Harold happily types away at the phone screen in reply, handing it over to Alana to read while they climbed up the stairs. “Organ, piano, harp, and viol. I’m trying to learn the theremin too something different than what I’m used to! I have a lot of free time.” He admits this to her almost sheepishly. “Today’s music has its own little charms, but I’ll have to admit I enjoy classical more so than pop and techno. Alessandra tells me you differentiate your music at the club during the days of the week and I think that’s probably the best you can do! Something for everybody~”

After walking down East, past a few doors, Harold stops at one of the double doors in this hallway and opens it, bowing as Alana makes her way inside. Once she steps in the room, the lights flicker on and her eyes are met with walls and shelves of various different instruments ranging from the strings to the woodwinds to percussion and all. The room itself was large, able to accommodate to the large organ that hugged the left wall with a white piano next to it, in the middle was a microphone and a few amps.

Harold hands her the phone again, “Feel free to play whichever instrument you like. The room is soundproof so make all the noise you want.”

Alessandra took a seat beside Sorrin as he spoke, the older vampire taking in a breath of the fresh night air as she looked up to the night sky. The moon looked beautiful tonight, a waxing moon, and the stars burned brightly, just enough for her to mark out some of the constellations that, to her surprise, still existed. When he finishes, Alessandra chuckles lightly. “You’re very wise, you know that? I think that’s why I have no issues in confiding these things with you. You don’t judge me, nor think I’m crazy...” She crosses her legs and rests her arms atop them.

“I would have needed to hear those words a very long time ago, when times were... harder for me.” She remembers her father, what he had done, what he made her do, how long ago she was drowning in guilt and sorrow, wanting to find ways to redeem herself. When the chance had presented itself, she failed, and lost all the things she was fighting for. Oskar, Melody, even Ashivon... “Truthfully, I am very thankful of what I have now. I have... friends. I made bonds with you all. Before, it was really just me and my dragon, Ashivon, but after turning, outlived him.” Her visage goes somber. “After that it was just... me.” She leans back a bit, her eyes going back to the sky. “It’s the loneliness that makes this life so hard.”

Sorrin glances back as Alessandra and leans forward, almost on the edge of his seat, "Do you know what I miss the most about being mortal?" He lets the question process for a moment, then stares up at the sky, "The sunrise. I loved feeling it's warmth on my skin, to know that I had lived, yet another day. That I wouldn't be swallowed by the darkness." He shifts to look at the moon as it light illuminates the garden world around them, "Now, the moon represents us best. And like it, we can often shine with a beautiful ethereal light, but we also have our moments of darkness. In many forms. However, this darkness only serves to make the moments of light shine brighter. Loneliness, loss, despair...frankly put, they suck. But that just makes the moments of happiness, companionship and discovery all the better."

Alana looks around the room happily, intrigued by all of the different instruments. "With this many instruments... This is where I'd spend my free time too." She does a wide circle around the room to look at all of the instruments, her fingers brushing over the piano for a moment. That will come later. Violin first.

She finds a beautiful dark wood violin and bowstring, carefully tucking it under her chin and plays a few scales before slowly beginning to play "On The Beach" by Ravi Shankar. Her eyes close as she calmly plays the piece to completion, lost in a sea of memories, before opening her eyes again, bringing the music room back to her vision. She sheepishly smiles and carefully lowers the violin. "I apologize. I got a bit distracted with that."

Harold waves a hand dismissively at her apology, signing to her "It's okay" then handing her the phone to read. "That was beautifully played, Alana. I can tell you're a very skilled violinist and you put a lot of emotion and focus on the songs you play. You said you can play piano, yes? Can you play a song on there? If you don't mind of course." Harold waits expectantly for Alana's answer.

 "You oughta write a book," Alessandra quips, looking at Sorrin with a warm smile. "That was beautifully said, Sorrin. I'll be remembering that for all my days. Thank you." She let a silence fall between them for a moment, taking in the sounds and sensations around them; the bubbling fountain, the cool night breeze, the chirping of crickets... It was tranquil, serene, and with good company, it felt... nice. The silence would soon be broken when Alessandra proposes the question, "If you had the choice to be mortal again, would you?"

(Everyone gets 12xp for finishing the Chronicle. If you need to know how much it costs to purchase advancements, there's a table in the Character Creation quick reference in the beginning of the chapter)

"...….the one who sired me, a Tremere woman named Esmerelda, believed that there wasn't enough time in a mortal's life, to see life's full potential." Sorrin let's his back press against the bench as his head leans back, staring at the sky with closed eyes, "She thought that the beauties of life could never be understood in a single life, and even pitied humans for never having the chance to see that.....yet...." He opens his eyes, "......I'm 81 years old.....there's a chance that I could still have been alive if I was a mortal. I know my sister is. I likely would have stayed in the army, gotten to become and officer, I was quiet charming back then, even if a tad broody, so finding someone to marry wouldn't have been hard." He chuckles at the memory of his younger self, "...maybe we'd have had a family, and we'd grow old raising them, until they grew to leave us...then, we'd become an old couple that would dance in our small living room, reminiscing over the past, while occasionally laughing at our own age." He smiles at the ideas of growing old and dying, but then his eyes seem to return to reality and he lets out a large sigh.

"However, that's not what happened......if I was given that choice many years ago, I likely would have said yes....but now?....well...there's a million things I haven't done, and a million more I don't want to say goodbye to." He lifts his head to look over at Aless to properly answer her question, "No. I wouldn't want to be mortal again...but I disagree with my sire. A mortal life isn't so bad. There's a warm happiness to simplicity."

As Victor walked back with Misha, content that he had satisfied her again, he asked her a conversation. "I know that you and Alessandra come from a vastly different time, as the two of you are still getting used to technology and other things. But I know very little of what the world was like back then. Could you tell me?"

