A Day of Singsong and Revolution

As he opened the door to the music studio room he was astounded, not only at the span of instruments all over the room on stands or hanging from the wall, but at the fact it was completely barren.  Not a single soul was here and it was so quiet you could hear the drop of a pin.  He shrugged as he stepped in, he always had to suppress the emotion he put into his music when he played for his friends, so it would be a good change.  He looked around the room, finally picking out a bland acoustic guitar, grabbing the pick from the strings it was intertwined in.  He ran the pick over the strings and cringed at how out of tune it was.  Must of been sitting there for a a good while...He began adjusting the tightness strings one by one.

After a few good minutes of work the thing sounded like new, and he smiled as he ran it over it a couple more times just to hear the loud strings echo around the room.  After a second he moved to a chair and sat down, tapping his foot to an invisible beat as he imagined an invisible band around him.  He started to let out some chords to a song he learned first and adored to play.  As the short instrumental ended in an oddly pleasuring voice that held his signature Irish accent that sounded somewhat smooth and low for a sixteen year old boy.  

"I was born on a Dublin street where the loyal drums to beat/and those loving English feet walk over us./every single night when my da would could home tight/he'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus!"  He closed his eyes when he sang, it always helped him think a bit and imagine.  A song should tell a story or convey a message and he wanted to know it like the back of his hand.  Then he began the chorus, and with probably a little too much emotion and possibly a little too loudly he projected "Come out ye black and tans/Come and fight me like a man!/ Show your wives how you won medals down in Flanders!/Tell her how the IRA/ Made you run like Hell away/from the green and lovely hills of Killashandra!"

He bobbed his head lightly as he played the repeating chords and stopped to take a breath.  It had certainly been awhile since he played and he was playing and singing pretty sloppy.  He hadn't taken his guitar with him when he took the plane here, he wanted to pack light.  He had missed the thing and was happy, and so he just la'ed to what he was playing as he started getting used to feeling his fingertips on the metal and multi-tasking, his eyes still closed, almost entranced on the music he was making.

Janya had been wondering the school grounds, trying to get familiar with where things were. She had a map sure, but she wanted to commit it to memory or else it wouldn't go too well for her. She would always get lost if she didn't try memorizing it, and she didn't want to end being an older student and still not know where she was going.

Once she heard that there was a music building, she decided to visit it. Of course she had to check the map a few times because she kept forgetting where it was. Jeez why was her memory so bad. After the fifth time of checking her map, the girl finally found the studio building. She was happy to finally be there. She took a look around the building, at the plants and trees, before heading inside.

Once inside, the girl paused at the entrance when she heard music filling the air. She let out a small hum of happiness as she listened in on the nice music. Whoever was playing clearly knew what they were doing, but they sounded a bit rusty too. Carefully the girl approached the door where the music was coming from. Inside she could see a boy sitting with a guitar in his arms. She wanted to speak up and say something to the boy, but she didn't want to disturb his playing. So she was just going to wait until he was done.

He played the next chords a bit better as things started to begin to feel natural again, he played a bit smoother, a smile crawling across his face as he began the second verse.  

"Come let us hear you tell/How you slandered great Parnell/When you fought them well and truly persecuted/Where are sneers and jeers/That you loudly let us hear/When our leaders of sixteen were excuted!"  He played through the chorus again, just as loud and proud as the last time.  He decided to skip the last verse, going through the chorus once more.

He began just letting out a "La la la la de la la la la la"  to the beat as he went through a couple more seconds of playing before ending it and opening his eyes to the large window that looked out to a small garden.  He let out a breath as he thought of the song he hadn't played in so long, it was good to play a nice patriotic song again.  He loved to feel the guitar between his arms and to feel the music as he sang and it was just good to be back at it.  He kept the smile on his face as he leaned back in the chair for a second, just taking in the silence.

Janya just silently listened along as he continued playing. She felt a little sad when he had stopped but that gave her a chance to praise his playing, and actually talk to the guy if he wanted to be talked to. "That was really nice.." She said in a soft tone not to startle the guy to badly. She was a little scared to speak up at first, afraid that the guy would yell at her for listening in on a sort of personal moment, but she pushed her fears aside so she could tell him it was good. Everyone deserved a little motivation every now and then.

