All the jazz clubs and speakeasies throughout the city of Atlas knew their name, and they were regulars at coffeehouses and most anywhere a band could play. The incredible jazz stylings of Flynt Coal and the Killer Quartet filled any club that would book them with their upturned musical madness. They'd even recorded a couple of hit records that danced across the airwaves and tickled every ear within the frequency.
What most folks did not know, however, was that this 'quartet' was actually only one man.
Flynt Coal possessed the intriguing ability to cast three copies of himself, which played his additional instruments at gigs. Seeing him play was definitely a treat, especially when he brought guests along. On a few occasions, he'd performed with Mechanical Girls, a smoking little ska punk band featuring the raw talents of Penny Polendina, and once he'd even shared a stage with pop violinist Weiss Schnee. Atlas had a whole host of incredible musicians.
Tonight he would be hosting his dear friend Neon Katt, a talented singer he'd known for ages. He couldn't wait to play this concert, and he wanted it to breeze by so he could ask her an important question after. His nerves had piled up at the very idea, but playing the show would demolish all that. The stage always took his nerves away.
Flynt and his copies took the stage for sound check, the four of them testing their volumes and tones. Drums, a double bass, a saxophone and a trumpet made up their raucous sound, although sometimes Sax Flynt traded in his horn for a guitar.
Katt burst onto the stage at the end of Flynt's sound check, singing loudly into a microphone. Her huge, puffy pigtails caught Flynt's attention, and he nearly missed the next cue to play. Her lovely green eyes, her gorgeous tattoos, and the legs poking out of her miniskirt never failed to sway him.
"GET ON YOUR FEET FOR FLYNT COAL'S KILLER QUARTET!" Neon urged the audience at the Extra Life Club, all of them whistling and cheering for the band. The two Flynts with horns traded licks for a moment, the bass Flynt thumping out a rhythm on his gargantuan instrument. "I'mma let the boys take it, this song is called 'TANK!'!" Katt told the crowd as the onslaught of horns commenced.
This cover always got the crowds bumping, and that usually kept until the last note of the concert. Flynt let the music wash over his doubts and feelings. He would ask Katt his to be his girlfriend after the show, head held high no matter what her response.
He'd been crushing on her for at least a year, though, so he hoped her reply would be somewhere close to 'YES!'
"Listen, girlfriend, can't you see? I'm all of the things that you'll never be! I'm cool like the rain, and I'm hot like the sun! I'm a neon rainbow, and you're NO ONE!" The woman of his dreams belted out a few songs later, her perfect voice enthralling him. Despite her high-pitched speaking tone, she had a thick and raspy singing voice with just the right amount of stank for Flynt's wild brand of jazz.
The next song was Flynt's most favorite: 'FNKI' (pronounced 'funky') was a gorgeous horn segue that Katt would vocalize over. Neon took to the drums as all four Flynts brandished horns. Two of them switched instruments partway through, taking up the bass and the guitar. The crowd went insane for Flynt's furious fingers.
"Flynt, WE KILLED IT!" Neon cheered as they walked up the street to her favorite malt shop. A dish or two of ice cream after the show never hurt, and it would make for a perfect spot to pop his big question.
Katt nibbled away at a banana split as Flynt softly played her a sultry tune with his trumpet. Between bites, she gazed into his dark brown eyes as he performed just for her. She loved these little moments of alone time they shared. She clapped for him once his song was finished.
"So... I've been meaning to ask you something, Neon..." Her orange tail perked up at that, so she swallowed the ice cream in her mouth and dabbed her lips with a napkin.
"What would that be, Flynt?" The catty young lady asked.
"Well, I've been digging you for some time now, and I wanted to ask you to be my girl..." He spoke coolly, showing no sign whatsoever of the nervousness stabbing through him right that second.
Katt's eyes turned to stars at his words. "OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD! YES! YES! EIGHT THOUSAND AND FIFTY-FOUR TIMES YEEEEEESSSSSS!" She shrieked at the top of her voice, hugging his neck and almost wasting her wonderful after-show snack. Flynt squeezed her waist tightly, grinning from ear to ear.
It was a good thing the only other people in the malt shop were the two girls working.
The couple finished their treats and walked home, the streetlights shining down on them under the night sky. 3
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((A/N: I still wish we had gotten to meet the rest of Team FNKI, but I LOVED Flynt and Neon! Also, I don't know if there's a ship name for them, but I like to call them 'Brass and Sass'! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. It was super fun to write.))