Ukuleles Are Finally Cool! - @Claud
OOC: I do not play this instrument at all and I’m literally going off an online tutorial. XD
JJ was never one for social graces. “S-shit sorry. I’ve just been so confused lately.” He winces when Claud calls him a slut. He’s convinced he’s become one at this point. “I do have feelings for all three of them. Is it wrong to love more than one person?” He’s already asked Maxxie but he wouldn’t mind an answer from Claud. JJ looks down when Claud mentions emotionless sex. It reminded him of Lucy, who initially wanted a one-off but now sounds like she’s falling for him. Feeling like a twat, JJ takes his uke out of his case so he can teach Claud about chords. He physically demonstrates his steps while he’s talking. “Ok, the C major is always a good one to start with. You put your left ring finger on the A string between the second and third fret. It has to be firm enough to keep the string down but loose enough that the string can vibrate freely. Now drag your right index fingernail across the four strings.” JJ expertly plays the chord. “And that’s what a C sounds like.” He waits for Claud to try his luck with the chord.
Claud watched as JJ taught him the chord, but he wasn’t really paying any attention. He felt badly for calling JJ a slut. He didn’t mean it maliciously but got the feeling that JJ may have taken it that way. “People don’t just have one person they can fall in love with. So no, it’s not wrong to love more than one person at once. And if you do, it just means you have a big heart. And that’s nothing short of beautiful.” he said. looking at JJ. “Anyway, I didn’t mean anything bad when I called you a slut. I was just trying to make light of the situation and I’m sorry.” He held his ukelele and attempted to do what JJ showed him. He was in fact a fast learner and immitated what JJ did almost perfectly. As he played, he continued to speak. “Anyway, I barely know you, and I don’t know any of your friends, so if you ever need an un-biased ear to listen to you, I’ll be right here.” he said, looking at JJ with a sincere look on his face. “You seem like a good guy and you diserve to be happy.” he said, as he stopped playing and rested his ukelele on his lap.
JJ blushes deeply at Claud’s compliment. Beautiful, really? Can it be true, even though I feel like my heart is ugly? “It’s strange because they make me feel different ways. Liv makes me feel like I should be respectful and sweet, to be the perfect boyfriend. Rennie tears down those walls. Everything is so much deeper, newer, and rawer with him. And Lucy, she’s the best of both worlds. I treat her nicely but I don’t have to worry as much about doing the wrong thing. I didn’t mean to be such a cheating bastard, but Rennie and Lucy made me feel so good when I felt so low. And now I may lose all of them because of my stupidity. Does that make me a bad person or just an idiot?”
JJ stops his tirade to hear Claud play a near-perfect C chord. “Wow, maybe you are a bit of a prodigy. You could probably get the ladies, or gents, with a good ukulele ballad. I played ‘True’ by Spandau Ballet for my ex-girlfriend and she loved it. I could play something for you, if you want. I’ve been working on something, though it’s a bit of an odd song to play on a ukulele.” JJ has desperately wanted to play something for someone. It started with Cassie, then Liv, then Rennie, and even Lucy. Plus, the song he had in mind would be a good venting mechanism.
”Bad person or idiot? It doesn’t make you either. If you were a bad person, you would just do whatever you wanted and not feel bad about it. In just about a half an hour I can tell how much you’re beating yourself up. You shouldn’t. And an idiot?” he paused, laughing as he spoke. “Loving someone…no matter who, never really makes a person an idiot.” If there was one thing Claud had always been good at making people feel better. Anyway, Claud knew a bad person when he saw one, all he really had to do was look in a mirror. “You made a mistake…well, a few, actually, but that doesn’t make you a bad person or an idiot. It makes you human.”
Then J explained about playing a song for his ex. It was a sweet story, and it gave Claud a better picture of who JJ really was. He was a bit taken aback when JJ offered to sing to him. ”You want to play me a song? Claud asked. He’d never been sung to by someone before, even if the song was meant for someone else. “I’d love it” he said, smiling, as the two sat on the couch together.
OOC: THE SONG CHOICE ISN’T WEIRD! OMG I found loads of ukulele covers to songs, including this one! I’ll probably post the video I found, this is too amazing for words! XD Also, I’m going to bold his singing, I use italics too much. =P And for legality, not my song, it’s by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
JJ listens to what Claud says and smiles. He seems keen on hearing JJ sing, so he begins playing the chords to “Otherside.”
“How long, how long will I slide? Separate my side I don’t, I don’t believe it’s bad. Slit my throat, it’s all I ever.
I heard your voice through a photograph. I thought it up, it brought up the past. Once you know, you can never go back. I’ve got to take it on the otherside.
Centuries are what it meant to me, a cemetery where I marry the sea. Stranger things could never change my mind. I’ve got to take it on the otherside, take it on the otherside, take it on, take it on.
[chorus]
Pour my life into a paper cup. The ashtray’s full and I’m spillin’ my guts. She wants to know am I still a slut? I’ve got to take it on the otherside.
Scarlet starlet and she’s in my bed. A candidate for my soul mate bled. Push the trigger and pull the thread. I’ve got to take it on the otherside, take it on the otherside, take it on, take it on.
[chorus]
Turn me on, take me for a hard ride. Burn me out, leave me on the otherside. I yell and tell it that it’s not my friend. I tear it down, I tear it down, and then it’s born again.
[chorus]
How long? I don’t believe it’s bad. Slit my throat, it’s all I ever.”
JJ gets lost in his playing. He looks up at Claud’s face when he finishes, waiting for a reaction. I hope he likes it, I’m not sure there’s anyone else I could play it for. But it really speaks to me and my fucked up life.
