RP: A Musical Hike Who: Hype/Zahara When: Saturday, July 8 [slightly backdated] Where: Nature What: The happy couple goes on a hike together. Music and discussions ensue! Warnings: None
Quin had been teaching Zahara to play the piano, when Zahara had gotten the idea that she wanted to play at least the chorus of the song she was writing about Hyperion for him? Well, Quin had offered to teach her how to play that for him as well so that they could have a moment all their own. Thankfully Quin had given Zahara a small keyboard to practice at home on, which she usually tended to do when Hyperion wasn’t home. She knew she wasn’t the best at it yet but she was getting better. The only song she could play with any confidence was the song she was writing for Hyperion.
The idea had come sometime during the week, she wanted to go on a hike and find a waterfall or something to play in. She didn’t care if they just made it to the top of a mountain and played the song there on the cliff edge. She was up for anything. While she may have loved to hike, finding trails she liked were harder and so she defaulted to Hyperion’s expertise. She let him pick just where they would go.
That morning she had transfigured the keyboard and everything else she wanted so that it would fit into her pack, before the two had taken off. The hike was long but he hadn’t disappointed her, it was gorgeous. She wondered though if they were nearing their lunch destination though, she was starting to get nervous to play the song for him. It was just the chorus but it was something she hadn’t done before, wrote a song about someone she was with and actually cared about. Usually she wrote about someone once they were her ex, he seemed to be the exception to the rule.
♪
It had been a bloody fantastic week--other than his best friend nearly dying by tripping wards that he'd known were there, which made Hype think he might need to set up some sort of safety in the magical world course for the people he loved most--in large part because he was still over the moon about the fact that he and Zahara had exchanged "I love you's." Granted, that had been two weeks ago, but he thought it still counted for his good mood. He'd also told his mum about her, that he wanted to marry her, and he'd tossed his idea to buy land and build a house at Coop. Yes, in many ways, Hyperion's life was going swimmingly.
There were some things missing, things he wasn't sure would ever be resolved, but he could find ways to make those gaps less painful, and filling his life with love and laughter was a massive part of that. Like this hike today--it combined two of his favorite things: being in nature and being with Zahara. He had a sack on his back filled with a variety of things they might need, including plenty of water and food for whenever they wanted to stop and refuel.
"How are you doing, love? Ready for a break yet?" he asked her a few kilometers into their hike.
♪
When he asked how she was doing, she knew she couldn’t admit that she was nervous. “I think I’m ready for lunch,” She gave him a big smile then, nodding her head. “Definitely. I need to do something though before we eat.” Just in case she got too nervous. Her stomach gave a flutter as she thought about it. She realized then that she may as well let him in on her tiny little secret. “I brought my keyboard with us, and my little notebook.” Which had been missing for some weeks now. It used to just lay around the flat but now it was always tucked away.
“I’ve been writing a lot lately, I seem to have found some inspiration.” Just saying that aloud made her stomach lurch, it was so different than playing for Quin. She was always nervous to bring her cousin new lyrics, this was different though. This was personal and it was very obviously about him. It was something she didn’t want to sing for everyone else, at least not yet. She felt so cheesy about it all but she wanted to share, she was excited about what she had accomplished.
“Is there anywhere we could swim later? Am I hoping for too much?” She had definitely not brought a swim suit, the idea sounded like fun though. Skinny dipping in the middle of nowhere before heading home.
♪
Her interjection that she needed to do something first didn't process in his mind as anything out of the ordinary at first, but when she followed it up with that tidbit about bringing her keyboard and notebook, he stopped and looked at her with raised brows before his lips stretched into a wide smile. "Did ye?" he asked rhetorically. She wanted to play something for him out here in the middle of their hike? He rather loved that idea.
When she brought up having found inspiration, he smirked, his eyes shining with mirth as he thought that maybe he had been inspiring her, and wasn't that a kick to the gut in the best of ways? Hype loved that he might inspire her, and he knew that he hoped they might have a lifetime of inspiring one another together.
"Aye, there is, and I'll ward it so we can have the space to ourselves," he promised with a touch of heat to his tone. "Do ye need me to help ye set anything up?" he offered as he found a spot to drop the sack off his back.
♪
That look! She was about to melt, her cheeks turned pink, and she gave a nervous laugh. “Stop! Stop that right now!” She reached a hand out to bat at him. “Stop giving me that look!” She was so incredibly nervous to sing for him like this, it was so much more intimate a setting than the club where she was on stage. This was just the two of them, in the middle of nowhere, while Zahara spilled her heart to him. She was certain she was going to hurl before she finished the song, she had never been so nervous to sing for someone before.
