thenearshore | [ closed ] waves and tunes

Entry tags:

[ closed ] waves and tunes

Who: Demyx and D2
What: ~~Beach date!~~ Guitar... lessons??
Where: The beach
When: Backdated to end of June-ish
Warnings: None

[ So, it’s taken a bit of time, yes; definitely a lot longer than “see you this weekend”. And things have been... hectic, to say the least, since Demyx last talked to D2; on the end of either party. But hey -- good things come to those who wait, right? Right!

At least the extra time has afforded him not just the chance to get some rather important things pinned down and settled, but he’s got an acoustic guitar to call his own now! Plus, the weather and waves are supposed to be perfect today, from what he knows.

So, with said guitar slung around to his back, Demyx’s packed some bags of chips and snacks, (all store-bought of course, certainly not hand-made), and somehow miraculously managed to not eat all of them on the journey here, to their designated meeting spot. Those, combined with his godawful fish print swim trunks, a loose-fitting tee, some beach towels and flip-flops, he looks the part of the overeager beach bum musician he’s about to be.

All that’s left his for his student -- date? -- to arrive. ]

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[ It's always fun to learn new things, and D2 is in need of distractions. Losing a god, going through the motions of finding a new one, the messy dream at the sleepover, those things all could make most people tense. Going to enjoy the sun and the beach would work well to help him relax.

So, having changed into sandals, the shirt with a flock of very pink flamingos in water and the green and orange trunks with palm trees printed on them, he has brought along some lighter snacks he made, a notebook to write down what he's taught, and a towel just in case. The colors he's dressed in clashes and his goddess wouldn't approve of them at all but he's not too big on fashion in the first place.

He raises a hand cheerfully as he approaches and spots Demyx. ]

Heya! It's nice to meet you.

[ They’re quite a pair, dressed like this, aren’t they? Their tackiness almost seems to match; or at least, coincide to such a point that Demyx has little trouble picking out D2 among other faces. (Though that might just be indicative of something else, too; who knows?)

He’s come prepared: Towel, snacks, and -- as a sign he’s clearly taking this more seriously than his soon-to-be tutor -- he’s even brought a notebook with, too. ]

Nice to meet you, too!

[ He might not have ever said that before, but meeting D2 in person already feels like a real treat, so it’s appropriate.

Demyx gestures rather grandiosely, his face practically alight with excitement. ]

So, ready for something awesome?

[ Because one look tells that Demyx sure is! ]

[ He's learning something new, of course he will take it seriously. Though he's maybe taking it a little less seriously than if it were a lesson in some weapon he's unfamiliar with.

His smile widens into a grin, and nods. ]

Yep, fully ready. It'll be fun!

[ Or so he hopes. ]

[ That’s more than Demyx can say. Of course, the last time he learned something new, he actually did retain it, to eventually pass it on; but perhaps that’s only because he found it interesting. Seems that has much to do with the Nobody’s attention span as a whole, in fact. (There’s definitely a trend or correlation.)

Nevertheless, it’s off to the beach they go!

...And the minute they set foot onto it is the very moment Demyx realizes something he managed to forget: An umbrella. Ah well -- he can’t reasonably be expected to remember everything, after all; not without a list made in advance, at least. Good thing there are shade-providing trees a ways back from the shoreline, even if using one means they won’t be able to sit and play with their toes in the water, like he’d originally wanted.

He stops in front of one and looks to D2, face still alight with exuberance. ]

What about here? Seem like a good spot to kick back and relax?

[ It's a very nice beach. But honestly D2 didn't even think about bringing an umbrella for even a second.

There is no need for an umbrella, at least in D2's eyes. But that's because he can handle the sun pretty well. He doesn't get heat stroke and he can handle eventual sunburns pretty well as well. Maybe he should have brought sunglasses though.

But either way, it's always nice to have some shade and not have to worry about the glare of the sun in the papers you're writing on, (or in the reflection on the guitar,) so he agrees that they might need some shade after all. ]

Yep, seems good to me. Shame it's not palm trees, it would feel even more summer vacation-y.

