hadriel | seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

[Nick has been notably absent from her usual post at Delight's bar for the past several weeks, but today, as she turns the video camera of her phone on herself, the familiar sight of shelves of multicolored bottles lined up behind her indicate her location. That's right - she's back, and she is smiling as she holds up a tambourine and gives it a good shake. If you've met Nick even once, you'll know that she is made of sharp edges and not someone who smiles easily.]

Hey ... I dunno who left this here for me, but I wanted to say thanks. This is ... this is really great.

[The fact that she is openly addressing Hadriel with her thanks is perhaps a testament to how significant this particular item is for her, since gratitude doesn't come easily for Nick, either. Then again, if you know her well enough, you may notice something different about her entire demeanor - something softer, something warmer, something much less feral and hostile.]

Oh, and one more thing ... [She sets the tambourine down on the counter in front of her and gestures to the bar around her.] Thanks for not letting this place burn down while I was out ... "sick." Everyone knows this place is a shithole, and we only got so many not-shitty things here. Delight's bar is prob'ly the best one. Gotta hang on to what we've got, right?

[She grins again as she reaches over to cut the feed and get back to work. Perhaps you're there to place an order with her for something to drink?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( thank you for the beer, and for the reminder that she still can't figure out what the people who lived here before them did for fun. )

It's yours?

Yeah, it's definitely mine.

[There are tiny scratches in the wood from times in the past where she'd thrown the instrument in a fit of frustration, accidental scrapes of black nail polish that she remembers laying down. Nick smiles as she studies the tambourine in her hands, then gently sets it down on the counter.]

Been a while since I played, but I guess it's not that hard to remember. Not like playing a guitar or anything. I wasn't ever any good at that. Couldn't ever make my fingers move the way you're supposed to.

( she can't really imagine. there was, years ago, a time her mum tried to get her to play clarinet.

yeah. getting Kate to sit still long enough to learn clarinet. we can all imagine how that went. one lesson and she was done. )

Always liked th' sound of a guitar. Can't say I ever tried to play though. ... That hard?

( is it that hard. pls with the full sentences, kitkat. )

[Nick doesn't mind; she's been known to drop a word or two here and there herself. To answer Kate's question, she shrugs.]

I guess not if you've been doin' it forever. It never looks that hard when you watch people play, but they've spent a ton of time practicing. Me, it just seemed like too much work.

[Here she mimes holding a guitar to demonstrate why it's too much work.]

You gotta press down on the strings, so it hurts your fingers. Then you have to remember where your fingers go to make the different notes - and then you gotta switch between 'em. I could barely remember half the chords my ex tried to teach me, and that was just basic shit. I dunno how people can remember how their fingers are supposed to go without looking at 'em all the time.

( she takes another long drink as Nick explains, nodding as she sets it down. )

Muscle memory? ( she supposes. it's how she knows when to jump while skipping from rooftop to rooftop. the muscle memory that states this is the right place, the right time. that instinct, built from years of constant use. )

Don't think I'd have th' patience for it.

Yeah, I guess that's what you'd call it.

[She drops her hands from the mock-guitar position, letting them settle on her hips instead.]

I guess if you got nothing better to do, you find the patience for it. Or I guess if you just really love the idea of playing a guitar. Me, I'd rather be singing.

( probably everyone has something like that, but it's never been music for Kate. )

Don't think I've heard you sing.

[Nick shrugs.]

Haven't been in a band for a while now. Not exactly a musician's community we got here, y'know?

[Still ... she misses it.]

( she nods, conceding that. )

Or th' time, I guess.

( can you book band practices between monster attacks? )

seventh; video + open to action (let's skip the charades, you're seeing right through me anyway)

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