealous of like, how little time it took you to get that," she responded as he'd finished, the girl not wanting to talk while he was concentrating, but she figured that it was just like a muscle of any other kind.  She needed to use it and to practice it before she had the same level of talent as Jomei.  "Yeah.  Just like, give me a sec," the girl spoke, taking another slow inhale and exhale again, both to practice her breathing as well as steady her nerves.

Rather than humming this time, she tried to sing it instead.  Of course, being a memory, it wasn't something perfect in the back of her mind, but she did her best to push through it, keeping all of the breath in her abdomen to push up as she'd learned, each note stronger than the last as he grew more comfortable, and while she still wasn't at a perfect level... it was definitely an increase over what had been prior.

"Hey...that wasn't like, too bad," she spoke as the piano accompaniment faded.  "Still totally like, tripped over myself there near the beginning though," the girl admitted with a small sound.  "But still... that's like, way better than what it was sounding like before!" she cheered.

[Jomei 0]

"Years of practice" he said softly, as if to not speak over the music that played right in front of him. It wasn't uncommon for musicians to be able to pick up how to play a song by just listening to it a couple of times. Especially a lullaby, which usually only consisted of a couple of notes without going too high or too low. 

Once Astreya felt ready, he began to play. Astreya quickly joined in, singing each note rather than humming as she had on the recording. A bit of a rocky start, he had to admit, but he blamed it on her trying to match up the speed of her singing with his own playing. A sudden change in tempo could throw off even the best of singers if they aren't prepared for it. All in all, however, Astreya made it through the song, her confidence shining through each note as she let her voice be heard, the acoustics of the room really amplifying the sound and creating a truly remarkable first live performance for the girl. 

Once she had finished, Astreya shared her thoughts on how she did. Jomei, on the other hand, turned in his seat and clapped his hands together, providing her a bit of applause. The the smile he wore of his face was beaming, "I knew you had it in you." he finally said. "That was great, truly. I could tell you were more hands-on learner..so I'm happy we went with that approach instead." 

[Astreya 0]

"Yeah, I guess that's like, fair.  I'd totally run circles around you in Volleyball," the girl admitted with a small grin as she looked back at him.  She had no idea if he was athletic at all outside of the game- it was hard to tell with people sometimes.  There were some that had no real indication that they had that sort of talent, and yet they were quite skilled when it came down to it.  There were then others that simply didn't have an ounce of that talent at all, no matter how they might look.  "If you wanna go a few rounds of that after we're done, just let me know," the girl offered with a grin, (mostly) teasing as she beamed a smile at him.  

As the song ended, however, she couldn't help but to feel a flushing in her features due to his praise.  "Like, c'mon.  It wasn't that good.  I totally like, screwed up the entire beginning of all of that," she continued, the girl shaking her head slightly as she leaned back a little.  "Dad always said that was the way that he learned best too- just doing things, like, hands-on.  Getting in and learning as he went."  

She turned, looking away from the man at the piano for a moment, not sure if this was the end of the lesson.  There was more to learn, certainly.  She wasn't anywhere near a good singer yet- as she'd said, she stumbled over things at the start.  No doubt he'd heard it too.  "So like, how do you start strong, then?  Like you can't come on too strong at first, right?  You've gotta totally gradually build up into it, right?  Lure in the audience with like, some opening music or softer lyrics before getting heavier in?  You don't wanna, like, scare them away," she spoke.

Her sapphire gaze flickered back to Jomei, a searching look on her face.  Whether she was talking about music or something else now, it was hard to tell, but she did still seem genuinely curious about improving- like it was insulting to herself to not be the best she could be at her craft.

[Jomei 0]

"No, I'll admit. It wasn't perfect." he began with a small tilt of his head, spoken through a soft chuckle, "But you showed a mountain of progress, based off of what you recorded on this crystal." He took the item in his hand and tossed it up about a foot into the air before catching it in his palm once again. "Rome wasn't built in a day. Just as no one will become an expect singer with just a single day of practice, but you've shown improvement." 

