Rinoa picked up her latest model of the Canon Rebel. It wasn't the latest model, only about a year or two old, but she absolutely adored it. Even though technology was constantly changing and models were released every year, she couldn't bring herself to part with this particular one. The lenses, however, she had a plethora of, despite how much her eyes bulged and lips thinned out at the price. She also had a small collection of neck straps. She opened up the plastic bag that held her collection. She had blue ones, a black one with skulls on it, a zebra printed one, a pink Hello Kitty one, a simple brown leather one, and even one that looked like snake skin.
"Hmm…" she tapped a nail to her lips as she tried to decide which one to wear today. She was meeting with Selphie and the band today and she thought she should bring her camera in the hopes that they would be willing to do just a few test shots. Rinoa glanced out the window. It was just after nine, the sun was shining, the sky was perfectly clear of clouds…the lighting was phenomenal and she thought it a sin to waste it.
She opted for the leather one, deciding that sometimes simplicity was best. Knowing that it would be getting warmer throughout the day, she changed into a long, flowy, light blue spaghetti strap tunic and black leggings that stopped just mid-calf. Her stomach rumbled and she placed a hand over her belly. "Yes, yes I know," she muttered to herself. "You'll be fed very soon, I promise." She settled her camera into its proper bag, slid her wallet and phone into one of the pockets, slipped on some simple black flats, grabbed her keys, and she was out the door.
Rinoa had suggested that they all meet up at the diner Selphie had said that she had walked from the other day, since it was only a fifteen minute walk. Rinoa's car was still in transit by way of an eighteen-wheeler and wouldn't arrive into town for at least another two days. So, she asked the favor that they arrange a meeting within walking distance. Selphie had offered to give Rinoa a ride, but she declined and said that she enjoyed walking.
With one finger she pushed her sunglasses back up the bridge of her nose. It was a pretty calm Saturday morning in Deling, only a few people were out this early running their errands or grocery shopping. Spring was in the air, and the warm April sunshine welcomed Rinoa home with promises of laying out poolside with a fruity cocktail.
Even though she had only been home for three days, she had to admit that she was glad to be back in her home town. Deling was a smaller northern part of Galbadia, with Galbadia being the main city on this end of the world. Deling itself had a very active night life, but it was geared mostly towards adults. When Rinoa was a teenager she spent many nights driving with her friends into the heart of Galbadia and just walking into one of the venues no matter what band was playing. Some were good, some were decent, and some were just god awful. And now, she was about to be hired to photograph a band that was on the local hard rock station's, FFVIII, 'Top 5 Bands to Look Out For' list. The other night she had gone onto their web page and listened to a few of their songs. Selphie was right, they were good. Rinoa couldn't wait to see them live. However, like Selphie had previously mentioned, there were no decent photographs of the band itself. There were a few that had potential, but whoever had done the editing had made the photographs too small and had resulted in making the pictures look grainy and pixelated.
Across the street from her was a bridal shop and she watched a young woman giggling and excitedly fidgeting with her hands as she was surrounded by three women who looked her age and an older woman that Rinoa assumed was the mother. Someone was clearly wedding dress shopping. It made Rinoa wonder if she would ever attempt at photographing a wedding. After a few steps she argued with herself that she would very much rather shoot a boudoir set with the bride-to-be than an entire event—at least by herself. Perhaps with an assistant she may consider the task doable.
She rounded the corner that the diner resided on a little after nine-thirty. Inside her camera bag she heard her phone beep and she pulled it out to see a text from Selphie.
ST: We're here!
Rinoa slid the phone back into its pocket and reached for the door.
"Are you Rinoa?"
She jerked at the mention of her name. She hadn't even seen the man standing standing there he was so stone still. "Oh, wow, I didn't even see you—" Her words fizzled within her throat when she looked the stranger in the face. She blinked at him through the smoke that wafted up from his cigarette.
Those eyes. Never had she seen eyes such a color. They were a shade of blue-gray that she hadn't yet seen—and she had photographed plenty. They were intense and icy and enough to stop her midsentence. As if his piercing gaze weren't enough to intimidate and stop an unsuspecting person in their tracks, between those beautiful eyes was a scar that ran from above his right eyebrow and crossed over the bridge of his nose. The scar was noticeable but faded, clearly it was one he had had for many years. His long brown hair hung just below the nape of his neck, a strand tucked behind an ear to reveal a large and shiny black 0 gauge plug in his earlobe. "Um, yes, I'm Rinoa." She regained her composure and was suddenly feeling very grateful that she was wearing sunglasses and hoped that the lenses were thick enough to conceal her profane staring.
