Wooow... It's been a LONG time since I've posted a chapter o__o I am so sorry you guys... Life has been mega busy with applying for college, family, school... And stuff like that. But since the Dethalbum II has come out, I've re-found my muse~

Hope you enjoy!

... If any of you are paying attention anymore xD

Deth, Come Near Me

Canto 3: The Right to Bear Arms

Dolly awoke late, after spending her 19th day at Mordhaus drinking with a couple of the Klokateers that she found interesting. Most of them were normal people, some of them even too normal; but they all shared the same obsession with Dethklok that brought them together. The two people that she had been drinking with were two of the largest and most intimidating lesbians that she had ever met.

Ariel and Fifi were an amazingly butch and beautiful couple, and she had met them on her way to meet Jean-Pierre one day. They were talking and Dolly just happened to be slightly knowledgeable on the subject of their conversation, though the two of them were very intimidating. They noticed her hesitance and laughed, beckoning her over to their company. She gladly joined them and the conversation soon escalated into a couple of drinks, and a couple of drinks escalated into a binge, and the binge escalated into an all night drinking spree. And she awoke with the mother of all headaches at 8:17 in the morning. So she laid there for a while, her knees to her chest as she breathed and groaned... And she soon fell asleep again.

But a quick rapping on her door quickly woke her up. She felt like she had been asleep for a half of a minute. She didn't bother looking at the clock; time became almost irrelevant in Mordhaus because everything was timed and regulated for you. She then understood how the boys could be so brainless and only understood the basics of "Light is day and dark is night". But nonetheless...

"Damn it Dolly, why are you schleeping when we have a lesschon?!" Murderface roared, crossing his arms after he kicked open the door.

She yawned, "Sorry baby doll, I was exhausted. Is it 10 already?"

"Ten fifchteen." The bassist corrected her.

"... Whoops. Sorry, Murderface. I lost track of time." She got out from behind the drum set and the two of them walked out.

They had gotten a lot closer within the time that they had continued their lessons. Dolly had found out about Murderface's Civil War fetish and immediately found it interesting. She had stayed with him after lessons were finished to watch Civil War documentaries and interviews. While the bassist himself had seen all of the DVDs at least 20 times over, he found it endearing to watch it with a girl who was practically a virgin to the subject.

But of course, all good things came to an end, and after the lesson and their typical documentary watching, Dolly pranced off to meet with Pickles. They were practically attached at the hip they spent so much time together. Pickles had started touching her more, often capturing her in a friendly hug or teasingly kissing her cheek. Murderface found it disgusting, since it was still clear that the drummer wanted to sleep with her. But what he didn't seem to notice, was that behind the libido and sexual advances, there was true affection. Pickles had actually started to care for the girl that would argue with him about the value of a musical interval, occasionally beat him in Mortal Kombat, and fearlessly tease him about how he was balding.

Toki too, had become somewhat close to Dolly. She was a strangely mothering presence in his life, and he never really had that. She was a drastic contrast of warmth and laughter and comfort, from his cold, Norwegian mother, who had never so much as mentioned her love for him, if there was any. So he clung hopelessly and indulgently to this girl who would coo at him from across the dinner table about how cute he was, or laugh at the little things that he did without making him feel like an idiot.

Skwisgaar was a different story, though. His relationship with Dolly was less than platonic, and it was clear that he too wanted to sleep with her; probably just to say that he could. But sometimes when she was sitting in the den of Mordhaus, in only a bra and pajama pants, playing bass with a tranquil look on her face and the glow of the fireplace lighting up and shadowing her body in halves... The fastest guitarist couldn't help but stare. His own playing had never ever been so relaxed. Even when he was playing just because his fingers made him, he was tense. But she looked luxurious in her playing; lugubrious and just plain relaxed. It was a learning experience for the guitarist... And it was a voyeurism fetish that had awakened in him just a month before.

Nathan had still been terrified of the way that the girl talked. When she started making less sense to him, he would halfway explode, and then in an embarrassed rage, walk out of the room. He could see that the way that he acted hurt her; he wasn't as stupid as people thought. He could see how she bit her lip and looked at the floor, knowing that she had lost his interest and failed to keep the topic within his understandable range. But as she had started to tone down her language and subject matter, he found that she was just as enjoyable as another guy. The two of them would stay up late and drink whilst watching surgery or the Food Network, laugh at the people on TV and just have fun. He didn't really seem to mind when she would fall asleep on his shoulder, drooling her favorite vodka or the final bit of the beer that he had lent her.

