2024-11-21 - A Little Jam Sesh

Lennox is currently sprawled on the arm of one of the couches, a bottle of water in one hand, taking a swallow from it. There are a few instruments set up -- an electric piano, guitars, a bass, drums, even if there's just the two of them to play them. He is in his typical all-black from his ripped jeans to the boots and old t-shirt that has faded with time and wear. It's for some random obscure band that he probably saw years ago.

Ty shows up looking somewhat confused and with a hand in his hair that seems to be cosplaying as a literal mop today. "Oh! Thank god! I was lost for like...I dunno, ten minutes out on the main street. My bad!" He flashes Lennox a grin as he walks into the practice space wearing a hooded black denim jacket over a plain white tee and baggy acid wash jeans. There are a couple necklaces layered over each other, one of which is a choker with a bell on it than tinkles as he walks, and on one ear dangles a little sword earring. The world's oldest Vans high tops adorn his feet. One of them actually has duct tape keeping it together at the toe.

He also brought his own guitar case because he's a goober. "How's it going?"

Are there other members of this band yet?! Will doesn't have a single clue whether there are or not, but he was summoned, assumedly. After wandering the main strip for a bit, he finds his way back behind the shops on the central square. He comes in from the opposite direction of Ty, and hangs off the door frame with one arm. The other arm is hoisting up a six pack of beer. "I brought drinks! See, I'm taking my duties as president of the fan club extremely seriously," he tells them, flashing a broad smile before he lets go and comes wandering in.

There are, as of yet, no other members of this band. Though that could change at any time! Any time at all! There are a lot of people who play music in and around the park, after all. When Ty shows up looking a little confused, Lennox says, "Look at this space!" He flings his arms out demonstratively. "Less cramped than the last one, yeah?" Is this even an actual band yet? Who knows.

When Will shows up with drinks, Lennox grins. "Best fan." The fact that he's their only fan thus far is neither here nor there. "So we're not really officially uh, anything, yet.. but hey, I figured it was a good excuse to hang out. And.. apparently get free beer."

Lennox's open arm fling gets a laugh as Ty sets his guitar case down by a stool. "Seriously! Multiple couches! We're living like kings all the sudden. All we need is like...an actual band." Will's arrival, with beer no less, receives a literal round of applause. "MVP right there!" Slow clap. "True president material, no notes."

He plops down onto the floor next to the case and crosses his legs. "Kind of amazing that places like this exist here? Like when does this stop being a job and turn into like a commune? What if this is all some elaborate cult that's actually just really nice and not problematic at all?"

"It's like-- a-- storage unit warming gift?" Will takes a look around the space they're in, determining what it's origins were before it ended up a band practice space. Whatever it is, he ends up putting the six pack down on the first flat non-floor or instrument location. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week," he laughs out, sweeping into a bow.

He rather unceremoniously drops down onto one of the couches, linking his arms behind his head. "Yeah, it's really kind of-- it has everything it needs basically inside of it. It's kind of wild. I haven't been off the islands in forever."

"We're still a bit of a work in progress," Lennox says, as to the having the rest of a band. "We'll find some other folks who are down to play. Just a matter of time and opportunity." He doesn't seem too worried about it one way or the other. Joining in the slow clapping for Will, President MVP, he grins and wanders over to steal one of the beers once they are set down, opening it up and taking a sip.

"If it's some kind of cult, I'm in. Sign me up. I'll willingly follow Yarble into the magical beyond," Lennox smirks just a little bit, of the snowy yeti mascot. Then he nods toward Will and says, "Last time I was off-island was last Christmas. Went back to Detroit for a week and then turned right back around and came back."

"Well consider the storage unit properly warmed," Ty chirps as he reaches for a beer and cracks it open. He seems the type to like to sit on the floor at places. Happy as a clam. No complaints. As he takes a swig from his bottle, he opens up his case and pulls his acoustic guitar into his lap.

There's almost a spit-take when Lennox mentions following Yarble into the beyond. "Oh my god," he laughs. "Could you imagine if Yarble was the cult leader? Like making sure we all hug and have our seatbelts fastened at all times." The thought has him grinning from ear to ear.

