RP:Jar of Hearts

Part of the Do You Believe In Magic? Arc

Summary: The drama llama has returned! Poor Khitti. Poor Brand. Will they ever get over this nonsense? Will Brand ever admit his feelings for Khitti? Will Khitti ever realize that maybe she -shouldn't- be in love with that jerkface? Find out next time on 'As The Jar Sits On The Shelf: Dragon Cave Edition'.

Raiez's Cave (Dead End)

A crumpled paper ball hits you in the head.

Neither of your jarmates is looking at you, but your first guess for who threw it is probably the correct one.

Upon further inspection, it appears to be an endpaper torn off one of the books here and scrawled on with what looks like graphite. Should you choose to open it up and lay it flat, it becomes apparent that all of one side and most of the other is covered in these furious scribbles of various sizes -- most of the page is words written and then drawn over so thoroughly that there is no hope of ever discerning what was said. Near the bottom of one side you discover a few unmarred words, laid out in small, rigid handwriting:

--

Sometime, I’ll find a way to make you understand. When we’re alone.

Assuming we ever get a moment to ourselves again.

Khitti didn't touch the scrap of paper for some time. She knew exactly who it had come from, and even now a few days after the incident with Brand did she continue to sit near the other redhead--unless Dominic was the one that was out and about that is. After what seems like forever, she shuts her book and eyes the paper ball that had hit her head. Eventually, she'd open it up, look over all the indecipherable scribbles, and come across the small amount of writing that was there. A frown would appear as she pushed herself up off the ground, moving then to stand in front of Brand. The vampiress didn't look directly at him, but kept her gaze elsewhere as she said flatly, "I made a mistake. A very big mistake. One zhat I don't intend to let slip again. So, let it go." Conceal. Don't feel. That was to be Khitti's motto with Brand from now on.

Brand sat cross-legged with his back to the jar and an open book in his lap, trying very hard to not look interested in Khitti’s reaction to the note. Only when she stood before him did he look directly at her, squinting emerald eyes studying hers even when she dodged the return glance. Her words were met with a tense silence for just long enough to start becoming awkward; at last he sucked in air through his teeth, muttered a simple, “alright,” and went back to staring a hole into the pages at his fingertips.

Khitti shifted her gaze towards him only after he looks back at the book, that frown reappearing, but only briefly. The hurt in her heart mirrored in her gaze as she watched him, heard that muttering, and then she turned her back to him. Her hands curl into fists as she stands there, staring at the floor now, "You vere right, zhough. I von't ever understand you. You're so stupidly secretive. But, I guess both of you are, aren't you?" It's then that she goes to find another spot to sit by herself, away from either of her cellmates.

“Secretive? I prefer ‘private’.” Brand was calling out after her, though he was still glued to the book. “And what’s the kid got to do with this?” A beat; he briefly made eye contact before dropping it again. “You leave him out of this. He’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

Khitti scoffs loudly, sneering at him, "Oh, so now you protect him. Don't call him 'kid'. He's not a damned kid." She opens up her own book, staring at it angrily. "And zhat's not 'private'. People tell other people private zhings vhen zhey trust zhem. You just keep telling me I von't understand. I may have grown up in some backwater, mountain town, but I'm not an idiot, Brand. You von't -let- me understand. Zhere's a difference. Unless, I guess, it -is- the former and you just don't trust me. At least if you told me zhat, I'd leave you zhe hell alone. I'd never interact vith you. Never speak to you. Never spar vith you. I'm sure zhat's exactly vhat you vant."

Brand’s eyebrows quirked in surprise quickly tailed by frustration. “ ‘Won’t let you understand’? What did I -just- say?!” He gestured to the crumpled paper before throwing his hands up, shaking his head, and turning his attention once more to his book. “Forget it,” he said to its pages, which at this point were listening about as well or better than Khitti was. Gorram unreasonable woman. Gorram… people. No one ever listened. “I dunno why I bothered.” He wagged a finger at Khitti. “I mean it, though. Kid’s got no fault with you. You leave him outta this. Your beef’s with me.” He turned a page as noisily as possible and resumed staring holes into a new paragraph. Who knew if he was actually absorbing any of it.

