Ian Cochran (overclocked) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-01-20 22:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-30 |
Even though we're miles apart we are each other's destiny
Who: Ari and Ian
Where: over Skype
When: 9pm
Ari had been looking forward to this all day, her excitment slowly morphing into nervousness as the day wore on. Finally it was time to log onto Skype to talk with Ian. The last couple of days she'd been questioning her sanity for wanting to rehash this whole relationship. But as much she tried to talk herself out of it, she couldn't. Ian meant too much to her for her to just give up on him.
So she changed into a pair of short knit shorts and a pink tank top, needing to be comfortable in case their collaboration ended up being a long drawn out process. She'd already set up her equipment out in the living room where her marimba and piano were. In addition to her equipment and computer, Ari had set out a few bottles of water, some Chex snack mix and a box of tissues, just in case.
Finally getting her nerve up, Ari loaded Skype and seeing Ian on, she sent him an IM:
rhapsodysheart: Hey Ian!
rhapsodysheart: How are you?
Ian was in the middle of playing Warbears, trying not to blow up the little dudes for what felt like the millionth time. Flash games were serious business apparently. On and off he took a break to munch on a simple sandwich he made while sipping on some coffee, trying to keep himself awake for the collab session that night. He was rather excited about it, though was rather nervous for some reason. It had been forever since he had done something like that with someone, not to mention he had never collaborated with an actual musician before. Well, in the sense that they knew how to legit play. Also didn't help that he was doing this with a girl, also another first.
And right as he thought he figured out the puzzle, his IM window popped up. Well, there went his chance with timing the sword fight right. Sighing gently, he took his hand off of the mouse to type a reply.
overclocked: Hey, doing ok. Was just playing some lame Flash game to pass the time. How about you? Enjoying your evening thus far?
rhapsodysheart: Doing pretty good and it's been a pretty uneventful evening so far...been looking forward to this so much though!
Ari bit her lip as soon as she hit the enter key, wondering if she should be so forward. She has to remember to reign herself in sometimes and act like someone who just met him, not like someone who has known him for years and has been totally in love with him.
rhapsodysheart: What flash game were you playing?
Ari wasn't really much for games, but she figured a little small talk would be good before delving right into the music.
overclocked: Glad I'm not the only one excited about this. Planned my entire evening around it, actually. Was playing some pain in the ass game called Warbears. One of my friends told me to check it out, but.... ugh, it's hard. For me anyways.
Easing back into his seat, Ian took a gentle sip on his coffee, noticing that he was going to need some more in a second. Sighing, he placed the cup down and went back to the keyboard.
overclocked: So you ready for this? I just need to make some more coffee and then I can hop onto Skype. Sound cool to you?
Warbears? Didn't sound like anything Ari would be particularly interested in, so she shrugged her shoulders, glad he couldn't see her.
rhapsodysheart: Yep, I'm ready. I'm already on Skpe and my sn is the same on there.
rhapsodysheart: And brb too, I'm going to grab a pop. I had some water on the ready, but I'm feeling the need for caffeine.
Caffeine was one of the only non-natural substances she allowed herself to have. Normally she ate organically as possible, trying to stay away from preservatives and artificial additives. However, pop was one of her weaknesses. She tried to limit her consumption, but she thought that tonight might be a good night for some caffeine. Hopefully she didn't react to it and just go insane.
Slipping away from his computer, Ian took his mug and plate in hand, munching on the remainder of his sandwich. As her emerged out from the computer room, Callalily was there to great him, meowing happily while rubbing against his leg. "Hey, girl, give me a second." Placing his dishes into the dishwasher, Ian grabbed a fresh new mug and went about preparing some coffee for himself. As he waited for it to brew, he took the time to place with his precious kitty, giggling as he watched her go wild over a catnip mouse. Oh, kitties were so adorable and easily amused. It wasn't long until coffee was done, and Ian quickly fixed it up to his liking and slipped back into the computer room. He plopped back down into his computer chair and booted up the Mac, knowing he would need it for said music making.
overclocked: Alright, I'm back. I'll hop onto Skype in a second.
