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Jay has been looking for ways to spend time with Daire that don't put awkward pressure on either of them. Seeking his friend out regularly, it's become a challenge in some ways, and in others he undoubtedly over-thinks it because Jay, by nature, is just happy existing next to someone. But, hey, he's trying.
He met with Daire down in Mutant Town and warned that it was going to be a trip from where they were, but worth it. Up into Greenwich Village, Jay has his guitar slung over his back, guarding it securely as they start the long trip north toward the park. A few drowsy clouds in the sky block the sun occasionally, it may rain in a couple days, but right now it still feels warm and bright as they come to the park. It's a nice day for it, which seems to be echoed with a number of others lazying around in the park today. Frisby, music, some dog people, hippies with their crafts and a couple of the usual protestors having a discussion by the fountain.
Upon hitting the grass, Jay immediately takes his flip-flops off and ignores the foot paths for the soft green on the soles of his feet.
Daire has been going out and about in the day more often. Yes, it's gotten him a number of looks and some hostility, even with his horns carefully tucked into a custom made newsboy cap that sits atop his head and allows them to curl back inside the top portion. On the upside, they do work to hold the cap firmly in place, so it doesn't come off very easily. And he rarely smiles, keeping his mouth close-lipped, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. However, with all of that, Daire can still mostly pass without people freaking out and screaing demon or something of that nature. He has his own guitar with him and doesn't seem to mind carrying it, or the walk. He has on a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt with some running shoes on, which he doesn't take off as they hit the grass, but he follows along after Jay peacefully, seeming to be in good spirits.
One has increased efforts to hide and protect himself, the other? Well. Jay has taken no further steps to hide himself, though he has fewer things to hide, he seems less self-conscious about his wings. Or maybe just more beligerant when it comes to his mutant status—not that anyone would ever use that word to describe him.
"So, Ah know it's a long ways off from home base, but it's kind of neat," Jay mentions with the bright ringing in his voice when someone tries to share something they enjoy with another person. Glancing over toward Daire with his token serene smile. "It's relaxed once y'get used to it. Most th' people here don't seem to care quite so much—ah mean, there's the folks just passin' through, but…" Jay trails off with a tilt of his head to one side mildly. There are still concessions. "It ain't as free as hangin' out at the Eight Ball or somethin', but it's okay." Jay smiles smally and leans in to nudge Daire gently with an elbow. "And it's got folks playin' music. Ideas."
Daire wanders along at an easy pace, hands in his pockets as they make their way across the grass, taking in the atmosphere, the people, the warmth of the sun where it touches his skin. When Jay looks over at him, he gives him a warm sidelong smile, truly appreciating the gesture. "It's nice to be outside," Daire says with a smile even as Jay trails off, showing his appreciation, both for the gesture and for the place itself. He returns the nudge gently, smile broading a little bit, enough to flash a hint of teeth before he remembers to close his mouth again. "I like plaaying outside."
"It feels so good, doesn't it?" Jay returns Daire's slip of a fangy smile for one of his own, rare, broad grins that brightens his whole face for a moment. His gaze dropping to Daire's mouth for a moment, then out back among the park. "Ah miss it." Admitting as Jay steers them away from the fountain and further into the copses of trees and grassy grounds. He sounds wistful, almost dreamy as he murmurs low, "Back home, it was easy t'just find a spot of land nobody was around. If there was a lake nearby, just strip down, take a dip, lay out in the grass with the sun an' the breeze." The young man takes in a deep breath, toes digging into the grass as they stroll. "Playin' out like that feels more raght than Ah can ever explain. T'me." He shrugs and nods over past a group of hippies busy drumming and sleeping on their blankets, Jay leans in as they pass, lowering his tone toward Daire's shoulder. "Hearin' music live an' outside is how to do it. It doesn't matter what it is." Indicating the drumming as they pass.
"Sounds nice," Daire says as he walks along with Jay, a little lopsided grin at that broad smile that he gets. "Upstate, where I grew up, it was like that too. There were a lot more green places, bits of land that were open, farms that you could wander into the fields and just kind of hang out there." He nods and says, "I get it. I didn't play back then. I only learned the guitar after things started changing." He glances over toward the drummers and there's a little bounce in his step as he does, instinctively matching the rhythm as he goes until they're far enough away that it starts to become muffled.
"Yeah, you mentioned a little bit about that b'fore," Jay mentions with a nod, sweeping his hand through his hair a couple times. "After yer fishin' trip, you talked about it a little. Ah haven't been up there too much." Aside from the time he freaked Lorna out. "It sounds really nice up there. So did you grow up on a farm or just in a town somewhere up there?" Moving past the drummers, Jay glances down at Daire's feet when he bounces, his smile rising up on the corners of his lips once again, eyes shining brightly with an exhaled breath—his substitution for a chuckle. "You didn't learn til later, but you got music in yer marrow, Daire." Teasing the man with a small hipcheck. "Come on, there's a pretty open area back here usually. Most folks congregate nearer the fountain."
