Lilith [OPEN]

Okay, so not the hill, or the arcade, or the store, or any place else in Rosebury that she was familiar with. All her guesses turned out to be wrong as paved concrete gave way to dirt as they hiked around the perimeter of the lake through winding foot trails. Maybe this was another one of those secluded places, like the last time they'd gone to the lake together... Evelyn began to wring her hands, but it didn't look like that was it either. Before long, they were walking toward a cabin in the distance, surrounded by a thin fence and tall trees.

...Home sweet home?

For one mad second Evelyn feared he'd rented them some secluded Valentine's getaway, but common sense kicked in before long. "Y-you... live here?"

She didn't know what she expected. Evelyn had never even thought of Jace living in a normal house on a normal street — to her, he was as integral to Beata Academy as the classrooms or the dorms. But of course, if anyone ever thought about it, he had to actually live somewhere, and it wasn't like his parents inhabited some dorm. It only made sense that they had a house nearby.

But this? She never would've expected that. "W-wow..."

Jason laughed a little at the her momentarily clueless expression, turning to look back at the house as realization finally hit her. "Yeah, that's right." He mused, staring the old house down. Truthfully, he hadn't come here often that much himself. Although it was technically his home as much as the rest of the family, most everything he owned was already packed away in his dorm room - so there wasn't much point in the hike up here anyways. The only times he did was when he had needed to hunt down his parents, or cheesy family holiday dinners, or whatever.

"I've never really lived here." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "The last real home I had was back in Texas, but then folks moved homes with the job, so..." The Autumn shrugged. He still had his own room and everything still, so it'd do. The young man smiled again as he started walking towards the punch. "Already made the arrangements, though. Place will be empty all weekend." He gave her a playful wink and fumbled around with the keys for a moment. It took a bit, but he got the front door open, swinging it gently open with a long creek and holding it open for the winter.

Was that right, huh...? She might've mused how strange it would be to be more connected to a school dorm than your own actual room only a short hike away, but she supposed she wasn't much different now. It'd been years since she'd last even seen her own house, a whole state away. Her normal daily life from before seemed like someone else's different distant memory now, someone else's existence. Too much had happened that had shaken her entire world upside down to still associate that place she'd pined after so much as 'home.'

Evelyn followed him as they made their way toward the front door. It was a nice house, in truth. Two stories tall, far away from any noise or ruckus, with a nice view of a pristine lake. Her thoughts were drifting off toward the interior, particularly Jace's room, when he spoke up. "O-o-oh... r-really?" That surprised her more than it should have.

So that was her surprise, huh...? Her gaze drifted up to the roof, and her small smile widened ever so slightly. That was better than anything she could've expected. Evelyn turned to him, giving him a grin, and turned toward the open door, taking her first steps inside the Wright residence.

Jace had of course been smiling the entire time, his satisfaction growing when he'd thought he'd seen the Winter walk in with a light grin on her face out of the corner of his eye. A good quiet weekend away from the school and others... It certainty wasn't like her birthday present. No secluded cabins in the middle of giant, radiant national parks. Just a simple house built near Salacia. Being as Jace was the type to always try and out-do himself, at least when it came to gifts; this seemed somewhat pale in comparison. As long as she seemed happy though, he supposed that was enough.

Walking in after Evelyn, he'd shut the door gently behind him glancing up. The doorway almost immediately led to the main rooms. The kitchen, large enough, with a counter bar that barricaded it from most the house - he set the leftovers there. The living room was very open, with shelves of both new and seemingly old books lining along a large portion of the wall. There was an old TV, a few pieces of plush furnature, and a grand piano in the corner of the room. It was also completely adorned with pictures and records, trophies, and other family nicknacks.

For a moment he glanced upstairs. You could see his door from a few spots in the living room. "What do you think?" He asked, hoping for the best answer, just wanting to be reassured.

[#

This really was amazing.

Okay, so it wasn't some millionaire's mansion, but it had a nice and quiet atmosphere to it, with a wide and open living room separated from a sizable kitchen. There was your furniture, your TV, your books, and... Her breath caught in her throat for a moment when her gaze crossed the piano. Just that alone made this a hundred times better than her own house. "T-this is really n-n-nice," she told him with a grin. A little too excitedly, she reached out to clasp his wrist and point to the grand piano in the corner of the room. "D-do you play pi-piano...?"

Jason was just happy that she said she liked it. It had still honestly, genuinely surprised him a bit when she's grabbed at his wrist, not skipping a beat and pointing at the old polished piano in the corner. He hadn't seen her that excited about really anything in long time. His own excitement, however, wavered a bit when she asked him if he could play it. And while he could, to a point from practice, he could only really do simple songs; the same ones that most people knew. But, he still hated to disappoint her.

