"Is this too passé for me, Rutile?"
"It looks fine Jade."
"… You're just saying that."
"Ugh. Then why'd you ask?"
They had been at this for an hour straight, Jade never was one for formal events. Tended to trip over her own words when any crowd over ten people had their eyes on her, avoided staring too hard and sure as hell could never pull off a self-assured smile to save her life in those scenarios.
Rutile wasn't sure what sort of embarrassing scenarios her friend had gotten herself into as a teenager, but this was being blown out of proportion. Yeah, it was a suit and tie sort of venue, but they'd just be seated in the crowd watching the show.
"This is my first time going to a theatre in ages, presentations really important!" Jade replied as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a black dress with frilly sleeves that reached down to her elbow,as well as some chrome tinted bracelets on each hand. A charming fit that went well with her short hair that for tonight was brushed off to the right side of her head quite neatly.
"It's not like you're the one on stage, the outfit's fine and so were the last three you took off." Rutile said rolling her eyes. As one who had a relatively influential family Rutile was well accustomed to events of this nature, as well as the sort of dress code expected. As things stood, Jade was stressing herself out far more than necessary.
As for Rutile, she wore the bare minimum of what was expected to an event like this. A simple black button shirt with matching pants and high heels. If anything Jade stood a higher chance of sticking out with a dress that ostentatious, ironically enough. More ironically, Jade's habit of panicking over little things was unconsciously making Rutile play the straight man in a situation where by all accounts she should have been the nervous one.
They sat in their little motel, and the show was scheduled to start in the next hour, and with that realisation came a mix of terror and perhaps mild excitement. Unsurprisingly, they hadn't booked front row seats. She wasn't quite bold enough for that, despite Alex's prodding. There were a few record signings down the line according to the website, but the next one was on Tuesday, and she wasn't quite ready to test her bosses patience by asking for extensions beyond what was initially discussed.
Alex had a plan for it though, but she hadn't disclosed the details. Definitely no cause for concern there...
There was a vocal click from the bedroom door, followed by a creek from the nob as it slid open to reveal Alex standing by the doorway, wearing a green dress with shoulder straps, as well as long emerald gloves that reached her elbows. Wearing light make up that wasn't quite as flashy as what Jade put on but enough to complement her eyes and hair.
"Nice entrance," Rutile said with a dry look.
"Thanks. Green with envy?" she said, drawing attention the, well, green motif in her all her attire.
"Not really, but It looks great on you Alex" Rutile responded as she got up from her bed. "So are we ready to go?" she asked.
"Ugh, that looks better on you Alex… Maybe I should wear green too?" Jade muttered with an indecisive look that had Rutile rolling her eyes.
"Take off that dress, and we'll be dragging you out the door butt naked," she said with a tired look that had her friend frowning slightly.
"You guys aren't even a bit nervous about the looks we'll get from all the old geezers and grannies for not dressing well?" Jade asked, looking for some kind of validation from Alex when Rutile gave a blank look.
"Jade, we all look fine. Just grab your stuff so we can go". Jade pouted at their words. Evidently she would get no encouragement.
"… Fine" she muttered.
Ten minutes later they were all buckled up in Alex's truck. After nearly wrestling Jade away from the bathroom when she suggested changing into to something a bit less fancy there was a near kneejerk instinct to child lock her door.
Brushing her hair back into place Rutile sighed and sunk into her seats, the entire trip was building up to this, and she was damned if she would let this opportunity pass by.
"You know, with outfits like these this truck sure looks pretty urban for us" Jade muttered as she looked out the window.
"You want to walk?" Alex replied as she switched on the ignition, her eyes flashing at Jade from the rearview mirror.
"Right, sorry" Jade responded, shifting her gaze with an apologetic smile.
Padparadscha and makeup were two things that had a very situational relationship together, for lack of a better term. It was good, if not essential for cosplay and other casual events they had with their friends, but when it came to their work image, presentation was important and to Padparadscha it often made them feel rather artificial on stage. Projecting an insincere image of themselves
As such, when Diana insisted on being their dresser for tonight's show they were a bit aprehensive. Even if she was some kind of certified hairdresser.
