Mallside 9: Waaagh!

[Shadowcaller]

M'usic Imporium

((I should point out that Lord Raziere's characters were here too. You might have been confused by the location tags though, Phantom.))

"We're just browsing." Dena claims. "Not much of a music person actually, that would be our friend here." She gestures at Electra.

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Yes, we're just here as company," Fayyaad confirms. He's examining the electric guitars with some confusion.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra looks to Mil, and nods.

"I'm looking for a new electric. Before I came to the Nexus, I had a guitar that was based on the design of one an archaeological team dug up, something called a 'Warrior'. They thought it was made by a company named 'Jackson', but they weren't sure, and the design was simply copied and re-released under different names. I see you have a lot of different designs here; can you recommend something in that style?" She seems to be ignoring Fayyaad's puzzlement for the moment. Perhaps once she finds something she wants to play, she'll be more inclined to explain whatever it is that's confounding him.

[ThePhantom]

[M'usic Imporium]

(No they are not, they went to HALO)

"Well that depends if your'e just after the sound or if the other features are what you are looking for. Some of those make prime carriers of magic but those are in the back."

Mil gestures towards a door on the back of the store, some distance from where the counter is.

"And no worries if your'e just here with a friend. Wouldn't have a little stage in the front if I didn't plan on having people coming in just to listen."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Mostly the sound, but I would like to try something in either a seven or eight string. I used to play with a band on occasion, but since I'm on my own now, I'd like to be able to get a little deeper when I need to." Electra smiles at Mil. "A mundane instrument is fine with me for now; I must admit I don't know much about magic, so I don't think I'd be able to get the best use out of a magic guitar."

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

((Note the past tense in my sentence, they were here at least.))

Dena wanders around the store, not feeling any real passion for any of these instruments. Electra mentioning a band caught her attention though. "What sort of band?" She suddenly asks. "Did you sing in it?"

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad likewise wanders around, looking at the instruments. He says nothing for the moment.

[ThePhantom]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Alright then. The seven and eight strings are on the aisle with the blue drums in front of them. Feel free to give them a try but if you damage them you will be paying for the repairs."

Fayyaad might notice a black birdlike creature looking at him perched on a tuba.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra nods at Mil.

"Thanks, I'll be careful." She looks to Dena and gestures for her to follow as she heads for the aisle Mil mentioned. "We played some different stuff. Mostly power metal, but sometimes other types of rock or blues. I did share vocal duties with our rhythm guitarist, it depended on what we were playing. We never recorded anything, just a few live gigs every now and again at one of the local hang-outs whenever we were all off-duty at the same time."

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

"I have to admit ignorance on those genres, it doesn't sound like any music I'm familiar with. Sounds like you were quite close though. All my adventure buddies did were drink and fight with one another, and sleep together I guess, but the less talk about the better, ugh." She grimaces.

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad leaves the talking to the two women for now, as he examines the bird. Odd to see one in a store...

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra blinks for a moment, genuinely surprised that Dena doesn't know what rock or blues are, before looking back to the rack and selecting a red guitar with an aggressive-looking body.

"Eh, most of us worked for the Maverick Hunters in different areas. Our rhythm guitarist and I were the only full-time field ops. Our bassist worked for the medical unit as an assistant, while our drummer was a mechanic with the vehicle unit." She pauses for a moment, examining the fretboard, then grins at Dena. "We were all friends, but we never saw combat together, since we were all in different units. I must admit, I'm surprised you don't know rock or blues. I'm sure you've heard them here in the Nexus; you might recognize it once I start playing." Her grin widens for a moment as she looks around for a demo amp, a strap, and a pick.

[ThePhantom]

[M'usic Imporium]

There's a collection of demo amps and picks by the small stage at the front of the store. The birdlike creature turns its head, staring at
Fayyaad before it quickly opens its wings trying to startle him.

"Krow!"

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Probably, music isn't something I've been keeping track on since I came here. Oh, that reminds me, I owe you some bucks now, don't I? Or did I win that challenge?" Dena asks with a smile.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra chuckles as she spots the demo amps and picks up by the stage and motions once more for Dena to follow her.

