fiddlestick | Overflow

[The college campus was a favorite spot for Ava to listen to music as she passes by the many outlines surrounding her. From the way she was moving, it was clear she was avoiding them by moving her head, closing her eyes, and other little tricks to retain her sanity.

So when she notices the very few humans that were actually one, it was difficult to keep her distance due to her interest in meeting new people that were in the same predicament as her. His next question and promise was enough to convince her on silencing her phone just for him.]

That depends. Are you thinking of asking for story requests or offering to sing your own tune?

[Yes. She just made a somewhat music pun there. Not very creative, but enough to get her to blurt it out without shame.]

[Ava wasn't someone he's met before, but if he could see her fully, that must mean she's an app user right? so he gives her a smile, and even chuckles slightly at the music pun. Because yes, he likes those]

Haha, well I was offering...but if you have a story you wanna tell, I could be music accompaniment?

[There may be some silence as she ponders on the type of story she would want to tell while hearing music accompaniment to go with it. What was her favorite story of all time? There was only one she could think of, but.]

I have a favorite childhood fairytale I used to read a lot as a kid. It was one my mom hated, but I loved it all the same.

[She smiles fondly at the memory for a bit.]

Do you know of a Russian fairytale known as Vasilisa the Beautiful?

[There's a smile that tugs on his lips in amusement of hearing her mom hated it. Must be a really impactful story if a mother's dislike couldn't deter her]

Vasilia the Beautiful... I don't think I have.

But I'd like to hear it!

I'll give you non-tldr version then!

[Ava begins to explain the story was 12 pages long filled with very colorful pictures.]

The story begins with a dying mother's final wish as a lifetime blessing to her daughter in the form of a small doll. She instructed to feed the doll pieces of food and whatever she wished for will become a reality as long as she kept her hidden from everyone. Including her dad!

[Ava goes on to explain the rest of the story about the ways the doll would protect Vasilia from all hardships -- be it emotional or literal. Vasilia was forced to go through a forest, rumored to have a man-eating witch known as Baba Yaga, to fetch some candlelight after the family ran out. It was all a plan from the stepmother and stepsisters to kill Vasilia without dirtying their hands, but unbeknownst to them Vasilia was protected by the little doll. Baba Yaga found Vasilia and grew curious of the girl, so she decided to offer her the candlelight in exchange for completing a number of chores in three nights time. Vasilia completed them all with the help of her doll. Baba Yaga's curiosity and hunger for Vasilia was so great that she began to ask her the secret behind completing the tasks.]

Vasilia explains to the witch that "her mother's blessing" was the cause behind completing her impossible tasks! Baba Yaga grows so disgusted by her response that she offers her the promised candlelight and asked her to leave her sight! Vasilia's candle is in the form of a skull! So when she returns to her step family, they were all terrified by the light she had brought that the skull candle grew insulted by them and burnt them alive, leaving Vasilia alone. She buries the skull candle in the forest and returns to her old home to find her father had found his way back to her.

[Since her father was a businessman and had to leave for a very long period of time in which the stepmother had burned all of his letters to make Vasilia believed she was abandoned.]

Afterwards, Vasilia marries a Russian prince and they live happily ever after!

[All said quite proudly, finding the ending to be a little cliche, but she supposes it can't be helped when it is a fairy-tale for kids.]

[ Elliot listens to the story attentively. It's a fairy tale he hadn't heard before, so he's not sure what to expect. But as he listens, he seems to also be lost in thought and idly plucking at the guitar strings, as if trying to envision the right melody for this tale. A warm and soothing melody for the mother and doll, sinister themes in minor key for the stepmother, an uneasy melody for Baba Yaga that grows in discord as time goes on...

Eventually he seems to grow unsatisfied with using the guitar for this. He puts the guitar down gently and reaches down to his stuff. He pulls out a strange green and silver violin. Yeah, he was a lot more comfortable playing on this. Violin is much more fitting for russian fairytales anyway. And so as she continues the tale, he'll play a bit of experimental melody to fit the mood. It's no concrete piece yet, he's just testing things. Still, it's easy to tell he's skilled with the violin.

When she finishes, he'll lower the violin to applaud]

Bravo! That was a really good story!

[It was new, unexplored territory to be able to tell a story with music in the background. The experience will slightly intimidate her by making her feel self-conscious as it reminds her of her inability to sing, dance, or learn to play the instrument as her mother always wanted; having to accept her talent relying more in athleticism side of things. Even so, she found the tunes he would create with a simple guitar to be quite beautiful and became all the more gorgeous once he switched to a more appropriate instrument -- a violin.

Although, at first, it was difficult to tell if it even was one because the design and appearance was one she has never witnessed before in her life. It was beautiful, and yet it didn't feel like the word was enough to offer it the proper justice to describe it. So once she was through with telling the story, she will be left smiling bashfully before shaking her head a little.]

No, no! I think the true star of this show was you. If anything else, I should be the one applauding and offering my own "bravo"!

[Which she does happily, without a second thought.]

It was a lot of fun! I only wished I had brought the storybook because I think the music would make a better match to it than just me telling it. [A pause; her gaze turning to the instrument.] Is that a violin, by any chance?

[he laughs and turns a little pink in the face, slightly embarrassed]

O-Oh, uh, thanks! You don't have to though...

