Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ VIVA ❯ Macabre in Phrygian ( Chapter 3 )

4: Macabre in Phrygian

The music cafeteria was relatively empty, the main stream of people already abandoning the too hot room in favor of their own personal spaces where their fingers could trail over their true loves without interference. Quatre breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the other members of the Electric Orchestra were not present. He wasn't sure about Duo yet. He just had a feeling. He knew he had to be sure.

Tossing his heavy coat on the oversized rack at the door, Quatre ran to the ht food section and started piling his plate high. Duo just stood and stared.

"I know its not the best, being leftovers and all, but it still fine…"

Duo shook his hands in front of his chest, eyes wide, still staring at the food.

"No, it's great. I just…What the hell is that?" He pointed at a full tray of something Quatre himself had not been willing to try. It looked like someone had simply mashed up everything on their plate and tipped it back in the large tray…To put it mildly it looked like someone chucked in the food court…

"I'm not sure," Quatre admitted hesitantly, avoiding the tray. "No one is willing to try it. There's a jar…" He pointed to the opposite side of the cafeteria. "Every morning the cooks add money. Whoever tries it, gets the jar…"

Duo's eyes took on a new luster as he stared at the jar. It was full. Apparently no one had tasted the stuff in years. Duo suddenly grabbed a plate, piled it high with the odd substance and promptly sat at the nearest table. Quatre followed in shock, unable to wrench his own eyes from the full plate.

"Oi!" Duo bellowed, loud enough to put Dorothy to shame. "Everyone get in here!"

The cafeteria staff came flying through the doorway and gaped at the plate piled high with…whatever that was. A few were starting to laugh. Several of the male staff were taking seats at the table, eyes fixed on Duo's mouth to make sure he didn't cheat. They had waited a long time for this.

The cafeteria door suddenly swung open and Une strode in, a not so chastised looking Dorothy on her heels. Apparently Dorothy was being told to lay of Standish when they heard Duo's shout and had come to investigate. Une made to bellow at whoever had yelled before she realized she didn't know the student, Duo, and that he had a plate in front of him, fork in hand as he glared at the mess. Une promptly sat between two of the male kitchen staff and glared at Duo's mouth.

"Oh, you can't be serious!" Dorothy bolted over and leaned her chin on her hands, leaning over the end of the table to stare right at Duo. Quatre watched their eyes meet and watched Duo smirk. Those two were going to be trouble, Quatre could tell.

"I am perfectly serious," Duo said darkly. "And I never lie." And he promptly stuck a fork full in his mouth and started chewing. Before he could contemplate swallowing the first mouthful he had another shoved in his mouth.

There was dead silence as the chewing slowed, the face grew thoughtful and the unthinkable happened. Duo swallowed. Then the food started disappearing off the plate at break neck speed. Quatre knew Duo had said he hadn't eaten since his arrival, but he had thought he was over exaggerating. Now…it was believable!

"Seven…eight….nine…come on boy!" Dorothy was counting each swallow, eyes ablaze as the food disappeared from the plate. Even the kitchen staff were cheering, several laughing heartily. There was something so wrong about the whole affair, the least of it being the fact that slop was going into Duo's stomach…Quatre wanted to be sick.

The plate was empty. Duo sat back in his seat, eyes far away and thoughtful. His lips were twitching and Quatre had the strange impression the boy was letting his tongue rove around his mouth, tasting the aftertaste. Disgusting!

The cook appeared at his side and plonked the jar at his side. Duo grinned as if someone had handed him a cheque with a million dollars on it. Quatre didn't think there was more than a grand in the jar.

Then…even Dorothy was left speechless as Duo got up and piled his plate high with another serving.

"You…you can't…you're serious!" Dorothy raged and Quatre groaned. Duo just looked at them.

"What is this?" Duo asked around a mouthful of the food.

"Lapskosi,[1]" the cook replied around a grin. "It's just potato, some fish, anything really. You just grab leftovers and put it all together…keeps for months, tastes great."

"You can say that again!" Duo agreed heartily as he took another mouthful. Quatre was getting curious. Grabbing his plate he went to the tray and put a small amount in the corner, picked up a fork and taking a deep breath, stuck it in his mouth. He locked eyes with Dorothy, who was gaping at him. Apparently she still thought Duo was just nuts. Une, however, was also eyeing the tray.

Swirling the mashed food in his mouth, Quatre felt a smile start to form. He dumped whatever was on his plate in the bin and filled his plate with Lapskosi. Soon he was shoveling it into his mouth as quickly as Duo. From the corner of his eye he saw Une tentatively taste it, then Dorothy followed, grabbing a whole two plates for herself, having missed lunch for the privilege of getting chewed out by Une.

The cafeteria staff eventually left to finish cleaning up and the cafeteria was filled with the sound of hungry mouths until Duo at last pushed his fourth empty plate away and sighed contentedly.

"Hi," he put his hand out toward Dorothy. "Duo Maxwell."

"Dorothy Catolonia," she replied with equal enthusiasm.

Une looked from one to the other, stood and was about to leave when she spun on Duo.

"You don't live here!" The demand for knowledge was obvious. Duo just grinned and waved his hand flippantly.

"Con Dance and Vocal Major. I don't sleep here, but I can eat here."

