[RP LOG] Rufus, Ranmaru - Returning a Gift, Acquainting in Kind
Characters: Rufus Shinra [spoiledrichboy] and Mori Ranmaru [dreamingorchids]
Time: Earlier afternoon, after Rufus tells Ranmaru he found his violin in his room. AND WE GET FIRST LOG IN. *shot*
Where: Rufus' room.
Rating: G [.. >3]
Warnings: None. D:
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Ranmaru was literally flying when he heard that his violin was safe and with someone he'd been communicating with. The chances of that happening had been one in a million and that one chance had occured with him. It was either sheer luck or just good fortune. Whatever it was, his treasure was safe. While not being too entirely fond of the instrument, he preferred it for it's sentimental value.. and that was the fact that it was his gift from both his Lords. He could never thank them enough.
Making his way to the dorms as Rufus had directed, he pushed his bangs out of his eyes and looked around at the room numbers, then stopped at the door once he'd found it, raising his hand to knock on the door. While the Shinra boy hadn't seemed like someone he'd really want to talk to, he'd surprised him just as much as the Chemistry teacher had.
Rufus had set the instrument that had been misplaced in his room aside, and went back to the task at hand: trying to figure out how to ditch Reno. Unfortunately, the nuisance was being employed by his father, and he was rather adamant about keeping the job, so Rufus figured that it was pretty much a lost cause. All he could do was just develop a tolerance for loud, abrasive, sexually-minded redheads. Or think of a way to get him killed without implicating himself. Neither one was a plausible plan of action, though. This school year was most definitely going to be a test of his patience.
Especially as the idiot redhead in question had only minutes before spent time screaming out a nickname that Rufus hated in an orgasmic way in order to help his roommate find their room.
Abandoning hope for the moment, Rufus threw himself onto his bed, face-down, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep, and to wake up and find that Reno had been nothing but a horrible figment of his imagination. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn't that lucky. He clutched at a pillow, ready to throw it at the next person who breathed in his direction.
He'd heard the noise, wondering what that had been all about, but shrugging to himself and putting it off as some sort of strange exotic animal someone may have brought in with them, he glanced up at the room number then frowned, wondering if he had come to the right one, but one glance to the to-do list on his palmtop told him it was the right one.
Then, glancing up again, he sighed and knocked at the door again, then called, "Rufus? Are you in? It's Ranmaru." perhaps he'd stepped out, thought Ranmaru as he took a step back from the door itself and looked about him. Perhaps he'd leave him a message and he wished he'd asked for a number. He may have been easier to reach had he called.
Rufus didn't bother looking up when the knock came. He figured Ranmaru would be along presently. Rufus would have done the same thing, if it was his viola that had been misplaced. Sighing softly, Rufus tossed the pillow aside and pushed himself off of his bed, straightening his hair. He picked up the violin case, and walked over to the door, opening it to Ranmaru.
"I figured you'd be along soon. I'm just glad you got here after the idiot went to his own room." Without elaborating on what he meant, he held out the violin for Ranmaru to take.
He blinked when the door opened, about to greet the other when he noticed his appearance. Well, a far cry from the avatar, that was for sure. He didn't quite look half as confident or twice as composed as he had seemed there. Wondering if it was just exhaustion and nothing more, Ranmaru extended his hand to take his violin case, relief in his eyes momenatrily before it turned to concern.
"You mean those strange noises that were coming from here? I thought that was someone's pet." he commented, wincing at his own judgement. Another look at the blond, Ranmaru then commented, ".. with all due respect.. you look awful. Did something happen?" he asked, genuine concern in his tone. He figured if the other had seemed nice enough to hold onto his violin for him, he may as well pay back in the way of courtesy as he'd been taught.
Rufus laughed, humourlessly. "Reno happened." Shaking his head, he took a slow, deep breath to regain a modicum of control over himself. "I'd really rather not talk about it." He didn't want to get into the habit of bitching about his problems to almost perfect strangers, no matter how pleasant and caring they seemed. If it happened too often, he might grow to rely on it. An unappealing prospect, to say the least. "Hopefully your violin is in working order, and nothing happened to it in transit."
