“Is something wrong, Samuel? Your heart doesn’t seem in it.”

“Ah, you noticed? Sorry, I’m just a little tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Your sister?”

Tammy nods, “we’ve slept with each other for as long as I can remember. It was really cold without her, and just… unpleasant.”

Catala’s face reflects a calm, big-sister-esq warmth. “When my brother had trouble falling asleep, I used to stroke his hair until he slipped off. If you’d like, I could try the same with you. I’ll wake you in a few hours, if you’d like.”

“Hmm.” Tammy grips his violin by the neck and lets both hands fall. It’s an interesting proposal, but there’s something off about the idea. Something rubs him the wrong way. “…Th-thank you, but no, I’m fine. I’ll just wait for-“

THWAM, THWAM, THWAM!

Three reverberating thrashes against the door that cause the doorknob and the hinges to rattle.

“Avi?” He drops his violin on the bed and rushes over.

Catala takes a deep breath, then exhales. A polite smile grows on her face. “Calm down, Catala. That brat is going to be annoying, but it’s fine. You don’t need to be friends with her, you just need to practice with Sedric-“ She clenches her jaw. “You just need to practice with Samuel, perform tonight, get feedback and experience. Before long, you’ll be performing in the grand orchestra. Then, once you’re free, there will be no shortage of work.”

Tammy opens the door with bright, wonderful eyes, “Avi!” He lunges forward and wraps his arms around her.

“Hey.” Her eyes are dull, she’s sweaty, and she gently wraps an arm around her husband.

“Where were you?”

“Bathroom,” she says with a slight strain in her voice.

“All night?”

“It was… a really bad time. You know how my body reacts when I eat the wrong thing.”

“Aaaah,” Tammy pulls back and communicates via strange gestures and facial expressions. The two are so close that they can convey their thoughts and feelings without dialogue, they’ve developed their own sign language. “[You weren’t actually in the bathroom, right?]”

“[Nope. I was working on a plot.]”

“[Plot?]”

“[Plot.]” She slides past Tammy and shuffles to the bed. Catala gives her a wave, but Avi disregards her.

“You’re all sweaty,” Tammy says. To Catala, it’s a reference about how it must have been a struggle in the bathroom, but Tammy’s real meaning is to ask what she was doing with her plot.

Avi reaches the bed and falls forward, making sure not to crush Tammy’s prized violin. Her face is against the mattress, and her voice is slightly muffled. “I had a goal, it took all night, but I finally achieved the… desired results.”

Catala’s face crumples in disgust. “Wait. She told that waitress to spit in my food, but when she was distracted, I switched our meals. What did they actually put in my soup? Was she trying to kill me?”

Tammy hops on the bed next to her and starts stroking her damp black hair, “aww, want me to rub your tummy?” He’s asking if she needs help with her plot.

“Yes, but you’re busy with the violin stuff and I don’t want to disturb you.” She’s saying she can handle it on her own.

“Alright. So should I leave the door open? Are you gonna sprint back to the bathroom at some point?” He wonders if her plot is finished, or if there’s more she needs to do.

“Nope,” there’s a dullness in her voice. All her energy is gone. “I’m gonna sleep, then I’m gonna watch you two play later tonight.” Her plot is finished; there’s nothing Tammy needs to worry about.

“Excellent.” He lifts his damp hand and dries it on her skirt, “though, do you want to take a shower first? I think we have some shampoo bottles still. Oh, right, and did you take our money?”

She nods, “right pocket.”

Tammy puts his hands on her hip, then struggles to push her to the side, twisting her enough that he can reach under her waistband and dig into the pocket sewn inside. He pulls the wad of money, then drops her back onto the bed. “What’d you need all this for anyway?” He bounces the ball in his hand.

Catala’s eyes round. That’s a shockingly large amount of money these two kids have.

“Toilet paper.”

“HA! You’re gross. Fine, don’t tell me.” He throws it across the room, aiming for his violin case, but he misses, and it bounces off the drawer. Catala’s eyes linger on the ball as it rolls to a stop. “Get some sleep, try not to be bothered by our practice. M’kay?”

“M’kay. Don’t be bothered by my snoring.”

He pats Avi’s back and walks around the bed, grabbing his violin. “You don’t snore, dummy.”

“I’m gonna start now. Add it to your music.”

Tammy smiles and returns to Catala’s side. “Ready to begin?”

She looks down at him. “Where… did you get so much money?”

“Inheritance. From our parents. They’re dead now, so don’t worry about it.”

Catala recoils slightly. Such a cute face shouldn’t say something like that so casually. “V-… Very well.” She clears her throat, and the two continue practicing.

Tammy is far more energetic. It had nothing to do with his lack of sleep, he just missed Avi and couldn’t perform his best without her.

The combination of his violin and her voice is wonderous, a perfect synergy as if the composer had the violin in mind when she wrote the piece. The two work well together, an expert musician and vocalist who can make minute adjustments on the fly to cover for the rare mistake of their partner. The song is slow, intimate, thoughtful, and a beautiful accompaniment for a bunch of rich nobles eating dinner.

Avi hasn’t fallen asleep yet. She mumbles softly into the mattress, “enjoy it while you can, girl. Your performance tonight is the last you’ll get.”

Catala hears this and her voice cracks for just a syllable. Tammy doesn’t hear Avi but adjusts his next note to give Catala time to recover.

“Is she… going to try and kill me? Does she think I messed with her dinner? Samuel doesn’t seem bothered, but he’s just a naïve little boy. Does he not know what his sister is capable of? Or maybe I’m overthinking it… No, I can’t think about this now. Once our performance is done, I’ll stay with Mr. Kracken. She can’t do anything to me while I’m with him.”