[ He grins. He's not really serious about it and he doesn't know if he has any experience in summer vacation anyway, nor is palm trees required for those things. He's just joking. He puts the stuff he brought down on the ground. ]

Does the lesson start right away?

[ Summer vacation usually doesn't include lessons either, he thinks. ]

[ Demyx didn’t either, obviously; though that’s not farfetched or hard to believe at all. He doesn’t typically employ a whole lot of forethought in the things he does, anyway. Last time he was at the beach, he definitely paid a high price for forgoing sunscreen in favor of basically sprinting out into the water, lingering there until his fingers and toes had all pruned and the temperature became a bit unfavorable.

Honestly, he’s lucky he didn’t wind up sick and sunburned -- just the latter. And he’s left with not even a tan to show for all the miserable pain of the days after. Go figure. ]

Right! Palm trees would’ve been awesome! [ He brightens in discovery as he adds -- ] And like, one of those drinks you drink out of a coconut!

[ Don’t ask how he knows about them. Or what’s in them, for that matter; he can’t answer that.

For now, he sets down his stuff as well, lazily throwing out a beach towel before plopping down on it. ]

Nah, it can start whenever you want! If you wanna snack first and stuff.

[ Demyx isn’t big on time frames and schedules and the like, clearly. ]

[ Demyx needs to not do the same mistake again, and stay in the shade as much as possible this time. Not that D2 knows about last time Demyx went to the beach so he can't tell him to be careful this time. ]

I guess we'll have to try a more tropical beach next time. Maybe they sell coconut cups.

[ At least he knows what he's talking about.

He flops down on the ground, not bothering getting out a towel and sending some sand flying a short ways. The sand's gonna get everywhere anyway so it doesn't matter if it gets everywhere from the start. ]

I think I'd like to start, I'm looking forward to learning.

[ He spends way too much time learning things that might be useful for battle, he might as well spend some time learning something just for fun. ]

[ Demyx blinks for a moment. Next time?

Oh, right -- next time! Surely he can’t teach everything he knows about guitar to D2 in a single session, right? So there’d have to be a next time! He’s more excited about that than he lets on. But, then again, he’s never been good about being less-than-expressive, so it’s probably evident on his face.

As his student flops down in a small spray of sand, Demyx himself pops open a bag of chips and stuffs one in his mouth first, munching away before swinging that acoustic guitar once at his back around to his front. ]

Alright. [ He strums an open chord first, focus on his features as he listens intently to ensure everything is still in-tune. It isn’t. A little tweaking is in order then, strings plucked in repetition as he twists knobs on the head of the guitar.

At last, he seems satisfied. ]

Got your note cards ready?

[ His own combat-related knowledge extends to borderlines and... whatever the shooting borderlines thing is called, he can’t remember. By comparison, he’s much more knowledgeable about music and the instruments associated. So in that sense, D2’s come to the right place. ]

[ Surely Demyx wasn’t expecting there to be only one lesson? You can’t learn everything about a subject in an hour (or a few - they don’t know how long they will be here) and he doesn’t know how good he is at playing instruments, or how good he is at learning how to play. But D2 is amused by Demyx’s obvious excitement. He didn’t expect him to he that excited about it though, honestly.

D2 watches closely as the instrument is tuned, trying to remember how the strings are supposed to sound but he doubts he gets it right. He’ll need to practice that too. And probably get a guitar at some point. ]

I don’t have any cards but, [ He pulls out his notebook and flips open the first page. ] I did google notes and wrote them down. Are they accurate?

[ He offers him the notebook for a once-over. He’s pretty sure they’re right as he consulted several web-pages, including wikipedia, but he wants to be sure. ]

[ In his narrow-minded, short-sighted sort of way, Demyx hadn’t thought about a second time at all -- let alone weighed the probability of it. But it’s made of win all the way around, in his eyes -- getting to play more music, and see D2 again? Both are mutually exciting. He likes music, he likes friends, where’s the downside?

Demyx can tell D2 is already watching intently while he tunes, but if D2 is going to get a guitar, he’ll want a tuner, too. (Not that Demyx is aware they exist to tell him as much. Hopefully whatever music shop he goes to has a competent staff.)

