the sound of music | eira, rosie, cass

august 29, 1923
10 pm

Katerina took one glimpse at the crowd before her eyes went back to the keys.

Somewhere in that sea of heads, which she could barely distinguish with all those lights pointing at her, were her friends. She gulped.

There was a time when she wouldn’t have dared to show them this side of herself. Now, as she slowly grew confident in the skin of the woman she had transformed into—away from her father, and away from who she was supposed to be—she could finally let them see the parts of herself that she had deemed embarrassing or not useful enough.

That included her art.

As her long, pianist fingers flew over the keys, the lounge was filled with the most beautiful, melancholic notes. They spoke of heartbreak and loneliness in a way only music could, jumping right over words and straight into the soul.

Her brow creased slightly, focus written all over her face as tight, dark curls fell over her forehead. She was on the last notes of the melody, her heart thudding against her eardrums.

Before she knew it, it was over. She stood up, smoothing the flowy, silver fabric of her beaded dress. Finishing a concert was always bittersweet.

As they applauded, Kate took a bow. Chewing on her lower lip, she looked around. The venue was not exactly big, but it was crowded. For a solo debut at her young age, it was a win. She had put herself on the map. Her lips curled into a bright smile.

Turning around on her heel, Katerina disappeared behind the heavy velvet curtains.

Backstage, everything was full of life. Some of the workers approached her, congratulating her. Katerina smiled, shook hands, and accepted kisses on both cheeks. Yet, who she was really wishing to see was not them—but her friends.

They should be there any minute now, she guessed. She had instructed them to meet her there after the concert ended, after all. Katerina took a deep breath, sitting in front of the mirror. Unable to escape her own vanity, she stopped to check her makeup. As she reached for a lipstick, someone touched her shoulders.

Katerina turned around, just slightly, and then she saw them.

The smile she had been wearing up until that point spread across her face. She rose to her feet and grabbed the first friend she had within reach, pulling them into a tight hug.

“It’s been forever.” She pushed them away. “Thanks for coming.”

Rosie hadn't told him that Eira would be there.

His wife, Merlin and God and everyone else, bless her, had always had her own idealistic streak within her. People liked to say that he was the dreamer and that he sometimes struggled to include splash a bit of realism or temper his expectations. It wasn't a lie, and he wouldn't deny it. Where he could, Cassian liked to see what could be and allow it to motivate him toward those goals.

Rosie?

Oh, her ambitions...her ambitions were equally larger than life when she wanted them to be. Case in point, telling him about Kate's performance, getting him dressed to the nines for the elegant evening, his hair slicked back and his suit sharp, all while...forgetting crucial information. She'd mentioned to him that it might have been important for their friend to have them come and see her perform. Frankly, Cass didn't know Kate had that kind of talent. Not that he thought she was talentless; he'd just never thought that the once abrasive girl might be into something as delicate and whimsical as the piano. Colour him surprised; she was actually good enough to be in concert halls to the applause of a crowd.

What Rosie didn't tell him was who else would be there.

That 'who else' mattered, though not enough for him to ruin the night. In the end, it hadn't been hard to sit on the other side of Rosie and never make eye contact. The performers had done well; many of their performances both beguiled and enchanted him. There were scores he recognised through their use in some of the productions he'd taken part in. It hadn't taken much to forget once the show really got started, but when the house lights came back on and the crowds began to disperse, he was back to sharing his wife's attention with someone who wasn't meant to be there.

What a mature and understanding husband he was.

Approaching Kate, he could see for himself the excitement she held over seeing them again and could...concede that Rosie had been right on that account.

He left the girls to their physical reunion, hanging back with his hands loosely tucked into his pockets.

"Wouldn't have guessed that you had all that in you," he commented, praising the performance as it rightly deserved. "How long've you been practising?"

Must've taken a lot for her to become a featured performance in such a place. It was another testament to the fact that while he and Rosie had run off to start their lives, their friends had gone on living their own and had come out with the products of their own work.