Day 30: Music Room (Third Shift)

[her-lion.livejournal.com]

The last intercom had spelled out everything.

Misbehavior. Someone had started a riot - quickly quelled from the sounds of it. He didn't want to say it was good thing he'd be stabbed, but from the looks of it, it was probably best he was absent from whatever shift this had happened during. The warning siren, and all of the habub about it; blood had probably been spilled. In his current condition, he might have been tempted.

Well, there was no might in that. He would've been.

Despite protests from his nurse as well as his own body, Edward politely asked for an escort to the music room, wanting nothing more than to get out of his little cell. The cream-colored music room was quiet, spacious, and had plenty of seating.

He was surprised to see it empty this time, and made no hesitation in moving to sit at the large keyboard. It was no parlor grand, but it was accessable. Couldn't really complain about it.

Edward sat for a moment, lost in his memories. It had been a while since he had played anything... something old sounded satisfactory. Maybe a song from his childhood? Popular song, maybe. Gus Edwards?

Nodding to himself, he let his fingers settle against the keys, keeping his back straight for the hole in his chest. Without an entrance, his fingers began dancing along the keys to the tune of By the Light of the Silvery Moon. A quirky little tune, but a personal favorite.

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[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

Awkward silence was not new to Rika, though she didn't know what caused it. Wasn't Bella happy to see Edward? Yet they were both just staring at each other - perhaps there was something wrong with how one of them looked. But who was the one who looked wrong? Bella? Edward?

Rika was short and the night was dark, so she took no notice of Edward's eye color. Rather, she just gave them both worried glances.

"... Is something wrong?" She quietly spoke, her voice losing some of that childish edge.

[his-singer.livejournal.com]

Bella snapped out of the momentary eye lock and turned towards Rika with a forced smile. It appeared as if she hadn’t noticed Edward’s eyes, which was a good thing … but then again, she had always really been the only one to notice such a thing about Edward – no one really dared to ever get close enough to see. “It’s okay, Rika. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

No, it was not “nothing”. It was “something incredibly wrong and hysteria causing.” Turning back to look at Edward, Bella leaned back in her seat away from him, the towel falling to her lap as her hands snuck under the towel to latch into a death grasp onto her pants.

He was clearly thirsty, and yet she just sat there, being a temptation. She knew Edward was fully capable of stopping himself or, rather, ignoring the thirst, but that didn’t mean she could stop herself from feeling terrible about it.

Without even noticing, Bella had begun to slowly scoot her chair back from him. When she realized what she was doing, she coughed and bent down low to the ground as if to fix her pants around her ankles.

[her-lion.livejournal.com]

Break the silence. He had something to hide, and so did she. And Bella was terrible at it.

"Of course," he answered, his face breaking into a carefree smile, voice smooth. "Sorry, I'm only relieved both of you were safe last night." Edward swiveled in the chair, turning back to face the keyboard, eyes still glued to Bella, a question hidden within them. One that he would be forced to ask later.

"Since we're here, and the keyboard is free for once, do you have any requests?" His question was nonchalant, completely devoid of worry. He was going to ignore that Bella was practically begging for attention. Just. Ignore. It. "I haven't touched one in ages." He looked to Rika, curious. "Do you like piano music?"

[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

Although Rika did not know the couple very well, even she could pick up that something strange was going on between them. But maybe this was a regular thing, for all Rika knew, Bella and/or Edward always had these awkward moments. She also knew it was not her business to press on the issue.

Still, it did make her curious, but that would be another question for another day.

"Of course! I haven't had the chance to learn, but I love listening when I have the chance," Rika smiled back. That was true, on the rare occasions that she got to listen to Western piano performances (she believed they called it 'elevator music' over there) in the Irie clinic, it was always pleasant to hear.

But the chance for listening to some elevator music disappeared as a nurse drew closer, gently laying a hand on Rika's shoulder.

"Yukari, it's time for the younger children to take a shower," She smiled. "You'll be able to speak to your friends later."

"Miii..." Rika whined in protest, but there wasn't much she could do as the nurse lead her away from the pair.