hadriel | Three: Candid Camera?

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Three: Candid Camera?

[At first there is a confusion of sound, before it becomes clear it’s music: a little bit tinny from the mp3 speaker nearby, but the song has a fast tempo and a rolling rhythm. The low male vocals are smooth and light.]

[The opening picture of the video is something oddly textured and unrecognizable at first, until the jabberjay pulls its head back and examines the screen with one beady eye. It blinks, pecks the screen, then hops away, bored. The crazy angle of the screen reveals one of the tower apartments: and it belongs to Amos, as evidenced by both the bird and the fact that Amos is in the middle of the main room, dancing to the music.]

[Shirtless, he’s only wearing shorts and a pair of socks: the socks are knee-high and an eye-searing combination of neon green and electric orchid stripes. Short and close-knit, Amos is lean-muscled like a dancer or a gymnast, and he moves with the same careful and precise grace. He has a few scars scattered across his skin, visible in glimpses as he dances without restraint, joy written all over his face.]

[At first the dance moves are slower, classical training showing for those who can recognize it, ballet and ballroom. But as he warms up, Amos mixes it up, pulling from all kinds of dance: contemporary, the street hip-hop and breakdancing, the sensual steps from bars and nightclubs….and more, with martial arts kata stirred in, and tumbles and leaps from gymnastics, flexible and quick. He’s moving for the sheer unbridled joy of moving, the pure physical pleasure of throwing his whole body into expression. It’s a little wild, more than somewhat childish as Amos gives in with abandon. He delights in the push and burn of exertion: dancing is something he’s always loved.]

[He’s in constant motion until the song ends: then he staggers to a halt and flops over into a nearby pile of pillows: all brightly coloured and none of them matching. He laughs, breathless and full. Oh that had been fun!]

Hey sugar!

[Amos rolls over to sit up, hair messed in every direction, as the jabberjay calls out to him. It hops back over to the phone and pecks it. Amos bounces to his feet and over to the phone himself.]

Ain’t good to eat, leave it alone, mon choux.

How’d you turn this thing on anyways?

[Amos scoops up the phone and turns it off, oblivious to the free show he’s just given the network.]

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[Corbin just... watches for a long moment, because it makes him smile to watch Amos dance. He recognizes him, the boy from the orchard that had been able to tell he wasn't a crow, so he's a bit wary, but it wasn't like he knew that Corbin was the crow that had been messing with the jabberjays. So he was probably safe.]

[He doesn't say anything, mostly because it's neat watching the way Amos moves, and... alright so he really likes watching him. In a way that he's not looking at too closely, because... it's nicer just watching him. And ignoring the way his muscles move. Yep.]

[But when Amos is done he claps, because that's what you're supposed to do right?]

[OOPS So that was live broadcast and Amos is a little embarrassed. He hadn't really meant to do all of that in front of everybody. Well, nothing for it now. So he answers with a grin, albeit a slightly chagrined one.]

Thank you.

How'd ya learn t' dance like that?

[He doesn't think that he could do it, he doesn't think he's ever seen a guy dance anything like that before, and it's really fascinating.]

Different places! When I was very little, my grandmother had me take ballet, gymnastics. Learned ballroom in my teens. Picked up everything else in clubs an' parties.

[Amos rolls a shrug, pleased with the interest to answer. He leaves out that some of it was, in fact, martial arts kata, just as much dancing sometimes as anything else, especially choreographed moves with a good partner.]

So that an' a lot of practise. I like to dance.

[He doesn't mean to watch. It feels like this should be private. Just a moment between the man and the music. But he watches, because of course he does; because the man is full of grace and wild abandon and sheer joy in a way that reminds him of nothing so much as River.

He wonders if his sister has also seen this, in her wandering.

Later, he sends a text, not sure if he should but also not able to resist.]

You dance really well. Were you classically trained?

[Amos had thought it was private, but now it's not and nothing he can do about it. So after a bit he answers.]

A little bit. When I was little my grandmother had me take ballet for a while.

