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After exploring the campus, Gabrian had found that his favorite place was... just outside, near the river. This came as no big surprise to him, since after all, he was well aware he had an affinity towards water, and just being near it seemed to put him instantly at ease. He seemed to favor a spot nearby some trees and bushes, where he could recline comfortably against the trunk of the tree and just barely reach the water of the river if he leaned towards his right and dipped his hand into it.

Not only did the spot he'd picked have the obvious advantage of being near water, but it was secluded enough that despite having come here several days in a row... no one had bothered him. He'd played his violin and on occasion, when he felt particularly cheerful, had sung along with the haunting melody he played. For some odd reason, despite feeling particularly happy, he always chose to play rather melancholic tunes.

That's how the night found Gabrian; leaning against his tree, violin tucked under his chin as he played away, particularly satisfied to be alone. A small Wishing Crystal cub lay curled up on his lap as he moved the bow against the strings of the violin, feeling rather at peace. The creature would, from time to time, open one large, red eye, look around and then close it, snuggling back into place to resume it's nap.

Despite the fact he had not yet opened his eyes, Gabrian had heard her approach, and even if he hadn't, the small mewl like sound that his pet produced would have alerted him regardless. Alas, he did not stop playing his music; in fact, all he did to acknowledge her presence was peek one golden eye open, turning his head just slightly so he could keep on playing while looking up at her. He said nothing, and instead only arched a brow questioningly as the small creature on his lap stretched and adopted a more alerted pose then it's previously relaxed one.

When it became clear that the girl was not going to offer him an opening line (she practically radiated embarrassing; why she seemed to be so very mortified, Gabrian had no idea, but he was sure enjoying it), he stretched out the melody just a bit further before abruptly stopping, "You look like you have something to say," he drawled out, placing the instrument on his lap, near his pet before lowering down one hand to stroke the small creature's neck, not unlike he'd done to the girl herself when she'd been a rabbit, "Are you going to say it? Or do you intend on staying there, hovering over me, speechless whilst I play?" he didn't really sound rude, or like he was teasing her; in fact, he sounded absolutely emotionally detached. Almost as if he really couldn't care less either way; while his words were polite, his uncaring attitude didn't really make him all that approachable.

"Not that I care either way, really... I just thought that you might have better things to do, specially since you left it quite clear that you abhor my company," interestingly enough, he did NOT seem to mention that he abhorred hers, because... quite frankly, he didn't. It was rare to find someone that he could talk with that had absolutely NO interest on being his friend. That made the rabbit girl a... safe subject to 'approach', per say. It was hard to figure what sort of twisted logic the Nix was running on, but it made perfect sense in his head.

Gabrian could see anger flash just briefly across her features, and he actually had to keep himself from smirking; it was equally hard to keep his own features languid and indifferent when he saw her trying to calm herself down. In all honesty, she was deeply amusing, if... perhaps tight wound up. The girl really needed to take a breather and relax; he idly wondered if she was always on edge because she was a rabbit, or if she was only like that around him because he'd tried to eat her.

Her voice yanked him forcefully out of his thoughts and he refocused his gaze back on her eyes, his head tilting to one side, as if questioning her, "Ooooh? A proposition? That sounds.... interesting. And new. What kind of proposition, exactly, did you have in mind?" he felt the small creature he'd been holding slowly push against his hand, and turned his attention down to his lap just in time to see it bounce onto the floor and walk rather fearlessly up to the girl, where it sniffed her feet and narrowed it's eyes at her before slowly pushing it's head against her leg, reminiscent of the way a cat might've, "Huh. That's odd. She doesn't usually like others much at all," this was said softly, almost as if he were thinking out loud, though there was a hint of humor in his words.

Deciding that his pet was probably perfectly safe, taking into account she was a rabbit, and thus... highly unlikely to try and eat it, he forced his gaze back up to her face. After she spoke again, his tail, which had been languidly twitching from side to side, stilled, and his eyes widened slightly, almost as if what she asked for was not exactly what he'd expected her to say, "Hmmm..." he looked her up and down and then allowed her to suffer for just a few more beats before answered, "That would be satisfactory," he drawled out, "As long as those 'cooking' lessons include food I may eat," in all honesty, he'd have done it just for the food, but why make things easier on her. Hell he would have done it for 'free' had he been able to shake on it; that would have been horribly interesting, "I will give you singing lessons. Do you wish to shake on it?" an almost predatory smile spread across his features as he said the words.