"Squall," he said, outstretching his hand.
"Ohhh…" she replied, stretching out the word as realization dawned on her. She placed her hand in his and firmly gave him a friendly shake. Her lips turned into a smirk and she tapped a finger to his shoulder. "Selphie did tell me that you have very blue eyes." While she stared she thought of angles to shoot him from so that his penetrating glare would be the focus.
He gave a slight grin and sucked on his cigarette. "She did, huh?" he asked, exhaling the smoke through his teeth. "Yeah, I get that a lot." He crushed his cigarette into the ashtray behind him and jerked his head towards the door. "They're all inside."
"Have you been waiting long?"
Squall shook his head as he pulled open the door and led her inside. He took her to a large booth in the way back corner. Rinoa could see Selphie on one end with a tall man with a long ponytail to her left and then two blondes, one girl and one boy, sitting beside him. Without another word he slid onto the seat beside the blonde man with the spiked hair while Selphie hopped up and wrapped her arms around Rinoa.
"You're here!" She turned and waved her arm over the band. "Rinoa, my love, this is Absolute Lore! This is Irvine, the singer; Quistis, the bassist; Zell, the guitarist; and Squall, the drummer!"
Rinoa smiled and waved at each one as Selphie introduced them. "Hello!" she said.
Selphie pointed to the empty spot on the booth. "Go ahead and sit next to Squall and we'll order! We just ordered coffee, is that alright?"
"Oh, yes," Rinoa said and she set her bag down on the seat between her and Squall. "I do love coffee." She glanced over the menu briefly and quickly decided on strawberry and banana pancakes, something simple.
She tried not to stare at the group beside her, Selphie wasn't lying—they were gorgeous. Rinoa couldn't help but be envious of the bassist Quistis, her skin was the most perfect shade and texture of porcelain and her hair shone like gold. Rinoa wanted to dress her in black to enhance the contrast. Zell's tall and spiky hair demanded attention, and Rinoa could tell from a quick glance at his arms that beneath his loose fitting red t-shirt he had quite the chiseled body that came with the rigorous regime of boxing. In person, Irvine was almost too pretty. His killer smile was too perfect and his hair was almost too perfect to belong to a man. However, with the way Selphie was currently playing with it, Rinoa guessed that Selphie had a part in making his hair lovely.
And then there was the guy sitting next to her. Even now Rinoa was trying hard not to stare. He was the best looking guy there. Instantly there was attraction, physically, of course, since it was all she had to go on at the time. Though she couldn't recall a time where someone literally made her stop in her tracks and stare like an awestruck little teenager who had never seen the physical epitome of handsome.
The waitress came over to take their order and Rinoa was grateful for the quick distraction.
"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" Irvine prompted to fill in the gap while they waited for their food.
Rinoa tilted her head and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. "Oh, great, an "about me," my favorite!" she giggled. "Well…I just turned twenty-five last month, graduated from ECA about three years ago, became obsessed with photography at a young age after seeing my mom's old modeling portfolio, worked at a marketing firm in Timber for the last two years, I do my job well but I prefer my subjects to be actual humans rather than inanimate objects, my favorite color is blue, and I also take chocolate as a form of bribery not payment." She ended her severely summarized biography with a dazzling smile.
Zell nearly spit out his coffee. "Oh, I like her," he grinned.
Rinoa theatrically bowed her head to him in thanks. "Now then, your turn. Tell me about you, the band…what do you guys want to achieve? All that."
"Well," Zell started, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand. "Quistis, Squall, and I all grew up in Balamb together and Irvine's from Galbadia. Squall and I used to jam together back in high school."
Rinoa covered her mouth to hide the audible squeal. She could just picture little baby Zell and Squall, both so tragically tortured by the catastrophic boundaries that entailed high school and thus their only escape was through the bliss of music.
Quistis was fiddling with her phone. "Oh, it was as adorable as it sounds," she said. "I think I have a picture somewhere…" While Squall and Zell watched, absolutely horrified, Quistis leaned over to Rinoa and showed her a picture of a picture.
Rinoa's jaw dropped and she gasped.
"I think this was right before their first battle of the bands," Quistis said, her nose crinkling as she snickered.
