“That you, Christian?”
Miki turned around as he heard the shop owner step into the room. The man was of medium height, with a slightly pudgy build. Nearly balding on the top, he had the appearance of a kindly old man. His deep baritone filled the shop, nearly as musical as the instruments he was selling. The familiar way he greeted Chris suggested that the two had known each other for a long time. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the older man, Chris turned to introduce his lover.
“Eric, this is my boyfriend, Mikael. He said that he played the piano so I figured I’d bring him over to meet you, see what you thought. Miki, this is Eric, an old friend of mine. He’s the one that helped put ‘Sable Poison’ together. Without him, we’d be just a bunch of teenagers hanging around on the street admiring all the shiny instruments that we’d never be able to afford on our own. He was nice enough to lend us our equipment to use until we earned enough to pay for it.”
Miki smiled easily as he was introduced to the other man, shaking his hand politely. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
Eric’s eyebrows raised a little at the formal mode of address before he turned to elbow Chris in the ribs. “I see you found yourself someone with manners this time. Maybe some of his will rub off on you.” Miki smiled a little at the teasing, amused by Chris’ half-hearted protests in his own defense. “It’s nice to meet you, Mikael. Always good to see another young musician around the shop.”
Miki protested hesitantly. “I’m not really a musician. I’m not that good.”
Eric smiled encouragingly. “That has yet to be seen. Why don’t you play a little bit for us? Do you need some music?”
Miki shook his head, a little nervous to be playing in front of two people who obviously knew a lot about musical talent. He never really considered himself that good of a pianist, and he was a little embarrassed by the attention. Eric led him over to a small keyboard that was set up in a corner of the shop. Looking to Chris for encouragement, he hesitantly started into the first few bars of ‘Fur Elise’. He knew several classic pieces by heart thanks to his early piano lessons and some more modern pieces from his own studies. After about a minute, Eric left the room, returning with a stack of thin books. Flipping through one randomly, he apparently found what he was looking for and set the book in front of Miki on the keyboard stand.
“Try this.”
Nodding, Miki started into the new song. He recognized it after the first few bars as being ‘Circle of Life’ from the Lion King. He let the soft music take him away, nearly forgetting that there were others listening until Eric changed the music again, this time to a set of scrawled pages of staff paper. He recognized the new piece as one he had heard ‘Sable Poison’ playing the night he and Christian had met. The heavy metal music contrasted sharply with what he was used to playing, but he adapted easily. Remembering some of the trills and improvisations he had heard from the ‘Sable Poison’ keyboardist, Miki threw them in as well. He played the piece through uninterrupted, throwing in a few minor changes of his own as he went. The music seemed to flow through him, he was barely conscious of what he played. The last note died away, and Miki was startled by the two older men clapping. He had nearly forgotten that he was being evaluated, he had been so caught up in the music.
“Now I’m positive you were just being modest before when you said you weren’t very good.” Chris hugged him lightly around his shoulders, nearly glowing with pride. “That was wonderful.”
Eric nodded agreement. “Definitely very good, especially when playing a new piece. I didn’t expect you to play that last one so well.”
“It’s one of your songs, isn’t it?” Miki asked Christian, looking up into the other’s eyes from where he was held in an embrace.
Chris blinked at him in surprise. “Yeah, you recognized it?”
Miki nodded. “You played it last weekend at the club.”
Eric smiled at them. “Kid’s got a good ear. Nice improvisations too.”
Miki shrugged at the praise, blushing lightly from the compliments. Chris grinned at him wickedly. “Too bad there’s already a keyboardist in our band, otherwise I’d be tempted to haul you up on stage with me.”
Miki led Chris through the gates surrounding his school’s football field, handing the two tickets he had bought earlier that day to one of the people standing next to the entrance. The school’s band was just beginning the pre-game show as Chris followed him through the crowd. He could make out Teresa and Bill already seated in their usual spot on the grassy hill next to the stands reserved for the home fans. The two had been ecstatic when he’d told them that he was bringing Chris to the game, eager to meet the person that had so infatuated their normally aloof friend. Miki and Chris were spotted as they climbed the gently sloping hill, and Miki waved in response to his friends’ enthusiastic gestures.
Miki gave quick introductions as he and Chris seated themselves on the red blanket spread across the slightly damp grass. Miki smiled to himself as Chris settled next to him, his arm wrapping casually around Miki’s waist.
“Chris, these are my friends Teresa and Bill.” His friends smiled widely as Chris greeted them politely.
“Well, I definitely have to compliment you on having good taste in boyfriends, Miki.” Bill teased his friend, earning a laugh from Christian.
Teresa was shortly behind the other in commenting, addressing Chris with a wicked glint in her eyes. “So, what kind of dirt would you like to know about Miki? We’ve known him for years and I, for one, would be quite happy to share all of his embarrassing moments with you.”
Miki sputtered for a moment before turning to his lover in mock-indignation. “Now you see what I have to deal with. The three of them are just terrible.”
Chris burst out laughing at the exchange between the friends. He was warming up to the others and decided that he definitely liked his lover’s friends. “Oh? Really? What sort of embarrassing stuff do you know? I’d love to hear about it.”
