InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "My grandmother shot me, ONCE."

Joe Wheeler (papertigerboy) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2012-08-10 08:11:00

Entry tags:

august 2012, eden adler

Who: Eden Adler & Joe Wheeler
What: Setting up for a CL gig.
Where: JJ's bar.
When: August 10th, 6-7PM
Rating: Low for swearing

At this time of night, business was at a lull. Joe wiped some counters, washed some glasses. Once they got the go ahead, it was his call on whether or not to haul the amp stacks on stage first thing. Joe liked to get the really strenuous tasks out of the way before moving on to mic check - it made it less awkward when the band members got there since they could probably bench more than he could. He figured that that would make it easier for him to excuse himself and polish off a nice, cold beer for busting his ass with the Marshalls. And so he decided to do this, hoping to have gained more muscle since the last time when he nearly popped his hamstring.

As he lugged one amplifier up, he had to be mindful of the creeping wires underfoot and stopped mid-task when he feared for his life. He went to tape some up in veins that would prevent somebody (probably him, maybe the lead singer of the band) from breaking their neck. When he bent to tape them, making sure all the rubbery thick ones were in a cluster and the tiny little strands in another, his pants dipped and he knew his new boxer briefs were showing. Normally, he wouldn't give a damn, but since high schoolers were probably going to be in the vicinity soon he felt a little self-conscious and, well, he hated those guys who were all sexual and skeevy with teens in that fake oblivious way, the whole stretching and hugging too much stuff. His old friends in high school turned out to be those kind of creeps.

Just as that thought occurred to him, a door slammed up at the front of JJ's place. Maybe it'd be one of the guys checking in early for sound checks? Joe kept working on the wires, now set on this task and not wanting to be caught mid-haul with an amp, struggling and probably making the kid(s) feel inclined to help the lanky, weird 22-year-old that saw their shows.

"Hey," Simultaneously, he cocked his head up and started tugging on his belt-loops, doing a little shimmy to make his skinny pants move with him and stop slipping. He projected his voice so it'd carry over the back part of the bar, where the stage was set for gigs all the way up to where the regular customers would chill. "Eden, right? I'll be outta here soon - just settin' some stuff up for you cool cats."

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riot_girl_eden
2012-08-11 08:38 am UTC (link)

Summer was drawing to a close much too quickly for Eden's liking. She wasn't learning anything that would benefit her in the future, her time would be better put to practicing her music, booking gigs for CL, and other things to achieve her dream. Writing an essay on the themes in Heart of Darkness wasn't one of those things. But it wasn't like she could drop out, she was still a minor and she would never win a case to get emancipated from her parents.

But whatever no need to dwell on the future, CL had a gig tonight at a bar nonetheless. Sure it wasn't the first time and frankly Eden preferred those gigs. There was a better chance at a recording studio executive discovering them there and offering them a contract. Since they were at a bar she did always try to dress a bit more grown up than normal, so her clothes tonight were a bit tamer. And she did do her hair just last night and added a few streaks of lavender to match her shirt. Purple normally was Sascha signature color but his was always darker so it didn't really matter that much.

After getting her hand stamped to get inside she paused for moment and surveyed someone taping down wires. Hopefully they were smart enough to not touch her stuff...if they liked keeping their hands that is. When he greeted her she was relieved to see it was someone she knew, Joe, he knew to not touch her stuff. She gave a little chuckle as he tried to pull his pants up. Seriously dude, it wasn't that long ago that the 90s fad of guys wearing their pants that hung down almost around their knees came back. So seeing the waistband of a guys underwear wasn't going to scar her. All she could say was thank god he was wearing underwear if he went commando then there might be something to be scarred over.

"Cool cats? Did you just time jump back from the 1920s? Also no need to rush, I'm just early." She gave a little laugh then went over to grab her keyboard case and stand. With remarkable ease she picked them up and made her way over to the right edge of the stage, her normal spot. She flicked her wrist making the stand open up. Setting her keyboard case down she knelt down to snap the legs into the locked position. She glanced over her shoulder causing her hair to fall to reveal the tattoo on her right shoulder blade, "You got the gaffer tape." She held her hand out.

