milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

Jocasta is in the bar, at the piano, playing a gentle soothing piece, a love song from a recent Plinge Opera.

The idea, mostly, is to keep her mind off the friend in the infirmary, but also practice and to add to the atmosphere.

She plays well, but is unforgiving when she makes a mistake, heading back to the beginning of a movement and starting again. There aren't many mistakes, though.

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"Um...okay, is this how the song is goes or do you keep restarting from the beginning?"

Asks a voice from behind her. A very very confused and sleepy voice.

Jocasta stops then, and turns on her stool to face him, smiling brightly.

"Oh no! I keep getting it wrong. I am sorry if it's disturbing you!"

"Oh no no no, I just thought maybe I was hearing it wrong. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to stop playing."

"Oh no, it's quite alright!" she insists. "I was just practicing. It's not important, really!"

"But it's pretty."

"Really?" she says, brightening. "Do you really think so?"

"Nahh, I just thought I'd mess with you."

Jocasta looks confused and a little upset for a few seconds, before laughing.

"well, thank you very much," she says anyway.

"Anytime. Does it have a name, the piece I mean."

"Don't cry for me Pseudopolis," Jocasta says. "Do you know it?"

"Not remotely, but I'd like and would love to join your newsletter."

Jocasta frowns slightly despite the open and friednly smile. "...I'm sorry?"

"Don't be, sometimes I'm just confusing by default. I'm Mike."

He extends his hand in her direction.

"Very pleased to meet you," she replies, shaking the hand politely. "I'm Jocasta Wiggs."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Mike takes in the piano again.

"I'd meant to learn how to play. Well, play something other than Heart and Soul or Chopsticks, anyways. Was on my list."

He confides.

"Oh, well, it's really not hard."

Jocasta shuffles along the piano stool, clearing a space next to her.

"Would you like me to teach you something?"

Oh yeah, like Mike would ever pass up the opportunity to learn something from from someone so cute. Please.

He smiles broadly before taking the offered spot on the stool.

"Okay hold on, I have to prepare myself."

Mike then runs a hand through his already out of control hair. Now instead of being out of control, it's just standing straight up.

"Ready."

"OK," Jocasta says, and her delicate hands take one of his, and guides it to the keys. "well start with something simple. Something from Jason and his Interesting Blue and Green Jacket."

Mike blinks, because that show sounds vaguely familiar...but not quite.

"Um...okay."

Mike follows her lead. It takes him a few tries to get the whole piano part of the PianoForte, but he eventually at least learns to respect the notion of subtlety.

The song isn't even that complicated, having a very simple stanza structure. Jocasta leads him carefully through the tune, correcting him gently where necessary and humming along to lead and keep rhythm.

"You're very good at this," she observes.

"Thank you. I pride myself on my lack of tone-deafness."

He smirks.

"I've been playing the guitar for the better part of a year, but once I got We're the People Our Parents Warned Us About down cold I've kind of lost interest."

Jocasta smiles sideways at him, and as he gets into the habit of the tune, she breaks into an accompaniment, supporting what he's playing.

"I never tried guitar," she confesses.

"Oh you should, it's a good time had by all...you know, save for the people within ear shot of you learning."

Mike takes the piece up tempo a bit, just because his natural sense of rhythm is spastic.

Jocasta keeps strictly to the original tempo, freeing a hand quickly to touch his wirst with warning. "You're speeding up."

"And?"

He says with a grin, half expecting a slap upside the head for his insolence.