isleofavalon | Songs For All

“Hey, that song is really amazing,” Harry tells Donovan after the song ended, feeling rather impressed by his music playing skills, “I got to admit, you sure know to rock it out, Donovan.”

Rose is still dancing around on a nearby table as if the music never ends, she is currently in her little bubble right now. The sight of his Pygmy Puff familiar dancing and swirling around makes him smile and moments like this is allowing him to enjoy the little things in life, something he doesn’t always have the luxury of enjoying back home with having a life not so typical for a teenage wizard or witch in his world.

"Thanks," he said. "I try to pick a few gneiss songs for the more sedimentary folks in the audience. Not everyone is transient like us, some are igneous peoples."

“Hehehe, that really makes sense,” Harry chuckles in between his breaths as he lets the puns sink in for real, “I bet that your music must be getting everyone rolling and dancing on the dance floor tonight.”

Since he is still a minor even when he came to Avalon, he is currently sipping a ruby red oolong iced tea. Still better than nothing at all.

He grinned. "I hope I gave them music that can't be beat," he quipped. "What about you? Did you get to dance?"

“Not really, I’m not that great of a dancer at all,” Harry admits to Donovan before sighing for a brief minute, “I once danced with a schoolmate back in my world, but it wasn’t that great for both of us.”

Perhaps maybe Donovan can teach him something to boost his confidence.

"I can teach you if you want, but dancing at it's heart... is about connecting to the music."

“Hmmm... I could try to get better at it, perhaps I’ll accept the offer, Donovan,” he smiles back before sipping on his iced tea again, “Might want to take some advice from Rose dancing around on the table, she knows how to connect dancing to the music very well.”

He chuckled. "That is really all there is to it," he assured Harry, ruffling his hair.

“Yeah, I suppose that it is the case,” he too chuckles for a bit, “So, what is the first thing I need to learn in dancing?”

He watched the next performer set up for a moment then nodded. "Alright, first thing, close your eyes, listen to the music. Don't try to move, don't try to sit still, just relax and listen."

He nods as the next performance is about to begin and the music begins to play, Harry pays attention to the song being played as advised, closes his eyes and relaxes as it begins.

“Wow, this song is really good,” he tells Donovan as he continues to listen to the song and music ongoing.

"Yeah," he said, appreciating the skill. He loved listening to others play though he itched to join. "Now... just start moving your head, however feels good. Don't think or worry about right or wrong, just let the music roll through you."

He soon bops his head up and down, tapping his fingers on the table as the music continues to play, there is even a small faint smile on his face if Donovan is paying attention. It is almost as if he is one with the songs being played out.

Rose also bops up and down as she twirls around on the table, having so much fun in grooving to the music.

He let him continue, watching and saying nothing until the next song. "Now loosen up, let your shoulders and hands join in, our legs if they want to. You don't have to get up if you don't want to, just let the motion of the music fill your limbs."

“Okay then,” he smiles a little more as soon as he looses up the movement and begins to clap to the beat and let his shoulders move more as the music plays out, letting it to guide him all the way.

“Wow, this is a lot easier than I was expecting,” he informs Donovan as he is slowly getting the hang of dancing to the music.

He smiled. "That's all there is to dancing. Oh sure, some dances have specific steps and moves. But in general? You and the music is all it takes. Even if the music is all in your head."

“Oh yes, that’s good to know, in a way, there is a lot of ways to dance even with songs in my head,” he quietly adds in, “I could always try to learn new moves by watching how other people are dancing and trying to imitate them as much as possible.”

"Yep, sure can. Also good? Asking to join them." He grinned and ruffled his hair again. "You would never believe how happy it could make someone when you ask them to dance, till you start doing it and seeing that light in their eyes for yourself."

Of course there was also fun in asking a very uninterested little bigot of a man to dance loudly and publicly right after he tried to make your best friend's son feel ashamed of being gay. But that was a special situation. And his days of helping Szark stand up for himself were at an end, it seemed. The young man had faced his own inner demons and had found the confidence to stand up for himself now. These days he didn't need help from an old man. And Donovan couldn't have been prouder had Szark been one of his own sons.

