I need to find a Beta for this story, I'm not sure if I'm getting the character personalities right.
Hawkins tapped his fingers on the wooden table, examining the face of the awkward Redgun that asked for his advice. Red wasn't as gruff as the other Redguns, his face was softer and his blond hair was less messy too.
But really, even after all this time, he'd expected the Redgun to go ask someone else instead. Maybe it was because he was older?
Pater coughed with a polite smile on his face, "Are you sure that we were the best ones to go to?" He asked in English. Red had requested to keep it private, so they've been using English instead of Japanese so that most people couldn't understand them.
"Everyone else is back in Europe. Don't wanna bother them late at night." Red responded with a shake of his head, taking a small sip of beer to try and calm himself down, "You two are the only ones I can somewhat trust with this sorta thing. The only other person I recognize that's here in Japan is Freud. And you know why I wouldn't go to him for this sorta thing."
The two Vespers winced. Yeah, definitely don't go to Freud for help. Either he makes it worse or doesn't do anything helpful.
Hawkins spoke up, "So, your sister then. Has she called you yet?" He asked carefully.
Red shook his head once more, "Not yet, can't say I didn't expect it though." He sighed and leaned back on his chair.
"I don't mean to pry," Pater said curiously despite his words, "But what is your relationship with your sister? Your current one."
Red stared at Pater for a few moments who stared back. The silence stretched on, making Pater squirm in his seat as the usually boisterous Redgun simply stared him right in the eyes. "It's not a very good one." Red eventually said making Pater sigh in relief.
"You don't seem like the kind of person to have that kind of relationship." Hawkins paused, realizing how that could be taken out of context, "By that I mean, you always seemed to be the type of guy who had a good relationship with everyone."
"I guess you aren't a good judge of character then," Red said with a slight tilt of his head. A server came by their table and placed down their food with a polite smile. Hawkins gave them a small nod while Pater immediately let out a soft 'itadakimasu'. Red ran his fingers through his messy blond hair before picking up a pair of chopsticks.
They quietly began eating, falling into a comfortable silence. Pater made to ask Red another question but Hawkins shot him a look, making him stay quiet.
They stayed in that somewhat comfortable silence for a bit longer before Red finally spoke up again.
"I probably shouldn't have done that." He mumbled to himself.
"Done what?" Hawkins asked as he took a sip of his alcohol. Pater looked up from his meal, waiting for Red's response.
"Done this whole…" Red struggled to find the words to say, "Reconnecting thing. I probably should've just let her be alone. Better that way." He swallowed, "Like what kind of brother am I? Just coming out of the woodworks out of the blue when I could've reconnected earlier!" Red slammed his palm on the table, drawing attention from the other patrons.
Hawkins placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him, "Look, I can't say that you made the right choice. But you made one already, might as well see it to the end and make the best out of it." He turned to Pater, "Right, Pater?"
"Yes, sir." Pater nodded before returning to his bowl of katsudon. Even after two decades of building a new life, he and many just like him had to suppress the tears of tasting real food. Not the bland rations and sludge that the corporate cafeterias served.
"I know." Red glared at Hawkins for a moment before his gaze softened, "Sorry." He shook his head, leaning his chin on his hand.
"Don't worry about it." Hawkins smiled softly, scratching his beard. He pat Red on the back, a quiet crinkling sound coming from the Redgun's jacket, "C'mon. Let's finish our food, we shouldn't waste it."
"Cheers to that." Red raised his glass and downed half of it. Hawkins had to suppress a chuckle as Pater attempted to replicate the Redgun's actions but nearly spat all of his alcohol out in the process, due to his rather low tolerance.
Eliza shakily took the dark red business card out of Hiroi's hands. The typically bright girl stared at it in unconcealed shock.
"E-eh? H-How did you get this?" Eliza's blue eyes flickered between the card and Hiroi's face.
"Oh?" Hiroi smiled, "Your brother stopped by looking for me during Kessoku Band's performance."
Eliza's head snapped upward, and she grabbed Hiroi by the shoulders, "He's here?!" She yelled, shaking Hiroi back and forth, "What did he say?! How was he?!"
"Uwah! Eliza! I'm gonna–"
Eliza ignored the bassist's pleas, her thoughts running at several thousand kilometers per minute.
Her brother was here? Red? But why? Why now? Why here?
Why not earlier…? Why didn't he come back before? Why did he–
"Eliza!" Shima pulled the panicking blonde away from Hiroi, who was visibly queasy and swaying from side to side. But Eliza was too stuck in her thoughts to care. The
"Eliza," Shima said softly, gently pulling the girl close. Eliza's breathing slowly calmed, with the girl no longer behaving erratically.
Shima sighed, trying to slowly pry the shivering woman off of her but seeing that Eliza refused to let go, ultimately relented.
Hiroi, despite being drunk, easily noticed Eliza's strange demeanor and wrapped her arms around Eliza's shoulders, "Mmm… Should I tell him off, Eliza?
