*****
"C, you aren't gonna find him," Justin said.
"Why not?" JC asked. Justin pointed his thumb towards the sound booth. "Alex said he saw him leave. Said he looked pretty sad, too."
JC furrowed his brow. "But why?"
Justin shook his head. "You don't get it, do you? Lance isn't in the group--"
"Yes he is," JC said stubbornly.
"To us, he is. But not to anyone else. He can't just come in here and sing with us like he wants to without it causing all kinds of problems," Justin said.
"He could've told me," JC grumbled.
"Not really," Justin replied, smirking. "Cause he knew that you might've gone with him and we can't waste the studio time, he knows that. And he knows you wouldn't really want to leave."
"I would've!"
"I know, JC," Justin said patiently. "That's the problem. You love Lance. You love to sing. He loves you and he loves watching you sing. But he loves singing too, and he can't take just watching for too long." JC frowned and Justin continued. "Think of it this way, JC. If the four of us -- Me, Chris, Joey, and Lance -- were all allowed to sing and record because it was the normal thing to do, and you couldn't, all you could do was watch, how long do you think you'd last before you wanted to join in?"
"Not very long," JC said, still frowning.
"Exactly. Lance was here longer than you'd be able to stay. I'm sure he'll be back later." He saw JC muttering to himself and shook his head. "C, don't worry about it. He doesn't mind. Poofu just didn't want you to see him all sad and depressed-like," Justin cooed.
JC wrinkled his nose and swatted at Justin's hair. "Shut up, dude."
*****
The guys walked into the door, hearing Nikolas and Lance banter back and forth. "Nikolas, money isn't the same as it was whenever the heck you may have been alive. Were you ever alive? You keep avoiding that question, you know."
"That's because it's none of your business," Nikolas said back to him.
They could all imagine the blond rolling his eyes. "Nevertheless, a penny just doesn't go quite as far as it used to," Lance informed him.
"I'm quite aware of that, James," Nikolas began. "But thanks for making sure my memory hasn't failed me yet, young one."
"Name's Lance," he grumbled crossly, turning around and waving at the four as they walked in the door.
Nikolas smiled. Joey grinned as he opened the fridge. "If he ain't got it now, James," Joey said, laughing as Lance winced. "He's never gonna figure it out."
"Why is everyone calling me James?" Lance muttered. "First Justin an' now you. Of course, Nikolas can't be helped, he's old, but--"
"I'm still calling you Lance," JC said quietly, leaning down and kissing the top of Lance's head.
Lance smiled and looked up at JC. "Good," he said. "I wouldn't want to get into it with you too."
"I thought we were done with that," Chris complained. "Wasn't there a truce to the Name Wars?"
"Temporary cease-fire, Chris," Lance said. "Temporary cease-fire."
"All righty then, if you say so, J--" Chris started.
"Don't even--"
Chris grinned wickedly. "James."
Lance cringed and wrinkled his nose and they all laughed at the reflex. "Lemme alone," he grumbled. He turned back to JC. "I think I'll just stick with you, Joshy. The other guys are too mean."
JC smiled. "I should hope you'd stick with me."
"Course," Lance said, pulling JC down into his lap. "Now, Nikolas, let me explain this one more time..."
*****
"This all seems so unreal," JC said. "You think he's close to settling?"
"He should be," Lance yawned, standing up. "He can't want this to go to trial."
"He shouldn't, anyway," Nikolas pointed out. "He shot himself in the foot--"
"Nice old guy analogy," Lance muttered.
"Lots of people use it," Nikolas said, offended. "Anyway, he drove the proverbial nail into the coffin when--" Lance snorted but Nikolas rolled his eyes. "I have more analogies if you'd like them, James," he said.
"No, no, I'm sorry, continue," Lance said.
"When he said he'd only taken one-sixth of the profits and then his lawyers said he'd gotten seven million. Considering you boys as a whole made seven million...well, 50% is a far cry from 17%. He can't let this keep going; it'll never hold up and he won't get a thing. This way, he'll at least get some future royalties."
"But not too much," JC said. "Right?"
"Right," Nikolas said. "Not too much."