[Wildwood Music] Clumsy Fingers [Runas, Lucas]

[Seven Xu]

Summer 23, 511 AV

The plucking reverberation of strings against vaulted pine that resonated from Wildwood Music was not of the familiar and melodic hand of Sina, with her trio of marks from Rhaus and lithe hands that never missed or tripped over a single note. The score that played and echoed off of the workshop’s walls and into the halls of Stormhold’s large and imposing residential district told a story of clumsy fingers and missed notes – and eventually, frustration. The noise belonged to Seven, a boy with a name as peculiar as his appearance. Ashy skin and hair so light it matched that of the ivory that laced through particularly well-made instruments, but more unnerving were the rings of deep garnet that circled his pupils and the too-sharp canines that had, on more than one occasion, split open his fleshy pink bottom lip. Widows, they called them; he shared only a fraction of their heritage but it was enough to garner an odd glance or two from those that knew of the cave-dwelling creatures.

With a tuneless thud, the mandora found a spot between crossed thighs. Seven exhaled through pale lips, drawn flat in self-exasperation. When you play, you must play for Rhaus, Sina’s voice rang in his mind with the dying sound of string on stone wall. She was out today, of all days, where the Goddess that bore her namesake hung high in a cloudless sky and the temperature rose within the stuffy citadel and forced most of its denizens out into the thoroughfare to peddle away their bells and their mizas. Seven imagined the young woman beneath an old oak in some courtyard, playing and painting her flawless instruments – not for those that stopped to listen, but for Rhaus, the God of music and bards and everything that Sina was.

Seven’s head dropped again to the mandora in his lap. It was a small stringed instrument, similar to a baroque lute. It had a flat top and a well-rounded back and a thin, fretless neck strung with six single courses of gut strings pulled tight against a sharply angled pegbox. Bony white fingers lifted to Seven’s mouth as he breathed against them, warming stiff muscles before moving to each tuning peg, one by one, plucking each string the peg corresponded to in an attempt to urge a better sound from the mandora.

Perhaps the thing was out of tune.

[Runas]

Runas had not intended to take interest in the lovely location known as Wildwood Music. She had been on another errand, one she thought far more pressing than browsing the shelves for instruments of fine make and listening to the soft ramblings of a girl named after a beautiful Goddess. She was being swept along the tide of people common in Syliras, allowing the flow to guide her to new places that she hadn't explored on previous excursions into the city. As an Eypharian at this time, she garnered enough attention for the ebb and flow to ease around her.

Paint elegantly streaked her warm, gilded skin. Greens arched above her eyebrows and thin, red lines dissected her face, running from her lower eyelids to her chin. Her black hair hung loose in the faint Summer breeze and was braided with feathers found along roads during her travels. She wore her customary shift and high-strapped sandals dotted with pale moonstones and on her neck hung a pendant gifted, discarded, and recovered long ago. Crafted by men of Zintila and sold to a Symenestra man, the small glass bauble was in the likeness of the moon with a heart of darkness inside. It was, to Runas, her most precious belonging.

As the Ethaefal in Eypharian skin passed by the store, her ears caught the sound of notes hit poorly on strings tuned equally as bad. Runas hoped that wasn't Sina playing in there, or else she'd have to ask Rhaus exactly what he thought of her music.

Curiousity prodded Runas into the store, and she allowed herself to succumb to it. Entering, her dark green eyes adjusted to the lighting and found a rather small figure twanging the strings of an unfortunate instrument in what Runas would have expected to be played by a man intending to torture another. Hiding a smirk, she approached, casting an appraising eye upon the wares hawked here. She wished she'd brought her harp now. Maybe she could have paid Sina to decorate it for her to honour the deities she worshiped.

That was discarded as she came to crouch next to the slender figure, her green eyes settling on him and the instrument he played. He had no skill with this thing she supposed was an imitation of some guitar or lute. In fact, she had no skill in this particular instrument either, but as it was a string instrument alike to the harp, she felt she could offer him some assistance.

"It helps if you get a tuning fork." She said quite suddenly in a soft, warm voice. "You could even use a similar instrument that has been tuned as well. You'd sound quite better with tuning." When he looked at her, if he looked at her, she'd flash him a slight smile and stand. "Maybe you aren't cut out for this instrument? You look like a flute person."

Laughter echoed in her voice after she spoke and she smiled again, just as fleetingly as ever.

[Seven Xu]

Musicians were few and far between in a world that was so concerned with gathering the broken pieces of tiny societies back together and merely co-existing in a post-Valterrian state – and of those who dipped their lips and fingertips into the comfort of an instrument, even fewer actually held any semblance of talent. Seven was not one of them.

