Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the rights for Vivo, those rights are owned by Sony and Netflix and a few others. I DO own a few characters in this fic, though.
A song of the heart
The Hernández group along with the other contestants once again arrived at the old and rather repugnant building that looked close to collapsing at any time.
The misshapen, old building somehow appeared even less safe every single time someone happened to lay their eyes upon it and it was a wonder that this place hadn't been refurbished and/or demolished yet due to the horrific conditions it was in. Rosa didn't feel comfortable taking her daughter in such a grungy place but this was where she and the other contestants/participants were meeting so she decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth at the moment.
She could decide to bring the building down after this whole week is over.
Esteban, however, felt wildly out of place on this trip since he wasn't much of a musical person —he did want to show his support for Gabi and he didn't want to sow seeds of dislike within her heart and mind. He felt like a piece of furniture compared to the outgoing contestants of the competition/concert and he also felt rather invisible.
He didn't say a word for a moment, though.
Everyone headed inside the building and met up with the others.
Gabi had apparently befriended Bea (the violinist if Vivo remembered right) and went off to have a friendly conversation with her for awhile. They got along quite well and one could even say that they had appeared to strike up a really strong friendship.
"Hey, Bea!" The purple-haired twelve-year-old girl exclaimed as she ran up to the teenaged girl.
Bea was a pretty young lady with dark caramel curls for hair, emerald green eyes, her lips were coloured with crimson lipstick and she had fair tan skin. She continuously rested her violin beside her neck and sandwiched it between her cheek and shoulder. She gripped her violin bow in one hand and she had a big smile on her face.
"Hey, Gabi," Bea greeted warmly. "Any ideas yet?"
Gabi sighed and shook her head no but didn't seem dejected just yet, she was determined to come up with some sort of idea.
"No but don't worry, Vivo and I are gonna think of something that'll blow everyone away!"
It was true. Her brain was been constantly churning out ideas for her and Vivo's big performance for Friday but they were either too big and complex or too small and not as extravagant as she had imagined. All that thinking caused her head to throb but she refused to stop because she knew she had to come up with something sooner or later.
Bea nodded and said with a pitying yet reassuring "I'm sure you'll think of something."
Gabi appreciated the assurance and just smiled.
Even though they were competitive against each other, they still wanted to be good friends to each other. They even chatted with Ella from time-to-time to make sure she didn't get too lonely, or that's what they had been doing since the day prior when they first met.
Vivo, meanwhile, sat in a corner of the building in deep thought as he wondered what could be the basis of his and Gabi's performance. He knew that it had to be something cool, something spectacular, something unique and never before seen, something that could possibly top all of their other performances so far…
He put a finger on his chin (or what could pass for one on his little Kinkajou face) and hummed in a thoughtfully pondering manner, his tail flicking back and forth like some sort of pendulum. His gaze lifted skywards as he stared up at the lights on the ceiling and he started to hum an idle song beneath his breath as he thought until his skull began to throb.
The hat and bandanna-clad "honey bear" was broken from his trance when he heard something fly over him and felt as a pair of skinny little toes curl themselves around his own shoulder. Vivo almost rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth to signal that he was annoyed before he turned to look at a familiar blue jay who had taken to using his shoulder as a perch.
"Hey, señor Vivo. Have you had any thoughts on how you and your human are going to centre your performance?" Nick asked, peering across to stare at the Kinkajou.
Vivo didn't really care for this bird's boastful tone of voice and he just rolled his eyes as he replied to the bird's question.
"Not yet, I'm still thinking about it…"
"Well you had better come up with something quick, Pelusa naranja enfermiza, before the week is over!"
Vivo blinked and turned to face the small blue and white bird disbelievingly. Did that little blue bird just insult him and refer to him as a sick orange fuzz ball!?
"Hey!….Did….You just call me a 'Sick orange fuzz ball'…?"
"Hehehehe…."
Nick let out a cruel cackle as he just took to the air, flapping his blue wings with black tips as hard as he could and flew off and back to his owner, a smug smirk stretching across his little gray beak. He clearly took a measurement of joy in insulting the little orange and purple mammal.
