Groovy Tunes en route to Hannibal's Place, Saturday Morning

[furnaceface]

Jono's brow furrowed a little bit as he tried again to put the key into the keyhole so that he could open up the Groovy Tunes for the day. It wasn't like this wasn't something he had done a thousand times before, but today he was just having difficulties, apparently. He'd fumble, or he'd miss entirely, as though his hands had no business being there at all.

Which, apparently, they didn't. At least, not after the whump sound and the clattering of keys on cobblestones that, a few moments later, saw a tiny orange venomous snake peering out, disgruntled, from under the heap of leather that was left on the ground where Jono had been standing a moment before.

Being a snake, he couldn't exactly vocalize how cranky he was at the thought of leaving his clothing in a pile in front of his shop, really. His jacket was still back at Hannibal's today because it was still so bloody hot, but those were some quality leather trousers. And his shoes! Hell, his wallet was in that pocket, and his keys... were right there, on the ground.

His keys, at least, he could do something about.

And that was how the tiny orange snake wound up attempting to haul a keyring up Unicorn, along Loon, and then down Griffin Way, looking more and more irritated every time he came to a staircase. And how Groovy Tunes didn't get opened at all today, though there was plenty of black leather (complete with a wallet, several guitar picks, shoes, socks, and one pair of the world's most boring grey boxer briefs) sitting on the ground just outside the front door.

Days like today, Jonothon hated this place.

[OOC: Gonna be an AFK sort of weekend, but I figured I might as well have fun with it! Open for gawking at the teeny-weeny venomous snake or modding the clothing pile or stealing Jono's wallet or whatever, I guess?]

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[nuclear_snide]

Some time afterward, Bob showed up for their Saturday reading. He peered in confusion at the closed shop and the pile of clothing, then reached down to put his hand through the pile.

He blinked. "Well." He shrugged, took a moment to scrawl "CLOSED" in glowing letters on the door, and went searching.

Which was how eventually, still a block or so from Hannibal's place, he overtook the tiny orange snake. Then took one look and laughed. "It really is a pity I don't have a camera."

[furnaceface]

... Jono hated you so much right now, Bob. As could be evidenced, possibly, by the way he was putting down his keys so that he could rear up and hiss at you.

He'd probably be way more intimidating if he was more than a foot and a half long.

[nuclear_snide]

Or if Bob could be bitten. But since he couldn't, he was just going to snicker.

"What are you planning on doing with those keys when you get wherever you're going?" he asked. "Using them to knock, or just thumping your head on the door?"

[furnaceface]

Clearly, he was going to quietly hope he grew a few more feet between here and there, and then unlock the front door his own damn self.

Jono stuck his tongue out at Bob, because that, at least, he could do, and then lowered himself down to drag the keys a little more. Mostly he'd just been thinking he wasn't going to leave them in front of his business door for anybody to wander in and make off with the contents of the register. It was bad enough he didn't stand a chance of pulling his wallet from his pocket as it was.

[nuclear_snide]

Bob rolled his eyes. "You know, you've got two options here. One is, you see how much endurance and lift that adorable little body has and keep lugging things all over. The other is, you ask for help." Bob looked at him expectantly.

[furnaceface]

Jono (and his adorable little body) both needed a moment to glare balefully up at Bob again. Not that it looked much different from any other look a snake might give, granted. Maybe he was looking thoughtful!

If irate.

How was he supposed to ask, exactly, Bob? His little snake mouth didn't work that way, and he was actually not a mutant snake, here. He tilted his head a bit. Did that count?

[nuclear_snide]

Bob shrugged. "Good enough. Look, for all I know, you'd rather nobody find you, and I just got lucky with my magic fingers." Which he wiggled in Jono's direction. "But otherwise, I'm happy to get someone for you. Where were you going - the school? The theatre? Hannibal? Somewhere else I haven't thought of because you're generally deplorably predictable?"

Look, Bob hadn't gotten to harangue Harry in a while now; someone was going to have to pick up the slack.

