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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 19:48:31 GMT -8
He caught the water bottle one-handed and opened it up, taking a swig out of it before nodding to what she was saying about his voice pairing well with Eris' voice. He didn't like the thought either, but if it's how it had to happen, he'd grin and bear it. He took another drink of water before screwing the lid back on.
"Alright," he said to her instruction, not fully understanding it but he'd pick it up quickly enough. They did the song again and then a second time, and he looked over at Jaina for her appraisal.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 20:05:55 GMT -8
Playing his part one-handed gave her a free hand to actually mark the music, thankfully where he couldn't exactly see. There weren't many and they were close to the parts that he had missed the last time. When he heard the right note, however, he managed to correct it quickly and she nodded. Sometimes that was what it took - hearing it the right way alone to let it really cement itself correctly in the brain. Taking things away from all the background instruments could make it a little more difficult at times.
On the second round, he had tightened it up considerably. There were two mistakes that he had made on the first and third try. The first she had noticed was more of a matter of timing - not uncommon for drummers actually. They were used to thinking, acting with their hands - not always their voices so the slight delay was completely understandable. When the last notes faded away, Jaina got up, taking the music with her so she could show him.
"Much improved," she informed him, dropping down onto the risers so that she could show him. "I only heard two consistent spots. Here," she pointed it out on the page so he could see his part, "you are missing this quarter rest here, rushing the note a bit too soon." Jaina sang the line for him so he could hear it in his head. Then she looked up at him, regretting it. So much easier when there was a piano hindering movement and she couldn't see his amazing eyes or the lips that she knew were so soft when pressed against her lips, against her skin...
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 20:12:04 GMT -8
He took a drink of water as he walked over to the risers and sat down next to her, looking at what she was pointing out in the music. While he could read music, he sometimes had trouble hearing it in his head, so when she sang it for him, he nodded. "Ok, so slow down right there for a second."
He looked at her, noticing how pretty her eyes looked in the dim light of the classroom. He cleared his throat and took another drink of his water, "Again?" he asked, figuring she wouldn't let him go until it was perfectly timed.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 20:32:55 GMT -8
"One last spot," she said, pointing to one word that his voice wobbled on. "Here..." Jaina pointed toward closer to the end of the song. "Close. It's sounding like you are shifting the note slightly up so it's two instead of one." Dutifully, she sang the line through for him, watching the notes so that she was certain she had it right. Nodding that she had it right, Jaina turned a smile on him.
"And you were so worried. It sounds great and Mrs. Nightingale is going to have all the girls begging to sing a duet with you. We'll run through it once more but I'm sure you got this." Swagger helped. Eris was proof of that. She quickly stood back up. Focus on the music. The music was the important part of tonight. Music and his voice...that was it. For now, she needed to focus on that.
Jaina took her seat at the piano again, waiting until he grabbed the microphone before playing through it once more.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 20:36:46 GMT -8
He nodded as she sang out the note and he could hear it in his head. He went over to the microphone and gave her a nod, singing the song with everything he had in him so that when he was done, he was actually breathless. He took a drink of his water before turning toward Jaina to see how he did. He hoped he had fixed his two mistakes. "Better?" he asked, leaning his arm on the mic stand.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 20:48:07 GMT -8
"Much," Jaina agreed. For a moment, she wanted to tell him to do it a cappella like he had done the first time he had sung for her - just so they could have a repeat of their first kiss. Taking a few deep breaths to repress her giddy, school girl smile, shifting it to a much more encouraging look. "Perfect."
She bent over to grapple in her bag for a water of her own. Maybe she wasn't singing but her throat was still very dry. Must be the air in this room, she insisted to herself while taking a large pull from it. Once she recapped the bottle, she reached down to grab a small ivory tube with a mixture to reapply to her hands depending on if he wanted to keep doing music. She wasn't sure how much he wanted to do tonight but better to be prepared.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 20:54:08 GMT -8
"I should probably do it at least one more time to make sure I have it down," he said, feeling encouraged by her smile and nod. He felt a little more confident now in singing the song and it showed as he took charge of it this time instead of just singing it normally. He sang it with a touch of his soul, while Jaina played alongside him on the piano.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 21:12:41 GMT -8
Jaina simply nodded, her fingers back on the keys again but this time her movements were rote. She could actually hear him this time around...but more. This time she could actually feel it. It was difficult this time...for her to keep going instead of stopping and turning so she could watch him. He definitely had it this time, the swagger and feeling and if he did this for his audition...?
