Hi! And thank you for the reviews :) Here's the second chapter, and if you like it, please leave me a comment!
Vampyra: when you find out what it is that's awkward, please let me know. I hope you'll still have fun with it!
Rissika: the universe is our real world, basically, and Count D is the young singer. Thank you for the review!
Tsukaro: Thank you!
CD One, Track Two: Music of the Night
D didn't know exactly why the blonde American fascinated him so. But fact was, he barely could turn his eyes away from him since he'd stepped inside the door to the studio with his also blonde manager. It couldn't be just the colour of their hair. He was not half as fascinated by Jill-san as he was by Leon Alcott.
Right at the moment, he was standing inside the cubicle D had occupied the day before and talking to the conductor. They were joking. He'd asked Jill-san and been told that it was not Leon's first recording in this studio. His partner was obviously already quite known here, though he was barely older than D himself was.
The Chinese stood up a bit. Here in America he still might have to gain a reputation, but back in China and Japan he was as famous as Leon Alcott was in America. He did not have to hide from his partner.
Leon had stopped talking to the conductor and was getting ready to do his song. D sighed softly. If he was honest, he hated the recordings. He liked being on the stage much more, though in normal life, he was quite shy most of the time. But on the stage, he transformed into someone else, into whomever he was playing, and he loved being someone else. But his father had decided he had to do them. Oh well, it was a good opportunity to earn some extra money besides his salary, but still, D would have preferred not to have to sing without being someone else at the same time…
Leon help up his thump, the conductor nodded and they started. D quickly snatched a pair of earphones and put them over his head. Instantly Leon's musical baritone floated around him and he almost gasped in surprise. Oh, sure, he'd known the blonde was known for his voice, else he wouldn't be so famous at so young an age, but he'd never actually heard Alcott-san sing. Now he drank in every note.
"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness wakes and stirs imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defences
Helpless to resist the notes I write
For I compose the Music of the Night.
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Hearing is believing, Music is deceiving
Hard as lightning, soft as candlelight
Dare you trust the Music of the Night?"
A shudder ran through D's body. Leon's voice touched something in him, something he couldn't name, a dark desire he had never known…
He startled when Jill entered and picked up earphones, too. Mr. Harris, the producer, was not happy. Leon rolled his eyes as he stopped them and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. The woman smirked. "So, you can do it by heart, you said?" she murmured, and D considered answering, but didn't know what.
They started again, and this time, they came farther. She listened to Leon concentrative, and D had time to watch her from behind the curtain of his hair. When those two had entered this morning, Jill had been teasing Leon mercilessly about the actress who apparently played his leading lady in his current play. They had seemed like brother and sister, and D wondered if they perhaps were. They both had blonde hair, and to his Asian perception they looked very much alike, even though Jill had grey eyes and Leon blue ones. The bluest ones D had ever seen.
"Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth
And the truth isn't what you want to see
In the dark it is easy to pretend
That the truth is what it ought to be."
"He's really in good shape," Jill said to no one in particular. The man at the controls turned and smiled at her.
"He's our golden boy, ain't he?" he answered while Leon continued with the song. Jill tilted her head to the side dubiously.
"If he would only be a bit more interested in everything going on," she complained. "He didn't even know about Count D before I convinced him to do this recording."
The man laughed and pressed a button. The orchestra had stopped again. One of the violinists had failed to start, and the conductor was patiently trying to get them in tune again. Leon yawned without bothering to hold up his hand, and ruffled his wild blonde hair. It reminded D of a lion's mane. Well, that only fit their first duet.
"He just needs a girl and then he'll be more calm," the man soothed Jill. The woman still looked critical.
"I don't know. I'm praying every day he's going to find someone, but so far he's only flirting, and sometimes taking a fan to bed, but nothing serious."
"Well, perhaps he'll be interested in this youngling here," the man offered and smiled at D, who blushed furiously.
"But I am not a woman," he protested and felt incredibly silly saying such a thing. Both others shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. Leon's not picky with gender," Jill grinned.
"I've seen it more than once, two guys standing in here, doing a recording and discovering they like each other a lot," the man backed her up. D blushed even more.
"Oh, but I am just a newcomer here in America," he argued. They exchanged a knowing look and Jill smiled at him.
"Well, he could show you around, couldn't he?"
The conductor waving impatiently at them rescued D from further teasing. Gladly he slipped his earphones on again and tried to concentrate on Leon's voice, but found he was much busier with what he'd just gotten to know.
"Softly, deftly, music shall caress you
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the Music of the Night."
The soft voice was alluring, almost irresistible. D cast a shy glance at the singer and noticed to his astonishment that Leon had closed his eyes and seemed completely lost in his song.
"Close your eyes, start a journey through a strange new world
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before
Close your eyes and let music set you free
Only then can you belong to me."
What a wonderful clear note!
D felt his heart skip a beat and was suddenly glad that Father had talked him into doing this recording. Working with a singer like Leon would improve his own skills, too. He just had to teach him how he managed to make his voice sound so mellow and inviting. No one could resist such an invitation.
"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation
Let your dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write
The power of the Music of the Night.
You alone can make my song take flight
Help me make the Music of the Night."
D smiled brightly. Tomorrow they would be singing their first duet. He was looking forward to it.
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