#((and im an actual piano nerd in real life and wayy better than aricia lolol so if you everwant to talk about music and stuff ooc then im in

[ariciaeast-blog]

T H E  M U S I C  R O O M;

ft the wonderful @princepercyschreave

“Is there a music room in this palace?” I asked my maids, turning to look at them, forgetting that they were fixing my hair. 

“Lady Aricia!” one of them scolded, making me turn back to face the mirror. I saw my blonde locks were lightly curled, the opposite of what they normally were; pin straight. My maids had applied a light coat of makeup to my face, and got me dressed into a pale blue dress and blue ballet flats. 

I asked my previous question again, and they all nodded, which made me happy. I havent played a piano since I was back home, and Liv ((ooc; Liv is her music loving friend from back home in Lakedon)) would not appreciate that I haven’t practiced at all. 

I went through one of my suitcases, and pulled out a book of waltzes that I was learning from, then I started walking to the music room. Once I was in the hallway, I realized that I actually didnt know where the music room was. I shook my head at my stupidity, and made my way to ask an older looking guard. 

“Excuse me, sir,” I said, walking up to him. 

“Yes?” he asked, impatiently. 

Wow, I guess somebody didn’t have patience

I resisted rolling my eyes at him, and asked, “Do you know where the music room is?” 

He nodded, and gestured to go down the hallway, so I obliged, picking up the excess fabric from my dress and walking down the hallway. I kept walking down the hallway, peeking through all the doors, until I saw one with a piano inside. 

Bingo!

I turned the knob of the door and walking in, making sure I wasn’t interrupting anyone else’s practice session. One thing I learnt from Liv was that musicians didnt like their practice interrupted. 

When I walked in, I was in awe. The room was ornately decorated, with various instruments lining the walls, and a beautiful black concert grand piano in the middle of the room. 

I made my way towards the piano, set my music down on the stand, and sat down, opening the book to the waltz that I was working on. 

I flipped the pages, before landing on the ‘Waltz in B Minor, by Chopin’. 

Perfect. 

I ran my fingers over the ivory keys, playing the piece until i got lost into the rhythm of the music, until I reached a certain portion of the piece which I could not play. My playing stopped abruptly, and I tried playing the section that I was having difficulties with, but it was to no avail. No matter how I tried, I kept stumbling over that particular part. 

“Ugh, this part isn’t working out the way I wan’t it to!” I exclaimed, and started over the piece. 

While I was playing through my favourite part, I heard someone talking, but I ignored it, immersing myself into the music. Just then, I heard a throat clear, and I stopped playing to look up, and I saw Prince Percy standing by the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Oh hey, I was just looking for you,” he said, walking further into the room. before stopping by the piano. 

I looked up at him, incredulously, “Oh, hi. You were looking for me?” I asked. 

He nodded, “Of course, we never got to finish our conversation from yesterday”

I smiled, remembering our conversation, “Oh yeah, so what did you want to talk about?” I asked, pivoting on the bench to face him. 

At that, his lazy grin had broke out into a full fledged smirk, “ I was just wondering...” he said, trying to draw my attention. 

Well, you’ve got to try harder than that, Percy 

I smirked back at him, “You were wondering?” I drawled, and laughed at the look on his face. It was a mixture of arrogance and.. something I couldn’t quite place my finger on. 

“Would you like to go on a boat ride with me? On the family yacht sometime?” I asked, grinning with overconfidence. 

Well, it would be a shame to end this charade! Lets keep it going for a bit longer...

I kept the smirk on my face, enjoying the dynamic between us, “oh, man, this is such a hard decision!” I exclaimed, gauging Percy’s reaction. His face was contorted into an arrogant smirk, his bluegreen eyes glimmering in amusement. 

“Well if it’s such a hard decision, maybe I’ll just go,” he said, raising his eyebrows and turning around at the speed of a turtle. 

I stood up, and let a loose chuckle pass through my lips, “Alright, Mr. Schreave, it’s not that hard of a decision,” I laughed, “I’ll go with you on this ‘boat ride’” I said, putting air quotations around ‘boat ride’, “But the better be the best part” I added, winking at the last part. 

