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 Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:46 am
'Bye, Lily ... Bye Miss Lily ... Bye Lils,' came a chorus of calls from the children in the community center as Lily was hugged from all around from a bunch of little ones. They had missed her, in her absence, it had been such a long time since she had been bye to sing for her and when she dropped in today, she had kids from every room filling the auditorium to hear her.
She laughed lightly giving out hugs and helping parents wiggle their children into coat, hats, gloves and scarves, for it was still snowing and Destiny City and it was getting rather harsh to be outside for even a moment.
'Lily', came the voice of one of the director, which made her look up, 'are you heading out or will you be staying a bit longer.'
Lily gave another hug to the group of children then wiggled herself free to go talk to Mr. Mason. "Ah, I would like to stay for a little while, if that is okay. I think I am going to play for a while. It will be nice having the room to myself for about an hour."
'That's fine Lily,' said Mr Mason, 'just remember we close in a hour at 8 and to let me know when you leave so that I can lock up.'
"Yes, of course Mr. Mason. I will come to gym as soon as I am done."
Lily smiled at Mr.Mason as he walked off and went to make sure the door was closed behind the children and parents that had just left, before heading back onto the stage and taking a seat at the piano.
She started to play, Winter Wonderland on the piano.
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:41 am
Nathan Darrow had heard that the community center might have 'things for him to do if he wasn't interested in coming to work at the Library' so many times that, at last, he had opted to come and take a look at things. Maybe it did have something to keep him from getting this bored, who knew?
Not that he really wanted to prove his dad right. So if anyone asked, he would just say he was elsewhere.
Or not answer at all.
He walked in late in the evening, being told that there was about an hour left before the place closed, and ignoring them entirely. He had his hands in his pockets, cold from being outside, and his nose was red from it. He hated the cold. Walking by some people he didn't know, and didn't want to know, he heard the muffled sounds of a piano being played somewhere. He went to the sound, opening the door and slipping inside to spot an almost familiar form sitting at the piano.
He shook his head.
"Showing off again?" he asked, loudly, not waiting for her to notice him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:03 pm
Lily looked up slightly startled from her playing to see the boy from the music shop. She gave a small smile before saying, "It can hardly be considered showing off when one is alone."
Lily turned on the piano seat and looked the boy over. It had not been to long since she had seen him, but in all honestly she had not expected to see him again and he certainly did not look like the type to frequent the community center.
She shrugged the thought off and stood up, "What brings you here? Come to practice the piano some more or take lessons. Or maybe you've some other talent?"
Lily came down off the stage smile on her face and walked over to the rude boy, who could be good at piano, if he learned to play better.
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:31 pm
"I could hear you outside. Maybe you knew that and were doing it on purpose." He shrugged, like he was pretty sure he was right, so whatever she thought on the matter was irrelevant, even though she was probably the one who would know better. He moved toward the stage, meeting her as she came down from it, peering up and examining the piano.
"I thought they'd have an old junky thing," he said, ignoring her question for the moment, "like with three or four keys missing and some strings inside broken. Is it even in tune?" Of course, he knew it was as he had just heard it.
He shrugged at last.
"I thought I'd check the place out. I was bored. Tony keeps jabbering on about it, so I figured I'd take a look then tell him how wrong he is." He watched her, hands still in his pockets.
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:41 pm
Lily frowned and shook her head, yes she knew the piano could be heard outside the auditorium, but she most certainly wasn't playing to draw attention. Lily shrugged ignoring the comment, it was not as though it actually mattered. Who didn't enjoy a little Christmas jingle on the piano around the holidays.
Lily looked to piano at the boy's comment and frowned, "It was donated. It is fairly new and it works just fine, but why don't you be the judge of that," she said motioning for him to go up and have a play. She wanted to see if the boy had practiced anymore since the last time they had seen one another.
Turning to making her way back to the piano, she looked to Nate, "Tony, who is Tony," she asked her curiosity peeking. She bet he was an annoying older sibling like her own sister Rose. One of those one always in you business, claiming you best interest.