[furnaceface]

Bob, you were getting the most unimpressed deadpan glower that a tiny snake could possibly give, here.

... And the answer was Hannibal. Which Jono wasn't completely certain how to convey, really. Charades were one of many fun and fantastic things that were made much simpler with hands.

He stuck out his tongue again. He could do that.

[nuclear_snide]

Bob rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go slower. Nod when I get to the right one. The school? The theatre? Hannibal? Somewhere else?"

[furnaceface]

That was one little snake-head-nod at 'Hannibal.'

And a wee bitty snake tongue flicking out again for good measure.

[nuclear_snide]

Luckily, Bob hadn't spent a lot of time around snakes, and was chalking the tongue thing up to just general being-a-snake. "Fine. I'll go get him, shall I? You stay here and...try not to get stepped on."

He dissolved and spiralled up into smoke and golden sparks headed for Hannibal's house.

[furnaceface]

Jono watched for a moment, once again wearing that tiny snake deadpan. Try not to get stepped on? As if he hadn't been trying that before?

... That said, he was sort of slithering off to the side of the street a little more. Just so that he was less likely to get trampled under a rickshaw or something.

[sharp_as_knives]

Five or ten minutes later, Hannibal walked slowly by, scanning the street and verges until he spotted Jono. "There you are." He sat on the steps not far away to put himself closer to Jono's level. "You came all the way from the store like this?" That was practically a marathon at his size. "I suppose we can be glad it isn't winter."

[furnaceface]

Oh, Jono wouldn't have left his trousers if it had been winter. He would have hunkered down deep in the hopes that somebody would find him before he froze to death in there. After all, it wasn't like he was putting off his own body heat, here.

He looked up at Hannibal hopefully, dropping his keys and slithering over to say hello. Look, he was small, but he was stubborn. This wasn't news, was it?

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal glanced toward the keys as they fell, then shook his head and chuckled. "Do I need to lock up, then?" He held out his hand for Jono to slither up if he wanted. "Please remember you have no antivenin." No biting your partner!

[furnaceface]

Jono wasn't going to bite you, Hannibal. He didn't feel threatened (or even particularly annoyed) by you, after all. But he was going to make his way up onto that offered hand. The going would be much faster this way. Really, Jono could be pretty quick if he wanted, but not while hauling his keys down the street.

He did look back toward the Groovy Tunes, though. The door was still locked, not that he had any way to communicate that, but his wallet was sort of still sitting out on the ground.

And, er, his underwear. Please don't judge him too much for wearing the comfortable ones today.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded at that look. "Hang on," he cautioned before leaning down to pick the keys up. He gave Jono a moment to get settled as he liked and then headed back the way Jono had come.

[furnaceface]

A neat little coil around Hannibal's wrist, then. That way he could hold on fairly tightly, but still watch where they were going!

And... maybe feel a little jealous that Hannibal managed to clear in minutes what he'd been attempting to traverse for a couple of hours, now. Eesh.

[sharp_as_knives]

That was because the mammals knew what they were doing - legs were awesome.

Hannibal raised an eyebrow at Jono's clothes, shook his head at Bob's scrawled message, and tried the door and found it locked. "You didn't even make it inside, did you?" He crouched to gather up the clothes, folding them into a pile. The underwear got Jono a very brief put-upon sigh, but no more. "Anything else before we head home?"

[furnaceface]

Hey now! There were plenty of reptiles that had legs, too!

Jono was just... you know... the wrong sort of reptile, was all.

He did watch intently as Hannibal gathered his things, weaving his head from side to side a bit, a sort of 'no' in reply to both questions. And then he made himself comfortable again. See? He was good to go. Unless Hannibal wanted to open the shop and watch the till or something for the day, they totally had his blessing to take their leave now.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal hoisted Jono's clothes in one arm and Jono on the other and shook his head as he headed back home. "You'd best be turned back before class, or you're going to miss some spectacular sights."