...alive with the sound of music [Pomidora]

[Anonymous]

<sorry for the length; just ignore it>

She sat within the libraries pouring over books.  She wasn't sure if she was allowed to be in there or not, but no one had used the libraries in a long time, so she figured, why not?  She could not just let them rot away with un-weathered bindings.  It's what gave a book character, and that was what she was trying to do with her own songs: give them character.  She had never been on an adventure of her own, so all she could do was re-sing the songs of other bards long past, or sing of adventures that everyone knew about.  Not that that wasn't interesting, but she had always wanted to create something new that the audience could relate to; most couldn't relate to the old stories any more.  They were just stories now, purely entertainment or things that people sighed at as they reminisced about better times.  At the moment she was looking through a story that she found quite interesting.

It was about a girl who was not as pretty as her other sisters.  Her father grew weary of having her about, and so sold her to a prince he knew nothing of; in fact, no one knew anything of this prince, for he never came out of his castle.  No one did.  But he sent her there anyway in hopes of getting financial benefits.  That's how it always is, she thought wearily to herself, rolling her crimson eyes.  She continued to read.  The prince turned out to be a terrible monster—Oh!—who kept her there because he loved her.  He had been enchanted, or rather cursed, into such a terrifying form, and had to fall in love in order to break the spell.  And of course, there was a time limit.  Of course.  Blahblahblah and in the end, the two fell in love, broke the spell, and lived happily ever after.  A nice story, but redundant.  Most stories were.

"And that's why I need to find my own!" she groaned to herself, allowing her head to fall on her hand, her elbow propped up on the library floor she was lying on.  She sighed, slamming the book shut as if she were about to throw a tantrum.  She brought herself up and gloomily walked to the large window, dragging her feet on the marble floors.  She suddenly straightened.  "Shit!"  The sun was now a half circle, swiftly disappearing behind the horizon.  She rushed back to her messy pile and began to hastily close the covers and gather them up into her arms.  They kept falling back onto the ground.  Growling in frustration, the albino girl threw the other books on the ground, as if they burned her skin.  

She took an exaggerated deep breath and then released it.  "Don't be hasty, Lalage Floyera.  It's alright.  If you do this right, you won't be late."  She took a couple more deep breaths, then began to hum a tune to herself.  The tune was a familiar one, from a song that told a story about a king who, having been hiding himself until the correct time, assumed the throne and saved his kingdom and the others from a terrible darkness.  A common story, perhaps.  Her voice was a fluttering, airy soprano, and the room was suddenly filled with a whimsical and peaceful air.  She quietly began to pick up a couple books at a time, putting them back where she had got them.  And soon enough, the room was clean once more.  She looked around and smiled, dusting off her hands with a satisfied expression upon her face.

The girl was in high spirits when she left the library, lute strapped over her shoulder and her wooden flute in her right hand.  She skipped down the avenues of the elite district until she found a carriage.  "Ho, you there!" she called, waving her left hand obnoxiously to the carriage driver.  She was well known in these parts, for everyone had heard of her family's death.  She was now the last in her line, and could not even carry her family name.  She had been the subject of the gossips for a long time.  They had finally died down after a couple years.  This had all happened when she was six.  And although still young, she had been able to establish herself as a musician.  She wasn't paid well, but well enough to get along.

Sitting in the carriage, she watched as the large houses went by.  Today, she was going to see a new client.  She had heard of the family before, but she had never seen or met any of them, at least as far as she knew.  She was a bit nervous, for she wasn't sure how they would receive her.  It'll be alright, she told herself.  But was she going to be?  All she knew about tonight was that she was playing for a small dinner party, so she would have several people to impress.  The good thing about dinner parties, though, was that they weren't going to be paying too much attention to her.  She was only going to be the background.  She usually was, although every now and then, when she sang, she would have control of all eyes and ears.  But today she was only playing.

When she arrived, she was glad to know that she was still a bit early, at least by a candlemark.  She sighed inside, relieved.  She was led into the dining hall by one of the servants, where she immediately began to play.  The guests and the host as well needed to hear music before they entered.  It was only polite and made the environment seem better.  She at first began to strum about on her lute some gentle tunes, weaving the room with magic.  She was only making the atmosphere of the room calm, warm, and welcoming for the guests.

She sat there switching form lute to flute, playing various tunes as the guests arrived and the party commenced.  For the first time in her life, Lalage was bored.  Some party she thought as she tried to look pleased to be of service to them.  Her eyes wandered about the room as she played, looking at the intricate designs and the various doors that lined the room.  She wondered to where each of them led.

