#;Courtney1

[ashton-ryder]

Ashton couldn't help the small shudder at the thought of the ocean, "you never know what's down there to be honest, the most intelligent sea monster with a face like ours could be there." Even if he was all about exploring the unknown, he would rather not have to dive too far deep into the ocean. Now that's an unknown he'd rather avoid and leave it to the professionals. He'd rather submit to the vacuum up above.

Was it really the time though? The words almost slipped from his mouth but he held them back, not wanting to ruin Courtney's mood that was already lifted up by the heavy reality. Instead he awkwardly tried to back away from the offer, "ah- maybe that's not such a good idea... I'm not- exactly gifted on the music front." The bean sprouts on lines on paper looked like gibberish to him, he still wonders how people are able to read all that and understand. "We might actually wake the dead if we do that." Ashton was always one with a curious mind and enjoys the process of learning but in these times when everything is on the line... he needed to do what he did best to survive. Perhaps when this is over, he could take her up on that offer. He folded his arms, looking unconvinced as he stood up and tried to stare out into the horizon as far as he could see, maybe far enough to see what normalcy might still exist outside of their bubble. "I don't know about that.. blowing the bridges was a shitty move and they think it might stop it. But they forget there's subways, underground systems, anything can weasel their way through and all it takes is one." He shuts his eyes, worry visible on his face but he didn't his best to return an appreciative look to her trying, "she's living alone now, with our dog, so.." it's been awhile since he thought about it but he really wished his dad was still there. "What about you? Any family outside?"

It was nice seeing Ashton relax a little bit, let down a little of the guardedness he seemed to have around him. It made her proud of herself, even, for being the one to pull a bit of a smile from the usually stoic man. "I mean at least one of the faces would have to be at least somewhat resembling a face by our standards wouldn't it? Then again... alot of those creepy things at the bottom of the ocean don't have faces. Though, jelly fish really aren't considered all that intelligent."

Letting her laugh fall freely as she finished her verbalized train of thought, Courtney's smile softened and she nodded her head. "I could give you a whole music education if you wanted. I have stuff from all sorts of genres and I mean... now is the time to experience what we can." Better now than never, in other words. "I'm sure she is. They did say it was quarantined to New York, so... even if things are hopeless here by their standards, they had the might of all the militaries and doctors in all the world to protect everyone else."

[alpheusmain0r]

Reasons why Gwen is superior!^

Gwen is a Goth, and we love goths. ‼️

Gwen loves Courtney, and so do we. (She also came back to suffer another season of total drama just to make things right with courtney1!1!)

Gwen is a Girlkisser. So if you hate her then that means you hate girlkissers.

So don’t hate on Gwen or say bad things about Gwen. 🧍

[ashton-ryder]

"That would be cool and probably terrifying. People would think they're going insane with voice in their heads, and hey, why not an orifice to communicate? Six faces on a cuboid one has to work." It was a fun thought, Ashton wondered if aliens did exist, we're they watching the sad, sorry sight of a planet destroying itself? Probably even have a death pool and everything. "Then you'd be prepared for when the orchestra decided to perform next in the snow. Ashton couldn't help his own mood lifting seeing Courtney's but the mention of the one stupid song Ashton only knew how to request had a sorrow sit in the back of his gaze despite the small smile, "you do? That... would be nice," that song in his childhood both comforted.. and unsettled him during these times, yet he still wanted to hear it. "I hope my mom's okay."

"That would be so cool, though! What if it like spoke telepathically? Because like... i can't picture a cube with a mouth." Chuckling to herself and the mental image, she kinda just let the warmth that came with laughter sink into her bones. "No... no it's good. Now I know at least, and I can pick my songs accordingly." And play softer, but that was whatever. "Yeah right, My fingers would fall off." And it was impossible to play properly in mittens. "Yeah!" Brightening up considerably, her head bobbed with enthusiasm. "I have tons! I really like to collect them. Most of what I have is classical, but I've really started to grow my collection of more modern music. I have Hey Jude in there, too. You can come over and listen to it with my whenever you want, you know."

[ashton-ryder]

He let his weight roll between his feet, taking the playful shove before swaying back, the visual image of him potentially breaking her violin garnered a chuckle, "oh, those kinds of music. Of course, that does sound kinda nice." He could do theory, he's a theory guy, right? Right. "You can also just say that you're sick of Hey Jude," he lightly bumped her shoulder back, pretending to sound hurt by it. To his defense, his mind goes blank whenever she asks and he remembers some tunes of whatever he hears randomly but not anything that would stick.

"Guess the only way to know is go into the tunnels," Ashton raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile, there were a few subway lines that run across the waters out of Manhattan and maybe it might just be the dumbest most suicidal thing to do, but better to know their options than to die not knowing what could've been. Ashton leaned down on the ledge resting his chin on his arms, watching the direction where Courtney pointed out to, his heart ached a little bit hearing her following words, "...no, it- it's a way to cope. To just be prepared for the worst case scenario." He should know this, he should be in the same mindset as Courtney, he should've mourned in advance and get on with what they needed to do to survive and focus on the hear and now. But when it came to family, Ashton didn't know if he had it in him to cross that line of hope and denial without falling apart. He looked up to her from his slouched position, knowing that they both might've been spiraling into a darker place. "You're right, let's get back inside," he nodded with a large exhale as he straightened up and stepped away from the edge, "thanks.. for playing today, it's good to hear you play music again."

