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 Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:00 pm
Christmas was days away and for some stupid reason he’d decided to go shopping last minute, and he had to be stupid to do something like this, because he felt like looking for anything last minute which might catch his eye for Lorcan as he was the only person Kioshi was buying things for. Anything he needed, or wanted, he got on sale but that had nothing to do with the holiday and everything to do with the sales. He did not like paying full price when he didn’t need to, even if he was better off financially, he was so close to having enough for a down payment in a mortgage for a home. He wouldn’t jeopardize it.
While wandering the over crowded, and thus too warm, mall Kioshi took note of the set up in the malls center. The center was where four halls met in the middle of the mall, where Santa typically was situated for photos with children. Right now Santa was nowhere to be seen, a cookie break perhaps, but someone was playing violin next to a grand piano that was unoccupied. The music was lovely but he was certain the song was winding down, although how he knew he couldn’t be sure. It was one of those things he simply knew, a phantom feeling, something he attributed to Hisoka and what he knew. It was also how he knew which piece of music it was and who the composer was. It was a lovely piece, he knew that too. There was a lot he knew and perhaps, if someone were to watch him long enough they’d notice he seemed a bit spaced out.
The feelings that swirled inside him were so very complicated and all over the place, disdain and distaste, anger and resentment but he knew those were just like the knowledge he had - phantoms…the dregs left by someone long dead and gone. He was interested though and wanted to join in. Blinking as he pulled out of his own head Kioshi let his feet take him toward the lone violinist. Asking if he could join, as they were between pieces, he made a suggestion even. He didn’t know where it came from but the words came - Vivaldi’s winter.
Seating himself at the piano, the coat he’d had draped over his arm was folded next to where he sat himself, he rolled up his sleeves as he situated himself. Once he was ready he gave a nod over to the violinist. This was something he wanted to do, that interested him, though somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that the long dead person he’d once been would not be doing this. This was something that was pure him - Kioshi. The knowledge wasn’t his, it was a remaining bit of Hisoka, but the feelings were his own. This would be something that was his, another piece to the puzzle that was being put together in his own image. He was going to have to use Hisoka’s knowledge to guide him though, and just trust that it was correct. Taking a breath as he let his fingers settle, and his feet find their placement, he finally started.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:01 pm
While the holidays weren’t something she celebrated much, at least not in the way it seemed to be done here, Luciana wanted to get out and look for a few things at the mall. The slip of paper with the address and directions on it from Kinsley had helped and she wouldn’t say it out loud but her little puppy was doing well. Something was brewing beneath the surface, she could tell just a bit, but not exactly what. As long as it didn’t cause her any problems then she didn’t mind the company.
But today as she walked between stores and bought a few new coats and accessories, she paused as she heard the live performance. It wasn’t someone she expected to be playing piano, not with the tattoos and piercings. They looked like a delinquent in her opinion but the music that came from the piano was similar to someone who had been playing for awhile. Standing there as she listened to them play alongside the violinist, she felt less disgusted by what she’d seen of the city so far.
It was something worth pausing to listen for and even as the bags she was carrying grew a bit too heavy for her to just keep standing there, she ended up taking a seat at one of the small benches with her haul to wait out the music. Part of her was curious about them, not so much so that she would linger terribly long but enough that she’d stopped to begin with.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:02 pm
When the piece came to its eventual conclusion, as all things did, Kioshi stood and went to thank the violinist for letting him join them for the piece. The clapping was nice, though the looks were interesting as it seemed people weren’t sure what to make of him. He knew he was confusing and even more so right now, he was very well aware of such, Kioshi was if nothing else self aware. He knew what the various thoughts people had about his looks were and he didn’t much care, he did get annoyed but anyone would, but he had known what people would think even before he’d altered his looks. He was certain Hisoka knew.
From time to time he still wondered how Lorcan found him attractive, considering how straight laced he was, but he was glad for it. Bowing to the people who had gathered he gave a thank you, hoping everyone could hear him, before gathering his things and moving past the benches and those seated there. There had been a small group of people who had sat down to watch the performance, he’d have to find a way to play piano more,
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:02 pm
Watching as the man got up, she stood to follow them slightly. “Do you play often here?” Speaking up a bit as she shuffled her bags around, some of them were still a bit too heavy for her liking. They really didn’t make the straps with heavy loads in mind, they were cutting into her fingers uncomfortably.
Getting a closer look at the man, she noticed more of their tattoos and the fact that their ears were pointed like an elf. It wasn’t something she’d really seen before. Piercings were one thing, she had known that her ex had a few of them even if she thought they were trashy. It didn’t help that one of them had been below the belt and she’d had to hear about it when the original meeting over the arranged marriage had happened between her family and theirs.
