The Accompanist
Author's Disclaimer: No, I don't own Strange Magic, or any songs that I mention in this story. All rights go to their respective owners. One of my goals for my longer stories is to mention each song in Strange Magic. This story focuses on oldies. You have been warned of the many song references as these two practice for the wedding and complain about love. I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 4: The First Practice
"So, Bog? Have you called that nice girl yet?"
Bog spit out the water he was drinking as he heard the first words from his mother over the phone.
"Mother! Why can't you just let me live in peace?"
"Because no son of mine is going to die alone. And I want grandchildren. Besides, there's this old friend of mine who has a daughter named Maxine, and I think you two would hit it off-"
Bog had no intention of being set up on another blind date by his mother. The last time he had, Lakeesha had been her name, and the night ended fast. Ever since that fateful day, he had no desire to be in a relationship, even if Marianne was different and beautiful.
"I'm helping Marianne with her sister's wedding," said Bog, trying to quiet his mother.
"You know her name? This is wonderful! Why didn't you say so?"
Bog could hear his mother dancing in place, probably already picking out a church. He raised his eyebrows in annoyance before answering.
"Because I have no expectations from this other than to get paid. I don't want you to expect anything or try to stalk her like you have with other girls."
"I was only trying to help. If they couldn't handle that, they had no business being with you."
Bog laughed at the thought of all the meddling his mother did in his life, including visiting the girls' homes and having tea with them. He may live far away from her and see her only once a week, but she was a big presence in his life, the only family he had around. Anyone he married would have to deal with her, and he did not want to inflict her upon anyone else. Nor was he ready to have his heart be broken again.
"Nonetheless, this is just a little music practice. Marianne has a list ready for us to learn. I'm going tomorrow, and no, I'm not going to tell her that you say hello, before you ask."
Bog smiled at the thought of his mother pouting that she could not poke her head in and invite Marianne over for snacks and tea.
"Fine, Bog, be that way. Such thanks for the woman who carried you for over nine months in her womb," she grumbled.
"Is there an actual reason for your call, Mother?"
"Nope!" chirped Griselda, "I just wanted to know if you had gotten the paper and called her. I'm so glad you did! Bye now!"
Griselda hung up the phone while Bog stared in wonder at his. He could not figure out his mother, and probably never would.
Once Bog put away his phone, he went back to guitar practice. It had been a while since he had played longer than twenty minutes, so the last couple days he had been getting back into it. When it was finally time for the practice, he brought both instruments, just in case Marianne changed her mind and wanted him to play the violin.
While Bog drove, Marianne prepped the music room for habitation, as it had turned into a good storage area in recent months for the wedding. Dawn was supposed to be helping, but really was not.
"So, has Sunny given you his requests yet?"
Dawn gave her biggest puppy dog eyes while Marianne waved the cuteness away. Both Dawn and Sunny wanted certain songs to be played at their reception, to sing to the other, and Dawn had given her requests already.
"I'm not telling. Are you going to pick up stuff or just walk in a circle around it?" said Marianne in exasperation.
"I'm helping, see? So, are you ready to spend some quality time with your Goblin King?"
"Dawn, what did I tell you about calling him that?"
"Would you prefer Boggy-woggy Kingy-wingy?"
Marianne threw a pillow at her sister, which started an all-out pillow fight before Dawn gave up, her competitive side nowhere near as fierce as Marianne's, nor her aim as keen.
"But seriously," said Dawn when Marianne gave up at last, "are you sure that you're okay doing this with him? I want you to enjoy yourself. You're maid of honor and already have a lot going on. I don't want this to ruin it for you."
Marianne got up and hugged her sister.
"Thanks for the support, Sis. If anything does happen, I promise to let you know. But, based on what I know of him, I think we're going to get along just fine."
"So can I invite him to stay for dinner with us?" asked Dawn a little too eagerly.
Marianne shook her head and smiled.
"If he gets through today, then yes. We'll see. Look for my signal."
"Okay!" squealed Dawn.
A knock came to the door then, and both girls looked at each other in panic. The room was still a mess.
"Dawn, you clean up, and I'll get the door."
