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Play Me Our Song; Reserved
Topic Started: Sep 27 2009, 10:17 PM (14,999 Views)
lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Yes, it was a little frightening. At least, to Isaac it was frightening. People were sociable interactive creatures. They needed other people. Just when he thought Pearce was ready to step down from his pedestal...just a little bit, he'd heaved himself right back up. What had Isaac said? Oh, right, must be the 'normal' comment. Maybe that was an alarm word for Pearce like the word 'brat' was for Isaac. But you'd think...normal? Really? Each to his own.

Isaac pursed his lips.

"You didn't let me finish, Pearce." But it was another long silence before Isaac spoke again, sensing the man's barriers going back up, but Isaac was good at improvising, if one plan went south, he could easily cook up another...or so he hoped. Pearce's footsteps were hard to follow.

"I just meant..." And suddenly, whether or not he was acting, an apology was still hard for Isaac to make, because he was already under an inferiority complex. But maybe...that made it more realistic? He hoped so.

"I mean, you're in a field where you demand respect and consequently, I guess you're not really okay with it when people...like you. And so I guess you subconsciously go out of your way to make sure no one does...I mean," boy, this was certainly coming out sounding much more pathetic than he would have liked. Grand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. It was actually a compliment." And maybe because Isaac never gave any, he didn't know how. Everything was cloaked safely in sarcasm.

"...But the bar's the other way." Asking him to honor the promise suddenly seemed too much of a stretch.
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The word normal bothered Rei. It always had. Maybe it was because he had been haunted by the word so often, used in taunts or pleas. He couldn’t just act ‘normal’. He had almost forgotten what that felt like…not to mention, he wasn’t sure what him acting normal was. Who was this violinist to decide? It angered him strangely enough, so he stayed silent as the male tried to explain himself.

“Then finish,” he spoke, raising a brow. Before the action was curious, taunting and rather friendly. Now it was just demeaning, just like it was usually. He wasn’t given an answer immediately; the curt frown on him as if lunch had never even happened.

They were right back to square one. Even talent would do little to get him to accept such an offer again.

It was a strange apology. Enough to make his steps slow down until he just stood, staring up at the man who had caused such major shifts in his behavior that day. “Langley,” he spoke sharply, with none of the beautiful pronunciation he had used for the male’s first name. The magic from before was gone. “Do not confuse this outing for a means of being liked. I have no care at all whether I am liked or not, neither give me a positive or negative result. This is merely a fulfillment of a foolish promise I made.”

As the location of the bar was given, he turned sharply and headed in that direction, not walking fast enough to leave the male behind. “…And forgive me. I forget our agreement from before…Isaac.”

Perhaps this would be the final blow, a word once said so warmly now cold as his eyes betrayed nothing.
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lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
And now that...bothered Isaac. And not many things bothered him, not many people bothered him. His list of bothersome people was so short that he could probably count all of them on one hand exactly. What had he been expecting? Maybe because Pearce was so...fascinating like that, and drew Isaac like a foolish moth to the flame. And for the moment, the analogy held so true, because the moth certainly couldn't win over the flame. No matter how much it worshipped--

Wait. This was not about worship, this was just about fulfilling a bet. Just like Pearce was fulfilling a stupid promise that he made to Isaac, as if promises could be stupid. What was really worrisome, was why it was bugging Isaac so much. In reality, it should have rolled off his back, like all the other things that left Pearce's mouth during rehearsal.

Maybe it was because this wasn't rehearsal. And that was why. (What a pitiful excuse.) He didn't speak until they got to the bar, trying to convince himself that he wasn't bothered.

And he wasn't. The Western Rivera was half full with businessmen loitering around dreading the afternoon work hours. And Isaac almost sympathized with them. "If a promise means so little to you, don't keep it. Call me Langley." The words came out sound more defeated than he intended.

"...And I'll be having an Absinthe Royal."
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Rei didn't quite care over Isaac's reaction to his words. This was the way their relationship was supposed to be after all. Purely professional and only in the rehearsal and concert hall. Nothing more. It was strange that it was the same instrument that both brought them closer and separated them at the same time.

Then again, perhaps the conductor was just bitter about last nights letter. The way Isaac made him want to play again. Hn, he would certainly have to watch how much he drank.

Their walk was silent and it strangely enough annoyed him all the more. The trees had lost some of their beauty, the crisp air was no longer as fresh and smelled slightly polluted if anything and even the leaves seems damp instead of crinkled. A small part of him wondered if it was their light hearted humor that had changed it. Another side spoke that it was merely his current outlook.

