Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Scene is the Silver Fangs' new temporary abode.
Seated, or more like slumped, at the piano, Kasia lays with her head on the keys, resting her cheeks against them as she stares at the seemingly endless rows of white and black before her. Looking rather lethargic but content, the girl has one hand on the keys before her eyes, watching her fingers as she plays seven notes of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata over and over again in a slow, lazy manner. A smile seems to permanently curl her lips upwards blissfully, almost beautifully for the girl.
The door opens quietly, closes. Into the music room, as quietly as the door despite her usual footwear of heavy boots, comes Clemency. For a moment she looks at Kasia from behind with an expression beyond description, then she walks quietly round the piano. At the next pause in the music, she smiles at Kasia. "Beautiful technique, as ever."
Blinking up at the sound of someone's voice, Kasia hesitates as it takes a moment for her eyes to focus before her smile broadens even more, "Clemency! ...I wanted to give you something." With that, Kasia reaches under the piano and pulls out a small plastic shopping bag she must have stuffed under there. Digging through it, she pulls out a bobblehead of Xena the warrior princess; "I saw this at the store while last weekend, reminded me of you. So strong but such a...princess." She crinkles her nose affectionately at that before shoving the gift towards Clemency.
Clemency stares at the figure, dumbstruck, a moment. "Oh, wow. You... rock, Kas." She sets the figure down, very carefully, on the piano lid. "Princess, huh? Well, maybe, maybe." She pauses, lost for words. "Look, honey. I, uh. Have a message for you," she presses on, "from, uh, from Tobin." She stops there and awaits a reaction.
A crooked little smile creeps onto Kasia's lips at Clemency's reaction to her gift, "I gave Jervis a Bobby Brown bobble my first day here. There is something about bobbles, they never say no." Trailing off to stare at Xena warrior princess, Kasia finally reaches out to tap the head, forcing the figurine to nod away with its never-ending plastic grin. However, Clemency's comment drags the girl's attention from the bobble to blink at the woman slowly. "Tobin?" Her grin broadens as her face brightens, "The wiley ol' fox, what did he say?"
Clemency gives a somewhat forced smile. "He's sorry he's not seen you for a while," she says, measuring out her words carefully like a cook measuring ingredients into some great culinary enterprise. "He hopes to catch up with you very soon. He misses your music." Clemency reaches into a pocket. "So I thought I'd do something for him... have you ever been recorded, Kas?" She pulls out a small recorder.
Staring at the recording for a long time, Kasia slowly tilts her head before she sniffs, her face flushing before she smirks lightly, "Yea, yea I'd like that very much. He would like it too. Maybe you should make a copy for Jana, put some more culture into that party-animal." Bobbing her head, almost in unison with the nodding head, the girl turns to face the piano more fully; "I've changed, Clemency, haven't I? I don't think I'm the same girl anymore." Bracing her fingers on the keys, Kasia keeps her eyes on the recorder to wait for Clemency's indication, "Which piece do you think?"
Clemency places the recorder very carefully on top of the piano next to Xena. "Depends on how energetic a mood you're in," she muses. "You play Beethoven's sonatas wonderfully, but if you're feeling fiery, Chopin or one of the romantics might be nice... This thing'll record well over an hour's worth so you could even play more than one. It's your call. You know Tobin and Jana so much better than me."
"Yes, but Tobin can be rather finicky, depending on which personality is dominant. I think Sasha is more of a Barry White kind of guy, if he knew who Barry White was." Kasia actually seems to perk up at the idea of playing for an audience, adding a bit more energy to her lethargic movements, although they still seem slow and spacey. She takes a moment to think over her song before a slow, small and sincere smile curve her lips as she stands up to open the piano bench and pull out a few sheets of music, placing them before her, "Lets see how you feel about Mr. Rach." With that the girl starts to play Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto in clear, beautiful tones. It is a well-practiced piece, the pages are all but torn up from how many times she must have handled it.
Clemency starts the recorder as Kasia prepares to play, and stands there rapt as the musical notes cascade around the room. By the time Kasia's well into the piece, Clemency's eyes are as dreamy as any expression ever seen on Kasia's face, and she seems completely lost in the music. At the end, she sighs slowly and clicks off the recording, moist-eyed. "That was so beautiful."
