Guitar 101 (Anthy)

[Matt Davis]

Matt was staring down at his biology text book and the worksheet beside of it. He had circled the same answer at least a hundred times for the seventh question. The ring around the letter ‘c’ had become dark black and the paper indented by the pressure. He had spent hours working on this paper. And the last twenty minutes without making any progress what-so-ever. With a heavy sigh he slammed his head into the book and sighed.

“Biology makes a much better pillow than it makes a knowledge...giver.” He said allowed to no one in particular. “...Maybe I’ll learn through osmosis…” He gave a little laugh at his own joke before springing up and circling the answer of number thirteen! Osmosis!

“Hell yeah, it works!” He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Maybe he needed to take a break. He deserved one really. He turned in his chair and smiled at his bed where his phone was sitting. He popped up and moved to the bed, snatching up the small device before falling onto his back onto the bed. He flipped through the phone and looked over his contacts until he found a picture beside of a shy little rocker girl. With a click he held it up to his ear and waited. And he waited. And waited…

When she didn’t answer he sat the phone down on his chest and thought. She was probably out at school or something. Or...maybe she just didn’t notice it? She might not have heard it. So he tried again. Hit redial and waited. When she answered her phone his face burst into a grin.

“Hey Soul Sister...You busy?”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Sure it was an odd time of the day to have taken a shower, but sometimes there was no set schedule for it. She had had a bit more energy than usual this morning so a little while after breakfast, so not to make herself sick and bring forth a mess do she had done a bit of exercise earlier and felt like one was really called for afterwards.

Anthy did wonder though, where the energy might have come from. Maybe because she was no longer stuck in the same routine she had put herself into for the last couple of years? Because she was actually meeting new people and doing new things? Had she been depressed before? It... it was possible. She hadn't even realised it until she just thought about it now.

She was in the act of continuing to dry her hair even as she stepped into her room when the strangest sound came to her ears. A tune she didn't recognize. It didn't even click in her head that it was her phone until the third time of the chiming. Anthy's eyes widened and she went to quickly hunting for it. She found it by the fourth ring, pulling it out from the pocket of the pants she had been wearing the day before.

"H-hello?" She asked, not having had the chance to look at who it was due to how she had been rushing to try to catch the call before it was too late.

For a moment, she didn't even think about the fact that it could have been Matt. Well, up until she heard that nickname he had called her before he had asked if she was busy. She bit her lip a little, trying to contain the smile that was growing on her lips. It had been a week since they had met and she had kind of thought he might have either been too busy, or changed his mind about calling.

Her smile dropped. As she thought of something. Had she been supposed to call? Oh she hoped that wasn't the case. Had they even said who would call who? Anthy scrambled through her brain trying to remember but so much had gone on that she was having trouble with it.

"Hi Matt. No, I'm not. I'm not busy at all." She replied cheerfully.

[Matt Davis]

He smiled to himself when she had answered and he rotated his chair some to look over at his guitar and amp. He hadn’t had the time to play it since last week, but he had done enough work to earn himself a break. There was a certain cheerfulness in Anthy’s voice when she answered and it made Matt smile even more. Happy people made for happy days, his grandad once said. Though he was talking about why drinking in moderation was good… so it was a little different.

“That’s good. Do you wanna be busy? I’m taking a break from work… If you wanted, you could hop on over here and we could work on Train?” He leaned forward and started to do a google search for Train tabs while he waited. “Or we could just chew the fat, whatever…”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

As he asked her if she wanted to be busy, she looked over to where she had abandoned her towel and then brought her free hand to her still halfway wet hair. She didn't say anything yet though, as he was still speaking. When he brought up Train, she did raise a brow even if he couldn't see her through the phone.

"Train?"

Duh.

"Oh! Train! R-right. I... I forgot the song was by that group." Said, sounding a little sheepish.

"Sure, I'd like that. And... and there's no reason we can't talk while.. while we work on the song. Well... well, in between the playing and the singing, that is. Where did you want to meet up? And, I might be a minute, as I need to finish drying my hair first before I go." She told him.

Well, she could go with a partially wet head, but it was habit for her to dry her hair completely before she went someplace after a shower. That, and she needed to put some shoes on, so there was that. Even if she would have liked to do so, she couldn't very well go around barefoot. It had been her plan originally to just lounge about indoors after the shower, as she had gotten enough sunlight for a while and didn't want to "overcharge" on it. But she wouldn't mention that.

[Matt Davis]

Washing her hair? Did that mean she just got out of the shower? Matt’s mind wandered for a second, giving her a bit of silence on the phone befre he remembered he should probably speak up.

