For the People. I play away my heart. (Viper, open)

[Ginchoeri]

Day of the 43rd of Fall 512 AV continued She smiled at his quick kiss and answer, noting that he atleast understood that she had an underlying meaning in her words. She watched as he pulled away and looked at her harp. Posing the question of how to even start. She flinched a bit as a eerie tin came from his pluck of an F string. She nodded at his warning, "I do not expect you to be a pro, not by a long shot, for neither am I." She watched as he picked up the harp, judging his positioning right off the bat, seeing this and that wrong. She sighed, she realized she had a lot of work to do herself on her posture, but man. He REALLY was starting off at square one. Though his smile caught her off gaurd, she figured he was either thinking about her, or how stupid it was that he suggested this in the first place. When he shook his head, she decided he had been thinking about her. Which made her smile. She nodded, now to give him a few begining points. She placed her right hand on the small of his back pushing in. "Always sit up straight, shoulder's and spine in a T shape. Slouching can actually affect how fast your fingers can find the strings." She then moved her hand from his back and placed it on the harp, pulling it foreward a bit, "For your size and form, the further the harp is away from your torso, the less strain there is on your back muscles. And your arms will reach the strings more comfortably." Moving her hand again, she placed it on his bicep, squeezing it a little, "You are too tense here. Relax, take a deep breath, and allow your muscles to relax, to tense, and it will come out through your music as that nasty tin you heard a moment ago." Then, she placed her hand on his left hand and moved it down and then reached over and moved his right hand up. "Always keep your hands in the middle of the string, that is where your best sound will come from." She pause and looked at him, realizing she might be moving to fast. "I.. I am sorry.. I am moving to fast am I not? Do you need me to repeat anything?"

[Viper]

The look on her face was priceless. He was apparently even more worse at this than he thought possible, if her expression was any judge. When she put her hand on the small of his back, he immediately sat up straight. That part bugged him, because he knew he should be sitting up straight anyway. Hmph, maybe this harp thing would do his posture some good. He paid close attention to her instruction and followed what she said to the letter. So far the instructions were simple enough.

When she touched his bicep his immediate reaction was to flex. He wasn't trying to show off at all, it was simply a reflex. But he smirked when she mentioned he was to tense. Another side effect of being out in the wild so much. After all, you relax to much out there, you become somethings dinner. Still he did his best to relax. With a crack of his neck, he renewed his efforts at positioning his body and the instrument where everything was supposed to go.

He had to stifle a snicker as he wondered exactly how rediculous he must look just then. Him in his partial light armor, swords, bow with arrows, and a....harp? Still in all honesty, he was having fun with it, and he certainly wasn't going to stop now.

When she asked if she was going to fast, he simply shook his head no. "No, no. I'm good. Back straight, harp away from torso, hands in the middle of the strings for the best sound. Got it!" He turned toward her and demonstrated what he was certain was the positioning she showed him. "Like this right?"

[Ginchoeri]

Day of the 43rd of Fall 512 AV continued She smiled, "Confidence can get you places," She said as she pushed the harp back, "But, being to confident in yourself can make you look like a fool. Though I said to keep your harp away from your body, having it too far is also bad posture and makes you liable to drop it." She moved a bit and pressed his elbows in, "Also, keeping your elbows in will help for steadyness, and that is what we want right now. Another time I will show you how to.. no no.. not like that, looser!" She put her the flat of her hand on his side in between it and his elbow, "At least this much distance, and remember to keep relaxed," She moved back, and looked him over and could not help but let out a small chuckle. It seemed odd somehow. But, also fitting that she was teaching him these things. It was a way for him to better get to know her. She thought for a moment, was there anything else. She sighed, "You are not going to completely relax are you? I know it can be dangerous here, but can you trust me for a moment? What do I need to do to get you to completely relax?" She leaned in and looked him in the eyes, "Hmmm?" The back of her hand brushed his cheek and then wrapped it's self in his hair. She leaned the rest of the way and placed a kiss on his lips sweetly, keeping her lips on his for as long as she dared, till she felt his muscles start to loosen up. She pulled away and smiled, "There, that is better."