Khitti picked up another book from nearby and threw it like a frisbee at Brand's head. "You damned idiot. Do you really zhink ve're getting out here?" Her voice's tone steadily rose, angered now much like he was. "Ve're never getting out of here." A hand motions to the bitey one, "She's probably zhe most powerful out of all of us and even she got caught. You might as vell just say it. Say vhat zhe hell is on your mind. I -tried- and got shut down. Please, gods, tell me, so I can do zhe same to you so you can feel vhat I felt. You might as vell had ripped my heart from my chest and set it aflame. I'm sure zhat vould've hurt a lot less." Welp, there wasn't going to be any reading today. She shuts her book and drops it to the ground, pushes herself up and starts her pacing again. The vampiress mutters under her breath as she walks, pulling her hood up over her head to hide her extremely upset expression. "Gods' damned idiot...Raiez needs to put me in another jar..."

Brand winced but otherwise did not move to care for the impact of book to brain. “That wasn’t my intention,” he said, quietly. Sincerely? Who knew. He wouldn’t be so quick to change his ‘private’ ways. The man watched Khitti pace for a bit but said nothing further before slumping a bit down the wall and resuming his reading. Well, if going over the same sentence seventeen times before moving on to the next still counted as ‘reading’ anything.

Khitti's worn boots stomped about angrily as she continued her pacing, "'Not your intention'. Yeah. Okay. You zhink I'm going to believe zhat? I'm just going to assume from here on out zhat everything you tell me is a lie." Her gait slows a bit, but doesn't stop entirely as she folds her arms over her chest. Luckily for her, that hood hide her face. It was entirely easy to adopt that malicious tone of hers, but her eyes told a different story. A sad one. Eyes are the windows to the soul and all that jazz, you know. To put it simply: she was still quite heartbroken and being stuck in here with him only made things worse on her end.

Brand drew a hand over his face, rubbing across his eyes and at his temples. He looked as if he’d suddenly become quite weary. “Y’know, I can’t help but observe the way your words and wants conflict. You want me to tell you things and then say you wouldn’t believe me anyway. You want me to ‘let it go’, but you’re still talkin’, arentcha?” A glimmer of a smirk curled his lips before disappearing again. Dammit, Brand -- this is hardly the time for teasing. She’s peeved enough as it is. The man heaved a sigh and turned for a view of anywhere else. “Eh. I get it, though.”

Khitti suddenly stopped, but didn't look at him. Beneath that hood of hers, she fought tears again; it seemed to be the way of things lately when it came to KhittiBrand. "Do you get it, Brand?" Her hands shift into fists again, her nails biting at the flesh of her palms. "Vhy did you even bother to give me zhat note? Vhy bother speaking to me? Vhy are you even out here? Do you like to see me in pain? Vhy don't you just sit locked away in zhe back of Dominic's mind? You can be private zhere. You can keep your secrets to yourself zhere." She inhales deeply, then lets out the unnecessary breath in a heavy sigh. "Every reminder of my stupid mistake is more painful zhan my change to a vampire. It mirrors zhat of zhose experiments zhat brought Amarrah to me. You..." Her fists clench tighter, nails digging deeper into her skin. "Y-you could never 'get it'." Her shaky voice makes it a little more evident that she might be more than just angry underneath that hood.

“Okay, now you’re just being melodramatic.” Brand rose to stand in the way of Khitti’s path. His tone was thoroughly exasperated. “You think you’re the first person to ever get turned down?” He scoffed. “Please. An’ anyway, I’m doin’ you a favor. I’d be terrible for you. For anyone. Isn’t this evidence enough?” Brand gestured between them with a huff. “You stick with just the one bonkers thing runnin’ around in this head and hope that doesn’t implode in your face so fantastically.” His rant exhausted now, Brand snapped his mouth shut into a frown and looked sidelong at their unwanted third wheel. Seven hells. He hadn’t meant to even say -that- much with company around.