"Will, you don't go back for holidays or anything?" As for Lennox, Ty just scrunches his nose up a bit. "Bad time?"

"I'll take my thanks in the form of free songs but also drinks," Will quips in regards to the storage-garage-band-space warming that's going on. He hasn't gone for a beer himself, but maybe he's just not thirsty yet despite his claim he'll take it as a form of payment.

He snorts in a bit of laughter over Yarble the cult leader. "People have definitely rallied around less awesome figures." Lennox says Christmas and he takes that moment to point him just in time for Ty's question. "That's when. I don't know, we stayed for a week-- then we came back. But you know, planes are expensive and driving is an ordeal so it seems easier to just not a lot of the time."

"Yarble would make the perfect cult leader. He's friendly, and squishy, and already can get people to follow him around. And nobody would suspect him of anything sinister," Lennox points out as he takes a swig from his beer and then pulls himself up to wander over to the keyboard and settle behind it. It's not a piano, but it can fake it, and that's enough for the time being. Long fingers trail over the keys, playing just a little bit of a melody before stopping.

There's a faint sort of nod at Ty about the bad time. "Yeah, I think I'm going to skip it this year and just hang at the park. From what I hear, last year was just a non-stop party from a couple of days before until straight through New Years. I did sign up to pull some decorating overtime in the obscene hours of the morning on Saturday. I hear they're going to do it all overnight. Massive crew between Friday night and Sunday."

"Free songs! Done and done. What would you like to hear first?" With the guitar propped on his knee, Ty takes a long sip of his beer, then holds up the bottle for a too late cheers. "To new friends and good music!"

As for Yarble, "yeah okay the squish-factor is legit and who can actually tell what's going on behind those eyes." He grins up at both Will and Lennox. "Ah. That makes sense. I think I might skip out on holidays this year cause of that? The prices. And cause I want to see what it's like around here. I'm sure my mom will probably pitch a fit." Lennox basically confirms that Spellbound Christmas is a non-stop party so Ty just shrugs. "I rest my case. Also overtime is dope. I might sign up for one of those shifts too."

"The best cult leaders are the really charismatic ones. I think Yarble has a good shot at putting together a solid following." Will drapes himself backwards on the couch, his legs kicked out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. "Yeah, it'd be cool to see what it's like over the holidays. Then I can make an educated decision about whether or not I'm going to stick around for next years. This is a fact finding mission."

He never did get around to cracking open a beer, and now the beers are over there and Will is here, and he's comfortable. So he gives the rock on sign with his right hand when it comes to giving cheers. What song does he want to hear?! "Oh, shit. I wasn't prepared for that question. I guess I should have been," Will laughs.

Lennox holds up his beer as well in answer to Ty's toast. "New friends and good music," he concurs before tipping the bottle back to take a long swig from it. He glances over toward Ty and says, "You could always invite her to come out here for Christmas." Something he definitely doesn't plan on doing with his own family.

With no decision made on what to play, Lennox just starts playing the song that's been stuck in his head since he started watching Arcane the other day. The electric piano is set to play the beat while the keys play out the melody. It's just an idle sort of playing, which he'll stop if another song is decided on.

"Hoooold up. You came to a jam sesh and thought no one would ask you for recs?" Ty says to Will. "Come on now. Rookie mistake! That's a point docked from your Fanclub President account." He clucks his teeth in a fake showing of disappointment though he's quick to smile half a second later. Since he's left to his own devices, he slowly sips at his beer and gives Lennox a moment to play whatever song that is.

"I could invite her...yeah." But from the iffy look on his face, he's doubting it. "We'll see." The beer finally gets set back down so he can properly take up his guitar. It starts off as idle plucking first, a lingering melody as he chews on the corner of his lip, thinking. Decision paralysis is real. But after a moment an actual song starts to take shape. There's lots of room for harmonies if Lennox wants to switch to a guitar.

"Will, at least you have your brother here? How's he liking it?"

