A lullaby to learn by - Music Room

[Mollie Geist]

It was late in the evening but not quite curfew time yet. Mollie gently tapped her walking stick on the stone floor as she went down the hall. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and hopefully it would be empty. She rounded the now familiar corner and peered into the dark Music room. She glanced about, and smiled softly to herself seeing no auras of anyone being present.

She made her way over to one of the pianos and sat down. She brushed her fingers across the keys and smiled when she felt the familiar bumps of Braille. Professor Vincent had been carefully teaching her how to play and putting the Braille letter on each key of the piano to help her understand her notes was part of it. Mollie felt so accomplished that she had been able to learn so much so quickly and it was helpful that she was able to practice almost every day. She straightened her back and found her main chord but today she wanted to do something different.

She carefully began plunking out a tune from deep in her memory, a lullaby that Miss Zimmerman had sung to her on nights that she couldn't sleep. Mollie smiled as she began putting the right notes together to make the very simple song come together. She breathed in shakily and began to softly sing the words to herself:

"Sei ganz leise, sei nicht ängstlich,
schau er hat dich doch so gerne.
Über deinem kleinen Bettchen
schaukeln Sonne, Mond und Sterne.

Seine Hand, die große schwere,
quetscht die deine dir entzwei
und sein Mund, der große dunkle,
summt ein schönes Lied dabei.

Kindlein, laß dich küssen, Kindlein, gute Nacht!
Wirst nun schlafen müssen, hast genug gewacht.
Schließ zu die goldnen Äuglein,
schlaf ein, schlaf ein, schlaf ein,
du liebes Kindelein!"

Mollie was not a professional singer but she felt like the room made her sound better than she actually was. Her breathy singing voice had an eerie sound to it as her voice along with the slow piano bounced around the room.

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse heard the echoing, haunting music from down the hall and immediately felt like he was in a horror game-- before logic kicked in and he realized that he was, in fact, at school, and by the music rooms, and hearing music from nowhere was probably pretty normal for a place that lay so near the borders of Arcadia.

He found the door to the music rooms and eased it open, lifting up on the handle to take creak-encouraging weight off of the hinges. There was a girl in here.

Well, she certainly looked like a doll. Maybe Taibhse was in a horror game after all.

[Mollie Geist]

Mollie hummed the rest of the lullaby softly but she continued to plink out a bit more on the keyboard but did not play the final note, leaving the song feeling unfinished as it lingered in the air. She didn't want the song to have to end, it actually felt so nice to actually make something.

She reached for her walking stick and finally noticed a soft glow in the room. She carefully stood and tipped her head a bit. "Hello? Is someone there?"

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

"I-I am," Taibhse mumbled from his spot in the doorway.

"Sorry, I heard the song and I just. Well. I mean, I came to investigate." He stepped fully into the room and shrugged. "It was pretty. I liked it." His eyes caught sight of the stick and recognition pinged in his mind. So she was blind. Or at least had a serious enough vision impairment to need that cane.

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you or anything. I'm sorry."

[Mollie Geist]

She smiled and could feel a soft flush rising in her cheeks. "Oh, thank you. I'm still just learning and . . .I just wanted to play something from home."

She took a few steps towards him and brushed her bangs out of her face. "No, it's okay. I wasn't expecting anyone but it is a classroom so anyone can come in when they like." As she got closer she began to realize exactly how tall this new person was. Was he taller than Jaebi??

She reached out a hand towards him and smiled. "I'm Mollie. It's nice to meet you."

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse reached out and shook her hand carefully. "Mollie. I have to say it's pretty, eh, creepy, really, to hear Abendlied out of nowhere and walk in to find someone who looks very much like a living doll producing the music."

He gave a crooked little grin. "How long have you been learning to play? It sounds like you're doing well."

[Mollie Geist]

She pursed her lips slightly, curious as to why the other person did not tell her his name. Perhaps he was not as trusting as she was. Her blush grew a bit deeper when he said that she looked like a doll. She hoped that he meant it in agood way.

