Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.
The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction
Part One:
Fuel
Chapter 3 – Day of Carrots and Blueberries
(Continued…Pt. 20)
This time Erin had some help available.
On their way back to Finnick's van, she and Conor had bumped into her posse. A few quick introductions had followed, and then the girls had all but insisted upon helping to carry their gear to the chosen rehearsal spot, the barn where the two of them had first met.
Unbelievably, (or that was what the fox thought,) Erin had attempted to decline the offer, leaving him no alternative but to grab the reins away from her.
"Oh that'd be great, thanks," he'd said, earning himself a look from the bunny that could wither crabgrass…a look that Erin continued to give him all the way to the barn.
It had had exactly Zero effect on him.
"Fine, you wanna break your back Snowdrop, go ahead," the young fox had snarled silently.
There had been a lot to haul, two amplifiers, a karaoke set-up, a pair of mikes (with stands,) a sound board, Conor's laptop and, of course, their instruments and pedal-boards. Erin also had a backpack with her.
Last but not least was a rolling cooler containing the unused bottles of switchel from the Rabbithon; (waste not, want not.)
Following the awards ceremony, Judy had repaired back to the Hopps Family Warren for some Zebuprofen and a good, long soak in a hot tub Nick, Bonnie, and about half the other Hopps bunnies had gone with her, but they'd promised to be back well in time for Erin's talent show performance. That had been good enough for her, and she'd seen her mother and sister off with a hug and peck on the cheek After that, things had been amiable enough between her and Conor—until they'd encountered her girlfriends and he'd countermanded her refusal of their offer to help.
What was really bugging Erin—or it seemed to Conor—was that as soon as her GFs heard that he had offered his talent show slot to her, they'd started treating him like the fox in shining armor. Seriously, they didn't want to let him carry any of his stuff. (He'd insisted on toting his guitar case and laptop. "Thanks, but nobody touches those things except for me.")
Now, inside the barn with their gear mostly set up Conor was tapping a mike with a finger claw and making a 'puck-puck' sound. He adjusted the height, tapped it again, and pronounced himself satisfied with the results.
And then his ears pricked up. Had he really just heard…?
"What was that about the Zootopia Performing Arts Academy?" he said, turning to speak to Erin's girlfriends.
It was Lisa Chatterton who answered him.
"Erin got into ZAPA…well almost, she still has to pass her audition, but she's almost there, she aced all her classes at middle school and killed the entrance exam. Anyway that's why she wanted to get into the talent show, coz she's never played in front of big audience and…"
"Li-SA!"
"Oops, sorry Erin."
Conor coughed into a fist…to hide his amusement.
"That's what you get for hooking up with a Douglas squirrel Snowdrop. Once they get wound up, they NEVER stop talking."
Erin must have caught his reaction anyway, because she hurriedly opened her guitar case and motioned for him to do the same. "Well?"
The young silver fox's face was the mask of a sphinx as he flipped the hasps on his guitar case and casually tossed it open.
Erin's eyes nearly fell out onto the floor.
"Wha-tha….? Are you stinking KIDDING me, fox?"
She stared downwards for a second and then stared daggers at Conor.
The guitar inside the case looked like it had been left out in the yard for a year and then gone through a car wreck. The top, which had once been a cheerful robin's egg blue, had faded to the color of a smoggy sky…where any paint remained, that is; about a third of the guitar body was bare wood.
And rest of it wasn't looking a whole lot better; the neck was dingy, the frets were tarnished, and the bridge appeared to have been fashioned from old lawnmower blades. Even the pickups were sporting a thin film of gray. The only things that looked new were the knobs and the pickguard, big whoop! The rest of it was a six-string horror.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Erin said again, ears back, face pinched, and right foot thumping. Her girlfriends, meanwhile, were looking uneasily around the barn as if searching for bolt hole. Danger…danger, containment breach imminent, thirty seconds to meltdown!
Erin was so angry, she looked as if her skin was about to split open and eject a fire-breathing she-demon, "Why didn't you tell me all you had was a junk guitar?" she demanded, waving a pair of clenched fists. " Oooo, I should of known from the way you blackmailed me into letting you…hey, don't you turn your back on me, boy!"
Sorry, but Conor needed to turn around in order plug his guitar into an amp. He switched it on and checked the settings…while Erin's rant kicked into high gear.
"I swear to Gaw fox-creep, I'll get you for this…and I am NOT appearing onstage with you, deal or no deal. No way, I'll get security to…
That was as far as she got before Conor turned and brought the guitar close to his mike, setting off a quicksilver squeal that had Erin and all her posse hurriedly clasping their ears shut.
"Thank you." The young fox bowed as if he'd just received a standing ovation, and then reached over and punched a key on his laptop. At once a piece of music began to play. At first no one seemed to know the tune…until he joined in on it.
The number was Cliffs of Dover by Eric Tawnson, a bright, lively guitar piece…and also one that was noted for being not all that easy to play (to put it mildly.)
Conor didn't perform the entire song, only about a minute's worth; he figured that would be enough to establish his guitar cred.