[Anonymous]

[Byah, sorry I took so long.  Sorry if this is hard to reply to... >_<]

Chunks of dirt crumbled from the bottom of black boots as they collided with brick.  His small frame scaled the towering brick wall, the rope hanging loosely below him.  He had to get to his room before his mother could find out he had left.  Tonight's dinner party was something she had planned for months, she had even hired a bard to play for the company.  He paused, pouting at the wall before him as he thought of his mother.  

Having shifted his attention from the climbing to his mother, he had disregarded his hands for a brief moment and lost hold of the rope, falling into a pile of bushes below him.  A groan echoed from the bushes as he rose to a sitting position, scratching his bright orange hair.  He reached a hand to his head, twigs and leaves protruding from his hair.  He spit out a leaf that had somehow gotten into his mouth as he rose to a stand, testing his limbs to make sure everything was alright.  He thanked whatever deity might have saved his life as he grabbed hold of the rope once more.

This time, he made sure to pay attention to what he was doing, safely making his way through his bedroom window.  As soon as he reached his window, he heard his mother calling his name.  His bright orange eyes widened as he listened to her hideous shriek, quickly hiding behind the curtains of his window.  He listened to her groaning as he figured she realized he had gone out once again, holding his breath to make sure she wouldn't hear him.  She lingered in the room for a while longer, until she gave one final sighing grunt and left.  

All of his breath came out in a loud puff.  He peeked around the curtain, looking around his bedroom at all of the décor, making sure his mother had left the room.  He smiled to himself when he concluded that she definitely was not there anymore.  His smile faded as he caught a glimpse of the dress lying on his bed.  He groaned loudly as he walked up to the bed, trailing dirt all across the floor.  His current clothing was a mess, but he himself wasn't awfully soiled, so he decided to disregard cleaning himself up, and would join the party regardless of how he smelled.

He sighed, beginning to remove his soiled clothing, staring angrily at the dress.  He brushed off what dirt he had on his skin and pulled the dress on over his head, tying all the ribbons and fluffing up all of the frills.  He grabbed his hairbrush and slowly brushed his hair, smoothing out the wavy quality, his bright orange hair slowly becoming sleek and flat on his head.  He stood up, his soft blue dress rustling around him.

He made his way out of his room, heading toward the central area of the dinner party.  From the top of the stairs, he could hear the bard's playing.  It was a delightful sound; for once his mother had chosen something that even he could enjoy.  At least he had the music to look forward to at this dinner party.

Trying to be as graceful as possible, he descended the lovely staircase, intermingling with the guests who were already present, all unaware who he really was underneath his façade.  Drawn in by the sound of the music, he made his way to the bard, politely pushing through the clumps of people in his home.

When he finally reached the bard, he couldn't help but stare.  She looked rather childish, but he found her very cute, but also beautiful.  He was shocked by her hair and eye color, he had never seen such.  Realizing that he was staring, he quickly averted his gaze, and tried to calmly make his way to a corner of the room where he could still see her, but without attracting the attention of the other guests and god forbid, the bard herself.

Constantly guests came up to greet him, but he constantly turned away trying to get a glance at the bard.  Maybe she would be a fun one.  He hadn't had as much fun as usual in the city as of late.  He grinned to himself, or so he thought.  Many guests were looking questioningly at him and then he felt his ear nearly torn from the side of his head.  He just about screamed at the top of his lungs until he saw that it was his mother beside him, giving him and angry stare.  His eyes quickly shifted to the floor after his mother released him.  Her gaze warned him to behave, which included not ogling the bard.  He couldn't help himself, however, his eyes constantly continued to turn to the bard.

[Anonymous]

Lalage was playing a light jig on her flute, the notes bouncing about the room, allowing those present to become livelier in their conversations, helping them to enjoy the party more so than they might have.  That was another reason why she was most likely hired for things like this; people seemed to enjoy parties more when she was playing for them, even if the tunes were simple, old, and boring.  She knew that this would work to her advantage, and took advantage of it.  She was no fool, and she needed money.  She wasn't even sure what she needed the money for, there was just a great drive to collect as much as possible.  It wasn't like she had to pay taxes like others in the city; the palace had taken her in, pitying the loss of her family.  Whatever she needed it for, she needed a lot.