"No!" Eliza shouted, catching Shima off guard, but the stoic drummer quickly hid it, "Don't. I just… I just need some time. Alone." Eliza said with unshed tears in her eyes.
Shima rubbed circles on Eliza's back as Hiroi hugged the blonde from behind, "Okay. Just tell us when you're ready." Shima said softly.
Eliza could feel Hiroi smiling despite the lovable drunk hugging her from behind. She sniffled and nodded. Hiroi let out a laugh and patted Eliza on the shoulder, "Don't worry about band stuff for now. Our fans will understand," Eliza smiled softly, despite Hiroi taking a swig of her drink, she'd been with the band long enough to know that Hiroi was being entirely genuine.
Eliza reluctantly let go of Shima who took a deep breath, thankful that the surprisingly strong blonde was no longer crushing her poor ribs.
Eventually, after a quick goodbye to Gin, Eliza began to make her way back to her house. In her hands was Red's business card, she was still inspecting it with careful eyes, she was so focused that she occasionally bumped into people on the street.
How many years had it been since she last saw her brother? Seven? Eight?
Seven sounded right. He'd left as soon as he was able at eighteen. She didn't even know he enlisted at the time, she'd just turned eleven after all.
Eliza's hand reached for the door, pausing for a moment before she opened it. Her home was slightly messy but she'd kept a few of her habits when she was growing up. Ones that… Red taught her.
Eliza stepped inside, leaving her shoes at the door and putting on a pair of indoor slippers.
But that wasn't really necessary considering how she simply flopped onto her bed the second she could, throwing the business card to the side. Her blue eyes glanced at the oversized jacket that hung on the chair nearby, the one she usually used when making her doujinshi.
It was an old, ratty thing. Olive green with a poorly sewn design on the back. Red had been many things when he was younger but a sewing expert he was not.
And she was thinking about her older brother again, great.
Eliza screamed into her pillow but she couldn't bring herself to do anything else after that, simply rolling over and laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Thoughts of the past ran through her mind. The business card taunted her from its position on her desk, next to her drawing tablet. With a shaky hand, she reached out and grabbed it. The phone number was right there, calling out to her. But was it even worth it?
How did he even find Hiroi anyway? Was he stalking her? Ah! This was so confusing!
Hawkins watched Pater tune his guitar, a modified Ibanez PIA3761 with a yin-yang design, slowly getting used to it. Being of the Vespers meant that he wasn't often one of the frontmen of the band. But that didn't mean he wasn't featured in any of their tours. Actually, considering how they weren't really a band and more a group of individual musicians that happened to tour under the same name, he probably was more of a frontman than many of them.
Freud was Freud, enough said.
Snail wasn't part of the Vespers in this new life of theirs, declaring them as incompetent. Last Hawkins heard, he was quickly climbing the ranks of a company he didn't bother learning the name of though.
O'Keefe was semi-retired.
Rusty was an independent now.
He was consistent in working as a member of the Vespers. Or at least used to be, he was getting pretty old, and thoughts about retiring constantly ran through his mind. But, he'll stay for now, until Pater got confident enough to perform all on his own.
Maeterlink was consistent as a Vesper. However, she has been getting busier lately.
Swinburne was doing voice acting more than music nowadays.
And Pater was as consistent as Maeterlink. Except less busy compared to her, for him, music was the only thing he had to do.
So really, their 'band' was more of a three-man group. Compared to the Redguns, it was like night and day. Even the shady defector, according to what he learned from Pater, Wu Huahai, had stayed with them.
The Redguns were still united while the Vespers mostly went their separate ways. Heh, he never expected Balam to overtake them, even if it was in a new life. Speaking of, one of the two Redguns in Japan was currently inside his house. The kid was currently lounging on his couch, trying to calm himself down.
That being a somewhat drunk Red, chugging a bottle of whole milk in the corner. Hawkins didn't know why the Redgun requested whole milk after drinking three glasses of draft beer, but he'd rather a content-drunk Redgun over a pissed-drunk Redgun.
Still, drinking milk after a bunch of alcohol was pretty damn weird. At least he wasn't a depressed drunk like O'Keefe or an angry drunk like Swinburne. He was more of a mopey drunk, not quite depressed but not angry either. He hadn't destroyed a living room like Swinburne had the last time the Vespers had a party.
That was a damn fun bender but never again. Not until Swinburne could hold his alcohol.
A high-pitched, overly distorted squeal came from Pater's guitar making everyone in the room wince, with Red covering his ears. Hawkins sighed before adjusting a few knobs on Reconfig, Pater plucked the string once more with the note coming out clearer than before, although it was still out of tune.
"Sorry, sir." Pater said sheepishly, "I believe I bumped into something on my amp. Probably the gain."
"It's fine son," Hawkins replied back casually, stretching out his arms, "But it's not like you to be careless like that."
Pater glanced at Red who quickly noticed the youngest Vesper's gaze, "What? Need something?"
