fandomtownies | Groovy Tunes, Tuesday

"Guitar," Didi noted appreciatively during her usual lunch-hour visit. (Though for her it was more a 'gobble a power bar while you walk to see your non-eating boyfriend' hour). "Hi. Are you writing something?"

//Right this very moment, luv?// Jono looked up from his guitar, which gave a small twang of protest as he pulled the pick from the strings. //Not exactly. Just playing something I wrote a while back, actually.//

A long while back, when he could still sing it, too.

//Do yer suppose I ought to be writing something?//

"I suppose you should be doing exactly what you feel like doing," Didi suggested. "... unless it's a Christmas carol. Then my opinion changes."

//After last week's relentless murder of Carol of th'Bells, I haven't had the heart to turn the radio on again,// Jono confessed. //Good decision? Bad decision?//

He didn't want to destroy anything that played music, was the thing. And if he had to suffer another repetitive song day, he was going to bust out the powers and make something explode. Painfully.

"How do you feel about Feliz Navidad?" Didi asked with raised eyebrows. ".. general respect for Latino cultures aside."

If Jono had anything bad to say about Feliz Navidad around Angelo, he would have probably gotten an earful.

As it stood, Angelo wasn't here, and Jono could be as brutally honest as possible.

//Entirely too cheerful, and repetitive. And a little whiny, if yer ask me.// A pause. He cast a suspicious look toward the radio. //Today? Really?//

Didi lived with Jaime Reyes. She didn't even know if he was sensitive about it -- he didn't strike her as the type -- but criticizing the song in front of him still struck her as, shall we say, poor form.

"Today," she said, nodding solemnly. "Really. Apu took off to the store room and left me all alone with the radio, the ratfink."

//Yer can't just... turn th'radio off? Explain to Apu that the point of the matter isn't to annoy customers until they leave?//

Well, it made sense to Jono, anyhow.

//If he's adamant about music, make him sing.//

"I don't think we're supposed to turn it off," Didi said. "That's on about ... page 300 of the training manuals Turtle gave me before she took off. A silent shop is supposed to be less welcoming"

She considered it. "Think the key words are 'she took off'?"

//I think the key words absolutely are 'she took off,' with a bit of, 'and if yer don't turn off th'radio, I'll bloody well light it on fire,' for good measure.//

He leaned his head back, eyeing the ceiling for a moment, thoughtfully.

//I suppose I could leave a tick early and swing by there with my guitar, though, if he's adamant about music. I won't be likely to sell much out of here today, if it's all the same bloody song anyhow.//

"So we could have an in-store concert?" Didi looked at him flirtatiously, up from under her lashes. "It's not necessary, but if you want to walk me back tot he dorms, I wouldn't say no."

Jono absolutely did not miss that she was giving him flirty-eyes, no. He even worked on a bit of a smile in turn, though being not-all-there and painfully aware of it lately was kind of spoiling the effect slightly.

//If yer want a concert, that means I'll have to draft yer to do my singing,// he decided. Because he was incorrigible in that regard, at least. //I would be happy to walk yer back to the dorms, though.//

"... yeah, I don't sing in public," Didi said. She wasn't ignoring his affect, but she wasn't quite sure what was going on, so she was trying to cajole him into a better mood without saying anything specific. "So I'll have to settle for an escort back to the dorms."

She mock-sighed heavily.

[OOC: Fleeing -- may be scarce tonight. Sorry.]

//Oh, what a difficult life,// he replied, and there was a bit of actual smile in there somewhere, this time. //Do yer suppose yer can handle it? All th'way back to th'dorms in my company? I might make yer carry my guitar.//

He wouldn't. His guitar was his baby, and he was going to carry it on his own. He could ask her to carry his amp, but it was heavy, and so he was going to take that too, thank you much.

[That's totally fine! We can rock the SP, as we do.]

"... that would involve you letting me touch your guitar," Didi pointed out. "I didn't know we were that serious."

Jono was now going to have to pause for some serious consideration, here.

On the one hand, this was his guitar.

On the other hand, they were serious enough that they'd slept together. Twice... While they were both insane and not in their own bodies, more or less. So that hardly counted.

On the other, other hand, guitar. His voice without words. And she understood that, so he didn't have to be paranoid, here.

On the other other other hand, he only had so many hands, here, and letting her carry the guitar- pending she actually wanted to- would certainly make the walk back simpler.

