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31_days2011-01-03 11:13 pm
swollenfoot.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2011-01-03 11:13 pm
[Jan 3][Nodame Cantabile] Grounded
Title: Grounded
Day / Theme: Jan 3 / reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud
Series: Nodame Cantabile
Character(s) / Pairing: Nodame, Chiaki Shinichi, Chiaki-papa
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1050
“That’s an odd one,” his father said, not for the first time. Their relationship had since progressed into not-uncivilized, and Chiaki Shinichi could only agree with an exhausted sigh.
“We can drink some other time,” Masayuki said. “I have a feeling Nodame would insist on joining us.”
“Alcohol won’t mix well with those muscle relaxants,” agreed Shinichi.
Masayuki shrugged. “I don’t feel like sharing my chili fries with anybody tonight,” he admitted. “At any rate, see you, Shinichi. Give my best to your puzzle-knot of a fiancée.”
It wasn’t even unlikely that they’ll just randomly bump each into other in another part of the globe. Between him and Nodame, they covered quite a bit of ground. New York City was only a stopover, but a blizzard grounded their plane for two days. He supposed a sojourn in Manhattan, however brief and ill-timed, was a well-earned reprieve. It couldn’t be helped, and perhaps, he was a bit smug when he told Elise they wouldn’t make it to their next assignment in time and that a couple days’ delay wouldn’t hurt anyone.
In spite of himself, he was a little deflated when they ran into his world-renowned pianist father as Nodame was dragging him through the already grayish snowdrifts in Elizabeth Street with the aggressive strut worth any native’s. What followed was a late lunch in some basement in a corner of Chinatown Shinichi didn’t even know existed, a wind-blown hike through Soho with frequent stops for curious gawking, and an impromptu bid for the last remaining tickets for a live show in a jazz bar in Greenwich Village.
Sitting in the cramped, low-lit enclosure, knees pressed against hers, Shinichi could only feel relieved that he was feeling his nose once again and that their downtown trek did not result in a fatality. He spoke to soon, of course, for barely an hour later, he had the fright of his life, seeing her flying through empty space and landing on the hard tiles.
She didn’t die though, as his father had deadpanned. Something that’s easily remedied, Shinichi had snapped in profound irritation. Five hours later, he was half-carrying, half-dragging his somnolent weirdo out of the circus they called Emergency Department, amidst the smart-mouthed comments of Chiaki Masayuki. Shinichi would like to think that his father took the pains of accompanying him in the ER waiting room and even taking them back to their hotel by cab through some paternal sense of magnanimity. A drugged up Nodame was something out of the Twilight Zone, however, so Masayuki was probably just bored in between his black-tie affairs and recitals.
“Is father-in-law going home now?” came the drowsy question from the bathtub.
“Doubt it,” Shinichi answered. “He’ll probably impose on some local acquaintance and get his dose of alcohol for the night.”
“You should have gone.”
“And leave you to drown? I’ll be arrested for animal cruelty.”
“Gyabon!”
“Does your back feel better?”
“Yes.” Her coo was appreciative and happy. “Nodame has to hand it to senpai. Your experience as a snooty rich boy served us well, today. Of course, you’ll pick a hotel room with a whirlpool bath and other exciting stuff.”
He sat on expansive black-tiles that surrounded the tub and smeared soap suds on her face vindictively. “… Exciting stuff.” He snorted. “If you didn’t show off, maybe.”
“Oh, but I had to.” Nodame said seriously, popping majority of her head out of the piling bubbles. “Senpai’s fiancee isn’t very pretty, is a little dumb and kinda clumsy. Of course, Nodame had to pull out all stops to impress her future in-law.”
Shinichi gave her a quick peck on her damp head, before he turned to grab towels and a bathrobe. “He wasn’t the only one impressed,” he confessed. Nodame with her usual buoyant enthusiasm had bounced up the stage to take over half the piano, playing in concert with a band she had never met nor heard before. She juggled, toyed, and spun the notes with the frenetic energy and aplomb that merely built as she, her co-performers, and the audience bounced the excitement around till the improvisation exploded into an overjoyed roar.
