A/N: Hey! So... I wrote this wayyy back in April, but I never published it anywhere. However, I decided to clean up and publish it here so that more people can read it! Also because there is a... lack of Sion/Ries fanfics, but I plan on filling it up!
Basically, it's a cafe/jazz AU. Sion is a cafe worker, and Ries is a jazz musician who plays bass. This was actually the idea of a friend in our tiny little cult, the curch of ries, and I wrote it. I'd appreciate if ya'll read it to the end! I'd also appreciate reviews and criticism, it'd really help me improve and make the story more enjoyable! Enjoy!
It'd been a long, long Sunday. It was almost painful because of how idle and boring it was. Everything seemed to move slowly, from the early summer morning with students, teachers, and workers. Then to the hot afternoon with people on lunch breaks, and more students going in. Many of the workers had already left late around noon, but one worker from the morning shift stayed.
Sion Eltnam was a gorgeous young lady with long, beautiful purple hair and lovely red-violet eyes. She had been the only worker from the early hours of the morning that stayed until closing. She didn't mind it, but at times she wish she could sleep.
However, tonight wasn't one of those nights.
She walks around, giving drinks and a variety of snacks to the people waiting, giving a tired smile to them all. She's about to walk back into the kitchen, when she hears an uproar from the tables. The purple haired girl turned her head to look. Her tired eyes become wide and awake upon seeing a group of people, no more than five, and they were all holding instruments and cases.
It was as if time stopped for her. One lady in particular catches her sights, and she was almost entranced.
"Ah, she's very beautiful... Her hair looks very shiny and well taken care of.." Was what she was thinking, but her mouth brought those thoughts to reality. Other workers and even some of the customers heard and dismissed it, some looked over and nodded, agreeing quietly.
However, the lady with the glowing silver hair and soft, blue eyes wasn't really looking pretty at the moment. She was sweating, grunting and complaining to herself about how heavy the case was, but all with a smile.
"Guhhh... I've carried this so many times, for many years... but I still can't get over the weight! I should be used to this... but it feels heavier each time I carry it!" She groans, quietly, to herself. She did not want the person who gave her the gig to hear and fire her on the spot, or never call her back again.
However, this was Riesbyfe's first gig as a full-time freelance jazz musician. Her nerves had kicked in, and her strong arms felt weak and frail, almost on the verge of breaking. Her legs wanted to fall and lay on the ground, but she couldn't for everything, and it really was everything, was on the line. Her reputation, her status, her rent, food, and her living, relied on this.
Her name is Riesbyfe Stridberg, a bassist who'd been playing for an untold amount of years. An expert at this craft, she possesses amazing skill and grace playing. Well, her fingers and arms did anyway. Riesbyfe's face would make a variety of expressions, ranging from smiles to grimaces, from frowns, to angry, almost ecstatic expressions. All part of the craft, but she really could play!
Once all the members were inside the building and lead to an area where they could put down their instrument cases, Ries looks around the cafe. People chatting, workers working, but one stares, and she caught her looking. Her mouth opens slightly, blush creeps onto her cheeks, and her eyes widen. She closes her mouth and swallows, then smiles at the lady quickly before opening the case.
Even so, she continued to sneak glances without her noticing.
Sion, now feeling rejuvenated after seeing such a beautiful woman, returned to work immediately, taking orders and giving the drinks and snacks at a speedy pace. Elegant, yet fast, she wanted to watch Ries play, and so she made sure that everyone got what they wanted quickly. The enamoured girl hoped that no more people would walk in as it began to get closer to the performance time.
Sion's luck was working for her, as it did slow down, and nearly no one else came in. Almost as if time had stopped, but the only thing that continued to move, were the people in their seats, talking, eating, drinking. All the workers watched in anticipation behind the counter, except for Sion. She goes in front of the counter instead, getting a clear view of Ries.
Riesbyfe on the other hand, had stopped thinking about the purple-haired beauty, and focused on tuning, making sure that she and the others were comfortable. As she places her music on the stand in front of her, she looks up to see Sion close and in front, watching like a child in the middle of witnessing a blissful, perfect dream.
Her small, romantic moment was cut short, for the leader called to each of them to make sure they had each others attention.
Snap.
"One.." Snap.
"Two.." Snap, snap.
"A-One.. Two.. Three.. Four.."
Ries and two others came in playing strong, and focused. They played at a moderately fast swing with a repetitive and catchy pattern. No more than three seconds, which felt eternal, the singer came in. A sweet and broad voice filled the room, and everyone's attention was taken by them. Singing about 'Avalon' and love, the band played away, and the listeners enjoyed themselves, chatting or listening closely. Sion's eyes would occasionally look over to the other members when they stood out whenever the singer wasn't singing. Even so, her eyes always drifted back to Ries.