Ian found his headset and quickly placed it on and logged into Skype, typing in her username and then waited for her to respond to the call. Hopefully this would go well.
Ari settled her headset on her head and adjusted the mic so it wouldn't be in the way but so he could hear her just fine. She clicked when the electronic ring rang out over her speakers. "Hello?" Not like, the best first thing to say, but what else was one supposed to say to the man she loved but had absolutely no memory of her? Ari rolled her eyes at herself trying to push her memories to the side so they wouldn't cloud what she was trying to rebuild with Ian.
"Oh hey, there you are," Ian chuckled a bit when he finally got through. The sound from her end sounded rather crisp and clear, which was perfect. He only hoped that he sounded ok on the other end as well. "Can you hear me alright? Don't know if I need to adjust any settings for you. Everyone's different it seems." There was one thing about Ian that was different since he actually saw Ari in person, and that was he was far more talkative. True, he opened up a lot more to people once he got to know them a lot better, but when it came to any and all online interactions, Ian acted like everyone who IMed him was a childhood friend. There was no filter with Ian, thus he became far more outgoing than in person. Only downside was that it was a bit deceptive, but hopefully Ari didn't mind.
"Here I am!" Ari could hear him perfectly and closed her eyes at his sexily familiar accent. It was a heavy accent, but it was also so Ian and it made her heart swell with memories. "Nope, you sound great to me!"
Ari wouldn't have really noticed much of a difference in his in person and online personalities. For two years she had his online personality and then when she finally saw him in person, she was a complete stranger to him, so of course he'd be awkward and quiet... especially when she acted like an emotional wreck around him.
"And I didn't mention the other day, but I also sing a little if any of your stuff requires some quirky vocals. People say I sound like Sia if that gives you any reference." Her heart was pounding at having mentioned that because it wasn't something she regularly mentioned to people. She sincerely hoped he didn't hate her voice, or even if he did, that he wouldn't express that to her.
Ian paused for a moment, swearing that her voice sounded a bit familiar, but he couldn't place it exactly. It had been a while since he actually saw Ari in person, and even then her voice was muffled from the blaring music. At least it helped that Ian wasn't aware of the fact that the Ari he was talking to was the Ari he saw at Heme that one night, though it didn't help that he had zero recollection of her at all. Sipping on his coffee, Ian cleared his throat slightly and replied.
"Sia, hmm? Definitely an unconventional sound. Can work with that if need be. I can't tell you how hard it is to find someone who does vocals and instruments. All the forums are flooded with people wanting to sing for DJs or what not, but they have no other experience aside from that. Besides, I'm sure I can make you sound like whatever your heart desires if you'd like. Wouldn't be the first time I've done voice editing. Actually had to do it for that one clip I sent you the other night."
Oh yeah, he was quite the talkative one over the internet, and what was mildly scary was that he could type as fast as he talked. Hopefully the accent wasn't getting too much in the way as he rambled off.
His accent was quite strong but Ari was managing to keep up. "I don't usually sing for people, but for this, I can make an exception." She honestly believed in his music that much. It was one of the things that had always linked them together.
"Do you want to work on that same file you sent me the other night or do you have something else in mind?" Either way, it didn't matter to Ari, she was just excited to work with him to see what they could produce together.
Ian smiled a bit at hearing he was apparently the exception to her rule. Was quite nice of her to say. If she was willing to sing for him, then he had to take full advantage of that. "We'll have to squeeze in some of your vocals then, now don't we? I'm truly going into this blind. Been a while since I've done a collaboration, but would you be up for something from scratch? Sounds more collab worthy than working with what I already got."
Pushing himself towards his Mac, he began opening a variety of programs as well as turning on his DJ station adjacent to the Mac. Ian was quite happy that he invested in the sparkly new speaker in his room so that he could appreciate the music better. "So do you keep a grand piano by your computer or something, Ari?" Ian chuckled at the thought, wondering how she got that to work.
