Open Strumming On

[Isaiah Thompson]

Open after Ana posts with @Weston Stirling

Isaiah was stoked to be back at school. His break had been fine and he'd had plenty of fun, but there was nothing new about it. He knew his own house, knew their town like the back of his hand. There just wasn't much to explore around there anymore, nothing new, no adventures. But at school there was still so much he hadn't seen or done and after his adventure in the forest last year he knew there were plenty of more cool things he could experience around the school. For now though, he decided to take it easy and had taken a seat on one of the stone benches in the courtyard. He had obviously brought his guitar with him. With everyone just having arrived back at school and eager to get out and catch up with friends there was plenty of movement around the courtyard of students heading in and out of the castle and it seemed like the perfect spot for him to just strum away and come up with dumb little tunes about them. Zay was about to pick his next victim when he noticed a familiar face heading his way. "Weston! Dude!" He laughed as he excitedly waved at his friend from his spot on the bench, hoping he'd hear him between all of the chattering students that were passing by.

 

[Weston Stirling]

The break from schoolwork had been nice, but it hadn't taken long for Weston to grow bored at home. All his friends were at Hogwarts, and while his parents were nice, they still did boring parent-y stuff like give him chores and lecture him about the importance of school. He missed being around kids his own age, and he'd quickly taken to his old routine of wandering around the nearby park, striking up conversations with anyone who so much as glanced his way. It had been fun, but it hadn't led to any lasting friendships.

It was a good thing he didn't have to worry about that anymore now that he was back at Hogwarts. Weston had already caught up with all his best friends, also known as his roommates, and now he needed to find his other best friends. The Conglomerated Arts Room seemed like a good place to start, so guitar case in hand, he made his way down the castle and towards the courtyard.

Weston was crossing the courtyard when he heard his name, and he looked around wildly before spotting Isaiah. "Zay! Hey!" He beamed and waved back just as excitedly before hurrying over. "Zay, hey, that rhymes," he said with a laugh. Spotting his friend's guitar, he lifted his own. "I guess we had the same idea! Are you also going to the arts room? Or are you playing out here?"

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah was glad his friend had noticed him shouting over the noise of various students sitting around the courtyard or passing him by. He wouldn't have been too bothered if he hadn't, but he figured they could hang out now that he had. "Yes Wes, it does." He laughed when Weston realized his greeting had rhymed, purposefully responding with a little rhyme on his own. If there was one thing he enjoyed it was creating dumb rhymes after all, although mostly in song format. Or more like short tunes really, as he almost never went on for more than two or three sentences. "Nah, I'm playing here, dude." Zay answered with a smile as he gave his own guitar an appreciative little tap. "Feel like the arts room is more for people with serious skills." He added. It was mostly why he didn't spend too much time in there. He liked playing guitar, sure, and he wasn't too shabby at it but he did it to have fun, to keep him occupied for a little while. Sitting in the arts room and trying to wrap his head around sheet music and stuff wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston grinned at the little rhyme Zay made from his name. "Nice!" He decided that "hey Zay" would be the only greeting he would ever use for his friend. "What?" he asked, surprised to hear that Zay thought the arts room was just for serious people. "No way! It's so cool. The instruments there are magical and they're always perfectly tuned and they can teach you how to play. And sometimes if the other instruments like the music you're playing, they'll join in!" He decided to leave out the fact that it had only happened to him once so far. And that incident had quickly been cut short when he'd gotten distracted by his excitement and had strummed a couple of wrong chords. "We should go sometime. It's fun, you'll see." He knew Zay was planning on playing outside for now, and he planned on staying out here with the Gryffindor for the time being. It was nice being surrounded by so much commotion in the courtyard. But Weston was also determined to make sure Zay knew about the wonders of the arts room.
((I spent way too long trying to figure out how "Wes" rhymed with "does"))

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah laughed at his friend's response, sure that this wasn't the last time he would've specifically used 'hey' to greet him. He couldn't blame him though, knowing fully well that he'd do exactly the same if the roles were reversed. "That happen to you?" He questioned when Wes started excitedly blabbing on about the arts room and how sometimes the instruments chimed in. He'd been in there once before after feeling the need to check it out but it hadn't seemed like a place for him. Probably because there weren't often any people to annoy rejoice with the dumb little tunes he liked to make up. He was far more keen to be around people, never too serious about playing. He hated to admit it, but mostly he was just scared that sincerely pursuing playing would take the fun out of it. "Oh, I've been." Zay laughed when his friend mentioned going there sometime. "But for you Wes, I'd happily put my opinions aside and go again." He said jokingly, although he honestly wouldn't mind checking it out again. Perhaps it was more fun with a friend around. "So, you wanna play something? Gotta warn you I'm not good with the serious stuff though. I mostly just improvise."

