Author's note: A shorter author's note today. I don't own the song Paralyzer (by Finger Eleven) or Pandora Hearts (by Jun Mochizuki). Nova also isn't mine. She belongs to a friend of mine. I do own Mirella though. This is more of a request since I don't want to be greedy, but it would be nice to get at least two reviews per chapter. Please? I will try to update as much as I can, so I appreciate all the support you guys give me. Here's chapter 5!
Chapter 5: Gig at "The Abyss"
Oz's POV
Approximately 3:00 P.M.
"Welcome to The Black Snake. Is there anything specific you're looking for?" a voice chirped the moment I stepped into the shop.
While explaining the situation, I held out Gil's torn apart raven with hopes that either tailor is capable of repairing the damage. Once I was finished speaking, Mirella pulled out miniature sewing kit and began to sew the almost completely ripped off wings back onto the body. By the looks of things, Nova had left the room to deal with some business so Mirella was placed in charge of my request.
"You know, this is the last stuffed animal of its series. Heck, there was only two hundred made. For you to still have it means that it must be pretty special to you," Mirella commented as she gracefully mended the beak and the tears in the body.
I could only nod. Since I was gone for the past ten years, I didn't know about the discontinuation of the stuffed animal series that Gil's raven, Alice's cat, and my rabbit came from. Gil never mentioned it in the few letters I received from him, so I wasn't sure what to say now that I knew. Finishing cleanly, Mirella handed back the toy before walking behind the cash register.
She smiled professionally as she informed me of the fee for her services (148.79 euros) and asked how I'd like to pay. My eyes almost (not literally) came out of their sockets upon hearing the price. She even told me that she cut the price to be nice and that I would've had to pay at least a thousand euros at normal market price. It's true that my family is wealthy, but I, myself, don't carry that kind of money on me. It's not like I'm broke or anything, but my tense relationship with my father makes things financially difficult.
Noticing my mental dilemma, she ripped out a piece of paper from a notepad she kept beside the register and scribbled a messy note on it.
"It's an IOU reminder. If ever you have a concert anywhere expensive to get into, I'll charge you to get Nova and I tickets," she decided kindly as she handed me the note. "I see a lot of potential in your group. That, and I like listening to new artists."
Relieved, I thanked her and accepted her terms before hurrying out the door and towards Jack's apartment to get some rest for tonight. For a good 5 hours, I dreamt of the past before Mirella arrived at the front door with my costume.
She smiled so brightly to the point that it was blinding as she excitedly told be which character I'd be dressing up as (the white rabbit) and described all its little details. After about 10 minutes, she carefully handed me my clothes, told me to bring a pocket watch to complete the look if I have one (or just a wristwatch) then literally danced out the door. Not bothered by her excessive happiness, I headed back to my room to change, and then, with Gil's present on hand, I headed straight to the club.
"Oz-kun, you made it. The rest of the band is already here," Break commented upon noticing my arrival. "Hm? What's that in your hand?"
"It's nothing really," I insisted as I tucked the raven into the inner pocket of my vest.
"It's for Gilbert-kun, I presume?" Break guessed with a smirk.
"And if it is?"
"Then you aren't doing a very good job of hiding it from him."
Sometimes Break's ability to see into the heart of things is so uncanny that it's irritating. Trying not to let Break's words bother me, I asked him if I could borrow his hat to hide the present in. Naturally, he had a condition that was a bit difficult to manage with my budget, but I gave in anyway. In exchange for helping me out, I needed to buy him three boxes of macaroons from The Blue Angel cafe.
Once negotiations were settled, Break suggested that we use smoke as one of the special effects so I can take the chance to give Gil his gift by throwing the hat at him. He assured me that Gil would be able to catch it despite the smoke, so I, albeit dubiously, agreed to go along with the idea. Pleased, Break flitted towards Reim to inform him of our plans while the bodyguard quartet filed into the room.
After clearing his throat, Reim had everyone gather around to discuss how this was going to run just so that everyone was well-informed. By the looks of it, the bodyguards were already notified the job details, so everyone except Gil tuned out of the whole conversation. Alice seemed to have her head in the clouds, Vincent had his gaze focused on Gil, and Echo, for some reason, stared at me.
