(Time for a different character change! I've been playing and tirelessly grinding on Metaphor Re:Fantazio lately, and a character in mind helped me come up with the first leading character. Add that to Madea's Family Reunion. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!)
Stage-Fright:
Aoi had been caught in bit of a slump, trying to think of the next line she wants to write. "What rhymes with tide…" she thought to herself. "Ms. Hasagawa, we will be beginning the reading. If you would stop focusing on your writing in class." Her teacher had said to her.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry…" she said, a few of the students laughing at her for being out of focus. "All right, now let's begin. Who wants to start us off?" The teacher called.
Augustin had raised his hand, and then placing a note on Ali's desk. "I'll start us off." He said. "Very well, go ahead, Augustin." The young Brionne grabbed the page and quietly read it. "A word that rhymes with is "reside." Ask me later if that didn't help." It said. Aoi let out a small laugh and continued to read.
(Later at Lunchtime)
Aoi was still focused on what she wanted to write. She had a verse ready as followed
"What is our faith if pushed away by tide?
We are strong, it's in Your Grace we reside…
You love us as big as the sea…
'Sent us Your Son to set us free…
Raise Your Love over us.
It is in You we trust.
Raise Your Love over us.
Without You, we're all unjust." Aoi sang a verse of the song when she was near the end. "Great voice." She heard a voice that startled her, "A-AAAH!" Aoi quietly shouted, "Augustin, don't sneak up on me like that!" She said, punching him.
"Hey, I'M not the one so focus on her pages, she never checks her surroundings." Augustin said, "That's dangerous, anyways. You might want to get good at awareness." Aoi just rolled her eyes, "So…can I see the page?" Augustin asked. "No way, you promised you wouldn't look." Aoi said, "How am I supposed to help if I can't see the page?" Augustin asked.
"You help out already, when I need to rhyme a word." Aoi pointed it out to him, "That's not helping, so much as giving you a suggestion." Her Grafaiai friend had said, "Even then, it works for me well enough." Aoi said, Augustin rolls his eyes at that.
"EVEN THEN, Azul-Polvo, you're never sharing what you're working on, so how could I not be curious?" Augustin said to her. Aoi sighed, "Look, I'm not showing you. I have my rights to keep things from you." Aoi explained. Augustin had rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, Azul-Polvo." Augustin said.
(Later)
Aoi decided she would cool off at a pizza place, thinking about what to write next. "Let's see…" She said to herself. She really couldn't think of anything to write, and that's what drove her mad, oftentimes. She watched as people would go up to a stage and start quoting their poetry.
"Wonder what gives them the ability to speak their minds…?" Aoi asked herself. Aoi admits, that when she shuts her eyes, she can forget about the people watching her at church. It's easier for her to sing that way when she can't see, but it's not as euphoric as she would think. It just makes her feel like she can't ground herself to the moment of her singing and needs to either pretend she isn't there or that she's somewhere else. It felt so sinful, and the confidence of others made her feel envious. "I gotta get better at this." Aoi realized that if she didn't get over any stage fright or anxiety, she can never help or be better for God if she hid behind the darkness of shut eyes.
(Meanwhile)
Augustin had been spraying his canvas with dashes of bright blue and orange. "Hey, honey." Augustin had seen his mother walk into the garage. "Oh, hey Mom." Augustin said, putting the spray cans down. "I'll be heading to the store in a minute. You think you could watch your brother?" She asked, "Vale, entonces. ¿Me traes algunos gusanos de goma?" He asked.
"Sí, pero será mejor que te comas lo que hago esta noche, hijo." He said, "Okay, Mom. Hey, Rey! Come help me out in the garage?" Augustin asked, as a young Shroodle had walked into the garage. "Hey, bro! What's up?"
"Mom needs me to watch you. Come on, I need your help with this one." Augustin said, handing him a spray can of yellow spray paint. "I'll see you guys in a minute." Their mother had said. "See you, Mama." Rey had said. "So, what are you working on, Aug?" Rey asked, while Augustin grabbed a paint gun. "Metaphor for how burdens feel." Augustin said, "How do…burdens feel exactly?" Rey asked him. "Kinda…like the world is being carried on your back."
(Back with Aoi)
"It's not just the rhyme that has to work, but there's the cadence to consider on this one." Aoi said, trying to think of how she wants it to go. She was heading home for the night, "I don't know how I'm gonna write this." Aoi had realized she can't rhyme for anything. Aoi felt her phone buzz and she pulled it out to see that Augustin had sent her a picture.
It was a picture of a Pokemon, struggling carry a suitcase with a keychain the Earth itself. But the Pokemon looked to see another person trying to help them up.
(Text)
Augustin: Like it? It's just a concept for now it shouldn't be that particularly unclear. /
Aoi: Yeah, I do. Didn't u say the piece you were making was about "a musical conductor instructing soldiers when to fire their guns with his batons"?
Augustin: I was planning on that, but I figured that's too dark a concept. Plus, I didn't want Rey working on something like that.
Aoi: Fr. So I guess ur babysitting, then?
Augustin: Yup. I figured Rey could help me with this piece, since it's a little bit more inspirational…Hoping for it, anyways.
Aoi: I'm sure it will. Hold on, I'll come see u iam.
Augustin: Uh…all right then.
