♫ Stranger to Strangeness ♫

[Req4boxes]

♫ Stranger to Strangeness ♫

Two sides, and neither have met the other side before.
One is an innocent little boy, only stumbling into strange things by chance.
The other is a tricky but lonely ghost, and an aspiring musician to boot.

The boy is one of many siblings, and often he is forgotten.
The ghost has a problem: she's stuck, trapped in a piano.

Fate has made them meet. How would they react?

♫ Rules ♫
1. Have fun...
2. ...but stay within Gaia rules (nothing above PG-13)...
3. ...and refrain from godmodding and/or controlling characters not your own.
4. Have fun!

♫ Characters ♫
  ♫ The Ghost ♫
     Name: Lily
     Age: Unknown, but looks 16
     About Her:
          Not much is known about her. All that we know is that she's stuck inside a piano, particularly the heirloom of a certain family, that she's an aspiring musician, and that she's tricky but lonely.

          And she's good at what she does.
     Played by: Req4boxes

  ♫ The Kid ♫
     Name: Len
     Age: 10
     About Him:
          He is the younger step-sibling of two and the third of the four siblings of the family who owns the haunted piano. His mother married into the family when he was around 4 years old. He is a kind-hearted boy though he can be mischievous at times.

          He is sickly and an insomniac, and he often takes medication to combat these. However, despite these, he is unfazed by strange happenings and has an unyielding curiosity.
     Played by: TkieSai

  ♫ The Family ♫
Name: Lenka
     Age: 34
     About Her:
          She is the step-mother of the older two siblings, and the mother of the siblings Len and Rin. She married Kaito a few years after her husband's death, after much deliberation and courtship. She is known for her great cooking skills.
     Played by: TkieSai

Name: Kaito
     Age: 37
     About Him:
          He is the father of the two elder siblings, and the step-father of the younger siblings. His wife suddenly disappeared one day, and he began to court Lenka after much hesitation due to his wife's unknown condition. He is a natural optimist, and little can stop his enthusiasm. However, he is kind of childish in nature.
     Played by: Req4boxes

Name: Akaito
     Age: 20
     About Him:
          He is the eldest brother of four, and the reason why the piano was there in the first place; it was a gift for him to commemorate his 20th birthday just recently. He is an adept at piano, and his personality is that of a classy snarker.
     Played by: Req4boxes

Name: Miku
     Age: 16
     About Her:
          She is the second of four, and the last of Kaito's children born by his missing former wife. She's a cool big sister, and cares for her siblings a lot, especially the twins.

     Played by: TkieSai

Name: Rin
     Age: 10
     About Her:
          He is the fourth of four, and Len's twin sister. She is a mischief-maker like her brother, but a bit more pronounced. A bundle of energy.
     Played by: TkieSai/b]

TkieSai

Restarted and restored for you. Make your move!

 

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

Just skip to the last part, the bolded part. That's the important part. Don't be intimidated, just choose your own writing style ^^

   "Hey, careful with that."
   "Get out of the way, we're going to need the room."

   These are but a few of the words that Lily heard as she was aroused from her sleep. She felt her admittedly small living space rock back and forth as she lay down on her makeshift bed, apparently due to the aforementioned people moving it.
   Now and then, that would have been mistaken for some homeless person getting her shack moved out, but this one isn't so. Lily here isn't some vagrant, she's not even a human... not anymore, that is. She is a ghost, and her home is a piano.
   As she got up and observed the surroundings, it became obvious to her that they were actually moving her 'home' in to some household. What household is that, she was about to find out.

   She looked at the house first. The house was a fairly modern two-story building, square with triangle roofs with white paint covering the walls, giving it a slight purity that wasn't all that interesting to her. "Pah. Just a regular house. Boring," she muttered to herself silently.
   "Up, up... aaarrrrgh... Whew. Done. Hope this fits through the door, though..."
   "It will, you'll see." Lily felt the piano bump against the doorway as the two somewhat scruffy movers struggled to make the piano fit into the area. Then, as they finally managed to make that sweet fit like a jigsaw puzzle, she got a good look on the inside of the house.

   The area was themed with a sort of modern romantic fashion, with shiny brown walls, clear white walls, and several lovingly-shaped lanterns. The room itself seemed to be a living room, what with several couches angled at 90 degrees to each other, a book case, some miniature tables with corresponding little chairs, some decorations, and other things.
   The house had at least four rooms on the lower floor, and presumably the same number for the upper floor, since there were three doors - not including the entrance - in the room, and a stairway on the upper-right edge of the room.