Huffing loudly, Une left the cafeteria grumbling about never getting any sleep and confining Dorothy Catalonia to her room while locking the front door to keep Duo Maxwell and enthusiastic double majors away.

"I think she lieks you," Dorothy said around a mouthful of food. Then she looked him up and down, looking through the table to make sure he was thoroughly uncomfortable. "Not that there isn't anything to like."

Quatre expected Duo to blush but only found himself blushing as Duo smirked and blew her a kiss. He suddenly felt like running after Une. Still, he had his answer. He now knew Duo was what he was looking for. Now he jut had to convince the others. Listening to the following conversation between Dorothy and Duo, which had something to do with the expected life experience of Lapskosi when left in different environments (something Quatre didn't really want to know about considering the abandoned mashed potato experiment still on the window sill…) Quatre figured he would at least had Dorothy on his side.

*

"World Music is not a new phenomenon. Even its popularity is merely a reflection of popularity which flourished hundreds of years ago."

Wufei sat forward in his chair, eager of catch every word of Howard's lecture as his hand scribbled wildly over the page. This was the first lecture this semester that had actually caught hold of something in his imagination. He had enjoyed his prac session that morning with Treize, and breakfast had been thoroughly enjoyable with everyone staring at the empty jar…and the odd looks Dorothy and Quatre gave everyone. There was a story there and Wufei wanted to find out what it was, and lunch was soon. So far, this had been a great day! Even Trowa was starting to enjoy himself, his manuscript folder already half full with new ideas. He seemed to just be waiting on Wufei to give him a theme to work around.

"As society changes different sounds and forms of sound become popular and as no one wants to do what has been done before they search further and further afield for sounds that are new or exciting. And this happens again and again...It's like a dance…"

Dance. Wufei's mind clicked into gear and he suddenly reached down to grab his bag from around his ankles, yanking out his drama notebook and opening it to the morning's notes from Treize's workshop. The Words glared at him in thick black letters.

Dance Macabre. The Dance of Death.

Wufei thought of his boxes of traditional Chinese instruments, sitting harmless in one corner of his room and felt a vicious grin spread over his features. From the corner of his eye he saw Howard blanch but the man didn't stop the lecture, just turned aside, knowing full well Wufei was dreaming up some trouble but not about to top him.

Wufei waited until the lecture ended and not a second more before running out the door for the music cafeteria. The others were only jut sitting down as he stumbled over the side of the chair beside Trowa and just started talking. The table fell silent, used to Wufei sudden harebrain ideas and interested to see what he had come up with.

"The Dance of Death."

They all stared at him, waiting expectantly, but he stared back, waiting for a reaction.

"Baka! Explain!" Heero snapped.

"It's a species of play akin to the English moralities. Only in this play death is personified, not as the destroyer, but as the will of God, summoning men to life beyond the grave. It became hugely popular in the fourteenth century because of the black death and the emphasis philosophy at the time placed on the universal sway of death."

"That's all very nice," Relena interrupted. "But what does this have to do with us?"

Wufei flushed, looked ready to argue, but thought better of it, charging on, rethinking what he was saying and trying to make it a little more obvious what this had to do with the Electric Orchestra.

"At first, the players moved slowly, trying to convey the seriousness of death, but as the macabre movement spread newer instruments and variations in musical style were introduced and the players pace increased. They started to dance."

"The Dance of Death," Quatre breathed, excitement in his eyes. He shared a look with Dorothy and Wufei reminded himself to find out just what had taken place between the two. Even Trowa looked a little more interested than usual.

"Right, the dance of death. I also have a whole box of traditional Chinese instruments sitting in my room that are used on New Years Day to express the dying of the old year and the birth of the new."

There were lights flickering on behind lustful eyes. Wufei leant back in his chair and grinned. They had a frame. And it suited him perfectly.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Trowa asked quietly, pencil already on paper as he scribbled notes next to the few melodies he had come up with, most of it centering around the word `Phrygian'. Why that scale Wufei had no idea. He wasn't overly fond of it, but hey…it was Trowa's baby.

"Well, last time we just played music. Everyone loved it. We're the best, why wouldn't they? But we have a whole school of the arts at our disposal. Why not include the others?" Wufei took a deep breath and plunged. "I want to put players at the front…act out the music. I want a vocalist. I want dancers…I want…theatre."

Quatre and Dorothy suddenly burst out laughing and even Relena giggled. Trowa had a faint hint of a smile on his lips. Heero was just watching all with a deep frown.

"I think we missed something…" Wufei glared at the whole table while Heero nodded. He fixed Dorothy with his best cold stare and waited until she quieted before pointing to the empty jar.

"What happened!"

Dorothy and Quatre shared a knowing look before sobering. Dorthy pulled herself straight and stuck her nose in the air.

"We found you a dancing vocalist."

"Who was hungry," added Quatre, and they both ran from the table, knowing full well they had everyone on their heels as they headed for the auditorium, each grabbing instruments as they followed.

-end part 4-

[1] Lapskosi…Yes, it's a real dish. There is an actual recipe, but I can't remember it, and it is basically just scraps of food from what Finns usually eat, and it is the BEST when you're cold and hungry. I think this is how you spell it, not sure, can't remember…heh.