Vivo found it irritating but decided to let the insults roll over him like some ocean waves.
The musical Kinkajou kept trying to think about some sort of basis for his and Gabi's performance but, instead, the biggest thing on his mind was Marie; her beautiful face was all he could think of ever since she fled from him the previous night and, while that concerned him, he just couldn't get over how spectacularly beautiful she was with that hibiscus tucked behind her ear. She was the most prettiest and precious creature that he had ever laid his eyes upon.
Not to mention those eyes….those enchanting eyes.
Vivo felt his own heart skip a beat every time the image of those eyes flashed through his mind like a streak of lightning.
He just hoped he would run into her again.
"Hey, Vivo!"
Vivo almost jumped out of his skin and he panicked for a brief few moments whilst he snapped his gaze around to find the source of whomever startled him from his thoughtful pondering. He recognised the voice almost immediately —he was bound to after living with it for two years. His posture relaxed when he looked up and saw Gabi hastening to stand by his side.
Gabi smirked at her musical partner and Vivo smirked at her as she lowered her arm to invite Vivo to climb up.
"Alright! We've got a less than a week to put together a performance that'll blow everyone away!"
Vivo nodded.
He accepted her invitation and climbed up her shoulder, sat down on her shoulder, and he winked while he gave her a supportive thumbs up. Gabi smiled and winked right back at the Kinkajou whilst giggling in a joyous manner —she was beaming so much that her face was practically as bright as a star and it was something that contagious because he was smiling even wider upon seeing his friend so happy.
She started to sing as she swayed her hips from side-to-side rhythmically.
"We've got to do this right now, let's get swinging!
This opportunity'll chime like a bell ringing!
You and me, Vivo, we've got this now
so by the end of all our efforts we'll take our bow!"
Gabi stopped swinging her hips and struck a cool pose which involved her raising one arm, pointing to the ceiling with that same arm, spreading her legs apart slightly and titling her head up ever-so-slightly to where she pointed upwards.
Then she looked at Vivo, whom was perched upon her shoulder.
"This performance will have singing and dancing,
chances prancing, our voices enchanting!"
Gabi, with Vivo still perched upon her shoulder, strode over to the huge door of the building and slammed them open by pushing them as hard as she could. The second the two doors had been swung open, the brilliantly bright rays and beams of sunlight from the outside had streamed into the doorway —the warm lights had cast itself upon Gabi and the other participants, bathing them in it.
"We'll make our mark on the history of music,
basking in all that starlight and stardom.
We'll travel so far with our excitement
and sing until we're sick!"
The twelve-year-old had a look of defiance as she turned to face the other animals, adults, teenager and child in the group and gave a wave of her hand, gesturing to them to follow her outside. She noticed Vivo give an encouraging nod to them as well as if to let them know to do as she said and follow.
"C'mon, everyone!" She exclaimed.
Everyone followed and ventured out into the streets of Las Vegas in search of some inspiration.
The skies were a cerulean blue, there was not a single puff of cumulus anywhere in sight and the sun was shining so bright that beams of warmth scattered and danced across the ground. There was a cool soft breeze that blew in everyone's faces, cooling everyone's face and bristling the fur and feathers of Vivo, Nick and Rufus. The city was lively but nowhere near as lively as it was during the nighttime and there was this light and cheery atmosphere and people were bustling.
The sweet scents of food and other stuff intermingled and criss-crossed together, making it difficult to pinpoint one individual scent…or that's how Vivo (and possibly Rufus since he did have a strong sense of smell) perceived it anyway.
Gabi kept singing, Vivo beginning to back her up in duet, with the other contestants beginning to add some instrumentals in the background.
"We've got to do this right now, let's get swinging!
This opportunity'll chime like a bell ringing!
All of us together, we've got this now
so by the end of all our efforts we'll take our bow!"
That was when Vivo decided to take over singing from Gabi.