Her head bobbed and wiggled with the tune, she herself feeling her spirits lift with her own gift.  The effects were not as potent as it was to others, but she was still affected nonetheless.  As she played, she could see that another was coming to join in on the party.  It was a girl, orange hair and orange eyes.  The dress she wore was blue.  A good choice, she thought to herself.  The complement of blue to orange was effective, bringing out the natural colors of the oranges, enhancing the strange beauty of the girl.  Lalage watched as the girl approached, aware that she, too, was being watched by her.  What's with the staring? she wondered, annoyed.  She did not like being stared at.

Lalage made eye contact, continuing her tune.  Her red eyes looked the girl over.  She did not look to be much older than herself, perhaps even the same age.  She was a pretty little thing, but there was something about the orange-eyed creature that was strange.  Something just didn't seem right about her physical appearance.  But the albino reminded herself that everyone looked different; even she herself with her albinism was considered strange, ominous, and unnatural.  She did not like that about herself, so she constantly had to remind herself not to think such things about others.  The girl was pretty in her own way, anyway.

Lalage noticed that the other girl looked away, apparently aware that she had been staring.  Finally!  I don't think I could have stood for much more of that staring...  Inwardly, she rolled her eyes, but she made sure to keep her expression polite at the least.  She still needed to maintain her reputation so that she would be invited again or at least be recommended to others.  She used the notes she played next to sooth the girl's emotions.

The tune having ended, she set her flute into a pocket of her obnoxiously decorated clothes.  Bards of the court always were made to wear such things.  Her clothes were a deep crimson, playing off the colors of her eyes, with swirling designs of embroidered silver and gold.  The embroidery was like a painting on her attire, leaves and fiddleheads covering the garment.  It was a tunic and leggings ensemble.  On her feet were short, dark leather boots and she wore a cape of a rich wine hue.  She didn't feel particularly flattered in her clothes, but it was a uniform, and she had to wear it.  Bleh It was hot.

Lalage took her lute once more, strumming absently on it.  She hummed a well known song along with her playing.  She didn't sing because the party was about the women present, not about the music.  She liked to change things, though, and so instead of singing, she hummed, wanting to add the texture of her voice to the entertainment.  She was still aware that the girl was keeping an eye on her, and this made her uncomfortable for some reason.  She smiled at the girl, hoping that this would be satisfying enough.  When is this going to end?  She glanced at the window with her peripheral.  It was dark, but that didn't help much.  She sighed subtly, not to be rude.

[Anonymous]

[You can shoot me or something for taking so long]

Blaine continued to enjoy the lovely music while pouting inwardly, and trying to force himself from stealing glances of the bard.  His eyes shifted from the bard to the back of his mother's head, calmed when looking at the red eyes and silver hair of the bard and tossed into inward fits of rage when coming across his mother's brown hair, imagining what angry stare she might shoot his way if he were to do anything even remotely ridiculous.  So flirting with the bard is out of the question... he thought to himself.

It was a bad idea whether his mother said so or not, however.  He was not a lesbian, he was a straight male, but no one seemed to have figured it out yet, and he had to keep it that way, but as much as he tried to ignore the bard, some strange force always brought his eyes back to her.  He had not imagined that he would be staring down some young girl at this party, since most of them seemed to be his mother's age or above; not at all pleasing.  Forgetting of the bard for a moment, he wondered why his mother demanded that he join these parties, when all he had ever done at these parties was sit and listen to the terrible arrogant stories of the rich women.  He heard from behind him a conversation that was just that.

Bragging about whose house was bigger and more decorated, and whose dress was more beautiful, though being careful not to offend so much as to cause a problem.  Rolling his eyes, his attention returned to the bard, just finishing a tune and placing her flute in her pocket.  Again, something else stole his attention away from the playing girl.  A large woman approached Blaine, introducing herself as another noblewoman, hoping to be able to hear Blaine's lovely voice one day.  Blaine smiled softly in response, plopping down haphazardly into a chair once the woman turned around, placing his hand in his chin.

Again, Blaine's eyes made their way toward the bard.  She seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, he thought.  Who wouldn't be? he thought to himself.  All of these obnoxious women and a strange girl staring at her.  I'd have left by now.  He smiled to himself, thinking what a strong will this girl must have.  He appreciated that she was able to stay calm, appreciated that her music was not only enjoyable, but the skill with which she played it made the music so much more amazing.

As he watched her play, engrossed in the music and the way she moved as she played, he saw her smile at him. Immediately his cheeks turned red as he leapt out of his seat and turned around covering his face with his hands.  He slapped his cheeks lightly, hoping to get the strange thoughts out of his mind that were slowly creeping their way in.  He had to keep his composure in front of all the guests.

