Hello again !
For those who didn't follow:
"This isn't a 'big comeback' or whatever...it's just a little bonus that I suddenly wanted to add to the story. I think it'll be four or maybe five chapters, that's all. I thought I would never post anything again on this site, but then Psycho came out...and I suddenly came down with an acute Muse-itis again. And also the fact that I'll soon see them live once more, the fever took hold of me again ! I just hope I haven't lost my touch too much..."
For those who did follow (thanks SO much for the reviews btw, MythicMouse and LaylaCrow23)
I finally decided I should not post this directly in TFoPF, since (even if they're the same characters) it doesn't have a lot to do with the original story... And you may notice that I've changed a few things already: the title, the place (Rome instead of Milan) and the date (six years instead of eight years after TFoPF).
For everyone:
Soooooooooo... BIG M-rating alert ! If you like pure flowery romance, this might not be for you... This is more about lust than anything else.
Your Favourite Game
Six years after This Feeling of Pure Freedom.
*JADE'S P.O.V*
The Italian security staff had made a fuss about verifying my identity, but thankfully an audio engineer who knew me had granted me access rather quickly. I scurried up the narrow stairs, dragging and bumping my suitcase along, but I could already hear the muffled deep heavy tones of the bass vibrating through the walls. Which meant I was too late, they were back onstage already. I hurried down the corridors anyway, not giving the slightest of attention to the people that I crossed path with, until I reached the backstage.
Music was thundering on the other side of the thick safety curtain and I soon recognized Hysteria's tune. The sound of Matt's voice reached my ears and a flutter of electricity ran through my body, my heart and breathing picking up speed. Even after all this time, he hadn't lost his touch.
Technicians were scattered all over the place, eyes glued to computers' screens, the only sources of light around here, saved for the flashes of colour that escaped the huge curtain from both sides now and then.
I was slightly panting- having a hard time catching my breath after my little run- as I walked over to the left wing, still rolling my suitcase behind me. Finally the stage came into sight and I paused. Of course I knew that the gig had resumed, I'd heard it even in the street outside the building, but seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointement.
Now I would have to wait at least an hour before I could see Matt.
We had only been separated a matter of weeks, but it felt like months since I'd last felt the warmth of his arms around me. You'd think that after all this time one more hour of waiting would feel trifling... But in truth being this close to him, knowing that he was there, just a few meters ahead, made it so much harder to bear. I wanted to walk straight out there and throw myself at him, gig or not, audience or not. But I guessed that would've cast a wave of awkwardness throught the air, to say the least.
So I resigned myself to waiting. I sighed and ran a hand in my hair, finally taking the time to get my oxygen back. Then I noticed Kathy, standing with her back to me in the prompt corner, next to yet another tech. A tiny smile tilted my lips at the familiar sight and I came up behind her in order to lightly touch her arm. She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes slightly widened in recognition.
"Jade!" she exclaimed happily, placing her hands on my arms. "Finally! It's too bad, you've just missed their break," she said over a bright and crisp version of Hysteria's guitar solo.
I sighed internally. 'Great...'
"Traffic was horrible around the airport," I explained, raising my voice as well. "And you know how Italians have a..." I searched for the right word, "curious way of driving. There was a moment when the driver got out of the cab to yell at another driver... Honestly, I thought I would never arrive."
She smiled, knowing all too well what I meant. "Yeah, they're a bit hot-blooded around here".
"That's an understatement," I quipped, casting my eyes around. "Tom's not with you?"
"He's in the control booth," she said, pointing up and towards the audience. "And I love your hair by the way."
"Thanks!" I smiled and absentmindedly touched my recently cut hair. Even if shorter than it used to be, it was still long, cut just over my chest. I'd just wanted more layers to give it body and volume. I'd been thinking about it for some time but I knew Matt liked my long hair so I'd put the idea on back burner for a while.
I took a few steps closer to the stage and slightly leaned forwards, peeking into the public whilst trying to remain unseen behind the legs.
In the dimness of the small room, united as if forming one single organism, the crowd was on fire. White smoke was blurring the air, carrying the light effects further out to the back. Over their head I caught a glimpse of the control booth Kathy had just mentioned.
Hysteria came to an explosive, screeching end, and the room erupted in cheers, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. Damn, I'd forgotten how that felt.
Dom's voice came out from the speakers in the room after an instant. "Grazie mille!" he exclaimed with a more than questionable accent. But still the fans seemed to appreciate the effort, as always.
My gaze was inevitably drawn to the stage straight ahead of me, even if I'd tried to avoid looking at it directly since I'd feared it would make the yearning worse.
It made it worse. Chris was closest to me, and I realised that was probably the reason why Kathy had chosen to stay in the left wing and not the right one. Dom was upstage in the middle, as usual, and Matt was at the far end, near the right wing.
He was pacing around, pressing his foot on his pedal board now and then, wearing black pants and a white t-shirt printed with a very rock-and-roll black and red pattern, red braces dangling loosely at his sides.
