Kyeo is running his hand up and down Sarham's back, as though counting scars he can't feel, and then there is something, in the room, something enormous, and he sees his own face and Sarham's mirrored in an incoming oval and then -
- they aren't sitting on Kyeo's bed in Crane Mountain any more.
"Oh." She starts to say something in Cretari but then switches to a signed language. The twins exchange a few comments and then Colley notes, while still signing, "There's a dance brush-up for the leads in a bit if you want to sit in on that to get a better idea of whether it'd appeal."
"In the meantime do you have any idea of what these boxy dotty things are?" She points to one of the many above the staves.
It tastes unfamiliar but not unpleasant, with just a hint of something spicy-adjacent. Dira ducks out and returns shortly with a third mug for himself; Colley works on bonking out a new song one-handed while she drinks.
The setrekbort is very good. Though possibly because he has been not-talking for a while Kyeo is in the mood to mess with wind instruments for a little bit today.
"Help yourself! Though would you mind terribly if I shunted you off to a practice room until you've picked up the basics?"
He has about 45 minutes in there before Dira knocks to bring him to rehearsal.
Colley hangs back to saw away with something stringed and bowed at the ancient sheet music. The room they go to is clearly specifically for rehearsal and not performance, but there's a line of stools up against one of the walls. Four of them already have people on them: one going through a folder of notes and sketches, another warming up on a big harpish thing, one knitting, and one reading. Dira gestures for Kyeo to sit and spends a moment talking to the folder lady before joining a fifth person doing stretches in the center of the room.
What, Kyeo wonders, is the point of more than one of you doing the stretches. But he does not get out his paper to ask, just watches and bobs his head to the tuneup-music.
Well, some of the stretches Dira and the other dancer do are collaborative, but that can't be the whole answer because the majority aren't. They also perform some trust falls and do a bit of throwing each other around in the air before getting started.
Folder Lady counts them in and the accompanist starts a frantic introduction. Several snippets are already familiar from the warmups and from Colley's whistling yesterday, but the stylisms are very different; the player largely lets the strings ring out and the reverberation is left to overlap itself into disharmony except for key moments of staccato.
The dancers are equally wild, but clearly working around some structure not present in the rehearsal space that they're meant to be climbing up and jumping off from time to time. There are a fair number of acrobatic feats, but the impression is definitely of a dance that happens to include them when they serve what it's going for, and not of a gymnastic showcase. Folder Lady - the director, presumably - cuts them off at moderately frequent intervals to reposition an arm or nitpick a timing.
It's subtle enough that several tries go by with it being noticeable, but when she resets between takes it's a little more obvious - the other dancer is copying from the knitter and the reader as she performs. Her hair grows less lustrous and her face gains a pallor that doesn't look unhealthy on its own, but is sickly paired with her acting; when the director lets the scene run long enough she trips and falls in a way that looks legitimately accidental (and quite painful) except for the fact that everyone keeps going afterward.
Dira's character mimes offering her various invisible objects plucked from the nonexistent scenery, which resaturate and revitalize her to various degrees, all temporarily - startlingly, they begin to sing several minutes into the number. It's probably less jarring in the context of the full show; it manages to sound like a reprise even though Kyeo hasn't heard an earlier song it could be referencing. Ultimately Dira pulls something from his chest, extending the hand holding it to her, eyes on the edge of watering - and the director calls a halt to switch scenes, seeming pleased.
It's pretty hard to tell from watching an out-of-order practice session in a language he doesn't speak! The next song is more upbeat and catchy and involves a lot more singing. The level of breath control would be really impressive if exhibited by people without the ability to copy oxygen levels off of bystanders; as is it's still pretty neat that they can hold notes steady while doing all that jumping around and whatnot.
If Colley gets him his singing voice back she's going to be so disappointed.
Most of the songs they practice after that are more upbeat than dramatic but there's still a range. Six of them go by (with rather fewer interruptions than the first) before everyone starts gathering their things and Dira comes over to collect Kyeo. "Whether you like it?" he attempts to ask.
"Hm, ah - story a person is of, a story a book goes into? Bad for. . . . Colley ask better."
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