Summary:Dax meets Riley singing in Central Park, and is enthralled. So naturally, he blows up his phone and they have to get him a new one. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
  |
Most New Yorkers seem to disdain hanging out in Central Park, but not Dax. It's a bit of a tourist thing, but he likes the fact that there's a big plot of nature sitting in the middle of the busiest city in the country. Today finds Dax sitting under a tree reading a book, not far from the main pathway. Occasionally, he'll look up to watch the passers-by, but he's otherwise on his own. No headphones in his ears, and he doesn't seem particularly engrossed by the book in front of him. If ever there was a visual definition of 'approachable', this is it.
Not too far awy from his shady spot under a tree, a young woman with long red hair will set down a guitar case. It will flip open, and the guitar itself is extracted and the strap slipped overhead. The case is kept open, a little sign making joke about helping her with student loans exposed. She will sit on the bench, and those first notes are released, to test and make sure everything is in tune.
After she's sure it's in tune, she will sit back, chin tipped up, a deep breath as the notes start. "My lover's got humor, she's the giggle at a funeral, knows everyone's disapproval, I shoulda worshipped her sooner…" Her voice projects that bluesy sort of soulful song, her pitch is perfect, tone round and full, a hint of mournful.
Dax reads for a few moments longer while Riley gets set up; in fact, he doesn't even notice her until she starts singing, but when she does he almost immediately closes the book and casts his eyes toward her, almost immediately entranced. A few moments later, he starts to silently mouth the words along with her. He's not a singer, which makes it a good thing he's not actually trying to sing along, but he knows the words. And then, a few seconds in, he gets up and walks toward where she's set herself up, still just silently listening.
Riley still has her eyes closed, as the force of her voice increases. The words, her voice, it is all more stirring, pulling at heart strings. Dax won't be the only one moving to stand near her, as people slow in their wanderings, pausing to listen. There's a little bit of coins, a couple dollars tossed into that case as she sings.
That song will end, and Riley's eyes will open, a bright aqua shade as she smiles and reaches for her water. She will tip it up for a long sip, before she sets it down. There's another deep breath, as she lets her eyes sweep around, before she will start playing again, her smile lingers. "I had me a boy, turned him into a man, showed him all the things he didn't understand…"
Yeah, Dax is one of the crowd. He's okay with that. He'll stand and listen to the next song, and even pull a five dollar bill out of his pocket, which is happily dropped in to Riley's case along with the rest of the donations being offered. It's all he has on him, so it'll have to do, but if he had more.. that voice.
Once the fun, teasing Elle King song is over, she changes gears again, going for a soulful country style. She sees that fiver, looking up with those bright blue-green eyes locking on Dax's face. She'll give him a wink as she starts to /really/ sing. "Bluuuuuueeeeeee, Oh so lonesome for you. Why can't you be blue, over me? Blue, oh so lonesome for you, tears fill my eyes, 'til I can't see. 3 o'clock in the morning, here am I, sitting here so lonely, so lonesome I could cry…" She will let her eyes linger on Dax a long moment as she sings, the pull inside making people feel that lonliness, that longing for love returned. Who could do her that way?
Completely against his will, Dax finds his eyes watering, and a couple of tears actually fall from his eyes as he listens to Riley singing. And she's watching him, which makes it even more impactful. "Wow," he whispers when she finishes the song, but doesn't move away, as some of the listeners would. He manages a smile toward her, but still, entranced by her voice.
Riley will give Dax another long look, a quick hint of a smile. The guitar barely stops, before she's launching into another, more recent song. "Used to spend my nights out in the barroom, liquor was the only love I'd known, but you rescued me from reaching for the bottle, and brought me back from being too far gone. You're as smooth as Tenessee whiskey, you're as sweet as strawberry wine…" Her eyes will close, as she focused, "You're as warm as a glass of brandy, and honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time.."
The pull for craving love easing, now there's a slowly building warmth, that feeling of home and safety, wanting to give all that love, all the time.
These feelings are so.. nice. Dax doesn't even know why, really. The music? The girl? At this point, he'll have been listening to her long enough that her powers will have taken full effect on him. He leans against the nearby tree, watching and.. well, staring at her. It's not his fault, though, right? How does she not have a record deal, he wonders. Or does she? Oh my god, is she famous, doing one of these secret concerts in the park?
Riley will take a break after that one, reaching for her water again. She laughs and smiles, chatting with a couple people who have compliments or questions. She will let her hands flex and relax, a roll of her shoulders.