Alana smiles and nods, carefully putting the violin back on the shelf with the other instruments. "Sure. Do you have any requests or would you like me to play whatever comes to mind?" She moves happily over to the piano, lifting the key cover and moving the bench outward, sliding comfortably into place. Her fingers almost easily return to her natural playing position as she looks to Harold, giving him time to respond. 

Alessandra had closed her eyes and listened to Sorrin's story with a solemn look on her visage, turning to him with a soft smile when he finished. "I used to think like that... The way your sire did... but then I grew up. I realized that although I may not be able to do everything imaginable in this one lifetime I have, it's what I did do that I should cherish and be proud of." She uncrosses her legs, her hands now smoothing out the wrinkles of her cocktail dress. "I was married, you know? To a half-orc named Oskar." Her eyes are focused on her hands as she continues. "A year after our marriage, we had a child. A little girl named Melody... The light of my life she was... I thought just like you said earlier; that I would grow old with him in our little cottage that we raised our children in, dancing and laughing, enjoying our time together... But the world back then was cruel."

Her hands ball into fists in her lap. "My father wasn't a good man. I found out after years of him grooming me to be one of his pawns that he had worshipped the ruler of the nine hells, Asmodeus." The devil's name burned on her tongue and she never thought that it would slip out of her mouth after all these years. "I had found out that he had sacrificed my mother in his name to gain favor with him, and when I confronted him, he attacked me. It's clear to see who won." She pauses, going back through the deepest depths of her mind   "I thought that after, his death I would be safe, but I was wrong. He manifested into a demon, stalked me as I tried living my life, and no matter how much I ignored him, he would remain. He got stronger, just enough to possess me, and..." She sucks in a breath to compose herself, forcing the words out past her lips. "He made me kill them both."

Alessandra's fingers uncurled themselves as she continues, not realizing the tears of blood that started to stream down her pale cheeks. "I could barely live with myself. After that day I couldn't find the will to live, I didn't deserve to. How could I continue living when my three month old child didn't even get the CHANCE?!" When her voice picked up in volume it startled the sleeping birds nearby, the rustle and fluttering of wings bringing her back to reality. She brings a hand to her cheek to start wiping away the blood, cursing at herself for getting too emotional. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I-I got too carried away, and-- ****."

When asked what he would like her to play, he happily put a few music sheets on the holder that stated "Moonlight Sonata (3rd movement)." He then sat down nearby with an expectant smile and the phone, getting ready to type up a storm.

Sorrin is slightly shocked by the tale, but seeing Aless shed her tears, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her, bringing her in for a hug, "The fountain is loud and I'm busy looking at the sky. So if you want to cry, cry. If you want to scream, scream. I can't imagine what you went through, but I can do this." He'll hold her until she feels a little better.

In all the years she lived, Alessandra  had always worn a mask. A mask covering her pain and sorrows, her regrets and grief, and even today she bears the mask. It helped her cope, made it easy to not think about it, but she got too wrapped in their conversation that the mask had chipped away and crumbled apart. For the first time in a long time, her composed and calm facade was broken down into what she truly was; a broken, empty shell of a woman who could not see any purpose in her existence. Her body was shaking as she wept into his arms, words from a language now dead and gone being whispered incoherently to herself, curses and apologies, questions with no answers. She didn't know how much she was hurting until now, and she felt terrible for dumping this on Sorrin all at once, but lord knows how much she needed this.

After a few minutes, she managed to collect herself, the tears stopped flowing (thankfully) and she soon pulled away from his embrace, wiping her now puffy eyes then looking to him nervously. Her face was smeared in blood and eyeliner, definitely not one of her best looks that's for sure. "...How do I look...?"

Sorrin chuckled, "Lovely, but it would be wise to get you cleaned up. Devil knows what Misha would do to me if she believed I made you cry." He pulled out a small handkerchief and wiped away the immediate blood from her eyes, before passing it to her, "Better?"

Alessandra takes the piece of cloth with a weak smile and dabs at the corners of her eyes gently. “Yes, I feel much better... Thank you. I’m sorry for... getting like that.” She laughs sheepishly. “And for, uh, ruining your shirt... and handkerchief...” Alessandra gets quiet for a moment, then shakes her head and sighs in frustration. She gets up from the bench and looks to him. “Please let me wash your shirt and handkerchief. It really is the least I can do for you after having to see that... shameful display. Harold has a spare shirt you can use in the meantime.”

Victor sends a text to each member of the Coterie as well as Harold (individually of course, because **** group texts). "Hey, you wanna play DnD?" 

It was a cold night, so Misha took a warm shower and wore her warmer peejays. One thing she missed was actually eating and enjoying food, something that vampires did not do anymore. Then her phone played a quick tune. It was a text. Her eyebrow went up and she squinted at what Victor had asked. She took a moment to text back

"What ees dee n dee?" she wrote back.

"Dungeons and Dragons. Greatest game in the world." Victor texted back.

Sorrin being occupied by Alessandra doesn't respond right away to Victor's text, instead patting her head, "In that case I'll leave it to you, but don't worry, I can go a night and day without a shirt." And to iterate his point he easily takes of the shirt and passes it to Aless, "See? Simple." He chuckles then stands from the bench, turning back to Aless, offering her a hand. "Shall we get head back inside?"

"Ees like sexy game? <thinking emoji> Already hef dungeon, you be dragon? Like, how you ra ra rasputeen my p***y? <laughing emoji>" she texts Victor back.

"1. No, it's not a sex game, not usually. It's more of a strategy/role-playing game. 2. Did you just use Ra Ra Rasputin as a verb?"

"Ees possible, mayhaps, I deed. <winky face> OK. Meesha try your no sexy game."