Duster's Relatively Relaxing Week

[mindofathief]

characters: Duster and You
location: The Invincible, the Armory, and the School
date/time: January 10th-18th
content: Duster practicing the language of the spirits, sparring with Link, and taking advantage of the yarn bomb
warnings: second prompt is closed

A. The Invincible, January 10th - 11th

[With Daylight's notes on communicating with the spirits (and the blizzard giving him a great reason to stay indoors), Duster has the obligation to practice with his new light blue ocarina. It's different from the double cello bass - no strings to glide calloused fingers over, no heavy board to feel vibrations through. Just a thin ceramic that needs holes precisely covered with his rough hands. The first attempts at playing music created plenty of screeching. Good thing no one is nearby to hear...or are they?

At least by the second day, he has a decent feel on the language, not that he can play without his notes. There's so many hole combinations.

And boredom leads to experimentation. Namely, he wants to see if he can recreate DCMC songs on the Ocarina, just to make sure he remembers his parts. Unfortunately, after getting two notes in, he pauses, starts from the top, makes the same mistake, starts from the top...

Say anything about Duster, but he's dedicated to practice.]

B. Armory, January 13th [CLOSED TO LINK]

[He's stretched his legs, now it's time to keep to his plans. He's going to send a text message instead of an audio message. It will take a few minutes, but he's learned.]

this is duster meet me at the armory in an hour

[That's doable. No spelling errors. He retreats to the basement, tests out the targets, and warms up in the middle of the wide space before the sparring session.]

C. School, January 18th

That's...nice of the spirits to do this. [Why is the yarn in the trees? Is this another cultural thing like the onions and bread? If it's a peace offering, Duster won't ignore it. On his way to the school for lunch, he takes a few of the pieces with patterns he's interested in - polka dots and zigzags and the like. He could use something warmer for the winter, anyway. Tazmily never got this cold.

About half an hour later, his arms are full of fabric and his stomach is empty. It's lunch time, and he smells something delicious inside the school.

And since you're here, he might as well ask:] Want to see what they have there to eat?

Comments

[worthallthis]

They're going to just. Be glad he wasn't doing that at the house. "Two notes over and over again isn't practicing," they point out. They're pretty sure of that, anyway. Practicing with an instrument isn't the same as with a weapon.

Setting the coat aside on one of the empty chairs, they drift his way, now that he's not actually paying. "Are you having trouble with it?"

[mindofathief]

"There's some repetition in the major motifs," he objects. He was allowed to practice however he wanted to; he's the artist here. "And you can't memorize a piece of music without playing it over and over again."

Though Bucky was correct in one regard. "I'm having trouble getting used to the ocarina. The finger placement's different from the bass."

[worthallthis]

Repetition in motif isn't the same two notes over and over. The Soldier is not an expert in music, but they do love it a lot, and that's just annoying. "I can't play it very well, either," the Soldier admits, holding up their metal hand and wiggling the fingers in demonstration. They don't have the kind of give on the tips to cover holes properly. "I just sing or use Morse code if the spirits understand it. I do know the fingerings, though."

[mindofathief]

"I'm humming as a last resort," he insists. "Instruments give me more control over their sound and rhythm, while my humming can be off-tune if I don't pay attention." At this point, he felt like The Soldier was judging him no matter what his explanation will be.

[worthallthis]

Look, they're only judging the irritating two-note repetition. The rest is perfectly reasonable. "That makes sense. Are you a musician?" Because that sounds like something a musician would say. How they'd know that, they have no idea, but it does.

[mindofathief]

A nod. "I was in a band back when I was alive. Double bass cello."

[worthallthis]

For a moment, the Soldier tries to put together what that is exactly. They finally have to give up. "I'm not sure what that is," they say, looking apologetic. "I listen to music, but I don't really know anything about making it." Except singing, apparently, but they don't really count that. It's not an instrument.

[mindofathief]

Duster is quiet while he figures out a way to describe his instrument of choice.

"It's like a fiddle, but you have to be standing up to play it. Usually I play a supporting harmony for a piece, but it adds depth to our songs."

[worthallthis]

That sounds a little more familiar. The Soldier frowns, and then there's a picture in their brain of a small group of musicians, on a stand, just above a crowd of people all moving together. Music. One of the instruments fits the bill. "Shoulder high. Strings and a bow. Made of wood?"

