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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 20, 2010 12:37:15 GMT 10
As the boy accepted to try again, Eliza smiled, glad to see she had some kind of influence over him. Imagining what she could get this boy to do for her made Eliza internally chuckle, not wanting to lose face by laughing out loud. She shook her head lightly as she continued to play, hoping to reassure the boy. "It's not that bad, really, you're doing well," Eliza replied quickly, not wanting him to feel down about his attempts. As she thought about it, Eliza didn't know why she wanted the boy to feel secure about his piano playing, it obviously wasn't one of his strengths and it was very out of character for Eliza to care. She tried not to think about it too much.
She shook off the thought as she watched the boy's hand as he sarted to play along with her again, catching up slightly and beginning to fall in with the rhythm. "What do you mean it hasn't been something you've been great at? I thought you didn't play?" Eliza asked, still playing the same melody continuously over the chords they were both playing. Even though he was slightly out of time, Eliza's use of the sustain pedal and the deep, rich sound of the lower chords only intensified and added to the song. It was giving Eliza chills up her back, which she hoped went unnoticed.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 20, 2010 15:44:53 GMT 10
Being made to play again was not something in particular the young Irishman wanted to do but sitting in near silence at the beautiful instrument made him feel compelled to do it at least a little bit of justice rather than just let him abuse it. The girl tried to reassure him, even lying so far as to say he was doing well, it made him raise an eyebrow and give a small laugh. "Yeah and the earth operates on a completely lateral orbital rather than a tilt" he said as he shook his head before trying to keep up with her again.
His second attempt was slightly better and he managed to give a listenable performance for her before stopping and telling her he wasn't used to keeping a steady rhythm in most things. She asked what he meant since he didn't play, which made him rub the back of his head again. "I don't, I just mean in general" he replied as he tried to explain it"[/b]
"You see. If I get a problem on a chalk board I either fly through it or I get stuck for a while and slowly work my way through it getting faster and faster as I connect... Just never really much rhythm to solving chemical equations, not like music" he said, doing his best to explain it as simply as he could. He was afraid he would come off as an academic know-it-all-twat and right now the feeling was just getting worse and worse as he spoke.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 20, 2010 20:38:06 GMT 10
Eliza attempted to understand the boy's words before she asked what he was talking about, trying not to speak before she thought, since she'd found that to be an incredibly stupid idea on many occasions. It was hard enough for her to try and make sure he was keeping up with her, but trying to decipher his confusing language at the same time made it even harder. Before she even got a chance to questioned him, he began to answer her other question with much sophistication behind it, Eliza piecing together that he was at this school for his academic ability, and clearly not his musical one.
Unfortunately, Eliza had only ever been good at two things in school: music and writing, so science and maths were never on her talented side. This made it even harder for her to comprehend what the boy was talking about as she had never even looked at a complicated equation before, let alone attempt to solve one.
"Okay, whoa, just about everything you just said went straight over my head," Eliza said truthfully, and with a slight chuckle. "If you're trying to say that I'm lying about your abilities, I'm not, you're actually progressing quite well. And as for the whole equation thing, I couldn't imagine their being much rhythm behind it since it's an equation.. not music..?" What appeared to be a statement, ended up coming out as a question, Eliza's brain nearly overloading with the amount of thinking she had done in the past 10 seconds or so. This, however, didn't stop her fingers from moving fluently over the piano keys, still keeping an eye on the boy's hand.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 21, 2010 13:20:44 GMT 10
Arkasel attempted to try and explain his reasoning behind a lack of rhythm to the girl who was trying to teach him piano, only to find that her near blank expression showed very quickly that he had gone to quickly and left her in the dust as he looked back to the keys in embarrassment as she told him he'd flown over her head. ”Sorry, I'm more used to explaining things to people who spend all day in a lab or at a chalkboard who speak in the same way” he replied as he shook his head after her laugh.
She continued but trying to decipher what he had said, telling him that he had in-fact improved in his abilities at the piano rather quickly and that equations had no rhythm. ”That's kind of what I meant. I'm not used to the whole music rhythm thing, the only normal one I have is drumming fingers on the table when thinking... and thanks, but I doubt I've improved much over the cat screech din I started with” he replied with a small shrug as he attempted to get his hands back in place and follow her playing speed again.
