ORIGIN - Ivory

Pages: 1 2

Archimedes stared. Well, that was a horrific image.

The Piano was strange enough on its own, but sprouting teeth on waving, tentacular strings? Genuinely disconcerting. He cleared his throat, a little, and attempted not to show that.

"...You are welcome to, of course. We will be meeting in the tunnel that leads between Ursa--that is the snowy cave, with mountains--and Cepheus, the place with the white palace. Certainly, you would excel in such a role. Perhaps I can look forward to seeing you there." He thought about that, for a moment--what it would be like, and what precisely it would mean.

He listened, then, to the long and vast description of music. He'd never known of it before, but now--listening to the Piano's melodic (if admittedly toothy) speech--he could comprehend the concept, at the very least.

"Quite fascinating," he said, at last. He was trying to commit it all to memory--and he'd misclassified the Collector, now, in his mind as a musician of some kind, a collector of instruments alone. "A form of art, and can affect emotion-? ...Hm. How long does it take for those teeth to fade?"

Perhaps he'd get to hear The Piano play.

@The Piano

"What an intersection of places," it whispered. The vibes were immaculate--at least, it imagined. The Piano's imagination really was running wild in this conversation. It knew that tunnel, but to imagine a whole mafia meeting in it was certainly something.

Its soundboard swelled--metaphorically--with pride at Archimedes' casual comment that it might exceed in such a role. Excellence was what it was born for, and it would accept nothing less from itself. "I will see you there with the rest of your Organization, then. I look forward to meeting the others you have gathered. They must surely be the best, brightest, and most cunning of these caves." It would expect nothing less from people this rat saw potential in.

As for its teeth: "A few more minutes, if you are willing to wait. I will happily demonstrate when they are gone." Should Archimedes stay, it would wait until its teeth shrank back into nothingness, and play two variations from a thick book it had found in the Cepheus library: a light, dance-like variation, followed by something a little stronger.

"I have not been able to expand my repertoire much, and I am still learning," it said apologetically when it had finished. "There is much more I have not yet discovered. But it is an endeavor I will tackle with all my enthusiasm!"

@Archimedes

The little rat indeed waited, perching back and tipping his head to one side, listening. He paused only to wash his whiskers as the teeth faded, offering mild small talk meanwhile: "I hope it is not too uncomfortable..?" and the like.

The music, however, had him pausing and granting The Piano his full and genuine attention. He was held rapt, and it was clear: bright eyes staring, nose twitching, whiskers trembling as he sat with dangling forepaws. Eventually his eyes slid half-shut, content, as Archimedes lost himself to the sound of it.

Even the Charger appeared to react: little flickers of its tongue as it perceived these new vibrations.

Archimedes did not speak again until the last of the notes--and their echoes--had faded away down the tunnel. And even then he seemed to wait a long moment, as if to savor all that he had heard in the ensuing silence.

"That is-... beautiful," he breathed, and then shook himself as if awakening, and rallied. "-No, my new friend--that is magnificent. I have never heard its like, anywhere in these caves. That is a gift to all who hear it. He let out a wistful sigh, and hesitated, eyeing the Piano.

"Will you sing once more, before we part? If it is not too much to ask..."

He sat back, eyes half-closed, content now merely to listen.

@The Piano

exiting due to inactivity

Pages: 1 2