(End of text)
Aoi then decided to head to Augustin's for a minute. He was often helpful to her plights. There's something that Augustin's openness that always pulled her in and how they became friends. She wondered if she can figure out how he does it, it would help her improve her skills. If not that, his ability to rhyme would help her a lot.
(At the Iglesias household)
Aoi had walked up and saw Augustin working on his writing in graffiti. "Hey, Augustin." Aoi said. "Hey, Aoi. So, what's up? Why'd you need to come over so late?" Augustine asked his friend.
"I wanted to look at the pieces you made in person and…I think…I need your help." Aoi said, a bit in shame and hesitation. "Tell me you did not just walk across to meet me here, because you needed help with rhyming." Augustin just smirked, knowingly.
"I-It's not that…I was at the Jazz & Pizza and I tried to write and…when I saw that everyone else had been speaking their poetry, I got jealous." Aoi began to explain the situation to Augustin.
The Grafaiai nodded in understanding. "I figured this was a thing you only did with me. Azul-Polvo, you can't talk to ANYONE about this?" Augustin asked. "If I could, I…I dunno. But…you know me, Aug. I got so much expectations to live up to, you know?" Aoi said.
"Azul-Polvo, you don't "live"expectations, you "set" them. We "live" imperfectly, but we still live." Augustin said, brushing his hair up. "You can't be on stage if you're too afraid. You need to open up." Augustin suggested, "I can't, Aug. It's…scary…" Aoi said.
Augustin had sighed, "You sound like my brother, sometimes. He gets scared of a lot of things. But wanna know what I tell him?" He asked. "Fear is like paint. It stinks, and it's hard to wash off, but it's what you can do to face your fears that makes it better." Augustin explained, "You can get through this problem, Azul-Polvo. I can help, but…are you gonna show me what you've been writing?" Augustin asked, not wanting his friend to be uncomfortable. Aoi looked a little unsure. "Can we do a practice, first?" She then asked.
(A week later)
Aoi was slowly getting better. But that was only because she had Augustin and Rey as a test audience, she felt. She wasn't comfortable just yet about showing Augustin her work, so she decided to use a small quote.
"Why am I watching this again?" Rey asked, "I'd pay you ten bucks if you did. You wanna save up for that Lego set, right?" Augustin said. "This better be worth it." Rey whined, already bored of this. "Are you threatening me?" Augustin asked, raising his brow while keeping his smile.
"Um…Should we stop?" Aoi asked, noting the two of them weren't paying attention.
"No no, just trying to keep my brother in. Go ahead." Augustin said, Aoi nodded while she tried her best to speak a small poem.
She tried to speak aloud, first starting out with keeping her eyes shut, before opening them to look out at her makeshift audience.
Aoi locked eyes with Augustin and Rey, and all she could begin to think of was judgement. "U-Um…" She said, beginning to stutter.
Augustin didn't say anything, but he mouthed: "It's okay if you mess up."
Aoi then took a deep breath and felt her mind clear. "Set ablaze your inner torch.
The billows of your heart show how bright you burn in strength." She cleared a section. Augustin clapped a little, "Okay, we're getting better." Augustin said, before getting up and grabbing his paint gun. "And I think I have a good visual aid for something like that." Aoi looked confused, "I thought we were working on my thing, first."
"No reason not to have fun." Augustin said, "We'll do another one in a minute." Aoi just sighed and rolled her eyes.
(2 weeks later)
Aoi had finally managed to show a few of her writings to Augustin. It was a few songs that she was working on, "What's a good rhyme for shine?" Aoi asked her friend. "Sublime. That'll work, I feel." Augustin said. Aoi smiled and wrote the next words, "Thanks. I just hope this doesn't affect everything else." Aoi said, trying to recite the words. "If it doesn't work, you can just re-write it. I know a good rhyme or two if we still need to workshop it." Augustin suggested. "Yeah, I guess we can, too. I gotta try the cadence and see how it goes." Aoi explained. "I'm…glad you wanted to help me with this, Aug. I never…expected you to be so willing to help." Aoi said, "Meh, you just help when people need it. Nothing more to it than that." Augustin said.
(A final week later)
Aoi & Augustin decided that with all the practice they do, they'd head to Jazz & Pizza to read and draw one of their pictures.
"All right. Azul-Polvo, you think you'll be ready for this?" Augustin asked. Aoi took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm ready." Augustin was going to make sure to be there for Aoi if something went wrong. Being able to draw was just a plus for him.
(Later)
Aoi had made it to the stage with Augustin right next to him. "Um…hello all! I'm glad to be here…I-I'm Aoi. And…and this is my best friend Augustin. As he draws, I will…will-will recite a poem. I call it, "Open your Eyes.""
Aoi recited the poem as Augustin draw a picture of her taking off her hat.
Aoi could stutter, and then she'd look to Augustin for guidance. He'd just smile and quietly tell her to breathe.
Aoi had felt a smile come on her face, maybe what she needed was a little push to open up from a friend. Even if that friend was someone insufferable like Augustin.
(Okay, this took a whole while, but I finished it. Lemme know what u think. Next will definitely be about Vincent and Felix. But I figured I'd direct the attention on to someone I hadn't introduced just yet. But I do plan to make one for Mason, Josephine, Miyo and then Iokoa & Mizuki. So, look forward to those! Stay strong and awesome!)
Isaiah 26:3 KJV:
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.