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:17 pm
Nate eyed her, half expecting a trap. Another veiled piano lesson, perhaps? Not that he really minded. He needed a tutor, and if he didn't actually have to say it out loud, that certainly worked for him. He moved toward the stage, hopping up instead of taking the steps off to the side. He walked up to the piano, kicking the leg as if its stability was the most important thing.
He nodded his head, deciding that it could, in fact, stand without falling over.
He had been practicing, in his own way. Mostly when Tony was trying to sleep, or when he was off at work and couldn't hear. He sat down at the bench, running his fingers over the keys thoughtfully.
"Tony's my dad," he said, as he started to play, the same song she had him play at the music shop. It was the one he had been working on, wanting to be able to play it without music, and make it sound reasonably close to what it was supposed to be.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 4:06 pm
Lily gave the boy a strange look when he kicked the piano. It seemed an odd thing to do to something that was on wheels, thankfully locked wheels, but wheels non-the-less. It wasn't as if it was going to fall apart becaused he played it, even if he played it badly.
Lily frowned when he said that Tony was his dad. It was very polite to call ones parent by there first name. She was tempted to say so, but the boy did not seem the type that would take that well and the thought was pushed aside when she heard Once Upon A December being played on the piano.
Lily could not help, but to smiled and quickly made her way onto the stage, taking the steps unlike Nate. "So you have been practicing uh ...," she said with a smile until she realized she did not know his name.
"What was your name," she asked blushing slightly at the fact that she hadn't bother to ask the last time they met. Oh she could not believe she had been that rude.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:46 am
Nate grinned, though he messed up when his focus was drawn. He quickly frowned again, moving his fingers back and trying that bar again, so he could get it right. He hadn't gotten it down so well that he could really multi-task, though it was leaps and bounds better than it had been.
He was hitting mostly the right notes, save when his fingers got a little ahead of his brain.
"Nathan," he said, trying not to miss a note as he spoke. It was a very intense effort. He wasn't going to mess up with the end coming, that was for sure. He hadn't when he did that, played well right up until the end and then crashed and burned.
It happened a lot, but maybe that was a focus thing again.
"Did I ever get your name?" he asked, finishing what he knew of the song and looking at her with a cocky grin, like that had been the best thing anyone had ever played on a piano. Ever.
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:09 pm
Lily ignored the mistakes this time, it was sort of her fault for interrupting him and more so she was impressed that he was able to get back on track. She wondered for a moment whether he studied the books she gave him, but was brought away from those thoughts by him giving his name.
Lily smiled, "Nathan is a very nice name," she said before getting the answer to her previously unasked question. He was asking for her name which she had written down for him with her number on the sheet music she had given him.
"Haven't been using the sheet music, have you," she said eyeing him critically, knowingly. If he had he might know her name, no he would know it, after all it was plainly written. Lily gave a small laugh and extended her hand to Nathan, "Liliana."
Lily sat down on the piano bench and looked to him again, "Would you like to learn a new song or shall I play Once Upon a December for you again?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:40 pm
He scoffed when she said his name was nice.
"Well, it does its job, I guess. Most folks just call me Nate, though. Or 'you a*****e, get back here'. But that doesn't roll off the tongue very easily." He grinned, then blinked when she said her name was on the paper. Oh right. She had given it to him to see if he would call for lessons. He hadn't. He had, however, used the music.
Frowning, he tried to shrug the mistake off.
"No, I have. I just don't use the parts that aren't music," he shook his head, offering her a big, innocent grin. Of course, even when he was pretending to be innocent he still looked rather devious. Or maybe that was the point.
He shook her hand though, nodding. "Alright, Liliana. I've got it written down in my head now, so I won't forget to look this time, okay? Anyway, what do you think? Getting better, right?" He looked cocky, still looking like he had played something amazing. Why she wasn't moved to tears was any one's guess.
"Do a new song," he said, when she sat down, "I'm tired of that one."
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:52 pm
Lily nodded as Nate spoke about his name, but the nod ended in a frown at the 'nickname' adorned the boy. "That is a very rude thing to say to someone one. People should not call you that. I mean an a hole really, that seems a bit harsh."
