Unconventional Jammin' (Ricio)

[Liam Bell]

The door through the Quarter Note to the alleyway was one Liam normally used to dash out quickly and have a cigarette break. It was better than having to to all the way through the mall, after all. At any rate, it was quiet in store and he wasn't really required to work anyway, so he organised a jam session to have a little fun and waste the day away. Only problem (if you would call it that) was that his partner wasn't the type to go indoors. Lucky, Liam was an outside-the-box thinker. Literally.

He'd grabbed a couple of micro guitar amps, carrying some leads out into the alleyway and hooking it all up. He followed that up with a red Gibson SG and an all black Fender Stratocaster, setting them down on two stands. It would be easy enough to just duck back inside and switch a guitar out if he needed to anyway, so he wasn't worried. Liam grabbed some old milk crates from the door to the Holey Land and turned them upside down so he could sit down and rest the SG on his lap.

Now he just had to wait.

[Ricio Miller]

((hope you don’t mind me providing a little back story, if you’d like me to edit it, just let me know))

The winter was fast approaching, basically already here, but Ricio was trying not to admit it to himself. Not that he minded the cold, but his guitar did. The cold and the wet and everything else that came with sleeping outside was just too much for the poor instrument to take. So Ricio had sadly, started keeping his beloved companion at his brother, Chuck’s house. Although it was by the front door, where Ricio could easily grab it even if Chuck was out, it was still a pain to have to walk to Chuck’s from wherever he happened to be that day.

So when Liam had invited Ricio over for a jam session (after bumping into Ricio playing his harmonica on the street one day and voicing his wishes that he had his guitar instead) he had jumped at the chance. It wasn’t everyday that he could play a new guitar. Not just because he didn’t have the money to afford such a luxury, but also because most new guitars were in shops…which meant they were indoors. It had been a bit of tense moment for Ricio as he explained his…distaste of the indoors, but Liam seemed cool with it. He had even provided a wonderful alternative.

Even though Ricio was excited, he still arrived a little later than he had said he would. But who could blame him? He wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who lived by the clock. And if his instinct were right from his first meeting with Liam, he doubted his new friend would mind too much.

When he walked up to the back of the shop, smoking the end of a rolled cigarette, he immediately started grinning at the sight of the two guitars. He approached the Fender, seeing that Liam had already selected the SG. After a moment’s hesitation he grabbed it and played a run of notes up the fret board.

“Perfection,” he said, grinning as he turned to Liam.

[Liam Bell]

The cold was always a factor with guitars; constant tuning even if they were being played was something he had to worry about. But for the most part he liked the idea of this set up so he could get a feel for the newer stock. That kind of information was always handy when people came in and questioned things. Built in tuners for the strings were a must these days anyway, so he sat tuning the deep red guitar to ensure its perfection by his ear, and then by the tuner.

"Feel free." Liam replied with a smirk. He was excited about this too, knowing that he was enabling another artist to enjoy themselves. They were the kind of people he loved to surround himself with. "Trust me, you won't damage something that beautiful." He laughed. Most people held these guitars with as much care as living, breathing children. Liam was no exception.

[Ricio Miller]

Ricio join in Liam’s laughter, even though he was still a bit worried about damaging the instruments. Not so much because he might dirty them, Ricio tried to keep himself rather clean despite his lifestyle, but because of the respect he held for them. Not to mention he knew what these were worth. Still, his own guitar received similar treatment. He even referred to it as his “baby”, which caused his brother Chuck to roll his eyes on more than one occasion.

But really what was more precious than music?

Seating himself on one of the other milk crates, he picked out a little melody, grinning to himself as he did. Even though he would always be more of an acoustic man, it had been a while since he’d played an electric and he was enjoying it. “Got a pick?” he asked, looking up at his new friend.

“So, how long you had this place? Have jam sessions often?” Ricio asked. It would be wonderful if he could stop by through the winter to play now and then on nicer days, but he didn’t want to straight out ask just yet.

[Liam Bell]

Liam sat for a second or so, listening to the melody offered into the air. He picked out the provided scale and started running his fingers along the cool metal of the strings. He stopped briefly, searching his pocket and retrieving a couple of picks. He leaned over and handed it his way before holding on in his own and joining in again. Simply enough, he provided adjacent chords to the melody that was now being played above them. A soft hum escaped his mouth, adding another layer in his head as opposed to very loudly.

"For about a year or so now. This place was always lacking someone with a lot of hands on knowledge. I had some money saved up from touring with an old band so I thought; why not?" He chuckled at his own statement, "Plus my niece goes to Hammel now. So I have more of a reason to stop moving and stick around for a while."

At the other question, he looked down the alley. He felt the small rumble of wind coming but used his powers to keep any gusts out of the alley. He didn't want it to be colder than it had to be. "Not like this. Not often anyway. And not usually in the winter. But sometimes we bring a bunch of stuff out and invite whoever seems keen. Friends, strangers, it doesn't matter. As long as they look like they really love music and have a respect for the instruments, we let them stay." We was probably an interesting statement to make, but he shrugged it off. "I have a lot of Hammel kids who work here. They love the experience."

