10404/Finding the Chords

Finding the Chords
Date of Scene:	12 December 2019
Location:	Classroom - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Samuel comes along Alexis playing in an empty classroom, and gets to enjoy a lesson and a little information exchange. Sam
Cast of Characters:	Prismatic, Samuel Morgan, Cannonball, Nightingale

---

Prismatic has posed:
    The classroom was empty, save for the sole occupant at the front, having commandeered a desk to sit on, and another desk to prop a tablet on. She was in her most casual clothes, jeans that have been stitched back together many times, embroidered with yellow roses where the threads were holding the denim together, and a fabulously broken in sweatshirt. It would be easy to mistake her for a student; word on the street (in the halls?) is that she's not that much older than most of the students themselves.

    The classroom is ringing with music, gentle guitar strumming in a maudlin tone, her fingers teasing the strings up and down as she practices in the empty room.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    In the school, it's not hard to find people if you know where to look. If you also happen to be able to track unique electronic signatures like, say, a phone or a tablet, it becomes child's play. It had, in fact, been one of the games Bean had played as a child, and at the time he hadn't thought much about it. Now it allows him to find Alexis with ease, and he knocks on the door before coming in, carrying an old guitar case.

    "Hi. Tell me to get lost if I'm interrupting, but I heard you might be able to teach guitar?"

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis's fingers pause as the door opens, and she lets the vibrating notes hang in the air a moment before she gives a slight smile.

    "Good evening, Bean. You're not interrupting, just geting some practice in." she states gently as she motions him in, looking over the case Samuel's bringing in.

    "I might be able to, depending on a couple different factors." she states, removing her bridge clip and testing one of the strings a moment.

    "C'mon in, grab a desk and set up. Do you have a tuner?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Thank you."

    Closing the door behind him, Bean heads over to a desk away from the door, where he can see both the windows, the front of the room and the door leading in... probably a reflexive choice. With some care, he sets down the case and opens it up, lifting out an old but well cared for Yamaha that despite its age is in pristine condition. "I tuned it by ear off a piano about two weeks ago. I guess it needs tuning again?" He can guess what a tuner might be, but shakes his head at the question. "Should I get one?"

Prismatic has posed:
    "Certainly, Bean -- it's all right if I still call you that?" she questions, her lips pursing a moment as he makes his approach. She pulls up an app on her Xavier Institute Tablet, showing buttons with notes on it, and a response measure that shows where you are in tune to that note.

    "Well, that all depends on if the piano was tuned." she jokes lightly, and she gives a shrug.

    "I have found that guitars need to be tuned several times, even as you play. Especially if the temperature in the room changes, if your body temperature changes, if the moon enters a new astrological house, or if someone sneezes in your direction. Then again?" she strums a moment, picking each string and letting it hang in the air.

    "I'd reccomend getting one. Or, if you don't mind waiting a week or two, I can ask around to see if the school's ordered them for classes in the past and then requisition 'em, for teaching purposes."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Oh, it's fine, everyone calls me Bean. Makes sense in the Ender's Game sort of way." Because of course he had to look that up when the name stuck. Close enough to the tablet, Bean strums a note on the lower E, which is confusingly the topmost string, because whoever invented guitars was clearly enjoying a joke at the expense of students throughout the ages. Close, but not quite, and so the string is adjusted, carefully. Very carefully. The next strum is on point.

    Onwards to A...

    "I've played a little in my room, watching videos, but... this is one of those skills you actually need a teacher for. My apologies in advance."

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis purses her lips a moment, her arms crossing over the body of her guitar.

    "So you took it upon yourself to get some basics down, using teachers who don't give feedback, and worked hard on a skill, and... you're apologizing for it?" she inquires gently. "Why?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "There's a reason I'm not in a lot of classes. This whole... school... thing is still a bit strange, so... I'm not likely to be the best student you've ever had."

    Before long even G falls to the proper tune, B follows quickly, and then the high E is Bean's last victim before strumming each string in turn. Slight adjustment to A... Somewhere in a park on the other side of the world, a butterfly must have flapped its wings and caused it to go out of tune. "How do we begin?"

Prismatic has posed:
    "You're the first one I've had that didn't pick fights with me about tuning." Alexis replies wryly. She reaches into her gig bag, and offers over a clip. "This'll help it all stick to tune. Just pinches down against the bridge to keep the vibrations fomr rattling anything too loose." she states with a small grin. "It's a spare, so you can hold onta this one." she replies to him gently, leaning back a moemnt as she strums her own.

    "Well, I s'pose the first question should be -- what kinna music do you want to play?" she questions. "I learned classical Spanish guitar first -- 's why mine looks a fair bit different. But if you want to say, play acoustic Metallica, it's a slightly different skill than Italian Operetta." she gives a small grin to him.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "What's the point of arguing with the professional? That's just... madness. Subject matter specialists are specialists for a reason." Okay. Not your average student then.