"There will be no special effects at the beginning of the performance, so after Leo-sama introduces the band, Oz-sama will start to sing. Since we are the opener, we will sing once before setting off the smoke generators to allow a transition for the next band," Reim explained clearly. "Any questions?"
There were none. They either understood everything or didn't care, but it didn't seem to faze Reim in the slightest. With that over with, he announced how much time we had until we were scheduled to go on, so I walked over to where the bodyguards were standing.
"I'll go get you something to drink, Nii-san," I heard Vincent say as he quickly hurried to the bar on the upper floor.
At this time, Gil noticed my presence and quickly apologized for not seeing me sooner. I knew about Vincent's extreme brother-complex and that pretty much everything Gil apologizes for is not his fault, so I reassured him that it didn't bother me before we talked idly about our thoughts on this performance. He seemed happy to be hearing my singing for the first time (since he was always preoccupied by Vincent during practices) which made me feel happier than usual. It's a strange feeling since Alice has heard my singing before and I was simply pleased by it, but something in me started to feel a little funny upon hearing Gil's words. Wanting to change the subject, I pulled out the pocket watch Gil had made for me and opened it in preparation to ask about the music.
"Gil, what is the name of this melody?"
Blushing wildly, Gil opened his mouth to say the name, but was interrupted by the sound of Vincent's return. In addition to that, Reim also called everyone to tell us that it was time for the band to head to their places on stage. In response to this, Gil and the rest of the bodyguards were required to head back up to hide within the crowd until further notice, so I was unable to hear the name of the song. Disappointed, I snapped the watch shut and slipped it back into my pocket, handed an expectant Break the toy raven I brought (which he immediately placed inside his hat), and then followed "Edge of the Abyss" to the stage where Alyss awaited our arrival.
"Hello everyone~ We have a new band to start with tonight. Welcome Edge of the Abyss!" Alyss announced happily as she gestured towards us.
Excited screams filled the room as we made our way to the stage while Alyss made her way off of it. As planned, I moved aside to allow Leo to do what he needed to do.
"We're Edge of the Abyss. This is our first performance, so we hope you'll support us. And now, we'll be performing a song called Paralyzer. Hope you enjoy it."
Leo flashed a charismatic smile that seemed to annoy Elliot a little before handing the mike to me. I looked through the crowd to see Gil's face match those of the audience as he waited in anticipation for us to start. You won't be disappointed, Gil. The sound of the guitars and the drums reverberated within me as I got energized and began to sing.
"I hold on so nervously
To me and my drink
I wish it was cooling me
But so far, has not been good
It's been shitty
And I feel awkward, as I should
This club has got to be
The most pretentious thing
Since I thought you and me
Well I am imagining
A dark lit place
Or your place or my place
Well I'm not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you're standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you
I hold out for one more drink
Before I think
I'm looking too desperately
But so far has not been fun
I should just stay home
If one thing really means one
This club will hopefully
Be closed in three weeks
That would be cool with me
Well I'm still imagining
A dark lit place
Or your place or my place
Well, I'm not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you're standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you
Well, I'm not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you're standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you
I'm not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you're standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you
You'll probably move right through
Me on my way to you."
The crowd cheered enthusiastically as I flashed a brilliant smile before the smoke machine went off to cue the end of the song. Remembering my deal with Break, he took off his hat and passed it to me while we were still hidden in smoke and then I threw it in the direction of where I saw Gil stand, surprisingly and fortunately, alone. Once the smoke cleared, I noticed that he had caught it successfully and appeared extremely pleased though also somewhat embarrassed by my methods. As everyone hurried off the stage to allow the next group to come on, Gil swiftly dodged fangirls of his and some of mine to thank me for the gift. Amused by his crimson stained face, I whispered "Happy Belated Birthday" into his ear to add more fuel into the fire which, naturally, worked like a charm.
Strangely enough however, I felt two dark auras watching us causing a chill to run up my spine.
Somehow, I get the feeling that I'm going to go through one hell of a ride from now on.
I think some characters are a bit OOC here, but I always think that, so you can judge for yourself whether or not someone is actually OOC. I'm pretty sure that the two emitting dark auras are pretty obvious. I'll leave the name of the pocket watch melody up to you to guess and it will be announced in a later chapter (it's not Lacie/Every time you kissed me). Bye for now~