sixth [text]

[angewiesen]

Alright, I give up, I need help.

How the hell am I supposed to figure out a present for my Secret Santa without totally giving it away?

Comments

text.

[dramatic]

Sixth! I can meet you there in ten.

action.

[angewiesen]

[Hey, Jean is nothing if not punctual. Military style. He's already sipping at a mug of black coffee when she gets there.]

action.

[dramatic]

( and mj shows up a bit later, licking her way through a sparkly candy cane. (there are two kinds of people in this world.) )

Hey! So you really can't give anything away, huh?

action.

[angewiesen]

If it's just between you and me here, I could tell you her name. Other than that, I've never met her.

action.

[dramatic]

Maybe I know her? ( she settles into a chair and presses her elbows to her knees. ) What's her name?

action.

[angewiesen]

Elizabeth. Just that, no last name. Mae did give me a picture of her though.

[He shows it to MJ with the communicator.]

She's pretty, but I don't think that has anything to do with what she likes.

action.

[dramatic]

( mj brightens up a bit. )

Oh! I don't know her personally, but I did go to this Fourth of July party she hosted. She seemed real fancy. You could go with something vintage. ( vintage and lady-like. she has a few ideas for that, too. hrmm... )

action.

[angewiesen]

Vintage? What does that mean?

[Jean was past vintage. He was more middle ages.]

action.

[dramatic]

( right! temporal displacement is a thing, and she should know. she came from the seventies. )

It basically means old school, but I just remembered that can mean different things to different folks. ( either way! ) You can get her a pretty neck scarf made of silk. Or a nice pair of gloves, especially since it's so cold. There's brooches and pins and lipstick cases...

( there's a lot of ways to please ladies ok. )

action.

[angewiesen]

So delicate stuff that high brow inner-wall ladies wear? I mean. Rich ladies?

Can't say I know a whole lot about that. Do you?

action.

[dramatic]

Only by observation. ( mj barely got by as it is. )

Besides, it doesn't have to be high brow to be special or pretty. Keep it simple. If it helps, there was also a gramophone player at that party. If she hosted it, then she likes that kind of thing. Do you know anything about music?

action.

[angewiesen]

Not a damn thing, aside from reveille, and taps. What's a gramophone player?

[Talking to Jean usually turns into a game of 20 questions. He's gotten used to it. Everyone else might not.]

action.

[dramatic]

It's -- hold on, I'll show you.

( it might help more if there's an actual demonstration, so mj is sure wishing for a gramophone player from the closet nearby. )

action.

[angewiesen]

[She gets one. It's not very fancy, but it'll play a vinyl record.]

What's with the horn? [He stood up and walked around to examine it from all angles.] It makes music? Do you turn the crank?

action.

[dramatic]

The sound comes out of the horn, because it's attached to this.

( she points to the diaphragm. )

You wind up the mainstring so the turntable will spin. ( mj releases the brake lever and gently lowers the soundbox to the outer rim of the record. the record itself was chosen by wonderland, but it's still predictably fitting. )

action.

[angewiesen]

[Jean's neck jerked back slightly as it began to play, and then he cocked his head, rather like that little dog in the advertisements.]/small>

And the plate here is where the music is coming from?

action.

[dramatic]

( mj bites back a smile. she doesn't want jean to think she's laughing at him, it was just a cute reaction. )

It's called a record. There's a lot more sophisticated technology now to listen to music, but some people prefer turntables and gramophones.

action.

[angewiesen]

Yeah, I think I've seen a... A CD player before? Here, I mean. It makes a different sound than this thing.

[There was a weird, distant, scratchy quality to vinyl, compared to the more one-to-one experience of a CD or MP3.]

action.

[dramatic]

You really didn't have any of this back where you're from?

( jean's always struck her as a simple person. practical, prudent, the opposite of materialistic. but she knows so little about his world. )

action.

[angewiesen]

If you wanna hear music, you've gotta make it yourself. Usually with a guitar or a fiddle. There are a couple of traditional songs but usually you just kind of improvise.

action.

[dramatic]

( a slight grin. )

Well, if you're ever in the mood to hear more of it, you know where to find me.

action.

[angewiesen]

Thanks. So you think she'd like one of these... records?