“Oh! Well...where? I didn’t really think about that too much...How about you just come on over to my room?” He clicked a link and popped up the tabs on his screen before moving to his bed. He only had one chair, so someone would have to sit on the bed. He had quite a bit of junk on it: Magazines, and books, and clothes. He pushed that all to one side of the bed before grabbing his amplifier and making sure it was plugged in.

After her answer he smiled even brighter. “Alright, fantastic… Room 201. I’ll leave the door open, so just come right in whenever you’re ready… and dressed.”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

When Matt decided on meeting up at his room, a small jolt of surprise went through her. His room? Would that be alright? Oh, right, he was living out of the co-ed area. She'd forgotten about that part. It seemed she was forgetting bits and pieces here and there, but luckily the memories weren't so far gone that she was confused for long. It just took her a second or two, that's all.

Anthy might have asked him where his room was, but he was already beating her to the punch. Well, that spared a moment of her worrying about him being offended over her asking him where exactly his room was. It had been a week, things were a little fuzzy and a lot had happened, so a little slack was earned. That was, if he had told her before. Had he? Or had that been Lucas telling her his room when they had talked about gaming that time? She was pretty sure Koty hadn't told her his room.

"Alright, as soon as I'm done, I'll be on my way over." She told him, that cheerful tone coming through again.

She was so focused on the fact that she was getting around to spending time with friends again, that she hadn't even thought twice about the mention of getting dressed being possibly a little odd to be mentioned.

"See you in a bit." She said.

It was always easier talking to someone on the phone. Maybe it was knowing that there was a distance there. Or maybe it was because she couldn't see the person's face. She didn't know. And she didn't dwell on it either, trying not to take too much time.

Her hair was toweled quickly after the end of the call, and she got herself into a pair of shoes after getting her hair at least most of the way dry. Her shirt was wet. That, would not do. Switching out her shirt for a fresh one, she put the dampened one in the hamper before picking up her phone from where she had placed it on her bed and tucking it into her pocket. and making her way out of the room.

It took her a bit to get to his room but hopefully not too long, and the door was open like he said it would be. Still, as she reached it, she knocked lightly on the door frame and waited to be invited in.

[Matt Davis]

While she took her time Matt decided to do a little cleaning up. His room wasn’t a total mess, but there were a few paper plates and plastic dishes here and there. Clothes thrown about randomly. Some garbage and balled up papers here and there...a couple of soda bottles. Actually his room was sort of a mess. So he’d go through like a tornado while he waited.

Matt was bending over his bed pulling out a shirt from behind it when he heard the knock. “Come in!” he shouted while lifting back up. He tossed his shirt into the bin just beside of the door and smiled brightly to his new guest. “Yeah! Come in, take a seat! Chair or bed, your choice.”

He motioned towards a mini fridge in the corner of his room while moving toward another corner, where his guitar and amp were set up. “I’ve got some coke and half of a Qdoba burrito in there if you are hungry. And some hot pockets. And pizza bagels. And pizza rolls. Whatever, help yourself.”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

Well, the invitation was given, and as she rounded the edge of the door to pass through it, she saw him there smiling at her in a way that was contageous. It seemed he was happy to be hanging out too. Well, yes, she'd thought he might be pleased seeing how he'd invited her over and all... but yeah.

He actually seemed a little excited as he gave her the choices in seats and went to listing off what she could grab out of the mini fridge if she was hungry. She was actually fine right then when it came to hunger or thirst. Anyways, he was already moving to set things up it looked like.

"I'll... I'll take the chair... And I'm good. As far as the food and stuff, that is." She told him.

Or would it have been rude to decline right then when he was trying to be a good host? Oh crap.... Well, it was a little too late right then wasn't it? She had already given her answer.

"Un.. Unless you want me on the bed, that is... But you asked me first, I guess so I shouldn't try to get you to choose..."

[Matt Davis]

Matt smirked as she wound herself up trying to answer what seemed to him to be a simple and easy to understand meet up.

“Anthy, we’re just hanging out and stuff… Y’don’t need to be so worried. Nothin’ so professional that you need to think about worrying about trying to get me to choose or what not. Just sit your bumper down and I’ll get the guitar ready.”

He slid the amp a little closer to her and offered her the guitar, but then quickly took it back. “Ah hell, I didn’t even make sure it was tuned… shoulda done that before you got here.” He flopped back onto the bed and started to twist the pegs while plugging at the strings. Each turn changing the sound a little more.

