"I'd rather be
Free-ee-ee, free-ee-ee, free
Free-ee-ee, free-ee-ee, free
From here"
Applause and cheering rose from the crowd soon after you finished singing. You smiled and walked off the stage.
"[Name], that was awesome!" Akira gushed.
You laughed sheepishly. "Honestly, there's people better than me. Ukulele is a hobby." You put the small instrument back in its case.
"You're amazing at it!" Akira pointed out. "Everyone loved it."
"Escapism isn't that hard of a song, to be honest," you said. "It's short and simple."
"I know, but still! I could never figure out the ukulele."
"Yet you know guitar?"
"The strings go from highest to lowest!"
"I know, I know." You smiled. "Ukulele isn't all that special, though. I thought it was easier than guitar, honestly."
•~•~•~•~•
E flat, F minor, G minor, A flat minor. Easy enough.
"Is that Love Like You?"
You yelped in surprise. "Orichi, oh my god!"
"What?" he asked.
"Don't scare me like that," you replied, pushing him gently. "And yes, it is Love Like You."
"You've been practicing for hours."
"I'm nervous about this." You played another chord.
"You need to relax," Orochi said, taking your ukulele out of your hands.
"I've never done a duet before, Orochi." You sighed. "And I don't know how guitar and ukulele sound together."
"You'll be fine." The brunet leaned your ukulele against the wall, walking over to your vinyls.
"Can you put on Back In Black?" you asked.
"You play that every time."
"So?"
You saw Orochi pick up a pink record.
"Oh, I forgot about that. I actually have the Stronger Than You vinyl too." You stood up and walked over to him, looking through your smaller vinyls. "Here."
He flipped the case over. "There's Love Like You on this one, too."
"There is?"
He looked up at you. "You didn't know?"
"No, it plays Stronger Than You the entire time."
"You flip it over," Orochi explained, putting it on the player.
After a few seconds, the music started to play.
"[Name]?"
You turned to see your friend standing there. "Oh, Akira!" You smiled at him. "Sorry, Orochi, I gotta go." You grabbed your ukulele and put it in the case.
•~•~•~•~•
"Akira, seriously, I can't play."
"Come on, [Name], just try!" He handed you his guitar.
"Fine. But you have to try ukulele," you said.
"Alright!"
You stared at the strings. "How the hell do you play this? There's six strings, what if you need to use all the strings?"
"You normally don't have to."
"It's confusing."
"Not as confusing as this."
You put the guitar down. "I can show you, it's easy to learn."
"I feel like we should practice," he said, hanging the instrument back.
"Yeah, you're right." You smiled at him. "House of Gold is pretty easy, though. We've practiced a lot."
Akira smiled. "Well, yeah, but still!"
You laughed softly. "Want to hear another song?"
"Sure!"
Adjusting the ukulele, you leaned against the wall and began playing.
"Life and death and love and birth and
Peace and war on the planet Earth
Is there anything that's worth more than
Peace and love on the planet Earth
Oh woah
Come on and sing it with me."
"Sing?"
You smiled as Akira chimed in.
"The words all relate to the key."
"Key?"
"If it's a pattern
If it's a pattern
Just repeat after me
Life and death and love and birth."
"Life and death and love and birth."
"Now you sing fa mi fa mi mi fa mi ti la."
"And peace and war on the planet Earth."
"I didn't know you knew Steven Universe," you laughed, stopping halfway through the interlude.
"You liked it, so I thought I'd watch." He grinned. "I kinda got hooked."
"It'll do that to you." You started absentmindedly picking at the strings. "How far have you got?"
"The movie." Akira leaned toward you excitedly. "I love Spinel! She's just so bouncy and stretchy and friendly!"
"Like someone I know." You ruffled his hair. "Come on, we gotta head up soon."
---
Aaaaand sorry for the shit quality I have no idea where I was trying to go with this bc it's been over half a year