“Bob was amazing,” she gushed, and a prick of jealously unexpectedly came to Shinichi’s awareness. Bob, the jazz pianist, was amazing all right, being able to keep up with her with a rivaling jaunt that no doubt made him famous. Shinichi, however, didn’t need to hear her say, “Bob was amazing ♥” like they had just emerged from something more intimate than a performance.
Shinichi acknowledged the green monster and let it go. He was more or less resigned that he’d have to share her to the world---wasn’t that his goal from the start? He let her prattle on, if not with the exaggerated hand gestures, at least with the interesting turns of phrase she always used to describe music, even as he helped her off the bath, steadied her as he rinsed off the suds, and dried her with the big, fluffy, white towels.
She was starting to drift off again, where she was carefully arranged among pillows, as he methodically dried her rubbed her hair dry.
“Guess I shouldn’t have tried to fly like Woodstock,” she said contritely.
Her conductor fiancé took a moment to figure out what she was referring to. “You’re off by a good many kilometers and years,” he pointed out.
“It’s true what they say, isn’t it?”
“Hm?”
“One should reach for the stars.” Nodame yawned luxuriantly and made invisible snow-angels on the thousand-count sheets.
“Yes, but sometimes you take reaching to extremes, Nodame.” He was tired and so didn’t go into a more detailed sermon. “It’s a good thing you didn’t fracture your back or anything else.”
“But now I feel like I’m lying in heaven right now, senpai!”
He grunted dourly but didn’t argue with her.
“… Shinichi?” she said so long later he thought she had fallen asleep. Nodame was up to something.
“What is it?”
“I asked.”
“Who? What?”
“If you prop me up like this, we can still do it.” The ‘like this’ was detailed on a rumpled piece of paper she was holding to his face. It was printed from the Internet and the basic illustrations were accompanied by clear, phlegmatic instructions.
“… You hentai.”
01032010 2248
Day / Theme: Jan 3 / reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on a cloud
Series: Nodame Cantabile
Character(s) / Pairing: Nodame, Chiaki Shinichi, Chiaki-papa
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1050
“That’s an odd one,” his father said, not for the first time. Their relationship had since progressed into not-uncivilized, and Chiaki Shinichi could only agree with an exhausted sigh.
“We can drink some other time,” Masayuki said. “I have a feeling Nodame would insist on joining us.”
“Alcohol won’t mix well with those muscle relaxants,” agreed Shinichi.
Masayuki shrugged. “I don’t feel like sharing my chili fries with anybody tonight,” he admitted. “At any rate, see you, Shinichi. Give my best to your puzzle-knot of a fiancée.”
It wasn’t even unlikely that they’ll just randomly bump each into other in another part of the globe. Between him and Nodame, they covered quite a bit of ground. New York City was only a stopover, but a blizzard grounded their plane for two days. He supposed a sojourn in Manhattan, however brief and ill-timed, was a well-earned reprieve. It couldn’t be helped, and perhaps, he was a bit smug when he told Elise they wouldn’t make it to their next assignment in time and that a couple days’ delay wouldn’t hurt anyone.
In spite of himself, he was a little deflated when they ran into his world-renowned pianist father as Nodame was dragging him through the already grayish snowdrifts in Elizabeth Street with the aggressive strut worth any native’s. What followed was a late lunch in some basement in a corner of Chinatown Shinichi didn’t even know existed, a wind-blown hike through Soho with frequent stops for curious gawking, and an impromptu bid for the last remaining tickets for a live show in a jazz bar in Greenwich Village.
Sitting in the cramped, low-lit enclosure, knees pressed against hers, Shinichi could only feel relieved that he was feeling his nose once again and that their downtown trek did not result in a fatality. He spoke to soon, of course, for barely an hour later, he had the fright of his life, seeing her flying through empty space and landing on the hard tiles.
