2023-12-12: Resonations
- Log: 2023-12-12 Resonations
- Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Rikka Takarada
- Where: Division Train
- OOC - IC Date: December 12, 0097 (2023)
- Summary: Kaworu works on composing music, hoping that its resonations will help lift the spirits of the crew. Rikka listens and offers her help.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
The battle against Mikoto and Takeshi has ended with favorable results. Unit Beta is in need of a certain level of repairs, and so Kaworu has left her with the skeleton Evangelion crew on the Division Train. The air of hope that suffuses the train inspires him--though there is still cause to be cautious--and so he is in one of the lounge rooms with a notebook and an electric keyboard.
He's writing in said notebook in the moment while the keyboard seemingly plays on its own. The melody is soft and gentle, not unlike Kaworu himself; it is perfect for Ranka Lee's vocal range. It slows and pauses when Kaworu does, and it resumes at a glance from him.
How convenient electric keyboards are these days!
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
The battle is over. A few mysteries still remain - namely, the titanic machine that still looms and the unknown pilot ChuuRyu had spoken of - but for now, they have a chance to rest. Rikka, though... she's still a little wound up. She'd like to throw herself into bed and sleep it off, but that's not happening right now. So, once again, she finds herself taking a walk through the Division Train.
From one of the lounge rooms, Rikka hears music. She drifts that way and pokes her head in, spotting Kaworu at work. She listens intently for a short moment. It's interesting to see him at work - and, do keyboards usually play themselves like that...?
...Well, at any rate, after another moment, she steps in.
"Hey, Kaworu... That sounds good so far." Rikka greets. She can tell it's a work in progress.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Rest is important. It's indispensible for one to grow stronger. And it's a blessing that they've gained the chance to rest, after all that's happened lately. This time is invaluable for the final battle that awaits them. ...Final for this part of the scenario, at least.
Kaworu lifts his head with a smile when Rikka greets him. He doesn't seem at all surprised to see her. "Thank you, Rikka," he replies. "This one is nearing completion. I've been fortunate to have many people listen for me and offer their feedback." Nidaime in particular has been a great help. She is half-Sound Spirit, after all.
"I'm still working on the lyrics," he continues, leaning back on his seat, the tip of his pencil touching his chin, as he regards his notebook. "I have enough experience with music that it isn't too difficult to find notes that are good--though I'll still need to finish the arrangement--but finding words that are good is somewhat more difficult. Strange, how that works out."
He pauses in consideration; then he looks at Rikka again. "Have you ever made a song of your own? Not one that someone else helped you with, or that you helped someone else with," because that much he certainly knows about, "but all your own?"
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods, as Kaworu thanks her.
"So you've been working on it for a while." Rikka considers. She can already guess who a few of those might be - and Nidaime is certainly at the top of the list. Lyrics, though... she nods, as Kaworu explains. She gives a small laugh.
"...I guess it's hard to put all your emotions into words sometimes. Sometimes it feels like they don't just suffice." Rikka considers. He asks a question - has she made a song of her own, before?
"If you mean a full, proper song, instead of just stringing together whatever words pop into my head in the moment... then no, I haven't." She replies, with a shake of her head. "I've tried before... but whenever I sit down to actually try writing something instead of going with the flow, the words just never end up coming together the way I want them to, and then I get frustrated and put them aside, so I haven't actually completed anything..."
She shrugs. It sounds like her comment about lyrics comes from personal experience...
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu's smile turns wistful. Sometimes it feels like words just don't suffice... "Yes," he agrees. He's written a song before about certain feelings of his, but... that was at a more emotionally intense point in his life this time around. Here, right now... It's somehow more normal.
Kaworu spends so much time so far away from Shinji, after all. By comparison to how he felt a year and a half ago, it's almost normal.
But they aren't talking about that; they're talking about Rikka and her experiences. Kaworu listens with sympathy. "I see. That's a shame. I'm sure you could compose something beautiful if you could find your flow." He looks back down at his notebook. "I've written a song before, but... the feeling back then was different from how it is now. It isn't bad... simply less intense."
But then, given the feeling he wants to convey, maybe that's a good thing.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
That wistful smile... it sounds like he knows that feeling exactly. Rikka offers a sympathetic smile before he offers sympathy in turn. To that, she nods.
"...Yeah. I'm going to keep at it... I love music too much to stop trying. Even if all I come up with is unfinished music sheets... that's alright with me." She replies. Maybe some day, she'll come up with something she's proud of.
He's written a song before himself, though. Rikka nods, thinking it over. The feeling is different. Not but, but less intense.
"Feelings change sometimes... not always for the better or worse. Just different." Rikka acknowledges with a nod. "What are you going for now?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
They both know well what it's like to love someone from afar--even if that's far less of a concern for Rikka now. It's heartening to hear that she'll keep on trying to compose music of her own, too. Repli-Compoids may not be Lilim, but music is the crown of their culture, too, in Kaworu's opinion.
