smash_logs | Graffitti Free Zone

Graffitti Free Zone

Who: Hayato and his class and anyone who decided to tag along for funsies
What: A TROPICAL GETAWAY
When: A WEEKEND IN JANUARY.
Where: Isle Delfino
Suggested Listening: NO ESCAPE.

Winter sucks, right? Hayato sure thought so. Well, he didn't hate it, but after a month of cold and dark he decided it was high time for a change. While he could have easily done the selfish thing and fled the city for the entirety of winter break, he liked to consider himself a more generous man than that. Surely his students would love the chance to get away from winter for a few days, too. And if any staff happened to stow away for the trip, well, that was their decision.

So, under the guise of having a swimming class while the school's outdoor pool was out of use, our hero whisked everyone away to lovely Isle Delfino. Once plagued by darkness and vandalism, the whole island had since been kept clean and bright and shiny and boasted a number of tourist attractions. With the only real requirement for the gym class being to get at least some swimming in, there would be plenty of time to explore everything else. Between abandoned eggs that hatch water-soluble yoshis, a giant mall, human pachinko, an amusement park, and the hotel with an abundance of ghost stories, there's bound to be something to do.

All in all, not a bad way to ease in to the new semester. The hardcore classes could start next week, he promised, before setting his class free.

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"I can understand that. It would be like someone with no taste buds learning to cook."

...well. Sort of.

"Well, I can play for you any time you want me to, if you just want to feel how I feel about a song. I don';t mind it at all."

"Precisely," Voile confirmed for him, pleased that he seemed to know what she was meaning with her words.

At his offer, the features in her face softened. Not that they were typically hard, but they weren't as jaded as they'd been in the recent days, weeks, and months. There was still a quiet reservation about her, as if something lingered behind her kindness and surprising generosity, considering Sonny's company.

The heart was a heart was a heart, it seemed.

"I would like that very much. You can play for me anytime you have the desire to. I certainly won't turn it down."

"I can play another one for you now, if you want!" he offered. "What kind of a feeling would you like from the song?"

Being as that was what she'd be experiencing, after all. He shifted a little closer to face her so that she'd get the best vibrations from the strings, too.

"I don't know many songs WELL, but if I mess up some chords? That's kind of OK, right?"

Voile shifted to lean forward onto the palms of her hands. What kind of feeling did she want to experience? It wasn't a question she was accustomed to hearing and she really didn't know how to answer it.

"Well... When it comes to mistakes, I won't really know unless you're panicking because you made one," she began with a small smile. "You should play something that expresses how you're feeling right now. I would enjoy that. And music is supposed to be about expression."

"I know just the song, then!"

Sonny was actually somewhat remarkable in his ability not to panic about messing up. His teacher had been very clear on this and he'd soaked in the theory like a sponge. Make a mistake? That's fine. Just keep playing as if it never happened. Don't stop, don't startle, don't start again. Just keep going as if you were playing the best piece of music you had ever played in your life. There was always time to reflect on mistakes and misses later - that's what practice was for. But when you were playing for an audience, they would be more jarred by a panicked player or by frequent stops and starts than they would by one or two off notes or a missed strum.

And so, he started to play and sing for her.

She listened intently. Or at least to the best of her ability. Voile liked and admired music. What it was used for. What it could accomplish. How it made her feel. And she knew most art forms were the same way. Perhaps it struck her more soundly because of the empathy she couldn't separate herself from. It wasn't difficult to stir her to near tears or to anger and dislike, or even joy. Just put her beside the right person with the right sentiments.

Provided they had no mental block. Or emotional, for that matter. But she still believed the only person she couldn't outright break into was Warren. People like Sonny, who wore their heart on their sleeve were easy.

"We'll run away together.
We'll spend some time forever.
We'll never feel bad anymore."

The words resonated within her. Or perhaps an older version of her. A form of her that never truly went away, but hid under layers of discontent and melancholy. And if words could have made her fall in love, she would have. If she believed such a thing was possible. But the part of her that had, no longer did.

