Chapter Text
Even with the late November chill in the air, there were plenty of people out in the markets around the Lower City. Devi felt her fingers twitch as she eyed all the trinkets laid out for people doing their holiday shopping; old instinct told her to pocket a few. But Jaheira was right there, and Devi swore her caseworker had eyes in the back of her head. And she didn’t want to disappoint the older woman, or get sent back to juvie. She settled for shoving her hands in her jacket pockets, following Jaheira around the market.
The familiar sound of a violin bow dancing across strings made her freeze. She spun around, her green eyes frantically looking through the crowd. It took a minute, but she finally saw the source of the sounds – a halfling, standing on a box, violin on his shoulder as he played. His case rested beside his sneaker-clad feet with a little paper sign welcoming tips.
Devi forgot about the rest of the market, and Jaheira, and the errands they were supposed to be running. Her entire world became that halfling with his violin and the songs he played. She recognised some as popular tavern drinking songs that she had known. Her foot unconsciously tapped in time to the songs as she listened, letting herself be swept away by the music. In her pockets, her fingers twitched again, making the shapes of chords. She felt a deep longing in her chest for an instrument of her own. It had been two entire years since her father had destroyed her own violin that Jehn had gotten for her…
The halfling stopped playing for a moment to give his fingers a rest, breaking the spell he had woven over Devi. She became aware of Jaheira standing beside her, patiently waiting. “He’s very good,” the older woman commented as she started rooting in her purse for her wallet. “You seemed to be enjoying it.”
Embarrassed, Devi shrugged. “He’s all right, I guess,” she mumbled, trying to hide her longing to be able to play again.
Jaheira had a knowing little smile on her face as she pulled a five dollar bill out of her wallet and approached the halfling, setting the money in his case. He smiled at her before setting his violin back on his shoulder, ready to resume playing. Devi made herself turn away, lest she do something stupid like beg to be able to play the violin, just for one song.
She fell into step beside Jaheira as her caseworker-turned-foster-mother led the way to a grocer selling fall produce. “Do you play any instruments?” Jaheira asked, her voice light and conversational. “I’ve heard you humming – I know you’re musically inclined.”
Devi hesitated for a moment. “I… knew how to play violin,” she finally admitted. “My brother’s friend taught me how, when I was a kid.”
“That’s a tricky instrument to learn,” Jaheira mused. “But if done right, it does sound beautiful. Do you still play?”
“No.” Devi kicked at a pebble by her feet. “My father found out and…” She trailed off, not wanting to remember how she had begged and pleaded for mercy, all in vain as Mehalon had destroyed her violin and made her watch. That had been the final straw to make Devi run away from home – without her music, she had no refuge from his abuse.
Jaheira hummed in understanding. “I see,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Devi shrugged. “‘s not a big deal. Didn’t matter anyway. I wasn’t much good.” That was a lie – she’d been damned good. But the lie came easier to her lips than the heart-wrenching truth that she had lost yet another part of her soul that day.
“‘Good’ doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does. If you enjoyed it and it made you happy to play, that’s important.”
That got another shrug from Devi. “I guess. But it doesn’t matter now. Can’t afford a new violin, even if I wanted to play again.” She shook her head, trying to move on from her longing for her instrument. “What vegetables did you want again? Some kinda squash?”
She didn’t see Jaheira’s thoughtful expression as the older woman watched her young charge.
“She seems to be finally settling in,” Jaheira commented as she sat in a gazebo in the Grove’s expansive, magically-temperate gardens with Halsin, a cup of coffee in her hand. From this vantage point, both druids could see Grove residents, including the youngest patient in Halsin’s care, moving through the garden, tending to the hardy plants that grew there.
Sipping his tea, Halsin nodded, watching the subject of their conversation play with Scratch. “She’s not as relaxed as I would like her to be,” he mused. “But you and I both know that it will take time for her to heal. I think she’s finally starting to accept that nobody here is going to assault her, least of all me.”
Jaheira nodded and settled back on her bench. “What does she like to do during her free time?”
Halsin frowned. “She’s restless. She drifts around, and doesn’t seem to settle on any one particular hobby for longer than a couple of days.” He took another sip of his tea and hummed in thought. “I did catch her picking up my guitar the other day and picking at the strings, but she spooked when she realised I was there. She hasn’t touched the guitar since – and that bothers me.”
“Oh?”
“She had a real smile on her face when she was picking at it,” Halsin admitted. “I’ve only ever seen her smile like that when she’s playing with Scratch. She needs some sort of musical outlet, but she says she doesn’t know how to play the piano, and she’s scared of my guitar… or rather, she’s probably scared of my potential reactions.”
“She has the heart of a musician,” Jaheira agreed. “Did she not tell you that she used to play violin?”
Halsin’s brows raised. “No, she didn’t mention that. What happened?”