"The act of trying, in and of itself, is valuable. Whether you achieve your goal or not, you will learn something new--about yourself, and about the sounds and words you try to meld together."
What is he going for now, though? Kaworu considers the words he's written down. "In some ways, it's the same. And in others, it's very different." He smiles at her again. "To put it succintly, it's about thinking of someone who's far away. But where my other song was a song of sorrow, this is a song of hope."
He shuts his eyes, head tilting slightly to one side. "We will meet again. Always."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"That's a good way to look at it." Rikka considers. Learning something new, about herself, and the sounds and words... There's something poetic about that, and it makes it all the more worth continuing to pursue.
As for Kaworu... Rikka considers what he has to say, rolling it over in her head. A song about thinking of someone far away - but a song of hope, rather than sorrow. We will meet again, always...
Rikka smiles.
"...That's a good sentiment. I like it." She comments. "That's a thought worth expressing. I hope you'll be able to pull the words all together. I think there are a lot of people out there who could use a song of hope."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"Thank you. That's why I began to write it," Kaworu admits. "It's been some time since I last wrote music, particularly a song with my own words... The situation has been dire since before we set off. If I were going to send out a love letter to the Earth, I wanted those who might happen to overhear to be uplifted by it."
Yes... When he wrote Azure Ether, he was processing the pain he felt at that time--it was a song for himself. Now, as he writes That's Right, he's writing it for others. And since Rikka is here...
"Would you care to listen to some of it?" he offers. "I haven't yet joined the lyrics to the music, not having a vocalist... but I can chant it for you."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Yeah..." Rikka admits. ...Things had been dire. She doesn't want to think about how things have gotten in their absence. That's too much to think about now, not when there's still one last hurdle on this trip to face. Still, sending out a love letter to the Earth... "I think... if you've been moving forward with that idea in your heart, you'll be able to succeed in that."
And then, Kaworu asks if he wants to listen to it. He doesn't have a vocalist, but he can chant it.
"I'd love to." Rikka replies with a smile. "I'm eager to hear it when it's finished, too."
She pauses for a second, then.
"Oh, and if you ever need a vocalist... let me know? Even if it's just to test things out." She offers.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
It's pleasing to hear Rikka say that she thinks he'll be able to complete this song successfully with that ideal in his heart. Rikka's worked closely with the Galactic Fairy; she knows something about songs to move the heart.
(Kaworu helped her out with performing those songs, but he was only a late addition when Tsutsujidai had been separated from the world, after all.)
"Thank you," he replies, setting down his notebook to get up from his seat and move to the keyboard. "I may take you up on that if Ranka's too busy for me to reach easily." He laughs a little as he sits before the keys. "I could ask Mary again, but I'd like to hear your voice again, too."
He rests his fingers on the plastic keys and begins to play--the song had stopped earlier when Rikka and Kaworu had started conversing, but now he plays it himself at the proper tempo. It's still a sweet, gentle song, and though Kaworu does indeed chant rather than sing, there is a melody line there too for Rikka to know how it should go all the same.
"That's right.
"Your words are always a treasure
"No matter how many times, their light and energy always reaches me."
The cadence of the melody shifts a bit--reaching a little higher, a little sweeter. Rikka may pick up that it's the chorus, even if there hasn't been much song before now:
"Even though I can't meet you now, I'm all right.
"So even though I can't meet you now,
"I'd like it if you were all right, too."
There is more song after this... but not all of the lyrics have been completed. So for now, Kaworu leaves it at that, still playing, but no longer chanting. Instead, he meets Rikka's eyes with a smile. "...It has that kind of feel."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods, as he says he might take her up on the offer. She can imagine that Ranka's schedule would be pretty busy... but, she also seems like the sort of person who'd try to make time for her friends even despite that.
"I might need to find an excuse to sing for everyone again sometime..." Rikka considers, as he says he'd like to hear her voice again. She quiets down, though, as Kaworu begins to play once more.
She listens along - and as he plays, and as he chants, Rikka's head starts to nod along with it. It's easy to tell from her thoughtful expression that she's putting pieces together. Figuring out in her head how it'd sound when all put together, taking note of the chorus when it appears.
And as the music continues but the chanting stops, Rikka meets Kaworu's smile with one of her own.
"I like it. It sounds... bittersweet, but hopeful, like you said. It grips the heart. I'm looking forward to hearing it in full." She replies.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu thinks so, too. That's why he doesn't want to impose on her more than necessary. Her song is one that will make the galaxy tremble one day--he's sure of it. If he can help her achieve that, then it would be his honor.
For now, though, Rikka gives her input. Kaworu was already smiling, but he looks pleased by her input. "Then I will do my best to bring it to fruition," he replies.
Until then, they can both enjoy the creative process.