Relaxation [Sai]

[Avery Joel Cipriano]

avery. joel.

Avery was not much for being outside, but after a hectic day of moving into the dorm--her mom bawling and her father trying to be macho by lifting all the heavy furniture--she needed a bit of relaxation. She had wondered the town a bit and finally came across the park. The flowers, even though fall was unfurling, were beautiful.

The trickle of a nearby waterfall pouring into a pond was calming, and this is where she settled down. AJ spread out her blanket and sat down, placing her backpack neatly against the tree. Pulling her guitar against her chest, she let out a few test notes and adjusted as needed.

Once the acoustic was tuned, she strummed. She didn't have anything in particular in mind, mostly just playing where her fingers led her. Icy blues snapped open from their lowered position and she reached back to dig through her pack. Pulling out a notebook, she quickly scrawled a few notes before going back to the guitar.

AJ found that her inspiration came best when she was relaxed and in a beautiful setting such as the park. Really, the only real reason she ever got outside was for days like this when the sky was cloudless and blue and the air was light and crisp with fall in the air.

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[Sai Tsukyoshii]

Sai had been up until nearly 3am laying down some new guitar and vocal tracks at the studio the night before with the rest of the band and hadn’t gotten much sleep as a result of it. Sleep was a precious commodity that he often didn’t get the luxury of having, to be in this line of work you had to sacrifice a few things—privacy was a big one and so was sleep apparently. Currently he had a little down time before having to meet up with the rest of the band and head back into the studio so he decided that going for a nice walk through the park was a satisfactory way to waste a little time.

He let out a loud, obnoxious yawn, not even bother to be polite by stifling it with his hand like a normal person would. He was exhausted and felt that the world needed to know just how tired he really was. The raven haired teen was sure that if he had looked in the mirror that morning that he would’ve seen dark circles under his eyes. But in all honesty sacrificing his sleep was well worth it if he got to stay up all night making and playing music. And now that his band had become pretty popular he suspected that his days of sleeping in were over for good.

The distant sound of guitar strumming reached his ears and suddenly he was wide awake. Curiosity piqued, Sai followed the sound and eventually came upon a clearing where a girl, who seemed to be around his age maybe a little younger, was absently strumming an acoustic guitar and jotting down notes in her notebook. His lips quirked into a small, nostalgic smile, remembering the days when he’d just laze around and play music wherever he could.

Sauntering over to her quietly, so as not to disturb her, he stood to her side, leaning over with a grin, “Hey you’re pretty good. Self taught I presume?”

[Avery Joel Cipriano]

avery. joel.

Avery jotted down a few more notes and returned to her guitar. The song was coming together, but there was something missing. She wasn't sure yet, but she was sure she would figure it out. Most of the time she did and if she didn't she would take a break and come back.

With school coming up, AJ wasn't sure how much time she could devote to music. It was a passion most definitely. Something she had carried over from her preteen and teen years. Something of an escape during the dark times of loneliness she had suffered because of moving so much. At one point, she had even been in a band with a few girls she still called friends to this day.

She hummed a few more lines and picked a few cords, but her train of thought was interrupted when a voice caught her attention.

Icy blues blinked and flitted around before locating the speaker of the voice. It was a dark-haired boy about her age. Did he go to KU? The look on her face was one of surprise, maybe even a bit of distress. She wasn't angry at the boy for asking her, but she was a bit self-conscious about her playing. In all actuality, she was self-conscious about a lot of things.

'Uh, thanks," she muttered at the compliment. In AJ's world, it wasn't everyday a strange boy came and said she was a good guitar player. "And yes, I taught myself. I've played for about 11 years." What was she doing talking to this boy about how long she had played?

She glanced around, gaze searching if there were other people. AJ folded the notebook up, obscuring the notes from the boy's view. "I didn't disturb your walk, did I?" Of course this question was probably nonsense to the boy since he had approached her first and asked her about the music. He didn't seem irate or anything. Actually he seemed nice, but that sneaky voice in the back of AJ's head always made her anxois in social situations.

