[ Kimiko leans forward over her phone, inappropriately invested in this romance between a guy she only recently met and a chick she doesn't know at all. ]
[It's okay Kimiko, that's just human nature. It's why we watch The Bachelor, or K-dramas. Or Rock of Love.
Mm, maybe not that one.]
One of my bosses is letting me stash my ingredients for the dinner at his place I just need to save up for a table and two chairs And a nice tablecloth, not some cheap plastic stuff. And some candles. I think candles would be nice.
[ Hey, Jinu, remember that time you scared the shit out of Eddie to bring him the gift of Metallica? Yeah, well, it’s Eddie’s turn to at least attempt to repeat that. He’d love to sneak up on Jinu parked somewhere in his car, but there are so many goddamn cars in this city, it’s near impossible if you don’t know the one to look for. In the end, he settles for slipping behind the stage at one of Jinu’s performance venues and waiting for the performance to end.
When Jinu rounds the corner, Eddie steps out and pushes a large object right into his arms, no frills, no explanations, just a mischievous grin. ]
Here. Got you something.
[ That large object is a battered guitar case, and inside is an acoustic guitar. It’s nothing particularly fancy, but it’s in good shape, it sounds great, and has recently been tuned to perfection by Eddie himself. ]
[The immediate glare he gives Eddie (which is entirely undeserved because he literally does this same bullshit to Eddie) doesn't last very long, especially when there's something somewhat familiar being thrust into his hands. Not as heavy as a bipa, but the lovely shape of a stringed instrument all the same. He looks down at the guitar case with a rounded, baffled stare.]
Wh... Is this a guitar?
Where'd it come from? How'd you find it?
[He's been looking all over for one, but they're usually expensive as hell in a place like this. 'Not in the budget' became a common saying at some point in his quest for musical supplies.]
[ Eddie all but cackles at Jinu’s reaction. He hadn’t expected to actually get more than a jump out of him, but the not-quite-a-scream followed by the glare is enough for him to look mighty pleased with himself. Maybe he’ll just yell boo next time. ]
Oh man. Funny story. Apparently if you’re a reliable glaze dealer—like, actually available and easy to find, clients will just give you shit.
[ And dealing is Eddie’s only form of employment right now, so he has to make himself available. He’s never had such grateful clients in his life, though. Almost makes him not feel so guilty about continuing to do it.]
I actually think the guy who gave me it was hoping I’d ditch the amp and go acoustic but, uh, that’s not gonna happen in a million years, so…thought you could make better use of it.
[Okay, he's trying really hard to be on the straight and narrow, so he's not even gonna pry into the glaze dealing operations you've got going on. If cops ask, he knows nothing. Heard nothing. He is an angel incarnate (and doesn't want to end up in jail again).
But that's a thought that is there and gone in a second as he carefully opens the guitar case and removes the guitar from it. It is in really good shape. And it definitely cost more than Jinu would have been able to afford for a while, at least until their finances evened out...
He looks a little lost by the whole affair, actually. Flustered even.]
I can't accept this. This is — It's too expensive. You could make decent money selling it.
[He's exuding the aura of a man who is not used to getting gifts.
Dare we say, this might be one of the first he's been offered in four centuries and some change.]
[ Eddie gets it. He may not have four centuries of time on his side, but he knows what it’s like to grow up without much of anything. Pretty much everything he ever owned up until he started dealing back home was secondhand, and he learned quickly not to expect much of anything outside the necessities. At least that way, he could be pleasantly surprised if anything ever changed.
And Jinu is right. He could make a good bit of extra change if he pawned off that guitar, but he can tell that this is the better option by far. He knows it’s going to someone who wants it and will play it and appreciate it, and that’s important to him. ]
Yeah, maybe. But I didn’t pay a cent for it to begin with, so…
[ He crosses his arms and leans back against the wall with a grin, making no move to take the instrument back. ]
Seriously, man, I’m losing nothing by giving it to you. Sure you can’t be convinced?
[Holding the guitar he glances between Eddie's shit-eating grin and the instrument in his hands. It's exactly what he's wanted — and something he had been anticipating working towards for a while. Suddenly it's just here, and he wants nothing more than to rush it to Rumi and show off their newest little treasure like a greedy crow.]
Well... My girlfriend is pretty good at playing guitar. It would be nice to hear her using this.
[Finding reasons outside of himself to accept a gift isn't orthodox, but it's at least doing the job. Maybe it just takes imagining a pretty girl playing it in his vicinity to convince him.]