He figured correctly; on the final riff, Erin's eyes and mouth were both wide open. He had played the piece brilliantly and like the Millennium Falcon, the young fox's guitar might not have been much to look at, but she had it where it counted. (And besides that, in this case, looks had been deceiving.)
"Anything else you wanna put in yer mouth besides your foot, bunnykins?"
Conor almost said it, but then stopped himself at the last second; he hadn't come in here for a fight.
"Sorry, had to do it." He shrugged, and then, "So where do you want to start? This is your show," he reminded her, "you should make the call."
For once, he'd gotten it right. Erin nodded and even managed to smile a little.
"Well first, we need to find something we both know how to play." She said.
"Right," Conor nodded appreciatively; that was good place to start." Got your playlist handy?" he asked.
Erin reached into her backpack and pulled out a tablet. "Got it right here, fox."
"Great." He said, "Can you send it to me as an email attachment?" By way of explanation, he pointed to the notebook computer, sitting atop an old cider-barrel.
"Yeah, no problem" Erin answered and began thumbing the screen. "Okay…sent."
Conor nodded and went over to the laptop, parking himself on an upturned paint bucket. After a few seconds of typing and scrolling he looked up again. "Okay, got it," and then went back to work.
"What are you doing?" Erin asked, coming over with her nose twitching. Didn't he say he had it?
"I'm converting your playlist to a PDF file so we can post it side by side with mine." The young fox explained, continuing to type. "There we go, take a look."
Erin moved in closer, standing up on tiptoes in order to see over his shoulder.
She frowned and her nose began to twitch again.
"Whoa, long list….you've got a lot of songs by…" she seemed to roll the name in her mouth for second, "Richard Tomcat?"
Conor wasn't surprised, much less disappointed that she didn't know the name; he got that a lot, actually. "Yeah, most animals never heard of him but he's one seriously awesome guitar player; way cool songwriter, too."
To his considerable surprise, Erin slapped her paws together. "Songwriter,..now I remember where I heard…. Isn't he the guy who wrote 'Dimming of the Day'?"
"Yeah that's right." The young silver fox answered, feeling his ears stand up and point at one another. He wondered how the heck she could have known that…until he happened to glance at the laptop and saw her playlist again. "Ohhh, Bunny Raitt fan, huh?"
"Yeah," Erin looked slightly embarrassed, "Bunny was kind of my first musical crush; Dimming of the Day was the first song I ever learned how to play. Her nose began to twitch again, but this time uncomfortably. "I-I-I don't want to do anything by her for the talent show, though. I need to rock out tonight."
"Gotcha." Conor nodded his understanding; Bunny was great artist, but she was nobody's hard rocker. (Besides, except for 'Dimming' he didn't know how to play any of her tunes.) "So…any ideas?" He asked.
Erin scratched behind her ear, thinking. Then she said, "How about if we just jam on a couple of songs together and see if anything clicks?" she said.
"Works for me," Conor answered, picking up his guitar and strapping it on again, "where should we begin?"
Erin looked at the laptop screen, running her finger down the lists.
"Kayyyyy, let's start wiiiith…Middle of the Road by the Purrtenders."
"Good choice." The young fox answered, readying his guitar again
Erin insisted that they play along with her karaoke disk; fortunately it worked with his app as well as hers. After filtering out the lead guitar he looked at her.
"Okay, Ready?
"Let her rip." Erin told him.
"Okay," There was one more item to take care of first, "Do you want me to sing with you on the opening, or do it solo?"
The white-furred bunny brushed back an ear with a finger tip
"Ummm, what say you come in on the opening and join me on the chorus? Other than that let me handle the vocals, 'kay?"
"Can do." The young fox answered.
He reached over and punched another key on the laptop. A quick drum bash followed, and then they were off.
The tune opened with a twangy guitar riff, followed by some scat vocals.
"Wooooooo-oooooo-oo!
Wooooooo-oooooo-oo!"
Lisa Chatterton would later tell her mom, "It was amazing, like they'd been working together their whole lives. They not only played great together they sang great together, too."
On their next selection, Welcome to Paradise by Green Drey the young Douglas squirrel was forced to revise that opinion. Conor and Erin missed each other's cues several times, and on the second verse the young bunny made a slashing motion across her throat. Conor reached over and punched a computer key and the music abruptly ceased.
"Okay, what should we try next?" the young bunny asked him.
He shrugged, "It's your call, Erin "
"That's right," she reminded him, loftily, "So I'm calling on you to suggest the next tune."
"All right, All right, "the young fox answered, waving his paws, but secretly he was pleased. As one his teachers had pointedly explained, "You don't really know whether you're working good together until the song isn't working. If you can mess up on a tune without no argument gettin' started, that's when you know you got the tempo."
And that was how it had been on Welcome to Paradise. No voices had been raised, no fingers had been pointed; Erin had simply cut the number short and moved on. Even more than that, the girl bunny had shown that she was not only willing to take suggestions from another mammal, she was even willing ask for one. (Demand actually, but let's not split hares.) Conor decided then and there Erin Hopps' potential went way beyond the ability to sing and play; she was a natural for the Academy of Performing Arts.