"I don't think either of us won that one, at least, I sure didn't see the reaction we were hoping for, did you? I think I may have come closer, but that's probably subjective." She passes a rack of straps and grabs a plain, black one on her way by, fitting it to the instrument as she walks, then slinging the strap over her shoulder. It's obviously a familiar motion to her; she doesn't even pause until they reach the amps. She finds the cord easily enough, plugs her instrument in, and switches the amp on, then fiddles with a few adjustments on it.

"Shall we call a truce on that?"

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad backs away slightly when the bird cries out. There's something unsettling about it...

"Wait, what challenge?" he asks Dena and Electra.

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

Dena waves at Fayyaad dismissively, smiling coyly. "Oh, just girl talk, we simply made a bet of who could make you blush first. We called it a tie."

[ThePhantom]

[M'usic Imporium]

The bird laughs as Fayyaad backs away then flies over to land on Mil's shoulder, Mil shaking his head as it does so.

"Muninn you are lucky that violence isn't a thing in the mall, or else your pranks would have you getting hurt some day."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra grins sheepishly at Fayyaad and nods as Dena explains.

"That's the long and the short of it. Your cool has defeated both of us; you should be proud." She smiles gently at him, then looks to the instrument in her hands, and hums to herself, before plucking each string. When the note she hums doesn't match the note that comes out of the amp, she turns the keys on the head until it does. If Fayyaad has formal musical training, he might notice that her vocal range seems to be somewhere in the neighborhood of a mezzo-soprano, though with just the humming, it might be hard to tell. Once she's happy with the tune of the guitar, she'll play a short little warm-up: a casual little 6-bar tune that's hard to place other than in a general sort of rock category. She doesn't have any distortion turned on yet, so the tune is bright and clear. When she's finished, she'll look back and forth between Fayyaad and Dena.

"All right, I'm warmed up. Genre requests, or shall I just play whatever comes to mind?"

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad's eyebrows quirk up and he smiles.

"I have found myself between two unscrupulous women. I love it. I'm sorry about your bet, but I'm sure I can make it up to you somehow. I have no music requests, though."

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

"If i had been truly unscrupulous, you'd known, Fayyaad." Dena says mysteriously. "And just play something good, Electra. I'm sure you'll find something suitable."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Unscrupulous, eh? I guess I'd best play something good to make up for that." Electra grins at Fayyaad, "I suppose I should start with something a bit lighter before I go full metal on you, then." She nudges a couple of the knobs on the amp to get just a bit of distortion, closes her eyes, and pauses for a moment, before opening them, nodding her head to a beat and opening up with a jaunty electro-swing number. As she gets deeper into it, she starts tapping her foot in time to the tune and moving her head around a bit more as she plays. When she finishes, she smiles at both them.

"How'd you like that?"

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad gives Electra's performance a brief clap. He listened to it with rapt attention, having never heard anything like it.

"It was energetic and riveting. I don't know how those instruments work, but their sound is unlike anything I've heard."

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

Dena nods thoughtfully, her finger moving to the beat of Electra's guitar. "I've heard something like that, it's swing-y, definitely dance music. You can really feel the beat, if I wanted, I could probably make a dance to it, would be pretty intense."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

Electra chuckles at Fayyaad.

"They work on some rather basic electrical principles. I'm glad you're enjoying it." She looks to Dena and nods. "Yeah, it was based around a swing beat. I'm gonna get a little heavier now." She turns back to the amp and fiddles a bit with it, nodding to herself. "This one might sound a little better with some drums, but I'll do my best with it."

The next song is much faster in tempo, despite a calm start. She nods her head and taps her toe to keep in time, and her fingers fly over the strings and fretboard, producing a complex tune that by her account, is probably even moreso when played with a full band. When she finishes, she takes a deep breath, and brushes some of her hair out of her face that's come loose from her ponytail.

"I kinda feel like singing a little now. Do either of you mind if I do?"

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

"I certainly don't. Sing away," Fayyaad says.

