Groovy Tunes, Saturday

[furnaceface]

Another semester, another excuse to hang up his Now Hiring sign in the music shop window, which was the first thing Jonothon did when he came in for his shift today.

The second thing he did was go through a shipment of instruments that he'd ordered in. String instruments today, mostly. A few assorted guitars, some ukuleles, a violin, even a banjo and a cello, though he didn't imagine he'd be able to sell those very easily around here. But who knew? Sometimes, people surprised him.

Thing number three, of course, was quality control.

And that was why Jonothon was going to have the stereo turned off, today. It was far more important that he make certain all the new string instruments were in tune and good repair. And if that meant that he lost a good portion of his day talking himself out of claiming one of the ukuleles, of all things, for himself... well...

Shut up. Jono's self-control was strained at best when it came to anything he could make music with.

[Open! OCD-free!]

Comments

[nuclear_snide]

Bob had spent a good bit of the previous evening through today in...experimenting, of a kind. It had been fairly successful, which made him happy. But it also reminded him of his limitations, which made him melancholy. So he was in an...interesting mood.

And oh, look! Someone to annoy demonstrate for!

He walked through the door (literally), watched Jono for a moment, then asked, "Can you do 'Tiptoe through the Tulips'?"

[furnaceface]

Jono glanced up at Bob, eyebrow raised. It wasn't every day somebody walked through part of his building to make ukulele requests, after all.

Of course, Jono being Jono, he obliged.

//But I'm not singing,// he intoned, as he played. Because no.

It was probably the most dry expression anybody had ever worn while playing a ukulele song that had been most recently popularized by Pepé Le Pew.

[nuclear_snide]

Well, if you were going to play ukulele, honestly!

Bob watched him for a moment until he was sufficiently distracted, made a considering noise, and with a gesture was holding a staff. A perfect replica of his original one, not that Jono would know.

With a broader gesture, he thrust it forward, sending a bolt of green light from the end, narrowly missing Jono's ear and crashing into the wall, where it left a decent-sized, sparking crater.

[furnaceface]

Aaand that would be Jonothon dropping the ukulele and shooting to his feet, wide-eyed, one hand ripping his wrappings down from his chest as his eyes flared hot-white.

//Gordon Bennett! What the sodding hell do you think you're doing!?//

[nuclear_snide]

Bob eyed him and shrugged. "Testing." He vanished the staff and waited expectantly for Jono to remember who - and what - Bob was.

[furnaceface]

Jono's eyes narrowed a little, and then he looked back toward the damage on the wall. Remembering what Bob was was hardly going to have him any less concerned. Remember who his ghost had been, Bob?

//... Testing.// He walked over to the crater in the wall, and then reached out a hand to brush against the damage.

The hole seemed to fall apart in a flurry of golden droplets at the brush of his fingertips, leaving the unscathed wall behind in its wake.

And then he was just turning around again to glower.

//... Do you get told often that you're an asshole, Bob?//

[nuclear_snide]

Yes - his ghost had been the tangible one!

"Occasionally," Bob answered cheerfully, all but whistling. He rolled his eyes at the glower. "I haven't done much more than change my appearance or write in the air for years; I had to see if I could make it convincing. A defence against magic class isn't much good without at least a bit of practical experience."

[furnaceface]

Well. Now Jono was very strongly imagining punching Bob in his stupid face.

//... You know, most people use the Danger Shop for that,// he grumbled, shaking his head and looking grumpily down at his torn bandages. //They don't go walking into people's businesses blowing imaginary holes in the bleedin' walls.//

[nuclear_snide]

"Yes, but now you know you're well prepared for any future such things. Well done!" Bob beamed at him. Then he registered the first part of that. "The what?"

[furnaceface]

//The... the Danger... of course nobody told you about the Danger Shop, did they? It's that big empty room in the school. Makes interactive hard-light projections? Think Galaxy Quest, only real and more for education than entertainment.//

He was going to give up on salvaging the bandages for now. There was only so much that he could do, here.