"Hey, look, I am a rookie!" Will laughs out from his sprawled position. He drags himself into a somewhat more upright position, but not by much. "Artie? He likes it here. If he doesn't like it here, he's doing a really excellent job of pretending he likes it here. But this place is big and has a lot going on, so he stays busy."

He taps the tip of his nose a few times before he flashes a brighter smile in Ty's direction and announces, "I got one, I got one. Okay, it's been stuck in my head for a few days now. It's about this dockworker who's union is on a strike and he's down on his luck and a girl who works at a diner all day. Then it kind of goes like this--" Yeah, that's the tune to Livin' on a Prayer. "Have you ever heard of that one? I don't know why-- but it's been in my head all week."

Lennox just sort of noodles around for a little bit with the tune that's stuck in his head while Ty gives Will a hard time, a little smile tugging at the edge of his lips. He glances between them for a moment but doesn't weigh in on docking Will any points from his presidency. He eventually stops though and leans back to study Ty as he picks up the guitar and waits to see what he's about to play.

There's a slow nod once he recognizes the tune and he does swap off from the piano, going to pick up his guitar and join in. He knows this one and he finds a good place to fall into harmony.

"It's pretty easy to keep busy around here," he agrees easily with Will. "If not with work then.. everything else." There's a lot of everything else, too. He can't help laugh a little at Will's suggestion and says "Yeah, I know that one. Learned that when I was a kid."

"Oh that's good," Ty says in regards to Will's brother, Artie. "I bet it's cool having family working here too. Unless I guess you hate them but...you know what I mean." He lets out a little laugh and shrugs it off.

When Will says he's got one, Ty looks up from his guitar. Dock worker on strike. Girl works at a diner. It's not clicking at ALL in that context. His brows knit, confusion building until realization smacks him in the face "OH! God." He barks out a bright laugh and looks over at Lennox. "He's saying that because we ran into each other, like literally, the other day and I made him sing it to the kids who were about to cry."

He finishes off his currently chord and then segues right into the rhythm section of Livin' on a Prayer with gusto. And since you can't play this song without singing it (like, it's a law in New Jersey probably), Ty drops his head back and belts out "Wooooooooooooah we're half way thereeeee, WOOOOOAH-OH livin' on a praaaayerrrr."

Will is waiting, waiting for the lightbulb to click on over Ty's head. When it does come on, he throws himself back on the coach and loses himself to some hysterical laughter. Yes, yes. He does think he's very clever and funny, humble too, obviously. "I thought that I was going to cry," he tells Lennox when he returns to himself. Now he gets a beer, moving over to the six pack and breaking one off.

He opens up his beer and goes to take a drink, except it's time for the famous line, the one that consoles children everywhere. Will probably shouldn't quit his day job to go into music, but he sings along loudly anyway. That is until he does take that drink, leaning back into the couch again after he drops down.

As illegal as pumping your own gas. Lennox glances between the two, clearly not in on the joke, but once it is explained, he shakes his head a little and laughs. And when Ty switches right into it, he follows suit, picking up right behind him. His singing might not quite be up for the higher register of the song as he tends to sing a little lower, but he can "Whooah oh," well enough to accompany Ty's much more enthusiastic belting, all while trying not to laugh, especially when Will joins in along with them. "I think we found our third member of the band," he tells Ty.

The good news about Ty having a higher register while Lennox takes the lower is that they kind of auto-harmonize. Funny how that works out. He's holding it together until he sees Lennox trying not to laugh and that just breaks him. His belting gets abruptly interrupted by bubbly giggles even though he continues to play unimpeded.

"I think you're right," he says to Lennox. "Three part harmonies are where it's at. Now...Will, if we can just get you to sing on key." He's joking since Will's actually fine there.

"Alright, Nox, you get to pick next song."

"I'm not sure the music industry is ready for the kind of talent I'll unleash if I start singing on key," Will banters back easily, perfectly at ease with being the target of the joke, it helps to have at least one sibling. As this song transitions into another song, he takes another swallow of his beer and waits to see if he recognizes whatever song Lennox is going to pick next. It's also a great time to take out his phone and send out a quick message or two before rejoining the present.

