Brainy had spent dinner and part of the afternoon on explaining his idea to Smurfette. At first, the girl had been complaining a bit, doubting that somewhat chaotic plan. But when brunet had explained every reason and Clumsy had added something from himself, the whole project had started to make sense and the Smurfess had stopped regretting her decision to join them.

She had no interest in all that of course. She didn't care about winning, she didn't need to prove herself because the Smurfs adored her anyway. She only wanted to help her brothers, both boys seemed desperate and confident, it was obvious that they needed that competition.

The sun was still shining warmly, albeit with less power than in the early afternoon. The village was still bustling with life,some Smurfs were still working, some enjoying probably the last warm days of the year.

"Maybe, if we want to know where we stand in this, let's say out loud what we have at the moment," Smurfette suggested.

The blonde was sitting with Brainy and Clumsy in the shade of the trees, near Farmer's field. No one should have disturbed them there at that time, and too intense noise from the village couldn't reach those areas closer to the forest.

"Okay," Brainy nodded. "It's just the three of us so far. We have the percussion, mid-pitched sounds and high-pitched sounds. In my opinion, a band requires at least two more voices."

"Why two?"

"We definitely need a bass voice, which I've already mentioned," the bespectacled Smurf began to explain. "When Clumsy and that voice create the base,we'll need some triad, and for that we'll need another Smurf, preferably one with a voice higher than mine. That way when one person sings the main part, the other two voices will also create an illusion of music."

"Okay, it seems to make sense," Smurfette admitted.

Clumsy was passively listening to the conversation. He didn't know about music as much as the other two, so he trusted them on that matter. He was glad to be a part of the team, no less important than the others. The red-haired Smurf was leaning his back against a tree, looking every now and then at the Smurfess, who was sitting between him and Brainy, and wondered what their victory in the competition would have looked like. A very distant dream, but Clumsy was full of faith and hope.

"What are we going to work on when we get the whole band together?"

"I don't know yet," the brunet replied.

"You're the founder of the band, so you have to come up with something." Smurfette shrugged.

"I'll definitely have an idea, but I remain open to your suggestions."

"We'll have to hurry with it, gathering a team is a piece of cake compared to organizing the repertoire. We have to perform after all, but first come up with the piece, write it, practice it, sing it together. After saying it aloud, I have a feeling that we'll never make it in time." The girl lowered her gaze with a sigh.

"Easy, Smurfette, no need to worry in advance."

"But we can't be too confident either."

"True..."

It seemed the trio already knew where they were standing, so there was no point in further deliberation. Without the full composition ot the band, they wouldn't be able to start preparing for the performance.

"We have a few more hours and no duties for today," Brainy said after a moment. "I suggest we take a walk around the village, there's no time to waste."

"It'd be too good if we got the whole band together in one day," Smurfette admitted, twisting her dress back into the proper position.

"Well, I don't think we can put together the band today, but it's worth trying." Brainy got up right after Smurfette, then looked at the still sitting Clumsy. "Clumsy, we're going for a walk."

"What? Ah, right!" The redhead got up quickly from the ground and dusted his sweater.

On their way, the trio walked on the path that stretched across the field where Farmer was conversing with Baker. The two Smurfs were chatting about the autumn crops, but both stopped talking when they spotted the three Smurfs on the path. They stared at them suspiciously, with surprise. Smurfette didn't like Brainy after all, and was rarely seen in his company. "Hey, Smurfette!" Farmer called out, waving to them.

"Smurf it, they saw us," Brainy muttered.

"Hello, Farmer! Hi, Baker!" the Smurfess replied loudly.

"Clumsy! Weren't you supposed to bring your stone to my backyard?!" Farmer shouted, while Baker paced across the field and observed.

"Yes, but something else came up!" Clumsy replied uncertainly. "I promise I'll bring it tomorrow morning!"

"Better don't make any promises, because you can forget about it," the bespectacled Smurf admonished him. "We'd love to talk more, but we're in a bit of a rush!" he added.

