Re: Not harassing Nathan [Joule, Phoenix]

[Phoenix]

Nathan pouted slightly when Joule batted his hand away, pursing his lips before shaking his head slightly, letting out a soft sigh.

"Sorry," he said sounding dejected. It was in his nature to always be looking out for people and to have that sort of reaction... It made him feel terrible. "We were talking about how if you understand all the forces it will make your gravity powers more efficient. Yes, it may take some extra work at the beginning, but it'll pay off in the end."

[Joule]

He didn't mean to make Nathan feel bad. The other man had been more than kind to him, and Nat honestly did appreciate his concern. But at the same time, he hated being mothered, and being treated with concern because of his issues.

"Right. Yes. Okay. I think I remember now. Right. I suppose we better get to work then." He rubbed his hands together.

[Phoenix]

Nathan nodded, flipping the page for something to do.

"Yeah, okay. So there are different types of friction. Static and kinetic. Obviously, kinetic is the friction you face that tries to stop a moving object," he said, getting right back into explaining. It would get his mind off of what had just happened, and that was good. Distractions made the world go round. "Whereas static is the kind that tried to keep an object at rest."

[Joule]

"Right yes. I think I remember reading about that."

Joule took down notes, asking Nathan to repeat some things from time to time. He got distracted easily, got overly excited about the wrong things, and kept forgetting everything he had just learnt, but he wasn't a bad student. He made up for it through the sheer amount of effort he put into learning. He wanted to get better at using his powers. He needed to.

[Phoenix]

Nathan had to admit that it was nice to see Joule so dedicated to learning. And so, he didn't mind having to repeat things or explain them in different ways, trying to incorporate the other's interests in hopes that it would help him remember the examples he gave him.

"Well, I think that should be enough for now," Nathan said, closing his textbook and offering the other a bright smile. "Think you got it all?"

[Joule]

"I... Yeah... I think so. And if I forget anything I have or all here." He tapped on his notebook.

He hadn't gotten it all. Not even close. Just as he always did, he would return to his room and spend several more hours going over everything he learnt with the hopes that he wouldn't forget them.

"I was thinking... I mean if you're free at all... At any point... Would you like to... Play together?"

[Phoenix]

Nathan blinked as Joule's words sank in, tilting his head to the side slightly. He was... Asking him to play with him? A smile spread across Nathan's lips and he nodded his head with a happy hum.

"Yeah, I'm free to play any time!" he said happily. He wasn't sure when Joule was asking him to play, but for the most part, any time was good. It was nice to know that the other potentially viewed them as more than just a student and teacher. Maybe even friends?

[Joule]

"Awesome! I'm just going to... Review my notes. Then I'll be back!"

With a wave he was out of the room, and on his way to his own. He sat in his study and spread out all his notes, organising them in sections relating to applications in his powers.

It was several hours before he thought to check the time, and realise that he had been at it for twice as long he had planned.

"Well it isn't too late..." He muttered as he reached for his guitar. "Hmm maybe I could try this new trick..."

Concentrating, he tried to picture the layout of the mansion in his head, and pin-point Nathan's room. Then he spoke, carrying the sound of his voice all the way to the other man's room.

Hey Nathan. It's me. You still up for playing?

[Phoenix]

Nathan let out a yelp when there was suddenly a voice in his room, looking about wildly for the source of it. It sounded like Joule's voice, but... He couldn't see Joule's body. A shiver ran down his spine as he got up from his bed and looked around his room, half expecting a ghost to jump out at him.

"Joule?" he called, brow furrowed when he couldn't find any physical body. "Is that you? How... How are you doing that?" To say that Nathan was a little creeped out was an understatement as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.

[Joule]

Joule waited for a reply for a while, before realising that he would be unable to hear Nathan's voice. Perhaps if he could sense roughly where the sound waves were coming from he could carry them-

"Slugger it." Not being bothered to try, he got up and headed to the door, but not before sending another message to Nathan's room.

"Hey yeah I kinda just realised I can't hear you if you reply so I'm like coming over."

With that, he made his way to the other man's room, knocking on the door and letting himself in without waiting for an answer.

"Yo."

[Phoenix]

Wait, what? Nathan's brow had furrowed in confusion, but the next thing he knew, Joule was just entering his room before Nathan had given him permission to. Thinking quick, Nathan kicked the one bag by his bed underneath it since it held all of his knitting supplies, and Joule didn't need to see it. He fixed a warm and friendly smile on his face and waved.

"Hey," he said cheerfully, folding his arms behind his back and rocking on his heels. "That-That was an interesting trick you did." One that had scared him terribly at that.

[Joule]

"Yeah I KNOW RIGHT??" He went to clap his hands together, then stopped, clearing his throat. "I mean. I know. I'm cool like that. Just. One of those things."

He was only beginning to imagine the applications such a thing could have. How easily he could terrify everyone. How he could send people sex noises in the middle of the night. Ah what a wonderful power to have.

"I was just kinda thinking about the stuff we said and sound waves and stuff and thought I'd try it. Got a special mechanism for creating specific sound waves now though!" He held up his guitar.

[Phoenix]

Nathan chuckled softly, nodding. "Yeah, real cool," he said, stopping his rocking to glance at the guitar then at his own.

