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She scratched her head, watching him in silence. She leaned her cheek on her hand, wondering why he'd woken up if he wasn't going to say anything. She got up, feeling like she could go back to sleep and not wake up for several years. She got up, looking at Aaron.
"So... what do you play?" she asked, curious. If she was awake, she might as well find out what this guy was like.

"Unconventional," Avery smiled, then stretched. She shook her feet out, noticing they were incredibly cold. She knelt before a suitcase, opening it up before searching in it for her favorite slippers. She something resembling the item she was looking for, but it was just a regular sock monkey.
She bit her lip, hiding it again under her clothes. She decided that it was a bad idea to bring her grandmother's favorite stuffed animal to boarding school. She'd forgotten what its name was, except it was named after a famous African American. She found the sock monkey slippers instead and slipped those on.

"Surprisingly, I think that I understand. Constantly striving to reach his ever higher expectations has gained you more than resting on your laurels under excessive, albeit well deserved, praise. My experience was entirely different." Edward opens his mouth as if to continue, then thinks better of it. Instead of explaining his own situation, he simply ended with "I am an only child; I have no siblings to offer their opinions one way or another."

Edward considered to himself that this duet experience was quite pleasing. He almost wondered why he had avoided it before. It was perhaps the most comfortably intimate he had ever been with anyone. That thought led him to realizing there was no less disturbing way to word the connection he felt. It was intimacy, after a fashion. Just not the sort that required them to be any nearer to one another than their notes could reach.

Edward was quiet for a long moment after Serena's comment. To never be alone was certainly a perk he would have appreciated. And yet, what cause did he have to complain? He had no siblings, but beyond that he had everything. Feeling sorry for himself... how self centered and pathetic was that? Still, Edward could not shake a lingering bit of jealousy that of all the things he had, Serena had a brother and he never did. It was not a resentful feeling, he had no reason to dislike Serena, but he did dislike being alone.

As Serena's playing took a different direction, Edward followed her lead without giving it much thought. The transition was almost as smooth as if they had planned it ahead of time. And yet their sounds were still different, a joining of two separate worlds. He finally spoke. "I think I should like to meet your brother sometime." He did not know why he'd said it, but realized it was true. He did want to meet this person.

Edward was very aware of Serena's small slip, the way she turned to look at him after and her short answer. He wondered if perhaps she was opposed to it. Edward usually only missed a note if someone greatly embarrassed him, though he supposed a sudden enough shock would do the same. Deciding he was not sure which was the case for Serena, he took her answer at face value, but knew he would not press her about it. All in due time, if at all. Besides, the music had changed once more and Edward had to smile as he recognized music that was essentially his own, but first kissed by Serena's fingertips. It was a novel experience and one he was all too glad to lose himself to for several minutes. But all good things must come to an end, he reasoned reluctantly. he had enjoyed this time with Serena much more than he could have expected; best to close on that note. And so he finally ended their dance of song, gradually.

[[ 'ooc I'm not so sure where everyone went off to... Maybe I should issue PMs? ]]

When she felt him beginning to end the song, she too, trickled off, a light fingering of piano keys back and forth, the end to a beautiful dance and she paused a moment, savoring the last bits of sounds that reverberated off the walls and back to her own ears. Turning her head, she looked at Edward once more and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... For that small slip up," she apologized with a small blush on her cheeks. "All in all, I quite enjoyed our dance. You are, indeed, a very good partner," she said with a smile and a nod of the head.

Serena smiled at him, laughing a bit. Time quite enjoyably spent, indeed. "Yes, well, perhaps I can talk my brother into playing with us next time. He always loves to improvise every now and then..." she said with a nod of her head as she pulled her hands away from the piano, the tingling urge to play still nagging at her. Such were the ways of her playing. She would play forever if she could, never stopping to eat or sleep if it were allowed.

The notion of playing a different instrument got her excited, and she nodded her head happily. "That would be fun," she said with a smile on her face. "I have a guitar... and a violin..." she said with a laugh. she was, if she thought about it, a music freak... And if things kept going the way they were, she always would be.