Will gets a grin from Lennox, "I don't know, man. Never know." But Ty's giggling has him shaking his head, trying not to laugh again. It takes him a moment or two to get it back together. Once the song ends though, Ty throws it to him to pick the next one.

Lennox takes them straight from Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer into Placebo's Every You Every Me. Again, his voice is a little lower than the song would normally be sung at but he manages to purr it into the microphone and make it work as he plays.

"Yeah, I'm with Nox, you never know. Plus like, who says your magic act can't have singing in it? That's something no one's seen before," Ty says to Will with big round eyes that seem to insist yes this is a thing you should do.

The shift to Placebo gets Ty wiggling in his seat. "Ooh! Ooh! Hold on--" he puts his guitar down, ironically, and picks up his beer to chug down a good portion as he hop-scoot-hops over to the drum kit. He puts the bottle down as he sits, grabs the sticks, puffs his bangs out his face with a breath. "Okayokayokay let's gooooo." It's about to get a lot louder in here now as he starts to whale on the drums.

"I don't know..." Will starts to say in response to Lennox, then just seconds later Ty is chiming in with his two cents. He cuts a glance in his direction, takes in the big round eyes, and narrows his own. After a moment, he barks out a laugh. "Yeah, I'll keep it in mind. If I ever somehow develop some singing talent, you guys will be the first to know."

Things ARE getting louder, which is okay, because he came here for this and for his beer and for whatever other message he fires off. Also he takes pictures. It's fine, it's for the fan club.

Lennox pauses in the playing long enough for Ty to chug and scoot over to the drum set before he starts up again, chuckling as he watches this maneuver and impressed that he doesn't knock anything, or himself, over in the process.

He then points out to Will, "You gotta develop talent. Practice. Like with a band." Yeah, he's very clearly joining Ty on the enablement train there.

But then things are in fact getting very loud, which makes conversation a little difficult, at leasdt for the duration of the song. And it becomes obvious that the failure that Lennox has experienced in bands probably hasn't been due to his inability to sing. Maybe it's his personality? Maybe it's his choice in band mates? Maybe it's a lot of things. But he can at least sing.

How Ty doesn't trip with all his retriever-like energy is a mystery to the world. Maybe he's just racked up years of good karma by performing in the orchestra of countless middle school ballet recitals.

This is blessedly different, which means he's having a grand ol' time on this set. His technique isn't quite as good as it is with other instruments, but what he lacks in finesse, he makes up with (you guessed it) enthusiasm and grins from ear to ear the whole song. Eventually it comes to an end and he reaches out to grab the ride cymbal to shush it. "So like," he aims at Will, "how hard is it to teach someone to pull a coin from their ear? Not gonna lie, been wanting to do that forever. Hey Nox, you got a quarter?"

This is happening.

"Unfortunately.... my practice times are all filled up with perfecting magic tricks." Will throws up his hands, he's very helpless about this okay, there's very little he can do to change the path of his life. Or maybe he just doesn't plan on it and this is his excuse.

"Um, not hard at all. I can definitely show you right now! Quarter! Or any coin honestly as long it's not a dime. Those things are too damn small." Yes this is happening.

There is something to be said for the power of enthusiasm. Lennox is pretty good with the guitar, at least as good as he is on the piano, definitely good enough to do it professionally, but it's his voice that is his true talent. And while he isn't without energy, his seems to be more contained, his movements smaller, demonstrative but controlled. He's more the black cat energy to Ty's golden retriever.

When the song finally comes to an end, he glances from Will to Ty and then says, "Hell, I don't know if I have any change." He fishes out his wallet and somewhere squished in the bottom of it is a single quarter which he flips over to Will. "Alright, show'm how it's done," he grins.

"Awww yeah!" Ty stands up hurriedly when Lennox manages to find one lone quarter and flips it to Will. This time he does trip over himself just a little on his way over to the couch but it's fine. Merely a stumble. He's up and raking a hand through his hair to laugh awkwardly just as quick.

"This will be the best quarter you've ever spent." Because Lennox isn't getting it back after this.

