Day 53: Music Room

[rocksthecourt]

Well, if it wasn't his favorite time of the week. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Of course in this case, distance makes Klavier feel like an abused, neglected animal who was only now being allowed a taste of actual food. These people were such savages. It was still absolutely absurd that they were allowed access to this room so

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[unheroed]

[Train wreck, you say?]The sooner he could get away from Ruby, the better. In fact, it was that very thought that led to Harvey moving into the Music Room without a second thought, even though he usually did what he could to avoid this place

[rocksthecourt]

Those gathering up for this little audition were piling in rather quickly. Mostly kids, from what he could see. He'd figured as much, with an advertisement like that. Ahh, the energy of youth. It was a wonderful thing. Skill and instinct could be taught, but it was the spirit that really made a good musician. Not to say he was expecting much, but at least the heart was there. That counted for something, yeah?

A nearby movement caught his attention and Klavier turned in time to see Herr Dent take the seat next to his. A surprise, but hardly an unpleasant one. He widened his smile in greeting and motioned with one hand to indicate the ensemble gathering at the other end of the room. "Ahh. Didn't you hear? Today we're to be blessed with our own little talent show. Isn't it exciting?"

There was a small hint of a sarcastic laugh underneath his tone. Yes, he was in a terribly good mood.

[unheroed]

It was only when Klavier motioned to the other side of room that Harvey spotted a strange grouping of people. The woman at the piano and the one with the ukulele looked normal enough, but the other three all had different kinds of bizarrely styled hair. More than that, they just didn't look like a cohesive group as they stood there awkwardly with instruments that would likely sound ridiculous when paired together

[rocksthecourt]

Klavier offered a fairly genuine laugh at that. "Well. Maintaining morale can be considered as important as investigating, I suppose. There are worse things they could be doing." Didn't he sound like the optimist

[unheroed]

Harvey knew about morale as much as the next person, seeing how he'd had to project a public image and try to get people onto his "side." A lot of that had been through his genuine attitude about wanting to fix Gotham, but he'd also been forced to do things to keep up appearances. Either way, he knew that people's mental well-being (which was a joke to discuss in a place like this) was valuable -- it just didn't matter to him anymore

[rocksthecourt]

In retrospect, it probably looked incredibly rude for him to put headphones on mid-conversation like that. At the moment though, Klavier couldn't say he much cared. If Dent wanted to raise an objection, he could take it up with the lunatic who only gave them access to CD players a few times a week. Otherwise, he would have to deal with talking to him this way. Thankfully, Dent seemed more confused than offended

[unheroed]

From what Harvey could gather, it seemed that Klavier was functioning off of morbid fascination. He wanted to see what the group was going to attempt, but he didn't necessarily want to hear the final product. That made decent enough sense that he chose to drop it, though now he had to wonder if he'd be better off with his own pair of headphones

[rocksthecourt]

Ahh. Dent was purely a professional, it seemed. Spending time with friends was the usual cop-out answer people gave when they didn't really have any hobbies they were particularly committed to. Which was fine. A man who approached life in a simple way was a man worthy of respect.

In all's honesty, Klavier didn't really have any interest in the man's private life. This was the first time in far too long where he was asking questions for the sake of idle chatter rather than some ulterior curiosity. He was lingering in a wonderful state-of-mind outside professionalism for once. For that reason, he wasn't really committed to the idea of pressing for details. Blame it on an actual full night's sleep and the lovely distant sounds of piano and guitar ringing in his ears.

"Me? I play in a band." He gave Harvey a sidelong smirk and waited to see whether he thought he was joking or not.

[unheroed]

It was difficult to tell if the man was just pulling his leg, but the more Harvey looked at Klavier's expression and saw how calm it was, the more he felt that this wasn't some sort of joke. He knew how to read people, and in this case he actually had to believe what had just come out of his mouth.

Glancing back at the ragtag group with their ill-fitting instruments, Harvey slowly started to feel like he understood what was going on here, from Klavier's attitude to the headphones he'd put in just a few moments earlier.

"Let me guess, then," he started as he turned back to meet the man's eyes, "you think you're above them?" There was a good chance that the man was more talented than any of the other patients standing there were, in which case his behavior wouldn't be out of line. But now Harvey was just curious. He'd never heard of an attorney who was also a musician before.

[rocksthecourt]

Klavier blinked once, looking back at Dent with a mildly surprised expression. That Dent believed him so easily was one thing, but for him to make that assertion? Now Klavier was the one who felt he'd slipped up with his words. He tried covering this, however, with a brief chuckle.

"Ha! I never said anything that, now did I? That sounds a bit harsh, if you ask me." And he would certainly never say anything that would make him come off as a complete jerk. Even if Dent was basically on the money. He smiled. "But if you want to compare, you could say I probably have more... experience, yes

[unheroed]

Even if Klavier did what he could to sugarcoat it, the meaning was still pretty clear to Dent. It made sense that he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, though, since a few of those kids looked like they were barely out of puberty. Gavin didn't look too old himself, but he was clearly well into his twenties, so there was that

[rocksthecourt]

It was obvious Dent was just making conversation, but Klavier was delighted the other man was actually interested enough to ask. When he'd first entered the Prosecutor's Office, it was pretty obvious the senior prosecutors were slightly less than impressed upon introduction. Most notably Payne. He'd had to wait until after his first trial before they'd drop the "Kid" nickname. Not that he cared, mind you, but it was an idea he'd grown accustomed to

[unheroed]

It was usually those who started at a young age who ended up being truly talented musicians, from what Harvey knew. Which wasn't much, but it was common sense that getting an early start would lead to having a familiarity with an instrument that others might not. Seven years was a long time for a band to last, especially when one of its members was so young. He'd probably started it up as a teenager, then

[rocksthecourt]

Pity. Dent had no idea what he was missing. Oh, to imagine all the songs and bands the man was depriving himself of. Them included. It truly was a shame. Ah, well. To each their own, he supposed. Some people simply didn't appreciate the importance of music

[unheroed]

The nickname came out of nowhere, and Harvey was left to stare blankly at the man for a moment. Klaiver was of German descent, though, so it made sense. He just hadn't been expecting it, and he wasn't all that used to getting caught off-guard. He did his best to brush it off with a well-placed cough, but he figured Gavin would notice either way

[rocksthecourt]

Oh, yes. Klavier definitely noticed. Of course, he didn't plan on saying anything about it, but the reaction did earn a huge grin. No, not so much the reaction as it was the fact that he'd been surprised at all. Was he unaccustomed to things like that? Now Klavier was really curious about the kind of atmosphere Dent worked in. He seemed like so much more of a straitlaced adult than anyone found in the L.A. Prosecutor's Office. He bet Dent didn't converse playfully with others terribly often. That just made Klavier want to do so more just to trip him up more in the future. He had to admit it was kind of... endearing. In an odd sort of way. Heh