The three singers continued down the path toward the village. They couldn't be distracted now, especially Clumsy. Brainy wanted to keep his plans secret from other Smurfs for as long as possible. Smurfette could be trusted, but Clumsy was a completely different story.

There was indeed a noisy buzz in the village. First of all, the Smurflings had ran out of their hut and had split up into the entire village to play and mess with other inhabitants. Papa Smurf had assigned tasks to individual Smurfs for the day, and some of them would most likely return to work after supper.

To look more casual, Smurfette decided to start a discussion on some topic. The girl rolled her eyes several times, thinking about a topic that wouldn't draw attention to them and would elongate the conversation for at least a few minutes. "I'm thinking about my new friend, the goldfinch," she began in a slightly pensive voice, staring at the lonely cloud in the middle of the sky.

"Yes? What about it?" Brainy asked, folding his hands over his chest.

"Oh, nothing. It's just, he was singing, and goldfinches sing before and during spring.

"Well, you were singing then, weren't you?"

"I was, but..."

"So you have an answer. The guy wanted to sing, so he found a companion," the brunet laughed and shrugged his shoulders slightly, then looked ahead. "Watch out, we gotta walk under the ladder. I'm talking mainly to you, Clumsy."

"Isn't that bad luck?" the scared redhead asked.

"Oh, come on. What bad can happen?" Smurfette sneered. "It's just a stupid superstition." The Smurfess waved her hand.

There was that ladder, standing between two closely located mushrooms, leaning against one of the houses, ahead of them. Quite a tight spot in the village forced them to walk under the spokes.

"Anyway, I'm looking forward to my bird friend's next visit."

"So you two can sing again?"

~Some people say a man is made outta mud...~

The group stopped perfectly under the ladder, bewildered by an unexpected voice. The three of them lowered their ears, opened their mouths and widened their eyes as if they saw a ghost in front of them.

Meanwhile, a low, deep and very attractive voice continued the slow song right above their heads. ~A poor man's made outta muscle and blood, Muscle and blood and skin and bones, A mind that's a-weak and the back that's strong...~

"Oh..." Smurfette squealed softly, grabbing both brothers by the sleeves. She pulled them slightly closer to her and whispered. "It's coming from right above us..."

"Apparently Papa Smurf's roof needed some sort of repair," Brainy muttered, then yanked Smurfette and Clumsy from under the ladder. As soon as they were at safe distance, they risked a glance at the roof.

There, at the top of the ladder stood Hefty, wagging his tail to the rhythm of the song. His skin was slightly warm from the sun and slick with sweat, but the Smurf still had a lot of work to do, and his energy seemed to be endless. His voice was clear and resonant, with an interesting, low timbre, although it couldn't be told from the way he spoke every day.

On the roof, face to face with Hefty, sat Handy, with nails between his lips, and he was moving quite ambiguously to the rhythm of the song sung by his friend. Both Smurfs kept staring at each other with goo-goo eyes, fooling around as usual.

The whole village knew they loved to play and pretend to be someone they weren't. Although no one was sure if it was actually just a funny game, since it had been a long time since one declared to be bisexual and the other was rather more interested in romantic relationships with other boys.

~I owe my soul to the company store! Ah... I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine...~

"What a voice," Clumsy whispered, biting his fingernails.

"What a timbre," Smurfette added.

"What a terrible day to have eyes," Brainy muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Shhh, I don't think they know they have an audience."

Indeed, neither Hefty nor Handy seemed to pay attention to their surroundings, firmly convinced that the noises of everyday life drowned out their romps. What were they actually doing? Well, they were covering a hole in the roof of Papa Smurf's hut. Hefty was holding the beams, and Handy was nailing them.

~You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt...~ the dark-brown-haired Smurf continued, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Smurfette, Clumsy and Brainy went on staring rudely at both hardworking Smurfs in disbelief. When Hefty finished singing, Brainy took a courageous step toward them, but the blonde girl stopped him, as if she sensed that it was not over yet. And she was right.

