Gig Me {Kali}

[Izzy James]

Izzy walked into Kali's Kafe, his guitar case slung over his shoulder, the battered, secondhand guitar nestled within. He'd heard about the place from rumor and a few recommendations, so he'd had some expectations going in. Namely, he'd been expecting a coffee shop. Somehow, his PG brain had edited out the "bar" part. Which was why he spent the first few seconds after entering staring at that.

"My parents would kill me," he muttered. He knew they liked to support him in the whole music thing when they could. That's where the guitar had come from: Christmas gift a couple of years ago. They'd probably understand the whole bar thing. They'd probably also insist on one of Izzy's siblings or, better yet, one of them being there whenever he played. Because alcohol had a tendency to lethally attack any poor, unfortunate, underaged persons who got close, sinking its lethal teeth in and draining them of their precious youth.

Okay, so that was a gross exaggeration, and it was actually likely that Izzy's parents would laugh it off, but Izzy's mind was overreacting a little. He'd finally figured he should take a few steps into the place, and started looking around, even turning slightly.

Unfortunately, he'd nearly knocked over a chair with his guitar when he'd turned, then when he'd tried to right it, it had gone from "nearly" to "floor." Izzy bent over to pick it up, managed more or less, but his guitar was swinging close to anything that had been left on the table by now.

Stealthy, he was not. And he hadn't even said anything yet. He was too busy looking around, trying to figure out who he should be saying something too.

Oh, and nearly destroying property. That was a good way to start out, right?

[Kali Caraway]

Kali had spent quite a bit of time in the back, today. It really hadn't been all that busy. She could understand, what with the hurricane coming through and people being busy and whatnot. Still, though. She had a business to run and while she could appreciate the slow days as a chance to rest up, she also liked making enough money to keep her prices as cheap as they are--it made everyone happy. She turned a profit even though she had such low prices because she had a very steady stream of happy customers.

So she was in the back, today, playing with recipes and seeing if she could come up with something cool and awesome. She already had a few batches of Cookie Monster cupcakes because her birthday was approaching, and she wanted to test out some things for the all-day party she would be throwing for it. She had already set a tray out in the display for any costumers to see them, laugh and point (and then buy one). She heard the guitar riff fill the room (thanks to the speakers in the kitchen) and she quickly washed her hands in the sink (leaving the concoction she was mixing to sit) and went into the front, toweling off her hands.

She grinned faintly as she saw the boy looking around, like he hadn't been in before, and winced when she saw the impending collision with the chair and guitar. Yep. He over corrected and knocked it down and swung again and was going for the table. "Freeze!" She barked, though a grin was on her face. She certainly was amused.

"Before you start trying to fix everything and I end up with a demolished establishment," she walked over to him and straightened everything back up how it was, and by putting her hands on his shoulders, she moved him to where he couldn't knock anything over. She did all of this with a clearly amused expression. "No need to panic," Kali told him with a pat on the arm.

"Now what can I help you with?" She asked as she relocated herself to behind the counter.

[Izzy James]

Freeze. Izzy immediately obeyed the order, even stopping with one hand raised and one foot slightly askew. He turned to look at the owner of the voice, which was slightly more impressive when you stop to think about how he was still more or less locked into position.

Well, he certainly hadn't expected to be greeted by an attractive female, especially one dressed like that. Izzy slowly lowered his leg, looking around to see if he was being punk'd, or maybe if there was some kind of indication that he was talking to the right person. Wait, she'd said something about not moving because she didn't want her establishment wrecked, right? That certainly sounded like someone who was in charge, or at least someone who could sound like they were in charge, if that made any sense. It certainly about left Izzy scratching his head and wondering if he'd left his brains at the door.

"I haven't really started panicking yet," insisted Izzy. He felt himself blushing slightly at the arm pat, and pulled his guitar case closer to him. Miraculously, this was done without actually colliding with anything in his near proximity, including the woman who'd just entered the danger zone.

"But, yeah, I came here because, uh, well, I'm a student at the school," he pointed in the general direction of Hammel, using his guitar as a pointer, which meant another quick correction, "Izzy. That's my name. Izzy James. But, yeah, I heard about this place, and, uh, well, I've played at, you know, places like this before. Played the guitar," because that wasn't obviously. "So I was kind of hoping that I could, uh, play here. You know, for the customers and you or something. Maybe if you like it, you could even pay me for it or something."

A pause, a beat of silence in the stumbling ramble. Then, Izzy noticed something on the counter, something that made him do a quick double-take.

"Are those cookie monster cupcakes? That's cool."

[Kali Caraway]

This kid was adorable! His eyes all big and surprised at her ordering him to stop moving, and when they met eyes, he looked surprised! Kali couldn't help but chuckle a little. She knew her appearance wasn't what someone expected to see when they walked into a legitimate business like this--especially when her hair was pink or orange-- and generally reacted shocked. Not to mention Kali was a tiny thing.

