the start of a fine adventure

who: Bright and Zhen
where: One More Round
when: Evening

It was lucky for Bright that, after meeting Eris yesterday afternoon, he had a gig at One More Round. He’d asked around a bit before beginning his set, referring to Eris as “the angel” and wondering where she’d gone off to, if anyone had heard of her since the last time she’d sang here. No one had, but boy, they sure did miss her. Girl could sing her heart out and how appropriate for her to be called “angel” when she had the voice of one. No one knew what had happened to her or who she was, but they certainly wished she’d come back. Maybe she’d gone back up to heaven, one man had joked. Bright remembered the necklace, hung around the neck of an empty bottle on the coffee table in his house, and smiled. Yeah, he had said, maybe she did.

It didn’t help Bright understand Eris any better, but at least the next time he saw her he could tell her how many fans she really had. She’d seemed interested anyway; maybe she wouldn’t need that much convincing.

When it came time to play his set, Bright sat at the piano and unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket. It was his planned set list, with bars of music and notes scribbling all over it, prompts and ideas to change on the fly depending on the mood of the bar, quick lines to jog his memory of what to play next. The page was filled. It was on Zhen’s stationary; he hadn’t wanted to use it, but he’d found himself reaching for it when he had a composition to write down. It was a cherished gift, but it also had a purpose. He glanced over at the top of the page, where Zhen had written “have a Bright day” among the swirling music notes. Smiling at it, he began to play.

Zhen had not had all that much to do today, beyond her own little side project on a few mystery objectives, but beyond that, she’d had time to track down where Bright was playing tonight. She’d gotten herself a drink at the bar, been given a few mildly odd looks(there weren’t a lot of folks who wandered over from chinatown that frequented the Round), and then she’d wandered closer to the stage and piano, to sit down and watch. She smiled, not waving or anything, not wanting to distract him while he performed.

It took Bright a few moments before he looked up and saw Zhen’s face in the crowd--an easy one to notice among One More Round’s regular clientele. She’d found him, had she? That was good; he’d wanted to thank her for the gift, ask her exactly how much time she’d spent decorating every single page. He wanted to tell her what a crazy damn girl she was.

There was no singer on stage tonight, just Bright playing some songs that people were talking over. Without a spotlight, he was just the background music. He smiled in Zhen’s direction and nodded at the piano so she could come up to it. He could multitask, no problem.

She complied, heading up and over, smiling when she got there. “Hello.” she said. “You’re quite good.” she told him, which she was sure he was aware of, and wouldn’t be news, but it was still something you said to people when they were performing admirably. Then she smiled as she looked at the musical sheet, which she of course recognized. “I see you got your gift!”

“Thank you,” Bright said, smiling at her compliment. He knew he was good--he’d spent his entire life at this instrument, of course he was good. He would play, and obviously had, even without the acknowledge, just for the sheer love of it, but it didn’t keep it from feeling nice when someone appreciated what he was so passionate about. He laughed when she mentioned the present. “I did,” he said, his fingers flying across the piano keys even as he looked at Zhen and smiled. “Wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it’s beautiful, thank you. I can’t even imagine how sore you hand must have been after. That whole pad was filled and delivered before I even got to the Drake.”

"I work fast when I'm inspired." Zhen told him, which was true. When she had something really going in mind, then she went after it with a relentless passion. In this case it had been fairly easy to accomplish, it had just taken some time. And ink. "And see that's the beauty of not doing everything yourself." she added, giving him a sweet smile. "Nothing is quite what you had in mind, but that doesn't mean it isn't the exact right thing for you." she told him. "Fragments, remember?"

Bright nodded, laughed. “What I had in mind was pretty boring; I definitely prefer your version.” He did. He’d been wary of using such a carefully crafted gift at all, but now that he had, each new page made him smile. There was always something different, something new about each one, and he took a few moments to examine it before he even begin to write on it, albeit a bit woefully every time. He’d gotten presents for, ones that had been carefully considered, but nothing of the notebook’s magnitude.

"So see? Much better to go with my way." she told him with a sweet expression. "And people seem to like what you've put down on the page. I certainly do. It was well worth the effort." she told him firmly, no doubt in her tone. "So, beyond finally getting to write down that song in your head, what have you been doing since I saw you last?" she asked. Which of course wasn't actually that long ago, but people could get up to all sorts of things in a short amount of time.

“Thanks,” Bright said, smiling. What had he gotten up to last? He’d met Ronnie yesterday, had bought some groceries, played at the Drake and spoken to his boss that evening. Had a horrible dream about disease, about so many people dying, but had woken up sober enough to head down to the docks. “I bought another piano,” he said, smiling sheepishly. And then, after a moment of thought, he said, “You wouldn’t happen to know a woman named Eris, would you?”

