Don't Send Backup
Summary: Mystik Spiral decides to recruit a female backup singer – as Trent puts it, they want to "inject a new flavour into the Spiral sandwich *Trent coughs loudly*". Daria, who is dating Trent gets a wee bit insecure when she discovers that Spiral's new recruit is maybe a lot more Trent's "type". (This story is obviously very AU, and takes place around season 3-ish? Before the whole Tom debacle.)
A/N: Daria/Trent opens up a whole bean-can of interesting scenarios.
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Jane was halfway through painting the second coat of slime-green mould on her latest masterpiece, an abstract decaying fruit bowl, when she was interrupted by a lazy knock on her bedroom door, followed by a husky-voiced "Janey?"
Only Trent would be so lethargic that even his door-knocking seemed half asleep. And besides, he was the only person who addressed her by that particular nick-name.
"Yeah, Trent? Come in," Jane mumbled, setting aside her green-tinged paint pallet and lowering her stereo to a muffled wail. Trent admired her work for a second or two before turning to face her with a smile, his hands clasped. Uh-oh. She knew that look.
"Janey, I was wondering if I could ask you a uh… favour?"
"As long as it doesn't involve borrowing money from me to pay back the money you already owe me, then shoot," replied Jane with a wry smile.
"No no, for once this isn't about money. It's about Mystik Spiral."
"Let me guess, you're thinking of changing the name?" Jane said sarcastically.
"Hmmm…" Trent was briefly lost in one of his infamous reveries before snapping back into reality once more. "No, we were thinking about getting a female back-up singer. Y'know, inject a new flavour into the Spiral sandwich."
"And you want me to be that singer?" Jane queried, shocked.
"No, no, of course not, we need a professional" Trent laughed, before quickly becoming silent as he caught sight of Jane's unamused expression. He coughed. "We were wondering if maybe you'd come down to the basement and sing a few lines of our new song, y'know, see how it sounds in a girl's voice?"
Jane deliberated for a moment. She was not by any means a confident (or in-tune) singer. Anyone who had witnessed her rendition of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" would know that fact. However, she did want to help out her favourite sibling.
"Well… alright, then. But you owe me, you owe me big. A whole pizza, and no skimping on the toppings," Jane stated, heading out of her bedroom and down the stairs towards the basement.
"Of course," Trent laughed, followed by a few loud coughs.
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"The rain… in Spain… stays mainly in the plain… the plain of my he-a-a-a-rt…"
"I guess Trent's got a new song," Daria thought to herself. Her mouth formed the curve of a small smile as she listened to the sounds coming from the Lane's basement. It sounded like another nonsensical jam-fest that her boyfriend and his band mates adored.
Daria stood at the top of the basement stairs, listening a little longer before she interrupted them. She was surprised when she heard a familiar female voice winding up the stairs. Was it really… no, it couldn't be. Jane?
"The rain… in Spain…" Trent snarled through the verse in his gruff vocals. In the background, harmonising with the band as they tore into their instruments ferociously, Daria heard Jane singing. Or, well, trying.
"The rain in Spa-a-a-a-a-a-in. The ra-a-a-a-in. In Spa-a-a-a-a-a-in."
Daria couldn't hold out any longer. This was just too odd – she'd seen episodes of Sick Sad World involving neo-natal skinheads that made more sense. She descended the stairs slowly and opened the basement door with a light creak. The music was so loud that nobody noticed Daria was standing there until Jesse caught her eye mid head-bang and said, "Hey".
The music ground to a halt and Jane whipped around to face her best friend, clearly embarrassed as her cheeks flushed to match her scarlet shirt. "Oh God please tell me you didn't hear that!"
"I didn't know Mystik Spiral had a fifth member?" Daria questioned.
Jane left her microphone and came to stand beside Daria as the phone began to ring in the background. "Soon, yes. They've decided to try a female back-up singer. Not me – Mystik Spiral's unheard of enough as it is, causing listeners to lose hearing all-together wouldn't help."
"Should've told me, it's always been a dream of mine to conquer the world stage," Daria quipped sarcastically.
"Well, I suppose having a musician for a boyfriend was bound to rub off on you somehow," Jane replied with a grin.
