As we were eating our food, I took the time to stop and think of exactly how big this was. We had been asked to play, by the mayor of the town, in front of I didn't know how many police officers. This was... this was huge. Gil and I finished our pancakes and I went to the sink to wash them. I felt Gil wrap his arms around my waist and I smiled, relaxing in his embrace.
"Birdie... the awesome me really can't believe this"
"A-and you think I can? Th-this is the biggest thing that's ever happened to me... b-besides meeting you, of course"
He chuckled and nuzzled my head. I giggled a little and finished the dishes. I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his shoulder.
"Have you met th-the mayor before? O-or do you know what songs we should play?"
"Hm... well, the awesome me would have suggested nothing with swear words, but since neither of us are going to be singing I don't see an issue with that. What song do you want to start with?"
"U-um... I think Good Life would be a good one to start with"
"Ja, that seems awesome. Oh, and the awesome me was thinking. My amp's pretty heavy... would it be okay if I just played acoustic guitar?"
"Th-that would actually be a lot easier. Then th-there's less set up time"
"Ja... we should get a song list together"
We grabbed a notepad and a pen and went to the living room. We sat on the floor and started to brainstorm some songs. I thought that we should have a variety of things to play, and Gil suggested that if we didn't think of many things we could do a mashup.
"A-a Lady Gaga mashup w-would be good, oui?"
"Ja! Everyone knows at least one Gaga song"
"And then... o-oh, we should play Vanilla Twilight"
"And My Heart Will Go On?"
I giggled a little at how Gil mumbled that. He was obviously embarassed, but... it was kind of cute. I kissed him on the cheek and added the song to the list. We sat there for about half an hour figuring out songs. By the end of it we had the songs I already mentioned, Sanitarium by Metallica, One Thousand Years by Christina Perri, the A Team by Ed Sheeran, Paradise by Coldplay and Reila by the GazettE. I looked at our list and nodded. I knew how to play most of these songs already. Gil had a pretty good idea of how he was going to do them too. He got his acoustic guitar from the basement and brought it upstairs. He took it out and pulled up a chair.
"Hey, Birdie? Do you think we should introduce ourselves?"
"Oh, th-that might be a good i-idea"
We stood up and decided that the TV was going to be our audience. We walked to where we were going to play and bowed.
"Hello, my name is Silent Music and this is my partne-"
"The awesome me's name is-...oops"
"Hey, Oops, l-let me finish, okay?" I teased with a grin. Gil rolled his eyes, but was smiling too. I tried again.
"Hello, my name is Silent Music"
"And my name is Gilbe-PRU...ssia... Prussia"
"A-and we'll be playing f-for you tod-day" I could barely get through that sentence because I was laughing too hard. Gil was really bad at this. I just hoped he didn't get mad at me for laughing at him... I looked over and he was facepalming at himself (and probably me). I kissed his hand and smiled. We tried a few more times before we finally got it right. Then we started playing Good Life. Gil surprised me by doing very well. He even decided to do the whistling parts. It surprised me how much that added to the song. We followed the list, so the next one was Vanilla Twilight. Gil had a little trouble with that one, but we fixed it quickly. We did My Heart Will Go On and we were partway through Sanitarium when Ludwig and Feli came home. We stopped playing, but only because Feli ran over.
"Ve! How are you guys doing? Do you know what songs you'll be playing?"
"O-oui, we know... we were kind of in the middle o-of practice"
"Oi, Luddy! Grab some chairs for you and Feli and watch the awesome us!"
Reluctantly, Ludwig agreed. After he put the groceries away, he got some chairs for himself and Feli. Gil and I did our intro again, this time getting it perfect. We played through our songs, fixing anything outstanding. Our playing took about an hour, with all the corrections. We also added some other songs in, as per Ludwig's suggestion. After that, we would take requests. Gil said he had YouTube on his phone, so we could listen to any songs we didn't know there. After another run through with the new songs, we thought we were ready. We put our instruments and chairs away. I decided that it would be a good idea to ask Feli about clothing now.
"H-hey, um... Feli?"
"Si, Matteo? What is it that you need?"
"W-would you happen to have any clothes that'll cover my stitches a-and that I can play in?"
Feli clapped excitedly and dragged me upstairs. Gil followed, probably curious as to what I was going to wear. We spent a full two and a half hours up there, trying to find something that wasn't too formal but not too casual. I also needed to be able to move in whatever I was going to wear, which created a few problems. But finally, we found a pink shirt, a black vest, some dress pants and some shoes. Gil also found something similar to that, except without the vest. Instead, he had a black fedora with small white stripes. We looked in the full body mirror and turned to get the full view. I moved around in the outfit to make sure it wouldn't tear or something. Gil and I smiled. We were finally ready for tomorrow.
