Fiddler On the Stage {Tessa}

[Lukas Hexcaster]

Luke entered the small shop and plopped down in a seat. Not the best place for a Shadowhunter, but he just needed to rest. He got a hot chocolate (he doesn't drink coffee), and listened to some of the so-called 'poets' on the stage. He reached down and placed his violin case on the table, not wanting anyone to kick or step on it. Then someone noticed it and began to ask him to play for them. Luke kindly declined, but more and more asked him to play. He shrugged and took center stage, violin in hand.

He got up and approached the mic, not even daring to say anything into it. He began first by plucking a few strings, to the beginning of the song, then he placed the bow on the cords and played his song. The Dark Forest. Creepy, yet calming. The shop was quiet for the remainder of the song, then he smiled, bowed and walked back to his seat, people clapping for him.

Luke placed the wooden instrument back in its case and sat back down, picking his drink back up. He enjoyed playing his instruments, and he prided over how well he could play them all.

[katharina]

Since she had met Johanna in Java Jones, Tessa had come to like the little cafe immensly. She enjoyed the little performances that were almost every day and filled her time so well, when she had nothing to do, which was honestly most of the time. To her horror she saw upon entering the cafe that it was poetry night again. "You have got to be kidding me", Tessa muttered as the door closed behind her. She motioned the young waitress, that seemed to always work here, that she wanted her usual Café Latte and went to find herself a seat.

Just as her coffee arrived she noticed that there was no poet on stage, but a boy who readied his violin to play a tune on stage. Tessa had been to a lot of violin concerts since Jem had turned into a Silent Brother, she found that she could lose herself in the moment and travel back to the days when he had still been her silver boy. But the concerts never made her feel like James had understood to do. When he played she had always been able to see the rivers, mountains and fire that he was describing with his songs.
The young man began by playing a pizzicato on the strings. Then the lovely sound of a well played song filled the room, which was unsusually quiet for a performance in Java's. Tessa closed her eyes, trying to understand what the song was about, she could see something dark, but that was the only impression the song gave to her. To her ears it also sounded a little scratchy, but then not everybody was perfect. It still had a quite lovely tune in her opinion, nothing comared to James, but she didn't think she would get to hear him play again any time soon.

As the song had ended Tessa clapped politely and the boy stepped off the stage and walked towards his place again, which was right next to Tessa's. "That was quite the beautiful song you played there. What is the piece called?" She took a sip of her hot coffee and relished the taste of it. While Tessa waited for an answer from the boy a dreamy look appeared on her face as she thought about Jem. I will always love you, James Carstairs.

[Lukas Hexcaster]

Startled a bit by the girl, Luke turned to her, "Uh, The Dark Forest. I learned it from my father. Lukas Hexcaster, may I have the pleasure to know your name miss?" He held out a hand for shaking. She was young, and very beautiful. He took his scarf and tightened it a bit, restraining his neck, but that's how he liked it. Luke took a swig of his drink, then smiled. Placing a hand in his pocket, he fiddled with the pocket watch that was hidden in the denim.

Matthew Hexcaster, Luke's father, raised his son with the idea of music being an amazing thing that should be cherished. He taught Lukas how to play the violin, flute, organ, piano, and a couple other in the short years he knew his son. "Are you a regular here, or just stopping by?" He questioned.

[katharina]

The real world came surging back into her conciousness as the boy answered her request for the music pieces title. The Dark Forest, I suppose that could work, she thought thinking back to the music that she had heard. Truth be told, Tessa was a little dissapointed, every time she didn't understand music. Which was most of the time with other players than Jem. "I am Theresa Herondale", she took the boys hand to shake it, the firery puls of a shadowhunter travelling up her arm. A pleasant smile played on her lips as she continued "Very pleased to make your acquaintance. This place doesn't exactely strike me as a shadowhunter place, and yet these seems to be the only people I meet in here." There was no one in hearing distance and someone recited a poem in a foreign language anyway, so that almost everybody was talking due to not understanding what the poet tried to tell them. At least it sounded melodic and a lot of feeling lay on the words.

"I have come to like this place as it is quite close to where I live, and I walk past it almost every time that I go anywhere in New York." Tessa wished she could finally find Magnus in this vast city and stop wandering around aimlessly on clues she picked up. She thought she had found the place that he lived in, it had turned out to be a fake or old adress, which had angered her immensely. Also there seemed to be no trace of him anywhere, as if he had left the city for a few weeks, going on holiday as he did so often. It was always so hard to reach Magnus. "How about you? Is this somewhere you go often? It's quite far away from the institute, isn't it?"

[Lukas Hexcaster]

Theresa's name kind of stuck to him. Herondale. Herondale. Where had he heard that name before? His hand went instinctively to the ring on his finger, twisting it on his left middle finger. The bronze metal felt cool to the touch, of which it was his father's before they died. The Hexcaster family symbol, a fire poker laying on top of a stool, was ringed in the family saying in Hungarian where, Luke's grandparents were from, "A kard és pajzs megtalálható semmit", which translated into, "A sword and shield can be found in anything." His family was pretty good at improvising with weapons.

Her next comment snapped him back to reality, "Oh. Well, I was just getting a quick drink. I wanted to get something before I got to the Institute. I'm getting back from the library, and," He lifted his extremely heavy messenger bag onto the table, overflowing with hardbacks, "I have a bunch of books to get onto. Reading is a passion to me. Practically a whole wall of my room is bookcases. I pass by here when I head to the library. Or the stables. One of the two."

[katharina]

Tessa watched Luke playing with his family ring on his hand. An uncouncious habit she supposed, the same as when she touches the jade pendant dangling from her neck. She never took it off, it was a reminder of her love for James, just like the pearl bracelet around her wrist from Will. Tessa found that it was good to wear them as time seemed to make feelings fade out when they were not felt for a long time. It was exactely like Magnus had said to her so many years ago. In the end the only remaining feeling will be fear of what lies beyond death, but she had not forgotten about love just yet.

The bag which Likas held up sparked Tessa's interest. Books were her favourite thing, she loved getting lost in the words which could show her a whole different world to the one she was living in. A big smile spread on her face and she was excited to hear what Lukas had to say about his books. "I love books. Back in London I have a library in my house, filled with books that I collected over time. I do prefere owning my books over borrowing them from a library, especially good books, which I like to read over and over again." She was thinking of her worn down copy of A Tale of two Cities when she said that. "What books do you have in your bag there?" Maybe she coukd get some new book ideas from Lukas. One never knew what treasures could be found behind the most odd book title.