This score ends with a sordina

Adrian Hexe Grimm

Adrian liked doing things with her hands. It was soothing to be able to feel things being formed under her fingers, whether it was a piece of needlework or a piece of music. In all of the activity following their arrival, she had not found much time to do either. For the most part, especially after the enlightening meeting with Alice Mordrake, Adrian had spent her time doing research and surveillance on their fellow students.

Now, however, there was finally a period of quiet when she could sit down at a piano and simply practice. The practice room that Adrian had found for herself was brightly lit, with large windows on one wall. Simple but clean, it had a Steinway slightly off its center, four wooden chairs that looked comfortable enough, a table, and several music stands clustered in the corner. The room itself was more or less the size of some of the closets back home.

Using the window panes, she pulled out a few scores by Mozart. All of them were from the Magic Flute and weren't really meant to be played on the piano but that opera had quickly grown on her nevertheless. It was probably because of Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen. Adrian did love a challenge, and though she couldn't consistently sing the aria through correctly, she took pride in the fact that at least she knew she was capable of it.

Today, however, she left that particular score tucked away. She was only just starting to become comfortable in the Academy's environment so she knew that her voice would probably tremble on the higher notes. Given some time, Adrian hoped that the place would be familiar enough to practice it.

Instead, she sat down on the piano bench and opened up the score for Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön, which was written for a tenor. Adrian's normal voice was a contralto but there was enough of a range to fall into a tenor or up to a soprano. Dropping the pitch was more difficult for her but she enjoyed it. It...amused her.

She started out only playing the aria, letting the comfortingly familiar music wash over her. Humming softly to the melody at first, she played through the score one time, then a second because she felt as if she owed it more time. On the third time, she tentatively began to sing and choked on her voice. At any other time, such a blunder would have been a great embarrassment, even if nobody else was listening. But Adrian's mind was running ahead of herself and filling in the gaps where the woodwinds and strings should have been.

It was times like this one when Adrian was truly at peace, not thinking of anything else besides the music, not even her sister. So instead of being upset at herself for anything, she simply went back to the beginning. Tentatively starting had been her mistake. With a deep breath, she began again.

"Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön..."

Adrian Hexe Grimm

Adrian was not especially familiar with the French spoken in Quebec but she did know a curse when she heard it. Growing up in the household of Jeanne Marie d'Aulnoy -Adrian was under no illusions that it was her father's- their education had covered numerous topics pertaining to courtesy. It was important, their mother taught them, to understand when one should be feeling insulted.

"Surveillez vos paroles, s'il vous plaît," she said in proper French, the aria coming to a halt immediately. Adrian turned to give the speaker a stern frown. Though she was surprised by his appearance -she shouldn't have been, of course. There were far more odd characters at the Academy than albinos- she hid it behind the aristocrat's mask. Jeanne Marie had been a good teacher, even if she wasn't always been a perfect mother.

"Stop," Adrian said when it looked like the person was about to close the door and make off. She rose from the piano bench, stepping towards him slightly so she could get a good look at him. There were few people with his exact coloration at the Academy, so it was easy to recognize him as a person she had seen in her scryings.

Usually playing the piano, she remembered. Ah, so that was it. She must have taken his normal room, or something along those lines. "Who are you? You're also in the Music Department, correct?"

Adrian Hexe Grimm

Her sister, Adrian knew, would have been delighted to find that there were indeed people with proper manners at the Academy. It seemed to only take a little prodding in order to uncover it. The dark haired young lady took a moment to study this Félix who had interrupted her practice, noting his absolutely pristine appearance and noble bearing. Well, Aurélie will be thrilled.

Yet, Adrian found herself reluctant to pass on her discovery. Aurélie, after all, was currently preoccupied with her newest amusement in Miss Alice Mordrake. The blonde's pleasure was not readily apparent to those who were unfamiliar with her -or even to those who were- but it was surely there. Sibling duty already complete, there was no need to drag this stranger into their world. The novelty of it would have worn off for Aurélie quickly anyways. It was unlikely that this young man had any quality that would hold her interest.

"You are correct," Adrian said to him. She did not curtsy or bow back even though her instincts told her to because, according to Aurélie, that would have been beneath her. Instead, she merely tilted her head a slight angle in acknowledgment.

"My name is Adrian Hexe von Grimm,"she introduced herself. There was the von now. "There's no need for apology. I have only recently come to the Academy. I suppose that this is your room, then?"

Adrian Hexe Grimm

Adrian stayed perfectly still as Félix edged closer. She was not the type to be comfortable with strangers and she observed that he seemed not be comfortable with her anyways. He shouldn't have been in any case, for reasons more than Jeanne Marie's melodic reminder of station.

Dear, dear Adrian.

"I have done so before," the dark haired girl replied. "Not so frequently anymore these days, as my partners' interests had unfortunately diminished." She frowned minutely, real regret hiding in her tone.

Her bright, golden sister was not a musical person, preferring absent background chatter or even silence to write her fiction in. Jeanne Marie was much the same way, having hired tutors in the past simply because that was what was both proper and expected. Johann was far more enthused but his talents in this particular area were weak. The fact that he tried, at least, still was appreciated but it did nothing for her practically.

She looked over to the score she had playing before the interruption. It was not, Adrian felt, an especially difficult piece to play. Vocally, it too was only in middling skill levels. Yet it was so frustratingly rare to find both the right time and right people to collaborate with.

"My focus is more on voice in any case," she said. As long as she said that, she could at least sing to recordings, entire orchestras playing instead of one lonely instrument. It was far more strange to be playing an instrument to a recording.

Adrian Hexe Grimm

I'm not sure what my sister would think of this, was Adrian's very first thought towards Félix's offer. Image, bearing, pride, so on and so forth. She looked for anything that Aurélie might be able to pick fault with if she accepted. There were quite a few things that were ripe for the situation but on the other hand, when was the last time she had been in a real duet? If there was one weakness Adrian had in her largely sister centered mindset, it was this.

As for the aria that he suggested, it had been an awfully long time since she had sung through that one. Aurélie's impatience towards music meant that Adrian often had to go looking for new pieces to avoid cycles of repetition. Not the most ideal condition to be a musician under, she knew.

She hesitated for a moment longer before making up her mind. "That would be acceptable," the vocalist said. Perhaps those whom Aurélie dubbed as lesser people would have blurted out something unseemly in their eagerness. Adrian had no such luxury so she simply made an understatement that was painfully bare and not even scratching the surface of her desire.

A duet was such a small thing. Surely there was no need to draw her sister's attention to it afterwards? No, of course not. She's never been one to care much about my practice partners anyways. Although it had been at least a couple of years since the last one walked out of her life.

Moving a little away from the piano bench, Adrian asked, "Would you like the score for it? I could have it here in merely a moment."