    The clip is duly accepted and watched for a moment, until Bean identifies a similar contraption on his teacher's guitar and attaches it in the same place. Which also tells him which part of the guitar is the bridge.

    But as for music?

    "I... don't know. My musical knowledge is a bit limited. But everyone else seems to play an instrument, and... the guitar somehow felt right. I suppose I would like to learn to play in a way that lets me help others express their music."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie has been doing a few things, and saw Alexis had a lesson to teach, even if a solo one. He will come to the doorway of the classroom, leaning against it to watch quietly for a bit. The man, wants to actualy see Alexis teaching and figures this might be the best way of going about it.

Prismatic has posed:
    "All right, so we'll take a step back and maybe determine what music you like first." Alexis gives a small smile to Bean, and gives a soft hum.
    "It's easiest to learn on something you want to do. If I start teaching you with 'Mary had a Little Lamb' and 'Fly Birdie Fly', you might get a bit bored, if you catch my drift." she gives a wryish little smile as she leans back. She doesn't notice Guthrie in the doorway.

    "What music do you like? Beatles? One Direction? Aren't they doing a reunion tour?" she offers as a joke.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "My musical knowledge is a bit limited..." Bean repeats, gripping the neck of the guitar just a bit tighter. He didn't know, hadn't guessed, that general musical knowledge would be required. In his mindset, skills usually exist in a vacuum, to be learned and mastered individually and only synergised later. Needless to say, this hasn't worked very well over the last few months.

    On top of that, he's very much aware of Cannonball standing by the door, having caught a reflection of him entering off the glass of the tablet. Now there's pressure...

    "Creedence." it comes out in a flash of inspiration "Creedence, Skynyrd, Blues Saraceno... Rammstein."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie was about to speak up remembering the gift he got recently. But as Bean thinks of something he will keep silent. He will step insider but keeps out of easy eyesight. He leans against wall smiling a bit as he watches them.

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis watches as the lad squeezes his hand around the neck of the guitar, and she breathes out a moment, watching him carefully. She was pushing, just a little, to try and get more information out of him, about him, and when he throws out a couple of bands, she raises her eyebrows and gives a bit of a nod.

    "All right, so, Southern Rock and... odd German techno-rock." Alexis gives a grin, and she strums a moment.

    "I'm at least passingly familiar with some of their music -- eeexcept Blues Saraceno. That's a new one on me, but if you can keep a secret... I grew up listening to a lot of Baroque music. Gave me sort of a Baroque-en sense of tunes."

    She's broken out the music teacher jokes. There's bound to be some treble -- err, trouble.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "It was German operas for me. Literally, everything Wagner ever wrote. I can whistle you everything ever written by Mozart and have a good stab at Handel." Bean sits down, relaxing. That's music he's more familiar with. The music jokes passes and gets a smile. "You know you've listened to strange music growing up when you need a battery of cannon to properly play a piece." Ah yes, the 1812 overture...

    "We used to play 'Fortunate Son' on the way back from deployment, and Rammstein was usually on in the firing range. You should listen to a bit of Saraceno, some good swamp rock. Look for 'When the devil calls', that's my go-to piece when I'm... not feeling my best."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will file that away himself and have to listen to it himself to see what it is. Sam will shakes his head about the joke, but smiles a bit more. He is trying to keep quiet so pretty much fly on the wall for him.

Prismatic has posed:
    "Ah, yes, Wagner is how I learned German. I'm almost-but-not-quite a Wagnerian Sopranno. He preferred writing for a certain type for his works." she jokes. "And aaah, yes, but have you ever played the peice which required live cows and a clownhorn?" she questions playfully, "My go-to for when I'm feeling poorly changes on the subject." she states, and she takes her tablet, turning it around a moment as she types something in, and then brings her hands to her guitar, and she arranges her hands, on the guitar, and strokes downwards. There's a soft 'Da-bum-bum' along the guitarstrings as she picks them, and looks to Bean, her eyebrows rising.

Nightingale has posed:
     Treble trouble comes in the form of a familiar winged figure, who, thinking the music room might actually be empty at this hour--and is not blessed with the gift of tracing unique technological signatures--slips into the room. Shannon's in her favorite PJ's, which consist of her red tartan sweatpants, baggy gray tank top, and her sheepdog slippers. The black hardshell guitar case she carries is newer, but already bears a few stickers on the front of it, in the form of silvery music notes that sparkle and shimmer with little holographic rainbow effects all over.

