Candlelight flickered across the walls, creating strange shadows along the walls from the various musical instruments that lined the walls. Cassiopeia sat entangled with Nicholas, her head resting against his chest while she listened to Avery play the guitar.
The clan convened at Caden and Nero’s to write a statement after dealing with the latest monster. It had been a long day to end a long week, and no one felt like leaving Caden’s once the business had concluded. One by one, the group had drifted into the music room where Avery had retired to first. It was an intimate concert of sorts in which everyone started to play or jam together.
Avery had played Kimiko’s song, humming the lyrics to the music rather than singing them for all to hear, after that, he had drifted into playing some other things he had been playing with before Caden joined him.
Caden swapped out instruments often to fit whatever mood he was in. Avery was taking a break, sitting next to Cassiopeia and Kimiko. Cassi had started to hum as she played with Kiki’s hair when a spot of melancholy filled her soul. Cassi wrapped her arms around her adopted sister and started to sing. Cassi’s voice wasn’t the greatest; it shook and reverberated often due to lack of use, but the Gaelic she sang was hauntingly beautiful. It was fitting since she sang a song about death.
Caden recognized the tune almost immediately and grabbed the Irish pipes while Cassi sang. Once she came to the conclusion of the vocalized poem, he started to play it out. While Caden played, Cassi kissed the top of Kimiko’s head before getting off the couch. Cassi walked over to the piano and sat down. Almost on the heels of Caden’s last note, Cassi started to play another song that contained no vocals. The song was entitled “Irish Rain”, and it indeed did remind her of the rain in the UK. How it would start light and slow before picking up in speed, saturating everything it came into contact with.
The evening darkened into night, with the group showcasing various songs. It wasn’t so much to show off but to connect with one another in another form. For solo performances, everyone sat with rapt attention. Their eyes closed or open while they listened to music. When two or more people came together to play something, smiles and the occasional laughter were shared, which created a warm environment.
There came points where Caden sat without an instrument, but Nero on his lap, Kiki curled in on one side with Cassi on the other. Or Cassi draped across Avery, her legs or head in his lap, while she watched Kiki and Nic play together for the first time. At one point, Caden stood with Nic, the firelight dancing across their features, while they watched Avery and Kimiko play alongside Cassiopeia. It was family; it was home in the simplest sense.
Caden remembered nights like these when it had just been Cassi and him and then the trio when Kimiko came along. It had been a long time since the three of them had played together, and eventually, the three of them did
play together, and it made sense that the three of them worked well together. Cassi played the piano, while Kiki took on the violin, which left Caden with the vocals and guitar.
”I hope you know this means you are family now. Whether you marry her or not,” Caden told Nic while Cassi played. He looked at Nic and smiled.
”I’m honoured to call you brother.” He kissed Nic’s head before he rejoined Nero in their chair, piling the imp onto his lap before kissing them deeply without a care for who watched.
Cassiopeia came to the conclusion of her song, letting whomever take over after her. She poured herself a tumbler of scotch before she wrapped her arms around Nic and kissed him, pulling him to the couch to cuddle once more.
Eventually, the group left the music room in pairs, retiring for the evening with a pleasant buzz and a warm feeling within them all that could only be found when spent in the company of good people.
