Closed Practising and Playing

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch hadn't practiced his flute in months. The motivation to do so had evaporated slowly over time. There was no reason to keep at it when his parents weren't around. They were the ones who wanted it, who wanted him to be good at it. He didn't care as much. But the rose from Lucy which had been surprisingly nice and the offer to play with her, he had decided to accept. He wasn't sure why, but he had. He hadn't played in so long, he was bound to be terrible. The boy tiredly walked into the arts room, having arranged to meet with her there, and put together his flute, tuning it lightly with the piano.

 

[Lucy Montague]

((sorry this took so long!))

Lucy was excited, though she had to admit, a little bit nervous. Sure, Enoch had agreed, but previous interactions with him hadn't gone so well so now she was half-expecting something to go awry. She'd gotten a little out of practice during the study period but she thought it'd be a nice change of pace to get back into it. She'd even found an arrangement for the two of them to try out. Lucy entered the conglomerated arts room with her violin in tow, smiling upon seeing Enoch. "Hi!" she greeted enthusiastically. "I'm glad to get a break from study, this'll be nice." She spoke genuinely, putting her violin case down on a low table to start getting it ready.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch was immediately a little regretful of his decision to do this. He hadn't interacted with people a lot and he hadn't practiced in so long, he was going to make a mess of things and then it would just be terrible. The teen just gave a tight nod, "Yeah," he offered, trying to keep his voice a little neutral, to not be dismissive to her. He had agreed to this. "I'll just practice some scales first, get warmed up," he said, watching her a little before he put the flute to his lips and played a few scales. His fingers fumbled a little out of practice, but it got better as he did it a few times over.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Of course! I should probably do the same," Lucy said, getting out her violin. She plucked at the strings, trying to hear how in tune they were. Then she decided to half-listen to Enoch playing his scales while tightening the bow strings on her bow. She didn't really know much about flutes, but she heard him stumble. Lucy didn't judge him for it. It was all part of warming up. "Okay," Lucy said, lifting the violin to her shoulder. "I should do the same." She practiced a bit, doing some open bows and then a scale or two. She felt she was ready after a few minutes. "Alright, so I found us a piece we can try out," she said, putting down her violin for a moment to retrieve the sheet music. She handed it to Enoch to look over. "Does it look okay for you? I don't know how hard the flute part is."

Out of Character:

The piece Lucy is showing is an arrangement for flute and violin of the Flower Duet by Delibes. Here's a link to the piece being performed to get an idea what it's like.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch was trying his best, trying to not get thrown off as he ran the scales. He stopped eventually, sufficiently warmed up and then looked at the piece that she wanted to do. Enoch looked over the piece. He could read sheet music, but it was a little overwhelming that he'd have to read this and play with her with little practice. He learnt pieces, practiced them over and over until they were good. He'd never seen this piece and it had been months since he'd last practiced anything. "Can we do a...practice run or two?" he asked, his voice nervous, as he read the music a second and third time, just trying his best to understand it.

 

[Lucy Montague]

"Of course!" Lucy said, smiling. "I've barely practiced myself really, so we can go slow. I don't expect you to be perfect straight away," Lucy said, laughing a little. She wondered if Enoch played with others much, before realising it probably wasn't likely. Lucy did sometimes during breaks - not often, but often enough to know that a first run through together is bound to be a little spotty. She put down her violin and fetched them some music stands. Putting her copy of the music up, she got her violin back up onto her shoulder and against her chin. Lucy considered the music for a moment. "Do you want to pick the tempo?" she asked, wanting to be accommodating.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch nodded a little, still looking over the music, trying to read all of it so he would get it. He let her get the music stands and then put the sheets up on the one she'd got for him. He nodded, he didn't really want to pick the tempo, since he worried about picking something too slow that Lucy would judge him for. But he nodded a second time and raised the flute to his lips "I'll play the first bar to set the tempo, than will repeat it so you can join in,". He gave an experimental note, and then got started, doing as he said and picking a moderate tempo, not too slow, not as slow as he really wanted but not the actual tempo of the music.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy nodded, listening to Enoch play the first bar and counting to make sure she got the right speed. She then joined in on the second time as instructed, playing fluidly though her bowing wasn't completely skilfull as she concentrated on getting the right notes with her left hand. It sounded really pretty, she thought, but had to shelve that thought as she concentrated on playing in a way that complemented Enoch's.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch managed to get through the whole piece, with only a few mistakes. Nothing which entirely stopped him from playing, or continuing the piece. He knew that he wasn't at the right tempo at all, but the more he played the easier it was to do so. He hadn't played in so long, hadn't been in the mood for it, given it was something his parents wanted and given everything, playing just reminded him of them. It reminded him now, but he just focused on playing. The piece finished he lowered the flute and nodded, the closest he might come to smiling. "You play really nicely," he complimented her without meeting her gaze. "Shall we go again?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

It had gone well - Lucy had heard a couple of mistakes from Enoch, but in her opinion it didn't interrupt the flow of the piece that much. Her own bowing had maybe been a bit off in places so it wasn't like she'd been perfect either. The long slurred bows were tricky, especially at a slower speed, but faster would make her fingers work harder. She was feeling refreshed by the end of it - enjoying that special feeling of making music with someone else. Lucy smiled somewhat sheepishly when Enoch complimented her playing. "I like how you play too," she said simply yet honestly. She nodded when he suggested going again. "It's a really pretty piece, huh? Did you want to go a bit faster or are you happy with the speed?"

