"Not only stealthy but prepared," Calvin said lightly, sitting down next to Emily on the bed and pulling his guitar onto his lap. He fingered through a few chords and then glanced at her to make sure she was ready to listen. He felt a little self-conscious playing something that he'd written, even though it was only Emily. He could always depend on Emily, sometimes he felt like with everything else going on she was the one constant, though maybe a little less constant lately, she'd been going through some things too, but he didn't really want to think about that.
Abruptly, he started playing, letting the notes clear his mind. The awkward introduction that nevertheless managed to sound a lot like a lot of other songs. Slow, but not too slow, chords that traditionally went together, not a very complicated rhythm...and then he bent over his guitar and began singing softly, not looking at Emily:
Yesterday I saw tomorrow True as memory, false as fears Clear as sunlight or the simple taste of scrambled eggs, sea spray rising from a falling wave, Like a ringing in my ears, ghostly sounds that no one hears I hear the rumbling of the universe's gears.
He interrupted the song, slapping his hand down to still the strings, and looked up and said, "There's a little more, or I can just stop there."