//So long as yer don't run it into anything while we're walking,// he decided. Which, for him, might as well have been like handing her the keys to his car and his house and here are all of his credit cards and also the account numbers to those Swiss Bank Accounts that he didn't really have.

Didi practically bounced, but realized that would not be her best move in convincing Jono she was, in fact, mature and responsible enough to handle the exalted burden of his guitar.

"No running it into anything," she promised. "And I won't open the case and get fingerprints on it. And ... I won't, I don't know, try to tune it and break all the strings."

//Strings, I can replace,// Jono replied, lifting one shoulder slightly and shaking his head, bemused. //And fingerprints can be wiped off.//

He stood, one eyebrow raised, his expression full of amusement as he held it up for show, all red and shiny and perfect. With the exception of that little bit of body damage that he was going to have fixed any time soon, honest.

//But if yer run it into anything, I might be forced to cry.//

"And if you cried, I'd cry," Didi promised. "And I don't think either of us wants that."

She reached out a hand to touch the instrument. "I can be careful. Promise. How long have you had this one, anyhow?"

[OOC: Night!]

Edited 2009-12-16 03:17 (UTC)

//Not long,// Jono replied, shrugging again. //I bought it after comin' here, actually. Left my last one behind in London, didn't have the opportunity to pick up another in Massachusetts before finding myself here.//

He wasn't going to ever see that other one again. He'd mostly gotten over that, too. Except for the fact that it was always kind of heartbreaking, having to give up a beloved musical instrument.

[OOC: Night!]

"I can't imagine you in Massachusetts without one," Didi said. "It kind of feels like a part of you."

The missing voice, yes.

//I wasn't in Massachusetts for very long,// Jono confessed. //Didn't get out much, at first. Th'Academy isn't exactly smack in th'middle of town or anything, and... Well.//

He shrugged.

//I wasn't exactly in any sort of rush to get out and about, there. Came from London with whatever I could fit in one carryon bag, and then found myself bound and determined to make do with what I had.//

While skulking about in corners, giving flaming death-glares at the other students. And watching the telly.

"You didn't want to ask anyone for anything?" Didi guessed, tilting her head to the side a little because, yes, Jono was like that. "I can see that."

Jono watched her for a moment, and then, because apparently his shoulders hadn't gotten enough of a workout yet, he gave them another shrug.

//Most of th'other students were afraid of me,// he replied, his gaze somewhere off to the side, because that seemed like a good enough place to direct it at the moment. //Not Penance, maybe, but Penance is bright red and has skin like razorblades. Even if she wasn't mute, if I didn't have my suspicions that she doesn't understand English to begin with, she's not exactly likely to be able to run into town to get me a guitar, either.//

"So you aren't exactly going to go out there for a Christmas homecoming," Didi said, which served twin goals of being something she'd meant to ask him and being distraction from Jono's mood. "That's great. I'm stuck here too. Lots of spare time, huh?"

//Plenty,// Jono agreed, glancing back toward her. //I predict I'll be spending a good deal of it pretending that it's not a holiday, actually.//

Holidays tended to come with food, and people being all close and cozy and making with the friendly quality time, and singing, and... well.

Didi pouted at him. "So does that mean you don't want your present?"

She liked Christmas, dammit. Not the religious part, but being close and cozy and kind, and just the general happiness and good cheer going around. She couldn't force it on Jono, but a lack of wet blanket-hood for a couple days would be appreciated.

... That pout was completely and entirely unfair. Unfair enough that Jono was setting his guitar down against the seat he'd been in a moment ago, and he was rubbing at the bandages along the back of his neck.

//Do I get to pick and choose what parts of the holiday I acknowledge?//

Yes, he absolutely was negotiating Christmas. It wasn't that he had anything against Christmas in particular, of course. It was just that there were certain bits and pieces that were more likely to smack him around a bit than others, and he didn't want to risk subjecting anyone to that in the first place.

Didi must have needed shoulder exercise, too, from her shrug. "I was kind of assuming baking Christmas cookies and exchanging fruitcake jokes were off the table. Also, I didn't think you'd be big into wassailing ... do people still do that?"

Negotiating Christmas was entirely possible. It was a start, at least.

"What will you do?"

Edited 2009-12-16 19:51 (UTC)

Jono scuffed a toe against the floor, feeling like an absolute pillock for shifting the conversation in this direction in the first place. It was Christmas, Didi was clearly a fan, and that ought to have been enough, even with cookies and the prospect of door-to-door singing.

