Disclaimer: I hold no ownership over Rune Factory 2.
Barrett loved it when Dorothy played the piano.
More specifically, he loved watching her play, her small, white hands pressing down into the keys of the church piano. Her speech didn't flow easily, but her hands moved with fluency and grace across the piano, bringing out sweet music that drew people in. Dorothy always got nervous whenever he watched her perform, but as she played more and more, the feeling would wear away, and he would smile to himself when he saw her shoulders relax.
When they were little, she pulled him into playing with her. Barrett's father chuckled, saying it would be good for Barrett to take some lessons from Dorothy. Barrett snorted in response, but he joined her anyway, because secretly, the way she played so well made him admire her and feel just a little jealous. So he played with her for a while.
Unfortunately, it turned out he sucked at it.
She played the right hand part of the piece, he played the left hand part. The notes she made were delicate and sweet; the notes he made were loud and clumsy and he winced with each harsh sound. He could feel the way his face reddened with embarrassment, made even worse when Dorothy tried to slow down her playing so that their speeds would match. The cacophony made other patrons in the church cringe while their fathers laughed until Barrett just stopped playing altogether with a slam of his hands on the keys. He heard a quiet giggle beside him, and he turned his head to see Dorothy with a small smile on her face. He didn't think it was possible to blush any harder, but he did. Stop laughing, he'd said. She apologized. But she laughed anyway, and a smile twitched at the corner of his lips which he didn't mind.
They still played together sometimes when they're older and they had the church to themselves while Dorothy's sister slept upstairs and her father helped himself to a drink. Her playing was still as melodious as it had always been, his playing was still pretty godawful. But he liked the way she laughed, like a soft ring of bells.
"Stop laughing." But he was smiling too.