In my teens I learned ballroom.

[He already feels awkward for commenting at all. But if there's someone in Hadriel River could maybe connect with through dance, too...maybe it's worth saying something.]

My sister dances. Ballet, mostly, but after anything that got her moving. Hasn't had much to dance to lately, here. Is there music other places down here?

There's a karaoke system in delight's bar, but other than that I think we're stuck with what music players people've brought with em

I had mine in my backpack when I came, so that's all I've got

At least a karaoke machine might be rigged to play normal music, too.

Thank you. I appreciate the help.

You're welcome! I'm glad to help :D

[Firo watches at first because he's curious about what's going on. And then he watches because he's simply shocked and horrified. Doing that? In public?!]

...Because we're friends, I'm gonna forget I ever saw that.

Thanks.

[Amos now has a shirt on but his hair is still in disarray. His smile is rueful.]

Didn't mean to broadcast that, really.

[He shrugs. He still has no idea how the bird managed to turn on the phone's camera.]

I'd be worried if you did.

You see how much of a problem these birds are now?

[Firo hasn't forgotten their first conversation, and he's never surrendered the thought that Amos is a little odd in his fondness for these things.]

Nah. They ain't no problem.

Me leaving my phone out...well, now I'll know better, see?

[Sorry, Firo, it'll take more than that to convince Amos not to like his animal friends.]

If you say so.

[And Firo, too, is unconvinced.]

Guess so. You know, back home, nobody ever had a problem like that. Normal phones don't turn on by themselves.

["Normal phones" being those made in the '30s or earlier.]

Well, it had a little bit'a feathery help.

It's been a long time since I danced for an audience, though.

[Amos shrugs. As far as normal phones, well, he's sussed out Firo's timelines does not match up with his own, and there is no way come Hell or high water he's going to try to explain the 21st century to Firo.]

But you did before?

[That's pretty odd, or at least it would be in Firo's time and place.]

When I was very small, my grandmother had me take ballet, to teach me grace.

I was a clumsy kid, always knockin' into stuff.

Had a few recitals, but that years years an' years ago. I think I was like eight or nine when I traded ballet for gymnastics.

[His grandmother had believed in keeping a young child busy, often quoting the old adage 'idle hands are the Devil's workshop,' Amos had done soccer, ballet, martial arts, gymnastics, piano, and been both a choir boy and an altar boy at their church. He taps the top ball of his tongue piercing against the roof of his mouth, expression briefly thoughtful as he debates ages, before he grins again at Firo.]

Mebbe seven. Not sure, it's been a while ago.

Ballet?

[It's all bizarre to him, from the dancing to the thought that any adult would bother with that.]

I can't imagine anybody goin' through all that trouble for a kid... Why was that so important to her?

[Kids were pretty free-range in Firo's neighborhood. He and his friends especially were mostly left to roam and get into trouble so long as they came back before dark.]

Mmm, lotsa reasons. It's kinda complicated. Anything with my grandmother was.

[Amos purses his lips a moment, thinking, then wrinkles his nose before smiling again, crookedly. He did and does still love his grandmother, and regrets the wrong he did to her by running away: she had only been trying to look after him, as she had always done.]

First, to keep me busy so I'd stay out of big trouble: 'idle hands are the Devil's workshop,' she'd always say. Second, to keep me off the streets an' always somewhere there was people to keep an eye one me, so I'd be safer, see. Lotta monsters in my world think kids are tasty treats, or worse, fun playthings.

An' third, well. I look 'zactly like my father, her son, an' I think...she did care an awful lot for me, but I think I reminded her a lot of what she lost. My parents died in an accident when I was really little, see, so she raised me herself. I don't remember 'em at all. An' if I was busy at lessons, then she didn't see me as much.

[Amos is pretty sure that was the part of the puzzle he'd missed when he had been smaller. A less forgiving child might have resented it, but Amos had been secure in the knowledge that he was well-loved, and has a generous heart. He's always tried to believe the best of people.]

