Chapter Five:
Pavel was in for a treat a few days later: he was to see how the band recorded. Since Pavel was the one to write the music and songs, he could have a say on how the recording went: what extras he wanted in the songs. So he stayed in the booth once more with Spock. Or he would, anyway.
'Man, I really need to get myself a car when I pile enough money up from this gig,' the Russian whizkid thought as he put his hands in his coat pockets and breathed precipitation into the cold, nearly winter air. "I love November," he sighed as he waited for the company car to pick him up from his street corner.
"Shame we won't be picking up in front of your house. I was sure you would have wanted a certain Scotsman to know where you live…" Hikaru had said when Spock had put him on the phone to get the place to pick him up. The whole band would be riding together in one van.
"I'm not ready for any of you hooligans to see where I live. The corner of Rose and Winter streets is the closest any of you are getting…" Pavel replied.
"Well, Scotty's smart. He can figure it out if he really wants," Hikaru replied.
The words sent shivers down Pavel's spine and he fell silent for a moment before, "Uhm… okay. See you tomorrow, Hikaru."
There was a loud honking noise (Hikaru was driving) from a large rust-colored car as it moved toward the curb Pavel had been standing at. Pavel waved slightly as the door opened and Kirk literally grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to the car, closing the door and signaling to Hikaru to peel away fast.
Pavel sighed, sprawled across Kirk's legs and the legs of another, anonymous at this point, pair of legs. Pavel soon moved his head to look up and saw that… oh.
Len and Spock were in the very back… Hikaru was driving, Kirk was the one holding up his stomach and thighs so… Scotty was holding up his torso and neck. Pavel blushed and got up quickly, taking the seat on the other side of Scotty, closest to the window. "Th-Thanks," he stuttered shyly.
"For what, pretending to kidnap you?" Scotty asked, laughing quietly. "Glad to see your talking to me again, though, laddie," he whispered. "That's some Stockholm's syndrome you have…"
Pavel's blush was still apparent, but he looked up at the older male, his hands formed into fists as he extended his arms on his knees. He smiled, "That's funny, since Kirk was the one to kidnap me…"
"You still like me, though, right?" Kirk asked, a small pout forming.
Pavel laughed, "I like you, Kirk. I don't think I'll be vouching for you when Nyota calls the police and they come looking for me…"
"She wouldn't. She knows you're with us," Hikaru said, looking back at them through the mirror.
"True story," Kirk replied, laughing. "It's either you're with us or against us, Pavel."
"Such a hard decision! My best friend or my current employers!" Pavel said, moving his arms to put up to his face.
"Either way, I don't think Pavel appreciates being 'kidnapped' as you say, Jim," Spock said calmly from the back.
"You're just jealous because he doesn't do that to you," Scotty said, twisting himself to look at the elf-eared male and smirking slightly.
"Why would you think that, Scotty?" Spock asked.
"No reason," Scotty replied, twisting forward again and winking at Pavel.
Pavel blushed, but covered his mouth to suppress a small chuckle.
Once they were at the studio, they successfully recorded all the songs that Pavel had written, including Pasha's Lullaby. Pavel was surprised at how nice the band had made their version of the lullaby, but Scotty wouldn't let them change the name from "Pasha's Lullaby" to "Lullaby." Which, in Pavel's mind, was undeniably sweet on Scotty's part.
The Brothers Grimm were just getting ready to leave, Kirk pushing at Len to 'get a move on,' as the others looked on and (in Scotty and Hikaru's case) laughing at Kirk's antics. Pavel hung back with Spock and at least smiled at all the friendly roughhousing. There was a rush of cold wind as three figures blocked their path.
"Well, well, well," a suave voice said, arms crossed. The other two followed suit.
"Is that…" Pavel was cut off.
"Khaaaaaan!" Kirk shouted stepping in front of his band like a father.
Spock came up from behind him, "You know not to come here when we're here…"
"Khan and the Romulans? Yes," Hikaru whispered to the younger member warily.
"Is that a rule now, Spock?" a bald guy on Khan's right asked. Pavel knew him to be Nero. The other guy, on Khan's other side, was named Ayel.
"It should be, you two-faced bastard," Kirk replied. Spock placed a pale hand gently on the lead singer's shoulder to calm him.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Len asked, body stiff and face twisted in an unpleasant glare.
"We have the slot after you," Ayel replied.
"And since you're still here… ah. Is this your new song-writer?" Khan asked, changing his original thoughts when he spotted the Russian whizkid.
Pavel looked down at his feet, and Scotty stepped closer to him, leading the others to do the same. The Scotsman put a hand on the boy's back almost possessively.
"I wasn't going to take him from you," Khan said, looking to Spock. "I write good enough songs. Which is possibly why our last album was a hair away from passing yours… Got a little scared, eh?"
"His songs are better than your pieces of glorified shit," Kirk hissed.
"That's a lot of pressure to put on a mere child," Khan replied, smooth as ever. "Why don't we let an audience judge who writes better songs?"
"A song-off?" Len asked.
"We'll do it," Kirk said.
"What?" Hikaru and Scotty asked.
"We can use Pasha's Lullaby," Kirk told them.
"Nope. I want a fresh song. In fact… here's the rules," Khan stated, turning to Pavel, "It has to be a new song. A sad song. And you only have two days to write it. The band will have two days to rehearse it. We'll see you at the university recital hall on Saturday at five."
Pavel gaped at the other in disbelief, "I… I can do that," he said, and his head fell forward and he was back to looking at his sneakers.
"Are you sure, lad?" Scotty asked, hand falling from Pavel's back.
"I can… I have to, at this point," Pavel replied, looking at Kirk. "The pride of the band depends on it, da?"
Kirk turned to Khan, his face showing a little bit of fear for the newest member of the band, "… You'd never let us see the end of it if we backed out, would you?"
"Nope. And I'd slander your band in front of my fans. Some of whom are fans of the Brothers Grimm as well…" Khan replied.
"Nero can be especially persuasive, you know," Ayel added, smirking.
Kirk turned to his band, looking once more at Pavel. "Go on. How hard can writing another song in a day be?" the younger male asked.
Kirk nodded, "See you Friday, then," he told Khan and the Romulans.