The quarter comes sailing to Will and he sits up, claiming his hands around it as it comes into his vicinity. He nearly drops it on the floor, but after an impressively clumsy fumble, he ends up victorious. "Got it!" he calls out.

Once Ty gets situated, he holds up the coin. "The first step is that no one sees the coin to start off with. Get it from your pocket or something, and then you palm it. There's a few ways to do it, but this my favorite." He holds up his hand, showing how to carefully place the quarter at the base of his thumb where it can fit against the folds of a person's palm. The webby part between thumb and index finger. "You don't need a death grip, just a little bit of a grip. Okay?"

Fortunately, Lennox never expected that quarter to be returned, so there's no tears shed there. Instead, he wanders over and sits on the arm of the couch to watch the lesson, guitar still resting on his knee. He tilts his head a bit to the side and watches as Will palms the coin and shows Ty where to hold it, intrigued. He's quiet though, just observing for now.

Ty's eyes go practically doe-ish as Will instructs him how to hold it. This kid is extremely into magic it seems. "Okay yeah I think I got it. Little bit of a grip, not a death grip."

He then waits for Will to get to the GOOD PART, fingers wiggling in anticipation.

With the quarter still trapped in place, Will wiggles his ring and middle finger. Then he curls them down into his palm, snagging the quarter and drawing it up to his finger tips where he's able to get into a more natural hold. "This part that takes practice, because you want to do it more or less seamlessly. Okay-- now it's all about keeping their attention on you." With his other hand, he points at this eyes and then points at Ty's eyes.

Will shakes out his arms, palms the coin again and inches forward on the couch. He's fairly close now when he places his index finger and thumb of the free hand to Ty's chin, and tilts it up. "Give them something, anything, to look at--" he says, flashing him a smile. The quarter arm lifts up, goes to the space just behind his ear. "--could be gestures with your hand, direct eye contact, etc..." When he pulls it back, he's worked the quarter up to his fingers again. "There you go." He beams, moves back and hands the coin over.

"Your turn." While he observes Ty's attempt, he glances up to Lennox and says, "I love sleight of hand. It's great."

Oh. Okay. This part is significantly harder. Ty presses his ring and middle fingers together and mimes it as Will does. "Sure." His gaze flicks from Will's hand to his eyes once he's led there by being told to keep his attention. "Okay."

Ty's running out of attention pockets here. He's flexing and straightening his fingers, staring unblinkingly at Will, listening intently. It means he's not expecting the touch to his chin, which garners the immediate blush response. His cheeks bloom pink involuntarily.

The misdirection works. Obviously. He blinks a few times then bursts out laughing when Will pulls the coin out of nowhere. "Goddamn! You got me. Okayokay lemme try. Nox c'mere." He then shifts over to presumably try to pull a quarter from behind Lennox's ear.

Will is completely thrilled with Ty's reaction, "See, nothing to it. You just gotta practice a whole bunch and you'll be able to do it all the time." Now that the quarter is out of his possession and possibly being returned to Lennox via magic trick, h shakes out his hands and watches.

Can his student do it?!

Do it do it do it.

Lennox continues to sit on the edge of the couch, grinning a little as he watches Ty light up over being taught this trick. Is he learning it by proxy? Definitely. He follows Will's movements as he shows Ty how to hold the coin and then how to keep his attention. It's the little chin tilt upward that sets Ty blushing that has him grinning in amusement. He sets down the guitar when Ty tells him to come over and dutifully moves to stand in front of him. It's only when they're standing up close that the height difference becomes apparent and Lennox has to look down at him. He folds his hands lightly in front of him and says, "Amaze me."

TY CAN DO THIS.

Watch him go. Heeeeeee's-- wait. Has Lennox always been this GD tall? "Uhh, can you like..." oh no, Ty's blushing. Again. For slightly different reasons. "Can you just like crouch a little. Thanks."

And assuming Lennox DOES crouch, Ty puts all his very good learning to use and palms the coin, then promptly drops it on Lennox's shoulder the second he tries to bring it back.

