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[polemical]

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you know the drill.

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[ccunningham]

[He's about to answer the first statement with an agreement, because yeah she probably could at least for a minute, but that follow-up catches him entirely off-guard and he just blinks at her] So, wait. How do you know we're in a horror movie and not like, the 'back at home' segment of a war movie?

[It's a valid question as far as he's concerned, and he doesn't even have to be high to ask it, it's a fascinating concept] Or maybe we're the historical portion of a sci-fi movie, the 'how things used to be Before It All Happened' part.

[polemical]

[ She blinks at him back. ] Are you going to war anytime soon? [ The draft is over, thank god, and while Eddie knows she doesn't pay too much attention to foreign policy she's pretty sure the US isn't actively fighting someone right now, so... ]

[ Shaking her head, she huffs a laugh. ] Sci-fi movie, maybe. Wonder what crazy shit is about to go down that leaps us forward. Wouldn't it be funny if it was a rom-com? [ She laughs, then laughs again, a little more nervously. Why the fuck did she say that? ] Just don't try to give me a makeover, okay.

[ccunningham]

Oh shit, rom-com, hadn't even considered that but I think you're probably right. [He's not entirely genre-savvy and he knows it, but he knows enough to know some tropes and the Opposites Attract is a big one, especially when it comes to their particular circles.]

Which means we're probably either horror or rom-com and I don't actually know which would be more likely, you know?

[polemical]

You hadn't even considered rom-com? [ Not that she figured that would be his favorite kind of movie or anything — sure, he's a preppy jock type, so rom-coms are kind of geared towards his ilk, but he's also a guy, and as far as she knows rom-coms are For Girls Only™. Although, considering her own interests and how gendered they tend to be, maybe she shouldn't make those assumptions if she doesn't want to be full of shit about it.

It's a good thing she's only tipsy and not also crossfaded, because if she was a little more inebriated she might do something stupid. More stupid than suggesting that the two of them being friends is the start of a romantic comedy, that is. ]

I mean, I guess if I had to choose I'd probably pick rom-com. They're not my thing, but I'd prefer none of us get violently murdered, so...

[ccunningham]

I hadn't considered it yet. [He corrects, though he had been the one to say he hadn't actually considered it to start with.] Probably would have gotten there in another five or ten minutes.

[He nods then, content not to argue about it, because it isn't like it's that important anyway] That's real sound logic, so I'm going to agree with you on that one.

[Not Getting Murdered is 100% absolutely the only reason he'd opt for rom-com over horror. Totally. Literally and definitely the only thing he's thinking of.]

[polemical]

Oh, yet. [ Once again, Eddie is confronted with the realization that her brain works so different from other people's; maybe Chris is just exaggerating, but he thinks it'll take ten minutes before he would have come up with rom-com? Eddie's mind pinballed there almost immediately.

Either her brain is weird or she's down bad. Real bad. Pathetically bad.

She needs to come up with something to distract them or she's going to say something really fucking embarrassing. ]

Speaking of, you wanna watch a movie or something? Don't think I have any rom-coms but...

[ccunningham]

[He's thankful for the change of subject and the distraction, just nodding as he relaxes again] Yeah, sure, I could watch something. Doesn't have to be a rom-com.

[There's only a brief hesitation before the rest, less concerned of her judgment than he is of other people's, but it's still one of those things he's gotten used to keeping to himself] And if it's horror nothing too gory? I um, kind of get queasy about blood, even movie blood.

[polemical]

[ It's only once she offered the concept of a movie that Eddie remembers she just returned a bunch of the ones she had out from Family Video, and the tapes she keeps around that are actually hers feel a little... Well. She's pretty sure Chris won't like them. He's been really great about all her nerd stuff, but she's pretty sure he doesn't like cartoons and he just said he doesn't really like horror. ]

Uh, I think some Hitchcock or something, that's mostly suspenseful. Or we could listen to music, Lord knows I have enough of that lying around I'm sure we'll find something you like.

[ Because for some reason that has become vitally important to her right now. ]

[ccunningham]

[Truth be told, cartoons are probably fine, mostly because he's so rarely been allowed to watch them at home, so his frame of reference is very small. But the suggestion of music is an even better one and he nods] Music's probably a better idea, that way we don't have to worry about you know, following the plot or whatever.

[polemical]

[ She snorts out a laugh, shaking her head at him. ]

We listen to very different music, [ she jokes, thinking about trying to introduce Chris to what a concept album is, trying to explain the lore to him, watching him puzzle it out as some man screams about demons and angels or whatever loud enough to make the trailer walls shake.

Maybe she should ease him into things a little. ]

Alright, well. Music's in my bedroom, so. [ She hoists herself back up to her feet again — all this standing, ugh — and beckons him with a crooked finger. ] Follow me.