She will glance over at Dax, a mischievious smile crossing her face, before she starts keeping time with a tap of her foot and a snap of her fingers, singing without the support of the guitar or anything but the snap of fingers. "I feel a sin comin' on. I feel a right that's about to go wrong, I got a shiver down to the bone, I feel a sin comin' on. I got a buzz in my brain. Drunk on a love goin' down like champagne, I got a feeling it's gonna leave a lipstick stain. I'll be the only one to blame…" The guitar will come in then, a flash of a grin. "And you can see it all over my face. Sweet temptation all over the place, give me tall, dark, and handsome, mix it up with somethin' strong.. I feel a sin comin' on." Dax will feel it then, that tingle and warmth of a quick burst of physical attraction. That slightly butterfly notion in the belly.
Dax isn't usually shy, or particularly awkward. I mean, you wouldn't really call him smooth, but he does okay. When Riley finishes this last song though, he scrounges up his nerves and takes a few steps closer. His face is noticeably flushed, which anyone who knows him will tell you is not his usual state. "Uh, hi," he says. Say something else, you fool! "You have an amazing voice." Something not every other person in the park has already told her, idiot! "And you're, like.. really pretty." Good god you're a moron, Dax. "Do you want to grab a coffee, or lunch, or.. something?" Isn't there a bus coming through here soon he can throw himself in front of?
Riley looks up as he comes over, smiling brightly at him. "Hi!" She's taking a break, it seems, moving to put her guitar in the case - atop a reasonable amount of money considering everything. She will flush as he compliments her. "Thanks, I love singing." Calling Captain Obvious Riley, god! Her lips will move without sound a moment, flushing brighter when he's calling her pretty, a lowering of lashes. "Thanks. You're very sweet." There's the tangible, accent from Alabama, like a breeze just touched with the scent of magnolia. But those eyes lift when he's asking her for coffee, and her teeth will catch her lower lip between them. "Maybe an iced coffee? Think that might be better, day like today."
Dax smiles, and manages to push his awkwardness down into the bottoms of his shoes. "I could listen to you all day," he says, sounding a bit smoother. He'll offer her a hand up, if she'll take it. "Iced coffee it is," he says. There's a coffee cart around nearby somewhere, no doubt; if not, you can't throw a rock in this city without hitting a Starbucks. "You're not from here, are you? I mean, the accent kind of gives it away." He likes it though, that much is obvious.
Riley will pause before she takes his hand, a small backpack on her shoulder, her other hand gripping the handle of her guitar until she can get that strap over her head to sling it diagonally across her back. "You're sweet, but I'm sure I'd bore you after an hour." She laughs, a hand lifting to tug hair out from under the strap. "Alabama. I'm going to college up here." She'll offer a hand to shake. "Riley."
"I'm Dax," he says, giving Riley's hand a little squeeze when it is offered. "I'm sure that's not true, but I'd be willing to give you an hour to prove me wrong," he jokes with a little laugh. "What college? What are you studying?"
She's still a little flushed, shrugging her shoulders to settle guitar and pack more comfortably. "Oh yeah? Maybe sometime." She jokes back about the hour. "I go to Empire State? I'm majoring in music, which I am sure is totally obvious."
"Well that makes a lot of sense," Dax smiles; he'd have guessed that, except that he's just trying to keep his head above water at this point. She'd probably be able to tell that he's still nervous. So, when he pulls his phone out of his pocket to check and see what direction they need to go, and it very suddenly flashes several times at him, makes a little spark from the sides, and abruptly goes dark, naturally he jumps a little and drops it, which of course, breaks it even more. "Agh, fuck me, not again!" He shouts, and then looks absolutely mortified at his reaction. "Uh. Sorry.."
Riley is just about to 'cheat' and try to relax him despite her own nerves when his phone flashes and sparks. She will reach out to pull him back from where the phone landed, reaching for his hand. "Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?" She looks up, laughing. "I've heard worse language out of Choir directors."
"I'm okay," he says, moving away from the phone as she pulls him back, and watching it to make sure it's not going to like, explode or something. "AppleCare isn't going to cover that." Stupid AppleCare. Why even bother, if it won't cover water damage or mutant mishaps? He touches the phone with his shoe, testing its inert-ness. Seems okay, so he then leans down to pick it up, dust it off, and slide it back in his pocket. He'll still -try- to take it to the Apple Store.