Khitti kept her head lowered somewhat, not letting him see her face beneath. These stupid emotions were getting the better of her again and she tired of it. This constant flurry of anger and sadness was going to drive her mad--if being stuck in this jar wasn't going to do it first, that is. "Just..." Just...what? What was there to say? He was probably right. "J-just..." Still no other words came to her and she'd eventually just give up on saying anything at all. There wasn't much of a point in arguing with him, was there? There'd be no witty comebacks or quarreling. Khitti sidesteps to the left of Brand, then pushes past him to look out the jar. She was at the point that she'd probably sell her soul to whomever it took to get her out of this prison so she could actually escape Brand and those awful feelings he brought with him.

Brand watched her go, contemplating her backside. She really was a pretty thi-- no. Stop. Godsdamned brain. None of that, now. In only a few steps he’d closed the gap again and come to stand at her side, his far hand braced against the glass. He was facing outward, but after a time began eyeing her in the peripheral. Eh, frak it. Let that other vampiress hear whatever she was going to hear. Not like he’d ever run into that pointy-eared bastard again if they made it out of here -- no, not if… when. Definitely when. Right? Oh, now his brain was -really- going off topic. Anyway, just because she’d overhear didn’t mean he had to make it easy; his tone was as hushed as he could make it. “For whatever it’s worth, lass… I’d not’ve teased you so much if I’d realized.” Was that actually something hazily approximating an apology? Nah. Couldn’t be. Brand doesn’t apologize, and he -definitely- doesn’t acknowledge emotions that aren’t anger. The definitely-not-apologizing man rapped his knuckles on the glass in a restless rhythm and looked away from her again. “I dunno. Whatever. Too much time in my own head in here. Dunno what’s worse, killing time in my mind or watchin’ his.” He tapped on his head to indicate Dominic and then went back to drumming on the glass.

Khitti took his words with a fistful of salt; the grain alone wasn't enough. She placed her own hand against the glass near to his, staring longingly outside, though she didn't share in his rhythmic tapping. "Zhis is vhy I told you guys to just go away. Zhis head of mine...is so screwed up." The vampiress laughs softly, albeit sadly, "To zhink zhat you loved me too just because Dominic does. Zhat's so stupid. You're two completely different people." She rests her forehead against the glass, continuing her thought, "I'm sorry. I'm an idiot." Her mouth remains open to say something more, but nothing else comes out and she gives up, letting the sincerity of her words hang on the air.

Brand punched the wall and promptly worked it into his rhythm. Totally just another part of his antsy routine -- nothing to see here. “Yep,” Brand said coolly, giving the jar another few taps before flipping around and leaning against it, arms folded. “Totally different. Pretty much.” He scrutinized what little he could see of her expression for just a little too long before looking away. “Isn’t stupid, though. Just… inconvenient.”

"I guess." Her hand slide down the glass and fell to her side, but she didn't turn around like he did. She didn't argue with him at all, that bit of fire she had dying out again. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why didn't he love her like Dominic did, if they were in fact the same person? Why did she care? And why the hell did it hurt so much to be rejected by Brand of all people? Khitti keeps her forehead pressed against the side of the jar for some time until she finally turned away. At this point, she really needed a hug and definitely looked that way too, but she wasn't about to ask Brand for that. Instead, she moves to where she had left the violin Raiez had returned to her, eyeing it in silence as she sat beside it. Idly, her right hand plucks at the strings, though she doesn't actually pick it up to play it just yet.

Brand was hit by a pang of guilt. Yeah, apparently he was capable of such a thing. His line of sight trailed her and he started his drumming again, fingertips of one hand against the inside of the opposite elbow. Being cooped up in this jar was doing funny things to him. Maybe that was all this was. And then some day he’d find a way to break out -- screw Khitti’s hopelessness; he was sure he’d find a way eventually -- and they could forget all this and go back to… whatever it was they were before. This weirdness they’d created now was something he was unsure how to handle, and perhaps it showed: he said nothing further. No jokes at her expense, no pessimism or scathing sarcasm. He just drummed and chewed thoughtfully on the inside of a cheek.