"Wait, why do I have to clean all this up?" asked Dawn pouting.
"Because you instigated this pillow fight, and you make this room look better than I can, with all your interior decorator skills."
"Only because I love you," said Dawn with grin.
Marianne rushed to the door and saw that no one was there. She was confused until she saw the violin and guitar cases sitting on her porch. Then she heard a grunt from an unknown car in her driveway.
"Bog, do you need some help?"
Marianne went to the back of the car, where Bog was leaning over to pick something up.
"Marianne, is that you? No, I'm good, just taking music stands out of my-"
Bog backed up to the edge of the trunk and turned around, only to find Marianne in his personal space. The next word died in his mouth as they stared at one another in the close quarters. He finally spoke again.
"You could have warned me you were there. What are you, a ninja?"
"Everybody was kung-fu fight-ing!" rang out a shrill, female voice from the side of the car.
"I take it back," said Bog gruffly as he looked at Dawn, "it's a family trait."
"Hi, Bog!" said Dawn waving and jumping up and down.
"Dawn," mumbled Bog as he scratched the back of his head.
"Well, are you coming inside or what? Or are you gonna stare awkwardly and talk out here instead?"
Sunny drove by just then, honking his horn. Dawn waved to Bog before bear-hugging her older sister and running to join Sunny for some wedding planning.
"Is Dawn always like that?" said Bog looking at the place where Dawn once was.
"Oh yes, there's just so much energy. Try living with her."
Both smiled, and Marianne went to grab the instruments while Bog brought in the music stands and music he had. Once they settled into a clutter-free music room, Marianne began to explain the basic set-up of the wedding day and how they fit in.
"Once the ceremony is over, all of the invited guests will come to the reception. There's an open bar and live music being played for all of it, as those two love going to concerts and singing. We play for the first hour, and then the paid musicians come in. We just have to learn enough stuff to cover about forty minutes, as the rest will probably be the happy couple giving an introduction to the song and saying how much they love the other."
"That sounds really sappy," said Bog with a scowl.
"I haven't even begun to tell you about the decorations," said Marianne half-joking, half-serious.
"I don't want to know."
"Too bad, you are," said Marianne with a laugh, "as I don't want you to be shocked into silence by all the shades of red, orange, and pink that will be there."
"Will our eyes be treated to an infinite number of hearts, rainbows, unicorns, and all that other romantic nonsense?"
"You bet," said Marianne.
"Is there worse?" asked Bog in horror.
Marianne continued to speak of the decorations and enjoyed watching Bog's face become even paler at the thought of so much red.
"There are far better ways to celebrate their love, or they could just not decorate," said Bog when Marianne had finished.
"This is a labor of love for Dawn, and she is designing it all herself. She does a little every day in preparation."
"But still! There are better ways to spend that time, such as with Sunny."
Marianne laughed until she saw Bog's confused face.
"Sorry about that, but you said exactly the same thing I said to Dawn when I found out what her decorating plans were. It's funny."
After that, the two began their practice. Marianne played some scales on her piano, while Bog played a few chords of "Smoke on the Water" on his guitar. Marianne shot him a dirty look, and he grinned.
Once both were ready, Marianne began drilling him on what songs he knew, seeing if they shared any. That led into a discussion about the range in which they would be playing. Marianne knew that Dawn was a soprano, and Sunny a tenor, so it was a simple matter of transposing the music as needed. They would eventually practice with both Sunny and Dawn, but not until they had the main songs down.
"So what's the first song we have to practice? Please tell me it's not 'Can't Help Falling in Love'," said Bog seriously.
"Don't say those words out loud! The walls have ears," whispered Marianne as she clapped her hands over his mouth.
Bog gave Marianne a helpless, confused look. Then his face turned pink. Marianne was surprised by the quiet until she realized that she was still touching Bog and pulled away.
"Sorry, but no, they haven't requested it, and I'm hoping they don't. I might pull out my hair if I had to practice that for multiple hours a day. I hate it."