Gabrian's gaze never left her form, not even as she crouched down to pet the small creature, whom seemed perfectly happy and at home with all the attention it was getting, from both it's master and the girl, "It's a Wishing Crystal," he drawled out suddenly, answering her unspoken question, "They're rather rare little things. Usually rather shy and quiet," a pause as his gaze finally flickered away from her, as if he were pondering something or other, "Much more quiet than my lepus guide... and certainly much less trouble than the kirinni," all in one breath, he had actually admitted that this was, in fact, not the only strangely cute pet he owned. He didn't really seem to think much of it though, seeing as how he was intentionally trying to distract her from their little 'deal'; he didn't want her thinking too much into it and realizing he was rather effectively... tricking her.

His hands remain neatly folded on his lap as she looked up in surprise, "That's it," a pause, and he schooled his features into what he hoped was believable confusion, "You wished me to refuse?" the way he drawled out the words seemed to convey that he thought that seeking him out only to hope he would refuse her was... silly, if not counterproductive. For both of them, actually.

Her suspicion melted away into determination, and he really had to keep himself from looking triumphant as she lifted her hand up for a shake, "Alright then," he drawled out, and finally lifted his hand off his lap, grasping the girl's in his own. The moment he did so, she must have felt... something. Some sort of rather fast connection, almost like a zap, and then... a small snake like mark appeared around her arm; it curled around her wrist, making it look like a small, delicate bracelet of sorts, "That's done then," he held her hand for just a moment longer before withdrawing, trying to look nonchalantly indifferent; after all, he'd simply agreed to give her lessons. He hadn't agreed to give her lessons in exchange for the cooking lessons; which meant that she would effectively owe him a favor which she was bound to return, by contract.

"It," he drawled, "Is an extremely intelligent little thing. I don't make a habit of eatting intelligent little things. Specially not if they are cute," a pause followed his words, "It... also has a name; Lumos. You may call her Lum if you so wish," he watched as the creature tried to climb on the girl'slap and frowned at it; she was apparently also fickle and easily bribed with a few scratches. Figures. Females; it didn't matter what species, apparently. Fickle, opinionated little things that they were.

He barely managed to refrained a mild snort of amusement as the critter managed to climb her way up and curl up on the Rabbit-girl's legs, even as she remain crouched on the ground, "Hmmmm...." his gaze lifted back to her eyes though as she spoke, "Yes well, I decided it seemed like a good deal," the free food and free cooking lessons he would be getting out of it was just a bonus. He seemed mildly surprised when she said she was glad, and he arched a brow slightly. Shifting a bit to his left, patting the ground beside him, as if to indicate for her to sit down before taking the violin into his hands again, "Seeing as how we're already here, we might as well start," he was about to tuck the violin under his chin when he paused, "I just realized I never caught your name. Also, I am interested in knowing what, exactly, is the reason you seem so.... determined to do this that you would seek me personally out for help," he then tucked the instrument in place and lifted the bow over the strings, "My name is Gabrian."

That said, he moved the bow over the string, allowing a few notes to float into the air before looking back at her, smirking again, "My dear, I am a demon, did you not know?" if she did NOT know what the mark on her wrist meant, well... he was sure as hell not going to give her more than what he'd just said as a hint, "It basically makes our deal aahh... official, per say. We demons take our deals very seriously; it just means neither of us can back out of our deal," a pause, another few notes and then, "What, exactly, do you want to sing?"

“That makes me think that you might now know anything about demons at all,” but then again, that was a good thing, as far as he was concerned. Her not knowing much about demons was in his favor, after all, seeing as how that meant that she honestly had no clue what he’d just accomplished; he might as well keep her happy and with her defenses down, for the time being, “We take our deals very seriously. Our words are sacred. Specially if we shake on it,” technically only if they shook on it; demons were well known for being tricksters and pranksters. Gabrian didn’t particularly like pranks though, or practical jokes and tricks, but he did like the idea of having others owe him favors. Jack only knew when those favors might come in handy.

A brow arched almost tartly as he eyed her, “Yes, now,” he almost smirked as he lowered the instrument. Almost, “I hardly bite. You’re more than welcome to sit down a bit closer, you know,” ah, but then, he might’ve been teasing her with that one, seeing as how no sooner had he said those words, that he lifted the instrument once more, “Sally. Right. So her song would be Something in the wind, right? Do you know the full lyrics to it? I know the rehearsal is just a couple of lines, but it might serve you better to start from the very beginning and get to the end - at least... at first. Get a feeling of the song before focusing on the part you need to perform on stage. I’ll start you off,” and that said, he moved the hand that had been holding the bow, producing the music to the song almost effortlessly, as if he knew it by heart, “Try to sing from the pit of your stomach up.”

