Ongaku

[Maxpphire]

After quite some time has past since he last visit he made it back to the bar. He had since been altered more, and thus may come off as more angelic to others, to the point where even sensing his aura before hand would have made him seem like he's a different person before than he was now, despite being the same otherwise. He's made a new friend at a museum, possibly getting her entangled in the mess of what his life had become. He's encountered Sam at work for the first time since Sam had stopped responding to him those many weeks ago that now almost seems longer than that.

All the stressed seemed to eat away at his stomach, making it hard for him to eat, this time him starting to lose weight again at no fault of his own. He wasn't a thin as he used to be before he met Sam, but it's apparent that he's lost weight if not still losing weight. He wanted to do something, anything to ease the stress and almost headed back to the White Rabbit, but realized that was a bad idea. They were likely to kick him out again, or worse, they would do something bad to him as Drew mentioned. Not like he could play the Piano there anymore anyway.

Thats when the idea hit him to go back to An Tsi. He remembered they did have a piano on a stage that seemed mostly untouched, and if they refused to let him play, then he would just drink. He wanted to lean away from drinking tonight given the stomach issues that have been plaguing him as of late as he didn't want to make that worse. It was bad enough that those with a keen sense of smell could probably smell blood on his breath, almost as if he was a vampire but not nearly that strong of a scent.

When he walked in, he made his way to the counter to speak to either Theo or Rohan. It had been a few weeks since their last encounter and since he was drunk for most of it, he wasn't sure who of the two he approached.

"Hey, uhhh I've noticed you have a Piano on the stage over there," he seemed a bit timid, "I've been playing since I was a toddler, would you mind if I provide some background music?" He smiled, hopeful for a positive response, but if not already had his next one in mind.

[ChordTerias]

It was a slower night, so Theo was lost in their thoughts. Alois sat alone at a corner table, his normal exuberance tempered by the third glass of vodka he was nursing.

Edgar’s health was deteriorating faster than it had when they first came to the city, and Alois had become (justifiably) more worried. They pinched the bridge of their nose, I’ll just double my visits every week until it starts to turn around. I hope that’ll be enough, but I really don’t want to lose him yet. They felt Rohan tug at the back of their mind and they shook their head. There was a solution to their problem. One might even call it simple. Rohan was ready any time. The thought made Theo’s stomach churn, though.

As the An Tsi is wont to do, a welcome distraction presented itself. And what a distraction it was. The stranger in front of them was gaunt, looks bordering on sickly. Definitely looking far from human. Uhhh. Theo smiled in greeting. Is this what vamps look like when they have gone a while without feeding? Rohan prickled at the thought, placing himself in between the stranger and Alois. He slowly began gravitating towards the bar to examine the stranger and make sure they weren’t a threat to Theo or the patrons. Recognition spread and he shook his head towards Theo. He’s not a vampire, I drank with him before. Part angel due to some experimentation, from what I gathered. The pair surveyed him, noting that he definitely appeared more alien, at very least. Harmless? Theo sat an empty glass in front of Dreki. Rohan nodded, returning his attention to Alois, who took his hand when he sat back down.

“I hate to disappoint,” a sheepish grin spread across their face, “but the piano doesn’t even have strings to tune yet.” They motion over towards Alois, “The gentleman who gifted me the bar had it installed, but is incredibly particular about what goes into it.” They shook their head with a smile. “He literally is waiting for them to be custom-made from a specific city from his home country.”

“Now, on another note, you don’t look so hot!” Theo put it simply. “Let’s get you something to settle that stomach then see about some food, huh?” Theo tapped their nose knowingly at their diagnosis. “How do you like peppermint?”

[Maxpphire]

A mild disappointment crossed his face when they had explained why, but it made sense to him. Taking care of the piano in such a way was understandable and respectable to him, as he likes to make sure the instruments are well taken care of, why would he be surprised if someone else wanted that too? He was about to ask for something strong when Theo brought up settling his stomach and then eating something. It had been a day or two since his interaction with Sam at the Library, Sam suggested see go to a hospital, here was a Bartender also acknowledging that he wasn't feeling that great, was it really that noticable?

"Oh, I do fine with peppermint," his tone was wary and tired, as if he wasn't sure what to expect drink wise from Theo, like he may have had a not pleasurable experience before. Not like it was exactly terrible becoming sober before he was ready to that one time, but it wasn't as helping at that time either. "I was going to ask for something strong, been a stressful time for me, but you are correct in my stomach bothering me, how were you able to tell?" He asked actually unaware of the fact that he was bleeding. He sat down at the bar, on a stool, figuring he was going to stay for a while anyway.