Fearghas flinched as the voice sounded off behind him.  It was usually a personal endeavor with his music, especially when he sang alone.  But he forced himself to relax, it was just one person and apparently she liked it so it couldn't be all that bad.  He moved the guitar to to his right side side, leaning it on an amplifier.  He turned in the chair to face the girl, a tinge of red still on his cheeks as he offered a cool smile "Ya think so?  I'm a tad rusty, but thanks."  As he spoke a very distinctive Irish accent came from him, trading the "th" sound for a sharper "t" sound.  He looked at the girl, examining her for a second with his earthy brown eyes, taking gauge of the new person in the room.  She was smiling to and she sounded like she wasn't just being sincere, I mean why would you even say anything?  "So what brings ya to the studio?"

A smile worked it's way back on her face as the boy spoke up, and wasn't angry at her for listening in. "You're welcome." She said. She folded her hands behind her back, trying to be sort of polite. She couldn't lie though, his accent was pretty great. It was probably one of those things she could listen to all day, but she would never say that aloud. "Oh.. Uhh.. Well I came over here to check out the building. I have only been here a few days.. so I'm trying to get a map of everything in my head." Though it was kind of difficult for the girl due to her memory issue. "I would ask you what you were doing here, but it's kind of obvious.." She trailed off in slight embarrassment.

Fearghas offered a sincere smile, there were some minds at this school, but it seemed like not very many people had the charisma gift.  He noticed the tinge of red at her cheeks as the last statement trailed off.  He reached over and grabbed the brown wood acoustic guitar off of the amplifier it was leaning against, holding it up for her to see "I guess so, but isn't it nice to know something is obvious, yeah?"  

He let the reassuring statement hang in the air for a second, before setting it in his lap, and looking over to the girl again his sincere smile still held strong "I was new here not long ago, from the Emerald Isle too so I came here with as much know as a babby, but a good lookin' cailín like you'll do just fine."  Fearghas ran the pick over the strings absentmindedly.  She certainly wasn't bad looking, he would even hazard to say she looked good, certainly good enough for a little compliment.  Everyone deserved a compliment on something and even if this girl hadn't the most eloquent she could make up for with looks and just working at it.  It t

hen it occurred to him she probably was gonna ask him to play again, so he began to flip through the jukebox in his head as he tried to think of a song he remembered to play by heart and wasn't too revolutionary, I mean what kinda random girl would be into Irish revolutionary tales?  He started to think of one or two songs that stood out as something he remembered as he waited for the response of the girl standing before him.

Janya shrugged slightly. Her eyes looking at the guitar he picked up once again. "Well most people would be mean about it, like saying 'well duh' or 'it's kind of obvious' if I asked the question or even saying what I just said. But yeah it is nice, I guess." She said her hands messing with each other out of slight nervousness behind her back.

Slight red covered her face once again at his next statement. "Oh.. uh.. thanks." She said giving him a slight friendly smile. No one really ever called her good looking. Well except for her mother, her sister just liked to pick on her. Her sister wasn't exactly the best younger sibling in the world, but they had some good moments. Eventually she cleared the thoughts from her head, and then remembered she had disturbed his playing time. "Oh.. I'm sorry for disturbing your playing. I'm Janya by the way, but you can call me Naya for short if you would like." Her slight confidence was returning.

Fearhas nodded at her first statement, happy she agreed.  He noticed the tinge of red and had to resist the urge to chuckle, she must not have received compliments much.  She went off thinking for a second and he noticed the good ole thousand yard stare you got when you thought deeply.

She finally recovered her thought process and told him about interrupting his playing.  Fearghas just shook his head with a small smile on his face as she apologized, then she told him her name.  Janya...rolled off the tongue in a way he could only compare to when spoke Gaelic, so much different than the English dialect he never bothered to practice.  "It's fine Janya, they call me Fearghas, but if you want my good friends know me as Fearghas."  He smiled at his little joke, strumming across the strings one more time, looking back up to the student "Well, since you're here you could listen to a song or ta, I'm not the most confident when I play."

It was true, but he also still wanted to play and an audience didn't sound too bad, even if it was of one girl he'd never met-Maybe playing for strangers was better than for people he knew.

Janya blinked. Not many people called her Jayna. They normally called her by her nickname, tho only ones that called her by her real name was her parents when something serious was going on. It was nice to hear used in a friendly manner. The girl brought a hand to her mouth, and let out a small giggle in response to his small joke. Her hand fell and joined the other one behind her back once again. "Well I wouldn't mind listening if you don't mind playing." She said. She didn't want to force him to play just because she wanted to listen to more songs. So if he wanted to play she would listen.

