Chapter Nineteen:
"I must warn you," Scotty told them as they slowed to stop for a red light, "I got some date ideas from Gaila."
"Oh no. Does it involve sex toys?" Pavel asked jokingly.
Scotty blushed but his laugh was genuine, "Oh no. She told me the name of a good, cheap restaurant, and then told me which cinema was playing that new animated movie…"
"That sounds… tamer than Gaila…" Pavel said.
"What, is she working the streets in her spare time?" Scotty asked.
"No… she and Uhura just constantly joke about if she did. I thought she'd at least give you her fuzzy handcuffs or something," Pavel replied.
"She has… fuzzy handcuffs?" Scotty asked, as the light turned green.
"She says she does. I have yet to be invited to her house…" Pavel replied. "So… the classic dinner-and-a-movie date is in my future?"
Scotty drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the music playing over the radio (it was a classic rock station) and nodded, "Pretty much, yeah."
"Well… this is interesting."
Scotty sighed and put his head in his hands again, rubbing them against his cheeks vigorously, "Again, I apologize, Pasha…"
The two had gotten to the restaurant, and had found it packed to all four walls. After waiting for about an hour, they got a table, but it was right next to the kitchens, so every time waiters and waitresses came out with food or in with orders, Scotty got hit in the back. And since they could hardly move their chairs without hitting the people next to them, Scotty was perpetually hit in the back with a swinging door.
Pavel laughed and put his hand over Scotty's "It's fine Scotty… I'm just teasing you. Who knew there were this many other gay couples in the area," he said, looking around.
The table next to them had two couples that were clearly on a double date. The woman was black, in her twenties, and laughing fairly loud as she touched and caressed her date: a beautiful blonde girl with eyes that seemed to switch from blue to green to grey. The male couple was composed of an Asian male and a Jamaican guy, who talked in the accent and everything.
The rest of the patrons were either in a relationship or out with a group of friends who happened to be in a relationship. "Gaila knows her shit," Scotty commented, lurching slightly as the door opened again against his chair. Any harder, and he would have been catapulted over the table and into the couple next to them. "Do they forget I'm here?" he asked, his head falling to the table.
Pavel looked over at the stage area of the restaurant, an idea going through his head suddenly. "Hey… I've got an idea for how we can get through this night…" he said.
"What?" Scotty asked.
Pavel got up, "Wait here. I'll be back… in the meantime, I'll have the tortellini pesto," he said, and zipped off without another word.
Scotty was thoroughly confused, but he waited for the younger male to come back, and in the meantime, got his and Pavel's order in, was forgotten about again, had his back hit three more times, and finally Pavel returned.
"It's all set up," Pavel replied. "It's a surprise, Scotty," he said to Scotty's pleading/confused look.
"Now I'm nervous," Scotty replied.
"Don't be," Pavel replied, watching Scotty get doored again as the waitress came out with their meals, "Trust me. Now we've got a lovely 45 minutes to eat while the band sets up."
"Wait… what band?"
"The Brothers Grimm, of course," Pavel replied, "I hope you don't mind Hikaru getting into your apartment to get your guitar? Jim's taking your part while you and I take vocals…"
Scotty's eyes widened and his fork dropped back down onto the plate. "You didn't…"
"I did. Jim would only get the others rounded up if you and I sang together. And I told him we would. I'm not sure why he was so pushy about it, though…" Pavel mused, taking another bite of food as he mulled it over for a minute. "Not important. I thought a duet of 'Beautiful Soul' would do it. I know you guys did a duet version between Jim and you, so this time I'll take Jim's part."
Scotty was shaking his head, but he was smiling as he did so, "You're a wonder, lad," he finally said when there was a break in Pavel's musing. "Are the girls coming?"
"Nope. This is a private show for this restaurant only, tonight only," Pavel replied. "I told the manager that and he nearly cried. But I threatened to tell them of our initial treatment tonight to the company manager and he finally obliged to a one-night engagement."
Scotty's mouth had opened and his fork was still was poised between it and the plate of green and white spiral pasta covered with alfredo sauce. Pavel saw his staring and blinked, "Eat up. We have 42 minutes until show time."