While I looked at him I felt this familiar heat, flooding me from head to toe, this aching longing in my heart and jittery feeling in my belly. Over the years I'd learned to simply accept these demanding emotions, loving someone with all your heart wasn't as restful an activity as one could hope. When it wasn't downright exhausting. Yet these feelings seemed to be particularly heightened and powerful tonight. Perhaps it had been too long this time.
I tried to send mental waves to him, to have him notice me. But he was utterly (and rightfully) absorbed by the gig, and following the usual four taps of Dom's drumsticks he began to play Map of the Problematique. After a few seconds, when the song gained intensity, he strode back and forth, his body moving to the beat of the song.
Nope, no way I could reach him now. But it seemed that someone else had heard my mental calls. My eyes met Chris' by pure chance. I raised a hand and he smiled, answering my wave with a movement of his head. Perhaps he would tip Matt off for me.
And I feel like everything I sow
Is being swept away
Well I refuse to let you go...
The crowd was singing along but I only had eyes for Matt. The stage was bathed in blue light, except for Dom whose drumkit was lit in red, Chris was being his headbanging-self, and Matt had a look of intense, faraway pleasure etched on his features.
How did I manage not to dart forwards and kiss the living hell out of him right that instant was beyond me.
'Still more than fifty minutes to go... How am I going last this long?...'
Life will flash before my eyes
So scattered and lost
I want to touch the other side
And no one thinks they are to blame
Why can't we see
That when we bleed we bleed the same
I can't get right
Get it right
Since I miss you
My eyebrows drew together. I turned towards Kathy. "Did he say 'since I miss you'?"
She thought it over for a second. "Hum, no I don't think so, I heard 'met' personnally."
Still slightly frowning I turned my attention towards the stage again. Well I had heard 'miss'.
Loneliness be over
When will this loneliness be over
Loneliness be over
When will this loneliness be over...
The song ended rather abruptly, but the Maggie's Farm riff followed right away, lights turning red. Matt walked over to the edge of the stage, hunching over his guitar, bending at the waist. After a couple of seconds he started jumping wildly as he played, and a cluster of young women in the front row went hysterical, screaming their heads off.
Possessiveness reared up inside me and I narrowed my eyes at them, even if they couldn't see me.
'Scream all you want, he's mine. And if the ring he's wearing on his left hand isn't enough to remind you of it, than I will.'
At the end of the riff the lights were turned off between songs. My eyes took a second to adjust, trying to distinguish forms around me thanks to the slight gleam coming from LEDs or screens.
"Jade, now that you're here," I heard Kathy say not far from me, "we wanted to ask you: there's a party on a sort of houseboat-club on the other side of the town tonight, it's pretty select but it looks really cool, you think..."
I didn't hear another word, for I was suddenly tilted backwards. I gasped, startled, but before I could say anything my mouth was covered up by warm lips and a parfume that I knew well floated inside my nostrils.
Surprise left place to joy and I smiled in the kiss, but desire quickly took over everything else and I straightened up, sliding my hands up his shoulders to wrap around his neck.
I tilted my head to the side and pressed into Matt while he pulled me close at the same time, and my heart melted like dark chocolate. His much awaited closeness made the room around us fade away into nothing for a timeless moment, and we moved our lips against the other's unabashingly, as if we were the only two people there.
Unfortunately he only had a few seconds between each song so he had to end the kiss far too quickly for my taste.
Lips throbbing, pulse racing, I looked up into the darkness. I managed to see him smile, even though there was hardly any light.
"You're late," he said.
"Long story," I replied a bit breathless.
He started to gently disengage himself from our embrace and my spirits sank. 'So soon...'
"Lucky kiss?" he asked out of the blue, rising his hand between us at the level of my chin.
My lips curved into a smile again. "It seems you were doing just fine without it..."
"Then I'll just do even better," he answered, touching his forehead to mine.
I chuckled and decided to humour him, cupping his hand with mines and pressing a kiss against the plectrum he'd been holding.
"Thanks, baby," he said, his voice silky and breath carressing my mouth just before he gave me one last peck on the lips.
I leaned fowards when he pulled away, not wanting his lips to part from mine, but he didn't really have a choice and soon he trotted away and the lights were on again.
I sighed, the encounter having turned me into mush. Mind fuzzy, I slowly turned my head towards Kathy, all warm and gooey-fied. "You were saying?"
She huffed out a laugh. "Nevermind, we'll talk about it after the gig."
My eyes glided towards the stage again, and my hand came up to my neck of its own motion, my fingers twiddling my aquamarine pendant, a longtime gift from Matt.
My line of sight crossed Chris' once again.
"Thank you," I mouthed to him, knowing that he had told Matt I was here first chance he'd had. He responded with a smile whilst roving over his side of the stage.
Matt had slipped behind his piano and they played Apocalypse Please. Next came New Born, Assassin, and Plug in Baby which of course was met with a mass singalong from the crowd. And then, just before the following song, while Matt was absently and softly strumming the strings of his guitar, he sent an unexpected message to me.
