Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Urgh.

The silence with occasional boos coming from the crowd was deafening, I hope this finally gets Billy Taupe to understand that the songs we perform need to be approved and rehearsed by ALL of us.  

"Billy and me are gonna go to the back room," Clerk says "you need me to stay back with y'all?"  

"Nah, don't bother.  We're fiddlin' on the Titanic, they can't be any worse to us than they were with him."  I answer, resting my hand on the mic stand

"Not like we'd deserve it as much."  Barbie mutters.  Barb Azure has always had less patience with Billy than the rest of us.  The Ivy took a risk on us performing here for actual money and Billy just took a potential shit on it, so I don't blame her.  First song he decides to play and we barely know it because he refused to rehearse with me and according to everyone, it's not all that good to begin with anyway.  Tam drops his bass to sit at the drums and waits for me to tell him what song to play to try to win back this very annoyed crowd.  

  "So?"  He asks, pissed he's even playing the instrument he isn't supposed to.  Bass adds some depth, but drums are essential and our drummer's acting like too much of an ass to okay right now.  

Barb and I look at each other for a second before I suggest "What about a fun one, like Black Sheep?  We need to get these people in a better mood."  

  "Okay," Clerk says from behind us, spookin' me "sounds good.  Billy'll be back soon, he's just coolin' off.  Y'all know how he gets after a failed set."  

I roll my eyes and make my way back to the main mic, and start playing my guitar, glad that my back tank top doesn't show sweat but worried that my straightened hair will frizz up and rat me out.

Barb's back vocals start with her strumming.

"Oh yeah" 

"Oh yeah"  she winks at me 

"Oh yeah!" 

Then I start 

"Hello again, 

friend of a friend, 

I knew you when" 

Ripping into my strings I feel one of my thumb get cut.

"Our common goal 

was waiting for 

the world to end"

Lack of rehearsing this song is leavin' me pitchy, but it's better than the mess Billy dumped on our laps last minute 

"Now that the truth 

is just a rule 

that you can bend!" 

raising my voice still strains

"You crack the whip, 

shape-shift and trick 

the past 

again!"

Relief fills me as I feel Barb start singing again along with me

"I'll send you my love on a wire.

I'll lift you up, every time, 

as everyone, ooh, 

pulls away, ooh

From you, ba-aaah-be! 

Oo-ooh!  

Oo-ooh!" 

My solo ain't too rusty, the drums and keyboard are almost making up for the lack of Tam's bass.

"Got balls of steel, 

got an automobile, 

for a minimum wage!

Got real estate, 

I'm buying it all up in outer space!

Now that the truth 

is just a rule 

that you can bend!

You crack the whip, 

shape-shift and trick 

the past 

again!"

Barb is really saving my throat here 

"I'll send you my love on a wire

Lift you up, every time, 

everyone, oo-ooh, 

pulls away, oo-ooh

It's a mechanical bull, 

the number one

You'll take a ride 

from anyone

Everyone wants a ride, 

but pulls away, oo-ooh, 

from you-hooooo!  

Ooooh...oooh...Ooooh...

Oooooh...Oohhhhoooo...

Ooooooooh...Ooooh..."

The rest of the song is just instrumental but we seem to have won back at least a few of the diners.  By the time the drum beat and vocals are fading, we're getting some cheers.  One cute, blond guy with a buzz cut in army garb, next to another guy with dark hair wearing the same thing, is particularly loud and smirky at me.  I smile back. 

Billy Taupe finally dains comes back out and moodily suggests we play "Teeth", a song he wrote on me.  We all agree, seeing as that's at least one we've got down.  He takes my place as lead vocals from behind his drum set and Tammy gets back on bass, and we start playing.  The whole time, this asshole won't stop glaring back at me during lines, making it painfully obvious this is about me.  I noticed that any time Billy Taupe was the one singing, Blondie wasn't too happy about it.  Granted, that was a common sentiment given his train wreck of a first song choice.  He'd smile a little if Barbie was at the front but really only cheered and hollered if I was performin' lead vocals.  

After a few songs, we went to the back, go to the bathroom, rest our throats, drink some water, what have you.  I lie back on the old couch back there and Barbie smirks down at me 

"Your new fan's a little obvious, ain't he?"  

"He's fuckin' annoyin', yellin' out all obnoxious.  There's people eatin'."  Billy says, flexing his hands and massaging them.  

  "You don't seem to mind if the cheers are for you."  Tam comments, smirkin' at him.

