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“Kerry, I... god, that is so hard!”
Kerry laughed, a genuine smile on his face.
“I know, I know, what do you think how long it took to learn all this? Weeks? Months. Nah, V, still learning”, he hummed contently while sipping whisky from the round glass in his hands.
“Okay, y’know what? I’ll try again. Ain’t givin’ up yet.”
V put his fingers on the neck of Kerrys Telecaster again, sliding his long fingers along the E string. He tried to move his fingers into place and sighed in defeat.
“I forgot it again.”
Kerry just laughed and put his glass aside.
“I’ll show you, make space.”
He placed himself besides V, on his left, sitting right behind the neck of the guitar. He took V’s left hand and placed it correctly.
“Okay, you see, your pointer on the A string. Yes, like this. Ring finger on the D string and pinky on the G string. Easy right? ‘s called a power chord”
“Easy? Feels like my hand is breaking.”
“Maybe we should’ve got my Les Paul from the garage, has a shortened neck. Easier for beginners. I actually like shortened necks, but Telecasters don’t have them most of the time. The frets are closer together on the LP”
“I... don’t understand a single word.”
“Ah, don’t matter”, Kerry grinned. “You will soon, promise.”
He placed his one hand over V’s and hold his fingers in place.
“Okay, first a strum. Just... we don’t have a pic here. Nothing to worry about, we’ll use your beautiful fingers. Your nail polish might ship tho.”
“I think I’ll live”, V hummed, grinning from ear to ear. He loved learning what his husband liked. He was so passionate about showing V how to play guitar that the younger merc happily obliged. Kerry carefully pressed down V’s left hand until the strings touched the wood of the neck and made V strum down with his right hand.
“Try to use your middle finger, has the most power in it for strumming without a pic.”
V laughed.
“Love using my middle finger when I’m with you.”
“Show me after this little practice session”, Kerry purred in V’s ear, making him visibly blush. “But for now, be a good boy and learn how to play the first four notes with me.”
V held his breath for a second, looking at his lover, before returning is attention to the guitar.
“What exactly are we learning?”
“’m sure you’ll figure out when you play the first notes.”
V strummed a bit, letting his hands get used to the sensation of touching the metal strings. He felt his fingertips burning a bit.
“Say, Kerry. Does it always hurt so much?”
“The first times? Yeah, until you get calluses on your fingertips. I even had fingers bleeding from time to time. Can’t get the blood out of your strings tho, was a real shame to replace them.”
V chuckled. He was also impressed, he always thought Kerry wasn’t good with handling pain, but his fingers genuinely hurt from playing just half an hour and Kerry wasn’t even phased by it anymore, playing several hours a day when he was in the mood.
“Okay, cute baby boy”, Kerry smiled. “You got the right chord pressed down and you got the strumming. Time for some actual playing. So... I’ll show you, okay? You just”, he placed his right hand around V, touching the strings right above the humbuckers. “First these two strings in unison. And then you pluck the three strings you’re currently holding down with your left hand from top to bottom. Like this.”
He plucked the strings with ease, creating a beautiful melody.
“First pluck the A and G string at the same time using your thumb and middle finger. And after that you use your thumb on A, pointer on D and middle on G. Try it!”
V smirked, still not having a clue what he was playing as Kerry purposely didn’t play the right rhythm. So he tried and they sat together for another hour until they both were satisfied with how far V had come. His hand hurt but he didn’t want to stop, seeing how proud his husband was.
“And now, V. Faster. Just a tiny bit. Leave a little break between the first two strings plucked and then the second three.”
He watched V intensively as he tried his best to do what Kerry told him. It took him a few tries until he suddenly stopped and stared at Kerry. It had dawned on him.
“Is this... did I just play the song from the Yacht?”
Kerry beamed and nodded.
“You did it babe. And it sounded gorgeous!”
He took his face between his hands, kissing him deeply, closing his eyes. He was the proudest husband on earth. And V couldn’t hide a smirk as he felt his lips on his own.
Only them knowing how deep they we’re in it really.