"As for how to start strong well..." Placing his hands on the edge of the piano, he leaned backwards, eyes turning upwards as if searching for the correct way to answer within the crossbeams.  "It really depends on the song I suppose.. but you're right. You don't always want to come off too strong.. save it for a powerful chorus or an emotional bridge. It really just falls back into confidence, the way I see it." Spinning his legs out from under the piano, he turned to face in Astreya's direction again, his fingers weaving together as he rested his elbows on his knees. "If you know your vocal range, and just how powerful you want the song to be... then you can determine how strong you want to start off. Maybe its a softer song.. maybe its a power ballad." he says with a laugh. "Either way, its up to you to know how to captivate your audience. But how you start will set the tone for your entire performance. So that is where you need to make sure not to go too sharp or flat."

Raising his arm, a hand snaked around his neck, rubbing at the expose nape. "I really hope that all makes sense.. I'm speaking more from experience rather than anything. I studied to be a teacher.. but not exactly a music teacher." 

[Astreya 0]

Astreya grinned in response to Jomei as he admitted that the song wasn't perfect, knowing full well that wasn't the case either.  She'd never had any formal training when it came to singing, which was also like a lot of things that she had dealt with in life.  She had just taken time to practice over and over again, to learn how things worked until she could do it without really thinking about it.  She didn't know that she was particularly talented... but it was more that she was keen enough to self-analyze and adjust accordingly.  That and practiced.  Practiced a lot.

But it seemed like her question got his thinking juices going, and the woman turned back to him in full as he began to speak, and she leaned in a little, her hands on her knees as she looked at him, her sapphire gaze unblinking as he began to offer his thoughts on the matter.  She didn't know much about singing or making music, but she had listened to enough music to know that even when the songs started on a really powerful vocal note, usually they had some other instrumentation lead-in.  So she had just...guessed based on that.  Coming from Jomei, who was leagues beyond her in experience to agree with her made her feel a little satisfied in her guess.

She watched him as he spoke, able to see the passion that he had for this.  Music was something that he really, truly cared about and she could tell that just from how much it possessed his tone and words.  This was more than she'd heard him say in one breath since she'd come to meet him... and part of that, she was sure, just came from being more comfortable with her, but the girl's eyes took in those movements, the way he turned to face her, the relaxed pose with his hands.  This was his comfort zone.

But then as it broke, his hand moved from that comfortable position as he came out of that zone, and she brightened immediately, not wanting him to feel like he was putting himself out or confusing her.  "No, no, it totally makes perfect sense!  Like, music teacher or not, I totally get what you're saying," she agreed, beaming a smile at him. "It's just making me kind of like, wonder what sort of music I should, like, do.  I know you were saying earlier to do something that's like... comfortable," she spoke, giving a small smile. "I'm just not...totally sure what that, like, might be, y'know?"

"What sort of music do you do?" she asked, trying to keep things off of her.

[Jomei 0]

"What sort of music do you do?"

An incredibly loaded question. Jomei let out a small laugh as he tried to even put thought to that question. 
"Hm.. For as long as we've been in Aincrad, I've been experimenting with some different styles. There's such a wide variety of different people who got stuck in SAO with us.. not everyone has the same tastes in music." He brought a leg up to cross it over his knee, placing the palms of his hands on his ankle and lower calf. "When I had a shop that was open for business, I really needed to take that into consideration. Some people wanted music to hype them up in battle.. some wanted something softer to draw in familiars that they could catch and tame.." A small memory of a song Lowenthal had requested of him popped into his mind, spawning a tiny blush on his cheeks, but bringing with it a cheery laugh, "I've even been asked to write a song for more..." lips pursed as he looked for the appropriate word, "intimate moments. I have no idea if it was used, and I have no idea if it worked" he quickly added to avoid Astreya's curious mind from hitting him with questions about it. 

"Back before SAO.. Hm.. I'd say the genre's of music I preferred were different types of Rock.. Sometimes dabbled in some classic Folk or Indie tunes." He turned his attention towards the piano without turning his body, placing one hand on the keys. Softly, and slowly he began to play a much simpler version of Für Elise. "I'm no professional by any means.. its just something I've grown up doing. It's.. really been a nice distraction from all the scary stuff in this world."

[Astreya 0]

In all honesty, Astreya loved to hear people talk about something they were passionate about.  She loved people, persons and everything in between.  She'd discovered it at a younger age and it had just become part of who she was.  "Oh well yeah, that's like, totally true.  You'd have like, the people who like rock or pop, and then like the people who totally dig classical.  Yeah, I can get behind that," she agreed as he went on to note that he had to determine not only that type of music for people that might want to listen, but also those who were also looking for specific types of music as well.  Either battle bonuses or taming their pet.