Removing her hands from the piano once the final note has died and Clemency stops the recording, Kasia places them primly on her lap as she stares at the keys. "Don't tell anyone, but it's the piece I hear most often at night. I do love it, and...It's wonderful to have someone who could appreciate it." With that, the girl raises her eyes up to the Garou, "Thank you, Clemency."
Clemency places her finger to her lips. "Won't tell a soul," she promises. "Word of a Silver Fang." She takes a hesitant step towards Kasia, then a second. "Kasia... d'you remember something you said to me, a little while ago?"
At the promise, Kasia lets out a quiet snicker before tilting her head once more, "Not exactly, I have said quite a few things a while ago." The kinfolk peers at Clemency inquistively, raising one eyebrow as she does so, "What did I say?"
An embarrassed expression comes over Clemency's face. "Well... you said I was... beautiful. I think you wanted to... kiss me." She takes a third step closer.
A look of understanding dawns on Kasia before she grins once more, "You are beautiful. Very beautiful." Watching Clemency as she steps forward, Kasia slowly rises up to her own feet. "And so strong. I wish I had your strength."
Clemency hesitates a second more, then throwing caution to the winds, meets Kasia as she stands and wraps her arms round her. "Gotta be strong," she says softly. "Weak garou... no good to anyone." And then, looking into Kasia's eyes, she seeks to give her the kiss which she avoided on the previous occasion she spoke of.
The girl actually hesitates for a moment, her whole body tensing as if ready to flee the unexpected touch. However, Kasia breaks her own spell as she reaches out to meet Clemency's kiss, open and unabashed. She attempts to press her lips firmly to the other woman's as she leans closer, her own eyes half-lidded in contentment.
Clemency holds the kiss for several long seconds before breaking, more for breath than for anything else. "Kasia?" she whispers, then. "Kas... play something for me? Just for me?"
Blinking her eyes open, Kasia stares at Clemency, as if fighting through another daze before she reaches up, standing on her tip toes in attempt to kiss Clemency's forehead. Taking a step back, the girl retakes her seat at the piano bench before she stares at the keys for a long moment in thought. Finally, she glances up at Clemency and smiles once more, "Only for you." With that she starts Mozart's Piano Concerto 27.
Clemency walks round and stands behind Kasia as she retakes her seat at the stool and the music recommences. Although the pianist won't notice this unless she turns around, tears are beginning to flow down the ahroun's face unchecked and her fists are clenched into tight knots as the creation of a mind dead for more than two hundred years fills the music room. Clemency's jaw is set in determination as she listens, and her eyes are fixed on Kasia through the tears.
The Silver Fang Kin doesn't notice, her concentration is fully on the music, on her own little haven as she plays from memory. Her fingers fly over the keys lightly, almost dainty with the short, light notes and strong melody. Kasia's eyes half-lid once more as her head moves with the music, getting swept away by the sounds that she manages to create and breathe life into.
Clemency remains in her position behind Kasia as the Mozart concerto progresses, and reaches its flourish of a conclusion. "Wonderful!" she exclaims with a sob as the last chord fades, placing her hands on Kasia's shoulders gently. "Wonderful... wonderful..." And then her hand moves swiftly from the pianist's shoulder to her chin, and without warning Clemency jerks Kasia's head back sharply, using all the strength which Kasia was admiring only a few minutes ago. The last echoes of the music which remain in the room are replaced by the sound of an ugly crack as Kasia's neck breaks.
She wasn't expecting it, she didn't see it coming, nothing but music until the very end. Kasia's body falls limp, sliding down, broken, dead.
Clemency holds onto the body. In fact she clutches it like a shipwrecked sailor with a lifebelt, lifting it away from the piano and onto the floor where she sinks down with the dead woman, cradling the corpse in her arms, tears cascading from her eyes. "Forgive me..." she whispers to dead ears. "Forgive me, Kasia, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me." And as minutes lengthen into hours and Kasia's body slowly cools into the pallor of death, Clemency sits there still, holding the dead woman, sobbing, begging for forgiveness into ears that will never again hear words, or music, or anything else in the world.
