Chapter Two:

It was after the second day that Pavel got the news: "Can you write four songs by Monday?" Spock asked, "We have a gig next Friday, and we need five songs to have a full set." The elf-like male was polite and all, and Pavel wanted to please him as much as he wanted to help out the band (as he was paid to do).

"Sure!" Pavel replied, feeling all eyes on him.

But when he got home, he finished his calculus and European history homework, and then stared at his song notebook for about twenty minutes before he threw the pencil down in frustration.

He picked up his cell phone, instead, and called his best friend.

"Yo, this is Nyota!" she said.

"Check caller ID much?" Pavel asked.

"Pasha! Didn't I just see you?" Nyota asked.

"It didn't take me three seconds to finish my calculus homework. You dropped me off at five…"

"What time is it now?"

"Tell time much?"

"Don't make mamma angry, Pasha-dear," Nyota replied.

Nyota and Pavel had been friends since second grade. The town only had one of each school, including a small community college. Nyota was the same age as Pavel (if not six months older, so, technically, she was seventeen and a half, and if you mistook her for anything more or less, she would jump down your throat…) and in some of the same advanced classes, except, instead of Honors Physics, she was taking fourth year French and third year German, as well as taking 'classes' in Russian from Pavel. She was a firm linguist as opposed to Pavel's genius in astro-physics and, recently, song-writing/piano-playing.

"All right, mother dear," Pasha replied, grinning, "It's past seven o clock."

"Oh yeah. I remember eating my burger that I got from work when I got home. Jeez, flipping burgers sure has its perks," Nyota replied.

"You'd think your parents would have put money away for your college funds…" Pavel commented.

"They did, they just aren't giving me a normal allowance like normal kids…" Nyota replied. "You just found out your mother didn't leave anything, right?"

"And my father's a douche bag," Pavel replied solemnly.

"Sorry for bringing it up. You get paid a lot for this new job right?" Nyota asked.

"Yeah… If I stay with the band, the money will totally pay for my college tuition and anything else I'll need. Working for one of the most popular bands in the county sure had its perks," Pavel replied.

"Listen, I know I quizzed you on the way home, but… is Kirk really such an asshole as Hikaru says he is in the blog?"

"No! Well… he does have that women-adore-me-and-men-want-to-be-me vibe going on… but he learns well and, like I said, the band is pretty democratic."

"I bet Hikaru loved having someone younger than him join the group, huh?"

"Yeah… he's nice, though. Easy to talk to, easy to laugh with. He swears the whole band is at least bisexual."

"Oh? Getting a crush, are we Gushy McGushPants?" Nyota teased.

"No. Not Hikaru, at least. You know I adore Scotty almost to the point of infatuation. Though I heard from Hikaru that Len has a crush on him…"

"Poor baby. You know I love them all, right?" Nyota asked, "Except Kirk. He's a great leader and a great musician, but there's something about him that I just can't stand…"

"His suave-ness? The awesome hair? The fact that every girl who has ever seen this band perform falls in love with his sultry sounds and his amazing guitar playing and you just want to go against the grain? Find someone else in that case!"

Nyota growled low on the other end, "I would pick, but you got dibs on Scotty and I don't even know Spock!"

"Spock's awesome. He's polite and smart. I think you would really like him…"

"I'll stick to the performing aspect, thanks. Maybe Len. I like his playing and the 'older male' quality…" Nyota paused in her thinking, "Did you have a reason for calling other than a social visit? Not that I mind or anything, but you kind of called me as I was starting my homework…"

"Ooh sorry, you want me to hang up?" Pavel asked.

"No, no! I was about to start the lab questions to biology. You know how much I just love the cell body and its many fascinating functions…"

"But… what about the Latin names?" Pavel asked.

"What?"

"The Latin names. They have corresponding French names and stuff, right? You can look those up and focus on them in your lab questions and totally piss Mr. Pike off, da?"

"I love you so much right now, Pasha," Nyota replied.

"Anyway," Pavel blushed slightly, "I have to write four songs for the band… and I got stuck with writer's block."

"Aww… well, from the stuff we usually listen to, people mostly sing about love, loss, and sometimes when they get horny—"

"Thank you Nyota," Pavel replied, really blushing now.

"Sorry… I was just listening to 'LoveGame' by Lady Gaga before you called…" Nyota replied, sounding rather sheepish.

"Right…" Pavel replied.

"So… you can sing about Scotty of you wish," Nyota teased.

Pavel jumped and almost through his cell down on the carpet, "What?"

"Write about Scotty! You said when their last album came out that you were, quote, in love with his voice, his guitar-playing, and his toned body—"

"I think Auntie Natasha's calling me, bye Nyota!" Pavel yelled, and slammed the phone shut before lying face-first on the plush red carpet. "Damn that girl…" he muttered into the threads.

He was still stuck twenty minutes later. Nyota had texted him for answers, but he ignored them, promising to talk to her in the morning in their homeroom class. He sat at his desk, the Brothers Grimm's last album playing softly from his iPod speakers, pencil poised over his very special song-writing notebook. And nothing was coming.

Finally, he took up his cell phone again and, to distract himself mostly, flipped through his contacts. He paused over Hikaru Sulu's name, wondering what the other male was up to at nine. Usually a new blog post would be up by ten at night, so… maybe he was working on it?

"He'll need to take a break to get the genius to flow smoothly," Pavel muttered as he pressed the button and put it to his ear as the other line rang.

"Hey, Pavel, what's up?" Hikaru asked.

"Hey… just some writer's block. I really want to get some of these songs written so I can begin writing the score and recording everything for Monday…"

"The Eiffel Tower wasn't built in a day, you know," Hikaru reminded the Russian whizkid lightly, an obvious smile on his face.

"I know…" Pavel replied, "I just want some ideas to go off from, though…"

Hikaru thought for a moment, "Well… I would listen to our version of 'Fly On The Wall,' and then our version of 'Creep,' and then remember that most songs can be categorized into four major song types: Sad, Joyous, Love and Hate. Try a song from each category."

"Uhh… why should I listen to 'Creep' and 'Fly On The Wall?'" Pavel asked, his mouth a perfect liwer-case 'o.'

"Because I hate the song you're playing right now," Hikaru replied.

"'Calling You'? But this is the best version I've heard since the original!" Pavel replied passionately.

"Just between me and you, that was our last take of the recording, and I was already having issues with the drumbeat. I messed it up in the first five seconds and we kept it how it is…" Hikaru said.

"But… you can hardly tell in the first five seconds… besides…" Pavel suddenly blushed.

"What, Pavel?" Hikaru asked, like he already knew the answer.

"Scotty sang the song… It's the only one with him as the lead singer," Pavel replied barely above a whisper.

"You like him, don't you?" Hikaru asked.

"More than you know," Pavel replied.

Hikaru smiled, not that Pavel could see him, and sighed loudly, "All right then. I'll leave you to your writing. Good night, Pavel."

"Good night Hikaru. Thank you!"

And with that, Pavel set to work, grateful for the challenge, and grateful to Hikaru for giving him a push in the right direction.