"Man, I should've like, thought about getting one of those to like... totally help me out when I was looking for Frosty," the girl spoke, shaking her head slightly.  "Until I started, like, attempting crafting on my own, I didn't even realize that like, performers could help with that.  I'm so like, behind on a lot of this stuff," she admitted, giving a small breath.

But as he noted that he'd also written a song for more 'intimate moments,' Astreya couldn't help a big, cat-like grin in response, about to ask what the results were, but Jomei politely defused that question before she could even ask it, leading to a silent laugh from Astreya, not wanting to interrupt him as he continued despite her own humor in it.

Her eyes lit up, however, as he mentioned folk music and she nodded.  "That's awesome!  That's like, what most of what my mom listened to.  Folk music, that is.  I was, like, starting to get into pop music a bit before all of this, but I think Folk is definitely like, my favorite," she agreed with a small nod.  "Do you, like, know 'In the Pines'?  Sometimes it gets, like, covered as 'Where did you sleep last night'?  Mom can't, like, sing.  At all.  But she sang this one enough that it was, like, almost good," she admitted with a small smile, just letting her memory take her a bit as she began to hum it despite herself.  

[Jomei 0]

A single brow rose as Astreya mentioned a folk song that she was familiar with. "Actually, yeah. I have heard that song before." a smile slowly forming. He pushed off of the piano bench and stretched his back before continuing, "Can't say its one of my favorite songs.. but it was one easy enough to pick up, and recognized by plenty." Turning to face the other direction, he walked back over to the wall lined with instruments, reaching down to grip the neck of the acoustic guitar he had placed down earlier when Astreya first arrived. 

"I have to admit, I didn't pin you as a fan for music like that.. The accent, kind of, threw me off. Guess you're full of surprises." he added that last bit with a small chuckle as he sat back down across from Astreya, placing the guitar across his lap. The tips of his fingers slid across the surface of the strings, the bristling against the nickel wires letting off their soft sound. Pressing the strings down against the fret board, he strummed the strings with his opposite hand. Wrong chord. He tried a different one -- that one sounded more like it.

Despite their consciousness and image being recreated and spread across the internet to place them into this digital world, they were completely cut off from anything outside of Aincrad. So he was unable to pull up any songs off of a streaming website to listen to and figure out how to play, or in this case remember. Luckily enough, he remembered a good amount of it. The lyrics were the hard part, the chords he could just make up if he forgot them.

"I might need some help remembering the words.. but how about we get one more song in. This time together? I still want you to take the lead." he offered a sly wink. 

[Astreya 0]

"Whaaaat?  I guess maybe I just grew up hearing it so for me it's really neat.  Like some sorta... sentimental value, y'know?" she spoke, glancing back over at him in a look of mock surprise.  It wasn't all that unusual to find someone who didn't share the same taste in music.  Just like Jomei'd just said, he'd had to find an even balance for his music given all the different people that were in the game, and all the different sorts of music they'd like.  Herself included, she supposed.

As he stood, moving to get the guitar, his words caused a genuine grin to spread across her face, like a cheshire cat.  "What the heck?  You, like, think a fun-loving, easy-going valley girl can't appreciate some totally chill folk music?" she asked with a small wink.  "Nah, it's like, totally cool.  I get that a lot with things.  Like when I drop the fact that I was a regional chess champion in high school," she added with a small laugh.  "Some things, like, just make sense to me," she continued, before she watched him start to warm himself up to play the song.  

She listened to him keep trying a few different chords, each one drawing close to what he remembered, and she gave a small nod as he got it closer.  "It's, like, not too bad on the music or the lyric end.  Like I said, my mom totally loves this song, so like, I've heard it a million times," she agreed. "So yeah, I can totally take the lead in it.  Let's see if I can, like do my mom proud," she spoke with a small grin, before the nerves began to settle in and she drew in a breath, before pushing it back out again, and then glancing to Jomei with a nod, drawing in a low breath, holding it again.

The guitar began to play at Jomei's request, and she closed her eyes in response, remembering the times her mother would sing this song to her.  She never really knew, nor asked, why it was important to her, just that it was.  She'd never heard the music with her mother- it was only vocals.  Not until she had looked it up online and heard a few different renditions of it.  It was a folk song- it didn't have a solid, definite beginning.  All the versions were slightly different, and so Astreya felt like there was no way to sing it wrong.  Just your own version.

