[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/gWBjZWb.png[/img]
[color=000000][u][b]Location[/b][/u][/color]
💀 Shopping Spree.
💀 Charleston Music Center.

[color=000000][u][b]Interactions[/b][/u][/color]
💀 No One.

[color=000000][u][b]Mentions[/b][/u][/color]
💀 Kila.
💀 Kassandra.
💀 Daphne.
💀 Talon.
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Charleston Music Center was Casper’s next destination, sights of various instruments coming into play upon stepping past the threshold. Guitars, drums, and violins, Hex’s focus brushed past many examples of otherwise well-made tools, his gaze finding home upon a grand piano. It reclaimed memories, the boy’s thoughts traveling to great halls within castle Blackwood where sleepless nights allowed for a moment’s respite among ivory keys. It had been a while since Casper last slept, since he needed to retire to a world of slumber. 

The store was quite large, allowing for a moment’s consideration before Casper was eventually spotted by a clerk, soon followed by a short welcome. Though eyes lingered upon the Wraith, Hex paid them no mind, his focus firmly confiscated by an instrument of his childhood. Delicately, claws traced themselves across polished mahogany, a golden brown lid opened to reveal the inner workings of a masterpiece. Casper had been told that his love for this most noble of instruments sprung from the boy’s grandfather, a man whose fingers had christened the piano Hex now called his own. He longed for those moments spent alongside the apparatus filling castle Blackwood with haunting tunes. 

“Give it a go,” Coal nudged his friend forward, “Kassandra and Kila’s over there, I am sure they’d appreciate some music, yeah?” The bird continued, motioning towards Casper’s acquaintances. It was rare for the young man to play for others, each keynote typically aimed at himself. He played for relaxation, he played to express himself, and yet, Casper rarely did so when others were present. The Wraith was aware that two sides often overlapped, one’s innermost grace revealing itself for others to see. Hex was not an exception. “Express yourself.” 

[color=FFE4C4]”Express myself..,”[/color] Hex repeated, spectral spheres rising to meet Kassandra and Kila. They appeared to be enjoying each other’s company, and it was a reminder that teammates were slowly finding their friends. Had Casper reached that connection, yet? Not quite, but thoughts of Daphne sprung to mind, clawed digits gently reaching for the small package in Hex’s pocket. He cared for the girl, reasons appearing somewhat unknown. A young woman brimming with life. Perhaps the nymph would manage to break through Talon’s exterior and exhume the person hiding within. Casper had witnessed the two leaving together, and she was most certainly an interesting foil to the rehabilitated assassin. 

[color=FFE4C4]”Yes..,”[/color] came a quiet affirmation from the Wraithborn. Lowering himself to the stool in front of a piano most would struggle to afford, Casper’s clawed fingers rose to keys of ivory white. Closing his eyes, a faint, if barely visible smile traced itself across the boy’s pale, white lips. No matter the country, the location, or the world, music remained the same. Music never changed. An eternal force piercing life and death alike. It was following these thoughts that Casper realized he had already started [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k41YmjTLr14]playing[/url], fingers moving from one key to the next in a fluid motion answering to nothing but emotions from within. 

One would be accurate in claiming that the surrounding world had vanished, Casper’s heart and mind set on the instrument before him. A tail slowly swayed in harmony, Coal’s shape lingering upon Hex’s shoulder as beady eyes gazed down at the claws conjuring forth music with every motion. 

Had Casper opened his eyes, he would surely have witnessed a growing audience, silence surrounding him as ears closely listened to the boy’s song. He had created a stage albeit bereft of platform, the Wraith’s memories spiriting him to the halls of castle Blackwood where he would play this very tune, one taught to him by a mother so often mentioned. It had been the first time in months since Hex last took a moment to peer inside himself using a piano as his vessel. Between each key there was silence, nothing but music paving the way across a dreamscape within Casper’s being. 

It was an escape of sorts, one expressing itself externally as opposed to meditation. Feelings manifesting. It was only upon the song’s eventual completion that Casper finally opened his eyes, the surrounding store yet again materializing, people encircling the boy where he sat. Though a sense of embarrassment initially gripped the Wraith, Hex soon found himself managing another slight smile at the sound of hands clapping together. He could hear applause.