"Dia, is this really necessary?" Pad questioned as the girl tickled the skin on their face with a brush
"Of course! On a stage like this, you need to look good."
"Yes, but remember. I only want a minimalist job on this" Padparadscha clarified to which Dia sighed.
She smiled slightly and switched to an eyeliner. "Of course, but you'd look beautiful on stage. I bet the audience would think you're like a Angel". Typically Yelena was the only other Person Pad trusted to comb their hair, but since Diana had been so eager to do so tonight, for free they agreed to let her do it.
Initially, Pad wasn't too interested when Yelene brought it up a week ago over lunch, but the more they thought about it, the more they realised a professional hairdresser offering up a one-time free service wasn't something to scoff at.
That being said, considering the restrictions Pad tended to place on their presentation on stage those skills would be largely unused
"Anything but that-" Pad replied when the hairdresser cut them off.
"Done" she chirped, stepping aside from the dressing mirror so Pad could observe their own reflection.
Without uttering a word, Pad took the time to take in every detail, only a hint of lipstick and mascara with four strands of hair hanging just over their forehead with the rest of it neatly brushed back in a neat ponytail. Additionally there were little sprinkles of glitter along their scalp and bangs.
"Huh" Pad cooed thoughtfully.
"It was a little boring with all the rules, but I hope this is good enough," Dia said, sounding a bit disappointed with her work.
There wasn't one flaw in her style, Dia had followed their instructions to a T.
"Its… Perfect actually. You're awesome Dia" Pad said with a grin as they glanced at Dia over their shoulder. Dia, on the other hand did not look particularly impressed with the job she'd done, despite that she still smiled.
Putting the hair curler away Dia replied. "Well, a satisfied customer is all that matters". At the moment hiring them as a full-time hairdresser didn't seem so bad, though that might not have been very affordable for the redhead presently. "Now you can spellbind the crowd with your viola and look pretty at the same time.
"I play a Cello."
"Right"
There was a light knock on the door and Pad stood up, straightening out their tux and making doubly sure everything was in place while Dia answered the knocking. On the other side, Mr. Adam stood dressed in his usual conductor attire.
"I trust your preparations are complete then. Padparadscha?" the man asked with his hands stuffed into the folds of his pockets.
"Just about done sir" Pad replied, turning round to face their old teacher. The mans face was an emotionless mask, his eyes scrutinising them for any imperfections in the state of their suit.
"… So I see. Was the glitter necessary?" he asked as his eyes scanned them from head to toe.
"No, but it's a personal touch" Pad said with the calmness of one that knew all the in's and out's of the conductors dress code preferences.
"Very well then, I see you've been quite a pedantic with such things" he said with slight smile, that was about as close to a compliment as any aspiring classical musician could hope for from Mr. Adam. "You're up in ten so see to it you're on stage shortly.
"Yes sir."
With a simple nod, the man turned and continued walking down the hall.
Well, that was all the encouragement they needed. "knock em dead Pad. I'll be watching" Dia said with an encouraging smile that Pad returned before they headed down the hall,in the opposite direction to Mr. Adam, down a flight of stairs and appeared backstage where Yelena and Alberto stood waiting with the former holding their Cello in hand.
"Took you long enough, I thought you'd be late." Yelena said with a relieved look.
"Needed to make everything perfect" Pad responded as they stopped in front of Yellow who laughed lightly in response.
"Perfectionist as usual," she said.
"Well, all that matters is that Pad's here now," Alberto said with a smirk. "You look great Pad, now you just need to kill the audience with your bow."
Taking the Cello and Bow from Yelena Pad flashed them both a wink. "That's the plan" the Cellist said
The chair was already laid out on the stage, where the curtains were still down. Regardless the crowd could still be heard on the other side, possibly an even bigger turn out than last weeks with all the chatter they were hearing. Or perhaps not, it was impossible to tell until they were performing.
