MUSIC IS IMPROPER FOR A YOUNG LADY

KEEP THE DEMONS AT BAY

[attr="class","next"] Victor stuck the pencil behind his ear as he looked down at the picture. Two butterflies that swirled around each other. One was beautiful, normal, delicate. The other? Well, the other had tattered wings and a broken spirit. Or at least, that was what he had been going for. His sketches always confused him. What could they possibly mean? Where did his strange fascination for butterflies come from?

He lifted his eyes at the sound of her sigh. “Victoria?” He asked, concerned about what was wrong with her. Their marriage was always so delicate — often he wondered what it had been that brought them together in the first place. They seemed from two different worlds, but he couldn’t remember a time without her. He couldn’t remember what life had been without his darling Mrs. Van Dort. They were supposed to be together…or at least, that was the way that Wonderland had decreed it.

She was upset about the piano. He could see it in her eyes; hear it in the way that she spoke. "Nothing is impossible." Slowly, Victor put down the sketch pad and pencil and stood, his tall and lanky frame suddenly taking up much more space than he had been before — huddled into the sitting room chair. His long fingertips brushed over the top of the piano before he sat down next to her. “I-I-I-It’s not just a thing.” He said, sucking in a deep breath as he looked up at her. She seemed more nervous thank usual, something that confused Victor. Why was she so worked up about this. “The piano is very much like a living, breathing human. You m-m-m-must treat it with respect.” He offered her a gentle smile before he played a simple chord on the keys. “Would you like me to show you, my wife?” The word, although belonging to her, oft felt strange on his lips.

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KEEP THE DEMONS AT BAY

[attr="class","next"] Victor’s fingertips were already on the piano, working their way through a few chord progressions before he looked up at her. His wife. His Victoria. The only woman that he had ever known. From the way that his parents acted, it had been a match of their own invention. Old money and new money — though Victor sincerely doubted that there was such distinction in Wonderland. Perhaps there was a monetary past that he knew nothing about. His chords became slightly more dark — moving into a minor key before he withdrew completely, ashamed that he was playing such a down-trodden song. His wife was supposed to make him happy, wasn’t she?

Victoria probably thought him acting strange. He looked up at her, this time returning her smile with a gentle one of his own that he forced to the surface. That was what he was supposed to do, wasn’t it? Calm her nerves? That was his duty as a husband. He nodded, as if reassuring himself before he straightened his back and began his little mini lesson.“Y-y-you were doing alright,” Victor said, as he slowly picked up her hand by her wrist and placed her fingertips back onto the piano.

His hand over top of hers, he gently pressed the pads of her fingers into the keys, one by one, acquainting her with what it should feel like. “It’s my favorite instrument, you know.” He said, absentmindedly as he guided her hands through a few progressions before his hand drew back.

“You have to f-f-f-feel it, you see?” He asked, looking over at her as he tried to figure out her mood. He wanted her to understand what he was feeling — perhaps music was the only way that he knew how to express himself. He seemed to have a rather difficult time actually voicing the way that he felt in a physical sense, but his music…his music took his emotions to new heights.

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