Groovy Tunes, Tuesday

[tigerundercover]

After Saturday, Raven still wasn't much in the mood for music. But she was making an effort — a really enormous effort — not to turn into a literal couch potato, so she came into work anyway.

The stereo at least seemed to know what was up, as it stuck to purely instrumental pieces most of the day. So at least Raven didn't have to worry about weirdly appropriate lyrics to her situation specifically. Some of it was even weirdly soothing.

Of course, then it would sometimes launch unexpectedly into the 1812 Overture. Because the stereo was kind of a jerk.

[Open!]

Comments

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"'Sup TA," Hardison said, strolling into the shop around lunchtime. "Yo, this store also sells music supplies as well as just music, right?"

What? His violin needed resin! The fact that he'd waited until Raven's shift to buy some rather than just ordering it online was a happy coincidence!

[tigerundercover]

Raven found a smile. "Hey Hardison. We've definitely got guitars and drum kits and things. You don't really strike me as a guitar sort, though."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Nah, that's Eliot," he said and held up his violin case. "This here is my girl." Putting the case on the counter, he opened it up so Raven could see the instrument inside. "I need more bow resin."

[tigerundercover]

"Oh cool!" Raven reached out to run her fingers over the polished wood, but stopped before she actually made contact. "I have no idea what that is, but I bet I can find out if we carry it in the computer system." She turned to the register at the computer and frowned as she tried to figure out how to spell 'resin'.

"You know, the stereo was playing some funky violin music at me earlier. It's in kind of an instrumental mood today."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You can touch her if you want," Hardison said with a small, proud smile. "She's delicate, but not fragile."

And expensive, but that was the least of Hardison's concerns. "I should probably poke around and see what kinda sheet music y'all have for violins, too. Always lookin' to learn more stuff. What kinda funky violin music were you playin' earlier?"

[tigerundercover]

"Not me," Raven said. "The stereo." She gave a 'it's Fandom' shrug. "I don't know what it was, but it sounded like something out of a fantasy movie or something."

The stereo, remarkably obliging, switched tracks.

"Yeah, that's it," Raven said. "It's been being pretty nice to me today."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Out of a movie or--" Hardison closed his eyes and balled his fist in front of his face. "It ain't your fault," he said, though it mostly sounded like he was talking to himself. "You're from the fifties, an' I been a terrible friend an' ain't introduced you to one of the best video game franchises ever."

TRIFORCE GIVE HIM STRENGTH!

"Legend of Zelda. This is from Legend of Zelda. An' I'm special orderin' any music book you can find that has this medley in it."

[tigerundercover]

Yeah, most of the video games Raven had played so far involved puzzles or racing. Or both! She loved her some Super Monkey Ball.

"I'll see what I can dig up. I bet there's more video game music I could find, now I know to look for it."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Yeah, I'd love some of that," Hardison said, clearly geeking out over the option. "Won't be able to play with Eliot, but it'll still be fun to learn."

Then, super-casually, he added, "You should come over an' play sometime. I got an emulator set up so you can play all the way back to the first one. Cultural touchstone an' all that."

[tigerundercover]

Raven had thought for a moment he meant play music, which -- she didn't. She brightened when she worked out what he meant, though. "That'd be fun. It'd be cool to see how the things developed, instead of just going from 'barely having TV' to 'almost looking like real people but not quite'."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Exactly!" Hardison said, cheered that she'd agreed. "You won't have to get over the shift in gameplay an' design that most folks would to go back an' play them old games." He nodded. "You come over, I could make some Hot Pockets?"

Because he still kept the freezer full of them over Eliot's protests. Just in case.

"Or, like, Eliot could make us some real food. But a proper game night involves terrible food, greasy snacks, an' more soda than should be possible to drink."

[tigerundercover]

Eliot there meant an extra person, too, so. "I'd rather if it was just the two of us?" That didn't need to be a question, but she didn't want to kick Hardison's partners out of their own house. "I mean, if that's okay."

She definitely preferred her "other people" time to be one on one these days.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You kiddin'? All I have to do is mention to Eliot that I'mma be makin' Hot Pockets in his house an' he immediately head somewhere else," Hardison assured her.

Parker wouldn't take that as a reason to leave, but she'd also understand Raven needing as few people as possible around. Then again, so would Eliot, but putting it that way would hopefully ease Raven's mind a bit.

[tigerundercover]

Raven nodded. "Okay. Cool. I do love me some hot pockets."

They were the perfect food. She would brook no argument.

[geniuswithasmartphone]

And would get none from Hardison! He knew what was what.

"Awesome," he said. "Crazy night of Hot Pockets an' video games, comin' up. I'll make a gamer of you yet, just you wait. Sometime next week sound good?"

He'd offer this week, but with Eliot's dad passing, he didn't want to make plans that might need to be canceled.

[tigerundercover]

Next week gave her plenty of time to gather herself and prepare for going out of the house!

It also gave her plenty of time to panic and back out.

"Sure. Next week."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

Hardison eyed her for a minute. "Should I come over there?" he asked, "or would you rather come to my place. I can bring my setup wherever, so that ain't a worry."

[tigerundercover]

See, that just changed what she could potentially panic and back out over.

"No, it's good. I need to get out of the house more anyway."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"A'ight," Hardison nodded. "An' how many times do you get to cancel before I come over an' make it happen anyway?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven bit her lip and dipped her head, both more noticeable than the blush that crept up under her scales. ". . . Three?"

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"That sounds fair," Hardison said. "An'--hey. You know that's okay, right? That is makes sense an' I ain't gonna take it personal or nothin'?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven looked up. "It is? I kind of figured it was rude."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"You're still recoverin' from a hell of a lot an' things're hard right now," Hardison said. "If you ain't a giant ball of depression an' anxiety right now, you're a more put together person than I ever met. An' sometimes you run outta cope for doin' anythin' more than survivin' from one day to the next. Can't fault you for that. Th'only reason I'm puttin' a limit on how many times you can cancel is cause it gets easy to hide away, insteada facin' the world. Knowin' you only get three helps you prioritize what times you need to say 'Not today' an' which days it's only convenient."

He looked up at her. "You ever hear of the spoon theory?"

[tigerundercover]

"I'm guessing you don't mean table settings," Raven said. "So . . . no."

[geniuswithasmartphone]

"Hold that thought," Hardison said. "An' look around for some bow resin?"

He ducked out of the music shop and jogged to the diner. One argument with the busboy later, and he was back with a fistful of spoons to offer her. "Those are yours," he said. "Count 'em up. You need to know how many you got."