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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 2:40 pm
Zahneel usually didn't bother with the music rooms. She couldn't hold a note to save her life and the only instrument that she'd ever had even the fleeting-est of interest in had been the drums. But there'd been a scrap of song in one of the books she'd been studying that she was curious to hear. And since reading and playing music required musicians.
Well. For once, she had a reason to go and hunt out the music rooms.
Snorting a little, she pricked her ears, listening for voices or stray bits of music in any of the rooms. Yes, if she concentrated, she could just make out the faint sound of a piano being played. One of the teachers was probably working on something. As long as she was polite, they should see no reason to refuse her.
Marching to the door of the class, she knocked carefully before going in, "Pardon me, but I was wondering if you could help me." Yushika I like using corny mash-up songs for RP titles :B
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:06 am
Eliza is playing: Gensis
Eliza lived in the music room. Well, no, obviously she lived in the academy, but the music room was her favorite. It was the only place she legitimately felt safe in. The only place where her parents couldn't reach her. Texts could be ignored, letters would not be read. The music room was safety in a world she didn't belong in. Students didn't frequent the room, either. Not at this time of hour, at least, and not this particular music room. This one room wasn't used for classes. It was, essentially, a practice room, and not many bothered to climb the floors to reach it.
So, away she had hidden, settling herself before the piano, inhaling sharply as she set aside the worries. She wasn't allowed company, no. Her family denied her the ability to bond, mostly because Eliza was a sickly creature, and a prodigy. She was talented, yet weak, and any second her life could come crashing to an end. Her parents coveted her skill, demanding she play at more and more competitions and show the world the child they had produced. Wealth and music was all Eliza had been offered. She was forbidden to associate with other children, as they carried "filth", or so her parents claimed. The only reason she had been sent to the academy was due to the fact it was talented. The powerful came from the academy. They turned "nobodies" into "somebodies". Away she had been sent, and Eliza obeyed every command given to her. Ignore the other students, or else mother would be mad. Focus on music, unless she wished her fathers lecture. The world have become small, suffocatingly so, even, and Eliza was too trapped under the weight of expectations and worries to free herself from it.
The piano was her only solace. She was good at it. No, she was wonderful at it, and she assumed it had something to do with the fact her entire life was a cage. Music was freedom, and the only way she could express the pent up whirlwind inside her safely. Her parents would never understand the language she played through it. They'd simply smile and nod, assuming it was another song that meant nothing but notes on paper. Eliza was safe inside music, and the piano was her comfort.
She had become lost, fingers gently slipping over the keys and breaking into an explosion of emotions, her head swaying along. Suddenly, it was broken, a voice cutting through the sound, causing her fingers to abruptly, and without warning, stop. She didn't turn her head immediately, instead calmly placing her hands on her lap and releasing the breath she had frozen while succumbing to the piano and its song. Finally, she turned her head, eyes hidden under her bangs completely, hiding the fact she couldn't see in the first place. She was, after all, blind.
"What do you need?" She questioned, tilting her head ever so gently.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:31 pm
The music itself, before she'd interrupted, had been beautiful and full of more feeling than Zahneel would have ever thought could be coaxed out of a piano. Clearly she would have to revise some of her opinions on music. Later. Stepping into the classroom, she turned to the one who'd been playing, hand with the scrap of music held out slightly before stopping and frowning in dismay.
"Oh! You're not a teacher. I was hoping someone could help me with this music I found in one of my history books."
Disappointment caused her ears and tails to both lower slightly. Instead of a teacher who could help explain, all she'd found was another student. Granted, the girl played beautifully, but she wasn't likely to recognize the piece Zahneel had. Still, she didn't want to sound rude or dismissive. It wasn't the other girl's fault that she hadn't been what Zahneel had expected, after all!
"That music you were playing when I came in was one of the prettiest things I've ever heard. Did it take you very long to learn how to do it?"
There, that should be polite enough. And even if this girl wasn't a teacher, something about her kept Zahneel from simply turning and leaving the room.
"My name's Zahneel, by the by."
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:25 pm
Ah, figured. She wasn't actually needed, which was a relief, honestly. Eliza didn't need to pretend she was useful, or friendly. Or both. She had been about to turn, pausing when her music was commented on. Her fingers shifted, rolling over one another as the hybrid nodded faintly. The best compliment she could receive was one about her passion, and it showed as her tendrils fluttered in excitement for just a brief second. Ah, that felt nice to be acknowledged by another student.
