the Physics of Music Theory

Posted on Tue Dec 5th, 2023 @ 17:30 by Kaylee Ashton BSc & Alastair Temple
Edited on on Wed Dec 6th, 2023 @ 11:24

Chapter: All Hallow's Eve
Location: Music classroom
2336 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Making her way thought the castle, Kaylee was on her way to meet one of the other teachers. She'd heard though the grapevine that the school now had a Music teacher and although their specified subjects didn't really cross over a great deal, one of Kaylee's students had asked her a few questions regarding music theory and how it could relate to the subject of Physics they were currently covering, so she figured she would get the opinion of the new Music teacher himself.

Stopping just outside of the classroom, Kaylee took a breath in and held it for a moment to calm her nerves before knocking.

"Come in!" resounded a rich, baritone voice. Alastair was knelt underneath a metallic stand amidst a jumble of wires, hooking up an electronic keyboard. Several large, cardboard boxes were strewn around, alongside plastic wrapping and styrofoam packaging, as he was in the midst of setting up the new instruments he'd bought to help teach his class.

Stepping into the classroom, Kaylee stopped only a few steps in when she saw the construction zone, "um, hey, sorry for intruding. I just wanted to introduce myself" she said as she looked around at the piles of wires and boxes, "I heard we were getting a music teacher"

"That would be me," Al mused, rising to his full height again. The tall man with the luxurious facial hair smiled a rogueish smile as he stepped towards Kaylee and offered a hand in greet. "Alastair Temple, nice to meet you. Don't mind the mess, just setting up a few things."

Hesitating for a moment, Kaylee eventually took the offered hand, "Kaylee Ashton, I'm the local Physics teacher. Forgive the cold hand, I've been playing with some dry ice" she said, using a recent experiment idea she'd had as a reason for her cold skin, "so, how do you need a hand setting up?"

He did note the cold skin, but took it in stride. There were all kinds of people here with all kinds of abilities, and if she hadn't mentioned the dry ice he'd just have assumed she did something with cold. He'd already met someone who did things with fire, so this wouldn't have seemed far out of place either. "Uhm, not really - I mean, I've got things covered, though I suppose if you did want to help, you could help me unpack a few things?" he motioned to a pile of seven large ish boxes that contained the drum kit he's bought. A bass drum, a snare, two floor toms, a hi hat, a crash cymbal and a seat.

looking over at the boxes, Kaylee gave a shrug, "um, yea sure thing. Is there somewhere specific you want it set up?" she asked, glancing around the room, "maybe over in the corner there?"

"That's what I had in mind too," Al smiled warmly. Just let me finish up here and I'll be right over," he added, ducking back down underneath the keyboard. "Now where was that power cable ... "

Picking one of the smaller boxes to start with, Kaylee carefully picked it up and moved over to the corner to start her assembly. "So what brings you here? Did Claire approach you to come teach here?"

"No, I uh - " yeah, how would he explain what had happened? Was he just going to tell his whole background, how he'd been in a successful band until the rest of the bandmembers died in an accident, how he'd become a social recluse and wallowed in his own misery until he decided to change up his life and find his fortunes here?" " - found my own way here. I was in a bad spot, needed to turn my life around. Then I heard about this place and - well, here I am."

Unfortunately, this just caught Kaylee’s attention, “sounds like there’s a story there. If you want to talk about it I’m a good listener” she offered as she walked back to the pile of boxes to retrieve the next part of the drum set.

"Then a story you shall have," Al replied, playing a triumphant, heroic 'ta-dah' chord on the keyboard, with a brass-like patch. "Once upon a time, there was a young man, a mutant, though he hid his powers from the world. Together with a friend he started a band," Now accompanied by some light, tense chords. "They started it as a hobby, but turned out - they became quite popular, and started touring all over the world! But then, a disaster happened," A 'dun-dun-dunnn sound, followed by a sad piano melody, "As all but one of the bandmembers were killed in a horrific car crash."

"Our hero was left, all alone, no band, and having lost his closest friends," Al continued, his voice soft and sad, to match the accompaniment on the keyboard. "And he became a recluse, isolating himself in his home, shunning all public appearances. Depression had taken him. But then - " a more hopeful tone now, in his voice as well as in the music he was playing. "He heard about a school, where mutants like him were not only welcomed, but protected. Although she school had its fair share of problems, recent attacks, political unrest - and yet, the school persevered."

"So our hero decided to stop feeling sorry for himself and turn his life around. He sold his house, his second car and most of his possessions, and drove across the country to offer his services, and - here I am." A few closing chords, along with a sad smile - though there was something more in his expression. Something subtle. He had played before an audience again, and while an audience of one, it was still an audience.

By the time Alastair had finished his story, Kaylee was sitting in the floor with her legs crossed eagerly listening. Giving a moments pause in case there was more, Kaylee gave a short applause, “very dramatic. I can see why you were popular.” She said before she stood up and gave her dress a pat down, “I’m sorry to hear about your friends. I know how hard it is to loose someone close to you”

Giving his story another thought, Kaylee decided to show off her own powers a little. It seemed that most of the staff here were more than willing to admit they were mutants, and Kaylee had called this place a safe space for them. Taking a breath in, Kaylee held her hand up to her mouth and acted as if she was blowing dust out of her hand. As she did, a shower of snowflakes flew out of her hand and gently fell around Alastair.

