My mama raised me in the durty south // A Kountry Gentleman // So you best watch ur mouth [OPEN]

[inthecenterfold]

Characters: Smoke, Goodbye, and the Re-build Crew!
Date/Time: Thursday afternoon & evening
Location: ruins of Smoke's Bar & Tavern
Rating: PG13 for adult location & guesses of content
Summary: This is mainly a head-count log; if you don't have time to log, if you can just sign an OOC note that your character was around to help, I'd appreciate it!

Comments

[ofsong]

By the time Aimo showed up, Goodbye was already warming up with her first song. She wasn't overly fond of it, but the tune suited her well enough, and if she messed with the lyrics a bit, it would be all right. Just for now. Ultimately, the truth was this: it was better than not singing at all. As soon as she had a steadier job here, she'd go looking for more music.

"I am the daughter and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar," she sang out, winking at her audience. "I am the daughter and the heir of nothing in particular." That was when she saw Aimo, and she made sure to smile just at her--

But that was just as Aimo fell. Goodbye knew she was too professional to let it bother her performance, so she showed no sign of noticing. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, how dare you say I go about things the wrong way?" But with the very faintest of frowns, she looked to see who Aimo was looking at now. "I am human and I need to be loved, just like..."

There she trailed off, missed a beat for a moment.

She picked up again hurriedly. "...everybody else does."

No, she didn't know that man with the pretty face. She was sure of that. Still, for a moment she'd been happy to see him. Just for a moment.

[earth_uninstall]

He heard the impact first, turning around to see what had caused it. The girl with the sign had upset one of the areas he'd yet to get to, and he hoped she hadn't landed on anything worth salvaging; from the looks of it, they needed all the wood they could find.

It took a second for him to realize that maybe, perhaps, he should check on her health. It would be terrible publicity for someone to get injured on the job so early, especially a young girl people were prone to be sympathetic towards. As much as Aurora didn't understand the biased towards favoring younger members of society, he couldn't deny it existed.

"Yes, her pitch and rhythm are quite accurate." Aurora responded offhandedly as he walked over to the fallen girl, mistakenly thinking her compliment was directed at the singer. He wondered how correct it was as he caught the slight pause, glancing up only briefly at the stage. "Are you injured?"

[ofgreen]

The first thing to shock Aimo was that the voice clearly belonged to a man. The second, naturally, was that he had heard her. It almost occurred to her that she should correct him, but he wasn't wrong - Goodbye's singing was unspeakably beautiful (she'd seen too, she realized with a little dismay), he was a complete stranger, and he seemed the type that had his mind made up on whatever he might say. She'd go with his question instead, one that was so nice of him and caused a familiar feeling of contentment.

"Thank you, I think I'm okay. I-I'll try to be more careful next time!" Awkwardly, she raised up to her feet, brushing off both herself and the sign she worked so much on. Back, legs, everything was in working order. Aimo took another long gaze toward the stage. "They are, aren't they? I must have looked up to her even before we..." It took less than a second for her to look as if she remembered something. Intent on repaying him by making his work even a fraction easier for asking after her, she picked up the offending piece of debris and handed it out. "Here! You needed this, right?"

[ofsong]

As Aurora glanced up, Goodbye met his gaze for a fleeting moment. It was so distracting, how familiar the stern seriousness of that lovely face was while the man himself meant nothing to her. But even if she knew little else about herself, she knew that she was a professional, and she couldn't let this interfere with her performance any more than it already had.

So determined, she finished the song. "When you say it's gonna happen now, when exactly do you mean? Oh, I've already waited too long, and now all my hope is gone."

She didn't much care for the lyrics. She wasn't anywhere near at the end of her hope yet, even if this man wasn't the one she was looking for. But it was singing.

Finishing the song, she smiled into the audience and waved, then bowed out as gracefully as she could to take a break. In actuality, she wanted to make sure Aimo was all right--and see what this man who'd caught the attention of both of them was like.

As self-assured as she'd been on stage, she approached the two of them. "You're here to cheer me on, Aimo. Not do dirty work. That's what he's for. Isn't it?"

[earth_uninstall]

"'Before'? You believe you two are from the same world?" He asked, curious. Aurora was confident both women were new, and to have found people from their memories so quickly.. He couldn't help but wonder how they'd managed to figure out their connection when others who had been here far longer were struggling with theirs. Accepting the piece of debris, he looked it over, eyes carefully inspecting every crack with the intent one usually saved for solving issues greater than a burned bar.

"Yes, this piece is still usable. Thank you." It was merely said for the sake of politeness, almost dismissive as he turned on his heels to finish his task and end his time with the girl.

That is, until the singer decided to interfere.

"You're here to cheer me on, Aimo. Not do dirty work. That's what he's for. Isn't it?"

"We are all present to assist with rebuilding Smoke's bar." He said pointedly, making direct eye contact with Goodbye. He immediately disliked how she held herself, as if she were somehow above them and free from the burdens they all had to share. The irony that Aurora himself let off a similar air escaped him. "The only reason you are on that stage is to encourage work, not to impede it."

[ofgreen]

"Mm! We saw each other in our dreams, so... I recognized her. And her voice." She couldn't help staring as politely as possible while he inspected her offering, being almost uncomfortably stoic about the entire thing. It didn't look broken. Did he think there were termites hidden in it? He was staring at it so intensely that for a brief moment she thought he might have scanners in his eyes, like a machine, but there was no way she would believe any of that--

His remark broke her train of thought. "Well! I'm happy it passed the official standards." It was part completely serious, because they could have them for all she knew, part said jokingly to at least try and diffuse the awkward moment. Time to try something else. "You really didn't have to come check on me either, so I'm grateful too."

Was that too much? She lowered her head shyly, his brusque attitude lost on her for the moment until Goodbye entered the scene. Aimo wanted to answer, let her know that it was only right to help even a tiny bit but she never meant to keep her eyes off the stage, really! Which is when the man's stern voice cut in.

This debating, why did it sound so familiar? Whatever the case, she didn't look forward to it.

"I-I don't think anybody was impeding anything!" Unknowingly, she flailed a bit, discounting any part of her protest that may have been taken with a straight face. But no doubt her voice might very well get ignored over the impending catfight clash of wills, and she thought it better not to say anything more.