Chapter Ten
Band Dynamics
Toki and Kyrie huddled together underneath a dining room table, fidgeting eagerly, "How much longer until they's gonna comes?" he whispered to the girl. She looked in between the chairs.
"Not much longer. Oh! Before I forget," She handed him a long piece of clear wire, which was connected to a glass cup on top of the table. "Make sure not to make any sounds or he'll figure out what we're up to." The two giggled mischievously, hearing the rest of Dethklok chattering as they made their way to lunch. Kyrie quietly slid from underneath the table,
"Hey guys!" she said energetically.
They looked in her direction, still sickened by her peppiness. "Hi." Nathan grunted, sitting in a chair at the head of the table, "Where's uh, Toki?"
"He should be here any minute now!" she chimed, "Wait Pickles don't sit there!"
The drummer raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"
"Because!" she took hold of his arm and led him to the seat on the opposite side of the table. "You sit here."
"I don't wanna sit here." He grumbled, she stared up at him sadly.
"But I made this seat special just for you…to make up for yesterday's, uhm, accident." Pickles cringed, recalling the 'Lucky Charms' incident.
"Ha, you go make Pickle a seat, he don't's even wants it." Skwisgaar sneered.
Kyrie glared at him, "Be quiet, nobody was talking to you." She spat, the guitarist matched her glare.
From underneath the table Toki frowned, Kyrie was still upset about the incident with Skwisgaar. When she finally accepted that everything she knew about him was a lie, she decided to end the crush by throwing her locket at the guitarist and calling him a fraud. Toki knew it wasn't Skwisgaar's fault the magazines had lied, but Kyrie refused to listen to reason. It didn't help the situation any that Skwisgaar, after being labeled a fraud, took every opportunity to tease the girl. Toki sighed, tired of dealing with their squabbling, especially since neither seemed interested in breaking the monotonous cycle any time soon.
"Ok…" Pickles said, trying to ease the tension, "I'll ah, sit here I guess."
Kyrie smiled brightly up at him, "I will get the food!"
She pretended to head back to the kitchen, but instead ducked behind a pillar out of the bands sight. "Why's the only cup on the table with Pickles?" Murderface asked, they eyed the glass cup filled with a strange green mixture. "Is it molded?"
"Pick it up Pickles." Nathan said, curious about the contents.
"I aint touchin' that." Pickles griped, seeming a little disgusted. "You do it."
Toki tugged on the wire, hearing the cup drag against the table "Did's that thing just moves by itself?" Skwisgaar asked in disbelief.
"I bet it's the witches cup!" Murderface shouted, "She's putting a spell on Pickles now!!"
Pickles stared at the cup, immediately noticing the shiny wire tied around it. "What the hell?" he asked, moving to grab the cup. From underneath the table he heard Toki giggle, and Pickles realized what was going on. He sighed and flicked the cup, which tipped over and stuck to the table; the strange gelatinous mixture wobbling on the inside of it.
Kyrie slipped from behind the pillar, looking disappointed. "Pickles the prank is only funny if you let us finish it!" she huffed.
"Yea's" Toki added, crawling from under the table. "You's guys should stop messing up the pranks, we's just want's a laugh is all."
"Why's it always at my expense?" Pickles asked, tired of being the brunt of their pranks.
A few days ago the devious duo had pilfered his Dethphone and changed the ringtone to a cheesy boy band, then refused to tell him how to change it back. Then they replaced his toothpaste with Orajel, and he hadn't noticed until after he shoved the toothbrush into his mouth. The worst was when the two broke into his room and painted his face white, dotting it with freckles. After that, they drew green four leaf clovers on his cheeks, and across his forehead wrote 'They're Magically Delicious!'. Kyrie seemed to really enjoy his Irish heritage.
"Lighten up Pickles." The girl said with a smile, "It's just a little joke, me and Toki don't mean any harm."
"You guys need to pick on somebody else now." Pickles said through his teeth, trying to be nice about it.
The pair turned their backs to the band and whispered amongst each other. Dethklok exchanged looks, wondering who the next victim would be. When the duo finally turned back around, Toki pointed to Murderface, "It's you's turn now!"
"Oh fuck that!!" He shouted, Pickles sighed with relief, happy to no longer be the focus of their attention.
"Zuzu?!" They looked to the doorway where Leo stood, panting angrily. "What the hell are you doing?!" he barked.