Seated, or more like slumped, at the piano, Kasia lays with her head on the keys, resting her cheeks against them as she stares at the seemingly endless rows of white and black before her. Looking rather lethargic but content, the girl has one hand on the keys before her eyes, watching her fingers as she plays seven notes of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata over and over again in a slow, lazy manner. A smile seems to permanently curl her lips upwards blissfully, almost beautifully for the girl.
The door opens quietly, closes. Into the music room, as quietly as the door despite her usual footwear of heavy boots, comes Clemency. For a moment she looks at Kasia from behind with an expression beyond description, then she walks quietly round the piano. At the next pause in the music, she smiles at Kasia. "Beautiful technique, as ever."
Blinking up at the sound of someone's voice, Kasia hesitates as it takes a moment for her eyes to focus before her smile broadens even more, "Clemency! ...I wanted to give you something." With that, Kasia reaches under the piano and pulls out a small plastic shopping bag she must have stuffed under there. Digging through it, she pulls out a bobblehead of Xena the warrior princess; "I saw this at the store while last weekend, reminded me of you. So strong but such a...princess." She crinkles her nose affectionately at that before shoving the gift towards Clemency.
Clemency stares at the figure, dumbstruck, a moment. "Oh, wow. You... rock, Kas." She sets the figure down, very carefully, on the piano lid. "Princess, huh? Well, maybe, maybe." She pauses, lost for words. "Look, honey. I, uh. Have a message for you," she presses on, "from, uh, from Tobin." She stops there and awaits a reaction.
A crooked little smile creeps onto Kasia's lips at Clemency's reaction to her gift, "I gave Jervis a Bobby Brown bobble my first day here. There is something about bobbles, they never say no." Trailing off to stare at Xena warrior princess, Kasia finally reaches out to tap the head, forcing the figurine to nod away with its never-ending plastic grin. However, Clemency's comment drags the girl's attention from the bobble to blink at the woman slowly. "Tobin?" Her grin broadens as her face brightens, "The wiley ol' fox, what did he say?"
Clemency gives a somewhat forced smile. "He's sorry he's not seen you for a while," she says, measuring out her words carefully like a cook measuring ingredients into some great culinary enterprise. "He hopes to catch up with you very soon. He misses your music." Clemency reaches into a pocket. "So I thought I'd do something for him... have you ever been recorded, Kas?" She pulls out a small recorder.
Staring at the recording for a long time, Kasia slowly tilts her head before she sniffs, her face flushing before she smirks lightly, "Yea, yea I'd like that very much. He would like it too. Maybe you should make a copy for Jana, put some more culture into that party-animal." Bobbing her head, almost in unison with the nodding head, the girl turns to face the piano more fully; "I've changed, Clemency, haven't I? I don't think I'm the same girl anymore." Bracing her fingers on the keys, Kasia keeps her eyes on the recorder to wait for Clemency's indication, "Which piece do you think?"
Clemency places the recorder very carefully on top of the piano next to Xena. "Depends on how energetic a mood you're in," she muses. "You play Beethoven's sonatas wonderfully, but if you're feeling fiery, Chopin or one of the romantics might be nice... This thing'll record well over an hour's worth so you could even play more than one. It's your call. You know Tobin and Jana so much better than me."
"Yes, but Tobin can be rather finicky, depending on which personality is dominant. I think Sasha is more of a Barry White kind of guy, if he knew who Barry White was." Kasia actually seems to perk up at the idea of playing for an audience, adding a bit more energy to her lethargic movements, although they still seem slow and spacey. She takes a moment to think over her song before a slow, small and sincere smile curve her lips as she stands up to open the piano bench and pull out a few sheets of music, placing them before her, "Lets see how you feel about Mr. Rach." With that the girl starts to play Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto in clear, beautiful tones. It is a well-practiced piece, the pages are all but torn up from how many times she must have handled it.
Clemency starts the recorder as Kasia prepares to play, and stands there rapt as the musical notes cascade around the room. By the time Kasia's well into the piece, Clemency's eyes are as dreamy as any expression ever seen on Kasia's face, and she seems completely lost in the music. At the end, she sighs slowly and clicks off the recording, moist-eyed. "That was so beautiful."
