InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "That's how it goes. Maybe."

Alice Haruka Smith (thirteenpocky) wrote in halcyon_halls,
@ 2008-11-09 20:20:00

Entry tags:

alice, vallis

Week Twenty-one: Sunday
Who: Alice and Vallis
When: Dusk
Where: Music room
What: Alice gets to meet her new friend's maker?

Ever since her last night out with Lily and her encounter with Vivian, Alice had been nose deep in the books again. While the work load wasn’t as much as last week’s, she had the added stress of her parents wanting to visit her weighing on her shoulders. How exactly was she going to explain to them that it was impossible for them to visit her at the school? Things would be so much easier if they knew the truth and she knew she’d have to tell them sooner or later. She couldn’t keep putting off like she had been doing.

Just like in the past, she was letting that stress get to her and it showed since she was having a hard time controlling her powers again. Alice did her best to keep her focus when in class and had made a huge improvement with her control since her arrival at Halcyon. While she was in the privacy of her room though, it was another story. Instead of trying to control her abilities and deal with those horrendous headaches that followed, Alice would let the stupid thing go off whenever it decided to. Her room was starting to look like a mess too.

Sighing softly, Alice pushed her books aside and rose from her seat. She needed to take a break from studying and from the mess of her room. After pulling on something appropriate, she made her way to the music room. Hopefully it’d be empty unlike the past few times she tried to stop in there. The music that she heard flowing from the room those times was absolutely beautiful and not wanting to interrupt, she sat outside, enjoying it.

As she slowly walked towards the room, a slight smile crossed her face. No music came from the room today and she was glad that she’d have the room to herself. She always enjoyed playing the piano and it usually helped her cope with whatever was bugging her. She carefully took a seat on the bench and pushed the cover that protected the keys below. Alice preferred the feel of the wooden keys compared to the plastic ones like on her keyboard and she let her fingers gently press a few chords before pushing away the hair that hung around her face. She then took a deep breath and as she exhaled she started to play the beginnings of Moonlight Sonata.

(Post a new comment)

gentile_fiend
2008-11-10 11:27 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't that the room was empty, simply that the current occupant was still, rather than tickling away at the black, and ivory keys as he so often did. Vallis was seated in a window seal, hidden behind the door. Perhaps not hidden, but not easily seen, unless one were to cast their eyes around the room before settling in. His head lifted, watching the young woman curiously, as she placed herself at the piano. Her scent was familiar. She had been around him before, without being near him. The audience that wasn't aware that the performer knew he was playing to them? So it would seem.

Vallis had been less than visible at the school lately himself. It was safe to say that the old vampire was pouting. Lily was far too occupied with school to pay him any attention, and Henry, he was leaving that evening with that brat of his. No, his relationship with either childe had not improved, but, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy feeling their presence to an extent. On top of everything else, Veru had not been swayed, and was still an ever present threat. Something must be done about her, he thought to himself. The question was, what? She was far too smart to fall for any trick of his. How he hated a shrewd, bold woman.

He sat in silence for a long moment, merely watching her from a distance. It wasn't until the song progressed, that he moved away from the window. His steps moving silently across the old stone floor. With hands clasped behind his back, he stood a bare few inches from the back of her. A small smile touched his lips, before he slowly bent down, "Might I make a suggestion?" He spoke, far too close than what would be considered polite. "Your hands, they are far too heavy upon the keys. Your mind, it is thinking too much of the notes. This song, you've played it a dozen times before. Think of it only as complete, not as a single step at a time... then play." He straightened once more, moving around until he stood at the side of the piano.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

thirteenpocky
2008-11-14 01:25 am UTC (link)

The stress that was picking at Alice only minutes before was quickly washing away as she progressed through the song at a slower pace than what was originally written for it. She carefully went over each note in her head as her fingers moved easily along the wooden keys. Like most of the music she played, Alice didn’t need to refer to sheet music. Many years of being instructed to play the same song over and over had ingrained all the notes to memory. She even grew an appreciation for what she once called “horrible classical music” as a child.

The music slowed even more as she shook her head back to shakes away the few strands of hair that fell back into her face. It was at that length where one couldn’t really do anything with it but let it do what it wanted. Taking a deep breath in and exhaling slowly, Alice continued the song at a slow tempo, enjoying each verse of the song as she did so. It was easy for her to ignore whatever thoughts that would normally be bugging her as she let herself get lost in the music.

Hearing an unexpected and unfamiliar voice from behind her, quickly pulled Alice from her trance and the music came to a jerking halt. The cover for the keys than instantly fell back over them with a loud slam as she brought her hands down to tops of her legs. “I’m, sorry. I didn’t realize there was someone else in the room,” she spoke softly, her voice only slightly above a whisper. Her eyes were focused on the ground below and her fingers twisted into each other as she listened to the man that spoke before her.

She let her gaze move up so that their eyes locked for a second, but they quickly found their way back to the ground when she realized who the man was. He was the one she remembered seeing occupying the music room the last few times she tried to stop in. Other than that, she hadn’t seen him at all during school hours and from the way he talked and carried himself, she guessed that he was probably an instructor. “Am I interrupting you from playing?” She asked a little shyly.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

gentile_fiend
2008-11-15 11:42 pm UTC (link)

"You're a curious child." So many of the young women who attended Halcyon seemed to strut, just as much as the men did. They liked to think themselves on equal standing, bet, if he had to wager, in the right situation, they would crumble easily. This girl, however, she didn't put on heirs of false bravery. It appeared she was rather timid, and submissive. Interesting. Strange how such a little gesture could tell you so much about a persons nature. Sometimes a first impression was all that you really needed. "An apology is not needed. How were you to know, mon cher?" Vallis smiled pleasantly, placing himself on the bench next to her.

Giving his head a light shake, he pushed back the key cover once more, "No, if I had wished to play this night, I would have been doing so upon your arrival. Your presence has never stopped me before." Folding his hands together, he rested them in his lap. "Forgive my lack of manners... I am Vallis Besson. Indeed, an instructor, though, you are not in my class, and have very little need for it." Why should humans learn about their kind, and how everything in their existence happened to progress. "You're Alice, no? Alice, I would like you to play. Pay my presence little attention."

The girl was friendly with his childe. She was fresh in the girls memories, which may be why his attention still remained on her. If Lily intended to be so distant, he could make her uncomfortable, giving his own attention to another for one night. One, that he knew would be an easy target... if only the school weren't breathing down his back. How their rules annoyed him. These children were coddled far too much in his opinion. If they were going to live in the world of supernaturals, they should be exposed to the darker side which they would eventually have to face. "Play." He said. It was not a request, but rather an instruction.

(Reply to this) (Parent)