Obsidian Shade (黒曜石シェード): Novella Prequel

3 - Struggling Artist, Tale As Old As Time

February 3, 2021

Denver, Colorado

Eviana's Diary

Well, apart from being cursed by dreams and being a diehard Tasker, I'm also a budding writer and artist. Living in Denver, Colorado has pros and cons. For one, I'm blessed with an abundance of nature-themes to draw, but it's not necessarily an 'art' city. But I make it, and especially with the help of my fellow K-Pop genre lover, who is also my best friend, Jaydrian Herondale.

I'm walking on the sidewalk in a small neighborhood. It's a pleasant day outside, the sun is shining brightly over my head and I can feel the crisp winter breeze blowing through the thick jacket I have on.

I have a pair of purple colored Samsung Galaxy earbuds in my ears and my purple Galaxy S20 in my left hand. (If you haven't guessed, purple is my favorite color!) A tune is in my head as I stroll along. It's Blood, Sweat and Tears (Untied) by J'TASK, one of my favorite workout songs to listen to.

I glance up and spot my destination, a forest green painted four-square home or Denver Square. Usually very easy to update (simplicity is key here in the Mile High City!) and remodel, the house itself looks like a two-story box and is made out of brick. On the interior, functionality is the rule. As a box, the unhindered interior space allows for large floor plans with plenty of usable space.

Once upon a time, Denver architects moved away from the ornate Victorian style, designing houses intended to be models of efficiency. In fact, you'll find these "Denver Squares" within five to ten miles of the city's epicenter and in some places, they are built one after the other. But in spite of this, each house typically has its own unique style, as original owners would add their own touches and finishes to them.

I skip up the stone-walkway that is laid out across a neatly kept front yard and up a series of three stairs to a porch. I knock on the smooth mahogany oak door with a series of four boisterous bangs that would make a guard dog yap in response.

Thankfully, Jaydrian doesn't own a dog.

I cut the music in my earpiece by tapping the pause button on the screen of my phone and put both buds away into their small jalapeno-sized container. Then I put both the phone and the buds' case back into my pockets.

"Come on, Jay, open up!!" I shout out, rapping on the door a few more times. "You are NOT making me wait ANY longer for this J'TASK performance!!"

Finally, the door swings open.

An average height man with short curly medium brown locks of hair leans smugly against the door frame. His chocolate eyes shimmer with sly amusement as they land on me. "You couldn't possibly be meaning me now, Ev?" From the middle of the beginnings of a patchy mustache and beard stubble that cake his lower face, the corners of his mouth form a sassy grin and he wags his thick, dark eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes. "Just let me in, Jay."

Jaydrian Herondale chuckles and then motions with a welcoming hand to his house's interior. "Please, Eviana, do come in."

I sense the playful sarcasm in his tone and punch him in the shoulder on the way in. He closes the door behind me and then takes my jacket from me like a gentleman. He hangs it on a coat rack in the foyer of the house.

"Jokes aside, Ev, have you by any chance had a certain song stuck in your head?" Jaydrian muses.

"Blood, Sweat and Tears (Untied), yes," I respond to him, kicking my black boots off to the side. "I walked over here with it playing in my ears!"

"Of course," Jaydrian chuckles. "With that said, shall we..." He gestures into his house once more, his hand outstretched in the direction of the living room where the couch is. "The latest Japanese concert is up and ready to be watched!"

I smile at him. "Is that even a question! Let's go!" I walk quickly into the room and jump onto the couch, sitting on the far end of it.

Jaydrian sits to my side, snatching the remote into his hand in the process of sitting down.

"Avs won last night, by the way," he says, tapping the power button to his TV, a nice 60-inch-sized smart plasma. He's got Youtube already pulled up on it and a video that says, J'TASK: Japan Concert (Angel Wings, Flowers of Tokyo and Blood, Sweat and Tears (Untied)) under the giant black square. All he has to do is press play.

I snap my head to the side to look at him. Really look at him now. I take in his outfit choice. He's got on dark denim jeans with a long-sleeve burgundy and blue shirt with the logo of the local NHL hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche, in the center of it.

He's not really a sports fanatic, just a hockey fan. He tried to even get me into it and, while I enjoy going to the recently renamed, Ball Arena to watch live hockey games, I'm not a huge fan of watching any sports. Luckily, our love of K-Pop music gives us something in common to share!

And Jaydrian is extremely respectful of my view of sports and the level of my fandom, so when we hang out, we either go to the hockey games or keep up with J'TASK. The ultimate and perfect best friendship you can ask for.

"Sweet! That's what, ten wins in a row at home?" I question, drawing on my memory and trying to make a little open-minded conversation.

Jaydrian nods, smiling. "They're away once again, but next home game they have, I suggest we attend."

"I'm sold, you know how much I do enjoy watching live," I say with a shrug. "Now..." I glance and nod subliminally toward the TV. "Concert viewing?"

Jaydrian chuckles and leans back into the couch. "Right, right. Enough hockey talk, it's K-Pop time!" He pushes the 'play' button on the remote and the screen kicks to life with the pristine recorded video footage.

"Their concerts are always entertaining and amazing," I remark as the black screen now has become one with shimmering lights from the crowd before an instrumental intro. "American artists lack the entertainment value to me."

"I can totally agree with that," Jaydrian says, putting the remote down on the table to the side of the couch. "The international artistic flair."