Removing her hands from the piano once the final note has died and Clemency stops the recording, Kasia places them primly on her lap as she stares at the keys. "Don't tell anyone, but it's the piece I hear most often at night. I do love it, and...It's wonderful to have someone who could appreciate it." With that, the girl raises her eyes up to the Garou, "Thank you, Clemency."
Clemency places her finger to her lips. "Won't tell a soul," she promises. "Word of a Silver Fang." She takes a hesitant step towards Kasia, then a second. "Kasia... d'you remember something you said to me, a little while ago?"
At the promise, Kasia lets out a quiet snicker before tilting her head once more, "Not exactly, I have said quite a few things a while ago." The kinfolk peers at Clemency inquistively, raising one eyebrow as she does so, "What did I say?"
An embarrassed expression comes over Clemency's face. "Well... you said I was... beautiful. I think you wanted to... kiss me." She takes a third step closer.
A look of understanding dawns on Kasia before she grins once more, "You are beautiful. Very beautiful." Watching Clemency as she steps forward, Kasia slowly rises up to her own feet. "And so strong. I wish I had your strength."
Clemency hesitates a second more, then throwing caution to the winds, meets Kasia as she stands and wraps her arms round her. "Gotta be strong," she says softly. "Weak garou... no good to anyone." And then, looking into Kasia's eyes, she seeks to give her the kiss which she avoided on the previous occasion she spoke of.
The girl actually hesitates for a moment, her whole body tensing as if ready to flee the unexpected touch. However, Kasia breaks her own spell as she reaches out to meet Clemency's kiss, open and unabashed. She attempts to press her lips firmly to the other woman's as she leans closer, her own eyes half-lidded in contentment.
Clemency holds the kiss for several long seconds before breaking, more for breath than for anything else. "Kasia?" she whispers, then. "Kas... play something for me? Just for me?"
Blinking her eyes open, Kasia stares at Clemency, as if fighting through another daze before she reaches up, standing on her tip toes in attempt to kiss Clemency's forehead. Taking a step back, the girl retakes her seat at the piano bench before she stares at the keys for a long moment in thought. Finally, she glances up at Clemency and smiles once more, "Only for you." With that she starts Mozart's Piano Concerto 27.
Clemency walks round and stands behind Kasia as she retakes her seat at the stool and the music recommences. Although the pianist won't notice this unless she turns around, tears are beginning to flow down the ahroun's face unchecked and her fists are clenched into tight knots as the creation of a mind dead for more than two hundred years fills the music room. Clemency's jaw is set in determination as she listens, and her eyes are fixed on Kasia through the tears.
The Silver Fang Kin doesn't notice, her concentration is fully on the music, on her own little haven as she plays from memory. Her fingers fly over the keys lightly, almost dainty with the short, light notes and strong melody. Kasia's eyes half-lid once more as her head moves with the music, getting swept away by the sounds that she manages to create and breathe life into.
Clemency remains in her position behind Kasia as the Mozart concerto progresses, and reaches its flourish of a conclusion. "Wonderful!" she exclaims with a sob as the last chord fades, placing her hands on Kasia's shoulders gently. "Wonderful... wonderful..." And then her hand moves swiftly from the pianist's shoulder to her chin, and without warning Clemency jerks Kasia's head back sharply, using all the strength which Kasia was admiring only a few minutes ago. The last echoes of the music which remain in the room are replaced by the sound of an ugly crack as Kasia's neck breaks.
She wasn't expecting it, she didn't see it coming, nothing but music until the very end. Kasia's body falls limp, sliding down, broken, dead.
Clemency holds onto the body. In fact she clutches it like a shipwrecked sailor with a lifebelt, lifting it away from the piano and onto the floor where she sinks down with the dead woman, cradling the corpse in her arms, tears cascading from her eyes. "Forgive me..." she whispers to dead ears. "Forgive me, Kasia, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me." And as minutes lengthen into hours and Kasia's body slowly cools into the pallor of death, Clemency sits there still, holding the dead woman, sobbing, begging for forgiveness into ears that will never again hear words, or music, or anything else in the world.