And that was when she saw herself on TV.

"That's right ladies, there's a woman in Mordhaus!" The annoyingly primped announcer smiled as a picture of Dolly joining the Dethklok boys in a round of mini golf popped up on the screen, "And boy, are there some nasty rumors circulating about the nature of this 'Whore' of Dethklok. Some people say that she was brought in as a sexual present to the boys. Others claim that she isn't pretty enough, and must be their personal hygiene groupie. But the staff of the Dethklok minute has come upon the reality of the situation: This is Dolly Codlingson. She was brought in as a personal assistant to the great Skwisgaar Skwigelf. It seems that he has been teaching her something of a guitar technique as well, since our sources say that she can frequently be seen with a guitar in hand. And that's the Dethklok minute!"

Dolly was fuming, "Those assholes... They don't even know the difference between a guitar and a fucking bass guitar! It's infuriating!" She turned to the blond guitarist beside her, "And no offense Skwisgaar, but I'd never want to be your assistant. God knows there would be a lot more involved than just assisting you."

He chuckled, "You knows it."

"I really wish that they would report actual news..." She mumbled, "Shit, that's not even my real name!!" She took her empty beer can and flung it at the TV.

Pickles snickered, "Ya have ta admit though, what they come up wit' is pretty entertaining..."

She rolled her eyes, "Entertaining for you maybe; you're not being called a slut on television."

He shrugged, "Dey don't have ta, everyone knows ay sleep wit' anything that has boobs."

"Me too." The blond guitarist added in, his fingers at work on the guitar that seemed inseparable from his person.

"... Mrme too..." Nathan grumbled, taking a swig of beer.

Dolly leaned her head back and groaned, scratching her scalp and straightening out the band tee she was wearing as the news came on. Another murder, more kidnappings and a money drive for senior abuse. And yet, nothing seemed to be happening. The toneless voices of the news anchors coupled with their primped and powdered façades gave a sense of uselessness in the information they conveyed. Who cares if the world is ending? Mr. Anchor Man looks good in that suit, so it's really fine.

The Dethklok CFO walked through the door and cleared his throat, "Ah... Miss Codling, I need to see you in my office for a moment."

The girl, with dark circles around her eyes and a seemingly perpetual grimace, looked up at him blankly and in the same tone the boys took on a lot of the time, replied, "What for?"

Ofdensen knew that the group was getting to her. She wore less feminine clothing, completely avoided make-up, and drank... all the time. He answered, "It's private business."

She stood up and yawned, her black pajama pants falling slightly so that you could see the indent of her hip. She pulled them up and walked with Ofdensen back to his office.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" She asked, crossing her arms.

A couple Klokateers entered the office and stood at either side of the door, and Dolly lost her 'couldn't give a shit' attitude in an instant. Ofdensen cleared his throat and didn't answer as he removed his jacket and glasses, placing them carefully onto his desk in their respective order. He walked over to where Dolly was standing...

And she was quickly on her knees in a backwards wrist grab. Too shocked to do anything, she sat there as Ofdensen unlatched her fake arm. Dolly fell to the floor as he walked back to his desk and looked the appendage over, and all Dolly could do was make weak little noises of surprise and anger.

"So Miss Codling..." Ofdensen's steady managerial voice snapped her out of her shock, "What are you carrying in here? Drugs? Cyanide?" He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a scalpel, "I guess we'll find out right now..."

"No!!" She cried, stumbling to her feet, "Please don't, it's really delicate!"

But Ofdensen didn't listen to her, and as the scalpel touched the surface of her fake skin, the pair of Klokateers had to hold her back lest she attempt to tackle Ofdensen to the ground. She felt her heartbeat rise as the blade penetrated her skin and she chewed her lip... The arm didn't bleed, and Ofdensen pulled apart the separated pieces of skin.

There was no holding compartment, no secret alcove, and no fake veins with cocaine running through them. It looked like the entire arm was packed with machinery to keep it moving. There was no room for even an ounce of marijuana. Slightly surprised, both the Klokateers and Ofdensen lowered their guard for a moment, and Dolly took that opportunity to grab her arm and bolt out of the room, embarrassed and humiliated...

