#fuck now i have pianist v x rock star johnny non-cyberpunk au plot bunnies hopping around in my twisted little head

[xhollowfaerie]

silverv drabbles #6

a/n: a little sequel to #5, a lotta (unspoken) feels; here are two beautiful Never Fade Away piano covers on yt that I love <3

warnings: mention of physical abuse, abusive parents (gdi this is like a universal passive for anything related to my V's past)

- Some days later, Peralez residence.

“May I?” “Oh, of course. Go right ahead. Didn’t strike me as a pianist.” “It was a pipe dream, a lifetime ago.”

Something nipped at Johnny’s heart. Of course. He remembered how much she’d wanted to play guitar; how she was always humming. He even caught her singing once or twice, and fell for her voice much harder than he’d ever care to admit.

Her parents had turned her into their own little Renaissance kid - he’d never fail to be impressed and angered all the same to hell and back on her behalf at just how many things she’d been trained to be excellent at, just how much bullshit they’d drilled into her. Piano had been one of them; Johnny had never seen a ten year old play the piano as expertly as he had seen in her memories. Her skills had hit pro before she’d even turned 18, but she could never shake the wishful thinking that she’d play an electric guitar one day. And even with the amount of times her parents had slammed the fall board against her fingers for even the smallest mistake, she’d still grown to love it, in a bittersweet way. With a heavy feeling, Johnny finally came to realize that had been the only type of love she’d ever known - conditional, having to fight tooth and nail for any semblance of it, and filled to the brim with pain.

His eyes widened as her fingers glazed over the keys with a ghost of a smile; he recognized the tune immediately; heart threatening to leap out of his chest at the rush of emotions crashing into him.

Never Fade Away. But in the most heartbreakingly beautiful piano rendition he couldn’t have ever even dared to imagine.

Valerie lifted her eyes to glance at him as she played, giving him a genuine smile as the tears shined in her eyes without ever rolling down. She blinked through the dampness, moving her eyes to look out the beautiful penthouse windows of the Peralez apartment as she swayed atop the stool, closing her eyes for the remainder of the song as it neared its end. If she glanced at Johnny, she knew she would burst into tears; worse, she feared he might be able to hear her thoughts, much too melancholic and enamoured than either of them were comfortable acknowledging; she’d, rather shyly, attempt to show him a fraction of a fraction of it through the slow dance of her fingers atop the keys.

“An original? I don’t recognize that one” Elizabeth mused. V’s fingers lightly concluded her performance with a pianissimo scaling of the keyboard, delaying for just a few moments before playing the last note.

“You could say that. Not mine, though-” Johnny glitched in to lean against the piano, earning a playful scolding stare from her- “a very close friend’s.” He took his sunglasses off, letting out a deep breath before taking her aback with the most intimate intensity in his eyes, one she’d never felt before.

Maybe the things she meant to tell him through the piano reached him after all. Who knows if either of them would ever find the courage to say them out loud.

In an attempt to cut through the thick tension between them, she gave him a wink and stole his sunglasses, placing them atop her head as she followed Elizabeth, grabbing his arm and pulling him after her.