Teresa smiled enthusiastically as she launched into a story about Miki’s childhood, with Bill adding in parts that she missed. The two of them proceeded to make Miki blush bright red, and continued despite his many protests. Chris couldn’t help but laugh at their antics as the four of them settled down to watch the football game.
Chris walked into practice late and was instantly glad he had taken the time to drive Miki home that morning. The argument between Jacob and Lewis appeared to have been going on for a while, seeming more heated than their usual disagreements. The two had never been able to get along since Chris and Jacob had broken up, clashing wills at every possible opportunity. Daniel was sitting on a bench outside the studio. As the mediator of the group, he often tried to solve the conflicts that arose among the group’s members. If he chose to not get involved in this, Chris knew the situation was truly hopeless. Chris could see only one possible outcome to the situation, and he didn’t like it.
He spoke softly as he watched the pair inside the other room. “What happened?”
Daniel remained quiet for several moments and Chris thought maybe the other hadn’t heard him. He opened his mouth to ask again, slightly louder, when the other spoke. “Lewis got tired of Jacob’s attitude. I think they started out arguing about the arrangement of the bass line, and it just went from there. I couldn’t stop them, so I came out here.”
Chris’ heart ached at the pain evident in the other man’s words. He knew it must be hard for Danny, knowing he was going to lose either his best friend or his love interest from this conflict. Danny had harbored a crush on Jacob for years, though the other man seemed completely oblivious to the fact. Chris winced as he watched Jacob’s fist connect with the left side of Lewis’ face. He feared for a moment that Lewis was going to swing back, but the other man simply grabbed his bag and walked out the door without another word. Chris moved aside so the other could pass and whispered his apologies to his long-time friend.
Lewis smiled lightly to the two waiting outside, the side of his face already swelling slightly. “Sorry that this had to happen, but we all knew it was just a matter of time, right? I wish you the best of luck finding another keyboardist.”
Chris nodded, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “Keep in touch. Maybe we can get together for a drink sometime.”
Lewis nodded as Daniel swept him into a hug. He spoke into the younger man’s shoulder-length blue hair as the other buried his face in his chest. “I’ll call you later, okay?”
A slow nod was his answer as Daniel disengaged himself, his eyes glittering faintly in what looked like the beginnings of tears. Lewis walked off without further comment, and the two hesitantly made their way into the rehearsal studio. Jacob was seated at the drum set, glaring at the keyboard that was property of the band. All the instruments were owned communally, paid for from the group’s earnings.
“Either of you know a good keyboardist? I don’t.”
As Danny shook his head, Chris’ words from the previous day came back to haunt him. Suddenly his comment to Miki at Eric’s shop took on a whole new meaning. “I do.”
Miki answered the phone automatically, resting the cordless phone between his shoulder and cheek as he plunged his hands into soapy water, in the midst of washing dishes. “Hello?”
“Miki? This is Christian? I need to ask you something.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Wanna join my band?”
“What?!” Miki dropped the phone in surprise. Hastily retrieving it and wiping his hands on a nearby towel, he listened quietly as Chris explained the situation.
The blue haired man holding the guitar was giving him a reassuring smile. Miki had instantly liked the gentle, older man. His soft spoken voice and sky blue eyes had calmed him more than anything else. The one that made him nervous was the drummer. Miki couldn’t help but feel that the other man had instantly disliked him from the moment he set foot in the studio. He was convinced the other was staring at him when Chris wasn’t looking. Close-cut black hair and a thick, muscular build made the man look very imposing to Miki’s eyes. Miki decided that he never wanted to be alone with the other man if he could help it. There was something decidedly sinister about the stormy drummer.
Chris gave the signal, and Miki broke from his musings to hesitantly start in on the piece set in front of him. The music wasn’t extremely difficult, he’d had an opportunity to sight read it earlier and get a feel for it. Chris’ voice joined the instruments a few seconds later and Miki did his best to keep up with the others. He concentrated on the sounds emitted from the other three men, trying to make the keyboard’s notes fit with them as best he could. With Chris’ voice to guide him, he felt better about himself, instantly comforted by the sound of his lover’s voice.
The piece was over almost before he realized it, and Daniel was congratulating him on doing well. Miki smiled slightly and the group launched into the next piece before he had a chance to reply. He found it easier to mesh the second time, able to anticipate the rhythm of the others better the more he played with them. He was becoming familiar with the strains of Danny’s guitar and the beat of Jacob’s drums. He was reminded of the way their music had captivated him the night he’d met Chris and wondered if he’d ever be able to produce something as magical. The third and fourth pieces were started without comment. Miki found himself growing more comfortable with the band as they played and waited breathlessly for someone to speak when the pieces ended.
“Well, what do you think?” Chris addressed the other two band members, flashing Miki a reassuring grin.
“Very good! I think we’d work well together as a group.” Daniel commented sunnily. The pleasure he felt from the other man’s comment was soon dashed as Jacob spoke.
“He’ll have to do, I guess. We have a gig next week, and we can’t afford to waste too much time looking for a replacement for Lewis.”
Chris nodded in agreement, though he looked as if he wanted to respond to Jacob’s comment. “That’s settled, then let’s start practicing. Like you said, we only have a week until the next gig.” That said, the group launched into the first piece they had tried, playing it for a second time so they could adjust to the new group.
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