Kylo sat alone in the recording studio, his mood dark, his patience thin. It had been twenty minutes since his band showed up at the studio. They were all set up, ready to record, ready to get this over with and their collaborators were still getting mobbed by the paparazzi. He sighed. Amateurs.
Still, he couldn't help but be a bit grateful to the young band, taking the attention off him like that. He was so tired of being hounded by the paparazzi, and despite Phasma and Hux seeming to enjoy it despite the five plus years of dealing with photographers' shit, he had been fully prepared to punch the first guy who snapped a picture today. What a headline that would have made, he snorted, picturing it: Kylo Ren Throws ANOTHER TANTRUM! He stretched as he stood now, curious where his drummer and bassist went, why they weren't here, commiserating about their circumstances. Because of their almost daily appearances in the tabloids and trashy gossip magazines, their manager had insisted that they clean up their act, starting with a duet between Kylo and Rey from With the Resistance.
It had taken Kylo weeks to agree, and he was sure that Hux was pissed with him still for being a 'diva', but he wasn't going out of this business without being damn sure of the song. Yeah, that's right- Kylo Ren, popular bad boy since the age of seventeen when KoR started- was thinking of walking away from music. It pained him, but he couldn't stand the invasion of privacy that was just his day to day life. He hated that, no matter how badly he behaved, no matter how many hearts he broke, everyone would still love him and want to be with him. The hypocrisy made him sick.
So yeah, he had taken his time to decide whether or not to put energy into the project. He nearly said no, had wanted to. But then he found a video of With the Resistance, when they were on tour the year before. Saw how excited they were, how in love with the music they seemed to be. He recognized the drummer, Finn, and congratulated him in his head that he got out of KoR when he did. Kylo even gave Poe, the playboy of a guitarist, props, feeling in awe of the skills the man had with his instrument, almost feeling inadequate with his own guitar playing. But it was the girl that cemented his decision.
For one thing, she was hot. Kylo would personally have no trouble bending her over and fucking her speechless, he had decided when she had walked on stage, wearing simple cutoffs, a light shirt, a vest. But even now, he remembered the feeling that he got in his gut when she opened her mouth and sang. Jesus Christ. Kylo hadn't expected the urge to marry another singer, let alone one in his genre (he'd be the first to tell you that emo/alternative singers were a bit messed up), but he would be a liar if he claimed that the thought hadn't crossed his mind. Especially when they ended the show doing a cover of one of his songs. Hearing one of his angry breakup songs coming through her lips, drawn out slow and haunting had been enough to send him texting his band, giving in.
He wouldn't admit it, of course. Didn't want to give her a big head. At least, that's what he thought. He wouldn't tell her either way. Especially now that she was walking into the booth, and he found his mouth dry and he wasn't sure if he could speak. Kylo coughed, flustered, even as Rey smiled nervously at him. "Sorry about the hold up. We," she gestured between herself and her partners as they filed into the opposing side of the recording studio's glass, "have never dealt with paparazzi like that." She giggled, and Kylo internally groaned, wishing that the sound wouldn't go straight to his groin, that she had turned out to be diva that he could respect but resent.
This is going to be hell, he decided as he handed her headphones, tried to ignore her excited dance as she stepped next to him, up to the mic. With her at his side, Kylo suddenly felt excited to begin recording, something that he hadn't felt in a while. He glanced over at her... and missed his cue to start singing. Kylo could practically feel Phasma's arched eyebrow, hear Hux's angry sigh, but he didn't particularly care, especially as Rey smiled over at him, letting him know that it was okay.
They finally nailed it on the third take, and Kylo almost wished that it had taken longer, but he didn't mind. He had a feeling that he'd be seeing a lot of Rey and With the Resistance in the next few weeks.