Arts Department- Entrance

'Well, it's awfully quiet for a music building, isn't it? But I suppose everyone's just arriving...' Roderich looked around. The building's foyer was quite small, but the rest of it was large enough to house multiple rooms devoted to art, music and performance on several floors. Before them were a few doors and a corrisor leading off, and a wide metal staricase. 'Where do we go from here?'

"I think the practice rooms are downstairs," Ludwig said, taking the steps quickly. "So... how exactly did you manage to damage a vase with a brass instrument?"

He snickered a bit as he headed down the steps and to the area where all the practice areas were. "Still quiet. It must be the move-in. I'm sure there will be more noise down here after."

He opened a door to the first room where a sturdy upright piano sat. "Well, here's a piano."

'Well, I was only fourteen. I was attempting a particularly difficult piece, and I...overdid it a bit. I sort of surprised myself with the noise, and lost my grip...and naturally the stupid thing had to hit my mother's favourite heirloom. She was so angry she holed herself up in the music room and played Bach for hours.' Roderich sighed, following Ludwig down the stairs. 'I was told I wasn't to play brass again until I'd moved out.'

He peered past the door Ludwig had opened. 'Well, it certainly looks used, doesn't it? Still, I'm itching to play it...' Roderich ran a hand lovingly over the lid before opening it. 'On the other hand, I'm curious about what you can do. Care to give it a try?'

(I typed that first post far too quickly...gah, typos. Apologies!)

"I... suppose." Ludwig tried to think of a piece that he could play by heart. He decided to go for some Mozart. Technically complicated, he'd never failed with the notes, but he hadn't really been that brilliant when it came to bringing out the emotion in the piece.

He sat down on the bench and looked up at Roderich. "I'm not that fantastic," he said. "I know my shortcomings with music. It's why I let others to it."

He stretched out his fingers and began to play. Each quick-paced note was correct, as was every turn of his fingers and hands, but it felt hollow even to his ears. He stopped after a moment. "As I said, I stick to science."

'Goodness.' Roderich stared at Ludwig's hands, not missing a note. He hadn't expected much, but he really was quite talented. It was true there was a certain clipped precision to his playing, but it was technically perfect, and Roderich was keen to hear more. 'Don't stop,' he added, laying a hand lightly on Ludwig's shoulder. 'You've obviously got a knack for it. Playing a piece like that from memory is an accomplishment in itself.' He leaned down and played the next few bars of the left hand part. It was as easy as breathing, professional standard; but then, he had the advantage of years of training.

Ludwig looked up at him, sliding over on the bench to give Roderich the chance to sit beside him. "Maybe a duet?" he asked. He still did not think he played as well as Roderich let on, but it was something at least that the other man hadn't cringed.

Of course, Ludwig had always felt awkward and too big trying to play most instruments, but he was at least comfortable at the piano. He just couldn't make it sound just right.

He began again with the right hand.

Roderich nodded, sitting down and automatically adjusting his shirt cuffs. 'I haven't played a duet in quite a while. Let me see...' He hummed a little of the piece- piano sonata 18, he knew it well- before easily picking up the left hand part again. He paid no attention to his own hand, instead watching Ludwig's; he was fascinated that someone who claimed to be no good at music- and who, admittedly, didn't have much of the flair associated with it- could play a rather difficult composition like that so well.

'I think, with practise, you could be very good, you know. It's only a little stylistic something that's missing,' Roderich said, tapping his foot in lieu of a metronome. 'Relax your shoulders, regulate your breathing. You could try closing your eyes, if you know the piece well enough. It might help to visualise something.'

Ludwig followed the instructions that Roderich gave him, trying to relax somewhat--though that wasn't entirely successful. He closed his eyes as he sat beside the other man, playing with his right hand.

"What am I supposed to picture?" he asked. His imagination and creativity generally needed a lot of guidance, and even then, if it wasn't to try to solve a specific problem he didn't have much luck. He continued playing, but really, he was only imagining all the notes he needed to play.

He couldn't help but notice that the other man's performance sounded spot on while his own still lacked the emotion of Roderich's.