"Working on something brand new sounds great to me," Ari replied, an excited smile across her face. "It's been a few years since I've collaborated with anyone too, so I might be a little rusty. We'll figure it out though." Because of course, the one and only person she'd collaborated with was Ian and that had been before his disappearance, so yeah, at least a couple of years ago since her last collab.
She giggled softly at his question. "I do have a grand piano, but it was outfitted with computer hookups and whatnot...same with my marimba. So I have my two laptops perched on the piano. One of my laptops will create sheet music of what I'm playing, either on the piano or on my marimba. The other will record my end and then we can mash them up together and see what we end up with." At least that's how she remembered that they did it last time. If any new technology had come out in the last couple of years, she wasn't aware of it. "Unless you have another way of doing it?"
Well damn, Ari definitely had her shit together. Ian's eyes widened, nodding in approval on his end. He always got fed up when people more or less dry humped his leg, pleading for a mash up session with him, and when he finally gave in realized that the person on the other side didn't have the slightest clue as to what they were doing. Ian was surprised he didn't have more head trauma due to the amount of times he had to headdesk in response to the morons. He had zero tolerance for people who didn't know what they were doing when it came to technology or music. Ari, though? She knew what she was doing, and Ian commended her for that.
"No no, that's actually perfect. I think you're the first one with a hook-up to an instrument so it can write out the notes that I've played with. Well, then again I'm usually working with other DJs, but this is completely fine." Ian skimmed over the various programs he had open on his computer, not entirely sure where to start first. Creating a new song always had a multitude of bumps in the beginning, though he was sure they'd find a groove to slip into soon enough. "Do you want to play something to start us off? Your piece you sent me the other night was quite lovely. It'd be a pleasure to hear some more from you. Something original." The very thought brought a smile on his face, hoping that she would start some improv work on the piano.
Ari beamed proudly, glad she'd gotten his approval. She'd had some components before they started talking four years ago but he'd helped her build up her technology once they saw that collaborating was going to be something they would do often. "Thanks, I'm glad you approve. And sure, I'll play something - just stop me when you find something you like." Since she was already at the piano, she decided to start off there instead of the marimba. She thought for a few minutes and started playing some chords, which changed into chord progressions, then worked in some other notes to link the chords together. Soon she'd come up with a few bars of something. She pressed start on her notation software and played it again so it would record the notes played. "Whatcha think?" she asked Ian.
Ian eased back into his seat, listening to the variety of notes Ari began to play at the spur of the moment. Her music was quite captivating and it was enjoyable to listen to. In the midst of her search for the perfect melody, something caught Ian's interest. Sitting up straight, he scrunched his face together as he tried to play the notes over in his head. They were light and airy, something completely different to what Ian was used to making. Then again, maybe he needed to hear it being played from someone else to even remotely think of using it. "Can you replay that one part again. It went, uh..." He then proceeded hum the melody back to Ari, matching it note for note. Having both perfect and absolute pitch was a plus for Ian, especially when he loved music. "That bit was beautiful, very mysterious. We could build off of it, what do you say?"
Ari listened to him as he hummed back to her, her eyes closing in absolute bliss. She'd missed the sound of his voice, the lovely tone he had. "Beautiful," she breathed before breaking out of her trance and clearing her throat. "Sorry... your voice is beautiful." Getting her head back on track, Ari erased the chords on her notation software and played the melody he liked. She kept playing as it came to her, this kind of haunting melody. "What you think of that?"
She thought his voice was beautiful? That was a first. Then again, Ian never really took the time to delve into singing, therefore no one truly heard him carry out a tune. He only did it so he could replicate sounds he had heard. Before he could say something in response to Ari, she was playing that one section over again, and he couldn't help but smile. She played it a bit differently this time around, like there was more melodramatic emotion to it. As she was busy with the keyboard, Ian was busy flicking a variety of switches on his drum machine, and for once in his life - or at least what he could remember - he cranked the tempo all the way down. A rapid beat didn't seem fit. No, this was definitely something worthy of a slower pace. "Quite lovely, lass. Could you play it again? Maybe add on. I'm trying to figure out a drum beat for it."