"Holy shit—look at that hair!" The picture displayed Zell holding the edge of a skateboard, his head shaved into a very precise and very tall green and blonde Mohawk. He wore ripped, red plaid shorts and a fitted black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Behind him was Squall, standing with one hand shoved into his black jeans while his other hand clutched his drum sticks. His hair was much longer then, long enough to pull into a low ponytail, Rinoa was only able to see it because he had his head turned away from the camera. "This is so cute!" She looked up to the two men who were now scowling at Quistis. "Oh, don't be upset!" Rinoa said. "I think what we should do is after we get some great group shots is to post up your old pictures of you. You know, a little Absolute Lore in the making?"
Squall shrugged in agreement to the idea. "Only if we get that one picture of Quistis," he said lowly, his eyes glaring at the blonde over the rim of his coffee mug.
The blonde woman stopped laughing and instantly shot him a deadly look.
Zell laughed while Rinoa looked on in confusion at this little inside jab. "She was experimenting with eyeliner and false lashes," he quickly explained to Rinoa. "Let's just say that it didn't go well."
"Hey, I can relate," Rinoa said to Quistis. "I can't get those little fuckers on to save my life." She offered the other woman a wink which was responded with Quistis raising her mug in cheers.
"I think I look exactly the same," Irvine mused. "Except my hair's longer."
"And a lot prettier since I introduced him to conditioner." Selphie looked over to Rinoa with a horrified look. "Can you believe that this guy used two-in-one shampoo and conditioner on this hair? That's like a cardinal sin!"
"Anyways," Quistis said. "Squall and Irvine met when they worked at Dollet Tower Records together. Zell and Squall knew that I had been experimenting with playing bass for a while and…well…" She held her hands palms up as she gestured to the men surrounding her.
"We formed Absolute Lore about…" Irvine glanced around at his bandmates as he thought. "Perhaps a little over two years ago?"
Zell shrugged. "Something like that. We all met around three years ago, I remember because Squall and I had just gotten back from Centra for my twenty-third birthday." His lips curled into a mischievous grin and he sent a knowing look to Squall. "Man, you remember that?"
Squall gave a slight nod, his brows raising for a moment as he thought back to when he and Zell decided to leave town for a weekend. It had just so happened to be Zell's birthday so they decided to make a carpe diem feast out of it. "How could I forget?"
"Yeah, it's when I got these." He leaned over Squall towards Rinoa and pointed at the tattoos on his face.
Rinoa smiled and leaned closer, neither of them giving any regards to Squall's personal space as they practically talked on top of him. "I was wondering about those! They are so well done…" She took Zell's chin between her fingers and turned his head to the side so she could inspect the ink more. It was a tribal marking that started somewhere beneath his shirt collar and traveled up the left side of his neck and spread out across his cheek and up onto his temple. The shapes were spiky, sharp, and Rinoa could only assume that it must have hurt like hell. "The lines are so clean," she whispered. "So precise."
"Thanks! I think my guy did a pretty damn good job!"
Squall noisily cleared his throat, causing the two to turn their wide eyes at him. "You're in the way," he warned, his hand positioned in the small space between Rinoa and Zell so he could reach his mug.
"Oh, yeah," Zell reeled back and wagged a finger at Rinoa while she sat back as well. "Word to the wise: don't get in the way of Squall and his coffee." He watched Squall pulled the mug to his lips, his frown deepening as he listened to Zell. "Or cigarettes," Zell added. "But mostly his coffee, especially if it's morning."
Rinoa giggled. "Duly noted," she promised.
"We should go back to Centra," Zell said. "I don't think we've been back since then."
Squall shook his head after he thought about it for a moment. "No, we haven't," he agreed. "We've been too busy."
"If we go back you can get your other nipple pierced."
That caused Rinoa's jaw to drop while Squall nearly choked on his coffee. Her opened jaw widened even more into a large smile. "Holy shit, for real?" She looked over to Selphie who was holding onto Irvine's shoulder to steady herself from laughing. She turned back to Squall who was wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
"Fuck you, Zell," he muttered beneath his breath. Despite the strong words a smile crept to his lips as he spoke.
Rinoa gave Squall a supportive pat on the shoulder and waited for him to bring the mug back to his lips. "Hey, well if you guys decide to go I'll tag along with you," she said. She then sent Squall a sly grin. "I'll get my nipples pierced too, then we can be nipple buddies."
Squall had to spit the coffee back into the mug to keep himself from choking again. While the others roared with laughter, Rinoa covered her mouth with her fingers to keep her own laughter contained. He glared at her while he dragged the napkin over his mouth, but he couldn't help but have two thoughts enter his mind: one, that she was absolutely adorable at jabbing jokes at him (not many outside of their group made such an attempt) and two, her with pierced nipples. "Oh, you're funny," he said.
