A New Life. On the Keys.

The day had been... trying. Oh, it had started off normal enough, but it had quickly gone downhill. She couldn't even pinpoint what exactly it had been to set her off, but even before noon, she had found herself panicking, constantly watching over her shoulder out of a paranoid fear of her family finding her. Logically, she knew she was as safe as she could be at the Academy, the representative she had talked to had been patient and understanding- she refused to believe it had been pity- in explaining the protections Manta Carlos in general and the Academy specifically had. But still, she'd been unable to shake the impending feeling of doom, of the blade ready to come down on her head.

She'd tried hiding out in her dorm room, even skipping most of her afternoon classes because of it, but that had barely put a dent in the rising hysteria. And so, she had given in to one of the desires she had the moment she'd come to the Academy. She had quietly crept out of the dorm building and to the education buildings, finding the arts one and singling out a music room.

For all that her parents had forced her to start piano lessons in order to learn self-discipline, she had fallen in love with the instrument and with music in general. It was a passion that lived even now, but Cassie hadn't been confident in her new surroundings enough to seek it out. When she played, she put her whole being into it, which was, understandably, a rather vulnerable state. With how frenzied she had been, however, she made an exception. It hadn't proved to be a bad one, either. Her fingers had shaken as she gently ran them along the piano keys, but once she got into a song, and then the second, and third, her fears slowly began melting away. The soft, melodious sounds soothed her in a way very little else could, which was exactly what she needed.

She had just finished her seventh song- a gentle, intricately emotional piece- when a voice interrupted her segue into the eighth. She sprung up from the bench, whirling to face the doorway. Her immediate reaction was to flee, but she was mentally exhausted and not quite up to a chase if the stranger intended to follow her. As such, Cassie remained where she was, watching the boy come into view. Her pupil-less, pale eyes were infinitely careful as they studied the stranger, pale, aristocratically delicate features showing little.

"Thank you." She murmured softly, a hand raising and making a show of tucking a few strands of raven black hair behind her right ear though it was actually readying in case Cassie needed to defend herself. Just from the uniform alone, she could tell this boy was a high school student at the Academy, but physical appearances meant little on islands filled with all sorts of supernatural creatures. "May I ask why you are here? Surely there is a reason you entered, rather than simply walking past once I was finished playing."​

Making a solid effort not to lash out as the stranger moved further into the room, Cassie listened to his explanation without interrupting. She settled back onto the bench with graceful movements, though did so in a way that she could easily spring up to her feet once more and flee if needed. And then, he offered to look for another music room, and Cassie sorely wanted to tell him yes, to please leave her alone because she wasn't in the mood to watch her back; she had wanted to relax, damn it, not sour one of the few pastimes she genuinely enjoyed with her self-ingrained paranoia. Another part of her, however, was desperate not to be left alone again. She'd spent a fair portion of her life on the run, keeping away from humans and vampires alike. She was tired of it, tired of being left with the silence of her own mind and the frantic grief-filled flashbacks.

By the time the stranger offered an introduction, that side of Cassie won out, and though she was still fearful of allowing a veritable stranger to see her when she was so vulnerable, it was almost a relief as well. "I do not mind if you remain here." It was only a partial lie. "Though... you may call me Cassie." It burned the side of Cassie that had been groomed since birth to be the aristocratic lady of manners and grace and poise to give the young man such an informal form of her name, but Cassiopeia was not very common these days, and if she could do anything to lessen the tracks she made for her family to follow, the better. With that, she returned the majority of her attention to the piano keys, signaling that the discussion was more or less over, though she kept a sliver of her focus on this... Rosett all the while- old, desperation-born habits die hard, after all.​

Merely giving a soft hum in acknowledgement, she gazed down at the black and white keys a bit somberly. She hadn't played around someone in ages, and while Cassie knew it wasn't the same as playing for him, having Steven there was odd. Still, she wasn't about to give up- this was her time, for all that she hadn't put up much of a fuss-, and so she took a deep breath before her slender fingers ghosted over the piano keys. Hesitating only a split second, she started on a new song, her eyes fluttering closed as her body moved on memory; getting her hands on a piano to practice had been a rare occurence, but Cassie was just as talented as she remembered being the last time she'd played on the grand piano in the Blackwell's drawing room.

She didn't play as loudly as she would've had she been alone- she might have been a bit standoffish, but she wasn't rude-, which allowed her to hear what Steven was playing. To her surprise, it was the song she'd played before this one. It was... oddly humbling. Not to mention impressive, for she'd only played it the once and still it was fairly decent. So distracted was she, that she finished her current piece absentmindedly- it was a slightly slower piece than the other-, only her near perfect memory as a vampire allowing her to avoid mistakes. As such, she nearly started in surprise when Steven spoke up, wide-eyed once more as she watched him. Her gaze took on a thoughtful edge though, and after a few moments of silence, she nodded, if only slightly hesitantly.

With that, she returned to the piano keys again. There was a barely noticeable tremble in her hands but she fought it back, starting the seventh song once again. It was elegantly simple, a gentle melody that seemed to glide around them, enhanced by the emotion Cassie filled it with. Once she finished and the final ring of the notes disappeared into the air, the straightened in her seat and glanced at Steven.​

Cassie played at a normal volume this time, her eyes nearly immediately closing as she focused on the feeling of the piano keys beneath her fingers. Swaying slightly as she put her everything into the song, a barely perceptible smile ghosted across her aristocratic features. Time seemed to stop for her, everyone and everything around her fading until all she needed was the music she was creating.

This...

There were no words to describe how utterly free she felt, if only for those precious few minutes. This was why she loved the piano with all of her heart; yes, she was so, so vulnerable while playing, but it lifted her spirits in a way nothing else could. She could, if only for a while, forget all of the pain and loss and suffering that awaited her in her dreams, that dogged her every move and threatened to take away the tentative peace she'd found on Manta Carlos. She could forget that her family was hunting her, that her dearest brother had lost his life because she didn't conform to the Blackwell values.

She was just... Cassie. Not Cassiopeia Blackwell, not even the farce of Cassie Arkwright.

Just. Cassie.

It came to an end all too soon, and wistfully, she wished she could continue playing forever. Unfortunately, that was a fool's thought, and so she mentally shrugged it away, shoring up the resolve to pull her hands away from the piano and turn back to Steven. His compliment brought a light flush to her porcelain skin, the oddly sincere words breaking through the walls that were already somewhat weakened by the soothing notes of mere seconds before. The moment, however, was shattered just as surely as broken glass; Steven's hand, for all that the touch had been innocuous, caused Cassie to flinch violently.

Memories of her father, standing over her, his hand gripping her slender shoulder painfully as her trembling hands played song after song for the exacting man, none of them good enough for him.

She wasn't good enough for him.

With a tortured whimper, Cassie stood in a flash and flung herself into the corner of the room that was as far away from Steven as possible- her mind, however, didn't register the male as Steven, consumed with her memories and nightmares as she was. Smacking into the wall with the momentum of her vampiric speed, she plastered herself against it, trying to make herself appear as small and unassuming as possible, her pale eyes wide and frightful, staring rather unseeingly at Steven with intimidated terror.​