We're all in the Mood for a Melody (P, NK)

Rakka leaned back in the chair as the bartender set yet another drink before her, atop the piano she sat at. This was… This must have been her fifth whiskey sour, and still she felt just fine. The bartender kept throwing free drinks her way, and she wasn’t exactly sure whether it was because of the headband that she wore, or the music she was making for the patrons. The bar was rather empty, with just a few regulars sitting in the booths. Her drink caused a pause in the music she was weaving, and though she kept one hand on the keys, idly making music as she sipped from her glass. Setting it down again atop the piano, she began a new song.

Though she hadn’t touched a piano in over five years, the keys still felt natural to her. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d sang, either, and maybe it was the whiskey talking, but it felt easy and natural to sing again. Her song carried through the room, a slow, nostalgic number, the kind of old song that one can’t help but smile at upon hearing it. Rakka’s voice, which normally sounded flat and rough, was honeyed and smokey, ringing through the bar as she played her song, the tune trickling out onto the street through the open window, shedding a bit of light into the dark and decrepit Kirigakure.

She did not remember how or why she’d started singing, but she had no real desire to stop now. It felt as though she was letting out all of the stress and frustration that she’d been bottling up since… Well, the fall of Yukigakure. Rakka’s wistful song drifted through the bar like a cloud, and the patron's spirits seemed to become a little bit brighter. As she finished her song, they applauded politely, and Rakka smiled, sipping at her drink and once again rolling her fingers idly along the keys, another song filling the bar as she rested and chatted with the bartender. This was the first time in awhile that she really felt at peace.

Altar was strolling through the streets of Kirigakure, his mind lost as his eyes wandered the sky above, counting the stars. He loved the way the light had it's own peculiar way of shining through the mist, making it seem like the very air was made of the gaseous forms that were so, so very far away. It was almost like he could reach out and touch them, like the stars themselves were ever present in the air in front of him. If he was any more childish, he would've tried. But he knew better.

The crickets chirping away, the distant sound of waves lapping at the island, and the quiet serenity of silence. These sounds were comforting to Altar, and all to recognizable. What wasn't, however, was the sound of an instrument and voice not far from where he was. Strange, he wasn't aware of anyone in Kirigakure that liked to sing. Other than himself, that was, but he did it only in quiet moments in the sanctity of his thoroughly locked home. He didn't enjoy making a fool of himself in the public eye. But this person's voice was oddly entrancing, and they were a good singer to be sure. Why was he just now hearing this?

Following the melody around corners and down alleys, Altar found himself outside a bar. Shuddering silently at the memory of the last time he had been in a bar, Altar found himself mindlessly pushing through the door, the change in air pressure causing his cloak to billow out from around his legs. Looking for the source of the melody, Altar found himself looking at a vaguely familiar face, sat behind a piano, a glass sat atop the ebony instrument. Trying to place her face, Altar would make his way to the counter a few seats away from the piano and order a drink, the citrus smelling concoction being slid his way a mere few seconds after his order.

As the face clicked in his mind, Altar would drink deeply, the taste of the whiskey and orange juice flooding his senses. Putting the glass down, Altar's mind would switch between images of the two of them at odds, the fights between them short but surprisingly vicious. She always seemed...upset. She came off as tense, uptight and cocky. Thinking back, this was the first time he could remember seeing a smile on her face. And who would he be to ruin that?

Turning back to his drink, he would drain the rest of it and applaud the girl when her song finished, a warm smile on his face. Though, that could've been the drink.

So caught up in her song was she that Rakka didn’t even notice the person enter the bar and order a drink. She sang from her heart for the first time in half a decade, and she felt too good to care about what was going on, as long as the patrons cared to listen. A few people had actually tried to give her money. Hah. She didn’t want to take their hard-earned money. She just wanted to sing to them. It was a foreboding sense of sincerity that felt almost alien to Rakka, so detached had she become that she barely noticed how bottled up her own feelings had become.

As she reached for her drink, she noticed the applause that was not fitting of her audience, as they’d merely been clapping politely, not wanting to distract from the music. Her fingers dancing along the keys, she smirked. A familiar chakra signature rested behind her.

”Hey, kid.” She said simply to the person behind her. ”What brings you here?” She asked, and for once, she didn’t seem all that upset with him. She wasn’t even bothered by his presence. Sipping her whiskey, she continued playing, this time not singing. She probably shouldn’t have been drinking while she sang, as the stuff tended to mess with your vocal cords, but it didn’t bother her all that much. "You don't strike me as the type to go on a bar crawl, or for a morning drink."

Taking another drink from the fragrant glass, a playful smirk would tug at Altar's lips as he heard the girl's voice. He knew she was addressing him, there was hardly another soul in the bar that could be addressed as 'kid'. The boy would chuckle at Rakka's suggestion, knowing full well she was right.

"And you don't strike me as the type to pour your heart out into song for a room of strangers, yet you seemed to be thoroughly enjoying yourself. To each their own, eh? I go where there's music...provided it's halfway decent."

Swirling the glass in hand, Altar would move down, taking the closest seat he could to where Rakka sat behind the piano. He didn't know how long she had been singing, but judging by the tone of her voice, her breath and the air around her, she had been drinking for a good while at least. Better to let her vocals rest while they could, before the other patrons wound themselves into a mob, demanding the female voice cradle in story once more.

"The drink's just an...unwanted bonus. I suppose it's a bad habit I picked up from an old friend."

Shrugging, Rakka just smiled wryly.
”I’m not.” She said simply, as if it were obvious. ”Or, I haven’t been.” She digressed vaguely, as if she didn’t quite understand what she was trying to say. She lowered her voice patiently as Altar moved closer, so that they didn’t have to shout across the bar to speak to each other. As she waited, she finished her newest drink and set it neatly atop the piano, waiting for a replacement.

”An old friend?” Rakka asked innocently as another glass was handed to her. ”I’m very much the same.” She said, gesturing to her glass in her hand. She sighed as she set it down, returning her hand to its place on the keys. ”You know, you don’t have to drink here. Not all of us are so lucky.” She said gravely.

”Anyways, what’s got you so down in the dumps? Most people don’t look for music unless they’re trying to get away from something.” She asked, rather intrusively, still not turning to face the person she was speaking to.

The boy would cock an eyebrow at her grave tone, sipping from his glass and mulling over whether to ask the girl to elaborate. She didn't seem in the best mood, but she sure as hell wasn't in nearly as bad a mood as he had ever seen her in before. He supposed this was the best it was going to get.

"What do you mean? I like the taste and the feeling. The only part I don't enjoy is the aftereffect." Altar would say, shuddering once more at the thought of his last venture after drinking. He had still never found out where the hell that place was. And why there were so many clothes. "And I hardly consider myself lucky, at all."

Swirling the glass absent mindedly, Altar would hear the piano begin to play another tune. His voice catching in his throat, the boy would hum along, unaware of his action while Rakka asked what brought him here and he mulled over the response.

"Insomniacs never forget..." He'd reply, drinking again, and placing the now empty glass on the bar. "The city is more ruined than anyone cares to admit. We live like depraved animals, fighting over scraps. There's no unity or kinship in the air, instead it's tainted with bloodlust, hate and greed." the boy would say, his hands shaking ever so slightly. Giving a deep sigh, he continued.

"I suppose I sought out the one place in this village where it seemed people were enjoying themselves together, as some sort of community. It just so happened this place had music and booze." Altar would finish, a hollow smile on his face, his gaze out towards the few other patrons.