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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:59 am
Okay, so Roch had gotten his monthly allowance (something he still thought was WAY too low, his dad was such a cheapskate) and he'd spent it on--no, not food. PANTS. Who knew having a fire demon for a best friend would mean you went through pants so fast? He'd even gotten the cheap kind of pants, because, frankly, he didn't expect them to last long. But now he had another problem.
He had no money for the rest of the month. And even if he had cut back on his eating, he still needed TO eat. So he had no choice, he had to make some quick cash. It was really a good thing he was a good guitarist, he thought as he stepped onto the box on the street corner in town. Otherwise he'd be starving to death quickly (but wearing pants. Wait, would it matter if he had pants if he was dead?)
Something to contemplate, no doubt.
He summoned his guitar, earning shocked looks from the people that hadn't seen him do this trick before. This wasn't his usual crowd, they were high class gents that were out for their daily shopping trip, not the gutter trash he was used to playing for. He could only hope they had decent taste in music, he thought as he started tuning his guitar.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:40 am
If anything, Vieve very much wanted to be caught alive in this part of town. That is, if you compared it to the phrase 'caught dead', which honestly didn't make any sense. Where had it come from? Probably one of the races that looked down on ghosts, or something. Hrmph.
In any case, today seemed perfect for window-shopping, though arguably, every day was.. it was almost as if, by looking at all the things she couldn't quite afford, she'd get more motivation to work harder and buy them all someday.
Yessssss. The elemental's eyes glazed over as she envisioned her gloriously fabulous future- until a loud.. sound of some sort completely derailed her train of thought. Glaring over at the source of the noise, she noticed a boy close to her age, tuning his guitar. And also wearing the pin she recognised as a symbol of Amityville...
Money-making opportunity? Perhaps. Any fellow student was fair game to Vee. Stepping closer to him, she watched intently as he prepared for.. a performance of some sort?
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:01 am
They were ignoring him. A street performer wasn't to their standards of entertainment, he thought with a twist of his lips. But he hadn't started yet. That would change soon. He tapped his foot on the box, getting the beat in his head, then started the song that would always remind him of Demi, Bulldog Bite. A few glanced his way, another few, who had been scarfing down their meals as they raced to their next spot slowed down, moving closer to see what was going on. Usually street performers didn't sound like this. They often were second class players, second class singers, and almost always on an acoustic guitar. This boil, although he had no amp and no source of electricity, was rocking a stage class guitar.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:54 am
She stood a little way away, watching him and... okay, calculating. He was pretty good, beginning to draw attention from the passers-by, and a few of them had even stopped to listen, tapping their feet and even singing along to the tune.
Impressive. His playing had practically transformed the whole atmosphere, with a larger crowd gathering to listen. Vieve was imagining a concert (and consequently, tickets, and of course, ticket money that would go into her pocket..)
Perhaps she could make him a proposition. He didn't seem too terribly smart, as evidenced by the fact that his hat was still on his head, and not on the ground, where people could toss coins into it. Well- she'd change that soon enough.
She'd wait for him to finish this song, then approach him to discuss... business.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:08 am
He finished the song, tugging off the hat he'd brought along and bowing to them with a flourish. "Thank you, thank you," he said as a smattering of applause came. He held out the hat, letting them discreetly toss money into it, then dropped it onto the ground in front of him. "My name is Roch, I'm a poor student from Amity," he told them. "Any money that you would like to donate to my schooling--" Ha, right. This was all going to his stomach, but they weren't going to want to think that. "Would be appreciated! I promise it won't go to waste!" He now had a crowd. Nice. He looked them over, evaluating them with an easy smile. Mostly adults, a few scarelings, and a ghoul his own age, or close to it. She would be useless, he thought. But he could do something with the scarelings. "Next, just for you little ones, I'm going to play Mary Had a Little Lamb," he said teasingly. They protested, until he started to play and sing.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:09 pm
Roch. Poor student. Vieve had no doubt what he meant, but she couldn't help wondering if he was terrible at academics, as well. No matter, though, as long as he could earn some gold. As far as this went, he was a decent enough performer, technically secure and extremely expressive.
Didn't he ever imagine himself standing on a stage- a real one? He moved on, instead, to a child's song, which was what it was, despite his attempt to make it sound cool. It was, at least, working as a crowd-pleaser, with people starting to move around, dancing to the beat.
Taking her chance, Vieve darted forwards, grabbed the hat on the ground and ran. No doubt he'd come after her... it looked like he needed the money.
With some luck, she'd be able to pocket some before he caught her- he hadn't had a chance to count the coins, after all, and wouldn't know what was missing...
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:15 pm
He didn't even curse before he jumped off the box, racing after her at top speed. As a reaper he wasn't as fast as other species, which sucked, but he'd had more practice going through crowds than she had.
He caught up to her quickly, grabbing for the back of her shirt. "Hey!" he snarled. "That's mine!"
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:42 pm
He'd caught up to her pretty fast- well, nothing she hadn't expected, considering her goal was to talk to him, in the first place.. though she'd probably made a bad impression, running away with the hat. How else would she have gotten his attention, though?
Roch had a pretty tight grip on her shirt, which she didn't want torn, thankyouverymuch. And so, instead of twisting away, she flung herself at him.
