Groovy Tunes, Monday

[furnaceface]

Jono. Kitten. Music shop.

This was kind of the norm around here for Mondays, now. Really, nobody should be surprised.

And the 'Help Wanted' sign that was in the window? Also probably not a huge shock. After all, every day of the week except for Monday and Wednesday were free, and really, he just wanted to share the love.

... Or not have to unpack the massive shipment of terrible 90s Boy Band music all on his own. Lord, who listened to this rubbish?

Groovy Tunes was, of course, open. And if Jonothon was letting Joni bat around and chew on the cover-slip of some Backstreet Boys CD or other, then what of it?

[Open and flying without OCD again!]

Comments

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Ariel was hoping that when she got to Groovy Tunes, Jono wouldn't be there, but of course, that was probably very silly of her. As it was, she wandered on in, affixed him with a Very Serious look as she folded her arms in front of her and demanded to know, "Now what in the world are you doing here?"

She even threw in some foot tapping for good measure.

[furnaceface]

//Er... working?//

On unpacking... 5ive CDs, now. What the hell was a 5ive and why did they think that a number could possibly substitute for the letter F?

//I have a job here, you know, luv.//

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I know," Ariel said, "but you also have a girlfriend who's not dead. I think the CDs can wait, Jono. I heard you were at the library yesterday, too. Your priorities...."

She shook her head dismally. As if she was anyone to talk about having proper priorities.

[furnaceface]

//I...// Oh, awkward. //She'll be coming by a little later, actually. She and I need to... to talk.//

He shrugged his shoulders a little, as his eyes dropped down. Right. 5ive. Eugh.

//My priorities are fine, luv.//

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Okay, between that pause and Raven's pause last night and radio mentioning awkwardness as well, Ariel was starting to wonder if she was really, really missing something in the story with this. She eyed Jono and his focus on the CDs for a second before throwing in her own hands.

"Here, let me help with these. What are they, anyway? New CDs? There's a lot of them, you'll need some help if you don't want to be doing this all day, including when she stops by. Don't want to be distracted by work if you guys need to talk...."

[furnaceface]

//They're not any of them new,// Jono noted, cramming his hands into his pockets as Ariel made a reach for them. //They're from over a decade ago. I think they're all just albums that our supplier couldn't pay people to take, so they all got dumped on us.//

Why else would they end up with three cases of N*Sync?

//Ariel... mind if I ask yer opinion about something?//

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

Ariel lifted her eyes from where she was inspecting the back of a CD, her brow arched. "You know you can ask me anything, Jono," she said, glad to see him at least not insisting on keeping himself busy with work. In fact, she set the CD down herself, tilting her head at him to let him know he had her undivided attention.

[furnaceface]

//If you... did something that hurt somebody,// he hedged, //and hurt them a lot, but it wasn't really something that you could really... help, at all...//

He shrugged his shoulders. Took a moment to gather words again, because this wasn't exactly an easy question for Jonothon to ask, of Ariel or anybody, really.

//D'you think it's... unreasonable... to be afraid of getting close to people again? Especially if maybe it's something that you were worried you might do, right from th'start?//

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Unreasonable?" asked Ariel, after a long moment to consider the question with a frown. "No, not at all. But, I mean, just because something is a reasonable response to something doesn't mean it's...the best. You know?"

Man, now she really wanted to ask about things, but it just seemed so, so, so, so not cool to do so...

[furnaceface]

Jono nodded a little. That was a fair response. At least, considering the grounds for consideration that he'd presented.

//What if... 'hurt' meant gone? Still... not th'best?//

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"Jono," Ariel said, her frown deepening into concern, "I'm not sure I understand..."

[furnaceface]

//What happened to Raven was...// Jono shook his head a little, wrapping his arms around himself. //I didn't mean to. I didn't have any control over it. But I'm dangerous, Ariel. In a very real way, I'm dangerous. And nobody believes me, when I tell them that.//

... Hey, Ariel. Have some of Jonothon's issues?

[shes-got-legs.livejournal.com]

"...but," Ariel said carefully, "she's....fine. She's not dead and everything's fine..."

