Ukuleles Are Finally Cool! - @Claud
“No, we can definitely hang out. May as well make up for lost time. I still can’t believe we went to the same school and barely noticed the other existed,” JJ says, returning Claud’s smile with one of his own. Claud then asked him more about JJ’s hobbies. He must not’ve heard me call myself ‘the weird kid who likes magic.’ Or my rep at Roundview wasn’t as big as I thought it was. “My biggest hobby is magic tricks. Enough so that I’ve been heavily considering making it my career. Other than that, just hanging out with my friends, reading, or playing with my pets. So, what do you do for fun?”
”That’s how school works, I suppose. People seperate into their groups and that’s that.” Claud said as JJ expressed his disbelief that the two had never properly met at school. He was also grinning, glad that JJ would be willing to hang out in the future. Claud wasn’t too interested in magic tricks, thinking they were a bit silly, but he had indeed heard about him at school, supposedly he was very good. “Maybe you can show me some tricks sometime?” he asked. He wouldn’t want to learn the tricks, but seeing them could always be fun.
Then JJ asked Claud what he did for fun. It used to be similar to what JJ did, but now that his friends were gone, Claud was home a lot, and was falling back into the old patterns of his father coming home, getting drunk, and hitting both Claud and his mother. Claud decided to leave this part out of the conversation. “Oh, I like to read too, I also like to eat. I should be much fatter than I am.” he said with a laugh. “I used to do some modeling for a friend. Nothing professional, but it was fun.” Claud looked around at the walls, there were some pictures of him playing football. Not American football, but soccer. “I played football for a few years. I was very good, but I didn’t like it so much. It just stopped being fun for me, you know?” he asked. “I’m allergic to a lot of animals, but what kind of pets do you have?” he asked JJ, who was listening intently.
JJ grins; the idea of people being interested in his magic tricks is still novel to him. “Sure, I always keep a few of my props in my pocket just in case.” JJ snorts, “I know, I eat like a horse sometimes. Granted, Cook is loads worse than me. On his 17th birthday, he ate his whole bloody cake in one sitting.” He laughs at the memory, though watching him eat it was pretty disgusting. JJ isn’t surprised when Claud mentions modeling; he’s definitely got the face and body for it. Good thoughts JJ, you have a sort-of boyfriend now. He follows Claud’s gaze and sees some pictures of Claud in his football playing days. “I’ve got the grace of a baby giraffe. Never been good at sports or dancing. So what, your parents forced you into it or something? I know the feeling. Mother put me in a variety of activities so I’d be more socially well-rounded, or some rubbish like that. She eventually realized I’m better left to my own devices.” JJ feels a bit bad when Claud mentions allergies. “I had some rats, but they died after I graduated from Roundview. So now I have a hamster and a bunny. Er if you start sneezing, I apologize.” JJ brushes some fur off of his shirt, hoping he won’t set Claud’s allergies off.
Claud pictured Cook eating an entire cake by himself. Just the idea of it made Claud’s stomach curl. “That’s bloody disgusting.” he said. He continued to listen to JJ, who was now asking if his parents had forced him into playing football. “They said I had to do something, so I just did what my friends were doing, you know?” It was true, his father was especially strict about Claud getting involved in some kind of sport. “But I quit shortly after. Like I said, I was good…really good…I just didn’t have a good time with it. “erm… Sorry to hear about your rats.” Claud never saw the appeal with keeping rodents as pets, but so many people did nowadays. “My mom always wanted to get a dog, but we couldn’t, or I’d be sneezing all the time. And that would just piss off my dad.” he said. Claud noticed JJ brush off his shirt. “Don’t worry about it, It’s mostly dogs and cats, and I have to be around the fur for a while for anything to happen.” He smiled at JJ while he wasn’t looking, and continued fidgeting with his ukelele.
“Yeah, his table manners are nonexistent. Wanker could’ve left us some. Looked really good too.” JJ nods when Claud talks about why he was forced into football. He appreciates Claud’s attempts at comforting him about his rats, though he assumed it was just for his sake. JJ knows rats and mice still freak people out, Franky’s reaction proved that. “I’ve never had any big pets. My mom thought they were too destructive. At least smaller pets stay in their cages.” JJ remembers why he was here when he sees Claud fidget with his ukulele. “So er did you want to get back to the lesson? Or we could continue talking, or do both. Either way, I’m having fun,” he says with a smile.
Claud laughed. He loved cake, and would have hated to see one person drunkenly stuf an entire cake into his mouth at once. “I always wanted a dog too, but putting up with the allergies just wasn’t worth it.” Claud said. e ignored JJ’s question as he kept plucking on the strings of the instrument. “You got a Girlfriend?” he asked, looking down at his ukelele, then his eyes lifted to meet JJ’s. Part of this question was just small talk…a typical conversation topic, but Claud also genuinely wanted to know. What are you doing, Claud, you just met him!
JJ winces. Why oh why did he have to ask if I had a girlfriend? He sighs, hoping Claud won’t judge him. “My love life is exceedingly complicated right now. I have a girlfriend who I unintentionally cheated on with a few people. I’ve been trying to get ahold of her so I can break it off with her properly but she never answers. She was sick with mono, but she should be over it by now. So I think she knows and is avoiding me. The guy I slept with, I think we’re together but I’m not sure. He says he loves me, but he doesn’t like labels. He’s scared he’ll hurt me, or something. And I also slept with this other girl and I’m scared she has feelings for me.” JJ runs his hand through his hair, feeling like a complete jackass. “That sounded scummy, didn’t it? I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He avoids looking at Claud. He’s scared of being judged, god knows he hates himself for the fucked up situation he’s in.
Claud listened without interrupting JJ. When JJ finally finished talking about his situation, he asked Claud if he sounded scummy. “Well, you know, you could have just said you had a girlfriend…or boyfriend or whatever…and left it at that…” He took a minute to let it all sink in, for JJ had just unloaded quite a bit of personal information on a near stranger. After a few moments of silence he finally spoke up. “Well, you’re a bit of a slut, aren’t you?” he sat on the couch next to JJ. “But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get a handle on everything soon enough.” he said. “Plus, it’s not like you’re just screwing people for the fun of it, you’re just falling for too many at once, or at least that’s how it sounds…” he laughed again. “Me? I’m just the opposite. I screw people just for the fun of it. Emotions and relationships are too much work, if you ask me.” Claud looked at JJ who was clearly upset by the topic. “So…maybe we could start some basic chords, yes?” he asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
OOC: I do not play this instrument at all and I’m literally going off an online tutorial. XD
JJ was never one for social graces. “S-shit sorry. I’ve just been so confused lately.” He winces when Claud calls him a slut. He’s convinced he’s become one at this point. “I do have feelings for all three of them. Is it wrong to love more than one person?” He’s already asked Maxxie but he wouldn’t mind an answer from Claud. JJ looks down when Claud mentions emotionless sex. It reminded him of Lucy, who initially wanted a one-off but now sounds like she’s falling for him. Feeling like a twat, JJ takes his uke out of his case so he can teach Claud about chords. He physically demonstrates his steps while he’s talking. “Ok, the C major is always a good one to start with. You put your left ring finger on the A string between the second and third fret. It has to be firm enough to keep the string down but loose enough that the string can vibrate freely. Now drag your right index fingernail across the four strings.” JJ expertly plays the chord. “And that’s what a C sounds like.” He waits for Claud to try his luck with the chord.