"Just a town up there, not really a farm. More of a trailer, really, me and my folks and my brother and sister til I moved out to go to school," Daire says as they make their way across the grass. Then he grins at that little exhaled chuckle and says to Jay, "I always liked music and I always liked to dance. I just didn't know that I could play, too." He chuckles at the hip check and takes a few faux-stumbling steps to the side before he returns to Jay's side. He nods then and says "Lead the way," making their way back toward the open area.
Jay brightens once more, brows lofting upward with a pop of interest, chirrupping softly, "You like dancin'?" Green eyes shining with mirth when Daire stumbles over the hip check, pressing his lips together and with a cant of his head that seems to say 'Oh /you/'. A quick sling of his arm reaches around Daire's shoulders for a quick side squeeze. "You still talkin' with yer family at all? After everythin'?"
Jay leads a little ways from the main 'camp' so to speak in this park, just for the comfort of Daire and possibly others. The grouping of the odd little community thins out until there's a patch in the grass that's pretty devoid of other groupings but for a trio of beatnik type folks sitting at a picnic bench, having a discussion. "Th' first time Ah came here, it was on accident, but Ah ended up meetin' this fellah who was a half decent drummer. Ah thought that maybe it you were at all serious about tryin' t'start a band up, this might not be a bad place to find other talent."
Daire grins a little sidelong as he's pulled over closer, and then he nods his head and says, "Sortof. They wrote me. They want to see me. Josh is going to come with me to talk to them, to see how things go." He gives a little shrug of his shoulders, "They were pretty weird about everything when it happened, and there was a lot of bad feelings in the house. I don't think they ever stopped caring, really.. it just got messy, and I haven't really been back since college. And yeah, I like dancing." When they finally find their little open patch of grass, Daire finds a spot and he settles down crosslegged on the grass, settling his guitar into his lap and leaning against it just a little bit. "Oh, I am still serious about starting up a band, if you're still interested in doing it with me." He looks over to Jay and looks, hopeful, but cautious, as though prepared for the answer to go either way.
Jay nods in silence over Daire's family ties while he finds their spot and settles in, pulling his guitar off his back first and ignoring the double fwip of his wings as he folds into a seated position, flip-flops dropped beside him. Withdrawn pretty suddenly and swiftly, Jay makes the effort to still flick a small smile toward Daire as he looks up, nodding. "Good. Family's important." And drops the subject just as quickly.
Mention of a band again after his offer makes Jay shrug one shoulder gently as he props his guitar up in his lap and fingers a few quick cords, sliding his hand quickly down the neck for a few moments, testing strums, Jay adjusts and fiddles with the tuning pegs. His attention largely on the guitar. "Ah miss playin' with people." He hedges, but sounds optimistic.
There's a certain quiet that comes over Daire as well. It's always going to be hard to mention Josh, but at the same time, he can't deny the man's existance either. He nods a little bit and says, "Yeah. Maybe mine will even talk to me. Guess we'll see." He then drops the subject entirely. He takes out the guitar and begins to strum just a little bit, some quiet little folk tune that has no words, or at least if he knows the words, he doesn't sing, his head bowed over the instrument rather than looking over at Jay. "I do too," he says finally.
"That'd be great." Jay tries to remain positive over the subject, but the pinging reminder is like a railroad spike through his attempt at conversation and getting to know more about him. His playing is a little more aimless at first, flicking back to the tuning pegs to adjust for the jostling travel. Flicking his eyes over to Daire's hands while he plays, Jay holds down the chord he last landed on, right hand resting over the strings mutely. Inhaling a swift breath, Jay sits up and resettles himself. "Well. Ah mean. Ah said anythin' you wanted, so, if you want to." Jay drifts and shrugs a shoulder once more.
"I want to," Daire says as he continues that soft playing, his eyes on the instrument in his lap, even if he doesn't really need to watch his fingers. His hands move along the string, handling the instrument gently as he pulls the chords from it. It's a lilting and wandering little melody, something that might be Irish if one were to try and place it. "I want to play music with you, and to spend time with you," he says softly without looking up.
"Sure," Jay notes agreeably, if a little minimalistic. He listens to the tune, though he's not familiar with it, he waits for a little while, staring intently with a minute tilt of his head to one side. Then his hands begin to move again. Music isn't hard to predict if you know what you're doing. It's mathematical. It leads in loops and winds around itself according to laws. Jay comes in quietly, a harmonious step down from where Daire plays, and though it's not perfect, he adds depth the the melody by playing a supporting counter-melody that resonates along side. "Ah know, Daire." Jay murmurs back gently.
Daire is silent after that, just playing, letting the melody wind its way over and over, and nodding a little bit when Jay begins to weave his little counter-melody, just a little bit lower than the one that he plays. He falls into sync with Jay easily, communicating musically so much more easily than they do by words sometimes. The melody lifts and falls, rising upward and then drifting soft and quiet again, and after a while he closes his eyes, just listening to the music and the way that Jay's guitar and his pull from the air the notes that dance around them, even as they sit still in the warmth of the sun in the middle of the park.