A small smile grew on Fearghas' face as she told him she wouldn't mind his playing.  He tapped the pick on the wood of the guitar for a moment catching the beat in his head.  He then lowered the the pick over the strings and began to strum.  He let his fingers dance across the neck as he played a short instrumental before piping up to sing rather softly at first " Near Banbridge Town, in the County Down/One evenin' last July/Down a bóithrín green came a sweet cailín/And she smiled as she passed my by./She looked so neat in her two bare feet/To the sheen of he nutbrown hair/Such a coaxing elf, I'd to shake myself/ to remember I was standin' there."

He played the strings for a second, adding a couple extra chords to the song he always liked to because it added flair to the chorus, he sang out again a little louder but just as melodiously  "From Bantry Bay to Derry Quay/ From Galway to Dublin town/ No maid I've seen like the fair cailín/ That I met at the County Down." A couple more picks of the strings and he was off for a little bit of a solo, playing chords up and down the neck and nodding his head to the imaginary beat.  He thoroughly enjoyed hearing himself play and a smile was plastered to his face, imagining a full band behind him as he opened his eyes to look to Janya to offer his smile, tapping his foot lightly on the floor.

As the boy tapped out the beat Janya looked around for a moment to find something to sit on. Which it didn't take long since there was a stool sitting right near her. She moved silently listening to the intro of the song, and sat down. Once she settled she closed her eyes and listened to the music, hearing the beat of the song and the flow of the words along with it. She opened her eyes again, and just watched his hand movements on the guitar. It was interesting to see. She never really learned how to play an instrument, though she always wanted to. Soon enough she found her foot silently tapping along to the beat of the song.

It was a nice song, but one she wasn't familiar with so it was hard for her to notice the extra flair he had thrown in there. She just assumed it was apart of the song. She noted in her head the he had a nice singing voice too. Her attention was brought back up to his face when he offered her a smile. She easily found herself smiling back, but it soon dropped away as she got lost in the music once again.

Fearghas ran the pick over the streets deftly as his smile grew.  The sound continued as he began the second verse, his voice picking up near the end of the verse "As she onward sped I shook me head/And I gazed with a feeling queer/And I said, says I, to a passerby?"Who's your one with the nutbrown hair?"/He smiled at me and with pride says he: / "She's the gem of Ireland's Old Crown"/  Young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann/And the star of the County Down."  His fingers were starting to get a little sore but that didn't stop him as he continued with the chorus, looking up from his guitar to offer a little wink midway through the chorus.

He played the couple notes in between as he began the next verse with his smile held "At the Harvest fair she'll likely be there/And I'll dress in my Sunday clothes./With my hat cocked right and my shoes shone bright/for a smile from the nutbrown rose./No horse I'll yoke or pipe I'll smoke/'Til the rust in my plough turn brown/and a smiling bride by my own fireside/Sits the star of the County Down."  He played the strings for one more run through of the chorus before dancing one more solo and ending it with his head down melodramatically.  He looked up and offered a laugh, he was genuinely having a good time.

Janya continued to listen to the song. Her smile was still on her face though it was a soft smile. One of those she had when she was truly enjoying something. Her foot was still softly tapping to the beat. She continued to watch him slightly, seeing the joy on his face made her happy. She looked at him at just the right time to see him wink at her. Slight pinked dusted her checks, and she raised a hand to cover it, and looked away from the boy, her grin still on her face.

Eventually it faded, and her hand fell to her side once again. She closed her eyes for a brief moment then the song was over. She felt a little sad that it was, but it was nice while it lasted. She opened her eyes to see him with his head down, trying to be dramatic. When he looked up, and laughed she couldn't help but laugh to. After she calmed down a little bit she spoke. "That was beautiful. I'm guessing those songs come from your home?" She asked curiously. She hadn't heard them before.

Fearghas offered a smile, home.  Just as he forgot about it too... "Somewhat, I learned these to help with English, if I started singin' in Gaeilge you wouldn't understand me.  Plus I was sure you'd appreciate a song about a cailín álainn."  Home jumped back into his mind as he remembered the green fields and his friends.  His language and hitting on the red-headed girls back home.  Well, most things didn't change.  He set the guitar aside, leaning it on the amp next to him, leaning back comfortably into the small plastic chair he sat in.  He missed his step-dad and his mom too much, they always wrote but it was still so different in this country, it could be stifling.  He realized his brown eyes went full on thousand yard stare and he offered a sheepish chuckle.  He recovered as he realized he was staring directly at the girl, for a good ten to twenty seconds.  "So,ah- where ya hail from, Janya?"  At least he said something, he needed to start finding some people to help him get used to this new world...