"I hate it more. I'm glad I'm not the only one," said Bog with relief, "as hearing that song makes me sick. I can't help it. Really, anyone in love is a fool-"
"Rushing into something that will bind them to trouble and misery-" interrupted Marianne, inching closer to Bog in commiseration.
"For the rest of their lives," added Bog, moving closer as well.
"All the lies, pain, and sorrow they could ask for," said Marianne as she realized that she could now feel the heat radiating off of Bog's body. So close, and then she looked up.
For a moment, the two memorized the color of each other's eyes as they shared in their hatred of love. Bog cleared his throat, and Marianne moved away.
"I'm confused, Marianne. If you hate love so much, why are you so supportive of Dawn?"
"I thought I already explained to you how they got together."
"Yes, but I thought you would put up more of a fight to protect Dawn or something. And you're just letting her do whatever she wants."
"Not true, on either count," countered Marianne.
Bog gave her a disbelieving look, so Marianne started talking again.
"I've known Sunny for more than ten years. I trust him with Dawn; I know that he would lay down his life for her. It's also really hard to say no to those two when you see what nonsense my father put them through, questioning both at every turn with his prejudices. He's never liked Sunny, and it took a long time for him to agree to the wedding. I told them to just elope as our Dad will forgive them for wanting to be happy."
"I didn't realize your dad was such a stick in the mud," said Bog, his tone soft.
"Ever since Mom died, he has been very stuck in his ways. He used to be clueless about our love lives until Dawn started dating Sunny and I-"
Marianne did not want to say Roland's name out loud. Nor talk about him.
"What did you do, Marianne?"
"I refused to be with the guy my Dad thought best for me. Simple as that. Now, as for letting Dawn do whatever, believe me when I say that I have nixed about three other designs for decorations, all far worse than this one."
"Worse? Not imagining it. What's our first song?"
"Our first song to play will be Queen's 'You're My Best Friend'. It's funny because both requested that song."
Bog chuckled at the idea of the two both trying to sing at the same time and realizing it later. It would be funny at first and later sickeningly sweet.
Marianne gave the music to Bog, and then they began, first with Marianne singing and Bog playing a few chords until the right range was found. Then she stopped singing.
"You don't have to stop singing, Marianne. You have a good voice. Beautiful, actually."
Marianne blushed before shaking her head.
"Thanks, Bog. I need to practice piano, though, as I'm rusty. I can sing later."
Marianne had no desire to sing and had not since to any great extent since breaking up with Roland. She just did not feel as though she had a reason to sing, and she did not want to talk about it more than necessary. Dawn was the only exception to her rule of no singing, and she planned to keep it to a minimum.
After they practiced and got a good start on that song, the two began the next song. They were twenty minutes into practicing it when Marianne got up suddenly and went to the kitchen.
Bog followed, wondering why she left without a word. He walked into the kitchen to see Marianne put on her music, and "Barracuda" came on. She stood there, holding a kitchen knife in her left hand like a blade, as though poised to fight, muttering about an "Evil Roland".
"Marianne? Are you alright?"
Most love songs made Marianne feel ill because of the silly things that they represented, as well as reminded her of the times she had been stupid and spent with Roland. All she wanted to do was run away from the music and punch Roland for being the lying, cheating, chattering pig he was.
"I'm fine, I promise. But I just can't practice those silly love songs for very long."
"I didn't want to, either. You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs, and I say we don't have to, unless it's for your sister."
Marianne smiled and giggled at his phrasing before reaching to turn the music off, still not facing Bog. Bog recalled hearing the name from Marianne at the renaissance festival, and then he made the connection to shiny helmet jerk.
"C'mon, Tough Girl. Let's take a break and do some non-love songs. Just live and let die."
Marianne turned around and smiled a genuine smile. If nothing else, the two could connect over music. It made Bog feel warm inside for reasons he could or would not explain fully to himself. He had helped her, and he found that liked doing so.
After an hour of dueling with their respective instruments, one ending on a chord and the next picking up with that for a different song, the pair went back to practicing more songs for the wedding. Marianne found the love songs more bearable when Bog did facial impressions of Thang while playing and mouthing the words. Shorter breaks were taken after that, but they still managed to make progress with a couple of songs before Dawn and Sunny came home, Sunny carrying a delicious-smelling pot of food.
