Janet's eyes widened a bit and her face shifted to a bright shade of pink. She fixed her gaze back to the ground as they continued down the bridge. She stayed right next to Axel, her shoulder touching his. She stayed quiet, not sure whether to say anything or not. At least the stream could still be heard and the birds were still singing. The further along on the path they got, the denser the trees got. It was darker there than in it was just a couple minutes ago, but it wasn't super dark. Willow and pine trees were what most of the trees were, some being oak.
After only a few more minutes, Janet came to a stop. She glanced around and found "her" tree. It was a big willow tree with light purple flowers on it. The branches were very long, making almost a separate room from the rest of the park. She smiled and lead Axel inside the 'room'.
Back in the 1950s (O/O Closed)
(Ahg! Sorry for the wait! I had like twenty other things XD)
He stared in awe, as he was led up to the tree. The vibrant colors were a sight, he never thought he would see. Everything was just so captivating. Janet included. She had such the prettiest smile, it twisted his heart. Of course she only wanted to be friends though, just his luck. A super gorgeously attractive woman, who just wanted to be his friend. What were the odds? It probably didn't help he was acting so strange, even he wouldn't be attracted to himself. So with a slight internal groan, he forced a bright smile onto his lips. "It's so pretty here. I seriously don't know how you found such a place as this." He noted, facing her.
(Oh it's totally okay! No need to worry :)
Janet just smiled, she loved this place with all her heart. It was deep enough in the forest part of the park that people rarely were here, and when they were they usually passed right past it. "My siblings and I would play hide 'n seek a lot. I always won once I found this tree. I could have stayed on the ground, but I always climbed the tree as well just to make sure I wouldn't be found." She said in an almost whisper with a fond smile. "I'm surprised I found such an amazing place as well though, but I'm so glad I did."
Hearing her reminisce, his heart started to tug gently. "Sounds like an amazing time." He told her, walking over to the tree. He led her by the hand over to a spot, and sat down still holding his hand. "Come on, sit." He smiled, patting the spot next to him. His smile stayed for a good long time, as long as she was around. He lightly kissed her hand, before she could sit, and kept his gaze on her.
Even seeing her from a different angle, it brought so many good qualities out. Her figure was gorgeous, and her face was stunning. Her smile was heart warming, and her voice just the same. Everything about her was just breath taking to Axel.
Janet happily went and sat next to Axel, as that was going to be her plan but he beat her to it. She leaned herself lightly against him and rested her head on his shoulder. Everything was perfect. It was a nice day, the park was amazing as always, and she met Axel. "Um, so you said you like to play guitar… uh, it would be fun to hear you play someday. And remember how my whole family is artistic? Well, I liked to sing. But I haven't done any of that recently since I'm self-conscious of it and shy about it. But maybe I wouldn't be if I was around you?"
He thought about what she had just said, and slid his arm gently around her waist. "Do you now?" He asked her softly, rubbing her arm with his thumb. He rested his own head on top of hers. "That would be fun, though I don't normally like to play for people. But I could make an exception for you." He teased her, stretching out one of his legs, and kept the other close to his chest. "What do you normally sing? Like, what position?" He asked, not well knowing of the set up of singing.
There was so squirming or surprised jolts when she felt Axel's arm go around her, she adored it actually. But without much hesitation, she answered Axel's question, "I'm mostly in the mezzo-soprano range. Meaning I sing the same parts as a soprano would, but I can also sing lower than most." She explained in an almost matter-of-factly manner. "But for the type of music I like to sing, I'm more of a slow and ballad type song singer. I feel like it fits my voice better."Janet added. Although, she did stop and think about his first question. "I'm always nervous about singing, even around my family or by myself. So I'm not sure if the nervousness I have right now is just that, or if it's just like any other time…"
"Well, would you sing for me?" He asked her, in a 'go on' kind of manner. He didn't want to be pushy, but he wanted to hear her. He was excited, and intrigued to hear her. Though if she was nervous about it, he didn't want to push…really.