"Why not? You didn't do anything, it attacked you!" Riley states, glaring at the phone. "Are you sure you're okay?" She will glance down at his hand, watching him pick it up. She will bite on her bottom lip again. "Well this isn't a great way to start going for coffee.
"Oh, I'm not exactly innocent in all this," Dax admits. She doesn't seem like the judging type, exactly, and maybe it's part of her vocal effect on him. "This isn't the first time a phone has exploded on me. I have a bit of a.. shall we call it a temperamental aura?" Yeah, that's one way to put it. In other words, he gets nervous and things start going all magnetically haywire. It's fun. "It's all good. You'll have a story to tell your friends about this super-awkward guy who asked you for coffee and then detonated his phone as an ice-breaker." He flashes a smile, trying to once again de-awkwardize the situation. Success rating? To be determined.
"Tempermental aura? I don't know, you seem okay to me." She will flash a smile up at him, before glancing away, a little on the shy side. "You're not super awkward at all!" That comment brings her eyes back to his face. "If that's your idea of an ice breaker, honey, you need to relax. Ice isn't that thick in June."
Dax gives Riley a laugh, thankful for her being good-humoured about it. "Gonna have to get myself a new phone tomorrow, I guess. And now when I ask for your number after, I'm gonna have to find a pen and a piece of paper to write it down.. the trials of being a millenial, right?" It's a joke! Hey look, the coffee cart is just up ahead. Thank god!
She smiles up at him. "It seems like. You know, I never seem to have a problem with those people, if you want me to come along to persuade on your behalf. I don't know if it's the accent, or what, but I'm good at customer service wrangling." She shrugs. "I could email it to you from my phone, if you wanted. Lots of ways around it."
"Hey, you know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. I -never- have any luck getting them to see it my way." Of course, he knows that it's nothing to do with the phone, but it's still an expensive accident to make a habit of. He pauses for a moment, giving Riley a bit of a mischievous look. "… what are you doing, like.. now? The Apple Store is like.. five minutes from here." Corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street. "Help me out, and I'll get you the -fanciest- iced coffee ever." Big smile.
"It's a talent, customer service. A lot of people don't think so." She glows, just a bit, that color high in her cheeks. "Well, right now? I guess I'm going to the apple store to try and help you get them to cover your phone with that stupid protection plan they push."
"Wow. You are easily the nicest person I've ever met in Central Park," Dax says with a grin. He's not even joking. He steps up to the coffee cart, and orders two very large iced coffees, and pays the man; thank god for interac flash, right? Since Riley now has all his cash, and he certainly won't hear of her paying for it. This was supposed to be his treat, after all, and what kind of date would it be if she paid.
"Well, I'm a southern girl. We're all abut hospitality." She makes light, shrugging. "You're nice, why should I be nice back? It's not anything out of my way, and I don't have a schedule since school is out. So why not help?" She's blushing, just a bit, as she accepts her coffee with a murmured thank you.
"Well, believe me, that's a rare attitude around here. Most New Yorkers would as soon push you into the street if it meant saving them ten seconds to get from A to B." With coffees in hand, he'll guide the way out of the Park, toward the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. "Fortunately for you though, I'm not originally from New York," he says with a smirk. Of course, he's lived here long enough that he might as well have, but given that he just finished calling them a bunch of psychopaths, well, maybe distancing himself from that moniker is best.
"I don't think it's that rare. I know a lot of people who have been kind to me. I wouldn't make any money in the park, if everyone were just big, meanie grumps." She counters, sipping at her straw, a soft sigh. That coffee is hitting the spot. "Where are you from, originally?"
"I guess that's true," Dax admits. In fairness, he tends to see the worst sides of people, in his line of work. "I'm from Detroit originally. Came here when I was.. Jesus, twelve? Thirteen?" Has it been that long? Guess so. He's not going to tell her the whole sob story; they just met, after all. "Spent a few years out west, and came back to Manhattan a few months back. I'm a citizen of the world," he says with a grin. "Well, a citizen of America, I guess. Haven't really been anywhere else." He doesn't even have a passport, come to think of it. Should get on that.
"Motown city." Of course her mind goes to music, what else would he expect of the music girl? "Moving here was my first time living anywhere but Alabama. I've been places around the country, but.. just little vacations between semesters. Mom and Dad both worked for a college." She shrugs. "There's lots to see and learn just here in the U.S."
