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butterflyslinky
butterflyslinkyIt only took a few hours for Linkara’s anger at Film Brain to fade, though he didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if he should call him, or if Film Brain would even want to talk to him. He knew that he had been irrational, but he couldn’t help it.
It didn’t help that his parents had not been happy at the news. They hadn’t been angry, per se, but they had said that a new violin was not in the budget and Linkara would have to make do with borrowing one from the school until his birthday money came in.
Linkara couldn’t understand it. Everything had been going so well, and now…now, he had nothing. Normally when he was upset, he would play for hours on end, but of course he couldn’t do that now, so he was left to wallow in his own misery all night long.
The next morning, he got up early and went to school well before the bell. But he didn’t go to the lunchroom, still not ready to face Film Brain yet. Instead, he went to the orchestra room and grabbed one of the school violins. He might as well get used to it now.
He was well into his solo for “Take on Me” when Mr. Finevoice came in. Linkara barely even noticed, playing furiously in the hopes of clearing his mind with little success.
“Sounds good, kid,” Mr. Finevoice said when Linkara stopped playing. “But what happened to your violin?”
“Got run over by a car,” Linkara muttered. “And I can’t get a new one until August.”
Mr. Finevoice made a sympathetic noise. “I’m sorry, kid,” he said. “I know losing an instrument is rough.”
Linkara nodded, tears starting up again. Mr. Finevoice frowned. “Okay, what else?” he asked.
Linkara hesitated. “I…I also had a fight with my boyfriend,” he mumbled.
Mr. Finevoice sat down next to him. “That’s even rougher,” he said.
Linkara nodded again. “It’s just…” he began. “I knew he was always going to be temporary…I’m going to college soon, and he’s going back to England…it was never going to last. But I thought that Margaret would be there forever…that I’d have her when things got rough…but now I don’t, and I don’t think anything can replace her.”
Mr. Finevoice was quiet for a moment. “Let me ask you something, kid,” he finally said. “Do you really want to play the violin for the rest of your life? Join an orchestra, travel the country, maybe get famous enough to show up on All Things Considered for ten minutes, never settling anywhere for too long before you’re off again?”
Linkara looked up, confused. “I…I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
“Exactly,” Mr. Finevoice said. “Now, an instrument can be replaced if you really want it. It gets hit by a car, pounded into a million pieces, you can go to the music store and pick up a new one that will be almost exactly the same. People you can’t replace. They get hit, they get broken, and they’re done. You can’t get a new one, because…because there was always something unique about them.”
“Sir…”
“And if you like this guy, you’ll tell him so,” Mr. Finevoice concluded. “Sure, you may only have a few more months together, but they’re months you’ll never get back with a person you can’t replace.”
The school bell rang and Mr. Finevoice stood up. “So you think about that,” he said.
*
Film Brain sighed. It had been two days and Linkara hadn’t spoken to him. He felt awful, not just about the broken violin, but about the fact that Linkara was so upset about it.
He hated seeing Linkara upset. And he knew the way to make it better.
It only took a few minutes on Google to find the right place. A quick count of the revenue from his soda sales proved that it was feasible. So he grabbed the bike that normally belonged to the teenage girl whose room he was living in and headed downtown.
The salesman was rather surprised at how specific the order was, even more surprised when it was paid in full using cash, but Film Brain didn’t care. After all, this was his choice, and he couldn’t think of a better way to spend this money. At the end, he still had about a hundred dollars left, enough to rent the tux he would need on Saturday.
But he didn’t stop for more than a minute before he headed toward Linkara’s house. After all, if he didn’t fix this now, there wouldn’t be a Saturday.
He knocked on the door eagerly. Linkara’s mom answered. “Oh, hi, Film Brain,” she said. “Linkara’s upstairs.” Her eyes fell on the object in his hand and widened. “You didn’t…”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I…I want him to be happy.”
“That must have cost a lot,” she said. “I don’t know if we can really accept it.”
“It’s up to him, Mrs. Lovhaug,” Film Brain said. “I wanted to get it.”
She looked at him for a moment, and Film Brain swore she was almost crying. “All right,” she said. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her and went up the stairs. He took a deep breath before knocking on Linkara’s door.
“Linkara?” he called. “Can I come in?”
