Rainy Day Madness

Word Count: 863

Prompts: Playing the Melody – Something for Nothing – Cabin Fever

Summary: No matter where you were in the huge Nightray mansion, you couldn't seem to escape the sound of the piano.

Timeline: A short time after Gilbert was adopted by the Nightrays' – They are all still young.

It seemed that no matter where you were in the huge Nightray mansion, you couldn't seem to escape the sound. It echoed everywhere. Reverberating off of the walls and in the heads of the poor, helpless people that were stuck inside the mansion as the rain poured down in sheets outside.

The sound was the leisurely sound of a piano. The romanza reverie with its behind the scenes sostenuto, and the grazioso legato in its smoothest form.

Claude and Fred had locked themselves in their rooms, sitting closest to the window so that the thunder and drumming rain could drown out the sound of the song in its dramatic climax, the dynamic crescendos hitting their peak with their accented forte.

Gilbert and Vincent sat on the spanning couch that resided in the main room, since it was a convenient place to complete their schoolwork. Even if they had to listen to for the fifty-third time the song that would slowly descend into diminuendo to enter a measure of ritardando, and then end in the pianissimo finish.

Vanessa suddenly barged into the room, having a sort of stately air to her even though she had yet to experience a growth spurt. "You better not play that song again," she said.

Elliot whipped around on the bench and stuck his tongue out. "I'll do what I want. Besides, Vincent told me to quit bugging him and do something else, so something else is what I'm doing."

"I had meant for him to do it in his own room…" Vincent mumbled without lifting his head from his schoolwork.

Gilbert didn't say anything.

"Vince!" Vanessa whined, "You should have known."

"I'm practicing," Elliot said, "You can't tell me to not practice."

"Then practice something else! Why do you have to keep playing that stupid song?"

"It's not stupid. You're just mad that you can't play as well as me."

"Maybe I'll go to my room," Vincent said.

Gilbert didn't care so much about them arguing, just as long as Elliot's fingers weren't on the keys.

"I don't care if I can't play. It's just an instrument. What good is it going to do for you?"

"It does a lot of good! It can help clear thoughts and thinking."

Vincent leaned closer to Gil, "Then I think he's going to need to play it a few hundred more times."

"What did you say?" Elliot snapped. He looked ready to leap from the piano bench to the couch just so he could strangle Vincent.

Vincent just shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

"You're lying!" Elliot jumped the distance from the bench to the floor (since he had ended up standing on the piano bench) and stomped over to the couch, even though he couldn't even see over the back of it.

"Well?" Elliot said, pulling himself high enough over the back of the couch so that he could glare at Vincent eye to eye.

Vincent put his whole palm over Elliot's face, and started to push him back down.

"H-hey! Remove your hand!" Elliot tried to move Vincent's hand, but in the end, he just ended up falling to the floor.

"Damn it!" Elliot said.

"Elliot!" Vanessa said, putting a hand to her mouth, "I'm going to tell mother!" She had sat down on the piano bench, possibly to prevent Elliot from sitting back down.

Elliot picked himself up off the floor and stalked around the couch, to properly glare at Vincent.

"Hey, Elliot," Gilbert said, before Elliot leapt onto Vincent. "Do you want to play a game?"

Elliot's ears perked. "What kind of game? Because I know the concept of the 'Quiet Game'."

"No, not at all," Gil said, taking the pen from the top of his papers. "I'm going to go hide this somewhere, and you're going to have to go and find it, and return it to me."

Elliot's eyebrows furrowed. "What's that going to do for me?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Nothing, but it'll occupy you."

Elliot's lip quivered, as if he was suspecting something, but he finally nodded. "Fine, I'll play the stupid game."

Gilbert got up off the couch without another word, exiting the room with the pen in his hand.

Elliot took the spot on the couch that Gilbert had vacated. He glared at Vincent. "Don't think I've forgotten your insult."

"What insult?" Vincent asked, smiling down at his adopted brother.

Gilbert returned shortly, and then nodded towards Elliot. "It's hidden, now go and find it."

"Can I play, too?" Vanessa said, her eyes getting bright.

"No. No way," Elliot said.

But Gilbert smiled at her and nodded. "Let's see who can win."

Elliot growled, but then was off like a shot.

Vanessa hopped from the piano bench and raced out of the room after her brother. They both had gone the opposite direction of each other.

Gilbert and Vincent both worked in the blessed quietness, the piano situated behind them looking so meek and un-obtruding right now.

It had taken a minute for Vincent to notice that Gil was still working on his schoolwork with a pen in hand.

"Where exactly did you hide the pen?" Vincent questioned.

Gilbert's lips tweaked but he didn't say anything.