Yet it didn't stop her from eying him with a distant longing. And affection.

He couldn't help but catch the look in her eyes as he played. Even though she didn't hear the notes, he still tried even harder for having seen that expression on her face.

The song ended on a few last gentle strums.

"....I think you liked that, right?"

When she realised he was really looking at her, Voile couldn't help but look aside as she reddened. Because there was no way to hide her blushing when she wasn't wearing her hair loose and free. His song made her feel very... 'human,' she supposed. She knew that wasn't the right word for it, but it would have to do for the time being.

"I... Yes. That was beautiful, Sonny," she agreed with a subtle nod. "Thank you for playing and singing for me."

He held back a sigh. He remembered seeing that look in her eyes more often. Feeling that kind of affection and approval from her, and being able to return it.

Part of him wanted to play something else. See if he could keep it going. Maybe, if he sung the right song in the right way...

...but no. He was under no illusions. That look had been temporary. Short lived and wonderful and he'd just have to appreciate that for what it was. He smiled back at her.

"You're welcome, Voile. I'll play for you any time, if you want me to. I mean that."

In many ways, she wanted to tell him to simply stop feeling. And she couldn't, because that was impossible. But she'd wanted the ability to. Instead, she simply eyed him, too much an audience to his sentiments. He made really no effort to hide such things anyway.

Leaning back onto her palms instead, she nodded. "Of course I'd like that. You should play for me whenever you care to."

He couldn't stop feeling, even if he tried. Too much of who he was lay wrapped up in those close to the surface emotions, and the ones he tried to hide so futilely around her.

"I would rather just do it when you want it." he admitted. "If I played for you any time I felt like it, you might get sick of it after a while."

Voile paused and after a moment, she chuckled softly. Because she knew what he was saying was true. As usual, it was flustering and flattering. A reminder that she couldn't quite release. It left her insides reeling with thought and consideration and perhaps even second thoughts.

"I don't think I could ever get tired of it," she confessed gently. "Even if I said I did, I'm not sure how truthful that'd be." Toying with the sand somewhat bashfully, she squeezed it between her fingers and made mostly nothing except balls of sand. "The heart is a heart is a heart. A heart does not lie and your music stirred mine. I doubt it would matter much what you were playing. I enjoy it all the same."

"I'm sure I could play something that wouldn't stir your heart."

He DID know how to play Old MacDonald, after all. It was a fun song for amusing kids, but not really the kind of thing that made the wooing of pretty maidens any easier. Unless they just really happened to love learning about farm animal noises.

"...anyway, I should probably go and get something to eat and let you enjoy the rest of your vacation, huh?" he said with a smile, getting to his feet and carefully dusting the sand from his calves and trunks. "And I guess I should try and do some swimming - that's what we're here for, I guess!"

Hey. All the ladies loved songs about farm animals. That was the greatest aphrodisiac of them all.

Okay. No, probably not.

Leaning forward once more, she looked over to him for several long moments and smiled. It was better to indulge in slices of delight a little at a time. And she could respect his need for food. He was the one who ate everything. She was the one who ate next to nothing.

"You should enjoy yours too," she reminded him gently. "Keep an eye on the network, okay? I'm planning on working for spring. I think you expressed an interest in it, didn't you? And there's no time like the present, really... Whatever the case, we can talk about it later. You should go eat. You look like you might waste away at any moment."

Hey. Depends on the girl, you know? If Voile was a Miltank or Combusken or Spoink, maybe hearing about moos, buck-buck-buckaws and oinks truly WOULD be the language of love.

"Hey, I have to maintain my figure, you know!" he replied with a laugh. "I don't want to blow away on a gentle summer breeze!"

He gave her a little wave and started to move off, before turning and smiling again.

"And I always look for your posts on the network. I like seeing you post there. I'll talk to you soon!"

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Graffitti Free Zone

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