forum House of Chaos (RP as your characters, everyone is welcome)

Started September 10, 2020 by @bluebee55

tune

Arwood stared at the hand thrust toward him and frowned slightly, he had only seen the gesture once in his life and wasn’t quite sure what it meant. Not wanting to look a fool he took Jarrod’s hand and shook it once up and once down and let go quickly.
“Glad I could be of some use here, it is not off…” His head turned toward the door as the sound of piano music echoed through the house. the music was faint but his ears picked up a strange tune and rhythm he had yet to hear before, he wondered if his mind had conjured the music up just to make him seem more at home. “I hope I am not the only one who hears the music and that it actually exists.”

Jarrod listened for a minute and then shook his head. "No, I hear it too. It sounds like Felix found a piano. Hopefully he'll play something other than just ragtime."

~~

Felix finished the song and began to clap for the dancing girl. "Bravo miss, bravo. You look positively radiant." And she did. In an oddly literal way. But who was Felix to judge?

Felix began to play a slow, lilting tune with one hand. After a moment he began to sway, and started adding to the tune with his other hand. The song sped up and slowed, swelled in sound and then lowered to whisper. It was beautiful, and Felix looked lost in the notes.

The sound was powerful and full of emotion. The perfect song to dance to.

~~

Austin heard the music and watched Mashka follow it. It sounded rather good. He began to hum in accompaniment to the music, then stopped and waited for the girl with the violin case to tell him what instrument she had.

~~

Em and Mel opened the door to the ballroom and listened as the old-timey song came to a close.

Felix began to clap and compliment a girl, who had been dancing to the music. Then he began to play another song.

Em closed her eyes and listened for a minute, then opened them and started to dance across the floor. Mel watched for a minute. Em stopped and turned to her.

"Come on Mel! Dance with me!" She giggled. Mel obliged, and soon the two were waltzing about, Em standing on Mels feet since she wasn't old enough to keep up with her. The two started laughing as they danced along with the music.

Mashka listened to the music, and, lost in it, subconsciously summoned a thin cloud of mist, which swirled around her as she danced. Her curls were behaving as if they had minds of their own, and the planks at her feet suddenly remembered that they had once been part of a living tree and sprouted leaves and twigs, bending towards Mashka as she danced. Standing on the toes of one foot like a ballet dancer, somehow managing to support her 5'10" frame on that small area, she twirled, swirling to a stop when the music ended, balancing perfectly. The twigs at her feet swirled around her leg, and she laughed and bent her head downwards towards them, prying them gently off of her with her fingers. They became still again and stopped growing. Warmth, like sunlight, drifted through the ballroom.

Willow looked at Austin, then towards where the music was coming from. She turned back asked "Do you know who's playing the music?"

Arwood wasn’t quite sure if he liked ragtime, and was tempted to shut the door when it came to an end and a new song began.
His head tilted in sudden interest as the music drifted through the house. The music was beautiful, and it was the first time it wasn’t aimed at hurting him. He turned his back to Jarrod and for a moment, he allowed the music to wash over him, it was hard to believe his whole life had changed only a couple of hours ago. As the music continued with no end in sight, Arwood began to feel vulnerable, a tremor ran through his body and he could take no more. Grabbing the door he shut it quickly and turned back to Jarrod.
“Your friend is very good, where did he learn to play like that?”

Jarrod looked at the door Hemlock had closed and then looked back at Hemlock. Odd. He thought.

"Felix says he started playing piano in 1942 and just played enough that he figured it out. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what actually happened, I'd imagine if you played piano for 78 years you'd eventually learn how to play pretty well. Perks of being semimortal I guess."

~~

Felix, immersed in the music, began the finale, the music swelling in power, speeding up until his hands were a blur on the keys and then-

The music stopped, then started again, simple and quiet this time, bringing the song to a quiet end.

Felix, snapping out of his trance, became aware of Mel and Em, clapping. He stood, and bowed.

"Thank you ladies, it was a pleasure." He turned to Mashka. "Beautiful dancing miss, bravo."

~~

"It sounds like Felix, a friend of mine." Austin said to the girl holding the violin. "I'm Austin, by the way."

~~

Em and Mel, who finished dancing when the music stopped, began to clap for Felix. Mel usually wasn't around when Felix played, and Em was amazed every time that he played. The applause was genuine.

Mashka, now on both feet, eyed the two girls curiously. They were bringing their hands together, fast, making sharp noises. Was this what you did when someone did something well?
Experimentally, she tried it, but her hands stung and she stopped. At the piano player's comment, she swept into a bow, her knee-length hair sweeping the floor as she did so. A few twigs caught the brown curls, but she pulled them free gently.

Arwood nodded, “Yes, being semimortal has its pleasures, but most of the time one wishes they were not.”
semimortal? He frowned as he looked Jarrod from head to toe. “Is your whole group semidivine?” He inquired, “did you possess magic by birthright or was it given to you?”

A cloud of red and grey smoke surrounded the area. After a minute, the smoke finally cleared. A inhumanly tall man, with broad shoulders and long legs stepped forward. He had high cheekbones and a strong jawline. He smiled, but there was no joy in it. His dimples made his face almost boyish, made more so by his lack of facial hair. But his most striking feature was his eyes; a terrifying crimson that shone in the light. His name was Vozreal. Dr. Vozreal Rafter.

"It sounds like Felix, a friend of mine." Austin said to the girl holding the violin. "I'm Austin, by the way."

"Hello Austin." she said, dipping her head in respect. "My name is Willow, from the Northern forests." She stared at him a bit, analyzing everything, trying to determine who he was, where he was from, what he was doing what did he want? Was he a threat? But then she remembered that staring made people uncomfortable, so she dropped her gaze and tried to say something normal. "Do you make music too?" she asked.

He coulda swore he had been here before.
"Hello?" He said, word choice simple, but voice exquisite. His voice was staticky, not unlike an old radio. The air almost seemed to hum when he was around.

Mashka looked up. She could have sworn she'd heard that voice before.

"Where am I?" He asked, confused

"Here and here and here," Mashka murmured to herself.

"Who said that? Speak up!" He shouted

Mashka, who had never been shouted at in her life, squeaked and hid behind the nearest large object - which happened to be the piano.

"Where are you?" He said. He looked around and sat down

Mashka peered curiously out from behind the piano.

"It's just me." He stated, not meaning to scare Mashka

She recognised him, but only vaguely.

"You remember me?"

She said nothing.

"It's me, Dr. Vozreal."

Deciding he wasn't going to shout at her again, she tentatively stood up. She was impressively tall.