Closed in melody.

[Yra]

89th of Summer, 514 AV

In the wild landscape of the Lapis Park, Yra found herself in one of those rare moods of utter serenity, charmed and placated in her general thoughtful bearing enough to pay attention to what the city had to offer her. For once, she did not feel oppressed by the close nature of the city's build. She even rejoiced at the change! And, given that she'd delved deep into the park's heart, she could find comfort that the dark buildings calling for her to attend their offers were no longer so frightening.

It was yet another sweltering day, therefore the Ethaefal found herself left to her own devices while the inhabitants of the city bode their time in their respective homes. She understood the need to keep cool, having witnessed a person drop to the heat once already, and felt a sense of elation that her graceful sun felt kind enough to not inflict the same malady on her chosen. It was one reminder to combat the callous words of an unsympathetic Svefra, one hint that the sun still loved the shards of glass lost to the sea. Faith was all that Yra had left.

The Ethaefal found herself before a hewn rock cracked open to display the reaching lengths of milky crystal. Her head cocked at it, curiosity piqued as she approached. In her hands, her bow and violin were held close, dear to her. Forgotten. When her curiosity had been sated, she straightened and turned her back to it, turning her gaze across the currently empty area within sight.

With no flourish, the sun's daughter delicately placed the violin upon her shoulder, tucking in and adjusting until she was comfortable before pressing her chin upon it. Her fingers danced along the length of the slender neck, plucking strings delicately, unable to tell whether they were tuned or not, but imitating what other buskers had been witnessed practicing. It was silent aside from the cadence of her twanging, mismatched notes weaving into a cacophonous arrangement.

[Meredith]

Why had he left the beach today? He didn’t have to work, he didn’t have any responsibilities, so what on earth had possessed him to return to the crowded streets once more? He couldn’t back away now, if he stoped even to turn around, it might set off a panic attack. As long as he kept walking, he could avoid it… probably. He had his clear blue eyes set on the park he knew was close by. Focus on getting there, don’t panic, you idiot. You’re fine. Meredith told himself, trying to steady his erratic breathing. He knew how irrational all of his fears were, but he couldn’t stop seeing slavers at every turn. There was something about to oppressive way the buildings felt insufferably close together. He was probably just creating far worse visuals in his head than the reality he was really seeing.

And it was so hot. So awfully hot. He longed to sail away forever, but he lacked the strength to even set foot on a boat without cracking under his memories. He hated wearing a shirt with long sleeves, but he hated people looking at his ugly scars much more. The fabric was thin and airy, but it wasn’t enough. His genosis mark was on his neck today. Oh Laviku, I wish I could rejoin the sea. Just let me drown

The sight of Lapis Park was so welcoming, and Meredith felt his tensed muscles relax somewhat. He stopped for a moment, finding a nice flat place to sit for a few short minutes while he got over his stupid anxiety. Unfortunately today it just wasn’t happening. He’d gotten himself too worked up and now he couldn’t move from this spot for fear of hyperventilation. He’d been refured to the wellness center when he had first entered the city. He remembered talking to Sashin in his sessions. The man was kind to him, but he hadn’t responded to the kindness in the same way. He’d closed himself off, barely speaking to the man. It had taken him a long, long time to open up. It was close to a year before he began to speak clearly, and in full sentences. The pain had been too fresh then. Losing Ana, remembering his old life. Trying to get used to living in a new city.

Now, three years later, he had a steady job, and he was able to ‘function’ like a normal person most of the time. Thus he’d been slacking in returning to Sashin’s care. It was expensive, and Meredith felt he had a firmer grasp on reality now. Says the guy sitting on a rock closing his eyes and trying to ‘control his breathing’ Meredith opened his eyes slowly. A few people that had been looking at him shook their heads and shuffled away as the Svefra straightened up again. He could hear something that was calming. It was the sound of an instrument… a violin. It was such a stark wake up call from the spreading panic that he found himself standing up and moving towards it, as if by instinct.

Meredith loved music. It had been so long since he’d sung even a note. Absently he made his way in the direction of the melody, and finally stopped in front of a young lady who was the source of the sound. He stood, a sort of mesmerized look on his face, which he quickly caught and got rid of. It seemed like she’d only just begun to play: he hadn’t missed a thing. Her skin seemed too glow like the sun. A pair of ornamental white horns crowned her gold-brown hair. Her eyes were big and the colour of molten caramel. She was breathtaking. Meredith hadn’t seen such a beautiful person in a long time. He stood near the back of the small crowd that had curiously formed, unable to push through them to the front like he wanted too. He was unable to do so many things these days, it was pitiful really.

