Drinking to memory

[evillurks]

It is nearly a week after The Shadow's sobering visit to the Nexus before he invites Ichi for a drink. The coordinates he attaches are the same he has sent before, whether Ichi has a way to tell that or not. He will land in the living room of the Rettigue apartment, which may be slightly familiar by scent and the sense of a grand space. The furniture is rarely moved, and the smell of coffee seems to linger any time of day or night. Knowing Ichi's own schedule is little dictated by time of day, he's invited him for a very early morning drinking session. When the earliest of risers wake to greet the dawn is roughly when The Shadow's workday ends. He is still in his work suit, smelling faintly of the streets, the late paperwork is stacked now, and whatever is left in the pile can wait for the afternoon. He does not bother to get up as his guest arrives.

Comments

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Mm, perhaps the sake could be next." He tosses a swallow of the brandy, feeling it burn warmly all the way down. He smiles at the feeling, sighing. "Your friend had good tastes."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Very. If you could just visit the mansion he left behind... full of fine furniture and books and paintings... hunting trophies. I was glad when he took the animal heads down." He savours the last of the brandy thoughtfully, before leaning forward again for the sake bottle. "I played at being him, and it spoiled me, but I could never quite get used to being surrounded by so many... so much." Ichi's sense of reflected sound and his few visits have probably clued him in that this apartment is large, but has very little in it. The hard walls and floor make slight echoes, since there is only one rug and a few pieces of furniture to absorb the sound.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"I don't get having a lot of things. Too many worries for tripping." He gives a smile, his feet mimicking the motion of getting tangled in something. "I've always preferred to eat my money, I really can't appreciate nice things like trophies and paintings, but I love music. I'd buy flutes and shamisens by the dozen if I were a rich man. I could live in rags with that much money, and I wouldn't care."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"This is a highly consumerist culture, but I don't like having many things either. I try to be ready to drop anything and leave at any given moment." There have been a few times he has had to do just that, but even the first time he was already prepared. Ichi will have certainly noticed the spartan state of his apartment before, not only from a lack of obstacles but from the way sound echoes faintly in the large empty space and off bare, hard walls.

"Mmm... music is different here, too, you know. Although I shudder to think what kind of rot Walters has exposed you to." Already forward in his seat, he pours the sake, but then stands and crosses over to the sleek stereo system to peer at his meager collection of cassette tapes.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

At that, Ichi just laughs heartily.

"She brought a tape once. There was so much screaming, I didn't know what they said." Ichi reaches out, picking up the sake and smelling the pleasant aroma.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow allows himself a slim smile. "It's what all the younger agents seem to listen to, and what they play in the clubs. You'd better avoid it if you want to keep your sharp hearing." There are the quiet shuffling sounds and a few clicks as he selects one of his older records, instead. Despite his comment about not getting attached to material possessions, he has a few things around that could sell as antiques now, although they were new when he bought them. There is a strange soft sound of the needles on the surface of the record, then an unfamiliar music drifts from speakers at either corner of the bookcase. The instruments and style are unfamiliar to Ichi, but it's much softer and slower, and then a woman's voice joins in melodically.

With a very quiet sigh the old man returns to his seat on the coach and settles in with his sake. It's not often he has the time to listen to old jazz albums.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

He perks to the soft sounds of the jazz, eyebrows raising up his forehead. He holds his sake in hand, but seems to be completely ignoring it in favor of the music.

"The scale is different..." He tilts his head, taking in the music. "But it's nice. What's this called?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"It is, the Western world follows a very different system for music. This is jazz, Ella Fitzgerald. There's not as much of a following these days, but I'm an old man so I'm allowed to have old-fashioned tastes." There is the trace of a smile in his voice, as if the music and drink have let him relax from his usual brusque and businesslike manner.

"I have some music from China, but none from Japan..." He sips the sake thoughtfully, legs stretched out comfortably.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"I haven't heard Chinese music either." He shrugs, listening a bit more to the jazz before taking a sip from the sake. "Do you know what music Cranston liked?"

