The Ballad of the Sea (Open)

There were a great many songs that could be written about the sea, each more different than the last, as ever changing as the waves themselves. Some attempted to capture its fierceness, other the way it would caress the sand. Forward and back, back and forward again. Like a violin's bow, perhaps? The way it went back and forth on the strings? No. No quite, George thought. It was something different, though  unlike which he could capture in his notes. Water stuck in eternal cycle of high and low tides, pulled by the moon above.

He pushed the rim of his glasses to his nose, realizing that he had let his thoughts wander again.

He was trying to get a moment of peace after several nights straight of preforming in various places here on Lunapa Island, a moment alone where he could listen to the sea instead of having to worry about the next touristic area his parents or manger thought it would be best for him to preform in. At least business was good here, even if it left his wrist aching by the end of it. His father seemed to be happy about it anyways.

He looked up to a nearby rock to see the stranger strumming his guitar, which he hadn't taken care to notice before.

"Sea's got her own metronome...doesn't she?" He mused, finding himself a bit more relaxed in the presence of another musician. Normally he wasn't very social, but for this afternoon...perhaps it wouldn't harm him to make an exception, he thought, although he already felt a nervous smile spread on his face.

Raynar honestly had no idea why was he even here. He had nothing against nature in itself, but at the moment he was failing to see a benefit from even coming to the Lunapa Island in the first place. So far, he was alone with no one bothering him, which did make him feel a little better about this whole thing. He wasn't fond of people bugging him uselessly. Therefore, he spent quite a bit of time wandering around, thinking to himself about songs and similar gibberish. That always made his mood better. Soon he found himself walking by a beach, and he stopped for a while, his silver eyes taking a quick sweep over the sea. The sound of the waves was quite relaxing. 'Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to come here....maybe..'


Ray didn't move for a long moment, until he realized his boots were getting sunk into the wet sand a bit. ''Sheesh'', he would mumble, not wasting time and moving forth again. Afterall he could listen while walking too. A while later, the calming sound of the sea got distrupted by some musical instrument. From the sound Ray would guess it was a guitar of some sort, which intrigued him a bit. Someone was playing stuff on a beach? Now that was something to scope out. Finally having a solid reason, he would quicken his pace towards the sound, eventually his steps taking him to the edge of the beach, where he could see two people about. One sitting on a rock, the other standing nearby. It seemed the guy on the rock was the one playing the tune he was hearing. Ray had to admit it was interesting. He hadn't heard anything like it before, but the tune was nice.

At first he had thought of saying something, but decided against it eventually. It would be rude to interrupt the guy, and guess he enjoyed listening too...somewhat. He would walk over closer, standing near to the tree that was by the rock, humming to himself quietly, trying to match the tune of the guitar.

Strenght:

The boy gave a slight chuckle, a sudden huff of air as his right foot played with the ground beneath them, glancing down at his feet momentarily. How strange. He hadn't heard anyone talk about the ocean that way before. He knew musicians could be rather creative about these sorts of things, though. It was to be expected. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure, clearing his throat and looking out to the blue waves. "I..I would think she's already taken sir. Given how she always reaches for the moon the way she does. " carefully trimmed fingernails reached to scratch his neck, a bit more nervous than he already was at the presence of the other stranger. Oh dear, he wasn't really comfortable in a crowd, more used to playing in front of them if nothing else. "I'm well. T-Thanks for asking" Ugh. There went that stupid stutter of his again, making him look like blubbering child rather than a trained artist. He still had to work on that.

He shook his head lightly at the other's question. "I..haven't exactly come here on v-vacation"  He jerked the handle of his brown violin case the tiniest bit, hoping he would get the message.

"My n-name's George. And you?" he looked to the other stranger as well with a nervous smile, hoping he would introduce himself as well.

