“Do you want a hug?", “Come on. Let’s go home.”, and “I feel like I can breathe better with you around.” for juke 💕
Julie let her foot rest on the damper pedal of the grand piano as Luke held out his last note. It sounded good.
When he stopped, she applauded. "Nice one, grab some water," she said, shooting him a smile.
"Thanks Boss," he responded, grabbing for his green plastic water bottle.
Julie shifted her music sheets around while he drank. She'd originally been wary when Ms. Harrison had asked her to give Luke voice lessons as a way to make up some of the credit she'd lost earlier in the year, but it was going better than she'd expected. Luke was stubborn and wouldn't work on anything he didn't see the value in, but he had a lot of passion and clearly wanted to improve. He was so full of life and energy, and at least 99% of it was all focused on music.
"That felt great," Luke exclaimed, capping his water bottle and giving Julie a wide grin. "Much better than in class earlier. You're amazing, Julie."
Julie felt her cheeks warming and ducked her head before Luke could notice. Okay, so maybe she wasn't totally immune to his smile and his arms and how, when they were alone for his lessons, all of his passion for music seemed focused solely on her.
"Or maybe you just don't pay attention during warmups in class," she teased, giving him a smirk before refocusing on her list of exercises to take him through. Better to keep her crush to herself. Dating was way too complicated, and Luke probably didn't like her anyways.
"Nah, it's definitely you," Luke retorted, moving over to lean on the piano. "I feel like I can breathe better with you around."
Julie looked up, expecting to find him giving her that lighthearted, teasing look that he did when he intentionally messed up the names of famous composers just to mess with her. But when their eyes met, she found nothing but sincerity in his gaze. Like he actually meant what he said.
It was disorienting. But... not bad?
Julie quickly stood, breaking eye contact. "You had a bit of a break on the bridge, do you want to work through that?" she asked, nodding to his music stand.
Luke nodded slowly, seeming almost disappointed, and returned to his papers. "Yeah, definitely. I think it was the register shift, I got caught halfway between my chest and head voice."
"Wow, look at you and your technical lingo," Julie commented, smiling as she looked down at the sheet music to check the notes. "Yeah, that's what I heard as well. Let's do some glides through that part of your range to get comfortable with the shift before we add the actual notes and stuff."
Luke dipped his head in agreement and they got back to work.
Ten minutes later, the alarm on Julie's phone that signaled the end of their time went off just as Luke finished running through the bridge. They both jumped at the drum intro of an old Petal Pushers song.
Julie quickly turned it off and stood with a smile. "Guess that's time," she said.
"What was that song?" Luke asked, gathering his music. "That's not your normal alarm. It's good."
Julie bit her lip, considering brushing it off. But it was Luke. He lived and breathed music. He'd understand how music could hurt as well as heal.
"It's called Love Wild, it's one of my mom's songs," she told him. "It was my alarm for ages, but I... I just started listening to it again."
"Oh," Luke said.
Julie didn't dare look up. She'd developed a serious distaste for the pitying expression that always appeared on people's faces when her mom came up. She'd rather not be annoyed at Luke over it.
"It's a good song, it's about loving the people you love and showing it regardless of what other people think," she added softly. She wasn't sure why she was still talking. She didn't usually talk about this stuff. But Luke didn't interrupt. "And the bassline is awesome," she continued, "and the harmonies on the bridge are magic, I swear, and the last couple of lines..."
She trailed off, feeling her throat start to tighten.
"That's awesome," Luke murmured after a minute.
Julie dared to look up at him. He seemed unsure of himself, which wasn't a common look for him, but his smile still seemed genuine.
"Um, do you want a hug?" Luke asked awkwardly.
Julie chuckled. "I'm okay," she assured him, sliding her folder into her backpack.
Luke frowned. "But do you want a hug?" he asked again.
Julie thought about it for a second. She always wanted a hug from her mom these days, but that wasn't possible. Did she want a hug from Luke instead?
"Yeah, that'd be nice," she said slowly.
Luke smiled and stepped forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders. She let herself relax into his embrace. He was warm, his frame a bit shorter than her dad's. It was nice.
"Hey Julie?" Luke asked softly.
"Yeah?" she responded, sliding her own arms around his waist.
"You wanna come to band practice this weekend? Help me not shred my voice again?"
Julie considered for a second. She hadn't done that before. It felt like a new step in their friendship, to take it outside of the school building and into Luke's friend circle. Was she ready for that?
"Sure, send me the info," she agreed.
"Sweet, this is gonna be rad," Luke cheered, letting her go and pulling out his phone.
Julie laughed. "Come on, let's get home before the janitors kick us out," she chuckled, swinging her backpack onto her shoulder.
"Right behind you, Boss," Luke called.
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This half-foot. Dandan.
Looks preety similar to this lady here (I'll put them together so you see):
Half-lidded eyes, black hair&eyes, small eyebrows, curly hair... Dandan's skin is lighter probably because of low sun exposure (dungeon), and he has tons of freckles because he preety.
This two are clearly relatives if not siblings.
Flertom is a mirror image of the lady up there. She got Chil's eyes. She even has almost the same haircut (a bit longer). She's clearly the mother. We've solved Chilchuck's wife mystery.
But this wasn't what I was going to say.
This implies that Wife and Dandan both knew Chilchuck since their childhood. Because there's no way that Chil was just friend of the sister. They're both close to the same age, and I'll say Dandan is a Younger sibiling (she gives big sis vibes, and he gives young bro vibes). So either she introduced him to her brother or he introduced him to his sister and they became best friends as kids.
Could you imagine how their relationship was after Chil's Wife left him?
He knows he has to say something, but he doesn't want to end his relationships. At the end he takes his sister's side. He distances a bit from Chilchuck, calling him an "aquitance" rather than a friend. It isn't that he hates him, is just that it's complicated. And they both know it. They're in good terms tho, they just aren't best friends anymore and they don't talk about it. Their worry is the guild, not their personal stuff.
That's why Dandan introduces Chilchuck to Laios. If they were in bad terms, he would've suggested any other half-foot. They both priorize the guild and general safety of their own race. That's why Dandan suggests Chil instead of a less experienced hafling. He cares about the union and respects Chil's time and experience in dungeons. They're on good terms, at least good enough. Summing up, I get the feeling Dandan doesn't particularly likes Chil after what happened with his sister, but he respects him at least.
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