"Also Eminem, and a failing automotive industry," Dax replies with a little snap-point. "There's practically a whole world between New York and Los Angeles," which must be where he lived on the coast. "Could spend a whole life seeing everything. What did your parents teach in college?" As they talk, they make their way, step after step, toward their destination. It's a nice walk, at least Dax thinks so. It relaxes him.
"I really do hope to travel more, sometime. After college." She shrugs. "One thing at a time." She sips at her iced coffee as she tried to match her steps to his. "Dad's a music professor, momma worked as a research assistant, but once they split up, she got a job as a dean's assistant in Dallas. " She will sip her coffee. "What do your folks do?"
"My mom died when I was a kid," Dax says, "And my father worked for Chrysler before they started shutting plants down. Nowadays, I think he just collects unemployment. We don't really talk any more." It's a bit of a sore spot, and Dax is eager to change the subject back to Riley's story. "Music professor, huh? Why does that not shock me?" He wipes the frown off his face, replacing it with a smirk at that. "Never been to Dallas. Actually, the only things I know about it are from the TV show. Lots of cowboy hats, from what I gather."
"I'm sorry." She says softly, and he can almost feel that twinge, the sympathy she has for him, when she touches his arm lightly. "It's rough, a lot of people are frustrated that all the manufacturing job have vanished. He's probably angry. They probably promised him a long career and retirement." She smirks up at him. "It's in my blood, I confess. Momma was a cheerleader and dancer, acted in musicals. How they met." Then she laughs. "Lots of hats, big hats, huge pickup trucks."
Dax doesn't say anything more about his father, but he does give a nod to her words. It's not a subject he really wants to talk about, since pretty much every interaction he's had with his father since his mother died has been regrettable. Sob story. He laughs at her comments about hats and trucks though, and the negative thoughts wash away. As they walk up to the door of the Apple Store, Dax steps ahead and opens it for Riley to go through first, because he's a gentleman. Or at least he likes to be seen as one. Almost immediately there's a guy in his early twenties in front of them with an iPad, in a blue t-shirt and khakis. "Hey there folks, do you have an appointment?"
She will let the subject of his father drop, smiling sweetly when he's laughing at her summation of Dallas. She will incline her head, but not quite curtsy, when he holds the door for her. She will pop a bright smile to the apple associate. "We do not." Her head tips just a touch. "Sadly, we had an emergency in the park, his phone sparked out at me and went dead! So, he's got hte Applecare, so we're here."
"Yeah, I don't know what happened," Dax says. It's a lie, but a lie well-told. "It just.. poof." He makes a little explode-y motion with his hands, and then pulls the dead lump of aluminum and glass out of his pocket. There's even little scorch marks under the screen.
"Well that does seem very strange," the associate says, taking the phone in hand and looking it over for a moment before handing it back. "I'll try to get you one of our specialists to take a look at it and see about getting you a replacement," he says, tapping on the screen a few times to enter the information. "Your name?"
"Dax," he says, which elicits a brow-raise from the employee. "It's French," he explains after a moment of the man looking oddly at him. "Not from Star Trek." He has to explain that one a little too often for his liking. The associate smiles, nods, and says, "We'll call you up when the next associate is available. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes."
Riley is totally helping him sell, it, he just doesn't know it. She's smiling and the picture of sweet girl next door, as she nods along with what Dax says. "It was terrifying, the way it just sparked out. I've never seen anything like that." She'll use her empathy, because she likes Dax, and well… he did pay for the coverage.
It isn't more than a few minutes before another Apple associate approached, with another horrendously fake smile on his face. "Dax? I hear you're having some trouble with your phone. Let's go sit and have a look and see if we can't figure out what the problem is," he says, guiding the pair to a table. "Yeah, the problem is that it kind of exploded on me," Dax says simply as he pulls out a stool for Riley before sliding onto one himself. "But I've got AppleCare, so we should be able to just swap it for a new one, right?" He smiles, and looks at Riley for a moment. The Apple associate smiles, and even gives a bit of a laugh. "Well, let's just see if we can see what kind of damage is in there first, okay?" This is how they get you, you see. AppleCare only covers certain things. Massive electromagnetic overload might not be on the list.
Riley will flash a smile at Dax as he pulls out that stool for her, sitting on it with her hands on the table, folding together like a good girl in church. "That's just it, see." She will lean over, as if to look at the phone, a hand resting on the bare skin of the associate's wrist. "We went to look up directions, and it just flashed, then looked like it sparked, and then went dead. It scared me, I confess. I mean, we've all heard about batteries blowing up and all. You should be careful." She will give big aqua eyes to the associate, all naive concern in her expression. She may also be trying to sway him a bit, making sure he 'hears' what she wants him to hear with empathy and telepathy.
