[Drama] You only get better by playing

[Victor Freud]

No one at the Da Costa medical building had given Victor so much as a second glance, probably largely in part due to how frequently he'd been in and out of the place since his sister had been cleared for visits. And who would suspect a student to smuggle a patient out? When the pair arrived at the music room the place was deserted, and opening his jacket gave Knave aview of their new and unfamiliar surroundings. A large room with lots of room for various searing arrangements, and various instrument cases stacked and stored. Some of the larger ones were left out, like the piano and of course the drum set. And large windows, without any bars or anything else to keep them from escaping. A little bit of freedom.

[Narrator]

Sliding out from under his jacket, Knave helped themselves to move about the room and inspect the place in a roll about the place in their gelatinous form. Spotting the drum set, they attempted to pull themselves up into the seat, but failed, due to being too weighty on the floor.

They waited patiently, suspecting the guy who brought them here to help them out. He'd been so far.

[Victor Freud]

Victor crouched beside the chair and pushed his hands under the pile of goo, "scooping" it onto the seat.

"... you gonna need a skeleton to pilot, or do you think you can handle the sticks yourself?"

[Narrator]

Jelly Knave was again one step ahead of Victor, and picked up set of sticks that had been gently placed on the floor tom by the last user. Wrapping them neatly in a pair of sturdy psuedo-podium and holding them up high above their head in a manner that might seem threatening to some, the little entity waited, and wondered if this was a solo excursion, or if the young man wanted to play something too.

[Victor Freud]

Victor chuckled softly. "Alright, if you've got it, I'll see what I can do. You can get yourself warmed up in the meantime." Fully trusting in this "creature" whose fellow captives had utterly feared it he turned his back on Knave and went to look through the instruments for a particular case. It took a little fiddling, but he did eventually come back with that comical-looking apparatus that was a bassoon. A very odd pairing for a duet. He fluttered up and down a few notes, getting himself warmed up a bit as well.

[Narrator]

After a moment, the blob grew another appendage so it was capable of operating the bass pedal. They began to play around in a fashion that one might at the beginning of a jam session.

When Victor returned, they noticed what he'd brought back.

"Oh no...." They thought. "This kid makes terrible life choices."

None the less, they waited for the signal on what was getting played, or if they were going to continue 'call and response'.

[Victor Freud]

The bassoon wasn't exactly a go-to instrument for metal, but it did work for a but of jazz funk. And from the sound of what he was doing he was mostly just improvising, a little bit of a jam session, giving the blob something to work off of, and then he'd work off of what she did in response. And while he was a little rusty... he wasn't too bad. He kind of played it as one might a saxophone, it just sounded... different.

[Narrator]

Once they were certain what was going on, Knave found their place and began to sync with Victor in their strange little musical pairing.

[Emilie]

Being that the sound of a bassoon and a drum set were a unique combination indeed, it of course pulled the attention of just about the only person on campus who would know what might be going on in the music room.

She watched quietly and let the two friends have fun.

[Victor Freud]

Victor was the first to notice Emilie's presence, or at least the first to acknowledge it; by turning his playing into a serenade for her with his body language. It was tongue in cheek, of course, but it was still happening.

[Emilie]

Emilie rolled her eyes and stepped further into the room with a smirk on her face.

"Double Trouble, at it again."

[Narrator]

Not recognizing this new person at all, Knave continued to play for their own amusement.

[Victor Freud]

Victor tried not to crack a smile as Emilie teased them, the boy strutting around like a peacock as he showed off. But eventually he stopped and let Knave do their thing.

"Well, I know that YOU'RE already familiar with them, but for their sake... Emilie, this is Lebowski. Lebowski, this is Emilie." It was an odd situation - because even if they got their memories back, the blob wouldn't have any of the ginger. Of course, right now they didn't have any memories of being Lebowski either - Vic's gender-neutral term for his older friend.

"I thought a little... musical therapy might be helpful. Or at least elevate their mood a little bit."

[Emilie]

"Hello Lebowski, it's nice to finally meet this you." Emilie called out over the drum solo Lebowski was ripping.

"Are they aware of where they are right now?"

[Narrator]

For their part, Knave did pause to twirl the drumstick in it's makeshift appendage. Slowly, they started morphing into something a bit more humanistic.

[Victor Freud]

"That's a really good question that I don't have an answer to. They've yet to say a word to me. But I think they trust me, so that's a start."

[Emilie]

"Where all have you taken them?"

[Victor Freud]

"This has been the first and only stop so far. It's not like anything here would be familiar, she went to law school after the Institute. But I thought maybe her getting too play the drums a bit might open the safe a crack."

[Emilie]

"So this one was assigned female at birth, good to know... That means it's a Mal...

Does anyone know they're out and about?"

[Victor Freud]

Victor winced a bit. "Thanks for reminding me. Even after all this time I still mess up and forget to use neutral terms."

He shook his head at Emilie's question. "I didn't leave a note... which'll probably bite me in the ass later, but it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

It felt wrong to be whispering about his friend, especially right in front of them, but it was for their own good.

[Emilie]

"Fast fact: When they're a Melchior, there's usually way more trauma involved on them because they're the only assigned male at birth after a series of girls. Mals usually aren't super upset by it, but the whole 'only girl after six boys in a row came out as non-binary' thing is still a sore spot in the family... you might know that I don't know.. "

"I don't know an instrument, or I'd join you." Emilie called out.

[Narrator]

The vaguely person-shaped outline of Knave shrugged, clearly they were being addressed since whatever private convo the pair were having had ceased.

[Victor Freud]

"It... might've come up once or twice." Victor admitted, before glancing back at the purple pal. "Hey Mal, why not show Emilie what you're really capable of? Do you remember Ticks and Leeches?" He thought perhaps that might buy him a little time to talk to Emilie a little more.

"You asked if I'd taken them anywhere else. Did you have something in mind?"

[Emilie]

"Not really, there's nothing here I think they'd recognize... except maybe Ronnie?

I was more wondering how much time we got before you get narced on."

[Narrator]

Knave twirled a drumstick in their left hand while they attempted to recall what exactly the boy was talking about.

But once all the pieces fell into place, Knave went into the requested number, now distracted by what they were doing again.

[Victor Freud]

"Honestly, it depends on how long before one of the nurses checks in on them. If they're not bored or tuckered out in an hour or so, I'll see if I can convince 'em to go back with me. Maybe 'em her with something from the vending machine."

[Emilie]

"Jesus.... food motivated huh? The more things change...."

[Narrator]

As if on cue, the drum solo stopped, and Knave sat very still, absorbing the drumsticks to see if they could be digested.

[Victor Freud]

"Hey, it's one thing that makes everyone happy, right? Even people who don't have a mouth."

Victor looked back at Mal once the music stopped. "What do you say, Lebowski. You wanna grab some chips and head back to your room? Maybe we can visit Ronnie... Alice?" He tacked on the last bit to see if it'd get a response.

[Narrator]

Knave stood at the mention of Alice, and nodded their head.

After a moment, their body unceremoniously rejected the drumsticks onto the floor, along with some residue.

[Victor Freud]

Victor looked down at the drumsticks on the floor, then back at Knave. "Alright, so we won't go visit Alice. Are you saying no to the chips too?"