At the sound of voices from the door, there was a startled 'ack!' sound from within the room, and the music cut off abruptly. In the space of a few seconds, Demyx had bounded off the bed to grin at Hanatarou from behind Soubi. "Hey, man! Uh, sorry about my roommate, he's being, um, extra weird tonight...and he's pretty weird most of the time..." He nudged Soubi's side. "Um, hey, out or in? 'Cause this is a friend of mine, and he can't come in with you standing there..."
It took him a second to notice the other boy standing in the hall, which earned Sora a startled double-take when he finally did spot him. "Whoa, Sora! Man, you startled me..." He laughed sheepishly. "I didn't realize you were coming, too. Man, it's gonna be kinda crowded in here." Glancing at Hanatarou apologetically, he continued, "See, I kinda double-booked the evening...? There's this guy coming; I promised to help him find his lute in patient possessions. But since he's a musician too, he probably won't mind me playing my song for you first." Glancing up and down the hall, he added, "Or maybe I'll have finished before he even gets here."
Apparently one of them had guests. Demyx, it seemed. Hiro looked at them disinterestedly, but didn't move. Not until Demyx nudged him. He twisted aside, grabbing the offending hand and glared at Demyx. What the hell gave him the right to touch Hiro? He released Demyx's wrist with a look of disgust and pushed past the two at the door. The sooner he was out of this place, the better. And if he had to stay another night? He was reporting this door situation. He didn't want strangers around him and he... well, that stupid kid might get hurt.
Hanatarou had already started out uncertain about the whole thing, wondering if he was really in the right place at the right time, and the reaction of the blond man - Demyx's roommate, apparently - hadn't really done much to reassure him. The shinigami shrank back a little, flinching as the stranger pushed past, and feeling more than slightly awkward about the whole thing. He knew he'd just be in the way, he always was. And now here he was interfering with Demyx's meetings with other people and bringing along someone else and just causing problems.
"Oh, er, I...I d-don't want to, um, interfere with...plans..." He lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck, then paused as he realized: clearly Demyx and Sora did know each other, since Demyx recognized him, but. If he wasn't Sora anymore, then maybe he wouldn't like to be called that. "And, ah, this is M-Matt."
It looked like things were getting more and more complicated. Matt simply stared up at Demyx with big blue eyes and then startled when the stranger pushed past them. He made sure to scramble out of the way along with Hanatarou and watched the man walk down the hall before warily glancing back to the supposed Organization member.
Chances were that Demyx wasn't really going to understand, especially since it looked like he still thought he was a Nobody who could summon water out of thin air.
Before Matt even got the chance to speak up, Hanatarou went ahead and tried to explain things for him. Matt appreciated it, but he still wasn't sure if Demyx was going to accept what had happened. He didn't want to waste everyone's time trying to explain himself, though, seeing how it sounded like there was a lot going on already.
"Sorry to intrude," he added after his roommate. "I just... didn't have anywhere else to go." Which came out as pretty pathetic, but it was the truth.
"Hey, relax!" Demyx reassured Hanatarou as he ushered the two boys into the room. "Like I said, it's not really gonna mess anything up. Actually, it might be good that it worked out this way! See, uh, Kvothe's hand is actually smashed..." He grimaced and flexed his own in demonstration, although how this demonstrated a hurt hand was up for debate. "Broken, you know? He can't even play music, and that's just...it's the worst thing you can do to a musician, you know? When you love music that much, then you start going crazy missing it when it's gone. You said you were a healer, right? Maybe you could help him a little or something. He's worried he might not ever be able to play again..."
He'd been moving to the bed to get his sitar when he processed just what Hanatarou had said and stopped, looking back over his shoulder with an utterly baffled look on his face. "...who's Matt?" He gave Sora a close look, as though he might've turned into someone else while he wasn't looking - which, to be fair, wasn't as entirely far-fetched in the experience of Nobodies as it could have been. "Look, I know I called you Roxas for awhile, but I still know you're Sora...mostly. Or all the way," he said with a frown, scratching his cheek, "since I saw Roxas hanging around awhile ago, so he's not part of you anymore, right...?" Dropping heavily onto his bed, he complained, "Aaah, man, don't make this even more confusing."
