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Benrey took a shaky breath, feeling the heft of the guitar in xyr lap, fingers ghosting over the strings. It was an old, beat up acoustic thing that xe had found while rummaging through the closet. The guitar was obviously well loved, at one point, the warm honey colored wood that had once gleamed now dulled by years of disuse. The wooden bar stool wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it worked, and Gordon had insisted on xem using it as he sat across from xem in the kitchen.
Gordon took Benrey’s hands in his own, his touch gentle and warm as he meticulously adjusted the position of Benrey’s fingers on the neck of the guitar.
“Hey Ben,” Gordon’s voice was soft, gentle even. “Can you lift your right leg? Just a little bit. You’re,” he reached over, shifting the guitar in Benrey’s lap, “supposed to set the curve there on your leg, okay?”
Benrey nodded stiffly, xyr fingers twitching as Gordon adjusted xyr arm, giving it a soft pat, before letting xyr hand rest against the sound hole and strings.
“That feel okay? Guitar feels stable, right? Not like it's gonna fall or anything
“nope, feels, uh. feels fine.”
“Okay, so,” Gordon grunted softly, pushing himself up off of his stool. “You’ve got 6 strings, from top to bottom. They go E, A, D, G, B, E, got it?”
Benrey nods, eyes flicking down at the strings as xe fiddles with the pick in his right hand.
Gordon takes xyr left hand gently in his own two, humming softly.
“Take your second finger,” he uncurls it from the tight fist Benrey’s been making, touch gentle. “And press down on the A string on the second fret.”
“fret?”
“The bits separated by these little silver bars. And pluck that string for me?”
Benrey does as xe're instructed, the tone resonating from the guitar is warm and twangy, and it makes xem smile widely, looking up at Gordon, xyr eyes wide and sparkling with delight.
Gordon smiles back, clapping once. He can’t let himself get overexcited.
“Now add your third finger on the D string, also on the second fret for me?”
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It goes like this for about two hours, Gordon instructing, and Benrey listening diligently, small bubbles of watermelon green and taffy spilling from xyr mouth before they stop for lunch, leaning the guitar against the back of the living room couch. They’ve made definite progress, Benrey can play 3 chords easily, and a few extras with some fumbling.
The sun is high in the sky as Tommy walks through the front door, arms full with groceries, as his partners wave at him from the kitchen counter. There’s a plate left out for him. There always is. He sets down the bags, paper ones as none of them can stand the sound of the plastic ones, and gives Gordon a quick peck on the cheek as he picks up his plate and sits down beside Benrey who begins to idly chat about their day together.
“So what have you two been up to today?” Tommy asks, picking at his food with his fork.
“Benrey took an interest in my old guitar,” Gordon nods towards where the instrument sat. “Xe’s pretty good for only having me teaching xem for a few hours.”
Benrey flushes a bit, a string of pink sweet voice trailing from xyr mouth. "'s not that hard. fuckin uh. just like guitar hero."
Gordon has to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing, as Tommy snorts softly at their partner's statement.
It's nice like this, they think, their home is cozy and warm, and every now and again it's filled with the soft twang of an acoustic guitar and bubbles of laughter and colorful light.