Seven would not have noticed the six-armed woman approaching him until she was nearly on top of him. A flutter of blonde eyelashes and pale lips hung open as a startled chirp escaped him, “Oh, hello!” The face donned a hospitable smile as his hand fell from the neck of the mandora and it tilted down to sit against a piece of paper at his side. There on the paper laid a pencil and lines of scrawling writing that were nearly illegible; they were lyrics that were supposed to go along with the cacophonous racket of a song he played. Before prying eyes could read it, the paper was covered by the rounded bottom-end of a shifting halfblood that wanted to keep secrets, secret.

The woman that addressed him was lovely and well-built and the draw of her arms and the perfume that made the air around her thick and sweet with a flowery fragrance kept his often transient stretches of attention focused on her. She would not return the greeting – in fact, she seemed to be content skipping pleasantries all together to dive right into a harsh critique of the noise those willowy hands produced. Seven’s eyes darted between the collection of arms and gilded skin and curve of breast that peeked out between flowing robes before they found the captious face again where precious gems of eyes swallowed his own.

“I do? How does one look like a flute person?” Seven inquired, moving the instrument from his lap after her less-than-delicate appraisal of his music had left him unwilling to continue with her as his audience. She was right, at least, about the tuning fork. Seven leaned forward, one hand propping himself up on the edge of the heavy work table while the other lifted to brush silvery strands of hair from his pale cheekbone. “Pardon me,” he began, the grin turning contemptuous as he spoke, “but you’re wrong.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I am still learning. I would not want to move on to another instrument just because I am not immediately good at this one. Besides, I need to get a good feel for all of these instruments …” He trailed off, eyes lifting over the Eypharian’s head to stare longingly at the droves of stringed lutes, woodwinds, guitars, harps, and other oddities he wasn’t positive even had names. The very task itself was daunting. “I will build them, eventually.”

Then a pause, as if remembering where he was, “What can I help you with today?”

[Runas]

Runas' green eyes flicked to the paper when the young male's hand fell to it, trying to decipher the currently meaningless scribbles before the paper was stingily swept away and swept under the rear of this fascinating creature in what the paper must have thought an undignified place to be hidden.

Dark green eyes glittered with real laughter as she leaned slightly on to one hip, her attention completely focused on this pale phenomenon before her. She'd forget him after leaving, undoubtly, even if he had the appearance of one of those lovely spiders from Kalinor. She rarely diverted attention to mortals unless they did something to deserve it, and the inability to play an instrument was not a cause of great concern to her. His features would undoubtly remain familiar to her, but if he gave a name she would not remember it unless it was as interesting as a Widower in Syliras.

"It is in the shapes of the lips and the fingers that hints at an aptitude for the flute." Her voice was softer now, less harsh, after she had his attention. She did not feel insulted at his tone nor the twisted way his lips moved. In fact, she rarely even paid attention to the insults of others. She'd traveled with a foul-mouthed Kelvic for a few years, after all, and no matter what insult found it's way past pale lips into the gilded ear of the Eypharian or the white ear of the Ethaefal, Runas would not feel any anger towards it. "Am I wrong?" Her voice lilted in hidden laughter and she tilted her head at him.

His words were easily consumed and dismissed by a mind that did not care for pleasantries and tact. He was a source of amusement now, someone to play with on a stuffy day in a city crawling with people that no longer seemed so fun. "If this instrument vexes you, then moving on is the wise thing to do. An instrument is meant to be treated like a lover: tenderly and patiently. You are not to grow frustrated with it nor yourself, but to coax it into singing for you. You would do better at another instrument until you learned that. Even the instrument you are holding has feelings."

Her own dark green eyes scanned his form when he had diverted his gaze, committing it to memory. If she ever saw him again, she would make sure to tease him some more.

"Me? I only came because I heard you play. But standing here, I wish to know where Sina is. I have a harp that I would like painted for the night of the solstice. I do not have the instrument on me, for I didn't think of this before, but I can go and retrieve it." A small smile tinted her unpainted lips as she looked back into his eyes.

[Lucas Arias]

Music didn’t interest Lucas particularly, at least not unless it was coupled with women and alcohol. He occasionally pretended to be a bard and tried to play at a tavern nevertheless because he’d seen how much some of those people made, and being a squire he was always broke, but he sucked at it. He’d mostly been paid with foul eggs and rotten vegetables that had been delivered right into his face so far. And somebody had done him a favour and broken his lute over his head once which had ended his musical career for quite some time (all of Syliras had rejoiced). So he hadn’t really planned on going to the music store all along. He’d actually been on his way to the Rearing Stallion to enjoy a drink (or two or three), but then he saw her. An Eypharian. An Eypharian that looked very beautiful and kind of familiar on top of it. As far as he was concerned, Eypharians were the most beautiful people in the world. He decided to change his plans at once and get drunk a little later. He stopped in front of the door for a few moments to run his fingers through his hair and brush the dust off his clothes (he wanted to look good for her), and then he opened the door, noticing the music at once. The bad music. It sounded like him playing, and for a moment he expected to see another somewhat clumsy, red haired squire (his weird logic dictated that people who sounded similar looked similar), but instead the source of music turned out to be a ... he stared at the pale, red eyed person for a bit, and then he came to the conclusion that he was probably facing a girl because she was as short as him or shorter, slender and almost hairless. A girl that reminded him of Asara. He instantly gave her a bright smile and assured her, „You play very well.“ And then he turned to face the Eypharian (who he had already met a few days ago) and gave her what could only be interpreted as puppy dog eyes. For a moment he pictured himself between the two of them while they were doing all kinds of interesting things to him, and then he realized that it would probably be weird if he just stood there and looked at them like a lovesick fool, and thus he announced, „I want a lute.“

