Forever and For Always
Chapter Two
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Music:
"Love at First Sight" by Kylie Minogue
Lulu sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, mulling over a cold plate of food. Since moving out of her father's place, she had barely eaten and only slept a bare minimum- it was the guilt from leaving her father alone that made her feel that way, but still she felt like it was the right decision. It was time for her to leave the nest.
"Are you feeling okay, Lulu? You've barely touched your food."
The young woman smiled up at Tijo as he sat down across from her. "No, no, I've just been thinking," she replied. "Ah- the other auditions start today, right?"
It had been three days since Lulu moved into the Zora Hall and everything had basically stalled since she'd arrived; Toto and Tijo had been very nice about showing her around and teaching her how everything was done, and Evan had been showing her the material that the band already had, which was a mix of work from her mother's days with the band and some things he and Tijo had already started working on. With her mostly settled in to her quarters, however, Toto had announced that they'd be starting auditions for a guitarist and bassist.
"Yeah, and we've got a lot of people lined up," he said. "You should probably eat up, it's going to be a long day. You're going to need energy."
Lulu plucked at her salad, not wanting to make things awkward. Tijo dug into his own meal and thankfully didn't pay much attention to the fact that she was barely eating. When he was almost finished, she excused herself and tossed the rest of her food into the trash, putting the tray away while Tijo was finishing up. When they were done, Toto approached the two of them.
"Good afternoon, future starlets! Let's hope today goes as smoothly as the singer auditions," he said, adding a throaty chuckle at the end. "If we can get everything wrapped up today, we'll be able to start booking gigs and get the ball rolling."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Toto," Tijo said as he cleaned off his own tray. "We got a major lucky break with Lulu, and lightning rarely strikes twice." Lulu blushed at the compliment. "Let's just hope we find something today. Anyway, where's Evan?"
"Oh, he's been doing sound checks all morning," Toto replied. "You know, making sure nothing's going to go wrong during the performances today. He's quite the hard worker! C'mon, walk with me down to the stage, kids, the first audition is lined up to start in fifteen minutes."
As the two young band members followed the older manager, Lulu hummed to herself, something she'd become quite prone to doing; when she lived with her father, she'd always been so quiet while she was puttering around the house, but now that she was in such a musical environment, it just felt right. Soon, Toto was humming along.
"You're going to have an absolutely addictive voice, my dear," he said enthusiastically. "Oh, this will be so brilliant."
"I hope you're right," she said, momentarily pausing in her humming. As they walked into the main hall, Evan waved them over from the stage. "Hello, Evan. How's your morning been?"
The male zora hopped down from the stage where he'd been checking wires. "Busy," he replied. "These guys don't know how to wire anything. Is the first audition here yet?"
"He still has ten minutes left to get here, calm down," Toto assured him as he took his seat by the front of the stage. Tijo and Lulu settled on either side of him as Evan climbed down, taking the one empty seat next to Lulu. He turned to her and gave her a smile, and she smiled back, blushing a little. A few moments later, the door to the Zora Hall swung open.
"Sorry if I'm late," apologized a fumbling zora as he ran inside. "I had some things to take care of before I got here.. I'm ready to go, though."
As he climbed up onto the stage, Lulu folded her legs and places her hands in her lap. He picked up the guitar sitting on the stand, adjusting his position in front of the microphone and clearing his throat. As soon as he plucked the first string, everyone jumped a little.
After a minute or so of torture, Toto stood up. "Thank you very much, that was wonderful. We'll let you know after we hear the other auditions."
"Ah, thank you," the auditioning zora said as he set the provided guitar back in place. "I, uh, did I leave my information?"
"Yes, yes, when you signed up for the auditions," the manager assured him. "Have a nice day, now."
As the zora climbed down from the stage and left the building, Lulu cleared her throat. "Well, that wasn't so bad, I suppose."
Evan inhaled deeply and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Let's just.. get through this with our ears intact, please."
Several hours and several dozen horrendous auditions later, Lulu walked down the beach as the sun started to set in the distance. Her delicate fins fluttered in the breeze as she walked, feeling the ocean waves wash up around her feet. As she walked, she hummed gently to the first tune that came to mind, an old folk song. She had hoped the auditions would go quickly, as she was excited to get started on her singing career. Unfortunately, every person they'd auditioned had barely been able to play the instrument.
