taking the stage {open}

[Alfred F. Jones]

(Hate starting threads :U Next post shall be better, promise~ XD)

'Well, the door was open, so it can't be against the rules to be here? 'Sides, I have like an hour before class starts.' The American walked through the rows of plush chairs, slowly making his way to the main stage with a slightly contemplative expression crossing his features. 'Crazy how after just two months away from this place though, I forget where things are~' Lost? Huh. Of course not. He wasn't lost, he was just strategically not where he wanted to be. Sure, he would have preferred to be there instead of here, but as long as he was somewhere, yeah? 'Somewhere is better than no where!' he thought to himself as he quickly climbed on the stage. In all honesty, he was actually supposed to be across campus right now; however, after aimlessly walking around campus lost, Alfred ended up wandering into the auditorium. (It was pretty much the only building he could identify at the moment.)

"Hm. That’s weird how empty it is though." The blond stood in the center of the enormous stage, looking out at all the seats as any thoughts of making his class on time quickly slipped his mind. How would it look with a crowd sitting there, all attention on you, expectant? The thought of having the spot light, all eyes trained on you was simply.. 'Amazing.' A slow grin made it's way on the American's face as he was hit with a sudden idea.

Well, he had time to kill since he missed his class, and no one was around so.. “So you had a bad day~” An experimental line, just to make sure some random teacher or student wouldn’t pop up and yell at him to leave. After a tense moment, Alfred saw that indeed there was to teachers or students or even zombies coming at him. (You never knew! In all the movies, the bad stuff happened when you were completely alone.) It wasn’t that he was stage shy either, not at all, but it would totally suck if he was stopped in the middle of a song or something. The student cheerfully took a pen from his pocket, holding it up as a microphone as he continued dance a bit with the lyrics. “So you had a bad day, takin’ one down, you sing a sad song and ya turn around~” His grin fell just a little as he froze, forgetting what came next. Ha! But he couldn‘t disappoint his audience!. “So.. Take off your.. shoes.. Get in the car, go be a hero and turn up the town~”

Okay so the lyrics weren’t anywhere near exact, but at least he didn’t stop. Alfred took a short breath to continue, but was caught off guard as he heard something. A door? Someone saying something? Ugh. This was just what he didn’t wanted. With a slight pout, the blond let his arm fall to his side and made his way curiously to the edge of the stage, looking for the source of the noise. “Uh, hello?” Nothing at first. “Hey, if you’re out there, I’m not a teacher or anything!” He just wanted to get on with the show, and that would be impossible if he was stuck wondering what the source of the disruption was.

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan, one of Alfred's roommates, had been sitting in the back of the auditorium the whole time reviewing last week's lecture chapter. He'd heard every note that was sung, and he must admit, the voice he had been listening to wasn't all that bad. Not like that other boy who had come through earlier... He laughed lightly again, smiling as he stood,

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have said something earlier," He covered his mouth with his hand as he suppressed another snicker, "Although I must admit your voice is good, da?"

He turned his watch over on his wrist to view the time. Hmm. Still have two hours to kill before next class. I can stay here...

The Russian made his way down the aisle, leaving his tote bag and books at his seat. He scuffled along the floor, hands in his pockets as he grinned playfully, burying said smile into the scarf he never seemed to remove (despite many professor's and dormitory assistant's wishes),

"I saw your schedule on the refrigerator in the kitchen... Did you not have class today?" He asked, tilting his head slightly as he stopped in front of the American.

[Alfred F. Jones]

Oh it was him. Alfred's guard went up as soon as he heard the other's laugh, trying not to glare as the Russian came down the isle. He didn't do anything per-say, but the American just had a grudge against anyone who was taller than him, or.. Well, he wasn't sure, but there was just something about the guy. 'But, heroes don't jump at the chance to make enemies,' he reminded himself. He beamed at the compliment though, as if his thoughts of trying to be friendly instead of negative were being reinforced by the universe somehow. "Haha, thanks! I mean, it's not the greatest, but I guess I'm pretty good!"

Alfred certainly the kind who was shy when given compliments. He actually loved to hear them. (Unsurprisingly.)