"I don't really know what happened between you two, and it's none of our business anyway." Cheek starts as he comes back from the bathroom "But this can't get in the way of our progress.  Lucy Gray's bein' a good sport about it, you better start doin' the same Billy.  We can't have another situation like that first song again all cause you don't wanna work with Lucy.  Whatever happened, get over it."  

  Billy Taupe looks down at his sticks and pouts, but nods in agreement.  

'What happened is he's a cheater who can't take no for an answer.' I think to myself.  

Five minutes pass and we go back on stage and thankfully, receive a good amount applause.  Even little Maudey, eating her fries as she does her homework, looks up at us eagerly and claps.   This isn't an ideal place for her, but it's not like her and Barb Azure's parents are gonna do anything about it.  Besides, she eventually wants to join the band so it's better she sees what she needs to do earlier than later.  She already knows all the songs.  Well, almost all.  She's still barely in her double digits and I want her to at least graduate high school before she's added.  I barely tested out a few months ago, it's easier this way.  My parents bailed a while back and the school started noticing things, I tested out so they couldn't check and see if I'm alone.  Barbie did the same thing, Billy Taupe just dropped out entirely and didn't bothering trying to test out.  "I'm gonna be a rockstar," he said "what do I need a diploma for?"  Tammy graduated normally a while back and so did Clerk.  

   "How's about 'Just Tonight'?"  Barb asks 

They all nod in agreement and get in positions as Barb sets down her keyboard and gets her violin.

"Here we are

And you can't think from all the pills, hey

Start the car 

Please take me home

Here we are

And your too drunk to hear a word I say

Start the car and take me home.

Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

But when the light hits your eyes

Its telling me I'm right

And if I, I am through

Then its all because of you

Just tonight"

Blondie is happy, ironically I wrote this with Barb and Maudey after my parents had left me.  

"Here I am

And I can't seem to see straight

But I'm too numb to feel right now

And here I am

Watching the clock keep ticking away my time

I'm too numb to feel right now"

Growin' up my parents would put some booze in our baby bottles to get us to sleep quick, after we outgrew bottles, they gave us 'vitamins.'  My older sibling, the first born, the one I barely met , overdosed on something when he was nine.  CPS didn't think to look too much into it when my dad told them he must've looked through their medicine cabinet and taken them himself.

"Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

When the light hits your eyes

Its telling me I'm right

And if I, I am through

Then its all because of you

Just tonight, 

Just tonight!"

This part is about one of the last nights I ever relied on my parents for anything.  I was ten, they were getting blasted and I needed to get home.  I was freezin' and hungry, but they needed their fix.  I decided to just walk to the bus station and take a ride to Tam's place.  Thank Fox I had some change on me.

"Do you understand who I am do you even wanna know?

Can you really see through me?

No, 

I have got to go."

My mom used to always say she could tell if I was lyin' by lookin' me in the eyes.  Eventually I realized I'd be the one lookin' to tell if she's lyin' way more than she would be with me.  

"Just tonight

I won't leave

And you'll lie and I'll believe

Just tonight

I will see 

that its all because of me

Just tonight I will stay and we'll throw it all away

But when that light 

hits your eyes

Its telling me I'm right

And if I, I am through

Then its all because of you!

Just tonight (do you understand, who I am?)

Its all because of you

Just tonight (do you understand, who I am?)

Its all because of you

Just tonight (do you understand, who I am?)

Its all because of you

Just tonight"

Barb kills it on violin and the cheers are the loudest they've been all night.  It's always hard playin' that song, but it's one of our best received performances every time we do.  Even when we fuck up.  The more I play it, the less emotional I am while I do.  I hope.  

We finish off the night with "Creep" and celebrate in the back that Billy didn't fuck this gig up for us with some drinks.  Maude Ivory joins us, we didn't want her alone in the front.  

   Mr.Bell knocks on the door and comes in 

 "Okay, you guys were off to a rocky start but it really picked up.  Cyrus liked a lot of the songs, wish you guys had played that ‘just tonight I will stay’ song during your audition, wouldn’t have been so difficult to get him on board with hiring you guys if he’d heard them before.”  

Most of us aren’t even old enough to get inside the club, let alone be employed here.  Maude Ivory being here is also a risk.  The fact that Billy almost cost us all cause he’s still feelin’ burned by me is nearly unforgivable.  He’s lucky he did well later.  

“You all’ll get your pay at the end of the week, but any tips you get you can take home immediately.” He says, placing a decently full tip jar on the table. “Rest up, you’re back on tomorrow night.”  He smiles and leaves us.

  Clerk counted the cash in the jar and amounted to $47.05, Maudey put in that nickel herself.  We divied it up by five so we each got just under ten bucks.  

