A Night in the Life Of…

David & Kimber

Our Dinner With Suzakuu

By Nick Maro

"Welcome back to the Lindsey Pierce Show," the perky, blonde host said cheerfully into the television camera. "Joining me now is Kimber Benton and David Gabor. Kimber, since your departure from The Holograms you've been through a lot. Care to tell our audience and the people at home about it?"

Kimber cleared her throat and gave a polite smile. "Well, Lindsey, most of it is very private and I intend on keeping it that way, but what people do know is true. I was shot and I almost died in England. I'm fully recovered and I want to thank all who have sent me cards and letters of support. But most of all I want to thank my sister, Jerrica Benton. Without her and David's support, I don't think I would've pulled through as quickly." She squeezed David's hand causing him to blush.

Lindsey turned her attention to David. "Now David, you're still a mystery to most people. I understand that you're the fraternal twin brother of Pizzazz of The Misfits. Aren't The Misfits and Jem and the Holograms sort of rivals?"

David shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He hated being interviewed, much less on television. He coughed, clearing his throat a bit. "Lindsey, all I did was point The Misfits in the right direction. I think they're doing a good job on their own. They're all very nice women once you get to know them."

"They seem to have rededicated themselves to their music," Lindsey said before turning her attention back to Kimber. "Kimber, this band Suzaku you've joined, what can you tell our audience about them?"

"They're a Japanese rock band from Osaka, Japan. David used to be their lead singer until last year. I've become good friends with them all, especially our drummer Hitomi. I don't mind not playing an instrument. It gives me the chance to do lead vocals. Something I've missed since Stormer and I got together a while back." She took a sip of water from her cup and continued. "I've been writing songs in English and our keyboardist, Eiji, translates it into Japanese. I don't speak Japanese, so as far as I know, I could be singing Buy The Misfits new album'." The audience, Lindsey and David laughed making her smile a little.

"I've been helping her with pronouncing the words and putting it to music. She's a very fast study," David said after the laughter died down.

"One last question before I let you two go. Is it true that you're going to get married and merge Starlight Music and Misfits Music?" Lindsey asked the couple.

Kimber looked up at David somewhat amused before letting him answer it. "No, we're not getting married, one day perhaps. But for now we're just dating. Also, our two companies couldn't merge because of various reasons. However, we will trade talent," David said winking at Kimber who giggled.

"Okay, well, thank you, David and Kimber. Thank you for coming on the show. I hope you both have a great night," Lindsey said then looked at the camera. "Coming up next is a performance by the Limp Lizards."

"I still say Rebirth should symbolize a new sound for The Misfits." Pizzazz argued with her brother. "We should have a new sound for our new look. Jetta dropping the sax and playing the drums is what we need at this point."

David rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know. Clash, you're the sound expert here. What do you think?"

Clash looked up from her laptop computer. "We should lay down a few test tracks first and see if it sounds good. I can't judge it on theory. Sorry," she said shrugging and started shutting down her computer.

"Roxy, what do you think?" David asked the woman leaning against the wall. After a few seconds of her not answering, he asked again. She still didn't answer. "Roxy, are you listening?" he said impatiently. Jetta began poking her in the ribs. She finally opened her eyes and looked at him. Her face turned a little pink. He cleared his throat and asked a final time. "I asked what do you think about Jetta taking up the drums and dropping the sax."

"Sorry, I was daydreaming before. Adding drums to our sound might be an improvement. We should test to see if we like it before we commit ourselves," Roxy said overcoming her embarrassment.

Leaning back in his chair David thought about his dinner date with Suzaku. He agreed to take the band and their new manager out for dinner tonight. He listened with one ear open to everyone's opinion. "Well, let's meet tomorrow and test it out. If anyone else has an idea they'd like to try, let me know tomorrow," he told his friends. "Now go out and have some fun. Let's say we'll meet at Flash Studios around noon. Bye all."

He began filing some papers when Roxy stepped up to his desk. "David, sorry about the daydreaming, just been looking forward to tonight. A stress free night, y'know," she said standing before him.

