Let Me Play For You // Patrick

Wandering up to the third floor of the library, a nervous smile played on Vasilisa's lips. It had been several weeks since she'd discovered this library and had come to the conclusion that she would be most content to spend all her waking hours here. Not only were there enough books to keep her entertained for the rest of her time on this Earth, on her very first visit she'd learnt that there was a grand piano here in the library, available for the public to use whenever they wanted to play.

The girl had been plucking up the courage to play something since that very first day. How her fingers itched to be let at a piano or violin. How Vasilisa longed to have her old violin back, but short of getting her own time-machine, the brunette didn't see how that was possible. But every day the yearning to play grew stronger and stronger. Yet she couldn't afford an instrument. Both of her chosen instruments were expensive and now that she was living on her own, she had rent to pay. So a new violin would have to wait.

But how her heart had leapt at seeing the piano, and how it rejoiced upon learning that it was open to the public to play. If it were up to her, Vasilisa would never leave the place again; there were books, there was a piano - she was all set. Her father had taught her how to read music to the point where she could read notes and imagine how it was supposed to sound. It was what the woman did when she couldn't afford cds, not having yet mastered any computer skills. Getting to finally play the melodies that were floating around in her head would be bliss.

The piano, for once was unoccupied. Setting her sheet music down, she took a seat, grinning goofily at the beautiful instrument before her. So long she had waited and now she finally had the chance to play! Her fingers lightly ran over the keys before she played the opening bar. A brief moment of nervousness washed over her and Vasilisa faltered, biting her lip gently. Taking a deep breath, she began to play again, letting the music wash over her to melt away her fear and nervousness. Eyes closing, her fingers ran over the keys, playing the beautiful melody. She'd read this piece enough to remember the notes off by heart; she wouldn't need sheet music to guide her.

~
Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi is what she's playing.

It was indeed the library he came to visit after underground and crowd get too much to him. And this one was quite amazing one.
So big and full of tons of books. But what was truly enchanting was the piano available for public. It was something that brought his attention like sweet to wasps.

He had a small secret, Patrick knew a bit to play- what his wife taught him and his daughter had been learning. Since their death he avoided piano and music for a while, but now, long time past and equally many miles away, he longed the sounds that always brought back the brightest memories of the happiest part of his life.

A content smile came to rest on Vasilisa's lips as she continued to play, the beautiful melody filling the air. Getting to play after this time - it was absolutely glorious! Actually glorious didn't even begin to cover it. This feeling that she felt was a sort of joy that she doubted there was a single word for. Suffice to say that at the very least, Vasilisa was sure that she was grinning like that cat from the Alice books that her father had read to her when she'd been a child.

As she began to near the end of the piece, Vasilisa opened her eyes and looked around. A few people had gathered to watch her play but thankfully not many. After not having played for so long, the woman would find it weird to play to a big crowd. Still grinning she tried to seek out any other players who were waiting for a turn at the instrument. She spotted a blonde male subtly edging towards the piano and she smiled shyly at him as she finished. "Are you wanting to play?" she asked softly, studying his features  as she waited for him to reply.

He didn't expect being spoken to. But he smiled back his regular Cheshire cat grin, "I'm not sure. It's been years since I've touched an instrument." Patrick said somehow bit shyly. Seeing it up so close begun bring back some memories long buried.
He let his hand warily hover over the instrument.

Vasilisa watched as the man's hand hovered over the piano, warily as if he were afraid to touch it. With a smile she reached out and gently took the blonde by his wrist and guided his hand over the wood of the piano. "She won't bite, you know," she said softly, eyes warm as she looked at him. Suddenly an idea came to her and Vasilisa cocked her head to the side. "Would...would you like to play together?" she asked, with a small hopeful smile. She enjoyed playing duets. It just wasn't often that it happened.

He smiled at her words. Of course, she wouldn't, but it was just an old man being silly- he facepalmed himself mentally as the memories from times long ago faded again. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean I don't mind, just it's been such a long time." Patrick said. He had to fight hard to not start crying. His wife used to ask him join when she played. He wasn't one to show emotions, but sometimes it was just too hard to fight them only this time they didn't make him angry. He even smiled at the flashback of him and Angela playing, her graceful hand moves and his significantly clumsier ones. And he smiled again and almost laughed out loud.