"Say, why don't.. you get up here and we have a duet?" The thought made the American grin; it sounded kinda crazy, which was just perfect. College was for living it up right? 'As long as he doesn't steal the show that is~.' He had a nagging feeling there was something up with Ivan, and he knew it was him because whenever the guy walked into the dorm he could sometimes feel something weird in the air, (Most of the time not.), but decided to ignore it for now. Besides, he hadn't really given him a solid reason to dislike him.. yet.

[Ivan Braginski]

He must be completely delusional he thought, eyeing the other up from under his mop of ashy hair. This must be a joke. In all his years at Tout le Monde he had never been asked by another student to come onstage and sing with them. Besides, even though he'd been in America for a number of years now attending school, he'd never been familiar with the 'popular' and 'cool' musical acts in the country,

"I... I don't know," He said, frowning slightly, an eyebrow raised, "I have quite a few notes to look over. My professor told me my essay on Freud could use some more work before presentation."

A blatant lie. Ivan hadn't written an essay on Freudian methods since his first year. ...And that was 6 years ago now.

He scratched the back of his head and heaved a sigh, looking to the ground momentarily, examining the impatient twitch in his foot before looking back again, "Sure. Why not." He shook his head, climbing the stairs onto the stage, a smirk toying with his lips. He stopped in front of Alfred, raising his shoulders, "So? What now. I suppose this is your idea... I have no clue what you would like to sing."

This was ridiculous. He could already feel his face flushing a little bit. Was it anger? Frustration that he had allowed someone like Alfred to pressure him into coming onstage? There was no way this kid could elicit a NOTE out of him. He played psychology lessons in his head; racking his brain for some sort of explanation for why he had accepted this offer.

Pride and that longing for acceptance, probably. He'd never been accepted by... anyone. Using his own experiences as essay topics in his psych classes rather than second-hand examples like the other students.

What was it that idiot Cooper had written? Oh. ...These desires, which are not corrupt in themselves, easily become corrupt because of anxious self-concern...

It seemed about right. Still, he was a little nervous... If only he'd been drunk. He'd be singing right off the top,

"Choose something for us?"

Only duet he knew was "Mishel" by this Russian pop band, V.I.P.

[Alfred F. Jones]

When the Russian hesitated, Alfred wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. On one hand, the guy was kinda creepy and might steal the show, but on the other, it totally would have sucked for his invitation to have been turned down; rejection of any kind wasn't something the American was used to having not having to deal with, but that didn't make it any less awkward nor did he ever feel better after it. As Ivan thought for a moment, the blond simply stood quietly smiling, patient for an answer.

"Oh, awesome!" Alfred was a little surprised as his roommate finally got up on stage, returning the smirk that was just visible above the other's scarf. He was a silently irked at the Russian's height, but his slight nervousness made up for it in a way. "Hm. Well, I'm pretty much okay with anything. I dunno what ya like sooo.. Pick anything?" Of course the sophomore had never thought for a moment that Ivan might not know the same music he did or any of the current mainstream songs. "..Anything but Bieber, 'cause that kid is annoying! Seriously, he gives me a headache." He quickly rolled his eyes before looking back at the other with a curious look. Could he even sing? What if he was bad? Alfred couldn't just shove him off stage, but he didn't think he'd have to- he didn't have to worry about that if the guy was confident to get on the stage in the first place.

At the mention of him being asked to choose something instead, Alfred's grin grew slightly. "Sounds good to me! How's 'Party in the USA' sounds to you?" Hopefully the senior wouldn't think the song was too outrageous, or hate it, because it was one of the American's personal favorites. He paused for a second before adjusting his glasses. "But, that's just a suggestion!" 'I hope he's okay with it though~' No matter what the taller student decided was okay or not, Alfred was just curious to see if he could barely hold a note, or if he would surprise him with some hidden talent.

[Ivan Braginski]

Ivan's eyebrow cocked higher, and head tilted with every mention of the songs and artists that Alfred was suggesting. He didn't follow American pop music -- What the hell was a Bieber?! And Party in the USA? Typical. Ivan cleared his throat, coughing lightly into his hand as he looked down at the American,

"I don't know any of those... artists or... songs." He looked down for a moment, away from the stage, but quickly his mind snapped back to him and he turned, a slight grin on his face.