“That was Winter, wasn’t it? By Vivaldi?” It had been awhile since she’d really heard it but it fit the season as well as the setting of the mall. It was something recognizable enough for people to notice and appreciate, something she knew all too well as a shop owner.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:03 pm
Surprised by someone coming to talk to him, to question him, Kioshi shook his head slowly. “No, but I know other people come here from time to time. More often in the winter though.” He knew that about this mall, it was why they kept a piano here, people would just randomly play and somehow children and teens were kept from banging on the piano and messing with it.
“I haven’t played in years.” Not since he’d corrupted at least, and likely longer, he wasn’t entirely sure how far back it went. The fact he could play was news to him but so was the fact he could manage to play, after all this time, that he remembered at all. The echo, the knowledge, was nice though…a gift from the long dead one who he’d once been. “It was Winter by Vivaldi, it’s been awhile but yes. It’s a piece I remember.” And maybe, in time, he’d remember other pieces but that would take time and access to a piano in order to jog the memories for him.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:03 pm
Shifting her bags again as she looked at them, they also didn’t sound as she expected either. “Well, you played well, even if it’s been a while.” Thinking for a moment as she looked them over more, she wondered what they did for a living if they looked like that but also knew how to play piano.
“What other pieces do you know? Or would you come play again here?” She didn’t want to pry exactly but he was a curiosity to her. Finally deciding to just set her bag down again, she smoothed her hands over her skirt to straighten it back down after all the juggling of bags and things.
“If you know this area, do you know if there are any places to ice skate here? I’m a bit new here and have been looking into some of my hobbies. Do they have places to do them here?”
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:06 pm
“I can play again but what I can play…I don’t really know.” He might as well be honest, it was easier that way, but now he needed to explain it. “A few years ago I suffered an accident - I had amnesia and didn’t regain memories. I wasn’t aware of being able to play piano and the piece I suggested, I didn’t think about it. I didn’t think when I played either, it was muscle memory of some sort, it’s a new piece of the past.” A piece he would be keeping and holding onto, because he didn’t have the same dislike for it that Hisoka did.
“I do know this city well and there is an ice skating rink, I can look it up and get you the address?” Already shifting to grab his phone out of the pocket at the right knee of his pants. Unlocking the screen he pulled up google and started tapping away, pulling up the places information. “It’s a fifteen minute drive from here, but I’d add a few more minutes to it due to traffic.”
While he held his phone out, for her to see the address of the ice skating facility, Kioshi let his eyes move over towards the piano he’d just left. “I might come back to play again, I don’t know what I’d play, but I would consider it. I’d like to see what else I can play.” It was honestly like discovery something new…unwrapping a gift to find a surprise tucked inside, what an interesting way to think of things really.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:06 pm
“Oh… do you just know the songs but not the names? Like playing something by ear?” Tapping her cheek as she pondered the idea, it made some sense much as she knew how to skate without always knowing the name of the routines or formations she did. Sometimes it was more muscle memory than anything and this sounded very similar. But then when he explained things she felt bad about her opinion of them.
“That’s devastating to lose memories, hopefully you’ve recovered enough otherwise.” It wasn’t something she liked to hear, even if she rarely cared about most people. Losing memories mean losing chunks of yourself and that wasn’t something she liked the idea of. She’d seen how it had effected her grandfather in old age and to lose things earlier in life didn’t sit well with her.
Looking down at their phone, she typed the address into hers and saved it as well as the directions. Maybe not something she would do today but something she could manage to get out and do once she finished healing up. Everything was still sore and it didn’t help that she was still going out and getting into trouble.
“I look forward to seeing you here again and listening to what you remember. It’s better than I expected from someone in this country.” Offering a little wave, she went to pick up her bags again. She really needed to get back home and work on things around the shop before the snow decided to close everything else down.
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:07 pm
“No, I didn’t. Anything I get is gleaned from what I had at home when I returned. I can see pictures, and read things, but the memories aren’t there. All I have are the feelings - like an echo. They don’t belong to me but I feel them anyway. It was awkward at first but I’ve managed well enough.” Shrugging as he spoke, it was as honest as he could be, he had been rebuilding his life on the bits and pieces Hisoka had left behind for him. The feelings and guesses he made about things helped, they always would, but they never would be his own. He was allowed to feel whatever he wanted about things now, because the memories attached to them were not there. It was freeing in some ways.
“I’ll try and be back then.” And he would, because he had enjoyed this, there was no piano for him at home to practice on and see what came to him. He’d use this piano, l in the middle of the mall, to claim a piece of the puzzle that would be him. He liked this very much.
Nodding his head as she spoke, complimented him, and managed something of a smirk or a smile…some hybrid of the two. Watching her leave he took a moment to look back at the lone violinist and the piano by him. Yes, he’d return and play again…
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