Just as she started to wonder if abandoning her father to join the band had been a bad idea, she heard the gentle sounds of string music. She followed the sound, walking through a rock archway to reach a small clearing with a little wading pool. At the other end of the clearing, she saw two male zora sitting together on a set of rocks, dipping their feet in the water to cool off. One held a guitar, the other a bass guitar, and the two were playing together. Not wanting to bother them, she hung back and listened.
Mikau and Japas had been friends since they were freshly hatched, belonging to the clutches of two very close families. They'd been essentially inseparable since, even isolating themselves from other zora their age in order to spend more time together. Eventually, around their teenage years, they discovered a mutual love for music and had become drawn to their individual instruments; Mikau fell in love with the guitar while Japas had taken up the bass. They would spend hours at a time locked away in one of their bedrooms, playing and writing songs until neither of them could feel their fingers anymore. Most of their peer group thought they were strange, even crazy for focusing so much on their music and on each other, but they just ignored it. When they entered their adult lives, the first thing they'd done was pool the money they'd made from odds and ends jobs and got themselves a small house. They hadn't needed any more than a small one bedroom place, and everything had been very comfortable for them so far.
That day they'd ventured out of their isolation and wandered down to the small cove not far from their backyard, instruments in hand. When they needed some fresh air and to dip their feet in the water to relax and cool off, they would steal away there; it was a nice spot and close to a fairly populated area, but the entrances were very well hidden in the cliff walls and kept the place from overflowing with people.
Mikau sat and strummed gingerly at the strings of his guitar, humming along to the tune as best he could; he'd never been very good with his voice, but Japas always seemed to enjoy it. Mikau was built like the average zora male, with a long head fin, a delicate white-blue colouration and two big round black eyes. Cerulean coloured markings dotted his back and legs, as well as the back of his head fin. There was one thing that set him apart from the average zora male, however; colourful tattoos covering every part of his body. They adorned the front of his head, as well as his chest, arms and legs. He'd gotten them done in a fit of adolescent rebellion, during a time when his parents had been worried about his social isolation and had tried to limit his time with Japas to encourage him to go out and make other friends. They'd become a very iconic part of his appearance since then.
Japas leaned against his friend, letting Mikau set the pace and tone of the music; they never played from sheet music, just whatever happened to pop into their minds at the time. No matter what they played, they were always in perfect harmony, although the two of them knew that it was most likely because they were paying less attention to the music itself and more attention to the feeling and to each other. Japas also resembled the average zora male, although he had overgrown fins that hung in his eyes, akin to the Terminian hair. He was rather plain in comparison to Mikau's bright tattoos, but he didn't mind; he was much the same in personality, always more willing to follow Mikau's lead than to take charge himself. Mikau was a leader and Japas was a follower; it was one of the reasons they got along so well.
"Hmm.. ah.. how about this?" Japas interjected himself into the riff Mikau had been assembling, adding a strong backing to the song. Mikau grinned widely as he heard the intertwining chords of the two instruments producing a harmonious melody.
"Ooh, yeah, I like that," the more colourful zora replied. "Here, listen to this one." He waited a moment for a natural stop in the song before starting up a second one, letting his fingers walk freely. Japas swayed a little to the much gentler melody that Mikau had chosen, eventually resting his head on the other zora's shoulder. As he started strumming his bass, he tilted his head and nuzzled into the crook of Mikau's neck. Mikau returned the affectionate gesture, nuzzling against the top of his head. Their melody had turned very gentle and romantic, reflecting their current state. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't notice a shy zora female lurking near the entrance of their little cove. Eventually, however, Mikau opened his eyes and saw the girl lingering on the edges of the pool. "Hey, check it out, we have an audience."
Japas peered out from under his fins, just in time to see the girl realize they were looking at her. She blushed a little and he smiled. "A cute one, too," he murmured, too quiet for her to hear.
"I'm sorry," she called from across the cove. "I don't mean to intrude, but I heard your music from the beach and I thought it sounded very nice." She took a few cautious steps forward and the the two male zora waved her ahead, giving her the confidence to stride directly up to them. They didn't get to play for an appreciative audience very often; when they did, it was always a nice treat. Even as they talked to the girl, they played quietly in the background; at least, Japas did, Mikau trying to keep up when he could. He seemed thoroughly distracted by their unexpected visitor. The more relaxed zora looked up at his friend through his fins and couldn't repress a cheeky grin when he saw that he was blushing. Looking at the zora girl, he realized she was blushing as well.