“Gee, thanks. I’ll remember that the next time I come across some people having fun in dancing,” he smiles again, feeling more relieved and having a lot of fun himself.

He never thought that he could do it, but it can be done and that’s what matters the most: having fun dancing to the music, even if he is just a beginner right now.

"Good. And better yet, remember it when you see someone not having fun who might want to be."

Crow happens to be dining at the same tavern Donovan is performing at. While he digs into his meal, he listens to the older man sing. Donovan's actually good, although not as good as him. And by the tips, the audience seems to receive him well. It's proof to Crow that even singing at small venues like this can be worthwhile.

Coincidentally the older man sits next to him, Crow strikes up a conversation."You're pretty good. Are you gonna perform in the upcoming concert, too?"

The redhead thought he had met most of the talent in Camelot, so he must have missed Donovan somehow.

"Concert?" he asked, perking up at the idea. He hadn't played a concert in a while, and even longer since a show as good as the Battle for Barthis. He'd love to rock out with a group of like minded souls. "How do I sign up and what other talent have we got?"

"A pretty boy idol named Ren Jinguji is organizing it. I'm sure they're looking for more talent, so you should hit him up." As for the other talent, Crow shrugs his shoulders as he thinks off the top of his head. "There's probably another band playing, and some solo artists of different music genres too."

He then bears a smug grin as he points a thumb at himself."And of course, yours truly here! I'll be playing some rock music, too!"

"How would I find him to sign up?" he asked. Then he grinned at the other. "We could do a jam session if you wanted, I think this crowd could take it."

Crow pulls out his phone and shows it to Donovan. "You can just text him? Don't you have one of these? Or maybe, you don't know how to use it?"

The redhead perks up at the suggestion of a jam session. His tail starts to wag back and forth in excitement. "Yeah, I'll be totally down. I even have my guitar here since I just came from practice."

"Oh! That's the thing Zelda told me to turn over. It's been mostly quiet since then...." He said. Yeah, no, the old dude had no clue how to use his phone. But his guitar? He could rock that. "Want me to go clear it with the owner?"

Crow raises an eyebrow. Turn over? Quiet? That sounds weird. “Are you sure it’s even turned on?”

Despite, his rudeness, Crow is still anxious to perform. “Yeah! Do you just want to do guitar solos or do you want to add vocals too? My voice is pretty amazing,too! But I don’t know any of the songs you sung.”

"That thing turns on?" he asked, seemingly amazed. "Never seen magic quite like it before."

"I don't have any of the magical scores we used for the battle of Barthis, but I could write up a few of the songs from memory if you have paper and pen. Solos are great, but the best music always comes from playing together," he said with a grin. "And if you want to write up some of yours, we can jam out to each other's tunes together."

"Wait? You're joking, right?"

There's no way, no one knows how to turn on their phone. He gives Donovan a look to discern whether he's joking or not. He must be!

What's the Battle of Barthis, anyway?" Crow questions, but he does like old man's idea. Crow didn't have a paper, but he does have a handful of napkins and a pen he borrows from the bartender.

"Yeah, I can totally write out my band's songs, since I'm the one who wrote them, to begin with!"

"Nope," he said. "I was just given this ting, I thought it was a paperweight till it made noise once." He had once kept up a bluff of ignorance for DECADES because it was funny. He could keep this up till it was explained to him, especially since the ignorance was only half feigned this time. He had figured out enough to guess it was like a crystal ball, but... that was about it. He still wasn't sure how to activate it, or if he was even correct.

"The battle for Barthis, huh?" he asked, grinning as he leaned back. "It was a number of years ago when a cabal of wizards had come to the sleepy town of Barthis to enact a dark ritual of sacrificial magic. An oracle named Dominic, his talking cat Spark, his assistant Luna, a white mage named Gregory, a Spellwolf and a priestess and a knight of the realm came together to stop them. And after a great battle where the cabal was betrayed by a necromancer pretending to be one of their own. In the end nearly all of them died and the town seemed to be saved. But at cost. The heroes took heavy losses, and while the white mage Gregory could heal some of what was lost, not everything could be so easily repaired." He gave a solemn nod over his drink and took a sip before continuing, to give that proper dramatic beat.

