34 [Accidental Video] Forwarded to early morning.

[somethingspecial]

[Rachel is sitting on the steps of Solve, outside, holding a beat up acoustic guitar. It is a little big for her -- as are most things in Adstringendum, save for the clothes that Kurt managed to hem and tailor for her to fit her small frame -- but she manages it well enough. She carefully picks through the strings, frowning as she tunes it, her head tilted to listen to each note carefully. Apparently, it isn't to her satisfaction -- Rachel looks displeased as she fiddles with the strings before, finally, she beams.]

Oh, finally -- now...

[Rachel frowns to herself in concentration as she tries to remember a certain chord, just to test out her tuning and stringing job. She strums the guitar gently, singing something softly to herself, before she picks a song, brow knit in focus as she plays. There are a couple mistakes -- Rachel is only a recent fan of classic rock, after all -- but she manages pretty well -- and just when she opens her mouth to sing the first verse of the song --

Snap.

Two strings snap and whip across Rachel's fingers, causing her to nearly drop the guitar in surprise as the ugly sound echoes. She immediately shakes out her hand, tears welling in her eyes at the cut, before she glares down at the guitar.]

That was unnecessary -- ow --

[And the PCD cuts off at Rachel shaking out her hand, blood dribbling down her fingers.]

Comments

[al_truism]

You're bleeding.

[First aid kit get.]

... can it be fixed?

[somethingspecial]

[She scowls to herself as she pulls at the strings.]

No, the strings are ruined. I will have to find replacements -- if they even exist.

[Her fingers do not even matter right now, Al. 8(]

[al_truism]

[A couple of seconds later and he's out on the porch, settling down beside her.]

There's a music store in the mall, though I'm not sure if there will still be strings there.

[He takes out antiseptic and a wipe, and holds out his hand for hers.]

[somethingspecial]

[Rachel frowns as she looks up at him before offering her hand. It looks worse than it actually is.]

I will be sure to look again.

[al_truism]

It's better that the strings are broken than the guitar.

[Al dabs on a small bit of antiseptic, and then wraps her finger up.]

[somethingspecial]

[There's the slightest hiss of pain at the burn of the antiseptic, but Rachel is a tough girl, and doesn't complain other than the slight shock of the sting.]

-- thank you.

[al_truism]

Any time.

[He resists the urge to ruffle her hair, and takes a look at the guitar strings.]

If my alchemy does come back, I'll see if I can repair these... I might be able to?

[somethingspecial]

Don't say 'if', that's ridiculous. Of course it will come back.

[Rachel sets the guitar in her lap with a frown. As much as it is nice to have everyone on an even playing field, for once, Rachel does honestly want the people who deserve to have what makes them special return to them. It's people like Lucifer who need to stay powerless and helpless for the rest of their time here.]

And I would like that, very much -- this is the only guitar that I've found that isn't entirely useless. The only other one I've found was broken in half.

[al_truism]

I've seen a few violins and things around, but never a guitar. Where did you find it?

[somethingspecial]

The mall, directly after the flood, once the waters had receded. It took awhile to air out properly and it still sounds a little funny --

[She sets it on the ground, to hold it between her knees carefully, hands around the neck.]

-- but it will do, provided the strings do not break.

[al_truism]

Maybe the strings were weakened by the flood too.

... I didn't know you could play?

[somethingspecial]

It's possible.

[Rachel huffs to herself before she pauses and looks over at Al with a blink.]

I can play seven instruments, but I am best at piano and guitar. I own one -- at home, except mine is of the topmost quality and is bright pink.

[al_truism]

[Laughing, but he beams at her.]

Well, you are a musical prodigy. I should have guessed.

[somethingspecial]

[Rachel returns the beam with one of her own, finally grinning a little.]

It helps pass the time, anyway.

[al_truism]

What have you been up to otherwise?

[somethingspecial]

Teaching a dog how to unlearn something, mostly.

[Jesse has an overactive imagination, sob.]

And cleaning out the theatre, again. The flood destroyed a large section of it.

[al_truism]

Unlearn?

... and that theatre seems to have bad luck.

[somethingspecial]

Jesse taught her to bark whenever someone says the name 'Finn' because he thought it was extraordinarily clever.

[Rachel was quick to point out that no, it was not very clever, and he was properly chastised. 8|]

... and yes, it does, but I like to think that it will just have a grander re-opening the third time around.

[al_truism]

[Al just. Does not get that one. Have a "buh" look.]

It will, I'm sure of it.

[somethingspecial]

[It is a long dramatic story of eggs and ridiculous amounts of testosterone.]

At least it will be something to look forward to -- provided the next incident does not burn the entire place down.

[al_truism]

[Al will just not even. Where does one begin.]

We could always use the ballroom of Whipstaff.

[somethingspecial]

... would that be large enough?

[al_truism]

For practicing, definitely. It's a large place.

I used to live there.