"I'd like to dedicated this next song to my beautiful wife," he announced in his mike just before the first notes of Sing for Absolution sounded in the air.
I felt myself blush to the roots of my hair and I bit my lower lip, trying to contain the massive grin that wanted to come up to the surface. I took a step back, shying away from the crowd out there.
"Oh, Matt..." I whispered through my smile, chest tightening with adoration.
'Take that, groupies-in-the-front!'
Everytime they played this song I couldn't help but think about the first time I'd heard it, the memory bittersweet but intense. It felt like it'd been a century ago. It had been a lifetime ago. And it always felt weird when fans sang it along, weird that such intimate lyrics- which had hold so much meaning when they'd been written- would come out of the mouths of so many strangers.
The rest of the gig carried on smoothly, they had a great crowd, very receptive, and when the beginning of Supermassive Black Hole resounded in rich definition, a clamour of approval rose from them. The explosive song filled the space of the Italian stage with pure energy, spurring the fans to jump as high as they could for the last track of the show.
Matt was having fun with his Kaoss pad, leaping and kicking around while Chris sang the last chorus. Matthew thanked the public at the end of the song, but even if he'd talked in his mike his voice could be barely heard over the roar of the acclamations. He then strutted towards Dom, pushing parts of his drumkit so that cimbals toppled over. He only left the ones Dom needed for the final riff.
Meanwhile Chris had hopped down from the stage, turned around so that he had his back to the crowd, and he leaned backwards, the greedy hands of the fans pulling him towards them. Security guards were standing very close to him, looking on edge. Kathy suddenly radiated worry next to me, staring at him nervously.
"He'll be fine," I told her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. But at the same time I felt eyes on me and my gaze flicked towards Matt. He was watching me, smile tugging at his lips, and he winked at me.
Of course I suddenly forgot all about Chris and was all smiles again. Matt jumped onto the drumkit's platform and sat astride Dom's bass drum, sharing words with him away from the microphones. I saw them say 'one, two, three, four' in unisson and the heavy riff blared out of the amps.
Chris was lifted off the floor by the sucking strenght of the crowd, fingers clutching and pulling at his t-shirt and arms, but the security staff clung to him to keep him near the fences. Dom was playing like a madman, shaking his head wildly and drumming faster than ever. As for Matt, his mouth had dropped open, his hands moved in a blur over his Manson's frets, his fingers gliding along the whole lenght of the strings now and then.
And so the gig came to a close with all the mind-blowing pomp you can imagine, Dom having the rest of his drumkit swung away by Matt's guitar once the latter had sprung onto his feet again, floodlights sweeping bright coloured rays over Chris and the fans' heads, the amps' last screams mingling with the crowd's cheering.
Chris climbed onto the stage again, looking spaced out and over the moon after his little crowd surf. Matt abandoned his guitar near the fallen drums and lifted his arm in the air, letting the ovation wash over him in unending waves.
"Thank you Rome!" Dom said over the speakers, raising his arm as well. "You've been fucking amazing! Cheers!"
Of course he couldn't resist casting his drumsticks into the huddle. There was a brief sway in the crowd, a young woman caught one of the drumsticks, and she tossed a fervid 'ti amo' at a grinning Dom.
Chris was the first one to reach the wing. He grabbed a beer can that had been waiting for him near the prompt desk, flicked it open, and took a sip but not before he'd placed a chaste kiss on Kathy's lips. Next came Dom, rubbing his face and neck with the towel a tech had just handed him, babbling about 'just how hot are Italian chicks'.
His grin grew even bigger when he saw me. "Hey! How was the trip?" he asked happily.
"So-so," I vaguely answered, smiling back just as cheerfully, but clearly not in the mood to talk about it now.
And last came Matt, swallowing down big gulps of water from a small bottle. Our eyes met and his were bright and alive, swimming with endorphins. We came close to each other, letting only a couple of inches between us.
"Kinda sweaty right now," he warned me, a slight hoarseness in his voice, licking a drop of water that had lingered on his lips.
My lips stretched into a small seductive smile. "Who says I mind?" I said quietly, flirting, while the cheers continued in the background.
His eyes glinted and there was a hint of a smirk on his face when he took another sip of water. Then his right hand came up, his fingers smoothing over a lock of my hair.
"Nice haircut," he said, appreciative.
"You like it? It's not too short for your taste?"
He shook his head. "No. As long as I can still run my fingers in it, I don't mind..."
And he added gestures to his words, sliding his hand through my hair before letting it glide down my neck. Desire burned between us without warning, pulling me to him like an invisible magnetic force.
"Guys, get a room, seriously!" Dom suddenly exclaimed behind me, laughing.
A blush crept up to my face and I took a step back, whereas Matt seemed unfazed. "All in good times," he said, swigging from his bottle again to hide his smile.
Review ? Pwetty please ? :-)