In a Song.
AN: Disclaimer. Colfer owns them, I don't.
There was something about the way his fingers caressed those sparkling white keys… those long and slender fingers. Those dark blue eyes were hidden by long black eyelashes and pale eyelids. Those gentle sounds coming from that crowded room… and while people chattered over him, he didn't seem to mind or become distracted; his fingers didn't skip a note as they danced with the song.
Holly hid in a corner, shield on, in the shadow of a tall house plant. She knew she wasn't supposed to be out like this. Getting above ground was harder than ever now since Doodah had joined the team. It seemed the business was thriving and they needed her every instant they could have her. But this time she had to leave. She had made a promise.
She always knew that Artemis was a master of the arts, but she had never known like this. She let herself sink down against the wall and huddle more to the shadow of the plant. Her mind drowned in the beauty of the song, swirling and diving at every rise and fall of the scales, clenching and gasping at every pause and turn.
At the end of the song she sighed inaudibly, feeling exhausted, and yet exuberated. She wanted to feel it again.
As the recital was breaking up, Timmy asked Artemis to play one more song. This time the crowd sat, finding seats in the most peculiar of places. Angeline sat on the bench next to Artemis and hugged the boy.
"Play the song you wrote for me, Arty, I love that one so," she smiled and her eyebrows rose in expectation. Her son looked at her, smiling, and nodded just slightly. Without asking her to move, he began to play again.
Holly breathed every moment of the novel Artemis played on the piano. It felt as if it was their first adventure, when he was cruel and Angeline was sick. The song started soft and mellow, with awkward dips here and there – to illustrate Angeline's insanity. But soon the twists smoothed and the tone rose, the transition fluid and complete as if he had played the song a million times. Holly took the chance to look around, afraid she would lose the feeling inside of her, and noticed the trances of the many people in the room.
All at once, the song was soft and tender. A step, a step, one more step, before he saw his mother in the stairwell. Being enveloped in those arms with a motherly embrace and scent. The song ended gently, and the silence was held for a moment before the whole room sighed. Holly and Angeline included.
But it was time for her to go. Holly slipped past the crowd of people that were chattering about Artemis' talent and went out the window. She almost turned to Artemis to wave goodbye, but she thought better of it.
For the first time of the day, the house was quiet. The sky was dark and the moonshine enveloped the Fowl Manor, light pouring through the curtains. A lone figure faded into view with the height of a child. The female figure scooted under the piano and climbed onto the bench.
First, Holly looked around carefully, making sure no one was coming. It was late, and the Fowls should be in bed. Having been among the quarters of this house before, she knew that the study was quite a distance from the bedrooms.
She stood on the bench, looking inside of the piano. It seemed almost like a string instrument on the inside, like a violin with a thousand strings and a million combinations. The sight of the piano, shining like a black pearl in the moonlight, and these strings, and those keys… it all made her feel very nervous.
She sat down again and pressed on one key. It didn't make a sound. So then she pressed it once more – hard. The sound produced made her ears ring. She frowned, realizing that the pressure you push the keys with is how loud it played. She pressed it again and again, until she found the right pressure to do so with.
Then she tried another key. It was completely different than the first key. She tried pressing them at the same time. She shuddered, the noise grating against her ears, and so another combination was introduced and quickly excused. They were also just as terrible.
Frustrated, she wondered how Artemis could do this. The keys were so confusing.
And so, she moved on to the black keys and tried pressing them at once, as many as her small hands could handle. Then she realized her hands were too small to spread across more than four or five white keys, depending on how hard she tried.
Sighing, she flopped her arms down on the piano and it made the most atrocious sound that she jumped up and almost fell off of the bench.
Instead, she decided she wasn't very good at it and would leave Artemis to do the playing. As for her, she would keep with the drowning. Listening to a song is just as fun as playing it, she reasoned.
Getting off the bench, she scooted under the piano again and out the window.
Meanwhile, a pair of lips curled in the doorway.