"I'm your biggest fan," she said, putting on her best squealy voice. "I had to get you to notice me somehow! I've seen you around in school, but I never thought I'd run into you here, of all places..."
"You'll give me your autograph, won't you?" For lack of anything else, she held out his hat.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:30 am
He stared at her blankly, but took the hat quickly enough. "Biggest fan?" he repeated. "Reeeallly," he said with a snort, folding the hat with the seeds in it and shoving it into his pocket. "So even knowing I'm in the same school you only decide to STEAL my cash in the middle of town to get my attention, huh? In the middle of a performance, which is what you're such a big fan of, right? Nah, I'm not buyin' it," he told her, shaking his head.
"What are you really after?" he asked her, looking her straight in the eyes. His silver eyes were cold, but there was a hint of amusement, although whether that was a good thing or not was hard to tell.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:44 pm
"I don't like crowds," she sulked. "And that particular song brings back terrifying childhood memories for me. I'd rather not elaborate, but I couldn't stand listening to even... you... sing it."
Vieve looked back up at Roch, her eyes brimming with (crocodile) tears. She would be good at this, at least, even if she wasn't as good as she thought at crafting sob stories. Maybe it'd have some effect on him. Meh.
She was starting to think this wasn't so worth it... but she'd have to see it through, at least. She'd managed to pocket some coins before he'd caught her- not much, but it'd suffice for today, if this didn't go as planned.
"I'm after your autograph, of course! It'll be worth much more in the future when you're famous And so are, I believe, some others. Did you know, they started a fan club for you? It's small, but it's still growing; we don't really want to be known, though, we're the type who'd rather stand at the back of the crowd just listening to your music, when you play. But I thought, at least, that I wanted to talk to you once- as a performer, not just a student. So in some sense.... that song... provided the perfect opportunity."
Vieve pulled away from him, gently this time, fidgeting with her jacket and scuffing her boots on the pavement, trying to seem as shy and nervous as she could. Always better than being confrontational, in this kind of situation..
"I guess you wouldn't know me to begin with; I'm fairly new to Amityville. You probably wouldn't trust me much, either- I admit, I shouldn't have done that. I did return the hat, though... eheheheh..."
She trailed off, still refusing to look at Roch, and waited for him to say something.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:09 pm
"Traumatic memories from Mary had a little lamb," Roch drawled. Really, even if he had his own idiotic moments, he thought, you'd think a guy that had grown up in an extremely shady neighborhood (and LOOKED like it) would have the 'Don't try and con me, srsly' look on his face permanently.
"You remind me of someone," he said abruptly, frowning slightly as he tried to put a face with the vague memory. "So you're new, but you're already in my little hidden fanclub, huh? Do you get cards? Special handshakes, pictures of me shirtless or something?" He glanced over his shoulder. "Jackdammit, you lost me my crowd," he complained.
Then an evil expression crossed his face and he smiled at her. "But you and my fanclub, I bet you can more than make it up to me, right?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:26 pm
"Like I said," she frowned, "I don't want to get into it. It wasn't the song that was traumatising- it was the person who sang it."
"I don't want to remember her."
The girl was really beginning to look uncomfortable; perhaps because this 'lie' had a grain of truth to it. If there were a part of her history she'd tried to rewrite and could never decide how to, it would be her mother. But history was history, she thought, pulling herself back together. That woman had it coming- eventually.
"We're just a few people with the same tastes in music, I'd say. And I'm honestly not into paraphernalia; that's far too plebeian. But I do think it'd be profitable, if you got into it yourself. Concerts. CDs. Original songs. Haven't you ever wanted any of that? Instead of standing by the roadside, playing songs by other people?"
She ignored his question in favour of attempting to bait him further.
"You're in need of money, that's more than obvious; and like any respectable musician, you'd want to advance your career, wouldn't you? I'd like to offer you my skills in organising, as your manager. I understand if you're not quite ready to take this up, but just imagine it; your own concerts, and posters around the school, and the like. I'm fairly sure we could make it happen. It's not much, admittedly, but it's baby steps- and it'd be fun."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:45 pm
He nodded. "You're right--or, you would be, except for one thing," he said. "My ultimate goal isn't to become a famous guitarist. I'm going to be a grim reaper. BUT you might have something there," he said, a little grin on his face.
"Can you arrange a concert? Do you have the connections to do something like that? Cuz I already spent my month's allowance. I need some cash, and I need it quickly. You'll be doing it with no money up front."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:10 pm
"Of course you are," she said, a grin spreading across her face. She couldn't believe it- he'd fallen for her tricks?
"It's not impossible, but it'll take time; you can't rush something like this. You can leave the details to me, but ultimately you're the performer, so you'll decide what's more comfortable for you.. and, y'know, the like. It'd probably be better to start small, though. Playing at parties and stuff. I'll look around for some jobs."
She extended a hand to him, beaming. "Here's to working with you."
Of course, she wouldn't need money up front... it was likely she'd be handling accounts, and she'd just squirrel funds away from there...
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 9:14 pm
"Not just for me," Roch said, accepting her hand. "You're now in the FMC, our official PR ghoul. BUT," he warned her. "Take too many of our seeds and you'll regret being born." He gave her a wicked, charming smile as he shook her hand.
"I've got a party I wanted planned out, anyway. Besides, this should feed me for a day or two, what do you say we go back to school and discuss this... better?"
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