The Ballad of the Sea (Open)

Again, he felt humbled by Jack's words towards him, never finding himself to be that interesting at all. To have inspired anything at all seemed pretty flattering, but he was rather surprised by Jack's sudden leave. Maybe it was something that more creative musicians did, he thought to himself. He didn't write his own pieces, so he didn't know if inspiration was fleeting. Maybe he did need to get home right away before he forgot what he was doing.

It did leave him in a bit of an awkward situation though, without so much as having the chance to say goodbye as he turned to Ray.

"Well..t-that was i-interesting." He gave a nervous laugh, some sort of attempt to relieve his own tension.

'That was...quick.' Ray was a little bit dumbfounded by Jack's sudden departure, staring vaguely into the direction the strange guy rushed off to. One moment he gives out weird compliments, next he's gone. Just what kind of a guy is he? Shaking his head, Ray would give up the attempts at understanding, because, let's be honest here, coming up with anything was an extremely low possibility. He wasn't too good at reading people who behave so out of norm, therefore he might as well not waste time trying to do so.

''Yes, I guess it was...'', he would say, looking over at George when the other spoke to him. Ray didn't really know what else to say. This was quite the strange phenomenon. He's never met a person like Jack before. Too...he didn't even know the right word to make a suitable description.

The boy let out a deep breath to calm himself, having ignored the tension in her shoulder up until now. Interacting with more than one person was not something he did very often, aside from his parents at the dinner table when the three of them managed to eat together again. The life of a traveling musician was perhaps not as glamours as most would think. He often wondered if a quieter life would have suited him better- what would have happened if his talent with the instrument he held in his hand had never been discovered. Still, things should be a touch easier since he was talking to a singular person instead of two.

"I w-would like to t-think there was a t-time when I was that p-passionate.." he mused, features of his face softening a bit at the thought. What was once pleasure had become business for the boy of sixteen "Though I c-can't remember ever having done something like t-that.."

Ray would look at the other from the corner of his silver eyes. Interesting. Not that he couldn’t understand the reasoning for that, from what he’d seen so far, he would find it hard to imagine George in a situation like that. Besides, passion didn’t have to be expressed like that. There were other ways, right? Everyone was different. He himself would never act like Jack, that he could tell.

‘‘There’s always a time for everything. Maybe you will someday. I wouldn’t say it’s neccessary either way. As long as you enjoy yourself, it’s fine, isn’t it?‘‘ Although, it might be helpful for the guy. He did seem a little socially awkward. Perhaps it would be good for him to do something out of a normal routine, if he even could. It wasn’t easy when you weren’t good at it.

His eyes seemed to light up at the suggestion, a sort of childish excitement at the thought that he would have tried to hide otherwise. "You t-think so?" he nodded again at the idea "Perhaps, j-just have to find it again. Yes."

It was awfully annoying, still, this stutter. Though he had calmed down considerably since he hadn't needed to deal with the stress of talking to more than one person at a time, it made him sound a lot more uncomfortable then he really was. It would always stay, no matter how confident he was.

Though he supposed if he was a bit more socially adept he would have probably invited this pleasant enough acquaintance to grab a bite to eat on the way back from this beach- but those words wouldn't quite come out of his throat.

"Never been one for c-composing though. Perhaps its as simple as that."

Ray would nod with a small smile. "Afterall, you never knows what future brings." Sure, George seemed like a generally shy person, but that didn't have to mean he couldn't find a solid way to present himself. Everyone surely had some sort of inner strength they could draw on. It was just a matter of finding out what motivates you enough to push forward.

He would think to himself when George said he wasn't much of a composer. "Well, even if you aren't, I am sure there are other ways to get a similar result. Sure, talent helps a lot, but if you keep trying, there is always a way to achieve your goals.", he would say after a while, giving a light shrug. He himself did not really have experience with that yet, but he figured it should work.