socialcapital | [ JACKSON HEART ]

But an engineer would be the person I'd ask about whether the materials fit the situation.

[In his mind, a small litany occurrences of Umbra saying, It's good not to get everything I want play over and over.

And he lowers his hand just enough to meet this young Totality's eyes.

... and that resolve crumples, his flashbacks replaced with every sparkling moment Umbra received mangoes or carnival treats or reassurance or affection.]

... still. I can... try.

He bounces cheerfully.

"Yay! Okay, I haven't finished or refined it or anything yet, but just let me know if anything about this sounds weird or if it sounds okay."

Totality grabs Satin's wrist with both hands and herds him over to a little couch before grabbing his guitar.

"--Oh, you can call me Tali by the way. Haha, I totally forgot. Okay now I'm gonna play it."

It's NOT exactly this song but it has the vibes of this song. This is the energy.

[He is grabbed and goes to the couch with the kind of numb resignation one usually sees on venue staff assigned janitorial duty.

And before he can even manage It's a pleasure to meet you, there's... music. Wistful and aching, and he suddenly understands Umbra's comment about that lullaby not being him at his best. Not that even this is his best, surely, young as he is, but...]

What... did you think was wrong with it?

He has a lot of passion and a lot of enthusiasm. Music is clearly the thing that makes him happiest, and that's evident in how he performs even in a casual setting.

"Well, I can't tell if I've like... stretched it out too much? But it felt okay? You didn't like, get bored halfway in?"

No. It... changed enough? Between the chorus and the verses that it didn't feel repetitive. But the motifs were consistent enough that it could feel familiar.

And the delivery of the words themselves had so much emotion over the melody that it was hard to look away. It felt... very wistful. And yearning.

He does a shy little giggle.

"Ehe... I tend to put a lot of my feelings into the stuff I write, so... it just feels that way. But!"

Tali grabs his little notebook and does some triumphant scribbling.

"Now that an unbiased source has confirmed it sounds fine I can stop gnawing on this one!"

You said your name was Tali, didn't you?

Satin. I'd apologize for wandering in, but if you got some use out of it, that's all the better.

"Well, it's Totality, but Tali is less syllables and way easier to say. And don't even worry about it! This isn't like, a private area or anything. If anything I'm kinda monopolizing it."

I don't see anyone else trying to use it. I'm just wandering through. [His mouth twitches into a smile.] You could call it a Family habit.

"Family habit..."

He tilts his head back and forth, examining, then nods.

"You're an... Astrologist?"

Just so. I'd never come this way before; it seemed reason enough to see what was here.

Do you write a lot of music here?

"Yeah! Or, well, I can write anywhere if I have a notebook and a pen, but this is the best place to actually practice."

Are you mostly by yourself?

He looks slightly embarrassed.

"Well, I have some friends, but they're not into music as much so I usually write by myself. But once I have some solid songs I'm going to try to meet some other music people!"

I think, if you've had enough passion and dedication to come this far on your own, you aren't going to have any problems at all finding people who want to share that journey with you.

I'm not a music person either. But I can tell this is something you love.

"I hope so! I have a lot of songs I want to share with people. Obviously a band first, but then once we have a band, the sky's the limit, right?"

He swings his legs a little where he's sitting on the stool, excited and energetic.

The sky is where you find the stars. Isn't it?

He laughs in the way you might laugh at a bad joke you did find genuinely funny regardless.

"Ooooh, corny."

And this is why not all of us are as suited to writing poetry. Regardless of whether it's the kind set to music or not.

"A lot of lyrics are corny! It's not too late for you!"

Perhaps. But the roads I want to travel lead in other directions.

Still... if you have an extra page or two, would you be willing to write down the first verse for me? So that if I ever hear it again, I'll remember the day our paths crossed like this.

"Ah, sure! That's no problem, I have it memorized."

He pulls out his notebook and starts writing quickly.

Is there anything I could offer you in return?

"For writing down some words...? I don't need anything for that! If anything, it makes me happy you liked it enough to wanna keep part of it!"

They're not just "some words". They're your words.

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