[mindofathief]

"Yeah." That image is very accurate to his experience. "Only I don't use a bow. That's not our style."

By now, he has wiped his ocarina mouthpiece and wraps it up in its protective cloth. With The Soldier here, there's little chance Duster will have time soon to practice again.

[worthallthis]

"I've heard one before," the Soldier says, looking vaguely surprised by the admission, but also pleased. "In person. Small band, on a stage. So you pluck the strings? What kind of music did you play?"

They're already pulling out their tablet, flipping through files for one folder of their recorded music files. Look, music is the one thing that gets them more interested than knives. It's like their favorite things.

[mindofathief]

A nod, and Duster leans forward, though he doesn't see anything on Bucky's tablet. "Jazz, rock, that kind of stuff. I don't know how true this is, but my bandmates said that we only got popular once they had someone to play slick basslines for them."

Which is the closest thing Duster will get to bragging about himself.

[worthallthis]

They can read between those lines. "Once they got you, you mean," they say, not without a little amusement, and not with judgment. If Duster is good at what he does, he deserves to be able to say so, and he recognized for it. They find the folder labeled "most familiar" and select one of the songs. It is, in fact, jazz. "I don't know what different kinds of music are called," they admit. "But what I remembered sounded kind of like this. I like it."

[mindofathief]

He listens for a few seconds, bobbing his head to the beat of the song and fingers twitching at the idea of plucking strings to accompany that tune.

"Yeah. That kind of stuff. We also do slower jazz songs."

[worthallthis]

"I have some of that, too." They look down at the tablet with satisfaction. "So this is jazz. It's good to know the name." It's just good, in general. The Soldier gives the tablet a fond little pat, then sets it down, letting the music play for now. "Have you had lunch yet?"

[mindofathief]

"Nah." He eyes the tablet as if it could come back to life again. You can't tell with these strange devices that can do so many things. "I just eat whenever I feel hungry."

[worthallthis]

The tablet keeps playing, so at least right now all it seems to be doing is making music. "I came in here to make food. You can have some. If you want." Patrolling in a blizzard is hungry work, but feeding people more than just one's self is also great.

[mindofathief]

"Oh. That's be great." It's always a surprise when people offer Duster food, but this time he could use a bite. He sets his ocarina to the side and steadies himself with a hand on the table as he stands up. "What're you making?"

[worthallthis]

Collecting the tablet so they can keep listening in the kitchen, the Soldier heads on back, shooing one of the spirits away so there's room for them to work. "Something warm. Soup maybe." Tomato with cream sounds good, maybe with some cheese melted on top. But if Duster has a preference, they'll go with that. "Do you want anything in particular?"

[mindofathief]

Another shrug. "I'm fine with whatever's in the kitchen." He couldn't be choosy.

[worthallthis]

"Soup then." Because that's what they want, and if Duster has no opinion, their opinion can't be overridden. They start getting out the cans, the cream, the cheese, and a fresh tomato to cut up and add to the soup base. They can toast up some bread, too, melt a little cheese on it, and use it to dip. Yum.

The tablet sits on the counter, still playing low-key jazz.

"You could get a bass here," they say after a moment. "You could ask Rastus. Or the Night Market, if you have something to trade for it."

[mindofathief]

"I could..." There's so many people he can ask. "What about clothes? I haven't seen too many kinds of fabric for a suit."

He sits and watching The Soldier continue to work. His leg could use a break, and it looks like everything is being taken care of.

[worthallthis]

"What kind of fabric do you need?" they ask as they punch out the top of the can with a metal finger, pouring the soup stock into the pot as the burner slowly warms. Because "suit" could mean a lot of things. "You can ask for that, too. Or just the suit, if you don't want to make it. Rastus doesn't require paying, but sometimes gets it wrong. Pluto does, but is exact."

[mindofathief]

He moves a flat palm vertically, slowly. "Hard fabric?" Duster wasn't the local weaver in Tazmily. He was giving his uniform by his bandmates after providing his measurements. "The stiff kind. White, pressed pants, white buttoned shirt, pink jacket. That kind of cloth.

"It's something we didn't have in the village. That much I know."

[worthallthis]

The Soldier considers that, trying to imagine the fabric in question… shakes their head, as they stir cream into the soup stock. "I don't remember. I can mend and alter a little, but I don't know a lot about fabric. Should ask Rastus, if you want it, or else use different fabric. There's pink flanels. And white canvas. Maybe some white wool."