David gave her an understanding smile. "Don't worry about it. I zoned out a few times too. Kimber and I are taking the other members of Suzaku and Kyoko out to dinner tonight." He filed the papers he had started on and opened the drawer. Shit! I forgot to hand out the cards, he thought to himself. He pulled out two envelopes marked Roxy and Jetta. "Here you go. Just thank you's for trusting me. Now I have to go pick up Kimber. Take care you two and don't get into too much trouble." The two women thanked him and left. David pulled the rest of the envelopes out and placed them on his desk as a reminder to take them with to the studio in the morning. He turned off his office light and locked the door.

He reached the elevator to see the lobby light go on then shut off. The light for the skyway floor went on. David chuckled to himself. At least he wasn't the only one who made that mistake.

"You looked great on Lindsey's show, Kimber," Shana said excitedly. "David looked uncomfortable though."

Kimber helped her clean up the dishes. "He doesn't like being interviewed on TV. It makes him very nervous. Can't say I don't blame him. It's always put me on edge too."

Shana took the plates Kimber handed her. "You don't have to help me clean up. Go by Jerrica and Aja and wait for David with them," Shana suggested to Kimber as she placed the plates into the sink with a loud clatter.

"I don't mind helping. I miss being here and helping out, but I have my own life now. However that doesn't mean I won't visit. Mary an-, er, Stormer and I do the dishes together anyway. She's a wonderful friend." Kimber handed Shana the empty glasses.

"We're all glad that you're happy, Kimber. Now scoot, it's my night for dishes," Shana chased Kimber away from the sink by flicking water on her from her fingertips.

Kimber ran away squealing. "Okay, okay, you win! I'll see you before I go," she said over her shoulder. She walked down the hall to the front room and sat on the couch next to her older sister. "Shana chased me away from helping her. Dinner was good, Aja. Just sorry I didn't eat more. I didn't want to spoil my appetite for tonight."

"I understand, David is paying and far be it from you to skip out on that," Aja teased her former band mate.

"What time was David supposed to pick you up?" Jerrica asked looking up from the Starlight Girls school reports she was reading.

Kimber checked her watch. "Any minute now I'd say," she said quietly. "After the show he called a quick meeting with The Misfits, something about a new sound. I dunno but I'll bug him later about it. But our reservations aren't until nine." She leaned up against her sister and relaxed.

About ten minutes later the doorbell rang Aja answered the door and let David in. Kimber looked over the back of the couch and smiled at him. David walked up to the back of the couch, bent over and lightly kissed his girlfriend. "Sorry, I'm late. I forgot which button the skyway was again. I swear it's some sort of comedy routine my mother put in. Just about everyone goofs it up. Everyone except Ed the Janitor," David said with an amused look.

"I'm glad everything worked out with the whole Kevin Ross deal. I still feel terrible about it," Jerrica apologized. "He called me the other day and said he has nothing against me. He said he'll still donate to Starlite Foundation. But now I don't know, the trouble he caused kind of throws a shadow over the donations."

David sat on the arm of the couch by Jerrica. "I think he was telling the truth. He seemed to genuinely enjoy helping you. I don't know why he doesn't like my family. So don't turn your back on him on my account." He tried making Jerrica feel better.

"Thank you."

Stretching after she stood up Kimber hugged David. "Better get moving. You know how impatient Hitomi and Ken get if they wait too long, especially when they're hungry." She dragged David off the couch arm. They each said good bye to Jerrica, Aja and Shana then walked out to David's car. "So how'd the meeting go?" Kimber asked playing with the radio after they put on their seatbelts.

"It went well," he said pulling out of Kimber's old home. "Looks like Jetta is planning on switching to from the sax to the drums. We're laying down a few test tracks to see how it sounds. Who would've thought that with all of the crap Kevin Ross gave us it would be a blessing in disguise."

Kimber looked up from the radio in confusion. "How so?"

A black sports car cut David off. "Asshole!" he cursed while giving the now vanishing car the finger. Kimber laughed at David. He looked at her quickly. "What's so funny?"

