Welcome to Gaia! ::

Carter preferred to ramble. The towns held little attraction for him; though he had finally come to nest in a wing of his grandmother's manor, he was by nature more of a loner. The quiet and solitude of the woods attracted him, and he often spent days or weeks out on his own, wandering. Not lost, particularly, though he sometimes wasn't sure where he was. If he needed to find his way, he could find the points of the compass by the sun or the stars. Eventually he would get where he was going.

Today he padded through a chill afternoon, listening to the crunch of dried leaves beneath his feet. Autumn was a difficult time in which to be stealthy. It was a good thing, he thought, that he wasn't trying to be silent.

Carter's ear twitched as he caught a soft sound, almost drowned out by the crackle of his own feet in the leaves. He paused, tilting his head to listen; his headwings angled slightly, lowering to help direct any sound into his sensitive ears. Yes - the soft scratching of a pen on paper. Someone was here. And busy, from the sound of it.

When Carter moved again, his footsteps were softer, though still audible; pianissimo, a musically inclined listener might say. He was tracking now, curious. Somebody writing meant that another kat was here; perhaps he could get a peek at what the stranger was composing. He saw a tail first, flicking with metronome steadiness - a pink and black tail, though the shade was brighter than his own rose color. He padded quietly up behind the tree, peering around the trunk, and found to his surprise that the other was also male, and, by his scent, a Good-type.

The paper the other male wrote on was lined with blank staves, and rather than letters forming words, the stranger was writing music. Carter's ears twitched again with interest. He had had a little musical training, enough to play an arpeggio or two on the terribly out-of-tune piano in the manor, but this piece was beyond his ability to read. Still, he leaned against the tree trunk, watching silently and curiously as the other composed.

"Safe enough," Carter said, and tilted an ear at the other male. "What would you have done if I had? You were quite absorbed." Curiosity, mostly. Perhaps the smaller kat had simply chosen not to view him as a threat - which had been correct, but it seemed risky to assume. "I heard you writing and wished to see what."

"The sign of a true artist," Carter chuckled. He took the other male's hand and shook it firmly, making sure to keep his tentacles to himself - it often seemed to unnerve neutral and good kats when the tentacles followed his hand curiously. The things sometimes had a mind of their own, but with proper attention, he could keep them from being friendly. "Carter Sultana," he introduced himself.

He tilted an ear curiously. "Do you play as well, or do you simply write for others? I confess that the piece you were working on is somewhat out of my ability to sight-read. I enjoy music, but I'm rather an amateur."

"Likewise," Carter said, smiling. "A good afternoon for music and meetings."

"My family is not terribly musical, I am afraid," he said. "Our voices tend more to screeching than singing, and nobody has tuned the manor's piano in quite some time. I wouldn't mind learning to play more skillfully, though." He chuckled. "I don't suppose you give lessons?"

Carter smiled, pleased. "Our piano isn't tuned, I'm afraid," he said. "Do you know of any places in town where we might be able to find a place for lessons and practice?" He wasn't about to invite Ryou back to the manor; this meeting was going rather well and he liked the other male, and the sight of the ominous hulk of the Sultana family home or some of its more frightening inhabitants might end the acquaintance rather abruptly at this point.

"As it's my request, I'll take care of any fees, of course," he added.

"That seems an excellent plan," Carter agreed. He might not inform his family of his plans just yet; they were used to his habit of spending his days out of the house, and he didn't feel quite like explaining music lessons. If things went well, though, he might have to see about hiring a piano tuner at some point. But that was getting ahead of himself. "Shall we set a day and time to meet for the lesson?"