"We're always happy to play for someone who likes our music," Japas said. "That is, if Mikau would ever pick his jaw up off of the floor." The colourfully tattooed zora smacked his friend upside the head, blushing an even deeper shade. He grinned awkwardly at the female zora, who smiled shyly back. Japas shook his head fondly.
"Actually, ah- I know this is pretty sudden, but I'm actually a member of a band that's holding auditions down at the Hall, and we're looking for a guitarist and a bassist.." she explained, folding her hands in front of her. "You two sound very good. I think you'd have a very good chance."
Mikau and Japas shared a look. "We've- never really performed before," Mikau said. "And we mostly play whatever pops into our heads."
The zora girl blushed again, looking away. "That's okay," she said. "I'm sorry I bothered you."
As she started to walk away, Japas looked at Mikau. The blush on his face was still a little apparent as he watched the girl getting farther and farther away. The bass player sighed.
Japas and Mikau had never really been into the dating scene, having been socially awkward and not really interested in changing that image. Instead, the two of them had just always been much closer than the average pair of friends; that was one of the reasons they didn't need a house with any more than one bedroom. They were each others firsts for pretty much everything. But their relationship wasn't necessarily romantic, in the purest sense of the word- they were lovers, soul-mates and best friends, but they weren't a couple. Japas had never been much of a couple person to begin with and it didn't at all bother him, but he knew that Mikau was the sort of person who dreamed of a beach side house and two clutches of hatchlings swimming around him. The fact that he spent most of his time with Japas meant this wasn't like to happen any time soon, however- at least, without a little intervention.
The more plain zora nudged his friend in the side. "Maybe this'll be good for us," he said. "We could use the cash."
Mikau looked at him in confusion, before nodding and jumping up, leaving Japas there as he chased after the female zora. "Hey, wait a second," he called. The girl stopped in her tracks, looking back at him just in time for him to catch up to her. "We might be interested. When and where?"
She smiled at him. "We're holding the auditions right now in Zora Hall. If you come with me, we can get there before the cut off."
Japas lingered back, approaching the two at a leisurely pace. Getting just within earshot, he heard Mikau ask, "Ah- what's your name?"
"Lulu," the female zora replied. "And you?"
"Mikau," he replied. "And this is my friend Japas." He gestured behind him, sensing the other male zora approaching. He gave a little wave. "So, uh.. lead the way, I guess."
Lulu smiled at the two of them, gesturing for them to follow her. As they walked down the beach, Japas purposely let himself fall behind, still able to see and follow but just out of hearing range.
"So, uh.. what's your band called?" Mikau asked, not noticing Japas fall behind.
"The Indigo-Go's," she replied. Mikau looked at her with wide eyes.
"You mean like, the Indigo-Go's?" he asked, sounding astonished. Lulu blushed and laughed a little.
"Well, a new version of it," Lulu replied. "The manager of the old band decided to get some people together to start it up again. Why, are you a fan?"
"I used to go see them all the time as a kid," he replied. "You know, you actually look a lot like the old singer. You've got the same name, too." Lulu giggled.
"That's because she was my mother," she replied. "That's how I know the band manager."
"That's pretty awesome," he commented. "So like mother like daughter, huh?"
The female zora laughed again. "I suppose," she replied. "I don't think I'm as good a performer as my mother, though."
"It's kind of a high standard to hold yourself to," Mikau pointed out. "Lulu- your mom, I mean- was a performer for longer than I've been alive."
Looking off into the distance, Lulu nodded. "I suppose so," she said. After reaching a lull in the conversation, she looked around only to realize that Japas wasn't walking with them anymore. Looking behind her she realized that he had fallen behind while they'd been talking, and stopped. Mikau followed suit until the other male zora caught up, walking on the other side of his close friend.
It didn't take them long to get to the Zora Hall. Mikau and Japas admired the outside of the building; they hadn't been there since they were young, and it was nice to be back. As they stepped inside, they saw a few stagehands and a zora with very eel-like features disassembling the equipment on stage. "Wait! I have some last minute auditions," Lulu announced.
Toto, Evan and Tijo looked at her, then at the two male zora following her. Toto raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you find these two, Lulu?" the band manager asked.
"They were playing just down the beach from here," she replied, indicating the instruments the two male zora were carrying. "They were good, Toto. They can play."
Evan sighed. "No matter what they do, they cannot be any worse than what we've already heard," he pointed out. He then turned to the two newcomers, nodding towards the stage. "Let's hear what you can do." He hopped down from where he was helping the stagehands to dismantle the set and took his seat in front, alongside Toto and Tijo.