"I try."
Squall tossed the soiled napkin onto the table and lifted his brows to the server that came forward with their food. When the plates were settled in front of them and everyone was about to dig in, he shot another look at Rinoa. "You're lucky you're cute."
Rinoa stabbed a piece of pancake onto her fork and scrunched her nose at him. "And you're lucky you're so observant." She looked over to Selphie and Quistis with a mock concerned look. "Shit, is he always like this?"
"Worse," Quistis said between bites. "In fact, I think this is considered his best behavior."
Rinoa turned to Squall and made a face. "See, now you're lucky you're cute."
After they finished eating, Rinoa dabbed the napkin to her lips. "Are you guys busy after this? I'd like to take a few test shots to play around with if you have the time."
Quistis glanced down at the watch around her wrist. "I don't work until later, but I would like to head home and take a quick nap before then." It was just after ten, so she definitely had some time. "I think I'm the only one busy tonight, right?"
"Yeah, my 12 o'clock client called me last night to cancel his sparring session today so I'm free until three the latest," Zell said.
"We don't have anything planned, do we?" Irvine asked Selphie, his arm around her waist.
She shook her head. "No, I think this was the only thing we planned on." She looked over to the brunette. "Squall?"
He shook his head. "I'm down. We can head to the studio."
Rinoa excitedly clapped her hands. "Is it far?"
"About twenty minutes away," Zell said. "Close to the industrial center."
"Great! If anything, I'd like to at least get some shots of you guys posing with your instruments if they're set up. You guys desperately need to update the pictures on your web page…it's pretty sad." Rinoa crinkled her nose as she thought back on the pictures she had perused through in horror. "Seriously, you guys won't regret your decision in hiring me. I am going to work magic with you."
Selphie excitedly clapped her hands and pulled herself from the booth. "I can't wait to get started!" She grabbed Rinoa's wrist and yanked her to her feet. "I'll drive you over there since you don't have your car yet."
"Why thank you," Rinoa purred. "Could you take me home afterwards too?"
"Oh, now you're just being needy."
Rinoa gave Selphie a quick pinch to the waist. "Don't be a brat."
The studio was a hollowed out office space end unit in the industrial center. The walls had been strategically covered with sound proofing foam insulation. "We don't get too many complaints," Irvine was saying as Rinoa glanced around to the neighboring buildings. "Most of the units here are warehouses and small distribution centers for small time retail shops, so it's not like we'd be disturbing any important meetings or appointments."
"Most of the time we try to keep our practice schedules on the weekends," Quistis added. "But sometimes that doesn't happen and we just come in whenever we can."
"As long as we're not practicing after ten we're pretty much golden." Zell walked over to the mini fridge in the corner and grabbed a water bottle. "Squall, toss me some waters, fridge is getting empty."
Rather than doing what Zell asked, Squall simply picked up the case of water bottles and set it on top of the fridge. Ignoring the curt remarks from the blonde, Squall walked over to a window and slid it open. He stuck his head out and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes. "Hey Reg," he called to the older man who walked by the window.
"Hey," the man said. "Having practice today, kiddos?"
"Just a quick one," Quistis said. "We're having some pictures taken. Do you mind?"
The older man shook his head and waved a hand at Quistis. "Not at all! I'm actually heading off to get some grub. I think the stockers in the unit behind you are also heading to lunch soon." He glanced at the silver watch around his wrist and nodded. "Yeah, I know Khale said they came in at six this morning, so they're probably gonna be leaving soon for their meal break. Have fun kiddos!"
Squall lit his cigarette and waved the man off.
Rinoa instantly started snapping away at the interior of the studio. It was a very impromptu photoshoot as she didn't have any of her lighting equipment, so she worked the best she could with the natural light that came shining through the open windows.
Quistis picked up her metallic purple Ibanez. Her fingers ran over the five strings and she pulled it close to her so the mahogany body became flush to her stomach. In almost a sensual caress she gripped the neck.
Zell's cherry red seven-string Gibson Les Paul rested perfectly within his hands. The strap was brandished with little blue dolphins. He caught the questioning look in Rinoa's eyes and he sheepishly smiled. "When I was a kid dolphins were my favorite animal," he said. "My mom bought this for me a few years ago when Absolute Lore had their first gig at an actual venue."
The squeal that escaped Rinoa's lips accurately described the emotion of "Awwwwww!" that she was feeling. Even with the spiked hair, the hard eyes, and the menacing tattoos, he was really just a mama's boy.