Wondering what may have bothered him about the red-haired boy he'd seen traumatising that poor Suou-san-- wait, he just answered himself-- Ranmaru paused, then released a small sigh, shaking his head, offering the other an assuring smile. "If you don't mind me inspecting it right now, I'll probably be able to check that out and inform the school once I leave." he gave Rufus a polite smile, though once again it took on a look of concern.
".. that boy seems to know you rather closely. A friend from home chosen as a bodyguard?" he tried, regardless. He knew just how overprotective his Lords could be about him and he chuckled, moving the case the right way up. ".. what an unlikely choice for one, though."
Rufus stepped aside to allow Ranmaru entrance into his room, so that the other could set the case on his desk while he inspected his instrument. "Feel free." He resisted the urge to rub at his temples, feeling a long-overdue headache coming on. At Ranmaru's guess as to Reno's identity, Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Fairly accurate for someone who doesn't know anything about me. No, he's not a friend, I just met him today, but yes he's my bodyguard. Selected by my father. Who I'm sure wants to irritate me to death."
"It's more a guess from someone who goes through nearly the same." came Ranmaru's calm reply as he set the case on the desk, flipping open the cover latches easilly and waiting for it to settle, before pulling it open. Instantly, his gaze went over the body of his precious Stradvarius, and he delicately lifted it from it's cradle, glancing at the exterior and the strings, moving his fingers over them, before turning it around and checking it. Apart from how he had put it in, it seemed mostly fine and he breathed a sigh of relief, before turning to look up at Rufus with a wry smile.
"My Lords have tried that with me once or twice. They believed someone my age would do a better job. Though in all honesty.." he turned the violin over and replaced it properly into it's case, looking at the section for it's bow, before turning back to look at him. ".. that's exactly why I learned the sword. I wouldn't put it past them to do the very same thing right now, however." he gave the other a small smile. ".. not a very wise decision for your mental health, I suppose. They always forget to worry about that."
Rufus went to sit on the edge of his bed, watching Ranmaru as he inspected his instrument. He saw a deep respect for the violin in Ranmaru's eyes, and that pleased him. He couldn't stand the thought of someone with little respect or caring for music or instruments having access to something as beautiful as that instrument. And he really didn't want to have to hate Ranmaru. He seemed to -nice- to actively go around hating.
"I was trained in firearms, though fat lot of good that will do me here. Can't exactly pull out a shotgun and shoot a bully in the face," Rufus said by way of making conversation, so that Ranmaru wasn't the only one speaking. "I suppose father thought that actual hand-to-hand combat, something that would be of use to me, would be beneath me. Instead, he leaves that to bodyguards." The thought of Reno as his bodyguard gave hiim a slight tic in one eye. "He had better be worth the trouble," Rufus muttered darkly. All this talk of Reno and bodyguards was starting to grate on his nerves, so he stood and tried to take his mind off of the situation. He walked over to where Ranmaru stood, and gave him a quick half-smile, gesturing to the violin.
"Do you mind if I...?"
Ranmaru listened to the other speak while he looked over his instrument. In all honesty, the reason why he was inspecting it in front of Rufus was because he did want to talk to the boy and felt a certain sort of kinship with him on this whole bodyguard matter. He knew exactly what it was like to go through this sort of trouble, of course- he had the fortune of having someone more authorotative rather than annoying in his place.
"Firearms..? That's rather extreme, but a worthy bit of knowledge to have, I suppose!" at the irritation he felt from the other toward the subject of his bodyguard, Ranmaru turned to give the other a small smile. " I'm sure your best interests were held in mind. It's just the execution gone awry, wouldn't you think?" he watched as the other approached him, then when he smiled, Ranmaru couldn't help but think how much nicer he looked with it. Turning to glance back at the violin, he gave Rufus a nod as he lifted it gently out of the case again, turning and holding it out towards him.
