[PRP] Blustery meetings in New Cities (Done)

[tepidtea]

The morning was cool as the fall air swept around the city within the region of Helena, somewhere very different for the lightening dust. The busy walkways and the murmur of the crowds that seemed so much like those he remembered but was so different as well. The refreshing buzz of the city life was exciting for those who were just in for vacationing purposes. The Lightening dust breathed in the crisp air before heading back towards his destination. Two travel cups filled with hot beverages were held tightly in his hands, a brown bag cradled under his arm. He was in a new city on a little trip with his guardian for a few days, since he was compelled to see somewhere new.

Walking down the walkways, the teen was doing his best to do his balancing act and remembering all of the twist and turns he’d taken to get to café he’d just been at. However the sudden sound of a guitar could be heard, alerting him that he was going in the right direction.

Sitting on a bench in a quiet little park, Ashton was strumming his guitar as if he was getting used to it again. It was like saying hello to an old friend one hadn’t seen in a while. That was exactly how the man felt, his fingers testing the cords one by one. Stormy blue hues looked at his guitar for a moment then at his still bandaged forearm. Slighign softly, he ran his fingers over all the cords before starting to pick up a quiet little tune he hadn’t thought of playing in a long time.

” Lookin' back at the crash site
I don't see me by the roadside
Well this heart is on wheels tonight
Straight through the ghettos
And without lights” He started singing, pausing for a moment as he continued on in a soft even voice. It was easy to see on his face and to hear in his voice that this was something he’d missed doing.

“Now every heart has a blind side
Where it learns how to improvise
Well this place is a whorehouse tonight
Cheaper lovers make expensive wives” He trailed off as he started to move into the chorus of the song. His fingers moved as if there had never been any injury to his hand or forearm. His voice carried through the park where people passing could very well hear at least his guitar playing if not his voice too.  

[Hyrea]

Small, nimble steps kicked the air, and a fall breeze swept the stony streets of the city, bringing to life the beauty of swirling, fallen leaves.

The young girl-child followed down the streets in a small gray sweater, fluttering brown skirt and white knee socks. Two hands tugging on the straps of her backpack, the pale, doll-like little girl was in the middle of the walk to her mentor's house. Her long, silken silver hair floated weakly in the wind as she slowly paced over stone tiles lit by the scent of the autumn morning.

Winter is soon.

But her eyes caught a sparkle of sunlight, and the gold held her stone-gray gaze. Blinking twice, she found her eyes catching a streak of gold---the person walking ahead of her had brilliant blonde hair, and even a long, thin ponytail.

Then, the sound of music.

The strings of an instrument not of the women's, or the priestesses'.

Elyse paused in her steps, curious, distracted, allured. It was the singing voice of a man, and one does not hear that too frequently in a city such as this one. Even then, it should've been a love song...in city such as this one.

No sweet words, no perfumed chords. A mellow air, a strange, lax melody drew the girl to follow the bounces of that golden ponytail into the little park. She paused in her steps not too near and not too far from the bench the man nestled himself in, and stood the distance of a curious bystander. Clear, glassy eyes bright and charmed like a kitten's, she watched the man reconcile with his guitar. Elyse blinked, drew knees to her chest and listened.

She didn't quite understand the lyrics, but the music was some kind of special.
 

[tepidtea]

Ziya continued to walk, his wild golden hair shifting behind him as he went. He was oblivious to the small girl following him, as he was much to focused on not dropping what he had in his arms. The teen spotted Ashton and paused for a moment before walking all the way over to him. It was nice to see him relaxed and playing again. Setting the coffee and snacks down, he stood next to the bench and sipped his drink, listening to his guardian play. However out of the corner of his eye he spotted the little girl watching and couldn’t help but smile a little.

” But all of these horses
That you chase around
In the end they are the ones
That always bring you down
This invisible city
Where no one sees nothing
We're touching faces in the dark
Feelin' pretty is so hard” Ashton sang smoothly as he fell into a soft guitar rift in where he looked up to see Ziya return. He gave the teen a very rare smile, which only showed how happy he was at the moment. When one was too happy to contain themselves, that’s when one was truly and completely content and happy.