Ofdensen told the two Klokateers not to follow her. He sent them out and then sat there... Could he have been wrong? She wasn't the first person to have had a fake limb in Mordhaus, and he didn't put it past her to have been carrying something illegal or deadly. But the inside of the arm looked a lot more intricate and expensive than any other that he had seen... And even though he didn't trust her, he would still apologize to her. Maybe she stashed her stuff in her room...

_______________________

Dolly slammed the door to her room, her breathing heavy and watered down with oncoming tears. Did that just happen? Was she just overtaken and violated by the epitome of "Desk job"? It was too weird to think about... So she sat on her bed and looked at her arm, a long gash down the middle. How was she supposed to fix it without getting weird looks? Chewing on her lip, Dolly reached over the side of her bed and pulled out the sewing kit her mother made her take. She was lucky; the skin was relatively thick so that it wouldn't cut easily. She used her teeth to hold the needle while she slipped the thread through, and used the stump of her arm to hold down the fake forearm. She carefully slipped the needle through the skin at the top of the gash...

"Hey, where'd Dally go?" Pickles asked Ofdensen as he walked back into the room. The man adjusted his jacket and his glasses, looking at the drummer with his cold brown eyes.

Adjusting his glasses once more, he answered, "After we talked she retired to her room. She seemed upset, so I wouldn't suggest disturbing her."

The drummer's brow darkened slightly, "What'd you do?"

"I did nothing, Pickles. She got a message from her someone and it seemed to disturb her, so I let her go."

"... Okii." The red head went back to his show. Skwisgaar and Murderface were both in the room as well, but neither or them seemed to be paying any attention.

"Oh and Pickles-" Ofdensen said as a last thought, "Band meeting in 10 minutes."

"Yeuh whatever." He said, waving the comment off like a fly on his shoulder. He couldn't get his mind off of the girl, though. Over the last few weeks, he had learned a couple things about Dolly. For one, when something upset or disturbed her, she didn't disappear into her room. She talked about it. Pickles spent almost an entire night with her after she saw a puppy get run over, listening to her just babble. Something else had to have happened...

At the band meeting, Skwisgaar strummed away on his guitar, Murderface was picking something out of his teeth with a chicken bone, Toki was waiting attentively, Nathan was brooding, and Pickles was... wary, to say the least. Ofdensen cleared his throat and pushed aside his jacket to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a check and put it on the table.

"That is a blank check from the President of the United States." He said, quickly catching the band's attention, "You boys are allowed to write any amount of money on the check, as well as make any kind of personal requests, if-" he paused for dramatic effect, "- you play at his daughter's prom."

"We's no dance band!" Skwisgaar seemed utterly disgusted by the idea, "Der's not enough money in de world to makes me play a prom..."

"I gatta agree with Skwisgaar," Pickles piped in, "Playing pram is... degrading for a metal band. Hanestly."

"The theme is of your choosing." Ofdensen added in.

Nathan grumbled, "Huuh... Fine. We'll do it." He frowned slightly, "But it's gotta be really fucking brutal."

________________________________

Dolly put on a black long sleeved shirt and hastily put her hair up into a ponytail. She opened her door and tentatively looked out, seeing no one important in the hallway. Stepping out, she made sure her arm was locked back in place and closed her door, walking briskly down the hall. She brushed a couple strands from her eye and started to lightly trot down the hallway, glancing at the map on the wall and taking a sharp right to get the hospital wing... And she was lucky enough to make it there without bumping into any of the Dethklok members.

"Hello...?" She called into the seemingly empty wing. She couldn't see anyone or hear anything, even when she walked up to the desk and looked into the, strangely enough, open door of the "Employees Only" room. She set a hand on her hip and... finally noticed the little bell at the edge of the desk. Shrugging, she tapped her finger at the top of the bell, letting off the tiny ringing noise.

All of a sudden a nurse was at the ready, and scampered to Dolly's side. Dolly couldn't tell if she was smiling or not, as she had a typical Klokateer executioner's mask on, but her body language seemed kind enough. She took the girl by the arm and led her into the doctor's office, where the poofy man was picking at his nails. The nurse cleared her throat, and the man looked up, unamused. The nurse briskly left the office and closed the door behind her.

"So, what's wrong with you?" The doctor spoke in a slightly high voice, typical of nerds and game-enthusiasts.

Dolly, a little unnerved, tentatively rolled up her sleeve and showed the doctor her dilemma, "I need some new skin..."