They got to the bar and as Rei took a seat, a strange set of words seemed to be heard. It was another set that pulled at his sensitive strings, taking a different hold than the word 'normal' had. "...I respect promises Isaac. I keep them no matter what." He glanced down at his own fingers, not quite thinking as the bar tended glanced at them.

"Absinthe Royal and a Cognac on the rocks," he spoke, his eyes watching his hardened fingers as he let them linger of his palms. They were hard...but softer than they once more.
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lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Pearce respected promises. Even promises he...so clearly did not like. But Isaac saw it different, but then again, as Pearce had said, a commonality was totally different from sharing a viewpoint or an interest. He didn't like it when he was dealt the losing hand. And right now, he really didn't see any winning aces within his grasp. He took his glass and took a sip from it. It was a drink he had always enjoyed, but even when he was basking under the victory that he had wrung a drink out of Pearce, but when his earlier victories seemed like failures...

Isaac hated failure. Even more than he hated people that made no sense (people like Pearce.)

"I'll release you from the promise, if it's stupid to you, you don't have to keep it." Besides, Isaac made the promise, he could easily break it. It was probably not how Pearce saw things at all. But he didn't want Pearce to call him Isaac...if Pearce was doing it only because Isaac wanted him to. (And it was still bugging him entirely, entirely too much.)

Another sip, when Pearce looked down at his fingers, Isaac's eyes followed. those hands had earned him the right to the very path that Isaac had wanted so badly to take...but couldn't. And then he'd just thrown that away. Just like that.

But then...the point of this exercise was also not to have things end on a sour note, as it had between them for...since ever. So Isaac extended an olive branch, wondering if it was in vain. "...What was your signature piece when you used to play? Just so I don't accidentally ruin it for you one day." He was mostly thinking of York.
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Rei didn't respond at the promise bit, still too caught up on his fingers. They were softening. It was something he hadn't expected to happen so soon...but then again he hadn't practiced in so long. He sometimes picked up the instrument and played once but that wouldn't make up for hours and hours of...

'Bloody fingers,' he thought, remembering the reason he came here in the first place. His strings had been dyed and created a horror image of sorts as he played his piece, the blood crawling down the string and creating a rather frightening scene. He received a fifteen minute standing ovation and placed at the top of his class.

So it was mildly ironic to Rei that his thoughts seemed to go with Isaac's question, a small hum leaving his dry throat. "Ernst's Der Erlkönig, Grand Caprice, Opening 26," his words were spaced as the melody played in his head. "It was the first piece I'd ever heard. It got me into music and I was determined to master it."

The drinks came moments later and Rei lifted up his glass, staring into the colors. "Imagine my reaction when I finally learned what the piece was about." A dead child in a father arms was by no means a happy ending. Leroy told him it was ironic that both his violin career and the song ended with a tragedy.

Then again, that usually only sparked the conversation of how it was still not to late.
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lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Isaac took another sip of his drink as he listened. Things were by no means back to normal, but...or back to abnormality, actually...but at least, he had something to work off of. He set his glass down. It was so like Pearce to like something so, so melancholy. But he kept that observation to himself, as he really was skating on thin ice. "I'm don't have an affinity with Schubert, he and I have really never gotten along. He didn't write that much for violin, anyway." He admitted, and how proper, that of all pieces, Pearce had to pick that one.

"But if I ever pick up that piece, I'll learn it properly before messing around so that you won't curse me into next Tuesday." (That just wholly defeated the purpose of playing around, though. But this was Pearce, special exceptions had to be made all around.) "As a warning, I probably won't sound like Ernst, though, I liked the original Paganini better."

And then Isaac was quiet again. He'd rarely shared so much silence with one person, but he couldn't tell what any of those silences meant. Was he comfortable enough with Pearce to make those silences, or was it because he couldn't think of a damn thing to say. Isaac found himself thinking of Joshua Bell and their conversation. He wondered if this little outing would reach Bell's ears, probably.

"In music, some of the most tragical things are the most beautiful things, I'd hate for that philosophy to be applied to real life, though." Look how Pearce ended up? It was a sad, pathetic life, although the man had everything that Isaac wanted.
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"That's fine. I've heard it played many times by others and its usually butchered. I'll hold back my tongue, even if from you, I do expect better," Rei spoke, not quite into the conversation now that his mind had drifted to other directions. It didn't seem to matter as silence over came them once more.