Ray being a bit too focused on his humming, had gotten slightly startled when the guy with the guitar spoke up, or more like called out. Lifting his silver eyes to look at the guy sitting on the rock, he would wonder briefly as to what kind of answer should he give. The question itself was strange. Date the waves? Was that supposed to be some form of a metaphor? It seemed that way. ''Hello....I suppose I have, but not in the way you do.'', he would respond slowly, keeping cautious. He did not want to say too much about himself to a stranger he just saw for the first time. The other guy was a bit more eager, and threw back his own sort of metaphor, so Ray figured that would even out.


Still, he would have to talk more, as the musician posed another question soon after. ''I was just going by, so no I did not bring a swimsuit. Maybe another time.'', he would shrug a bit. If he was to be honest, another time would surely not be happening, as that would require him getting almost naked, and showing off his strange looking arm. Now that was something he could do without. They had no need to know that though. He would close his eyes in annoyance these thoughts invoked, but would open them up again as the other guy spoke to him, introducing himself as George. ''I'm Raynar. Raynar Camelot. Nice to meet you.'', he would say, putting on a friendly smile, that didn'r really reflect his feelings though. Biting back a sigh, he would extend his left gloved arm for a handshake. Better be nice than to get into unwanted trouble. If George didn't accept, he would simply shrug it off. It didn't matter to him really. This guy seemed to be a bit shy, if he were to consider the slight stuttering, but Ray wouldn't say anything on that matter, actually hoping he himself wouldn't get the attention too much for his voice sounding like a girl's. Maybe he should just lay low...

"Me? A poet?" he simply shook his head at the idea, not wanting to elaborate on the subject any more than that. It would only be damaging to his professional image, one that he was already having a hard time upholding, if he showed that that he never had the courage to create anything on his own, only recite what he saw on paper or had memorized in his mind.

And that stutter...he'd had it for as long as he could remember. Some doctors had called it a 'speech impediment' or something of the sort when his parents had questioned it, others claimed it was just present because of nervous he always seemed to be. Too much pressure, too many things to do.

"Raynar? P-Pleasure " he did the best he could to return the smile that was given to him, using his free hand to respond to the other's friendly gesture. As a performer, it was only necessary that he at least somewhat knew how to deal with people, instead of staying by himself all the type. He did enjoy company, after all, he just often wasn't sure what the proper way was to go about it "A-and you as w-well...Jack."

Though he knew he had no obligations to take his offer at holding a concert, he did give another nod and a genuine smile at the idea. He liked the sound of that. He hadn't been able to play music with many people in the past before, so another shot at doing so would be fantastic.

"Not r-really" He admitted as he was asked if he had anything planned, again choosing to spare saying much more, getting dreadfully annoyed by the sound of his own stutter.

'What? Drums?' While Ray had no qualms about performing, he couldn't say he was any good with actual musical instruments. He fought down a frown at the suggestion before responding. ''Right. I'd say that's true, but I believe musical instruments aren't really my forte. I'd just mess up. However, if you're still interested, I could sing.'', he would say, running one gloved hand through his white hair in slight frustration. He wouln't let it show in the rest of his mannerisms or voice though.

''My pleasure as well.'', he would reply with a light smile and a nod, when George took the handshake. Looking back at the other man, he would raise his eyebrows slightly when he introduced himself as Smiling Jack. ''That's quite a poetic way to name yourself. Nice to meet you nonetheless, Jack. You seem to like swimming a lot....?'', he would say, his curiosity piqued a bit more after hearing the name. Maybe he could converse with these guys for a while. Though he hoped the swimming wouldn't actually come up. He really didn't want to. ''I just thought I'd take a walk along this island. Not much of a plan. But the waves sounded nice, which is why I ended up here on the beach.'', he would answer the question, this time apparently speaking more than George. What a reversal. But he was fine with that, as long as he wouldn't be coerced into saying personal things about himself. This was alright, while it was still on subject of music.

"Hm." was the only response the boy gave to Jack's comment on his apparent talent with words, not really wanting to take topic any further. Several girls in the past had in fact approached him, as musical talent seemed to be something many where fairly attracted to, for one reason or another. Those never ended very well. They found not a charming prince, but a shy and stammering kid who knew little outside of the realm of music.

