Work Text:
Falanu set the worn lute down and stretched, wriggling stiff fingers at her toes.
“Your turn, dear,” she said. “What shall we practice next?”
Alesan kicked the leg of his stool and offered her a sheepish grin over his own, smaller instrument .
“Can we do 'Errantry'?” he asked hopefully. Falanu looked at him sidelong.
“I'm afraid my hands aren't really up to that one tonight,” she admitted. “And you haven't started on it at all yet. It's a bit difficult to practice a tune you don't know.”
“But I can sing it, please, Aunt Falanu, pleeeeese?” The boy bounced in his seat, not quite bold enough to get up and drag on her sleeve. “Just for fun? You like it too! You can dance it!”
Falanu managed to hold her blank expression for barely a moment before her smile broke through. She picked up her own lute and plucked Alesan's out of his hands, getting up to set them both on the rack in the corner. When she turned back, he had pushed their stools under the table, leaving a clear space for her in front of the hearth.
She took her place in the centre of the room, one foot lifted behind the other, and pulled her hair loose from its braid. A quick glance and Alesan picked up the melody, light and wordless. Her toes tapped once, twice, thrice...
“There was a merry passenger, a messenger, a mariner...”
And they were off, swift feet and swifter words tumbling together over the laughter in the air.