Her heart sped up a touch - more so than usual when she played. She had done this piece numerous times but it had never caused feelings like this. The stopped on the last note, staring at the key as the tone died. She definitely couldn't look at him or music would be over. But she had to look at him. He would think it was bad if she didn't.
Self-control. That was the name of the game here. For once, a modicum of self-control would serve them both well. Jaina slid her hand away from the keyboard, folding it with her other before turning to face him, wondering if he could see on her face just how badly she wanted to...no - MUSIC! MUSIC!
"That was...amazing," she said, so completely enchanted. Suddenly, it was all too clear why the little children had followed the Pied Piper.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 21:22:43 GMT -8
"Yeah?" he asked, taking a drink from his water bottle. "It felt...different. I wasn't sure it would be any good." He smiled at her, "Thanks for helping me with this. I'm not sure Gabriel could have helped me as much as you did, getting me to hear the notes. With the drums, it's a little different."
He took a large breath in and then let it out before taking a drink of his water. "Taking the headache medicine beforehand is probably the best way to do this because I don't feel anything."
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 21:40:15 GMT -8
"Oh no, it was good - better than good," Jaina rushed to assure him, turning on the piano bench to look at him directly. "You were comfortable with it and that's what you want - to make everyone else feel the words, not just hear them." She grabbed her water bottle and drained about half of it. As for the other part, she nodded. Everyone had something. Most of the girls in choir drank tea for their throats, thinking it helped.
Come to think of it, didn't Gideon? She couldn't remember. Way too much processing power focused elsewhere. She much preferred straight water. There was little difference for her but there were many singers who swore by tea.
"Well, we have plenty of that so you should have no further problems, which is good. You have the voice. Might as well use it."
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 21:44:06 GMT -8
He nodded as she spoke of making people feel the words instead of just hearing them. He definitely felt something as he was singing, it was as if he mind had cleared and it just came out the way it was meant to be sung.
He drained his water bottle and recapped it. "Do you have any more?" he asked, feeling very thirsty all of a sudden. "Is it supposed to feel like a desert in my mouth afterward?"
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 21:47:21 GMT -8
Jaina studied him before reaching into her bag and held another up in front of her. "What'll ya give me for it?" She asked playfully. Of course she was going to give it to him. There was never a question of that but there was no reason she couldn't poke at him a little. After all, they were supposed to be having fun too. And while she loved to play and she loved to listen to him, that didn't mean she couldn't play with him a little bit too.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 21:53:04 GMT -8
"How about a kiss for being my pianist?" he said as he walked slowly toward her, his smile widening. When he reached her, he stood in front of her, eyebrow cocked. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, while his fingertips wrapped around the bottle and pulled it from her hand. He pulled back from the kiss at the same time. "Thank you. Really, thank you."
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 14, 2018 22:03:07 GMT -8
It took a great deal of control not to sigh as he pulled away. Instead, her lips curled up dreamily, eyes opening to look up at him. "Of course. I always have water in my music bag. After that one, however, you're going to have to fight me for the last one." Not to mention the many, many other things in her bag that weren't up for discussion right now.
As long as he didn't ask her to sing though, she would be perfectly fine. "I am always happy listening to you sing. This also gives me time to practice and time spent with you so triple bonus."
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 14, 2018 22:12:14 GMT -8
He unscrewed the cap and drank down some the fresh cool water. It helped his cottonmouth considerably, especially because it wasn't completely cold, so it wasn't freezing everything.
"I wonder what Mrs. Nightingale is gonna have me sing though," he said. "I highly doubt Kiss Me is going to be a Christmas classic." He knew this was all leading up to the Christmas show before the break.
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