Mikau and Japas turned to each other and grinned, looking completely smug; Mikau was the first to climb up on stage, extending a hand to help Japas up after him. The stagehands scurried off the stage like excited minnows running from a predator, watching from the sidelines. Both started to tune their instruments, giving a few testing strums before looking at the band manager and band members at the front of the stage, including Lulu who had taken her seat while they'd been tuning.
"Is there anything specific you want us to play?" Mikau asked. Toto waved a hand in dismissal.
"No, no," he replied. "Maybe in a bit. Just play whatever you feel like playing for now."
The two shared another grin. "You wanna start?" asked Japas. Mikau shrugged, then started to strum at his guitar. After a few moments of improvisation, Japas jumped in. They were in perfect harmony, as always, and before long they forgot they were still being watched.
When they stopped, they were greeted with silence, until the band manager jumped onto his chair and started to clap wildly. "Bravo, bravo! That was astounding!"
Even the surly band leader seemed impressed, and both Lulu and Tijo were sharing a little smile. "They're definitely leagues better than anything we've heard today," Evan agreed. He then turned to the band manager. "But before you start writing up a contract, how about we have them play one of our songs? I mean, they weren't even reading music there."
Toto nodded. "Of course, of course. Why don't you run and fetch the sheet music for them, Evan?" he suggested. He then turned to Lulu. "And Lulu, why don't you go up and join them on stage?"
The singer looked at him, a little confused judging by her facial expression. "Me? Why?" she asked.
"Well, guitar, bass and vocals are the three parts of our musical ensemble that have to be the most harmonious," he replied. "Besides, you've been practising the songs, and these two will be playing them for the first time. It's always helpful when learning a new song to be performing alongside someone who already knows the material."
"But- I don't know them all that well," she replied. "I would hate to mess them up.."
"Nonsense, you could only improve their performance," he assured her. "And it'll be important for us to gauge how well you work with these two. What are your names, boys?" he asked, turning to the two male zora.
"I'm Japas, this is Mikau," the shaggier zora replied. Before any more casual conversation could be sparked, Evan came running back with the sheet music Toto had asked him to retrieve. Without even being prompted, two stagehands scurried out onto the stage with two music stands, setting one up in front of each of the string instrument performers. The eel-like zora handed the two auditioning artists the copies of sheet music, which they places on the music stands and examined. Evan took his seat as Lulu climbed onto stage with Mikau and Japas, straightening her dress as she took her place between the two. Evan exchanged a look with Toto and the band manager just nodded.
"We're ready when you are," the small puffer fish zora announced. Lulu cleared her throat and rubbed the front of it like Tijo and Toto had taught her to do. She then looked at Mikau, then at Japas, both of them nodding and turning back to the sheet music. The female zora peeked at one copy of the sheet music, just to see what song she was supposed to be singing, then took a deep breath and swallowed back her fear.
Music flowed effortlessly from mouth and instruments as the three were signalled to begin. Lulu felt her stomach begin to clench when she saw how intently Evan and Toto were watching and evaluating the performance, but it loosened when her eyes wandered to Tijo, who smiled at her and gave her two thumbs up. For the rest of the song she focused on her new friend rather than on the band manager and keyboardist of the group, reminding herself that she wasn't the one being evaluated. When they reached the end of the music, her eyes wandered back to the other two in order to gauge their reactions.
"I think we've seen all we need to see, wouldn't you agree boys?" Toto asked, turning to Tijo and Evan. They both nodded. He then turned back to the stage. "Congratulations, Mikau and Japas! You are officially members of the new Indigo-Go's."
Lulu turned to the male zora and smiled before climbing back down to join the other members of the band. Mikau and Japas just shared their own personal smile.
"Do you two live nearby?" Toto asked. The two of them nodded.
"Just down the beach from here," Mikau replied. The small male zora clapped once, almost startlingly loud.
"Perfect! There are rooms for you here in case you ever need them, but that seems like it won't be the case," he said. "Now that we have a full group, we can start practices.. does everyone agree on tomorrow?"
He looked at the group members, including Japas and Mikau who had just climbed down from the stage and joined. There were a few murmurs and shrugs, but eventually everyone nodded.
"Perfect! Then let's all meet here in the hall for, oh.. 2 o'clock?" he suggested. "On most days we'll have to start earlier but today's been sort of a long day so I'm sure everyone's going to want to sleep in tomorrow."
