om_main | Cecil and Pietro, Saturday afternoon

Cecil wanders into Empire Records and runs into Hurricane Pietro. Cue Cecil-descriptions of music and Pietro peeling back the layers of the adorkable new-ish boy to find The Perfect Cecil Sound.

The music really helped, when it came to Pietro getting work done at a frustratingly normal rate. Today, it was some random candy raver shit Jack had put on, but Pietro didn't even mind since it made him move. Sloooooowed him down, dragged him into the present as he carted boxes of CDs back and forth for Nita to shelf.

Dancing all the way.

It was with great curiosity that Cecil peered into the store with the music pouring out of it. He'd taken Jeanne-Marie's warning about the School Rules to heart, and though he'd tried to remain at the school as long as he could there were times when he just needed to get out. He missed the desert with a longing that surprised him, sometimes, but the small town of Salem Center would do just as well.

He had at least done his best to remember to appear as ordinary as possible, which today meant a pair of cheap sunglasses settled over his eyes -- he had noticed they tended to unnerve people sometimes. The fact that he forgot to take them off as he went inside, though, was less helpful.

"Is the dancing mandatory?" He asked a bit cautiously as he eyed the moving boy inside.

Pietro executed an ass-shaking spin, dropped a few CDs into their proper places, and then said, "Dancing is never mandatory. If you don't feel it, what's the point?" He turned and saw who was there, though and--

"New guy. Sorry, what's your name again?" Pietro cocked his head and examined him. Pretty as hell, weird body language, and unless he missed his mark, the sunglasses hid black--as in all black eyes.

Pietro rarely forgot someone with extra fabulous eyes, but with Summer here, he hadn't really gotten to see the new kids as much as usual.

"Oh!" Cecil said bright and surprised, and smiled suddenly. "You're from the school. I recognize you now, I'm sorry. I'm Cecil." He ducked his head a little in an odd kind of greeting before the smile promptly fell off his face. "Oh. Am I not supposed to mention the school? I don't want to break any Rules." The capital on the last word was almost audible.

Pietro's eyebrow cocked so hard it was a wonder he didn't sprain a face-muscle. "Uh, no, it's okay," he said, voice lowered. "Just don't go flaunting--whatever it is you do. The eyes are okay, people will just think you're being a punk ass with some crazy contacts. Remy's the same. I mean--his are red-on-black, but you know. People just kinda roll with it."

Cecil considered that for a moment, then nodded seriously. It did sound reasonable, after all. "I don't think I could," he said, sounding thoughtful. "Unless I could make someone else see what I see."

The eyebrow was not coming uncocked. Pietro said, "Then you're good, rules-wise, I'm thinking. Everyone here knows I'm at school there, when I'm not doing my thing here."

"Alright," Cecil said with an agreeable nod. And then, a moment later, "what is your thing here?"

"Technically I just do whatever they need," Pietro said, one corner of his mouth pulling up in a little smile. "But my thing is finding the best possible music in the world for whoever wants it."

"Oh," Cecil said thoughtfully, obviously taking that completely at face value. "Could you find something for me, then?"

"Ooooh, sounds like a challenge." Pietro rubbed his hands together, positively gleeful. "Step right this way, my friend, let's get you to a listening station immediately.

"What are you into, Cecil? Music-wise or otherwise, if you don't know what you're into, musically."

"I don't really know," Cecil said, but took a few steps toward him anyway. Almost belatedly, he reached up to perch his sung lasses on top of his head and blinked at the sudden change in brightness. "Everything, I suppose. I know that isn't very helpful."

"It's not," Pietro said agreeably, gesturing for Cecil to keep following as he turned towards the listening spot. "What about TV? Movies? What kind of culture do you consume regularly?"

"Oh. Well." There was a long moment of silence while Cecil obviously searched for something useful to say, following Pietro almost blindly. "I like old movies?" He offered finally.

"That's a really good start," Pietro said, looking a little relieved. If the kid made him wait any longer he might've lost it a little. He did like his job, but wow, slow people were slow. "So what kind? Funny? Musicals? Hammer Horror? How glam do you like to get?"

"Glam?" Cecil echoed, sounding more than a little baffled. "I don't know. I do like Westerns. And Noir, a bit. When we were allowed to see them."

"Allowed to..." Pietro said, a little confused himself, now. Sure, there was stuff he and Wanda hadn't been supposed to watch, but not like it ever stopped them.

Anyhow, Noir and Western; Pietro could work with that, but he'd be fucked if he was giving this kid country music. Over his dead, bloated, maggot-infested corpse. "Glam, like, over the top, sparkly, old silver screen divas with dangly diamonds--in this case, anyhow."

