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Hetrix took deep breaths. Deep breaths…Calm yourself. You won’t be able to concentrate if you can’t calm yourself.
Hetrix always made sure that his performances were perfectly planned, at least as perfect as was in his control.
Everything simply had to be done perfectly, after all. What room was there for a failure? And god forbid any instruments were kept dirty. Hetrix would thoroughly clean the entire auditorium if it came to that.
He supposed he could be a bit of a clean freak at times.
Today specifically, he came to the auditorium earlier than usual. He practiced for longer than anyone else. He was still practicing right now, in fact.
The performance was scheduled for 8pm sharp, where the stage would be wonderfully lit and the audience would be able to enjoy classical music played as the night sky outside grew so dark it could swallow everyone there whole.
And in that audience, would be a beautiful man whom always carried around a red fan.
It was only natural Hetrix would want to make this the best performance yet.
If he failed this performance, not only would he fail himself, but he’d fail Maneki by giving him a bad show. Hetrix could not afford for such a thing to happen.
So, he practiced. Played the same notes on his violin until he could swear he could do it from muscle memory alone. He let the music fill his soul as he tried to ignore every other doubt in his mind.
Mistakes were unacceptable here.
~🎼🪭
The night was colder than usual. Then again, it was winter.
Hetrix watched the clock with a level of intensity unheard of before.
7:00pm.
The rest of the ensemble had come in by now, all of them playing their respective instruments and getting dressed accordingly.
Hetrix was also making sure everything was in place.
He had made sure his suit had not one ruffle or loose button, not one strand of hair was out of place.
Hetrix huffed as he gently picked up his violin again, getting ready to practice one more time.
It wouldn’t be long until the audience members would arrive, not long until every light but the one in the auditorium became dim, not long until he’d see Maneki’s eyes on him again.
Time ran much more quickly than he anticipated, however.
Before Hetrix knew it, he could see people entering and getting seated as they waited for the show to begin.
Somehow, this made Hetrix become more nervous. Not that he wasn’t used to an audience, just he felt this time was different.
What if he messed up?
What if Maneki didn’t show up?
Hetrix played the violin faster, trying to drown the thoughts out.
“Excuse me,”
”Eh?”
Hetrix felt his body twitch from someone tapping his shoulder unexpectedly.
”We’re on in five.”
“Noted, thank you.”
Hetrix spoke, quickly getting into position.
The curtains raised, revealing a bunch of eyes from people who wanted to hear them play. In the front, was the one person Hetrix would do anything for.