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+--- Thread: [G] [P] 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song (/showthread.php?tid=4495)
740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 01.Aug.19
Beckitt cleared away the remains of supper quickly, eager to get back to the barracks for his notebook. He had collected several new songs at the Gather a few days ago, and hoped to share them with J’shom if the green rider was around.
Unlike his joking with Vess at the gather he hadn’t actually collected any bawdy songs, just interesting melodies they could mess with harmonies for. They did this every now and then when J’shom couldn’t make it to a gather or other event; he’d learned Kitt’s knack for music several years ago in Katilia and taught him better ways to memorize them and how to write down lyrics and notes in a shorthand common to Harpers.
If he’d been younger when the riders came north Beckitt might have begged to apprentice with the Harpers—if they would even take a weyrbrat back then, given the tensions between Weyr and Craft. But he hadn’t been, and this was likely the closest he would come to such training. He soaked music up like a sponge, and didn’t complain about it like some of his year mates had. He had been fascinated by the Harpers, spending as much time around them all as they would allow, finding some—like J’shom—more tolerant of the behavior than others.
Humming, he grabbed his book and quickly made his excuses to his friends; there was only so much free time, after all, and he didn’t want to waste a minute of it. Walking quickly but carefully—mindful of the recent reprimands about his rushing around everywhere all the time—he knocked and waited.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - J'shom - 12.Aug.19
As a former Harper, J’shom adored Gathers. Unfortunately, in recent turns he’d been unable to attend them as often as he used to. Some of that was due to all the Gathers he missed while he was on the Southern Continent, but it was also a result of having a sometimes temperamental green dragon. Siolilth, dear girl, could be a mercurial thing and when she got herself into a mood it was nearly impossible to get her to do anything she didn’t want. And for about five days, including both days of the Telgar Gather, Siolilth had decided she must be alone at all times, not wanting to go anywhere she’d have to interact with anyone other than him. It wasn’t quite yet time for her to be proddy, besides, that tended to make her overly social, not avoidant of others. No, it was just her own odd self deciding all company was bad and no one could share space with her; not without getting snapped at, at least. This sort of thing happened sometimes. She just had awful timing.
J’shom would have loved to have attended the Gather, but Siolilth was immovable, and while he was almost positive she wouldn’t be Flying for another month, it didn’t hurt to be cautious about these things. A Flight at a Gather would be terribly awkward and complicated, and J’shom figured it was better not to risk it, even if he could have convinced Siolilth to go anywhere near so many people. At least a few days later Siolilth’s mood had righted itself, and when someone knocked on their door she turned her head in the direction of the door beyond the stone wall curiously, instead of ready to chew someone out.
“Who is it, dear?” J’shom asked her, folding the corner of the page he was on and standing up from where he leaned against his dragon. Beckitt, Siolilth said, gently brushing the edges of the person at the door, sending an image of the Candidate back to J’shom. She liked Beckitt alright, which J’shom took to mean the boy was unlikely to Impress bronze. That was hardly a problem, in J’shom’s mind, but it was sometimes awkward as a Searchrider with a very opinionated dragon when it came to having a guess what color they’d Impress. Some boys didn’t take kindly to hearing they were likely to Impress a green dragon. Beckitt was, thankfully, not one of those, and J’shom knew the cheerful young man would be ecstatic about whatever color dragon he Impressed. A good mindset, really. Made it less likely you would be crushed with disappointment.
He crossed his weyr, dropping his book on his dining table as he passed through the main room to the door, pulling it open to smile at his guest.
“Hello, Little Bird. To what do I owe this visit?” J’shom said, stepping aside and gesturing for Beckitt to come inside.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 12.Aug.19
Beckitt smiled as he felt Siolith brush the edges of his mind while he waited at the door. He liked the green and her willful personality even if it did sometimes inconvenience her rider. The smile brightened as J’shom opened the door and invited him in.
“Hi, J’shom,” Kitt replied brightly as he stepped inside. He tried not to dwell on how happy that nickname made him. J’shom had been one of the first to compare him to a songbird. It made sense given his aptitude for melodies and quick ear. He couldn’t remember exactly when the nicknames had taken off, but J’shom’s secretly pleased him the most.
“I heard you couldn’t make it to the Gather, so I brought some of it back for you.” He held up the notebook in illustration of his point with a grin. “I haven’t had a chance to copy them out properly, but I figured if you had time we might be able to run through one or two?”
He greeted Siolith politely while J’shom thumbed through the marked pages. He’d made notes of the instruments played with each song. Beckitt was only passably competent with a few instruments, and abysmal on the drums, but he made up for it with his perfect pitch and wide vocal range, but he always liked to credit the original intention of the composer. “A few were purely instrumental--for the dances--but I did my best to get the melodies for those, or at least a name for the song and who played it so you can inquire about it with the hall if you like any of them.”
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - J'shom - 20.Aug.19
“Yes, unfortunately my precocious lady decided we would not be attending and I cannot win against her whims,” J’shom said with a fond eye-roll. It wasn’t that bad, really, he would certainly survive having missed the Gather. Especially with Candidates bringing him music to experiment with. “I can’t say I have any particular plans for the rest of the day, at least not that I can’t put aside for a while, so you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.” He gratefully took the notebook and started flipping through it while Beckitt wandered off to greet Siolilth.