This time he was doing better, only slightly behind but holding it at a steady enough pace as he tapped his foot along to it, all the while the urge to take a drink growing even stronger as he dealt with the difficult task.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 21, 2010 14:22:37 GMT 10
As they continued to play, and he attempted to explain what he was trying to say, Eliza changed the melody slightly, but kept the chords the same, not wanting to confuse the boy. When he compared his piano playing to a screeching cat, though, Eliza again shook her head. "Really, you're doing well," Eliza assured him, once again, for about the tenth time, and she was being completely honest too. He was progressing rather quickly and much better than she expected- but she wasn't going to admit that. "And I won't hear another word about it."
"As for you rhythmic abilities, why don't you just pretend you're tapping your fingers again a table?" Eliza suggested, looking at his fingers then up to his face. "All you have to do is think about what notes you're playing, and eventually it will just sink in and become a subconscious movement, like this." Eliza said before moving her right hand down the scale in an even motion before going back up to the original melody she was playing. "It will become second nature."
Due to her piano lessons, and her teacher's obsession with practicing scales, Eliza's fingers moved briskly over the keys, hitting each one in time and in the correct order, a small smile sitting on her face as she thought of how proud her teacher would be of her.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Science.... Not Always The Answer
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 22, 2010 16:04:30 GMT 10
His attempt at rationalising what he had said to the girl did not seem to be as simple as he thought, her tune changing a little as he did that made him feel like he had messed up even worse. He wound up mentioning his piano abilities again and she refused them as she told him he was doing well and that she wouldn't hear him mention it again. It caused him to sigh and shake his head, "Believe me, I'm the last person you need to humor" he replied as he tried to catch up.
She then took a counter to his mention of rhythm by suggesting tapping his fingers as a methodology to play before explaining it further about the notes as she showed him how it would work with a quick and beautiful scale before sliding back down to the original melody and calling it second nature. "Maybe for you, but that part of my brain is not the dominant piece" he replied as he shook his head with a small grin. "I can see it all right and I understand. Just to put it into practice is a hell of a lot harder" he added after as he tried his best to do what she said, playing a little behind her again as he tried his best to keep a steady rhythm while trying to match her pace again.
He was not a musician, he was a scientist. When was the last time anyone had heard of a musical scientist that didn't involve whistling test tubes?
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 24, 2010 22:01:13 GMT 10
Eliza didn't bother to dignify his statement with an answer, knowing she'd be shot down again with her attempt at reassuring him of his abilities. Instead, she simply looked back down at her hands, not interested in trying to compliment someone who wouldn't accept it. As she watched her hand, her pinky on her right hand was becoming rather tired and sore for stretching up to the higher notes every second bar or so, but she tried to keep her mind off it. She listened as the boy attempted to defend himself, and she could very much understand and empathize for him.
"It's probably the same as my lack of scientific and mathematic abilities," Eliza offered, still looking down at her hands as she changed the melody slightly, giving her pinky a rest. "I could probably ask you for the symbol for sodium hydroxide or something ridiculous like that, and you'd know it off the bat, while I probably couldn't tell you what the 'H' in 'H20' stood for." Eliza let out a short laugh, knowing that was ridiculous, yet so very true. She hadn't paid attention in one science lesson in her life, and the fact that she didn't have to do it now was just another up side to coming to the school.
"It's all practice and memory," Eliza shrugged lightly, her melody changing ever so slightly again. "With a bit of time and effort, we can remember anything, but the desire has to be behind it, otherwise all the work will become absolutely redundant."
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 26, 2010 5:26:58 GMT 10
The two continued to play onward with the tune, the girl no longer replying back as he put forth what he felt was the truth of himself as she looked to the keys herself and the tune went on, slightly off to a noticeable degree quite easily. He tried to offer a reason for her to understand, that of biology and chemistry that he understood from the brain to which she mentioned it was the same for her but to his strengths.
She mentioned chemical formulas for Sodium Hydroxide and before he knew it he'd replied with "NaOH.... Sorry" he said as she went on about the symbols in water that he bit his tongue to avoid replying back. It was a force of habit to keep his brain thinking and right now it was hard to break. "I do better at those so maybe that makes sense as to why I can't do this" he replied as he did his best to try and match the melody that she was playing.
"True, what you learn to do a hundred times can be done a hundred times again with ease" he replied to her shrug as she went on about time and effort that they could do anything but they needed to want to or else it would be worthless. "A very wise point... It would explain as to why I have never found myself as a football player. I've never had the desire to run around in the cold and wet with people shouting at me for missing a kick at a ball" he replied with a weak chuckle. He wasn't that much a fan of sports, running and such yes but the team ones he never did to well with.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 26, 2010 9:37:52 GMT 10
Eliza continued with the new melody as she spoke, glad that the boy was still improving and keeping up with her. The new melody complimented the chords they were both playing, still following the same rhythm as earlier. She couldn't help but smile as the boy determined what the symbol for sodium hydroxide was, her point being proven somewhat ironically.
