driftfleet | [ and now it's done. ]

Who: Belthazar and you!
Broadcast: Yes
Action: The Iskaulit.
When: At a very reasonable time of morning

[video;]

[The piano's actually been built for a few weeks-- since before Winn fell asleep, actually-- but his coma left Belth needing to finish putting things together as well as the final touches. The rest has been simply... tuning. He's glad he has an ear for music, but finding a decent tuning fork was surprisingly difficult. And then, of course, he had to paint and polish the damn thing. That took another couple of weeks...

But it's done now, and he's managed to teach himself a very basic melody for the purpose of this broadcast. He turns the communicator so it can sweep over the piano in its entirety. There are a few things that set it as alien, such as the shape and the expanded number of keys, but it's recognizable enough.]

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you... the Fleet's first piano! The book called it a harpsinterian, though it's obviously related. It even has the pedals I remember from the-- I'm rambling. [Ahem.] This was made possible because of Winn's ingenuity so you may direct your thanks to him. I merely provided the materials.

[He plays his few arpeggios without any mistakes. He's been up all night getting this perfect, and he lets out an audible sigh when he's done.]

A friend told me that she longed to hear her loved one play the piano again, and that was the main reason I started this project. But music doesn't belong to just one person. That's why it's on the Iskaulit for anyone to enjoy. I hope to spend some time getting to know it from the player's chair rather than bending over it... and I wish to hear the Fleet filled with music again.

Also, if it's not much of a bother-- Nightingale? I would love to see you and Opal both, so that I may hear this playing you gushed so much about.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well... no, I had my own reasons. But it gave me the initial idea, which is the important part.

[He isn't quite sure how to describe it. Listening to its soft notes reminds him of his sister, all dark hair and soft blue eyes, and he misses her terribly.]

It's a fascinating instrument. Part percussion, part strings... Making something like this in space would be a challenge, so of course I wanted to do it.

I wanted to test the limits of my resourcefulness and the ingenuity of our engineers. I was not disappointed.

Well... It looks great. Seriously.

It's been a few months since I've played, so I might be a little bit rusty, but - I can be there soon.

It might look acceptable, but I'd like to have you test it just to make sure. We can adjust things as necessary.

[He smiles a bit.]

Thank you for obliging me.

You don't have to thank me, seriously. I mean, god, if anything I should be thanking you.

I'm heading towards the shuttle now, so... See you soon.

I'll give your thanks to Winn. He did all of the work. [Forever deflecting compliments.] I'll see you soon.

[Whenever Opal and Nightingale get there, they'll find Belth waving at them from the hallway. The room housing the piano is rather plain at the moment, little more than a table and some chairs (and of course, the piano)-- but he's tried to make it welcoming. A pitcher of strawberry lemonade and several glasses sits beside a basket of warm fruit pastries.]

[She waves in return as she approaches, and she can't help the smile that reappears when she sees the piano there. Once she notices the food and beverages, though, she glances towards them.]

You really went all out, huh?

Oh, I conjured the pastries. It's nothing too time-consuming.

[He plays with a bit of long hair, curls it around his finger.]

In all the time I've been here, the closest thing I've seen to a live performance is Eithan plucking away at his guitar. I almost forgot what music sounded like until I heard him.

It seems rather sad, doesn't it? A life without music. Space is so very quiet and... dead.

My statement still stands.

[A nod, a smile with some fondness behind it.]

There aren't usually places to play on most planets. So it'll be nice to have around. I wonder if we could collect other instruments we find on different planets, make a music room or something. For now, though...

[Reaching into her bag, she pulls out a few pieces of sheet music.]

Any requests? Something upbeat, something slower, or...?

Yes! There was a music room on a station a few months back. Some of it was standard, you know, like drums and string instruments-- and some of it was just plain strange. There is a lot of potential, whether we make our own fun or build on someone else's. Experimentation is the heart of innovation.

[Sorry, he's a nerd. He could go on for about two more days about all the different parts of the harpsinterian.]

Whatever you are most familiar with is fine.

At the hotel, right? I feel like I spent half the time we were at that station in that room. There were instruments I'd never even seen before, which I guess makes sense given the whole alien planet thing, but I wish we had more time to learn about them all. Maybe sometime we'll go somewhere with a similar area and we'll be able to take better notes this time.

[She, too, has found the One Thing she'll nerd about no matter what. He's at least in good company.]

Well, Mozart's basically always been my favorite. Are you from a world where he was alive?

[Regardless, she moves forward the take a seat on the bench, shifting through the sheet music in her hands to pick something out.]

I feel that way every time we come across a library.

[He can deal with nerdery. Makes him feel at home.]

The composer, yes? I spent a few months imprisoned on a version of Earth, so I've heard some recordings... I cannot say I'm familiar beyond that.

Libraries are pretty alright, I guess.

[By which she means she likes them, but they're on the level where she has to pretend to be uninvested. Not like with music. At his next words, though, he actually gets a rare smile out of her.]

Dude, I'm so jealous that you get to hear most of his stuff for the first time. Wanna get to it, then?

Books are more tolerable than people most of the time.

[He still has this opinion years and years later. Ah, well.

His eyes dance with excitement. He gets to hear some amazing things today-- and he's going to learn, eventually, though he probably won't ask the reticent girl in front of him for help]

Yes, please! Is there anything you need me to do?

You're a real social butterfly, aren't you?

[The teasing in her voice is only light, despite the way her eyebrows raise slightly at his words. Regardless, she puts the piece on the music desk, glancing back towards him a moment later.]

I don't think so. Is there something you should be doing beforehand?

[ and now it's done. ]

video;

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video --> action? if you want it!;

action yeeee

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