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Loose chatter fills the pub as the pair take their seats. The dim lighting of the dive bar illuminates Odi- no, Owain’s face as he turns to call over a waiter, his smattering of freckles highlighted by the yellows and oranges of the candlelight. Severa would hardly consider hanging out in a dump like this her idea of a good time, yet, here she was. This was more of a passtime Inigo would partake in, and if it weren’t for the audible hustle and bustle behind the curtain on stage she wouldn’t be here right now.
It had been about a week since the trio had returned from Nohr. When Akanos had come to them after they defeated Grima, they didn’t expect to be away from home for as long as they were. The weeks turned to months and what they thought to be a two year mission, tops, ended up spanning seven. If they weren’t already hyper aware of how long it was taking, they definitely would have become privy to that fact at the sight of their friends and family again. By the time they returned home, the three travelers were hit full on in the face with how much had changed while they were gone. All of their child counterparts were nearing their early teens, most of their friends were traveling, and a couple of them had married. When Inigo heard Morgan and Gerome wed, he wept openly at the prospect of not being there for his best friend’s, practically his sister’s, wedding. What hit the hardest, though, was seeing their parents had grown much older than they ever were in their original timeline.
“...think they’re playi- Sev, you listening?”
Owain’s voice drags her back to the present. The wings he ordered had apparently arrived and he must have eaten one, judging from the sauce on his lips. She shakes her head and says, “Sorry, I was just thinking. Also you have food on your face.”
He wipes away the remnants of his wings with the back of his hand then asks, “What ails you my friend?”
“It’s nothing important, what were you saying?”
For a split second, he quirks his brow like he forgot what he was talking about, then just as quickly recovers and says, “I asked what kind of music you think Brady and Noire are going to be playing.”
“Mmm, probably just instrumentals, I mean can you imagine Noire singing in front of a crowd? And as soft as he is your brother doesn’t have the best singing voice.”
Visibly tearing up, Owain clutches his shirt and says, “I’m not going to say you’re right.”
She had known Brady played the violin, but hearing Noire picked up the guitar came as a surprise. Supposedly, during the war whenever the two of them were sent to the medical tent together, Brady would practice his violin, given his injury allowed him to. Somewhere down the line Noire picked up guitar and they began playing duets together, leading to them touring the country after the war ended.
Tonight they were performing in a small dive-bar in Regna Ferox. The owner had taken a liking to the duo’s lineup, not to mention the business they brought in, and whenever they were in the area he let them put on a show for a couple of nights. The bar was close enough to Ylisstol for Owain and Severa to travel to on such short notice, and they were able to make it for the last night of their set. Even though they had been performing here for a couple days now, the duo still managed to bring in a full house.
How they managed to get as good of seats as they did Severa will never know. As she is thinking this, applause rings through the room. The curtains on stage part, revealing the very musicians they were here to see.
Severa reacts similarly to how she did when she saw all her other friends after so long; she sucks in a breath, her heart pounding against her chest with eyes open wide. Atop stage Brady and Noire sat on a pair of stools, their instruments leaning against the legs. The stage light shone down on them, making their orange hair shimmer. Both are dressed in matching attire of a dressy-white shirt and black bottoms, Noire sporting a flowy black skirt that trailed down to her mid-calf and Brady basic dress pants. Noire had to have grown her hair out while they were gone, her locks tied in a loose ponytail that hung a little past her shoulder. It didn’t look like Brady grew his out as well, though what he could he pulled back into a french-braid, a couple small flowers thrown in as well.
They both wave to the crowd, applause finally starting to taper off. “Thank y’all so much for comin’ out tonight,” Brady says, soft-spoken no more. He picks up a guitar to his left and Noire does the same, both getting into a comfortable position to play “Now, the regulars’ll know I’m not one to normally play this baby,” to which he pats the face of the guitar to emphasize his point,” but seein’ as how it’s our last set here for a while we put somethin’ real special together just for y’all and we hope you enjoy it!”
A brief round of applause rings through the pub as the two performers share a glance. They mouth off a three, two, running their hands along the strings til they reach the chord they want, before diving headfirst into their first song of the night.