Blushing at his compliment, Ari played it again and added to it. She frowned a bit, not liking her addition so she played it again and changed it up. Close, but still not right. She made a few more adjustments and smiled. That was it. She played the whole thing through for Ian. Clearing out her notation software, she played it through all the way again. It really was a sensual, slow song full of emotion. She was quite pleased so far and couldn't wait to hear what Ian thought of it and how he could twist it and put his magic to it. "Sound good now?"
Listening to the emotional piano piece, Ian's fingers quickly went to work on adjusting the knobs and dials on the drum machine, eventually coming to a beat that he liked. It was slow and steady, fitting quite lovely with the piano Ari was playing on. Smiling, Ian turned to his Mac and began fiddling around with some other elements they could add into the mix. Maybe some relaxed synthesizers and echoes along with a fabricated guitar. He couldn't literally play the instrument, but he could make his computer mimic it quite well. "Sounds perfect, Ari. Just beautiful, though I feel like it's missing something, I just don't know what." He knew it would take a while for him to sit down and finally decide which effects and beats to use in time with her piano melody, but he felt like there was something else needed, something that he couldn't replicate with the computer.
"What if you distorted the keyboard sound and layered that over the regular sound? That might give the whole song another dimension." She absently hummed what she thought the distortion might be like, not really intending on him hearing it. "Ohh, I like that," she encouraged, hearing the echos. "That really adds to the song - those echos. I love them!" She just knew he'd have the right tools to really bring it to life. It didn't cross Ari's mind in the slightest that singing might be just what the song needed. She would never offer it because of her insecurities with singing, but if he were to ask? Well let's just say that there were few things that Ari would deny Ian.
Upon hearing her hum, he couldn't help but perk up a brow. Whether she was doing it on purpose or not was beside the point. It had a unique sound to it that actually fit well into what they were trying to create. Then his brain relapsed back to when she mentioned that she was able to sing. Hmm, just maybe... "Can definitely overlay the different sounds over one another, though it still needs something else. Would you be opposed to singing along with it? I mean, I don't know what we could do for lyrics, but I'm sure we can work that out." Not to mention he was rather curious as to how she sounded when she sang.
Ari blushed furiously when he asked if she would sing on the song. She knew it'd come up at some point and she was willing to do it, or she wouldn't have told him she could sing. Still, now that the time had come, it was a bit embarrassing. "Um," she stammered, her heart beating like crazy. "I can try? Give me a little while to write up some lyrics though."
Not really having expected this, Ari had to run to get her notebook where she kept her lyrics and random lines/quotes/words. She returned to her piano bench and flipped through the notebook hoping something would grab her or inspire her. As she flipped through she came to the months right before Ian disappeared and her lyrics were all about love and borderline sappy. It made her long for those days that they would talk endlessly over the internet or over the phone, burning through phone cards like it was nothing. She smiled fondly at the memories, even if they hurt a little. However, that provided some good inspiration and Ari started writing.
Several minutes later she tested out the lyrics she'd written. Not wanting to disturb Ian and what he was doing, she played the melody and sang her lyrics under her voice. She made several changes to get the phrasing right before she was finally satisfied. "Okay, I think I got it," she said aloud to Ian. "I think this would make a good chorus... and we can build off of this and around if you like it."
And then she sang her lyrics: "When I'm weak I draw strength from you, and when you're lost I know how to change your mood, and when I'm down you breathe life over me, even though we're miles apart we are each other's destiny." She allowed the music to taper off, her hands trembling a bit, wondering what he was going to think of it.
Ian was patient when it came to waiting for Ari to figure out lyrics. As a fellow musician, he understood that it was hard to come up with something on the spot. While she was busy looking for the proper lyrics, Ian busied himself with shifting the different effects he had created on his Mac. It would take more than that night to finalize the overall sound, but he was beginning to get a feel for the direction of the song - their song - and he was enjoying every second of it.