"After that, Barthis became something of a magnet for ne'er do wells, dark mages, bigots, and worse, lawyers." He winked.

"The priestess and the Spellwolf went with the knight from the town to deal with the changes within them, the loss of identity and power and self. The seer stayed for a while, then left, and would return again several times before eventually making his home there, after the Battle for Barthis was settled. His assistant and cat stayed by his side, but the White mage, Gregory, he stayed in Barthis. He helped to defend it against the hardships that came for the town. But a great evil came to Barthis after a time. Gregory's phenomenal powers and good heart led him to being able to protect the people of Barthis, though to do so the homes were destroyed."

"The townsfolk struggled, trying to figure out how to rebuild. That was when the lawyer arrived..." he sipped his drink again to give another beat and to get a read on his audience.

"What? Seriously? How do you function without a phone?!" Okay, Boomer! Get your shit together! Crow wouldn't mind sitting down with Donovan and showing him how to use the device, but he isn't really the most patient person in the universe. "I guess I could show you a few tricks later."

Crow then listens to the older man's story and he's not really expecting much. Though, he receives an epic tale of sorts. This town of Barthis has really been through it, even wizards, destruction, and lawyers. Crow's tail swishes behind him as he waits for Donovan to finish, but the man just pauses for dramatic effect to sip his drink.

"And then what? You can't just stop the story there? What happened with the lawyer? Everyone was sued, right?" Isn't that what money hungry attornies are good for?

"Phoney? I thought it was real? Sure feels real." Yes, that time he was deliberately misunderstanding, and he smirked as if he couldn't help it. "Thanks, I'd appreciate the help," he said smoothing his expression into a more genuine smile.

He grinned internally at the eager reply and set down his drink. He kept his face solemn as he spoke, so as to not give away the ending. "The lawyer claimed that the white mage was responsible for failing to save the buildings and for the deaths of the few people who died before he was able to mount a defense. He claimed that young Gregory had to repay all the damages or go to debtors prison. And somehow he also claimed that he was going to claim the land Barthis had been on and build a memorial stadium to one of the bigots that the white mage had driven from the town previously that had been killed by a powerful seer elsewhere not long after."

He still was not sure if he was privileged to know the details of that particular death or not, but he knew and nothing could change that now. One of the curses of a vivid imagination, however, was that with the details he had, he may as well have witnessed it as his son had.

Again he took a sip to gauge interest in his continuing.

"Phoney? That's a super lame joke!" Despite himself, Crow cracks a smile.

The redhead quiets down as Donovan continues. Of course, he wants to charge them for the damages and the deaths. Though a memorial stadium, too? That's not gonna fly...probably?

"So, did the lawyer charge them for those outlandish claims? Clearly, anyone with a brain can see through his plan!"

Good, the joke landed.

To the other, he chuckled lightly. "It may have escaped your notice, but the law can be used by the devious to make the irrational true. However in this case..." he gave a small smile that wasn't quite as benign as his usual smiles.

"This is where I entered the story. We weren't in Barthis when we found out about the situation. Our middle son was staying with us while he was fitted for his prosthetics, and my wife could not leave her students again until she was sure that her absence wouldn't once more weaken the school such that it could be attacked. So I was the one who could leave, without their help. But there were others who I could call upon. The Seer's talking cat was one. A Necromantic golem named Quilt with the best sense of humour one could ask for. But still I needed more help. So I spoke with my best friend. Lars Strutz. Accountant." He grinned as if he had been announcing a superhero. As though being an accountant was more exciting than say, the necromantic golem he had mentioned.

"I had thought the battle would have been one of numbers and laws. It never occurred to me that as much as Lars would be able to help the town with finances and law... it was his connection to his son that would prove to be even more relevant..."

Crow nods his head. He knows the law can be twisted around to one's benefit. People who know the law are aware of where they distort the truth. He continues to listen to Donovan's story, there's certainly a cast of interesting people. Not so much the talking cat, but the golem and this accountant that seems to be the savior for them all.

