OOM: Working on the theater with Joly

[herr_bookman]

Autor checks over his list to see what else needs work in his and Joly's theater. The cavern is almost cozy now, with cushions on the floor and a couple of benches in the back, along with a table off to the side for food strung up with lights.

Autor picks his way across the floor to the 'stage', peering up at where Joly works with the lighting. "How's it going?"

Comments

[merryeccentricities]

The thing is that the drill does make motion, and Autor does adjust his position slightly-- just slightly--to keep his balance. And the floor of the cave is the floor of the cave, and the least bit uneven, and fluid dynamics are dynamic--

Joly sees the bucket beginning to shift and steps forward to try to steady the ladder, or give a warning, or something. And then he sees the bucket finish shifting, as it tips over. He tries to dodge the water, slips, and only manages to get right under the now-empty bucket in time for it to land on his head with a hollow THOONK noise.

[herr_bookman]

Autor stops drilling immediately. "Joly!" he says, and skitters down the latter one-handed. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you all right? I mean, of course you're not, you have a bucket on your head--here, let me get that."

Still holding the drill in his other hand, Autor gently tries to remove said bucket.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly is already starting to giggle, echoey and flat in the confines of the bucket. He feels Autor tug the edge of it and pulls backward himself. He slips in the water again and falls backward, landing with a small splash on his coattails. It knocks him into silence for a moment, and then the giggles come back, as solid hiccuping laughter this time.

[herr_bookman]

"Oh, my gosh," Autor says, and starts to flail a bit as giggles overtake him as well, despite his best efforts. "Joly! Joly, are you okay? I'm--oh, this is terrible. Hee. And after I was so confident in my ability to balance the bucket, too!"

Embarrassment wars with amusement on Autor's face, and he's almost grateful there's a bucket on his friend's head.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly tugs at the bucket himself, still giggling. It slides up enough for him to speak without causing an echo. "It's--hah, oh no, my ears!-- it's all right! Ah--"

He manages to twist it the rest of the way off, and lets the bucket land next to him with another splash. "It's fine, the floor was uneven!-- Besides, you know, I'm sort of used to this now? It doesn't feel like a real project to me anymore unless there's some sort of accident."

[herr_bookman]

"Well, we've had our accident," Autor says, sitting back on his haunches. "Let's hope it's the only one. Are you sure that you're all right? Goodness. That gave me quite a fright, and I'm sure it did for you, too."

Autor stands, resting the drill hand against his hip and offering his free hand to his friend. "I'll find a mop and clean this up. Then maybe I can get some drilling done, sans more accidents."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly takes Autor's hand and stands up, grinning. "You drill; I'll mop. Then we can move on faster, right? Er-- and I can grab a different coat, so I don't wander around dripping."

He could, theoretically, take off his coat and hang it off the door or something, and work in shirtsleeves. But there's no call to be indecent.

[herr_bookman]

"Fair enough, as long as you don't slip again," Autor teases lightly, mirroring that grin. He scoops up the bucket and heads to the sink to refill it. "Next thing we know, one of us will be taking a spill straight off the ladder, cursing the uneven floor as we fall."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly laughs, then looks thoughtful. "That's a good thought, though-- someone will probably have an accident some time. Well-- be careful while I'm away, all right?"

He's gone for a little while, and comes back with a dry coat and a mop-- and a pulling a small cart carrying a first-aid kit, another toolbox, several speakers, and a rather heavy-looking board covered in dials and levers and switches.

"I figured, we could at least start setting up the sound system? Apparently this is the sort of controller modern equipment uses."

[herr_bookman]

By the time he returns, Autor has managed to drill two holes and attach the pulley to the wall, cooling the rock down as he goes. "Welcome back, Holy! No spills yet. Is that what they use?" he asks, clinging to the ladder with one hand. "Will you need any help with the wiring? At the very least I can pass you your screwdrivers."

[merryeccentricities]

"No hurry; I've got the mopping-up to do." He's already starting. "But I do need your help! You'll need to tell me where to put the speakers and control panel, and all the rest. I suppose, if you're a music student, you've made some study of that--of acoustics, I mean, performance spaces and all?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor packs up the ladder to move it across the room, stopping at the opposite wall. He carts the bucket and the drill over as well.

"I have, but not with technology like this," the boy admits, nodding towards the speakers. "But I suspect acoustics are the same everywhere. We can test speakers in certain positions and find out what's the best configuration. Think of it, Joly! Our own stereo system. Isn't this exciting?"