"Well, they're really not supposed to do that," the tech says with a laugh and a smile at Riley. He takes the phone from Dax when it's presented, and a look of shock falls over his face. It's really not supposed to look like that. "Wow," he says simply. Dax half-smirks, and rolls his shoulders a bit. His eyes go from the tech to Riley, and back. "Yup. Randomly blew up in my hand. Could have really done some damage," he says. Lawsuit on the horizon? The tech looks concerned, and plugs it in to the nearby laptop, which is of course regular procedure. When nothing happens, he doesn't seem all that surprised. "Well, Mr Walker, and.. You must be his girlfriend? Lucky guy." Another lawsuit on the horizon, possibly? "Your phone is still under warranty, obviously.. but given the nature of the damage, and the potential injury it could have caused.." he takes in a breath, and lets it out; not a sigh, quite, but close. His manager's not gonna very happy about this, but… "We'll replace it outright, and offer you an upgrade with no strings attached." The tech looks at Dax first, and then at Riley, who is obviously finding a lot of success here in her endeavors to persuade him.
"I can tell you see how very wrong something went. " Riley adds in softly hen she sees the look of shock. She'll look at Dax when the tech plugs the phone into the laptop, a brilliant smile. Then she blushes hotly when he's calling her Dax's girlfriend, and even worse when he hints Dax is a lucky guy. Lashes lower, a sidelong look at Dax. She will pull back just a bit, powers wise, while still smiling for the tech.
"Let me just take a look in the back and see what we have in stock," the tech says, standing up from the table and heading toward the back of the store. Dax lets out a little bit of a laugh once he's out of earshot. "Okay, so I've never not gotten the third degree from one of these guys." Yeah, he's been here before. A few times. "I mean, once I got accused of putting it in the microwave. Apparently that's a thing people do?" Too much information, Dax. Quit while you're ahead. "So.. you must be just that disarming or something, because.. holy hell. They never just agree." If he thinks there's anything strange going on aside from 'walked in with a pretty girl on his arm' (which is strange enough), he's not letting on. Just thinks he's damn lucky to have run into Riley on a day when he was apparently going to frack his phone all to hell.
Riley laughs, still a little blushed pink in the cheeks. "It's the batting of the lashes, and the southern accent. We southern girls know how to make a man want to impress us." She will wink at Dax, before she's looking away. "I've heard of that. Some morons thought putting the phone in the microwave would help charge it or something."
"I'll bet you do," Dax says with a smile, even perhaps.. was that a wink? Dear god. The things a guy will do, am I right? "Yeah, that was the thing. I'm not so gigantic a moron as that, I don't think. If I'm being honest, these things tend to just.. happen. I don't have great luck with computers or phones, or things like that." For good reason, but that's more a second or third date discussion. "But this is why it always seems a good idea to shell out for the protection plan, even if it's like pulling teeth to get them to honour it, usually."
Riley will look back at him from under lashes, before he's mentioning how he's not good with computers or phones. She will arch an eyebrow at him, almost as if she's implying she knows better. She will smile. "Insurance can be a very good thing to have, yes. Because accidents happen, even to the best of us."
Dax chuckles again, and nods. "Hopefully I can keep this next one running for more than a month before I somehow manage to blow it up," he says. "Believe me, if there was a way to get along in the world these days without one, I'd be all over it." It won't be long before the Apple associate returns, a fancy new phone in hand. "You're in luck," he says to Dax and Riley, as he gets to work getting a new SIM card installed, and setting up the phone on the network. "I'll send your old one out to see if they can figure out what kind of problem caused it to blow up on you; we definitely don't want that to happen to anyone else!" He smiles. It'll take a few minutes to get everything sorted out on his end, but it's all just settings and submitting information to the phone company at this point. Once it's all said and done, Dax and Riley can be back on their way, and he can finally, FINALLY, put the pretty girl's number into his contacts. Which was the whole point of this excursion!
Riley will happily give Dax her number, even if she's blushing a little bit when she does it. She suggests maybe they could hang out and get pizza or something, not exactly sure what is the best way of saying she'd like to see him again, without sounding dumb. She will flash him a bright smile before she will run to catch the next train to get her close to home.