There was a pause, then the door opened to reveal Linkara looking confused and sad and a little bit hopeful. “Sure,” he said.
Film Brain entered the room, conscious of what he was holding in his hand. “Look,” he said. “I’m…I’m sorry about what happened and…”
“No, I’m sorry,” Linkara said. “It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you.”
“That’s not important,” Film Brain said. “What’s important is that…that you’re happy. So…” He held out the case. “I got you this.”
Linkara stared for a moment before reaching out and grasping the handle. He set it down on his bed and opened the case.
Inside was a beautiful violin, different than Margaret had been, but of the same quality. He slowly picked it up, holding it more delicately than if it were made of glass. He looked at Film Brain. “You shouldn’t have,” he said.
“I wanted to,” Film Brain answered. “I mean…I raised all that money from soda sales…I had to spend it on something nice. And what’s nicer than having you be happy?”
“You could have gotten anything,” Linkara said. “Anything at all.”
“Don’t even start,” Film Brain said. “This is what I wanted to get. Because…” He hesitated for a moment. “Because now, whenever you play, I’ll know you’re playing for me. And even after I go home, after this is over…I’ll know that. I’ll know you’re thinking of me, and that you’re happy. And that’s better than anything I could have gotten for myself.”
Linkara stared at him for a moment before throwing his arms around him, pulling Film Brain close, the violin hitting the smaller boy’s back. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re very welcome,” Film Brain said. He hugged Linkara back for a moment before pulling away. “So let’s hear that fantastic solo.”
Linkara smiled and picked up the new bow. He ran the resin over it, tuned the violin, and began to play.
*
Take on me!
Take on me!
Take me on!
Take on me!
I’ll be gone
In a day or two!
The music was too loud, the room was too crowded, and Linkara had been right—he was a terrible dancer. And yet it was still one of the best nights of his life.
Luckily, on the edge of the dance floor it was possible to stay relatively far away from the writhing mass of cool kids who didn’t understand why their prom had been hijacked by a song from the 1980s, though all of the orchestra kids understood. They all glared at Linkara whenever they saw him, but he didn’t care. He was dancing with his boyfriend as awkwardly and enthusiastically as possible, and no one was going to stop them
“You will come to my concert, right?” he asked as he and Film Brain danced.
“Of course I will,” Film Brain said. “I never want to miss any of your solos.”
Linkara smiled sadly and Film Brain knew what was on his mind. He smiled back and leaned up to kiss Linkara’s cheek.
“Don’t worry,” he continued. “Sure, we’ll be apart for a while, but…I have Skype. And an e-mail address. We can stay in touch…and maybe I’ll come back for uni, or you’ll get picked up by a symphony and come tour in England or…something. I don’t know. But I do know that we will meet again.”
“Yeah,” Linkara said. “This is nowhere near the end. Even if we’re not together, I’ll always know. Whenever I see a heart-shaped sticker, or smell cherry blossoms, or play the violin, you’ll be there. And that’s enough.”
“That’s more than enough.”
They glanced at the chaperones, who weren’t paying any attention to them, and then they leaned in and their lips met for a moment.
“Hey!” They broke apart to see Luke and Marzgurl nearby. “Break it up, you two,” Luke said. “No one wants to see that.”
“Well, no one wants to see you, but we’re not complaining,” Film Brain snarked back.
Linkara and Marzgurl laughed and Luke grinned good naturedly.
Yes, it was a good night.
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Date: 9/21/14 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/21/14 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/21/14 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 9/25/14 10:56 pm (UTC)I'm also glad that Harvey was still able to give Linkara some good advice in this world, and that these two were able to enjoy the dance together. Even if things will become harder because they're apart, I know their feelings will stay strong and hopefully one day they will be together again.
Really cute job! :)
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Date: 9/25/14 11:09 pm (UTC)I picked "Take On Me" cause it was stuck in my head for the week before writing this story, plus it sounds awesome played on a violin.
The soda dealing was based on something that actually happened at my school. For the first year I was there, it was the orchestra teacher doing the dealing to raise money for the program. After he left, the students took over. (Just a random tidbit.)
Clumsiness seems to be a main trait of protagonists in all sorts of romance, since it's a flaw that's seen as cute. Couldn't resist putting it in, especially since I know very little about anime romance.
Thank you so much for writing in!