   She was amused, but not impressed. Or even interested at all: "Blah, more romantic stuff! So not interested." But she tolerated it anyway; after all, what choice did she have? She was essentially stuck to at most twenty meters away from the piano.
   "Alright, it's moved in."
   "You sure that's the right place?"
   "Of course. Shion-san, it's done."

   Lily heard a shout in the distance: "Alright, it's already there downstairs!" Soon enough, the family poured in. There were six of them in all; two parents and four children. "More curiosity. Best to sleep it off."
   And so, amid impending pandemonium from the children, - and possibly the parents, if they were the childish sort - she tried to doze off. Might as well get back the long, bumpy, sleepless hours back, she reasoned.

   Night came soon enough, and the family had already gone off to sleep when she woke up. There, she began thinking of whether she should get to playing the piano again. She hadn't been able to practice ever since the truck started moving, mostly out of paranoia of being caught.

   But then again, she thought, they were already asleep, and not to mention it was really late at night, so it was probably safe to go out. So she did head out, and she started to play a slow piece to start out.

   Little did she know, however, that there was someone else still awake. Someone else heard her. And that someone else was about to find out.  

[TkieSai]

Req4boxes

((I was totally imagining a mansionXD))

"E-eh," A small blond child sounded sounded when the two men with the piano told him to get out of the way. The boy quickly ran down stairs where the rest of his family was so he wouldn't be in the way. He waited patently for the piano to be put in the room and set up. He really wanted to see the piano. He bet it sounded beautiful.
When Len, the child, heard that the piano was ready, he rushed in with the rest of his family to check out the new piece. The piano practically sparkled where it was at. Everyone went closer to check on it, including Len. But unlike the others, Len felt something weird about the musical instrument. He was getting some strange vibes from it but he couldn't explain why.
Once night came, everyone was asleep in their rooms, well everyone but the young blond child. He was suffering through a bad case of insomnia. If anyone couldn't guess by the pale pigment of the child's skin, Len was not in the best of health. He was born with a fairly weak body and constantly gets sick real easily. To top off the medicine he already has to take, his insomnia was so bad that he also needed medication to help him sleep. But, he neglected to take that medication tonight so he was laying on his bed, wide awake staring at his ceiling.
That was when he heard something. A soft and slow melody filled the house.
'Is brother up?' Len asked in his head. He slowly sat up and got off his bed. He had his favorite teddy in his hand and he walked through the hallway to the room where the new piano is.
"Brother?" he called out in a soft almost girlish voice as he pushed open the already slightly ajar door. No, the small child was wrong. His brother was not there playing the piano. It was some girl with really long blonde hair. If it wasn't for her face and smaller body frame, Len would have thought it was his mother.
"...who are you...?" he asked slowly.  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

Oh wow, you actually do have a bit of that novel-length. Didn't expect that, really.
Note: This is not actually a quote.

     As she was about to reach the second refrain section, Lily heard a small voice from right behind her. The voice asked slowly, "Who... are... you?", as if slightly scared, or shy.
     Huh!? That surprised her a lot. She didn't expect that someone would still be awake at that hour, much less a kid. She abruptly stopped, got up, and walked behind the piano, where she hoped that she was unseen.
     Once she thought she was out of sight, she dissipated into her invisible form. There, she got up from behind the piano, and took a good look at the intruder.

     The insomniac was indeed a kid, particularly a blond male, probably not yet in his teens given his tiny, almost girlish voice,and the teddy bear in his hand. He seemed a bit sickly, as if his body wasn't very healthy at all, but his eyes showed an intense curiosity, a curiosity that was directed at her.
     Deciding to deter this insomniac, she got back to the piano, still invisible, and used a classic ghost trick: making things go bump in the night. "Simple, effective, and helpful in my situation," she thought.
     And naturally, the best choice for that would be naught but the piano itself. She got back to playing, half-hoping that the sight of the piano playing by itself would drive the little blondie off.  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((You certainly know how to hurt someone's feelings._.))