His eyes were bright and blazing with that same determination that his formally-tone-deaf friend, he proceeded to leap off of her shoulder and landed on the concrete asphalt below. He righted himself by standing on his feet and dusting his fur off for a sec before he whirled in place and resumed making long strides which had some choreography thrown in.
He spun, jumped, spun again and kick-flipped all whilst continuing his slow stride with the group right behind him.
His movements were as sharp as the edge of a swords blade as he continued to dance while walking.
The bustling crowds of Las Vegas citizens began to split up down the middle to not only let the small musically-talented (or otherwise) group through but also so they could side eye and listen to the escalating performance going on right next to them.
"Here we go now, exploring Las Vegas
with joy and fun which are both contagious!"
Vivo smacked his hands together in a thunderously loud clap of his hands….yet he had to shake them to rid his palms of the tingling sting.
In the meantime, the group heard the sound of more music playing not too far from them and all unilaterally decided to go ahead and investigate it.
The collection of talented people (with Rosa and Esteban as an exception) stopped walking for a moment and decided to cross the road and wander into a plaza which was different than the one that Vivo first saw Marie, there was a small group busking for money. The small collection of men wore dirty and tattered rags for clothes but they had a bright light of happiness shining in their eyes as they played their musical instrument to create a wonderful harmony of a song…which actually blended with Vivo's music almost seamlessly.
The Kinkajou grinned as he proceeded to leap down in front of the group and stare at them, only for them to stare right back at him with perplexity. He kept singing as he pointed to the drums one of the men kept playing and then, without much hesitation, darted straight towards them.
"We're seeing the sights, the lights,
the casinos with their games of beano,
the views and attractions with no need to think of fractions!"
Vivo sat in front of one of the performers bongo drums and started to smack it rhythmically, closing his eyes as the memories of both him and Andrés performing together just like this filled his soul. His heart pounded in his chest and his nose twitched and wrinkled as the nostalgia proceeded to surge through his body like the blood in his veins.
The crowd whom had originally come to watch the small group perform watched Vivo keenly, smiling and cheering at the male Kinkajou and the twelve-year-old girl by his side —the group whom was originally playing had decided to back up the duo musically.
Vivo wore the biggest of smiles on his muzzle and had become totally lost in song at this point, not noticing anything around him anymore. He closed his eyes as he continued to wag his hips from side-to-side and he went back to singing aloud…although the city folk probably heard his musical squeaks and high-pitched chatters.
Then his eyes snapped open, glaring determinedly, he continued to sing.
"We're on a mission and looking for inspiration,
we're gonna give the crowd a true price of admission."
Vivo, the street performers and the participants of the Neon lights performance all joined forces as they sung loud and let their musical instruments harmonise together. The crowd who had gathered originally to watch the homeless men perform had practically quadrupled within moments of seeing a bunch of potential household names performing with some of the musically-gifted street performers and the tin made for the earned dollar bills and coins started to pile up immediately.
The hat and bandanna-clad Kinkajou slammed his tiny hands a few more times on the bongos, his drumming perfectly in sync with his singing/rapping.
"Let our spirits fly, don't hide, let's bide our time and take pride in our stride!"
Vivo and Gabi both finished the song in a duet, the former proceeding to relinquish the bongos drums to their owner, leap atop the twelve-year-old's shoulder once more and sticking said landing with precise perfection. The Kinkajou and human girl winked playfully at one another as they finally sang as loud as their lungs could allowed; their voices were probably loud enough to shake the city of Las Vegas.
"We've got to do this right now, let's get swinging!
This opportunity'll chime like a bell ringing!
All of us together, we've got this now
so by the end of all our efforts we'll take our bow!"
Vivo, Gabi, Ella and Rufus, Nico and Nick, Bea, Louie, Nigel and the buskers all stood up and took a bow while the crowd (which included Rosa and Esteban) that had formed had burst into a number of ear-splitting cheers and hollers which were overflowing with excitement for what they had just seen. Some of them had even held their phones out to take a few pictures.
Clearly everyone loved the (sort of) performance that had taken place in front of them!