[Yra]

If Yra could be glad for any one thing in this exile, it was that her form suited this passion. People flocked to what appealed to their eyes, and after Yra had met one of her own, she was now aware of what people thought when they saw her. She did not need to accent an aspect of her appearance, although at a later date she might involve paint and masks to further enhance the novelty of a musician Ethaefal. It was enough to be herself, currently.

Her eyes looked over the crowd, and a ghosting smile tilted upwards the corners of her lips. It was devious, if nothing else.

The strumming of the violin had finally come to an end, Yra properly pleased with herself. Finally, she laid the bow against the strings, aligned her fingers with the first note she wished to play, and bolstered herself with a quick murmur of Syna's name. The sun was there, watching Riverfall with great intensity.

The first note came out grating, but it transitioned smoothly into the next note when she tilted her bow slightly and corrected herself. She was not embarrassed. Yra did not suffer such things. When she stumbled over a fingering or fell flat in her playing, she took advantage of it to transition to another series of notes. She did not watch her audience, rather keeping her eyes on her fingers as they placed themselves against the strings. Her bow hand moved relentlessly, arm rising and falling in the swell of the melody. Eventually, the limb would ache, but Yra was too enthralled in her own music (which did not sound bad to her), and the fact she'd attracted a crowd to stand before the quartz, to feel fatigue grip her. She'd play this song, which was really just a random gathering of notes with no forseeable use in her dream to publicly be a renowned performer, and end it after several chimes had passed.

[Meredith]

After a while he began to notice her level of skill wasn’t professional. It was certainly passable, and she skipped past any mistakes as if she’d done them purposefully. He thought, since she was a busker, maybe he should throw her some money. He searched in his pockets but he came up with nothing but a few copper. He couldn’t throw that. Still, he wanted to watch the whole performance. A few people left after her first song ended, but Meredith couldn’t leave if he tried. He even moved a few steps closer around the outside of the small crowd, just so he could see her more clearly.

Her smile was almost devious as she readied her nimble figures to play a second ditty. The music began again, a second melody started. He could hear all the mistakes but he admired the way she didn’t react to them. The performer didn’t tire, and her playing was intense and beautiful. Meredith pushed closer still through the crowd, no longer thinking about anyone but the young woman with the violin. Finally, as her song reached its peak, Meredith was right near the front, watching was dumbfounded admiration.

Eventually she stopped playing, and those who were left watching clapped to show they’d enjoyed it and began to walk away. Meredith knew he should probably depart as well, because soon he’d be singled out. Meredith stumbled back a little from her makeshift stage and thought rapidly of something he could say so that he didn’t look like a creep. Come on, you look like a fool! “That was lovely” Meredith said eventually when he was sure she was done playing.

He smiled politely, but his eyes never failed to give away his ever-present nervousness. “Um, I’m Meredith” He introduced himself. He spoke in common because he wasn’t sure what language she spoke. His eyes drifted again to the crown of white horns on the top of her head. He’d not witnessed many Ethaefals in his time, so the sight of her was breathtaking. In comparison, he probably looked like a nervous idiot.

[Yra]

Yra was enthralled with the sound of the violin, the weight of it, and the sensation of the resonating music vibrating the wooden instrument against her fingers. She only grew more driven, more intent on her playing. If people booed her, or tossed coin at her, she did not pay them any attention. She embodied a single-minded determination that had her play onward.

When it had come to it's end, far sooner than she might like, she inclined her head at the applause. There might be a more accepted way to express gratitude for her audience, but she'd not observed one which suited her. Did she thank them for thanking her? No. She acknowledged them. Even though there was few coin left in their wake from the more generous observers, she did not consider her time ill spent. Yra had reasoned that her exile was necessary. The people suffered much on Mizahar, she could see it. The least that she could do was bring them some of Syna's joy where they might only feel the cold of misery.

Yra collected whatever tips were left her and placed aside her violin for a moment, flexing her fingers to work out a kink. She stilled for a moment when one of her observers greeted her, and faced him properly. Unable to help herself, the Ethaefal smiled at him. If she noticed his uncertainty, his nerves, she did not mention them, but she watched him intensely even so. It was an immediate reaction to one-on-one interaction. Yra learned by observation.

"Hello," she said by way of greeting. "It is nice to meet you, Meredith. I am Yra." She was very forthright with the information. In the short time she'd been alive, Yra had become more accustom to her given name. Still, though, it was a gross replacement for what she once was. "Thank you for your compliment. Would you like another?"

The others had been filing away swiftly, returning to their errands before the heat took them down. She did not think of them, focused rather on Meredith.