[ She's pretty sure her room is clean. Mostly clean.

Fairly clean. ]

[ccunningham]

[Mostly-fairly clean to her own specificationsis bound to be better than absolutely clean to Laura Cunningham's standards. At least Eddie's room stands the chance of looking like someone lives in it.

Not that Chris is thinking about that as he unfolds to his own feet, caught off-guard by the statement and looking absolutely puzzled even as he follows] So, wait, you're telling me that there's music that has a plot? Like, besides holiday music about going to see the baby Jesus. [Mostly because he's pretty sure that only partly counts, but also because he's definitely sure that's not the kind of thing she listens to in her spare time.]

[polemical]

[ Mostly, Eddie's room looks like something exploded in it, but at least the worst of her dirty laundry pile has been vanquished and turned into a clean laundry pile, and her bed doesn't look too disastrous, if only because she flung a blanket over it that morning when she was getting dressed because said blanket had been hiding her favorite boots and she needed to get it out of the way.

There's not a lot that can be done for the vaguely skunky smell, though she does yank open her window as much as possible. ]

Sorry for the mess, [ she apologizes uselessly, rubbing the back of her neck and surreptitiously kicking a magazine she doesn't want anyone to see under her bed. ] The maid has the week off.

[ Chris has been here before, but not in her bedroom, and she's suddenly beset by nerves as she tries to imagine what it might look like to an outside observer. The clutter, the books, the cassettes, the multiple guitars...

Well, it's pretty obvious where her interests lie, if nothing else. ]

Uh, yeah. I mean, some of it. I know a couple bands that put out concept albums, and it's not just metal that does it. Pink Floyd and the Eagles probably have the most famous ones, but there are tons of them around. Marvin Gaye, if you like soul. Some people say that The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's is a concept album too, but I disagree.

[ccunningham]

[He can't help but smile at the apology and the joke that follows, shaking his head as he follows her into the room, not entirely sure where to sit and opting for just leaning against the edge of the desk] No, it's fine. It's... I mean, you can tell someone actually lives here. My room is... [he waves a hand in front of his face as if to brush that off] I don't know, it's like a set piece, it's designed to look like someone lives there, but everything's got a place and nothing is ever out of place.

[Another little shake of his head] And you also just said a lot of names, and I think you're overestimating the things I'm actually allowed to listen to at home and what I've gotten away with listening to elsewhere, and definitely overestimated what I actually know.

[polemical]

[ Someone certainly lives here alright. Someone who gets so distracted from what she's doing by any new thought that she simply puts whatever's in her hands down on the nearest available surface — even if that surface is the floor — and then forgets the item existed completely. The fact that she can find anything at all, ever, is a miracle.

She frowns at him, physically biting down on her lower lip to stop from blurting out something like your mom is a fucking tyrant, which she thinks might be underselling it a little. ]

Well, I mean... You know who the Beatles are, right? [ Right?? ]

[ccunningham]

[Oh he knows she is, and worse than, but he's not at the point where he can actually say so himself, though he's managed to pass the point where he corrects people if they say so.

Hell, coming from Eddie he might actually agree instead of just staying silent on the matter.

But she doesn't say so, instead just asks a question and that's one he does have an answer to] Yeah, I mean obviously I know the Beatles. [A flicker of a smile] Only time I've ever seen dad have an opposing opinion to whatever mom says is when she tried to claim they were satanic.

[polemical]

Okay. [ She actually heaves a sigh like she really was worried; she doesn't own any Beatles, but she thinks Wayne might have the White album somewhere in his collection. He tends to favor old school country with a little bit of early rock'n'roll, but everyone's parents like The Beatles at least a little bit, right?

Well. Mostly everyone's. ] I wasn't sure. Have you heard Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

[ccunningham]

Definitely not. I only found out they even had more than two albums like... um, way too recently.

[He shrugs, leaning back on his hands] Dad's only got two, Hard Day's Night and, um, Meet the Beatles, I think? [He shakes his head then] and I don't know if he's even still got them, but those are the ones I've heard.

[polemical]

Chris.

[ She looks horrified, like this is legitimately a tragedy or something, and winds up staring at him with huge brown eyes and a slack jaw for probably a little longer than she should before she heaves another sigh and shakes her head. ]

This is appalling. This is obscene. I don't even really like the Beatles and I've heard all their music, you have been deprived of a cultural touchstone. This won't stand. Hand me that.

[ From her spot on the edge of the bed, she waves an imperious hand towards the acoustic propped up in the corner of her room, THIS MACHINE SLAYS DRAGONS painted along the body in cheap white acrylic paint. It had been Wayne's, first, but he gave it to her after coming home more than once to find her trying to replace it on its stand before he got in the door because she wasn't sure she was allowed to touch it. Eventually he took pity on her and told her if she wanted to learn she could just have it, showed her how to do a few chords, and then she was off. ]

[ccunningham]

[You're going to have to give him a minute Eddie, he's in full on 'does not compute' range now, because he's never in his life had someone so loudly and clearly imply that they're going to play music just for him and he's going to need a moment to actually get that to sink in.]