In any case, note cards, note book; to-may-to, to-mah-to. It’s all the same to Demyx, really. The fact that he’s done research ahead of time is impressive enough, honestly. Also, this is quite the case of worlds colliding in the sense of underachiever meeting overachiever, isn’t it? Looking at the notes, this is the point at which Demyx blinks in rapid succession, coming to all-at-once realize that he’s not classically trained so much as he is simply naturally talented.

But what he can read seems correct to the best of his less-technical-more-practical knowledge, so he okays the entire thing. It’s not like he was going to sit and read through every line anyway; and what are the odds of some heinous lies being slipped in among the truths? ]

So you got the string names, right? Do you think you’ll want a pick, or just use your fingers?

[ He’s not judging -- Demyx swaps between the two, himself. ] I brought picks if you need one!

[ Both friends and music is great, no doubt about it. It’s something to look forward to. And any good music store should at least ask if the one looking to buy a guitar knows how to tune one, right? Particularly if they so obviously don’t have much experience with them.

While he’s not the worst overachiever, D2 wants to do well in the things that he does. Maybe being able to play guitar isn’t technically of use to his God - at least not in a fight - but none the less he wants to do well. He’s better at fighting than anything else, and second to that seems to be languages followed by cooking, but the more skills you have the better it looks on a resume..or something. But he just lost one God, he has no plan on losing a second any time soon.

If there are lines that are wrong, they might turn up eventually. Getting them okayed is good enough for D2 though, so he’ll settle for that. ]

Yeah, I think so. I dunno if I’ll go with pick or not though, I guess I’ll have to figure out which is more comfortable to use for me? And since you brought some it would be a waste not to try them out.

[ These two only continue to become more the mismatched pair in their given talents, then. Demyx is definitely most skilled in anything and everything music, followed by swimming and things related to water in general, and then practical jokes and pranks. And no one has a need for that last skill -- not unless Demyx's next god is some kind of Batman villain.

So all in all, he's pretty useless to most gods, actually. That might have a lot to do with Kija's opinion of him, on that note. If he even has one of his shinki at all. The true irony here is that Demyx has no idea of his own hidden strength and utility, being mostly unwilling to explore it; and his rather estranged god clearly has no intent to change that.

Which is fine, kinda, because it leaves him plenty of time for things like this that are more fun anyway, right? Right! He stuffs another chip into his mouth, munching contentedly before reaching into the flimsy mesh pocket on his fish-print swim trunks to pull out a guitar pick... and then about three more thereafter, all different colors, materials, and thicknesses. But hey, it’s important to have options, isn’t it? Learning isn’t cool if you’re uncomfortable! Pooling them in a palm, he extends them out in offering. ]

Take your pick!

[... And then Demyx laughs because he accidentally punned. ]

The purple one with the indents is pretty awesome, if you ask me! It’ll teach you where to keep your fingers, too!

[ And yes, it’s his favorite, but he’s got plenty -- he’s willing to part with one. ]

[ Maybe if his vessel power was deadly puns or something, those skills could be useful without the need of being the sidekick to a Batman villain. The swimming might come in handy at some point too; maybe he could part-time as a lifeguard.

And besides, D2 thinks that he should explore his talents. It’s pretty fun to learn that you know this or that thing, even if wondering how you know them is a bad idea.

He looks at the picks, and chuckles at the pun because it might not be a brilliant one, but it was amusing. Then he picks up the purple pick. ]

I guess I’ll pick that one first, then~

[ And he’ll return it once the lesson is over. He’ll buy his own picks later.

[ If Demyx knew he could part-time as a lifeguard, he’d be that guy who doesn’t seem to know how to go home after clocking out and has a killer tan. That’s only if they could keep him out of the water, of course.

On second thought, he... might not last a terribly long time in that position. Nevermind.

D2 picks his pick, (and apparently finds something funny about that?? ...OH. Hah), and Demyx takes a flimsy black one for himself, just as an example. ]

Alright! So you hold that like this-- [ he demonstrates ] --and then your left hand goes here on the neck, like this. Got it?

You press down on the strings at different points [ he means ‘frets’ ] and pluck the string with your pick to hit different notes!