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papertigerboy
2012-08-13 08:42 pm UTC (link)

"Haters gonna hate," Joe only offered a shrug when she questioned his lingo - "cool cat" was a term near and dear to his heart, and it wouldn't be vanishing from his daily vocabulary anytime soon. He sighed, smiling a bit as he handed her the roll of tape, choosing not to comment on why she used "gaffer" instead of "duct". He didn't want to start some sort of language argument - the night was too young.

"I, uh, got the wires set up for the most part. I might've fucked it up a little. I think they're okay," Joe cracked his lower back by pushing his hips forward, his hands on his hips. He stretched while Eden worked on her zone. "Ugh, Christ. I'm not stalling or anything - just mustering my Herculean strength. Then I'll get the last amp stack up. In a minute."

He shot a glance her way, noticing the stamp for under-age entry. He remembered those days - they weren't too far off for him, and smiled fondly as he killed some more time. He really wasn't looking forward to pushing another amp, especially with Eden here to guffaw at his pathetic strength.

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In film school we used gaffer tape to tape down the wires, so I'm all about the gaffer tape XD

riot_girl_eden
2012-08-13 09:06 pm UTC (link)

Eden rolled her eyes, "I'm not hating I'm just saying, if you were a time jumping mutant you should have told me. I'd totally hit you up for rides to see some of the music milestones of the past," she gave a little laugh at that. Although honestly if he really was a time jumping mutant she really would ask...or actually beg him to take her to see some of those eras. She used gaffer instead of duct because gaffer was easier to take up and more gentle on the wires. Also having patches of silver duct tape all over her equipment just looked bad in her opinion.

"Yeah, I just am setting up the wires for my stuff, you know since you'd lose a hand touching anything dealing with my stuff," she finished taping down the last of her wires and gave him a quick look over as he stretched. He was a skinny dude, they could probably share pants. But whatever she tended to like skinny guys, big bulky guys just looked like they were trying to hard and they wouldn't know good music if it came and punched them in the face...which she was tempted to do at times. Especially that Wes Clarke, he better back off Sascha or he'd be visiting the doctor who fixed Travis's nose, along with a few others.

Eden laughed and shook her head, "I'm not saying you are," she went behind the drums to take a seat on the stool and spun around once, "personally I'd say leave it and they can carry it up themselves the lazy bums. If I can manage my own stuff they should manage their own shit. Not to put you out of a job or anything, they just should earn their keep. She noticed his glance to her hand...stupid stamp...it's not like she was gonna drink even if she had the stamp. She was going to be performing, drinking before was really stupid and unprofessional. Water if anything is the only way to go.

She also hated how it broadcasted her age, so to distract him she turned in the chair again the glanced at him over her shoulder and pulled her hair to show her tattoo, "What you think? Cool huh? Got it done about a month ago, the parents' flipped. It's our logo, cute am I right?"

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oh, i see! I'd only ever heard my aussie friend use the word "gaffer" - I'm enlightened now! haha ;)

papertigerboy
2012-08-13 09:20 pm UTC (link)

Joe stiffened a little at the time-jumping mutant comment - not because he was a time-jumping mutant. He just wasn't totally comfortable with being openly mutant yet. Openly bi was weird enough as it was; girls thinking he was gross for taking it up the ass, guys thinking he was gross for liking to lick vulvas. It was awkward, not awful, but just awkward to deal with that social bump in the road every time he got to that bridge with a friend. He didn't also want to add the paper thing too.

"Hah, no siree! I won't touch your stuff, ma'am," Joe made a gesture as if tipping the bill of a cowboy hat, noticing shortly after that she wasn't too happy about the stamp on her hand. And then he was presented with a tattoo of some creature.

"Holy - whoa. Is that, uh, a zombie teddy or something?" He squinted at it, smiling and rubbing his own arm in phantom pain. "It's kinda big! Wow, that must've hurt. Yikes - to the pain, I mean. It's super cute - I like its tie."