"Hey, you music fiends! Ready to eat?" asked Dawn upon seeing the smile on Marianne's face.
"You bet," said Marianne, grabbing Bog's wrist and dragging him to the table so that they could eat right away. Marianne was famished. Bog let himself be dragged, the promise of food too tempting to pass up.
"So? How did your first practice go?" asked Dawn eagerly.
"Well, we didn't punch each other," said Marianne.
"And we have discovered that we share similar interests in music," added Bog.
"And Bog should be forced to lip-sync to all love songs, just so I can handle them," finished Marianne.
The pair looked at each other, then at Sunny and Dawn's surprised faces, and then back at one another, laughing at the couple's confusion.
The rest of the meal passed by well, Dawn and Sunny taking their turn to talk about what they had accomplished once Bog and Marianne made it clear that they had made progress. When Bog left, Marianne went ahead with the instruments to open the door for Bog. Dawn grabbed Bog at the front door.
"Did my sister sing today?"
"A little," said Bog, raising an eyebrow.
"Wonderful! And did she act odd at all when you worked on some of the songs?"
"By odd, do you mean her getting up and leaving, putting on other songs?"
"Yep, that's my sister," said Dawn with a frown.
"She only did it once, and we talked after. Then I tried to help by making strange faces at her while we played certain songs."
Dawn clapped her hands and hugged Bog. Marianne might one day sing again; she was sure of it!
"I haven't seen my sister this happy in so long. Thanks, Bog. You're welcome to visit anytime. Just don't tell Marianne I said that."
Bog returned the hug and left a waving Dawn. Marianne was sitting on the edge of the trunk when he got to his car.
"What did my sister say?" she asked.
"She wanted to know how you were during rehearsal, if you were handling the songs alright. She knows we handle it well together."
Marianne reached out and took one of Bog's hands, a smile on her face.
"Thanks. I want to do this for her. The more we do this, the easier it will be," she said, squeezing his hand.
"Together, we can overcome our aversion to love songs and just make fun of them always," said Bog, sticking out his tongue one last time at Marianne.
Both laughed, eyes linked on one another. Bog wanted to go since it was late, but he felt bad with Marianne holding his hand. He squirmed a little before she noticed and let go. Another awkward look was shared between them as Bog got into the car, and then he was gone.
Bog did not want to admit it out loud (especially near his mother), but he knew that their music practices were going to turn into more. In that one day, she had let him in to see her hurt, and she had accepted his comfort, even if it was not in the most traditional way. It also occurred to him that she still had not told him about Roland. He planned to fix that at the next meeting.
As Marianne watched Bog leave, she thought back to what he had last said.
"I don't think we'll ever completely get over our aversion to those songs, but I'm all for replacing all my bad memories with ones of him."
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Author's Notes: I can see Bog making fun of Thang easily, and you just know that Bog would make faces to make Marianne feel better, besides with a good spar. Don't worry, there will be more sparring later on, but first they need to talk about their bad choices in love. Thanks so much for reading and for all the encouraging words! I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoyed!
SVJohnson8721: Great! I'm glad you got a chance to watch the movie. I like the little similarities between the two movies, and I'm glad you liked the bog one! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
Anony mouse101: Thank you! I'm glad you loved it! Yay for meeting more Labyrinth and renfaire lovers! There's never enough of either in life. Thanks so much for your kind words!
NoAverageAngel76: Thanks so much! I'm happy you're enjoying it so much. Sorry for a long wait, but I hope you enjoy this one. Thank you for reading and for the review!
Rats xp: Yesss! Thank you! Yay for kilts and all their awesomeness. Renaissance festivals are amazing, and I'm glad we can share that experience. Thanks so much for all the encouragement!
Selyne Nightshade: Thank you! Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies, for many reasons why I like Strange Magic so much. Thank you for the support! I really appreciate it.
Guest: I'm glad there's more of us Labyrinth lovers out there. Thank you for such praise; you are very sweet. I hope that this next chapter will live up to those expectations. Thanks so much for reading!