After awhile of idle plucking, Khitti finally picks up the violin. Despite her initial reaction when Raiez gave it to her, she'd been hesitant since then. I mean, how would you act if you found out that the violin that belonged to your sister her entire short life also belonged to the very person that kidnapped you? That hesitation was still there, lingering as she inspected the instrument. Finally, the bow is retrieved as well, and the only song she knew performed. That song, however happy and lighthearted it was meant to have been before now was a hauntingly, sad thing. It had never sounded the same afterwards when she played it on the violin she'd found in Larewen's house. There was something different. But now as she played every note without the need of sheet music, the sound was ethereal. It was almost like magic, and perhaps it was, but it wasn't something that'd occur to Khitti. The music was enough to even give the bitey one pause from her training; whatever radiated from the violin as Khitti played had that same strange pull that dark ranger's magic did during their meeting outside the Frostmaw gates. Whatever it was, the effect didn't last long and nothing seemed to come of it, for the much taller, older redhead was soon back to her training. Regardless of all of this, it was clear that Khitti played it with every ounce of her heart and soul and poured it all into Lydia's violin.

As her song reached its conclusion, Brand drew near and came to a seat by Khitti. Not too near -- just close enough that if he leaned over and stretched, he might be able to brush against an arm. “Y’know,” he said hesitantly, regarding her from the corner of one eye, “believe it or not, I can actually be wrong sometimes.” A lopsided smile joined the sideways gaze. “She… -was- real, wasn’t she?” Brand followed up with a nod towards the violin, though it was likely obvious enough without the gesture who he was referring to.

When he sat down, she tensed up a bit, then scooted a few inches away from Brand, maintaining a respectful enough distance between the two of them. Confusion was written clearly on her features and she wiped it off as quickly as possible, but not soon enough before he'd see it. Khitti didn't make eye contact with the human that had come to be one of her close friends, despite their constant bickering, a nod given in answer to his question. "Yes." She hesitates, cradling the instrument somewhat. "It had to have been..." Another pause. "Did she say anything else? Besides vhere I might be or about zhe song? Vas she okay? I mean, besides being dead, I guess? Vhat did she look like?" The questions spilled from her mouth as quickly as those insults she usually flung in Brand's direction.

Brand’s brows furrowed, and he looked off into the distance as though that would help him more easily recall. “She said… she said…” And then he remembered. She’d called him out. She’d seen that there was… something there, between him and Khitti. He pushed the thought back out of his mind. “She called me ‘kiwi’,” he grumbled, expression souring. “I dunno. She said a lot of things. She looked a lot like you, though I s’pose that’s obvious. Well, no, first she looked like a little girl, and then…” Brand shook his head incredulously. He was still grappling against his skepticism. “She seemed… well enough, I guess? For a ghost or whatever.” He recalled the look she’d thrown behind her before she’d vanished and thought better than to speak of it.

Khitti blinked. She blinked a few times. "S-she called you 'kiwi'?" She stifled a bit of giggling, the first Brand had heard in quite some time. "Ha ha, zhat sounds like Lydia. She vas as mouthy as me." A grin was allowed to be shown, but only briefly. "Spirits can be tricksters, from vhat I've seen and she -is- my sister, so does it really surprise you zhat she'd do something like zhat?" The vampiress sensed his hesitation, but didn't press him, her lips pursed together in thought.

A hint of amusement crept onto Brand’s face. “No, I can certainly see the relation.” He examined one hand, flexing and relaxing the muscles, turning it and twisting it one way and the other. Something to look at that wasn’t Khitti. “But she was serene, almost. When she wasn’t too busy being sassy.” A miniscule flame appeared to dance across his fingers, not unlike the idle trick of rolling a coin across one’s knuckles. He cracked them and moved on to scrutinizing his other hand. “Khitti. ...There’s no way this is gonna go back to how it was, is there?” It was more statement of fact than question. Eyes always on the flame, never on her.