[Seven Xu]

Mismatched nails pressed to puffy pink flesh as it tightened into a flushing smile under the Eypharian’s charm. The woman spoke as if different people were physiologically attuned to certain instruments; she may have had a point, although it was hard to imagine how one would treat a mandora as a lover. A flute, on the other hand ... “I will not argue your claims,” his hand dropped from his face but the smile persisted in an inability to deny the enchanting woman her prize, “but that does not excuse me from needing to learn my way around every instrument in here.” Even in disagreement he retained an almost mechanical level of politeness one only possessed if ingrained in them at a young age.

“Sina could be anywhere in the city,” he admitted, “She goes out often on nice days like this to busk. If you want her to paint your harp, you could leave it here with a request and I will see to it that she receives it. Or, you could let me try my hand at painting it.” Laughter chimed in as he finished speaking, giving the woman the option to not take him seriously had she wanted Sina herself to adorn her harp.

A flash of red surrounded by a pale and grinning face caught Seven’s eye as a second entered the workshop. The compliment that emerged from the chipper boy - no taller than him with skin just as pale and fiery hair that left Seven guessing where this man stored his falcon - was oddly sincere, a contrast to the Eypharian’s sharp-tongued criticism. “Thank you,” the smile was returned in kind, but inevitably twisted beneath an arched brow when the redhead’s leer turned to something unnervingly familiar. The burn of lust that flashed across the young man’s face seemed to be directed at the pair of them, not just the entrancing woman at his side and he was doing little to hide it. Seven had half a mind to reach out and forcibly tighten that slack jaw.

“A lute?” Polite hospitality and the need for wages won Seven’s inner struggle as the smile returned, “Of course. What sort of lute are you looking for? I have a six course lute that Sina just finished days ago that is absolutely beautiful.” The halfblood slipped off of the work table and excused himself from the Eypharian – who he had hoped would fetch him her harp so that he could try his hand at painting – before moving towards another table, cluttered with several iron tools and wood shavings and parts of instruments. “It’s spruce and cherry wood with an ebony neck. Oh, and the pegs are made from the wood of a pear tree, I believe – or was it peach? Never mind. Would you like to try your hand at playing it?”

[Runas]

This boy had such an endearing, beautiful smile. It was such a waste to hide it behind the sombre expression most commonly used by undertakers. He should smile more often, just like this. It was so charming.

"Oh, learning all the instruments is perfectly fine. Just be sure to treat them with the love you would want to be treated with as well. Sina has created some truly lovely instruments, and Rhaus loves her dearly. Love her instruments too." She tilted her head and smiled with even her eyes. She most certainly was in a pleasant mood due to the man's lovely smile. His suggestion for painting her harp caused her to raise her eyebrows and smile slowly again. "Would you paint it? I'm sure Sina would be okay with it if I allowed you to try out your creative asperations. I'll bring my harp in with my specifications to you, and I will pay you well."

She was half turned to leave when a familiar tangle of red hair and apparent Inarta heritage entered. The gaping look on his face almost coaxed laughter from her. This boy was utterly lost... Maybe she'd sown the seeds for an obsession in him. She allowed him his fill of her appearance, but the look he shot the current caretaker of the store was troubling. Sure, this young man looked feminine, but he didn't deserve to be ogled like he had a full pair of breasts sticking out the top of his head. Hormone driven teenagers... Such lustful little things.

"Lucas. Neither I nor him are the lute you are looking for. Please, gape at the real instruments." She said in a softly chastising tone, smiling to take away any bite. "Sina and this young gentleman here have worked very hard to create and work these wonderful instruments. Surely you can appreciate them." Another smile danced across her lips as she watched Lucas, making sure the pale spidery male was okay with being alone with this human while she was gone. "I'll be back shortly. Within half a bell. Will you be okay here?"

Look at her being caring today.

