strangetrip | OTA: Fly me to the moon

Entry tags:

OTA: Fly me to the moon

Caden stood on the edge of the wide room - the Main Dance Floor, the plaque on the door said, with its polished hardwood floor, hot pink chairs, incredible chandeliers and enchanting rafters, but he only had eyes for what stood on the stage. Gleaming, perfect, beautiful, grand.

A piano.

Before heading out, Caden had put on make-up as one would an armour, heavy kohl around his eyes, glitter on his temples, and dressed in some of the clothes he'd found in the boutique. The navy waistcoat and slacks did not feel at all like him; they would not make anyone look twice at him. The cut and the fit were decent, but the color was dull. But there was not much at the boutique that fit him even remotely like he wanted it to, so he made do with the suit, keeping his shirt unbuttoned down the V of the waistcoat, and it sleeves rolled up to his elbows. With his hair pulled back in a ponytail and a strand 'accidentally' escaping it to frame one side of his face, it was a good enough fac simile of the way he would have dressed for a night of work at the Blues Palace.

But Caden might as well have been wearing one of his brighter, more Aurellian crochet tops and a skirt, for all that he cared about his appearance the moment his eyes landed on the piano. The martini he had just acquired at the bar next door all but forgotten in his hand, he walked towards the stage, drawn by a swell of emotions that all mingled with hope, with love, with faith.

He set the glass on the lip of the piano, took a seat on the stool, and reverently ran his hands over the keys. It was a few moments before he dared to play out a small tune, making sure that the instrument was tuned. His hands grew in confidence as he went on, and it wasn't long before he was running through the notes of one of the first songs he had ever played - and sung - in front of an audience. How long had it been since he had played it? The keys came back, little by little, muscle memory eventually winning the game of trial and error, the rings he wore glittering in the light as his fingers slid over black and white.

Eventually, Caden felt happy enough with his play that he started to sing along, in a low croon, "Fly me to the moon, Let me play among the stars, Let me see what Canwyn's like Among the sun and stars... In other words, hold my hand... In other words, darling, kiss me..."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Coby took the offered hand up, and maybe his grip lingering a breath longer than necessary, maybe, while his eyes held to Caden's.

"I'm not sure how much overlap there is in our piano repertoires, but that's never stopped me from trying something new." Another flash of blue eyes, before he bent to grab his drink from where it had been sitting beside him. He took a sip, and nodded Caden toward the piano bench. He almost asked if Caden wanted top or bottom – of the keyboard, obviously... except how there were other ways to ask that without the blatantly obvious, maybe too cheesy even for Coby double entendre.

Caden savoured that touch, and that gaze, and he turned to head back towards the piano with a smile still playing on his lips. There was a hint of a sway to his hips, just enough to catch the eye, not enough that he could be called out on it.

"Will you play something for me?" Caden asked, leaning against the edge of the piano and reclaiming his drink. Not every word had to be a seduction, and these were all they seemed. Caden loved music as much as he loved flirting, after all. "Then we can try for something new, if we find some - overlap."

What to play ran through Coby's mind as he sat: his own songs, covers, trying to find what would be right in the moment, but his hands apparently had their own ideas, and they played the first chord before he had any idea the choice had been made. Playing the same chord a second time, he began to sing:

It's all I could do to keep from crying
It was all that I could do to turn and walk away
And when I found there was no use left in trying
I decided there was no need for me to even make us stay

Something caught in Caden's chest the moment Coby began to sing, his voice powerful and wrought with emotion in the empty room. Caden's glass was forgotten in his hand all over again, and he was entirely focused on Coby, and his song, the slightly gritty sound to his voice, the slow tempo, the simple, beautiful chords, and the heartache of the song.

This wasn't a song to dance or flirt to. This was a song to cry to, a song to hold someone to, a song to say goodbye to.

It echoed some of the feelings inside Caden, but Caden didn't let it get a grip on them and tug, didn't let them expand and overwhelm him. He shut away the memories of Antoine, the good ones as much as the last ones, the cold cruelty in his expression as he told Caden to get out. He tried not to think about whether a year would have made a difference.

But his throat grew tighter as the song went on, and by the time it ended, there was a sheen of tears in his eyes. He wasn't at work. He could allow himself this moment. "You're good," he said, quietly, a genuine compliment.

"Not exactly the vibe I was going for, but you play the song that wants to be played, right?" Coby didn't know Caden at all, not enough to say if it was the song he needed to hear right then. If it was, Coby was both glad he was there to play it, and sorry that Caden was going through a loss like that on top of being here.

He moved over some on the bench, making room for Caden if the closeness to someone else would help, tilt of his head an invitation. His hands moved again over the keyboard, no song in particular, but the music following a spark of light and love out of the hurt to something... easier?

Caden moved back towards the bench, a hand brushing Coby's shoulder before Caden settled into the space Coby made beside him. The sheen of tears was gone, but his lungs still ached with the echo of those feelings, with the lingering effect of Coby's song. Still, Caden focused on the new melody Coby was playing and took a sip from his cocktail, letting the music expand inside his chest. "You're truly very good," he murmured after a moment, unwilling to speak any louder and risk breaking the spell.

