“... why would that be kind of dumb, exactly?”

"Uh." No one's ever actually asked him to clarify that, and he accordingly hasn't given his knee-jerk reaction much thought. "It's - Pronouns are kinda dumb, and it sounds like a lot of effort? And just - caring that much." He shrugs awkwardly. "But it's really important to them, so."

“I think that most problems in the world are caused by people caring too little, rather than too much. And they must be really something, in order to keep caring about something that few other people do; I admire that kind of dedication. And I’d be hurt, if I found out that someone I knew and liked had called something I really cared about ‘kind of dumb’, without having a good reason.”

"...Yeah. Yeah. Good point. Sorry."

“No problem... does this car have a radio?”

"Yeah. It's mostly talk radio, country music, and static out here, but there's sometimes other stations."

“I’ve never heard music. Could we turn on country?”

"Sure. I'll try to get you a wider exposure later."

He turns on the radio. Most of the songs are pretty similar, in lyrics and sound - he has Opinions about modern pop-country, and how a lot of it's going away from country's roots. (He does have a few songs on CD, but not as many as the radio has, they can listen to those?)

Jamie does not have opinions on modern pop-country. Jamie is busy being wordlessly delighted. They can definitely listen to those. 

He puts on slightly different music! These he knows well enough to sing along to! His voice is deep, and not classically trained but not unpleasing. He likes a pretty wide variety - slow and fast, sad and angry and hopeful, more of a focus on the troubles of life than on breakup songs...

It takes a while for him to get the hang of musical conventions, but by the time ‘Ring of Fire’ comes on he can sing along to choruses pretty confidently, even if he trails off elsewhere.

He’s a pretty competent singer, particularly considering his complete lack of experience - somewhere between baritone and tenor, depending on the song. A little - robotic, lacking in feeling, too crisp and precise for country music - but otherwise solid.

He doesn't really know enough about music to say if there's a good genre to recommend on that basis, but he's definitely willing to sing along!

It's a decently long drive - they were very in nowheresville - before Cooper pulls to a halt. "So, from here, it's either turn towards my neighborhood - up the mountain - or into town. Town's convenient for paperwork and all that and also like introducing you to other people? But my house's available if you wanna just rest for a bit before all that."

“I’m curious about your house, but I can handle paperwork and introductions.”

"Right. Probably best to get paperwork out of the way, too - though some of it we'll wanna hit tomorrow morning, like an actual ID, but we can do the informing-the-local-authorities today with probably not too much delay..."

“Yep.”

So he'll turn towards town. The administrative type stuff's only about another ten or so minutes, and it's a small, dinky rural office with a tiny parking lot composed mostly of cracked pavement, but the line inside's not bad. Cooper knows the girl behind the desk, and is able to charm his way into some help with the paperwork.

Jamie’s handwriting is a strange mix of blunt, minimalistic strokes, graceful curls and ligatures, and perfectly ordinary words and letters; he’s decently charming himself.

They’re eventually finished with paperwork.

"Your handwriting's pretty good for being new," he says. "You've got good - like hand-eye coordination, but, like, body control?"

That response and smile demand flirtation, but he prides himself on self control, doesn’t he - 

“I - pay intense attention to the way my body moves and works, is part of it, I think? Thank you.”

"No problem. You'd probably be real good at athletic stuff."

Not flirting not flirting still not flirting -

"I'll bear that in mind - you mentioned introductions, earlier?"

"More getting you to meet people in general, there's no like a gathering right now I can introduce you at - though Jonabeth should be in town, she lives here instead of out in the sticks like me."

“I’d be glad to meet people, now or later, whichever way you recommend.”

"You might like Jonabeth, I think. She knows more about music than me, at least."

"To Jonabeth's?"