"I've never been a real fan of playing sports either," Eliza agreed, nodding lightly as she played. "I don't see the point in getting dirty, sweaty and hot when I could just do some laps in the pool or go for a run around the block and get the same exercise. But yes, that could explain it, I mean, we're not going to be interested in doing something we have no desire to do."
Although she didn't enjoy playing sports, Eliza was a good runner. She was quick and ran with precision, but after moving to France her exercise regime had somewhat ceased to exist.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 28, 2010 14:59:02 GMT 10
Embarrassment had hit him quite harshly for his sudden interruption with his knowledge of the symbols, something he normally did with no problem but normally was in the lab or the library. Not in front of the grand piano in the evening with a girl he'd only met minutes before she tried to teach him to play like she did. When the conversation diverged about how desire and passion was needed in order for work to succeed so that you could actually be happy with your work, he agreed with the thought and offered an example as to behind why he did.
She agreed with his thoughts and that she didn't see the point of getting messy when she could take another option that involved less of it and that it would explain both their reasons for their working. "I don't so much mind that, a good run in the rain cross country makes things far easier if your minds full" he replied as he slowly managed to get in time with her movements and make the tune sound halfway decent. He loved a good run when he felt troubled, even if he couldn't run away from it just for a short little while he could deceive himself that he was, hence his preference to cross country rather than a sprint.
"But I agree, it's like forcing a mule to pull a plough when it has no intention to. Not unlike the carrot of curiosity" he added after, failing to realise the iteration or the general fact that he had made a mention of calling himself a mule.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Oct 29, 2010 12:28:12 GMT 10
As they proceeded with the new melody and chords, Eliza was pleased to see that the boy had caught up and was starting to play exactly in time with her. She was actually mildly surprised that he picked up on it so quickly when it obviously wasn't his forte. Eliza attempted to teach many people how to play piano before and only a few had learnt as quickly as he was. He clearly had a mind that worked on logistics and facts because he knew how to do it, it was just a matter of actually doing it. Other people didn't understand that so well.
Eliza let out a small chuckle as the boy subtly compared himself to a mule, but she just kept looking down at the keys , hoping it went unnoticed. "So sport obviously isn't you reason for being here, and due to your lack of confidence in playing piano I'm supposing music isn't either," Eliza guessed, attempting to be polite as possible, looking up at him. "So what are you here for?"
Eliza could easily guess that he was an academic student, but the range was so broad at the school and she was curious as to what he enjoyed and was best at in his academic career.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Oct 29, 2010 14:11:13 GMT 10
Moving through the music, Arkasel was nearly sticking the tip of hi tongue out of the corner of his mouth with the level of focus he was working on try try and not mess up since he felt out of place enough at the instrument. He knew how it worked, studied the mechanics, the physics and everything... Just not how to play the damn thing in a tune at speed since he wasn't built for it.
When he made a comparison of himself to sports he only realised what he'd said with a confused look to the side of his eye as she chuckled and muttering "Wait, that came out wrong" quietly as he shook his head. She made a mention of sport not being his forte and since he was lacking the self belief at music that was out the window two. "You would guess correctly then" he replied before she looked to him again and asked what it was.
He did his best to try and look to her again but wound up having to stop since his hands where failing to move in time as he did. "Physics, Chemistry & Biology. Typical Science nerd right here" he replied with a weak nod. "I could guess music for you but with the way you said earlier you where nothing compared to others I'd be wrong with that would I not?" he asked back, curious as to what the girl studied at the school herself.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Nov 1, 2010 22:19:20 GMT 10
Eliza's fingers played each key gently and in time, even when she wasn't looking at her hands. Her fingers moved from side to side easily as she watched his face. He looked at her for a moment, but then had to forced himself to look upon his hands again, having lost concentration and needed to watch his hands to remain in time. Although it hadn't quite become second nature to him, the boy was still doing quite well to remain in time.
