[googlefont=Charmonman:400][googlefont=Open Sans:400]

[attr="class","tits"]

[attr="class","imagez"]

[attr="class","title1"]So for a while things were cold

[attr="class","subtitle1"]They Got Scared Down In Their Holes

[attr="class","wordz"]
Raisa had never been much for musical instruments. Her father was fond of the oud, and Raisa had attempted to string some chords from it a few times when he hadn't been home. After all, it was his, it was expensive, and children were a grubby bunch, Raisa and her siblings included. Soraya wasn't bad at the flute, but none of the Shehzad children had inherited their father's love of music. Appreciation, perhaps, desire to learn anything past a few notes, absolutely not. It had only been the thrill of disobeying her parents that had brought younger Raisa to plucking at the strings.

It was far less exciting than she'd thought try would be, and Raisa had then decided it wasn't worth it, that she'd never play again. But being in such an alien country, such an alien place--

Raisa was no stranger to moving about. She was born in Iran and had a few fleeting dreamy memories, grew up in Egypt, then went to school in Uganda. She'd spent the next five years in Iraq, and then moved back to the country that felt like near a fairy-tale memory. This was the fifth country she'd lived in in her twenty-five years, the most foreign to her. At least in Uagadou, there were a few other Egyptian girls, and a few kids of Iranian diplomats. Here, there was. . .

She squinted, as if that would improve her vision, trying to find something similar to the instruments that he cluttered the house with. Not that she knew everything, of course, not, and there were several Western instruments she knew were common, but. . . well, shit. Maybe she really should have paid attention to her dad more when he talked about his favorites instead of just passing notes to her sisters.

[attr="class","tags1"]☆@open,297 words☆

[attr="class","credz1"]❤fai

[newclass=".tits"]background-color:#000;width:420px;border:1px #323232;border-style:solid;padding:10px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".imagez"]max-width:120px;max-height:120px;margin-right:240px;margin-top:25px;outline:2px grey double;padding:5px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".title1"]width:215px;font-family:Charmonman;border-bottom:5px double #323232;font-size:20px;text-align:center;color:#bdacd9;line-height:90%;padding-bottom:5px;margin-top:-110px;margin-left:150px;text-transform:none;[/newclass]
[newclass=".subtitle1"]width:175px;height:70px;overflow:auto;margin-top:8px;line-height:100%;padding:5px;text-align:center;font-size:12px;font-family:Open Sans;color:#bdacd9;margin-left:150px;padding-bottom:2px;text-transform:uppercase;[/newclass]
[newclass=".wordz"]text-align:justify;font-family:Georgia;font-size:11px;color:#dbdbdb;padding:10px;padding-top:15px;width:400px;letter-spacing:1px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".wordz b"]color:#bdacd9;font-size:12px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".tags1"]width:400px;font-size:11px;font-family:Georgia;color:white;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:3px;[/newclass]
[newclass=".credz1"]font-family:Oswald;text-align:right;width:420px;font-size:10px;[/newclass]

things were cold

The only souls go by

The stone black light

Music was not something that Ares was overly passionate about, but he knew that his nieces were. He knew that their mother had instilled a deep sense of musical appreciation in her daughters, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Pippa and Eve both didn’t end up with the same kind of musical abilities. Even if Pippa wasn’t a Wentzell by blood, he knew that Anička had claimed her as her own now, and Ares wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the girl had taken up an instrument. Whether it be one that her sisters already played, or one that was entirely unique to her, he didn’t know. But he had come in here with the intention of buying sheet music for all of them.

Christmas gifts, he supposed. And he was actually rather proud of himself for thinking about doing such things early in the season. It also solved the problem of Issa trying to figure out what to buy the girls. Ella, in particular. Ares didn’t know if his niece would even accept a gift from them. Perhaps, if it was given at a family function, she would have a harder time refusing it, but he figured that it was at least worth getting her a gift too. Cello music, for Ella. Violin pieces for Thea. Piano for Constance. Viola for Temperance. He thought perhaps he would have to ask Anička about what to get for Pippa. Or maybe he would ask Malcolm. That seemed like the safer route. His cousin’s husband had become a friend, and for that Ares was grateful.

Anička seemed to have reconciled with Issa, at least a little bit, but to him? He hadn’t had a conversation with his sister since spring, and she had gone back to being his cousin more so than his sister in his mind. It was a hard transition, but it was one that he thought that she wanted. She wanted the distance from him that being a Nott gave her. And he hadn’t needed to be able to read her mind to see that. That had been painfully obvious when she had gone to the meeting that Rodolphus Lestrange had called, no more than a week after his wife had forced Ares from office. Anička had gone, and she had sat between the Nott brothers. Her place as one of them, confirmed.

He didn’t hold it against her. He knew what he had done. And he knew how hard that would be for her to forgive. But he hadn’t hidden his choice from her either. He hadn’t lied. And that was something. Perhaps that was the only reason that she spoke to him at all… Today’s trip was not about his sister though, it was about her daughters. His nieces. He was getting gifts for his nieces.

Choosing a piece at random Ares flipped it over to see what critics had said about the sheet music held within when he realized that there was someone else in the same aisle. And that she looked a little lost. “I think the shop keeper headed to the back, if there’s something you’re looking for. There’s a bell on the counter.” He had seen it when he had come in, but he didn’t give it much thought, knowing what it was that he was after in the first place.

@ raisa • 560 • ares's outfit

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0