Telling Hanatarou to relax was about as likely to work as politely asking the tide not to come in. The sentiment was appreciated, though, and he did at least look slightly less uneasy as he let himself be shooed into the room proper and heard what Demyx had to say. He would've gladly offered to heal anyone with a broken hand, musician or no, but since it seemed to mean something to his friend he was only more happy to help out.
"Um, I...it's hard to heal broken bones," he began, a thoughtful expression momentarily overtaking the uncertainty and nervousness, then quickly added, "Er, here, I mean. But, um, I can see how much I can do?" If nothing else, he could at least make sure the bones were healing straight and would leave him with a functional hand. That would at least be a little helpful, right?
At Demyx's reaction to Sora, though, the shinigami visibly winced and drew back again, as though trying to find a nice corner in which to hide. He might not understand the whole conversation, or just who "Roxas" was, but he did know that Matt probably wouldn't be thrilled to hear this. He'd already been looking depressed enough before, and now...well, it was likely to just get worse.
Matt was actually content to sit back and wait as the two other patients started talking about broken hands and healing. He knew that his roommate couldn't actually be capable of anything like that, same as how he couldn't actually summon a key-shaped weapon to fight fiends of darkness. There didn't seem to be much point in trying to convince them, though, especially when Demyx wasn't even willing to believe that he'd changed.
"I don't mean to make things confusing," he said with a dismayed shake of his head. "It's just that this is the first time in a while that I haven't been confused." Matt considered repeating to Demyx what he'd told Xigbar earlier in the day, but he didn't think it would go over that well.
He would just have to be staunch in his own beliefs and hope that it didn't cause them to clash too much. Demyx wasn't one for conflict, from what Matt could remember, so hopefully they could just let it slide. Matt was starting to think more and more that he shouldn't have come, though. If he'd known they were going to meet with Demyx of all people...
"Anyway, I'll stay out of the way," he added, lifting up his hands disarmingly. "It was rude of me to come without being invited, anyway." Matt lingered near the closet and hoped that they could leave it at that.
"Don't worry about it," Demyx said with a smile at Sora. He still didn't get this 'Matt' business, but Sora didn't seem like he really wanted to get into it, and it was less confusing to not try to think about it, so he was okay with that. "After all, we're friends...sort of...right?" Maybe that was pushing it, though, so he left it at that.
Pulling his sitar into his lap, he nodded at Hanatarou. "Hey, I don't want you to strain yourself or anything. I mean, it sucks if his hand takes awhile to heal, but that sort of thing happens sometimes. But if you could at least help a little, maybe make sure his hand works once it does heal, that'd be a huge help. He wouldn't have to worry anymore, at least." He brushed his fingers idly over the strings. "But anyway...want to hear your song? I've been working on it. And don't worry, I won't feel bad if you don't like it or anything - I can't, after all. Plus sitars...well, they sound really different from what most people are used to."
Hanatarou glanced between Demyx and Matt, clearly worried but at the same time uncertain; there wasn't really anything that he could do to help his roommate, and he couldn't help but feel like he was intruding in a personal conversation. He didn't know just how Sora and Demyx had known each other, after all, and was significantly more uncomfortable around Matt than he had been when he was still Sora and so didn't want to ask. He just edged over toward the opposite bed, waiting to see if someone objected to him sitting down before he very cautiously perched on the edge.
"Oh, um. I can try...I bet I could at least, er, make sure it's going to heal like it should." So many people seemed to be happy about what little he could do to help, which puzzled him a little, but...well, at least he wasn't completely useless. Just mostly. But then Hanatarou paused and blinked at Demyx in mild surprise.
Sure, Demyx had said something about writing a song for him, but he'd been sure it was just an idle comment, to be forgotten later. He was mostly just curious about this strange instrument he'd been told about, and hadn't ever expected to really hear something written for him. After a second he realized that he was staring and glanced down at the floor again. "Ah, I...er, sure? I, I wanted to hear it. The sitar, I mean."