Irvine grinned at Rinoa's reaction and wrapped his long fingers around the mic stand. "Yeah, Mama Dincht is great. I think she even cooked us a full on meal before we went on. Said that we would not play on an empty stomach if she couldn't help it."
"Yeah, my Ma's pretty goddamn amazing."
Rinoa's eyes widened at the sight of Squall's drum kit. She couldn't even name all the pieces that were set up in front of her. Pointing out the bass and guitar were easy, they were one long hunks of wood. The drum kit was more complex, consisted of more pieces. She recognized the cymbals and…was that called a kick drum? Or bass drum? She didn't want to open her mouth and make a fool of herself so she simply nodded her head in appreciation of the band members and their musical extension of themselves.
"Wow," she said, walking over to the solid black Yamaha drum kit. "This is…I can't even try to word what this is!" Her eyes traveled over the cymbals, one in particular was leaning against the wall behind Squall's throne seat. The cymbal was falling apart in the middle, looking as if someone had cut a smile into it. "What happened here?"
Squall, now finished with his cigarette, picked up the cymbal and rhythmically tapped his fingernails over the jagged surface. "Years of wear and tear," he answered.
Rinoa raised her camera and snapped a few quick shots of his gloved hands running over the edge of the cymbal, his head slightly turned downward as he studied the damage. When Rinoa asked why he hadn't thrown it away he set it back down against the wall.
"I like the trashy-tinny noise it makes."
Good answer.
Rinoa turned at the sound of Quistis absently plucking at her strings. Her aquamarine eyes stared off into a blank space in the carpet as her fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own. She didn't have a song or beat in mind, she just went along with it and let her fingers work their magic. Rinoa lowered to her knees and took a few shots.
Quistis bit back a smile at the quick sounds of the shutter, but she suddenly became very aware that she was being watched and photographed, and a fit of giggles threatened to spill from her. Her nose crinkled as she tried to hold it in.
"I know, I know," Rinoa laughed. "But seriously, stay as natural as possible. This is great!" At the sound of Zell chuckling, Rinoa spun on her knees and caught a few shots of him strumming his guitar.
Trying his best to ignore her and act as naturally as possible, Zell decided to bust out a guitar riff from one of his favorite songs. His head bobbed to the notes, his jaw tightening as he let the chords speak to him.
Recognizing the song instantly, Squall crawled onto his throne and immediately joined in, the tips of his drumsticks gently tapping along the edges of the cymbal before crashing down violently onto the skins. Quistis lifted her head and stood to her feet, her fingers working effortlessly through the strings of her bass. Irvine took hold of his black and white Gibson and suddenly Rinoa was surrounded by the music. The two separate guitars fed off each other, their strums bouncing off the other with their complementing sounds.
She recognized the song just by the chords that slammed into her, by the jarring drum beat that vibrated beneath her feet, and then, when Irvine stepped behind his mic, by the growling and throaty lyrics. "I can't see I can't see I'm going blind…I can't see I can't see I'm going blind…" he crooned into the mic, his eyes shut tight and teeth bared as he let the words crawl out.
They surrounded her completely, had unknowingly created a circle around her that pulsed heavy and sharp beats. She spun around, focusing her camera on each one individually as they played. It was only for a minute or two, as they didn't play the song in its entirety, but even in that short amount of time she could feel the energy and choreography that pulsated within the band. They were so in tune with each other that even though Zell had started near the beginning of the song, he had jumped forward a bit and they followed suit without missing any such beat.
They were extraordinary.
Rinoa lowered her camera, a large and excited smile plastered on her face. In those short moments she had captured quite a few photographs already. She even caught a few of Selphie dancing in the background. "Holy shit," she said when they stopped. "That was amazing."
"Yeah, we're pretty awesome aren't we?" Zell said, haughtily polishing his knuckles against the collar of his shirt. He looked over to Squall who suggested they play one of their own songs next, and suddenly the unit was filled with music so hard and so heavy that Rinoa felt it take vibrating hold over her heart. The melody that these people were creating caused the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.
The throaty and crooning growls that came from Irvine, the deep tonality of Quistis' bass, the heavy riffs from Zell's guitar, and the violent and complex thrashings from Squall's drums…together they came as one harmonious and devastatingly heavy poem.
She trained her camera onto Squall's gloved hands that were wrapped around the worn drumsticks that were fervently crashing onto the cymbals. She smiled at the concentration and the passion that was etched into his face.
I love my job, she thought as started clicking away.
"Blind" song, music, and lyrics all belong to Korn.