Barbs comes up to me and hands me a fiver “Trade ya for your five?”  

I give her five singles and see her $5 bill had a note on there 

‘Snow, msg me - 203-555-4766’ 

“Think your fan’s got a crush on you.”  Barb says, bumpin’ my leg with her boot. 

Chapter Text

  The equipment is all packed up in the supply closet and in the back room where we chill, so Barbie and I are having a smoke before we go to the bus.
"You gonna call him?"  She asks

"I'd need a cell phone, or a landline and I can't really afford either right now.  Maybe once we make more solid income, considering I doubt he'd want me as much if he knew how desperate we are."  I say. "Guy's real cute, don't get me wrong it's just datin' is kinda low on the priority list now."

"Reasonable."  Barb says, exhaling "Not to mention you're probably still sore about Billy."

"Nice try."  I say

"Oh c'mon, honey.  Who else are you gonna tell if not me?  It's not good to bottle shit up like that."  She insists "Sooner or later you're gonna need to purge the shit that happened between you and that twerp, and it'd better be with me so spill!"

I shift my weight between my left and right legs and stall before I can answer, cause I know she's right.

"Please?  I won't tell no one and we can make it fun."  She begs

I look up at her with raised brows and take a drag "Fun?"

"Yeah!  You love when I do your hair and fix ya up and shit, we can make a day of it.  I'll go over to your place, take all my beauty stuff with me and you can vent to me about that shithead 'till my ears bleed." She offers

"I mean..." I think "Fuck it, sure.  Might as well, we might even write some good shit outta that."

"There ya go!"  She exclaims with the cigarette hangin' outta her mouth and lookin' for something in her pants pockets

"I doubt you'll find anythin' in there" I tease, squishin my ciggy butt under my shoe "they're too damn tight."

"Shut up."  She mumbles "Here, said he wanted me to give this to you personally.  That this wasn't for you to share with nobody.  Why he thought I wouldn't just keep it for myself, I dunno."
She hands me a crisp fifty dollar bill

"Who did?"  I ask

"Snow, apparently the new president of your fan club."   She teases back

"Blondie?"

"That one. Again, maybe not the smartest considering I coulda just kept this, I would've if I didn't love ya so much." She says

"Well you have a very trust worthy face, he must be a good judge of character." I say, gently grabbin' her jaw and cooin'
She playfully shoves me hand off and we laugh

"Hell, what he lacks in wisdom he makes up for in bein' one hell of a good tipper."

"Yeah."

She checks in the door and says "C'mon, Maudey's fallen asleep inside."

"Well yeah it's" I pause to check my watch "nearly 3 am. Clerk and Tam took off cause they work in a few hours so it's up to us to find a bus to take us back to our neighborhood."

"They left? What do you 'bus'?" She asks

"Yeah, Billy told them we could find a ride so they could go. I figured we could find a ride back on the bus so I didn't say nothin'." I explain

"Lucy Gray, there are no bud routes active this late, or, this early!" Barb explains, throwing down her cig

"Fuck, I didn't- I'm sorry." I say panicking. It'd be one thing for us to be stranded but Maudey needs to go to school tomorrow. It's not even safe for her to stay here overnight.

"Where the fuck is Billy Taupe!?" She screams, barging inside with me trailing behind

The bartender points to the back and she stomps back there with the few remaining patrons staring at her. She throws open the door to the back and says "Billy!"

He's makin out with some redheaded girl on the couch not even five feet from where little Maude Ivory is resting her head. Thank god she's a heavy sleeper. He detaches his face from hers and looks up at us annoyed "What? Can't you two see I'm busy."

"Hey dollface," she says sarcastically at the girl under him "I need to beat the shit outta my cousin. Would you mind makin' yourself scarce?"

She drunkenly drags herself out from under him and stumbles out.

"Sorry!" I call out to Red

"What do you two want- AH!" He screams as Barb Azure pours the girls mostly ice water drink down the back of his shirt "What the fuck?!" He screams

"You shut your stupid mouth! If your humpin' didn't wake Maudey, your screechin' will." She scolds

"Please she sleeps like the dead and now doesn't have to worry about gettin' pneumonia. Why the fuck is your problem?!" He sneers

"Why the fuck did you tell Tam and Clerk to go home?!" She asks accusingly

"Cause they have work tomorrow! We could catch a bus and get home! They're not our chauffeurs ya know!"

"What fuckin' buses, Billy?! There are no buses that take our routes at this fuckin' time! Maudey has school in four hours and Lucy needs to get to her new job! What the hell are we supposed to do?! Hitchhike?!"