He turned around, his trademark smirk gracing his lips, “Great. And it will be”

I smiled, “Thats nice. So I heard you play the piano as well?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

He nodded, running his hand over the roof of piano, smiling softly, “Yeah, a bit. So, what were you working on before?” he asked, looking back up at me, his eyes piercing through my own. 

“Well, I have a friend back home named Olivia,” I started, “and she was a really good musician, so one day, she dared me to learn this piece in a month, and its called ‘Waltz in B Minor’, by Chopin, and I can play the entire thing, except for a small section!” I laughed, thinking about Olivia and the face she’d be giving me if I told her that I was talking to one of the Princes of Illea about the piano, “if it were anyone but her daring me, I may have given up, but to give her that satisfaction? Never”

He nodded, smiling, “Hmm, let me see if I can help,” he said, and sat down on the piano, skimming through the piece, then starting playing, and I was floored. 

Wow

He played beautifully, paying attention to all the dynamics, tempo markings, and is feel was beautiful. 

When he finished playing, he turned to look at me, “You’re trying to get something like this, right?” he asked, and I nodded, still in awe about his playing. 

“Wow, you are really good! Well, I probably didn’t need to tell you that,” I said, laughing to distract him from the light blush that spread across my cheeks. 

He looked shocked at me compliment, and smiled, “Really? I didn’t think that I did that well...” he trailed off, but then refocused, “Well, anyways, so what specifically do you need help on?” he asked

I turned to the score, and pointed to a section, “Well, in the second page, there is a fast section and the fingering is a bit weird. I was trying to figure out a better alternative but so far nothing has been working”

I nodded, analysing the score before turning to look back at me, “Hmm... why dont you try playing just that section really slowly first so you can get the hang of it?” he suggested. 

I nodded, thinking about his fairly basic suggestion, before realising that he was right. I was throwing myself headfirst into the piece, so of course I wouldn’t be able to learn everything! I shook my head at myself, and turning to look at him. 

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll try it! Thanks! I’m so happy that the palace has a music room! I always had to go to my Liv’s house to practice because I didn’t own a piano of my own, I only have a guitar...” I trailed off, smiling about the memories of my life before the selection

He nodded, “Yeah, the piano here is pretty nice...”

I smiled, and decided that I’d try to get know him a bit more. There was something elusive about him that I wanted to figure out. 

“So, how are you feeling about the selection so far?” I asked, “It must be weird having 35 random girls walking around your house...” I trailed off, trying to judge his reaction, and from the smirk that quickly overtook his features, I guessed that he had no problems with that many girls walking around his house. 

“I think its been pretty sweet so far,” he drawled, winking at me. 

I smirked, rolling my eyes at my assumption being correct. “That sounds great for you,” I said, laughing. 

He nodded, “it is pretty great”

I smiled, trying to get to the bottom of this prince, “So, tell me a bit about yourself, Percy! Are you really like what everyone says? Or is there more to the man behind the mask” I said, with a smile. 

He shrugged, “I like to think I’m a pretty open book. What you see is what you get.” he said, nonchalantly. 

I smirked, “Thats nice, so what do I get then?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise at where my flirty behaviour was coming from. 

He smirked back at me, making me feel like I was in a chick flick, “That depends, what do you want?” I asked, lowering his voice. 

I laughed at the irony of my position. Two months ago, if you told me that I would be flirting with one of the princes of Illea, I’d have probably asked you if you were drunk. But now... “That depends on what you’re willing to give me” I said, with a wink. 

His eyes glittered with amusement, as he said, “For now... a private boat ride in the family yacht”

I grinned, “Alright, that sounds wonderful” I exclaimed, smoothing down the front of my dress, trying to calm my nerves. Who could predict that my first ever date would be with none other than Percy Schreave? Certainly not me. 

“So...” he started, directing my attention back to him, “The boat ride. Does three days from now sound good? I need at least a little time to arrange things.”

I nodded, smiling, “That sounds great! I’ll be counting the days, Mr. Schreave”

He smiled back a genuine smile, “I’ll see you then” he said, his eyes lingering on mines for a second too long before walking away. When the door closed, I released the breath I didn’t know that I’d been holding. 

Wow

I shook my head, trying to clear away the daze that I had been in, and turned back to the piano. As I played some more pieces, and walked up to my room to prepare for dinner, there was one thought that never left my mind;

Percy