He perked up upon hearing that Ari finally figured something out. Before she started singing, he flicked on another program that could record her voice, and he was glad he did just that, because it was phenomenal. He could definitely link the connection between her and Sia, but in Ian's eyes she was far better than that. Smiling some more while tapping a finger gently in time to the music against his desk, Ian found the lyrics quite emotional, yet delicate in their execution. Had he still had his memory, he would have pinpointed the fact it was about the two of them, but it never once occurred to him. Ian simply thought it was a beautiful tune.
At first he didn't say anything, busy both savoring what he just heard and transferring the recording on over to his Mac so he could mess around with the clip. Once he realized he hadn't said anything for a moment, he fluttered his eyes and spoke up. "Sorry, got lost in a moment there. That was..." He chuckled, coming off nervous for the first time over the internet. "That was amazing. I'd love to work around that if you're willing to. Would be a perfect chorus or something. Beautiful main focus."
Ari totally beamed when he liked her lyrics and voice. "Thanks," she said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And sure, we can definitely build off of that." It was so emotional to sing that for him and Ari needed just a minute to totally freak out and calm her emotions after that. "I'm going to step away from the computer for a few minutes and walk around to see if I can get some further inspiration." Okay so it was a little white lie, but maybe while she was calming herself down, inspiration would strike. Hopefully.
Taking her headset off and putting it on the piano, Ari walked away and paced around her living room, through the kitchen, around the dining room table before doing it over again. After a couple of laps, Ari's hands finally stopped shaking enough that she thought she could play again, but she decided to give herself a few more minutes to chill. She needed to stop thinking about their past...she needed to move on and focus on the future. If they had a future. It seemed that they were working well together and perhaps that was the first step. Then again, it could all go out the window as soon as Ian found out who she really is.
Sighing and not feeling all that relaxed, Ari headed back to her piano, slipping on the headset again. "Okay, I'm back! I don't want to leave you out of the whole lyric writing process... so if you have an to contribute or anything, I'm all ears!"
While Ari was gone, Ian had kept himself quite busy with trying to perfect the music on his side, thinking that he had finally nailed the guitar sound he was aiming for. Hopefully Ari would enjoy it as well. Not once did he think about the past between the two of them, nor was he ever going to think about it. That was all gone. All that was left was the future, and it didn't seem like a bad idea at all to Ian, even if he was rather oblivious to the fact that Ari was the same Ari he met in Heme with Ada not so long ago.
Once she finally came back, Ian perked up while sipping on his coffee. "Mmm, I wish I could contribute something, but in all honesty I'm not much of a lyrical guy. Or at least I haven't tried." He glanced on over to his computer, which was looping the one melody he had created. It was quite beautiful and Ian was sure Ari's voice would meld perfectly with it. "I mean... I can try...?" He let out a nervous laugh while shaking his head. "Probably going to be a bunch of crap, if you ask me."
"Sure, why don't you try? I'd like to see what you could come up with," Ari encouraged. She wanted to make sure he felt a part of the writing process. If she was going to be pouring her heart out in the song, she wanted to give him the opportunity to do the same. "It won't be crap, I assure you. Everyone feels that way at first, trust me."
As she spoke, her fingers trailed over the piano and her ears perked up when she heard something that would compliment their existing melody. "Oh hey, listen to this." She played it back for him, it was just a couple of bars, but it really added to what they already had.
Ian took in a massive breath of air, not sure what to think of with the whole lyrics bit. He had never written lyrics for a song before - it just wasn't his thing. He far preferred mixing up the sounds of the song than the words, but for some reason Ari came off so sweet that he didn't want to let her down. "Fine, I'll think of something, but don't go laughing at me if it sucks, ok?"
Right as he opened up a Word document to begin typing up random bits of words, he caught ear of the new sound she was playing. Wow, it was like this song was snowballing dramatically into something amazing, and Ian wasn't complaining a bit. "I swear, no matter what you come up with, lass, it's stunning. Just keep it up! At this rate we'll have all the pieces recorded by tonight." Then Ian could spend the next following days putting the finishing touches on the song.
