AN: -chuckle- I haven't posted anything for almost a month and when I do, it's this. Oh well. :)
Fingers 'Round Your Neck
"Come on, Light! Deeper! Harder! Faster!" Light grit his teeth and just barely kept from rolling his eyes as he attempted to comply with the forceful demands.
"More, Light. I want more!" Finally fed up with the increasingly insistent commands, Light stopped with a growl.
"I can't give any more, you hard-ass. My fucking arm is going to fall off! Ow!!" The last was in response to the cuff he'd received on the back of the head. He turned to give a sour look to the man behind him who was leveling his own dark look at Light.
"Don't forget who you're talking to, Light," L cautioned. "And watch your mouth."
"Sorry, master," Light apologized speciously as he set down his bow to rub his now-aching head. "Seriously, though, I don't think I can vibrate any harder, or faster, or deeper."
L sighed, twirling the conductor's baton he held delicately between thumb and index finger through his thick dark mane. "Vibrato is not really the point, Light. The point is that you're not conveying the depth of emotion here. This woman is considering uprooting her entire way of life, completely forsaking everything she's been and known up until this point and walking away into the unknown. Her soul is crying out, weeping."
"Weeping?" Light repeated with a skeptical look.
L raised a brow at him. "If you cannot hear the weeping in a violin," he enunciated carefully as though speaking to someone particularly slow, "then something is clearly wanting."
"God, melodramatic much?"
"It is melodramatic. Can you honestly tell me you can't feel that? When you play this, it should be moving. It should raise the hair on the back of your neck, quiver you, make your blood sing. It should ensnare your senses until the music is all you are aware of and you become wrapped in sound and emotion." L's gaze changed slightly, completely serious now. "You're smart, Light, but sometimes you're … lacking in expression. However, I know it's there and I know you're better than this."
Light felt a little prick at the rather harsh words but knew they were nothing but the truth. It was just that sometimes L and the violin were more than he could deal with. But, this was what he wanted to do….
"Sorry," he offered with a sigh. "Guess I'm just a little wiped out at the moment."
The tiniest of smirks crossed L's lips. "Well, I certainly hope you recover quickly. Your performance is in less than three weeks."
Light grit his teeth again but kept his mouth shut thinking, Why did I want him as my teacher? Oh, that's right. Because he's the best. Fuck. However, he couldn't help muttering under his breath, as he lifted the violin back under his chin, "God, are you going to get it tonight."
The baton suddenly appeared under Light's chin, lifting and turning it toward L whose darkly gleaming eyes and half-smiling lips told Light he hadn't spoken quite softly enough.
"I'm sorry – did you say that you wanted to extend practice by another hour today? I know I could go all day." With a concentrated effort Light kept himself from jabbing L in his flat stomach with the tip of his bow. After all, he might damage it and it was too expensive to waste on such a fleeting and retribution-inviting action.
"Whatever you like, master," Light simpered affectedly instead, L's smile widening.
"Yes," he answered simply, gesturing for Light to begin again. Light grudgingly obliged, thinking,
Oh, yeah. You are so getting it tonight.
AN: I've never personally had a conductor encourage me to vibrate "deeper, harder and faster" - it was directed to a fellow violinist in a different orchestra - but one of my teachers became so enthusiastic about it at one point that she actually grabbed my arm and vibrated with such force that swear my jaw was nearly dislocated. Good times.
And cookies for anyone who knows what song Light is rehearsing. It's one I enjoy playing although I'm sure I don't do it justice. :)
Originally written 3 Oct. '08