"Yeah, sorta." He laughed again, a bit nervously. "It's not really my forte, though..." He stared down the piano for a bit longer, wondering why she was asking and seemed so interested in the old instrument. It hit him a little late. "You play beautifully though, don't you?" He nudged her gently, bits and pieces of their first conversation in the cafe flickering through his head.

"N-no, not r-r-really..." she was quick to say. "S-someone taught me h-h-how to p-play a f-few songs, b-but that's it." The excitement was back in her voice as she squeezed his wrist. "B-but I d-d-didn't know yo-you could...!" She guessed she should've expected him to be musical with how his gift worked, but for some reason, it never crossed her mind. For some reason, Evelyn looked starstruck now as she stared up at him. "I'm s-sure yo-you're great at it!"

Jason gave her a slightly uneasy smile, flattered by her enthusiasm and the look of great admiration she was giving him, but still felt pretty bad all the same; as if he were only setting her up for more and more disappointment. She has way too much faith in him over this, he thought. ... But it was still too late to turn back around and try and drop the entire matter, right?

"Aha - I'm not sure about that..." Jason laughed a little more, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing the other way, around the room and landing back on the piano. He really wasn't all that good. The piano wasn't even his, and he didn't even think to make that clear, instead letting out a small sigh of defeat. "I guess I could play something for you, if you come sit with me." He bluffed confidence, walking over with her to the old instrument and raising the fall over the keys. His fingers skimmed over the black and white shapes, hastily trying to recall which notes went where.

[INTERNAL SWOONING]

She looked like she could've died and gone to heaven on the spot. Maybe he just didn't expect how much a random piano would mean to her, but for him to say he'd play a song for her too? Sitting right next to him? That starstruck look grew even more excited, and Evelyn was quick to follow him as he made his way over to the piano in the corner of the room.

Evelyn sat on the corner of the piano bench, violet eyes following his fingers as they skimmed over the keys. Piano benches were ridiculously small. eheu. ehuehueuheuh. EHUEHUEHUEHU.

The blonde took a seat down beside her, looking down and hiding his slightly unnerved frown. Alright, this wouldn't be so bad, right? He could just show off a few little melodies to make her happy and he'd be all in the clear. The young man cleared his throat, putting one hand on the soft keys, trying to think of a song he could play, and song at all - one that wasn't 'Heart and Soul' or 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. Instead, trying to stall time, his hand had traveled across the board in a slow arpeggio. "This arpeggio was for you, Snowflake. ;D" He paused again when he reached the last keys.

Looking up for any sort of help, Jason saw some of the real owner's music sheets. One of his favorite songs was already sitting out. The autumn silently thanked God then. The song was slow and easy enough to where even he could play, the beginning especially. He had no trouble reading the sheets, he just had to make his hands cooperate with him. "Ready?" He glanced back at Evelyn with a smile, asking himself more than her as he glanced back at the sheet, refreshing on the first few notes for a moment before quietly starting to play, the sounds echoing in the quiet house.

About a minute in, just before the notes started to pick up, he had an idea. Jason paused again and made a small gesture towards to the music sheet. "I'll take the top, you take the bottom?" He asked, taking one hand down and playing the first few top notes for her to pick up on. That was totally not so it would make his life easier trying to play. Nope.

oh god a fuckin' arpeggio she was so turned on you don't even —

Evelyn's eyes follows his fingers with a certain intensity. For as much as she avoided other people, deep down, maybe she'd always wanted to meet somebody with something in common between them. Piano. It hadn't been just modesty when she said she wasn't a master — it was true, she wasn't. But at the same time it was one of her passions, her outlets, something she'd never been able to share with... well, almost anybody. So for him to be able to play, and even more, to own a grand piano in his house, it was easy to see why she was so excited.

An arpeggio. She let out a breathy little laugh, not knowing exactly why. Evelyn curled her fingers into her palms and placed them in her lap, leaning out over the keys as he shuffled with some sheet music. At the words 'ready?', she perked up faster than you'd expect, meeting his smile with a wide grin.

The quiet melody quickly filled her head, and Evelyn watched as his fingers danced across the keys, her mind drifting back to how he'd played the violin for her back in the Lounge. It was almost the same feeling, almost, but this time she knew it wasn't a gift coming into play. probably. >> << That made it that much sweeter.

She'd been so enraptured by his playing, as simple as it was, that the sudden pause took her by surprise. Evelyn blinked, like she hadn't heard him, before her eyes darted to the sheet music. "O-of course," she answered with another beam, quick to move her hands over the keys.