Khitti gently traced the engraved designs on the face of the violin, nodding along as he spoke. "Lydia vas always zhe more level-headed one. She put up vith so much of my nonsense and zhe vild child zhat I vas. I guess I never did grow out of zhat. I'm still just a teenager stuck in a thirty year old's body. I know I had more of a childhood zhan Dominic, but in some vay, I zhink having just a taste of a normal life is much vorse." Her line of sight trailed to the flame as it danced along his digits, brows furrowing somewhat. Even though she knew he'd never use it on her--at least, she hoped he wouldn't--it still made her nervous. "Nothing's changed, Brand. I'm just a silly girl vith a stupid crush. It'll either fade or it von't. Regardless, it'll be dealt vith. You're still my friend, I hope." She lets out a sigh, continuing her thought, "Not being able to leave here and have my alone time is really messing vith my head. I-I don't know how I should feel about Dominic either. He's being so supportive...and all I feel is awful. I don't know vhat I vas zhinking." She didn't really expect much of a response from him, as he'd made it clear multiple times that thinking on such in-depth things wasn't really his forte, but...it was nice to vent at least.

An eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly upward at that word. ‘Friend.’ Huh. A jerkface like Brand can acquire friends? Apparently so. Does he even know how to be one? Probably not. Brand blinked at her a few times before turning back to his precious fire. “Like I said. I don’t hate you.” Practically his mantra these last few days. “And you and the kid are still…” He waved his hand vaguely as if to express ‘whatever the hell it is you are’. The flame briefly dimmed as he moved. “Guess that means you’re stuck with me, even if we get un-stuck from this damned jar.” He flashed her his usual smirk and juggled the fire to a resting place between thumb and forefinger.

Khitti stared absently at the flame, even as he spoke, gestured, and looked at her. Fire seemed to be all around her now; she was more conscious of it, of what it could do, of the destruction it could cause. Khitti, in more ways than one, was a literal moth to the flame. These feelings she had for Brand might as well have been burning her alive. And then there was the physical aspect of the fire itself: no longer could she go near such a thing. While before it might've burned her before, caused her however much pain depending on the size of the flame, now there would be nothing of her. Now, she'd become naught but ash in an instant. "Yeah, I guess." was said distractedly, a hand reaching out to touch the flame. Just one touch. Just a tiny pinprick of the tip of that flame and she'd be gone. No more failure. No more pining over unrequited love. No more mucking up Dominic's life anymore than she had. No more being stuck in this jar. And, to top it all off, she could see Lydia. She might've fed recently, but that hadn't helped things as much as one would expect. The vampiress was still in this prison and now she was reaching the point of wanting to get out by any means necessary to escape this living hell and her stupid thoughts.

It would be almost impossible for Brand to interpret Khitti’s outstretched arm any more incorrectly than he did. After a second or two of puzzled staring, the flame blinked out and Brand reached out as well. Coarse fingers wrapped around her hand and gave it a single squeeze before releasing again; his hand went to his lap and he looked away. He was… trying to be reassuring? “Hmph. Don’t expect to make a habit of it, mmkay lass?” Well, as reassuring as Brand could ever manage, anyway.

The train that was swiftly going along Khitti's one-track mind to instant suicide was quickly derailed and landed in a ravine, effectively killing all of the thought passengers aboard as Brand grabbed her hand. Her emerald eyes widened considerably as she stared at their joined hands for that split second that they were together. "W-wha...?" Once he let go, she quickly reeled her hand back, returning it to where it had sat on top of the violin. "N-no! Gods' no. Zhat's not vhat I vas..." But what had she been doing? Well, -she- knew what she had intended. "I vas..." She doesn't finish the sentence, instead retreating back into her mind; whatever look of embarrassment and terror was wiped away to something more neutral and introspective.

Brand just raised a single, skeptical eyebrow. “If you say so.” Had he thought she was looking for affection and shown her some anyway? Nuh uh. Couldn’t be. Don’t think about it too hard. He certainly wasn’t going to. Brand cleared his throat and looked away again. “Y’know, even out of practice, you’re pretty gorram good at that.” He gestured to the violin, still looking not quite at her. “Maybe you could become a bard or somethin’.”