[It was just a good way for him to interact with the story. So much of what he played needed finetuning, and he was well aware of that]

Haha, I guess but you still did a great job telling it straight from memory! It felt like a full story.

[But oh attention on his violin. He glances at it and nods]

Yeah, it is. It's a little strange looking, I have more normal looking violins back home.

Of course! That story is my all time favorite. There is no other way to tell it than the true version, in my opinion. It has the same vibe as the Grimm brother's story style, but I feel this version does it justice.

[She really does wholeheartedly love the story. It was one of the few vivid memories she had from her childhood that she felt like an actual kid and her motivations to place her entire being into whatever project she had to work on.]

Oh, don't be rude to your partner! I wouldn't consider its' design to be strange. Cool would be a better description for it! Kinda looks like a pimped out sports car if you want an added comparison.

[All the same she can't help admire it, giving it a good look, pondering about it.]

The sound you made with it was a really nice sound. I almost thought it would make a different sound. Kinda how electric violins have their own distinct sound!

Hehe, well I liked it a lot. Maybe someday you can get your book and I can hear the parts left out.

[He says it hypothetically, but he wouldn't mind hearing the story again. It'd give him a better idea of what song to compose for it too.

And aww, her scolding gets a guilty smile out of him. Clearly, this was a good person that cared about violins]

Sounds like you know a thing or two about violins.

And cool's a nice way to put it! But it's not exactly a normal violin. I got it from Retrospec, it's actually a magic staff? [He holds the violin out by it's neck, and there's a glow of light before it the neck extends into a wizard staff]

The violin part is just an extra feature. It's surprisingly good though! I mean, I don't think I'd use it for a concert, but it's nice being able to carry a violin around that's more durable than wood ones.

You got a deal! It'll be great if we can even make a small show out of it. I'd love to show this to a group of kids. Could be a fun story to perform on Halloween, even.

[She wants to spread the knowledge of her favorite heroine -- the magical doll -- to as many people as she can. Her younger self would appreciate the thought of giving some form of life to her.

An awkward laugh will be given at his assumption.]

Kinda. My mom did try to force me to take lessons. but... [She totally sucked at it.] Anyway, you should really express better pride over your partner. As a tennis player, I emphasize since I have a partner that I rely on a great deal too.

[Even if his violin was from Retrospec, was magical, and had a second form, she'd defend the item, even if it wasn't alive. But at the violin's transformation, her reaction will remain a little....quiet because....she missed its other form already. How to not....take a huge step away from him? Or look nervous? Or hope it won't attract the ghost NPC now?]

........aha, I can see why you wouldn't.... [Please don't bring supernatural items to a concert!] ...do wooden ones usually break....or something? [Changing the subject to something much normal? Sounds like a great plan!]

Hehe, that'd be really cool!

[Putting on a show like that? He'd love to do that! He loves playing for little kids, and giving them a chance to be properly exposed to more classical instruments like the violin. ]

Oh I see... [Well, it's nice to see she didn't resent the violin over it. Being "forced" to do something usually brews that. But he gives a sheepish smile at her insistence] O-Okay, I will. Don't get me wrong, I really do love all my violins, this one included.

[But oh boy does he notice the change in her when he transforms the staff. That's...strange]

Well...if it gets hit by a monster, wood ones would break pretty fast, yeah. [...] Is something wrong?

Wouldn't it!

[It'd be a more wholesome way to celebrate the holidays. She wasn't much for Halloween other for the candy, so she could get behind it. Not that she'll make plans for it though. They just met, after all.]

Never said you didn't love your violins though. Only you should have more pride for them in their place. No matter how beautiful of a sound they make, they aren't able to express themselves without you because they aren't living, but...I really do believe their users gives them life whenever you use them. I mean, we do put out heart and soul into them, right?

[That's the way she views the entire thing at the very least. She may be the most overly religious or spiritual, but whenever it comes to her tennis racket she does consider her to be her partner -- alive or not.

And unfortunately, there goes her courage to speak up her oddities because the monster subject returned and he was now curious about her reactions. There may be some embarrassment in the way she shifts her eyes away, but she wasn't one to skirt away from honest questions.]

...I never imagined you'd use your magical violin stick to battle monsters. I was...kinda trying to forget those...details. [A pause; scratching the side of her face, she'll look at the ground.] ...I'm afraid...of anything to do with the occult or supernatural, so....

Aha, you're got a good point. Alright, I'm sorry. I'll try to speak more nicely about my violins.

[He does love his violin babies, promise. Gonna treat them like he's Will Smith on the red carpet.

But oh....he sees her change in her demeanor. She's scared of anything with the occult or supernatural? That's a pretty big fear to have....]

How come?

[he says this with curiosity and concern. There's no defensiveness to his tone. he wants to understand why she's afraid]

[There may be a pause as she considers the options over telling him or not. The story she had still had a way to make the hairs on her arms stand in perfect salute. It wsn't a story for the faint of heart, she believes, but she supposes it'll be up to the other boy to decide.]

Um, it's a long story. Just that something happened in my childhood...

[She was eleven at the time of the story. With a forced grin.]

Do you wanna hear the tl;dr version or the straight to the point one?

[He moves to sit down on the ledge, to make himself comfortable. The staff gets propped up next to him]

I'll listen to whichever version you're comfortable telling.

Overflow

i

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry for late reply, i had a rough health week

it's all good! I hope you feel better

Thank you!

no subject