Lily of course did not say the word but felt maybe she should take the comment back as Nate took a moment to embarrass her about the whole name thing. Her cheek flushed lightly and she quickly stuck her tongue of at the not so innocent grin. It was childish and Lily knew she shouldn't have, but what was done was done and her smile was back in place.
"She said okay, when he said he wouldn't forget her name, and nodded smiling brightly when he asked if he was getting better. "Yes, that was lovely. You hardly missed a note at all. You are a quick learner. I wish I had ears like yours, it takes me just a bit longer to learn a song and get it right, but then again I can also read music."
She shook her head lightly as his statement of boredom, but continued to smile a grinning smile. This meeting was far lighter than the last and Nate was much less annoying.
"How about Winter Wonderland," she asked, "tis the season, you know."
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:36 pm
Nate laughed, shaking his head.
"Not harsh at all, once you get to know me. Wow, you're one of those, huh? 'Nice' people. I don't get those." He shook his head again, sighing a bit. Nice people. He didn't like them very much, often times just because they were no fun.
Though, it was always an interesting challenge to try and get them angry.
"Yeah I'm still working on the... reading music thing," he said, frowning at his hands. He was better at hearing and playing, trying to get the notes to sound right, rather than to get them matched to notes written on paper. He was wont to play faster than he should, or slower, and sometimes he adjusted notes to suit himself rather than how they were meant to be in the song.
But he would figure out the music eventually. He just wasn't great with homework, or feeling like he was studying.
"Winter Wonderland? Alright, go for that one then. I don't know any Christmas songs, for anything."
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:04 pm
Lily gave Nate a look to say, you have to be joking when he stated he did not know any Christmas song. She shook her head smiling, "We shall have to remedy that," she said happily.
She started to play after making sure Nate was playing, her fingers almost dancing across the keyboard. She decided to comment on his early comment even though she knew it was a little late, but it really did not matter.
"Yeah, I am a nice person. To a point. I am not going to lie. I have kicked a few people before," she said even though it was the whole truth. She only kicked people as Maia and on accident in ballet, but that rarely happened anymore. Well it had not happened at all lately.
She looked to him, eyes bright as she came to the end of the song. "As for the reading music thing, trust me you will get it. Take it one step at a time and step back if you need to. You know toss it in a corner for a bit and come back to it. One day it will be just like how hearing music is too you."
Lily finished up the song and motion to the key, "Well, your turn then."
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:39 pm
It was unlikely that Nate would practice this song at the apartment: the last thing he wanted to do was spread Christmas cheer in that place. The neighbors would get even more pissed than usually, but more than that it would probably make Tony even more insufferable about this time of year than normal.
Nate had learned that his father was a big goon for snow and cold.
"Kicked a few people huh? I guess that gives you some badass points. Though, not if they asked," he grinned, "though I doubt you're the kind to hang out with people asking you to kick them, I guess."
He watched her play, at least recognizing the song. That would make it easier for him to try and echo back. Though not 'easy'. He nodded her head about the music. He was good about one part of those directions, at least. Tossing it into the corner.
Nodding, he moved to put his hands over the keys again, focusing on the music. As with the first time he had played Once Upon a December, he didn't exactly hit all the right notes, and stopped early because he couldn't remember where to go with it.
He frowned, like it was the piano's fault.
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:54 pm
Lily grinned at earning badass points, that was a wonderful compliment and it stroked her senshi ego very well. She gave a lightly laugh and said rather matter of factly, "they asked for it, I can assure you, just not very politely."
It was true the nega and youma's she kicked definitely had it coming to them. She wasn't sorry in the least and as far as she was concerned they had most certainly asked for it.
She listened as Nate played, trying her best not to frown at the missed notes and wishing she had the music for him to look at. Even if he couldn't read it entirely, she thought it could have helped. When he stopped she said nothing and picked up where he left of finishing the song for him.
"Let's try it again. Play with me this time," she said becoming more focused on the little 'lesson'.
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