"Thank you." She whispered, nodding ever so gently for a second time. She hesitated, gesturing towards the piano faintly. "I.... wrote it, technically speaking." She added, a smile almost present before she seemed to still, suddenly remembering that it was "inappropriate" to associate with other students on this level.
"I am Eliza." Names weren't forbidden, right?
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:46 am
"You... you wrote it," Zahneel repeated a little weakly. For a moment, all she could do was stand there, blinking stupidly as her brain tried to wrap itself around that one. "But... you can't be that much older than I am," she finally exclaimed, admiration and shock ringing clearly in her voice.
This was definitely more than she'd counted on today. If this girl, Eliza, wasn't lying (and there was literally no reason to think she was), then Zahneel was in the presence of an actual genius. And how many people got to meet geniuses in their lives? Sitting abruptly on the floor, the Grimm considered things for a moment.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Eliza," she said finally before laughing softly at herself. "I'd try to shake your hand, but I'm afraid that if I try to stand up right now, I'm just going to end up back on my butt and I'd rather not have hold of you at the same time and risk hurting you by accident. Have you written anything else? Will you play something for me?"
The questions had slipped out before she could control herself. But the first piece had been so pretty and even if Zahneel couldn't sing or play her way out of a paper bag, she still enjoyed listening. Besides, she was curious about Eliza and frankly, the music she'd found had waited this long. It could wait a little longer to be figured out. Eliza was a far more interesting puzzle at the moment.
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 11:37 am
Eliza heard the shock, and was that.... admiration? That wasn't an emotion she was unused to. Still, it never ceased to calm her nerves. It meant she was doing something right, at least. Her parents would be thrilled at such a response. Good. This might make her parents smile, for once.
"Likewise." Eliza countered with, nodding in greeting. Her head stayed cocked to the side slightly, listening intently to the other. Ah. She wanted more? Her tail twitched, head slightly tilting towards the piano. She wasn't supposed to talk to other students, no, but they had never forbade her to play for them. Eliza lived through music, and the request to hear more was intoxicating. Perhaps it was because she hadn't played in a competition in awhile, or maybe she was, dare she say, lonely? Either way, she returned the response with a nod, quietly placing the tips of her fingers on the keys.
"If you wish." She inhaled slowly, closing her sightless eyes for a brief second, body going stiff for just a beat before she finally settled on what to play for the curious student.
Eliza is playing: Prelude DaisyMilk Eliza, in this world, mostly plays the work from that album! She'll in the future write more things, but as this album inspired Eliza that's what, as a teenager, she has written.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 10:37 am
Resting her elbows against her knees and her chin in her hands, Zahneel sat and simply listened as the music flowed out and around the room. With eyes half closed, she gave a sigh of complete contentment as the song finished.
"Just beautiful," she murmured. "I could honestly listen to you play all day, but I suspect my teachers would end up wondering where I'd vanished to, since I'm not much for skipping classes."
A friendly chuckle burbled out of the young grimm as she shook herself slightly. Then, she fell to studying Eliza. There was something about her, something Zahneel couldn't quite put her claw on.
"Maybe you would be able to help me," she said reflectively. "I've been trying to compile notes about Grimm culture since that pack visited a while back. And I found this scrap of music in one of the books I was looking at. Would you be willing to play it? I had thought that maybe if I could hear it, I'd be able to figure out what it was for. And maybe after, we could go get lunch or something? It'd be my treat."
Smiling and tail wagging ever so slightly, Zahneel decided that she liked this odd girl. And being friends with a musician would be so interesting!
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 2:48 pm
Eliza wasn't used to playing just for comfort. The times she played was either for herself, or competitions. She didn't play for single people, and a huge reason for that was her parents disapproval. Yet, she didn't mind this. No, she liked it, perhaps. There was no pressure, no worry that she needed to perform her best or her parents would be disappointed. No fear that she might be caught. She already had been, and her founder wasn't insulting. She liked this company, though she couldn't enjoy it for long. Her parents had been very clear with her that anything not schoolwork or practice was a waste of her time.
When she finished she set her hands in her lap, head tilting towards Zahneel.
'Just beautiful.'