"Mm, you did say something about playing together. At least that's what I got before the shock of being scared half to death settled in." God, that had terrified Nathan and he hoped that Joule wouldn't resort to using that power too frequently to try and contact him. Nathan hated sudden noises when he wasn't expecting them. He walked back over to his bed, sitting down and picking his own guitar back up.

[Joule]

"What? Terrified? You? Hahaha oh man sorry I didn't think something like that would scare you!" Stiffening his laughter Joule walked up to him. "So what kinda stuff do you play?"

[Phoenix]

"I don't like sudden loud noises," was all Nathan said with a small shrug. He fixed his gaze on his guitar, tuning it as he thought. "Well, I play a lot of stuff. Like classic and regular rock, country, pop, punk, if it's a genre, I play it."

If Joule was looking for any bands though, that would be more difficult. Nathan had memorized a lot of songs so naming off all of the songs and bands he could do was more tedious that stating what songs he couldn't play.

[Joule]

"Classic rock, hell yes!! Oh man this is gonna be so awesome. Go on, play something, I'll just kinda join in!"

He'd only picked up the guitar when he was fourteen. Solely for the purpose of charming girls and boys of course. Pretty much his whole life revolved around that back then. Not much had changed. But as he played more he realise that the music did something for him, it gave him something he could not find anywhere else. Before he knew it he was in love with it, and that love had lasted up to this day.

[Phoenix]

Nathan smirked and nodded his head. "Alright. Try to keep up then," he said as he mentally chose a song. He hummed softly as he began to strum out the opening chords to AC/DC's 'Back in Black'. It had an awesome riff and he wanted to see how well Joule keep up with him.

After all, Nathan had been playing guitar for most of his life. It wasn't just a hobby for him. Some days it felt like the only thing keeping him sane.

[Joule]

It took Joule a few moments to pick up on the new tune, but soon enough he was right by Nathan, improvising mostly as he usually did, and doing a pretty good job at it too. Though he was not as skilled as the other man, he had a freshness to his playing - even if he made mistakes or messed something up he always found a way to save it and make it sound as if it had been intentional.

He stared at Nathan while they played, large grin crawling up his face. He was good.

[Phoenix]

Nathan smiled, listening to Joule play as he sped up somewhat, fingers dancing across the fret board as he came to the riff. That was one of the best things about the song. It had a killer riff, and it was insanely fun to play. Of course, he didn't expect Joule to try and follow his lead, that would be utter madness. But even if Joule messed up, and Nathan knew he was, it was still pleasing to hear.

When the song finished, he smiled widely at Joule. "You wanna pick the next song?" he asked cheerfully, glad that they were getting along so well and able to play together. It had been awhile since he had last been able to have someone to play guitar with.

[Joule]

Joule had played music together with Kade, and it had been amazing, but it had been a long time since he'd had the chance to play the guitar with someone else. He was thankful. He was glad he'd met Nathan, though he wouldn't admit it to himself just yet.

"You know this one my dear?~" Certain that the other must have definitely heard of the song, he begun playing the intro to 'Hotel California.'

[Phoenix]

Nathan laughed lightly when he heard the intro, nodding his head. What sort of musician would he be if he didn't know 'Hotel California'? It was iconic!

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air," Nathan sang as he too began to play, a dopey grin spreading across his features. He loved the Eagles, and 'Hotel California' was definitely his favourite song by them. "Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim~"

[Joule]

"-I had to stop for the night~" Joule continued, smiling softly, as if remembering an old pleasant memory.

"There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell, and I was thinking to myself, 'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'."

His accent didn't particularly suit the song, but he sang it anyway, remembering every single lyric. Iconic, clichéd or not, he loved the song. It was fun to play and sing, and it was even more so doing it with a... friend.

Friend. Not that they were friends. Nat didn't have friends. He didn't do friends. Simply... acquaintances. Close... acquaintances perhaps? Yes yes that had to be it.

[Phoenix]

Nathan didn't mind the other's accent as he sang. It wasn't like it made his singing sound terrible, it just made it sound like Joule. And it was fun singing and playing along with him. He hadn't been able to do that since his dad--

Nathan chuckled softly when the song ended, still strumming out a few random notes, not yet wanting to stop since it gives his hands something to do.

"Not too shabby," he said, a lopsided grin on his face. "Almost close to being on the same level as me, but not quite." He meant this in as playful a manner as possible. He wouldn't dare actually compare their skills. It wasn't right since they both were different styles of voice.

[Joule]

"Pffff come talk to me again when I've been playing for as long as you have!" Joule chuckled, not actually arguing with Nathan, or claiming that he was better.

"You know... you're not too bad Nathan. And I don't just mean your guitar playing."

There was a gentleness and sincerity to his voice that belonged to Nat more than Joule. He couldn't hide from Nathan. He read and figured out everything about him, and there was nothing he could do to stop him.

[Phoenix]

Nathan smiled when he heard Joule's reply. It was so... unJoule-like, and yet seemed perfectly like something a real person would say. Which was wonderful, because to Nathan, sometimes Joule just seemed so fake. Nathan wondered if he was finally being allowed to catch a glimpse of the man who hid behind the mask, which interested him a lot more than Joule did.

"Yeah?" he responded softly. "You're not so bad yourself." He wanted to call him Nathaniel to show that he recognized the difference between their personalities, but he wasn't sure how the other would respond to that. Nathan was still cautious, not wanting to accidentally undo everything that happened between them in the last few days. He really did like getting along with him.

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