"Not at all, please." he smiled as he handed it to him, pride in his eyes as he looked apon it. "As silly as it may sound, it's my treasure. My Lords got it for me the previous year." his eyes held a little bit of a twinkle in them as he turned to pick up the bow, cradling it gently in his hands as he looked down at it. " An original Stradivari, one of the rare out of the original seven-hundred left. I think I may have killed something if I hadn't found it. But I knew it'd be here. There's no way anyone would believe it to be an original unless they really knew it." he had rambled, but it was so precious to him, he couldn't help but be proud. Besides, Rufus seemed like the kind of person who'd appreciate such a thing.
Rufus nodded dutifully at everything Ranmaru said, not wishing to reply to anything lest the boy start rambling again. He seemed nervous, though Rufus could hardly imagine why. He wasn't intimidating, was he? No, that couldn't have been it. Perhaps he just didn't meet new people well. Something that could be sympathised with.
When the violin was held out to him, he gently took it and put it in place, readying the bow over the strings. He didn't bother checking the tuning of the strings, with how Ranmaru spoke of his violin, he had no doubts that it was kept in perfect tune at all times. Probably obsessively so. Rufus took a breath, and caressed the strings with the bow, coaxing a light tune out of the violin.
It's been so long, I almost forgot how it felt, Rufus thought as he played. The melody that was played spoke of countless hours of practice, memorisation and re-memorisation. It brought a slight smile to Rufus' lips. Just as I thought. I'll never be able to forget this.
He kept playing for a couple of minutes longer, until he hit an unexpected and very sour wrong note. Grimacing, Rufus lowered the violin and shook his head. "And that is why the violin and I can never be friends. I have never, in all my years of playing the instrument, been able to get that note right." Shaking his head again, he held the violin out for Ranmaru to take back. He had no desire to continue with it, there were too many frustrating memories attatiched to that particular instrument. "After I quit the violin, I took up the viola, and we've been good friends ever since. I don't know why I had such a hard time with the violin, and not with the viola, but I'm not complaining."
It may or may not have been true, but Ranmaru was a bit uncomfortable meeting new people or groups of people all the same. He often felt rather cornered amongst larger groups and his Lords always had him with them as some sort of trophy though he couldn't imagine why. Granted, he was a prodigy what with his talent with the sword and with the traditional koto (which Lady Oichi roped him into learning with her!) but other than that, Ranmaru had always felt out of place among his Lords and Ladies. Ah, well. It was his life, he wasn't going to be ungrateful about it.
However, when Rufus began to play, Ranmaru blinked, falling silent as he listened to the melody being played. He knew what it was and it was one that only the intermediates tried. Which meant that Rufus' training hadn't at all been weak in any way. There was clarity in his playing, all the way up until that note that required the use of the fifth string and Ranmaru winced as well. Taking the instrument back from Rufus, he gave him an assuring smile. "That was lovely. You have a talent for this." he chuckled, then shook his head. "Don't let one note stop you, though I guess you found a better friend in the process, hm?" putting the violin in it's place and settling the bow over the strings, he began to play the exact same tune Rufus had been, closing his eyes. "... it's the fifth string." he told him. "It's tricky, but it helps.." he went all the way to the portion Rufus messed up at, and played it with a bit of concentration. God only knew how many times he'd screwed that one up.
Once he was done, his cheeks colored, more out of the rush of adrenaline that came through him when he was playing than embarassment as he lowered it, giving Rufus a small bow of his head in the proper respect for a completed piece, before turning to place it back. "... you're the kind of person who'll grow attached to one thing and never want to let it go so long as it's of your choosing, aren't you?" he commented. It was a longshot, but the way one's face or the way one wrote expressed a person, one's playing often did the same.
"I apologise for the assumptions. My Lords say I let my thoughts get the better of me." he chuckled.
Rufus listened to Ranmaru play through what he couldn't with a little consternation. It irked him to not be the best at what he did sometimes, but he had known that when he gave up the violin, there would be others who would surpass where he had left off. As Ranmaru finished, he smiled wryly and applauded.