“S’how was your week been?” Matt asked with a raised brow and a smile, looking over her while beaming. She looked good. Pink was everywhere on girls, he thought, but she made it look good. His eyes settled on her hair, a little wet from her shower. The thought caused him to smirk a little more.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

He was smirking and that was just making her more shy. It was to the point where she was biting her through the whole of what he said next about how she didn't need to be worried and that she didn't need to thing about worrying and such. She couldn't really help it. It.... It had just been a long time since she had made friends, and she was worried about messing it up somehow now that she had managed to start getting herself out there.

Anthy didn't even say anything, just sitting down like he had told her to. She did finally let go of her lip though, when he went to speaking about how he should have tuned the guitar after he had caught himself while getting ready to hand it over.

"It's okay. An-anyways, it... it gives me a chance to see how it's done, you know?" She replied, trying to show him the up side to things.

She shifted a little in her seat when he asked her how her week had been, the different events passing through her mind. She couldn't really talk about all of them, but she supposed she should give him some sort of answer rather than leaving him hanging.

"It's definitely been a lot different than when I used to just keep to myself... But, that's a given, right?.. How... how about yours?" She asked him.

[Matt Davis]

Matt listened to the strings as he tuned, staring off into the distance while he listened, and giving his attention back to her whenever the pitch sounded right. She was doing that thing where her lip moved funnily and she nipped at her lips. It was sweet, kind of cute. He hadn’t seen someone else besides her do it. Maybe he still made her nervous.

“Oh, it was good. Met a few new people, and I got some business… actually making an okay amount of money, though I think I need to jack up my prices some.” He motioned with his head towards a small container that looked like a tackle box. “Have some stuff in there I need to work on for a guy at an automotive shop… But I won’t have the time to do it easily.”

“How’s it gotten a lot different? Have you gone out and met even more people? Or have you just been practicing on the guitar a lot?”

[Anthy Blacksmith]

As he went to talking about his week, Anthy watched him and listened. Business...? She wondered what business he was talking about. But, Anthy wasn't left hanging for long as he went to speaking about an automotive shop. That gave her the chance to start trying to figure out what he might do exactly. Still, it was better to ask than to assume, right?

Not just yet though. He was speaking again, so she kept silent for the moment before smiling a bit shyly at his questions. She'd answer him, then ask what she wanted to know, she told herself.

"Yeah... I... I've been trying to make some friends. I've met a few people that... that I didn't just chicken out on... Not a lot, but.. but it's a start." She told him a little sheepishly.

"So, what do you do? For business, I mean?"

[Matt Davis]

Matt shrugged when the final string had been tuned. He took the guitar off and walked to her. He lifted the strap up and draped it over her before handing her the instrument and moving to turn on the amplifier.

“Oh, I just...fix things. Just about anything that can be fixed, I guess. He has an old sparkplug and some other stuff in there he asked me to take a crack at for a few bucks.” Matt moved back to the bed and flopped down on it. He watched her witht he guitar, giving her no real guidance but listening if she had more questions.

[Anthy Blacksmith]

There was a shrug from him before he took the guitar off and brought it over to her. Anthy bowed her head slightly when he went to putting the strap over her then carefully took hold of the guitar. It had been just such a fluent moment that Anthy hadn't even gotten flustered and shy about the proximity he had been in before he had moved to the amplifier.

She went to placing her fingers where she believed she remembered him telling her to the last time they had met, and listened to him while he gave her his answers. Fixing about anything that could be fixed. Well, that was pretty handy. No handyman pun intended... Though, when she did end up thinking about the pun, she had to suppress a giggle.

"Do you enjoy it? The work you do?" She asked him before looking at the strings of the guitar to see if she was pressing on them hard enough.

[Matt Davis]

“I don’t know. Not really, I’d rather be doing other things. I can do it though, and I like to have a little spending cash.” Matt leaned forward and looked down at his feet. His elbows pressed into his knees. Honestly the boy hated fixing certain things. And he loved it. It didn’t make sense to him. It felt so good when control of his mind and body was taken away and he started to move on instinct alone. He just had to finish it once he started. Afterwards, when he had finally fixed whatever was broken, he felt dirty. He was a freak and a mutant.

He was an abomination and he used what he had, his ‘gifts’ to make money or make his life easier. At the same time, he felt like it was only fair. He was carrying the cross of his powers and feeling the painful weight of it, so why shouldn’t he try and use the power to better his life? He just hoped that he wouldn’t be nailed for using his own little cross.

Matt lifted his eyes back up to her and offered a meek smile, much less happy or prideful than the ones he normally gave to her. It looked tired and beaten down. “You don’t have a job, do you?”