“...Smooth,” he echoed, like he wasn’t sure if Jason was messing with him. But then he decided it was easier to just trust him. He hadn’t given him a reason to be defensive, despite how on edge Riker had been the entire time. Maybe that wasn’t fair to Jason. “I mean, it sounds more impressive than Wonderwall. Pretty solid choice,” he nodded, his lips twitching into something of a grin. Or almost one.
He strummed a half-hearted chord, then let out a small huff. “Alright, maybe I’ll try it. Can’t promise it won’t sound like I’m choking the guitar to death, but--...” Riker paused as he glanced up, pretending like his ears definitely hadn’t flushed pink. “If it comes out halfway decent, maybe I’ll let you hear it sometime.”
The moment it was out of his mouth, he grimaced like he wanted to take it back. “You know. If you wanted to. You don’t have to--” he quickly attempted to correct himself, but gave up and set his guitar down in its case.
“Anyway,” he forced out. “Uh. I should go before I embarrass myself more. Thanks for the advice, though. I’ll… add it to my setlist or whatever. Good luck with your… tamping.”
He gave Jason a short, awkward little nod, like he wasn’t sure if he’d just made a promise or a joke, and started to gather his things before he made even more of a fool of himself.
lizbot
Fin? Thank you!
