Solo Duets Are Hard

“All this time…”
“We always walked a very thin line… You didn’t even hear me out-”
“You didn’t even hear me out…”
“You nev-”
“Never-”
“Pbthbt!”

Four sets of clawed fingers lightly banged the piano and punctuated the gentle melody with a discordant clang. Two heads huffed in-sync as one rested frustratedly in their palm, propping itself up on the keyboard by the elbow, and the other tilted back to scowl at the ceiling. They’d been at this for… too long, probably. It likely wasn’t doing their focus any favours, but…

Sagittarius sighed. No. Enough being stubborn. It wasn’t helping… Time to take a break.

“Still working on the duet?”

The white beblune turned to face their newly-present spectator.
“No, Vlad, I’m cleaning the piano by screeching at it.”

The tsurex sighed affectionately,
“For what it’s worth, it’s not the most painful screeching I’ve ever heard.”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment?” Sagi rolled their eyes.

“Ideally, yes.” Vlad fondly shrugged.

“Pretty bad, then.” The white beblune jokingly tsk’ed. “I know you can do better than that. You woo’ed me, after all.”

“Still not sure how I pulled that off.” The tsurex gave a shy chuckle before evening out. “Can I make it up to you, then?”

“You know what… Yes. You can.” Sagi mused before scooching up the piano seat. “Help me out.”

Vlad quirked a brow, looking at the new space dubiously.
“…“Help”…?”

“Come on…” Sagi patted the seat. “It’ll be fun!”

“One problem.” Vlad wiggled his arm fwingers. “I don’t exactly have your dextrous claws.”

“Ah. Right.” Sagi tapped the piano in contemplation, somehow not thrown off by the repeated note playing as a result. “You could sing the second voice? That’s where I’m getting thrown off, I think.”

“I…” Vlad scratched his clawed foot into the ground, something Sagi had picked up as a nervous tic long ago. “I don’t think my voice is up to scratch.”

Sagi stared at the tsurex, completely deadpan.
“You sing quiet lullabies in bed when you think I’ve passed out.”

Vlad turned completely red.
“…You were awake?”

“Yep.”

Vlad found the far wall very interesting all of a sudden.

“Hey. You have a nice voice.” Sagi shot the tsurex an encouraging smile. “I’d love to hear you sing in earnest.”

Vlad squirmed on the spot for a minute in consideration, before finally giving a small sigh.
“…Okay.”

The tsurex awkwardly sat beside the white beblune at the keyboard.
“So... What song are we working with?”

“This one.” Sagi handed over the sheet music and lyrics. “Crater suggested it when I asked for piano duet recommendations.”

“Crater suggested this?” The tsurex double-checked the papers, scanning for any sign of a hidden trick. “This seems very… mellow. I’m surprised he didn’t give you the most difficult thing he could think of.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised too.” The white beblune shrugged. “He said he was feeling charitable that day.”

“Ah, very rare.” Vlad chuckled before frowning slightly at the lyrics. “Although, I don’t think he was expecting the two of us to be trying it together.”

“Probably not.” Sagi hummed. “It sounds nice, though. Simple, too.”

“True.” Vlad set the sheet music back on the piano stand. “Is there a part you want me to play?”

“Up to you.” Sagi patiently let Vlad think it over. “I’m trying to practice both, so…”

“Hm…” Vlad looked at the papers again for a moment before tapping one with his fwingertip. “This one?”

Sagi nodded.
“Nice.”

The white beblune set their claws on the proper places on the keyboard.
“Ready?”

Vlad took a deep, slightly shaky breath before Sagi comfortingly draped a wing over his shoulder. The tsurex met the white beblune’s eye with a smile, and Sagi returned it.
“Ready.”

Minutes passed, voices and piano notes alike stumbled, but instead of groans of frustration, the gaps between restarts were filled with small laughs and compliments.

Until…

“All this time…”

“I never learned to read your mind.”

“Never learned to read my mind…”

“I couldn't turn things around.”

“You never turned things around…”

“Cause you never gave no warning sign.”

“I gave so many signs…”

“So many signs… So many signs…”

“You never gave a warning sign…”

…

The pair trailed off with the final notes of the piano, and looked at each other with a small chuckle.

“Perfect?”

“Perfect.”