With Ari's melody stuck in his head, he thought over her prior lyrics she had sang. Maybe he could write something revolving around that? It sounded sad, yet hopeful, like someone who was far away from a loved one. Sadly, two and two didn't make four in his mind with why she was using such lyrics, and it never would, though Ian was able to understand it from a different level, like how he was in Scottland one second and then woke up in a hospital in the states the next. Sometimes he wondered what happened over those two years lost from his memory, but a majority of the time he simply gave up and didn't care. Taking in a deep breath, he wrote up something quickly in the Word document and copied and pasted it via IM when he was done.
overclocked: The journey's long and it feels so bad. I'm thinking back to the last day we had. Old moon fades into the new. Soon I know I'll be back with you. I'm nearly with you, I'm nearly with you.
"I know, it's lame, but I thought maybe it would fit in with what you said earlier. What do you think? And don't laugh!"
"It's beautiful," Ari breathed. "Not lame at all! And I have the perfect bit to compliment them!" She quickly played out what she'd written and added a the few bars of music she'd just come up with before singing his verse. Then she added, "On a clear day, I'll fly home to you, I'm bending time getting back to you, old moon fades into the new." And then she added in the last few lines of his lyrics, "Soon I know I'll be back with you. I'm nearly with you, I'm nearly with you."
After singing it, something felt off, not right to her. "That's not right. What's mis- Oh wait, I know!" She played again, this time starting out with his lyrics, using what she'd written first as a chorus of sorts and then adding in their combined lyrics. She changed around the music for that a bit and when she was through, she had a grin on her face. "That was it. What'd you think? If you like it, I'll slow it down and we can record a good version for you to work off of."
Ari was so in the groove. She'd not written music like this since she and Ian spoke. Sure, she still wrote, but never did she do a song in a night like this... in a few hours! Now, her songs were labors of love that took days to complete. But this? With Ian? Felt so right and Ari could feel her heart swell with happiness.
"Completely brilliant. Also completely different from anything I've done before, but I'm not complaining one bit. And recording sounds like a plan to me," Ian replied with a nod. The sooner they could finally record it, the sooner he could go to work and mess around with the effects to create an end result. "Just take your time, lass. I'm in no rush." Grabbing his cup of coffee, Ian finished it off, rather sad that it was empty. "Actually, while you do that, I'll be right back. Need more caffeine." That said, he removed his headset and wandered on off to fix himself up with another round of coffee.
Beaming at the compliment, Ari murmured when he said he'd be right back, already working on getting her recording software running. While he was gone, she slowed the tempo down a bit and recorded what she had so far, making sure her notation software was working as well in case she ever forgot the notes she was playing. It only took two takes for her to get a good recording and once she did, she sent it off to Ian via IM. "
When he came back, she clapped excitedly. "You have a recording waiting for you. Let me know if it needs to be better." The giddiness in her voice wasn't anything she could hide. This was a good song and she knew it.
"I think it's almost there...it's still missing something. Maybe another verse or something... but I've got nothing coming to me at the moment. Do you think that'll be enough to get you started working your magic?" And magic was what Ian did... he could take a song and completely change it and take it to a whole new level of greatness.
By the time Ian came back with coffee in hand, he noticed that there was a file transfer waiting for him via AIM. "Well that was quick..." Ian smiled while accepting the transfer. Once he was comfy in his chair, he took a cautious sip on the piping hot coffee and placed his headset back on to hear what Ari had to say. "This should be enough for me to work with. It'll take me a bit to make it a complete song. I'd say by..." Ian rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out an exact date. "Perhaps the weekend? Saturday or so? I can send the file to you then. Hopefully you have a good sound system for your listening needs." Ian was convinced that two default speakers at the computer was the worst thing to do to your ears. Music could only be fully appreciated with a fully decked out sound system in his mind.
"I do have a good sound system," Ari chuckled. It was nice to know that some things about him stayed the same. Her sound system was actually one he'd recommended to her and she bought it. She loved it - it had such a pure sound.