"Little girl, little girl, don't lie to me..."

[Jomei 0]

His thumb brushed down the face of the guitar, strumming the strings and forming a conjoined sound.

E chord.

Gentle wrist motions, strumming the strings up and down in a pattern, creating almost a percussive like beat to back the melody.

A chord.

Lids closed over emerald orbs as his lips curled into a warm smile. The heel of his foot tapped on the wood panel floor to the beat of the music. The sounds of the outside world downed out by the music, slowing time down to a standstill in the moment.

Finally, a G chord. He let the strings ring out as he opened his eyes, looking to Astreya to cue her in with the vocals. And once she began, he repeated the melody and progressed through the song. He let Astreya sing most of the verse, singing along softly to himself as he tried to remember all of the words.

Once the two had reached the chorus of the song, Jomei felt more comfortable joining in with the lyrics.

“Little girl, little girl where did you go..”

Rather than just matching Astreya’s picth, Jomei harmonized with her, adding his voice to the song to compliment Astreya’s, and create a more captivating performance.

—

“I’ll shiver the whole night through”

Letting each individual string play its song, Jomei let his voice and the final notes of the song hang in the air, before allowing them to finally come to an end. 
 

A moment of silence fell over the two, before Jomei took in a shaky breath. His chin fell to his chest, his shoulders trembling as he tried to stifle sobs. “I-I’m sorry.”  He managed to get out, his voice cracking as he finally looked up at Astreya again, eyes pooling with tears. “Its just.. been so long. Since I’ve been able to enjoy music with someone since.. since my fiance left me.” Raising a hand from the guitar, he rubbed his face with the heel of his hand, a smile creeping back through. “Thank you, Astreya. I really needed this.”

[Astreya 0]

Astreya could feel her mother's presence with her as she sang, able to see the woman as she sang softly to her.  It had been a long time since she'd really taken the time to think about her mother.  Not since she'd, on a whim helped Yasu with the quest to help Koko, the girl in the cave.  She'd made a friend that day, she was sure.  She'd committed to being the wall for him to fall back on for her to help get him out of this game.  To get him back to his mother.

The young woman's eyes were closed as she sang.  It wasn't always perfectly in-tune, and there was more than once that she fell a little flat or went a little too sharp.  But as Jomei had been explaining throughout- the confidence was there.  She knew this song- she knew this song better than perhaps any other and as she moved further into the song, with each repeat chorus her own voice grew stronger and more confident throughout.

The man playing the guitar there with her met her singing, harmonizing with her, supplementing her own voice and removing much of the rougher parts with his own voice.  The young woman sat in the chair by the window as she sang, taken back to a time before Sword Art Online, before Aincrad, where she had spent time with her mother and her family, able to nearly feel herself taken back to that time as the two of them sang together.

It was too quick that it was over, really, and as she and the Irish bard across from her reached the somber, quiet conclusion of the song... and then each sat.  Silences were not something Astreya did well, but right now she was lost in her own memories of her mother and father, able to nearly feel them, and there was a growing lump in her throat, one that she hadn't felt in years, now.  

But she didn't dwell too long on her own memories that were both happy and sad as she hear a sudden intake of breath from her teacher, and she looked up toward him, even as his own head lifted...beginning to offer an explanation to her.  She blinked, her eyes wet with her own tears, but she blinked them back as quickly as she could.  She had expected Jomei to have a small bit of laughter at her own emotional break at the song... but she could tell that while her memories were bittersweet, they were but memories.

For Jomei, this was something more.

"You don't need to apologize," the girl responded, her smile gentle as she moved to lean forward a little.  She wasn't overly familiar with him, but she still was someone who communicated with physical contact.  Setting a hand on his arm, she gave a small squeeze.  "I didn't know...and I'm very sorry to hear that," the girl spoke, watching him.  "Connection over a passion is important," she spoke quietly.  "And if..." she began, before giving a steady exhale, the smile turning up a little, something a bit more sunny, as was befitting for her.  "If like, you ever want to play together again, like, I'm gonna keep practicing.  So we can keep playing together, yeah?" she offered.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei shook his head in response to Astreya's apology. "No no, its alright. You don't have to be sorry. What's past is prologue. I just.." he let out another exhale, this time steadier as the last of the tears trickled down the side of his cheek. "I didn't realize how much I had missed this. Like you said, sharing a passion. I'm not close with any other performers.. let alone musicians. So it just feels so good to do this again." 