Thank you, Beckitt, these are excellent,” he said when Beckitt came back from saying hello to the green. “Here, pick one you really liked and see if you can sing the melody for me?” J’shom could sight read music, but he found it never sounded as good as when he had heard the song first. The notebook was handed back to Beckitt while J’shom moved to grab his smaller harp from a side table where he’d left it. It would be able to play most of what he’d seen in his quick perusal of the music Beckitt had transposed (it didn’t occur to him that maybe Beckitt had specifically noted down music for J’shom’s favorite instrument), and if he picked one of the few it wasn’t as well suited for, J’shom had other instruments they could get out. They just weren’t as conveniently located at the moment.
“Alright, which have you chosen?” J’shom asked, perching on one of his chairs, harp in his lap, waiting for Beckitt to start them off.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 20.Aug.19
Kitt grinned as J’shom said he was welcome as long as he liked. He almost joked about ‘how’s forever, then,’ but wisely bit his tongue. “Thank you,” he said instead.
From his favored nickname back to his full name. That was… less than ideal. Oh well. He took the book back with a bright smile and flipped through it till he found one he liked.
“Wayward Gaze,” He replied setting the notebook in a stand so they could both see, and holding it open. It was a silly little song about a cot holder who kept getting in trouble because of a wandering eye—tripping over unseen obstacles, seeing things he shouldn’t, and the like. The troubles got more and more ridiculous and the melody tumbled over itself like the man stumbling through his life. It was meant to also have a piper on the harmony, but they could make due. He especially liked the tripping little interludes between verses, and knew J’shom liked a challenge on his favored instrument.
He hummed a bar for J’shom to catch the introduction, then ran through the song, humming the harp part first, then running through it again with the words, humming when he forgot one or couldn’t read his handwriting quickly enough. Kitt poured a glass of water from a pitcher on the sideboard and took a few sips while the Harper ran through the first few bars to get a feel for it.
They ran through the song a few times, frequently stopping and starting a section again, or hopping ahead to a tricky part. Unlike teaching songs or other known ones, they usually didn’t run the songs Kitt collected straight through right away, learning the various bits then stitching it all together after they were comfortable.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - J'shom - 22.Aug.19
The song Beckitt picked had a catchy tune, and it had a number of intricate sections for the harp that J’shom had fun conquering, though he felt the lyrics of the song could be improved upon. Some very easy wordplay the writer of the piece hadn’t gone in for. Beckitt was an excellent singer, even compared to a Hall trained Harper his age, so he made the words sound good even if J’shom felt the words themselves lacked the edge of cleverness that would push the song from fun to actually good. In his humble opinion, not that J’shom wrote songs for people older than ten very often, though perhaps that was what made him think so poorly on the missed wordplay.
Once they tired themselves out on the first song, they moved on to a second. That one was slower, designed to give dancers a break, but it had a solid (though not particularly complex) harp part. The lyrics of this one were also much better written, and his Little Bird sang it beautifully. The story of the song was about a young woman in a Sea Hold waiting for the man she was engaged to, who was out on a ship for months, to return so they could be married. It was a new take on a common story - most of them tended to be about a wife waiting for her husband - and it was executed well, making it an excellent example of the ‘lover at sea’ song as opposed to a tired rehashing. J’shom enjoyed it immensely, and since the harp part was straightforward enough he had more attention to spare for Beckitt’s singing.
“Phew!” J’shom said after they finished running through the entirety of a fourth song, this one a face paced dancing tune, “how does a break sound?” He absolutely could play for hours, but breaks were important, especially for singers, and J’shom didn’t want Beckitt to hurt his throat, especially since they were just playing for fun. A break sounds excellent, it means you can oil the itchy spot on my shoulder, Siolilth spoke up, addressing both of them so her request couldn’t possibly be ignored. J’shom raised an eyebrow and gave Beckitt an amused look. “Sounds like we’re moving out to the ledge. Any objections?” he asked, already standing up to head out to tend to his fussy dragon. She was lucky Beckitt liked her, honestly. Though it was cool out tonight and sitting on the ledge would be nice, and they could either keep trying new songs or just chat. Once Siolilth had gotten her itchy spots oiled, of course.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 22.Aug.19
Beckitt enjoyed himself immensely as they ran through several of the songs. Sure, even if he hadn’t picked the bawdy ones, he could still be judicious in his selections. Three love songs and a couple with particularly complex harping J’shom would enjoy. By the time they wrapped up the fourth he’d finished off most of the pitcher of water and was more than ready for a break.
When Siolilth piped up that she was itchy and included him in the ‘request,’ Kitt laughed and nodded. “I agree, Siolilth, a break does sound excellent. No objections from me on moving outside.” He gathered up the book and the remainder of the water, carrying it out and setting it off to one side while J’shom fetched oil and cloths.