"What's wrong Leo?" she stared at him puzzled, as Dethklok silently observed.
"The fuck you mean what's wrong?! Me and Al are in there practicing and you're running around here like a fucking kid. We have to practice." He pointed to the ground next to him, as if that was where Kyrie was suppose to be.
She cocked an eyebrow, "I'll be there in a minute, I just gotta get lunch to these guys."
"You're not the maid or the cook, regardless of what the hell you seem to think." He stomped towards the girl, ignoring Dethklok, and violently jerked her wrist, "You're the drummer, and you have to practice. Now."
Kyrie sniffled, watery eyed, "But I gotta—"
"Leave's her alone!" Toki yelled, furious to see someone hurting his friend. The rest of Dethklok glared at him to remain silent, while Leo dragged Kyrie out of the dining room.
"Leo let me go!" she yelled, trying to get away, "Leo! Just give me a minute! Stop it!!"
Toki clenched his fists, wanting desperately to aid Kyrie, "Why's you guys not want me to help her?! She need it!"
"Toki you's knows we can'ts get involved." Skwisgaar said with a sigh.
"Why not? We just stand here and let's hims push Kyrie arounds like that?"
"Toki that's not our band." Nathan said, "They have to handle it themselves."
"Yeah," Murderface added, sounding genuinely interested in explaining the situation, "If they have fights they have to figure it out on their own, that's just how a band works. Wouldn't want them coming to us like, 'Hey, you…you guys go get along and be friends.' Or somethin' like that, they have to figure it out on their own."
Toki looked away, "But it's nots fair, what if he hurts her?"
"Then we'll step in." Nathan calmly responded. Toki yanked a chair from the table and angrily sat down. He looked to Pickles, wondering why he hadn't said anything about the incident. The drummer glared at the hall where Leo had dragged Kyrie, a hostile look on his face.
"Pickle you ok?" Toki asked.
Pickles snapped out of his trance, "Uh, yeah I'm fine." He muttered.
"Well I'm starving." Murderface said, crossing his arms, "Someone go get the food."
x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Alvin stood alone in the Barbed Brothers rehearsal room, strumming his bass and tapping his foot to the melancholic beat. Leo wasn't interested in playing 'Strange World' for the tour, he considered it too emotional for a death metal crowd. Alvin didn't care, he still enjoyed the slow, gloomy song that the two had written it together as teenagers. The sound of scuffling from the hall distracted the bassist, who ended the song early to figure out what was going on.
"I don't see what the problem is!" he heard Kyrie yell, as she snatched her hand away from Leo's grip. Alvin frowned, he had calmed Leo down before he went to fetch the girl, so what had ticked him off again?
"The problem is you need to be here practicing!" Leo yelled back at her.
She narrowed her eyes on him, "Just because I'm not in here with you guys right when YOU want me to be doesn't mean I'm slacking with practice! I practice all the time Leo! You even said it yourself that I'm getting better, I don't understand what your problem is."
"Guys, guys." Alvin said, trying to calm their tempers. "Come on, we're in the same band, we should be getting along with each other..."
"No Al!" Leo growled, "You see what she does, she's always around Dethklok, I never see her practice, she's never here with us. We're your band Kyrie, you don't need to be around them so much!!"
"I can do whatever I wanna do, you aren't the boss of me Leo."
"I'm not the boss of you?" he laughed. Alvin sighed, knowing the situation would only worsen. "I'm the boss of this band, I make the rules, I call the shots. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even be here Zuzu, so I suggest you get your act together." She averted her gaze, tightening her fists.
"Come on bro, don't do this…" Alvin pleaded in a small voice.
Leo grinned, ignoring the plea, "This is how it works, you don't want to follow my rules and be apart of my band then we can send your ass home. I'm sure we could easily find a replacement."
"I have just as much a right to be here as you do, Leo." She growled, a determined glint in her eyes.
The guitarist shook his head, "My band, my rules. I keep the band inline and make sure we have gigs to play, Al does his part with bass and keeps track of finances, and your job is to be the quiet little drummer who follows orders and makes sandwiches when we're hungry. That's it, that's all you're here for. Not to be all over Dethklok, it makes you look like a fucking whore."
"Fuck you Leo." they stared at Kyrie shocked, they had never heard the girl say anything worse than 'arse'. "I'm practicing and doing my part too, so leave me alone and pick on somebody else." She turned down the hall, rubbing her sore wrist.
