Note – I had a bit of a snafu the other day when I accidentally deleted this whole forum of incomplete Nohnny stories. I reposted this story, obviously, but I lost all the awesome feedback you guys left me. :( I'd love it if you left more so we can build the feedback thread right back up. :) I loved hearing what y'all had to say.

Wooing Miss Crowe | 6

~ Know at least one musical group as well as is possible. ~

.: Versailles Room :.

They weren't at the Nurse's Ball together, but they were sitting together, so Johnny was going to count it as a win.

He glanced at his sister, who was smiling her Cheshire cat grin as she gave Nadine the third degree, and grimaced. Okay, maybe a half-win. A quarter-win.

Ugh. Goddamn Claudia.

But Nadine didn't seem to mind and even seemed to be holding her own with his sister. He heard her mentioning an old cartoon called Fraggle Rock, and something to do with cocaine, and realized that Nadine had hit on the secret of dealing with his sister.

All the other women that he'd ever slept with – the ones that Claudia managed to track down and harass, that is – always focused too much on impressing her. They simpered, they cooed, they agreed emphatically with everything she said until Claudia had them running in circles. His sister would catch on immediately to their cloying sycophancy and would dismiss them quite rudely and publicly, and that would be the end of that.

Nadine, on the other hand, had discovered the most effective tactic: bafflement. She was so naturally bubbly and quirky, filled to the brim with esoteric references and quite given to rambling, and Claudia had no idea what to do with her.

His sister would try to say something about any past relationships Nadine might have had and in a span of about a minute and a half, Nadine would have jumped from relationships to two straws in a milkshake to Italian ice to icicles to her first trip to the city as a kid to the alley cats she saw that she wanted to adopt and then to the one-eyed pit bull that shared their farmhouse back home, and she'd end it with one of Aunt Rayleen's aphorisms, and Claudia would look like she'd been run over by a truck.

Excellent.

"Wait, I'm sorry." His sister looked like she'd come down with a terrible headache. "But what is a hoe-down? And if it doesn't involve prostitutes, I'm going to officially hate you."

"A hoe-down's a lot like a shin-dig, actually."

"A what?"

"A hootenanny."

"Who's hooting at the nanny?"

"Sock hop."

"I'd slit your throat right now if it wouldn't ruin my dress."

"Claudia!" He glared at her and she glared right back, but Nadine didn't seem terribly concerned. "Can we please get through this evening without any death threats? Please."

"No promises," she grumbled, watching sourly as Nadine sipped her wine. "Just so long as the milkmaid cools it with the Farmer's Almanac talk."

"Just shut up and watch the show," Johnny hissed, forcing a smile when Nadine quirked a brow at him. "Not you, of course."

"Of course," she allowed slyly, and he shot her a playful glare. "…I wonder what's taking so long. Isn't the next act supposed to be up?"

"Looks like they're having some difficulty," he murmured, pointing out Lucy at the corner of the stage. She was engaged in serious conversation with one of the stagehands and didn't look pleased. "And you know, that Nirvana cover is going to be a hard act to follow."

"There was a time when I ate, slept, and breathed Nirvana," Nadine sighed, surprising both Johnny and Claudia. "What? I like music."

"We pegged you as a showtunes girl," Claudia informed her breezily. "Particularly Rent."

"…I do like Rent," Nadine huffed, the corner of her mouth curving down. "I don't think that makes me a bad person."

"Yes, it does."

"Claudia was discovered by our butler last week, humming Miley Cyrus songs as she signed employment contracts," Johnny said loudly, causing Claudia to gape at him in horror. "What?"

"That was uncalled for!"

"Next time, try not to be a raging bitch."

"Jackass."

"Tween."

"So what's your favorite group or artist or whatever?" Nadine interrupted, not at all trying to hide the fact that she didn't want them bickering.

Johnny thought about it for a moment, but it was Claudia that answered.

"Mozart. He's always liked Mozart the best."

"Yeah?"

Johnny nodded. "I've been playing his compositions since I started playing the piano. There's just no one better."

"John started composing when he was a kid, too," Claudia added. "Just like Mozart. Because neither one of them had any friends."

Johnny glared sharply at his sister over Nadine's head, causing the nurse to impulsively reach out and settle her hand over his. If it surprised John, he didn't let it show, but Claudia's perfectly plucked brows jumped so high that they practically met her hairline.

"What do you like best about him?"

"…He could just as easily write these stark, simple melodies as he could these beautiful, intellectual, complicated pieces," Johnny said slowly. "He was never satisfied with what he did, and he knew he could do so much more. It made him difficult, yes, and people didn't always get him, but there was such a mind under that temperament and frustration. Such a mind, such passion and talent."

"I'd love to hear you play sometime," Nadine said hesitantly. She'd been watching him as he spoke, and his admiration and enthusiasm was unmistakable. "I mean, you know, if you ever feel like it."

"There's a piano on that stage," Claudia pointed out. "Behind that curtain. Dare you to go up and play something, John. It doesn't look like they're interested in putting on much of a show, anyway."

The last part was said loud enough for people to hear, but, of course, since it was Claudia Zacchara, no one so much as sniffed in her direction. On the stage, Lucy had overheard the remark and her gestures grew more frantic as she quickly tried to rectify the situation.

"You know what?" Johnny twisted his napkin in his hands and then threw it down on the table. "I think I'll take you up on that."

And before Nadine or Claudia could call out to him, he was out of his chair and sauntering down the steps toward the massive stage. Lucy saw him approach and Johnny flicked his wrists, motioning to the curtains as he climbed the steps.

The stage hand standing nearby pulled the curtains apart, revealing a beautiful black piano. Johnny smiled pleasantly at Lucy as he walked on past and took a seat on the bench.

"Allow me to buy you some time," he said graciously before turning around and placing his fingers on the keys. A few seconds ticked by as he deliberated over what to play, and then he had it.

His fingers moved smoothly over the keys, fluidly, coaxing out lovely sonorous notes that filled the room, floating idly and congregating raucously, in alternation. Johnny's lashes fluttered, his eyes half-closed, and he played the entire piece from memory. Nadine could see him clearly from her seat, and she saw the depth of his concentration and involvement. Every person had that one thing that enabled him or her to truly let themselves go; it was clear to all in the room that Johnny Zacchara's truest form of expression was the music filling the Versailles hall.

He played and played, and kept playing long after they thought he'd stop, not that anyone would have complained. The piece he selected was light and whimsical, and then brooding and contemplative, and he kept it lively and compelling.

His performance gave Lucy some much-needed time to pull the show together, and when Johnny finally let the last notes trail off into silence and then enthusiastic applause, she was ready to go.

Johnny didn't appear to truly hear the applause and whistles as he wandered back to his seat, and Nadine would recall later that his eyes were a little distant, his expression wistful and soft. But then he sat down next to her, and the motion must have jarred him back into the present because he quirked a little smile at her.

"Next time, I expect you to put on a lively rendition of La Vie Boheme."