Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rowan straightened the stack of papers in front of her, meticulously ensuring that they were lined up as perfectly as she could manage. The slight difference in dimensions between one page and the rest of its comrades nagged her to a degree she knew was entirely unreasonable, but a breath of normalcy after the storm was a welcome change of pace. Reminders of her life beyond the magic that had pushed so much out of her of the way were rare gifts lately and taking on a new tutee was always exciting. She had no idea what the young man intended for his major, but the idea that she could help a recent high school graduate keep the music going while he transitioned to a new stage of life was gratifying.

The practice room wasn’t exactly gigantic, but there was enough room for two people to play comfortably. It had been a few months since her last tutee had dropped off, and the young woman hoped sincerely that she wouldn’t be too rusty in terms of individual tutoring.

Rowan returned the smile warmly, hoping that she could manage to meet the young man’s expectations. “Just Rowan, please. I’m not really one for formalities if I don’t absolutely have to use them.” She offered a handshake, though the instrument on his back drew her eye almost magnetically. “Unless you prefer the formalities, of course.” The length of time since she’d last done this suddenly felt like eons. Dropping into one of the chairs she motioned for him to do the same. “So! What kind of music interests you? I specialize in classical but I’m more than happy to work with whatever style you prefer. I’m always interested in learning something new, myself.”

If she was being entirely honest, she enjoyed seeing how other people worked almost as much as she enjoyed playing her own instrument. She had some worksheets and sheet music handy to meet the needs of a few different styles, and if they didn’t fit him she always knew where to find more.

Rowan laughed softly, “I do appreciate the politeness, but the way I see it this space is as much yours as it is mine, so you should be yourself. Music should be something that feels…freeing, not like a chore.” She smiled a bit at Mason’s hesitation to describe classical music as boring. At least, she was fairly certain that was what he thought. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sentiment and it had never been one to particularly bother her.

“Don’t worry about offending me, classical isn’t for everyone. It’s not for my sisters either. The math that goes into it can be good for composing things in other styles but I get how it might feel a bit…stifling if it’s not something you enjoy. There are upbeat violin songs, though a lot of people do tend to lean toward the dramatic.” She couldn’t claim to be an exception to this inclination, particularly when the dramatic intersected with the melancholy. Collisions with youma, violently magical humans(?), and an apocalyptic space dragon within the span of a few months had somehow managed to make her already limited interest in policing others’ musical tastes even less significant. Life was too short.

Still, folk music was outside of Rowan’s area of expertise and seeing the process firsthand was an exciting prospect. “I’d be glad to teach you some classical techniques and we could figure out how to work that into the music that actually makes you happy.”