"Bravo. I'm impressed." And he was, though he was usually loathe to admit it. But Ranmaru didn't seem like the type to take advantage of something he said. Besides which, he could always deny later having said it. "And you're a perceptive little thing, aren't you?" he replied in response to Ranmaru's stab in the dark observation. "I suppose you could say that about me. No, no supposition about it. It's true." Rufus raised an eyebrow, wondering how on earth that the other could have figured something like that out about him when they had known each other for less than ten minutes in person.
"It might be why I'm not attatched to much. I've never had much choice in my life." And why am I telling him this? Shut up, Rufus. Shut up now.
His assumption came mostly from how he knew he himself behaved.Very rarely would he grow attached to anything and when he did, no force on earth would ever be allowed to take it away. His violin for one. Then there was the matter of the people he loved, who happened to be his Lords. If anything were to happen to them, he'd go out of his way to protect them. And then there was the way Rufus played a violin. He could have reserved his judgement for when he saw him play his viola, but there was that whole 'emotion behind action' thing that they had.
In Rufus' case it was the small amount of joy that had shone in his eyes as he'd played. While people could just about as easilly forget what they learned and not be able to recall apon it later in the future, he hadn't let go of his memory of playing. All the way down to the error he made. Which also showed that when he lost something, it affected him strongly. Strange.. he wouldn't put it past himself to feel the same.
When he was applauded, Ranmaru felt his cheeks color slightly and he quickly turned, to close the lid of his case, snapping the locks in place and paused at the words. Then he chuckled. Two peas in a pod..? Close. Why I'm even bothering to assure him is a mystery to even me, but.. he seems so troubled..
"I've only had the choice to make choices out of the ones that were given to me." he smiled at Rufus again, turning to give him an accepting look. ".. that's how it is for us, right?" he moved a hand to the side of his own face, fingers brushing into his bangs and brushing them back as he looked to a side. ".. best to make do with what we have than what we can't." Smiling at Rufus then, he gave him a nod. "I know how strenuous that can be. If ever you want, I'd love to hear you out." taking a hold of his case, he picked it up and turned to give Rufus a short bow.
"Thank you for taking care of my violin and for allowing me to being able to see you. I hope you do feel better.. say.." he paused, then his eyes lit up. "Why don't you join me for tea in the garden sometime? It'll relax you, I'm sure of it!" there was sincerity in his tone, how often was it that he got to enjoy a simple pleasure like that without a million people hanging all over him?
Rufus nodded. In answer to the statements Ranmaru made, and just in general. He was all talked out. "Like I said, it was nothing. I'm sure you would have done the same." Actually, with what Rufus had observed of Ranmaru, he probably would have made an effort to find the actual owner if he had been in Rufus' shoes, where Rufus had waited for the owner to come to him.
"Sure. Tea sometime. Sounds good." He didn't offer a time frame in which that might happen, he needed time to mull over their conversation, and decide whether or not that was actually a prudent idea. Besides, there was always Reno to deal with. "Do make a complaint to the administration. Something should be done about the carelessness." He half smiled again, and held out his hand to Ranmaru. "It was a pleasure making your acquaintance in person, Ranmaru."
"I shall. This mustn't happen again.." he sighed, then smiled, extending his hand to give Rufus' a firm-yet-polite shake before pulling it back and moving it to the handle of his violin case. "The pleasure was mine, Rufus. I'll see you around then!" with a polite bow, the silver-eyed boy turned and made his way to the door, before pausing and turning to reach out to grab the door handle and then glancing over his shoulder.
"You should rest. You look like a ghost." a friendly smirk on his lips, he gave Rufus a slight wave, before turning and closing the door behind him and once he had, he immediately raced off, relief in his actions. Well, that went quite well..
I wonder if he'll see me again at all.. Hm. Rufus Shinra. I'll have to look you up sometime.. shaking his head, wondering where the curiosity came from, Ranmaru headed off. No point in thinking of it now, he was going to be late for his appointment with registration..
Though if all went well, he was looking forward to seeing Rufus again whenever the chance arose. And that brought a smile to his face.