Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using characters and elements from the Star Wars universe, created and trademarked by George Lucas and currently owned by Disney. I do not claim ownership over any Star Wars characters or elements from the Star Wars Universe. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and is not claiming to be any part of the Star Wars canon. Thank you to Disney for letting me play with the characters and not suing me for writing them into a new situation.
NOCTURNE IN THE KEY OF B SOLO
by MALOREIY
~ Chapter 5 ~
Rey rode up the rickety elevator to the third floor. She liked the way it rumbled and creaked, complaining the whole way. Sometimes she liked to pretend it was a rocket getting ready to launch her into space. It always sounded like it was the start of a bigger adventure than simply a ride up to her apartment.
Today, though, she was in no mood to appreciate the clanking and creaking of impending adventure.
Work had been a misery. The shop had taken on several projects with urgent deadlines—all of them fancy luxury cars with cranky, demanding owners—and she'd been pulling a lot of overtime several days in a row just to get them finished. Today she'd left before she was truly finished, because she was too tired to continue, and working on a car when you're tired is a good way to lose a finger.
Her friends had wanted her to go out with them, but she just wanted to have some ice cream, curl up with BB8, and unwind after the hard day.
The elevator came to a shuddering stop and she plodded to the end of the hall. Her muscles were stiff and sore, and they ached at the movement of lifting her key to the lock. She briefly contemplated adding a nice, restful bath to her schedule.
Honestly, though, she'd probably fall asleep and drown, so she decided on a steaming hot shower instead.
BB8 greeted her at the door, his long tail wagging furiously. Despite looking like a purebred corgi, the orange and white puppy was a rescue with a mixed background and so, had fortunately escaped having his tail docked. His short legs worked furiously to keep up with Rey as she dropped her bag and headed straight for the bathroom to wash off the day's sludge.
She tried not to cuddle with her dog when she had streaks of grease all over, but that didn't stop BB8 from trying to get her attention.
He laid flat on his tummy outside the bathroom, waiting mournfully for her to finish her shower.
When she finally came out, pink-cheeked and smiling again, she reached down and gave him the belly rubs he'd been patiently waiting for. Then he trotted after her into the kitchen.
Since Rey had eaten pizza at the shop, she went straight to the freezer for her favorite dessert, ice cream.
Rey loved ice cream. She didn't care what flavor it was, she loved them all. Growing up poor in a desert climate, she'd always envied kids who could get ice cream whenever they wanted.
Now that she was out on her own with her own modest income, and even though Coruscant never got as hot as Jakku, she indulged regularly. Fortunately, she was able to burn off all the calories at work.
She filled her bowl with Rocky Railroad Tracks, and a smaller bowl with kibble for BB8, and then plopped tiredly onto her couch.
Working late meant that she'd probably missed her neighbor's practice session.
He hadn't been playing regularly anyway. It used to be every day and every night, but lately it had only been every few days, and only in the evenings. It was pretty much just enough so that she knew he was still alive and didn't send him another silly message like the one she'd sent when she thought he was sick.
She cringed just remembering it. She'd even suggested helping him, and then had forgotten to write her apartment number on it.
He must think she was a weird stalker.
She told herself for the nth time that she was going to stop writing any more notes.
At first, it had been just an expression of her excitement. When she'd moved in 4 months ago, she'd been shocked, enthralled, overjoyed at the angelic music that seemed to echo in the walls around her. Leaving the note had been just a whim, hoping he might play a song that she actually recognized.
She figured since Fur Elise was so well known, that surely an accomplished artist such as himself would be familiar with it.
When the neighbor didn't play her request, she didn't think much of it. Maybe he didn't know it after all.
Then she'd asked him to play her favorite song, Moonlight Sonata. A small part of it played on repeat in a jewelry box that was one of the last possessions she had from her parents. It was a cheap thing that you had to wind up, and it had a horribly tinny sound. But she'd always loved listening to it, remembering how her mother would wind it up for her over and over again. Though the song always sounded so sad, it actually made Rey very happy to hear it and to preserve what few memories she still had.
When the neighbor ignored that request too, she thought maybe he just didn't like it.
It became rather like a game—trying to guess what songs he knew, what songs he liked, what he might finally end up playing...if she could only guess right.
Though she didn't know much about classical music, sometimes she got to choose the radio station in the garage at work, and the deejays would say the names and the composers of the songs.
Sometimes she heard songs that she recognized from her neighbor's practice sessions. She always frantically wrote them down, trying to draw a connection between the songs that he played. He seemed to like songs with a lot of fury and passion, and ones that were not very popular, since she rarely heard them on the station she listened to.
Her own preference was less obvious. She just liked what she liked, she didn't know how to describe it. But when one of those came on the radio, she wrote them down, too, so that she could add it to her request list. They were always by composers with names that were difficult to spell, so she had to look them up before writing them onto the pretty stationery that Maz had given her when she'd moved in.
