16642/One Christmas present

One Christmas present
Date of Scene:	21 December 2023
Location:	Times Square
Synopsis:	Kiden wants a vinyl record player for Christmas. A what?
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Kiden Nixon

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Conner Kent has posed:
Given it is the first Christmas in years Kiden is going to get presents, Conner directly asked her what would she like. A 'record player'? For vinyl stuff? Does those still exist?

Apparently they do. Now, Conner could have gotten one online. But that is boring, and he is in his winter break. Much more fun (for some definitions of fun) to go exploring second hand stores in Manhattan to find said record player. It is mostly fun because Kiden is with him. "Why a record player? I mean, I can listen whatever in my Starkphone."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"There's nothing quite like the sound you get listening to a real vinyl album. It's a more... mellow.. experience, even the hyped up songs sound better when they're coming spun off vinyl," Kiden is more than happy to 'educate' Conner on the differences between records and digital recordings. "No digital 'fixes' to tone or pitch or anything. There's a reason vinyl is becoming popular again!" She flashes a grin up at him, "Having a good record player is gonna become a thing again."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner has never listened a 'real vinyl album' unless hearing it on movies counts, and gives Kiden a sceptical look. "If you say so..." no harm in humoring her, right? There is a little space in his apartment for a record player, or they can put it in Kiden's room at the Roost.

"But if you want to have an antique, I guess we should find a real one," hence they roaming the alleys of Midtown. "I am pretty sure there is a vinyl record store around here," he notes. "Maybe they have players too. Or know a good place to get one that is not L-Bay."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden flashes a grin at him and bumps his hip with hers, "Just you wait, once we get the record player home and spin up an Iron Maiden or Five Finger Death Punch album and you'll see for yourself. Old band or new, doesn't matter, the sounds better on vinyl." She reaches out to take his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

Laughing lightly, she nods, "Record stores are a great place to start, might even find one that still has the original speakers with it. That would be a sweet find. And we can pick out a couple albums to go with it!" Kiden is excited, and it shows.

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner has noticed Kiden has taken the re-joining to society with a good deal of enthusiasm. He grins at her excitement, "I don't believe you," he states, "you will have to demonstrate empirically this. We will setup the player in the rec room of the Roost for Christmas and see what everyone says. Also, we can list Iron Maiden or Five Finger Death Punch at the proper volume there."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Laughing, Kiden gives a nod, "You're on. But I get to bring along a Joan Jett record AND a Bing Crosby record, too. They may not be exactly your style, but you should hear the differences in the genres when they're played on vinyl." She points towards a little hole in the wall shop, "Record store! And agreed. We have to have the proper setting to really blast the music at full volume."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I like all music," protest Conner. Even though 90% of what he listens is Metal or Rock. "I hope we get a few folks, some years the Roost is empty, even Laura has some friends and some kind of parental unit in some secret mutant place."

And technically Conner has Kal, Jon and Alura. But do Kryptonians have anything like Christmas? Well, maybe Jon does. Otherwise it is college party again, which is not necessarily bad.

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"You like all music, but you generally just listen to rock and metal. Which, don't get me wrong, there's really great music there! But blues, jazz, pop, EDM, classical... there's a lot of great stuff out there that you don't ever really listen to." She grins up at him, "At least, not that I know of."

Kiden is happy to celebrate Christmas at all, though being able to have more people around would also be nice. "Here's hoping others will be as commitmentless as us."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Well get folks, even if we need to kidnap them," Conner lets Kiden go first into the small shop, but he grins at her comments. Well, he has no time to listen to everything! "I'll ask Jon too. He is my clone-brother and I have yet to have a normal conversation with him. Usually we only see each other when someone is threatening to blow up the world."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Stepping into the shop, Kiden laughs and grins up at him, "I'll let Laura know we're kidnapping friends for the holidays. Bet you anything she'll jump at the chance for that." She keeps her hand in his as she winds her way through the stacks, looking here and there for record players along with the albums. "And if we offer snacks and stuff, we'll probably draw in more people." A smile up at Conner, "Oh that would be cool! I'd love to meet him sometime."

Conner Kent has posed:
"There is always snacks at the Roost," tons and tons of snacks. That is probably how Robin managed to recruit the Outsiders: Snacks. "We keep the snacks industry afloat just by the amount Bart consumes."

There are a lot of stacks of records, mostly organized, it doesn't take long for Conner to find a section of the music he likes. Since they are getting a player...

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Yeah, but we want to make sure there's *Christmas* snacks there if we're going to draw people in during a holiday." Kiden grins at him before ducking down to check out a few older record players that are tucked under the shelves. "Aha! I think we have a winner."

Pulling out an older 70s turntable style record player, she grins up at him, "This should do just fine." Rising up, she glances around for whoever is working, "Now we just need to test it out, make sure it's working..."