Vasilisa was actually really glad when the man smiled at her, and that he didn't pull his hand away from her grasp. Maybe she shouldn't have done that, but to her he had seemed so wanting and yet so hesitant that it seemed a gentle push might be just what was needed. But of course, she could have misjudged the situation; she was good at reading music, not people. People were very hard to read. Give her sheet music and instruments any day.

"Don't worry, I'm not scary to play with, I promise," she told him with a soft chuckle, playing with the violin necklace around her neck, the only link she still had to her father. "I'm Vasilisa," she added, moving over on the long seat so he had room to sit comfortably. She looked over at him for him for a second and another smile played on her lips. She really was quite happy to have the chance to play with someone, even if only for a little while. She nibbled on her lip gently for a second, trying to think of a piece that would be extremely well-known and wouldn't be extremely hard to play. An idea struck her and she played the first bars of 'Für Elise' before stopping and looking at the blonde. "Do you know it?"

Patrick smiled again. Of course, he guessed that. That's what he did, observed and guessed people and their reactions. "I was hoping for that." he said anyway, because he felt he could talk with this nice girl, yeah, she seemed so sweet and nice and young too. A vision of what his own daughter might be looking now flashed before his eyes and a shine appeared in his eyes. "Patrick." he introduced with himself as polite as taught once. He was one of the rarity kind - as his friends had put it, because only so many were actually using basic manners these days if they possessed any. "Nice to meet you Vasilisa. Is that a Russian name?" Jane being Jane asked, curiosity was what Lisbon once put it- both, his trait and a curse stuck into same package - or had it been Cho?

As she asked about the piece he had to poke around in his memory palace for a bit. And there it was, a memory, and the blonde smiled "Yes, I do remember it." of course, he was really a gentleman here and didn't mention that it was the same piece his wife had taught their little girl and he had been standing in the doorway unnoticed and watched at them as a happiest father and husband on earth. And he had sneakily learned it all by himself once was home alone.
Luckily the memory was still there and he could recall what to do with the instrument.

Vasilisa chuckled at his words, brushing a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "I was taught only to bite people that I don't like. And only bite them if I'm fighting, come to that." She flashed Patrick a grin. "So you're pretty safe for now, I think," she teased, running her fingers along the piano keys as she spoke while her blue eyes studied the man that she had invited to play with her. People really weren't her strong point; she was much more comfortable with notes and instruments. Humans were just complicated and confusing, and attempting to read through their lies and façades was just exhausting. But as far as first impressions went, Patrick seemed kind and gentlemanly. Vasilisa had a feeling she'd enjoy the time spent in his company.

"Patrick. I like that name. It is very nice to meet you too." And it truly was. The brunette enjoyed meeting others who shared her passion for music, though given that music was her whole life she hadn't yet met someone whose own passion could rival hers. But there was time, still. After all, look at all the symphony orchestras around the world - surely she wasn't the only one that felt so strongly about the subject. Upon his question of whether it was Russian, she nodded, a hint of a grin curling up the corner of her mouth. "It is. I was born in Moscow, only came here recently." Well, recently was an understatement. Technically a century has passed. "And what about you? Your accent isn't very British so whereabouts are you from?" she asked, looking at him curiously. She wondered suddenly if she had an accent herself, when she talked; since she used a translation circuit, she only heard herself speaking in Russian, not English. As she waited for a reply, her fingers hovered over the ivory keys and a second later, she slowly began to play the opening bars.

Patrick chuckled, "I'm glad for that, you know. So that's a relief, although I get bit by kittens rather often." he said. Meanwhile observing. He sensed the girl wasn't really often amongst people and he sensed she might not be used to communication.
"Thank you." Jane almost blushed, albeit someone had previously said they liked his name, hearing that again was a nice thing.
"I guessed so. It has this Russian-like ring to it." Patrick beamed at Vasilisa.

"Me? Well that's a long story. And rather blurry one at that." the blonde consultant actually blushed a bit. Technically he had no blasting memory of getting here, well, somehow he had appeared in London from Sacramento, CA. But he guessed spooking just met person with something crazy wasn't the very best idea. "I'm not from here, you're right. I come from America." Patrick kept it simple and kept beaming.