Track 10: Rhythm Emotion
"Man, I'm hungry, I need to go somewhere." Duo mentioned, rubbing his stomach. He looked down at his girlfriend who had taken up residence under his arm. "What about you, tryin' to eat?"
Hilde looked up at him. "Not really, but I'll accompany you. Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know." Duo's eyes scanned his surroundings. "I forget what they have in this town." He looked at his other companions, all of them loitering around in front of the club they would be playing later that night. "What about you guys? What're y'all gonna do? I need some lunch."
"You need lunch because you skipped out on breakfast when we hit up that rest stop earlier, dummy." Wufei reminded him.
"My appetite needs time to build after I wake up." Duo responded in his defense.
"Maybe you should just start forcing yourself to eat in the morning." Hilde suggested. "That way you won't be the only one starving around a quarter to twelve. You always do this."
"Like I said, I don't wanna eat anything when I get up." Duo tightened his hold on the short haired drummer. "And we don't have anything in the fridge that comes with this bus like you ladies do."
"Then why don't any of you boys actually go out and buy food instead of relying on gas station burritos and breakfast sandwiches? That's what the fridge is for." Dorothy jumped in, disgusted by her tourmates' eating habits. "It still surprises me that you guys are even in shape."
"Ain't got no time for that, Dots." Duo shook his head. "We gotta be around and help set up with Rashid and the rest of the crew. Hard to fit grocery shopping in."
Trowa nodded. "He's got a point there."
"So why not let the Maganacs take care of everything?" Dorothy asked them. "It's what they get paid to do, you know."
"It's a lot faster when we help," Trowa pointed out. "And not only that, It's what we've always done."
"Sure, but you don't always have to do it." Dorothy looked over at the vans that held all of their equipment. "How else do you expect to get a little more free time before a gig?"
"We all use that equipment." Trowa explained. "We're just as responsible for it as they are, even more so in the case of our instruments."
"How admirable." Dorothy smirked. "You men hold on tightly to those punk rock ethics, don't you?"
"It's our way of life, woman." Wufei spoke, returning to the conversation. "Someone with your upbringing would never understand."
"Ah, yes." Dorothy hummed, allowing her grin to spread. "You mean much like you don't understand the opposite sex?"
"You guys are too much trouble." Wufei released a grunt. "That's why I choose to remain single."
"Really?" Dorothy narrowed her eyes mischievously at the chinese drummer. Wufei should've never answered. "Now, are you sure you made that choice, or did every woman you've ever met make it for you?" Wufei glowered at the blonde, causing her grin to widen even more.
"Well, you see Dorothy, that's why Wufei is so good at what he does." Duo chimed in, not wanting to miss an opportunity to take a shot at Wufei. "He releases all of his sexual frustrations out on his drums and gets a great sound out of it, so he's proof that there's a benefit to being lonely and not getting any."
"Oh, that does make sense." Dorothy nodded, a finger placed at her chin. "So, that's your secret, Mr. Chang? Forced celibacy?"
"You, shut up.' Wufei pointed an aggravated finger at the blonde, before focusing his attention at his bandmate. "And you, I'm gonna kick your ass."
"Hilde, help!" Duo held the smaller woman in front of him, turning her into a human shield as Wufei approached. Hilde's elbow struck into Duo's side. "Oof! Damn, babe, you're supposed to be defending me!"
"What you said was mean, Duo." Hilde reprimanded. "I should let him beat you up."
"That's all I need to hear." Wufei smirked, cracking his knuckles.
"But I won't." Hilde looked back at the other drummer. "I'll make him apologize, Wufei."
"I don't want his apology." Wufei firmly stated. "I want to beat him up!"
"And I wasn't gonna apologize anyway!" Duo proclaimed, still hiding behind his girlfriend.
"Duo, shut up." Hilde's annoyance with her significant other was rising. "It's that mouth of yours that's always getting you into trouble." She was beginning to wonder how these two could be in the same band together. Duo always enjoyed getting on Wufei's nerves.
"Out of the way, Hilde!" Wufei growled, still trying to get at Duo.