Now all of these voices
And all of these noises
With all their illusions of choices
They've come to my door
With one dozen roses
The imitation of good faith
Is how you stumble upon hate
It may have been the first of mistakes
When we held on too loosely
Then opened the gates” He sang out and cradled his guitar in his arms and with his knees as he played. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the coffee Ziya had bought then caught the scent of the baked treats he’d also picked up. He paused just before the second chorus and placed his hand flat over the strings to cut off the sound.

“Mmm… thanks Ziya….” He murmured, setting the guitar across his lap and grabbed the coffee and sipped it. He took another long sip and sighed, resting his back against the bench fully.  

[Hyrea]

Hugging her knees, the little girl nestled her nose into the woolen sweater's sleeves covering her folded arms. She wondered what the man was singing about...It sounded like a lullaby. Gaze strolled towards the blonde older boy as he settled down with the man and the music. They are companions, sharing the same air.

Caught in between her half-understanding, she wondered if it's true what the man sang about horses. She wondered if he would say the same for unicorns as well. She also wondered if he could see the invisible things...Like the tracks of her unicorn.

Her father could. Was able to. Gray eyes peeked at the man. Her father sometimes sang...Not like this, though. She liked the man's singing voice, almost as much as it mystifies her.

And it stopped.

Knees still at her chest, she rose her head slightly and clapped with her small pale hands.
 

[tepidtea]

Ashton almost choked on his coffee at the sudden clapping, his storm colored hues widening. Coughing after, he looked over and spotted the little girl. He hadn’t noticed her there at all! Brushing some of his jet black hair from his face, he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed and sad for not noticing her.

”U-Um… thanks little miss…” Ashton said softly, setting his coffee down. His experience with talking little kids were pretty much summed up with the children dust he had met with Ziya. Then Ziya as a kid they just automatically seemed to get along. He folded his arms on the guitar and looked at her crouched over there.

Ziya grinned, as his guardian seemed to fumble on what to say to the little girl. He would only let him flounder for so long. The little girl seemed pretty interested in the music for having sat around in the cold for so long. The dust smiled and leaned forward so eh could peek over at her, resting his elbows on his knees.

”Do you play instruments?” he asked the little girl, trying to see if she’d talk to them. The last thing he wanted was the two of t hem to seem like creepers. This town was known for his high population of women, though the two of them knew that wasn’t up Ashton’s alley and Ziya here was undecided as he put it.  

[Hyrea]

Eyes watching, Elyse related the man's reactions to some of the women when they first meet men, and she decided that the man might be shy towards girls too. She nodded softly at the thanks from the man. Clear as her eyes were, she was a quiet one.

Her attention followed as the older boy leaned over. Her body gentle and unmoving, there was no caution in her eyes and no apprehension in her gestures. She would respond to the blonde boy reluctantly only because she rarely spoke.

She nodded. "...I play piano," the girl-child parted her lips to say the simple words in her soft, wispy voice.

A lock of silver hair fell from her shoulder and framed a side of her doll-like face as she raised her hand to point at the guitar upon Ashton's lap. With head tilted slightly she asked, "What is that?"
 

[tepidtea]

Ashton was half expecting the shy little girl to get up and run away as he assumed that’s what most children would do when strangers talked to them. Her eyes didn’t hold any fear or nerves, so perhaps they just didn’t seem very scary to her. That was new for him.

“It’s a Guitar…you pluck the strings for the sounds,” He explained, a little surprised she didn’t know. Though however he was in a completely different region so he didn’t know their customs or such here. Ziya had picked their destination for their little trip. He plucked a few strings and made a few sounds to show the girl. “Would you like to try?” He asked gently.

The dust just smiled at t he girl, though he wondered what she was doing all the way out here alone first thing in the morning. Perhaps she went to school?  

[Hyrea]

The girl-child took in the name of the instrument.

A guitar.

Like lyres and other string instruments, but with a distinct sound that she could not relate anything else to...One that will now remind her of shy, singing men and smooth, mellow melodies.

The strings trembled and tunes bloomed as the man's fingers made their way to each note. He'd asked her if she would like to try. The girl blinked at the man's offer, then nodded lightly. She patted the ruffles of her brown winter skirt as she stood to her feet. Small dress shoes clattered childishly against the floor for a few beats as she came to the guitar.