Sometimes the words just aren't as easy as you want them to be. Sometimes you just can't do it with as much grace as is necessary for the climate. Music is easier for Jay. He's relied on it throughout his life in a myriad of situations, and this is just one more, cleverly disguised as an outing to the park. Being in a nice part of town, it's a nice park, too. The air cooled by the numerous shade trees and the nice grass, flowering plants and bushes planted so something is blooming from spring through summer, the soft sound of water trickling from the fountain by the way. It's nice.
For Jay, music is not something to be experienced with one sense. It moves him, literally. Jay's wings try to stretch and are restrained as they play, the young man leaning into the music while his hands move swiftly at points and then slowly at other points, offering the support that he can figure out at different points. He's intuitive but not perfect, dropping occasionally and coming back in when he finds the place. Eyes slide shut and he rocks with it, his small, serene smile that had vanished slowly returns.
The scent of the flowers is in the air, combined with that of the picnics that are around, occasionally a waft of popcorn can be smelled, or hot dogs, but also the sweet blooms and the grass that was cut not long ago. There's a rustle in the leaves of the trees behind them that cast a comfortable shade over where they sit, and the occasional group of people drift by, their voices growing nearer and farther again. Occasionally someone comes by and listens for a while before drifting off again. Daire shifts from one tune to another, giving Jay time to adjust to the new melody, taking the lead in the songs that they play, but leaving plenty of room should Jay wish to take up a new song, and let him follow for a time.
Jay seems content to play follow the leader for a while, drawing inspiration from the pace and tune that Daire sets, going from one to the next and taking the time to adjust as he needs to before coming back in and picking up the musical support, adding fullness to the song. People come and go, though Jay doesn't seem to mind them much. Occasionally a glance upward, but his eyes always fall shut a few moments later. Their surroundings so peaceful, a small bubble of an oasis in the city, in the craziness all around them. Eventually, there is a song that perks his ear as it ends, and Jay presses forward with a surge, grasping on to another song that tugs at him, leaning into it and taking lead as it finishes. The tempo picking up slightly, the tune an unfamiliar one, likely something of his own flight of fancy, but it follows the familiar laws of music as his fingers skip up the neck of his guitar.
It's when Jay suddenly takes up the lead, and his song takes off, as though taking flight with the spread of his wings, that Daire willingly drops back, letting his own guitar quiet until he finds the rules and rhythms of the tune that Jay is playing. It's then that he joins in with his own guitar, this time taking the lower notes and riding the undercurrents of the music, finding a harmony there, to compliment and support the song, making it richer and fuller for their combined efforts. His eyes open and he watches his hands on the instrument, this time concentrating more, focusing more, to keep up rather than to lead.
Jay launches forward into that song and though it seems spur of the moment, his fingers seem practiced. The song isn't overly convoluted by any means. Jay's fingers know their way up and down the neck of his guitar intimately and while they jump, they don't seem to be moving for the sake of complicating things so it is certainly followable for Daire. A spirited angle to the music, lively, Jay's expression contorts slightly with the effort of pushing the pacing just right, then brightens, exhaling a held breath with a smile that shivers through him and his wings. Daire comes in when he can find a spot and Jay nearly stumbles as his head lifts and turns to stare at the brunet next to him. A slow smile returning, gratified when he hears what Daire has to lay down. "The chorus has a change up…" Jay murmurs softly a few bars before, leaning in as he plays on and signals with the slightest lift of his guitar's neck that change up into the chorus. No, definitely not a spur of the moment creation, but still unfamiliar.
There's an almost apologetic smile from Daire when he seems to startle Jay in the midst of his own song, and he ducks his head, but he nods for the warning of the change on the chorus, and he waits for it, his fingers lifting long enough so that he doesn't stumble and produce any ill notes in the midst of the change up, coming back down to pick up again once he picks up on the chorus. There's a smile that spreads over his lips, slow and easy as the two continue to play, and while it's clearly something Jay has practice with, it's new to him and he enjoys theh exploration of that melody.
The apology is given a negligable shake of Jay's head as he looks to the man beside him, glimsping Daire through arcs of red hair that fell in his face while his head was bowed. A faint brush of color against his cheeks quickly fades as he digs into the meat of that tune. Nodding his head in time but also encouraging as Dair finds his place again in the quick-strum of the chorus, breaking like a declaration after the verse before dropping back into the second. Following the formulaic rules of a song, Jay glances down to his hands a couple times to make sure he's where he needs to be, but otherwise he's all eyes on Daire, enjoying that moment. Giving only a slow rise of his brows when they lead up to that change up again, signalling with a familiar precursor of staccato strumming and a nod as they come back around again. Three verses worth of that and Jay is practically glowing as he draws to an end, breathing just a little quicker.