So Demyx was just going to leave it at that? Matt wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it seemed like the man was trying to keep up the charade of having no feelings. A Nobody wouldn't dwell on something like this "misunderstanding" for longer than necessary, and Demyx had never been one who enjoyed working his mind too hard.
Matt wasn't so sure about them being friends (he hadn't even been entirely willing to concede that when he'd still been insane), so he just gave a small, noncommittal nod and kept quiet.
However, it was hard to stay out of the conversation when Demyx suddenly pulled a sitar into his lap like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. It wasn't the blue one Matt had made up, but it was still the same sort of instrument, as far as he could tell.
"Whoa," he called out from his corner of the room. It looked like he wasn't going to remain silent after all. "Where'd you find that?" He'd never seen anything like it in the Music Room, but maybe that was because Demyx had managed to sneak it out somehow...?
"Oh, yeah, I don't think I told you." Demyx grinned at Sora and patted his sitar. "I got it out of patient possessions! Dunno why they had this sitar and not my Organization one, but any port in a storm, right? I wasn't kidding about how you start feeling like you're going crazy if you have to go without music too long. It's the only thing that makes me feel anything close to human anymore..."
After that trailed off into an awkward pause, Demyx cleared his throat and shifted his hold on the sitar so that his hand hovered over the strings. "But, uh, yeah, the song..." He hesitated for a moment, closing his eyes and reviewing the sound he wanted in his head - Hanatarou as seen through the filter of music - and was only half-conscious of when thought became action and his fingers began to move over the strings.
It seemed like Matt had been trying to stay out of the conversation entirely, which had worried Hanatarou a little but at the same time he didn't want to bother him if he wanted to be quiet. But when he suddenly spoke up, apparently surprised by the sight of the sitar, Hanatarou gave a start and winced, shoulders hunching slightly. Was it always going to be this awkward with him and Demyx in the same room? Hopefully not.
He was a little grateful when Demyx finally broke the silence and started to play, because then he didn't have to do anything but listen to the music. It was a different sound, since he couldn't recall hearing anyone play a sitar before, but definitely not unpleasant. Though the fact that this song was supposed to be for him...well, he wasn't quite sure what to think about that, so he just tried to listen to the song for the sake of the music itself.
Kvothe counted down the numbers on the doors as he moved down the hallway, but was soon distracted by the sound of music from behind one of the doors. It soon became obvious that the music was coming from behind the very door that he was looking for, which made his curiosity get the better of him and he only hesitated for a few moments before quietly pushing the door open and poking his head in. He didn't want to interrupt but he also wanted to hear the music more clearly.
Patients' possessions? Matt wasn't sure what to think of that, but it was obvious that the man had found the instrument somewhere. Considering the comment Demyx made about feeling less sane without his music, it was possible that the institute had arranged to get him a sitar so that he could hopefully become more stable.
Except it apparently hadn't worked yet. The boy frowned to himself as he carefully leaned against the closet again. It wasn't his place to interrupt the song now that had it had started, though, and Demyx could play very well. It made Matt wonder at what the man's life was really like. He had to have been a musician of some sort to be that talented...
Matt felt his mood improving as the song continued, although he was pulled away from listening when he heard the door being pushed further open. He glanced over at the stranger who stepped in, but quickly realized that this had to be the person Demyx had mentioned earlier. Not wanting to speak up when Demyx was still playing, Matt made sure to keep quiet, though he was polite enough to nod to the newcomer in greeting.
Demyx didn't notice Kvothe's arrival; he was too engrossed in the song, in making sure he followed the music. Not that there was a specific tune he was adhering to, as such; he was playing, in the most literal sense, by ear. He couldn't have explained it in words, but he could hear how the music should go - it was just a sort of instinct. His mind composed a few notes ahead of his hands, and all his fingers had to do was follow along.
Eventually the song ended, on a slightly uplifting note, and after a brief pause Demyx glanced up at Hanatarou. "How's that? Maybe I ought to've gotten to know you better first, I could've probably done a better job then..." He didn't quite know how his friend might react; Soubi had acted oddly after Demyx had played for him, although honestly Soubi acted inexplicably a lot of the time so maybe that had nothing to do with his music at all.
