(no subject)

[itaito]

[sheet music in hand, wandering into Kaito's bedroom]

Hey, Kaito?

Comments

[itaito]

[b-blushing and looking very pleased, KYAA MASTER LIKED MY SINGING~

but manages to summon a modicum of professionalism and pay attention to the critique]

Ah, I thought so... How can I fix it, d'you think?

[was_no_monster]

[opens his mouth

shuts it

guess who had not thought that far ahead?]

...I'm not sure. That kind of thing is a little different for you, isn't it...?

[itaito]

Ah, yeah, probably... humans don't have a built-in system for making the notes, so you kind of do it yourself, right? Usually I have a producer helping me...

[was_no_monster]

[...frowns. pulling away a little, looking uncomfortable and a little unsure]

[itaito]

--Ah, um, d... did I say something wrong?

[was_no_monster]

...I'm not human. It's... uncomfortable, being referred to as one.

...sorry.

[itaito]

... Oh, that's right, you were made too! I'm sorry, I forgot - I kind of assume anyone who's not actually a robot is human, sorry...

[trails off blushing. aaaa why dumb ._.]

[was_no_monster]

I-It's all right, I'm sort of— I'm in between, so...

[itaito]

Right, right, I remember you're metal inside...

A-anyway, yeah, you're right. It's different for me than for biological people.

[was_no_monster]

[bumps gently against his shoulder before falling silent, worrying at his lower lip in thought]

—What if we tuned your voice like a stringed instrument? I could play the right note, and you could sing over it and go up or down in small increments until your voice and the recorder matched.

[itaito]

... Oh, good idea! That'd probably work.

[was_no_monster]

[scooping the recorder back up]

Then, in that case...

[blowing a few tentative notes before launching into the main melody, playing for about a measure before hitting the problematic note and holding it]

[itaito]

[sings it the way he did before]

[was_no_monster]

[blinks a little. the dissonance and how to correct it is pretty obvious, at least to him; but if there's anything that being Rin's older brother has taught him, it's that there are things robots can't do, just as there are things humans can't do. that's fine— that's what he's there for.

...unfortunately, he'd forgotten that his hands and mouth would be full while he was playing. dithering for a moment, and then jerking his chin up sharply. higher!]

[itaito]

[higher?

...right, higher! it seems so obvious, once he lifts his voice a little and finds the sound coming neatly into harmony with Kaito's recorder. he holds the new pitch for a few moments, fixing it in his memory, and fiddling with a few internal instructions.

he envies human brains, sometimes.]

[was_no_monster]

[there it went. lowering his recorder]

Good, you got it. You did the same thing in the same place in this other verse, [indicating another section of sheet music] so if you can just... copy the change over, I suppose...?

[itaito]

Ah, okay. Give me a second...

[his eyes take on a glassy, unfocused look for a few seconds, before he blinks it away and looks at Kaito again]

Okay, let's try it.

[was_no_monster]

[nods, lifting the recorder back up and starting to play the problematic section again]

[itaito]

[sings with! it's much smoother now]

[was_no_monster]

[perfect. grinning at him around the mouthpiece and... oh, what the hell, why not. continuing to play, but switching away from the main melody into an improvised harmonization]

[itaito]

[...oh. oh hey. something about that improvisation makes something click and as he comes up on the problem spot, where the transition is so rough...

... perfect. that's perfect - that's what the song needed.]

[was_no_monster]

[he almost drops the recorder in surprise; he hadn't expected that particular issue to correct itself so easily. more than corrected itself— it's easy to hear why the other Kaito is suddenly grinning like that.

he plays through the rest of the song with him, beaming]

I think that did it. ...Good job.

[itaito]

[so happy. it is an interesting warm fuzzy combo of music achievement and that secret little itch being scratched]

Thank you, Master!

I'll try and remember that harmony you did so I can write it down later. It's just what the song needed!

1/2

[was_no_monster]

[...]

[was_no_monster]

[...headpats]

I'm glad that I could help.

[he's frowning slightly, though, and after a pause he sighs in resignation]

...I'm sorry, but... could you not call me that?