"Just ignore him, Wufei." Hilde sighed, using her smaller frame to protect her moronic boyfriend. "Be the bigger man and leave this idiot alone."
"Yeah, leave me alone." Duo repeated behind his protector. "You know what 'alone' means, right? It's what you are all the time."
"Duo!" Hilde shouted at him over her shoulder.
"That's it!" Wufei swung an arm over Hilde, trying to grab at the braided guitarists' throat.
"Whoa!" Duo exclaimed, barely avoiding Wufei's grasp.
"Did I start this?" Dorothy watched the scene, the grin having never left her face.
"Probably." Trowa slowly nodded. "You should know by now that Duo can't help himself around Wufei."
"Oh, you know how forgetful I can be." Dorothy tossed the bass player a devilish look.
"Right…" Trowa gave the woman a dubious glance. He looked back at the commotion the two men were causing, watching as Hilde struggled to keep the two of them apart. He figured now was the best time to kill all off this. "Alright, guys, what're we doing? We don't have much time to waste before we have to get things started."
Duo ducked another strike from Wufei, this time pulling Hilde and himself away from the angry drummer. "Okay, okay, I'm done! Look, I'm just tryin' to eat, and Hilde's rollin' with me." Hilde laid a hard smack on Duo's shoulder before shoving him away, forcing him to find a place to feed himself instead of being a moron.
Wufei was thinking about continuing his pursuit for Duo's head, but began to tire of the games. He needed to learn to stop letting Duo get the best of him all the time. "To hell with this," Wufei spoke, trying to calm himself down. "I'm just gonna take a walk." He threw his hands in his pockets and turned to go down the opposite direction. "You guys better not be late." he added, leaving the group.
Trowa sighed, glad that was all over. "Well, now that that's settled, I guess I'll g-"
"You're coming with me!" Dorothy hooked her arm with Trowa's, batting her eyes at him. "I actually need to do some shopping and I need your company."
"You 'need' my company?" Trowa looked down at the woman questioningly, not knowing why she would need him to go shopping with her.
"Yes."
"Why?" Trowa arched a brow.
"For two reasons." Dorothy began, slowly taking some steps forward as she pulled the green eyed man alongside her. "One, I need to talk to you about a couple things." Trowa had a feeling he knew what one of those things were. "And two, I could use some eye candy while I handle my business." Dorothy added a wink to that last statement.
Trowa smiled, but shook his head. "Remember what Quatre said about you being a terrible flirt and you got mad at him?"
Dorothy frowned. "It doesn't count with you."
This got a chuckle out of Trowa, unsure why it wouldn't 'count' with him. "Anyway, I know what one of those things you want to talk to me about is," he mentioned, knowing that it was definitely Quatre related. "but what's the other?"
"Well, It's that…" Dorothy pointed at the last two that were left of their crew.
Relena and Heero were in their own world, and did not pay any attention to the rest of the group the entire time they were there. The two had been off to the side, Relena sat on the steps of her tour bus while Heero leaned a shoulder by the door, both of them just conversing while everyone else was making noise.
Dorothy wasn't dumb, she noticed that the two were getting along a lot better now. It was after the first show at Barge two weeks ago when she noticed a change in their behaviors towards one another. It made sense, Dorothy noted, as Heero did help her with her stage fright, but she wasn't expecting this. It was like every time Relena wasn't with her or Hilde, she was found chatting it up with Heero. Dorothy found it… amusing, and because of who Dorothy was, she began to wonder if this was going to lead anywhere interesting.
Trowa watched the pair, understanding what was catching Dorothy's attention. "You know, as surprising as this development has been, I'm not one to gossip, Dorothy." he told the woman attached to him. "Let them be."
"Oh, I'll let them be…" she replied, keeping her gaze on the duo. "For now, anyway. So, until I decide to get nosy and bother them, I figure I might as well find someone to talk to about it."
"Lucky me." a lighthearted smile graced Trowa's face as he sighed.
"Hey, you two!" Dorothy called out, bringing Heero and Relena back into their reality.