Usually, he might have used more sophisticated vocabulary. But this was a truth best spelled out in simple words, or perhaps anything more complicated wouldn't fit inside Caden right now. There was so much already, and part of him wanted to lean against Coby beside him, snuggle up to his side as if they were long time friends, and listen to him play.

Coby looked over and smiled, continuing to play. "There's a saying, where I'm from. Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of work involved too, but if I couldn't have music, do this? I'd have gone off the deep end for good long ago. I'd be a singer/songwriter/musician even if I never got paid for it – hell, here none of us are getting paid for anything, not that there's any need – but I can't imagine sticking with any other job."

He wasn't sure what force guided the notes and his hands, certainly not his thoughts, but somehow his random harmonies segued into A Whole New World. "This one's not one of mine," he explained over the hint of smirk trying to form, and other memories of this song in particular.

"Whose is it?" Caden asked, mostly to keep Coby talking. It wouldn't stop him from listening to the music, too. They were very much complementary, the clear piano notes and Coby's voice. But Caden did hope that it would not let the music get to Caden as much. "It seems... hopeful."

"It's from a Disney movie. Aladdin." After a year and a half or more here, Coby tried to be better about remembering not everyone was from his same world or time, but at the moment it didn't occur to him that explanation might not mean anything to Caden.

"And yeah, it's a lot more hopeful than that what I played first."

"That held some hope, too," Caden remarked, heart clenching again, whether in hope or pain was difficult to tell. Probably both. "What does disney mean?"

It was not a word he thought he had ever encountered. He prided himself on his Clovennian, but once in a while, something tripped him up.

"Oh. Sorry. Disney's a company, named after the guy who founded it. They do a little bit of everything in family-friendly entertainment now, but it started with animated movies, mostly based on old fairy tales and stuff." Which probably didn't explain much at all.

"Aladdin came out when I was a kid, and the songs kind of stuck. I could sing it for you, if you want."

Caden knew most of the words Coby was using, but he didn't have much of a clue what he was specifically talking about. Weren't all movies animated? That was rather the point, he had thought. But Caden understood the general meaning, he supposed, and the details didn't have to matter that much. Not when Coby was offering to sing again.

"Careful I don't grow used to being entertained by you, rather than the other way around," Caden answered, rich voice warm and playful. "But by all means..."

"Hey, I'm equal opportunity entertainment. Everybody gets their due." That might have been a wink – it was – as he turned his attention back to the keys to work his way around to the beginning again. Then he began to sing:

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

Caden did wish, idly, that he was better at the piano. Not Lucien Rameau levels of better; just good enough that he could improvise some complementary tune to accompany Coby's playing and singing.

But Caden's voice had always been his best instrument, and he could do something with that. Once he'd got a good enough idea of the melody, he harmonised with Coby, humming along a counterpoint that worked beautifully with the song. His gaze switched several times from Coby's hands to his face, watching him play, watching him sing, and there wasn't a hint of self-consciousness in Caden.

Caden's voice blended with Coby's, and Coby watched, first out of the corner of his eye, then longer looks, until they were gazing at each other as they sang. If Curnen hadn't met him yet, she needed to. She'd be as glad as Coby to have another person here with music in them.

"It's actually a duet," he mentioned once the song had ended and the moment faded. "You know, in case you're ever interested."

Caden smiled, bright and amused. "Oh, I'd love to duet with you." This song wasn't his usual style, but perhaps they could jazz it up somehow? It would take some work, but Caden had already realised that he would have to find a lot of things to do to fill the time here.

"I look forward to that." They'd work out something that satisfied them both, Coby was sure.

"But for now, I'm a song up on you. Think I owe you an enthralled audience of one."

"That sounds like something I owe you, rather," Caden remarked, without sounding as if he minded in the least. He sounded a few notes out on the piano, the opening for Misty. It was one of many jazz songs that a male Clove would never have sung, but Caden had never let that stop him.

He did play it livelier than originally written, because he was used to singing it at Antoine's. That turned it, when he started to sing along, into a playful flirt rather than a heartfelt declaration of love, a lot more palatable for their Clovennian patrons. And if it fit the moment, so that Caden could keep singing to Coby, invitation and play shining in his eyes, in the curve of his smile, then well... of course Caden hadn't chosen that song randomly.

Look at me,
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree;
And I feel like I'm clingin' to a cloud,
I can't understand
I get misty, just holding your hand.
Walk my way,
And a thousand violins begin to play,
Or it might be the sound of your hello,
That music I hear,
I get misty, the moment you're near.
Can't you see that you're leading me on?
And it's just what I want you to do,
Don't you notice how hopelessly
I'm lost
That's why I'm following you.
On my own,
When I wander through this wonderland alone,
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I'm too misty, and too much in love.
Too misty,
And too much
In love

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OTA: Fly me to the moon

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby

Re: Caden & Coby