Her hands, her arms, and even how she moved with the instrument and the music, all captivated Sion. What passion! What joy she was showing, even on such a focused and funny-looking face! Even so, Sion found her facial expressions to be cute and adorable.
Then all at once, everything stopped. All talk came down to a silent hush and everyone ceased to play. All except for the singer and Riesbyfe.
Ries started off loud and proud, and kept it that way. Her face was a look of love and focus, for her eyebrows were creased and she had a small, tight-lipped smile. In the beginning, no more than two seconds before the singer came in, she walked a line, ad-libbing with only the chords before her as the guide. Her arms and hands moved gracefully and light. She continued to walk lines while the singer continued on. Riesbyfe's hands and arms moved throughout the range of the bass, plucking away, making noise.
Everyone watched Ries play in anticipation, and she did play. For three seconds, her left hand roamed the top half of the bass. Her fingers moved and changed positions, creating a beautiful pattern of notes that were descending, ascending, and then repeating. Her right hand plucked hard, her index and middle finger moving swiftly, with incredible grace and power. Even the band members nodded their heads and murmured positive comments. Then, her left hand jumped again, and her body moved with the bass. Now she was really focused, eyebrows smushed together and grimacing, then changing to tight lips, and becoming more relaxed. It continued to move closer and closer to the bottom of the neck, where it met the upper bout. The bass was nearly resting on her shoulder when she jumped back up to the middle of the arm of the bass, with her own arm followed by her wrist in succession. For the next four seconds, she played another pattern, still walking. However, Riesbyfe's left hand didn't move around the arm as much as seconds ago. She continued to keep the time while impressing everyone with her skills and expertise on the chords, even if the audience didn't know any of that.
Even though Sion was captivated already, she became even more so when nearly everything went quiet. Each time Ries moved, she moved as well. Leaning forward as if she was trying to get more information out of her. She could feel the energy that the bassist was extruding.
As the duet was about to come to a close, and the limelight on Ries would end soon, her arm and hand, with haste, made its way back to the bottom of the neck. She plays a specific, catchy pattern, and the sound made with her hands was truly bliss for the ears of everyone listening. The audience was completely hypnotized by her skill and expertise. As she began the last few seconds of the duo's moment, pressure could be felt across the whole building.
'One, three, two, four, three, five, four, six─'
That was all Riesbyfe thought in the last few seconds of her special moment. Her left resumed to the middle of the neck. She gave the biggest smile that the whole room could see, and everyone cheered, yelled, and clapped for her.
While everyone had been cheering, Sion looked at her in awe and admiration, her heart completely taken by the player. She released her breath, never realizing that she was holding it. For the rest of the time during the whole gig, she sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the close up view she had of the most beautiful woman in the world.
That 'most beautiful woman in the world' felt the exact same about the cafe worker in front of her too.
After two hours, the love-struck Sion returned to the counter and resumed working. However, Manager-chan stopped Sion in the midst of her tracks, and hands her a plate with drinks on them.
"Here you go, Miss Eltnam~. I noticed that you were watching… So I'll let you hang around them for a bit longer." She speaks to her like a cat, and her smile only makes it more convincing.
"Oh, alright then. I'll give it to them immediately... Thank you, Manager… I─"
"Oh don't sweat it! You're a young woman, go have fun, I don't mind… I guess… but go!" As soon as she finished her sentence, Sion is pushed out into the open and walks over to the group. Each of the members give their thanks to her, and they resume chatting. However, she couldn't find Riesbyfe. Sion looks around quickly, but a member taps her shoulder.
"If you are looking for Riesbyfe, she went to the counter to look for someone." They point to the counter, and Ries is there, looking anxiously for Sion.
"Thank you for telling me." She walks off in haste, anxious, yet giddy. As she draws closer to the woman of her interest, her heart beats faster. She takes every little thing she is doing, and begins to overanalyze it all. That focus is broken quickly, for Ries turns over, and smiles to the cafe girl.
"O-Oh! Hey.. uh.. What's your name, beautiful lady?" The bassist looks up from her seat with eyes of curiosity, and thoughts full of love.
"M-My name, is Sion Eltnam. What's yours, miss?" Completely off guard from her sudden compliment, which was a horrible attempt at flirting on her part, she blushed. Her hands were still holding the drink, which Ries noticed.
"Ah, let me take that… I'm Riesbyfe Stridberg, it's nice to meet you, Sion… That's a really pretty name, just like you, did you know that?" She takes the cup with both of her tired, trembling hands, and holds it for a bit. Then, she puts it to her lips and drinks carefully, savouring it.