She didn’t die though, as his father had deadpanned. Something that’s easily remedied, Shinichi had snapped in profound irritation. Five hours later, he was half-carrying, half-dragging his somnolent weirdo out of the circus they called Emergency Department, amidst the smart-mouthed comments of Chiaki Masayuki. Shinichi would like to think that his father took the pains of accompanying him in the ER waiting room and even taking them back to their hotel by cab through some paternal sense of magnanimity. A drugged up Nodame was something out of the Twilight Zone, however, so Masayuki was probably just bored in between his black-tie affairs and recitals.
“Is father-in-law going home now?” came the drowsy question from the bathtub.
“Doubt it,” Shinichi answered. “He’ll probably impose on some local acquaintance and get his dose of alcohol for the night.”
“You should have gone.”
“And leave you to drown? I’ll be arrested for animal cruelty.”
“Gyabon!”
“Does your back feel better?”
“Yes.” Her coo was appreciative and happy. “Nodame has to hand it to senpai. Your experience as a snooty rich boy served us well, today. Of course, you’ll pick a hotel room with a whirlpool bath and other exciting stuff.”
He sat on expansive black-tiles that surrounded the tub and smeared soap suds on her face vindictively. “… Exciting stuff.” He snorted. “If you didn’t show off, maybe.”
“Oh, but I had to.” Nodame said seriously, popping majority of her head out of the piling bubbles. “Senpai’s fiancee isn’t very pretty, is a little dumb and kinda clumsy. Of course, Nodame had to pull out all stops to impress her future in-law.”
Shinichi gave her a quick peck on her damp head, before he turned to grab towels and a bathrobe. “He wasn’t the only one impressed,” he confessed. Nodame with her usual buoyant enthusiasm had bounced up the stage to take over half the piano, playing in concert with a band she had never met nor heard before. She juggled, toyed, and spun the notes with the frenetic energy and aplomb that merely built as she, her co-performers, and the audience bounced the excitement around till the improvisation exploded into an overjoyed roar.
“Bob was amazing,” she gushed, and a prick of jealously unexpectedly came to Shinichi’s awareness. Bob, the jazz pianist, was amazing all right, being able to keep up with her with a rivaling jaunt that no doubt made him famous. Shinichi, however, didn’t need to hear her say, “Bob was amazing ♥” like they had just emerged from something more intimate than a performance.
Shinichi acknowledged the green monster and let it go. He was more or less resigned that he’d have to share her to the world---wasn’t that his goal from the start? He let her prattle on, if not with the exaggerated hand gestures, at least with the interesting turns of phrase she always used to describe music, even as he helped her off the bath, steadied her as he rinsed off the suds, and dried her with the big, fluffy, white towels.
She was starting to drift off again, where she was carefully arranged among pillows, as he methodically dried her rubbed her hair dry.
“Guess I shouldn’t have tried to fly like Woodstock,” she said contritely.
Her conductor fiancé took a moment to figure out what she was referring to. “You’re off by a good many kilometers and years,” he pointed out.
“It’s true what they say, isn’t it?”
“Hm?”
“One should reach for the stars.” Nodame yawned luxuriantly and made invisible snow-angels on the thousand-count sheets.
“Yes, but sometimes you take reaching to extremes, Nodame.” He was tired and so didn’t go into a more detailed sermon. “It’s a good thing you didn’t fracture your back or anything else.”
“But now I feel like I’m lying in heaven right now, senpai!”
He grunted dourly but didn’t argue with her.
“… Shinichi?” she said so long later he thought she had fallen asleep. Nodame was up to something.
“What is it?”
“I asked.”
“Who? What?”
“If you prop me up like this, we can still do it.” The ‘like this’ was detailed on a rumpled piece of paper she was holding to his face. It was printed from the Internet and the basic illustrations were accompanied by clear, phlegmatic instructions.
“… You hentai.”
01032010 2248