It was after soaking in the glory of crowds cheers for a minute that the small group of contestants and the crowd had began to split up and wander off into separate groups to explore the city and, perhaps, even brainstorm some ideas that could help improve their acts for the coming show.
Vivo smiled wide as he ran up to Gabi and the two high-fixed one another in triumph before they both went over and met up with Rosa and Esteban.
"That was amazing, Gabriella!" Rosa cheered with a huge smile as she praised her daughter. "You and Vivo are certainly going to be great at that show on Friday!"
Gabi smiled appreciatively.
"Thanks, mum, but I'm still having trouble coming up with any huge ideas…"
Esteban nodded in agreement.
"Hmmm…maybe you can come up with something after you've eaten a bit? There's a café not too far from here."
Gabi shrugged in a nonchalant manner "I can eat," and then she glanced down at her best friend "What 'bout you, Vivo?"
Vivo nodded and placed a hand over his tummy to signal he was hungry.
With that new plan in mind to take a break, the group made their way over towards the nearest food establishment so they could sate their appetites; they were chattering and chatting amongst themselves as they walked off down the road.
The atmosphere around the small family was as light as a feather and they were as cheery as anything.
Gabi, Rosa, Vivo and Esteban all sat at an outdoor table as they waited for their lunch to be ordered. They had been starved after all that exploring through the city streets and had decided to make a stop at a little humble café.
They were munching on their food and Vivo was contemplating on having a small pot of honey that he had decided to try out to get a bit more of a variety in what he ate. After all, he knew that he couldn't eat mangoes all the time (no matter how much he loved them) so he decided to check out what the fuss was with this honey.
Besides, if his very species had an alternative name after the golden slathering of syrup then he guessed it must be great.
"Okay. Time to see what the big deal is with this stuff,"
Vivo thrust a hand into the huge jar and couldn't help but shudder with a visible grimace as he felt the sticky golden substance stick to the orange and purple fuzz on his arm. He shuddered with disgust as he tried to shake the dripping honey off of his arm but was careful not to spray any droplets on Rosa, Gabi or even Esteban (even though Gabi would probably find it hilarious).
He reluctantly his arm with the honey a slight lick…and his tastebuds combusted right then and there; he had never before tasted something so delicious and addictively sweet before.
Then he popped one of his hands entirely in his mouth and tried to lick every last drop off of it.
He gave a moan of pleasure as the gooey substance seeped and drooped down his throat and left a light tingling sensation within his delighted taste buds. He eventually popped his hand out of his mouth and was near shocked when he found it was not only clean of all honey but it was also wet…and gross. He gave a strange mix between a grimace and a shudder as he wiped his saliva-covered hand over his own cream-coloured fluffy chest and tummy fluff, drying it, before looking between Gabi, Gabi's mother and Esteban.
He almost immediately realised that there has been mostly silence, with the exception of Gabi making the idle comment about the food this establishment made.
Vivo licked his lips and looked to Gabi.
She was eating a bowl of Spaghetti bolognese and had proceeded to stab a fork into the mess of noodles, twirl the tomato-sauce-covered strands around the utensil, and shoved all of it into her mouth. Seeing the sauce around her mouth wasn't a pretty sight but she kept her head down. Rosa noticed the atmosphere, too, it seemed and then nudged her daughter with her elbow and nodded to Esteban —clearly she wanted to open some communication between her daughter and boyfriend.
The atmosphere remained icy before then and Esteban started to speak.
"So, erm, umm, Gabi?"
Upon hearing her name being called, the twelve-year-old lifted her head and stared up at Esteban with great uncertainty. Her body language screamed "I don't know about this" but Rosa seemed to notice that and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder, thus apparently lifting her confidence a bit.
Vivo felt concern bubble within him.
Gabi was not a timid little wall flower, she was bombastic and her body language usually screamed "confidence" but right now she was shrunken and so small…it was rather unnerving for the Kinkajou to see the girl looking so small and unsure. He felt his heart threaten to crumble and his eyes softened with concern and worry as he made a questioning noise towards her with his big brown eyes pooling with just as much concern.