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch gave a tight expression as she returned the compliment. He knew she had to be lying, he'd just heard himself play too, he was rusty and terrible in comparison to her. He had never really been as good as his parents wanted to be. But he nodded. "No, I think I can manage the normal speed," Enoch said, not wanting to embarrass himself with having to go slow with her again. He had played it once, he knew how to now. It would be easier. "I just hadn't played in a while, but now, I can do it," he insisted, and raised the flute to his lips to start the piece again. "You can play us in this time?"

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy noted Enoch's expression as she returned the compliment, and wondered if he wasn't good at receiving compliments. She bit her lip, wondering if she should say something more or if she'd just dig herself a hole. "Okay," she said with a little nod as he explained they'd go at normal speed. "I'll try to keep up too." Lucy gave a friendly smile. She hoped her bowing would be okay. She thought she had the fingering down, so it really just came down to that. "Yep, I can do that. I'll do what you did and play the first bar." Lucy paused for a moment, trying to remember how fast the piece went. She got it in her head, took a sharp breath, and put the bow to the string. She then restarted the bar for Enoch to come in.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch nodded, he would almost be pleased if she also struggled with normal speed, but he felt sure that she wouldn't. He was certainly about to, but she wouldn't. He let her start as he started joining in and immediately having more difficulty with the speed. He was keeping up mostly, brushing past his odd mistakes. Perhaps he should've just accepted a second try at a slower speed. But he was also determined, he wasn't going to stop, he kept going playing and though he knew it hadn't been his best performance, by the end he had made it to the end and he knew with another couple of practices he'd make less and less mistakes.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy played mostly well, but her bowing faltered at some points, going on an up bow when she should have been going down, and ruining the flow of the piece. She barely noticed Enoch's mistakes, so caught up in her own. "Sorry about that," she said, a little flustered. Although Lucy was generous with other's mistakes, she wasn't so generous when it came to her own and she felt faintly irritated with herself. "I got the right notes, but..." Lucy gave a sigh. "I can do it better next time. One more time?" She asked sheepishly.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

It was almost a relief to note that Lucy struggled with the piece. Perhaps he had come into it a little strong, her just assumed that she was far better and that he would be the dead weight in their duet, but it seemed perhaps they were at the same level. "You were good," he told her as she apologised. He didn't think she needed to, certainly, he didn't want to apologise and if she did, surely he had to too. "We can go a bit slower, between that tempo and the first one," he offered. "I think we jumped too quickly into the real tempo of the piece," he didn't say he had found it daunting or that they were doing it for her, but just that they both were, in the hopes that she wouldn't feel bad, and wouldn't think he was just saying it for her sake.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy gave a small, weak smile at his efforts to tell her she did good. She didn't quite feel like it. She didn't like that things were off and gave a stressed sigh. "That might be a good idea," she agreed, "you might be right. The bowing is - well, it's not complicated, I suppose, I'm just..." Lucy tried to think of a good excuse. She couldn't really so she just shook her head. "Let's just go again, at the inbetween speed. We got this." Lucy smiled at Enoch, it almost meeting her eyes but not quite.

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

There was a moment as Enoch was listening to her give excuses and then say they should go again where he almost blurted out what had been preventing him from playing. Why he felt so out of practice. He wasn't even sure why. It wasn't like he should trust that Lucy wouldn't take what he said and make fun of him for it. She seemed genuine but he wasn't sure how far that would go. And worse what if she'd been through something worse which made him seem silly by comparison. "Okay, i'll play us in," he said, and then did as they'd done previously, playing the first bar, sitting a mid-tempo between their first and last attempt and then continued to play.

 

[Lucy Montague]

Lucy continued, playing better this time but something felt off. She didn't quite know what it was - was it her playing, or his? Or both? Everything sounded as it should - nothing out of tune, the timing was right - but something was missing. She stopped halfway through, rather abruptly, mid-phrase. She lowered her violin off her shoulder. "Sorry, I think something's...it doesn't sound like how I envisioned it." Lucy paused in thought. "What do you think?" she decided to ask, wondering if he'd know what it was. "If it's me, um, you can just say so. 'Cause it might be."

 

[Enoch Goldewyn]

Enoch got to playing as she did and stopped as abruptly as she did. He hadn't thought anything was off. He just looked at her and shrugged. "I'm out of practice," he said, sure that it was him. "You could try it alone and we can see if it was me?" je really did doubt that it was her, she seemed like the much better player, much better and more confident that he was at playing. He was out of practice, he wasn't good at playing like this. He was the type who needed practice. So much practice.