His smile was encouraging, and he tried to keep it that way. He pulled away from her, just enough so he could look at her. Resting a hand on her cheek, he rubbed it gently with his thumb.
(Okay, the only reason it took so long to respond was to find a song for Janet to sing lol)
Janet took a deep breath and she opened her mouth. But she soon closed it, her nerves getting the best of her. "I'll try…" She whispered, almost as if to convince herself. She swallowed and lightly placed her hand over Axel's, taking a few more deep breaths. She opened her mouth again and very quietly started singing Who's Sorry Now? Only a few seconds later, however, she got louder, eventually singing to her full power.
(XD It's all good!)
His eyes grew in surprise, and his jaw loosened while he looked down at her. Axel was stunned, in a rather good way. She was gorgeous sounding, and much better than he had expected. His shock slowly eased, into a fond smile. His eyes were lighting up the more she sang. 'Interesting choice of a song…' He noted, before fully focusing on her. He felt captured by her, and very subtly leaned closer. His smile was fading, as her song came closer to the end. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion around the two.
Janet ended the song with a big smile. Sometime during the song, she had closed her eyes so she opened them to see Axel with a smile himself. "Did… did you like it?" She asked nervously, gazing into his eyes. She always lost herself in song. She didn't feel that she was good at writing music, lyrics never seemed to come to her. So even though she never wrote songs, she was pretty passionate about music. Her shyness didn't help either. She hoped to someday get over those and become a singer.
When she spoke, it snapped him out of his thoughts. Pulling back, he blinked a few times. "Y-yeah! You have a really pretty voice." He said softly, feeling his face flush. His smile came back, in attempt to cover his embarrassing trance he had fallen into. "I would love to hear you more, only if you're willing that is." He told her, leaning back into a relaxed position.
(Sorry it's shorter than usual…)
(Oh no it's totally okay! I reply shorter like that at times too. :)
"Thank you so much. And now that I have gotten past the nervousness, I can definitely sing another one." Janet said, smiling. She glanced around the enclosed area. Eventually, a song came to mind. She thought a little longer just to make sure she remembered the lyrics. With a couple of breaths, she started singing Baby, I'm Yours. In her head, she figured, this would convey her ever-growing feelings towards Axel. But it made her nervous again, not as nervous as before though.
It was bothering him, her song selections. She acted one way, but boy what she was singing something different. It was so hard to listen, because his heart was beating at a pace, never had it before. "So gorgeous…" He noted, whether about her or her voice was unclear. Gently, he pulled her closer resting his head on hers. He began to hum along, listening to her voice.
After about a minute more, she finished the song. She let the silence after the ending last a while. She was enjoying the company of Axel. It was comforting. She shifted, moving closer to Axel, flush up against his side. She let out a content breath, a small smile on her lips. A small breeze blew through the tree, some colorful petals fall from the tree. It wasn't a cold breeze, just a calm pleasant one.
"You have the most beautiful voice." He whispered, resting his head on hers. All of this just felt natural to him, being close to her. His heart was back at its' normal pace, and he felt tired. "Honestly, you're beautiful in general." He mumbled, not really realizing he had said that aloud. His face was a soft pink, and stayed consistently that color.
Janet smiled, her face flushing a pastel pink as well. "Thanks… um… you don't l-look to bad yourself." She basically whispered. Her heart rate picked up a little, she started taking deep breaths to maybe calm it down. "Uh, now I just need to hear your guitar playing. I would say we could write a song together or something, but I really can't write lyrics…"
He laughed softly, not letting it get to him he had let his thoughts slip. "I'd play for you now, but it's back at home." He chuckled taking her hand in his from around her waist. "You're hands are so small… compared to mine I mean." He mumbled, feeling her hand in his own. He ran his thumb over her knuckles, tracing circles on the back of her hand.
