His fingers moved swiftly along the black and white tiles of the board, the bright sunlight coming off his window gave his face a golden hue, and the vibrant, melodious tune coming out of his piano reflected the fresh, romantic air of Spring.
It was beautiful, everything. The seasonal vapour, coupled with the fragrance of flowers that had floated into his room through the open, sliding-doors of his garden.
It cajoled him into believing that the world would always be beautiful from then on, and that what awaited him wasn't a series of permanently painful disasters, lies, or facades of the lowest kind.
It was Love.
It was Whi-Two. She had come.
She looked at him in awe, her eyes roving back and forth between his hands and his face, catching his optimistic expression, not getting much of it, and swaying slightly (unconsciously) to the rhythm of his music.
The notes were getting more lively now. He'd swiftened his pace, and closed his eyes, letting himself take a whiff of her smell, as he happily played away.
She approached the piano cautiously; He was amused by the fact that she was nervously standing a little behind him, and timidly hiding herself from the source of the music.
"Canon, by John Pachelbel." He whispered, smiling, opening his eyes to take a brief glimpse at her, and then closing them again. A silence as he played three more notes, even whilst she was struggling to keep her feet from dancing to the tune.
"... It's fairly simple, but I like to play it often. The notes for this have been written down ingeniously. Pretty, isn't it?"
She stopped moving, and looked at him, wearily.
She knew all this, she knew this piece like the back of her hand, then why was he...?
"Sit." He demanded, she was startled by the authority of his voice.
Why was he pretending as if nothing had ever happened?
She sat down as told, finding comfort in the silky coverings of the sofa she was on, liking his warmth, and the smell of his perfume.
Or was it just his positive emanation?
"Play." He said again, never for once stopping his own string of hitting musical keys. He had his eyes closed, all the while playing that instrument.
She wasn't surprised that he could do that.
"I can't." She answered simply, quivering, as she looked up at the nightmarish object, waiting with bated breathe for him to stop, for him to be aware of her, or even look at her after halting his music.
She didn't realise he was peering at her soul with his, trying to taste all her insecurities and fears, attempting to drive them away for once. Just this once.
She had avoided this for so long, way too long.
She fidgeted in her seat when she didn't see him react; He kept playing, and she was still listening, silently.
Her hand trembled as she desperately reached for one of the tiles, and pressed a note she was supposed to be pressing, knowing with experience that this was where she would have to start.
The result disappointed her. Where was her once prodigious talent? It was bland, the sound was entirely soulless. Much like how she was now.
His hand brushed against hers unexpectedly as they both continued, sending her heart on fire, making her shudder. Soon her hands were resting back on her lap, with no trace of having removed them from that position whatsoever.
He looked at her in annoyance, and she was triggered by his sudden movement. "I told you I can't do it." She gave him a sad smile, to which he glared. His charming, optimistic attitude was inexplicably evanescent at times, leaving behind a serious, judgemental Lack-Two. She couldn't hate this side of him even if she wanted, though.
"The reason you can't play right now is self-explanatory, Whi-Two." He droned on, as he turned his attention back onto the instrument.
He was still looking at her from his perpheral vision, but Whi-Two didn't notice.
"You're letting your past consume you, Whi-Two, you're letting yourself give up, even though you're giving what you can to this world... And, when you feel something, don't you have the desire to share it with others around you? Love, Passion, and Romance, all of it, I want to make you feel what I feel, don't you want that too?"
He smiled, a smile that was only there for the sole purpose of Whi-Two's being, so different from his usual charismatic Playboy grin. She was pleasantly surprised by this, but slightly hesitant for what's to come.
"When you take music, you should adapt it for yourself and see how it suits you, because I have seen you, Whi-Two, I've seen you stand up for what you believe in, I've seen you cry, with feelings... "
Sh let out a soft whimper at this, and soft tears flowed past her cheek at the remembrance of that someone, the person who she used to love, no longer there...
Great, now he'd seen her cry a second time. She quickly wiped the water away and looked at him with her startlingly blue eyes.
"And I believe you have a lot to tell this world, and I'm ready to listen. And believe me when I say this, but I really do want to have you, I'm always ready for that, too."
A much longer silence this time, full of tension. But Lack-Two didn't even seem remotely bothered by it.
She wasn't ready, yet. She hadn't prepared for this, giving up on N, and what the heck was she supposed to do after, anyway?
"I'll show you what Love is." He said as he smoothly slid his hand past her shoulder, fingering her silky brown hair, "And I'll show you the effect you have on me..."
She started crying, again, as she looked at the piano.
She was afraid. She was pretty damn scared of what she was feeling, and what they were doing.
They'd fallen in love. Then what? He would disappear, much like the man from before, and she would have to heal again and move on?
He saw her crying, and dropped his hand to her back, stroking it, pulling her a little a closer.
She couldn't face this, she thought, as she felt jolts in her body from the contact. She was filled with emotions, the majority of it being feelings of Love, and she was bursting from it, and it was all so very pleasant, but...
"Lies are beautiful, aren't they? He whispered in her ear, before pecking her on the lips.
"And so are you. And even after all of that, you've believed in me, and I still believe in you..." A few more minutes as she tried to control her flow of tears.
"You won't leave me, will you?" She asked, her voice cracking, as she sunk a little deeper into his form.
He pushed his face into her hair, "I know I'm happy with this, but I think I might annoy you, so don't expect any reserved behaviour."
She chuckled softly, blushing all the while.
"I love you~" They both chorused, as he pulled her hand under his, and gently moved it along the keys, their fingers fitting perfectly into each other and tapping away, thus providing an amazing melody which described the essence of their love, and renewing themselves with it.
THE END