Piano Solo

[timidlyblooming]

[If you're in Turnbloom Market, you might hear music drifting in from the music store, where Lillie has politely requested to play the piano. It's not the first time she's been here to look and play, but fortunately, she's always careful and considerate and there's no rule against it, so she's permitted to play.

Expertly, she begins to play a soft and scintillating, yet solemn tune.]

Comments

[ can Bashou come off as quietly appreciative instead of intimidating..? we'll see... ]

[bashou]

On his way through the market, Bashou is drawn by the faint sound of piano music. He plays, too. Not as much as he used to, but the sound makes him realise that he hasn't even seen a piano since arriving in Ultern. It suddenly seems important.

Bashou doesn't spend much time around the market, so the music store had escaped his attention until now. As he gets closer, he sees a familiar figure through the window. The girl from the library...? Now he wonders if he genuinely heard music, and not just a kid messing around, but anyway...it's a piano, in a public place. He has to go and take a closer look.

Once he walks in, it becomes clear that Lillie really is playing the music that drew him here. Bashou's initial irritation at the piano not being free quickly fades away, because she can play. He approaches slowly and stands beside the piano, but at a distance. He's within Lillie's sight, but not close enough to be imposing, he hopes. If she looks at him, he'll say nothing yet, but nod at her to finish playing.

[he certainly can, but Lillie was in her own world...]

[timidlyblooming]

Lillie is fully focused on the piece and does not notice Bashou's approach, her head tilted down, bending slightly over the keys, her blonde hair cascading as she swayed slightly to the sound. If by chance her gaze turned in his direction, she might have looked past him, so focused on her performance.

She finishes the piece and only then, does she notice the man, as she turns with green eyes blinking as though rewakening to the world around her.

"Oh...!"

She recognizes him in that instant!

"It has been a while..." she greets him, slightly embarrassed not to have recognized him earlier. It seems her playing has drawn a small, appreciative audience, but Bashou is the one she recognizes now.

[bashou]

The corner of Bashou's mouth lifts in a half-smile. He doesn't often watch other people playing, but he knows how it feels to lose yourself in what you're playing, whether you're lost in emotion and meaning, or just the mechanics and technicality. Either way, the world disappears for a while.

Lillie's polite greeting seems to go ignored as Bashou skips straight to what he wanted to say.

"You're quite good. You must have been playing for a while, yes? Lessons? Self-taught?"

[timidlyblooming]

"Thank you very much. Oh, I've had lessons, yes, although they were quite a while ago, as I'd been busy with... a journey," Lillie says, pausing for a moment, realizing she shouldn't give the details of her family situation to someone she only knew passingly.

It would be rude to both! Besides that, the topic was her playing.

"I try to play whenever I can, even then."

Having a piano on your family's private ship certainly helps!

"Are you interested in the piano as well, Bashou-san? Or are you here to look at another instrument?"
Lillie stepped away from the piano, wondering if Bashou came to make a purchase.

[bashou]

Bashou nodded, simply assuming that the 'journey' she was referring to might be similar to the one that many young trainers took. He had no reason to think anything else.

"Well, I'm glad that you're still playing. It can be difficult when circumstances change, or if you have to stop lessons. Then you get rusty..."

That could have been a Steel-type pun, but he didn't intend it to be. He stared silently at the now-vacant seat, his mind suddenly racing in response to Lillie's question about why he was here. He hadn't considered that he might be able to have a piano, once he got settled in Ultern. But he couldn't afford this one right now, and he wasn't sure where it would go. Though it seemed silly and sentimental, he also didn't like the thought of taking it away from Lillie, if she had no other place to practice, and if she liked this one...

After a lengthy pause, he finally answered. "Oh. Yes, I play the piano, too. Or I used to."

[... that's so oddly sweet]

[timidlyblooming]

She watched him go silent and worried briefly, but didn't know what to make of his silence. Did it bring back bad memories? Had he gotten too rusty? Had he had to sell his piano, was that what he meant by circumstances, some change in fortune? Perhaps she was embarrassing him, with half a crowd still lingering, hopeful for another performance.

She turned sorry eyes up to meet Bashou's gaze.

"I see... I'm sorry, but I'm sure y... that someone who's simply fallen out of practice can pick it up again, here... perhaps... the shopkeepers are kind and I'm sure they'd allow it, if they're very careful."

Perhaps she should change the subject? Was her attempt at redirecting the conversation away from him too transparent? She didn't know what to do and nervously clutched at her own hands, while pretending to tidy her skirt and fold one hand over the other.

[ he doesn't want to be perceived but he will play if Lillie doesn't want to or if she asks him to ]

[bashou]

Lillie's nervous fidgeting caught Bashou's eye, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to break the tension.

"I was surprised to see a piano in Ultern. But I don't know why that would be a surprise." He returned to his previous train of thought, but this time placed a hand to his chin, as though that might make it more obvious. "I was also thinking that it might be nice to have one, but...they're expensive, they take up space, moving and tuning them is also expensive, and difficult..."

He was aware, too, that some people were hovering around. They didn't seem to be looking to buy anything, so they must have been here to listen. But Bashou had never really enjoyed performing. He wanted to play, but the thought of attracting people's attention made him wince. He stepped back and nodded at the seat again.

"You should play some more, I think. The piece you were playing earlier...I didn't recognise it. Did you compose it?"

[aaand Lillie’s done!]

[timidlyblooming]

“That’s true… without my mother and father here, what I can buy is limited… reading to children is not like running a research facility or a wildlife reserve,” Lillie laughed lightly, starting to relax.

“Oh, no, I only play, I’ve never composed any music… but it means a lot to me, this piece. It’s called Mother and Daughter. It’s always… made me feel less lonely. I’ve had my fill for today, I think.”

[this is too easy for Bashou buuut it's so angsty...bringing down the mood in the music shop...]

[bashou]

"Oh, that's what your parents did...?" Bashou asked absentmindedly, his hand reaching out to trail silently over the piano's highest keys, as though it had a will of its own. "Sounds interesting..."

It did genuinely sound intriguing - if only because Rocket might have been interested in a place like that. But Rocket was no longer at the forefront of Bashou's mind, and the thought flitted away quickly.

"I've never composed either. Wouldn't know where to start. I doubt I can even remember anything."

Even though he'd told himself he wouldn't, Bashou sat down at the piano. He reached into his pocket and took out some hand sanitising gel, which he tried to be discreet about applying; it was nothing personal, just a habit of his. His hands seemed to roam the keys, as if waiting for his muscle memory to kick in, then a sad prelude began to flow.

[couldn't we have just done Chopsticks...]

[timidlyblooming]

A hush fell over the shop as the crowd, already gathered, listened to Bashou play.

A few more came to listen and Lillie did not speak again, watching him play, silently and intently, as if studying his technique (he certainly hasn't forgotten, or it's all muscle memory now!), but she's soon more focused on the music itself and, without noticing, tears filled her eyes until they clung to her lashes.