Players:
Summary: Classical music isn't for everybody.
Date: February 2, 2012
Log Title: Bach and Forth
Rating: G
Xavier Mansion - Music Room
The music room has four levels of tiers that each sit one row in a semi circle. On the floor in the semi circle is grand piano. There is a large closet on either side of the room, one filled with string instruments and the other filled with various wind and brass instruments. There are a few guitars in the back of the room next to a large variety of percussion instruments. All the instruments here are for the students to use provided they take care of them and clean any necessary parts after they use it. The room is sound proof, so once the door is closed, the music being played will not interrupt the other classrooms.
Though the music room is soundproofed, it really only works when the door is closed, which it is not. Slow mournful notes punctuated by brief flourishes and sharp stings flow from inside, the sound of a lonesome violin. In the stillness of the otherwise vacated classroom wing, the music projects a haunting, melancholy air. Though the instrument is in Jill's hands, it's not she who is playing. Sonata no. 1 for violin plays through the room's superb sound system at an almost unacceptable volume while she sits, eyes closed, moving her fingers gently across the bridging. Listening. Copying.
The sounds coming from the music room has attracted Taylor, and the felinoid student peers through the door to see who is playing that music. The feline student enters the room silently, rounding the edge of the doorway to lean against the wall and watch the girl playing with a bit of a curious expression.
At some point, Jill must have made a mistake because her expression grows frustrated. She huffs out a breath and stomps her heel on the floor before muttering, "Damn it." The music keeps playing but her heart isn't in it anymore. Opening her eyes to locate the sound system's remote control, she gives a short gasp and nearly drops her violin upon spying Taylor. "Oh! Oh, jeez. You scared me." She clicks the volume down but does not stop the track. Oddly, she looks embarrassed. "Some people play air guitar…" the blue girl explains sheepishly.
Taylor raises both hands, today just wearing a pair of blue jeans and a loose band t-shirt, defensively as Jill seems to get surprised, "It's just me, don't worry…" The feline student headtilts lightly and asks, "Do you know how to play the violin? It's pretty cool, I mean, violin…"
Thus reassured, Jill sets the instrument down carefully into its lined case. It really is quite beautiful, a deep red in the center of the body fading smoothly to ebony at the edges, like a warm ember still glowing in its heart. "Yeah. Well, kinda. I've been playing for about…" Her eyes wander skyward with the effort of recall. "Ten years, maybe? But I'm not good enough to play this, yet. Not like I want to play it." A headtilt toward the recessed speakers in the ceiling and the music still gently flowing from them.
"It… kinda seems like you want to play it," says Taylor, raising a brow lightly, "I mean, it seems like you were really into it…" The feline student's ears flick lightly and Taylor says, "At first, I thought you were playing it…"
"Bach is not kind to my fingers," Jill huffs grumpily but immediately softens her tone. "But it's beautiful. He was one of the first, not THE first because I don't actually know who was and for that matter I don't think anybody else does for certain…" Her mouth slightly open, she gets a momentary vacant look before snapping back. "What was I saying? Oh yeah, he was one of the first to write solo pieces for violin." The grumpiness returns briefly. "But I can't play it very well."
"Oh," says Taylor, a little bit blankly, "I don't really know… classical… music… stuff." The feline student scratches their neck lightly and shrugs, "But I mean, it sounds pretty cool, the violin music. A bit… loud for me, I guess, over the system. But neat."
"Parts of it sound so sad, like he's just playing against the dark so he'll have something to hear. Just to make some noise, make a mark." Jill shakes her head and reaches for the remote to stop the playback entirely this time. "If classical music isn't your thing, I can do 'Still Alive' from Portal." She smiles shyly at the feline mutant, fingers lacing in her lap for lack of anything else to do. "But, yeah. Sorry about the volume. I wasn't bothering you, was I? It's just… not many people come up here after classes are over."
Taylor laughs softly and says, "Well, I know that one… It's not that I don't like classical music, though, it's just not a thing I'm really super into." The felinoid considers for a few moments and then shrugs before answering, "And no, you weren't bothering me. I fell asleep in the art room and I was walking by. My ears are just… really big, I guess."
The slime girl smirks. "I've got a pretty love/hate relationship with it. I love when I can play something right and I hate it when I can't." With an effort, she levers herself stiffly from the chair and closes her violin case with a soft snap. "At least you were sleeping after class, not during it."
"Ummmm…" says Taylor, at the last bit, gaze averting lightly as the feline student seems a bit awkward, "Yeah…" The feline takes a few moments to get back on track and says, "Well, I dunno, seems cool that you can play violin. It seems like a tough instrument to play… but I guess it's like all things, it's less fun if you're not doing well."
Jill gives Taylor a sidelong knowing glance at the awkward pause but kindly doesn't say anything further about it. "It's not a very cool instrument, though. If you'd asked six year old me, I probably would've wanted to play bass guitar. Cool people play guitar." A resigned shrug. "Everybody's got hobbies, though. I do magic tricks, too. And you sew, right? Or was that Shane…"
"People who play bass guitar always look so bored, though, when they're doing it," says Taylor, smiling at that, "People who play violin always seem real into it. And yeah. I sew. Shane also sews… that's how I met her here." The feline shrugs lightly and then says, "So magic tricks? Really? What kind of magic tricks?"
"It shouldn't be any harder to play a violin. They've got the same number of strings," Jill muses, mostly to herself, then shakes her head. "'Spose you'd have to learn how to sew, since most pants don't come with tail holes." She tries a smile, hoping she hasn't said something inadvertently offensive (again), and pushes on. "I guess I do what you'd call street magic. Cards, coins, that sort of thing. Not the big production stuff like sawing a lady in half or making the Statue of Liberty disappear. I don't have any of my stuff with me though," she explains, lifting a hand apologetically and letting it fall again.
"Well… I mean… my mutation only manifested like a month ago… it was a hobby that I had a long time before that. I collect dolls and make outfits for them, since I was just little," says Taylor, indicating being small, "But yeah, sewing the tail latches… that's something I've had to do. I usually just have something clip on over the tail, since… well, threading a long tail through a hole is annoying. That's my spine…"
"That's pretty cool." Jill isn't entirely sure if she managed to say something stupid or not. She presses on gamely. "You, umm… you could try talking to Evelyn? She's a girl in my squad. She's got a tail too. Y'know, ask her how she manages it and all that." She fidgets a little, pulling at the ring finger on her left hand until it comes off completely.
"I've talked to her before. Seems nice. She asked me to do tail latches for her, actually, so…" Taylor trails off and shrugs.
The blue girl stifles a laugh with her hand, the one short by a finger. "Sorry. S'just funny, she's already asking you for help accommodating tails." With no apparent distress or discomfort, she sticks the severed finger back on as if it were Play-Doh and closes the latches on her violin case. "I was gonna head downstairs and get some dinner. If you're hungry after your nap, you wanna come with me?"
Taylor watches as the finger is reattached and says, "Oh… I thought you were doing a trick…" The feline student headscratches lightly and then nods at Jill, "I think I'm going to come down with you, yeah. Gotta put something in my stomach…"
Jill gives a short laugh. "Sorry, I'll try to keep my hands to myself from now on." A smirk and a pause. Picking up her violin case, the goo girl just can't leave well enough alone. "But if I start to go to pieces, just tell me to pull myself together." And then she can't stop herself, the snickering begins, and the puns only get worse after that.
