Alex sat in a chair at the engineer's table, headphones over his ear and looking through pictures on Instagram. He listened to Hatsune Miku on her recording session.
Alex coughed a bit, adjusting his headphones and his laptop as Miku finished her session. He pressed a button and began speaking to her.
"Hey Hatsune?"
"Yes?"
"Could you do your ad libs for the second half of the song again? Something didn't quite gel with the first set."
"Sure babe. I'm gonna take a break after, okay?"
"Sounds good." Alex nodded, sitting back in his chair. He scrolled back on the track and hit play. Miku signaled him to rewind a little, so he did. She did her ad libs.
Once finished, she came back around and joined Alex in the booth, sitting by him. He got to work doing some editing. She watched him work, running her hand on his back.
Alex yawned a bit, pulling his headphones off. "There. Sounds good now. I like this song. It's got kind of a modern techno disco feel to it."
"I'm glad you like it. I thought it'd be fun to do more of a bubblegum song." Miku said with a smile. Alex nodded.
"Awesome. I'm gonna do some sets now. Just hit the play button when I give you the thumbs up. Kay hun?" Alex asked as he switched to a different track.
"Sounds easy enough." Miku said, taking his chair as he got up. He walked into the booth and put his headphones on. Miku put on the headphones Alex had been wearing.
Alex got himself situated, cleared his throat, then gave Miku a thumbs up. Miku hit the Spacebar, and he began to sing.
Kathy came in at the moment. Miku slid the headphones off again, smiling at her as she came in.
"Taking up sound engineering?" Kathy asked jokingly, chuckling as she sat by Miku.
"No one's here to do it for me, so a girl's gotta take matters into her own hands, y'know?" Miku giggled.
"How is he?" Kathy asked, glancing up at Alex, who looked a little bored as he sang.
"Doing a little better. I managed to crack him up this morning." Miku said with a proud little smile. Kathy chuckled.
"That's good. Good progress. And he's recording too. That's a good sign. What's he working on?" Kathy asked. Miku shrugged.
"I don't know."
Kathy reached for the sound engineer headphones, putting them on. He was singing Viva La Vida. Kathy nodded, setting them down again.
"A cover. Well, it's still progress. I'm sure his fans will appreciate it." Kathy said with a nod.
"Was it the same way last time?" Miku asked.
"Last time, it took him a year and a half to even get motivated again." Kathy answered. Miku nodded slowly.
"It is good progress then."
Alex finished the song, nodding to Miku and Kathy. He came into the booth.
"How'd that sound?" He asked.
"O-oh. I don't know. I wasn't listening to the whole thing." Miku answered.
"Auuugh," Alex groaned dramatically, tilting his head up and bending his knees. "You're so unreliableeeeee." He said, stretching out the last syllable for a few extra seconds.
"I'm sorryyyyyyyyy." Miku responded in turn with a similar tone. He scoffed a bit.
Alex and Miku got in a car. Alex pulled the car into drive and off they went. Miku got comfy in her seat, putting her sunglasses on and responding to text messages.
"Nice job recording today hun." Alex said. Miku nodded.
"You too honey, even though I wasn't listening."
"Nah that's fine." He said.
"How are you?" She asked.
"Doing alright. Better. Happy to be working again." Alex answered.
"That's good."
"And how are you?" He asked.
"Just happy to know you're feeling better." Miku answered softly.
Alex nodded, putting the radio on softly. They drove in silence for a bit. Alex put his shades on.
"So I was thinking about things I can do with my time outside of music." Alex started a conversation. Miku glanced up at him, sitting up.
"You're still gonna make music, right?"
"Oh yeah, of course. I'm still gonna sing and perform and write and produce and all that stuff, but I feel like there's more I can do with my time than that."
"Okay...like what?" She asked.
"Well, okay, so I had this idea. Have you ever heard of James Corden?" He asked.
Miku shook her head. "No."
"Okay, well he does this show called 'Carpool Karaoke" where he drives around with celebrities and they sing songs.
"I was thinking I could do a little celebrity challenge like that, where I have like 2 or three stars in one car, and we'll drive from Point A to Point B, wherever that may be." Alex said.
Miku hummed. "That actually sounds like it'd be a lot of fun."
"I'd record it too, as much as I could. I'll mash up the footage into like a 20-30 minute video and post it online. I think something like that could go viral, and it'd be fun to chill with fellow artists."
Miku scoffed a bit. "You're a nerd, you know that?"
"Haha I'm aware. It helps me not sound like an idiot in my music, especially my rapping." Alex said.
"Right. You know how much I adore rap." Miku said with a hint of sarcasm. Alex chuckled.
"Yeah I know what you mean, and I don't blame you. So much of it is so stupid and sounds the same. It's all cursing and guns and sex and ghetto." Alex said.
"Why do you do it then?" Miku asked.
"Well, cuz I like rap. It's a high energy genre and can be a lot of fun. But idiots like to ruin it by acting like they're big shot thugs. It's stupid, and takes away a lot of the fun." Alex sighed.
"You should write a song about that. I think rap's the only genre where you can get away with that sort of message and it still be a hit." Miku suggested, turning towards him.
Alex hummed, nodding slowly and clearly giving the idea deep though. He glanced at her and nodded again.
"That's a pretty good idea. I'll work on that tonight."
"Original song?"
"Of course. I don't ALWAYS work with pre-made material, babe." Alex laughed.
"Just checking." Miku said, hiding her happy smile.
Alex fixed his shirt, sitting down at a table. He glanced to his right at his host, who smiled and nodded at him. Alex put his headphones on. The director spoke.
