fandomhighdorms | Third floor common room, Tuesday evening

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Third floor common room, Tuesday evening

As much as Raven enjoyed watching modern television (and there was so much of it to watch!), she'd found herself missing the old days of listening to the radio. She and Charles used to listen to all the old radio plays when they were little, right after Raven first came to live with him, usually followed by some positively epic games of Pretend on the Xaviers' massive estate (Raven was very good at playing pretend). So she'd been thrilled to discover podcasts, especially the one that claimed to be the favorite "new time podcast in the style of old time radio". Sure, she didn't always get all the jokes, and she had no idea who any of the stars they announced were, but the stories brought her right back to her childhood.

Plus, it was much easier to flip through fashion magazines and shopping websites while she listened, which was what she was up to, now, stretched out on the couch with her feet up, all while listening to the adventures of absurd war heroes and space cowboys.

[ooc: iiiit's a common room post! Raven is, naturally, listening to The Trilling Adventure Hour.]

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Theo hadn't wanted to stay in his room all day so he'd wandered down the hall around dinner time to see if there was food. When he saw his roommate, he gave her a wave and a smile.

"Hey, Raven," he said, pausing to listen to the words coming from the radio. "What radio station is this?"

Didn't sound like anything he recognized.

"It's not!" Raven was quite thrilled by this. "It's called a 'podcast'. I don't know why, but you listen to it on the internet."

"Ooooh." He'd heard of those before. "Is it talk radio? Like how politicians talk about nothing but their political beliefs?"

Of course, it didn't sound like that what with the space cowboys and all.

You know, it wasn't often the girl from 60 years in the past got to know more about something than someone from a contemporary time. "It's a play. Like you get in the theater, only you just listen to it instead of watch it. They had them all the time when I'm from. I was worried they'd completely vanished now that there are tvs everywhere."

"Yeah, I think the TV ruined any chance of me getting into things like this," Theo said sheepishly. He wandered over to the kitchen to see if he could find something to eat.

"My parents liked to use the TV to babysit me sometimes," he added while he was snagging some potato chips. "Probably rotted my mind."

Raven frowned. "But the TV can't tell you 'don't drink that, it's poison'. Or unwrap the ribbon you pulled to tightly around your neck."

Wee!Raven may have gotten herself into quite a bit of trouble, once upon a time.

"That's what I had Mitchell for," he said, shrugging and taking a seat. "He took over that role and made sure I didn't touch hot stoves."

Raven nodded. "Charles did that for me sometimes, too. Or the maid. The maids did it a lot."

It wasn't like Mrs. Xavier was going to, after all.

"Radio shows are great because you get to picture everything yourself. Like reading a book, only your eyes don't get tired. Or you can listen while you play cards or look at magazines and things." She held up one of her fashion magazines as a sample. The model on the cover looked weirdly familiar. "And you know you're not going to miss anything just because you're not looking."

Yeah, the familiarity was not lost on Theo. He even squinted at it for a second longer just to see if he could place it. Huh.

"You make a strong case for podcasts," Theo said, impressed. "I might have to look into them a little more. I sometimes listen to music when I skateboard. I could probably listen to something like this too."

"Music is good! Though a lot of the modern stuff has more noise than I'm really used to."

Not that that was a bad thing. It was just . . . different.

"What kind of music are you used to?" Theo asked, curious. "Maybe I've got some that you might like on my iPod."

"I really like jazz singers," Raven said. "Billie Holiday was always hard to get my hands on, but her voice is amazing. And Eartha Kitt has some great new songs -- though I guess they're not really new around here, are they?"

"They're not new but I know how I can get their songs for you," Theo offered. "It's pretty easy to get stuff like that in this day and age. I could download some stuff and let you use my iPod."

He wasn't sure if she'd understand any of that but he would explain, if needed.

Victor had explained some of it. He'd even given her an old iPhone and a computer to play with. "That'd be really sweet of you. Though I should look into getting a nice record player here, too. I could play you the classics the way they were meant to be played. Well, when they weren't live, at least."

"They still sell those in some music stores," Theo told her, nodding. "A lot of shops still sell vinyl too. I've never actually heard a record played on a record player. Mitchell had a bunch of CDs so that was as close as I got, I guess."

"That's almost sad," Raven told him. "Especially if they haven't been totally replaced. A good record just makes you want to stay and listen to it forever."

"My parents might have had them at one point or another but I never got to see them," he said, shrugging and popping a few chips into his mouth. "So, what's it about a record that's so great?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't know, the sound's just all . . . warm." She didn't have the vocabulary to describe how a digital tone, no matter how complex, could never completely match the depth of an analogue one, or the way the natural flaws in vinyl added to the whole auditory experience. "And you put the needle right on the song you want, so it's all tactile, too."

Theo smiled at her. Even if he couldn't really picture it himself, her enthusiasm was enough to make him curious about hearing a record, at least.

"You make it sound awesome," Theo told her. "I don't know if I could talk like that even about something I loved."

"That's kind of sad, Theo," Raven said. "You should learn to open up more."

"Easier said than done," Theo replied, shrugging. "I just mean I don't think I've got a way with words like some people do. Like you do."

"You should hear my brother talk, someday. He can practically pluck the right words to say right out of your head. Of course, that's probably because he's telepathic."

"I think I would give him...such a headache," Theo chuckled, tapping his temple. "Lots going on in there."

"Possibly." She seemed rather pleased with this prospect. "He's getting better about not just automatically reading people, though. So if you ask him nicely, I'm sure he'll keep out."

"I wish I could do that." Ange and Dev both gave a squawk of disapproval at that. Theo made a face. "Not permanently but sometimes it'd be nice to have some peace and quiet."

"I don't really know how it all works," Raven said. "But maybe he can teach you some tricks, someday."

"Maybe." He shook his bag of chips, looking thoughtful for a second. "He sounds like a good brother."

"I like him well enough," Raven said, her tone teasing. "I don't really have anything to compare him to."

"He sounds similar to Mitchell in some ways," Theo shared. "Helpful and fascinating. Someone we looked up to even if we wanted to stomp on their feet every once in awhile."

"That last part seems to be true of brothers in general. At least in stories."

"Yeah, that's true," Theo said, nodding. "One of the main purposes of older brothers is to torment their younger siblings. I think it's in the older brother guide to life."

"I'm pretty sure they're given a handbook the moment their younger sibling shows up."

"And all we're given is..." Theo trailed off. "What are we given? I don't remember getting anything but a noisy head."

"A keen insight into tormenting them back."

"I was never great that," Theo admitted with a sigh. "I think I'm too much of a chicken. Not very brave."

"Not even with Dev's help?"

"Well, that's a little different..." Theo admitted carefully. "He doesn't always help but...yeah."

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Third floor common room, Tuesday evening

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