She had heard that plenty of times, but from someone her age? It wasn't often someone her age said something like that to her. Her competitors were either enraged, or fueled to push harder than she had. This was, honestly, a welcome change.
"Thank you." She murmured softly, keeping her head titled where she had heard Zahneel's voice come from. At the comment of help the teenager raised her head slightly, apprehensive. Was she allowed to help other students? Was this a disappointment, too?
Ah, it didn't matter, either way. Eliza shook her head softly, head turning back towards the piano. "I can't use a normal piece of paper to play, unfortunately." She began, hand raising to gentle stroke a key absently. "I lack the device that reads written word out for me, or the advanced version that creates braille. You'd need to find me a version with braille. I'm blind." She admitted, her tail twitching slightly. Was she displeased? Was the offer for lunch something she had wanted? It didn't matter, anyway. She couldn't perform her half of the bargain, that was that.
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Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 9:21 am
Had Zahneel not already been sitting on the ground, her formerly jaunty tail would have tucked down immediately at Eliza's words. Oh, stupid, stupid, she thought. That's what I sensed and couldn't figure out. Oh, idiot pup, she scolded herself silently as tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she began in a soft voice. "I didn't realize. Please forgive me for being stupid. You play so wonderfully that it never even occured to me that you couldn't see."
Carefully reaching out, she touched Eliza's arm gently, adding silent apologies to her very vocal ones. Then, because even as she was beating herself up for her assumptions, her curiosity couldn't stay still, she hesitantly ventured a question.
"Is... is it scary? Not being able to see, I mean. Or is that too personal? If so, please tell me. I honestly just want to understand."
Her stomach chose that moment to growl audibly and a kind of hiccup-y chuckle burst out of her.
"I still owe you lunch too."
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 6:47 pm
Eliza shook her head in response, hands neatly folding in her lap. "It's alright, you couldn't have known." She whispered in reply, her tendrils sputtering as a hand touched her arm. She froze, uncertainty washing through her. What... was that for? She wasn't ever touched, often told she couldn't so much as hold her mothers hand or she might grow sick. Having someone reach out and treat her as if she wasn't the fragile piece of glass her parents perceived her as was odd. Yet, she didn't pull away. The gesture was comforting, perhaps. She wasn't quite sure her feelings.
The next question confused her, briefly. That was a first. Not even her parents bothered to ask her if it was frightening. Head cocking to the side, Eliza withdrew her arm from Zahneel to gently trace the keys of the piano in thought.
"It used to be." She admitted, smiling softly. "I lost my sight at four, so, for a bit, it was frightening. I eventually grew accustomed to it." This was the most she had spoken to someone not family, leaving a brief flutter in her stomach. Was this what people did? Just.... talked?
Her head tilted to the other side at the last comment, her smile faltering before a faint laugh escaped her. "I didn't live up to my part of the deal, though."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:25 am
Sighing softly, Zahneel could only stay perfectly still and stare at Eliza in wonder. She'd been dealing with blindness since she'd been very small then. The thought of losing any of her senses terrified the young grimm, but here was someone who'd had it happen and kept on going. Even learned to play the piano.
Amazing.
"I think you're very brave," she said softly before adding with the tiniest amount of heat, "And don't you dare say you aren't. You didn't give up and that makes you brave. Your parents must be very proud of you. I would be in their shoes."
She tilted her head slightly in puzzlement at Eliza's reaction to getting lunch. As far as she was concerned, making friends with interesting people didn't require deals.
"So? I admire you and I'd like to talk more with you. What kind of awful person forces someone to hold to a deal in order to make friends? I might be a grimm, but I'm not some bullying savage, y'know."
The last was said with a hint of a laugh, though Zahneel's sincerity was unmistakable.
"The cafeteria is making hamburgers," she said in a wheedling voice. "I smelled 'em on my way up. I also smelled vegetarian chili simmering in case you don't eat meat."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:34 am
Eliza didn't respond to the brave comment, simply listening quietly and giving a small smile. Were her parents proud? When had they told her that? They used her, yes. Her parents enjoyed the attention she garnered in competitions, so that was a form of pride, right? She wasn't allowed near others, which she was breaking that rule right this moment, but... deep down, they did this because they were proud, right?
Maybe.