"His son?" Crow raises an eyebrow. "How is the accountant's son important?"

"Everyone is important," he said, a little too casually. "But I am guessing you meant how is he relevant in this context, yes?"

He grinned a bit. "As for that, well, that starts because I might have lost my temper. See, we were just getting into town in time to hear the lawyer trying to goad the white mage into throwing a punch that would get him arrested for assault on top of everything else. Thankfully someone with a more level head was close enough to stop him and got to the boy first. But we were close enough to witness it while the lawyer's bodyguards tried to stop us from joining the conversation. So I decided to give them a little autograph, a memento to recall the time they failed to stop the famous Bard Donovan Deegan. So I signed their clothes. With my sword. They did let us through after that," he said with a bit of a smug grin.

The grin faded. "The lawyer recognized me, which was good. He tried poking at me, which was fine. As you well know, being a performer requires a thick skin. None of his barbs were sharp enough to cut at me. At least, not the ones aimed my way. Unfortunately, however, he also knew Lars. Or specifically, and relevantly to your question, Lars' son."

He sighed and sipped his drink. "Szark is generally a good boy, but like many people did, he went through a dark period in his life. He briefly lost his fight with the demon wound in his side and gave into some more... demonic impulses. Well the lawyer made some crude innuendo about Szark needing some new pants every time he dueled," killed someone, but that was beside the point, "so I informed the lawyer that he would need new pants every time he insulted my friend. And I did it by signing his pants the way I signed the guard's shirts. He wasn't on the fence about being foiled, but I got the point across and he withdrew for the time being."

He sipped his drink again to gauge the reaction so far.

Edited (HTML fail) 2021-02-17 06:54 (UTC)

There's one phrase that gets stuck in Crow's head. It isn't what's been said about Lars's son, which was pretty fucked up, but the redhead can accept that information well enough. Once Donovan stops, he decides to point it out.

"So when you say you signed their clothes with your sword? You're cutting away at them...in broad daylight?! So they're walking around naked?! That's cruel!"

He then laughs, bringing attention to all the puns inserted into that one sentence. "Did you just stick three puns in one sentence? That's weak! So, you stopped them from using the accountant's son against him? Or did they come up with some other scheme?"

"I signed their clothes. They stayed on, just with big D shaped holes," he said, a little too innocently. "They might have deserved worse, but the poor people of Barthis had already suffered enough, who was I to force the to see that?"

Yes, he is a good aligned troll, why ever do you ask?

"No, if I stuck one in every day, that would have been week," he corrected signaling for a refill. Once he had it, he took a sip then continued his tale.

"Oh, the lawyer had plenty of schemes," he said. "But so did we. Or at least, we would. Later. For the time being, the White Mage needed something to lift his spirits so he could come up with the will and brains to fight. Thankfully I knew exactly the right tone to set when we spoke. And I'd been prepared. I'd brought a pair of axes." He touched his guitar to make it clear what sort of axe he meant. "I won't string you along, though. We got to rocking out. It had been too long since we had a good jam session, anyway. We were so in the zone the White Mage didn't even realize we'd drawn a crowd till we finished. I knew, but then I always had a good sense for when I had an audience. Comes from having a son who is one of the strongest Seers in the planes." He grinned, and wondered if his current audience would start to pick up on some of the hints.

"Well, it didn't take long for us to realize that the crowd was the answer to the dilemma of the money. I was well known enough as a Bard," he said, in what had to be the understatement of the century. Saying he was well known enough was like saying Merlin dabbled in magic. He was known in every part of his world, even the ones that did not permit or welcome humans, and he was known on other worlds as well. "And with my skill and his, and some help from a few specific people... we formed a plan. The battle for Barthis." He grinned. "A benefit concert. Of course, the lawyer wasn't about to let us get away with that without a fight..."

He sipped is drink again.

Edited 2021-03-23 09:58 (UTC)

Songs For All - OTA

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Spoiler warning.

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cw: crude innuendo

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