She was good to me, though.

[Firo smiles at the end. On the whole, she does sound like a pretty nice lady.]

It sure sounds like she was, lookin' out for you like that.

Yup. Couldn't have asked for better.

[Amos grins as well.]

I was a lucky bug.

[Belatedly he realizes that Firo will have no idea about Disney movie quotes, but oh well.]

[No, he definitely does not. He chalks that up to a weird Amos turn of phrase.]

You were a lucky somethin', that's for sure.

[ Since Rose can't clap, she instead whistles her approval. It's... cute, but bittersweet. She'd pulled a similar stunt in Haven nearly a year ago. It makes her realizes just how much has changed since then. The music also reminds her of what she can't play anymore with her missing hand, but. She's not about to rain all over this kid's parade. So she's got a winning smile on to make sure he isn't any the wiser. ]

Nice moves, dude! We'll have to have a dance-off someday if you're game.

[Amos chuckles a little, embarrassed. When he speaks, it's with a New Orleans accents, a little quicker and snappier than your typical Southern drawl.]

Thanks.

Didn't meant to broadcast that, but sure, if you wanna.

I ain't kept in real practice, though, since I stopped taking lessons. I just do it for fun.

[ Oh, no. He's cute. She likes the accent, too. Gives him a lot of personality. ]

Don't we all do it for fun? I've never had any formal training, but I still enjoy busting a move when I get a chance.

[Amos laughs a little. That's a good answer and very true.]

True dat, sugar.

We could re-purpose the karaoke system in Delight's bar, I bet.

There's a karaoke machine! And I didn't know?!

All this time I could have been singing 'Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.' All this time wasted...

[ Sorry, she's a bit of a doofus. ]

Alas! But now you can make up for lost time.

[Amos grins brightly: he's also a doofus, she's in excellent company.]

Alcohol's pretty good there too, but there's not much else there by way of entertainment.

This is a valid point!

[ Hmm. ]

I guess I'll have to figure out something to make it more entertaining... If only I could still play guitar. Darn.

I'm not sure that we have a guitar here, even if you could.

[Come to think of it, Amos isn't sure he's seen any instruments. Do the gods even know what those are? Would they bear any resemblance to Earth instruments if the previous inhabitants were inhuman?]

Well, uh. About that! I do have a guitar that came with me, but... I can't play it anymore since, well, I'm missing a hand now. Kind of hard to play guitar one-handed, y'know?

[ 'Now.' As in she wasn't always, but. She says it so casually that it obviously doesn't bother her. Obviously. ]

Oh. Um. I'm sorry?

[Amos offers this tentatively, a puzzled expression on his face.]

Knew a guy without arms who played his guitar with his feet, though. Mebbe you could learn that way?

Nah, don't be! Not your fault. [ If it's anyone, it's hers. ]

I don't think I have the foot coordination for that, but... It'll be something to do in my spare time, at least.

[Right, so she's not looking for pity-pats, as Amos calls them, and he's glad. He's not the best at commiserating for too long. He's too much of an optimist.]

Well, everyone needs a hobby.

If you need any medical help, though, there's a clinic 'round here. Know where it is?

[ Rose is, unfortunately, a pessimist. Who presents to be an optimist? It's... complicated. ]

Yeah, I know about the clinic.

And, hey, music is still my hobby. They didn't take away my voice, at least.

[Miriam beams.]

You're having fun!

So I am, chickadee.

[Amos's hair is still musses, though he's got a shirt on now.]

How're you?

[Miriam giggles. She likes Amos.]

I'm cool. Barnaby killed one last night.

[She hefts a small skull with suspiciously large fangs. It's still...wet] I'm gonna make a necklace. Ain't it awesome? Rawr!

One...what?

[Amos hesitates to ask, not sure he wants to know, and raises an eyebrow. He supposes the dog killing things is less likely to end with Miriam hurt....as opposed to her trying to kill things.]

You want help curin' that?

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Three: Candid Camera?

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