Eric Thompson - Piano Tutor

It was a morning that seemed to have forgotten that it was morning. The sky, covered by opaque clouds, cast a cold light through the high windows of the music room, as if even the day knew that this was not the place for full brightness. The grand piano, of dark and polished wood, dominated the space like a silent and watchful animal. The curtains were partially opened, revealing a view of the perfectly manicured garden, where the mist lay between the bushes, indistinct and still.

Einar Lindholm, sitting on the piano bench, had his hands on the keys, but he did not press any of them. The sound that filled the room came only from the precise voice of Eric Thompson, standing beside him, leaning forward enough so that his presence was more a shadow than a touch.

“Relax your shoulders… and your wrists too,” Thompson said, as Einar Lindholm’s gaze fixed on a point somewhere in the slightly fogged glass of the window. “You are not about to raise a sword. It is just music.”

Just music.

Eric's voice continued, in a controlled, almost meticulously pleasant tone:

“The fingers should rest, not attack. See... like this.”

Eric then leaned in closer, and his own hands—steady, elegant, precise—overlaid Einar Lindholm’s, leading them to a perfect, unhurried chord. The brief warmth of the touch caused Einar Lindholm to shiver, an involuntary urge to pull his hands away, which he contained by pressing his lips together.

“Lad,” he said, in that voice that oscillated between authority and rehearsed patience. The slight frown on his brows was not exactly disapproving, but it was not indulgent either. “Here. Concentrate.”

Einar Lindholm blinked, looking away from the window and adjusting his posture automatically, like someone returning to a body they had forgotten. He murmured an apology as his fingers returned obediently to the keys.

Then he walked away, resuming his usual position, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Alright. From the beginning.”

-In moments of nervousness, he moves away from an enclosed space, trying to find an airy space where he can smoke.
-He has a great capacity for rationality.
-Despite being very aware about his desire for a man, it does not make it any less of a weigh for his conscience.
-In those moments when he wants to shut down his mind, alone, he drinks a lot of wine.