Of Sombreros and Men [Elyx]

It was a lovely morning in Talonia - the sort of mornings that only ever seemed to happen in fiction - and the busy city's residents were colorful as ever as they went about their business. Being that a great many mages tended to pass through or just hang around without the pressure of being allied with any faction in particular, the little city hardly ever seemed to lack for activity. There was fun and adventure to be had here for anyone that went out to seek it.

Of course, it went without saying that for some people, fun and trouble seemed to go hand in hand.

One such person, colorful in the most literal sense of the word, was Valerie. The young guildless mage loved all the sights and sounds Talonia had to offer. Walking through the city's crowded streets was never dull and she almost always ran into someone interesting. Granted, most of them were too baffled to make sense of her. But that didn't bother her in the slightest as it was something she found quite amusing.

As she didn't really have much to do until much later at night, Valerie decided it was a good time as any to go out on a walk. The park was an excellent place; being that it was very close by to cafe's and boutiques. On a day such as this a lot of people liked to relax and enjoy the plants or whatever it was they liked.

Once she had found a satisfactory spot with excellent lighting, Valerie called out her easel and painting supplies. This was easy to do as she could just summon whatever it was she had stored away in her pocket dimension. Of course, regular mages used this to store weapons and armor which they could use in combat. She had decided there wasn't a point in wasting such good storage space.

Armed with a paintbrush in one hand and a large, colorful sombrero in the other, she began to scan the area for an intriguing subject.

The Violinist was actually alone this time, a white Violin located in the grip of his left palm, this fist delicately choking the neck of the instrument while the right hand was not in a grip, but not loosely hanging either. It was holding the owners Violin bow, an item that was just as important as the instrument itself. He was walking through the town of Talonia, being a street performer there, he would be happy to play the music for the troubled town. Unfortunately, last time he was in this town, he ended up fighting for the right to keep his clothes on from a crazy, rude, yet interesting mage. The thought of it make him shutter at first, but then snicker, wondering where she was anyways. Regardless, at this point, he shouldn't think about her presence, she had quite the special way of being seen, like when he suddenly met her again in the woods, and this time, worked together.

The boy continued walking, looking for a less populated area, some people recognizing him and following him around, knowing what he was going to do. If he had to make a run for it, that might be what he would do. Sure, people liked the sound of music in their lives, and maybe the people in the town could have used it to help them live through their stressful lives, but if they make any attempts to become reliant on him and force him to stay, he might have to bail out. The boys time was precious, it was not such a good idea to let others take advantage.

Finally, the boy stepped up onto a bit of cobblestone steps, then smiled as he put his bow on the 3 string, A string. Finally, he began to play the instrument, eyes closed.

Valerie hadn't been searching for very long when something distracted her quite effectively. The gentle notes of a beautiful melody floated over to her on the wind, causing her amethyst colored eyes to seek out the source. After a few moments of searching, her attention came to rest on a young man who looked to be around her age. He seemed entirely absorbed in his music, eyes closed peacefully as his fingers expertly moved the bow across the violin strings in a complicated dance. Valerie glanced around to see that she wasn't the only one whose attention had been drawn to the violinist. It was entirely expected, of course. He did seem to be talented unlike most of the street performers that hung around the area.

I found my subject~

Moving her easel and painting supplies took very little time as she hadn't been that far away from his position to begin with. Satisfied that they were placed properly, she walked up to the violinist, her footsteps silent as she approached. Valerie had managed to startle many a person that way, standing a bit too close when they opened their eyes. She wondered if he was the type to scream like a girl. Or try to hit her with something.

Content to listen to the music while she waited, Valerie twirled her paintbrush between her fingers and studied his face. The absurd urge to paint a mustache on his upper lip arose, but she quelled it. For the moment. His music was far too beautiful to be worth interrupting. Perhaps there would be time later. He did seem like he could use a sombrero, though.

She often ended up offending people - musicians and singers in particular - because she tended to be extremely blunt and most of them sounded less than ideal. Musicians were a sensitive lot.

The boy was spinning around happily as he played the Violin, dancing along with the crowd, who seemed to be enjoying the music just the same. It was a beautiful experience, and the feeling him was great as he were to do this. Some people tossed bags of jewels to him for his performance, but he left those jewels alone. He did this work for free, despite him being classified as a dark mage due to him being in a Neutral Guild, he was determined to show the world that his alignment was with the light, and that he just would rather not abide by such stupid rules. The boy was happy to please the crowd, some even clap, some whistled, it was like a party, which probably was something they never had without theirs being ruined in the end. Eventually, the piece was coming to its end, it's beautiful dance-like end. The boy was finally done, and with a bow, many people began to clap for him before he walked back to take a small break, away from the crowd a little to have a small moment to take five. A smile was on his face, the people of the town were happy, and so was he. Hopefully they didn't mind him taking a break, he didn't have time to warm up, so he needed to make sure to stretch so he didn't pull a muscle while dancing like he did before. The Violin was still in his hand, and he was away from the sight of the crowd, he had five minutes before they begin to leave, then they would miss out on his performance, or the rest of it rather.

Those gathered around to listen to the unexpectedly enjoyable performance began to toss jewels at the musician's feet and cheer him on. The jubilant mood of the audience seemed to be contagious and soon, the violinist joined in as well. Everyone gathered seemed to be having a good time. They tapped their feet in time with the beat and some even began to dance, laughing among themselves. It seemed like a tiny piece of a street fair was unfolding right in that very spot.

A bubble of annoyance made itself known as a sigh since Valerie simply wanted to listen to the music - not the additional noises that had come with it. Still, the girl was never one to waste an opportunity. And opportunity had presented itself in the form of an oblivious crowd.