[ But he’s only going to give a brief example before handing the guitar over. It’s better to learn by doing, after all! ]

[ Demyx clearly only needs to find a job he’ll be motivated to do his best for and to stick around at. Though it doesn’t seem like the easiest thing to figure out in this case.

And D2 likes cheap jokes (and dumb joke items) so he does find it a little funny.

He grasps the pick the way he’s instructed, then watches how the hand is to go on the guitar’s neck. ]

Okay.

[ He grasps the guitar, leaning it in his lap and finding the neck. ]

This about right this far?

[ It can be done! He's not so complicated a man that it'd be too tricky for, say, a placement representative to get him settled in somewhere he feels set for life.

But that's for later -- for now, he likes snacks, friends, the beach, and music -- and he's got all of those where they are. Who could ask for anything more? ]

Yep, looks good!

[ He's got the posture right, but there's something missing...

Wait, he's got it! ]

Say, in that notebook thing you brought, were there any, like, chord charts in there?

[ Demyx, you really, really should have thought of this beforehand. But, okay -- worse comes to worst, he'll end up telling D2 where to hold each string manually. It'll be tedious, but not impossible. ]

[ Having the posture down is at least good. ]

Mh? Uhh..

[ He picks up the notebook again, flipping through the pages. ]

Is it these ones?

[ He really did prepare in advance. Which should have been something Demyx should have done, why are the positions reversed? ]

[ Because Demyx is a creature of instinct and impulse, rather than practice and preparation...?

That's putting it nicely. Really, he's a well-meaning scatterbrain with a talent for music, and that's that. ]

That's them, yep!

[ At least you brought the guitar, Demdem. That's still something. E for Effort.

Anyway, he's getting ahead of himself here! He can't forget, D2's never touched a guitar before, right? They should start smaller. ]

That'll be totally perfect for later. First, warm-ups! So for that, you start at the far string -- the skinny E -- and put your index finger in the first spot. Then you pluck the string with your pick, and then add the middle finger in the next spot. You know, like you're climbing a ladder or something on each string! Got it?

[ One should at least put in a little preparation. He’s supposed to be a teacher right now, isn’t he?

He nods, and puts the notebook back down. He puts his hands to the guitar and follows the instructions he’s given. ]

Mm. Like this?

[ Preparation would have been wise, yes; a lesson plan, some materials, even just a general plan of attack. But preparation, organization -- those are areas where Demyx sorely lacks. At the core of it, he’s a natural, trying to teach a newbie.

Thankfully, D2 seems both apt and patient in equal parts. ]

Yep, like that! Then you walk your fingers up the string, and the next! [ He’s already air-guitaring over here. ]

And it like, teaches your fingers where to go!

[ Maybe next time, he’ll remember that it might be a good thing to prep a little bit.

But D2 is both of those things, so he doesn’t really mind. ]

...you walk your fingers up the string.

[ One two three, left right, like a little march...or something. ]

[ Maybe next time, yeah. This is his first time teaching anyone pretty much anything; save for those couple times he managed to kinda-sorta get borderlines across to people. Patient souls, all of them. True saints, to take lessons from this scatterbrain. ]

Yep! Just one, two, three, four -- and then on to the next string! One, two, three, four...!

[ He swears it worked for him. Or... it must have. All he knows is that he does it almost in his sleep sometimes, like muscle memory gone haywire. ]

[ Surely they must have been.

He tries to follow the pace and at first it’s not following the rhythm at all, but after a little while he gets the hang of it. ]

[ Hey, at least he's got good intentions, right? And so does D2, plucking away until he seems to get the hang of the coordination between hands. It can take a bit! ]

Look, you're getting better already! [ And Demyx is lit up like the 4th of July, pleased as punch. ]

So that's like, a warm-up you can do on your own, whenever you wanna practice!

Do you wanna keep going on that, or try some chords?

[ It is a bit tricky, but he’s pretty good with hand coordination. He realized that some time ago now, though he was working with guns and not instruments. ]

I’ll make sure to do them every day once I have one of these of my own. [ He’ll get one eventually, but he’ll memorize it for the time being. He scribbles some notes in the notebook. ] How about trying some of those chords?

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sorry for delay, am down with con crud. ;-;

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