Khitti stared at her hand as he spoke, her slender fingers taking to drumming along on the wood of the violin, her painted nails clicking against the instrument. Why did he so willingly grab her hand? These mixed signals were going to be the death of her--if that fire of his wasn't, anyway. "Hm? No." It took her some time before she finally responded, distracted as she was still, bewildered by him as usual, "Bards need to know how to play more zhan one song...and probably sing too. I haven't actually attempted singing in years, but I'm sure I'd sound like a cat getting skinned alive." Well, that's not true and she knew it. But, she certainly wasn't going to reveal to Brand that she'd somehow been enchanted and sung and danced in front of nearly the entire town of Xalious. Though, of course, she didn't know that Lydia had also mentioned that to Dominic in the beginning. "I guess zhere vas a book of music sheets in zhat stack Raiez left me but..." The vampiress shrugs, as if to say 'I don't know'.

Brand echoed her shrug. “You got anythin’ better to do in here? Frak, if I thought there was room in here I’d prob’ly be demanding we spar.” He flicked his little orb of flame on and off again. Like flipping a light switch. Do they have any form of light switches in Lithrydel? They do now. It’s totally canon. “It would be somethin’ productive for if we ever got outta here. And you,” he added, staring pointedly at her, “seem like you could stand to blow off some steam.” He jerked his head towards their jarmate. “Maybe we even get pointy-ears over there involved. I think we might have a fair shake… two against one.”

Khitti blinked at him as he stared at her, eyeing that look he was giving her and then shifting her attention back towards that flame that flicked on and off repeatedly. "No, I need to get very far away from -you-." She looks towards the bitey one then, finally registering that last bit he said. "I don't know. I don't zhink I'd be much help against her. I failed horribly against your lightning. Hers is...much much stronger. You didn't see the lightshow she'd make every night and day in her own jar before she broke it."

Brand’s mouth drew into a thin line. Grunting, he pulled himself to his feet and took a few paces away. He remained with his back to Khitti, and it appeared for a moment he might be done with the conversation. “...No, I suppose I didn’t see her,” he said finally, over a shoulder. “Can’t blame me for tryin’, though, right?”

Khitti frowned as he got up and walked away. She hadn't meant that to sound as harsh as it did but...it was the truth at least. It wasn't just him though. she needed to get away from everyone. Maybe even Dominic. Solitude wasn't a good thing for Khitti, but she did need time to figure out her own head, even if it was for a few hours. If her saying that was even the cause for his reaction, that is. "I'm sure she'd spar vith you, zhough. I'd just be in zhe vay." As usual. "You're pretty powerful, so I'm sure zhe two of you vould have a good time." Good, good. Butter him up. That should help things, right?

Brand pivoted a bit further and raised an eyebrow at Khitti. “A good time? A… a good time.” His gaze flicked from one vampiress to the next. Laughs began trickling out of him, softly at first and then as full-on guffaws as the floodgates opened and he couldn’t restrain them anymore. “Peach, you’re… really somethin’ sometimes.” He gradually regained most of his composure, but slumped against the wall further from Khitti. He shook his head and the occasional errant chuckle still escaped.

Khitti just kinda stared at Brand. "Uh. Okay? I didn't mean like zhat." Was there a hint of bitterness and maybe even some disappointment in her tone? Why, yes. Yes, there was. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot on the floor, a frown lining her lips, her attention no longer on him. It didn't matter how much she tried to ignore things, it still always came back to those stupid feelings. Maybe he was right. Maybe things couldn't go back to the way it was before. The violin is sat beside her and forgotten as it had been for so many years as the vampiress tried to find other things to dwell on that didn't have to do with the fire-wielding male she was stuck with.

Brand’s fading amusement fell the rest of the way. “Eh? No, no, that wasn’t quite why I was--” He waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind.” Cupping a hand to the side of his face, to bar his lips from their jarmate’s vision, he mouthed, “She’s not really my type, anyway.” Well, gee. If fighty and bitey wasn’t his type, what the hell was? It might well remain forever a mystery, knowing Brand.

Khitti raised a single crimson eyebrow as she caught his mouthed words out of the corner of her eye. Damn it, she wasn't supposed to be looking at him. Mostly ignoring him was going to be difficult. -Really- difficult. And then, that silly, love-scorned vampiress asked the question on everyone's mind: "So vhat is, zhen...?" A pause. "Your 'type'." Her line of sight wasn't on him again, instead choosing to stare off out the jar again. Thankfully, he was far enough away and that hood of hers was still up; with the question asked, she seemed even more distant than usual. It was like she wanted to know, but also not at the same time. Hey, at least if she knew she wasn't his type, it might make things easier to forget those feelings.

