Practice (scar)

[Gerda Schmidt]

You could see by the way she walked and looked around that Gerda had never been this deep into a red light district before. She seemed to walk faster then necessary and she seemed more then a little relived when she got to where scar had told her to meet him. She stood there, in jeans and a tank top. In her bag was a plane dress but it was the only dress she owned. She didn't know if they would provide the dress, or if she had to. She also brought all the music she had, which wasn't hard. Her music was normally borrowed from her sisters room without permission.

Gerda wouldn't had been there if it wasn't for the money. It was always money, it ruled her life now, gave her nightmares and dreams. She wanted to eat, to drink, to live. And that took money in her hand. And this was how she would have to get it. Theirs was her new lot in life. It wasn't that bad, at least she would have cloths on. And they wouldn't touch her. She would just sing, she could do that. At least she thought she could.

[Soren Renault (Scar)]

"It was about time."

Scar walked up to a blanketed figure on a small stage. He lovingly smiled and traced his fingers along the top of it. In a flash he threw the blanket off to reveal a baby grand piano. Memories flashed back of him performing material from F. F. Chopin (his favorite composer), R. A. Schumann, C. Debussy, S. Rachmaninov, and more. He saw his old friend and sat on the bench to begin warming his fingers up. Ready to embrace the euphoria awaiting him, he played a chord...."Shit.."

From age, the piano was quite out of tune. He was prepared for that though. With his equipment near-by, he began tightening the strings to a well-temperament.

While fixing the tuning, he remembered the stage at a local bar where he performed. That brat from the elephant graveyard was there and she claimed she could sing. He's needed a singer to entertain guests that were not at The Outlands for escorting or "special"" services, so he was interested to see if she really could back up the claim.

She requested a Henry Mancini piece, "Let Me Be Good to You." To be honest, Scar thought she would not be able to do it, the piece calls for major dynamic changes, a good range, and multiple moods, but she held her own quite well, and was admittingly kind of attractive. Scar guaranteed her safety and modesty, but who knows if she'll want to keep it after seeing this place. It's an escort building, where sex and money make the rules. It's a place where pleasures of the flesh take the highest priority. Maybe she'll want higher pay. Maybe she'll want to take the flesh and blood covenant. This could be interesting.

Finally, after three hours, he played a G minor chord, and it was perfect. He began playing the Revolutionary Etude by Chopin, and how his fingers flew! He was home.

In the middle of the piece, someone walked into The Outlands. Annoyed, he kept playing the piece,except even louder (by now he was at a fortississimo level {fff}, he knew he would have to tuned it again tomorrow). He wondered if the person would be foolish enough to try talking to him in mid-play. If so, it would be an interesting start to the day...

[Gerda Schmidt]

Gerda watched as scar played on his piano. She set down her bag at the foot of it. She couldn't help but stand there a little surprised. She had never heard the song before. She had heard its like. She had heard this type of raw emotion flowing from a interment, ebbing and flowing like the oceans tide. But to see it this close, it made her realize just how good at the piano Scar was. She watched his fingers skate over the keys, with such confidence she could never have in her singing. It was as if he knew, as if he just knew that this wonderful sound would come out. Like he didn't have to worry at all. She wished she could feel like that.

She waited till he was done before saying, "Wow....that was amazing."