*No warnings! Everything is tame this time!
***Songs featured in this story include: - HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU LISTEN TO THEM (lol)
The song at the beginning of the story: Struggles (Track 6)
The song at the end of the story: Back to Basic (Track 9)
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.Interlude.
'Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.'
.Interlude.
'Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.'
Music churned through his veins, into his fingertips and was channeled through the keys of the grand piano. It’s here where Gene truly makes beautiful magic, controlling it, and molding it until everything sounds absolutely perfect. His hands glide effortlessly across the ivory and ebony, eyes closed and posture perfectly poised.
He almost forgot that he has an audience, on this perfectly sunny July morning, until he peaked from under his eyelids. Tophe sat on Gene’s favorite loveseat, looking enraptured and in-awe of his best mate’s piano playing.
Gene finished the piece with a flourish and a serene smile, ending in the middle C position. He waited for a moment before bringing his hands away from the piano and letting them rest on his lap.
A beat. Then…
“Gene, that was fantastic!” Tophe exclaimed as he smiled in wonder at his best mate. Gene returned the smile with a smile of his own, shifting on the piano bench.
“Thank you, mate,“ Gene said, with a light chuckle. ”It’s something I’d been working on with…well, Mother…” He trailed off with a weary expression, looking at his own hands. Tophe solemnly nodded. He didn’t have to say it.
(Gene’s mother had a relapse three days ago, and Gene had been a worried wreck before Tophe came over. His father wasn’t home – thank goodness – and Nanny tactfully kept herself and Morgan away from the boys.)
Instead, Tophe got up from his seat and touched Gene’s shoulder tenderly. “Will you play another piece for me?”
Gene gave him a curious look. “I thought we were going out to go skip stones out on the lake behind the house. You said—“
“I know what I said.” Tophe huffed, but smiled sweetly at the Slytherin. “But I’ve changed my mind now! …I mean, if you don’t mind, I’d love to hear more. You sound great.”
Gene looked at his best mate with a weird expression on his face as he posed his question. It was a cross between thankfulness and the sullen weariness he always seemed to wear when he wasn’t busy flirting with some pretty face at school.
Tophe was relieved that Gene choose a ‘thankful’ expression and finally nodded slowly. The Slytherin, he knows, guards himself a lot more that he really lets on sometimes. A force of habit that Gene has taken to developing during their time at school, something that bothered him immensely (he has no room to complain; there were secrets that Gene can never know about.).
“Tophe,” Gene said softly, bringing the other blond back from his own thoughts. The Slytherin smiled, wondering what his best mate could be thinking about while staring at him so curiously. “Take a seat.” He chuckled at Tophe’s bashfully sheepish look. “Any particular song you want to hear?”
Tophe shook his head and sat down in the plush loveseat. “Anything’s fine, as long as it’s you who’s playing.” He smiled at Gene, who smiled back.
Gene nodded, closed his eyes and positioned his hands over the keys. With a content expression on his face, the fingers flew over the ivory pieces to make a gentle, happy tune.
Tophe relaxed in his seat, closed his eyes and imagined the music floating from the piano Gene was playing, swirling and dancing in the air in a beautiful array.
It was as if…they had reverted back to simpler times, when they didn’t have to worry about judgment from others or put on a façade to hide oneself.
It was (perhaps) perfect.
- TBC -
