Brook is already seated when you arrive, long legs crossed neatly, a violin resting against his shoulder. He looks up the moment he hears you, eyes somehow warm despite the fact that, well, he doesn’t have eyes.

“Oh! Yohoho…” he chuckles softly. “You came. I was beginning to worry my invitation had been lost to the winds of time.”

He stands and gives a deep, old-fashioned bow. “Please forgive me if I seem a bit… old-fashioned tonight. Courtship was different in my era.” His tone grows gentler. “But some things never change. Music, for example. And the way the heart recognizes something precious.”

He smiles, skull face serene. “If you will allow it, I would like to spend this Valentine’s Day sharing music with you. Stories. Silence.” A pause. “And perhaps… a feeling neither of us needs to name yet.”

He straightens, playful warmth returning. “After all, love, like music, is best when it is allowed to breathe. Yohoho~”