"Isn't Saturday the fourth of July?" She doubled checked the calendar on her computer. Yep, it was the fourth. Which meant that they probably had fireworks going on. Before she could lose her nerve, Ari blurted out, "You want to get together Saturday? We can listen to the song and then see fireworks or something?" Her heart was pounding like crazy because she knew that he'd figure out who she was once he saw her. but maybe these couple of chats they'd had let him know that she wasn't the crazy person he'd met - that she was actually pretty normal. Not to mention that they had a lot in common.
Ian was in the middle of taking a sip of coffee when Ari dropped the question, almost choking on the gulp in the process. Finally swallowing it, he pulled his mic away from his face to let out a series of sharp coughs before calming down and processing what was going on - she was asking him out. Wait, was she asking him out? Getting together to listen to the song and watch fireworks sounded innocent... right? That couldn't be a date. Then again, Ian wasn't one to know. Unless Ari flat out said, 'Hey, let's go on a date!' then he wasn't going to know any better. To Ian, this was just as she put it: meeting up for some music and watch fireworks.
Easing back into his seat, Ian fluttered his eyes and finally replied. "Saturday? Uh... sure, that works for me. I don't have to work that night, so I'm free for the evening. Don't have any plans... well, I do now I guess." He felt his heart racing faster as he talked. The idea of meeting her in person after only knowing her for barely a week was a bit unnerving, but Ari seemed like a sweet girl. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. "Did you have um, a place in mind? To meet up that is."
Ari let out a sigh of relief when he agreed to meet up on Saturday. She didn't want to call it a date because that put so much pressure on it and she didn't want to add any more pressure to what was already going to be a difficult night. She fervently hoped that he would be able to look past the fact that she was the neurotic, emotional girl he'd met before and just remember her as the cool girl he collaborated with.
Then he asked where to meet up. Hm, she hadn't gotten that far in her thinking. "What about the park? They should be visible from there." Not to mention that might be kind of romantic. Stop it, Ari! Stop! "I'll pack some snacks and drinks and bring a blanket if you can bring a portable sound system so we can listen to our song?" A picnic under the stars and fireworks with Ian. Who would've thought? Certainly not Ari...not after the last two years of hell.
Oooo, she was bringing food?! Ian instantly threw his arms up in the air while mouthing 'YES!' to himself. He never did a good job with keeping track of what he ate and didn't ate. Half the time he had forgotten to eat - like that night - and that resulted in many headaches, without a doubt. The food alone was enough to seal the deal, but he was sure the company and music was good on its own. He was quite excited now to meet up with Ari and discuss music over some snacks. Good times in his book. Not to mention it got him out of his apartment for a change of pace.
"Park sounds lovely. I have a variety of portable speakers. Can plug my iPhone right into it and we'd be good to go. Shall we aim for the evening or so?" Right then he heard Callalily on the other side of the door scratching at it, followed by a few meows. Someone wasn't happy that her food bowl was empty. "Sorry, I probably have to cut this short. Blasted cat is at it again. Shouldn't probably find something to eat myself."
"Sounds great! Want to say around 8:30ish? I think the fireworks start at 10 so it'll give us a little while to eat and what not." Ari could hear the meows through the door and she chuckled. "No worries at all. Go take care of kitty and I'll see you on Saturday!" Ari could hardly believe her luck in how awesome their collab turned out and she got a date out of it.
Oh. My. God. A date. With Ian. Holy shit! The nervousness hit Ari hardcore and she knew she was going to freak the hell out the hours leading up to their date on Saturday. She was going to have to call in reinforcements. Maybe Alanna would be free. Or Ada. Oh God. Now she was so totally cursing her lack of friends.
"It was fun tonight, Ian... thank you!" Ari smiled, even though he couldn't see her and logged off, shutting down all her programs. She had a feeling that this smile was going to be plastered on her face for a few days. Tonight she would sleep well again for the first time in two years and that was because Ian was back in her life finally.