[open] a day in the life of a ghost

[theforgottenboy]

Who: Cole & you
What: A somewhat belated catch-all for August
Where: Various
When: August-ish, mainly after the most recent imprints
Content Warnings: Not actual drowning but like, a close call


prompts below
image source here

Comments

[bachagain]

... Wahaha, wow! I get lost in conversations sometimes, but this is a whole different kind of lost...!

[ yet he says this all pleased and not in a confused manner at all. it's like cole's told leo a joke that's particularly amusing instead, rather than pulled out a whole bunch of things that would make anyone ??????

maybe it's because leo likes weirdos. and cole is, certainly, a weirdo... even if his somewhat calming air wouldn't quite hint at that.

how the heck to navigate this... how the heck to describe pianos... he's not good at explaining things normally at all. ]

It's like... a big thingie with black and white keys, and depending on which key you touch, a pretty sound comes out! Ding or [ higher: ] diiing or [ lower: ] dong. Ah, though I guess they can be smaller... Technology's come a long way from the past! Aaand if we are adding keyboards in here, they can make a whole lot of other sounds besides regular piano sounds now, too--

[ brilliant. nailed it. moving on, ]

Anyway, you must be from way back when if you've got instruments but not pianos! What do the guys where you're from play on? You've gotta have... flutes and lyres, I'm guessing? Lithophones?

[ maybe too ancient there, leo ]

[theforgottenboy]

[Nothing unusual to see here, folks. Just two normal dudes having a normal conversation.]

[While he can't entirely picture what a piano looks like from Leo's description, it probably makes more sense to him than a more traditional explanation would. He conveyed what it's for and how to make it work. That's good enough.]

[He's less sure of what he means by way back when. He just assumes everyone here comes from a different "world" than his.]

The minstrel in the tavern plays one with strings, and she sings at the same time. I don't think I could do that.

[Making the instrument make the right sounds, with only your fingers, and sing the right words? It's a lot.]

[bachagain]

[ cole is the only person in the whole wide world to understand leo's tomfoolery.

leo, on the other hand, maybe understands a little less on the cole side? but he's gotten accustomed to adjusting to things as he goes, and the things he's currently saying are far more understandable than whatever he was saying before.

not that getting lost was a bad thing... ]

"The Minstrel in the Tavern"... jeez, what an old sounding phrase! I feel like I'm getting plopped into a time machine riiight back to the past!

[ amused, mostly to himself. cole's just a goshdarn boomer

and also unnecessarily putting himself down, leo thinks. music is a difficult thing to do well, maybe, but it doesn't take much to pluck a couple strings and sing. if he really wanted to, leo wouldn't dissuade him from that.

leo shifts to outstretch a hand and... gently nudge cole on the shoulder, over and over, as if commanding the attention he. already has. no personal boundaries here, not for someone he just met, ]

Listen, ummm... [ ... did they introduce each other? did leo forget? not important, ] Whatever your name is! It'd sound absolutely terrible at first, reaaaally crappy, definitely, but you could do it if you tried. Here, sing! We can start it out one piece at a time, then put it together later!

[ oh no. another gentle nudge. ]

Try the song I just showed you! After me: twin ♪ kle, twin ♪ kle!

[theforgottenboy]

[If he ever encounters a Real Piano, he may have more questions. But until that day comes, here we are.]

[He looks at the nudging. He's not bothered by it, Leo seems nice. And Cole's not always great about personal boundaries himself.]

My name is Cole.

[Suddenly, time to sing? He said he'd sound really bad, not that he takes that as any kind of encouragement so much as a statement of fact. He doesn't exactly have much in the way of pride or ego to hurt.]

[So,]

Twinkle... twinkle?

[He's right, it's pretty bad. It sounds more like he's talking in a sorta of sing-song way, trying to imitate what singing sounds like. He's trying.]

[bachagain]

[ and that's the important part... trying... though leo is absolutely tactless and sometimes ruthlessly honest, so what comes out first is: ]

Wahahaha! Ahh, I haven't heard that shameless of an attempt in a while! I love it, Ko! Don't stop singing, okay?

[ he says it's terrible but he's encouraging cole to continue... while just snapping a nickname he's absolutely not explaining, it's fine. ]

You gotta try and relax a little... Like, really let yourself go! Don't just talk melodically. Take all your feelings and let 'em tear through your [ singing again, a little louder: ] twin ♪ kle, twin ♪ kle! Go, go!

[ he is saying this like twinkle twinkle little star is some metal screamo song but that is absolutely what leo wants at this point ]

[theforgottenboy]

[If he thinks anything of the sudden nickname, he doesn't say so. Follow your kokoro, Leo.]

[While he's giving somewhat mixed signals, he does seem to be encouraging him to keep trying. All his feelings? He's not sure about that, but he does listen intently to Leo's singing. He does like listening to music, so maybe if he uses those feelings?]

Twin♪kle, twin♪kle...!

[It's still not anything to write home about, but it at least sounds more like (Leo's) singing this time.]

[bachagain]

[ it may not be much, but for leo... well, it's enough improvement and injection of... self, perhaps, that it gets his approval. he didn't expect cole to go celine dion or anything.

that nets cole a tiny applause from one (1) orange gremlin, smile bright and pleased. ]

Yeah, great! Just like that! Weeeell, maybe not just like that, but it's close. Closer!

[ can't hype him up too much. leo also has to be a little honest too, and cole isn't exactly stage-ready or anything, so. not that he has to be. ]

How'd that feel, Ko? Didja like it?

[ genuinely curious. ]