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riot_girl_eden
2012-08-13 09:53 pm UTC (link)

Eden smiled at his comment, it was hard to find someone, a male someone, who agreed to no touch her stuff. All that chivalry and rar I'm the man you weak woman bullshit was what she usually had to deal with and it was never fun to constantly be yelling at them to back off.

Her grin widened at his response to her tattoo, "No, it's a bear dressed in a suit, thus part of the corporate world and he had a lobotomy, so it's a corporate lobotomy bear, Corporate Lobotomy get it?" She glanced down at it at his comment about it being big, "It's not that big, it's only like an inch and a half tall, so it's not tiny but also not grotesquely huge." She raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh at his comment about it hurt, "I have a fucking period every month this puppy was cake, and damn straight you should like it. I mean how sick would it look on an album cover, like the writing appearing just below it and I pose like this or this or like this," she glanced over her shoulder and looked up with a sort or dreamy look on her face, then one looking away and down with sort of a sad look, and the last she looked straight at him with a come hither look which then turned into a bright grin as she dropped her hair and turned so she was facing him again, "I mean how sick! You got any tats?"

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papertigerboy
2012-08-17 06:07 pm UTC (link)

Joe was very cautious about approaching or handling other artists' equipment. It was like seeing a friend use your shiny, new laptop. You cringe and offer to look up whatever it is they need yourself, possessed with the irrational fear that the electronic baby of yours will be scuffed, dropped, or cracked in your friend's lap. He knew the feeling and respected others' stuff.

"Oh, yeah! I get it." Joe smiled crookedly, listening to her go on with bright eyes. He was pretty entertained by her poses and model shots, enough so that he actually applauded her and laughed. She was pretty awesome, Eden.

"Oh, uh - no, I don't have any tattoos." He shrugged, scratching the back of his calf with his foot. He resembled a bashful flamingo. He glanced over at the amp stack, wondering if JJ would ever pop in and tell him to quit dawdling. He hoped not. "I'm sort of a weenie when it comes to that. Maybe - uh, maybe I'll get one someday? I dunno."

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riot_girl_eden
2012-08-17 08:55 pm UTC (link)

Eden laughed along with him after she finished he poses and then held her hands up, "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week...or really just tonight." She started fiddling with he hair, deciding now that she wanted it to be up, well...partially. Half up half down as what she was going for. Man she wished she brought her curling iron. Some big soft waves would be cool, then she could do a bump with her hair. Well whatever next time. She let her hair fall from her hands as she focused back on Joe.

Eden was surprised when he said ne didn't have a tattoo, he seemed like that kind of guy who would. I mean MB's husband was like Mr. Tattoo and Joe here worked for him so it would only make sense. She chuckled when he said he was a weenie when he came to those kind of things, "Wuss, but hey if you get one I'll come and hold your hand if you'd like." She was partially joking but as time passed she realized she wouldn't mind that much. Having an older friend would be cool, he could buy her beer and stuff...well...if she ever decided she wanted beer. For a rebel kid she really didn't do many illegal things. The only things she had really done was sneak into R rated movies and get a tattoo without her parents consent. So nothing too major. But whatever, the tattoo seemed to irritate her parents to no ends.

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papertigerboy
2012-08-25 09:04 pm UTC (link)

"I'll remember that," Joe conceded a laugh, shaking his head a little at how bubbly Eden was being. It wasn't a bad thing, he just wasn't used to being met with so much pizzazz in response to his mediocre conversational skills.

He was pretty sure that, when the day came for him to get inked, he wouldn't ask JJ to do it. JJ was a no-nonsense guy; he'd be annoyed if Joe cried or complained. Mary Beth would be a better match - but he still didn't know what to get or where to get it. He figured it was a good thing, anyway. If he'd gotten some tattoo at the spur of the moment a couple of years ago, when he was Eden's age, he'd be in a well of regret.

"Alright, well," Joe cleared his throat. "I'm gonna haul in the rest and then I gotta get back on my shift for the people getting drunk after work. It was, uh, nice chattin' with you, Eden. Break a leg tonight, yeah?"

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