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See, it wasn’t really an issue that Second couldn’t sing. He never felt the need to. It just wasn’t a desire that came naturally to him when he heard music, instead preferring to dance or simply tap his foot along to the beat. Green, on the other hand, was more inclined to break out into song. He was constantly humming while he worked, and multiple times he had tried to invite the others to have a karaoke night with him.
And yet, listening to Purple hum beside him, the both of them seated on repurposed stairs, Second wished he could.
The jungle was alive with music, and at the heart of it, below Purple’s treehouse, originated the source. The color gang played on their whittled bamboo instruments and reshaped copper, experimenting with a variety of notes. They had made flutes, clarinets, xylophones, even a guitar. Anything they could think of, really, they made. Green had taken the lead, as usual, setting the melody for the others before going off on his own.
Purple had turned down the offer to play along, saying he was happy just listening. He must have wanted to join in, though, as he started to hum. his wasn’t the first time he’s heard Purple’s voice, but it was the closest he had ever been.
Whenever the group had a sleep over, Purple was usually the last to fall asleep (and consequently the last to wake up). Sometimes Second would wake up in the middle of the night, searching for a late night snack, and still find Purple up, humming to himself outside the house.
Being this close, Second almost let himself get distracted by Purple, playing the wrong couple of notes, which caused the group to cringe, but he quickly caught himself to continue along with the others. Second turned his sight away from Purple, but he still listened closely.
When the group found a comfortable stop to the song, Second excused himself, setting aside the instrument. He was starting to feel hunger pains, and he knew better than to not listen to it. As he reached behind him, he heard Purple clapping for the others.
“That sounded amazing,” Purple said excitedly. Much like Green, Purple seemed to share an interest in music. Although, Second has yet to hear him play anything, possibly too shy still with them.
Second grabbed the picnic basket Blue had packed for the color gang and held it up, checking to see if the others wanted anything, but they all declined except for Red needing a quick drink. They then went back to fiddling with their instruments as they chatted. Second put down the basket and reached into it, passing off the asked for drink, and then pulled out his lunch.
Purple looked curiously at it as if he wanted one.
“Do you want to share half my sandwich?” Second offered. He’ll just need another meal later, is all.
Purple blinked, caught off guard, and shook his head. “It’s alright; I already ate. I was just wondering what you guys were having, is all. It looks good.”
“Blue’s cooking is always good,” Second affirmed, taking a bite.
Green began another song, and soon midway through came the humming again. It was gentle and sweet, and a bit stuttery due to how quiet he was. Second peeked up at Purple, spotting the soft smile that formed on his face, and promptly swallowed too large of a bite. His throat burned and he violently coughed.
The music halted. Purple reached out a hesitant hand.
“Orange?” the gang called out.
Second waved his hand at them dismissively. He stood up and walked away, pounding his fist against his chest and clearing his throat. He felt a presence appear behind him, and a few moments later a hand pressed against his shoulder.
“Are you alright?” asked Purple, appearing in Second’s peripheral.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Second replied, followed by a small cough. He glared at the traitorous sandwich still in his hand. He gave Purple a goofy grin. “Good thing you didn’t take my offer of sharing this. Wouldn’t want you to possibly have died.”
“I doubt I’d let a chicken sandwich of all things get the better of me. Maybe if it was beef, perhaps,” Purple replied, amused, and Second playfully rolled his eyes. “Besides, if I did die, I’d just respawn back here anyway. You, on the other hand?”
Second grimaced. He really didn’t feel like having to walk all the way back here just to end up with everyone taking a poke of fun at him. “I doubt the gang would let me live that down.”
Purple seemed to think about it for a moment. “I mean…” He shook his head. “Yeah, no. No, they wouldn’t.”
Second laughed. He took the last few bites of his sandwich, finishing it off. He wiped his hands free of any crumbs and struck a pose. In a silly tone, he said, “There! I’ve conquered the deadly sandwich. We shall return posthaste to our seats.”
Purple laughed at that. He really did have a nice voice, Second thought.
“Say,” Second started, unsure how to go about this. “Are you sure you don’t wanna play with us? Maybe the triangle? I’m joking, unless you want to, that is. But… maybe you’d like to sing?”
Purple stilled. “Sing?”
Second shifted awkwardly. “Green’s mentioned a few times you’re a great singer, and I, uh, heard you humming earlier.”
“You—you did?” Purple appeared flustered.
That distressed Second. “Do you want me to just forget about it entirely? I never heard you sing. Actually, what even is singing?”
Purple snorted. “Okay, Orange. No, it’s fine. I don’t mind really, I guess. It’s just…”
“Singing’s kind of personal to you?”
“In a way.” Purple rubbed his arm and averted his eyes. Second wanted to reach out and press his hand against Purple’s reassuringly. “Seriously, it’s nothing to do with you guys. You guys are great. I hope you know that. It’s just… before, well, did Green ever tell you what happened back then?”
Second thought for a moment what Purple was referring to. “When we all went into different portals? Kind of. He said something about a dimension where everyone sings to speak, and that was it pretty much.”
That was where Green reported unlocking his new ability which he tried to share with everyone, after all. Considering the dimensions they’ve visited in the past, hearing about how everyone— animals, monsters, and villagers—could fly as well was hardly a surprise.
“I see.” Purple seemed hesitant to continue.
“Don’t feel like you need to explain anything to me, Purple.”
“I don’t mind sharing—I want to share, actually. At least a little, that is.”
“Alright. I’m listening, then.”
