turnabout serenade

Why is this guy actually entertaining the thought of something so pretentious?

“Sooo…you’re suggesting that people eat salad with their fingers. To each’s own, but I think it’s ridiculous.”

“The exact opposite, really. Salad should be eaten with a fork, but chips are to be eaten without a fork.”

The lights went down on the stage, and the next performer was up. The microphone was shoved in his face backstage, and he flashed a brilliant smile. The announcer spoke before him, and, well, he had no idea what was about to be said to him until it was actually said.

“Klavier Gavin! This will be your first public performance without the Gavinners - in a place where you are a virtual unknown - how do you feel about your chances?”

How...Did he feel? Was it a competition? He had given up music to focus on law, so how...?

“Are your nerves abated by your new singing partner? Ah- there he is now!”

A familiar shock of pink hair joined him, and he turned back to the announcer, as though all had come back to him. “Of course - Rin is a gentle soul that can put the hearts of all at ease with his piano playing. Together, I am certain we will have very little issue.” Rin, yes, that was his name. He flashed a smile toward his...Partner? Right. They were playing music together, how did he forget?

At his initial question, Kaede perked back up as if upon reflex. He had a point, of course, it was not every day that she got to meet other musicians. At least, not within her recent memory. Other musicians, adults like this man, usually had little time for a teenaged girl like herself (especially if she was better than them).

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Oh, I just didn’t want to bother you with how much of a chatterbox I can be!”

A half-truth, a half-lie. It was easy enough to blurt out. Still, she listened to him, all too eager to hear what another musician had to say.

… Oh.

Kaede’s sad, soft smile twitched ever so slightly.

“Did you work with a group before? I’m sorry… I was a solo pianist, so I’m not sure if I can relate… but, it does hurt not to play anymore. It hurts not being able to share that with an audience.”

A pause, a worried glance down, then up.

“Does that make sense?”

“You’re not a chatterbox at all, fraulein. Just pleasant company.” She was clearly talented, excited, and had a good ear. If anything, he found it refreshing to talk to other musicians. People who understood what it was like. He found it easy to fall back into his old habits, even if he didn’t intend to do more than he had. Still, it was a floodgate, and everything came pouring back in, good and bad.

And she had hit the nail on the head for two of the things that bothered him, and he met her sad smile with his own.

“I did. It’s been hard to play since we split up.” It was more than splitting up, but there was no way he was going to go into detail about that. “But my first love is the law, so I’ve simply tossed myself into that.”

Worn her own lips was a smirk to match; arms folded across her frame was a typical pose for the girl, but with less to present herself as someone not to be trifled with and more habit as she listened with intrigue to the soft notes of his melody. “You’ve got nothing of the sort to worry about, but I do say you’re daring for wanting to engage with a devil. You’ve got that much certainty your halo will stay in place?” Such a remark would have her dying on the inside to hear, let alone utter.; the spell cast upon them served in equal parts a thrill and a curse.

“What inspires you to play here, of all places? The beat will drown out your pretty little tune to most ears. I would have expect someone of your talent to be at the theatre or performing somewhere that would allow others to appreciate you”.

A bright grin crossed his features as his eyebrows raised. She was definitely part devilish with a remark like that, but it only made his own brightness show ever brighter. Plucking out a few notes, there was certainly something unnatural about them.

“Fraulein I’ve engaged with devils for most of my life.” A lyrical chuckle followed, and were he not in a good mood perhaps a darker thought may have crossed his mind. Such was the din of the party they were in. “I came here with one, actually. But don’t worry, my halo will stay firmly put in place.”

“And Herr Forehead had said nobody was going to trick-or-treat. Good thing I came prepared.” Full-sized candy bars were definitely handed out. Who would he be if he wasn’t over the top? Two per each, of course, and plenty leftover.

Somehow the melodious harp could still be heard over the music of the party, but it was not an intrusive noise. Instead it complimented even what should be the most discordant of sounds, less music and more...Accompaniment would not be the right term either.

It was pleasing to the ears of many around him, and the self-proclaimed angel of music could not help but pass the lightest of touches over the strings of the harp as he continued to socialize at the party. Humming in tune, everything about him seemed lighter than usual, including himself. He practically floated, wings extended but not flapping simply, there.

Blue eyes regarded the devil-adorned girl and a bright grin flashed around his face. “Ah, another demon, ja?”

Kaede went quiet– just as easily as she had been captivated by the guitar, its owner’s words now did the same. She did understand what he was saying; in fact, she understood perfectly. Even now, she still yearned to play the piano again, but…

The blonde held both of her hands to her chest. Her smile faltered, just for a moment, and she cast her gaze down to the ground.

“I understand what you’re saying, I really do…”

“Playing music, it’s the best thing in the world. It makes you feel amazing, especially when you can share it with others! I…”

Kaede paused, realizing she was nearly about to ramble. She forced out a laugh, trying to brush aside how emotional she almost became.

“I-I guess you’re right, music never leaves you, haha…”

It seemed the girl was on the precipice of some sort of personal rant, speech, or revelation. Being a prosecutor allowed you to read people like that pretty well, when a witness had more to say but decided to withhold it for some reason or another. Tilting his head to the side, he wondered if he should push her.

