Re: [Outside Secondhand Books & Cafe: Misha & Sadie]
"I reckoned," he said of the stage-fright. Course, all performers got jitters some, but she looked like she'd shine out there 'neath lights, and could be Misha saw similarities when he looked on her. "I'd be real thrilled to play 'longside you. The stage, it's plenty big." He'd learned real quick that performers weren't real keen on sharing their spotlight, but Misha didn't mind any; he wasn't that kind of jealous. A few years earlier, he would've said loud and plain that he wasn't any kind of jealous at all, but that had turned out to be untrue. Still, he was real glad to give a fellow artist a helping hand, and he reckoned they'd sound real fine with the tent's acoustics and that house filled to capacity.
When she asked 'bout the dancing, he chuckled some. "I don't stand still and play, if that's what you're asking. I do my own choreography, and I design my own sets. Most of my shows here are real themed. Could be you should drop by and see one sometime. I don't reckon you'll be disappointed any." Confidence, not vanity, and he nodded agreement with her take on music and fires and days ending. "The Capital, it has itself some real rough parts. Some nights, I just find myself a perch over a real crowded alley, and I play some. They ain't got no clue who's holding the bow or singing the words, but it don't matter any. The music, it's soothing and it gives something to folks." It was good to say them words, on account of it being real easy to forget the good being put out in the world, and it was real easy to get bogged down in failures.
He smiled real respectful 'bout her grandmomma, and he nodded his head just some in commemoration, since he reckoned the woman had passed.
Laughing, it came real warm and easy when she talked 'bout paying it forward a few times, and he reckoned there wasn't a thing wrong with that, and her reasoning was entertaining. "You just tell me what to get you to drink, and I reckon I can make a decision on a snack." He pushed his chair back, and he deliberately didn't mention adding a thing to the non-existent bill she referenced. "Same thing?" He motioned to the cup she was already holding, and he bowed some at the waist at the request for a story. "I'll be asking for one in return," he informed her, on account of that was only fair.