melodiesoflife | Dancing All Night

Who: Everyone
What: A slumber party at the Observatory so the Heroes can experience something nice for once.
Where: Old Observatory
When: Night of May 12th - Morning of May 13th
Warnings: If your character comes, there's a huge change they'll catch the sickness from someone else who's infected but doesn't show the symptoms. Duster will have many regrets in the future.

[All those that had been invited to the Observatory tonight would see all the windows on the bottom floors lit up before sundown. Duster and Zelda had spent most of today setting up bedding and rearranging the furniture in preparation, and then Duster had to run back home to change into his new suit.

There were multiple rooms with lights set up. One has a corner turned into a makeshift stage where musicians could perform. Two had tables of food. Several rooms were left alone for partygoers to have private moments (Tamekichi suggested that). There was also a box of beer bottles as a sad attempt at a bar, with an empty bottle marking the area where party games were to be played, Spin the Bottle included (all that was Tamekichi's suggestion, too).

Duster greets the arrivals at the door with a soft smile, wearing a periwinkle suit, a white dress shirt, a red shit, and black dress shoes.]

Welcome to Club Ixen! It's time we had some fun.

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[That answers neither of the options she gave him. She can only assume he just needs a little more coaxing and encouragement from her to gather up his nerve, otherwise he would have just told her that he wasn't ready. At least, that's how she sees it.]

Well, I'm no bass master, but if you give me a few minutes to figure out how to make the right notes, I'd be happy to accompany you.

[Her gaze strays to the door.]

Orrrrrrrr I guess I could run home and grab my lute or fiddle, if you'd prefer that.

[He just got cornered, but he doesn't mind. Duster nods, a smile hiding the small drop of trepidation.]

If I'm going to sing, the music has to be perfect.

[He'll wait. In the meantime, Duster has to practice his scales to mentally prepare himself.]

Got it!

[She could see it as a compliment, but it pretty much goes over her head. She'll go fetch her fiddle, then, since it doesn't seem like anyone else is playing anything like that. Getting up to her feet, Rialynn hustles to the door then dashes down the street.]

[When she returns, she, um... Kind of brought both. And her wood flute. And the ocarina. Look, there's going to be a lot of music tonight, and she needs options!]

[Rialynn settles onto her knees and carefully lays out each instrument, then beams up at Duster.]

Ready! Which one am I playing?

[This is his life now. He's going to sing. He holds a fist to his chest as he looks over his choices. He's already got an ocarina, but his deep voice might clash too much with a flute...]

You know, I've never worked with a flute.

It's not the easiest instrument for accompaniment, because of the high pitch. It can drown out a singer pretty easily. But it's possible, depending on the song. If the two performers have good harmony, the flute sets up the song and establishes the pitch, and can be played during the longer pauses. But both at the same time? It probably wouldn't be doing you any favors.

[But she's open to it, if that's what he wants.]

[He's fine with it, as indicated by his one-shoulder shrug.]

Harmony is what makes a song better. Alright. [Deep breath.] I was thinking of that song from the opera, the one about the two lovers on the airship that tragically crashed into a mountain? Part of the final song's played on the flute, so your part's easy.

[Rialynn hasn't heard this opera, but she's intrigued. Tragic romance always draws people's attention. She hunches over conspiratorially with Duster as they plan out their musical number.]

Great. How does my part go? Can you hum it?

[He closes his eyes and hums to himself as pieces of the melody fall into place. It sounds almost wrong to have it played so low, but that way, it's easier to hide their secret song from the rest of the room.]

Like that. I can play it on the ocarina to help figure out the notes.

No, I've got it, hold on...

[She shuts her eyes, her head bobbing rhythmically, her lips and fingertips twitching as she plays the song in her mind. To get that note she holds down those fingers, a breath here, a slight waver here to add life to the melody... It takes a few moments before her lashes part.]

I think I've got it. Want to try the first verse, or just jump straight to the performance?

First verse!

[He rolls his shoulders and straightens his back, prepared for the battle of song. It's not the same as training for a fight, but it requires just as much attention.]

Do the introduction bit first.

[Rialynn nods. She can't really play it softly, but she can at least play so that her flute doesn't drown out the rest of the room. It just sounds like two people warming up away from the rest of the musicians.]

[Though her notes are pitch perfect, she has to play for a few seconds before she can start investing more emotion into her playing. Her wood flute carries the sad notes with just the slightest tremor, though she plans for it to come clear and strong once they reach the key change midway through. But for the first verse, keeping it demure and melancholy is the goal.]

[The lyrics are tragic and emotional as well, and Duster knows he had to live up to the scene where it's sung: the woman's lover had sacrificed his life to let her escaping the airship safely, and as she mourns his death, she wills herself to continue living, never forgetting his noble soul.

He doesn't have that sort of life experience to drawn from, so it's not the tearjerking performance, but he's hitting the right notes. The real difficult part is after the key change where he has to belt out the lyrics.]

[Once the first verse is finished, she lowers the flute and beams at Duster.]

That's sounding good! Ready for the big performance, then?

[She's confident that she can play the flute well enough between the verses, with a few little trills here and there to support the more emotional passages in the last part of the song.]

Oooh boy...

[Well, he agreed, didn't he? Duster rubs his hands together, stands up, and straightens his back.]

To the stage?

To the stage!

[Grinning, she ushers him along if his feet seem to be dragging, excited to play a part in his singing debut. All he needs is a little confidence. Once he's got that, she's sure he'll be able to sing four times better, and then he'll really knock their pantaloons off.]

[Hopping onto the stage, she waits for him to do the same, then takes a step back to make it clear she's just part of the background. The show is his. But she's not going to play until he announces the song and the story behind it, so the audience can get the rich experience they deserve.]

[Duster limps to the stage as he always does and stands front and center, putting most of his weight on his right leg. OJ always announced their performances, being the leader of the band. "Lucky" was too quiet to make a speech to raise their fan's spirits, but he has to try.]

Ahem. Excuse me? Hello? [Duster claps his hands two times.] I'm going to sing a song for you, with Rialynn on the flute.

Dancing All Night

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