The girl apparently caught that look of concern and straightened herself in her seat, sitting up more, and stared at Esteban but she wasn't quite smiling. She had even put her fork down.
"Yeah?" She asked Esteban, her expression rather flat.
"So…I was kinda thinking…you and Vivo seemed to have a lot of fun…d-during our exploration of Las Vegas…and I was wondering if, maybe, you can if you want, you could base your theme off of our experiences here?"
Gabi practically dropped her fork which fell to the plate below with a clatter, her expression a mask of stunned shock and her brain seemed to stop working as she stared wide-eyed and gobsmacked.
Esteban looked as though he had committed some grave sin and was trying to think about what he could say to repair any potential damage he may have done and Rosa looked just as shocked as Gabi as she just stared at her boyfriend with eyes as wide as dinner plates —just as wide as her daughter's.
Vivo was shocked too.
Basing the performance…this coming Friday…on their experiences here in Las Vegas? The two hadn't considered an idea like that but it was a pretty interesting sort of idea. Could they pull off such a feat, though? Could it be possible for them to fit everything in giving the time remaining until the big night? Could it be possible to fit such a major extravaganza into one night? How could such a thing be done and to a point where it could be successfully pulled off?
Nevertheless, the idea left the girl and Kinkajou both speechless as their brains processed all of this.
The duo looked to each other, then Rosa and then back to Esteban…and a smile of awe slowly swept across both of their mouthes.
This…could work!
"Excuse me, I do hope I'm not intruding."
Everyone almost jumped right out of their skin when a new voice they hadn't recognised interjected, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had brewed between them.
All eyes snapped to the source of the voice, somewhere to their right, as they saw someone approaching.
A (somewhat familiar) man walked up to the group with a pleasant smile on.
He had little to no hair atop his head, what little hair there was sprouting from his scalp was a sleek black colouration. His physique was very well-toned and muscular but his black suit did a good job of hiding his muscles and he appeared to have lived off of eating nails, bricks and concrete slabs. His skin was a mix of red and pink with little mottles splotched over his large nose and cheeks, passing off for freckles, and he had teal blue eyes.
As soon as he set his sights on Vivo, his eyes lit up and his smile somehow widened as he stepped (or more like stomped) over to him and Gabi.
Each footstep he made caused the ground below to shake a bit as if he were some sort of giant and Vivo felt rather unsteady as he felt the ground tremble from up Gabi's arm and up to her shoulder where he still sat. Vivo had to strengthen his grip a bit to avoid outright tumbling right off of Gabi's shoulder and he couldn't help but feel rather…uncomfortable around this guy for whatever reason.
Upon finally stopping in front of Gabi, whom was in awe of this giant of a man, Mr. Avaro proceeded to drop down on one knee —probably to make himself look way less imposing.
"Ahh. It's great to finally meet you lot."
Gabi smiled at the man but her smile faltered a bit when she realised that she didn't even know who this man was.
"Hello….huge-guy-I-don't-know…." She greeted somewhat awkwardly.
The man let out a loud, booming laugh that made the very earth itself shake and then he grabbed Gabi's hand and shook it in a friendly greeting.
"My name is Rico Avaro, but y'all can call me Rico."
Gabi nodded, still nervous.
She recognised that name as that rich man who had organised this entire "Neon lights concert/contest" and a big part of the reason for this excursion from Florida to Las Vegas happening at all. This must have been the guy mentioned in the limo by that driver, she was sure of it.
"E-Erm, I'm Gabriella Hernández…but you can call me Gabi."
The man nodded and then caught sight of the little orange creature perched on the girl's shoulder.
"Ahhh, this mus' be the famous Vivo." He gestured to Vivo, clearly asking to hold him. "May I…?"
Vivo tried to shake his head to say "no" but Gabi, clearly not reading the signals, hardly even hesitated before grabbing the Kinkajou right off of her own shoulder and held him in outstretched arms for the huge man to take him from her.