He couldn't help but not that it wasn't comfortable. Previous ones had been fine, where they had been, dare he say it, enjoying each others company. But now it was different. As if neither of them could wait for the whole thing to end.

"They say art mimics life...but I don't exactly agree. It's simply easier for a tragic piece to be judged as beautiful because of the strings it plays in our own hearts. True beauty is what makes one smile. For example, I think Tchaikovsky's Trepak is one of the best pieces." It was a strange statement for someone who was so dead faced at the moment.

"Have you ever seen someone frown when that melody plays in the streets?"
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lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
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Maybe Isaac should have quit before he was ahead. But how was he supposed to know that the word 'normal' would encourage Pearce to ice over again? As if that really was his default setting, although Isaac saw living, breathing proof that it...wasn't. And he had no idea how to coax it back out again. That annoyed him. Most people wouldn't think that being called 'normal' was an insult. And ever resourceful, Isaac didn't know what to do.

Pearce enjoyed the Trepak? That was a surprise, given that he was who he was. Isaac, strangely, was of the opinion that it was one of the worst pieces ever written because it was so obnoxious, and though he'd never seen anyone unhappy while that piece was going on...

He needed a plan B. And quickly. A week had already passed, and Isaac had thought that this lunch and drinks would be the turning point where he could actually accomplish something, but...now it appeared to be impossible. And Isaac suddenly wanted to leave, he needed to regroup his thoughts.

And as if his phone read his mind, it rang. Matthias. Isaac owed his friend a steak dinner.

"Yallow."

"I'm just wondering how it's going, did you even get anywhere?"

Isaac paused, "I'll be back soon, you really should have told me your Aunt Lily was going to be in town...yeah, okay, I'll see you, bye."

"Wait, what--"

Isaac pursed his lips, his glass was mostly empty, but he tipped it once more just in case. "Apparently Matthias needs me to survive his Aunt Lily, she's horrible. I'd hate to skip on you, but it looks like I have to go." And maybe he could score one more point before leaving. He reached out a hand and pressed his fingers against the back of his conductor's neck. Tense as ever, and just as the tension was about to release, he took his hand away.

"I had fun, we should do this again sometime. I'll see you at work." (If he still had a job tomorrow.)
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((I enjoy nothing more than a grumpy Rei who moans because he wasn't paying attention.))

Silence occurred once more and Rei silently had a drink to that. The discussion had ended, reaching a dead end that proved they were by no means compatible to do this sort of thing again. Which was a good thing. Now he could finally stop questioning why in the world they did this anyway.

The phone broke their tense atmosphere, as the conductor waited for it to end and the verdict of their outing to appear. Hn, he had a feeling Isaac would suddenly need to go.

"We all have our obligations," he spoke, the double meaning of it clearly pointing out the things friends do for each other and the favor he did by coming out...though he doubted it was a favor. Perhaps Isaac had wanted a good slap to his ego? Rei wouldn't know. "Don't forg--"

He couldn't finish. His eyes that had been so focused on front of him had his entire body focused to the drink and not any sort of stunt the male might pull. As soon as the fingers pressed into his ever sensitive neck, right into a particular nerve York always teased him about, his head leaned back and he did it. It was quiet, only loud enough to possibly hit Isaac's ears if he was listening but it was certainly there.

The quietest and ever so sweetest sound left his throat, sounding eerily similar to that of a moan.

It was ironic, that such a sweet sound could leave him when he was guarding his heart. He caught himself immediately, jaw snapping shut as he turned around and grabbed the mans hands.

"Hands off Langley," he hissed, his eyes narrowing as he let go of the offending limb. "And this sort of outing isn't likely to repeat itself. Good day, I'll take care of the bill like we agreed."
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lucier
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si vis pacem, para bellum
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
[[ Isaac is good at catching people off guard =P ]]


At this point, Isaac wasn't sure what had lured Pearce out with him in the first place, it certainly wasn't Isaac. Since their plans went from good, to great, to ultimately disastrous. But what he hadn't been expecting was for Pearce to make a sound like that...a sound that warmed Isaac's groin. But the next moment, his hands were grabbed, and Isaac just blinked at him nonchalantly.

You like it. Had almost left his lips, but he stopped himself. There would be plenty of chances later. Isaac was sure.