"It's b-been aw-awhile since I l-last did t-t-this..." she admitted quietly, but even still, she felt excited at the chance to do it again. Just sitting here with her fingers on the keys... something about it felt right. So she was quick to launch in after him as he began to play again. A part of her wanted to do something fast, complex, advanced, something to shake off all the rust and test her skill, but this was even better than that in a way.

Evelyn had never done a duet before.

And it really was a beautiful song.

Jason couldn't help but shake his head in slight disbelief. She said that it'd been a while since she last played the piano, but he felt so rigid as he himself pressed the keys on the grand instrument. All she seemed to be doing was follow the notes with excitement and near flawless ease. She sure could've fooled him anytime, anywhere. Maybe she was just being modest after all, he thought. Downplaying herself did seem something familiar to her, yet the Autumn hadn't had any time to think about it too long, glancing back and forth from the piano to the sheet and down again. Luckily, the tunes they played together seemed to harmonize and form the melody it was meant too all along. It was actually kind of a really beautiful piece, if he said so himself.

As they played, every now and then, Jace would cast a glance aside at the girl next to him. No matter how long he seemed to be watching her play quietly, he didn't think she noticed. She seemed so enraptured in the sounds of piano playing, looking ready to jump ahead at any moment. All it made him want to do was smile even more. Matter of fact, when it came to it, he couldn't think of much else he knew in the world that made him happier than seeing her grin like that. These thoughts weren't new to him, thoughts he'd had more than several times before these past few months, but she always seemed so... radiant when she was in such bright spirits.

His mind kept retreating to wander as the two of them played on, getting closer to the end of the song. Not only was she fun to be around in times like these, but she was smart and clever too, so much more so than he thought he was, and in so many ways. He'd lost count by then how many stupid things she'd stopped him dead in his tracks from doing. She was funny, cheeky as Hell when she wanted to be, and teasing; and she put up with his stupid sense of humor. And of course, of course, there was how adorable her face was. It was almost strange to him, how the longer they spent together, the prettier she'd only seemed to be getting.

As the song finally finished, Jason pulled his hand back and set it nimbly in his lap, glancing down at the miniscule space in between where they sat. Maybe it was the timing of the cheesy holiday hat had brought all these thoughts and ideas on, or maybe it was just the sweetness of the moment that they'd just shared on that small, piano bench. Either way, whatever the reasons were, he still found himself running his free hand over hers, softly entwining their fingers together and leaning in close, slowly and gently, just enough to where their foreheads touched.

He had a small, stupid smile on his face, closing his eyes and trying to numb out the sharp pain in his temple. He was half-aware of what he was doing, the words slipping out in a low mutter.

"I love you, Eve."


/drops mic
arpeggio, bitches.

If either of them missed a note or went off tempo, Evelyn never noticed. She was too intoxicated by the experience to pay attention to anything like that. It was true, she was a bit rusty, but everything seemed to be falling together just right to form a beautiful harmony between them, and Evelyn couldn't help but watch his fingers as they danced across the keys. It might not have been some kind of master-class performance, but to her, it was one of the more beautiful songs she'd heard in a long, long time.

And despite everything they had already done together, something about this felt especially intimate, like they were connecting in the perfect way. Again, she was reminded of that day in the lounge, their first time in the Cafe with the rain pouring down, their time together over in Glacier. With a soft smile, she couldn't help but remember the first time they bumped into each other, completely by accident. That all seemed like an eternity ago, a sweet and innocent spring before things had gotten so dark. But it all worked out in the end, didn't it?

Evelyn realized she felt happy. Really, really, honestly happy, happier at this time in her life than she'd ever been. Beata Academy, the school that had represented so much repression and misery, had become her home. Her real home. And she'd met somebody who she could rely on, who cared for her, who noticed her when the whole world was so bent on forgetting her existence.

As the song ended and the room trailed off into silence, she could only stare forward, savoring the sweetness of the moment. She really was lucky, wasn't she?

She didn't make any movement as he moved his hand over hers, their fingers twining together, or when he leaned in to the point where their foreheads touched. Breath mingling, sitting so close together on that tiny piano bench, Jason Wright stole the words right out of Evelyn's mouth.

A beaming, really beaming, smile broke out across her face. This was the point where she was supposed to blush, stutter, freak out on the inside and fight to keep her composure, but for some reason, it was like a warm and tingly calm passed over her. Those four words made her happier than she'd ever known.

"I love you too, J-Jace..." she muttered back, closing the distance between them with a kiss.