1st Solo [video]

[whithersoevergo]

[In the darkness, a hunched figure appears near the fountain and the sound of a cello echoes over the network. The playing is precise and haunting, executed flawlessly until a single note is missed, then two, then there’s the sound of the bow being dropped and a scrape as the chair falls backward and the tall figure unfolds upwards, finally realizing that he's not where he was when he started the song.]

Saya?

[He looks around, movements as measured and precise as the music as the cello is packed away hastily. The figure stands again, turning, a pale, concerned face finally coming into view.]

SAYA! ANSWER ME! …Saya?

[He starts off in a direction, intent on something. Someone should stop probably him.]


[ooc: Pretend this is happening tonight, and just posted now because it's easier, okay?]

Comments

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Of course, Saya, as you wish.

[As if he'd do anything else. Telling Solomon he was dead or dying wasn't likely to accomplish anything other than create tension, and since Saya had to live here... he hadn't planned on saying anything anyway.]

I can imagine caring for Diva's children would be a priority for him.

[As it will be for him, he imagines, with Saya safe and hibernating. Assuming her earlier silence didn't portent his own death in which case... he hopes Kai keeps them all safe, and perhaps when Saya awakens, she can make him her Chevalier in Haji's place.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

I guess it would be to everyone.

[She laughs a little, moving further into the apartment. She comes to one particular door.]

Babies are a surprising amount of work! I never imagined it but... well, I never really tried to. You wouldn't think something that little would need so much looking after.

[Opening the door, she flicked the switch just inside. The room is a touch musty from being closed up but the bed is made and the room itself is clean. A light sheen of dust has settled on most of the furniture, save the cello sitting in one of the far corners.]

When I first came here, Solomon said this was your room. He kept everything in case you came back. I come in here sometimes to clean but that's more or less it... oh, and I play the cello too. Not as much as I probably should though.

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[It looks like some place he'd stay, sparse and neat. He doesn't sleep, so there's not much use for the room. Still, it feels... strange. His room. When was the last time he had a room of his own instead of sharing with Saya?]

Probably not. It's been a very long time since you had any regular practice.

[The cello is a mystery. It looks like his, but as he removes his case from his shoulder it is clear that there's another inside. He's tempted to take his out, compare the two, but what would be the point. It either is or isn't the same and the duplication would be no stranger than the fact that he's being told he was here before when he has no memory of it.]

You should take it to your room, I have no need for two. [Pause] And where is your room, Saya?

[Since he'll spend a fair amount there, he imagines, checking on her and the like.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

[She can't help it, something like a pout just naturally rises up. He just said that probably not so easily.

She glances to the instrument after a moment, considering.]

I suppose you don't.

[She doesn't bother to mention why she hadn't moved it before now, how the sound of a cello had sent her into tears for far too long. Instead she gives him another smile, slips round him out the bedroom door and to the door straight across the hall from his own.]

This one. Solomon's room is right next to yours and the other room there belongs to Marishka.

[Saya pauses there, giving a somewhat sad look.]

She left the City before I came back though. I'm afraid I never really talked to her much.

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[Would that there were more room between her room and Solomon's, but again, he supposes it isn't his choice, it's hers. At least he's the one with a direct line to her room. Although having her next to him, with a connecting door between the rooms would have been ideal.]

Who was she?

[The impact she had on Saya is obvious. There's regret there. Regret of a friend never known?]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

All I really knew about her was her being a vampire. I think maybe she reminded Solomon of Diva.

[She notes quietly, voice hushed like she's gossiping here.]

I think Solomon was in love with her too. I mean, I don't know for certain! He really did seem to like her though, you know?

[Back to a more normal tone.]

I only talked to her once and saw her now and then. She... ah, didn't care for me much. Before I arrived here, there was another me. From around that year you and I spent away from Red Shield, just after Riku's death.

[She looks a sheepish now.]

I was so angry then. It's no wonder she hated me. I probably hated her too... or the other me did. It's selfish but I always wanted to make that up to her somehow. I guess partially to make myself feel better but...

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

[He certainly seems to care for Saya. All of this, even if he doesn't know the economics of this place, he can't imagine that a four, maybe plus, bedroom penthouse comes cheap.]

You had every right to be angry, Saya, we all were. Riku was... a very special person.

[His brother, the only one he'd ever had. Truth be told, he had been looking forward to it. Ever since the young man invited him to dinner, he'd always taken care to regard Riku as different from other humans. Something more. That he'd become Chevalier, while he regretted the circumstances, he couldn't imagine anyone better for Saya, someone who could make her smile, remind her of the times when she was happy.

Something Haji knew he never could do. It would have been good, for both of them.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

Riku was special. I didn't like turning him but... it wasn't so bad for a little while, was it.

[She opens the doorway to her own bedroom. It's lightly decorated too, the windows open a touch to let in the evening air. The bed is covered by a myriad of stuffed animals, from cats to bears to dogs and such. In one corner, a guitar is settled on a stand as well.]

The anger was justified but not the way I dealt with it, I understand that now. At the time... well, you know as well as I do why it didn't matter much to me, right? All I wanted was to kill Diva and end it for good. That was my only wish.

So I was harsh to people who didn't deserve it. And while I was here before, those people were Solomon and Marishka.

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

No. For awhile it wasn't so bad at all.

[He had enjoyed it, that time with Riku, while they were brothers. He actually... missed it. Walking over to the bed, he picks up one of the animals, examining it. He's never seen Saya with things like these, all the little touches that made a room... hers. Not since the zoo, and that was so very long ago. He wasn't entirely ignorant of her desires for normalcy, but it hasn't been a priority in so long...]

You have nothing to apologize for, Saya. Not to me. Not to Solomon.

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

[She can't help but raise her brows at that. Then she laughs lightly, her expression accurately saying 'Oh Haji'.]

Both of you are far too forgiving.

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

And you are too hard on yourself.

[His hand falls on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.]

Did I wake you up when I arrived?

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

We all have our flaws.

[She reaches a hand up to his lightly. It's just so easy to fall into this pattern of chatter. Even during the hard times and the times when she spoke little, if she did speak? It was to Haji. And if she ever spoke of troubles, it was chiefly to him - when she ever spoke of them, of course.]

Huh? ... Oh! I was thinking about it.

[I.e. she was trying to avoid it. Even if she somehow mysteriously stays awake here, she still fears the possibility of going to sleep and just not waking up again for years.]

Action;

[whithersoevergo.livejournal.com]

Then I shouldn't keep you. Even if you're not feeling your hibernation approaching, you should get some rest.

[His hand falls to his side and eh starts for the door, intending to go back to his room. It should be easy enough to sneak back in to sit by her side awhile once she's asleep, then he'll be able to let himself think on what has happened. What it really means that Diva is gone and Saya is free.]

Action;

[liveontoday.livejournal.com]

Mm, alright. Goodnight, Haji.

[It doesn't take her long either to follow the advice, a heavy weight lifted from her shoulders that she didn't even know was there. Or had chose to ignore.

And thankfully she still sleeps like the dead at times.]