 

[Weston Stirling]

"Oh, uh, no, I mean, yes," Weston stumbled over his words. He hadn't really expected Zay to ask about the experience. "They didn't do it for very long, but when they did, it was awesome! It's kind of like you're in a band except you're the lead and everyone's just there for backup," he said, trying to sell the experience. Though Weston didn't really play music for the purpose of being listened to, he did appreciate it when others took the time to listen — even if his audience in that moment had just been some magical instruments.

Weston grinned when Zay mentioned that he would go again, taking his friend's statement at face value. "I'll show you all the fun stuff," he promised. That had to be the reason why Zay hadn't enjoyed his first time there; he must've missed out on the magic. "Yeah, let's do it!" He knelt to take his guitar out of its case and started plucking at some strings to check that it was in tune. "I'm sure you're fine! I think improvising is harder than just playing stuff you've learned."

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah was surprised to hear that Weston had actually had some random instruments join in when he had been playing in the arts room. That did sound pretty sweet. Although he was sure none of his own strumming would be interesting enough for any magically enchanted instrument to feel the need to join in. "That's sweet as, bro!" He nodded approvingly at his friend. Even if he was sure it would never happen to him, it did sound like it had been a cool experience for Wes. Which, being the hype man he was or at the very least tried to be, could only make him excited for the other boy.

Zay laughed at his friend's remark, certain it'd only be a matter of time before Wes would seek him out and drag him to the arts room. He was sure that with the other boy around it would be fun. "I never said I'm good at it though." He joked when Wes started plucking his guitar. Sure, he liked improvising and just casually strumming on a whole lot more than attempting to play fom sheet music but that didn't mean it always sounded good to him. Or others. As long as he enjoyed himself he didn't care much for that either. "Then again I usually drown out the sound of my guitar with my fabulous singing." He laughed as he readied his own guitar, although he genuinely thought that his singing was better than his playing.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston nodded eagerly at Zay's assessment of the situation. "It really was!" The affirmation had made him completely forget about his earlier insecurities over the incident and how brief it really had been. Plus hopefully Zay's enthusiasm meant he would be more willing to check out the arts room. Then again, Zay was always enthusiastic. That's why Weston liked hanging out with him.

He shrugged when Zay mentioned that he wasn't necessarily good at improvising. "It's still fun." Weston himself wasn't very good at drawing, but he still liked doing it. He laughed at Zay's comment about his singing. "Well now you have to sing something!" He had finished tuning his guitar and straightened up, strumming a chord for emphasis. "I'm ready. Okay Zay, take it away!" Weston grinned, taking too much pleasure from the rhyme.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah nodded when Wes said improvising was still fun, even if he hadn't ever said he was good at it. He liked to think he was though. At least better at improvising and just casually strumming for fun than he was at seriously playing music. As long as he was having fun he was content with whatever he was doing. "Oooh, I don't think you do." Zay grinned and shook his head when it became apparent that he had pretty much dug his own grave when he mentioned his singing being better than his playing. He knew he wasn't actually bad but he wasn't too serious about any of that either. "Judging from that rhyme I figure you could easily join me." He laughed at his friend, already imagining how much more fun coming up with silly tunes about passerby's would be if Wes were to join him. "Alright," He shook his head, strumming a few random chords on his guitar and jokingly clearling his throat. "Wes, Wes, Wes, you asked for this. I can only hope that my voice brings you bliss." Zay sung, laughing as he finished with a dramatic strum before waving his hand in a 'thank you' wave to his one and only spectator.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston beamed, pleased by Zay's remark which he took to be a compliment. "Your name is very rhymable," he said with a laugh. Making words rhyme was definitely the hardest part about songwriting (not that he'd successfully written many, or really any, songs before). He much preferred stringing together interesting melodies. But he also knew that a lot of people liked their music with lyrics.

He waited eagerly for Zay to begin his song, and at the end of the little ditty, Weston immediately burst into applause. "That was great! You should serenade me all the time," he joked. He was also impressed by how quickly Zay had put that together. "Okay, my turn, um..." He absentmindedly fiddled with the strings as he tried to think up something that included as many "-ay" rhymes as possible. "It's such a great day, to play along with my friend Zay," he sang, strumming a few chords. "Uhhhh... Anyone who hears us will say, hey, they're really good, we should stay!" he finished with a grin.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah grinned when his friend said his name was very rhymable, giving a little shrug. For his nickname that was definitely true and since that was what most of his friends called him he couldn't really argue with that logic. His full name would be a whole different story. "I think I'll pass." He laughed when Wes commented on him singing a silly little tune to his friend. It was fun though and he nodded approvingly when the other boy came up with one that seemed to include as many -ay rhymes as he could think of. "Now my name's just making it easy on you." Zay joked, although he had still been impressed with how many rhymes Wes had managed to come up with on the spot. "You should definitely join me more often, it's the most fun to create tunes about people passing by." He smiled. Since there were plenty of students he didn't know most of those passing him by were often strangers, which made things just a whole lot more fun. Having to come up with something just by what he saw and noticed was a lot more challenging then thinking of something for someone he knew.