"You are!" she chuckled softly. "You're becoming more and more like a real driver. Giving people the finger and calling them names. Next thing I'll know, you'll be singing along to the radio. So why was all that a blessing?"

David blushed a bit. "I already do sing along with the radio. Anyway, it was a blessing in many ways. The Misfits, for one, possibly may have a new sound. Pizzazz has learned more about herself. Gabor Industries has a much more powerful backer, thus, so does Misfits Music. You joined Suzaku and my mother has come back to the family," he explained pulling into the restaurant parking lot.

"Never thought of it that way," Kimber said quickly checking her makeup in the vanity mirror before getting out. She hugged and kissed David again quickly. "I love you, David."

David kissed her back. "I love you too, but if we don't get our butts inside, I know a group of four people who won't love us if we don't hurry." He took her hand and began walking towards the building.

"Where the hell are they?" Ken asked pacing back and forth in the restaurant waiting area.

"Just sit down and relax, Ken, they're not even late," his younger sister Hitomi told him. "Besides, you're the one who said we should leave early."

"But I'm hungry," Ken moaned as he slumped his shoulders and threw his head back in a mock tantrum.

"They're here now." Kyoko came back into the waiting room. She paused at a mirror to check her hair. "Now you can eat, Ken. Hitomi, kindly drag Eiji away from the arcade games." Ken followed the Japanese woman into the reception area. Kyoko walked up to David and bowed in a friendly manner. He returned the bow, broke into a grin and gave her a hug. "Thanks for doing this, David."

He smiled and gave a little chuckle. "It's no problem it gives me a chance to be with some old friends. Besides, Hitomi has been bugging me for some decent pizza." David turned his attention to his old friend Kenshiro. "I can see you're still impatient."

Before Ken could respond Hitomi ran up to David and jumped into his arms hugging him. "David! We can finally sit and order!" she yelled in excitement. "I've been working on not being as impatient." She elbowed her brother lightly.

David walked up to the host desk. "Gabor, party of six, we have a reservation for nine," he told him politely.

The host looked at the list before him. "Yes, your table is ready, sir. This way please." The host led the party to the back room. Kimber grabbed David's hand and followed him to the table. "Here you are, sir. A waitress will be with you in a moment." Pulling a chair out for both Kimber and Kyoko, David thanked him and sat down between the two women.

A waitress came by a few minutes later. "Here are the menus and what do want to drink?" David ordered a pitcher of Coke and a pitcher of beer to be on the safe side. "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes with your drinks and to take your orders." She left and returned a few minutes later carrying the pitchers in both hands. Eiji helped her set them down. She thanked him and he winked. She came back with the empty glasses. "Now, what will you have?" she asked pulling out a pad and pencil.

"One family size pizza with sausage and pepperoni and one family size with extra cheese," David ordered while looking over the menu. "An order of mozzarella sticks and breadsticks as well." The waitress collected the menus and told them the appetizers would be out shortly. "I hate that damned skyway level," David said for no reason other than it was on his mind.

Kimber looked around David to Kyoko. "How's Shin doing? You said you were going to speak with him today." She took a sip of water and smiled.

Kyoko sipped her water. She noticed that the air was dry in their section of the restaurant. "He's doing well. Shin doesn't mind that I'm staying out here for awhile. He's getting help from Mariko in handling the business and school. He might head out here next month for a visit."

"I look forward to sparring with him again," David told her who made her happy knowing that he didn't have any hard feelings towards Shin or her family. "You can tell him that next time I won't lose."

The waitress came back with the appetizers and a fresh pitcher of Coke. The appetizers were gone in under five minutes. David was about to order more, when the waitress came out with the pizzas. Ken took his share right away. Kimber sipped her beer and turned to Ken. "Tell Kyoko and me a little about how you first met David," she asked him sweetly.

Ken turned and looked at her with a slice of pizza in his mouth. He gave her a pleading look. She shot a glare that said yes. Quickly swallowing his bite, Ken began telling the story. "We met in the Japanese equivalent of junior high. David was assigned to the same class as me. He was given the seat next to the window. I don't think he heard one word the teacher said the whole day. At lunch time I sat next to him. I tried making friends but he wouldn't respond. I had him pegged as a lost cause.