"No. Nothing at all." Pater went back to adjusting his guitar, although it was clear he didn't need to.
"Pater." Hawkins sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Don't you have a concert in the States soon?"
"Detroit in three months, sir." Pater nodded happily. The reminder of his impending concert brightened his spirits, even Red looked somewhat interested, which he voiced.
"You have a concert?" Red asked, sitting up on the couch, his glass of milk now empty.
"A mainly solo one, yes," Pater affirmed. But Hawkins' ear caught the different words used.
"Mainly solo?"
"Yes, sir. I have a guest coming up to perform alongside me." Pater strummed a single chord, the pleasant sound reverberating throughout Hawkins' living room.
"Interesting." Hawkins hummed. It probably wasn't Freud, he was too engrossed in buying those Gundam figures here in Japan, it was the only reason Freud agreed to go to Japan in the first place.
It was either Rusty or O'Keefe, but since the concert was in Detroit…
"Heh, I thought it'd be the first time you'd perform solo. Guess not." The only Redgun in the room commented. Was that a can of Coke in his hand?
Wait, yes it was. How did he drink…?
Hawkins glanced at the empty glass, noticing the color of the 'milk' still clinging to the glass, it was brown.
By the damn coral…
That was genius. He'd have to try that mix later.
Pater smiled sheepishly, "But I'll be the frontman in this case. I just hope I won't cause a disaster."
"You'll be fine," Red replied as he stood up, "I've seen your skill with that guitar of yours." Red grinned, "You might be able to give Iguazu a run for his money." Red paused, "Don't tell him I said that."
"I won't sir." Pater mimicked Red's grin, "I'd hate to see the Redgun's bassist leave due to an unfortunate accident."
Hawkins suppressed a chuckle at their little interaction, "Alright, alright. Pater get back to practicing or else the rats will get bored."
"Yes, sir!"
Hawkins activated the recording of the backup track, at the concert there'd be a real group of musicians playing alongside Pater but they weren't available right now, so they'd have to make due.
But despite helping Pater rehearse, Hawkins kept an eye on Red. The Redgun had seemingly calmed down but it'd be good to keep an eye on him and provide support if necessary.
He'd lost too many of his friends who seemed normal on the outside. He knew better than to judge from someone's outward emotions. In any case, he'd wait until Pater was done rehearsing before bringing his sister back up.
Freud hummed the tune of a recently released mecha anime, one of the more depressing ones, just like he liked them. It was a shame that he couldn't pilot an AC anymore, but at least anime and video games kept his attention. He'd even modified his setup to recreate the feeling of controlling an MT.
MTs used more traditional controls whereas ACs were more mental controls, and the technology for that didn't exist. Therefore, MT style controls it was. Joysticks, some pedals and if the game supported it, first-person mode, and a VR headset.
But some of the games were mediocre, so he tried to make his own game.
Thankfully, using his connections, he was able to find a company, RomSoft if he remembered correctly, that was producing a mecha game.
As such, he graciously offered that the Vespers could do some… voice acting and make an original soundtrack. And with some negotiating, he even pulled in a few others that he could vaguely remember were AC pilots. It was quite easy to convince RomSoft to take them on, with his current funds he'd even offered to pay for other voice actors and sponsor the game himself.
They accepted the former but not the latter.
Disappointing but understandable.
He'd played a few of their older mecha games and they were fine. Not as exciting as piloting Locksmith but they were… nostalgic. He'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
He adjusted a few of his figures, carefully pulling out one from his shelf, a custom-made one of Locksmith. There were a few mistakes, the arms were a bit thicker and the gun lacked detail, but it was acceptable enough.
Freud frowned, there was a speck of dust on Locksmith.
Unacceptable.
Freud quickly pulled out a cleaning kit from underneath his bed and got to work. His hands danced around the model, leaving it spotless. With a soft smile on his face, he gently placed the model of Locksmith on his desk. It'd be easier to see if it became dusty that way.
Hmm, yes. This life was a bit monotonous but there were some things to look forward to. Collecting figures that reminded him of his old life was one. But there was another.
Freud smirked as he looked to the acoustic guitar, his first instrument, a Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy.
While it could never truly replace piloting an AC, mastering an instrument and playing it in front of a roaring crowd got quite close. But mastering a single instrument wasn't enough for the best pilot on Rubicon.
No, he had to master more. Learning how to play the guitar was a good start. But he had to get up. For the fun had only just begun. So, he began to collect instruments. Any instrument he could get his hands on, he bought and learned. With blood, sweat, and pure effort, he mastered everything from the drums to the hurdy-gurdy.
Instruments stood at attention in the countless empty bedrooms his house had. Each waiting for the day he'd judge them worthy of an audience.
Who knows? Maybe their time would come quicker than he thought.
I'm a mediocre guitar player at best so if I get to a scene where an AC6 character has a performance, I'm probably gonna base their style and music on a RL musician. If I get that far, I'm curious to see if anyone will find which musician their music is based on.