ix. ][ video / open to action

[thefavorite]

[ Dewey looks like a kid who's been through too much. He's sitting at a table in a cafe (they have good cake), staring at the device flatly. One elbow is on the surface of the table, that hand in a fist that's squished into his cheek, skewing his scowl to the side. On the other, unsquished cheek, is a large, extremely bright pink lipstick mark. He has one word for today, City: ]

Gross.


[ooc: You can find him out in the City and give him a big ol' G-rated smooch if you like.]

Comments

action;

[sleepingstar]

[Pai is seated a few tables away from Dewey, although he might feel her watching him rather intently. She recognizes him -- he's the boy who plays the piano. Sometimes, when she has nothing better to do but too much energy to do nothing, she'll wander around the city and try to find where he's playing. She enjoys listening to him. This is the first time she's seen him away from a piano.]

action;

[thefavorite]

[ He does feel it - for a while, he doesn't do anything about it. He's enjoying a big slice of cake, and while he feels her attention on him, he's alert enough to know she isn't approaching him.

So he waits until he's finished with it to glance over his shoulder and return her gaze. He should probably say something. He doesn't. ]

[sleepingstar]

[Pai hesitates, then moves over to sit at his table.]

You play the piano.

[thefavorite]

Yeah.

[ Interesting development. He has crafted something of a reputation for himself as the City's startlingly young pianist, but he's not often recognized by those he doesn't already know. ]

You've seen me play?

[sleepingstar]

[Pai nods.]

You're very good. [Less a compliment and more a statement of fact. So painfully obvious she wouldn't normally even say anything, but she doesn't know how to make smalltalk. She doesn't know how to get to know anyone without some kind of ultimate agenda.]

Why did you learn? [She could have asked where, but let's be real, the answer wouldn't have meant anything to her. Why is much more interesting. What drove him to become, at such a young age, so skilled at something so pointless?]

[thefavorite]

Thanks.

[ Okay, so her tone was clear, but he's still inclined to thank her for saying so. It's not as if she had to.

To the question, he shrugs. It's a little hard to put that into words. ]

I just wanted to. I guess I'm kind of drawn to music, so as soon as I had a chance to try to learn, I did.

[sleepingstar]

They have piano training camps? [Her childhood hadn't been normal even before she became a Contractor; she's not familiar with piano lessons and practicing at home. Instead, she's picturing a training camp like where she and her brother had learned to kill, except for pianists. It's a ridiculous thought (but she kind of hopes it's true).]

[thefavorite]

[ That gets a blank stare - though, of course, even normal piano lessons are just as far removed from Dewey's reality. ]

Uh, I... don't think so?

I taught myself.

[sleepingstar]

Oh. [It would be silly to be disappointed by his answer. So of course she isn't.]

Was it hard?

[thefavorite]

[ He shrugs there. ] Not really.

I mean, once you read the music, you just kind of go.

[sleepingstar]

Read...music?

[Guess who has no idea what sheet music is.]

[thefavorite]

Yeah...

There are sheets printed out that tell you what notes you're supposed to play.

[sleepingstar]

[Pai looks surprised, and it's not so much feigned as exaggerated. It had never occurred to her that music could be written down.]

[thefavorite]

[ He just stares back for a moment. ]

You've never seen sheet music?

[sleepingstar]

[She just shakes her head. Before coming to the City, she'd never even seen a real piano. They weren't exactly battlefield-friendly instruments.]

[thefavorite]

[ He gives a small shrug. ]

Here.

[ From a small backpack slung over his chair, he pulls a folder. He lays it out on the table and opens it - inside is some of the sheet music he's working with. ]

This is Piano Concerto #1, by Tchaikovsky. I'm working on learning this one right now.

[sleepingstar]

[Pai examines the sheets of paper curiously.]

It looks like a code.

[In a way, she supposes it is, or a language.]

How did you teach yourself to read it?

[thefavorite]

It kind of is.

[ He shrugs. ]

I started with a book. It's not that hard... see, the lines and the spaces between them are each a different note. Each of the dots on and between the lines show you when you're supposed to play those notes.

[sleepingstar]

[Makes sense.]

No matter what instrument you're playing?

[thefavorite]

Well, for a lot of them. When you have a full orchestra, everyone gets their own sheet music with specific parts and then they play all the parts together to make a big, complicated symphony.

[sleepingstar]

But the code itself doesn't change, even if everybody gets a different message.