He looked back up at Jack at the proposal of a picnic, once again finding himself caught rather off guard by the proposal, but giving a slight smile and a nod at the thought. He did not want to speak again for now, knowing it would only come out as that hateful stutter. He rarely had time to make plans of informal social gatherings, given how he was always traveling from place to place, but he could see himself visiting this beach again in the future.

Ray wasn't sure what Jack meant by playing in a big city. Wait, no actually he did get that, he just didn't know where exactly, but as long as it was for music, why not? ''Doesn't sound too bad.'' He left it at that, not really knowing what else to say to that. 'Right...' His thoughts would wander slightly, as Jack spoke of music being his one and only love. This guy was both strange and interesting. His way of speaking was a bit off from what he normally dealt with, but it wasn't neccessarily that bad to listen to. Ray figured he could get used to that, even if it made him feel dumbfounded at times.

When Jack proposed a picnic, followed by an impression of dying from hunger, Ray would tilt his head slightly. That was unexpected to say the least. ''I won't be against food. Of course, if you don't go and die from hunger till then.'', he would say with a thin smile, a little interested in the idea. While he doubted the food would be for free, you never know. ''Performing with an empty stomach is no fun after all.'' For a moment after he spoke, his silver eyes flitted towards George who was mostly silent as the talk progressed. 'I wonder what's wrong with him? He did seem to be out on a good start just a moment ago...' Perhaps he would have suggested talking about themselves to help out, if he was more fond of speaking about himself in the first place. Abandoning that idea quickly enough, he would look back at Jack, only now realizing that he had stopped playing his guitar quite some time ago.

''So, you're not playing anymore today? I was sort of enjoying listening to that. You're pretty good with that guitar of yours.'', he would ask innocently. Maybe that would solve the problem? George did play an instrument as well, and technically, if someone played, he wouldn't have to talk much. And he had to admit he would sort of enjoy hearing more himself. It sounded like a good idea, if it went through. If not, at least he tried something. Thinking up activities wasn't exactly a strength of his.

He didn't usually find that his conversations with others lasted for very long, mostly for the very same situation he found himself in now: introductions and responses to being spoken to were fairly easy to manage,  as there were usually only a few number of appropriate ways to act. Free conversation, however, was usually were the boy struggled, as he spoke to few but his parents nowadays for things outside of business.  The fact that he often hated to hear himself talk didn't help with this fact either. Mostly, again, due to his stutter.

He eyed Jack's hands carefully as he strummed the strings of his guitar, his foot unconsciously tapping like a human metronome once he had understood the time measurement of the song that was being played, nodding to himself and tracing the numbers with his finger in midair that would have appeared in front of the treble clef had this been a piece of music written on paper.

He didn't recognize the tune, but it flowed nicely together, as fluid as the wave reaching out to shore, pushing and pulling.

"In..." he hesitated for a second, as if questioning if he should speak "Indeed. Y-you've got a nice rhythm. Even without a c-conductor. T-though...I guess t-that's what you have the s-sea for? " It was clever. He might have to try it himself sometime.

Ray still found Jack a little bit strange, but he would go with the flow for now. Since he was already here, it didn't matter too much. Having company was supposed to be fun, right? As long as it was kept on normal enough terms, of course. This man seemed to mostly want to joke and play around though, so it was most likely fine. Ray didn't go out of his way to have fun often, but he wouldn't outright decline if offered. It really depended on the situation at hand.

When Jack began to play again, he would listen quietly for a moment, until George began to speak up. ''Yes, you are quite good. I suppose you play like this often, right?'', he would ask, although he figured what the answer probably was. After all, one had to practice to be good at something, even if they had the talent. But, at least it would keep the conversation going somewhat. Considering Ray didn't chase after company often, it was optimal to balance it by participating when the occassion actually came. Even though he wasn't sure what to talk about at the moment, as he didn't want to disrupt the music either. What a dillemma.