"I don't mean like instruments, silly." Giving him a little roll of her eyes and tiny playful shove of his shoulder, Courtney shook her head. "I mean like music. Genres, influential songs, artists and composers and producers. That sort of thing. That way when someone asks for a suggestion you can give more than just Hey Jude."

Following his cue, Courtney stood and moved to his side, staring out at the strangely dark and quiet city, a view that still was too strange to be familiar just yet. Like staring out at a movie set. "We don't know what else they blew. I mean I'm sure they hit the tunnels out." That would make sense. Get those the same time as the bridges. But he was right. There was sewers and the subway system and who knew what other ways to get across to the mainland. "My parents are out there...." Nodding her chin toward the city, her heart caught in her chest and she had to clear her throat to free it. "Is it bad that I've already grieved for them? It's easier than wondering and never knowing. Rather a happy surprise if they're alive... than a heartbreaking one if they're not..." Almost whispering the words, she shook her head and turned away from the view. "Why don't we go down to Rosie's and get some coffee... it's.... it's getting cold up here."

[ashton-ryder]

Perhaps music is about anything you want it to be. Anything you need it to be. It was an admirable pursuit, even if it was something Ashton didn't easily understand. "It's a wonderful phenomenon, how a string of coordinated vibrations..." Ashton slowly started trying to relate and understand on his own terms, "can create a wonderful chemical reaction within our brains." He wondered if the zombies felt anything when they hear music now. He fell back into a more relaxed state as they laid there staring up at the sky, the minor twinkle as if a concert audience applauding for her performance. "It's the one sole thing in the universe that we all share," the unifying factor across generations, civilizations, planets and stars go through destruction and yet there they stand, unmoving to their insignificant lifespan. Perhaps one day the universe will collapse onto itself but today, New York collapses to the universe's eyes like ants scrambling for their lives because a child decided to light it on fire. "Probably why I wanted to study it so much." It was the one constant in his life that whatever happens, the planets will still move, the stars will still burn, that life will still go on. "How was it like, learning the violin and making it your job?"

"That's exactly what it's about. But... it's also about hope... and finding freedom and... that's the thing about music. It's about however it makes you feel. That's why I love it so much. It..." Pausing to think for a moment, it was as if she could taste the proper words before she found them. "It conveys emotions that you can't really put words to, probably better than any words could." Sighing as she rested back into the bench, Courtney stared up at the sky and let the silence settle for a beat. "It's easy to forget about all of it when you look up there, isn't it? Can't see any of it because you can just look up there forever and see something new and beautiful." She'd always appreciated a night sky, how it remained a constant sea of stars no matter where in the world she'd went. Same moon, same North star. It made her feel a little more connect to the world that was out there, cut off from them.

[ashton-ryder]

"Who can get enough of this view?" Ashton sarcastically waved and gestured to the city. "I don't think they'll hear, and if not, well... won't know till we try. I'll keep a lookout." Whatever the case it'll be good to know, exactly what kind of sounds they can hear, from how far, what frequencies escape them, always a good chance to observe. But.. it weighed a little on his chest remembering the last he heard Courtney play, he was measuring the growth of his sweet potatoes while the noise of traffic tried to compete, a completely different world compared to the one they stand before today. "Well.." he almost gave in but it can't be fun to always play the same request, and he wasn't the most creative person, so he shook his head, "it's alright, you should play whatever you feel like. Treat it like I'm not even here." He shuffled and made way for her violin case, opening up his notebook and writing today's date. "It's enough to just be able to hear music again."

"The view? Nah... Honestly, I've had more than enough of that lately. I was mostly just gunna come up and play. I think it's high enough out here that it doesn't attract... you know..." Nodding her chin at the roof's edge but deliberately not looking at it, she lowered down to sit next to him, opening her violin case in her lap. "Any requests? I mean... nothing crazy, like... WAP or anything like that. Love the song, don't think even I could play it on this thing."

[ashton-ryder]

"Yeah, who knows we'd might find intelligent talking cuboid for all we know," and honestly Ashton wouldn't even be surprised at the weird things they find out at space. Frozen water on Mars, heart shapes on Pluto, dozens of Earth like planets, anything is possible.

Ashton knew he brought down the mood the moment he brought it up, the nice thoughts of music and space and dreams weighing down heavily by the weights of reality. "Sorry... for bringing it up. I thought that you should know, just in case." Just in case she decides to play louder pieces, attention attracting pieces. Ignorance is no longer bliss in this state of their city. "Eh you could totally play your violin in the freezing cold, new training method," he tried to ungracefully lighten the mood he brought down. "You got a record player? That's awesome, any good records?"