With a deep breath, they walked up the stage with the Cello in hand and took their seat in the middle, making sure they assumed the proper posture. Knees spread to the side of the instrument with the base resting on their chest, the scroll hanging past the left side of their head with their right arm holding the bow with a relaxed grip, each thin digit falling into place while their wrist was shifted to the left ever so slightly.
Turning their head over to the assitants on the overhead platform, they gave a simple nod. And with that the curtains opened dramatically, and the whole crowd came into view. A full house by the looks of it and that knowledge was a bit intimidating. As part of an orchestra, Pad was just a single cog in a much larger whole but sitting here alone really brought things into perspective.
Taking a deep breath, they placed the bow against the Cello's string, let their eyes close and started playing.
The drive over to the Theatre was a short one, surprisingly enough. Little to no traffic with only one stop light throughout the entire twenty-minute drive, she wasn't complaining though.
They might not have been sitting at the front but they were just three rows behind it, close enough for Rutile to observe the performance without Pad having any real chance of spotting her in the crowd. Though would Pad even recognise her after a year and a half? It was hard to say. Though if they didn't then that would be pretty telling in itself, wouldn't it?
"Rutile" Alex suddenly said, pulling the doctor out of her reverie.
"Hmm, yes?" she responded, a bit absentmindedly as Alex glanced at her for a moment before bringing their gaze back to the road.
"We can still turn back if you're not sure" she replied, making it clear that she could still turn back after all this time. But that wasn't something she even needed to think about.
"After all the trouble we went to? We can't". Buying tickets, asking for a weekend leave and sitting through a four-hour drive. There was no way they could justify all that wasted time if Rutile didn't go through with it.
Still, by the look in Alex's eye. She wasn't so concerned with that as she was with Rutile's well being.
"True, but when we get into that theatre there's no turning back. Even if you panic."
"I won't be panicking"
Jade cleared their throat from the backseat, reminding them of her presence. "Speaking of the theatre, how do you even plan on getting them face to face?" she asked.
Taking a moment to perhaps contemplate if they should answer or not Alex glanced at her on the rearview mirror. "Let's just say I know a thing or two about sneaking into places I shouldn't."
"Oh, and for a minute I thought you were going to pull out some secret VIP card or something" Jade responded, not looking too impressed. And neither was Rutile.
If this entailed some kind of trespassing Rutile didn't like her odds, still if they could just get close enough for Pad see her. Things would resolve themselves, or so she hoped.
Soon enough the theatre came into view and Alex made a turn into their car park. "Were here" Alex announced as the car came to a stop.
"Great, with minutes to spare" Jade announced as she pulled off her belt and got out of the car, Alex and Rutile followed suit.
The lot was fairly dense with a number of especially ostentatious looking vehicles parked all around, nothing to really note considering the sort of venue it was. Of course, only rich upper class people would go to an orchestra of all places.
Walking through the entrance, they made their way along the large red carpeted reception and joined the crowd as they shuffled into the auditorium.
"Fancy place" Alex stated as they approached one of the ushers who gave the trio a formal nod.
"Tickets please" he requested to which they all complied. Stamping all their tickets, he lead them down the aisle of chairs, all the way to the fourth row from the stage before turning back to them and pointing towards the row they were meant to be seated at. "There, your seats will have a corresponding the number to your ticket. Enjoy the show" he added with a polite smile before returning back to his post.
It only took a few seconds for Rutile to realise her fingers were shaking lightly, uncontrollably in fact. It was beginning to really dawn on her that there was no turning back from here. She knew that and she still chose to come here, so why on earth was she getting cold feet now?
She just needed to calm down and have a seat, that was all they needed. Just a moment to get this out of her system.
Her face remained an empty mask as they walked across the row until they found their seats. And Rutile was more than eager to have it, anything to make the shaking less noticeable.
They were amongst the last batch of people there to get seated, so it wasn't long before the crowd went relatively silent, save for a few occasional murmurs and laughs. The lights dimmed over the auditorium, with the only illuminated area being the stage.
Then suddenly the curtain opened, revealing a lone figure hunched over a chair with a Cello in hand. Rutile's breath hitched as they took in their appearance
The individual sitting on stage had long, ruby red hair that practically sparkled under the spotlight. Their face a mask of calm confidence with their bright red eyes piercing the crowd so sharply it almost felt like they were looking directly at Rutile herself.