"You can't walk away from me!!" Leo yelled, but the girl ignored him and continued down the hall. He quickly turned to Alvin, "Tell her to come back!!"
Alvin sighed, "Just let her go, I think you've done enough damage today."
"What? You're on her side now?!" the guitarist shouted, stomping his foot like a spoiled child.
"I'm not on anyone's side," Alvin said, pushing his glasses closer to his face, "…but you had to of known she'd get sick of you treating her like that sooner or later, especially now that she's around people who treat her with atleast a little respect."
"I do treat her with respect!" Leo protested, "I let her stay with us even when she could barely play, and I let her g—"
"Respect isn't 'letting' her do stuff." The bass player responded, "Respect is treating her like an equal, but it seems like you treat her like more of an asset than anything else. She isn't a toy, Leo, she's a real person with real feelings."
Leo folded his arms and looked away, "She's just a whiner, it's my band, my rules. She isn't special, she has to listen like everyone else."
Alvin approached his friend and then raised a fist, lightly knocking on Leo's head, "Ah, yes, I thought it was pretty empty in there. It has to be, this isn't a hard concept to grasp."
"Shut up." Leo grumbled, irritated by his friends lame attempt to lighten the mood.
"Be nicer to her, please?" Alvin asked, heading back into the rehearsal room, "Make sure you apologize too. I know you're irritated she isn't worshiping you any more with Dethklok around, but that doesn't give you a right to be so mean."
Leo looked down at his boots, 'I'm not even being mean, why does he baby her so damn much?' he grumbled to himself. He listened as Alvin resumed practice, and then let out a sigh. The guitarist retreated to the girls' room to apologize, knowing if it wasn't done now Alvin would force him to later.
He dragged his feet down the hall, "My band, my rules." He repeated to himself, trying to justify his unkind behavior. Alvin usually let him have his way and followed instructions, and Kyrie used to do the same. Since she began getting closer to Dethklok she was starting to change, seeming more stable, and confident in herself.
"I hate it." Leo muttered. He missed the obedient, insecure, and overly optimistic girl he had first met. The one who supported him, regardless of how cruel or selfish he would sometimes get, 'And made sandwiches, damn it.' he grumbled. He couldn't even remember the last time she had cooked for the band, she was always with Dethklok, ''n that damn Toki.'
Leo tucked his hands into his pocket, wondering what the girls' reaction would be once he finally did apologize. He imagined himself extending his hand to the girl, and swearing how truly sorry he was for his harsh words. She would then warmly embrace him, grateful for the simple apology, and then the two would k...Leo sighed, she had already rejected him once, no point in going that route again.
"Ugh." He shook the thought out of his mind. "Whatever, an apology will make it better, then tell her she isn't allowed to hang out with them anymore." he nodded to himself, noticing the door to recording studio number 5. He stopped and looked up and down the hall, no Roadies were present. "Well, Zuzu can wait." He said with a grin, quickly unlocking the door and ducking inside.
This time Leo was sure not to turn on the lights, positive that was what gave him away before. He could clearly see the folder with 'Dethcapade' written in black sharpie, sitting in the same spot as if it had been waiting for his return. He cautiously advanced towards the control panel, listening intently to the sounds around him, not wanting to be caught again.
His hands trembled with excitement as he opened the folder, finally snapping the pictures that would guarantee his fame. The first image was of a black platform with various Gibson guitar ice sculptures littering the area, with 'Dethcapade' was written in ice block letters. The second image revealed an ice rink of sorts, with scribbled text which read 'metal skaters', Leo looked over the words again, unsure of what the phrase meant. The third image elaborated the ice rink, surrounding it with ice cages, where 'polar bear', 'white tiger', 'artic wolves', and 'more dildo aminahls', had been scribbled.
Leo smiled triumphedly as he closed the folder. "I'm sure this is all I need. Now go apologize to—" just as he turned around, a blunt object struck him on the side of his head. Leo fell to the floor, unconscious.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Toki wandered around Mordhaus in search of Kyrie, worried about how his new playmate was holding up. "Stupid dildo jerk Leo." He grumbled to himself, equally annoyed with his band mates. Kyrie had become 'one of the guys' as far as he was concerned, and they would help each other in a similar situation…wouldn't they?
"No's…" Toki sighed, helping was definitely not metal. "Well Kyrie is nots a very metal persons, we can be's not metal with her too, can'ts we?" he asked aloud.
