Party Time?

The morning after Ember and Elric went to West's shop to pick out clothing for the party.

Peliston hadn't come back the previous day, so the duo ended up hanging out together. Neither of them had been to a similar party before, so much of their conversation revolved around what to expect.

According to West, it was a high-class party, and many rich and influential people would be attending.

It could be a great opportunity for Ember and Elric to make new connections and potentially advance in the singing/management spheres, but it could also cause some trouble.

They already had enemies in the space, and if someone like Nulstaya showed up, it could cause some conflict.

At the same time as potentially forming new connections, Elric still wanted to complete his mission of observing Ned.

After cooking some breakfast, Elric went over to his computer to try and look into things. There was no public guest list for the party, so all he could do was look into the rival clothing brand's company roster.

To help himself remember names and faces, he jotted down small characteristics of employees on his notepad.

"Elric, what time are we leaving? You said that the party was at 5, right?"

Elric scratched the back of his head with a bit of embarrassment.

"Yea, but we'll probably need to leave a little after two."

He gestured at his face, which was still a mess of bruises.

"West told me that he's got a good makeup artist who can fix this, at least for the party."

Ember nodded, and her concerned gaze traveled a bit further down, focusing on Elric's chest. He hadn't complained about any pain the entire time after leaving the hospital, but she could see him shifting around uncomfortably at times.

It would take weeks for his bruised ribs to heal, and that time would only increase if he was overly active.

"I'm fine, it's just a few bruises. My head feels fine, too. My concussion seems to be pretty mild."

Ember still looked a bit unhappy with him.

"No more fighting. I don't want to see you getting beat up like this again."

Elric waved his hand in the air.

"Sure, sure. I'll only fight if I need to."

Ember didn't look totally satisfied with his answer and walked over to his chair.

"You aren't supposed to be looking at screens right now. Even if you say your head feels fine, it's still bad! Come with me."

Pulling him out of her chair, Ember brought him out to the living room, then plopped him down in the center of the couch.

Immediately after seating him, she turned and walked away.

'??? What is she doing? I still need to learn more about Ned's company!'

Before he could stand up, Ember started coming back down the hallway, now carrying her guitar.

"I've been making a new song, I want to hear your opinion on it. I- It's only halfway done, though, so don't judge it too harshly!"

Sitting down in a recliner across the room from Elric, she carefully teased the strings of her guitar.

"I'm trying to make this song more of a calm one… I know it won't be great for concerts or live audiences, but this style feels cool, too!"

After taking a deep breath, she started strumming her guitar softly and singing at the same time.

Unlike her deeply emotional voice when she sang previously, now it was smooth and calming. Elric could still hear hints of her previous style, but this almost sounded like a nursery rhyme instead of her previous passionate performance.

She finished singing after only just over a minute, and when she went silent, Elric could plainly see the disappointment on her face.

"That wasn't very good. I don't really know how to fix it, though… I really want this calm feel at the start."

Elric nodded his head in agreement.

"It was pretty good, but I don't think having guitar alone can get the intended feel over. I also think it might be good to switch it up later in the song."

After glancing at his phone to check the time, Elric hopped to his feet.

"Let's go to the piano room, and try again. I'm not great, but I can play a piano piece if you write it for me. Let's see if it sounds better with that added in."

Entering the hallway, Elric led Ember to a closed door. After pushing it open, she was able to see a room lined with sound equipment. Everything looked well-taken care of, and not a spot of dust could be seen anywhere in the room.

Right in the center, there was a large grand piano with a microphone mount for singing. All of the open wall space had been covered in sound-dampening panels.

"Wow… this looks like a professional recording studio! I didn't know you had this here!"

Elric nodded, a bit of sadness on his face.

"It's never been used before. My parents were still working on building it when my mother passed away… Dad still continued working on it even afterward."

"Is it really okay for me to use it, then? I don't want to do something that might hurt your dad."

Elric shook his head.

"Nah, he'll be happy that it's finally getting some use. We've got a couple of hours, let's see if we can make something that sounds decent!"

After taking a seat at the piano, Elric pushed the microphone to the side until it was pointed at Ember, who was sitting just to the side, holding her guitar.

"I haven't played piano in a while, so I might be a bit rusty. I'll try not to ruin the song."

Ember didn't seem concerned and started playing the first few strings using her guitar. Elric hopped in, trying to improvise a piano part, but it all sounded off.

Realizing he likely wouldn't be much of a help, he paused his playing, waiting for Ember to finish playing.

After just a few seconds, she reached across Elric and tapped on a few piano notes, then nodded.

"Play that sequence a few times, I want to hear what it sounds like."

Elric followed her instructions, but she was still frowning when he finished.

"I've never tried playing with someone else before… but this is fun! We'll figure this out together!"

—

—

The time flew past as they worked, and Ember didn't even manage to get more than two dozen seconds into the song before they had to head out.

She looked a bit disappointed to be leaving behind the musical instruments. The creation of music was one of her true loves.

As the couple called for a cab to West's place, though, her heart started to flutter a bit.

'I'm going on a date with Elric! Will he like the dress I picked out? Will I look good enough to fit in? He said this is supposed to be a high-end place, and that I can make connections here… I'd almost rather just stay by his side, though…'

A few minutes later, a cab showed up outside, and the driver was familiar.