Everyone seemed to perk up a little when he mentioned sleeping in, nodding and murmuring more vigorously. Toto clapped loudly again.
"Okay, everyone! That's it for today. Get a good sleep tonight everyone, it'll be a long practice tomorrow." With that, he waved the five performers off; Evan put his hands behind his head and headed for his bedroom while the other four lingered.
"I'm Tijo," the large drummer said as he shook Mikau's hand, then Japas'. "Don't mind Evan, he's pretty guys were really good. Where'd you learn to play like that?"
Both of the newcomers shrugged. "Nowhere, really," Japas replied for both of them. "We just sort of taught ourselves."
Lulu smiled at them, both her and Tijo looking impressed. "You're very talented," she said. Both Mikau and Japas blushed a little, although Mikau turned darker than his friend.
"Thanks," he said. "You were amazing."
It was Lulu's turn to blush, turning a dark purple. "Thank you," she said. "I'm just glad I didn't mess up your auditions."
For a moment, Mikau and Lulu just sort of looked at each other, both blushing. After a while Japas elbowed his best friend in the ribs and Tijo tapped the female zora on the shoulder, startling them both out of their miniature trance.
"We'd better get home," Japas said. "Grab some grub and then get some shut-eye." Mikau nodded at Japas' suggestion, then turned back to Lulu.
"I guess we'll see you tomorrow then," he said. Lulu smiled.
"I guess so," she replied. "Have a good night."
"You too."
Japas rolled his eyes behind his fin fringe, sure the exchange would go on forever if he didn't drag Mikau off before it had a change to continue. He took his friend by the hand and led him gently towards the door, causing him to almost stumble and curse. Lulu giggled at the sight before turning to Tijo.
"Is the cafeteria still serving dinner?" she asked.
"Should be," he replied. The two walked off together towards the lunch room. "So. They seem nice."
Lulu looked down at the ground, her cheeks still flushed. "Yeah. They do."
Japas closed the door behind himself, removing the bass guitar from his back and slinging it onto a hook like one would be expected to do with a coat. Mikau, walking ahead of his friend, still had his with him; he removed it as he sat on their living room couch, strumming a few simple chords. The shaggier zora wandered into the kitchen, pulling ingredients out of the fridge; between the two of them, Japas had always been the natural cook. In fact, he was rather afraid of letting Mikau into the kitchen; it never ended well.
"So we now officially have real jobs," he said. "Feels weird."
"Better than scraping barnacles and trimming seaweed for a living," the guitarist replied, folding his legs under him and cradling the guitar in his lap. "It's our first real break."
"We'd have probably gotten one sooner if we'd ever actually tried," Japas pointed out as pots, pans and dishes rattled while he worked his magic. "I guess it'll be fun, at least. That Evan or whatever guy seems like he has a real stick up his ass, though."
Mikau couldn't help but laugh at his comment. "Aw, he doesn't seem so bad. Maybe just a little one."
Japas laughed back, then went silent for a few moments, audible only through the sound of kitchenware. "That Tijo guy was nice, though. And Lulu."
Mikau smiled fondly down at his guitar. "Yeah, sh- they were," he replied.
"Lulu was awfully cute, too," the shaggy zora pointed out. Mikau blushed a little, glad his friend couldn't see him.
"So you mentioned," he replied. "Yeah, she was. She looks a lot like her mom."
Japas whistled a merry tune as he slid slabs of driftwood into the wood stove, igniting it with matches he'd bought from a Terminian merchant a few weeks ago. It lit up with a brilliant yellow flame and closed the door to the appliance and placed a pot with water on top of it to let it boil. Leaving the water there, he ventured out into the living room to join Mikau.
"The two of you really seemed to hit it off," he hinted as he sat down next to Mikau. The male zora blushed even more. "You should ask her out."
"I'm happy the way things are now," he replied, reaching out to grab Japas' hand. He rubbed his thumb over his friend's palm, which made Japas tilt his head into his own shoulder and make an almost purring sound of contentment. "I like living here, with you. I don't need to start dating. I've already told you that."
"I know, but.." Japas sighed, both irritated and incredibly comfortable. He had incredibly sensitive hands. "I know you're going to want more, eventually. And you and Lulu were practically falling all over each other there."
Mikau stopped rubbing his palm, and Japas made an unhappy noise. "She wasn't falling all over me," he replied. "She was just being nice."
Japas laughed. "She was falling all over you. You both have such a crush, dude."
Mikau blushed. Mostly because he knew it was true.