"It is. It's like having a friend that's just there, whenever you need." Definitely something she could feed her emotions to, despite having to do so up on the roof. Sometimes it was even the best backdrop for it, at least until winter made it too cold to play for long.

'It would be pretty narcissistic, wouldn't it? I kinda think expecting them to even be humanoid is a stretch, like looking like us is a prerequisite for intelligence." The chuckle that had been playing over her lips died out quickly when he brought up the things down below reacting to her music. She'd always been kind of worried about that, and it was somehow a little reassuring that they'd seemed to brush it off. At least for now.

"Well that's both horrifying and reassuring. At least I know I can play up here without having the building be swarmed." But she probably wouldn't risk playing any lower in the building. At least not near any open windows or anything. "Thank goodness I have my record player and some records. I don't think I could handle a winter without music. Because I won't be playing from my suite. That just... feels like it'd be too low, you know. Too... close to the ground."

[ashton-ryder]

"Everything in the world can be linked back to science," Ashton chuckled, remembering someone his fellow graduates studying the science of music. He was a terrible test subject for their research, but a noble thesis topic nonetheless.

Ashton listened intently to her recounting her past with the violin. "Huh, it must be nice though, to have something you really loved to do unconditionally," he kept his gaze up to the comforting stars, his mouth letting out the new though that never occurred to him, "I never really took up a sport or music or extracurricular before." It wasn't even in his peripheral as he was growing up. Sometimes at gym they'd play dodge all or ice hockey. There was always something to do, something to accomplish. "Yeah, of course, depending on your definition of aliens," Ashton answered the question quickly, as if used to answering it ever so often when asked by students and colleagues alike. "We'd be too egotistical and arrogant to believe we're the only life or intelligent species in the entire universe, don't you think?" He wondered if they do exist, what are the struggles a different planet might have. Whether they've maybe already gone through a cycle of cleansing through what they're experiencing now. His thoughts drifted to exactly that and picked up his notebook, suddenly remembering to note down the zombies reaction to fairly high pitched music from a few miles away. "They noticed.. by the way," he murmured as he wrote things down, still unsure if he should mentioned, but knowledge is key, "they heard you play, probably faintly and looked as if they decided it wasn't worth pursuing." Cognitive abilities to make decisions?

Listening to him put her thoughts into words that framed them in the way his mind worked was entertaining, and it pulled a little smile to her lips. "Yeah. It connects with everything we are, and I think that's magical, even when you say it all factual like that." It really did give her something to think about later, how music effected Humans in such a way, or even animals. It's too bad the internet was a thing of the past now, or she'd do some research on it. Rabbit holes over a glass of wine had been one of her favourite hobbies. As he continued, Courtney just let herself fall into the blanket of stars above them, letting the existentialism of it wash over her a little bit. At least, until it got a little too heavy and she decided to focus more on them, than of the destruction all around their island of safety.

"Oh.. um... Well, it was a lot of work, and at first I wasn't even sure I wanted to do it. I've been good at violin since... I don't know, birth, by the way my parents tell it. I really do love it, I guess that's why even a rebellious streak in school couldn't keep me away from it." Pondering over it for a moment, it seemed a different though took over. "Do you believe in aliens?"

[ashton-ryder]

Ashton gave her a small reassuring smile before she got ready, any piece truly would be fine. Once she settled in, he kept his ears listening but eyes focused on the horde below. Sucking in a short breath as the first note rose, and a few heads cracked back to them at first. It was a good thing Courtney closed her eyes when she played or she would've caught for just a millisecond, Ashton's stressed out look, running through all the worst possible outcomes and ways to mitigate them. And yet, as if they lost interest, too far away, too soft, or maybe too high pitched? The chompers turn back to doing whatever they were doing before. Ashton finally relaxed and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting himself enjoy the music for now. He shakily exhaled the breath he forgot he was holding and turned his focus to watch Courtney play a beautiful melody. He was never an aficionado of music, but something about music being able to create a bubble of peace... was truly magical. When it finished and her gaze met his again, any evidence of the initial panic and stress was gone, only a soft appreciative smile greeting her back into their world. "That was beautiful, it sounded like a bird taking flight," a liberating melody for their suffocating reality. "What's this piece about?"

Realizing that he didn't pick up on her little joke, Courtney cleared her throat with a little cough and did her best to brush off the hint of embarrassment. "Whatever I feel like, huh? Okay, well, I suppose I can think of something. "I think you might like this one.... it's one of my favourites." Giving herself a little shake in preparation as was almost her ritual, she lifted the violin to her chin with a movement smooth enough to speak to the thousands of times it'd been made. Lifting the bow onto the strings and letting out the smallest of breaths before pulling the first note, Courtney fell easily into the music of The Lark Ascending. The moment the music started, it was like she was in another world, everything else falling away as she let the song pull her emotions from inside her. The anxiety, the appreciation, the sadness for all that's been lost, and the hope she still held onto for what was to come. Letting the last note linger on the strings, it was a moment before she even opened her eyes, glancing over at him for his reaction.