“Her father happened,” Jaheira muttered, sipping her coffee. “You should have seen her when we heard a busker playing violin in the market last November. She was entranced. You could see the longing in her eyes, even when she tried to brush it off and act like it wasn’t a big deal.” She sighed and shook her head. “If a decent violin didn’t cost so much, I would have gotten one for her.”
“Hmmm.” Halsin contemplatively looked out to the garden, his hazel eyes following Devi as she threw Scratch’s ball for the dog to chase. “I might know a guy. Let me do some snooping. We’ll get her to smile and relax yet.”
Maybe three weeks later, Devi heard a gods-awful inhuman screech from the main lounge, one that made her ears want to bleed. Wincing, she made her way down the stairs to the source of the cacophony. “Who’s strangling a goose to make those noises?” she asked as she poked her head into the lounge. A moment later, she froze, her eyes going wide at the sight before her.
Sheepishly, Halsin set down the violin he’d been trying (and failing) to play. “I had had the thought that, since I’m decent with a guitar and a banjo, I could transfer those skills to a new instrument with ease. Alas, my plan doesn’t seem to have worked out. A violin seems to be a trickier instrument to master.”
“Where… where did you get that?” Devi breathed out, never taking her eyes from the violin on Halsin’s lap. She could feel her heart racing with desire for the instrument; she could practically feel her fingertips pressing into the strings already.
Halsin casually shrugged. “A friend of mine was selling it, and I’m not one to turn down a bargain.” He plucked at the strings; Devi winced again at how badly out-of-tune the instrument was. “He said it was in good shape, but I’m no expert with violins. I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t sound like this though.”
“It’s out of tune,” Devi mumbled before she could stop herself. Gods, this had to be a trap. Halsin must have found out about her father’s actions in destroying her old violin…
“Is it?” Halsin studied the instrument thoughtfully. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to tune this correctly, would you?”
“I…” Devi hesitated, then gasped as Halsin surprised her by holding the violin out to her. “I can’t…” she started to stammer. “I don’t…”
“You can’t make any worse noises than what I just did,” Halsin gently chuckled. “Go on, Devi. It won’t bite you, and neither will I.”
Fear constricted around Devi’s heart like a vice – she could hear her father’s voice in her memory, threatening to break all of her fingers if she ever touched another violin again. But… she wanted it. She wanted the instrument that Halsin was offering to her. Biting down her fear, she timidly reached out for the violin, and nearly burst into tears at the feeling of curved wood in her hands.
Her body still knew how to properly hold the instrument; she set the violin on her shoulder, her chin on the rest, her left hand instinctively coming up to hold the neck. She plucked the first string, winced, and started to carefully twist the knob to tighten the string again. Her teacher had always praised her sense of perfect pitch, and she remembered what a properly tuned violin was supposed to sound like.
Once the violin was tuned to her liking, Devi looked up at Halsin, and was surprised to see him offering her the bow, a little smile on his face. “Go on,” he encouraged her. “Tuning it is only the beginning. And I certainly don’t know how to play.”
With trembling fingers, Devi accepted the bow, and took a deep breath as she set it to the strings. Her first draw was a squeal that made both her and Halsin wince. Her second pull of the bow actually sounded like a proper note, as she remembered how to angle the bow and how much pressure to apply. Her third draw was a perfect A, then a C-sharp, then E.
Devi felt like she was home as her fingers moved over the strings, refamiliarising themselves with how to form notes and chords. She had needed this for years; she could feel a little part of her heart healing itself as she played a little song. She couldn’t see the strings anymore, with the tears filling her eyes and falling over her cheeks; she finally had to stop, lest she get her tears on the violin. With a sniffle, she swiped her hand over her eyes, and looked over at Halsin, expecting bland neutrality at best.
Instead, he was beaming from ear to pointed ear, pride in his eyes. “Very nice! You’re quite good with a violin.” He stood up from the couch. “Perhaps I should get you to teach me how to– oooof!” His words were lost in a grunt as Devi flew into his arms, clutching the violin like a lifeline as she buried her face in his chest.
A sob jerked its way out of Devi as she clung to Halsin, unable to fully express her gratitude for the precious violin. But she thought that maybe the big elf understood, when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in turn. “There you are,” he murmured. “It’s okay. Cry it out. Nobody here will take away your violin again.”
Devi finally pulled herself back from Halsin, wiping her eyes with her hoodie sleeve and sniffling. “Thank you,” she whispered, clinging to her precious violin.
“You are very welcome,” Halsin answered, setting his hands on Devi’s shoulders and gently squeezing. “I hope it brings you countless hours of happiness. Just keep it down during quiet hours.” He winked at his young charge before releasing her. “And there’s absolutely no pressure, but if you ever want a jam session, let me know and I’ll be delighted to play with you.”
There was a real, happy smile on Devi’s face as she watched Halsin take his leave of the lounge, leaving her in peace and quiet. She studied her new violin for a moment, then set it back on her shoulder and started playing the same melody she had heard in the market with Jaheira, months ago.