'Just...let the music take a shape in your mind. You don't need to focus on the notes, that's what muscle memory is for. Don't just play the piece, listen to it. How does it make you feel? How do you feel today?' Roderich kept up his litany of advice, playing without really concentrating and still watching Ludwig. 'Your shoulders are tense, you know. You ought to think about getting a massage.' He mentally grinned at the idea, careful not to let his amusement show. An idea suddenly came to him.
'Since you seem to like approaching things logically, think of the piece as a problem to solve, or something to build. The notes are your building blocks, but you need more than that to make a house, right? Not that I'd know, but still.'

Ludwig had to admit the idea of a massage sounded nice, but this wasn't the time nor place. Instead, he tried to imagine he was building an elaborate aqueduct out of bricks and mortar. He hoped his muscle memory was working properly as he imagined he was building the structure, elaborate carvings in plaster accents.

His hands continued, and it felt more natural than it had before.

Roderich watched Ludwig carefully, immediately noticing a change in his playing; it was far more fluid, and the man seemed more relaxed than before. He nodded in approval, quite pleased with himself for discovering a potential musician. Without saying anything, he stopped his own playing, taking Ludwig's free left hand and placing it on the keys. It was one thing to play half of this piece, but quite another to tackle it alone. In fact, its challenging nature made Roderich wonder why Ludwig had picked it, but he decided to remain silent for now.

Ludwig tried to remember to keep his eyes closed as he heard the other man stop playing, then felt his hand on his. He had to trust the man was putting his fingers on the correct keys. His fingers faltered a bit as Roderich placed them on the keys. It took a few seconds to right himself, but he did as the other had told, imagining building something. He finally finished the sonata and looked over at Roderich.

"That helped quite a bit, but don't tell my mother." He smiled at the other young man. "I really do prefer working with my hands, but this was nice."

'It was very well played; you shouldn't put yourself down so much. Besides, playing instruments will improve your dexterity.' Roderich replied, returning the smile. He ran his hands over the keys, improvising a few bars. 'You know, I made that building block thing up on the spot. It worked out pretty well, though, didn't it?' He laughed quietly, a relatively rare occurence. 'Do you want to have a look anywhere else? It doesn't seem as if there's anyone here I can ask about the orchestra, so I'll leave it for now.'

Ludwig watched the other man improvise. "I wouldn't mind it if it could just stay a hobby. I don't have the ability or desire to make it a profession, which my mother apparently dreamed I one day would. Not to mention the fact that I cannot come up with anything musically on my own. If it isn't written down or drilled into my head, then I don't do well with it. I think that is why jazz always confounded me so much."

He slid off the bench and glanced at the outside hall. "Well, since this place seems so deserted, maybe we could wander into town and see if we can't find an option for your enormous suitcase." He leaned against the wall and smirked. "You know, people would make jokes about someone carrying around that much baggage."

Roderich stood, closing the piano's lid carefully. 'Jazz is just taking other people's riffs and putting your own spin on it. All the jazz musicians I ever met were...pretty far out there, if you know what I mean. Very in the moment, as it were. I'm up for a trip into the town, although I haven't a clue what it's like.' He adjusted his tie absent-mindedly, before realising what Ludwig had said and raising an eyebrow.
'Oh? What jokes might they be?' He tried to keep his expression impassive, but couldn't stop a tiny smile making its way on to his face. It was odd- downright unusual for him, in fact- but he found himself enjoying his roommate's company, even though they'd only met that day.

"It might imply that you are going to be a lot to handle for a roommate, if a roommate were a lesser man, of course." Ludwig didn't know where these words were coming from, but the other man's presence put him at ease. He also realized that it came off slightly as flirting, and rather than let himself go red at that realization, he pushed himself off the wall and headed out of the doors. "I've not really been to town either, but maybe we can find some place to grab food, not that I don't trust the cafeteria to have perfectly decent food," he added the last with some sarcasm.

"Thank you, though, for showing me that I can enjoy playing the piano a bit. I may have to try that later with the cello."

He waited for Roderich in the hallway of the arts building.

'Well, I'll try not to be too much for you,' Roderich replied lightly, breezing past Ludwig. He was surprised at the other man's slightly suggestive tone, but it was far from a bad thing. If anything, it meant that staying with him could turn out to be rather interesting. 'And I don't think I'll be setting foot in that cafeteria. Let's hope there's a halfway-competent chef somewhere in this town.' Roderich turned at the foot of the stairs.
'You're welcome, Ludwig. I like having somone to play with.'