Al blinked and looked around, surprised - though he quickly gathered himself and offered a warm smile. "Remarkable," he mused, holding his hand out to catch some of the snowflakes. They were real, in case he'd been expecting a mirage or projection of sorts. "You control the cold, then? Or just snow?" he asked, giving a slight shiver from the cold, turning the keyboard off and making his way over towards where she was helping unpack the drum kit.

“It’s called Cryokinesis. The ability to control ice, which I’ve discovered is a broader category than most would think. I can reduce the ambient temperature around me to near freezing which helps me create more ice for me to play with” Kaylee explained

"That is - well, that is quite something," Al smiled, starting to set up the bass drum Kaylee had unboxed earlier. He'd never done this before, but he'd seen it done hundreds of times - how hard could it be? "Me, I just turn into a bird. Big one, but still, just a bird. It has its uses, but nowhere as impressive as Cryokinesis."

"Oh I don't know, I think flying around up there without a care in the world sounds pretty nice. At times, I'm little more than a glorified snow cone maker" She said with a shrug, "But with the Christmas season around the corner, Claire made the suggestion that the kids might like an ice rink to skate around on. So I might try freezing part of the lake. Not sure if I can, but it's worth a try i guess"

"See? That's useful! That's great. Making kids smile, giving them a happy memory," Al pointed at her, smiling. "Me, I just - fly around. It's nice, helps clear the mind, and freaking people out is always fun," he chuckled, working on assembling the bass drum stand.Tab goes in to slot, screw goes in to hole, line up the adjustable feet, tighten down. "You know, zooming right over their heads, even stealing their hat and dropping it a little bit down the road~" he mused. He was sure he had a point with what he was saying, but damned if he could remember what it was.

"sounds wonderful, i think it would be amazing to simply escape from time to time and just fly around the highlands around here" Kaylee said as she bent down to open up another box, "can you change the size of the bird you can turn into? or is it more of a one size fits all?"

Alastair shrugged a bit, pondering Kaylee's words. "It can be fun, but it's - Idunno - ... Selfish? It's only fun for me. You get to spread cheer to others. There's great value in that, too. Take it from someone who's toured the world with a band," he smiled softly. "I don't have any control over what size bird I become. It's always a large raven, about twice the size of a normal one. About ten pounds, eight foot wingspan. Yes, I measured."

“And what’s wrong with being a little selfish from time to time?” Kaylee asked, putting her hands on her hips, “you can’t look after others without looking after yourself first” she said as a look of confusion came to her face, “gee, where did that come from? I’m the last person that should be lecturing people on self care” she said with a smile, “sorry, don’t mind me”

"Nothing wrong with being a bit selfish every now and then, just that my powers don't help me there, and yours do you," Al answered with a shrug. "I had to tour the world and be the rock star for that. But, you're entirely correct in what you're saying, if you don't take care of yourself you can't help anyone else either.".

Giving a sigh, Kaylee shook her head as a smile came to her face, "I don't know how you can be so positive about powers you've only just found out about. I can imagine what it might be like to fly around without a care in the world. It's like a dream. But Controlling Ice and making things cold, not exactly every child's dream." she said before holding her hands up, "but, in saying that, it has taken me a long time to see my own powers as something more than a curse. It took me becoming a teacher here to find the silver lining of Cryokenisis. Maybe we can help you find a way to see your own abilities as something less selfish."

Al shrugged a bit. "It's not that hard to think of ways to help make someone's day with cold. I don't know exactly what you can do, but some things I can think of are; make your loved one comfortable when it's blistering hot outside in summer, chill someone's flat drink, make a kid's smoothie an iced smoothie, reinforce the ice at a skating rink so it's safe when it's been thawing - I saw you make snowflakes, that's a beautiful thing, you can add beauty to people's lives."

Al had all but forgotten about the mess of half unpacked instruments around him as he continued. "Me? I fly around. It's fun, yeah, but - well, if you can think of a way I can use that to make someone else's day other than retrieving their lost keys for them from the forest, I'm all ears."

After a moment of consideration, Kaylee thought she might came up with something, “maybe you could sing to someone in your bird form? You are musically inclined after all”

"I like the way you think," Al smiled, "but Corvids, like Ravens, aren't songbirds. We don't make pretty sounds. We caw, croak, make shrill alarm calls and the like. We can mimic human speech to an extent, though it'll always sound off, since we're just imitating sounds we heard," he explained like he was an actual raven explaining rather than a man who could turn in to one.

"Magpies are also of that family right? and their songs are very beautiful to listen to" Kaylee said as a counter point, "but i do understand your point. I'll give it a little more thought"

"I think we're running away from the original point a bit," Al mused. Magpies were corvidae, true, but he still didn't consider their song 'beautiful'. Their tones were still rough, with a croak. But that was just his opinion, he knew, and other people might have a different one. "I think the original point was that we both think the other's power is wonderful and our own one a bit less so," he smiled, reaching out to place his hand on hers for a moment in a gentle gesture. "So how about we both promise to try and see the good in our own abilities, and try not think so much about the grass on the other side of the fence. Deal?"

Giving Al a warm smile, Kaylee nodded, “deal. It has taken me a while to look at my powers as something positive rather than just a curse. I suppose I just needed an outside perspective”