(Untitled)

[morilthesinger]

The bard named Osfameron--not the old one, the legend, but the younger descendant named for him--has a cart full of musical instruments. They vary in size and tone, in family, in the skill needed to play them. Cwidders and pipes and flutes and drums, he knows all of them, and he knows them all well. When he was very very small, his mother had held

Comments

[themusicaltwin]

It was part of Paul's routine, by this point, to come to the cart, even if he wouldn't have been lured there by the music. "That's nice," he said, flopping down onto the log near Moril to watch him. "Is it new?"

[morilthesinger]

"Yes," Moril says, without lowering it, or ceasing his song. "It's lower than Quatre's. A little bigger."

[themusicaltwin]

"Viola," Paul said by way of explanation. "It's the tenor version. Present from the island?"

[morilthesinger]

Moril nods. "It looks that way. It's nice, really. I didn't realise they had different names. It'll be good for harmonies, though."

[adamant_command]

While Lord Asriel had certainly seen no shortage of musicians and entertainers in the Island's rapidly expanding population, this was perhaps the first time he had chanced upon an artist of the musical persuasion outdoors, playing a tune that he found quite pleasing.

Stelmaria, with sharper ears, led him to the cart and to the young man perched before it.

"You play well," he observed, once he'd moved within range of conversation.

[morilthesinger]

Habit and relex mean Moril doesn't stop the song, though he might falter a little on the barely-familiar instrument. "Thank you," he says with a faint smile.

[adamant_command]

Lord Asriel usually isn't one to ask - he's one to take. And so when he says, "You don't mind if I sit and listen for a moment, d'you?" it is a rare show of interest indeed.

[morilthesinger]

It's been what feels like a long time since anyone Moril didn't already know expressed that sort of interest, and he's missed a new audience. "Of course I don't," he says, nodding briefly to the logs set up around the firepit outside the cart. "Though I should warn you I'm just practising."

[llewych_will]

Will just stands and listens at first, smiling. And then he begins to sing, not really words, just harmonizing with the notes, enjoying the blending of his voice with the rich sounds of the viola.

[morilthesinger]

Moril's first reaction is a startled smile, and he misses a note, but he's caught up with himself again a moment later, the tune weaving in and out of the wordless vocals.

[llewych_will]

Will continues singing for a minute and then lets his voice fade out, coming over to sit next to Moril. "Is there any instrument you can't play?" he asks with a smile.

[morilthesinger]

"The ones I haven't tried yet," Moril answers with a sheepish grin. "And this one I don't know very well. It's lower than Quatre's, that I'd been playing. How're you, Will?"