She suspected Maz felt bad about the fact that Rey's parents were both gone, and that she had no family to speak of. It was a strange gift, no doubt left over from some unwanted Christmas presents, but Rey appreciated the thought all the same.
And it made the notes that she left for the man in C3 look so much nicer.
She knew that the obsessive pianist was a man, even though she'd never encountered him, because she'd passed the mailman one day when he was putting the mail in the building's boxes.
There were names written for each apartment, and when she'd returned from walking BB8 that afternoon, she'd sidled over just close enough so that she could finally put a name to the music.
'Ben Solo,' it had said in block letters on the little white card.
It was fitting because she couldn't imagine him playing with a band or an orchestra. His music was captivating entirely by itself—solo.
Occasionally when he played, she talked to the air, using his name out loud.
"Oh, that one was really good, Ben," she'd say.
Or, "I liked it the other way better, Bennie-boy."
Of course, she never put that into any of her notes, because that would be too weird. It was weird enough that she said his name where only BB8 could hear it, she certainly wasn't going to reveal to him that not only did she eavesdrop on him every night, she'd also spied on his mail.
She tried not to think that it was also probably very weird that she even sent the notes in the first place.
When the music abruptly stopped one day, she'd felt suddenly guilty about all of those nagging messages.
It had happened right after she told him that the song he'd played in the middle of the night had made her cry.
The song had woken her up out of sleep, gently calling to her, and maybe it was the moonlight, but she'd felt this force connecting them, as if they were the only two people in the world, and he was playing just for her.
When she realized there were tears streaming down her face, she never considered not telling him.
So she'd left him a note before the sun had even come up…and then the music had stopped.
Horrified, she wondered if she'd offended him. Or if maybe he felt bad for making her cry.
So she agonized for several days about what to do. Finally, she decided to send him another note, and it ended up being the most personal note she'd ever sent.
Instantly, she regretted sticking it under his door and considered calling up her best friend Finn to see if he'd help her break in and get it back before Ben Solo in apartment C3 came home.
In the end, though, he hadn't responded to that note, either. (How could he, when she'd forgotten to write her apartment number, anyway?)
The music had started up again soon after that, though not nearly as often.
Rey sighed over her empty bowl. No music tonight.
After cleaning up the few dishes, she got BB8 ready for his bedtime walk.
As they were heading out the door, she stopped short, seeing something she must have missed upon coming home.
It was a white envelope, a standard business size, and it looked like it had been slipped under her door. When she'd opened the door, it had swept it against the wall, and so she hadn't seen it.
She squeaked, her heartbeat suddenly pounding furiously in her ears.
Had Ben finally written her back? How did he know where she lived? What could he possibly have to say to her after all this time? And why didn't he ever play any of her requests?
She didn't spend very long freaking out, she was much too anxious to see what was inside the envelope.
To her surprise, there was no scathing letter, no neighborly introduction. It was just a single ticket.
Kylo Ren in Concert. Coruscant Hall.
The picture on the ticket showed a brooding young man—handsome but intense—and the sight of him gave her a slight jolt. There was something about his eyes, like they were going to stare a hole right through her.
It took her a second, but she tore her gaze away from Kylo Ren's face in order to look at the rest of the ticket.
There was a small picture with piano keys, so the performer was obviously a pianist. In the upper corner was the date and time—two weeks away—and a printed seat number.
Her breath caught, and she looked up to see BB8, his head tilted, clearly wondering why they weren't going on his walk yet.
The ticket must be from Ben Solo. He knew she liked piano music, he knew where she lived...but what did he mean by it?
Was…was it supposed to be a date? Was he going to be there, perhaps sitting in one of the seats next to her?
Was she ready for that?
Sure, she'd considered meeting him, had thought about what it'd be like to have an actual conversation with the mysterious man who made the beautiful music that tugged so much at her heart.
But like this?
A sudden thought occurred to her. "BB8, what if there is no concert?" she asked aloud, suddenly anxious. "What if it's just a joke? Some kind of elaborate setup?"
BB8 whined and pawed at the door, picking up his leash in his mouth and holding it hopefully.
As she looked at his optimistic little face and his wagging tail, she told herself that she was just being silly.
It was surely just a nice gesture. Ben Solo knew she liked classical piano, and maybe it was his way of saying he appreciated the messages. Maybe Kylo Ren played the type of songs she always requested, and since he wasn't going to play them for her, this was the next best thing.
Rey took a deep breath and then reached down to put BB8 in his harness.
Yes, that was it, the ticket was just something nice and neighborly—nothing for her to be too concerned about.
A/N: Huzzah! We've got both players on the board now! It's starting to get good...
S&R:CONSTRUCTIVE REVEIWS WELCOME (CRW)