| Details for Flutes and Strings |
| Summary: | Cathal finds Cillian on the cliffs playing music and they work together to start creating a song about a mermaid, a prince, and the blecky mushy heartbreak that comes with grownup love. |
| Date: | September 24th, 1937 |
| Location: | Cliffs, Hogwarts |
| Related: | None |
| Characters |
  |
Hogwarts
Cliffs of Hogwarts
Rough cliffs of dark gray and black basalt rear up almost straight up from the depths of the black lake to support the southern walls of Hogwarts Castle. They form a natural wall almost a hundred feet high with many a crevice and hole dotting its face. The lower ranges of the cliff are constantly wet thanks to condensation from the lake, the higher reaches on the other hand house a few scraggly scrub pines and varied bushes stubbornly in their home cracks clinging against the pull of the winds.
There's a sweet almost melancholy melody that fills the air as a person walks onto the cliffs, and its due to a young man with an eyepatch playing a song on a slender wooden pipe. Cillian sits, leaning against a rock that's been draped with a blanket, a small chest beside him and his satchel tossed to the side. He has a bundle of food as well but he's playing on his flute and watching the water quietly…this late afternoon.
It's time for another dark haired boy to come out to the cliffs. This one is Cathal who carries his violin in one hand. The boy doesn't say anything as he approaches enjoying the sound of the pipe. He doesn't want to break his friends concentration, so he just sits down and waits and listens to the melody being played.
The song ends on a trilling note after a scale and Cillian chuckles to himself as he lowers his flute and his lips twist wistfully as he continues to watch the music. There is a pause before he does a double take upon noticing Cathal finally and his eyebrows raise. "Strings! Oi…didn't see ye there!"
"I did not wish to disturb you." Cathal says nodding his head a bit at the pipe,"I believe that was determined to be a melancholy song?" He asks curiously, trying to reconcile the sounds with the normal emotional responses. "It's quite good though."
"So some, aye…a song I was makin' up about ye know…like a prince who fell in love with a mermaid, but could only be wit 'er on the water but him without gills he could only breathe when they was kissin' ye see…and her without legs, she couldn't follow 'im onto land so they stayed lock in a kiss until she made a sacrifice and broke away in a kiss…so he was forced to surface and go back to land but she went back to her mermaid land…and so the song would be ya know, the song she sings every night that only he can 'ear and it tears at his heart but there's nothin' to do cuz they can never be together." Cillian takes a deep breath after explaining at a rapid speed and he tugs his bundle of food open, selecting a drumstick and he offers it to Cathal. "Thanks…its 'ard than usin' me panpipes but I just thought of the story as I was sittin' here."
Shaking his head a little bit, Cathal considers that for a moment,"Perhaps we should try and work together. Play a mix of the pipes and the violin. The high tones of your pipes would work well with the violin, allowing to make it sound like the pair instead of sounding just one side." He says casually as he remains seated,"I'm good. Not hungry right now." He says casually as he thinks of this for a moment.
Cillian looks thoughtful, taking a bite of his chicken before setting down the drumstick and chewing quickly as he dabs at his mouth with a napkin, nodding firmly. "I hadn't thought of that…mebbe they be singin' to each other…that's all mushy I suppose." He brushes off his flute and quirks an eyebrow. "I'm open for tryin' iffen ye are?"
"If you wish it." Cathal says as he opens his violin case and immediately begins applying rosin to the bow,"Yes but for the story, mushy works quite well, does it not?" He says as he continues applying rosin to his bow. "Don't you think so as well?"
Cillian holds his flute up to the air and peers at it thoughtfully before lowering it and blowing an experimental note, nodding to himself. "I tink…when it comes to romance…there's always mushiness and sadness and emotional ah…bleckiness for most folks and 'appy times for others." So he shrugs. "So mushy works for me."
"We can start with sadness and then make it sound happy and then sadness again." Cathal says trying to explain his way of thinking,as he takes his violin from the case and checks the tuning rather quickly. "I'll let you begin." He says casually.
Cillian nods eagerly as he raises the flute to his lips and closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and then he plays a long…high note, almost a keening tone to the start.
Beginning to play as well, Cathal's note is soft and low. It's quite gentle sounding, as if he were trying to get the sense of longing in the note. A bit different than the tones of melancholy he has played before. The notes flow out gently.
Its challenging to channel emotions that you've not experienced before but Cillian taps into the sense of longing one gets when separated from one parent or another and he continues playing along, soft floaty notes at those higher pitches to compliment Cathal's strings.
Slowly the deeper sounds of the violin mingle with the higher notes as Cathal keeps his fingers arched and just the right amount of pressure to keep the notes flowing out. He breathes in nice and slow enjoying the playing, his face relaxing as he gets into the music. He's tapping into emotions he doesn't fully admit to having since they're not terribly based on logic.
For anybody listening or standing outside in such a way that they can hear…the song that can be created with flute + violin music being played is a tad haunting. Cillian's eyes close once more as he's improvising and working on complimenting the tones he's hearing with the bow across the strings and his fingers move smoothly over the holes.