Brand shrugged. If he was even keeping in mind Khitti’s attraction to him right now, it wasn’t evident in his body language. He seemed more concerned with not getting zapped again for saying the wrong thing. After giving some consideration to the likelihood of their jarmate listening in or not, he scooted a bit closer to Khitti again and whispered, “I prefer the ones that aren’t as like to murder me before anything else, for one thing.”

Khitti felt him move closer to her, but much like him, she didn't outwardly show any change. Conceal. Don't feel. Let it go. There's a unneeded breath inhaled, but nothing more besides. Thankfully, now that he was closer, her hood shielded his face from hers. She had no choice but to stare out the glass as a hand lifted, shoving some of those red locks of hers behind her ear. "Right. Sounds like a good priority zhere." Her tone was passive, mildly uncaring if only to not show much emotion towards the subject.

“Right.” Brand wasn’t going to give her a serious answer. Maybe he didn’t even have one. And even if he did, he certainly wouldn’t have told her. “Anyway, you… eh.” He followed her gaze out the glass, then looked back at her. Even Brand was capable of observing her distant countenance, on the occasion he was actually -trying-. “Y’know, I’m gonna go back to try an’ read some more.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder back to his book.

Khitti's brain registered what he had said, but she didn't respond right away, even taking a moment before she looked over at him. Reddish brow furrow as studies him, observes his gesture, then merely nods and glances away again. "Okay." Her gaze shifts back briefly, a faint smile mustered for him, as if to show that she was fine, "I hope you find something good." Once he went away, if he decided to at least, or even if he didn't, she wouldn't dwell there for long. Soon, she'd get up from her spot and move to find that music book that she'd seen before and bring it back to her spot. A decently easy song is found and the violin held in the proper way, the vampiress' back upright against the glass wall, lacking that slouched posture that was so much like Dominic's. Staring down from the odd angle, she attempts to play; the notes come out a little sharp or flat every so often, but it's not entirely unpleasant to listen to.

Brand hesitated, a hint of indecision on his face before he followed through and made his way to his book. Give the girl two seconds’ peace, for frak’s sake. And so he settled into his read, some thesis on the various proficiencies mages are naturally gifted in and their correlation with clusters of personality traits. That was what it said in the introduction, anyway. Truthfully, he hadn’t absorbed much of it past that point. It was dry and highly technical and at one point had even had the gall to suggest that those gifted with fire were “commonly too impatient and restless” to make their way through this kind of long text. At this point, he was trying to slog his way through it more out of spite than anything. Further in, the book had predicted he’d do that, too, and he’d become too exasperated by it to give it much attention since. Stupid book.

Khitti occasionally side-eyed Brand as she taught herself the new song, perhaps something that, in time, could even be a duet with Pilar and her piano skills. She noted his irritation with the book and raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak. Instead, she did her best to concentrate on the task at hand, her attention moving back down to the song. It was sad, as it seemed was the way of things with Khitti's music, but just as heartfelt as her previous choice of song. The book even gave a brief story about the written work; someone named F. Mercury had composed it for his band of bards named King or Queen or something of that sort, but a violinist named D. Garrett, someone apparently from the country that Dhavislavv was located in, had rewritten it to be a duet for a violin and a piano. She'd definitely have to look into more of his work when/if she got out. The name of the song, however, made her a bit bitter. 'Who Wants To Live Forever'? Ugh. It even showed on her face as she played. Living forever wasn't a blessing. It was a curse. No one should be allowed to do so, even in undeath. She damned the day she allowed herself to be turned. She should've just died. But then, she remembered, she wouldn't have met Dominic, and that made her sad. But then also, she wouldn't have met Brand, and at this point, she was okay with that. Even just that little bit. Regardless of her internal struggle, she continued playing, and over the course of however long they decided to sit there, separate on either side of the jar, the song would get better and stronger sounding, with more conviction and passion as she dwelled on those feelings of hers.