Len fidgeted a little when the girl hid behind the piano. Did he scare her? He didn't mean to. Now Len felt bad.
"I...I'm sorry," he spoke quietly as he looked down at his bare feet. He held his teddy bear with both hands now, needing some confort from the toy. For a ten year old, it may seem just a little strange for Len to have such a toy so openly. Most boys tend to grow out of teddy bears and go into the action figure phase. But Len has yet to enter that phase. He really isn't in to action figures. He prefers softer things. And Len is also short for his age so he looks like an eight year old which makes it a little more okay.
Len was still feeling bad for scaring the girl. Should he leave her alone? Wait, but she is a stranger in the house. She isn't suppose to be here...right?
Len looked back up when the piano began playing again. The child walked into the room more to get closer to the piano. He watched the keys for several moments before looking up at the supposed invisible girl.
"That sounds really pretty," Len complemented with a sweet smile on his face.  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

((Ah, shoot.
Crap, didn't mean to, I swear to all things!
I mean that as a compliment, really!
eek gonk confused
If you really got hurt, though... Terribly sorry! I'm just really an insensitive guy...
Argh argh argh argh this is going to bear heavily on me...
I should really remember that these kinds of comments hurt you greatly...))

     As she observed the little boy, Lily saw him mutter quiet words. She couldn't make it out, but from the tone itself, it almost seemed like an apology. For what, she asked herself. For driving her away? Maybe. After all, she left without provocation, at least from his point of view.

     As she walked back in invisible form towards him, she saw him hug his little teddy bear tightly. This boy has a bit of an issue, she thought. Maybe scaring him ought to put him back to bed.

     So she did play the piano again, invisible this time. From the null reaction she got, she thought that he was scared off, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he was gone...

     ...or was he? The answer, as she soon found out, was no. Instead of making him go back up, it instead amplified his interest, confirmed as she heard him say, "That sounds really pretty." It was as if he completely ignored the fact that the keys were moving without a cause, and focused on hearing instead.

     "Ah, nuts. Not really working." Lily felt a bit frustrated. She had to give points to him for being that curious, though. Most people that she encountered ran off once they realized that she was there.

     She tried to take advantage of the situation. She stopped playing for that moment. She turned around to the boy, still invisible, and spoke as if she was a whisper in the night wind (not that there was any in the first place; it was a calm night): "Want to play, too?"

     In hindsight, she wanted to take that back. That wasn't exactly 'taking advantage' material. But then again, she couldn't, for reasons she couldn't fathom.  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((Haha its all goodXD I'm over it:3 I understand that's not what you meant that for^^ That's just how I took it._.
Sorry for taking so long, I swore I already posted to this o3o))

Len listened to the music that was being played. It was so beautiful but it did seem like there may be a hint of sadness in those musical notes. Though...that may just be Len's imagination.
But then the music stopped and Len heard, 'Ah, nuts. Not really working.' What's not really working? Did Len do something wrong that made something not work? Should he go do that something? Wait...just what is that something? Len looked at the piano for several moments before he heard the voice again, this time it asking him if he wanted to play as well.
"M-me?" he questioned. Well of course him. There is no one else in the room. Unless the girl has some friends he didn't see.
"U-um..." the blonde child became a little nervous, fidgeting where he stood. "I'd like to b-but I'm not suppose to touch it...a-and...I don't know how to play and..." no, that was really it. He isn't suppose to touch the piano without permission and he doesn't know how to play the large instrument.

((I have a question o3o Can Len see Lily when she is in invisible mode?))  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

[[Heh... Alright then. To note: nothing I say ever meant any permanent harm.
And no, he cannot see her in that mode. What's the point of invisibility, right?]]

     Lily listened to the little boy's nervous response. It was quite obvious that the little boy had nothing to do with the instrument. She felt a bit of mercy for the little boy, but that was quickly replaced with a plan.

     'Hmm', Lily said to herself in thought. 'Now what?' She tried her luck with her next move. She prepared her voice to match a windy whisper.

     "Pfft. Just try. Not like there's anyone else awake, huh? And besides, it's easy. Just sit down there and press some keys. Y'know, like the smaller boards."

     That was a half-lie, but that was part of the plan. She'd mess around with him now, trick him into believing in himself, her, and the piano, and then make him a babbling little kid the next morning. Hah! It was a very good plan to her.  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((okay:3
I was just wondering since Len can see ghostsXD))

The blonde boy looked back at the door when the voice said that no one is awake, next to the piano, and then down at his toes before looking up again.
"I-If you say so..." he spoke slowly. He sat down on the piano bench close to the edge so he wouldn't take up much room. Who knows where that voice is sitting and if that girl wanted to sit next to him, not yet sure if they are both one in the same.
Hesitently, Len reached out his hand and pushed down on one of the keys, causing it to make a sound. Len's crystal blue eyes lit up at makeing that sound. He had never touched a piano before. That simple sound to him was like magic. So Len began hitting more keys, but the 'music' he was making was just a rather hideous sound.  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

[[Heh.]]
     The little boy reluctantly agreed to the proposition and sat down. Lily felt a bit odd, since she was also in that area, but she got up and out soon after. From her current position, just barely behind the little sickly boy, she began observing his move.

