closed;

[anequal]

Who: Anthony (anequal) and Kei (occasus)
When: 03.18, afternoon
Where: On the street! Around. Wherever.
What: Wherever them street busters hang, amateur photography nerds do too. And Anthony just happens to come across Kei and decides to get in his business.
Warnings: n/a

[It's not difficult to keep a kid like Anthony occupied. It's any other afternoon and he's making his way down a Locke City street he's been down dozens of times before, camera in hand and his eyes out for anything that catches his eye. People, flowers growing through cracks, things to put up on Instagram and things to stash away for later use, like a potential portfolio or even just gifts to friends. There's always an occasion to use photography.

And what's more interesting a subject to such high schoolers than a man, also on the street, with a guitar? Catching sight of him, Anthony's eyes light up, and it's with a spring in his step that he makes his way over, fishing into his pocket for a dollar to drop into wherever Kei is collecting, and grins.]

Mind if I take some photos, stranger?

Comments

ty for setting this up!

[occasus]

[ He tends to play just because when he plays his mind is blank, and that goes doubly so after he found the numbers. He doesn't want anything to do with this other him--this 'Kei.' Hell, the fact that his name was similar annoyed him far more than should be possible.

So he strums idly, trying not to lean his back against the wall, plucking chords and a tune out of the air because he's keeping his brain from thinking about Sho, from a night on the beach where everyone's happy, from dancing with a corpse while shooting others. From that fucking snake, too, but that's a little harder not to think about.

Still, he's concentrating so hard on not thinking about anything when he glances over at a voice he realizes there's a grinning person next to him. He's tempted to light a smoke and tell him 'no' automatically, but instead he settles for staring for a few minutes. ]

...What?

[ Smooth, Kei. Smooth. ]

np!!

[anequal]

Damn. [He rocks on the balls of his feet and crouches, peering at the stranger with the same grin.]

Is this one of those cases where the musician gets so caught up in his music he loses track of the rest of the world?

I asked, can I take some photos.

[occasus]

No. [ A beat. He covers it well, though: ] I was thinking of my shopping list when I get home.

How old are you, kid?

[anequal]

[That wasn't as melodramatic as he would've hoped for his amusement. Ah, well.]

Huh? Oh, I'm... fifteen? Photo enthusiast?

[occasus]

Huh. [ And, in an odd way, Kei gets it. Maybe it's a little creepy--probably is--but He arches his brows, waggling them playfully. ]

You're not scared of a hobo with a guitar?

[anequal]

[Anthony takes the eyebrow waggling without even blinking, laughing and sitting down as if he totally belongs here.]

What's there to be scared of? It's not like you're going to risk damaging your guitar to hit me over the head with it, right?

[occasus]

Dunno. I might. It depends on how annoying you whipper-snappers are. [ Still, the kid's alright. ]

Do you play?

[anequal]

I'm pretty annoying. It depends on what you think is annoying.

[He stretches.] I don't, actually. I'm not that musical.

[occasus]

I bet you could.

[ It's a challenge, now--anyone that says they aren't musical makes Kei want to teach them. He'll glance upwards, mutter something about taking a break, and slide the guitar off of his shoulder, only to hand it to Anthony. ]

Try.

[anequal]

Are you for real right now.

[He takes the guitar when it's handed over but the way he holds it is awkward and the look on his face basically reads, "?????????????" Why is this guy so carefreely throwing his guitar over to a stranger?]

Dude, I've never played before.

[occasus]

Here. [ He's just lit a cigarette--mainly because he has a pack, and that's rare for him to afford it so he has a tendency to binge smoke--and extends his hand, fingers touching the frets to a C chord. ]

Strum.

[anequal]

[He's not even sure if he's holding the guitar correctly. With an incredulous look thrown in the stranger's direction, he huffs and relents and strums as he's told to.] Like this?

[occasus]

[ Sure enough, there's the sound of music--or at least one chord--and Kei instantly brightens. ] There. Don't say you can't do anything, na?

[ That's it for the mini lesson, at least. ] Just practice. Like your photography.

[anequal]

... I think I'm going to have to acquire more knowledge and an actual instrument before I can practice, but I appreciate those words of encouragement.

[He does like the acknowledgement of his photography. It was nice, to have someone not his grandpa or girlfriend sound approving of it.]

Here, should I give this back?

[occasus]

Considering this is how I make my living? [ But he's still smiling. ]

Word of advice, though? Get a proper job and just use this as a hobby.

[anequal]

[Jesus Chri-- He hands it back carefully but quickly.]

What, the photography? Maybe. I guess so.

I dunno. I think it's possible to get a good job with this as long as I work for it...

[occasus]

For weddings, maybe. [ Right, this is the part where Kei winces, because--well. He doesn't really know how to socialize. ]

I'm, uh. Not used to being anything other then blunt. Sorry.

[anequal]

[He laughs and shakes his head.]

Are you kidding? If you think wedding photos are the only things people do with cameras, you haven't read enough!

[occasus]

So? [ He's genuinely curious, now, leaning a little forward, crooking a brow. ] Do you want to do something for national geographic, then, or just models?

[anequal]

National geographic's probably the closer answer. Maybe not specifically that company, but I want to travel and take pictures of everywhere I go.

[occasus]

[ And, jokingly: ] Maybe you'll get a biopic.

[anequal]

I don't really care for stuff like that, but maybe if I do I'll be able to brag about it to my gramps. Who knows!