"Well, sure! Why not?!" He retorts

"Maybe 'cause we don't wanna get raped tonight?" I say

"Leave it to you to be dramatic." He says rolling his eyes
We hear a knock at the door and Mr.Bell says "Ms.Lucy?"

I go to answer the door and he says "Someone's real eager to talk to you."  and gestures towards Blondie at the end of the hall, lookin off in another direction.
"Says he can be of some assistance, I told him of your situation.  Your rather *loud* situation."

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I know you got a tenant upstairs, I'll tell 'em to pipe down."  I say

"I'll do that, you talk to the gentleman."

He says, walking past me into the back room

I approach the guy, he's taller than I thought he'd be at first glance.  Must be 'least 6'0, 6'1?

"Hey."  I say, lookin up at him

"Hi!" He says "I'm Snow."

"That's your actual name?  That's cool."  I say

"Yeah, well, my last name."

"Well hi, Snow.  I'm Lucy Gray."  I say, givin' him my hand to shake

"That's a pretty name.  Well, listen" he starts shakin' my hand and leanin' towards me "I didn't mean to overhear but I think you guys need a ride home?"

"Uh yeah," I say, noticing he still hasn't let go of my hand "Our idiot drummer sent away the two guys who had cars and could take us home.  Guy thought we could take a bus."

"Well, I have a Jeep and I didn't drink.  I was supposed to be designated driver for my friends but one of them completely disappeared after some leggy blonde took him, and the other one I just can't find."

"Damn, that bad luck for them or good luck for us?"  I ask chucklin'

"That depends on if you can trust a stranger to give you guys a ride."  He answers, just as lightly with a smile that could stop a truck. "Look, I have three spots open if you want them.  Let me know."  He says, walk-in' back to the bar and takin' a seat.
I go back to the now much quieter back room and see Barbie with Maude Ivory on her lap and Billy nowhere to be found

"Where'd Billy go?"  I ask

"Off to find the little slut he was mackin' on when we found him."

"Well he'd better hope she can drive."

"For all our sakes, but who's to say."  She says shrugging and scared

"No, just his.  I think we'll be more than fine."  I whisper smirkin'

"Why?"  She asks

"Snow can drive us home."  I say

"You're new fan?  Sweet!  Wait," she says goin from giddy to worried "you sure this guy's not a creep?  We don't even know him?"

"Are all the guys we know all that swell?"  I ask, knowin they're really not

"Mmm, I guess we can take him up on the offer.  I hope we're not too out of his way."  She says reluctantly

"Hey this is up to you, we can try to look for another way but this guy is ready and willin'."  I say, ball's in her court

"No no, we can take it.  Maudey should be in her own bed."

"Great, I'll let him know."  I say before stopping and going back into the room and asking Barb to tell him instead. I head over to the bar after taking a bill he gave me and writing him a little note on it. At the bar where one of his friends is back, I see Barb chatting with them.

I walk up to ‘em and quietly stand next to Barb, probably lookin’ about as awkward as I feel…

Chapter Text

"But yeah, I guess he doesn't need to know we're leavin' with you." Barbie says to Blondie and the boy with "Plinth" on his name tag.

"Who 'he'?" I ask, standing next to her uncomfortably

"Bill. He's made his bed and somehow managed to sprinkle bed bugs in it too. He can make his own way. He seems confident he could anyhoo." She says, lookin down at me.

"Come, I parked my car out front." He says, leadin the way to the lot after pattin' his friend on the back as he wanders off.

"Um, we got a little girl with us. You sure that's alright with you?" I ask, making sure.

"Sure, Barb Azure says she's asleep. Don't see why that'd be an issue." He shrugs slightly, I notice his very clear, waspish accent. He's a city boy.

"Okay, Barb can you help me carry her?" I ask, leading the way to the back room where she's still curled up with her notebook.

"Do you guys need help?" He asks us "I can lift her."

"Uh, well," Before either of us could really answer, he gingerly takes Maude Ivory in his arms and steadily starts walking toward the front

Once he's far enough away Barb says "I don't love a stranger carryin' Maudey off."

"Maybe, but we're goin' home in his car so it can't be more dangerous than that." I ration as I start trailin' behind him, feelin Barbie behind me.

We settle into the car, Barb in the back with Maud, and me in the passenger seat. We give him some basic instructions on where to go and get on the highway. The silence is so awkward and tense I cut scoop it.

"Did I make you two uncomfortable? That wasn't my intention." He says, raising his eyebrows.

"No, it wasn't anything you did." Barb says, calm now that Maude Ivory's on her lap.

