Re: [misha & jude: the capital]
I like mimicking song. Well, I ain't sure if it's mimicking. More like if I love a tune something real strong, I like bringing my own fingers to the strings and plucking it to life. Most of my shows at the carnival are built on covers. [Artistically built, which Jude would know, having been to one. Misha, he strung themes and songs together, paired them with a whole lot of costuming and moving 'round, and his tent was full every night he performed. Thinking on it, it made him long for it in a way he hadn't when his mind had been real scrambled, and he reckoned he would call the new owner once he got himself back to the apartment.] Climbing inside the sound. That's real pretty talking. [Misha, he liked how that sounded, and the smile he shot over at Jude was earnest.] I reckon music is 'bout creating first and performing second. Not saying you can't be both, but all the performance in the world don't matter if you can't create. I ain't saying like us, but folks that match the painters on the walls at that gallery we met in front of.
[Misha shot the boy a perplexed look.] Oliver went to college? Not for real long, I reckon? [It didn't match with his knowing of the other boy.] The apartment here's the first place I've been in that felt mine any. I ain't paying for it, but I helped pick it, and I reckon that counts. It feels a whole lot warmer than that big house on the lake full of quiet folks.
[Being circumspect, it just wasn't something Misha was good at. He talked plain and open and confessional, and being asked was the same as feeling inclined to explain. Even if he had things that were real private, it wasn't in Misha to lie 'bout them.] I ain't sure what made it break. I reckon Damian kept me from losing my damn mind, but I ain't sure. My mind ain't real good a whole lot of the time, and I suspect it's always going to shift 'tween realities. It always has done. [Belatedly:] I had to leave New York. I got myself arrested for indecent exposure and fornicating in public, and the court shrink realized I was mad, and they locked me in Bellevue. I wasn't doing real well there, so they transferred me out here, to the Quiet Home, for the duration of my sentence. [He stopped in front of The Piano Bar.] Which, for what it's worth, Oli felt was real important to keep from you.