[Meredith]

Yra finished her performance without flourish or thank-you for her small crowd. Instead, she simply inclined her head, acknowledging her audiences affections. Most buskers would finish with a loud gesture and a bold thank-you and farewell! This was the accepted way, or at least, that was how he used to do it when he would perform in front of his blue-eyed brothers and sisters back around the bonfires. He’s also interact with them between songs, manipulating their emotions, hyping them up, bringing them to tears and then returning their hope and faith and good-will.

He could never do that now. Even if he could, he didn’t care enough about the masses to make an effort. It had always been his love for others, and his passion for their cheerfulness that had turned him to singing, now it was selfish. He couldn’t perform for others anymore, only himself.

Now that he had spoken, and now that the crowd had mostly dispersed, Meredith caught her gaze and was singled out. Well, to be fair, he’d singled himself out. He saw her smile, immediately labeling it as polite and meaningless, not unlike his own, really. For he certainly didn’t smile because he wanted to: He smiled because that was what friendly strangers did.

Her attention was now both fixated and intense. His mind never failed to overstate whatever innocent occurrence unfolded before his eyes. To him, her eyes revealed an intensity and scrutiny that he wasn’t overly comfortable with, though there weren't many things that made him comfortable to be fair. Music was one of them, scrutiny was not. Already he wondered what she thought of him. Already it mattered to him. Why? He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sure of much these days. Averting his eyes ever so slightly he nodded lightly “I’d love to hear another, Yra. But your crowd has dispersed” He told the performer, even though it was obvious “Don’t waste your melody on me alone.” He said, knowing he probably wasn’t worth the private performance.

Though, he would like to hear another. While he didn’t care to sing for anyone else anymore, didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy the music of others. Yra’s music wasn’t structured or polished rather it was energetic and erratic. “Regardless, if you want to, I wont stop you, I’d love to hear it.” He said, upon reflection “Did you compose them yourself?” He asked her. He wanted to talk about his singing, but he couldn’t bring himself to bring that up. He just wasn’t in the right mood, and he couldn’t sing while he was being stared at. And how she stared at him.

[Yra]

"Even one person can be a crowd," Yra responded, her tone suitably light and lilting. She was not adept at reading the queues of a person's body to determine their mood, however she thought that this man seemed a little uncertain of himself. Her scrutiny briefly intensified, as if she thought to read what bothered him in order to understand it, before she deemed the notion futile and returned to a more congenial bearing.

The Ethaefal's lips curled in amusement instead. As a woman of simple tastes, smiling brought a sort of pleasure with it. It must have simply been that others responded well when women smiled, and she was a woman of great beauty with the knowledge that she was something more than average.

"I compose these myself, yes. I am not yet adept at either playing or composing, however, but I enjoy doing both." She knew she could yet prattle on about music, composition, and the many whys she liked them. For his benefit (or maybe hers, as she grew bored easily), Yra resisted the desire to explain herself. He seemed fidgety. He would want to listen as much as she wished to tell him.

"Come and sit, and I will play something for us. Please?" The invitation was excessively innocent, partnered with an innocent smile and a quick nod to the nearest surface suitable for him to sit upon.

[Yra]

As with all endings that seemed to fall upon Yra, it came with the slow realisation that bespoke awkwardness. She was a young creature still, and so very uncertain about anxiety and the emotional turmoil of the people around her, as well as unwilling to allow their anxieties and turmoils to concern her. She stared at the boy still, citrine eyes wide and insistent, while her mouth set itself in the most serious line.

While the boy's apparent disinterest might have wounded a different artist, Yra was not so easily damaged. She was actually content to stare at him until his face coloured (human faces had the largest range of colour, she had to note), and he left her. However, that failed to diminish her spirit.

The ethaefal brandished her bow, lifting her violin to that comfortable nook at her shoulder, and slid her bow across the strings to produce the most horrendous screech no violin should emit. Her lips quirked in a smile and she did it again.

And the ethaefal played until her arms tired and the sun was low in the sky.

[Rosela]

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Congratulations! You've Been Awarded:

Yra :

XP:
Observation +4
Musical Instrument: Violin +3
Socialization +2

Lores:
Riverfall: Not so Bad
Don’t Let the Bad Notes Bother You
Ways to Acknowledge an Audience
Pleasure to be Had in a Screech

Meredith :

Meredith, if you ever decide to return to Mizahar, just let me know and I’ll add your grade here.

Notes :

As Meredith is gone, I didn’t award any lores related to him, but let me know if you’d like me to add them anyway.

A cute little thread here, with an interesting ending. A lot of people just choose to let the thread hang when people disappear, but your quirky ending gave it a, well, quirky feel. Great job

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, don't hesitate to PM me. When you're finished, please edit or delete your grade request from the grading queue.
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