Without further ado, the paintbrush and sombrero in her hands vanished back into their dimension for the moment. They could always be called back later. The hint of a smirk pulled at her lips as she began her own dance through the crowd, twirling lightly on her toes as her quick fingers divested the people of their wallets and other valuables. Unlike one would expect though, she didn't want the money or any of the items she acquired. That would be far too predictable and dull for the lilac haired girl. Before any of them could notice, she switched up the items and placed them back into the pockets of random people, her feather light touches far too skilled to alert anyone of her actions.

Oh hey, I have my own background music.

She finished just in time for the song to end and grinned. That had been perfectly timed, even if she did think so herself. The crowd slowly began to disperse and go back to their business albeit in a better mood than they had been before. It seemed that the violinist was taking a short break. The sombrero reappeared in her hands and Valerie closed the distance between herself and the guy, plopping the large hat onto his head.

"Here, you could definitely do with this." Was what she said by way of explanation. After quickly eyeing him; or rather the hat, she smiled as if she approved. "It suits you! That was an excellent performance, by the way."

The Wind flow around him felt a little bit odd. Due to one of his abilities, he could sense the movement of wind from up to 15 meters away, this being used to make sure he can see all sorts of attacks coming, provided that he mixed that with his heavily enhanced awareness. But this time, since he was in a town, he just ignored the feeling and continued to walk. And just for that, he ended up feeling a rather light item placed on top of his head, causing his light brown eyes to look upwards in confusion. Hm? Elyx questioned before turning his body around to face the newcomer behind him. A girl, who seemed just a little bit younger than he was. HEr magic flow however was not the same at all, it was almost laughable. But since he had just met her, he decided to be respectful until he knew he was allowed to poke fun at her. Clothes that had colors that were not exactly designed to back each other up, it seemed she was oblivious to the current times. The boy tilted his head to the side to let the hat fall into his left palm, then caught it. Er... What is this? And thanks! I'm glad you like it, though I personally think this is the most interesting way of showing appreciation for the music. Elyx explained as he then placed his palm on her head, then gave it a little ruffle for fun before looking down at the gift. It was rather colorful, maybe it could be something worn in a party or special event. Anything that was not like the Grand Ball, and he could wear it for fun. Or... Maybe he could prank Iza...

The guy seemed to like the hat, which was of course a bonus. Though ultimately it would have mattered very little to Valerie. She smiled once again as he gently ruffled her hair a bit and turned away to go back to her easel which she had already placed nearby. Tilting it around a little to face him, she looked back at the guy for a few seconds before beginning to paint. Valerie had a near photographic memory and as such had no trouble painting subjects as they were.

"You know, you should strike a silly pose or something. That'd make this so much better."

Of course, what she hadn't said was that she would probably draw him in such a pose, regardless of whether or not he actually did so.

Valerie hummed softly to herself and began to paint with quick, precise strokes of her brush, furrowing her brows slightly in concentration. Painting was something she loved to do and it clearly showed on her face and in her mannerisms to anyone watching.

"I'm Vale. What's your name?"

A pose? The boy asked with his eyes opened and his head tilted to the side, but just in a questioning way. It wouldn't be a bad idea, though he was not exactly in the mood to be doing stupid things quite yet. Elyx was a mellow one most of the time, despite him having many triggers. Many mages tend to set off those triggers, this person in front of him might be able to do it if she just so happen to find out what it is. Last he could recall having any of his buttons slammed on was with... Izayuki. Many things certainly made him laugh, and even more so were able to make him chuckle. Like how he noticed a giant paintbrush in the girls hand, as she then began to paint onto a paper, which he was unable to see. That sparked his interest, painting was another way to be creative. Like his music, except there was not really much of a template that he girl had to stick to. Not really many people would set themselves to a certain standard while in music, most people would believe only one thing could be classical, one thing could be electronic, one thing could be pop, and anything within those lines. She then introduced herself to him, nicely, so he had no reason to turn his back on her. In fact, he put out his right palm so that he could shake it with hers, the Violin dropping in the process. It shattered to pieces of light once it hit the ground, the instrument pieces returning back into his knapsack and reform the Violin. My name is Elyx Reiaki, it is a pleasure to meet you Vale. The boy explained before putting his left hand over his stomach, then softly bowing his head forward. It was just proper for one to do that, especially a Violinist.

Elyx; as Vale would later come to learn it to be his name, seemed a bit puzzled by her comment about posing. Though to be fair on him, strangers suddenly asking him to do so would undoubtedly seem unexpected and an odd request. As he returned her greeting with a handshake, he dropped the violin he had been carrying only moments prior. The action caused Valerie to furrow her brows in confusion for a second or two - as a talented musician such as Elyx wasn't likely to so carelessly drop his violin.

The instrument in question shattered into little pieces of light upon impact and then disappeared into the small knapsack he carried. It cleared up her slight confusion without any words needing to be said as the violin was obviously of magical nature.

"You're a mage, then." The girl stated, thinking out loud more than actually conversing.

She did know of mages who were able to create magical constructs and had heard of music being a key factor in some types of magic, as were other forms of art. Though she had yet to experience it, of course. Paintbrush dancing across the canvas at incredibly fast speed, she took her eyes off the work currently in progress for favor of glancing at Elyx once again.

"Is it fun being a magical musician? You did look like you were enjoying yourself - at least during the small performance earlier." She asked curiously.

Valerie knew how much fun she had while painting - though hers wasn't magically induced. She had chosen ReQuip as her magic and was perfectly happy with it.