Both of them looked over, finally acknowledging someone other than each other. Relena stood from her spot on the bus steps. "Oh, um, so what's going on?" She looked around wondering where everyone else had gone, and why Dorothy and Trowa were literally linked together.
"Well, if you two had been paying attention, then you guys would've seen Wufei trying to kill Duo before all of them took off." Relena blinked at Dorothy's response before looking up at Heero.
"How did we miss that?" she asked the frontman.
"I noticed, I just didn't care." He'd seen them act up before and he lost interest in their bickering a long time ago.
"Alright, well now that you're all caught up, Trowa and I will be doing some shopping." Dorothy informed the two. "What will the both of you be up to?"
Heero looked around, remembering the area well enough after having played in this town a couple times before."There's a record store about two blocks away. I'm thinking of stopping by."
"I see." Dorothy looked over at Relena. "And you, dear?"
"Well, there's nothing I want to do specifically, and I don't know this place very well, so…" Relena returned her vision to Heero. "Mind if I go with you?" Heero shrugged as he spun on his heel, heading towards the direction of the record store he mentioned. Relena followed beside him as both pairings took off on their own paths.
She thought she heard Dorothy snickering at them, but chose to ignore it.
Making their way down the sidewalk, on the road to the record store, Relena gave her companion a glance out of the corner of her eye. It still surprised her how well the two of them had been getting along. From where they started, to where they were now was quite a turnaround. Heero had been nothing but nice to her ever since he helped her along on that first night and, true to his word, when she needed him he was there.
At every show they played since Barge, no matter the venue, Heero always put himself in position to be seen by Relena. She still needed his help to get through their sets, and Heero never complained. She would apologize for continuing to ask for his assistance every time they were supposed to go on, but Heero would always wave it off, simply telling her to go out there and find him.
She could feel herself slowly start to improve, too. As these two weeks of shows had progressed, Relena found herself able to look at the crowd earlier and earlier into their sets. Her comfort level was rising and this made the new addition to the female-led band happy. Relena was glad that Heero was there to give her the courage to continue on. She could go on playing music and never have to worry about disappointing her bandmates ever again.
Relena looked up and saw a store she figured was the one Heero was talking about. It was a place called Left Of The Dial which looked like it had been around for a while, especially with a name like that. Heero led the way and pushed open the door, allowing Relena to enter first. The two walked in and Heero noticed the two guys working there were giving him funny looks, Relena catching this as well. Heero knew that if there were any places where someone like him could be recognized, it would be in a record store.
Thankfully, neither of these men approached the two of them. They were clearly nice enough to just let them browse in peace. "I get the feeling they want to go up to you." Relena muttered over to him, walking down one of the ailes. She was a little relieved that she was still new to her band, otherwise she would get the same looks that he was receiving.
Relena was probably right, Heero thought, eyes scanning over the shelves filled with records. Heero was never comfortable being approached by people who knew him. It always freaked him out whenever it did happen and he never knew what to say. He was sure that the fans 'lucky' enough to meet him went away with the impression that he was just a weirdo, or maybe even an asshole. Well, that certainly did happen with the woman who followed him here during their first encounters.
And look at them now, browsing through a record store as, well... friends.
As he watched her go through the shelves, he thought about how things had changed. He originally wanted nothing to do with her, knowing that she would be the one having to sing the other girl's songs. It really was stupid that he held that over her head. Of course, the first night at Barge really helped them finally work things out. He helped her work through her nervousness on stage and, like he offered, they have since had numerous conversations relating to music and their relationship to it.
They spoke about their guitars, influences and all kinds of music related topics. He learned that her initial interest in this stuff started when she was young, and her older brother passed down a lot of his albums to her. He had heard that before, that younger siblings were usually interested in the stuff that their older brothers or sisters were into; that seemed to be the case with Relena and her brother, Milliardo.