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[Sai Tsukyoshii]

It didn’t even register with him that he may have come off as creepy by appearing out of nowhere like he had, standing over her—or if it had then he just didn’t care. He’d only been on the mainstream music scene for about 2 years now, not really that long in all honesty, but he sometimes felt as if he could get away with doing certain things because he wasn’t just some normal kid, he was someone who often heard himself playing and singing on the radio so he felt as if that gave him some leeway to act as he please. He certainly received enough attention from the general population, and his fan group had definitely inflated his ego to the max.

But this girl obviously didn’t recognize him, otherwise she probably wouldn’t have seemed so surprised. Well, no, she still probably would’ve been surprised, but she seemed a little spooked or distressed by his appearance and that was definitely not the vibe he was giving off here.

He perked up a bit when she answered him and he let out a low whistle, “Wow, 11 years, huh? That’s a pretty long time, I can definitely tell that you’ve got a lot of potential.” Without asking for her permission he plopped down on the blanket beside her, though making sure that there was space in between them in case she was the type of girl who needed her personal boundaries to be recognized. “Though I noticed something while you were playing—you seemed like you were holding back. I know you were just playing for the hell of it, but you shouldn’t be shy about your music. Your songs and lyrics are very personal, yes, but they’re not meant to be kept solely for yourself—don’t be afraid to get loud with it.” A lop-sided, lazy grin spread across his face. He hoped that she didn’t think he was being too pushy, he genuinely enjoyed hearing kids his age play because it gave him a chance to give them a little advice and also scope out potential competition.

He frowned a little when he noticed her self-consciously tucking away her lyric notebook, but he didn’t worry too much about it because he was confident that by the end of their conversation she’d have it back out again. He shook his head with a laugh, “No, no. I think I could say that hearing your music made it just a bit better.”

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[Avery Joel Cipriano]

avery. joel.

When he commented that eleven years was a long time, it registered with AJ that she had been playing most of her life. When he said potential, she wasn't sure how toe exactly take the comment. Did that mean she was good, but needed improvement....or that she just needed improvement?

AJ's shifted slightly to allow him some room when he sat down on her blanket. “Though I noticed something while you were playing—you seemed like you were holding back. I know you were just playing for the hell of it, but you shouldn’t be shy about your music. Your songs and lyrics are very personal, yes, but they’re not meant to be kept solely for yourself—don’t be afraid to get loud with it.”

Azure eyes blinked at him. Tilting her head just so, her raven hair fell over her shoulder, obscuring part of her face. "Loud? I'm not exactly sure what you mean." The guitar was just a simple acoustic one and they were in the park. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to be loud in such a peaceful place. Although the place was quite empty this time of day, she did not want to disturb the few passing people. AJ couldn't help but wonder where this boy had come from. Obviously he knew something about music, or he probably wouldn't have approached her.

Something in her icy gaze melted when he said that her music had made his day better. Like winter turning to spring. She smiled softly and grasped the guitar. "Do you play?" she asked. Of course this was pure curiosity getting the better of her and it seemed that she was opening up a bit to this newcomer. "I'm AJ, or Avery, by the way."

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[Sai Tsukyoshii]

Now that he was thinking about it how long had he been playing guitar? It was probably about as long as she had, give or take a year or two, and he was momentarily taken aback by just how different the lives of two people with the same interests could be. It still amazed him how there were people out there who had been playing as long as him, maybe even longer, and they still hadn't made it--though he decided that they were't as persistent as he was and obviously hadn't put themselves out there enough like he did. That was the only way to get recognized. You needed to harass people into letting you play at their establishments, you needed to post video online, you needed to do little local concerts...anything to get people used to the taste of your name on their tongues.

He hummed in thought for a moment, leaning back, "Hm. I guess what I mean is that you should put a little more emotion into it." Maybe he was saying too much, hoping that she wouldn't take his constructive criticism the wrong way--but even if she did who was he to care really? He was just trying to give her a few pointers and tips from his vast accumulation of musical knowledge.