The nerves seemed to fade a bit when he promised that they would have the entire space to themselves. She shook her head when he dropped his sack, “I don’t think so. I think I’ve got everything I need..” The keyboard was magic and didn’t need electricity or anything to power it, she would be just fine. She just needed herself.
“If you want, you can set up our spot to eat while I get the keyboard together? I just need to transfigure it back to regular size so that I can play.” She sat down just next to his pack, her own bag coming around to rest in her lap. She crossed her legs pretzel style, popping the top of it so that she could dig in to grab out her keyboard and notebook. The notebook was set beside her, where the wind whipping the cover open before she was quickly tucking it under her leg so that it wouldn’t accidentally blow open and reveal the ‘Zahara Montgomery’ doodle that was on the back page. She then set the keyboard in front of her, before producing her wand from an expandable pocket, then started to transfigure it.
Once it was the correct size and she had tested the keys, she called out to him. "Alright, I'm ready when you are.." Maybe, she wasn't so sure. She had that feeling in her gut, the twisting excitement.
♪
He was making her nervous? That was more than a little mind-boggling to Hyperion, but he didn't really want to make her nervous just then. Not if she really did have something special she wanted to sing for him. It felt like a big moment, but he wanted to support her in it, and so he tried to school his expression to something slightly more subdued, perhaps even channeling his inner Apollo.
As she got set up, he did the same, pulling out everything he'd brought for their lunch and getting them set up to be able to eat once she was done, trying not to focus on her too much lest it make her more nervous. Still, he couldn't help peeking over at her from time to time; she really was gorgeous, but she was so much more than that, and he felt so bloody lucky that she'd given him a chance.
When she called out that she was ready, Hype flopped down on the blanket he'd laid out (complete with a bug-repelling charm) and snagged a jug of water to take a long drink from. "Ready," he told her then, looking forward to whatever it was she wanted to sing for him.
♪
“Alright..” She said as she cleared her throat, tapping a few keys to be sure she was hitting the right notes. She had already checked all of these things before she had gone about calling him over. She was so nervous though and while she knew she had to look at him… It was incredibly hard to bring her eyes up to meet his.
“It’s just the chorus, really. I’m working on it though..” She bit her lower lip, bringing her eyes up to look at a tree that was just to his left. It was so that she was looking at him, she could see him, but she wasn’t looking in his eyes. She started to play then, eyes slipped closed and she took a deep breath before she started to sing. “A dangerous plan, just this time. A stranger's hand clutched in mine. I'll take this chance, so call me blind,” Her eyes opened, though her cheeks were pink as she knew what lyrics came next. She was going to be baring herself to him in a way that felt so raw. She still wasn’t used to this side of music writing. Her bright hazel eyes found his beautiful deep blues, a ridiculous and shy smile gracing her full lips as she continued. "I've been waiting all my life. Please don't scar this young heart, just take my hand." She took a deep breath then, before continuing on, ”I was made for loving you, even though we may be hopeless hearts just passing through. Every bone screaming, I don’t know what we should do. All I know is, darkling I was made for loving you.”
Her mouth felt suddenly dry as she ended the song, her hands stilling on her little keyboard.
♪
It was obvious that she was nervous, but he was patient and all smiles for her, wanting to put her at ease in this. He didn't mind that she couldn't seem to meet his eye, though he always preferred when she did--he deliberately talked to her with his eyes sometimes, and that was always great fun. But then she started singing, and good gods he loved her voice so much. It would be easy to just get lost in the way her voice sounded and miss the words she was singing, but he could tell that they lyrics were the important part here.
Had she written a song about him, about them? Or, at least part of a song? She was blushing, but then she finally looked at him, and his smile was warm back at her. The lyrics stirred something in him. I was made for loving you, indeed. It made him wonder what she would think if he tugged her over onto the blanket he'd laid out and made love to her right here in the middle of their hike. "You wrote that, love?" he question, his voice a bit deeper, huskier than normal.
♪
The way he looked at her made her heart race. That smile was… She didn’t have words for it, he was giving her goosebumps. When he spoke in that husky tone, she had brought one hand up subconsciously to rub at the goosebumps on her arm. Her keyboard was then set aside a moment later, she didn’t want it between them. She wanted to scoot closer, she debated not doing it for a moment before she was chastising herself and moving so that she could sit closer to him.