She was very easy to talk to, enjoying their conversations a lot more than he thought he would. He would actually admit that he kind of looked forward to their talks. Learning more about Relena had been one of the more interesting things about this tour so far; it was also interesting to see someone new to this learn as she went along. He remembered telling Relena, to help boost her growing confidence, that she was doing something truly impressive. Her first shows were in front of hundreds of people, and when they reached the larger venues, it would be to a couple thousand. Heero told her of his first show and being a little nervous himself, and he only played to about fifteen people in some abandoned warehouse, half of those in attendance he already knew. He wanted her to go on that stage with every bit of confidence he could give her. The rest was up to her, and she had been doing great so far.
He was… proud of her. It was a strange feeling, Heero thought, watching as she went through different albums. Heero recognized the names she picked out like Floodland, Out of Step, Repeater, Psychocandy, Little Earthquakes, and Night Time, but it was the album Evol that she took with her that made him curious.
"You don't own that already?" Heero commented as he looked through the shelves himself. That album contained 'Starpower', the song that was always played by Dorothy at their shows.
"Believe it or not, I don't." she replied, eyes still searching around. "It's one of Dorothy's favorites, not mine."
Heero's fingers glided up and down the the plastic covered LPs, doing some searching of his own. "Don't like it as much as she does?"
"I like it a lot actually." Relena replied, quickly looking through the tracklist. "I mean 'Shadow of a Doubt' is good, obviously 'Starpower', 'Secret Girl' is cool and even 'Expressway To Yr. Skull', which I think I like more for that title than the actual song." she chuckled. "But for some reason I don't own it, so I'll fix that today."
Heero progressed through the aisles behind Relena, looking for something that might catch his eye. He probably shouldn't spend so much money on records this time, he thought. He remembered telling Relena that he almost couldn't make rent a few times because he spent so much on music. That had gotten a chuckle out of her, and she joking teased that he was being irresponsible with his money. It was definitely a better response than what Sylvia gave him, chastising him for being a reckless spender, which he was when it came to this.
Relena turned to watch as he pulled out a record she knew very well. She watched him carefully analyze the album, front and back. It was the album that he had given the most attention to so far. "You like that one?" she asked, wondering what his response would be.
"Hn." Heero nodded, still focusing on the item currently in his possession.
"It's good that you do," Relena gave him a smile as he held Juju, the name of that particular 12". "Because my favorite song of all time is on that album."
Heero shifted his vision towards her, narrowing his eyes at her. "Really?"
"Uh, well yeah." Relena shrugged, wondering why Heero was looking at her like that all of a sudden. Did she say something wrong? "Is that… an issue?"
Heero was quick to shake his head. "No…" he placed the album back on the shelf, still surprised about what she said about her favorite song of all time.
"Okay…" Relena raised a brow at his weird reaction. "Do you already own Juju?"
Heero sighed, turning his head over to her. "Yeah, I do…" Heero confirmed with a slight head nod. "Why wouldn't I own the record that also has my favorite song of all time on it?"
"What, no way!" Relena was sure he was playing with him, the skepticism clear as day on her face. "You're lying." Heero shook his head again, and Relena had no reason to not believe him. Heero wasn't the type to joke around, at least not like this anyway, not with that serious expression. "Wow… well, that's quite the coincidence…" Relena looked away, continuing to see if there was anything else she would consider buying. "Okay, so now you have to tell me."
"What?"
"Which is your favorite song, of course." she continued browsing, curious to hear what his response would be. "Apparently our two favorite songs of all time are both off the same album. So obviously you have to tell me which one is your favorite."
Heero guessed that made sense. It did shock him a bit to learn that Juju was important to both of them. Now he just wondered what track she would call her all time favorite in the history of music. "For me, it's 'Spellbound', what about you?" he was taken aback when Relena looked at him as if he had just told her the craziest thing she had ever heard. "What?"
Relena blinked a few times before she recovered enough to respond to him. "Okay… if you're being honest with me, and I have no reason to suspect that you're not, then…" Relena had to hold back a laugh. "Not only is both our favorite songs ever off the same record but... it's the exact same track. Are you sure you're telling me the truth? This is, like, almost too much of a coincidence"
Heero could only shake his head. She was right, this was too much of a coincidence. He was speechless, not believing that they both shared the exact same choice for the greatest track of all time. They both just stared at each other, unsure of what to do with this revelation. As much as he tried to fight it, memories of Sylvia came back. He remembered her not being much of a fan of that song or even the band itself. She didn't care for their aesthetic or their sound, always telling him that there were groups that did it better. Heero disagreed, of course, but… he didn't have to worry about that here.