She gave him his room after she fixed the table and he seemed to be gathering himself. Yes, the guitar was a huge indicator of what he probably wanted and she only nodded when he explained himself (quite nervously and with stepping over his words). "The pay only comes if you start bringing in paying costumers. I once had a guy--cleared out the whole place in ten minutes." Kali shook her head at the painful memory, but that was what she got with 'open mike' nights.

"How old are you?" She asked with an arched eyebrow. He looked young--sixteen at the oldest. If that was the case of him being so young she probably couldn't pay him (legally) at all. Her establishment served alcohol--at night--which meant he couldn't be here during those hours. But maybe, on the weekends, if he wanted to play during the day or something...

Kali chewed her lip in thought as she puzzled through all the different sorts of things she have to plan around and to work with, when she lifted a finger. "First, before I decide anything, you gotta play for me." She said with a gesture towards the stage. "And if you impress me, I'll give yah one of those cupcakes." She grinned when he noticed them behind the counter. She offered one to him as a reward (or something) not because so far, she was the only one that had eaten them and needed to know how good they were, but because he was a cute kid and even if he did stink, she couldn't turn him away with nothing.

[Izzy James]

Had to bring in paying customers. Izzy was nodding to that; made sense. You generally didn't want someone who would scare people away. Izzy liked to think he was better than that, but well.

Age question time. "I'm," he paused, hesitating. Lying might get him better pay, but it also might get him, and/or the nice cafe owner, in trouble. "I'm fifteen, so I think my options are narrowed or something? I have parental permission."

He heaved the guitar case onto a chair, carefully balancing it. Within moments, he had out a slip of paper with his parents' signatures on it. It had actually been signed back when Izzy first started doing "gigs," and he'd kind of kept it ever since. It usually worked though.

After Kali either took or ignored the paper, Izzy nodded and hefted his guitar out, saying: "Right, put up or shut up. I get that."

Quick tuning, and his fingers were hitting familiar chords. The tune came quickly to him, one that, admittedly, was born from staring at an attractive older woman.

"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know.
God bless you, please Mrs. Robinson.
Heaven holds a place for those who pray,
Hey, hey, hey"

The guitar playing was decent, more serviceable than impressive. The playing of someone who knew what they were doing but hadn't learned quite how to coax what they wanted. The voice was better though, with a younger tone, and it came from someone who actually liked what they were singing. The smile alone should have said that much.

"Hide in the hiding place where no one ever goes.
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes.
It's a little secret just the Robinsons' affair.
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids."

[Kali Caraway]

Kali bit on her lip. Fifteen was young, but she was still liking the idea of having him playing during the weekend days or something along those lines. She didn't really have any regular musicians in the place. She liked the idea, but he was so young. It did occur to her that she would probably have to see some parental permission, and at the very least speak to them on the phone. Her place was a bar, after all. She wouldn't want her kid playing music at some random place without talking and or meeting the owners of the place first. She watched as he took out the permission slip and took it to read it better. "That'll do for now, but I'd really like to talk to these parents of yours. Do you go to the high school?" She was just assuming this was a local boy, and not actually someone from Hammel (if that was the case, she was perfectly fine with that as well, since all of her staff, including herself were meta).

Kali settled into a chair and watched him get ready. He definitely made it seem like he knew what he was doing. She wasn't exactly expecting his voice to sound like that, but she smiled in reaction to it and softly nodded her head. He was pretty good, especially for a fifteen year old.

She clapped after he finished and stood from her seat, leaving his permission slip on the table, her applause dwindled. "Fantastic! Did you have lessons, or...?" she asked curiously while she moved around behind the counter and picked out a cookie monster cupcake for him, after she set it on a plate she slid it across the counter, towards him. "And what to drink?" she asked, gesturing towards the soft drink fountain. She would offer milk, but she'd run out yesterday and hadn't yet been able to run to the store. She couldn't yet because no one else had shown up for work yet.

"I can definitely see you playing here on a semi- and/or regular- basis."

[Izzy James]

Izzy had nearly gotten so wrapped up in the music and the whole performing thing that he hadn't quite realized that Kali had started talking to him for a few seconds. Certainly didn't help that he had a tendency to get wrapped up anyway, what with that skitzo power of his.

"Uh, yeah, a few lessons. Lots of practice though. My parents were big on making me learn how to play and stuff," said Izzy. He shrugged. Both his parents had always been supportive of it, and the entire household had been raised with music. Sure, Izzy had been the only one to take a liking to it, but that hadn't stopped most of the Jameses from appreciating what they heard.

Cupcake. Score. Izzy was already picking it up, figuring this was more than enough, though Kali was offering a drink. Izzy asked for some punch or something, since he really only drank soda if he wanted to get jittery. "Playing here semi or regular would be awesome with me. I, uh, I can't get my parents to show up or anything. They're still in Colorado. I'm here because Hammel's here."

That should be enough explanation of what he was, though he was figuring that most residents of the town would hardly be squeamish about a meta wandering about. Wasn't as if there weren't hundreds of them in this tiny section of Vermont or anything.

"Just let me know when I can play. I'd rather not skip school or anything, but, yeah," said Izzy. He shrugged, taking a large bite out of the cupcake. Through the mouthful: "Dis if good."