"We're live in three...two...one..."
The host spoke. "Hello, America. I'm Ryan Seacrest. We're here with international pop star and rap star: Prince Alex."
"Hey ya'll. Wasgood?" Alex greeted with a goofy chuckle.
"Heheh. How're you this afternoon?" Ryan asked.
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm just fine, thank you for asking. I understand that you're a busy young man, so we'll get right to the questions, is that alright you?" Ryan asked.
"Sure thing." Alex nodded.
"Fantastic. Alex, I think the question that everyone's asking, love or hate you, is how are you doing after the intense court case a week and a half ago?" Ryan asked.
Alex exhaled slowly. "To be honest? I'm still reeling a bit. I've been very reserved about speaking publicly about the whole thing, to avoid saying anything out of line." Alex admitted.
"So the whole thing really struck a nerve with you then?" Ryan asked carefully.
"Heh, it did more than 'strike a nerve'. Right now I'm just trying to push it back. It's done, for good this time. I don't wanna dwell on it anymore than I already have."
"Of course. So let's move on then. With your battle successful and your career path still ahead of you, I think we'd all like to know what it is you have planned next. What's next for the 'Prince Alex' label?"
"Well, I'm working on some songs right now for my team, the Vocaloids. With my new company, Tochi Bridge, still in its early stages, we're all working hard to cement it with some productions.
"Personally, I'm also working on some cover music too. For fun, of course. I'd like to have more interaction with my fanbase, and entertain them on Youtube like I have been.
"The biggest thing though is working on new music. I'm hoping to have an album drop out by the end of the year, all original music. That's the biggest goal."
"Wow. Sounds like it'll be a busy year for you." Ryan chuckled a bit. Alex nodded.
"Haha yeah it sure will be. The biggest thing I want my fanbase to know is that I'm not gonna abandon you guys like I did last time.
"I'm just gonna come back stronger, better, more driven. It happened, it's done, now it's time to get to work and just do what I love doing, y'know?" Alex said.
Ryan nodded. "Very nice. Well, we won't take up anymore of your time. Would you mind signing us off here?" Ryan smiled.
Alex chuckled. "This is Prince Alex, and you're listening to the Seacrest station."
"Miku! Miku!" The reporters shouted. Miku comfortably sat in her seat wearing her signature outfit. She sipped some water before pointing to a reporter.
"What is the status between you and Kaito?" The female reporter asked.
"Those ties have been cut and the bridges burned. Next?" She pointed to another reporter.
"What about you and your fellow Vocaloids?"
"I'm still friends with a number of the Vocaloids in our community. Those relationships haven't changed. Next?" She pointed to a reporter towards the back.
"Has your relationship with Prince Alex changed at all with the recent events?"
"Our relationship has only grown stronger as me and my agent have done our best to support Alex through these trying times for him. We fully intend on continuing with business as usual in the following weeks. Next?"
Miku pointed to another reporter, signaling that it would be the last question we would answer.
"What's the next step for you as an artist now that you're signed under a new label?"
"I plan on expanding my music genres far beyond my typical stuff. I won't forget my roots, but my music will never again sound the same nor repetitive. No more questions, thank you."
Miku got up from the table, walking back as the reporters shouted for her to stay. Hiru met her backstage, and he escorted her to her limo.
"Nicely handled." He complimented.
"Thank you, I think that went very well." She said.
The two got into the limo. Alex was waiting for them inside, typing on his phone. Miku sat next to him, resting her head on him. The limo drove off.
"Who're you texting?" Miku asked.
"Friend of mine. He produces music for Ariana Grande. Remember, I told you that you sound like her when you're screaming in terror." He laughed a bit.
"I remember you saying that." Miku said with a little chuckle.
"Yeah. I'm talking to him and seeing what her business schedule is. See if maybe we can collab on something or perhaps do that car thing I told you about."
"Ahh okay. Have you worked together before?" She asked.
"A little bit. We've mostly just hung out at red carpet events." Alex answered.
"Okay. I look forward to meeting her." Miku said, rubbing his arm.
Alex and Miku laid down in bed together, pulling the sheets over them. They quickly got comfortable, snuggling up together. Alex yawned a bit.
"I'm exhausted." He said.
"Yeah me too. But the album's finally finished. It only took a couple weeks." Miku said happily.
"Mhmm. We won't tell anyone that though, obviously, since it doesn't drop for another few months." Alex chuckled.
"And you're doing much better too." Miku said, leaning over him and kissing his cheek.
"I am. Thanks to you mostly." Alex smiled, hugging her. She returned the hug.
"I love you babe." Alex whispered.
"I love you too." Miku smiled, closing her eyes.
Alex grabbed his phone, typing with one hand and holding Miku with the other. It was awhile before she noticed.
"What're you doing?" She asked.
"Finishing up that rap song you suggested I do. About how much rap nowadays is stupid." Alex said with an ironic chuckle.
"You remembered that?"
"Yeah. It's almost done now. I got in touch with a small time producer who posted an instrumental I found on Youtube as part of my 'Get Discovered' sweepstake.
"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse, so I'm just building my lyrics on top of the track." Alex explained.
Miku nodded. "I look forward to seeing how it turns out." She said.
"I think it'll be good. I call it: 'Real Talk'."
"Awesome." Miku smiled, taking his phone and putting it out of his reach. He chuckled as she climbed onto his chest.
"What're you doing?" He asked with a smile, propping his head up a bit.
"Distracting you." She smiled, leaning down and kissing him. He had no objections as he returned the kiss.