The man rolled his eyes, "You don't need new skin, honey." He spoke slowly, thinking she was some kind of retard, "You just need to wait for that wound to heal. I'll give you some gauze and painkillers—"

"No, douchebag." She snarled, "This is a fake arm, it's not going to heal. I need some... skin..."

The doctor seemed slightly more interested, "Oh I see. Well then..." He pressed a couple buttons, and the nurse soon returned with a couple other nurses. They looked Dolly over from a couple different perspectives and then one of them took her arm, examined it, scribbled some things down and nodded at the doctor before leaving the room.

"Your new skin should be done within the week." He said, taking his seat again and looking dully at his computer screen.

"Can't you have it down sooner?" Dolly replied desperately, "I can't let anyone else know... about my arm."

"It's not abnormal. I've had plenty of people come in with fake appendages."

Dolly hung her head with a deep sigh, "I'll come back in a week, then..." The doctor nodded, and she walked out.

What was she going to do for that week? Hiding a gash that deep and that large was no easy business. And Ofdensen... Well, now she knew why she saw that look that terrified her the time just before he gave her that gun. He was extremely scary, and if the band didn't know it already, he was probably hiding from him. He had control over the entirety of Mordhaus, and if she stepped out of line, he may just personally see to her extermination... Shaking the thought from her mind, she turned the corner as she pulled her sleeve down and opened her door.

Dolly holed up in her room, yanked off her arm and just stared at it for a couple moments. How could she hide the damn gash without making it look like she was trying to hide something? Chewing her lip, she searched through her bag for something that may help... And sighed in relief when she saw a tube of super glue. She pulled the cap off with her teeth and carefully lined the cuts with glue, taking care not to get distracted—

"Dooooollllyyyyy!!" Someone yelled from below her window. She jolted and splattered super glue right where she needed it. Blinking in comfortable confusion, she walked to the window without her arm. It was 5 in the afternoon and Pickles was already drunk, in a pair of pajama pants with a bottle of vodka swinging in his grasp. Dolly rolled her eyes; he was usually horny when drunk.

"Come dooun heerree!" He slurred, "I go- I gotta tell you some-ting!"

"I'm busy, Pickles!" She called down, careful to hide her arm, "I'll talk to you later!"

"Nooo you have to... come now..." He took a drink in between words, and just stumbled even more. Without answering, Dolly rolled her eyes and backed away from the window. She hooked in her arm, the super glue having dried quickly and easily, threw on another long sleeved shirt and went down to the courtyard. She looked around, and Pickles didn't seem to be anywhere... Did he stumble off? Maybe he decided to tell someone else—

The 179-pound drummer tackled Dolly to the ground from behind, effectively causing her to skin part of her fake arm off. She groaned while he laughed drunkenly, and stumbled back to his feet, "I totally got'cha..." He took yet another swing of vodka. Dolly sneered slightly and stood up, brushing herself off.

"Was that what you wanted to tell me, Pickles?" She said, unamused.

"No no... We're uh, playin' a pram in a little, and ay think you..." He hung his arm over her shoulder, "Ay think you need ta come... 'Cause ay don't know shit about fucking pram... Never even went to my own..."

Dolly couldn't help but laugh, "Wait wait. Why is Dethklok playing some dinky little prom?"

"Ya know, I fuckin' fergot, but we're doin' it, so you need to be dere..." He seemed almost sincere in his perpetual drunkenness, and Dolly found it endearing. She shook her head and helped the drummer stand a little easier.

"Sure, I'll come. Though, if you plan on bringing a date, don't ask me to help. I didn't even go to my own prom with a date~" She kind of laughed; looking back, it was very funny...

"Nah, nah... No dates. Fuck dat. We're just gonna play and get outta dere..."

"Where are you playing, anyway?" She couldn't help asking.

"..." Pickles seemed almost confused by her words, and she laughed, "Okay never mind..."

Dolly escorted Pickles back upstairs, his sexual advances becoming less and less subtle, having started from a not-so-subtle place initially. She halfway threw him onto the couch in the fireplace room, and he was out. Smiling a little, she couldn't resist the temptation and curled up on the couch across from him, trying to get some sleep...

"Aww, looks at de cute little babies, Nat'ans..." She heard Skwisgaar snicker, but paid him no mind.

"She looks almost... feminine when she's asleep..." The lead singer said, "It's... kind of, uh... weird."

"So woulds you still do's her?" The blond asked casually, and she could hear him shove him hands in his pockets.