[ Eddie just nods as Jinu speaks, looking amused as he tries to justify accepting the gift. He totally gets it, it is quite the extravagant gift to be sprung on someone on a random winter day—let alone someone he doesn’t know that well, but they’ve talked about music, Jinu had expressed interest in his own guitar, and Eddie saw the opportunity to grant that wish for him. If Jinu needs to use his girlfriend to accept, so be it. ]
Oh, yeah, and we wouldn’t want to deny her the opportunity, right?
[Truly, the mental image of Rumi looking disappointed at the prospect of a guitar only to have it taken away... yeah, he can find it in his heart to keep the guitar. He carefully moves to rehouse the instrument in the guitar case.]
Absolutely not.
And I'm sure she misses having any instrument at her disposal.
[Rich people, man. But now he's stuck with trying to figure out how to thank Eddie properly — without being overly sappy, which he's kind of feeling. Old habits and eastern culture hit him like a freight truck and he bows deeply at the waist, holding the guitar upright next to him.]
... Thank you. I owe you one, really.
[Light-up guitar picks aren't really comparable, but hey! He'll be getting him something in return!]
[ Eddie may have no real familiarity with eastern culture beyond some wildly inaccurate films, but he doesn’t balk or laugh. He merely grins and bows right back to him, deeper and more dramatic, and clear that it’s not mocking. It’s just Eddie being Eddie. ]
Nah, man, don’t mention it, man. You got me the Metallica tape—which is seeing tons of play, for the record. Call it even, ‘kay?
[ Though light up guitar picks are pretty rad an he will be seen using them soon enough! ]
But if you or your girlfriend wanna learn some Metallica on that thing? I would love to hear it. I'm especially partial to Fade to Black.
We definitely will, in that case. I think it's the least I could do for something like this.
[Actually-]
Actually, I got my bipa back recently... I've had to replace all of the silk strings, which is unfortunate, but it still sings just as pretty as the day it was passed down to me. You got this 'Fade to Black' on cassette?
[ Tucked in a mid-sized box and wrapped in brown paper with little music symbols drawn over it in sharpie, Kimiko has made couples the theme of this particular gift-giving. After all, Jinu is the biggest wifeguy she’s ever met, and that includes Billy Butcher. There’s a bottle of wine, the pink and girly stuff, with two thin stemmed, frosted glasses carefully wrapped in packing paper. There’s a star projector night light (with a spare pack of batteries) and a thick, fluffy blanket — for cozy nights in! And a small booklet of coupons for various participating restaurants around town — for cozy nights out!
No card, because she never really got the point of them, just a post-it stuck to the top of the projector.
Merry Christmas to Mr. and Ms. Roommate! — Kimiko ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text. (gonna assume numbers were exchanged!)
You and Miss Roommate need to stay home.
[ The day that she finds out Roomy's name is Rumi might just break her. Hilariously, of course. ]
text.
If something's going to take me out, it's definitely not a serial killer
That'd be too embarrassing for me.
Besides, someone's got to deliver people's bad take-out food to them
no subject
[ Dude! Stay inside. 😡 She'll be so mad if she has to rescue you. ]
no subject
I can teleport you know!
It's hard to skin a guy if he just poofs away 🤫
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[ She's, uh, like 63% certain on this. Or is a skinwalker, or possesses people, or does something weird. ]
Please just be careful.
You don't heal like I do, right?
no subject
[He's going to just assume he's 100% right, no further investigation needed.]
Sure I don't heal like you, but I've got health insurance, so it's probably fine.
And there are more stressful things going on in my life than a serial killer.
I'm thinking about finally asking my roommate out.
no subject
[ Kimiko leans forward over her phone, inappropriately invested in this romance between a guy she only recently met and a chick she doesn't know at all. ]
When?
no subject
Mm, maybe not that one.]
One of my bosses is letting me stash my ingredients for the dinner at his place
I just need to save up for a table and two chairs
And a nice tablecloth, not some cheap plastic stuff.
And some candles. I think candles would be nice.
Or do you think that would be too much???
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That could be nice.
Do you know what she wants to do?
If you two live together, don't you eat together regularly?
Something different might be fun
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It's important to put effort into the presentation
I know it's kind of weird but the hotel is a sort of
special place for us.
In a weird way.
Do you think it's underwhelming???
Maybe I should have a plan B.