Ludwig continued through the hallways and back up the stairs ahead of Roderich, his mind going a few million miles a minute trying to figure out just why he had insinuated the things he had. He knew he'd been trying to sort things out with his own preferences and whatnot, but he didn't think it was possible to meet someone and get them sorted so quickly.

Were they even sorted?

To be truthful... Roderich may or may not have been his type, but he was growing to realize that there was at least something about him that definitely fit the bill, and it was that, for his somewhat flamboyant clothing and airs, he was still masculine. Well... what a realization to have while climbing the steps and unintentionally giving Roderich a view of his ass, at least until they finally reached the top. "What sort of restaurant do you like?"

'Anything except seafood. I...have a phobia.' Roderich grimaced at the thought. On the other hand, there was always the pleasant view to cheer him up. He wasn't the type to go telling people his orientation, but most people tended to make assumptions. They were almost always wrong, and he'd actually begun to enjoy confusing them- not that he'd let on, of course. He enjoyed the company of anyone intelligent and attractive, and gender wasn't usually an issue. And Ludwig was certainly intelligent and attractive; it was too soon to make any sort of assessment yet, though. 'What about you, what do you prefer?'

"What do I..." Ludwig almost thought the other was referring to his earlier train of thought, entirely forgetting that he'd asked about food. He could feel the blush coming. "I am generally open to trying most anything. So we can avoid sea food." He headed up the stairs and went to the front door, once again holding it open for Roderich. "There might be an Asian place in town somewhere."

((we could crash on Ivan and Toris if you wanted.))

'Oh, that's fine,' Roderich replied, stepping outside. 'Thank you,' he added, in reference to the door. 'Very gentlemanly.' He brushed some stray hair out of his eyes, glancing around to try and see the school's gates. 'This way, then, is it?' He headed off at a lazy pace, musing on Ludwig's slightly embarrassed tone, and wondering if he'd pushed it a little too far.

(Yeah, go for it.)

Ludwig headed from the arts building to the courtyard and walked toward the gates. "If we're lucky, we will be able to find some of our fellow students in town. Things here on campus seem either dead or bustling because of the moving in." He glanced over at the students still playing soccer on the other side of the quad. "Well, except for them."

With a grin, he headed on along the sidewalk and headed to the front gates.

(figure we'll just transition things until we're at the restaurant from here)

Roderich nodded, falling into step beside Ludwig. 'I'd like to know who we'll be sharing the dorm with, and what kind of people I'll have in my classes...' He followed Ludwig's gaze, noting the soccer players. 'I suppose they've finished moving in...well, that's sports players for you, running off to play games as soon as possible.'

'These gates are pretty imposing, aren't they? I thought so when I arrived,' Roderich said as they reached the front gates. They were black wrought iron, vaguely Gothic in style, and a bit at odds with the rest of the school. 'Reminds me of some haunted house or something.'

(Ooh. Foreshadowing. XD)

Ludwig nodded, putting his hands to the iron gates and touching them. "I suppose so. I was noticing the craftsmanship of them." His fingers traced over the dark metal far more lovingly than he had the piano. He could play the piano, but it was with lasting things that his heart really was drawn to.

He walked by them after a moment, letting the tips of his fingers brush over each slightly pock-marked bar of the gate. They were strong and old and a lasting remnant of those who had made and designed them. Like a ghost in their own right, he supposed, but he knew that wasn't what Roderich meant. "I suppose since people generally think me imposing, I'm drawn to like things."

He rubbed his thumb against his fingers after they passed the gates and headed down toward the town. "From what I can see from here, it looks as though we'll come across a Thai restaurant first."

Roderich's eyes followed Ludwig's hands as he moved them over the gate. It was obvious this was the kind of thing that made an impression on him, but for different reasons than they did on Roderich himself; Roderich appreciated things like that as works of art, and Ludwig seemed to see them as works of craft. In other words, it was the physical structure, not the design, that attracted him. Roderich let him have his moment of admiration, following him when he decided to move on.
'Do people think you're imposing? I can't say I do.' He meant it, too; his manners and considerate personality far outweighed his intimidating presence. Although, Roderich thought, if he put his mind to it he could probably be quite scary. 'Thai, hm? I haven't had that in a while. I hope it's not the sort of place that keeps things in tanks...ugh.'