“Okay… well, uhm.” Purple paused. “That dimension was kind of my safe space, in a way. Somewhere where I could get away from—from what was happening in my life. I’d be in there for hours, singing, sometimes until my voice turned raw, or I’d sit there and just have the music surround me. It’s a really nice dimension. If we could, I’d like to take you all to visit there, actually, someday. And maybe someday be able to sing in front of and with all of you?”
“Yeah! Do whatever makes you comfortable, alright? Take it your pace. We’re your friends, and we don’t wanna force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Second said. Purple nodded and hugged him, which Second returned without hesitation.
“Thanks,” Purple said, sinking deeper. He paused. “Wait a second. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be the one comforting you. After your, you know, near-death encounter with a sandwich.”
“Hey. You know what? Would you believe me if I said it’s because I was caught up listening to your singing?”
Purple gave him a bewildered look. “Are you saying I almost killed you?”
Second blanched. “No! I was trying to compliment you, but okay, yeah, that sounded pretty bad. What I meant is you have a really great voice,” he said earnestly, “and I wanna hear it, is all.”
“Oh. Thank you…”
Second rubbed his face. He was totally doing a great job, wasn’t he? “You make me kind of wish I could sing.”
“You’re a bad singer?”
Second shook his head. “No. I literally can’t sing.”
Purple was perplexed.
“Okay, look,” Second said, disengaging the hug, as much as he’d rather not, and took a step back. “Maybe it’d be better to show you.”
“Alright.”
“Would you be willing to sing me a note? If you don’t mind?”
Purple paused, but then he gave a sound of affirmation. He opened his mouth, letting out a single note, short and sweet, that danced in the air before fading away. It was in a comfortable range for most, easy for anyone to copy. Second concentrated, squeezing his eyes shut and balling his fists.
Purple, concerned, said, “Are you—?“
LA.
The sudden text caused Purple to jolt backwards, stumbling, and Second instinctually reached out and grabbed his arm effortlessly.
“Wh-what was that?” Purple asked. When he looked up, the text was gone, having disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
“Want me to show you again?” Second replied and he received enthusiastic nodding. He took a deep breath and attempted the note again, holding it longer.
LAAAA.
The orange text floated above their heads for a moment, with Purple staring wide-eyed. He looked dazed for a moment. Then he laughed. He curled over himself with his arms wrapping around his waist. Second has never heard Purple laugh so hard before. So hard, in fact, that when Purple glanced up at Second, there were tears welling up in his eyes.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” Purple said between gasps. He had to hold himself up against a tree, and as his laughter died down, Second “sang” another note, which threw Purple back into an uncontrollable fit all over again, eventually leaving him as a giggling mess.
Purple wiped his face and attempted to fix his composure, taking in deep breaths. “I really shouldn’t be laughing. I just—I wasn’t expecting that. Wow. You really can’t sing.”
“I cannot believe you’d laugh at my plight,” Second replied in mock offense.
“That’s so—how? How does that even work? Can the others do that?” Purple lit up, and he grabbed Second’s hands. “Could I do that?”
Second shrugged. “I dunno. You can certainly try. I’ve seen Green tell stories from music notes alone. Maybe the two abilities are linked somehow?”
“Yes! Yes, I can do that, too,” Purple replied. He tapped his chin. “That’s an interesting theory.”
“Hey! You guys coming back or should we continue without you?” Red called out, hands cusped around his mouth like a megaphone.
Second startled, jumping away from the other. He’d forgotten about the rest of the group being only a couple yards away, still waiting for their returnal. It looked like they were finishing up their lunches while waiting for them.
“Yeah, I’m comin’,” Second replied, and with a sigh he trudged over. He dropped down onto his seat and picked up the closest instrument near him: a bamboo flute. Purple returned to his seat beside him, and maybe Second was imagining it, but Purple seemed to be sitting closer to him. Their legs were awfully close to touching. “Sorry about that. Guess we got a little carried away.”
“You all good?” asked Blue, causing Second’s attention to snap away.
Second gave him a reassuring thumbs-up. “Yeah, the sandwich just went down wrong, I guess. It tasted amazing, by the way.”
“Thanks!”
“What were you two talking about?” Green asked with a raised brow. He had a guitar in hand and was lazily strumming a couple of chords.
“Nothing really,” Second replied, holding the flute up to his mouth.
Green gave a knowing look. “Uh-huh. Alrighty, then.”
“Seriously. I was just telling Purple how I can’t sing, that’s all.”
“Oh, that.” Green laughed a little and rested his chin on his guitar. He turned to Purple. “Yeah, no clue how that all works. Like, we were made for combat, and yet we can still sing. What makes Orange different?”
Yellow piped up, “Well, my theory is it had to do with Orange having a different head shape from us.”
“Do you think if you drank a potion of musicality you could sing?” mused Blue over his beverage. “Although, if that’s not the case, what other effects could it have on someone who’s already musically talented? Hey, Purple, do you have a brewing stand we could borrow?”
“Maybe we can experiment with that some other time,” Second cut in before Blue got carried away. Today was supposed to be peaceful. “I don’t feel like accidentally growing a second pair of arms to be able to play more instruments at the same time or something crazy like that right now.”
“You could probably just draw on an extra pair of arms,” Red pointed out.
“I think I like having just the one pair,” Second replied. He jabbed his flute in Green’s direction. “Hey, don’t we have a song to play?”
Purple cleared his throat. “Can I join this time?” he asked, looking up at the group. They all turned to him in surprise.
“Really?” Green was the first to reply. “Yeah, dude, go ahead. What instrument do you wanna play?”
Purple gave Second a smile. “I was thinking of the triangle, maybe.”
“Hey, I was joking about that!” Second exclaimed.