deux

the day before

(e.c.)
the morning of the day before eddy's first performance with the sydney symphony orchestra, and eddy could hardly control his nerves. not only was he nervous about the performance itself, today was the today that the concertmaster would be returning after his injury, and eddy feared that rehearsal would be much different.

eddy decided to walk to the opera house again, even though he regretted it last time. he desperately needed something to distract him, and on top of that, a coffee.

he pushed open the door to the familiar coffee shop and ordered a coffee. his coffee was ready quickly, and thankfully wasn't spilled on him this time. although, he did secretly wish that he had seen brett around the café in the past few days of getting a coffee there every morning, but the shorter man was nowhere to be seen.

(b.y.)
brett's first, and last rehearsal with the new soloist at the sydney symphony before the concert was today, and he was already running late. slinging his violin case over his back and grabbing his music, brett rushed out of his apartment and got into a taxi. thankfully, the drive went by quickly, and brett reached the opera house with a few minutes to spare. although, he knew that he was likely much later than the rest of the orchestra.

he tried not to show it as he walked into the massive building, but brett was nervous. his hands were better, all he had was a bandage over the back of his right hand, but due to his injury he had much less time to practice than he would have liked. additionally, he already doubted how much the rest of the musicians actually liked him, and feared that their dislike of him might have grown in the days he wasn't there. not to mention the new soloist whom brett had yet to meet.

he quietly stepped onto the stage, the rest of the orchestra already well into tuning their instruments. he sat down quickly, trying to get by unnoticed. focused on getting his music out, brett didn't notice eddy and the conductor walk in together and stop in front of his stand.

"brett yang, meet eddy chen, he's our soloist for the next two weeks. eddy, this is brett, our concertmaster." the conductor introduced the two, conpletely oblivious to the look in to two violinist's eyes when they recognized each other, completely in shock.

brett shook himself out of it, reaching out to shake hands with eddy.

"nice to, uh, see you again i guess." brett said hesitantly. the same feeling of intimidation that brett had felt when they first met was creeping back in, and it was mostly due to the fact that eddy was nearly a head taller than him, and had a new air of confidence around him now that he seemed to be in his own environment.

eddy paused before responding, slightly turning brett's hand in his own, examining the bandage that covered the still burnt skin.

"yeah, it's nice to see you again, too."

(e.c.)
when eddy walked into rehearsal, the last person he expected to see was brett. it was even more of a shock when the conductor introduced brett as the concertmaster. brett looked the same as he did a few days ago, perhaps a bit more tired. and, as eddy reached out to shake his hand, he couldn't help but notice that his hands were still soft as ever. at the touch of their hands, eddy felt his anxiety slip away, and suddenly felt more energized than before. but maybe it was just the coffee.

-

thankfully, this rehearsal was the best yet for eddy, and his prior doubts about it had all gone away once he began the soft opening notes of the sibelius concerto. although, he couldn't say that he wasn't the slightest bit distracted by brett, who sat only a few feet away from eddy the entire rehearsal. during the orchestral tutti, eddy couldn't help but let his eyes wander to brett, who led the orchestra with complete ease despite it being his first rehearsal. in fact, eddy couldn't believe he didn't realize that brett was a violinist sooner. it should have been evident in the way that brett looked at eddy's coffee-stained music, and the anguish in his voice when he realized he had burnt his precious hands.