     Naturally, his first action was to press one key. 'Eh, better than nothing,' she thought. She was about to take back her words, for what followed was quite the equivalent of cacophony. Well, not quite, but obviously a novice's work, almost incoherent but still trying to be a song.

     She wasn't exactly into improvisation, but she had to try anyway. Without a word, she unleashed supernatural speed and began to think of a song out of what might the kid want to play right now.

     The minor bashing continued, and she could barely think from the half-noise that was sounding out. But she persevered, and soon she had the concrete idea on what she would do for now.

     Drifting to the boy's position, she began working behind the scenes. She started working on mixing her own hand into his work, and preventing him from nailing down the notes that would be too discordant to work with.

     In other words, she played a tune that would mix with the boy's own playing, and kept the keys that would be too discordant firm in their position, unable to move.

     She hoped that he wouldn't notice this until much, much later. Or not at all. Might as well fool him completely while at it. She also hoped that it would end soon; maintaining the speed and keeping up with him was tiring, and could even knock her out afterwards when kept up for... say, about fifteen minutes.  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((So, she is like possessing Len's hands?o3o))

Len really wasn't trying to make music. He was just hitting random keys. Like he said, Len doesn't know how to play. He doesn't even know how to read music. He was never taught.
But when his random hitting of notes started to become a melody, his eyes practically sparkled.
'I'm making music!" he cheered, a bright smile on his face. What he didn't know was that he wasn't actually playing well, it was the voice who for the moment seemed to fall silent.

((short o3o))  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

[[Not really. She's more like both stopping him from properly depressing the wrong keys, and playing the right keys without his knowledge, all at the same time.]]
     The little boy's excitement was falling right into her plan. Hahah. Just exactly what she expected. It was all coming together...

     ...and Lily was clearly enjoying herself. Here was she, silently guiding him, only to make him a fool... and wait a moment.

     As her playing slowed down to match the little boy, she began thinking about what might happen. She let a little voice into her mind, and what it said disturbed her greatly.

     'If you ruin him, you might lose the only person that isn't afraid or unbelieving of you.'

     She dispelled this voice. 'Away with you, lying liar! I don't need him anyway. I just need to get him out of here.'  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((??....Okay:3))

The fact that Len was playing so well confused the boy, but he was having too much fun to even notice that he isn't the one who is actually playing. Of course a child who has never even touched a piano wouldn't be this good, not even if the child were to be gifted. Not that Len knows that though.
The sickly blonde child continued playing through the night, not even noticing that the sun outside the window was just beginning to peek out from the horizon. He just kept on playing and playing, not getting tired at all, though he did take a couple breaks because his hands and arms got tired. But other than that, he played on, not realizing that his family is going to wake up soon.  

[Req4boxes]

TkieSai

     As the music continued throughout the night, Lily felt a bit better. He was a bit hard to perform a semi-duet with, but it was a bit satisfying - and enjoyable, too. Eventually, the boy got tired, but a few minutes of rest later he was at it again. The cycle kept her from overworking herself, but even she was feeling the strain of over-speeding.

     'It's working as planned,' she thought. The lie was right in front of him, yet the boy hadn't noticed yet! It was a miracle to her.

     Unfortunately, what she didn't realize is that she was about to see the morning light already. The sun peeked out of the horizon, and warm orange light began creeping towards the two of them. 'Is this really how insomniac this boy is!?' she exasperatedly noted.

     She had to stop this, before the others noticed as well. Handling the boy was bad enough; so much more for three others - and two parents as well. "Aren't you getting tired?"  

[TkieSai]

.

Req4boxes

((Another question O3O who are Len's siblings in this rp?))

Len let out a yawn as the voice asked if he was getting tired.
"Mm...a little..." he spoke as he stopped playing the piano. He looked down at the keys before looking up and noticing the sun coming through the window.
"Oh no! Mommy will be so mad at me if she finds out I've been awake! And so will brother." the last sentence was more of an out loud afterthought.
Len quickly stood up and dashed out of the room and began heading towards his room before realizing something. He dashed right back and stood in the doorway.
"Oh, by the way, what is your name Miss?"