"Huuh... Probably not. It would be like... doing a guy. And I really do not want to think about that... What about you?"

"Voluns-terrily? Eh, I've... done worse. But ja, she ams more like a guy anyway..."

Dolly snorted inside her head, tempted to scream at them and show her that she was in fact, a girl... But she decided against it and instead just yawned and rolled over. Skwisgaar 'aww'ed again, condescendingly so this time, but the two of them soon succumbed to the sleep-fest, with Nathan at her feet and Skwisgaar in the chair next to Pickles, who was mumbling drunken soliloquies in his sleep. Murderface and Toki had wandered in just 15 minutes later, and didn't waste any time stretching out on the last couch, and piece of floor right beneath respectively, and falling asleep.

The Kodac moment lasted only an hour.

Nathan was the first one to wake up to the sound of a tapping heel. He groaned at Ofdensen, "Dear... god, couldn't you just be compassionate for once and let us sleep...?"

"It's 6:24 in the evening, Nathan." The be-spectacled man answered, "You can sleep later. You have a prom set to do."

The singer rubbed his eyes, "Fine, whatever... Just go away, we'll be there... some time."

Ofdensen nodded and left the room, quickly returning to his office and turning on his hidden cameras to see if Nathan actually listened to him...

"Hey, dude... girl... Dolly, get the fuck up." Nathan pushed her shoulder and she groaned.

"I don't wanna get up..." She cracked an eye open, "Nor do I have to. I'm not part of the band, I don't have to put together a set..."

Nathan frowned, "If we suffer, I'm making sure you suffer along with us."

Surprised by the straightforwardness of Nathan's speech pattern, Dolly sat up. But she soon got over the shock and smirked slightly, "And what if I say no?"

In an instant, she was scooped up onto Nathan's shoulder. Her squeal of surprise woke up Pickles, who laughed at her predicament, and got up from the couch without so much as a slight misstep. He seemed completely cured of his drunkenness, without any signs of a hangover or discomfort. He had quite an... odd and useful gift. When Nathan told him what was up, the drummer muttered "Mother-douchebags..." and helped him kick the rest of them awake.

Toki couldn't help but pinch Dolly's cheeks, claiming that she looked so cute in a 'Vuner-alble' situation. Murderface attempting an ass groping, but she kicked him in the head before he got too close. Skwisgaar just shook his head and thought, 'She has a flat ass anyway...'

"Nathan, you can put me down now..." Dolly growled, starting to get sick to her stomach up on the singer's shoulder.

"We all know that you're going to run off the firsht chanshe you get, Dolly." Murderface stated plainly, rubbing the back of his hurting head.

"That's Miss Codling to you, Murderface." She half-teased.

"Schut up!"

She laughed at him, and gagged slightly as Nathan took another step and his shoulder jerked into her stomach, "Seriously Nathan, I'm gonna throw up all over you. Put me down..."

That finally got him to put her down, and she was off in a flash. She laughed and threw them the finger, "Suckers--!"

But luck wasn't with her that day, and she plowed right into the one person she was trying to avoid. His glasses gleamed maliciously in the dim light, and while he didn't seem to be affected by the bump, Dolly was on the floor. She glanced up at him and couldn't say anything, humiliation clear in her eyes and the color in her cheeks. He extended a hand to her, but she didn't know if it was to help her up, throw her out an open window or take her arm off again and show the boys how flat one part of her really was. So she stood up on her own and brushed herself off while muttering a quick sorry, and running back to the boys. Only Pickles seemed to have noticed her predicament, as the others had soon engaged in minute conversation as they walked towards the practice room.

"Dood, what happened?" He asked, hands in his pockets, "Ya look like ay do when ay smoke bad weed."

Dolly smiled a little at his interesting version of concern, "Nothing, but you know how Ofdensen is... If he knew that I was running from you guys, he'd force me to stay. So I decided to come back on my own."

His roguish smirk returned to his face, "Ah, ay know you were just commin' back fer me. Don't need ta hide it."

She laughed, "Oh yes Pickles, that's why I came back~ I love you so much that my intentions were flipped backwards just so that I could be around you~"

Though said in a completely joking and sarcastic way, Pickles' spirit seemed lifted. He chuckled, "Yer a good kid..."