"...th-that was for me?" Hanatarou blurted out at the question, sounding a little amazed and pleased and disbelieving all at once, then immediately blushed and shrank back a little. "I mean, um, it's...I liked it." Which he had, really, even if he was still getting hung up on the idea that someone had written a song for him. But then, Demyx always did seem to do inexplicable things like being nice to him.
It was only then that he realized someone had entered in the meantime, and unless there were a lot of people wandering around with broken hands it had to be the person Demyx had mentioned. He blinked and forced a small, timid smile, hoping that if he could start out on a good note then maybe the stranger wouldn't be so disappointed when he wasn't able to do very much to help him.
It took him a second to notice the other boy standing in the hall, which earned Sora a startled double-take when he finally did spot him. "Whoa, Sora! Man, you startled me..." He laughed sheepishly. "I didn't realize you were coming, too. Man, it's gonna be kinda crowded in here." Glancing at Hanatarou apologetically, he continued, "See, I kinda double-booked the evening...? There's this guy coming; I promised to help him find his lute in patient possessions. But since he's a musician too, he probably won't mind me playing my song for you first." Glancing up and down the hall, he added, "Or maybe I'll have finished before he even gets here."
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[To here.]
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"Oh, er, I...I d-don't want to, um, interfere with...plans..." He lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck, then paused as he realized: clearly Demyx and Sora did know each other, since Demyx recognized him, but. If he wasn't Sora anymore, then maybe he wouldn't like to be called that. "And, ah, this is M-Matt."
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Chances were that Demyx wasn't really going to understand, especially since it looked like he still thought he was a Nobody who could summon water out of thin air.
Before Matt even got the chance to speak up, Hanatarou went ahead and tried to explain things for him. Matt appreciated it, but he still wasn't sure if Demyx was going to accept what had happened. He didn't want to waste everyone's time trying to explain himself, though, seeing how it sounded like there was a lot going on already.
"Sorry to intrude," he added after his roommate. "I just... didn't have anywhere else to go." Which came out as pretty pathetic, but it was the truth.
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He'd been moving to the bed to get his sitar when he processed just what Hanatarou had said and stopped, looking back over his shoulder with an utterly baffled look on his face. "...who's Matt?" He gave Sora a close look, as though he might've turned into someone else while he wasn't looking - which, to be fair, wasn't as entirely far-fetched in the experience of Nobodies as it could have been. "Look, I know I called you Roxas for awhile, but I still know you're Sora...mostly. Or all the way," he said with a frown, scratching his cheek, "since I saw Roxas hanging around awhile ago, so he's not part of you anymore, right...?" Dropping heavily onto his bed, he complained, "Aaah, man, don't make this even more confusing."
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"Um, I...it's hard to heal broken bones," he began, a thoughtful expression momentarily overtaking the uncertainty and nervousness, then quickly added, "Er, here, I mean. But, um, I can see how much I can do?" If nothing else, he could at least make sure the bones were healing straight and would leave him with a functional hand. That would at least be a little helpful, right?
At Demyx's reaction to Sora, though, the shinigami visibly winced and drew back again, as though trying to find a nice corner in which to hide. He might not understand the whole conversation, or just who "Roxas" was, but he did know that Matt probably wouldn't be thrilled to hear this. He'd already been looking depressed enough before, and now...well, it was likely to just get worse.
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"I don't mean to make things confusing," he said with a dismayed shake of his head. "It's just that this is the first time in a while that I haven't been confused." Matt considered repeating to Demyx what he'd told Xigbar earlier in the day, but he didn't think it would go over that well.
He would just have to be staunch in his own beliefs and hope that it didn't cause them to clash too much. Demyx wasn't one for conflict, from what Matt could remember, so hopefully they could just let it slide. Matt was starting to think more and more that he shouldn't have come, though. If he'd known they were going to meet with Demyx of all people...
"Anyway, I'll stay out of the way," he added, lifting up his hands disarmingly. "It was rude of me to come without being invited, anyway." Matt lingered near the closet and hoped that they could leave it at that.