Wait, what? [The question is almost immediately replaced with a statement of: ] You're serious.

[He does push himself up from his lean to retrieve the guitar in question, passing it over and hesitating only briefly before perching on the foot of the bed instead of returning to lean against the desk.]

[polemical]

Of course I'm serious, I'm always serious. [ Apart from all the times when she's very obviously talking shit, but right now she's not smuggling a smirk in the corner of her mouth, she's stone-faced and making grabby-hands at her guitar until he hands it over.

Muttering direly to herself under her breath, she bends over the guitar when she gets it settled in her lap, fiddling with the pegs and the capo and strumming a few chords as she hums snippets to herself before taking a deep breath and tossing her head to get her hair out of her face. ]

Okay. I don't actually remember all the words. Or the chords. So, take this with a grain of salt, but...

[ Taking a deep breath, she starts strumming, belying every claim about not knowing the chords or the words. ] When I get older, losing my hair...

[ccunningham]

[To say that Chris watches this with rapt fascination would be an understatement, he's giving her every ounce of attention he has, barely even moving aside from watching first one hand and then the other and then letting his gaze dart to her face for a moment before back to her hands.

It's partly that it's new -or new to him- music, partly it's that he's always a little fascinated by people who clearly both know and enjoy what they're doing, and mostly it's the fact that he's never actually been serenaded before and he's finding himself hopelessly charmed by it, despite the ridiculousness of the lyrics and jauntiness of the tune.]

[polemical]

[ As she gets more comfortable with the chord progressions and how they feel in her hands, Eddie even lets herself brap some of the clarinet parts like they're actually trumpets, bolstered by the wide-eyed expression on Chris' face as he watches her. She's used to being watched as she plays, though usually it's just Wayne who watches her play this guitar — she'll use it whens he's feeling particularly nostalgic, when he asks her to play some of the old folk and country he likes, or when she's trying to write something new and just needs to get the sounds out in the air and not leave them trapped in her head — so it's not as uncomfortable as it might be.

She still fumbles some chords sometimes, and at one point she fucks up the words, too, laughing a ] — stop grinning at me, you're so distracting — [ at him before trying that line again and this time nailing the bit about the electrical wiring and sweater-knitting.

Can Chris knit? Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if the answer was yes. It's not a skill most boys know, she doesn't think, but his mom is fucking crazy, and she could absolutely see her allowing him to learn a skill like that because it was godly or something equally ridiculous.

Eventually, she finishes with another clarinet solo buzzed through pursed lips, followed by a bum-bum dominant-tonic perfect cadence.

Honestly, now she feels a little silly, so she keeps fiddling with the guitar in her lap for a few seconds longer than she needs to before glancing up at Chris through her lashes. ]

That's one of the songs on the album. I don't know the others so well.

[ccunningham]

[He does not, as point of fact, know how to knit, but thanks to his time as a boy scout he does know some intermediate sewing, and a good deal of macrame. He can't help but laugh when she calls him out for being a distraction, because it's obvious that he is, but he can't really help it, either.

He does give her a brief round of applause when she finishes, grinning all over again, but he tilts his head at the explanation] So, like, are the rest of them that... I don't know, silly?

[polemical]

[ Chris' applause is met with a self-deprecating roll of her eyes but it's hard to hide the pleased flush on her cheeks, and of course she takes the opportunity to give a little bow to thank such an appreciative audience. ]

What, you think old people being in love is silly? [ She's clearly teasing, failing at hiding a smirk as she shakes her head sadly at him, exaggerated. ] That's so depressing. I was hoping my performance would inspire optimism and instead you find it silly!

[ Her fingers keep noodling on the strings, seemingly without her really realizing it's happening. ] Some of them, [ she admits in answer to his question. ] Not all of them. Some of them are kind of sad. There's one about leaving home, and there's a couple that use a lot of pretty out-there instruments, which is kind of cool. A little hard for contemporary audiences to get into, though. I think they use a harpsichord in a few of them. Plus all the Indian stuff. They got super into Hinduism or something at one point.

[ccunningham]

[He shakes his head] No, that part's sweet, I just mean it's... very bouncy? Like, it sounds like circus music? Or is that just because it was only guitar and not the rest of the instruments?

[He shrugs at the rest] I don't know if I'd end up liking it or not, I guess, but you also said a concept album does have a plot, like I'd have to actually pay attention, but this one isn't? So if I manage to listen to the whole thing I won't have to pay a lot of attention or I will?