“Would you mind if I helped?” he offered, asking them both. Kitt liked oiling dragons when he got the chance; he found it soothing, and frankly the oil helped smooth the calluses on his hands from climbing. Taking one of the cloths and dipping it in the oil he began to gently massage it in where Siolilth requested.
The itchy patch wasn’t too big, but Kitt also didn’t mind if she wanted to be a bit spoiled and have a more thorough oiling; it gave him an excuse to be out in the night air and to spend more time with J’shom. He darted a glance over at the man, who obviously doted on the green and smiled, recognizing from his expression that Siolilth was speaking with him. Hopefully he’d have that same connection someday soon. He found a new dry spot and added some oil, amused by her sigh of relief. Darting another glance over, and extremely aware of how close they stood while they worked, he let his hand drift over and brush lightly against J’shom’s.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - J'shom - 08.Oct.19
“Oh, no, I don’t mind at all,” J’shom said, shaking his head, and he handed a clean cloth over to Beckitt. “And of course Siolilth doesn’t mind. One more person doting on her, after all.” He smiled up at his dragon as she tossed her head elegantly, though she made no protest.
With no prompting Siolilth started directing them both to where she needed oiling, sighing happily every time one of them started on a new spot. It’s mutually beneficial, you know, she informed J’shom, I stop itching and don’t develop an unsightly dry hide, and it’s good for your hands after playing so much. J’shom shook his head fondly, rubbing more oil into a spot on her shoulder. I know I’ve pointed it out before, but it would make a good deal of sense if you oiled me after every time you played, she added.
’Some calluses are actually good for playing, sweetheart,’ he reminded her, with the tone of someone who’s pointed out the same thing many times. Even if it was certainly good for the hands to oil a dragon, and of course good for the dragon, if J’shom oiled her every time he so much as touched an instrument he’d never get anything done. Siolilth sighed and gave up for the moment, instead directing her rider towards another spot that needed oil.
They oiled quietly for a bit, the only noises Siolilth’s contented hums and the soft sounds of cloth on hide. J’shom fell easily into the rhythm of oiling a dragon, and somewhat zoned out as he focused on the task. He was brought mostly back to the world when Beckitt’s hand brushed against his, and J’shom’s hand stilled, his attention brought to Beckitt instead of oiling Siolilth. It was only maybe a beat before he started oiling Siolilth again, ignoring it as a result of working in close proximity. He’d only been so distracted by it because he’d been so absorbed in his task and the light touch had brought him out of it. No point giving it undue attention.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 12.Oct.19
“When you’re as gorgeous a green as she is, it’s astounding there are those who don’t dote on her,” he flattered Siolilth. He had always had a soft spot for the green who put up with her rider’s teaching and didn’t seem to mind him being around regularly even though he’d long since graduated from creche classes to candidate ones.
Beckitt felt his heart jump into his throat as he waited for a reaction when J’shom paused. The night air seemed suddenly thin and he realized he was holding his breath. But all for nothing; the greenrider seemed to brush it off as distraction and got back to his task. Beckitt hid a pout as he resoaked the cloth and straightened back up.
He waited a few moments, then sidestepped more deliberately into J’shom’s space. Kitt brushed his hand again, slower, eyes darting over to check his expression.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - J'shom - 13.Oct.19
Siolilth trilled in pleasure at the flattery, tail tip flicking back and forth in a way J’shom thought of as her draconic way of blushing. She knew she could be considered a bit shallow, but so what? It was nice to be told she was pretty, it was nice to be pretty, and if she wanted to revel in it no one was going to stop her. Anyone who enabled her could easily work their way into her good graces. Unless they were a male dragon, she had an image to maintain after all. Humans though, their flattery was accepted. Beckitt was particularly good at flattery. Siolilth appreciated it.
When Beckitt brushed his hand a second time, J’shom laughed lightly, “I’m sorry, am I getting in your way? Do you need me to move over? I’m sure Sio has plenty of spots to be oiled that don’t have us bumping elbows all the time.” He didn’t want to crowd Beckitt, or annoy him by constantly being in the way while he was trying to oil a spot. Especially since Beckitt didn’t have to be doing this at all, and Siolilth would be disappointed if he accidentally drove off the second pair of hands pampering her.
Yes, because I would be the disappointed one if he left, Siolilth said dryly with a toss of her head. J’shom ignored her.
RE: 740.07.22 | Sing Us A Song - B'kit - 13.Oct.19
Beckitt smiled at Siolilth’s happy vanity. The green was a favorite of his--and not just because of her rider. Sure, she could be picky, and her moods weren’t always predictable, but she more than made up for it with her companionship on good days.
Kitt laughed as well at the reaction he’d gotten. “You’re fine. I don’t mind if you don’t. I’ll try to woolgather a little less,” he fibbed, “and watch where my hands are a little more.” Internally he kicked himself. Prime chance spoiled. You were bold a minute ago, what happened, Birdy? He thought, flustered.
To cover it, he went to get a drink, returning with a cup for J’shom as well. He leaned against Siolilth and pretended not to be paying attention to every movement the rider made. “I really enjoy these evenings,” he said, eventually. “Making music, spending time with you--” Beckitt paused, then added, “and Siolilth, of course.”