Andante con Brio

CLIII

"How did it go with Lily?"
Brett was just coming out of music theory class, the one he had missed to go with Lily. 
Oh well. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to miss some, was it? 
"Er... it was amazing, really." he said softly. He took the photo out of his pocked and showed it to Brett. "Look. This is it. Everything's looking good, and Lily's such a trooper. She looked like... well, she looked like a mum when she was seeing this."
"Wow." 
Brett was holding the photo like it was made of gold, too. "That... that is amazing."
"Yeah." Eddy smiled fondly at the photo. "It was dancing, the baby. It was... amazing to see."
Brett looked up from the photo to him with the deepest stare, and it was like it touched something inside Eddy. But he shook it off quickly and smiled at his boyfriend. 
"So, now that I've managed to avoid music theory, can we get practising? We have a competition tomorrow?"
"Yeah, but I've not been able to get a room all morning. It's ridiculous. Even the hallway upstairs has been taken."
Eddy stared at him for just a second, but then he shrugged. 
"Okay, fuck that, I'm going to practise outside. 

He was already back out of the door, not even checking to see if Brett was following him. Look, the system was ridiculous, right? Brett's friendship with the receptionist helped, usually, but surely, you had to be able to get a practice room the day before an important competition? 
"Hey, hold up."
He turned around and managed to give Brett a half smile. 
"Yeah. I need to practise. The con needs to sort its shit out with the practice rooms."
"I know. Half the con is in the competition, I think."

The competition. Things with Lily, this morning, had been so scary that he'd kind of forgotten about it a little bit, but it was definitely flying back in, now. They had all been preparing for weeks. An etude, and a movement from a violin concerto. And they had all worked their arses off, in Eddy's case even if he had little chance. He was in the same catagory as the others, after all, who had a year on him. Still, Sasha had told him to register, and he could feel the nerves gripping him hard. 
"You want to head home?" Brett asked. "Practise there?"
"Nah, we don't have time. I'm just going around the corner to the bench over there. It'll be like busking, right?"
He legged it over there without waiting for an answer. Put his violin case down, grinned at himself. Yeah, see if he gave a fuck. He opened the case and put his violin to his shoulder. A couple of passers-by looked at him curiously, and he smiled at them. 

Soon, he forgot he was outside anyway. He was already in the late romantic lines of his piece, forgetting himself already, fully focused on his octaves, his spiccato, his sautillée. He was vaguely aware that Brett, behind him, gave up and started unpacking his own violin. And when his phone alarm rang to remind them of the next lesson, he was startled out of a deep concentration. 
"Well, that worked out okay." Brett hummed as they walked back to the entrance and to orchestra rehearsal. 
"I know, right?"
"Did you see those people looking?"
"No?" Eddy turned to his boyfriend. "Who was looking?"
"Oh, an old woman with her daughter or something. Looked like they were wondering whether to give us money."
Eddy grinned as he stepped into the con. 
"That would be good, getting paid to practise."
"Right? We should practise outside all the time. Seriously though, you sound good."
Eddy could so easily have kissed him right then, but he settled for a smile. 
"Thanks. You too, Brett. I'm sure you'll do great tomorrow."

A/N. Hey gang, just have to share this bit of random info with a group of people that will appreciate it! Today I'm going to the luthier to... pick up my new violin! I'm so excited. It's a French violin, circa 1850. And it sounds so nice!! Full of warmth, but still has lots of overtones. Have a lovely day, from a happy Author-san!