Cecil gave him a more than slightly dubious look as he drew even with the other boy. "I don't think I'm very sparkly. Or a diva. I do like things that are upbeat though," he added, ever on the search for things that might actually assist the process.

"You don't have to be a diva to enjoy a diva, but point taken." Pietro flipped thoughtfully through the selection at a deliberate, careful speed. There was a camera that focused nearby, so no risks allowed. "So something a little dark, but upbeat. Modern take on old stuff or just flat out old?"

"I don't know. Modern, I I suppose," Cecil said as he peered curiously over Pietro's shoulder. "Is this what you do for everyone who comes in? Get a sense of their innate character to match them with music you think fits best?"

Modern, upbeat, kinda noir and/or dark. Pietro could do this. As he flipped around he said, "Only the ones that seem interesting enough to be worth the effort and time."

Cecil cocked his head slightly in reply. "You think I'm worth it?" And oddly, the question managed to sound nothing but vaguely curious.

"You think you're not?" Pietro asked without missing a beat.

"I think I don't know how you qualify your rating system," Cecil said reasonably. "I might achieve worthiness simply by being at the same school, or I may have just begun to climb the ladder."

"Being at Xavier's is a step on the ladder, but yeah, you're just beginning," Pietro said matter-of-factly. "But it's a subjective thing. Plus, I have a thing for guys with pretty eyes."

Said eyes blinked once, but Cecil just smiled at him. "I hope I can continue upwards, then."

"Don't worry, I already have a pretty-eyed guy at home. Just saying, those are nice." Pietro winked, totally joking--Cecil didn't seem worried about much of anything. But he was interesting, in a weirdo kinda way, and cute as hell. Note to self: Do not let Victor near him.

Pietro held out a pair of earphones and grabbed one for himself. "I think I've got a good starting point within my own home territory. We'll branch out from here. Maya Jane Coles."

Cecil agreeably slipped the headphones on, and waited patiently for the music to start with a slight frown of concentration. The expression intensified as the song actually began to play, and he eventually began to nod long not quite on the beat.

"Interesting," he said, slightly too loud over the music. "What do you mean home territory?"

Oh god, this dork. Pietro grinned and pushed one of Cecil's headphones back slightly, so his voice could get into there, too. "Dance is one of my areas of specialty. This is a little more on my side of things than what I think you're looking for, but I figure we might as well start there."

"Alright," Cecil said after a moment of serious consideration, and nudged the headphone back a little farther. "What do you need me to do?"

Pietro did realize that under most circumstances he would've found the gravity dude was lending the whole situation hilarious, but, well. This was music, here. "Tell me how you feel about this. Interesting doesn't necessarily mean good--or enjoyable, which is even more important. Do you wanna move to this?" He chucked his thumb at the listening station. Okay, Cecil was nodding out-of-time, but that seemed more experimental than anything else. "Is it a little too peppy? Does it need to be slower? Heavier bass? A little darker? I can go way more actually noir on this mother."

"Do I have to move? I'm not much of a dancer." But Cecil dutifully settled in to give thought to the other questions. "Perhaps a bit less...monotone?" He tried hesitantly. "Much of it sounds very similar to itself."

"Less of the droning dance beat, I get you." Pietro nodded and went back to the console. "And no, moving isn't necessary. I like it, but I'm not sure I had a choice.

"Here, this is off Tricky's latest. Slightly different direction. More trip-hoppy and chilled out." Seriously, the only time Pietro listened to Tricky was when he was high, but this kid seemed kinda high anyhow, so it could work. "You don't like this, I'm going straight for guitars." And if it worked, it was time to bust out more weed-smoking music. Aka Portishead.

"Oh, that is better," Cecil said almost immediately, bright and pleased. "I wouldn't mind guitars as well, of course, I do enjoy good instrumentation. A combination, perhaps, if that's possible?"

Good instrumentation. Use of electronic stuff, possibly. Capable of upbeat. Something he'd listen to when high.

Pietro had a brainwave, suddenly. "You ever hear Radiohead?"

"Possibly?" Cecil said like he wasn't sure what the correct answer was. He watched Pietro as if he somehow might miss a clue. "Is it something I should have heard of?"

"Unless you've been living under a rock--but I'm thinking that's a distinct possibility." Pietro turned back to the console and pulled up the entirety of In Rainbows. "Let's try this out."

"Not recently." Cecil gave him a smile that didn't seem to be joking in the slightest and slid the headphones back completely on. "I'm ready when you are."

Pietro considered a speech about how all of their albums were different, but this just seemed to be the one that'd tip the balance based on their short explorations so far... but he had way more patience for just letting the music do the talking, so he just started it. If Cecil liked it, he could borrow the album from him and see how different all the tracks were, and if he wanted to invest. If not, back to the Portishead idea. Maybe.