The rest of the meal was silent as Scotty thought about the performance and Pavel checked his watch. The Russian whizkid had told Jim to wait in the parking lot until 8:00 and then come in through the back of the restaurant. Pavel and Scotty would meet him back there. As it were, Pavel was pretty nervous about going up on stage, but if the waiters would finally notice who they were the next time they came, (because the food was good and the place was gay-friendly) then this was the best way to remind them. Jim's face was the central thing on most of the album artwork, so Pavel knew that's what the fans usually saw (if they weren't hardcore fans like he, Uhura and Gaila were). Switching things up a bit would certainly work.
The time soon came, and Pavel was leading Scotty backstage.
Jim, McCoy (looking pissed), Hikaru (looking psyched) and Spock (looking… normal) were waiting for them, all ready to go on the stage. They were waiting for the curtain to go up.
"Ready for this, little man?" Jim asked, bumping fists with Pavel. "You two looked cute together, BTW."
Pavel blushed, "Let's go," he said, looking at the manager of the restaurant, who went out first and introduced them. Several people seemed to know who the Brothers Grimm were, and were cheering loudly.
Spock went out, calmed them down, and told them about the switches they were making, making sure to tell their confused audience that Pavel was the songwriter, and he was filling in for Jim 'because he had a sore throat.'
The curtains finally opened, and Hikaru began beating out a beat before Len came in, then Jim, and finally, Scotty started: "I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul…"
Pavel was next, and he took the microphone in front of him, glanced over at Scotty, smiled a brilliantly nervous smile, and sang his part, "I know that you are something special
To you I'd be always faithful
I want to be what you always needed
Then I hope you'll see the heart in me…"
Then they came together for the chorus, "I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I won't let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul
Yeah…"
Scotty went from just singing into the microphone to holding the mic and taking it off the stand, turning completely to Pavel, "You might need time to think it over
But I'm just fine moving forward
I'll ease your mind
If you give me the chance
I will never make you cry c`mon let's try…"
They sang the chorus together, with a little backing from Len and Hikaru. Jim pretended to lip sic as he still 'had a sore throat.'
The notes changed and they went into the bridge. In the original cover, Jim and Scotty had done some weird singing, so Pavel and Scotty kept it in as well. They alternated lines, starting with Pavel: "Am I crazy for wanting you?
Maybe do you think you could want me too?
I don't wanna waste your time…"
"Do you see things the way I do?
I just wanna know that you feel it too
There is nothing left to hide…"
They went back into the chorus again, and repeated it another two times before Hikaru, Len and Jim took the outro: "I want you and your beautiful soul
Ooooooo
Beautiful Soul, yeah
Oooooo, yeah
Your beautiful soul
Yeah…"
The ending had Pavel and Scotty in the middle, breathless as they held their mics, staring at each other, with Hikaru still on his drums, Len letting off his bass note with a wave of his hand, and Jim pretty much mirroring the grumpy bassist.
Pavel and Scotty turned to their audience, and bowed before the curtains were pulled in and the crowd went completely insane.
"Man… you two should break from the band and be a two man show," Hikaru said, his smile engulfing his face.
"Don't really," Jim said, putting out a hand. "I really hate doing covers now that I've tasted the sweet nectar of your original words on my lips, Pav."
Pavel and Scotty laughed, "Well… that'll certainly get us remembered around here. Think we could make this place our official hangout just so the manager doesn't think we completely led those people on?" Scotty asked.
Spock sighed, "All right. We'll have dinner here after every gig…"
"Great," Pavel said, "Now I think I can go home… and thanks guys."
"No problem," Kirk replied, fist-bumping the boy again, "That was totally awesome. I think I want you to be lead singer once and a while, Pav…"
Pavel laughed nervously, "One thing at a time, Jim…"
A/N: Song used (not written by me this time…): 'Beautiful Soul' by Jesse McCartney
Based on this video: http (colon forward- slash forward-slash) www (dot) youtube (dot) com (forward-slash) watch (question-mark) v (equals) WKFggFZBZuo