His statement about her reason for being at the school slightly confused Eliza.; although she was quite good with words, too many of them in a fast amount of time made her head swim as she took a moment to replay them back in her head. She then looked back at her hands, her mind finally making sense of his words. "Well, I am indeed here for singing, the usual band geek," Eliza shrugged, copying his light hearted self accusation. "However, my reason for being here isn't quite the usual one. I was forced to come, not because this is my dream high school and I simply couldn't wait to get my letter of acceptance in the mail!"
Eliza put on a slightly higher pitched tone as she spoke the words, her eyes fluttering as she imitated the usual student that attended Desrosiers' School for the Gifted and Talented. She had almost no desire to be at the school or to be associated with it at all, and the only thing keeping her there was the piano she was playing and the possibility of a drink from the boy's mystery bottle.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 2, 2010 10:52:48 GMT 10
The conversation went on as the music changed while he tried to keep up, as he told her what he was there for and asking what her reason was. She took a moment as he realised he probably spoke far to quickly with his accent for her and quietly cursed himself for it as she told him that she was there for singing and called herself a band geek. "I'm sure they're higher in the social hierarchy than the geeks if anthropology has taught me anything" he replied with a small chuckle at the thought of the tiers and how the top sports students reigned at the top with the other elites.
She went into a further detail for her reasons being there, saying she wasn't to usual but rather she was forced there instead of getting accepted into the school. It made him laugh a little at her higher pitched voice and dashing eye movements that meant to make a mockery of the students dying to come to the school. "Sounds like a real nasty deal, what got you forced here anyway? Normally you need to be willing to wind up here" he asked, wondering what she had possibly done to get forced to his dream school and home away from home.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Nov 5, 2010 23:01:37 GMT 10
Eliza let out a small chuckle at his reply to her being a band geek, unable to help but do so, but continued with her reasoning anyway. She knew what he would say, she would get the usual 'you're so lucky to be at a school like this' or 'you should be happy to be here, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!'. However, for Eliza, she had to see her father at least 4 times a year, and she certainly wouldn't have minded that becoming a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'. The boy's reply, however, wasn't quite what she expected. He didn't go right into trying to make her feel bad or pressure her into enjoying herself, he simply asked why she didn't want to be here, he was willing to hear her side of the story. Eliza liked that, for a change.
"Well, I'm not a massive fan of the headmaster," Eliza said casually, still playing the melody and chords smoothly, the boy's fingers still following hers perfectly. "He is, rather unfortunately, my father, and it's safe to say we aren't on the best of terms, well, I'm not with him at least."
Although Eliza's feelings for her father were quite cold, Victor had tried many times to make it up to her, hence his enthusiasm for her to join his school, but Eliza didn't think she could ever reciprocate the feelings. She simply couldn't find the strength to forgive him.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 7, 2010 17:22:15 GMT 10
The girl it seemed was out to make sure that she proved to be the opposite of what people expected her stereotype to be, the more outrageous seeming bad girl compared to the dozens of goody two-shoes of others in her year. It made him curious as to why she was trying since the school seemed like a godsend to himself and numerous others from the way some of the past students and older teachers spoke of it as a home that they had never even had close to before arriving at. But he got his answer rather rapidly after asking like he should have expected by now with the girl and the way she was open about herself.
Her reasoning seemed simple enough as he tried to keep up on the melody, not liking the headmaster was understandable since he'd hated his old school all together and she continued on with a bombshell that he was her father. That alone made his timing completely misjudged as well as his motor skills and he hit the piano in a dull and painful sounding mash with a curt cough after as he tried to straighten himself out. ”I'm sorry... He's, he's your dad?” he asked with both his hands on his lap for a moment as he tried to control his composure. ”Well... That sounds like a perfectly viable excuse then so it does” he said after a moment as he tried to place his hands back on the keys and continue playing with her.
”I know the feeling with fathers if it helps... Never gotten along with mine, probably to a bit of a more worse off degree than yourself” he said as he tried to offer an olive branch, unable to realise if he was sounding like a twat or not to the girl trying to help him learn to do something he felt was completely beyond himself.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Nov 8, 2010 21:01:36 GMT 10
Eliza waited for a moment, almost holding her breath, knowing the shock horror reaction was coming, and when it did, Eliza couldn't help but smirk. This boy's reaction was definitely the best one she'd received so far. After playing a collection of out time and off notes, he waited for a moment, questioning Eliza if what she had said was truth as he watched her play.
"My father is Mr. Victor Desrosiers, yes," Eliza assured his as she continued to play, his mistakes not affecting her playing in the least. As he placed his hands back on the keys, he shared with her his own discomfort with his father. "You believe you get on with your father worse than I do, do you? Care to venture that statement?"
