Ukuleles Are Finally Cool! - @Claud
”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.
Claud listened silently, as JJ began to play his song. He was a surprisingly good singer, to be honest, and he sang with more emotion and passion than Claud had ever heard before. He felt like JJ was pouring out his heart, even more so than he was when he’s told Claud about his situation. When JJ finished singing, and he looked at Claud, and their eyes met, Claud wasn’t sure how to react. “…Wow…JJ, that was…” he paused. He wasn’t sure what word he could use to describe what he was feeling. Beautiful, passionate, deep, emotional…there was so much more to that than just the lyrics. But all he could think to say was “incredible.”
JJ blushes deeply, again. True, he won over Lara once with his singing, but he didn’t think it merited such a high compliment. He returns Claud’s gaze, a gaze he now recognizes as the time they passed each other briefly in the halls of Roundview. Why does this feel so familiar? Oh Christ no, not him too. Jonah Jeremiah Jones, don’t fall for every person who shows you kindness. But…something about him feels like Rennie. Or…maybe how I want him to be? He feels flustered by his continuously tangled feelings for people, so he tries to restart the smalltalk. “Er well, since we’re getting personal here, you have anyone special in your life?” JJ has never had the best functioning gaydar, so he can’t figure out if Claud likes guys, girls, or both.
JJ’s question killed the mood, a mood that would inevitably have led to something happening that the two would have regretted later, so it was certainly for the best. JJ’s life didn’t need to be any more complicated and Claud certainly didn’t want to be dragged into any drama that could rise from JJ’s predicament. However, Claud was a bit afraid to answer the question. He found himself really caring about what JJ thought of him. “Well, no…I don’t have anyone special, I guess. Just a lot of…what’s the expression?” he said as he tried to remember what one of his friends had called it. “booty-calls” he said, as he suddenly remembered. “Friends with benefits, that sort of thing.” he explained. “I’ve never really had a serious relationship.” Shit, now he thinks I’m a total fucking slut. That’s the kind of shit you keep to yourself, you unbelievable jackass! But the cat was out of the bag, so he continued talking. “The guys I’ve been with know it’s all about feeling good, there’s nothing else to it.”
JJ mentally kicks himself for ruining the mood. Though he isn’t sure if he wanted Claud to kiss him or if he senses Claud wasn’t comfortable with the subject. But since our resident nervous wreck has a problem with knowing when to shut up, he continues talking. “These days, I can’t tell whether I’m in a relationship with someone or if I’m just a friend to have sex with. I dunno, how do feelings make the difference between the two? With Lara, I was dead serious. Liv, I meant to be serious. Rennie, I mean to be serious with. Lucy, I could be serious with. I still feel like a complete flake though.” JJ admires Claud for at least knowing how to keep his feelings out of it but he feels sad about that same trait. “So just boys then?” he asks with a nervous chuckle. Christ, did that sound like flirtation?