If Severa was holding her drink she would have dropped it, completely blown away by her friend’s performance right at the starting gate. A quick glance towards her companion tells her she’s not the only one. Owain must have started tearing up once the curtain drew; tears streamed down his face, lip quivering at the sight of his brother. The audience stays silent through the performance, allowing the sound of their guitars to reverberate through the pub and right to where she sat. She looks back to the stage and goes through the motions once again.
At some point while looking away Noire must have closed her eyes, immersing herself completely into the song. Her body moves with the music as her hands travel up and down the neck of the guitar, foot tapping along to the beat, and hair swaying along with her body. Brady looks over to his partner, breaking into a smile as he sees her putting her heart and soul into it. Severa’s gaze joins his, and she finds herself unable to look away. Even as Brady follows his partner to the best of his ability, trying his damndest to not fall behind, her eyes stay on Noire.
She looks at the girl on stage and can’t help but think of her from years before. The Noire she knew was timid, meak, and a bit of a pushover. But she was also fierce and unforgiving at times. She would clutch her talisman like a lifeline, though even with it she still found herself in trouble if Severa’s memory was anything to stand by. One memory that comes to mind was from one of the multitude of nights she accompanied Noire to the bathroom. As they walked back to camp Noire shreaked, clutching onto Severas arm swearing she saw something in the underbrush. They stood still for a beat until the wind rustled a bush nearby, causing her to scream as well before they ran back to their tents, hand in hand.
Severa smiles at the memory and leans against her palm, bringing her mind back to the present. On stage Noire shares a look with her partner, grin wide and absolutely radiant. Then, two things happen: Noire throws her head to the side to toss her hair out of the way and the spotlight catches her neck, a green glint Severa hadn’t noticed before catching her eye. She slowly absorbs the sight, and once it fully digests feels her blood run cold. Resting between her collarbones lies a small green necklace, one which matched its yellow twin whose location was unknown. She remembers crying into the shirt of an unknowing Beruka the day she lost it sometime during a battle in Valla, having fallen into the endless abyss of the floating islands. Beruka ran her fingers through her hair, albeit awkwardly, and comforted her the best she could. Severa’s tongue lies heavy in her mouth, the words Beruka said before they got their own matching rings running through her head.
“There'd be something lonely about wearing it while the matching one is absent.”
Just as quickly as it started the song comes to a close, both performers slowing their sturms down before hitting the final note and letting it echo through the room. To her side, Owain lets out the first clap, sniffling loudly as he does. The crowd is quick to follow with someone letting out a whistle or three as well, effectively dragging Severa back to the present.
Over the noise Noire yells out a, “Thank you!” reaching down for the glass of water placed near her feet, her necklace swinging with the motion, and taking a hearty sip. Brady does the same with his glass then changes out the guitar for his violin.
“Normally,” he says as the crowd quiets down, “you’re not suposta’ start off with your best piece, but we never really followed conventions since we started all this.” That draws a laugh out of Noire. “Who knows maybe we’ll do even better than that.” Brady raises his violin up to his collarbone saying with a smile “Only one way to find out,” then starts their next song.
The rest of the set passes in a blur, different thoughts swirling around in Severa’s head throughout. Perhaps in spite of his joke, Brady and Noire just got better with each song, drawing the crowd in with each note they played. Though, that could have just what Severa thought as she got more and more into the performance. She’d tap her finger on the table to the beat, move with the rhythm of the slower songs, and sometimes even close her eyes to really take it all in. By the time they finish their last song, take a bow and the curtains close behind them Severa finds herself wanting more.
Owain sniffles again beside her, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He slaps his cheeks with a groan and says, “Sev I’m gonna sneak backstage to see them you wanna come along?”
She laughs, “You can probably just tell the owner you’re related and he’ll let us back there, no sneaking required.”
“But imagine the stories Brady and I’ll tell our children! After almost a decade apart the musician’s brother rises from the ashes, fighting tooth and nail to finally be reunited again!” At some point he had stood up from his chair, planting his food on the seat and causing a few stares from the people around them.
“Okay, okay fine we’ll do it your way. And get off the chair, you’re causing a scene.”
“Oh, yeah right.” He does so, sheepishly. “Not the best scene for sneaking, huh?”