[merryeccentricities]

Joly looks up with a grin from hwere he's plugging the speakers into the sound system. "It is! I can't wait to see what you do with it. We should probably have a practice run here first-- oh, what do you play? I don't think you've ever told me."

[herr_bookman]

"Wait, I haven't? What an oversight. I play piano," Autor says, blinking. He scurries up the ladder again and aligns the drill bit with the wall. "I'm sure we can test the stereo system with the netbook Jay gave me. I've recorded some music there already."

[merryeccentricities]

...Wait, does this system have a recorder? Joly frowns at the cryptic abbreviations, but smiles at Autor's mention of his music. "Your own music? Oh, I'd love to hear it! Have you ever given a concert?"

[herr_bookman]

"I've been a part of concerts before, but have never given one of my own," Autor says, drilling a hole in the rock. He soaks the drill bit for a moment, and soaks the rock as well with a sponge. "Truth be told, that would be terrifying--but thrilling! Here, I'll set up the laptop."

He climbs down the ladder, leaving the drill on top, and calls his laptop out of his sylladex. Then he boots up the computer, tapping his foot. "It shouldn't take long," he says, and it doesn't. Soon he's playing a collection of piano music, which comes out slightly tinny from the laptop's speakers.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly closes his eyes for a few moments to listen as the music starts, slow and serious.

Then he smiles and says, quiet but excited, "Oh! Does your computer have an, ah, an Audio Port?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor appreciates Joly's sober listening, and smiles slowly at his closing his eyes.

"I've never composed, mind, but the work of others is good enough for me as of yet," he says quietly. Then he checks the laptop. "I, um, I'm not sure? I'd be surprised if it didn't, but I wouldn't know where to find it. I'll ask Jay next time I see him."

[merryeccentricities]

"Ah-- let me see? I can try and connect one of the speakers, if it does. Maybe we can try out speaker-arrangements that way, and have your playing while we work!"

Joly squints along the edges of the computer and finds what looks like a promising icon. He grabs one of the speaker-cords and slots the machines together. There's a faint click, and then the music begins playing out of the speaker.

...Joly has heard cannons. He's heard thunder. It's the only thing in his pre-Milliways existence that matches the volume of the speaker-assisted piano at all. He shouts, inaudibly, and, unhelpfully, falls backward.

[herr_bookman]

Autor manages to hold onto the laptop as Joly falls, jumping himself. "It's so loud!" he yelps into the sound of Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu.

The boy laughs softly, holding out his hand for his friend. "At least we know it works, right?" he yells, wincing at the sound of his own voice over the piano.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly waves off Autor's offered hand in favor of scrambling for the speaker. He fumbles clumsily with the controls for a moment, and the volume slides down, from an astonishing thunder to the natural sound of a piano in a small room, leaving Joly's helpless laughter clearly audible.

"Hah, oh, I'm so sorry! Ahahah, oh no, and I could have just unplugged the speaker! Ah, dear..." He catches his breath and calms down faster than usual. The music helps.

He listens to it quietly again. "You really do play beautifully" he says after a while.

[herr_bookman]

Joly's laughter is contagious, and Autor finds himself overwhelmed by his own amusement. He grins at his friend until the compliment, to which he smiles shyly. "Thank you," he says softly. "I appreciate that, Joly, I do."

He sets the laptop on the floor, mindful of the cord connecting it to the speaker. "Well, these clearly work, and work well. Now we just need to be careful not to turn them up too loudly during our plays. I wonder if we can install them up on the walls near the stage?"

[merryeccentricities]

Joly smiles back; then, at Autor's question, reaches into the cart and comes up with a box of speaker-mounts and hardware. "We should be able to! If you're willing to brave the drill again. And-- I think you'll be able to control the volume and everything from this?" He studies the control board again. "If I set it all up properly. You will be our conductor, at least sometimes, won't you?"

[herr_bookman]

"Excellent," Autor says, nodding cheerfully at the mounts. "I can brave the drill again. I'm getting good at that, I think."

Autor leans down to take a look at the control board. He breathes in through his nose. "Hm," he says, "I can certainly try, if that's the role that's needed. I'll have to learn this right along with you. Which switch controls the volume again?"

[merryeccentricities]

Öh, I had turned it down at the speaker, but on this it's...er..."Joly looks to the speaker for help, and then back to the controller. "The thing that looks like a wedge with a parentheses? Here."

He taps the icon that's meant to look like a speaker itself, as interpreted through decades of graphic shorthand that he's utterly ignorant about. "Hang on, let me connect this to the speaker-- it isn't, yet, all that's your little computer--"

But it doesn't take long. "All right; try it?"