Zhen shook her head, though she frowned slightly. “The name sounds vaguely familiar.” she amended, after she sort of thought it over better. “Isn’t that a mythological title of some sort?” she asked. “Why?”

“Is it?” Bright asked, lifting an eyebrow. Was Eris another pseudonym as well, like her angel persona when she sang? It didn’t bother him if Eris used a fake name--it wasn’t like Bright was exactly personal either. He continued playing, fingers flying across the keys as if they were operating completely separately from his head and mouth. “I met her yesterday. She used to sing here, actually.” Among other things. “Was just hoping to find out some more about her.”

“I’ll pay attention for if I hear her name.” Zhen promised. Just because she hadn’t heard of her now didn’t mean she never would. “She used to sing here?” she asked. “Was she any good?” Then she smiled. “Though I would imagine the answer to be ‘yes’ if you wanted to find out more.”

Bright nodded. “She was very good.” He smiled, his eyes closing just slightly as he recalled the last time Eris had sang at the Round. He could remember the evening perfectly, right down to what he was drinking, and what he could see of what Eris was wearing from where the shadows didn’t completely cover her. And the song, he definitely remembered the song. “I’m trying to persuade her to sing again. It seems she’s retired, but we’ll see if that lasts.”

“Really?” Zhen asked, humming a little as she considered that. “What if you collaborated?” she asked. “What if you put out a record?” Not that she knew much about the music industry, but there was one, and Bright was certainly good enough to record something.

“A record?” Bright blinked, surprised, and played a few more bars of the song in thoughtful silence. “Hadn’t considered that.” He hadn’t thought of recording any of his own music--he played in bars and lounges, and that was enough for him. That he could take steps to make it heard even further than Eidolon City hadn’t even occurred to him. “I’ll have to talk to her about it,” he said, grinning a bit, almost boyishly. “Maybe she’d like it.”

“Maybe she would.” Zhen said, nodding in approval. “Besides, it may be fun for you. And her. And who knows what kinds of things could get sparked up, doing duets and all.“ She winked at him with her implication that there could be a romantic involvement. She didn’t really know if Bright had anything in that department, but she couldn’t help but put that out there.

Despite suddenly looking rather flustered, Bright somehow managed not to miss a beat of the song, playing right through his awkwardness. “Ah, no, I doubt that,” he said, shaking his head. “This is strictly business.” Had he noticed that Eris was a gorgeous woman? Of course he had. But it had been a long time since Bright’s attention had been on anyone at all and he wasn’t exactly looking to start. Surely he could maintain friendships with the women he’d met recently--Zhen, Ronnie, Eris--without anything being sparked. That started fires and Bright definitely, absolutely, wasn’t interested in getting burned.

“Are you sure about that?” Zhen asked, looking amused. “You seemed a little flaily for a second. People who work together, they tend towards gravitation in that sense. Especially when you’re working on something passionate. And you seem quite passionate about your music in general.”

“It’s just an odd thing to suggest,” Bright said, seeming to focus a bit more on the music to avoid seeming... ‘flaily’ as Zhen had put it. “We only just met. I think it’s a bit soon to even joke about it.” Not that he assumed Zhen was joking. He was sure she was serious--this was just one favor he’d rather not act on.

Zhen looked slightly confused. "Why on earth would that be odd?" she asked. "It happens all the time. Men and women, they meet, they find something they have in common, things are swirling and passionate and then one things leads to another. it's the natural order. And there's no such thing as too soon. If you wait forever to make any sort of overtures towards anyone, then you might just miss your chance. People are far too cautious. It stunts life."

“I’m just not looking to make any sort of overtures at anyone, is all,” Bright said, leaning away slightly to get to the keys at the far end of the piano. It would be better to shift the focus of the conversation--Zhen’s notebook present had been very thoughtful and he appreciated it, but he didn’t want to put any ideas in her head about playing secret matchmaker. He had to be careful around this girl, now that he knew she did what she said she would. “What about you? Any swirling passion on your end lately?”

"Right. That's the issue." Zhen said, not at all perturbed by the conversation or how it was making him uncomfortable. "Maybe you should make overtures. I bet it would play into your music beautifully." she told him. "Creativity is always fueled by emotions, one way or another. When was the last time you had something that powerful to put into something?" she asked, though it was rhetorical. "As for me, no. I've crossed a few paths that caught my eye, but none have re-crossed as of yet."

