Blythe had slept well that night.
Once she did actually go to sleep, anyways. For most of the evening, Blythe’s nose was buried in her notebook: studying her notes from the investigation, altering ones that didn’t add up, and making new ones over the events that had just transpired. She went to bed feeling like a child the night before a school trip, anxious and excited for what’s to come.
The next day, she was woken much earlier than she would have preferred, but she forgot all about her complaints once she laid eyes on the reason. Immediately, she bounced to the kitchen and downed whatever sources of caffeine she could find, then took to exploring the new area in the same manner she had the first.
A few hours and several more notes passed, and once she stepped into the concert hall, Blythe decided it was time for a break. As difficult to impress as she was, the new section of the ship had successfully taken her breath away. For something like this to be a cruise ship, just for them… it’s as amazing it as it is curious. Absentmindedly, she pocketed her notebook and began carefully inspecting the shelves of instruments. Her hands wrapped tight around the first violin she found without so much as a thought to ask permission and, with the aid of an app on her phone, began to tune it. Thankfully, it didn’t require much work, but the noise had managed to attract some attention.
Blythe smiled politely at her new audience, but said nothing. She took a spot directly in the shining light of the stained glass window, closed her eyes, and put the bow to the strings.
Her body swayed shortly with the music, but Blythe’s posture remained perfect. For the minute that she kept playing, her almost indefinite catlike smile disappeared and was replaced by a subdued, placid expression. If it wasn’t for her all-too-colorful outfit and unruly hair, one would even call her graceful.
As the song came to its stop, Blythe opened her eyes and loosened the violin from her shoulder, twisting into an obligatory bow.
“This boat… positively amazing!” It seemed more like she was talking to herself than the person who had been watching her, turning her attention to the violin in her hands, “Such a high-quality instrument too. I never thought I could get my hands on something like this!”
“Hey, hey, do you think Dot would let me keep it? Surely I can put it to better use than anyone else here. And all this is just for us, isn’t it?” Although she had finally acknowledged her companion’s presence again, it was clearly more of a statement that she was taking the violin back with her than it was any kind of question for them.
While traversing the gallery of the arts, Shepherd couldn’t help but be curious when he heard the sound of a violin echo from outside the concert hall. It was a natural place for someone to play music here, the only question was who.
He wasn’t sure Blythe was entirely the person he expected. Not that he had a poor opinion of the young woman at all, but she seemed like she would have completely different tastes in music. What made it even more fascinating was just how good she was at the instrument, almost as if she became a different person while playing the instrument.
Once she finished and bowed, Shepherd only felt it was appropriate to lightly clap for her.
“Excellent work. You're very good...have you been playing long?” His hands rested to his sides again as he listened to Blythe’s excited declaration. “I’m not sure if Dot mentioned any rules about that, but I don’t see why not? I wouldn’t know if anyone else here knew how to play violin.”
“And given that we’re the only ones here other than Dot...at least that’s what it looks like? But I don’t think she can be here and drive the ship at the same time...”
Was there some sort of secret captain they didn’t know about? That just opened up a whole new mess of possibilities he couldn’t find the meaning of. He’d never been one for mystery-solving.