___________________________

Ofdensen watched Dolly scurry away to the boys. She seemed afraid of him, but he knew that she wouldn't tell them what happened lest her own secret be revealed. While she and the band were sleeping in the main room, he had the Klokateers search her room. They found nothing of consequence, but Ofdensen paid that little fact no mind. He knew for a fact that there was something wrong with her; there was something she wasn't telling him. Be it something small like a heroin addiction, or something big like a network of bombs planted throughout Mordhaus, he knew there was something. And though he might have been wrong about her arm, he did not consider what he did a mistake.

Charles Foster Ofdensen does not make mistakes. He makes choices.

And by tearing her arm open, she became afraid of him. And perhaps it was better that she feared him, since she didn't seem to have any loyalty towards plain authority, and he didn't plan on becoming her 'friend'. Perhaps her desired friendship with Dethklok was sincere, but behind every great woman, there was a great stratagem in the mix.

And though Dolly was definitely no strategist, there had to be someone behind her that was. And with that, the CFO was at work...

_____________________________

Dolly found comfort in the cold, hard floor of the practice room with the amplified sounds creating a vibrating sensation throughout her body. Though they had brought her in to suffer, Dethklok didn't care enough to actively make her do so. So she laid down and picked at the floor as they practiced, Nathan's deep vocals almost lulling her to sleep again as she daydreamed about events past...

"Dolly~?" The 26 year old blond woman purred with a Swedish accent to the young girl, "Hej sötnos, time to wake up..."

"I dun wanna get up..." The 12-year-old girl whined, turning over in the lovely feather bed, "5 more minutes...?"

"You will miss breakfast, love." Helene chuckled, placing her hand on her belly, swollen with child.

"Aww... Fine, I'll wake up..." Dolly sat up and yawned, putting her slightly matted brown hair into a messy ponytail and following the woman down the stairs to the breakfast table. At the table already was Gunvor, Helene's 9-year-old daughter from a previous lover. The young girl was smiling at Dolly's father, her front two teeth missing. Dolly's father was smiling back at the young girl, having just told a funny story. Dolly sat at the table next to her father, kissing his cheek and smiling at him. He patted her head and asked how she slept as Helene retrieved both her own and Dolly's breakfast. Helene was 6 months pregnant and showing quite a bit; Dolly enjoyed teasing the woman about how she was getting fat.

Four o' clock that afternoon, Molly Codling knocked on the door and without waiting, opened the door and removed her daughter from the house. Only Gunvor was around at the time, and started crying because Molly had yelled at Dolly about how she was worthless as a daughter. That night, Dolly was sent to bed without dinner. Though it might as well have been so, since Molly never made dinner for her kids anyway...

A sudden, out of context riff brought Dolly jumping from her daydream. Toki had attempted to play the guitar with his teeth like some web comic he had seen, but it seemed to have failed miserably... And he didn't want to give it up. So Skwisgaar unplugged his guitar from the amp and stood there looking like the smug, shadowy eyed Swede he really was. Toki still wouldn't give it up, and insisted that he would be better than Skwisgaar if he could do it correctly. The blond automatically took it as a challenge, and started to run his teeth along his guitar strings.

Dolly just held her ears until Pickles unplugged Skwisgaar's guitar and the two Scandinavians just stood there shaking their guitars at their faces. Nathan and Murderface looked at each other and crossed their arms, shaking their heads pseudo-knowingly, as if this had happened before.

It was soon late, and they all retired to bed.

But Dolly wasn't sleeping that week; Nathan decided that it was her job to make sure that they practiced and had a set before they had to go on stage. One of the few reasons he told her to do this was because he enjoyed her reactions; the other reason was that he had never played a prom; he hadn't even gone to his own.

"So uh..." He started the first night of brainstorming, "What... should we even play? I mean I know that 18 year olds tend to like what we usually play... But shouldn't there be some kind of slow dance? I've always seen that in movies..."

Dolly shrugged, taking a quick sip of her white wine, "I guess... But you guys aren't a slow jam type of band; they hired you because you're you, not because they want you to conform to the ways of the typical prom."

"Yeah..." Nathan sighed his deep, thundering sigh, "But, you know, I never got to go to mine... So I at least want to uh, see how a normal one is set up..."

"I'll tell you what~" Dolly said, "My best friend is a singer, she's amazing at what she does; I'll ask her to come and sing for a slow dance, alright?"

Nathan nodded, "Sure." He sort of warily looked from side to side, "Is she... uuuh..."

"Hot?" Dolly shook her head, "No."

