music, flood my heart.
Summary: Lance attends the London Symphony Orchestra with a singular hope: this time, he’ll hear the music. [shance soulmate au]
Stepping from the chilly streets into the Queen’s Hall opened a pocket of warmth in Lance’s chest.
The rattle of car engines and bursts of taxi horns faded beneath a collective purr, a hundred voices clamoring together to fill the main parlor. Cigar smoke drifted from the lounge, chased out by the laughter at the bar. The woman congregated in clouds of wafting perfume, whispering and rubbing their hands together to combat the late winter air.
It was a usual scene at the Orchestra, always the same before the show began. Happiness spilled through Lance like a candle’s flame in a dark room, lighting him up from the inside out. He tucked his hand just inside his coat, laid it over the thump of his heart like he could somehow capture the life in that steady beat. The other curled more tightly around the bouquet of white carnations he carried.
The excitement. The thrill. The nervous tension.
Somehow, this Hall eased it. Somehow, this Hall filled him with golden delight, with eager anticipation. He knew the moment the orchestra began, it may end in disappointment. He may leave when the production finished, not having heard a note of the symphony performed— or, he may depart with the sweet, sweet notes echoing in his ears, with the knowledge that someone to cross his path in the prior week was his soulmate.
The happiness that he envied, the beautiful melodies that brought smiles to those around him would be his. The emptiness it was to live a life without music would be through.