[ChordTerias]

Theo grinned, their voice dropping low so that others couldn't hear, "Rohan isn't the only one with some magic to him." They waggled their eyebrows as they mixed together a mojito using a strange purple peppermint plant, and grabbed some berries from the vine. They rinsed the berries and placed them in a dish beside the drink. "Dip 'em, mix 'em, pop 'em in your mouth plain -- about five of those should fix a thing or two."

They poured a few other drinks for Rohan to come collect. He offered a smile in greeting to Dreki as he passed by, concern on his face as he assessed his condition in kind. "Eat the berries." His words were curt, but not unkind, looking almost paternal as he stalked away across the bar.

When Dreki looked to Theo, they were snickering under their breath -- clearly the less mature of the pair. They covered up their amusement with a question as they mixed themselves a drink, "Where'd you learn music?"

[Maxpphire]

He had watched Theo make his drink and prepare the berries before they were sat down in front of him, as while he couldn't see the labels on the mixing bottles, let alone read anything 2D, but it helped him feel better in regards to the distrust over the drinks Theo made for him. When Rohan passed by and said to eat the berries, he felt a little better but still cautious. He took a sip of his drink, and to him it tasted like a Mojito mostly, it was slightly elevated in taste but he couldn't quite describe it beyond that. The berries had a similar taste but sweeter. He felt the effects pretty quickly, he felt relaxed, his stomach not feeling so bad, and he felt a bit more at ease with continuing to drink and eat the food, but he was slow at it, given his upset stomach.

"With a private tutor as a child. My mom suggested it as a way to give me a hobby given how strict my dad was with me. He agreed it was a good idea and as I got older, I would try and learn different instruments, but I started with Piano." He answered, opening up a bit, as he did feel safe inside the building otherwise despite the caution with the food and drinks. He had a bit more of a quiet tone to his voice, he felt a bit shy.

[ChordTerias]

Theo cringed playfully at Dreki, "Sounds like you had a good experience with private tutors! Mine were all..." Theo paused for a moment, grabbing a pen and drawing a fake mustache on her index finger. They placed the fake mustache under their nose, "No THEO, you must sit up properly. No, THEO, you may not use your instrument as a weapon. NO, THEO, YOU MAY NOT SET THE CASTLE ON FIRE JUST BECAUSE YOU MISSED A NOTE." Theo put on an accent that mocked a prim and proper British woman as they spoke.

They noted as Dreki ate the last berry, and waited for the magic to take effect. It had already begun to bring some small measure of the life back to his cheeks and the dark circles beneath his eyes, but the true treat had yet to come.

[Maxpphire]

He chuckled as Theo had described their experiences with private tutors. Sounded like Theo was quite the child growing up, an experience he wasn't even afforded to have.

"It was my escape I guess now thinking on it," he said thoughtfully, "If I had threaten to set the house on fire because I wasn't doing good, not only would I be punished for such a thing, but my dad probably would have used that to take music away from me. Not that he minded so much once I started to get good, but if I showed any form of negative emotion to anything at all, he would, well, I wouldn't be allowed to do whatever it was that caused me to feel that way." He explained as he leaned forward onto the bar itself when he heard a noise as he pressed down weight. He jumped not having expected that, but when looking down, he saw the outline of piano keys. He looked at Theo with a sense of thankful wonderment.

He started off with a small tempo di valse to warm up his hands. After that he played something much slower not too concerned with how this looked to others, after all, it was nice to just be able to play something.

"Can anyone else hear this?" He asked Theo while still playing the second song. Talking didn't break his ability to play any at all.

[ChordTerias]

Theo beamed, glad that Dreki was enjoying the gift as much as they had hoped.

"Rohan and I can hear you. I think there's a nymph at the back of the bar who can hear it faintly, but they look pretty confused to me." They shrugged, cleaning a glass as they caught a break in between orders. "Besides, I figure pretty much everyone who comes here is tuned into their own issues, and not paying much attention outside of it." They grinned as they prepared another set of orders, "That's usually the way of bar life, from what I understand, at least."

They looked to Dreki, contemplative. "I guess I was lucky in that sense, then. My father didn't have the time to be present as much -- it was mostly retainers and such that did his dirty work for him. I think you can understand the feeling of never really being able to do anything without him knowing, though, and that was all to familiar to me, as well."