“I did, Quin helped with the music. I started writing it a few days before open mic.” A few days before they had confessed their love. “What do you think of it?” She knew it didn’t all apply to them, but that was how songs worked. You sometimes had small bits that didn’t fit just so that it would all flow. She hoped he liked it anyway. She wondered for a moment then if she wasn’t supposed to ask that of the person that the song was wrong about, weren’t they obligated to say it was amazing?
♪
When she rubbed her arm, Hype's brows furrowed faintly. She couldn't possibly be cold, could she? But then, what? He shrugged the curiosity aside for now, grinning when she moved the keyboard aside and scooted closer to him. His hand reached out and trailed fingertips over her arm for the moment, though he was very close to just tugging her in his lap.
That she'd started writing it even before the open mic night had him grinning wider. She'd started writing it before they'd professed their love to one another verbally, and wasn't that something? He really did love her so very much. "I think it's lovely," he answered honestly. "I can't wait to hear it again when it's finished." Because it was obviously only a small portion of the song, and he had to assume it was because it wasn't finished yet. "And with a stronger accompaniment." As he'd listened to her, he'd tried to just listen, but he hadn't been able to stop his mind from adding a bit of percussion to it in his head.
♪
That light trail of his fingertips over her arm gave her a shiver, the goosebumps finding their place on her skin again in moments. “Stop.” Was said in a playful whine as she brought a hand up to rub at her arm, laughing as she did so. “You’re giving me goosebumps! That’s ridiculously unfair.” There was even a slight pout of her lower lip, though it didn’t last long. The excitement of having just shared something so intimate with him had her all smiles, relief flooding her. He had liked it!
Then he was adding that it needed a stronger accompaniment, a laugh slipping from her. “It does and it will,” She bit her lower lip as she debated the question for a half second, “Do you think you’d want to help me with it?” She didn’t know if that was some taboo in the music world, you weren’t supposed to ask the person the song was about to help with it. Though at the same time, she was hoping that he would. She wanted to start playing with him, with Quin, as a little band. She would likely try to find more members at some point but just then, she really wanted to be able to play with both her boyfriend and her cousin.
♪
Hyperion had no shame in the way he chuckled at her reaction to him touching her arm like that; he'd been hoping for just such a response. "How is it unfair?" he countered with an impish tilt to his head. What was wrong with eliciting reactions from his girlfriend? It was something he took great joy in, after all.
It was nice that she took his comment in stride, agreeing with his assessment. And it was true--he really was looking forward to hearing the song again, completed and with full accompaniment. Only then she was asking him that question, and he found himself speechless with surprise for about two seconds before his lips spread in a wide smile and he chuckled. "Aye, I'd love to help you with it." He'd been wondering if she'd be interested in playing together beyond the messing around they'd done so far when he was, admittedly, showing off on his drums, but he hadn't wanted to encroach on her dream, as he knew she was pretty serious about music.
♪
The question stopped her, how was it unfair? She gave him her best fake pout, which meant her lower lip was out more than usual when she would pout and she even batted those big hazel eyes at him. “Because I say it is, just don’t stop doing it alright?” As she asked her features split into a grin, eyes alight with excitement. The song had gone over far better than she could have hoped and she couldn’t contain her excitement about it all.
Had she just rendered him speechless? Did she win an award for being able to do that? That was her one goal whenever she went lingerie shopping anymore, find the perfect set that would make the man speechless since being rendered speechless was something that Zahara had a feeling didn’t happen to Hyperion. She had no idea how to go about asking if she had, and instead of finding a tactful way of doing so she blurted out, “Did I make your brain disconnect the way you always do to me?”
Plowing ahead though, cheeks pink from the ridiculousness of that question, she leaned in and stole a quick kiss. She was at least close enough to do that. “I’m very glad you’ll help, I want to play with you more.” Which sounded incredibly dirty but she knew that he’d know what she meant. They did plenty of the other sort of play, she wanted to do the musical sort with him as well. Then, just because the opportunity was there, “My parents also want to meet you, since we’re on the subject of wants.”
♪
That made absolutely no sense whatsoever, and Hyperion was sure that the expression on his face said that quite clearly. But then he'd always known that women operated on their own logic at times, though he had better survival instincts than to say as much. "I promise you I won't stop," he answered, clearly amused as he reached a hand over to tap her pushed-out lower lip. She was going to teach their children that, wasn't she? And then where would he be?