"Oh..."

"I wouldn't call her hot, anyway. That term is used for skanks and whores. I'd say that she was... Ravishing~" Dolly stood up and pulled her hair out of her ponytail, curling her fingers around a single lock, "She has these gorgeous natural blond curls, and the deepest blue eyes, as if you were staring into a half full well during no-shadow time. She has a heart-shaped face and an endlessly wonderful smile. She broke her nose when she was younger, so it's a little asymmetrical, but really you don't notice it unless you look really hard. She's a good 5'8", about three inches taller than I am, with a wonderfully curvy body, if not a little too curvy. Her name is Magnolia, but she hates that name so I call her Maggie."

Nathan seemed slightly speechless; Dolly could only guess that no one had ever described someone in such detail with that kind of affection before. She smiled, "But she doesn't go for football players. Sorry dude~"

"Hey, I'm not a football player anymore, I'm the god damn front man and lead vocalist for the biggest fucking band in history." He said, as if the title of football player insulted him deeply.

Dolly stepped back a little, "Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't know that bothered you so much..."

Nathan leaned back into the couch and shook his head, "My uh... My dad wanted me to go out for football. Said it built character. I don't even know what the fuck character is. But that became why people thought I was so stupid; he's a football player, they said, of course he's an idiot. That was uh... a lot of why I dropped out of high school..." He trailed off when he noticed that Dolly was looking at him intently, and he growled, "What?"

Dolly smiled and shook her head, "You actually told me something about yourself without me having to drag it out of you..."

"Don't get used to it." The vocalist cleared his throat, "Fuck, okay, so the set..."

___________________________________

"Dood, Murderface, stap it, dat's gross..." Pickles grimaced as Murderface picked his toenails with his knife at the dinner table, "I honestly do nat know how Dally deals wit' you."

Murderface whipped around and glowered at Pickles, "I could schay the schame to you, you horny fucker."

"At least ay'm nat gross aboot it!"

"Well at leascht sche reschpectsch me more 'causche I don't hit on her all the time!"

"Ladies!" Nathan boomed, "... Shut up. Murderface, seriously, stop picking your nasty toes."

"Fine! Maybe I'll schtop eating too! Isch that what you want?!" Murderface slammed his hand onto the table and stormed out of the room in a violent huff, pushing past Ofdensen who simply stepped out of the way before Murderface could intentionally bump his shoulder into the manager. Ofdensen straightened his tie before waking into the room and standing at the head of the table, as he always did. Toki waved kind-heartedly at him, a piece of pasta hanging from his overly full mouth. Skwisgaar was dead asleep, and Ofdensen was beginning to think that he had some kind of sleep deficiency problem.

Either that or too many women.

The other two stayed silent, their arms crossed on their chests. Ofdensen cleared his throat rather loudly, successfully waking Skwisgaar up and attaining the attention of the other two.

"How is the ah, set going?" He asked, hands folded behind his back.

"Fine." Nathan answered quickly, poking his roasted duck.

"I hope Miss Codling isn't causing you any problems..."

Pickles shook his head, "Gad no. She's de only one dat seems to know what she's doin', ya know?"

"Do any of you know how Murderface's lessons are ah, coming along?"

"He aaaahh..." Skwisgaar was still recovering from a mixture of vodka and sleep, "He does sounds betters... I means, he's not fuc-xing up as much as he used to's."

Ofdensen nodded, folding his hands behind his back, "Good, well, I hope this... streak continues."

The band nodded and returned to their meal, and the CFO had successfully lost their attention. Stepping out of the room, he saw someone without a Klokateer mask running barefoot down the perpendicular corridor. Narrowing his eyes, he decided to follow this person.

___________________________________

"Is my skin ready?" Dolly asked, dressed in an old, torn up Klokateer's outfit. She wore nothing on her feet, hoping that the lack of heels was enough to throw anyone off her tracks.

The doctor nodded and directed the girl down one hallway, a light above the hallway blinking the letters: Skin Graphing. Why they would have such a specific room for a name, Dolly didn't know, but she didn't pay it any mind as she hurried down the corridor. There was one room with a clipboard hanging next to it, and the clipboard had her name on it. She peeked into the room, and the same Klokateer that had greeted her on her first trip to the Mordhaus Hospital wing was smiling at her from the other side of a metal table. She coaxed Dolly over with a finger and told her to take off her arm and put it on the table...