"Speaking of, where is Trent, anyway?" Daria asked, ignoring Jane's knowing smile and scanning the room for her spiky-haired partner of six months. She could see Nick and Max, sans Trent and Jesse, tucking in with forks to what seemed to be a punchbowl full of steaming baked beans. She'd ask about that later.
"Trent went to answer the phone, he and Jesse are over there behind Mum's kiln," Jane replied, gesturing to the crowded corner of the basement which served as both Amanda Lane's art studio and Mystik Spiral's main rehearsal space.
Daria spied the boys in the corner, Jesse on the phone, evidently enthusiastic due to his use of words with more than one syllable. Trent was leaning against the wall beside him, jotting notes on the inside cover of a tattered pottery book.
"Even though I'm now a singing sensation, I can't ignore the basic necessities. I'm heading upstairs to take a shower, and then you and I are going out for pizza that Trent will be so generously paying for," Jane smiled.
"Ok, be careful not to lose any GRAMMYS on your way upstairs," Daria replied, heading over to the kiln to see what on earth would cause Jesse Moreno to become so verbose.
"Hey, Daria," Trent greeted her with a warm smile, resting his hand on the small of her back as she came to stand beside him.
"Hey," Daria said, traces of her once crippling shyness in the presence of Trent still evident even now that they were dating. "I heard your new song. Jane told me you were getting a backup singer?"
"Yeah, Jesse's on the phone to her right now," Trent gushed. "She's about to head out here, and the best part is she only lives ten minutes away. I guess she might be the first Mystik Spiral member to ever be on time for rehearsals."
Daria smiled. "Isn't that why you never wear a watch, because being late depresses you?"
Trent nodded. "You know me too well, Daria," he replied, leaning down to give her a kiss on the lips. Daria blushed – she would have preferred not having an audience, although she supposed Jesse would not be paying any attention, as usual.
Jesse hung up the phone and turned to face the couple. "Diablo's on her way now, man, we'd better start setting up," he said.
"Hmm you're right. Tell Nick and Max to put the beans away," replied Trent. "It's business time."
"Jane and I are going for a pizza, so I'll see you later," Daria said, with a quick, shy kiss to Trent's cheek.
Trent smiled and handed her some notes. "I owe Janey."
The couple shared another quick kiss and then Daria headed up the stairs, giving a quick wave to the band she still felt slightly awkward around as they said goodbye.
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Daria met Jane at the top of the stairs as she left the basement, and handed Jane the money Trent had given her.
"The singer is on her way here," Daria said in her usual montone. "Apparently her name is 'Diablo'."
"Hmm, that's kinda cool. That means 'devil' in Spanish, right?" Jane replied.
Before Daria could answer, the doorbell rang, a loud symphony of bells that somehow always failed to wake a sleeping Lane. Jane opened the door and was met with the sight of a young woman standing there in heavy combat boots, clad in black leather and covered in chains and piercings, her purple streaked black hair wound into two large knots on either side of her head. She greeted Daria and Jane with a crimson-lipped smile and extended her ring-adorned hand to Jane.
"I'm Diablo, are Mystik Spiral here?" the woman asked in a low, sexy voice.
Both Daria and Jane were rendered temporarily speechless by the sheer power of Diablo's presence. Finally, Jane answered. "Hi, I'm Jane, sister of Trent, Mystik Spiral's main man, and this is Daria. The band's in the basement – just follow the sounds of boys arguing over who gets the last serving of beans."
Diablo smiled, her attractive face lighting up with the movement. "Thanks, Jane. Nice to meet you two," she said, passing them and descending the stairs to the basement with heavy clunking steps.
"Woah," Jane exhaled. "I think she single-handedly is keeping the leather industry going. Wait until the guys meet her; they'll be falling over themselves."
Daria gulped. Jane was right. Diablo was beautiful and quirky, exactly the boys of Mystik Spiral's type – exactly Trent's type. She and Daria were almost complete opposites. Daria suddenly felt as small as a pebble.
Jane caught sight of her best friend's expression and bit her lip. "Crap. I didn't mean it like that – Trent won't see her like that, you're his girlfriend."
Daria nodded as the two began the short walk to the local pizza house. She tried to act collected on the outside, but her stomach was tying itself in knots.
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A/N: This is going to be a multi-chaptered story, although probably no more than 2 or 3 chapters long. Feedback about this chapter would be much appreciated *gulps*.