She did have her own brutal qualities, even if his band mates refused to admit it. When Dethklok had first met the Barbed Brothers the girl had managed to kill the rival band, her cooking had sealed the fate of a number of Roadies, and she was notoriously clumsy…accidental deaths were becoming far to common whenever the girl was present.
Toki glanced down the hall, noticing a familiar Roadie guarding a door to the outside. "Hey you's!" Toki exclaimed, running to greet the man he usually saw following Kyrie around. "Have you's seen Kyrie?"
#317 nodded, and opened the door to the courtyard. Toki strolled outside with a smile on his face, he wanted to surprise Kyrie. After a few minutes of tiptoeing around, he noticed the girl slightly bent over the tail of a large dragon shaped shrub. Her eyes were wide and curious, as she jabbed an unknown object on the grass with a stick.
"Hey Toki." She said, not even bothering to turn around.
"Aww, how you's know it's me?" he asked disappointedly.
"You walk different from the other's." She responded, continuing to poke the object.
Toki covered his nose as he approached her, a foul odor was drowning his senses. "I just wanted to know if you's was ok from before?" she simply nodded. Toki had expected her to say more, or to at least seem upset. "Am you's sure about that, Kyries?"
"I'm fine." She muttered.
"I sorry I couldn't helps you's," Toki said softly, "The guy's just not's let me, all this mumbo jumbo's abouts bands dynahmites, and stuffs. I just don't get's it."
She stopped her poking a moment, and looked back at Toki, "Dynamites?"
"Mhmm! They say like, you's guys gotta fight, and works it out on you's own. I tell them to help but they just say no." he said with a sigh, "Why is that guy so mean's to you anyway?"
Kyrie growled, and violently jabbed the object again, "Stupid Leo and his stupid band, I can't stand him so much sometimes."
Toki peeked over the bush, curious as to what was captivating the girls attention. His mouth dropped when his eyes fell upon the dead body of a Roadie, maggots thrived where the eyes once were, and wiggled in a patch of decayed stomach flesh. "Waaaaaah?!" he shouted, shocked to see Kyrie playing in that.
"Isn't it cool?" she whispered. Her prodding caused maggots to spill from the mouth, "I found it a few days ago, thought it was so disgusting but for some reason I can't stop poking it…All of this morbid stuff is starting to fascinate me now, I think it's your music's fault."
Toki grabbed Kyrie's hand, pulling the girl back to Mordhaus, "That is not's something you should be doing Kyrie! You is a goil! What if you's get sick or fall in it or somethings?" he scolded.
"Toki le'go, that hurts." She whined, he quickly released her wrist.
"Is it because of that dildo's?" Toki growled, referring to Leo. The girl was silent, seeming sad and distant. "Kyrie tell me's!"
"Let's go play." The girl suggested, smiling up at Toki. "Or at least get out of here, this place reeks."
Toki followed the girl back into Mordhaus, unsure if he should say anything more about Leo. "So…what you's wanna play?" he asked as Mister Mute joined the two.
Kyrie shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno…hey Toki?" He looked down at the girl who had a troubled expression on her face, "I was thinking, like, remember when you were showing me how to play guitar?"
"Yeas, we did Underwater Friends together."
She nodded, "You play guitar really well, and it…shocked me, because the guys always put you down about it, or say you can't play at all. Why do you let them say such things to you, if it's not true? Doesn't it make you feel sad?"
"I's not mind it, I just likes being apart of Dethklok." He said with a smile, "It's like we family or somethings so it's not so bad."
Kyrie took his words into consideration as she opened her room door, inviting the two inside. Mister Mute took his place guarding the door, and Toki followed behind her. "What's your real family like?"
Toki stiffened, "I don't's wish to speak of them's…"
She sat on the bed, and cocked an eyebrow, "Why not?"
Toki shook his head, he didn't want to get into that right now. "What is you's family like?" he asked, taking the seat next to her.
"I don't wanna talk about it…" she said softly, "Hey wait, I asked you first!"
"I said I's not wanna talk about them first!" he said back to the girl.
The two glared at each other, "I asked first."
"I said's no's first!"
"Toki just answer me and I'll answer you!"
"No's, I said no first so you's have to!!"
Mister Mute poked his head inside the room, concerned a fight was about to break out. The two sat nose to nose, a serious look on their innocent faces. Just as the Roadie moved to separate the pair, Toki and Kyrie began to laugh.