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Pulling his sitar into his lap, he nodded at Hanatarou. "Hey, I don't want you to strain yourself or anything. I mean, it sucks if his hand takes awhile to heal, but that sort of thing happens sometimes. But if you could at least help a little, maybe make sure his hand works once it does heal, that'd be a huge help. He wouldn't have to worry anymore, at least." He brushed his fingers idly over the strings. "But anyway...want to hear your song? I've been working on it. And don't worry, I won't feel bad if you don't like it or anything - I can't, after all. Plus sitars...well, they sound really different from what most people are used to."
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"Oh, um. I can try...I bet I could at least, er, make sure it's going to heal like it should." So many people seemed to be happy about what little he could do to help, which puzzled him a little, but...well, at least he wasn't completely useless. Just mostly. But then Hanatarou paused and blinked at Demyx in mild surprise.
Sure, Demyx had said something about writing a song for him, but he'd been sure it was just an idle comment, to be forgotten later. He was mostly just curious about this strange instrument he'd been told about, and hadn't ever expected to really hear something written for him. After a second he realized that he was staring and glanced down at the floor again. "Ah, I...er, sure? I, I wanted to hear it. The sitar, I mean."
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Matt wasn't so sure about them being friends (he hadn't even been entirely willing to concede that when he'd still been insane), so he just gave a small, noncommittal nod and kept quiet.
However, it was hard to stay out of the conversation when Demyx suddenly pulled a sitar into his lap like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. It wasn't the blue one Matt had made up, but it was still the same sort of instrument, as far as he could tell.
"Whoa," he called out from his corner of the room. It looked like he wasn't going to remain silent after all. "Where'd you find that?" He'd never seen anything like it in the Music Room, but maybe that was because Demyx had managed to sneak it out somehow...?
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After that trailed off into an awkward pause, Demyx cleared his throat and shifted his hold on the sitar so that his hand hovered over the strings. "But, uh, yeah, the song..." He hesitated for a moment, closing his eyes and reviewing the sound he wanted in his head - Hanatarou as seen through the filter of music - and was only half-conscious of when thought became action and his fingers began to move over the strings.
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He was a little grateful when Demyx finally broke the silence and started to play, because then he didn't have to do anything but listen to the music. It was a different sound, since he couldn't recall hearing anyone play a sitar before, but definitely not unpleasant. Though the fact that this song was supposed to be for him...well, he wasn't quite sure what to think about that, so he just tried to listen to the song for the sake of the music itself.
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Kvothe counted down the numbers on the doors as he moved down the hallway, but was soon distracted by the sound of music from behind one of the doors. It soon became obvious that the music was coming from behind the very door that he was looking for, which made his curiosity get the better of him and he only hesitated for a few moments before quietly pushing the door open and poking his head in. He didn't want to interrupt but he also wanted to hear the music more clearly.
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Except it apparently hadn't worked yet. The boy frowned to himself as he carefully leaned against the closet again. It wasn't his place to interrupt the song now that had it had started, though, and Demyx could play very well. It made Matt wonder at what the man's life was really like. He had to have been a musician of some sort to be that talented...
Matt felt his mood improving as the song continued, although he was pulled away from listening when he heard the door being pushed further open. He glanced over at the stranger who stepped in, but quickly realized that this had to be the person Demyx had mentioned earlier. Not wanting to speak up when Demyx was still playing, Matt made sure to keep quiet, though he was polite enough to nod to the newcomer in greeting.
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Eventually the song ended, on a slightly uplifting note, and after a brief pause Demyx glanced up at Hanatarou. "How's that? Maybe I ought to've gotten to know you better first, I could've probably done a better job then..." He didn't quite know how his friend might react; Soubi had acted oddly after Demyx had played for him, although honestly Soubi acted inexplicably a lot of the time so maybe that had nothing to do with his music at all.
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It was only then that he realized someone had entered in the meantime, and unless there were a lot of people wandering around with broken hands it had to be the person Demyx had mentioned. He blinked and forced a small, timid smile, hoping that if he could start out on a good note then maybe the stranger wouldn't be so disappointed when he wasn't able to do very much to help him.
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