"I've only been learning for a little over a month. Whenever I learn something new I tend to throw myself at it and I've been practicing almost every day. Thank you." She bowed her head a bit. "I hope I didn't disturb you from doing something."

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse started to nod when she explained her practice, and immediately changed it to a headshake.

"No, no. I wasn't doing anything important, just..." Shrug. "Just wandering. Around." He rubbed the back of his neck before clearing his throat.

"So. Mollie. It's gonna be curfew soon. Do you want someone to walk with you back to the dorms?"

[Mollie Geist]

The corners of her mouth tipped slightly downward at hearing the time. "Is it that late already?" Her lips turned into a smile when he offered her assistance and she nodded softly. "Yes, thank you. That is very kind of you, Sir."

She looked him over briefly. None of his colors looked threatening. She shyly reached out to him. "Would you mind telling me what your name is, Sir?"

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse held his elbow out for her and blinked, feeling warmth come into his cheeks when she smiled.

"It's no problem, really. My name is Taibhse." He managed a slightly nervous chuckle. "You don't have to call me sir."

[Mollie Geist]

She carefully took his arm and slowly said his name back, making sure she was saying it right. "Taibhse? I haven't heard anything like that before. It is interesting. Though while I've been at this school I've met a lot of people with very peculiar names."

His pattern was interesting. It looked like it was in constant motion, washing colors along the length of his shape. She gave his arm a small squeeze and smiled, hoping that she hadn't been staring at him for too long. "Shall we go?"

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

"It means boogeyman, or something similar." Taibhse patted the hand she had looped around his forearm. "Ma had an odd sense of humor."

He nodded and led her out of the door, being careful to steer her well away from any corners or seams in the flooring. "So what else have you been doing about the castle? Aside from making the music rooms sound like they're haunted?" He chuckled.

[Mollie Geist]

She bit her lip and giggled softly. Maybe if she had learned piano sooner she could have scared most of her bullies away.

"Oh, I'm quite boring, actually. I just read, study, try to spend some time outside, practice the piano..." She wasn't sure if she wanted to go into about why she came to this school. Explaining how she saw the world and how different it was.

"What about you? What do you 'do'? And why are you here at this confounded maze of a school?" She giggled softly. She held her walking stick close to her though it was being quite cumbersome. She attached her aura to it and directed it to hover and glide gently along side her, leaving her other hand now free.

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse opened his mouth to comment that she didn't sound boring at all, but then he caught sight of her walking stick floating along, unaided, beside them. He blinked owlishly and stumbled a bit.

"O-oh. Wow. A-are you doing that, Mollie?"

He tried to turn his eyes forward to watch where he was walking. "E-er, I, uh... I'm here because I wanted to take a break from travelling around with ma. She went to school here, and she thought I would like it. She also thought it would be the best place for me to learn to refine my magic."

[Mollie Geist]

She giggled softly at his reaction. "Yeah. It's the only cool thing I can do... It's not that hard really."

She gripped him tighter when she felt him stumble. "Are you alright?" She smiled softly and glanced up at him. "Tell you what, Taibshe. If you tell me what your magic is I'll tell you about mine. Does that sound fair?"

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse chuckled and nodded. "Alright, that's fair."

He took a moment to think of the proper words as he walked with her. "I'm a vampire, so my power is based in a sanguine nature. If I taste someone's blood, I get a vision. Either of the person's past, or their future. Usually just lasts a moment or two, but it's enough."

[Mollie Geist]

Her brow furrowed and gasped softly. "Vision? Wait, do you see from a separate point of view or from the actual perspective of the person?" She bit her lip as her mind began to race a bit. Would be actually be able to see what she saw?

Her mind was going in so many directions that she felt her bond with her walking stick waver. She reached out and grasped it again firmly in her hand, not wanting to drop it.