IF she can curb her Prima Donna," the young fox cautioned himself
He became aware that Erin's foot was thumping and came quickly down from his reverie.
"Sorry," he said, studying the lap top screen, "What about…The Authority Song, by John Cougar Melloncat?" He figured this little bunny would go for anything rebellious.
She would; "Let's do it!"
They played well on The Authority Song, and even better on the next number; Would I Lie to You by the Ewerhythmics, (her choice.) But on the one after that 'You Wreck Me," by Tom Catty, they "totally crushed it," in the words of Erin's bunny-girlfriend Tawny Lloyd. Conor agreed with her and was ready to look no further, but Erin insisted that they try one more song, Awake and Alive by Skillynx. The young silver fox went along immediately, even though he wasn't quite dialed in on the tune. It would be so fantastic if they could play this one; Awake and Alive absolutely reflected his outlook on life. Erin seemed to feel the same way but she hadn't quite learned it either. Reluctantly, they agreed to set it aside.
And so it would be the Tom Catty tune after all. Or maybe not; without warning Erin Hopp's ears stood up in a V.
"Wait, wait…didn't I see…?"
She went over and studied the laptop screen for a second and then slapped her paws together again. Now her ears weren't just standing stiff, they were shivering like a divining rod.
"Ooooo, I knew I saw...let's try this one next."
Conor went behind her and studied the laptop screen over her shoulder. And then his mouth was crinkling in a sly, foxy smirk. Ohhh yes, this would be almost the perfect tune for the talent show, it was rocker, it was rebellious, it was a party-hardy number, and—cherry on top—you could even dance to it.
There was only one small problem.
"What about the first verse?" the young fox asked, tilting his head slightly "It's kind of a guy-tune-thing, isn't it?"
"Not the way I sing it," Erin answered him; she was becoming more and more excited with every word she spoke; "I change the lyrics around, 'my party gown' 'my ears let down', and 'my little schoolboy."
"Mmm, grrrr, I like," Conor growled. Ohhh yeah, that would make this tune downright edgy. "Let's go for it." He said.
From the opening bars, they both knew this was the song. Erin's girlfriends knew it too, responding not just with cheers and clapping, but whistles and shrieks when they finished.
Afterwards, the white-furred bunny suggested that they wet down their throats a little before continuing. That was fine with Conor; he didn't want to over-rehearse. Too much practice could lead to an overly stiff performance. 'You always want to leave room for some improv,' as another of his teachers had said.
He was surprised at how much he liked switchel; a little weak for his tastes but still very good.
"So how long have you been playing guitar?" Cara Combs asked him.
Conor took a long, slow sip of his drink before answering her. This was going to require a little finesse
"Mmmm, since I was nine, I'm not sure," he said; (actually, it was ten and he was sure.) "I used to hang out with these guys in a computer club, (The Company's hacker squad,) and one of them always used to bring a guitar along," (true,) "so one day I asked if I could try it, (not true…he'd simply grabbed the guitar when it had been left unattended and started playing it—better than the owner. If it hadn't been for Kieran's timely intervention, he would have ended up with a knot on the head for his troubles.) "And the rest is history," he concluded, and that much was true, depending on your interpretation of history.
"What about you Erin?" he asked, and it wasn't just to deflect the subject away from his own history; he genuinely wanted to know.
"Ahhh, I guess I started about the same age you did." She said, "I used to love to sing along with Bunny Raitt on the radio. So one day I asked Mrs. Bunderson, the music teacher at my school if she could teach me to play guitar."
"And she didn't even HAVE a guitar." Jill Pepper hooted, unable to contain her glee.
"Yes, but I got one soon enough." Erin reminded the other bunny with a toss of her ears and a look of flippant insouciance.
And then there had been the rest of it, how she'd asked her folks for an electric guitar and they'd bought her a bass instead.
"That one used to be my back-up bass," she said, taking a short pull on her bottle, "but it died too, like three weeks ago…for good."
"Ohhh, I see." Conor said, taking a swig of his own. Okay, that made her meltdown last night a little bit more understandable—if not entirely acceptable; she'd lost not one but two basses in the space of less than a month…sheesh! "What made you decide to try out for The Academy?" he asked.
The young bunny kind of looked away for a second, "Ahhh that was mostly coz of my sister Judy. I figured if she could be the first bunny to become a police officer, then I could get into ZAPA." She looked at him adding quickly, "But don't get me wrong, that's not the only reason I want to go there."
Conor swiftly decided not to push the issue of the Academy. Instead he said, "Judy's kind of a hero to you isn't she?"
The nod that followed was both solemn and sincere.
"Not just me, to all of us Hopps kids." Erin told him, "When she quit the force and came home after that press conference she gave, we were seriously bummed, I can tell you."
"But then your sister went back and fixed it." Lisa Chatterton reminded her hastily.
"That's right," Erin nodded again, her face becoming firm with resolve, "She didn't let her mistake stop her." She turned and nodded in the direction of her bass. "And that's why I've got to get back on that stage again tonight."
Note:
This chapter and the one that follows contain references to characters and events depicted in the Prologue to The Fire Triangle.