//Most teachers use it for scenarios we don't actually want to kill our students with.//

[nuclear_snide]

Oh, that did sound useful! Except for... "Isn't that thing supposed to go evil every other episode?" Bob asked dubiously. "Besides, even if it doesn't, how am I supposed to work it?"

[furnaceface]

//Sometimes it glitches, but it hasn't outright gone evil that I can recall,// Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders. //And I know it responds to voice commands in a pinch. Not sure about programming it... I suppose I could do that for you, if you can't talk it out with the computer.//

Remember, this is the man who still got tripped up when checking his e-mail.

But then, this was also a man who could build a sonic collar capable of creating hard-light objects and facilitating wingless flight. Out of spare parts. Blindly, in the dark.

The e-mail thing was mostly stubbornness at this point.

[nuclear_snide]

That sounded even better! "I could probably use a bit of help, at least at first," Bob conceded. "Is it safe? The name doesn't exactly inspire confidence."

[furnaceface]

//There are built-in safety protocols. Nothing the Danger Shop does is capable of causing actual physical harm, unless you go buggering with the settings.// A beat. //Don't go buggering with the settings.//

Seriously. Don't do it.

//It's bloody impressive, how realistic it is. We've got technology like it back where I'm from, too. It's mostly used to train people with powers, at least how I've seen it, so it ought to be useful in your class, as well.//

[nuclear_snide]

"Unless the settings are likely to allow buggering, I think I'll stick to what they can normally do." He was already trying to think of ways to combine his illusions with what the room might be able to do.

[furnaceface]

That would certainly make for an interesting outcome, considering what the room could do.

//Good plan. What day is your class? We can head in early to set things up then. Unless I'm otherwise occupied. A close friend of mine is expecting a baby any day now. But I'll find some way to let you know if it looks as though that'll hold me up.//

[nuclear_snide]

"Tuesday." Bob eyed Jono curiously and with just a hint of wariness. "That's kind of you."

[furnaceface]

//This is me making this offer so that you don't have to walk into my shop and convince me you've blown a hole in the wall again,// Jono replied, pointing a finger at him. //And because you're less likely to give the students all heart attacks if it happens in a room where this sort of thing is at least slightly expected. Tuesday, then. I'll be there Tuesday before your class, we can set it up, make certain it'll answer to your voice commands, and I'll be on my way.//

[nuclear_snide]

Bob smirked. "It was a good illusion, though."

Admit it!

[furnaceface]

//Yes,// Jono agreed, rolling his eyes and grabbing at a handful of torn wrappings. //It was a very good illusion. Ass.//

[nuclear_snide]

Bob eyed Jono speculatively, then wove a quick illusion over him of the bandages still being intact. "Better?" Okay, so you could still feel the things were torn, but nobody else could tell! That worked, right?

And then, Bob being Bob, he added racing stripes.

[furnaceface]

... Bob.

//Momentarily, yes, but no thank you. I have more upstairs,// Jono sighed, waving a hand through the illusion and shaking his head. //I'll get those, instead.//

[nuclear_snide]

Hmph. Well, you try to be helpful...

Bob shrugged. "Suit yourself. Put on some music before you go. Do you have any show tunes?" He peered around at the stock, turning his head to look at things.

[furnaceface]

//Of course we do,// Jono replied, shaking his head a little. //Any preferences?//

Who was he to deny a dead man some music?

[nuclear_snide]

"Anything after 2008?" Bob suggested. "It's just started that year back home, so I won't have heard anything newer yet. Anything good?"

[furnaceface]

//You don't do simple requests, do you?// Jono scratched his head, and then made his way to the musical soundtracks, perusing the selection.

//Let's see... there's apparently a Big Fish musical now. And Bullets Over Broadway... I don't even know what sort of music you like, you know?//

Even musicals had variety.

[nuclear_snide]

"I like things with stories." Bob shrugged. It used to be opera, now it was mostly musicals. "I'm usually stuck with whatever Harry's grabbed. And he's stuck with what's on vinyl."

He probably hadn't heard American Idiot.