Yes, that required a pause.

"Right?"

Because somehow she felts she was totally missing pieces here.

[trigons_child]

After meeting Tara and Dolf earlier at the Perk, Raven made her way to Groovy Tunes to see Jono. To talk. But the revelation of what Azar had done was crashing down on her, leaving her more of a wreck than she already had been. Was it even possible for her guilt to become stronger? Her goddess had used her friends.

She managed a nervous smile as she stepped into the store. "Hello, Jono," she called softly.

[furnaceface]

Jono glanced up from the abomination that was an entire box of Hanson CDs, trying not to look too much like he was contemplating lighting them on fire. He'd heard wonderful things about something that they did at the Pixie Dust with clothing that they didn't want, after all...

Oh. Oh, hello, there.

//G'day, luv,// he offered, only a tiny bit on the fidgety side. It was an improvement from yesterday, at least. He'd had some time to brace himself for whatever was going to come up in conversation, here.

[trigons_child]

"Is this a good time?" Raven asked. She moved into the store, but she was careful to keep her distance, even though she was aching for a hug. "I can come back later if it is not...."

[furnaceface]

//No, it's...// Jono gave the box a sour look, and then pushed it out of the way.

The bright orange CD cover was hurting his eyes. Yes. Because orange wasn't a colour that he could possibly be used to seeing on a regular basis. At all.

//It's fine.// Awkward. But fine. //Pull up a seat? Grab a... kitten.//

Joni had found Raven's ankles already.

[trigons_child]

Raven was already bending down to scoop up Joni into her arms. "Hello, Joni," she said, scritching her head. "I have missed you as well."

She shifted Joni to one arm so she could sit down and adjust her skirt. Awkward? She'd have some of that, too. "How are you today?" she asked.

[furnaceface]

//Drowning in music that I swear t'God I didn't order,// Jono replied, lifting a shoulder a little bit. //But otherwise... not bad, I suppose.//

No worse than he'd ever been, anyhow. Not great, and just not terrible enough to be able to snark lightly about people who had been more successful in their musical careers than he would ever be.

Damn them.

//... You?//

[trigons_child]

"I saw Tara this morning," Raven said. She busied herself with giving Joni a kiss to hide the pain and guilt in her eyes. "I did not realize what Azar did to her." And now she was having a serious crisis of faith.

[furnaceface]

The twist of distaste that Jono felt at the mention of that name wasn't guarded at all, and probably didn't help matters, any.

//Azar is a bit of a piece of work,// he noted, his tone far more carefully neutral than his mindset, on that topic.

[trigons_child]

"She was my teacher for the first 13 years of my life," Raven said with the tiniest of flinches. "She is a goddess. I do not understand why she would do something like this."

To destroy Trigon, obviously. But she'd never known Azar to be so ruthless.

[furnaceface]

//Because it worked,// Jono replied, simply. And for all that he wanted to throttle Azar personally for it, at least there was that.

If it hadn't worked, then not only would that have been a horrible experience, but they'd probably all be dead. Or worse.

//She's a goddess, luv. And we're just... mortals. We don't really hold equal footing with their sort. I can't imagine she'd view ruthlessness th'same way any of us ever would. Not if the ends have any chance of justifying th'means.//

[trigons_child]

"It did work," Raven said, nodding slightly. "Trigon is destroyed. I am all that remains of him now."

Until she found out about her retconned brothers, at least.

"I just do not know how I can pray to Azar now, knowing how she hurt my friends," she went on. "But that is something I must discover for myself, I suppose. But...I am angry, too." Angry that her friends had been used, angry that she had been used by the goddess. If Azar had had this master plan, she'd never shared it with Raven and had used her like a pawn almost as much as Trigon or Sebastian had.

[furnaceface]

Jonothon nodded, looking down at the counter, wrinkling his nose at the box of 98 Degrees that he had been avoiding the hell out of, and then looking up again.

//I'd be worried, if you weren't at least a little,// he admitted.

If Raven wasn't angry at Azar over this, odds were high that he'd be more angry, probably irrationally at everything, to make up for that.