She giggled at his comment. "That's why I never tried to play the piano, or an instrument for that matter, my hands are just too small. But it's ok, they aren't too small to sing or paint and I really like to do those things." She explained softly. "But I guess I can wait to hear you play… I don't know how I can bear not hearing you play but I'll just have to deal with it." She joked, giggling right after.
He held her hand still, holding it tightly. "We could always stop by my house, to go get it." He offered, his voice sounding calm and collected. And he was just that. Happy to be here with her, he felt relaxed. "But we don't have to. It's just a suggestion." He shrugged, using his other hand to tuck back part of her hair.
"I was just joking. I would rather stay here today and I'd be more than happy to wait because I bet it's worth it." She said softly, smiling. Her hand gripped Axel's back, feeling callouses from playing the guitar. "Um, do you sing when you play your guitar?" She asked, curling her legs close to her chest, causing her to be even a bit closer to Axel.
He bit his lips, shrugging softly. "When I'm alone, I guess." He told her, not wanting to admit that he did. He found it embarrassing when he sang, he didn't take confidence or pride in his ability. That was what his guitar is for. He didn't mind being a little more air-headed about that. He had spent years at practice on it, it was just his thing. "But very rarely do I, though I can play with someone singing."
A soft smile appeared on her lips. "Then we're gonna have to find a song that we can do together." She said, not pushing to hear him sing. He didn't seem like he was proud of it or anything so she didn't want to make him uncomfortable with it. "Um, you know how sometimes there's a singer at uh… what's the name… um…" She went quiet trying to remember the name. "Ah I don't remember, but there's a place that features local singers. I've been wanting to do it since early in high school, but I've never had the confidence to do so. Maybe, if you're up for it, we could do that at some point, together?"
(Hey! So I'm not going to be active, like at all tomorrow. I won't even have time to check. Well, I might, but for my bigger RPs, I won't be responding, because I want to get to write decent responses. I'm super sorry if this is inconvenient for any of you, If plans get change, I will let you know. But we are currently clear for this trip tomorrow. )
He smiled in interest, pulling away just slightly. "That sounds like fun! Do you have more details on it?" He asked, looking down to her with a happy expression. His heart beat fast once more, and he had a boyish excitement. "Like, is there anything you can tell me about it?" He continued to question.
"Well, just like most things, it's on Friday night, but also on Saturday night. You have to sign up for it at least a week ahead so that they can put you in for any open week. There isn't a stage or anything fancy, but a lot of people usually show up anyway. We could go to watch this week so you can see what it's like. But a lot of times people come back to perform again since it's a good way to earn a little extra cash and people just like it. I've talked to the owner and he's really nice. The whole reason for it is because he knows there is a lot of unknown or underappreciated talent everywhere so he wants to showcase it." Janet explained with a smile. The owner reminded her of her parents so she got along with him well and they were friends.
(Oh it's not an inconvenience at all. Have fun with whatever you're doing! :)
(Ahh thank you! Sorry, I didn't have time to respond this morning)
"Sounds like a good plan…" He trailed off, knowing the only thing he could do was to give her the napkin from earlier. He had no other paper, or pen, so he really was stuck. "You would probably need my phone number then, right? So we can plan and stuff." He said softly, sliding his hand into his back pocket.
(You're welcome! It's totally okay :)
Janet smiled, "Yeah that would probably be good." Her mind was trying to think of songs they could do together. She felt bad that she couldn't write songs, this would be the perfect opportunity to do so, but that was basically out of the picture. It was possible she'd be able to at least a little if Axel helped quite a bit.
Fingers curling over the napkin, he pulled it from his pocket. Smoothing it out on his knee, he held it out to her. "Here, my phone number." He said softly, feeling his face heat up red. He never got this way, but of course, Janet was special. She already had made him flush a dozen times, but who was counting? Definitely not Axel. Why would he do that?"
Her smile grew a hundred times brighter as she took the napkin from Axel. "Thank you… I'll call right when I get home!" Janet said, already very excited. "Not that I'm planning on going home right now, unless you have to go or something. But yeah… whenever I do." She said quietly, not sure why she felt she had to say that.