There was no mistaking that look anywhere, Padparadscha was sitting just a few feet in front of her. And with that knowledge came the near unbearable temptation to run right up to the stage embrace them in the tightest hug of her life, and for the briefest of moments she even considered doing just that… But she couldn't, that would just be Rutile making a complete fool of herself in public while simultaneously ruining the whole show for everyone.
She quickly dispelled the thought as the Cellist methodically fiddled with their bow before adjusting their hold on the Cello. They then closed their eyes and took in a deep breath.
"So that's Padparadscha huh…" Jade whispered to Rutile who was too absorbed in the show to really take notice. Smiling knowingly they turned back to the stage.
The moment the bow made contact with the string the atmosphere around room changed completely. The song started out slow and somber, akin to one of those old dirges her father had introduced her to at a young age. A similar tune to Moonlight Sonata's ominous start that gradually splintered into its own unique rhythm as the seconds passed. Padparadscha's fingers effortlessly alternating between the bow and Cello strings with an ambidexterity that only came from years of practice.
Midway the piece picked up in pace, every subtle shift of the bow gradually becoming harder to take notice of as their finger pressed along the strings of the cello's hilt. Their eyes clamped shut, yet completely relaxed as they played. As though their mind and body melded into one singular entity with the Cello as they raised the tempo another notch. Their fingers becoming a blurred mess as they continued playing.
It was hard to say, with her very limited history with classical music but the song Pad was playing was reminiscent of her fathers favourite Cello song, the Allemande from Bach… Or perhaps not, it sounded like a lot of things while also none of them. Though considering she knew next to nothing on this subject perhaps it was better for her to not think too much about it
Regardless, there was one thing they could say for certain. Standing on that stage, with the Cello in hand was a person that looked closer to an angel than human, the way their hair sparkled with every subtle head tilt, the almost nonexistent but barely noticeable smirk on their red lips… It was hard to believe they had at one point shared a room with that person.
The song was entering its third minute and still showed no sign of slowing in either intensity or pace. She'd been in her share of extensive surgeries and was no stranger to the arm fatigue that tended to strike one hour into the operation, one of those things you got use to overtime. However, on an operating table, the careful methodical approach to most tasks tasks always encouraged them to move slowly, especially considering they were operating on a living human being.
Pad was playing so effortlessly it almost looked like they were just haphazardly rubbing the bow against the strings, but the way the piece flowed so fluidly from one section to another could only be achieved with an unbelievable amount of precision. Their left digits rapidly alternating between the four strings along the hilt, the timing on each transition precise and perfect down to the last second.
It felt like it would go on forever, rising and falling rhythimically in pitch and tune, but eventually, after a little over ten minutes the song came to a stop and with one last flick of the bow the Cellist concluded the song and lowered their hand, a carefree smile adorning their lips as the crowd started applauding. And without much thought Rutile joined in, clapping earnestly with a genuine smile on her lips.
A slight glance to either of her sides revealed that Jade and Alex had also been equally mesmerized by the performance.
"Well, there's someone that can really play a fiddle" Alex noted with a smirk on her lips.
"She must be like a pro. That dexterity was incredible" Jade chirped in agreement.
On that, they were all in agreement, she had often wondered what Pad playing the Cello would be like, and had she been asked a month ago Rutile would have never imagined she could have a such an opportunity to do so… Pad was just so, so perfect.
The nurturing yet alluring individual she'd met on that evening felt like a completely different person in front of a crowd. And losing that bond was an undeniably foolish mistake.
Standing up from their chair, Padparadscha straightened out the tuxedo with one arm while staring down the crowd with a confident smile. Holding the Cello up straight with one hand they bent over and bowed just as the curtains closed over them.
In what felt like the blink of an eye all the fear and terror of this moment that had consumed Rutile was gone, replaced by a determination the likes of which she wasn't sure she had ever mustered to this degree in such a short time. One way or another, she was going to meet Pad tonight.