I just need to write it into my budget
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Well, who is she to judge? ]
What is your budget?
Have you thought about the food you'll serve?
If you're expecting her to do the cooking
You might die.
no subject
I uh
I took some cooking lessons for a few things.
Some things from home, but also spaghetti
The fancy kind. With dessert too
Someone we live near is a really good chef.
She fed me the first night I was here so I always wanted to return the favor anyway
no subject
Let me know how it goes. :)
You deserve to be happy.
no subject
He can't stand it, but also deeply appreciates it. A paradox if ever there was one.]
I will.
If it fails you'll have to help me black out with booze 🙂👍
no subject
👍
[ Anyway, dude, stop talking to her and go do a date. ]
sneaks in here....action
When Jinu rounds the corner, Eddie steps out and pushes a large object right into his arms, no frills, no explanations, just a mischievous grin. ]
Here. Got you something.
[ That large object is a battered guitar case, and inside is an acoustic guitar. It’s nothing particularly fancy, but it’s in good shape, it sounds great, and has recently been tuned to perfection by Eddie himself. ]
Belated thank you for the tape.
1/2
Instead of a loud scream, though, his is a little more lowercase, and slightly high.]
Hyah!
no subject
Wh... Is this a guitar?
Where'd it come from? How'd you find it?
[He's been looking all over for one, but they're usually expensive as hell in a place like this. 'Not in the budget' became a common saying at some point in his quest for musical supplies.]
no subject
Oh man. Funny story. Apparently if you’re a reliable glaze dealer—like, actually available and easy to find, clients will just give you shit.
[ And dealing is Eddie’s only form of employment right now, so he has to make himself available. He’s never had such grateful clients in his life, though. Almost makes him not feel so guilty about continuing to do it.]
I actually think the guy who gave me it was hoping I’d ditch the amp and go acoustic but, uh, that’s not gonna happen in a million years, so…thought you could make better use of it.
no subject
But that's a thought that is there and gone in a second as he carefully opens the guitar case and removes the guitar from it. It is in really good shape. And it definitely cost more than Jinu would have been able to afford for a while, at least until their finances evened out...
He looks a little lost by the whole affair, actually. Flustered even.]
I can't accept this. This is — It's too expensive. You could make decent money selling it.
[He's exuding the aura of a man who is not used to getting gifts.
Dare we say, this might be one of the first he's been offered in four centuries and some change.]
no subject
And Jinu is right. He could make a good bit of extra change if he pawned off that guitar, but he can tell that this is the better option by far. He knows it’s going to someone who wants it and will play it and appreciate it, and that’s important to him. ]
Yeah, maybe. But I didn’t pay a cent for it to begin with, so…
[ He crosses his arms and leans back against the wall with a grin, making no move to take the instrument back. ]
Seriously, man, I’m losing nothing by giving it to you. Sure you can’t be convinced?
no subject
Well... My girlfriend is pretty good at playing guitar. It would be nice to hear her using this.
[Finding reasons outside of himself to accept a gift isn't orthodox, but it's at least doing the job. Maybe it just takes imagining a pretty girl playing it in his vicinity to convince him.]
no subject
Oh, yeah, and we wouldn’t want to deny her the opportunity, right?
no subject
Absolutely not.
And I'm sure she misses having any instrument at her disposal.
[Rich people, man. But now he's stuck with trying to figure out how to thank Eddie properly — without being overly sappy, which he's kind of feeling. Old habits and eastern culture hit him like a freight truck and he bows deeply at the waist, holding the guitar upright next to him.]
... Thank you. I owe you one, really.
[Light-up guitar picks aren't really comparable, but hey! He'll be getting him something in return!]
no subject
Nah, man, don’t mention it, man. You got me the Metallica tape—which is seeing tons of play, for the record. Call it even, ‘kay?
[ Though light up guitar picks are pretty rad an he will be seen using them soon enough! ]
But if you or your girlfriend wanna learn some Metallica on that thing? I would love to hear it. I'm especially partial to Fade to Black.
no subject
We definitely will, in that case. I think it's the least I could do for something like this.
[Actually-]
Actually, I got my bipa back recently... I've had to replace all of the silk strings, which is unfortunate, but it still sings just as pretty as the day it was passed down to me. You got this 'Fade to Black' on cassette?
no subject
No card, because she never really got the point of them, just a post-it stuck to the top of the projector.
Merry Christmas to Mr. and Ms. Roommate!
— Kimiko ]