[Lucas Arias]

As Seven thanked him for his compliment that hadn’t really been much of a compliment – he’d only said it because Seven looked like a pretty, albeit flatchested girl – Lucas smiled even more and said, „You’re welcome. You are really quite good.“ The smile on his face was exactly that kind of smile that made a girl’s heart melt in his opinion. In truth though it was a little overdone. Lucas was far from the charming boy he thought ht was. As Seven adressed him, he furrowed his brow a little and looked confused for a moment. She had quite a deep voice! It almost sounded like his voice (that wasn’t extremely deep, but still unmistakeably male). But then he decided that he liked women with deep voices. It was attractive. „I’m note sure“, he murmurred. He didn’t really know much more about lutes than that they had strings and that people paid you a lot of money if you were good. He had no idea what six courses were. Was it the same as six strings or did it have something to do with food? „A six course lute is fine, I suppose. I would very much like to play it. I could play a song for you.“ In his current state it didn’t occur to him that anything he played would probably make poor Seven’s and Runas‘ ears explode! „Him? What do you mean?“ As he heard Runas‘ voice he spun around abruptly and stared at her as if she were the one who had something sticking out of her head. She was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, but what she said was a little disturbing. „That’s not a man“, he insisted and pointed at the poor halfblood, wondering if Runas had just said that because she wanted him for herself. He turned back to Seven. „You are a girl, right? Prove that you are a girl.“

[Seven Xu]

A mixture of amusement and confusion flashed in crimson pools that hugged large pupils as Seven scanned the faces of both his patrons. When the Eypharian made an offer to retrieve her instrument followed by a question of veiled concern, Seven merely flashed her an affirmative grin. “I think I will be fine. Thank you.” Gilded skin seemed to shimmer in the meagre sunlight the thin windows afforded them as the woman left. She was lovely, exotic, he decided with a thin smile; if only she had given him a name to address her with when she returned.

The door clicked shut by one of six graceful hands and echoed across the workshop as the redhead posed a demand that made his cheeks run white in shock. “Prove that I’m a girl?” Seven repeated, lifting both hands to press against his flat chest as if needing assurance that he was in fact male. Lucas had not been the first to make such a mistake. If one were to describe Seven, they may carefully choose words such as ‘beautiful’ over ‘handsome’; with the rounded features his Lhavitian ancestry afforded him mixed within the fragility and grace of Symenestra blood, he couldn’t blame the rambunctious ginger for mistaking his gender – not that it was any less bruising to his ego every time it happened. At least most people were able to place him in the right category when he spoke; such didn’t seem to be the case for this man. “I cannot prove what isn’t true,” he added with the best polite smile he could muster, “I’m sorry.”

Did he need to prove that he was not? Seven’s brow furrowed as he leaned forward to snatch up the lute he had mentioned earlier – perhaps if he let the topic drop with a sincere apology, the boy would not push forward. Seven began to regret letting the woman leave as he kept Lucas in his peripherals while he moved around the shop. If he were bold enough to demand proof that Seven was female, what was to stop him from finding out himself? If those freckled hands found more than he had intended to find and the encounter inevitably turned sour – how would he defend himself? Seven sighed audibly, trying to push unnerving hypotheticals from the forefront of his mind.

The instrument made the hollow sound of strings moving when it was disturbed and turned over between Seven’s delicate hands as he approached Lucas again. “Here,” he offered up the lute with a persistent smile, “Go ahead, you can try it out before you decide whether or not you want to buy it. You’re probably a lot better than I am at the thing.”

[Lucas Arias]

As Runas left, Lucas was momentarily distracted from the androgynous halfblood. He looked at the Eypharian as if he seriously considered running after her. Even after she had closed the door, he still stood there, staring, as if he had some kind of magic that enabled him to look right through the door. Runas disappearance had put an end to his secret dreams about having a girl left and a girl right of him, at least temporarily. He sighed and turned around to focus his attention on the one seemingly female person that was left. „Well, yes“, he informed Seven. „I want you to prove that you are a girl. You can do that, can’t you?“ As Seven proceeded to touch his chest, the squire’s eyebrows rose until they nearly met his hairline and his eyes widened. It didn’t look as if Seven had much in the way of breasts, and the things that she said only confused Lucas further. He didn’t entirely trust her though. „Let me prove it for you“, he decided, walked right over to the halfblood and put his hands on her breasts – or where he expected her breasts to be – only to find – nothing! „Oh“, he made, and his face turned as red as a tomato. „Oh“, he repeated and abruptly let go again. „You don’t have anything there! But you look like a girl!“ Lucas on the other hand looked like he was going to faint, and he also looked very embarrassed because he’d just groped what seemed to be another boy, and he really didn’t want to think about that anymore. So he said, „Give me that petching lute now!“ He didn’t wait for Seven to hand the instrument to him though, but nearly tore it from his hands, and then he averted his gaze, acting as if he were the one who had just been insulted and not Seven. That he should probably apologize – repeatedly – for scaring and harrassing the poor guy didn’t even occur to him!