[Viper]

He laughed and rolled his eyes a bit when she called him a loser for being less than adept at this harp playing business. "Just wait till I get you behind a bow and arrow! Then we'll see how well you fair!" He teased playfully. When she complained about his being to tense, he honestly didn't know what else could be done. It was too engrained in him to be cautious. It wasn't a matter of trust really, moreso than it was simple habit.

Her change in tone was not lost on him, when she inquired what she could do to help him relax. He savored the kiss and followed her when she tried to pull away. Eventually though, he had to aquiesce and let her escape. With a shrug, he smirked. "What can I say...you can be persuasive." He gave her a wink, and then waited for his next instruction. In his mind he wondered if it really was that easy for her to get him to relax though...good grief. he wasn't falling that fast was he? Course then again...would it really be soo bad if he was?

Meh, got to focus he thought to himself. Let's try and not embarrass yourself anymore, shall we? He knew that was really a hopeless cause at this point. But again, he'd still have fun with it.

[Ginchoeri]

Day of the 43rd of Fall 512 AV continued She smiled and got behind him. Leaning over him, well, really on him, putting her right hand over his right hand, demonstrating how he should hold his hand. "Have you ever seen a baby when they wave? They open and close their hands, they do this, for it is easier for them to do then moving their hand back and forth. It is something hey have more control over." She smiled as her head rested on his shoulder. "I want you to do that. Like this." She opened and closed her hand over his, trying to get him to mimic the action, "I know it feels weird but trust me, this is the basis of harp playing, in it's barest form. Watch." She leaned a little more foreward and moved her fingers just like she had over his hand, and though she struck multiple strings that did not sound to great together, she still got a better sound then he had before. "It's all in the fingers and wrist. Go ahead." She whipered in his ear, "Try it."

[Viper]

He quickly turned his gaze away from her when she asked if he had seen a baby wave. He didn't want her to see the small frown that quickly appeared on his face. He could also feel himself tensing up again, but he cleared his throat and forced himself to focus on the instruction. His eyes followed her hand as she demonstrated what she was saying.

It seemed simple enough, but somehow he knew this was going to be anything but simple. He smiled, finding it cute when she whispered in his ear to try it as if she was telling him a secret. He leaned his head over to touch hers for just a moment and then gave it a shot. His finger moved gently across the strings and each cord let out their melodious sound. Well that was easy enough he thought. Course the hard part was going to be actually making music out of all these strands of wire.

"Huh...ok. So is this something like playing a lute? I mean, do you pick the strings? Or do you just lightly brush them with your fingers?"

He brushed his fingers across the strings again as he waited the answer.

[Ginchoeri]

Day of the 43rd of Fall 512 AV continued She had noticed his little head turn, but she did not know why he did it. But she'd kept on going, not asking him about it. She smiled as the beautiful sound came out of her harp as he play it. She smiled even more when he asked her the very wise question. "That is a very good question. For the harp, it is neither a pick or a brush. Picking is too harsh, and brushing is too light. Therefore, we harpists pluck, using the meat of the tip of our fingers, we apply pressure lightly, and kind of pull like a pick, but we let our fingers slip over the strings like brush. A happy medium. Do you understand?" She was being more careful about going to fast, trying to get him to understand what she knew. She was still leaning on him and reaching over his shoulder. She plucked a slow simple mellody. Then she leaned a bit more and reached for the lowest note. "Okay, I want to show you something else about this instrument. You play one string, say this C string here" She plucked it. "If you skip six strings and play the seventh..." she moved her hand and plucked, the note ringing highers but similar to the first one, "you will hear that the notes are similar. That is because they are the same note, just different pitches. So this string is also a C. Does that make sense?"

[Viper]

He nodded his head in understanding. "Ya so far so good." It was the point in which she got to talking about the strings and which letter represented what string, and the different sounds associated with each that started getting a little bit over his head...much to his annoyance. He bit his lower lip and raised his eyebrows as if staring at the instrument a little longer was going to suddenly make it all clear. After a long pause he shook his head.

"Nope...not really...you finally lost me." He chuckled and then looked at the strings again. Now which was the c string again he thought? C...was that the third string...? and the other one would be...He shook his head lightly and decided just to ask. "Ok so this 3rd string is the "C" string...which would make the other one six strings down the...."J" string? And they are somehow the same even though they make different sounds?"