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"You'd find it much more familiar, stylistically." He makes no move to change the record, however, letting the woman's voice wash over him. "...He liked swing, but I don't think he listened to it much outside the dance halls. He listened to classical concerts and opera..." The Shadow frowns faintly. There was a time he made it a habit to know every small idiosyncrasy of Lamont Cranston's habits, but music fell fairly low on the list. "He was a very wealthy man, with important connections, and he had a certain level of social status to keep up. He listened to the music that went with that, but if he ever found something he liked in his retirement years I wouldn't know. We fell out of touch. For a long time."

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"It's hard to keep in touch with people over time. Especially when you're so busy." He sips at he sake again, then pauses, taking a moment to hum with the unfamiliar song. Impressively, he keeps in tune, even though he's unfamiliar with the kind of music. His note changes are delayed, of course, but he has an impressive sense of pitch. "Ella Fitzgerald." He sounds out the name with a smile.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"Hmm. That's a wonderful excuse. I didn't know what to say to him, once work was no longer a shared interest." He is frowning faintly at himself, and it is possible something of his mood creeps into his tone. Perhaps the reason he was previously so unaware that he had friends is in part because he is not a good one himself. Only now is he truly realizing that, and he feels some guilt and self-reproach for it.

"I have plenty of music you could borrow, if you want to hear more of it. I have casette tapes..." Teaching him the record player and moving it to his apartment is more than he feels like bothering with, for now. Some of those albums are antiques, now.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Ah, thank you, but I believe..." He pauses a moment, obviously trying to think of the word. "A radio?" He's uncertain if he's even right with the English term, and his eyebrows lower in severe concentration. "Chaz told me I should get one. She said it has music too, like her tape. I don't know what she meant by stations, but she said New York had many."

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"I'll get you a radio. It works by picking up signals out of the air, that carry music. Those signals are broadcast by radio stations, with big antennas..." He pauses there to study Ichi's expression, trying to gauge how much of this he's getting, or if he's merely confusing him further. He finishes off his glass of sake as if to fortify himself for whatever explanations are to come.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

Ichi responds to what he would consider techno-babble, with raised eyebrows and his version of a confused expression. Realizing just how far things seem to have gone over his head, he gives a nervous chuckle and ducks his head. He's been doing rather well, being able to just accept things at face value, but even how the record player works is beyond him. He looks almost embarrassed to reply.

"I can hardly understand how the tape player works, all those tiny parts..." Someone might have been carefully poking his fingers somewhere he probably shouldn't have, but sometimes his curiosity gets the better of him. He was careful at least, and it still works fine. He didn't touch the tape at least. "Radios, stations, antennas." Another nervous laugh. "Speak Greek. I might do better." Apparently Chaz has also been teaching him some other phrases as well, even if Ichi has no idea what Greek is.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

The Shadow gives a sigh, but his expression is mildly amused. "Nevermind, we'll have to start with the basics of electricity, sometime. I'll still get you a radio, just don't take it apart." That Ichi has been prodding at the works of his tape player is news, but The Shadow can hardly fault him for it, since it's precisely what he would have done himself.

He leans forward to refill his glass. "What else has Walters left you confused about?"

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry, I won't." He raises his head, tossing back the remains of his glass and sighs happily.

"Mmm, she mentions a subway often, and something about...ripping?" He thinks about the term for a moment before correcting himself. "Shredding, that's what she called it, which I think is not what it sounds like." Sometimes, things get lost in translation.

[evillurks.livejournal.com]

"The subway you'll have to learn about firsthand, sooner or later. It's a kind of vehicle, very large, that runs through underground tunnels to keep from cluttering up the surface roads. The rest... mm... skateboarding terms, I believe, but I couldn't tell you what they mean beyond that." The Shadow's knowledge is vast and has more or less kept up with modern times, but he can't know everything.

[blind-masseur.livejournal.com]

"I might have to ask her about skateboarding. She seems to enjoy it." But the prospect of a vehicle underground not only confuses him further, it makes him nervous. Sounds echo strangely underground, and makes it difficult to find his bearings. It's likely he'll be surprised how open the spaces are in the subway system.