Bright doubted that any woman would appreciate overtures from an alcoholic pianist who constantly dreamed of a dead family in some strange world. He might have been a catch ten, twenty years ago, but now he was just a crazy cripple. No woman would want him and moreover, he didn’t want the trouble if one did. He had enough reasons to drink as it was. “Well, maybe you should go seek them out,” Bright said, glad to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Maybe someone needs to play matchmaker for you one of these days.”

"I think you're just deflecting." Zhen said, shrugging one shoulder. "And playing matchmaker for someone requires at the very least some amount of care, and knowledge in that area. Friends, possibly." Zhen didn't have many of those. She had a whole lot of acquaintances, she had many people who were around her constantly, but no one really knew her. She put all of her efforts into knowing other people and moving events around in their lives. She viewed herself as less a person and more an instrument of fate.

Bright chuckled--she’d certainly hit the nail on the head with that one, not that he was going to confirm or deny. She knew what he was up to. “Don’t tell me you don’t have many friends,” Bright said, continuing to deflect the conversation from himself. “Someone like you, walking right up to people without a worry in the world, you must know half this city by now.”

"Knowing people and being friends with them are quite different things." Zhen told him. "They aren't comparable. So, yes. I know quite a lot of people. That doesn't mean I have a lot of friends." Though she didn't sound upset about the fact at all. She still viewed herself as different from the others, just a cog in people's lives, even if she had a different sort of purpose than the rest of the world. She accepted that.

Bright cocked his head, looking at Zhen slightly out of the corner of his eye. It seemed strange to him, that if Zhen did things like she’d done with him, making him a notebook with individually designed pages, that she wouldn’t consider at least some of those people friends. Did she consider him a friend? They had only met twice now, but still... there weren’t a lot of people in Bright’s life that he saw that often. People that weren’t his employers or regulars at the bars he played at or the cashiers at the grocery and liquor stores. So he just smiled, shrugged a shoulder. “You and me both, then.” He chuckled, ending the song he was playing with a flourish, fingers settled on the keys until the notes died down and faded away. “Maybe we can be each other’s friends.”

Hands still on the keys, Bright paused, frowned. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as creepy and lecherous as it did.”

"It sounded creepy and lecherous in your head?" Zhen asked, looking at him with a faintly amused smirk. "It didn't out loud." she informed him. "And possibly. We'll have to see what fate holds for us, of course. Because friendships by nature are reciprocal." she said. Which was actually the part that she always seemed to miss out on with other people. She gave but they didn't give back. Not that it was easy to give to a person like her. She didn't have the same sort of wants that other people did, so it was a bit awkward. That and she could be alienating, and strange. So sometimes people wandered off. Like Janey had, though Zhen of course was still going to help the poor woman. And bring her flowers in the hospital when she got there.

“Seemed like it might have come off that way, yes.” Bright smiled and let the piano sit silent for a few moments, the sounds of the bar, clinking glasses and talking, filling up the empty air. “I suppose I still owe you. A cup of coffee certainly doesn’t sound even with that notebook.” He would’ve asked her out for dinner--purely as friends--but it also sounded creepy in his head. “What would you like to do, Zhen?”

"Right now?" she asked. "Aren't you slightly busy?" she asked, glancing down at everyone else, the bar people. She didn't think he could just up and wander off, though she did like his open offer. That could wind up being anything, which could be an adventure.

It could only be so much of an adventure, given that if they got themselves into trouble, Bright couldn’t exactly make a clean getaway. He did chuckle though, shaking his head. “No, not now. I’ve still got another set to play--I won’t be out of here until late. But, any other time. Any place, you name it. I owe you.” He owed her, but he also wouldn’t mind spending more time around her. She was an interesting girl with interesting value, and it wasn’t exactly like Bright had a surplus of friends anywhere.

Zhen smiled. “I’ll take you up on that offer.” she said. “Sometime.” Then she stood, because he did have another set to play, and she supposed she should let him get to that. “I’ll look you up at some point. Or you could try to find me.” Even if it might be a strange journey for him to attempt. She’d still be interested in seeing him again.

“I’ll give it a try,” Bright said, bringing his hands back to the keys, playing the first few notes of the next song, “but from the looks of things, you’d find me before I’d find you.” He smiled and nodded at her, as though tipping the hat he wasn’t wearing. Between Zhen and Eris, he had a lot of tracking down to do. “I’ll see you soon, I hope.”

“I’m sure if you tried hard enough, you could find me.” Zhen said with a little wink. “ Have a good night, Bright.” she concluded, turning to head off, leaving the establishment while she was at it. She’d gone to see him. And she had. Nothing else held interest for her tonight.