//What else is left?//

He was now hell-bent on being open to... whatever was left. Whatever that might be.

"Presents, a tree, snow angels, lights, candles..." Didi paused for a breath. "Going to the mainland and giving money to Salvation Army Santas. Window-shopping. TV specials. Sitting in the back of midnight mass, even if you aren't really Christian, just because it's old and traditional and holy."

She paused for a second, thinking over her laundry list. "Seriously, I won't jam a Santa hat on your head or anything. That's up to the island."

Didi was officially much better at figuring out bits of Christmas that Jono could actually participate in than Jono was, and he actually looked a little thankful for that fact.

//That, then. All of that. With the possible exception of the hat... Do yer have anyplace to put a tree in your room, luv?//

Jonothon didn't. His half of his room was populated by CDs, records, sheet music, any bit of guitar paraphernalia that he could get his hands on, stereo equipment, band posters that hadn't yet made it as far as his walls, and dirty laundry.

"A small one, maybe. I could figure out a place for it," Didi said, looking much more hopeful about all of this herself. Yes, her side of her room was full of scarves, hats, black clothes, more black clothes, fish accessories, half-finished books, and things that had been on sale at T&C that were too cute to pass up, but so what? There was always more space under the bed or in the closet.

It was possibly a great mercy that Jaime and Jak were not exactly neat freaks.

"So -- if I put a bitty tree on top of my dresser, you'll help me put tiny ornaments on it?" This was Didi, being mollified. Or something.

//I'll even help yer find and buy the tiny ornaments,// Jonothon agreed. //Or make them, if it comes to that. I'm not entirely opposed to popcorn strings and candy canes, truthfully.//

Just don't ask him to use his powers for the popcorn. That couldn't possibly end well.

"So food is acceptable if it's entirely decorative," Didi said, mock-solemn. "No, that's good to know. Candy canes are prettier than they are tasty, anyhow."

//Food is acceptable just so long as I don't have to watch everyone else enjoying it,// Jono replied, in all seriousness. He'd get used to doing so sooner or later, he supposed. He was going to have to. But for now, he'd kindly thank anyone with plum pudding or fruitcake to at least warn him so that he could leave the room before they decided to dig in. //Anything else yer might want on yer tree?//

She had to tell him these things, because if Jono was left to his own devices, it might end up looking like the Christmas tree of a certain cartoon blockhead who usually wore yellow and had very little hair.

Edited 2009-12-16 20:56 (UTC)

Didi felt the Power Bar wrapper in her jacket pocket, a little self-conscious. "Lights, tiny ornaments, tinsel, popcorn ... maybe an angel at the top, if I find a nice one," she said. "Seriously, I wouldn't make it all over-the-top Goth or anything."

Edited 2009-12-16 20:59 (UTC)

Jono wrinkled his nose for a moment, looking at the ceiling and seeming to think very hard on that.

//... Nope. It doesn't matter how hard I try, I can't for the life of me picture a Goth Christmas tree, luv.//

This was probably for the best.

"It would be very Tim Burton," Didi deadpanned. "Cute cartoon skulls, the whole bit."

...

...

//It is wrong of me to want to put a tree like that in my own room, just to make Jak wonder, isn't it?//

"No wronger than it is of me to encourage you," Didi decided. "You think he'd notice?"

//He might,// Jono mused, looking more than just a little bit tempted, now, yes. //Perhaps if I insist that he doesn't turn the light on in th'room, because it's ruining the festive quality of the tree...//

"I barely even know Jak and I still want to see his face when you do that," Didi informed him.

//It's a very expressive face,// Jono offered, because that was totally helpful, honestly. //If I had a camera, I suppose I could attempt to capture it on film for yer.//

In the dark. Yes.

"Thanks for the offer, but I can use my imagination," Didi said, and looked at the store clock. "Do I have to go back to work?

Jono glanced up at the clock as well. And then he looked around the very empty store. And then he looked at Didi, offering her one of those smiles of his.

//If yer can spare one more minute, I'll lock up, gather my things, and come with yer.//

Nobody would miss the music shop today. Seriously.

"One whole minute, huh?" Didi teased, and stretched her arms above her head. "I can wait, sure. Do I still get to carry your guitar?"

//Absolutely,// Jono agreed, making a reach for it. //... Just as soon as I put it into th'guitar case.//

He trusted her. He totally did. It was Fandom that he didn't trust, and so into the protective casing it went!

Groovy Tunes, Tuesday

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