Lumos, whom had been happy to be picked up, turned a couple of times in place, on Alessa’s lap, and then swiftly curled up into a small ball, in a way that betrayed she had a lot of practice doing just that. The small creature spent countless hours doing that on her master’s lap after all. One red eye remain open, trained on both demon and monster as music floated around them; she did so like the music. It was like a lullaby.

“And that’s just fine,” he replied, apparently deciding against giving her another hint, for now. It didn’t really matter to him if she threw a fit or not over being tricked; he really couldn’t have cared less. At the same time, though, it was rather amusing to yank her chain, so thus... Gabrian decided that keeping her in the dark was simply too much for for the time being, “I suggest you one day go by the library and read up on your demon lore - it might come in handy one day. Did you know that you can bribe certain demons with certain foods?” see? It was just amusing; specially the way her features would struggle between interest, annoyance and confusion. Or at least, that’s what he was reading.

Of course, as she spoke, he DID finally smirk down at her, his bow still moving with the music, “Relax,” he said, the words low, almost like a hissing whisper so that they wouldn’t disturb the music, “That, my dear, is called ‘teasing’. Don’t take everything the world throws at you at heart. More often than not, I don’t think it means you any offense. You’re so.... tightly wound that you look like you could snap a muscle if you tense up any more. Relax; that’s one of the key points to music,” he was murmuring softly, as if to show that he was perfectly at least, “Breathe in, and out, and just let go. Relax your muscles. No one’s going to hurt you right now.”

As she protested, he arched a brow, his tail arching up in the air to come poke at her stomach, only just barely noticeable, “From here on... up. Take a deep breath and try to sing from down there. It’s more of... breath from deep bellow, rather than sing from down there. It’s hard to explain. Also, as a pointer, whenever you need to take a breath, make sure it can not be heard through the skellyphone. Either pull the skellyphone back from your mouth or figure out a way to do it so it won’t distract from your singing,” he didn’t seem particularly fussed that she had no idea what she was doing. In fact, it looked like he expected her to have no idea what she was doing, “The first time, it’s not going to sound very good. Nor will it the second or third. But you need to relax and just... well, trust yourself, if you don’t wish to trust me.”

He was toying with her. That much was clear, but then again, what she did not know, could not really harm her. Gabrian had to admit that watching her was most fascinating, in the way that... watching a train wreck is fascinating. Alas, chance gone, he nodded a bit to the music, letting the sound sooth him into a completely relaxed state. He kept a close eye on her, watching her movements as she sung; the way she breathed, the way she moved her hands, involuntarily, and the way she twitched. It was clear to him, that she wasn’t particularly comfortable with the situation, “Think of it this way, my dear; if you don’t manage to feel comfortable now... how in the world are you ever going to do it in front of several judges, and a whole lot of students? I can assure you I’m not half as bad as a bench full of judges. Or an auditorium full of students.”

The small Wishing crystal lifted her head and turned to press it against Alessa’s stomach, where Gabrian’s tail had just poked her moment’s ago, almost as if the small creature were trying to rub some comfort into her with that small movement. The nix knew she could not see the him, or the minipet, due to the fact she’d chosen to close her eyes, and thus, he took that moment to smile slightly at the scene, “You need to learn to block everything out. You can start by doing what you’re doing; closing your eyes, but eventually, you must manage with your eyes open, or some of the performance will be lost from the public. The eyes convey a lot of emotion that can’t be put to words,” a touch of that smile had slipped into his words in the form of warmth, but he cleared his throat and it was gone, “Block everything but the music out. Concentrate on the music, and to a lesser extent, my words. Hold onto it like a lifeline and ignore everything else. Then... let go.”

A pause followed, just as the song was reaching the final notes, which he held for her, even as she finished singing. As soon as it was over, he lowered the instrument down to his lap and he watched her through lidded eyes, “You know what most people’s problem with music is? They see it as a task. A job. Something that has to be done to get x thing. It doesn’t work like that; it’s an art, and for it to sound good, you need to enjoy yourself while making the music. Think you can do that? Forget that it’s me. That’ you’re here. That you’re practicing for a part in a play and just... enjoy yourself. Enjoy the music for what it is."