|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dangerous Conversationalist
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 1:54 am
Where: Durem Mall, Music City
Who: Genie, Basil/Banter, Luka
Weather: Warm, windy, and clear
"Here, hold this a minute, bub."
A giant soft pretzel changed hands so Genie could tie her hair back and take a look at the mall directory.
Currently they were parked on a "boyfriend bench" outside a Footlocker. No shopping bags so far. It wasn't a shopping kind of day, so much as a walking-and-eating kind of day. Genie had a weakness for food-courts and Basil was happy to come along and people-watch. Malls were busy places, and between the music and the voices, Basil could usually soak up a good variety of sounds. Variety was good. You didn't get much variety sleeping day after day.
"Okay, so we're right here, and I think we're going to go up a floor. They've got a music store over by Dillards. You need strings and stuff, right?"
He mumbled a possible yes and coolly turned his attention to a young couple near a kiosk that sold phone-cases. Possibly brother and sister. Both were blond-haired and blue-eyed with impossibly Nordic good looks. Assembled. In that fashionable way that made fourteen-year-olds want to dress like twenty-year-olds, and end up looking like ten-year-olds.
Whatever they were, the girl was absolutely hysterical over something or other. Her voice climbed the scales until others were forced to pay attention. It didn't boom like a jet engine, but assaulted one's ears like a rape-whistle. Shrill and clawing. Her fists balled into white-knuckled fury.
Basil knew what the problem was long before the folks in the cheap seats. He could hear like a safecracker. The softest whisper. It was just too dumb to describe.
Suddenly the girl dropped one of her shopping bags and gave it a flying punt with her tennis shoe. For the first time, Basil looked startled. Clothes exploded in the air like fireworks, and the distant calm he felt was being replaced by a feeling of real interest. It'd been a while since he'd been interested in anything...
Three teenagers clapped and whistled. Like she was some waitress who dropped a tray of glasses. Another asked her number as she stomped her way to the restrooms. Her cheeks were streaked with black mascara tears, but Basil didn't notice that right away. Lots of girls that young were heavy on the eye-makeup. Like roaming packs of raccoons.
At least on Cordelia it was... He paused. A hard pause, like a bite on skin. Biting down on the ache he felt. He closed his eyes. The ache bled. It died. It disappeared. He opened his eyes and studied the pattern in the floor-tile like it was fascinating. Occupied his hands with the gauzy wrapper around the pretzel.
The fight wasn't over just yet. His rune glowed with an interest separate from conscious thought. Absorbing the boyfriend-brother's shouting.
She's a b***h and a psycho. What are you looking at?
It wasn't very satisfying. He was only in the tail-end of puberty. No manly resonance. No confidence or character. Just the single-noted whine of teenage indignity. He turned to look at Genie. She was checking something on her phone. She heard the fighting going on, but didn't seem especially bothered. She worked with teenagers. Weren't nothing.
It was a shame she missed the bag-kick. It was really quite splendid.
"Genie." He said neutrally.
She looked at him. "Yeah?"
He reached over to thumb a piece of sea-salt off her chin. He briefly showed it to her before licking it off his finger. She smiled and took the pretzel back, "Oh, thanks. You ready to go?"
He glanced at the ground with a long, puff-cheeked sigh. He was ready, but made the mistake of getting comfortable. Eventually he heaved himself up and airborne off the bench. He offered a hand to Genie, hoisted her up too, then stuffed both hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.
When they got to the music store, Basil was immediately surprised by how quiet it was.
Music was integral to a consumer society, and most of the department stores he'd been to were not shy about blasting the loudest and most obnoxious of the top forty hits.
Basil only needed to stand outside a Hollister to know the bass it was pumping inside. The stuff to stir your loins and inexplicably get girls in the frame of mind to buy thirty-dollar white tee-shirts, which really meant no frame of mind at all. But Basil liked bass. He liked it just fine. He needed it to live. But in here, it was sterile and quiet, and all he could hear was himself...
It was very minimalist. White walls. Khaki-colored vinyl wood flooring, polished to the point of blinding. The shelving units were also white. A row of guitars were hung by their necks in the corner, like ducks in a Chinese market. There was a keyboard in the corner, floor-model. A lacquered black studio piano. Some CDs, mostly classical and easy-listening.
Again, the silence was profound. Only two or three people were in the store, looking bored and mannequin-like. Basil almost wanted to turn right around, but Genie twisted his arm.
"Come on, let's look at sheet music books."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:31 am
It was silent in the store, but it was the kind of silence Luka didn't mind. This was the kind of silence that allowed for you to appreciate whatever sound might come up. It was a.. welcoming silence. It was one that left you alone to your thoughts in peace. Thumbing through the various music theory books on the shelf, Luka finally paused when he found the one he wanted.
Essential of Music Theory: Vol 1
Picking up the book, Luka leafed through the first several pages. The beginning was just a touch of basic concepts. Things that he was already familiar with. Now that he had more time to himself, he found that having the upright piano at home was a good thing. And although he could play most things by ear, he wanted to be able to read scores and play more even more complex things as well. And given how many years it had been since Elai had last touched the piano, his guardian had reached the limits of what he could teach to Luka. Thus, he'd taken Elai's suggestion to study music theory on his own.
Elai had offered to help by teaching the more difficult concepts, but Luka had declined. He liked the challenge of learning something by himself. Leather working had been the same way.
Book under his arm, Luka headed towards the row of pianos in the back. Although the piano they had at Elai's apartment was in perfect condition, even a piano greenhorn like Luka could easily pick up the vast superiority in sound of a grand piano. The grand with its longer strings allowed for greater vibrations and a better sound. Of course, Luka while he enjoyed the superior sound quality of a grand compared to an upright, he also realized he was not a level or place that necessitated the need for such an expensive upgrade.
As he came across the first piano in the back, Luka gave the keys a few taps before moving to the empty grand in the corner. It was his weakness every time he came to this store and surprisingly the employees didn't mind him coming in every now and then just to play it. Setting the theory book on the seat beside him, Luka played a few experimental notes before jumping into a rather playful sounding version of Mozart's Piano Sonata No.10 in C, K. 330
His slender fingers danced over the black and white keys, filling the shop with music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