"But I'd really like that " nodding his head before using a knuckle to wipe the last of the tears from his eye. Another sniffle and he brought both of his arms up to lean on his guitar, bringing them to cross each other. "You really felt comfortable singing that song, I could tell. And honestly, that's what this is all about. You can practice for hours, read sheet music until your eyes fall out.. but if you're not comfortable and just having fun, then what's the point? So just keep singing, and having fun with it, and you'll find yourself getting better.

Standing up once again, he brought the guitar back over to its stand on the opposite side of the room, brushing the palms of his hands against each other once he was finished. "You did great today. You really did. And my door is open anytime.." Bringing a hand upwards to the empty space in front of him, Jomei would summon the small opaque menu screen, a few taps and swipes and that screen would shift over to Astreya with a friend request. "Just.. maybe shoot me a message first so you don't catch me entirely off guard." he would add with a wink. 

[Astreya 0]

What's past is prologue.

That was something that Astreya had never heard before...but with that said, she really liked the way that it rolled off the tongue, and the way that it sounded.  That indicated that whatever had happened was just the beginning of something more.  "What's past is prologue..." she spoke in response to his words before she smiled, nodding.  "Yeah.  I like that," she agreed, beaming a smile at him.  "Then we can like, totally try again on another song in the future, y'know?  Like," she began, seeming to get a little excited about the prospect, her hands moving in an animated way, "Like if you make a song you really like, or maybe if I can get one that I don't hate," she murmured, before shaking her head, "we can share it and then like... do a duet or something, right?" she responded, excited at the idea.

As Jomei stood then, returning the guitar, Astreya could tell that she was about to be shoo'd out, but she didn't really mind.  After their discussion regarding their...everything, in their history, and what it had come to... she figured that Jomei would want some time alone to just sort of... recover.  

At his praise, she couldn't help but to give a small smile. "If you say so.  I definitely feel like I did, like, get better.  I still have, like, a long way to go," the girl spoke, smiling.  "If your door is, like, always open-" she began, when the friend request came through and the girl couldn't help but to smile again, agreeing to the Friend Request.  

"Yeah...wouldn't want you to have that blonde over if I like, totally stopped in," she responded, winking at him as she began to move past him, heading toward the door.  "Like, offer's still open!  If you need help," she offered, before she paused, looking back at him, dropping the teasing bit as she looked to him.  "But like...sincerely.  Thank you, Jomei.  Really," she murmured quietly.

[Jomei 0]

A duet. Astreya had come here out of the blue just for music lessons, and by the end of their lesson, they were already planning on meeting up again to possibly record a song together. Even when Telrenya was around, the times they had played music together was minimal, and they never actually recorded anything that they had played together. Not that he saw Astreya in the same light he did Telrenya, not in the slightest. He saw her more as a protégé, a musical partner, and a friend. "I've got plenty of songs to choose from" he said with a gestured hand towards the bookshelf filled with recording crystals. "Or we can try our hand at just writing something entirely new." 

It felt good adding another new face to his friends list. Even though there were many names that lingered on there, most of them were faces he no longer spoke to.. or went off to to do their own thing. The amount of friends he knew he could call on if he needed anything, or actually call friends at this point, were very minimal. But they meant a lot to him. 

Then, of course, she had to bring up 'the blonde girl' again. Jomei's cheeks flushed once more, stammering over his words. "A-Alright thats enough about the Lessa thing. We're just friends. That's all." He walked with Astreya towards his front door, opening it up and letting the noise of the outside world filter in through the doorway. "Anytime Astreya." he spoke back, a soft tone of voice and kind hand on her shoulder before letting her back into the world. "Go and let your song be heard, or something like that." he said with a laugh. A cheesy line, for sure... but relevant. 

[Jomei 0]

Thread Complete
12210 Words
/ 30 = 407 = 2035 * Tier
2 Pages

Jomei T10
20350 EXP
200 Thread +  3052 (P5)

Astreya T4
8140 EXP
200 Col