when by now and tree by leaf

[hey_capn_jack]

04:00 - In the Kashtta Tower, soft music is floating from the piano room tucked back by the cursed hallway.

It's not terribly good music.

J picked his way through a primer someone had left on their piano, and is now demonstrating minimal proficiency at having memorized any of the songs. He can pretty reliably hit the first few bars of Ode to Joy

Comments

[wedontjump]

To be perfectly honest, Annie has mostly tried to avoid J in the time she's been in Chicago. Mostly this is because she never really knew Jack and there are all those awkward things that happened that she was only ever tangentially involved in, and she figures it's probably best to just steer clear and not have to worry about it.

But she follows the pitiful (and slightly painful) sounds of someone poking at the piano. She's no musician, but she took lessons as a child, and that makes her want to find the poor soul who apparently can't play.

"It helps if you stick to one song, you know," she comments from the doorway with a slight smile.

[hey_capn_jack]

Somehow, J manages to find his way back to Middle C. Whether or not that's where he's supposed to end up is an open question. "But then I would have to stick to one song," he says, a very slight dry smile gracing his expression at that advice. "Maybe even follow the music."

He turns, taking in the new person and tilting his head. Familiar, but not someone he can place until--

Aha. Annie. He'd encountered her in Manchester, though only briefly, and if it hadn't been for Sam he'd have had no reason to hang onto her face at all. Even looking up her files through Torchwood was years ago and a universe away. Recognizing her, of course, and recognizing exactly what connections led him to recognize her, starts a pinball of emotional reactions going in the back of his mind, all of which eventually settle down into a vague ...wait for orders? directive that requires no immediate reaction on his part

[wedontjump]

"You'd be surprised how much fun it can be. Opens the doors to recitals, sing-alongs..." She's teasing a bit, and wanders in fiddling with her bracelet. She knows who he is, obviously, but she's not sure what she thinks of him.

She tries to save her opinions for when she actually has the information to form them.

"Neither, really," she says with a bit of a shrug. "The first day or two after a nice stroll in the sunshine, I don't really get tired. Was a bit odd, the first few times, but I'm used to it now." She tilts her head a bit. "What about you?"

[hey_capn_jack]

That gets a low chuckle, and J picks out the first few notes to Mary had a little lamb with his index finger. "Not sure I'm quite the recital type," he says. "...and I'm not sure anyone else in the building is the sort for singalongs. As for me, I don't sleep." He shrugs. "Sooner or later I'm sure I can get this to produce music for me."

"This" is accompanied by a wave at the piano like it's some sort of alien technology. His head is tilted a bit, watching her - he recognizes that recognition, but he's not going to push the issue if she's not.

[wedontjump]

Annie laughs a little, and shakes her head as she walks over to the piano. "Well you can't go on just playin' at nothing, that won't get you anywhere." She leans over a bit and picks out a couple bars of some classical piece she'd learnt. Just with one hand, and slowly - it's been a while since she's played.

"Wish I'd played much since university," she says. "Maybe then I'd have a tip or two for you."

[hey_capn_jack]

"I can until I'm passable at it," J points out. "Wouldn't tell a girl you could juggle until you could back that up, would you? Me, I've only just defeated the terrifying beast that is hot cross buns."

That would have been accompanied by a rendition of said song, but Annie's feeling something out on the keys, and it's considerably more impressive. He leans back a little, resting his elbow on the music rest.

"...no time like the present," he says, following along with his eyes and his ears. "Still. Better than I can do."

[wedontjump]

"Mmm, just wait until you get into the classics," Annie says, smiling. "Hot Cross Buns is a cuddly kitten compared to simplified Bach."

She slips onto the piano bench next to him, on his right, and starts a short little piece a couple octaves higher than it was meant to be played. Of course, it's been ages since she's played it, and the different pitch throws her off, so it's only a few bars before she loses track of the song and stops with a soft laugh.

"Well, you're mashing all your songs together, and I can't finish a one. What a pair of musical prodigies we make."

[hey_capn_jack]

"I've heard Bach," J says, like this is an uncommon enough experience to be remarked upon. "I believe it. And you know, between the two of us, we might just..."

He pauses to consider that, picking out the first few bars of Ode to Joy again.

"...no, I think between the two of us we'd still not make a respectable musician," he says. "Perhaps it's time to abandon the trappings of respectability."

why does this version of the song only exist on those giant play-with-your-feet keyboards?

[wedontjump]

"Well, good thing we're neither of us in the music business, then," Annie says, picking out a slightly more complicated version of chopsticks. Slightly. She can play a bit, but she's no pianist.

"Here, there's one I learned to play with some friends back in uni - the lower part can be pretty simple." Impromptu piano lesson? Of course, why not? And this way, anyone else up and about won't have to listen to... whatever it is he was trying to play before. She leans over and reaches across him to tap a key. "You start here. I'll play it up here and you just copy me, all right?"

She starts playing a very simple, two-fingers-required base (and bass) line for a song.

Because if you have the choice to jump around on a keyboard or NOT to jump around on a keyboard...

[hey_capn_jack]

J watches her hands, watches the keys, and then nods decisively. "Music, honestly, I never considered. I think if it came down to it I could have a pretty lucrative career in the bartending business, though. Like this?"

He takes the keys, tapping out the part she's just demonstrated. After a moment, his fingers graduate from tapping to bouncing - it's a very bouncy sort of part.

True. I've played on one of those. SO FUN. I did Fur Elise... sorta.

[wedontjump]

Annie grins widely - bouncy is a good sign, it means he's having fun, at least a bit, and that's definitely key to making good music, in her opinion. "Perfect. Now, you keep doing that, just that, no matter what I do up here, all right? Once you can do that nice and easy, we can add more on to it."

She's found that playing a duet relies less on "know your part backwards and forwards" and more on "don't get tripped up by what the other person's playing". She lets him give a little intro, and then she starts playing what is definitely half of the final product (only without the key changes that will come later). She played this song so much in Uni that she could probably play it in her sleep, even now.

...dammit, now I want a keyboard. ...and I think the Kashtta needs one of the jumpy ones.

[hey_capn_jack]

"No matter what. Yes ma'am." He'll take a moment or two to lodge his part firmly in his muscle memory and see if he can switch it over to autopilot, while watching what she's doing on her patch of keyboard.

And then, because he can't resist ribbing, he adds "I assume you mean no matter what you're playing up there, or does that also include things like 'turning into animals' and 'spontaneous human combusion'? Because I could run and get a bucket of water or something for that second one, unless you really wanted me to keep playing."

She lives in the Kashtta Tower and knows Sam. She should understand that this is a perfectly prudent request for clarification.