"Okay, then, suit yourself. au revoir." The French was there as a bite. Pearce deserved it.

Aunt Lily did not come for dinner, but Matthias had clamored him for details, Isaac, surprisingly, as they ate sandwiches and drank coke, didn't give him much. Only that Pearce...really wasn't what he expected.

"And I need a plan B, it was great, but then it went downhill, don't you have a friend that has Joshua Bell's number?"

"Yeah...I do, actually. Why?" Matthias looked him over carefully.

Isaac bit his lip, "...I need a favor." A damn big one. And he'd grovel Joshua Bell for it too, kissing his ego good bye.
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((I'm still dying to know what you have planned for that Bradley fellow you posted up a while ago))
Alice

Thankfully it wasn't mentioned but Rei knew Isaac had heard it. Had even wanted to say something about it. What worried the conductor was why he held back.

He said nothing as the male left, nibbling the inside of his cheek angrily at the french. Bastard, even after their conversation on how he couldn't speak a bloody word of the language. He paid the bill as soon as Isaac left, taking out his cigarette and lighting it up before pressing a few digits on his phone.

"'Ewo?" A soft voice answered. It sparked Rei out of his cold state, a smile on his features at the innocent sound.

"It's Uncle Rei. Is Mommy home?"

"Wei," the voice happily let out before the distinct call of "Mommy~!" followed. A few hours later, their date was set up and he walked with the younger child in Central Park this time, casually smoking as the little girl held his hand and told him various stories.

"Unk Wei."

He removed the cigarette from his mouth with his free hand. "Yes Alice?"

"You sheem tense. Did sometin happen?" Her eyes opened so wide, so worried for her beloved uncle.

"...Just a bit tired Alice," he spoke, before he eyed a musician playing on a bench. A violin. Hn, how ironic.

"Unk, lets go! I wanna listen!" How ironic. Everyone he knew, even his niece, seemed to be so enchanted by the stringed instrument. He was beginning to think it was cursed.
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lucier
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[[ Soon my dear, patience is key XD ]]


"I'm going to sound like a helpless romantic." Isaac stared hard at the slip of paper. "He probably already thinks I'm a kid."

Matthias rolled his eyes, "Are you hitting on Bell, or are you hitting on Pearce? Come on, it took me a while to grovel for this from Carrie. You better use it. Why would you want Bell's number, anyway?"

Isaac sucked in a deep breath and stared at his phone again, "Bell might go into cardiac arrest during sex. No thanks. It's hard to hit on someone that you know nothing about, I want to tap into Bell like an encyclopedia, but he probably won't let me. It's worth a try, though, yeah? I mean, if groveling doesn't work, I'll try to buy him a drink." And besides, Joshua Bell was loads more reasonable than Pearce.

Isaac had that working in his favor. So at least that.

He dialed the number and waited.
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Rei had a strange feeling that this wasn't going to all end just because of a flawed outing. Whatever this was, it was going to take a while. All he needed to worry about was if this was going to be bothering rehearsal. As he watched his niece play in the various leaves, he couldn't help but shiver lightly at the cold.

Winter was coming.

--

Joshua hadn't had anything specifically eventful happen recently. He was on a break, after finishing up a tour and not needing to record for at least another month, he was finally having the well deserved vacation he needed.

He planned for outings and general time well spent.

It all turned out for naught as he sat at home attempting to cook something or the other.

The whole rang and he happily went to the distraction, picking it up even though he didn't recognize the number.

"Joshua speaking."
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lucier
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What Isaac had in mind, Matthias had no idea. His friend always prided himself on being unpredictable in the worst way. Which...usually didn't turn out well, but Isaac was Isaac and he always managed, somehow.

Matthias took his usual seat on the couch across from Isaac, although this time, he probably wouldn't be laughing himself sick. It picked up around the third ring and...Isaac took a deep, deep breath.

"Um, hi, this is Isaac from the NY Phil. It took me half an hour to grovel this number from a mutual acquaintance--" (Matthias was rolling his eyes.) "So...give me a fair chance before you hang up? Please?" He always had to include that in any phone conversation, because his sarcasm usually was very inspiring to have people hang up on him.

But now...this was different. He wasn't making a prank call. He was betting all six grand on this phone call. Although enlisting Joshua Bell as a real ally would probably come back to bite his ass in the end.

So...why not?

"I...uh, attempted to do lunch and drinks with Pearce today." And he stopped there, wanting to gauge a reaction before he kept going.
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