“It’s good, right? Meeting someone who understands.” He stands, brushing himself off thanking the person who let him use his guitar for the brief performance. Walking to the edge of the crowd, he offered for the girl to come with, giving a friendly wave to everyone else.

“I am fairly certain you had something else you wanted to say, but I’ll add on if you don’t feel like it,” He flashed a practiced smile, “It makes you feel amazing, when you can share it with other and when you can play it with others. Every step of the process. But,” Hands in his pockets, his smile fades a bit.

What’s better than a rockstar? Being an angel of music. More like, convincing your fellow attorney to be a demon because of an in-game running joke and then going as an angel to be his counterpart. Outfitted with full on wings and a lyre, he’s totally playing into a modern romantic stereotype of an angel, especially after having eaten his candy.

Activities he’ll be attending:

Ofiuco’s Monster Mash (a whole lot of this, parties and all)

You’re Theatre Kidding Me (no harnesses, time to fly)

‘Why did I even agree to this?’ A question that has been circulating the defense attorney’s mind this whole time! It wasn’t as if he was forced, but there was no way he could come up with an excuse to pass this up. If he had his actual job then that would be the perfect one. Curse this place.

Maybe it was better to distract himself on his phone and find a way out of this little mess. Seriously the one time he would have like Mr. Wright to call him over to do some of his work would be perfect. The Prosecutor’s words barely reached him until his own forehead was poke to look up at him. The question finally registering before giving an answer. “What makes you assume I don’t relax? I have plenty of time to relax you know. I don’t have to tell you my schedule.” Which must mean that he doesn’t even remember when was the last time he was able to take a break before coming into this place.

Looking at the options… well- it’s already obvious where the two would be headed, and he sighs out loud, not believing he’s actually going through with this. “Yeah that seems like our best bet. Do you really think their are dinosaurs like they actually said their are? It’s not like we are staring in some terrible dinosaur movie or something.” Ha… he would rather not have that be the case. 

“I used to know your court schedule, and it was pretty packed.” He tried to keep any and all snark out of his voice regarding that bit of information. Was he still quite hurt to come back to the office one day from court and be told that had happened? Absolutely. But that wasn’t really Klavier business, he supposed.

It didn’t quite stop it from being a rhythmic pang in his heart whenever he saw the defense attorney which, considering they lived together here was quite often now. It hung between them, but he doubted Apollo even noticed. Such was his cruel fate.

“Consider the evidence so far,” time to move back into familiar bartering territory. A good back and forth as his fingers hovered over the button. “We’ve been pulled from two different places, with none of our colleagues in the area at the time being pulled with us onto a floating platform and then assigned housing. Which, I suppose we could place in a modicum of reality, ja, however,”

“Based on the local giant fairy tree full of a fairies and a dragon,”

He felt the tips of his ears turning red when the other man laughed. He was sure he wasn’t being laughed at, but he felt embarrassed all the same. Taking a closer look at the shop he noticed items he actually was familiar with from his earlier conversation with Waka: wind instruments. If he had just looked a little closer in the first place, it would have been obvious that ‘guitars’ were a sort of musical instrument. He groaned.

“You’ll have to forgive me. Musical instruments are so incredibly rare in my world, and non-existent in my culture. The fact that people are able to create music is still a new concept to me. Most of our music is made by animals, naturally occurring objects, or devices made long ago.”

He nodded, agreeing with the other. “Of course. Even objects in the same class need to be looked after properly as individual items. No two things are ever the same after all and each requires specialized care and attention. I’ve fixed more than enough things to know that by now. I imagine guitars are very much the same.” He hoped he wasn’t rambling. Wood wasn’t a material he was very experienced with, but he hoped one day he’d have the opportunity to fix a musical instrument and learn more about how they produced their melodies.

Still, there were things the older man said that didn’t make a lot of sense to him. “How can music and law be used as a weapon? I understand law in a way, because those who break it are punished accordingly, but any music I’ve heard has only been soothing to me… Unless it was my friend Riki singing.”

Shulk’s eyes brightened at the offer to be taught something new. “I would love to learn more about guitars! …But I have to warn you, I don’t have any experience so I probably won’t be any good. Still, please lead the way!”

“All of forgiven, ja?” He says this easily and with a dismissive wave of his hands. While most of the people he had personally run into had been more than familiar with much and more of what was in his own world - that, or they were just as eccentric as some of the witnesses he had met in the courtroom - he should have expected to run into someone with someone so profoundly different.

He does listen though, and considers what the other is saying. “That sounds beautiful, even if it is different. And it’s still music - someone had to pick up one of those ‘naturally occurring objects’ and use it, right?”

“It’s still the same feeling, even if the tool’s different. And it’s as you said - all tools need management. As for weaponry-” He flips some of his hair back as he considers the best way to answer. “Multiple ways. The law, as you said, seeks the truth and determines the punishment suitable for the crime. As for music, it can be another kind of weapon. For a long time I sang songs about the law, but it also gave me a platform aside from my career as a prosecutor. It can be used defensively, to sing from your soul or to right a wrong. It can be used to spread a message...” Klavier chuckles. “Maybe it doesn’t make much sense, since musician is likely not a common career in your world.” He goes to open the door to the store, gesturing for the other to go ahead.