The whole house was charged with energy that was almost like electricity. You could feel the anticipation growing with every hour that passed. We decided to eat out at Gil's favourite German restaurant again. The short man there was very pleased that Gil and I were together... at least that's what I gathered from his conversation with Gil. Ludwig also joined the talking. Feli and I just looked around the place. It was exactly as I remembered it. The fireplace was at the back, the lines of booths were interrupted by stools and there were just a few people at the tables in the middle.
We got our table and ordered. Feli and I got wine, while the Germanic brothers got beer. We waited for our food and made light conversation. And had a contest to see who could balance a spoon on their nose without it dropping. Surprisingly enough, Ludwig won. We all congratulated him in German, Italian and French. Our meal came not long after. We all fell into a comfortable silence as we ate. The food was even better than I remembered. Once we were done we thanked the short man and walked around the town for a little. Gil smirked and ran ahead, to a large, white building. I ran after him. Once I got there he wrapped an arm around me.
"Well Birdie, this is where we're going to be playing in a few hours"
I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder. We walked home, both couples holding hands. We got in the door and found the dogs sitting there, leashes in their teeth. I guessed we had no choice but to walk them. Ludwig and Feli took the dogs while Gil and I decided to cuddle on the couch. Hopefully that would reduce the amount of butterflies crashing around in our stomachs. Gil held me close and kissed all over my face.
"You know, it's amazing how far we've come"
"Oui... f-from being on the street, to finding a home, a-a family, a lover... and you, from being d-drunk all the time and doing all the st-stuff you did to, well, this"
Gil smiled softly.
"You still remember that?"
"O-of course! I-it's not something I could forget"
"Well, the awesome me guesses it makes sense... after all, I haven't forgotten what you told me about yourself"
I snuggled closer and felt his arms tighten around me. We cuddled until Ludwig and Feli came home. Then we changed into pajama pants and folded our clothes for tomorrow. With nervousness running through our veins, we went to bed. Of course, we didn't get much sleep. But that didn't really bother either of us. We were up at eight in the morning, practicing quietly and eating a breakfast of French toast. We snuggled for about an hour before we figured it was finally time to get our clothes on and do a last-minute rehearsal. We said goodbye to our family and walked out into the cold, our instruments on our backs. Gil and I were walking pretty quickly, so it didn't take that long to get to the big white building. We went in the place and went to the reception desk. The lady there looked up at us with disdain.
"The mayor will be busy today, gentlemen, he's hosting the Policeman's Feast"
"W-we know, we're supposed to be playing for that"
"Then you are Silent Music and... whoever you are?"
"This is Prussia, a-and yes"
"Just go in the door to your right; mayor Fitzgibbon has been waiting for you"
Gil and I thanked her (though I didn't mean it at all... she was mean) and went in the door she'd told us to. There was a tall man with brown hair and hazel eyes standing in the room. He smiled as soon as he saw Gil and I.
"Ah, you must be Silent Music and Prussia, is that correct?"
"Ja, it is. It's nice to meet you"
"And it's even better to meet you! I told the other mayors in the county about you two and showed them your videos. They all got... well, they were al pretty jealous after that! I must say, I am very impressed by both of your skill. We have a place set apart for you two, if you'll just follow me"
We did as he asked and walked to a place with two microphones and a stool. It was at the front of the room, which meant we would be in front of at least three hundred police officers, by the looks of it. Gil and I exchanged excited glances. Mayor Fitzgibbon coughed and got our attention.
"Now, Silent Music and Prussia, you will be playing halfway through the meal. Some officers will want to request some songs, as I said that is what you specialise in. Would that be okay?"
"Oui, th-that would be fine. We have a list of songs, b-but we're willing to make some room for requests"
"Ah, good. You will be sitting over there and you also get some food. Lunch is a combination of our town's ethnic majorities, so there will be lasagna and sausage with wine or beer. Is that alright?"
"Ja, that's perfect! Uh... will you give us a cue or something so we know when to go up there?"
"Yes, I will say our musical entertainment is here or something of the like. You would like to introduce yourselves, I imagine?"
We nodded and were given a few more instructions before we sat down and put our instruments beside us. The police officers started filing in and sitting down. They were pretty loud... I just hoped they'd quiet down for Gil and I. After all, this would be our biggest live performance yet.