The grimm comment caused a brief eyebrow raise, which Zahneel couldn't see thanks to her hair. "You are a grimm, then?" She questioned softly, affirming she had heard Zahneel before her head tilted at the laughter Zahneel exposed, a smile tugging on Eliza's usually stoic face. Yet, fear flickered. The cafeteria. She wasn't allowed to eat there. Her parents would be angered, and probably ashamed. They'd find out, wouldn't they? They always did. What was she to do? If she went, she'd please the other teenager before her, but break the promise her parents had forced upon her. If she didn't, Zahneel might never return, and a part of her was curious why the grimm seemed so insistent on talking to Eliza, of all people. Eliza's mouth parted, trying to find the words before it turned into a small, unfortunate frown.
"I can't." Her voice wavered. defeat touching the gentle voice at the edges. "My family would be upset. I'm not supposed to eat around other students, or... really, be around them." Was she misbehaving by simply telling Zahneel her dilemma?
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:10 am
Moving closer, Zahneel smiled again and mentally calculated.
"I am indeed," she said, some of her former cheer returnign to her voice. "Got the ears, tail, paws and all. If you want, you can touch my ears. They're about, oh, half am arm's length from you and to the left. I'm guessing you haven't met very many of us."
It was an easy enough offer to make, after all. Eliza was blind. And from the little Zahneel knew of things, the Grimm resurgence was a fairly new thing. She may not have seen a grimm before her sight went. And on that thought ran another. The daydreams were definitely a new thing as were the naga and nekos. Eliza had never gotten a chance to see all of the interesting things happening around the Academy. Oh, the poor thing, missing out on so much.
She was shaken from her thoughts by Eliza's soft rejection. And it was an odd sounding rejection to the grimm's ears.
"What? Why?" she asked sharply. Why would it upset Eliza's family if she hung around the other students? "I'm sorry, but I don't understand at all. What if you needed help or something? How do they expect you to be able to function if you're not allowed around other people?"
There was something odd about this. Zahneel wasn't sure, but she'd thought that Eliza had been enjoying talking with her. She'd certainly enjoyed being asked to play. So, she was fairly sure that this strange view was not purely an Eliza thing.Yushika I am a terrible person and every time I type Eliza, I start singing the Schuyler Sisters
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:19 am
Ears? Eliza raised a hand, freezing it in place. Oh, how she was tempted, but it felt rude. She didn't know Zahneel, and while the grimm was offering... it felt wrong? Her hand lowered, mouth turning into a small pout as she remembered, firmly, her parents warning. Do not touch anyone.
"It's more I never know the races of people I meet." She commented, about to turn back to fuss with the piano when Zahneel's sharp response caught her off-guard, tendrils sputtering. Head turning to Zahneel, she placed her hands politely in her own lap, mouth tightening.
"I get sick fairly easily. It's how I lost my eyesight. My parents rely heavily on my ability to play piano. I'm a prodigy, and they enter me into competitions. I am expected to study, and practice piano, and that is it. That's been the agreement since I was young." She plucked at her gloves nervously, turning her head towards the piano and away from what she assumed was a disappointed Zahneel.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:40 am
A prodigy, huh? Well, after hearing Eliza play, she could certainly believe that. And she could, to a small degree, understand if her parents were relying on her talent to help them financially. But the rest...
"And what do you get out of this agreement?" she asked softly. "No offense is meant, but expecting you to work all the time and not allow you time to relax and play and have friends seems wrong to me."
Tapping her claws against the floor, she thought for a moment and then sighed.
"And you didn't answer my other question, Eliza," she said in a slightly sterner tone. "What happens if you make yourself stay apart and something happens? How do they expect you to get help if there's an accident or something and no one knows where you are or knows you well enough to care and worry if they don't see you? The teachers can't be everywhere at all times and your family certainly isn't here to pick up that slack."
More thought. If Eliza was prone to falling ill, she could understand a little standoff-ishness. But it wasn't like there wasn't a very good nurse at the school. And it really wasn't like everyone walked around without a thought for health.
"I'm quite healthy, by the way. So you don't have to worry about me making you sick. Most of the students are pretty healthy. I can understand being careful until you're sure, but... Oh," she blew out a noisy breath, not at all sure how to articulate what she was thinking. Maybe what Eliza's parents were doing was just what all parents did. Zahneel had no way of knowing since she was an orphan. But deep down in her heart and gut, she was pretty sure this wasn't how it was supposed to work.
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