He whimpered when he left the "kind-of-sort-of" safety of Gabi and was immediately handed over to some guy who could squish him like a bug under his shoe with minimal effort.
The male Kinkajou trembled and shuddered as he was taken into the huge man's grasp, which was surprisingly tender, but he couldn't help but feel daunted for some reason. Vivo's discomfort lessened when the palm of man's hand (which was larger than he was) draped itself across his slender back and started to rub it in featherlight strokes, his body grew less and less tense as the seconds passed but he felt the overwhelming urge to curl into a small ball and hide.
The man holding him began to speak and Vivo decided to listen.
"So well-behaved. My niece went to visit one of this little guy's performances in Cuba, but he was with some old man."
Gabi suddenly sounded slightly worried but tried her best to sound as upbeat as normal, but she couldn't smooth the unease from her own voice —no matter how hard she tried.
"M-My great tío…" She nodded whilst throwing on a nervous grin.
Rosa, a hardened yet stoic expression etched plainly across her face, stepped up beside Gabi as she lay a tender yet supportive hand atop her daughter's shoulder. Her glare with those now-narrowed steely eyes could have melted titanium into a puddle. It was plainly obvious by her demeanour that she didn't like this dude.
"My late husband's uncle," She clarified in an interjecting fashion.
Mr. Avaro seemed to think about this at first but hummed and then shrugged nonchalantly, apparently not really caring or bothering with the rest of the details. He kept petting Vivo, though, who couldn't help but notice that the air itself had turned so icy that it was a miracle that nobody was speaking in frosty voices yet. He wasn't sure if it was him eating too much honey but a bad feeling had settled in his gut and it made him feel worse.
He grinned as he decided to make a bit more pleasant conversation.
"So I take it you had no troubles on your way here, the limo ride comfortable?"
Gabi nodded her head so fast that her head turned into a blur of purple for a few seconds, her locks swaying every which way imaginable. It could even be said that she forgot how to breathe for a few seconds due to being overexcited.
"It was soooo cool! I never got to ride in a limousine before!" She exclaimed.
Rosa chuckled warmly at her daughter's excitement and smiled up at the man, although she tried to calm her daughter from her overhyped state; she didn't want her daughter's energy crashing like it did just the day or so before. She felt her hostility melt a bit as she decided not to mention that little incident with the limo driver almost harming them in that inadvertent yet sudden stop when he tried to avoid running "something" over.
"Yes, we had a nice and relaxing time."
Esteban put in his own two cents and smiled at the rich man who organised all this.
"Thanks so much for everything, Mr. Avaro."
The big man kept stroking Vivo until he finally let the Kinkajou down —he immediately ran over and hid himself behind Gabi to conceal himself from the menacing guy in front of her, trying to make himself as small as he possibly could be. His eyes were big and his ears were down.
"It was my pleasure. Now, if I was not mistaken, I thought that I had heard that you had possibly come up with an idea."
Gabi nodded, eyes bright and full of excitement.
"Yeah! We come up with an idea that's bound to knock that crowd's socks off!"
Mr. Avaro chuckled and nodded his head once. He clearly had some faith in the girl and her pet Kinkajou that maybe, just maybe, they could possibly win this. He fumbled with his own two hands and gave a small grunt of acknowledgment before he proceeded to turn and walk out the door of the restaurant and left the group in a state of utter confusion as to what he came in to see them for in the first place…
Everyone just stared at one another in uncertainty.
At least they had some sort of base to go off of for their upcoming performance.
But what nobody knew was that they were being watched and, whether those eyes belonged to friend or foe, would be a mystery that nobody would know how to answer until the time was right.
The only question is would it change the current situation or not?
A/N: Hi, everyone! Here is the next chapter.
Sorry it took awhile.
So here the gang meets Mr Rico Avaro, the man hosting the event, and Vivo gets to taste a part of one of the namesake of his species (Honey bear). But there's a slight ominous air hanging over the group and, while we don't know the impact of said ominous sir, I promise to continue making sure this story is good.
You guys are awesome!
-Chloemcg