Her question was enough to kick his brain back into gear, and he chuckled, shaking his head. "Ye surprised me, love. Pleasantly so." Though he wondered if that really was what she experienced often with him. How interesting.
When she stole that quick kiss, his arm sneaked around her, keeping her close though he refrained from stealing a deeper kiss just yet. Soon, though. "I always want to play with you more," he retorted with more than a little heat in his eyes. His nose nudged against hers as he was about to follow through on his promise to himself that he would kiss her deeply soon. Only then she brought up her parents, and he pulled back enough to look at her with a quirked brow. "Do you want me to meet your parents, love?" he asked her. He most definitely wanted to meet them, the same as he wanted her to meet his mum, but he'd been determined not to push her on anything.
♪
Zahara didn’t mind one bit that he seemed to give her an expression that said she was crazy often, this definitely wasn’t the first time. After he promised though, she playfully nipped at his fingers when he tapped her lower lip. “Good, I’d be upset if you did.”
“That’s exactly what you do to me,” Those goosebumps weren’t going to go away anytime soon, his accent was thicker and it was causing her to feel that familiar warmth she felt when it got deep. “I intend to do that again.” She already had a couple of ideas.
As his arm moved around her, she easily pressed against him and used it as an excuse to be close. She felt her own heart stop at his words, though it was more the look in his eyes. That heat that she felt all the way to her toes, causing her breathing to get a little deeper. She wanted to be a smart ass, tease him for the corny line because that was definitely not why she was melting in his lap. She was melting from the look alone, but she was positive that he was going to kiss her and she wanted that more than to be a smart ass.
Until he turned the tables so fast she thought she heard a record scratch somewhere. She didn’t say anything at first though, she had gotten a bit lost in that moment from just seconds before and it was taking her a moment to catch up with what he was asking her. “Oh!” Her cheeks flushed, she had just given him shit about being caught speechless and now here she was speechless in his arms already. “I do, I’ve told them a little about you already.” She didn’t want to admit that she had told them he was the one, that was a little too much information she thought.
♪
Her reaction to his question was one that Hyperion wasn't sure he could read, which was frustrating as he rather thought he'd gotten pretty damn good at reading her in the months they'd been together. They'd sort of talked about meeting each others parents, he'd thought, though that might have just been because he was so set on her meeting his mum soon that he was assuming they'd talked about it.
Still, he was relieved when she finally answered in the affirmative. He chuckled at her admission and leaned in to steal a quick kiss before saying anything. "Yeah? I told my mum about you, too," he admitted. He'd tell her what he'd told his mum too if he wasn't worried it would make her turn tail and run. It wasn't something he was too worried about, but he still was trying not to rush things too much.
♪
For the first time Zahara had a thought that she really thought she ought to have had sooner, what did his mother know about her? She didn’t remember ever meeting her when she and Perse were younger, though she hadn’t known Perse long before the war had happened and she had gone into hiding with her mother. She wondered though what she had been told over time, if anything from Persephone and of course there was the curiosity over just what he had told his mother. She wondered if his mother would even like her.
“Let’s do this,” She felt that ridiculous pit in her stomach feeling she had described to Perse. The one that she got just before doing something crazy. “After we’re back from the trip, we’ll set up dates with both parents and do a dinner with each.” She knew her parents had wanted to have them over on the 25th but she didn’t want to press her luck. Zahara knew she was going to be packing late, it was how she operated. She was going to pack late and likely forget at least two major things that she would need to pick up once they got to their location.
It was then she leaned in and stole a long kiss, pressing against him in a way to purposely tip him over. She didn’t care if there was a blanket under him or grass, she was willing to snog on either before going swimming. The snacks and things were a bit forgotten in the moment.
♪
Hyperion chuckled at her sudden readiness to do the meeting the parents thing, pleased by it. "Aye, we'll set it up after we're back," he confirmed with a firm nod. They really did have too much going on right now with two vacations coming up plus Coop's plans to propose to Gen again. As much as he wanted to meet her parents and introduce her to his mum, he knew it would be better to wait until things calmed down just a little bit.
Her kiss caught him by surprise, and he laughed against her lips briefly before kissing her back, letting her use her momentum to topple him over, careful to keep her above him so that she wouldn't crash against the ground. Kissing her was one of his favorite pastimes, and she wouldn't hear any complaints from him.