(Untitled)

[ancientflowers]

[Who] Aerith, open (:
[Where] Marketplace
[When] Early afternoon
[What] Aerith is just taking a look at what others have to sell ^^
[Notes] TBA

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[ancientflowers]

Carefully twisting the stem of a flower between her fingers, Aerith left the vendor, lifting the petals to her nose. She inhaled, smiling faintly at the soft scent. Not only did the flower smell good, but the aromas of baked goods and sweets did as well as they wafted down the street.

Aerith reached up to brush her hair out of her eyes, bracelets clinking quietly. Slowly, she wandered through the marketplace, pausing every now and then to get a better look this and that. It wasn't long before the faint sound of music reached her ears, and curiously, she looked around for the source, almost certain that it was the sitar player. She knew his music well.

Spotting what looked like a small crowd of people - she assumed they were circled around Demyx, appreciating his music - she decided to keep her distance for now. The Nocturne had plenty of fans, and he probably knew how liked he was without her having to tell him.

It wasn't until the music stopped that Aerith looked over again to see that the small group was slowly diminishing. Once he was finally alone, she approached him, flower clasped in her fingers.

"You do a lot for the city," she said quietly, smiling gently. "Your music makes people happy." That being said, she bent and set the flower down in front of him on the spread of fabric. A thank you.

[demy_god]

He obliged them winningly with music, listening to some hum old folktunes from their respective worlds, listening carefully to the simple melodies a few times before catching the chord progressions, giving a slight nod and then trying out his own various on the tunes.

The listeners delighted in it, the small memories of home. Then Demyx would show them new ones; the wild but soothing songs of jungles and the grand gladiator marches of Coliseums, the symphonic dances of broomsticks, lyric simplicity of haiku set to music in zen gardens, the calypsos and hornpipe chanteys of seven seas, the waltzes of castle ballrooms and spiced, sensuous street music of bazaars much more exotic than this one.

...and finally the crowd thinned out, leaving only this one girl, sweet-faced, bearing a flower as a sign of appreciation. She had a soft voice, almost shy but with a quiet sureness, and not the clingy, squeally rabid sort of fan at all. The Nocturne peered up curiously into her eyes, a sheepish grin, scrubbing at the back of his head. People didn't give compliments that sounded so sincere without a sorta...scary enthusiasm too often.

"Awwww, well...Well gee, thanks!" He beamed, blue eyes bright. "I try my best! I'm glad I can cheer this town up a little bit...no one should have to feel so gloomy, right?"

[ancientflowers]

Aerith clasped her hands behind her back and nodded gently with a soft smile. What she said was true. Before Demyx had arrived, the city had always held a certain gloom, a strange loneliness that no one else seemed to really realize but her. People tended to keep to their own 'kind', sticking with those they knew from their previous lives, and then there were those who knew no one and were truly alone. Maybe it was only evident to Aerith, but Demyx's music had done a lot to change that.

Since the Nocturne's arrical and the debute of his music, the city felt more...friendly, more homely. It brought everyone together, in a sense. People enjoyed his music together.

"You're very welcome, Demyx," she told him, and the fact that she knew his name wasn't so strange, because just about everyone in the city knew his name, whether they liked him or not (and from what she observed, most did).

"Metropolis had always needed a little uplifting, and then you came. You've done a wonderful job of brightening up the city, and we're thankful," she smiled.

[demy_god]

He got lots of squealing praise, or approving grunts from those who 'digged' his grooves. Demyx could respond to all of them by now with a cocky stage-additude, which was all just part of the show. But up close and personal, with someone who seemed so very grateful about things, and spoke of everything on a much bigger-sounding scale, Demyx could only shrug meekly.

"Wow," he blinked, a little taken aback. And then you came. As if he'd done everyone such a real big favors just by kickin' around some improvisational chords off his fire escape. "Um...thats...that's really great to hear!"

With another modest shrug, Demyx bowed his head and retuned his Sitar, listening carefully to the notes and he murmured with a little less enthusiasm this time, a bit more thoughtfulness. "I didn't really think I made so much difference, I'm really just a Nobody, after all, but..."

He looked back up at the flower girl earnestly, picking up the flower off his mat and tucking the stem behind an ear. "Heh, just doin' my part, right? City needs a little spark. Every city's got its own rhythm, no matter what shape its in, after all." A smile of optimism given 'round at the towering buildings, the nocturne added, "People of Metropolis have just gotta find it, and tune in."

Talk about getting a little too deep there! Quick to pull himself back together, straightening up into playing position, he looked hopefully to his new supporter. "So is there anything I can play for you? Any special song you like? I can take requests!" His nod was eager. "...and if I don't know it I guess you'll have to put up with me making up a little, but uh...you won't mind, right?"

[ancientflowers]

Aerith smiled with a quiet laugh, rocking back on her heels a little with her hands clasped behind her back. She hadn't meant to make him feel uncomfortable or put him on the spot in any way, she was just speaking the truth, letting him know how appreciated he really was in a...much more civilized way than some of his other fans chose to show their appreciation.

Aerith just barely caught his quiet murmur and she frowned faintly at his words, wondering why he could think, let alone say such a thing about himself.

"That's not true," she said to him quietly, shaking her head a little, getting down on her knees and sitting back on her legs so she was more eye-level. "You've made a big difference. It's hard to tell when you don't know what this place was like before you came." Aerith gave him a small, reassuring smile and a gentle touch to his arm.

Tilting her head, the flower girl searched for a song, absently reaching up to brush her bangs out of her eyes, bracelets clinking quietly. She shrugged with a smile, dropping her hand back in her lap. "Anything you'd like to play ," she decided, laughing gently. "I'm sure anything you play is nice."

[demy_god]

"Really?" Demyx still beamed in genial disbelief, shifting himself back to make a little room for her to kneel on his carpet, and she moved to sit down. "Gee, I...guess I really don't know how bad it was" He reflected aloud, a regretful sigh. A world without music? He couldn't imagine...all worlds, no matter where he went, had music. Sure, he'd added it to NeverWas mostly himself, but that was different.

"City didn't seem like such a bad place, when I first got here." The nocturne remarked, still scratching his head. "But I sorta do like to hang on the upside of things, so...maybe I was just oblivious." A casual shrug, and then he looked back up at her, eyes meeting when she touched his arm.

Yeah. This girl had a lot of heart. He could tell just by looking, and it made him want to put down something special on the strings for her.

"Okay, okay, um...lets see." Demyx cradled the Sitar thoughtfully in his arms, mind wracking at his mental catalougue "Oh!" He finally laughed easily, nodding to himself and checking the instrument's tuning one last time. "Here's one..."

Blue eyes peered up keenly at Aerith. "You look like the sensitive type who can appreciate this folky stuff, so...this one's a kind of spirit-song, from another world. I learned it the other day, from someone!" He added brightly, before going contemplatively quiet a few moments, and then brushing his fingers somberly across the strings, the Sitar's large, resonant body whining and eeriely zinging out a slow tune.

The woman who had hummed it for him, a woman from a world called Spira, said the song was called The Hymn of the Fayth. Something that was nearly forgotten on her homeworld, and she'd meant to restore it here. Demyx had promised her to play it, now and again, teach at very least the melody to others, since the language had been sort of tricky.