Stretching his arms out behind him, Sai leaned back on them for support and tilted his head back to stare at the sky as she spoke. He chose his words carefully, for once deciding to play the part of the mysterious musical genius rather than the famous musical genius. Out of the corner of his eye he caught her lips curving into a smile, which made him grin, "Yeah I dabble here and there." He responded vaguely, closing his eyes as a light autumn breeze drifted by, ruffling his already disarrayed raven locks.

Reopening his eyes and angling his face to face her once again he added, "AJ, huh? Well it's nice to meetcha. You can call me Sai."

[Avery Joel Cipriano]

avery. joel.

What did he mean by dabble? He seemed to know quite a bit about a music just to dabble, so the teen couldn't help but wonder just how much he "dabbled."

"Hm. I guess what I mean is that you should put a little more emotion into it."

Emotion, huh? Now that she thought about it, had she really truly put her feelings into her music? Sure, there were some songs that could inflict a tear possibly, but AJ couldn't quite say she had poured her soul into her music. Now how to do that was another question.

Her lips pursed thoughtfully as she flipped through her notebook and scribbled through a few lines and rewrote a few. She grippd the guitar and strummed a few lines to get the feel then let out a low, loud burst from the instrument.

After the tune had ended, she glanced shyly at him through her curtain of dark tresses. How he would react, she wasn't sure. Blood burned her cheeks and her gaze traveled down to the blanket where her fingers started to pick at the fabric.

The raven-haired teen glanced back up Sai, as he introduced as, and took note at how relaxed he was. This boy was definitely a mystery, just appearing and offering advice on her music and now he was reclining on her blanket, but somehow she didn't mind. "Nice to meet you," she offered softly.

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[Sai Tsukyoshii]

He had given her enough advice to go on for now, though what she did with that information was entirely up to her and whether or not she put it to good use. Sai thought that what he had said to her was absolutely golden and that she would've been a fool to not take his constructive criticism to better her music. He was only looking out for her future as a musical artist, if that wasn't the definition of a saint then he didn't know what was.

She fumbled with the pages of her notebook, almost as if she were in a trance, but knew exactly what she was looking for. He watched her in mild amusement before tilting his head back again, relaxing for a few moments as the silence between the washed over him. Though the silence didn't last for very long because she began to strum furiously at her guitar, and though he didn't open his eyes to watch, his lips curved into a smirk as he listened. So she had decided to take what he said to heart, good, more people should take the words that poured out of his mouth more seriously. He blinked and angled his face so that he could watch her from the corner of his eye as she finished her song and acted almost shy, which caused him to start laughing.

"Very good. That's exactly what I was hoping you'd go for." He nodded his head, his grin still in place, "Don't act so shy though. The type of presence you want to give off is that you don't care what other people think of your music. If they see you acting all shy and stuff after you finish a song they're not going to take you seriously because you're not confident in yourself or your music."

He ran a hand through his hair, a habit that he'd picked up other the years, "Nice to meet you too."

[Avery Joel Cipriano]

avery. joel.

A wide grin spread across AJ's face when Sai said she did exactly what he expected. She let her chin drift down, her hair forming a curtain between them as she sifted through a few more pages in her notebook.

She strummed softly, the melody vibrating off her lips as she mentally read off the page and inferred them into her playing. For a minute, she felt almost at peace in this beautiful park and just playing her heart out to some strange boy she had never met and would probably never see again after today.

Azure orbs raised to look at him and blinked in surprise when he said she shouldn't be shy. AJ was not even aware that she was being shy until he mentioned it and this caused her to glance down again shyly. If Sai hadn't guessed yet, she was very introverted. Most people took this as being stuck up and cold, but in reality, she was a very kind-hearted person.

She glanced up through her curtain of raven hair. Now that she got a better look at him, she couldn't help but spectulate on how cute he was. Red colored her cheeks softly, but thankfully her hair hid most of her face.

"So, uhm, do you go to the school here?" she asked, lifting her head a bit higher to address the question that was flitting around in her mind.

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