"Fine then, we just won't talk about them." Kyrie giggled, resting her head on Toki's shoulder.
"We's need ah plan for Murderfaces pranks." Toki said, resting his head on top of hers.
Mister Mute let out a sigh and went back to guarding the room. As close as those two were getting it was easy to assume something more was going on, but at least in #317's presence it seemed nothing more than childish affection.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Leo awoke with a start, quickly sitting up and attempting to nurse the bruise on his cheek. The soft touch sent pain coursing through his face, and the boy clutched the carpet in agony. "Fuck…"
"Finally awake, I see." he heard Charles say in a mocking tone. Leo winced, feeling like a child who had been caught disobeying their parents. Charles sat at his desk, a plain look on his face, "Take a seat, Leo."
Leo glanced at the chair next to him, trying to organize his thoughts, "It's alright, I'm fine. I just think I need some ice."
Charles looked towards the door, "Get a bag of ice for him." The Roadie who had caught the boy nodded and left. "How are you, Leo?"
"My face fucking hurts." The boy muttered.
"Yes, yes, the price of snooping is a bit high, wouldn't you say?" Charles asked, "This is the second time you've been caught now, I thought you would have learned your lesson after the first warning."
Leo stared at the ground, "How long is the ice going to take?"
"Let me make this very clear." Charles stood from his desk, "You've breached your contract twice now, and your drummer breaches it on a daily basis. This puts me in a very awkward position, since you and your band cannot seem to follow the rules."
"And?" Leo asked, his response annoyed Charles.
"This is your last opportunity to remain the opening act. If you are caught again, I will be sending you and your band home. Soon after that I will be seeing all of you in court for contract violations. Do you understand?"
"You can't do that!!" Leo protested.
"Dethklok is my responsibility, and these are my rules if you choose to stay here." Charles responded.
The Roadie returned, handing the ice to Leo. The boy held it to his face, reluctantly sucking up his pride. "I understand." He gritted through his teeth.
"Very well then, you may leave." Charles said. Leo stood to go, and just as he turned his back to Charles the man added, "Keep your drummer away from Dethklok, if she engages in any lewd activities with any of them I am holding you responsible, since this is your band."
Leo hesitated a moment, suppressing the urge to yell back at Charles, and hugged the bag of ice to his face. He quietly left the office, allowing his mind to wander back to the argument with Kyrie. Shouting 'my band this' and 'my band that' was not as fun when the tables were turned against you.
Notes : Lots of notes this time. This chapter is sloppy, and feels incomplete to me. I usually proof it more before posting, but I didn't this time since I really wanted to post. Bad reasoning but whatever :(
I wanted to say from last chapter that I don't dislike Skwisgaar or anything like that! xP I thought mebbe that was how a reknowned Casanova would react to rejection, so I hope it didn't come off bad or anything. I'm really focused on keeping the guys in character, so if anything seems like so-and-so wouldn't say something then please don't hesitate to tell me :D Leo is an ass, and I'm pretty sure he's coming off as that...but I'm attempting to make him not seem so evil. Even bad guys have good qualities :D ...or if nothing else, it's more to their ebilness than what meets the eye. :O
THANKS FOR THE READING, and special-special thanks to those of you who left delicious reviews! Luna (Yush with seeing more of Kyrie's principals! In her situation I can't say I'd be able to resist Skwisgaar xD Lots of people seem to adore Nathan in their fanfics ;.; The other guys need love too!), Marner (thanks again-again for the help with Nathan xD I'm glad it sounds ok with him! I kinda wanted it to work with Skwisgaar 'n Kyrie...but their confrontation now sets up the rest of the story :D ), Firefly (Glad the Nathan-talk works:D Sorta like the same I said with Marner with Skwisgaar and Kyrie, makes me sad too xP but later on it will be...er, something :x !!), Metal (I am not good at doing pairings :( ), Ranekaera (Glad you like it :D I like yours too xD I think you're right, Nathan definately says 'uh' more...I will keep that in mind for next chapter ;D ), and Spike (I was curious how you, being a Skwisgaar fan, would think he would react in that situation. :o 'cause iono, I don't hate him but he's not my favorite either, so just...curious about how you would think he'd act :D ). Thanks again for reviews guys, it means lots to me!
Next chapter will be more fun, promise!