Relena took her copy of Evol, covering her mouth with it, blocking Heero's view of her growing smile. "Well then," she began, finding his surprised facial expression to be cute. "I knew you had good taste." she went back to scan the shelves filled with music, moving along as Heero followed behind her, allowing Relena to take the lead. He really did like finding ways of surprising her, Relena thought to herself.
As the two progressed, they found themselves getting into a conversation about what they loved most about the song, mentioning things about the guitar work, the drums and the lead singer's booming, feminine voice. He never got in depth with someone over his favorite song of all time. He was having fun being a fan with Relena, never being this much in love with a song with someone else before. Not even with someone in his own band, or even Sylvia...
They couldn't compliment the track enough and it was then that an idea popped up into Heero's head. He would bring it up to her later, as she would be the most important person when it came to this thing he had in mind.
But right now, he had to figure out why Relena was in the international music section, and specifically why she was looking through all of this J-Pop.
"You listen to this stuff?" Heero remarked, looking at things that were out of the realm of his understanding.
Relena turned to look at him incredulously. "You don't?"
Heero raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you look at me and assume that I would be into that?"
"Uh, Heero, no." Relena didn't care for the implication that she had only said that because he was Japanese, but she had a feeling that he was kidding. That was confirmed when she saw a slight turn at the corners of his lips. "I just figured that someone as musically open minded as you would know something about this." Heero looked on as she searched through piles of records that he didn't know much about.
"Sorry to disappoint." Heero deadpanned, shrugging a shoulder at her.
"It's okay." Relena chuckled. "Not everyone has to be into everything. Just out of curiosity, why don't you like this stuff?"
Heero thought about it for a second, thinking back to whenever he was exposed to that kind of music. "Hm… I guess it's that super glossy production mixed with all that rapid fire noise. I don't know, just doesn't click."
Relena thought it was funny that someone who was into punk rock had a hard time with 'rapid fire noise'. "I see. Maybe you just haven't found the right song or album."
"Maybe." Heero flatly stated, unsure that he would ever find anything that would get him into it.
"I think someone like you would appreciate something older." Relena remarked, looking through the mountains of CDs that were stacked up.
"What makes you say that?" Heero asked as he watched her. She looked like she was searching for something specific.
"I don't know," Relena continued to look, hoping that they had what she was looking for. "I just get the feeling that you would appreciate something a little less modern." Relena commented. "C'mon... Hm… here!" Relena pulled out a CD case. "This I think you'll like." Relena handed it over to him. Heero accepted it, giving her a skeptical glance. He took it and analyzed what appeared to be a four song EP.
"You think I'll like this?" Heero waved the item question.
"No," Relena shook her head with a smirk. "I think you'll love it." Heero wasn't sure about that. Old or not, he didn't think Relena could find the magical recording that would get him into his people's pop music. Relena could see the doubtful look on his face and rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll buy it for you. I guarantee that you'll love it."
Releasing a heavy sigh, Heero looked at the CD in his hand. He turned it around to look at the short tracklist. It was just four songs.
1. 'Just Communication'
2. 'Rhythm Emotion'
3. 'White Reflection'
4. 'Last Impression'
These guys really liked their two worded titles, Heero noted. He handed it back to her. "It's your money, do what you want." He'd have to remember to pay her back when he was done listening to it. He would feel a little sorry to disappoint her again.
Relena nodded, smirk still plastered on her face. "Heero, you'll thank me later."
AN: As usual, thank you for stopping by. Love u!
And to that guest review from the last chapter, I'm glad you got something out of reading this silly little story of mine after having such a crappy year. I had no idea this thing I'm writing could do that for anyone. I hope this year turns out much better for you!
Two-Mix - "Rhythm Emotion" (Now, you guys can can correct me if i'm wrong, but I think I just referenced the one song I'm sure everyone reading this has heard. I don't know, you tell me.)