"This is really good! Who made this?" She looks at the girl standing before her with sparkles in her eyes.
'My name is pretty... like me..? I've never heard that before.. It makes me feel all nice and warm..' For a brief period of time, she spaces off, thinking about the compliment.
"Oh, my bad, I spaced out. Th-The Manager made the drinks for you and the rest of the band." She snaps out of the trance she was in. Her hand pulls out a chair and she sits alongside Ries, now even closer to her. Upon this realization, she blushes, but she stays regardless.
"Wow, please tell them that their drinks are delicious! I'll come here more…" She stops, and blushes, looking away embarrassed, "To see you more too… I can't really believe a beautiful person such as you is standing here right now.. I'd have to check a few more times to make sure. Hahahaha.." She gives a small laugh at the end, looking at Sion. Her arms stretch out over the counter towards Sion, closing a small distance between them.
However, the distance returns to how it was, for her arms folded back under the table. She was hiding her hands, her shaking, string-marked hands from playing really hard from the past few hours. Sion notices this, and felt concerned, so she asked.
"Riesbyfe, your hands? Are they alright?" She inches closer to her, completely ignoring that their noses were nearly touching. To Sion, she was more concerned over why the bassist was hiding her hands rather than their current distance.
"Huh, ooh.. D-Don't worry about it, I'm alright! Yeah I'm fine, I'm fine!" Ries puts up her hands as a gesture to not worry, but it exposes her shaky hands completely. She tries to hide them under the counter again, but Sion's hands were faster. Her hands were being held by the others, and a blush crept onto her face.
"... They're shaking, and there are markings all over your fingers… They feel very rough.. Why?" Sion asks, her fingers rubbing the others hand in a circle, almost massaging it. She wanted to get a feel, since a bassists hands are different from a cafe workers hands. Her fingers continued to feel the others, from her palm, to the tips of Ries' fingers.
'Her hands aren't as soft as I thought.. but they aren't rough like mine… It feels nice.. W-Wait..!' Ries loses her focus for a few seconds, but returns to the current situation at hand.
"S-Sion.. Well, you see.. The amp wasn't working, so I had to pull at it much harder. It's supposed to make me more present, which makes it easier for my hands. As I said before though…" Riesbyfe's hands then held Sion's, and she continued speaking.
"I have to pull harder, and it begins to mark my fingers, and it hurts my hands and wrist as a result. That's why they feel like this… It feels disgusting, hm?" Her gaze goes to the ground, expecting Sion's hands to retract back to her side and be grossed out.
Instead, her hands squeeze Ries' hands back, and her fingers intertwine with the other's.
"Well, it's not your fault… and they aren't gross. You take care of them well, I can tell that much…" Sion had wanted to say something else, but nothing came to mind.
Ries was moved by Sion's words, and smiled softly, looking right into her eyes. The bassists hands are soon removed from her own, and she takes out a small notebook. She rips out a piece of paper, and writes on it. Sion looks over curiously, wondering what she could be writing. Then, her hands are taken in again, and a paper appears in her palm.
"Call me. Or text me, I don't mind either one. I have to leave now.. It was nice meeting you, Miss Sion Eltnam." Riesbyfe gets up from her seat, smiles at Sion, and turns around to grab her belongings, and leave.
"... I will, Riesbyfe.. I will.." Sion sits there, looking at the back of the one she loved, in a love-struck daze. Her gaze was only on the others until she left, closing the door. Though, Ries turned around one last time, winked, stuck her tongue out and gave a 'call me' sign with her free hand.
With that, Sion stood up, and resumed work, hastily stuffing the paper into her shirt. It was almost as if nothing happened moments before, like a dream.
A few hours later, she went home, absolutely tired. She was tired and happy, for she met what one would call, 'the love of her life'. Even if before this fateful Sunday she never believed in 'love at first sight' or any of that wishy-washy stuff, she did now.
Sion enters the bathroom, humming the first song from the set. She slowly undoes her braids, bit by bit. She takes off the minimal amount of makeup she has, and rubs her eyeliner off.
She jumps onto the bed, and reaches into her shirt to find the paper. A cold sweat runs through her whole body.
She can't find it. The paper with the number was missing.
After twenty minutes of searching for the paper with the lady's number, Sion flops onto her bed, heartbroken. She thinks to herself that she should have been more careful, more attentive, and that she should have placed it in a more secure area.
"... But it's been done. I can't turn back time." She murmured to herself and falls asleep, hoping that they could cross paths once again.