He frowned a bit as he was now just confusing himself. "This is .....going to be a challenge." He finally laughed.

[Ginchoeri]

Day of the 43rd of Fall 512 AV continued She could not help it, she fell backwards, onto the blanket and started laughing her head off, a disbelieving "bfaw" comeing from her mouth. He knew this little about music? Mizahar help her. Her laugh was sweet and all over the place. She was laughing so much tears were starting to fall. "Oh man.. This will be harder than I thought." She smiled at him since he was now looking back at her, "Oh do not give me that look, you can laugh at me all you want when I drop a sword." She tugged at his sleeve. Trying to make him lean back, "I think for now, you need a rest, there is to much about this instrument for you to learn all at once. I will teach you in short session's, that would be best for you, I think." When he did not get the message on leaning back, she sighed, sitting up and sitting on her legs. She took her harp from him placed it to the side, and then she gently pushed him down so that his head was laying in her lap. She brushed his hair with her hands lightly. "Maybe I should have you do some relaxation execizes though, I know we are not in the safest place in the world, but I swear, you must wear yourself out being so alert all the time like this." She leaned down and kissed him again, smiling at him. " You know, sometimes, if you just let go and relax, you actually see more? Being so tense all the time can actually tire the senses, trust me.. I know first hand." A small darkness fell over her momentarily. But her normal smile came back almost instantly, and she placed her right hand over his forehead. "Plus, all the stress makes you furrow your brow. I like it more when you are truely smiling at me, you seem so free and happy. Not those fake one's like I give sometimes. I mean the real smiles. The ones you give after each of our kisses." For some reason, saying this made her blush a bit. Like it was a bigger confession then telling him how she felt about him. "A.. Anyway... " she looked away from him, trying to hide the blush she knew he already saw, "Uhm.. d..do you.. " She looked at the food, "do you want a berry or a nut?" she reached over and grabbed a few. It was obvious she was kind of at a loss now. Like she needed time to think. Like she worried he was not really understanding her.

[Viper]

He at first feigned an insulted look, but couldn't maintain it as he started laughing alongside her. "Oh don't worry. I'm sure there will be plenty of laughs to be had as we train eachother in our areas of expertise." When she mentioned that being the end of the lesson though, he didn't argue. That was probably a good idea. His eyebrow raised at the idea of relaxation exercises. After happily returning the kiss, he smirked mischeviously.

"Relaxation exercises eh? Well if they have anything to do with how you got me to relax earlier...you can sign me up." He snickered as he looked up toward her from her lap and wrapped an arm around her. Gently stroking her lower back up and down with his finger tips.

As he sat there though he pondered why he had been so tense. It was true it was a bit much. Actually now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't usually this alert. To be quite frank he thought to himself, he'd actually been quite wreckless out on the Grass...mostly because for a while he didn't really care anymore. But now all the sudden, he was being super careful. His eyes wondered till he was staring blankly into the heavens as he continued to think on her comments. He mischevious grin also took a slightly more serious look as he tried to figure out his current state of being.

Was it because of Gin that he had this new found sense of alertness and care for safety? Was it because now he again had something to lose? He kept turning the ideas over in his mind and realized she was indeed the cause of his new focus. He paused for a moment as he returned his attention back to her. Attempting to put words together that made sense, he gave a small smile. "Well if you really want to know...I have lost ...a lot in my life. Mostly because of me..." His eyes moved away from her as he spoke this part, but as his comments returned about her, so did his gaze. "...but now that I have you. I mean to make sure nothing happens to you. That is probably the reason why I have been so tense today out here. To be honest....I didn't even really realize it till you said something. So, sorry about that. I will try and calm down ....a bit."

His smile grew wider as he continued. "Forgive the cheesiness of this comment. But it's kinda hard not to get lost in your kisses." He chuckled lightly and gave a wink and he reached over and snagged a couple of the offered berries. "Also I'm sure you will see me back to my normal self whenever we are in Endrykas." He gave no further indication at the moment as to what he was talking about at first. But he at least hoped she understood where he was coming from, more or less. Plus realize that he understood her just fine.