fandomtownies | The Boards, Thursday Evening

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The Boards, Thursday Evening

Jono had had big plans for tonight at the Boards, but the events of the last few weeks had thrown something of a wrench in the gears when it came to organizing the showcase he'd wanted to hold.

... Or even finding people to perform in it. Which meant that he was going to have to adjust his plans somewhat.

A lot.

There was a new sign up where the old one had been.

Due to Unforeseen Circumstances, The Fandom Showcase Has Been Cancelled.
Come in for an Open Mic Instead!
There's Beer.

When all else failed, bribe people to participate. And if anybody needed Jono, he'd be on the stage playing his guitar for the duration of the evening or until somebody else showed up who wanted to perform. Whichever came first.

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What could Jono do but wave that off?

//No thanks necessary. I know I go bloody insane unless I'm keeping occupied, particularly in the wake of the especially traumatic. And this'll help her ease herself back into being around people, with any luck. If it turns out to not be working for her, she can leave. No harm, no foul.//

"Least around here the girls are in good company," Eliot said. "Ain't many on this island who don't have at least a little experience comin' back from a tragedy." It was a little bit like the whole island was one giant VA facility, that way.

Which was terrible.

//True enough,// Jono replied, shaking his head a little. //Good lord, this island. Worst thing is, at least some of them have that experience because of this place.//

Sometimes Jono wanted to punch the island in the teeth. Whatever counted for an island's teeth.

//But at least it means they aren't wanting for people who understand.//

"That they ain't," Eliot agreed. Then decided it was time for a happier subject. "So you thinkin' of makin' this a regular thing? The open mic thing?"

//Considering it,// Jono agreed, shrugging his shoulders. //If this one goes well, and maybe word gets out, I could probably be convinced to do this once a month or so.//

Really, it would be like twisting his rubber arm.

//Why? You think you'd like to get up there sometime?//

Eliot ducked his head ever so slightly before shaking it. "Nah, don't think so. Folks 'round here ain't into my music."

Well what did you know. Apparently Eliot had something he was shy about.

//You know you don't know that until you let them actually listen to your music, right?// Jono was doing an impressive job hiding his amusement. Missing half his face helped with that, somewhat. //One of my favourite students, once upon a time, actually became famous playing country, mate. I think you'd be surprised how people's tastes can run around here.//

Honestly, Eliot. On an island with elves and aliens, did you seriously think Jono was going to let you get away with 'nobody likes honky tonk' that easily?

Eliot lived with a guy who's eyes tried to roll out of his head if country was even mentioned. His views on its popularity anywhere but the actual south were a little skewed. "Let me guess: she was tiny and adorable and more full of pop than drawl."

//She was all of these things. And she had a healthy respect for Hank, George, and Johnny.//

So there, Eliot.

//Hell, I have a healthy respect for Hank, George, and Johnny, and half of what I play are Pearl Jam covers. Besides, it's an open mic. Everyone who cares to gets their few songs. If all anybody here played was what everyone liked, nobody would play anything at all.//

"I ain't anywhere near the league of Hank, George, an' Johnny." Neither were Pearl Jam, for that matter, by Eliot's reckoning. "You plannin' on getting all alt-rock on that stage tonight, yourself?"

Why hello there, another change of subject!

//Well, of course. At this rate I'm the entertainment if nobody else gets up on the stage,// Jono replied with a shrug. //Might cycle through a few things if it comes to that. Including Johnny.//

If you weren't going to do it, Eliot, somebody had to. Jono had a lot of respect for the Man in Black.

"Wayfaring Stranger," Eliot suggested. Awww, look! He'd already picked out a song! "Or you could go for somethin' obvious like 'Ring of Fire', but honestly, I ain't never thought that was his best work."

//At this rate, I figure 'What Is Truth' or 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' would work fine, too,// Jono noted, shrugging. //Only problem with Johnny is that his work suffers a bit without the vocals, and...//

Casual gesture to the gaping fire chasm, there.

//Shame I won't be able to do him the justice he deserves.//

Now that just wasn't playing fair. Eliot saw what you were doing, Jono. There's a reason why "don't try to con a conman" was a cliche.

"You can't sing with whatever that whole. . . ." He gestured vaguely around his own head. "Mind voice thing is?"

Oh, Jono wasn't trying to con anybody. He'd totally get up there and play Cash without a vocalist. It would just be sad and repetitive.

So sad.

//It's telepathy. Tried it plenty of times, and it never quite fits in with actual audio.// He shrugged. //Trust me, mate, if I could make a musical career work with the voice I've got, I would've done it years ago.//

You'd heard him play, Eliot. Don't think he wouldn't have.

"Ain't you the one was just tryin' to make a point about this thing not bein' about making the audience happy?" Eliot pointed out.

That wasn't even touching the part where you didn't have to sing to make a career as a guitarist.

Hey now. Just because Jono was an excellent guitarist didn't mean that's what he'd wanted to do in the first place. He'd gotten better because he'd blown his mouth off, at first, and then kept up with it later.

//I was,// Jono agreed easily. //It's about being happy onstage yourself. And being upset about not being able to sing while I'm onstage is the reason I left this place to fall to dust years ago and only just came back, so I'd rather not.//

He shrugged. Ball was back in your court, Eliot.

What, and he thought stage fright didn't make someone unhappy on the stage?

"Suit yourself, man. You're right about Cash not bein' instrumental, though. Might wanna pick a different artists if you're gonna go that way."

Well, Jono never claimed not to be a hypocrite, either.

//True enough,// Jono mused, shrugging his shoulders. //Or I'll just play it all fingerstyle. I have all night to work out how to approach it. All I'm really saying is, if your concern is that nobody wants to hear country, you'd be wrong. And hell, you wouldn't even be the only one up there playing it.//

"Yeah, well. I'll think about it." And then Parker would make him do it, in that Parker way of hers. "If there ain't too many other people waitin' to go up and give it a shot."

//Hey, thinking about it is all I ask,// Jono replied, holding up his hands. //If you'd rather sit back with beer and take in the room, you're welcome to that, too. And if you simply don't want do, just say so. I'll back off.//

But if you didn't say so, Jono reserved the right to be a pest about it. In the past, it had been the only way he'd ever gotten people onto the bloody stage at all.

"Good," Eliot grumbled. "'Cause thinkin' about it is the only answer you're gonna get."

Pestering him into it was practically a traditional method of getting Eliot to do things. Especially ones that he really did kind of want to do, but couldn't quite get himself to do otherwise, because he actually had very limited experience being brave about things that wouldn't actually likely kill him.

Oh, Eliot. You were adorable when you weren't homicidal.

And Jono? Jono was just giving you an amused look and reaching for his guitar.

//In the meantime, any requests?//

Hey, Eliot could be adorable while homicidal, too! Jono seemed to like that in guys. . . .

"You should play that blues number you played for me couple weeks back," Eliot suggested. "Works perfectly well with no lyrics and you do a good job with it."

Jono seemed to like that in people in general, really. Jono's tastes always had tended to run a little on the death-y side.

//Thank you,// he said, because hey, at least he could take a compliment, these days. //And you mean Layla? You aren't even the first one today to request it, you know.//

Which was great, really. Jono appreciated anybody who appreciated Clapton.

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