He took a step back, creating space between them as he cleared his throat again.

Sighing, Ivan closed his eyes before opening them again, singing quietly. A Russian lullaby he had heard when he was younger. Cossack Lullaby. He did not have a bad voice. He rather enjoyed singing -- in private, when he was alone. He just would rather keep to himself for the most part.

The first line came out with a slight nervousness in his voice;

"Spi mladyenets, moi prekrasný... bayushki bayu, tikho smotrit myesyats yasný... f kolýbyel tvayu"

Which roughly translates to; Sleep, my darling, sleep, my baby... Close your eyes and sleep. Darkness comes, into your cradle... moonbeams shyly peep...

Ivan continued to sing, his voice growing louder as he got to the more intense lines in the song...

He finished, cheeks slightly blushed as he laughed into his scarf, "I am sorry if it was no good." He pushed his hands further into his pockets... but inwardly he was smirking, as he thought to himself,

"I have definitely out-sung Alfred..."

-------

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8rB_Sswdo <-- here is a link to the song that Ivan was singing. ^^!! I think it is so beautiful. ...And fits to how I believe he would sing.

[Alfred F. Jones]

At first, Alfred had to admit he was confident, and even a bit arrogant. His grin was encouraging, but part of it was also for the fact that he felt there was no way the Russian could out-shine him, the hero; it was just a simple fact of like that they held the spotlight. When he mentioned not knowing of any of the song artists, he wasn't sure how to react. Not know Party in the USA? That annoying kid? He was in America for heaven's sake, New York at that! It wasn't like it was some middle-of-no-where college located by some barn..

Hm? Oh, he was starting off by singing- Okay. He was singing in another language, probably Russian.. Weird, but he could tolerate it, and to be honest the American always had a bit of a quirk for liking accents. For a while he simply stayed in the background, dancing silently as the senior continued with this tune. His attention however, was piqued when Ivan's voice began to pick up and become more pronounced. 'No prob.. He's just getting used to it.' He had to admit his voice was good; however, Alfred did not expect the Russian to start full-out singing, and it was better than good..

When he was finished, the blond simply stared up at the other, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he stood there (having stopped dancing once Ivan's singing ceased to be nervous). For a moment he didn't know what to say, but eventually his blank expression turned back into it's usual happy expression. '..Bastard.' Although inside, Alfred was a little ticked. 'So now he's taller than me and a good singer?' He would definitely make a rival of this guy. "Nah.. You were actually pretty good." He punched the Russian's shoulder lightly and then took a step back. "But uh.. Where did ya learn to sing like that? I didn't think you were one to.. sing." He narrowed his eyes slightly in curiosity, racking his brain for a song to sing that could beat the performance of the other student.

(UWAH foreign music <3 o.o That's amazing, and I totally agree~ XD )

[Ivan Braginski]

Needless to say, Ivan was rather happy with the compliments he received after he was done. He had expected Alfred to either a) laugh, or b) ...laugh. This was neither option so he could take the "Pretty good" compliment and run with it -- although in his heart he knew that Alfred too thought he was phenomenal.

"Oh!" Ivan perked up and smiled, his eyes squinting when he shrugged his shoulders, "I do not know. In Russia I used to do lots of singing with my school and family... This was a song that my older sister sang to me when I was little child. It has... uhm... stuck with my thoughts? Da... As I have grown older."

Ivan rolled his neck, getting some kinks out, "Soo~" He started, body jolting on the spot as he stared down Alfred, his permanent grin wide, "We are in the same dorm, maybe we can sing again sometime? ...I hope this small session means that we can be good friends," He lowered his head; the shadows created rather intimidating, considering Ivan was taller, yet now, he peered up through his hair as he lurched downwards to Alfred's level, "I had fun."

Ivan's smile, it would appear, caused some uncomfortable vibes in the room -- vibes that were quickly eliminated once he resumed his regular stature and looked up, "Ahhh..." He looked at Alfred, "Are you going to sing again? Or are you to make me do another? Aha!"

He scratched the side of his nose as he chuckled lightly, awaiting the American's answer.