IC INBOX - LABYRINTHUM

[bountyfull]

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[scads]

( he should have known that vash would go to such troubles as he had to procure this piano for them, but it wouldn't have mattered in the end, because he would have been grateful for anything his brother could find; he's been here longer, knows better what's available and what isn't, but to say he isn't disappointed in the least is putting it incredibly mildly.

( taco bell mildly, one might say, if either of the two participants in these upcoming piano lessons even knew what taco bell was. tinkle outside the binkle, boys. )

muscle memory isn't so easily forgotten, but being able to read sheet music is one of those 'don't use it, you lose it' kind of things, and nai has never been more grateful that he'd been able to keep up with that sort of thing well; his plan here is to see what vash remembers, and if he remembers enough, he's going to ( affectionately ) bully him into playing with him, and that's where the double bench comes in handy.

he really hopes he remembers more than he thinks he does … he wants to play with him again so badly it's ridiculous.

he chuckles at the outburst of his name, ) What? ( he asks, mock-innocently. ) You're stalling. Come on now.

( his turn to be a twerp. you don't get the right all right time. )

[bountyfull]

I'm not stalling! You're distracting!

[ Vash huffs, but turns his focus to the sheet music in front of him. He doesn't play anything at first, taking his time reading the first line of notes. Unconciously, his fingers sweep over the keys almost as if he's miming playing, but he doesn't press anything, not yet. To himself, he whispers the notes under his breath but finally after what might feel like an agonizingly long time to a certain almost impatient older brother he finally starts to play.

It's far from flawless, and there are certainly keys he misses (with a wince and a hiss of breath) but the longer he plays the more fluid it becomes. He may not have played often, but perhaps by some stroke of luck he's retained more memory of the skill than he thought he had. Perhaps in some way, it was a desperate attempt at holding onto something more positive from his and his brother's past.

He plays the first page, and stops when he gets to a point that isn't abrupt. He grins a little, tipping his head back to look up and over at Nai, the expression bright and only mildly impish. ]

[scads]

Am I? ( he chuckles, and it's more than a snort than anything else, but genuinely full of amusement. ) I'm sorry, I don't mean to be.

( liar, liar, snuggie-of-death-on-fire.

vash might be taking his time in actually touching the keys, and he might think he's a little on the impatient side when it comes down to it — he is, just a little, but that's neither here nor there, shh — but if he's perfectly honest? he enjoys watching him go through the motions regardless of whether he's touching anything or not, mouthing along with the notes until they make sense to his mind and to his fingers, and he thinks, not for the first time, that his brother is the most beautiful thing he'll ever see in any world.

when he finally starts playing, it reminds him a lot of how they'd both stumbled over the notes when they'd first begun to play, but even after all these years, nai doesn't think he's lost as much as he thinks he might have. when he pauses to turn that impish grin on him, he can't help but to give in to the temptation of it, dipping down just as low as he needs to drop a peck of a kiss against the upward turn of his mouth. ) See? You haven't forgotten as much as you thought.

[bountyfull]

All the time, lately... [ Distracting. It's infuriating and flustering when he thinks too hard about it. He grumbles this to himself mostly, his cheeks puffy for a moment before that peck lands at the corner of his mouth. It's like a bomb is diffused almost immediately and instead Vash soaks up the positive attention like a plant that's being watered for the first time in a hundred years. ]

Mm, guess it's hard to forget. But I'll need to practice before we can play together. [ He'd just wind up holding his brother back, or ruining the duet. It's a half spoken promise though, a commitment to share something that can only really be shared with him, and him only. ] You'll tutor me right?

[scads]

( all the time, lately.

he hears that even if vash mostly grumbles it to himself, and nai doesn't really mean to be a distraction, especially when he really had wanted to see what his brother still retained from their playing together as children. of course he doesn't think he'd kept up with it after the ships had crashed — maybe because it had always been nai that had been practicing on his own when his twin had joined in, unbidden, but had it only been because he'd known it made his brother happy?

he doesn't linger on that thought for long, because it makes something in the very center of his chest ache, and he doesn't want this to end up being soured on his end by thoughts he has no control over. not that he thinks it could, but.

just going to leave that where it is.

regardless of whether or not vash thinks he's going to hold him back before he practices properly, nai doesn't think he will. he's always had faith in his brother's ability when it comes to the keys, to being able to pick out the notes for himself and follow them up without a single thought to anything else, because vash was always a natural like he was. their notes coming together had always been the highlight of their playing together.

he doesn't answer immediately, but when he does: ) Of course I will, as long as you have an interest in it. But I really don't think you're going to need as much tutoring as you assume you will.