Mermaid. That... was a new one. John caught himself staring slightly and jerked his head as soon as he realized his curiosity in her as a magical creature had turned to a curiosity in what mermaid blood tasted like.
He snapped his attention away and tried to refocus on the instruments, part of him despising himself for where the line of thought had taken him. Still, talking to her helped to distract him from the feeling, and for now he was in control.
He smiled and lead her to the back. "This is how people make music when our singing is dreadful," he said, winding his way through the drums and keyboards on the store floor, nodding to the shop attendant before he stopped in front of the guitars, examining the acoustic selection before pulling one down and dropping Ariel's arm. "Here, I'll show you."
He put his knee up on a chair seat and set the guitar comfortably, then plucked the strings softly, retuning one before he began to strum. A benefit of the dead world had been an increase in the time he'd gotten to play his guitar.