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

"You can sing too? You're a woman of surprises, Electra. As long as you don't make us sing along though, I am told that I'm not suited for singing."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[M'usic Imporium]

"Oh, yes, remember I told you I shared the vocal duties with our rhythm guitarist? I sang some of our songs, and he sang some others. He had a fairly deep voice, and not much of a falsetto range, so songs that used the higher range fell to me. It actually worked pretty well." Electra explains, cracking another smile. Clearly, she's having fun, at least. "I think I was a better singer than he was, to be honest, but we had fun together and that was what mattered. Anyways, the song I'm going to sing sounds a bit different than how I'm going to play it, since I don't have a synth, but it should do well enough."

She makes a couple of adjustments to her tuning, then begins to play once more. She plays a simple riff to fill in where the synth would be, and changes over to the accents and melody once the guitar starts. It's a bit heavier than the original song, simply because of how she's playing it, but the song is definitely recognizable. She begins pacing between Fayyaad and Dena, as she starts singing in her clear mezzo-soprano, an impish grin on her face.

"~You won't hear me,~" Her singing starts off breathy and seductive, aimed squarely at Fayyaad, "~But you'll feel me. Without warning, something's dawning, listen.~" She backs up a step, still grinning, and turns towards Dena. "~Then within your senses, you know you're defenseless. How your heart beats, when you run for cover!~" She sweeps her gaze back to Fayyaad, and leans in, stepping towards him again. "~You can't retreat, I spy like no other!~" Her hands rattle out a heavy riff while she fixes him with those piercing blue eyes, amusement evident in them, before leaning back, allowing her voice to intensify. "~Then we race together! We can ride forever! Wrapped in horsepower, driving in to fury!~" She leans towards him once more for just a moment, as her voice lowers in intensity slightly. "~Changing gear, I pull you tighter to me!~" She steps back towards Dena, and leans back to let her voice ring a bit louder, her gaze shifting between them. "~I'm your turbo lover! Tell me there's no other! I'm your turbo lover! Better run for cover!~" She leans towards Fayyaad once more, but doesn't step towards him. "~We hold each other closer, as we shift to overdrive, and everything goes rushing by, with every nerve alive!~" She turns back towards Dena, and leans in. "~We move so fast, it seems as though we've taken to the sky, love machines in harmony, we hear the engine's cry!" She leans back once more on the last word of that line, closing her eyes and throwing her head back to belt out the chorus once more, "~I'm your turbo lover! Tell me there's no other! I'm your turbo lover! Better run for cover!~" The solo that follows starts out slowly, before growing more intense, since she's playing both the synth and guitar solo, but it's definitely entertaining as she leans back down and her hands fly over the fretboard. Towards the end, she takes a step towards Fayyaad again and leans in as she begins to sing again. "~On and on, we're charging to the place so many seek, in perfect synchronicity, of which so many speak. We feel so close to heaven in this roaring heavy load, and then in sheer abandonment,~" She leans back once more as her voice builds in both pitch and intensity, throwing her head back, "~We shatter, and explode! I'm your turbo lover! Tell me there's no other! I'm your turbo lover! Better run for cover!~" She whips her head down, then back up, and takes another step towards Fayyaad, "~I'm your turbo lover! Tell me there's no other! I'm your turbo lover!~" Her playing slows, and her voice grows breathy and seductive once more as she sings slowly, keeping pace with her playing, "~Better. Run. For. Cover.~" She finishes with a seductive grin, an inch from his nose, as she plays, then mutes a final chord, before leaning back slowly. Perhaps she called off the bet too soon?

[Morty]

[M'usic Imporium]

Fayyaad, as has been established, isn't the most strong-willed of people, so he's enthralled by Electra's performance. His eyes never leave her, following her face, and the rest of the body, closely. A few times it looks like he's about to step forward, but stops himself in time. His face does grow noticeably flushed, enough for it to be visible on his dark complexion. Seems Electra did win that bet.

[Shadowcaller]

[M'usic Imporium]

The bet is already over since he blushed before! Second blush doesn't count!
Dena had certainly not expected an entire song and dance number when she had asked Electra if she could sing.

This beat was pretty chill though, she'd dance to it if it had been a better setting, but for now she was just beating her head and foot to it. Should have figured Electra was into some intense music. Way louder than anything she had played, that's for sure.
Once Electra finishes, Dena gives her an enthusiastic applaud, "That was great, you need a band."