Ayakashi drew her glass toward her and brought it gently to her nose. She repeated the process once more before taking a small sip. She let the wine rest on her tongue for a moment, then gave a satisfied nod, "Good wine. Perhaps it might persuade me to tell less blatant lies."
"Who knows? Perhaps it'll cause a little truth to slip past your iron will."She gently swayed her glass before setting it down on the table again, standing up in an elegant motion and smiling. "You could start with something you feel comfortable to tell.. you know?" Sanae wandered towards the other half of the room, bending down to grab a black leather violin case before wandering back to the table with it. Carefully placing it down and opening it to reveal a beautiful exemplary of a violin.
Ayakashi looked at her again with a thoughtful expression as she took another sip of wine. She was quiet for several long seconds, or perhaps minutes. She had never been one of those people who enjoy talking about themselves. More precisely, she had no fondness for it whatsoever. She was rather a woman who preferred to say as little as possible and watch others instead.
"Do you know how difficult it is to fabricate lies when no specific questions are even being put to me?", she added with a faint smile, her gaze drifting toward the musical instrument. "For instance, it is plain as day that I come from a very well-off family. Not only could I afford to study in Liberty, but I also managed to establish a very thorough barrier of anonymity between my former and current professional life. For the protection of both parties."
"Mmh, that much I already figured out on my own."She chuckled softly, carefully taking out the violin and starting to inspect it. Ensuring it was proper tuned, as she carried on to talk. "I actually tried to find out more about you, I got to be that honest at least. It's incredibly tough to obtain anything. I've got to a point where they asked for a reason and.. well.. curiosity clearly didn't cut it." Everything seemed in order. It has been quite a while since she found the time to pick up her violin.. "That was shortly after we first met though. There's more sophisticated methods than just poking around anyway, such as a good wine.. and perhaps a little performance~?
Ayakashi smiled with quiet satisfaction and gave a nod. "My past is very thoroughly buried. Just imagine someone like you having a sister or a daughter bearing your family name, who was practically a living weapon in the hands of the most paranoid faction in Kusari.". She let out an amused laugh as she took another sip of wine, "Not even the word scandal would do justice to what your family would be exposed to."
She gestured toward Sanae once more with a slight tilt of her head, "But please, I would not turn down a small demonstration of your artistic talents, Sanae-san."
Sanae smiled at her, hesitating visibly for a moment."I can quite imagine.. more vividly than you might think.." For a moment it seemed as if a shadow passed over her face, she bit her lower lip and then carefully continued.. "There'd be.. quite the scandal if anyone ever figured out who Irelei really is. Mmh, at least from the sides of Liberty." She quickly shook her head and adjusted her posture. "Don't expect a masterclass performance though, alright?" - And then she began to play. After the first stroke, something's changed about her. Relaxation washed over her and her gaze focused on a spot only visible to her.
The music shifts into a lively dance. Sanae’s bow begins to bounce lightly and rhythmically across the strings, her fingers moving in quick, precise, up and down the fingerboard. As the sections unfold, the flow changes gradually: the pace quickens into waves, moving from steady, bouncing rhythms into longer, more flowing passages, then back to sharp, energetic bursts. Dynamics rise and fall, being cut short by sudden soft, whispering moments giving way to fuller, stronger statements. The changes feel nearly seamless, here and there a small error creeping into the flow. Though to an untrained ear, it felt perfect. The arrangement and her emotions were in sync, for it reflected perfectly on her recent past. Ups and downs, sudden changes in pace and the seamlessness in-between allowing her barely a pause to breath.
After nearly five minutes, the music ebbed out. Sanae opened her half closed eyes, sweat glistering on her forehead and a smile so bright it could replace the sun adorning her face. She had to gather herself, take a few breaths..
Once Sanae began to play, Ayakashi settled back more comfortably into her chair. She did not make a sound throughout the performance, though her face continued to act as a porcelain mask concealing whatever she felt within. Every now and then she took a small sip of wine, if only to wet her lips. Her cybernetically enhanced eyes remained fixed on the playing Sanae, straying from her for only a few brief moments -- perhaps to reassure herself that everything in the room was where it should be.
When the performance came to an end, she set her nearly empty wine glass down on the table and gave a quiet round of applause, "An impressive demonstration of your musical talent. My flute can only torture anyone unfortunate enough to have ears."
Sanae didn't speak until she stashed the violin away neatly. "It's been.. two months? Yeah, two months since I had the chance. Thanks, Aya." She adjusted her left hands wrist, a stinging pain causing her to sigh. "No warm up.. I'll regret that tomorrow." Following a sip of wine, she sat down again. "Flute, you say? I've always imagined you as woman of many talents, so I bet you just fib about your flute skills. Probably good, very good even.. just too shy to admit~" She smirked at Aya, knowing full well that breaking this icy mask was the whole deal of the evening. She did it before and she intended to break and break and break it until Aya would discard it around her by her own will.
Ayakashi shook her head slowly, "I played the flute because it was expected of me as a child. Everyone at school must play some instrumetn, whether they want it or not."
"Were it not for my current career, I would probably be an actress by now. Wearing masks and false lives comes naturally to me," she added with an air of mystery, letting out a quiet laugh. She then reached for the bottle and poured herself another glass, "Have you been playing violin since your childhood, or is it a recent choice?"
Sanae poured herself another glass right after Aya, noticing the bottle to be pretty much empty now. "Childhood, by choice actually. But I stopped many years ago, travelled around and everything. It returned to my mind three years ago only.. not like I find much time for it anyway." She sighed, taking a sip and then smiled. "You got the looks and the talent to wear masks, I bet you'd be popular across the sector.. but say, aren't we running dangerously low on wine? Maybe we should relocate.."