"You're so sweaty you shine!" Handy snorted with laughter and took a handkerchief from his pocket. "Here." He handed a piece of cloth to his friend. He watched with bored eyes as Hefty wiped his wet face for a moment, his gaze almost critical. "You're really so tired," he began a little teasingly, a strange smile on his face. "You work all day and what do you get in return?"

"Let me guess, your snotty handkerchief?" Hefty replied with a mocking voice. "Oh, don't get offended, Handy," he added hastily, seeing how the blond's face began to wrinkle. "I'm always grateful to you, my friend."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Handy said, rolling his eyes and waving his ears vigorously. "You can always count on me."

"And you can count on me!"

"Glad to hear that."

The blond returned to nailing the beams, ignoring his friend.

Hefty held the beam for a moment without saying a word, but his relaxed and neutral expression quickly turned into a weird grimace. He scowled at his friend with a furrowed forehead and drooping ears. "Sing me something," he demanded.

"What?!" the shorter Smurf squealed, hitting his hammer on the beam instead of the nail. "I didn't hit you? I'm terribly sorry!"

"No, no, take it easy," the dark-brown-haired Smurf said hurriedly, showing him his hands to calm him down. "It's just not fair that you had a good time listening to my voice, but I don't get to have fun with yours," he added with a smile.

"Of course, you're right," Handy muttered, then said with a smile. "We can always count on each other, after all."

"That's right."

~If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea, I'll sail the world to find you...~

When Handy started singing it was a completely different story than Hefty's low voice. The blond boy had a voice that Brainy knew as a countertenor, although it wasn't so obvious on a daily basis when he Handy spoke to the Smurfs.

"Well, well, well," Smurfette sighed airily. "Good thing I stopped you, right, Brainy?" The girl looked at the brunet, but didn't receive any response. "Brainy?" She tugged lightly on his sleeve, but to no avail.

Clumsy just shrugged and looked back to the roof of Papa Smurf's hut, where both brothers went back to work and rocking to the rhythm of the song, as well as their funny and a little naughty play.

~You can count on me like one, two, three - I'll be there, And I know when I need it I can count on you like four, three, two - And you'll be there, 'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah~ the blond continued, taking more nails from his pocket.

"That's not real," Brainy muttered, staring blankly at them.

"Oh, come on, they're just fooling around."

"What? No, no that. I mean, the sight makes me feel sick every time, but now I mean... I mean..."

"Golly, they fit your plan perfectly, Brainy," Clumsy said shyly.

"Exactly!"

"Shhh..."

~I'll never let go, never say goodbye!~

The trio stood by Papa Smurf's hut, forgetting the whole world, and waited for the right moment.

The bespectacled Smurf hoped that fate wasn't playing any tricks on him and that he had no vivid imagination. But Smurfette and Clumsy could hear it as well. They couldn't be victims of a mass hallucination, could they? Some higher power gave him a whole team on a single day, but he had to remember that Hefty and Handy weren't Clumsy and Smurfette. They weren't as patient and tolerant, and they also had prejudices against the brunet, so it would be hard to talk to them.

~You can count on me 'cause I can count on you~

"This is our anthem, you can't deny it!" Hefty laughed.

"We'd better get back to work, Tracker mentioned that there could be a week of heavy rain starting tomorrow."

The brothers returned to work as if nothing had happened, humming another melody in two voices. They still didn't seem to notice the attention they had drawn to themselves. At least they stopped acting weird, weird was the word Brainy used to describe their behavior.

The founder of the incomplete band didn't even have to let them know of Clumsy, Smurfette and his presence. The duo noticed them themselves, when one of the nails fell out of Handy's pocket and the blond leaned dangerously forward to catch it. In result, Hefty dropped the beam he was holding and grabbed his friend by the suspenders, but the nail couldn't be saved. The little thing rolled down the roof and fell into thick grass.

"Bravo you," Hefty began in a screeching voice. "Now we have neither the nail nor the beam."