"One day during gym class, David finally talks to me out of the blue. 'I'm sorry, that I didn't talk before. I had nothing to say' was all he said. I stood there looking at him in amazement. He invited me over to his house after school. I told him that I would have to bring my younger sister with me. Hitomi was in a grade lower but David didn't mind. I called my mother when I got to David's house and stayed there for dinner. After dinner, Hiroshi and David showed Hitomi and me the kendo dojo. I loved it and Hitomi wanted to join in. Personally I think that's when her crush on David started." Ken gave a muffled grunt as Hitomi elbowed him under the table.

"Hiroshi offered to teach me a few moves which I quickly accepted. After that night David and I became the best of friends. The one thing he never talked about was why he was living with Mariko and Hiroshi. I brought it up once and it just seemed to pain him to talk about it. I never mentioned it again." Ken took a bite of pizza and a long drink of his beer.

"We were both in the same classes together through the years. We were close enough that we were almost brothers," Ken continued. "After we graduated middle school, David started dating Hitomi. He never had a girlfriend before but now he was dating my sister. Anyway, David took time off from schoolwork to dedicate more time to his martial arts. I was starting college and Hitomi was finishing off middle school. That's when I met Eiji in college. Eiji was like a god to the ladies. I still don't why they're drawn to him.

"Eiji wanted to start to a band, so I asked David if he wanted to join up. He and I started playing the guitar together in middle school. It was mostly just for kicks. Hitomi began the drums around the same time." Ken stopped telling the story for a second. He saw that Kyoko and Kimber were looking at him a bit confused. "Sorry. I'm jumping around. I do that when I start telling long stories," he apologized.

Ken took another drink of his beer. "Anyway, Eiji, David, Hitomi and I all got together as a band. We practiced together first before going out on stage. It was in some dive of a bar but it was still the birth place of Pulsar. Our fans loved the fact that an American was singing in fluent Japanese. It became our trademarked gimmick. In the Osaka area we had a nice fan following. David and Hitomi eventually stopped dating but they remained strong friends. The band didn't suffer at all. But as you know a little over a year ago the band broke up.

"David started getting more deeply in involved with his martial arts. Eiji and I had our school work to deal with. Hitomi was also dealing with her own school work and juggling a new job. We just simply didn't have time to play anymore. I've missed it a lot. We hardly saw David anymore because of his training. I guess he was near the end of it." Ken started eating another slice of pizza. "I just realized. Not only did tell you about how I met David, but I told you my perspective of Pulsar and Hitomi didn't interrupt once! What's the gag guys?"

Hitomi giggled after putting her beer down. "Ken, I was actually enjoying one of your stories. For once it wasn't about some damned anime or manga character," she teased her brother.

"Y'know, Ken," Kimber said slowly, "I already knew most of that. David told me in the hospital."

"What? You mean I could've been eating instead of telling a story? Ah man!" Ken shouted but kept his voice low. Kimber started laughing at his reaction. "Oh man, I do not look forward to touring with you now." He gave a faux pout as he took another slice of pizza.

David kissed Kimber on the cheek. "When did you get so sneaky?" he asked which just made her just laughed harder.

With the pizza almost gone David helped Kimber out of her chair. She stood on wobbly legs, clearly slightly drunk. He had the remaining pizza bagged into two containers. He took one for himself and gave the other Kyoko. He hugged Kyoko and Hitomi good night. Kimber did the same just a little less smoothly. David and Kimber walked out to his car. He held the car door open for her and then closed it after she got in. He climbed into the driver's side and headed towards Kimber's home. "Aren' we pickin' up my car, David-kun?" she said slightly slurred.