[Ricio Miller]

After giving the guitar a test drive, Ricio leaned over to retrieve a rolled cigarette from his pack. He lit it, careful to keep a good grip on the guitar as he did so. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked, after he had already taken a few puffs. If it was really a problem for Liam, he would put it out. But he really hoped that it wasn't.

"How long have you been playing?" he asked. It was clear that the other man had been familiar with the instrument for some time. Either that or he was some sort of prodigy. He enjoyed the fact that Liam was humming along with his music as well. Ricio tended to whistle melodies to accompany himself, mostly because he didn't feel that he was that blessed as a singer. Ricio smiled at the mention of moving around. Even though he had stuck to the Pilot Ridge area for a while now, he was rarely in the same place for more than a night or two.

Ricio didn't mind the chill in the air, but he could still feel the wind on. He was surprised by the sudden change in the way it blew and gave Liam a questioning look. "Was that you?" he asked. Some people may have been hesitant to question people about their meta status, but ever since running into that young woman who could control temperature he had felt it was better to know. If nothing else than to prevent more anxiety.

"Well I'll have to stop by more often," he added grinning. "I could get used to this. Although I guess most people would enjoy it if the weather was a little warmer." He shrugged. There had been a time when Ricio still remembered what it was like to enjoy a warm day, but now he felt like he was imagining more than remembering. And even that was hard.

"I can see why," Ricio said. "I would have loved working at a music store as a student." Of course Ricio had never been inside the shop, but from the guitars Liam had brought out, he figured it was a pretty nice one.

[Liam Bell]

Liam shook his head, pulling the guitar stand he'd brought over and leaning the guitar he held against it. "No way. Do you have a spare?" He asked, extending his hand out. If he didn't it was fine, and he'd just grab one from his own. But he did have them handy it seemed.

"Oh, yeeaaars." He replied, breathing a laugh and watching the cold air puff out of his mouth. "Since the beginning of high school, I'd say. I'd pick an instrument and learn it, then get decent enough to pick up another one and keep going. I just loved to learn about music and instruments." He explained, looking at his feet for a moment and smiling. Reminiscing on his first guitar was fun, really. "What about you? Been at it for long?"

Liam smirked, shrugging his shoulders and looking away as innocently as possible. "Maybe." He replied with an amused sound to his voice. "Wind messes with metal strings. I'm just trying to keep us from having to alter and tune so often." Plus the wind tunnel aspect was cold. Cold to most, anyway.

"I'm from Alaska." Liam said lightly, looking up from his feet and towards the sky. "I like the cold."

Liam tilted his head to the side, looking to the closed door for a second or so before back to him. "It's the only job that doesn't feel like work. Being around instruments and music, I mean. When I was touring it was awesome, but to be stable in one place... This was the best kind of job I could think of that'd be fun."

[Ricio Miller]

Ricio grinned so wide that his cigarette almost fell out of his mouth. It always pleased him to find a fellow nicotine addict. Way too many people worried about second hand smoke in his opinion. "Sure thing," he said, digging around in his pack again. "If you don't mind a roll-y"

"Same here," Ricio said. "Never met an instrument I couldn't fall in love with. Although sadly I can't keep up with all of them. Hard to carry a piano around with me." He laughed. It also wasn't often that one came across a piano setting out in the elements. Although his true love would always be the guitar, a close second was the harmonica. Although that was mostly because of the easy to keep it and not having to worry about it during the winter.

Liam smirked, shrugging his shoulders and looking away as innocently as possible. "Maybe." He replied with an amused sound to his voice. "Wind messes with metal strings. I'm just trying to keep us from having to alter and tune so often." Plus the wind tunnel aspect was cold. Cold to most, anyway.

"Yeah?" Ricio said. "I've done a fair bit of traveling in my day, but I've never made it up that far. I hear it's beautiful though. And the cold...it's not really a problem for me." He grinned. Although the fact that he wasn't wearing a coat may have given that a way by now.

"Being meta has it advantages I guess," he added with a shrug. For Ricio more than most, he guessed. After all without it ability it would be much harder to live the way he did.

"Well if you ever need a hand with anything..."Ricio said, although even as he offered he wonder how helpful he could actually be. It wasn't likely he would ever step foot in the actual store. Maybe he could do posters or sidewalk art if Liam had a special event going on in the store?

[Liam Bell]

"Sometimes you just take what you can get." Liam replied with a shrug, taking the cigarette that was offered to him and lighting it. As soon as it was lit he breathed in the intoxicating air, before craning his neck back and exhaling with a sigh of relief and contentment.

Liam nodded a few times, understanding where he was coming from. Especially given how he lived. "We got those too. Might be a little harder to drag out, but next time I'll keep pianos in mind." He laughed, "So what's your favourite instrument?" Now he was definitely curious.

"A small town in Alaska to boot. You can walk everywhere. I guess you can do that in Pilot Ridge too. It's a little more comforting than having to drive around all the time." He preferred to walk. Though he had an aversion to cars for other reasons too.

He nodded again, smiling over towards Ricio. "Thanks man, I appreciate it. If I ever think of anything, I'll let you know." He replied. And curiosity started to settle in his mind again, but he wasn't sure of the question he had was something he was allowed to ask. Still, he decided to go for it anyway. "So, you like... Don't have a proper place to live? Why not?"