Will leans away on the couch so he can get a better view of what's going on. But now Lennox is standing and like, everyone is tall when you're sitting down, okay?? So he cranes his neck to get a better look-- and the coin drops onto his shoulder.

"Do it again!" he encourages Ty. The man is utterly oblivious to any blushing that's going on tonight, this is his passion. It consumes him! "You gotta practice the finger motion. It takes a little time. But you can get it. It's like this." And he helpfully is doing the thing again.

Lennox is very good. He stands still and even crouches a little to put them more on an even height. When Ty drops the quarter on his shoulder, though, he feels the thump as it just sits there on his shirt and he tries not to laugh. It's a very valiant effort, though his eyes sparkle bright blue with amusement. And when Will encourages Ty to do it again, he leans in and catches the quarter from his shoulder, holding it back out. "Yes, Ty. Practice the finger motion," he murmurs, and then straightens and goes back to sit on the arm of the couch, making himself shorter again. He curls a finger toward Ty, beckoning him closer. "Once more, with feeling."

Ty makes a big ol' frowny face, eyes wide and glued onto where the coin landed on Lennox's shoulder. He cuts Will a look, as if he's failed his master ALREADY. But Will's nothing but enthusiastic and there goes Lennox trying so hard not to laugh. He plucks the quarter from Lennox's hand and sighs.

"Goddamn finger motion," he grumbles, pushing the heel of his hand against an eye. "Alright. Okay." He's doing it, practicing the palming and snatch up method as Lennox situates himself on the arm of the couch. Up, over, up, over. His eyes flick towards that beckoning motion, then he huffs out a laugh and shuffles closer.

Then he remembers. Misdirection.

Meeting Lennox's eyes-- he immediately blushes. OKAY ACTING IS HARD. But still, he pushes through it. He scrunches his mouth up to one side of his face, smiles lopsidedly, shows his empty hand. "Hey Nox, what do you get when you cross a polar bear with a seal?"

He then reaches past Lennox's ear and pulls the quarter out of THIN AIR. SUCCESS.

"A polar bear."

Ty is going to try it again and in turn, Will is going to sit up straighter and then lean forward as he tries to get the best look possible. "Yeah, the finger motion." He's pretty serious about this, if there are any other insinuations going on here, he's pretty oblivious to that too. Like, all the way. "Just like that!" he encourages right towards the end of Ty's practicing.

Now it's time for the second chance! He jumps up and claps his hands together when the quarter is pulled out of THIN AIR. "YEAH. That was amazing! Not hard at all. You did a great job." Will would probably be like a great pre-school teacher or something, because he's super into this positive reinforcement thing.

To be fair, Lennox is just trying to make Ty blush, which is usually his goal in all things. And he does succeed in doing that. He very obediently keeps his eyes on Ty's even through the terrible joke. There's that little smile tugging at his lips. He even goes so far as to ask "What?" as though thoroughly distracted by what one might possibly get when crossing a seal with a polar bear (or vice versa).

This time, the quarter does not drop on his shoulder but instead is produced FROM THIN AIR as advertised! He grins broadly and says, "Hey! Look at that."

Will's very enthusiastic applause has him chuckling and saying to Ty, "I think the master is pleased, padawan."

It's a really SOLID joke, okay, Ty read it in a published joke book so that's how you know. At the very least, he's not pelting Lennox with a quarter by accident.

Will's excitement wafts over Ty. His face lights up like that sloth from Zootopia-- slow to change but then absolutely bursting to the seams with delight. "I did the thing!" he chirps, bouncing up and down on his heels and looking back and forth between Will and Lennox. "Ahhhhh that was so awesome! Ohmygod I'm gonna be so cool now!" Yes, because everyone wants that guy who starts off conversations with do you wanna see a magic trick.

"You're a legend, Will! You should pitch a magic training school and teach tourists how to do stuff. You're GREAT at it. And Lennox--" he cuts the taller man a slightly more coy look, "10/10 magic assistant. Would saw you in half next time."

And it's with that energy that he pulls out his phone to order some pizza for the group. Because every jam sesh/impromptu magic show needs pizza.