Eliza had zero doubt in the fact that her relationship with Victor was worse than this boy's with his father. She had refrained from speaking to Victor all year, and would have succeeded if it wasn't for his remembering to call for her birthday (Eliza believed that to be Jeremy's doing though). Eliza was quite curious as to the boy's relationship with his own father, always finding comfort in knowing that other people have gone through what she has.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 10, 2010 16:01:39 GMT 10
The moment the girl had revealed her reason for disliking the school idea, Arkasel found himself looking like a bad cartoon character as his hands fumbled on the keys and let out a strange ringing of comparison that seemed to make the girl grin at his surprise. It took him another moment to finally pull himself together and ask if she was being serious to which she confirmed it while she played as if it where nothing at all. Why should it be?
He tried to offer a common ground on troubles with fathers that they shared but she questioned soon after if he thought he got along worse than her own, pushing him to answer it. It made his hands stop for a moment from playing and his head dip a little as he looked at the keys and tried to play very simply with one hand. "I don't think I have to say if you can see" as he turned to face her again, his left hand hovering and pointing to just under the black eye that was slowly healing and the few cuts to which seemed to be cleaning nicely.
The fact his father had buggered off entirely when he was a kid then appeared as a young teenager and caused strife with custody of his siblings had lead to an early hatred of him. It had only gotten to the violent stage when he'd turned Sixteen and resulted in throwing a harsh blow to the side of his face when he called him a waste of his time and money. It seemed he'd inherited his grandfathers genetics rather than his dads. It often made him feel better that maybe he wasn't his, standing at near Six and a quarter feet while his father was only five and a half and of stocky build.
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Post by Eliza Desrosiers on Nov 11, 2010 22:47:57 GMT 10
Eliza's immediate reaction to the boy's short, but straight-forward reply, probably wasn't the most subtle or graceful one. She hadn't notice the dark ring under the boy's eye and the cuts that accompanied it due to the dark lighting and his shadowed face, but when he pointed them out they became as obvious as a candle in the dark. Eliza stopped playing the piano mid-phrase and stared at the boy, her eyebrows raised lightly, her eyes full of concern.
"I-I didn't notice, I'm sorry," Eliza apologised, feeling so horrible for making the boy relive what was probably a terrible experience for him that she had to look away from his eyes and instead to the now still keys. "It was stupid of me to say, I should have thought about what I was saying, I'm sorry."
Eliza had never felt so bad for another human being before; she too understood the frustrations of a difficult father, but Victor had never once laid a violent hand on her and she could hardly imagine the added hurt that could cause an already pained teenager. While Victor had left her family when when she was only twelve years old, Eliza couldn't hate him for anymore than that fact and now felt terribly ashamed that she thought the boy's experiences weren't as bad as hers, as if she were trying to win some sort of sick competition. Eliza wished to run from the room for being so rude, but she found that to seem even more inappropriate.
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Arkasel Redfield
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Post by Arkasel Redfield on Nov 12, 2010 16:21:26 GMT 10
The night had been going so well, a new interesting person met and a new story learnt as well as a new skill acquired in the piano. Now it was about to change when the conversation changed to fathers and she revealed hers as well as asking if he would challenge her relationship to his own. He relied quietly and simply with an added gesture and it only took a split second to tell she had figured it out as her hands stop playing mid way and her look took on a whole new appearance from her eyes alone.
She tried to stumble out an apology to which he shook his head, "Honestly, don't worry about it. You couldn't have known" he replied as he kept his own hands off the keyboard and dipped back to grab the bottle and take a hefty swig from it, the alcohol burning harshly in his throat as it burnt away the dull ache of the wound he was remembering slightly. When he looked back she had gone back to the keys with her eyes focused on them instead of fingers as she tried again to apologise and he gave another sigh setting the bottle down between them on the seat. "As far as you knew it could have been from another student or a car crash so don't apologise" he replied.
He was determined to make her stop, she had no need to apologise since she had done nothing wrong. What happened between him and his own father was their fault and no-one else's, she couldn't have played any part in it like his mother could have. "Besides..." he said after a moment as he tapped gently on one key at a slow rhythm whilst glancing at the body of the piano. "He came off a lot worse, just because I'm a nerd doesn't mean I'm a stereotypical one" he added after, hoping it would make her feel better. The fact that he knew his father was missing three teeth, had a broken nose and a clicking jaw made him feel a hell of a lot better when he saw it.
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