"Excuse me, but I'd like to note that the beam falling down wasn't my..."Handy paused, because three onlookers appeared in his view, one of them being somesmurf whom neither the blond nor the dark-brown-haired wanted to see, especially at such a moment. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked, straightening himself in record time and folded his arms over his chest, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Em, for a few minutes," Smurfette answered truthfully.

"The singing caught our attention," Brainy said, also folding his arms.

"You were eavesdropping on us, Brainy."

That wasn't a question. When Handy had almost spat those words, Hefty turned his slightly angry gaze at them. Clumsy swallowed loudly and backed away. The redhead would have loved to run home, but the bespectacled Smurf blocked his escape with his arm. Smurfette was playing lightly with a strand of hair to reduce stress. All three of them waved their ears nervously and swept the ground with their tails.

"Why assuming that I was eavesdropping?" Brainy asked loudly. "Besides, Clumsy and Smurfette are also here, so don't just focus on me, dear!"

"Bleh, I'm gonna throw up."

Hefty's attention returned to his friend for a moment. "Why?"

"He just called me 'dear'."

"Boys!" Smurfette shouted. "We had no bad intentions. We were just passing by and it was impossible not to hear your voices. Beautiful voices by the way!"

The strong Smurf seemed to be thinking hard, his eyes wandering to the Smurfs standing close to the ladder. Handy was clearly embarrassed to hear the unusual compliment, because he lowered his ears and blushed, turning his face away slightly.

"You can go away now," Hefty grunted finally. "You were listening, it was fun for you, but now we're back to work and we won't sing."

"But we're here because of your singing actually," Clumsy forced himself to say.

"Oh..."

"Are you taking part in the competition?" Smurfette asked, grinning widely.

"Oh, no, we don't have time for that," Handy said hastily. "We have too much work to think about the performance."

"Papa Smurf chose us to help in the preparations," Hefty added, not hiding his satisfaction caused by the jealous look of Brainy. "We have no idea how much work awaits us, so we don't want to worry ourselves about additional activities."

"But would you agree to perform if somesmurf invited you to join the band?" The bespectacled Smurf raised his eyebrows a little.

"Er, no, I don't think so."

"Why?"

"I have my own personal reasons," Handy muttered, swinging the hammer.

"Okay, there's nothing to beat around the bush with you." Brainy waved his hand. "I'm setting up a band for the competition and I'm looking for good voices. I need a bass and a high male voice, and fate apparently wanted us to came across you two singing."

"We? Take part in the competition? With you?!

"You gotta be kidding!"

"Too bad, I engaged in this conversation in about seventy percent..."

"Wait!" Smurfette called out, waving her arms vigorously. "Boys, think about it, please. I didn't want to take part in it either, but Brainy convinced me. It's not a trick or a joke, we swear."

"You're in Brainy's band?" Hefty stared at his sister.

"Yes, because Brainy and Clumsy talked to me honestly and now I also have a goal."

The dark-brown-haired and blond looked at each other. Handy shrugged his shoulders. They hadn't thought about the competition because they hadn't had a band, and setting it and creating a plan would have taken a long time. However, if they had joined an already founded band with a prepared repertoire, they wouldn't have had much work and there would have been time for rehearsals.

"Will you help us?" Clumsy asked.

"Ugh, you better pray I don't regret it," the blond boy moaned.

"You won't regret it, I can guarantee you," Brainy said. "Okay, now let me ask you a simple question that you surely know the answer to, since you belong to our smurf choir, after all. Well, actually the question is for all of you."

"Really?"

"Bring it."

"Have you ever heard a term 'a-cappella'?"

Notes:

No, I'm not going to hook up any Smurfs with each other, because the whole village is one big family and there's platonic love only. However, I decided to add some behaviors that would make the whole story feel more like the 21st century (non-hetero characters not hiding their orientation, etc.).

Songs used in the chapter:

- Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis - and much more known covers of this song, I imagined that Hefty sings it similarly to Munkh-Erdene.I from Mongolian The Voice, but Hefty pronounces the words correctly)

- Count On Me (Bruno Mars)