Turns out, when you’re in a dive bar at midnight there's not that much sneaking required to get backstage. One of the staff members even smiles and waves to them as they walk up the stage stairs. Severa pushes back the curtain, and Owain is rushing in before she even gets to look inside. She quickly follows him and laughs at what she sees. The two brothers have each other wrapped in a bear hug, excitedly yelling and laughing together, but it was impossible to tell what they could possibly be saying with them talking over each other. Just as she’s about to go join them, she feels a body rush into her and drag her into a tight hug.
“Oh my gosh Severa I haven’t seen you in so long everyone thought you were dead- I thought you were dead I was so worried and- and,” their words trail off into a light sob.
Severa looks down to her assailant to see Noire, her head buried in her chest, her tears soaking her shirt. She wraps one arm around Noire and squeezes her tight, using the other to run her fingers through her hair. “It’s good to see you too Noire.”
They hold each other like that for what seems like eons, gently rocking back and forth as Severa comforts Noire. Once she’s stopped crying Noire looks up, eyes still puffy and red, and smiles wider than she had during her performance. “Do you want to sit down, maybe have something to eat?” she asks. “The manager usually feeds us for free when we perform here.” They sit down at the same table Severa sat at before. The bar had cleared out significantly in the past hour, with only a few people at the counter and a small group at one of the other tables. One of the wait staff comes over to take their order, but not before telling Noire how good the show was. She takes their orders, two glasses of ale and a plate of fries to share.
As soon as the waitress leaves, Noire quickly says “I have so many questions, like where have you been all this time and when did you get back and have you cut your hair recently and-”
“Whoa whoa whoa let’s go one at a time,” she says before Noire can ramble anymore. “Long story short, Inigo, Owain and I got hired by some royalty in a far off country. We only got back a couple of weeks ago. I would’ve found and told you sooner, but you were on tour and-”
“No no no it’s fine! I’m just happy I even get to see you again.”
“I’m happy I get to see you too Noire.” She slams her hand on the table. “Now! Tell me all about... well, this! I didn’t even know you played guitar and now you're on tour with Brady?”
“Yeah! We played a lot together during the war, so when he was about to go on tour the first time he asked if I wanted to come. I was reluctant at first, scared of what would become of my child counterpart if I left her alone with Mother. But he said we could do local gigs to start so I’d still be near-by Gods forbid anything happen.”
“How is she, you that is, by the way? Is everything… okay?”
“Really good actually. Since Papa is still alive and, you know, the world isn’t ending Mother is a lot better.” She lets out a small laugh, more of a sigh than anything. “You know I don’t blame her for what happened to me. She did all those things to me, yeah, but it wasn’t her fault really. I think she just couldn’t deal with what was happening around us. I’m just glad this Noire doesn’t have to go through what I did, plus Mother and I were able to talk about things and we’re closer because of it.
“Noire, that’s great, I’m so happy for you. You look… so much happier than you did during the war.”
“And all it took was a long conversation and touring with my brother from another mother!” They both laugh, drawing the eyes from a couple people in the room. As Noire collects herself, wiping a tear from her eye, Severa’s gaze is drawn to the necklace still hanging from her neck, the green gem glinting from the lights above.
“I’m surprised you still have that, the necklace that is.”
“Oh?” Noire looks down to the jewelry in question and blushes. “Oh..” She twirls the green gem between her fingertips and continues. “I kept it in your memory, something to remember you by after… after you left.”
Severa reaches across the table, taking Noire’s free hand in hers. “Noire I’m.. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye before we left. It was all so sudden and none of us had time to even see anyone before we had to go.” She rubs her thumb over her hand, pouring all her woes into the motion. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”
“Severa… I don’t know the whole story, but I know if you could have you would have told us. We may have lost a few years there, but we still have the rest of our lives together. You can tell me all about it then to make up for it.”
Severa nods and says, “Okay, we can do that,” squeezing Noire’s hand to show she meant it, then begins to tell her everything. She tells her about Nohr and about her lord. She tells her about the war, the battles she won and the battles she lost. She tells her about the people she met and the friends she made, but how lonely she felt all the time so far away from home. At some point the waitress brings them their food and drinks, but it isn’t paid much attention to, as they were too lost in each other's words and their excitement for the future.