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

"What I see is from the person's perspective." Taibhse looked down at her, curious at her excitement, and reached out his other hand. "Do you want me to carry that?"

"It's as if I'm living as that person for the duration of the flash. I see what they see and feel what they feel."

[Mollie Geist]

Mollie's cheeks flushed slightly, realizing how silly she must have sounded. "I-I can carry it. It's fine."

She took in a deep breath and smiled shyly up at the other boy. "So it's a bit complicated or maybe overly simple. I can't see like you do. I can only see the auras of living things. I've been like this my entire life so I've never been able to properly express what I see to the 'normal' seeing world. But if someone who sees like the rest of the world can experience what I see..." She trailed off and blushed realizing that she was rambling a bit and speaking very quickly in her excitement. "Maybe I could actually be able to learn what all these colors are called by you. I'm sorry if that's too much or if I would be imposing..." Her voice trailed off again.

She was quite for a few moments before asking softly, "Do you understand what I mean or did I go over things too quickly?"

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse patted her hand as they walked. "So you're really seeing energy from the source, instead of light reflecting off of things like a traditional retina would. That's pretty intriguing, Mollie."

He turned his gaze forward and quirked her lips to one side. She seemed to be hinting at wanting him to have a vision for her. To see what she saw so that he could be a sort of visual translator. He certainly didn't mind the idea of being able to help her, but...

How to explain the side effect? There were already several people in the school and adjacent town that he felt a soul-deep connection to, when they knew him only as The Boy That Told My Fortune That One Time. He felt deep chest pangs, down to his bones, when he saw the people he so deeply cared for regard him as nothing more than a passing acquaintance. And then there was Roo, who he was definitely friends with. She had confirmed that. But she didn't know the effect the visions had on him either, and didn't seem to understand what it did to him when she got huggy and playful.

Taibhse gulped.

[Mollie Geist]

Mollie could feel the air around them shift. Her peach lips turned slightly at the corners, making her face more concerned than a frown. She could feel what his answer was probably going to be.

She looked down for a moment, trying not to let herself be discouraged. She was asking a lot and he had no obligation to her. She released her walking stick, her mind stable enough to maintain the connection again.

She looked up at Taibhse with a soft smile and patted his arm. "It's okay. You don't have to. It was too much for me to ask. I just got so caught up in everything. You are kind but you appear to also be burdened by many things." She made a soft giggle. "Besides you just met me, so... I can understand."

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse grumbled. "It's not that I don't want to help you. I would love to, in fact."

He looked down at her. "There's just a side-effect to the connections that I get from the visions that end up bothering me over time. It was easier to handle when I was travelling around, but the constant movement also made it hard to make friends. So It's always going to be one or the other for me."

[Mollie Geist]

Millie's brow furrowed a bit and her lower lip pouted out slightly, trying to understand. "Well, I don't want you to do anything that would be difficult or harmful for you." She managed a soft genuine smile and gave his arm a gentile squeeze. "Even though we just met, I would like to be your friend. It would probably be for the best if we got to know each other a bit more before we try any vision seeing anyway, right?"

She gestured to the walking stick that was gently hovering next to her. "I never explained this to you. I can attach my aura to a few inanimate objects and make them move as long as it's close-ish to me." She giggled softly. "That's the closest thing to a power that I have and it's not very impressive. I mostly use it to make some of my dolls dance." Her cheeks flushed a bit, admitting that she still played with child toys. "I used to be by myself a lot when I was younger and they were my only friends. So, I suppose we are similar in the friend aspect." She looked up at him with a soft smile.

[Taibhse Steiner-Finlay]

Taibhse beamed at the offer. "I'd like that alot, Mollie."

A nod. "Aye, we're very similar. Ma used to take old ball-jointed dolls, clean them up, and modify them. They were gorgeous." He chuckled. "I used to get in a lot of trouble for playing with them. And by used to, I mean when I go home for the summers."

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