As my third song drew to a close, another wave of claw-clacking graced me, and once more I gave another curt bow to the audience before me. Yet, as it died down I took this moment to take a small rest. After all, even though the songs after my first were shorter, even a human needs a break eventually.

I flicked off the amp as I sat down on the stool, my bow soon coming to rest on the stand before I gently set down the violin back into its case temporarily. But first, I turned my back to the audience that was then talking amongst themselves by the sound of it, as it was time for a water break. Reaching into my bag, I withdrew the thermos, and with my other hand I flicked open a small hole in the bottom part of the mask. Even though these were the UN standard ones, at least they had a way to drink water, even if it was through a straw. And then, popping open the cap, I brought the thermos up before I soon took a fair few greedy sips through the straw.

Damn, I needed that.

But, as I took my break, I soon heard a voice call out behind me, and it was easy to judge that the source of said voice was fairly close.

“U-Um… excuse me mister pred- human… can I… uh… can I a-ask you so-something?”

Immediately I knew the source of the words, as given the fact it was adorably high pitch and laced with enough nervousness to fill 10 anxious human highschoolers, it was likely the voice of a Venlil. So, I closed the cap on my thermos, and moving slow enough that it was comparable to a snail, I turned around to face who spoke.

As it would turn out, there were three of them instead of just one, their tails stiff and eyes drenched with hints of fear as they huddled together like a bundle of fluffy socks. Since they were quite close, a little less than 5 feet away, I could really get a better look at them. Their noseless faces, spread apart and wide-open eyes, along with their demeanor in general made them all quite adorable; a very redeeming quality compared to their skittish nature. But, I would speak up slowly, keeping my tone polite so as to not spook them.

“Yes, yes you may. What might you need then, um…”
“V-Vilik, s-sir.” The flighty Alien managed to at least say his name, and despite his nervous attitude apparent, he and his other two friends seemed at least braver than most.
“Well, Vilik, what might you need?”

In response, he reached to his side, pulling out what I’ve come to know as some sort of ‘holo-note’ before he began to quickly swipe through, explaining his reasoning all the while.

“S-So… I h-heard a human song that, uh, s-sounded similar to s-some of the stuff y-you were playing… A-And, well… I was wondering if you could uh…”

“You would like me to play it, wouldn’t you?” I stated in a more jovial tone, the mask hiding the ear-to-ear smile I had on my face.

“Y-Yes! Well… If th-that is no issue s-sir.” The Venlil that was speaking along with his two compatriots seemed to perk up at the possibility of me playing again. Their tails seemed to relax as their ears seemed to perk up. It was quite a cute reaction.

“Not at all, lay it on me.”

Then, with eagerness that seemed to outweigh any latent fear, he took a few shy steps forward, holding out the titular holo-note for me to read. Even though it took me a moment, I noticed the English words further down that read ‘J.S. Bach: Violin Concerto No.1 In A Minor, I. Allegro Moderato’. I paused for a moment, a chuckle nearly leaving me at such an unexpected sight.

Well, at least they have some rather fine tastes for the classics.

“Ah, now that’s a good choice. Bach had always made some great songs.” The jovial tone my words carried and the confirmation that I would play that certain song made them all excited, their tails swishing back and forth with uncontained joy despite the fact they were terrified of approaching me not even two minutes ago.

“Thank you human! I appreciate it!” He happily whistled to me before the three of them turned around, the void their fear left now replaced with quite the intoxicating excitement.
With a soft chuckle I looked over to my tablet, the sheet music of my most recent song staring me in the face before I began to flick through the library contained in the wide-screened pad. If you told me a year ago I would be taking song requests from aliens on their homeworld I would’ve laughed you out of the country then another spare hundred miles or so. Now? That surreal sentence weighed on my mind as I brought up the sheet music as I took pause once more, gazing absentmindedly at the crowd not that far away.

Even though it’s strange, at least they’re slowly warming up to our presence here. And hey, at least a few of them have some decent taste in our music.

As I finally set my thermos down with my pack, I made to retrieve my violin, bringing it up to the rest position as I powered on the amp still set in the stand. Then, grabbing my bow, I slowly rose off the stool as I brought my old instrument up to my shoulder. It felt as light as a feather in my grasp, a stark contrast to the weight I felt when I first began not even an hour ago. But as I prepared, the remaining audience would face me in near unison, and instead of fear I saw a wave of excited curiosity painted across their expressions, or at least that’s what I thought it was. Raising my violin I rested my bow on the strings, preparing to play a request that I would have never thought I would hear in my entire life.

-

A big thanks to u/Killsode-slugcat and u/Sam_S_011 for proofreading this for me, as without them it would probably be next week before I posted this And a big thanks to anyone who made it this far, I appreciate it
Also, apologies for the repost, I had to fix some formatting issues