He was reacting strangely to the girl, it was unusual for him to be so flustered in the presence of a girl, but none of the girls he had ever met before had been so strangely attractive, tugging so strongly at his thoughts and emotions.  Most of them also had no knowledge of music, which he found rather disappointing.  He kept his face covered by his hands as he slowly made his way back through the large crowd of people, aiming to get to the nearest washroom to hide his self for a short time.  

Women would constantly interrupt him, however, asking him about this and that, wishing to see him here and there and hoping to hear him some day or another.  After a while, it seemed that his strange shock at receiving some sort of reaction from the girl had passed and he was now back to relative normality.  He still wished to run off to a washroom or his bedroom to hide, however.  Still not wishing to be among the old women at the party.  Maybe I can steal the bard and carry her away to my bedroom he thought to himself.  Of course, everyone would find that ridiculous and he would be scolded by his mother.

Perhaps something more subtle would have to be done.  He turned back to the bard, hoping she would look at him again after he had tried to run away from her line of sight.  I can't believe I'm acting so stupid right now. he thought as he turned, shrugging the idea from his thoughts as he looked back upon the bard.

[Anonymous]

She decided to try out a livelier tune, sending out energetic magic to the guests.  There wasn't necessarily a large difference made by this magic, but Lalage could tell that it was working; the volume level in the room increased noticeably, but still remaining at a sophisticated level.  This was, after all, a sophisticated group.  Her fingers moved wildly, plucking the strings, creating the interesting chords which were her trademark.  She preferred the minor keys, feeling that these made her songs a bit more epic; she did not care for the stereotypical majors that usually accompanied the tales of heroes and kings.  They were a little too... cheesy.  She continued playing as she watched the women politely.

They were all dressed extravagantly, but in a different sense than how she was dressed.  Lalage personally would have much preferred to wear dresses like those, for she did not like the random color combinations that usually came with a bard's attire.  Tonight's was a bit toned down, being colors that went well together... but not with here.  She didn't like to wear very dark colors, because they emphasized her pallor in such a way that made it look as if she were the living dead.  She liked pale colors like pinks, creams, and light blues because they blended nicely with her colors.  But such is life.  When she would go into town to play, she wore mostly tans and browns, wanting to give off the air that she was a traveling bard, well versed and practiced in the ways of storytelling.  Still, the tans and browns were not the colors of the choice, although they were definitely much better.

Every now and then, Lalage would catch the orangey girl looking at her, but it seemed she was trying not to.  It was never direct eye contact, but the albino still had the feeling that she was always being watched; maybe it was just paranoia.  Nonetheless, the girl had been looking at her before and it was a bit annoying.  Staring is so rude... People these days just have no manners.  She thought for a moment on this, never missing a note of her music.  If only—  She stopped herself from continuing this thought.  No, it was pointless to think such things.  It would only dampen her mood, which seemed impossible, since she was playing her music to keep the guests at high spirits.

Her magic was mediocre, but she was still proud of herself.  She could not manipulate the elements, shoot beams from her hands, or make potions, but her little contribution to society was enough for her.  She enjoyed helping the moods of others; there were times when she manipulated the emotions of others for her own needs, but still.  She herself was very connected to emotion, usually sensitive to those around her, even if she were not fully aware.  Thus, she was an emotional creature, but she had tried to control herself.  Sometimes she could be a drama queen and make a scene, but acting out was not appropriate behavior in this arena of kings and noblemen.  

When she smiled at the orangey girl, Lalage was shocked at the reaction.  Weirdo... she thought, almost laughing.  She ended her song and switched once again to her flute.  As she began to play a song which she knew would bring many present a sense of nostalgia.  With those silver notes, she reached out to the orangey girl, soothing her apparent embarrassment.  Lalage just could not have people feeling this way at a party while she was on the job.  If people were upsetted during her job shift, then she would not be paid well, or would not be invited back, she feared.  She always had to make sure that everything was in place.  She was a bit of a perfectionist sometimes.

Finally, she could tell that the party was beginning to end.  Yes!  How excited she was.  She could have sang aloud with glee.  But she restrained herself.  She played some more lively tunes on her flute so that as the women began to leave, they would feel content and glad that they had come.  She gazed about the room, counting how many women were left, when her bright, cherry eyes met those weird orangey ones.  Her notes almost faltered, but she caught herself just before.  What the hell?!  She could only give the orangey girl a politely inquisitive expression.