Mag smiled to herself as she noticed the figure moving through the back of the auditorium about halfway through her warmup. She couldn't make out his face with the lights shining in her eyes but she could tell from the silhouette that it was Pavi. Mag kept an eye on him as she sang through her aria, her vocal ability barely challenged by the piece she had been given. There was little that the coach Rotti had insisted on employing could teach her, but it seemed unwise to argue. If nothing else, the lessons broke the monotony of most of her days. She would give herself a proper vocal workout later, when she had the privacy of an empty recital room.
In general she didn't see much of the other Largo kids, a host of Genterns and nannies took responsibility for the parenting duties. Even when encountered in passing, she regarded them with a disinterest that had always seemed to be mutual. Still, she had picked up on aspects of their relationships from Marni's anecdotes and her own observations, even before Pavi had started to spend much time with her.
With Luigi old enough to take on occasional office duties whilst shadowing Rotti at work and Carmela, barely toddling, the apple of her father's eye, it seemed that Pavi had fallen into a stereotypical "middle child" role. Although no less spoilt, he was the by far the quietest and most thoughtful of the three, preferring Mag's company or that of the Genterns to his father and siblings.
As Mag was gathering her vocal scores and preparing to leave, Pavi crept up to the stage, a slight smile on his face, large blue eyes glittering under the lights. She noticed the single red rose in his hand, extended nervously towards her.
"Is...is that for me?" said Mag. Pavi nodded.
"It's beautiful" a slight blush rose in his cheeks "like you." Taken aback, Mag smiled as she accepted the flower from him.
"Thank you, that's very kind" she rotated the stem between her thumb and forefinger, taking in the depth of the colour and the perfectly spread petals. "How did you enjoy the rehearsal? I've not met many children who listen to opera through choice!" Pavi shuffled nervously.
"I, um, I like lots of music, I like some of papa's old music, but lots of new stuff too. Not like Luigi, though, his music is loud and angry, I can't heard the words most of the time, it gives me a headache if I listen to more than a few songs. I just like to hear you sing." He shrugged "everything sounds pretty when you do it."
Mag laughed good-naturedly and blushed. Since Rotti had "discovered" her she had been inundated with praise, adoration, messages sent by fans from the flattering to the downright creepy but nothing had sounded quite so heartfelt as this one compliment from a child. "What a lovely thing to say, thank you, Paviche." She leaned down and kissed him softly on the cheek "you know you're very welcome to come and listen to me practice any time, it's difficult to be sure of how well I'm doing without an audience." Pavi failed to suppress a delighted grin as his cheeks darkened to near-fuchsia.
"Thank you, Blind Mag!" She laughed again.
"It's just 'Mag', now" she pointed to her eyes, which gave a faint whirr as she captured an image of Pavi's expression.
"Okay, Just Mag, I will see you soon." With that, he scampered back down the aisle of the auditorium leaving Mag, still with a bemused smile, on the stage.