Violet & Reggie Mid-Week
RATING PG (Mention of character death) Reggie plays and Violet takes a break.
Reggie was a bass player. He'd been playing the bass since the third grade, but he also liked other instruments. Now that he was not only back from the dead but also in Night Vale, he found himself with a lot of time on his hands. Which meant he decided to teach himself how to play the guitar. He'd been working on it for a while now when he decided to do a public performance and see what kind of reaction he might get.
He didn't want to admit that he chose the set up outside of the Pinkberry because he hoped he might see Violet, but he wouldn't have lied and said that wasn't the case. You know, if anyone asked. But no one had. It wasn't like he knew her shift schedule or anything. If she were to show up while he was strumming along and singing an acoustic cover of a great Smashing Pumpkins song, then that would be a pretty big coincidence.
His fingers got all messed up halfway through the song and he started over again. Then he caught sight of Violet out of the corner of his eye and stopped again. "Violet," he said, waving wildly at her. "Hey."
Violet still had a few more hours of her shift, but she was already tired. It didn’t help that she stayed up later than she should have the night before, studying. When it came to essays, Violet was a perfectionist, and once again continued to work on another draft. After looking it over this morning she had to convince herself that it was a good paper and chipping away at it more would only drive her crazy.
As she came to the front, she looked out the window and saw a familiar face standing out there with his bass. She smiled and told her coworker that she was going to take a quick break, she really needed one anyway and at least there was a bench outside she could get off of her feet for a few minutes. Reggie greeted her as she walked outside and she smiled at him. “Hey, Reggie. How are you,” she greeted as she sat down on the bench next to him. “Thought you’d get a little practice in?”
"I used to play on the beach and boardwalk like this all the time at home, and I know we don't really have a beach here, but a sidewalk in front of a Pinkberry is just as good!" He held out his guitar to show her proudly. "How's the great work of yogurt going today?"
He liked Violet. He wasn't really sure what the world was like where she came from, but he didn't get the sense she was from another planet or was a ghost or anything. She seemed like some of the girls he had gone to school with, before he dropped out to be a musician, of course. "Any new flavors I should check out?"
“That sounds awesome.” Violet admired that spirit, Reggie certainly seemed like someone who had a lot of freedom, and Violet had to admit she was a little jealous of that. Back home at least, her schedule was usually pretty full with either school, chores and being a superhero. Violet took breaks and time for herself, her parents insisted, but it was true what they say; there’s just never enough time in the day.
Violet laughed. “Oh it’s going. I’m sure things will pick up more once summer starts to hit, I can’t imagine how much hotter it’ll get out here.” She definitely groaned at the thought. She certainly didn’t mind heat, but it was to a certain point. She at least hoped humidity wasn’t a thing here, it was awful back home, there was no escape. “Nothing new yet, but I think we’re going to start getting more tropical flavors for the summer. But I’ll let you know so you can make a list and try everything!” She laughed. “Just not all at once, okay?”
"Oh it's probably gonna get super hot, isn't it?" Reggie asked, eyes going wide. "Los Angeles is almost the desert but I lived on the beach, so it's not the same. Not like here. I'm going to have to try all the new flavors." He laughed and looked at her as though she had offered him up a dare. "What if I want a massive swirled bowl with everything mixed in?"
“That’s my guess,” she laughed. “To be honest, this place is already weird so who knows what kind of shenanigans this place will pull on us.” His comment made her laugh harder and she shrugged. “I mean, you could absolutely do that if you wanted to, but don’t come to me if you get sick.” Which she was partially joking, but also serious because it certainly gave her some awful flashbacks of taking care of her two younger brothers.
"Hey look," Reggie joked, grinning about a topic that wasn't so great, "somehow I don't think the yogurt here is gonna kill me, and I've been killed by food before. A little stomachache isn't the end of the world." Even though he hated feeling sick. She was probably right. Better not to overdo it, when the time came.
Violet stared at him. “Wait-what?” She had known some information about Reggie and his friends, she knew that while they were alive here in Night Vale, back home was kind of different. Though the mechanics of everything still confused her. Not that she didn’t want to ask questions, but she was worried it’d come off as rude. “That’s what happened?” Looking more shocked than anything. “You were killed by food?” Not that it never happened, it just wasn’t something Violet heard a lot about in the news.
"Bad street dogs," Reggie said with a serious nod. "It was tradition, hot dogs before a show, and this was the show. Orpheum and everything. Except it didn't happen, because the hot dogs were bad. Like really, really bad." He shuddered at the memory. They hadn't tasted bad, at least not any worse than other street dogs he'd consumed in his life. But in retrospect - well, he'd likely never eat a hot dog again ever.
Violet was certainly shocked. “That’s awful, I’m sorry.” In her line of work, injury, even death was certainly a risk. Violet had worries of course, what if she died in battle, but never once did she consider it coming from something like eating a bad hotdog. “I’m glad you and your friends are there then, I’m glad you guys have a chance to live again and be seen by other people.” She couldn’t even begin to imagine what that would be like. Violet checked the time on her phone. “I should probably get back in there. Probably a bad time to bring up eating, but let me know if you want anything, okay?”
"Yeah well, it happened and now we're here so - yeah, I'm pretty glad we got this chance too. Thanks, Violet." He grinned at her and then his eyes went wide again. "Oh, yeah - sorry! You totally need to get back to work, sorry. Is it okay if I keep playing out here though? Do you mind?" He held out his guitar.
Violet smiled. “I don’t mind at all, and I don’t think my boss will either.” She gave her friend a small wave as she headed back inside. “Have fun!”