David shook his head and chuckled. "Nope, you're not sober enough to speak correctly much less drive anywhere. Before I head to meet The Misfits tomorrow, I'll drop you off to pick it up, okay?" She nodded drunkenly. "Did you enjoy yourself tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Yep, t'was fun," Kimber said leaning her head against the side window. They drove in silence back to Kimber and Stormer's place. He parked his car and helped Kimber out. He noticed that Stormer's car wasn't there. David figured that she must have still been out. He used his copy of the house key and unlocked the door. Once inside, Kimber laid down on the couch and David started a small pot of coffee. "Hey, you spendin' the night?"

"I guess I could," David said getting an empty mug for her. "In the morning, I can drop you off at your car and head home for a shower." The coffee finished brewing and David poured her a cup. "Uhh, I forget, cream and sugar, right?"

Kimber grabbed the mug, blew on it to cool it off and took a sip. "Right now black is fine. By the way, I found somethin' in your old desk. A journal of some sort. I guess it's yours, the writin' looks like Jap'nese," she slightly slurred her words.

"It's in kanji," David said sitting next to Kimber on the couch. "I write in kanji out of familiarity but only for personal things. If you want I can read some of the things I wrote in it." Kimber smiled at him, went into her room and grabbed the journal. She came back and sat sideways on his lap. David opened his journal and began reading.

The cell phone's ringing woke David. He left it on in case of an emergency. He answered the phone and in a groggy voice. "h'llo?" He glanced at the time; three thirty-six.

"David, its Roxy," an exhausted voice came from the other end. "I'm sorry for waking you but do you have the spare apartment key I gave you?"

Still half asleep David answered. "Yeah, I have it. It's safe. See you tomorrow." He turned the phone off. He was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

Kimber cuddled up to him, kissing his cheek. "Who was that?"

"It was Roxy wondering if I had her spare key. I do, it's safe on my keyring," he said rolling her on top of him. She giggled softly.

"Since we're awake, let's do it again," she said straddling him. "Please?"

He looked up at her and couldn't resist those eyes. "Oh, okay. Get on your back," he said quietly. She squealed in joy and lay on her back. He put his feet on either side of her and stood on the mattress. Slowly, David started bouncing up and down on the bed. He kept his feet firmly planted. Kimber bounced up and down on the mattress giggling and laughing loudly. David was laughing hard as well. He knew she had fun doing this but it was tiring on his legs.

The door flung open and Stormer stood there looking exhausted. "Do you two mind?! I'm trying to sleep." She sounded somewhat angry but mostly annoyed. They both apologized. "I don't get you both. Why can't you have sex like a normal couple?" she asked before shutting the door. David and Kimber looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"I need sleep." David wrapped his arms around Kimber and lay back down. "I've got a long day tomorrow. Good night. I love you." He kissed her deeply and hugged her tight. It felt great to have a body sleeping next to him.

"Love you too." She snuggled close to him. She put her head on his chest and fell back asleep.

Kimber slowly woke to the sound of barking. None of the neighbors around us owns a dog, she thought to herself. David was asleep on his side facing away from her. She got out of bed, put her robe on and quietly left the room. Roxy and Jetta were in the living room with Stormer. Kimber walked in slowly waking up. "Hey guys, what's goin' on?" she asked sleepily.

Stormer looked up at Kimber from her spot on the floor. "Roxy brought us something," she said happily. Then almost on cue, a little tan puppy came hopping along. "Kimber meet Karma. Roxy saved him last night but can't keep him in her apartment. So she's giving him to us. I mean, if you don't mind."

"Awww, he's so cute but how will we take care of him? We're both in bands and not home enough to raise him," Kimber said clearly disappointed. "Wait, how about if we bring him to the Starlight Mansion. The Starlight Girls can take care of him there. What do you say, Roxy?"

"Sure. He'll have a huge yard to play in and to make his private bathroom." Roxy picked the puppy up who wagged his tail happily.

"Great! When David drops me off, I can bring him then. They'll love him." Kimber walked up to Roxy and hugged her. She then picked up the puppy which licked her face and wagged his club like tail.

CONTINUED IN

A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF… JETTA

A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF… ROXY

A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF… PIZZAZZ & STORMER

A NIGHT IN THE LIFE OF… TECHRAT & CLASH

ALL STORIES CAN BE READ IN ANY ORDER!