     Crap. Not quite so empty after all. Hanging back by the door, she balances the case on one end by her feet, leaning it against her hip. For the moment, she says nothing, only offering a little smile and a nod to Cannonball.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "My ... father... taught me German." Bean had to think about that word for a moment, as if he wasn't sure what he was going to say until he'd said it. "His subject matter wasn't always that great, and his works were far too often misinterpreted, or left themselves open to being appropriated it. Which is why Nietzsche couldn't stand him."

    The strum ends the short segue into geopolitical history as seen through the lens of Germanic opera, and Bean pays attention again. He watches the shape of the hand, listens to the sound, and mimics the C chord. He picks the notes, duplicating Alexis with a smile. Dueling Banjos this ain't, but it's a start.

Prismatic has posed:
    That would require a banjo, and some Yankee Doodle nonsense.

    Alexis gives another smile, re-arranging her fingers and strikes the next picks, 'bah-dah-dum', and motions back to Bean.

    "My father's a ballet dancer." she gives a small smile, "He... didn't take much interest in my life, unless he could show my skills off."

    And she gives a grin "So, Nietzsche couldn't stand your father, mm?" she jokes, trying to keep the lesson light.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will wave over o Shannon, and clears his throat a moment to let the others know he and she is there. He might have kept quiet when it was just him, but can't be party to one student listening in on another. "Sounding good you two." He will offer up. He also does not want bean to be upset if he decided to let Alexis know more about him.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon smiles a little at Bean and Alexis, extending one wing in lieu of a wave. "Hi," she says, grinning a bit sheepishly. So much for slipping into the room (mostly) undetected. "I can go, if you'd rather...? Didn't think anyone was going to be in here at this hour."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Oh, don't even joke about that, Nietzsche and Papa Eisen would have had words. Words, I say." And whatever these words may be, Bean follows into the G chord and embellishes just slightly. Talking philosophy, even jokingly, seemingly has a calming effect.

    He had, of course, known that Shannon and Sam had entered. But until now, because neither had made any sound, he'd been able to pretend nobody was there. That changes, and he turns slightly, giving both of them his usual smile. "Oh, hi there. How long have you been listening?"

    He turns back to Alexis and sits down on a desk, supporting the body of the guitar on his right leg while the left stretches out. "Fathers are a weird bunch, huh? I think mine was proud of me in the end, but ... y'know, Teutonic mien. He never smiled a lot."

Prismatic has posed:
    "Well, you Kant win them all--" Alexis begins, and then she turns to the grouping, and her ears turn a shade of pink in embarrassment before she exhales.Cannonball and the Pidgeon at the back of the class, and she narrows her eyes a moment.

    "I had, perhaps, intended a quieter lesson without an audience." she comments breezily, though her ears have begun to return to her normal coloring, and she gives a slight smile to Bean.

    "If you pick those all together, that's be beginning of 'Simple Man'. Very popular song, probably the most requested after the envitable 'Freebird'." she grins. "Shall I assign homework in listening to six new groups from different genres of music?"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon picks up her case, on hearing Alexis, and smiles softly. "No problem, I can scoot. Maybe another day!" She turns to head out the door, stopping to glance briefly at Bean. "Wasn't there but a moment or two, but what I heard sounded good. Told you she was a good teacher, didn't I?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie says, "Not to long, Ah came by to see how you guys were doing and did not want to interrupt the lesson you were doing pretty nice in here." Sam will smile at them and says "So, how are the lessons going in general?""

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Early days, but you're right, Shannon." Bean winks over to Nightingale. It seems he's not going to stop her from leaving. Some things... well, they're best done in semi-private.

    "They say you can play most modern songs with just three chords, and all you need is five for most rock songs. That sounds a bit too simplified to me." Never trust the opinion of the internet. But the query also gets a nod. "Why not? I'll probably discover more music that I like."

    As for the lessons. Well... "Thanks Mister Guthrie. I have a great teacher."

Prismatic has posed:
    Alexis gives a polite cough. "A teacher can only do so much without an attentive and agreeable student." she replies. "It seems I may have to requisition a few guitars as well as some tuners. THis may become a proper class yet." she grins, and looks to Bean. "I'll have to ask some of my cellist associates how they feel about three chords." she smiles, and offers her hand for a fist-bump to the Bean. More casual than a handshake, does not require as much bodily contact as a hug.

    "We'll work out a schedule that works with a couple evenings being open in the week. And if you decide to practice other things in private, I'd like to hear them and gauge your skills." she gives a grin, and goes for her gig bag.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Fist bump? Ow yeah, fist bump! Bean doesn't hesitate a moment, and instantly takes a liking to Alexis. "Thank you Miss Carr, for your time and your instruction." This guitar thing might actually turn into something more than just randomly plucking strings. "My schedule is pretty fluid. Basically, after hours, whenever I'm not working in the garage, I'm free."

    The lesson, it seems, is at an end, and so he starts to put his guitar away, careful with the straps to hold it in place, and closing the lid as if the beat up case contains a relic.