The cat in the pillowcase comment got a laugh out of Gio, even though he felt a little bad about it. If Aren were there he would have forced himself to keep a straight face through the joke, not in the least because he thought Aren was very pretty … but also because she was nice. Mostly, though, it had to do with her being pretty. "We can only hope," Gio said.
"It means a lot to me, old guitar or not." He looked from his new guitar to Eisen's, admiring it. He could tell why Rory would pick that one out, even though Gio didn't have any real idea if Rory had the knowledge to pick a guitar based on anything but looks. Considering how close he and Eisen were, and how smart Rory was, Gio was sure his brother had picked up a thing or two just by being Eisen's friend for so long.
"Okay … start with the top." They tuned their guitars together, not talking about much else for the duration. Gio liked the feel of the guitar strings beneath the pads of his fingers, but he thought the guitar itself felt too big in his lap. Hopefully it would be something he got used to, and though he didn't know it yet, it would be something he forgot quickly once his fingers began to get sore from playing.
Once they were finished tuning, Gio ran a finger across all of the strings to hear their sound, smiling at the result. "Sounds good."