Marshall & Sage
Sage was vague because the truth was too weird to tell a complete stranger. It was really too much to tell most of his friends, especially the ones who were willing to ignore the weirdness in his past. Only Jacob and Joce knew the truth, and he still found himself holding back the worst of it. He knew he wasn’t doing a great job at handling it himself, but scaring his friends off would make things worse. His mouth tugged into a small smile at what seemed to be an interest in guitar lessons and for the first time Sage noticed how hot the guy was. The thought felt foreign, like his brain didn’t know what to do with it after all this time, but it was there nonetheless. “You talking about Brody? The guy hates me. Probably because I stole half his students. But yeah, I could squeeze you in to my completely empty schedule,” he said with a little laugh. “Just tell me when. If you’re serious, I mean. Do you have a guitar?”
"Yeah, Brody," Marsh replied with a little snicker and grabbed his water, considering the next question. He had a guitar, it was gathering dust in storage and he had no idea what shape it was in. "I... did get a guitar," he said with a ponderous expression between sips. "It might be a wreck, I'll have to check it. I can have one by the time you find a slot in your empty schedule." That taste of negative emotions didn't feel quite so strong anymore and he didn't want to take all the credit for that but it made him feel nice, like maybe just being around could be helpful. It certainly didn't make him feel rushed to find Sage's friend, at least not until they'd perhaps made a solid plan here.
“I can check it when you have your lesson,” Sage offered. “We’ll change out the strings, tune it up, and if for some reason it’s not playable, I have a spare you can use.” He couldn’t imagine anything would be wrong with it, unless it had been left outside to warp in the elements. Plus, he was curious to see what Marsh had bought for himself prior to taking any lessons. He was willing to bet it was acoustic, unless he’d bought it as a teen. He knew first hand the pull of an electric guitar, even if it wasn’t at all practical as a first time learning instrument. His parents had regretted letting him get one, yet not near as much as when he’d gotten his first drum set. “Do you sing?” he asked, just curious.
"Sure," Marsh replied. "I mean, everyone sings, I think. I don't perform though, like I would never front a band and I'm definitely not taking singing lessons if you're offering." He wagged his finger at Sage and shook his head in a jokingly serious manner before cracking a smile again. Sage was spot on about the acoustic which had seen its share of parties when Marsh was still in high school, mostly from other people since he had only really known a few chords back then which he wasn't even so sure he still remembered. "So we're on for a lesson?" he asked and all he could do was hope that helped a little, even if this kind of pain definitely needed a lot more than a friendly chat to heal.
“I don’t do vocal lessons,” Sage said, his lips again twisting into a small smile. “It’s just… just a shame when someone can play, but won’t sing. Girls like it.” He was teasing, but it was true. Girls loved a hot guy that could sing and play guitar. Sage didn’t think he was all that hot himself, but sometimes his talent made up for it. Back when he’d had an active band, before his world fell apart, he’d had a few local groupies. It’d been fun. Sage’s eyes swept across the bar until he located an abandoned pen and a cocktail napkin. “Give me a call next week,” he said as he scribbled down his name and number. “We’ll find a time that works for you and set something up.” It would be nice to have something on his schedule, a reoccurring commitment to look forward to. Teaching wasn’t the same as performing himself, but it was something, and maybe just being around the music would help him feel inspired.