Though curious and absorbed by the guitar, she still tucked her hands behind her back in a polite gesture, waiting for the man to provide some instructions. Elyse's usual emotionless face almost turned into a smile as she waited, excited by knowing yet another thing that makes music.
 

[tepidtea]

It was rare for the man to let someone touch his guitar, his prized possession. But Ashton felt t here was nothing wrong with teaching a little girl about a previously unknown instrument. Waiting for her to come over, he smiled at how polite she was and then sat up more.

“Just go ahead… you can run your fingers across the strings,” he said, as there was no real science to it. Seeing as the little girl looked like she should be heading to school, he didn’t have time to teach her a little tune.

“To make certain sounds you must use both hands, one on the neck of t he guitar and one down here where your hand is now” Ashton explained gently, a little smile on his face. “here lets try, pluck that one string” he instructed, positioning his free hand on the neck of the guitar so it would make a lower rumbling sound when she plucked the said string.  

[Hyrea]

Watching with big eyes, Elyse traced into memory the placement of the man's hands upon the guitar, the way his wrist slid along its neck and the manner in which the instrument balanced in the man's cradle.

The man instructed gently, and the doll raised her fingers to mimic the way she thought Ashton had plucked the strings. Though not on the right side to use her thumb in the right angle, she tried her best by leaning close to the guitar.

Slender finger flicked off a string. It was a low note!

Blinking comprehensively now, she plucked the same string again.

And another time.

The echoes that hummed in the string and the empty void inside the guitar was mesmerizing. After she tried, she looked up at the man and then to the blonde older boy. Was she doing it right?
 

[tepidtea]

Ashton chuckled a little at the small girl looked up at him with those large eyes. He was resisting the urge to pat her head and say how cute she was. “Yup you’re doing it right, here try again to make a high sound” He said softly, shifting his fingers for when she tried again. Just looking at her, he got the feeling she was a pretty smart little kid and would catch on quick if he were given the chance to teach her.

“You seem to catch on pretty fast! Faster then I could!” Ziya piped up when the little girl looked at him too. “You have a natural ear for music!”  

[Hyrea]

The little girl blushed quietly at the encouragements, pale skin turning a flowering pink as her posture softened. Looking down at the guitar again, she reached out a thumb to pluck that higher pitch---

"Elyse!" A woman's fine, melodic voice called from afar, making the doll's head turn and halting her reaching hand. The woman came out to search for her, and she'd realized that she would have to leave. Reluctant, she looked at the gentle man and the blonde boy before taking a step back for a quirky bow.

She wanted to thank the man and the boy. But how?

The doll thought of what she could give. She thought of what she had in her backpack. There was the black stuffed bunny that she usually brings around. There was also the unicorn's bottle that's zipped inside the black bunny's tummy. But she couldn't give those away, for they were too dear to her.

Straightening her posture, she then decided. She had too little time.

Elyse held out her forearm in front of her, and a small fist faced the ground. Then she turned it skywards, loosened and opened the grasp, letting the hand bloom like a pale flower.

A magic trick---

In the center of her palm sat a crisp golden coin, glittering in the morning sunlight. Strange, intricate designs snaked upon its two faces.

As fast as a little girl could manage, she dropped the coin into the man's playing hand, bowed deeply again and ran away, out of the small park and towards the direction of her mentor's voice.

Into the winds the girl-child ran, with a rare smile upon her little face.
 

[tepidtea]

Lifting his head when he heard a women’s voice calling, looking to the little girl who had paused right away. As he had figured the little girl had glass or something to attend too. Hearing the little girls name, he couldn’t help but feel such a delicate name fit the quiet little one. But as delicate as the name was, he could tell she had some strong wills to her.

The two watched the little girl for a moment, he little confused on what she was doing. The two looked at each other then back at her. Ashton blinked softly when the coin was placed into his hand, and then looked up to see her run off.

“Neat little trick….” He murmured, watching her run off as he gripped the coin in his hand.

”Smart little girl…” Ziya added and sipped his hot chocolate before moving to get their snacks out. He watched his guardian turn the coin over in his fingers a few times before pocketing it for safekeeping.

The two men looked at each other again and continued with their little breakfast, their morning a little lighter then before.