"Yeah, I think it's just that we're girls. Always a bit scary to go anywhere with a strange man." I say realizing that's insultin' "Not that you're strange." Nice save, idiot.

"Oh I understand, I was raised entirely by women." He says, reassurin' me.

"Your dad wunt' around?" Barb asks

"Uh, legally? Sure, on paper he was there." He answers, emphasizing the technicalities.

"Workaholic type or somethin'?" I ask, now turned completely to face him.

"Yeah, he was army. Family tradition, his dad was too before him, and his grandfather before him and so on and so forth. Now it's me. So no, he wasn't around very much unless he absolutely had to be." He explains

"So then who was?" I ask, beginning to trust him a bit more.

"My mom, my Grammy and my older cousin Tigris. Well, my mom was until a couple years ago, she’s sick."

"Aww, I'm sorry." Barb says, keeping it quiet for Maud

"Thank you." He says politely "She wouldve liked a lot of your songs." He says smiling sweetly

"Well don't you know how to flatter a girl." I say smiling at him.

"I try my best." He starts slowin as he noticed someone in front of him has as well "What's going on?" He mumbles to himself.

We stop and see a cruiser directing traffic onto a road that would lengthen our trip.

"On this road it'll take us another half an hour or so to get home."  Barb whines

"Not that you're not pleasant company," I say to Blondie "But Maude Ivory's got school in a few hours."

"Oh, probably not ideal for her to be getting a night's sleep in the back of a random guy's car?"  He asks understandingly

"Not exactly."  I say

"I'll try to speed a bit but I wouldn't wanna end up like that poor guy."  He yikes as he jets his chin out to point at the guy visibly bleedin' in the front seat of his now wrecked car.

"Ooh, that's gnarly." Barb cringes

Maudey moans slightly and asks "What happened to your momma?"

I shoot a look back at her

"Maude Ivory!" Barb chastises

"It's okay," he says "Around seven years ago some kids were playing with illegal fireworks, my mom tried to get them to stop and one of them was more dangerous than anyone had thought.  At the hospital they discovered she had cancer."

"Oh Jesus, I'm so sorry." I say surprised at the unusual circumstances.

"Thanks.  My family really pulled together though, we made it through."  He comforts me instead of me comforting him

"If only ours had."  Barb mumbles as she brushes Maudey's hair

"Something wrong?"  He asks

"No, just at least your mom is still around. As long as she’s alive there’s hope'."  I respond

"Well that's a very ominous thing to say, holy hell."  He responds laughing nervously

“Remember that time Billy kept using the word ‘ominous’ wrong? No one but Tam corrected him.” Barb recalls, giggling.

“That sounds a little mean.” Blondie comments

“Oh he deserves it.” I comfort

“‘Deserves’? As in continues to deserve? What’s he done?” He asks

“That’s a long list right there.” I say, memberin’ every shitty thing we’ve let slide…I’ve let slide.

“The first time we got a gig somewhere a couple years ago, he sold it as if he was the front man.” Barb lays one out

“He traded one of his brother’s prized possessions for a bottle of booze when he was twelve, can’t remember what it was. Just that Clerk was real upset about it for months.” I vocalize, recallin’ how dejected Clerky was after all that muck.

“Shit, he chased after Lucy Gray here for ages, finally got her to go steady with him only to backstab her for some richy bitch with a dumb name.” Barb imparts, touchin’ my shoulder

“She was a bitch but I don’t believe her name was all that dumb. It was just ‘May’.” I mumble

“Lu her name is Mayfair.” Barbie corrects

“Wait Mayfair? Seriously?”

“Yeah!”

“Actually my name’s not Lucy Gray, it’s Fall Festival.” I joke, getting a chuckle out of Blondie.

“Oof, should I keep from telling you my name? It’s not better.” He claims

“Can’t be worse than Mayfair, handsome.” I say, smiling at him

“I think it might be.” He says, turnin’ rosie.

“Try us.” Barb says, smilin’ too.

“Oh jeez…starting to regret bringing it up. It’s Coriolanus.”

Huh?

“Cornelius?” I ask, makin’ sure I misheard

“Nope! That would make more sense, it’s Coriolanus.”

“Holy shit man, did your folks lose a bet?” Barb Azure asks

“Barbie!” I chastise, shootin’ her a dirty look ‘fore turnin’ back to face him as he keeps carefully drivin’.“Cor-io-la-nus, can have a nice ring to it.”

“That would almost be believable as a compliment if you hadn’t just had a fit about ‘Mayfair’.” He says still smilin’

“That was mostly because she’s a terrible person.”

Chapter Text

Snow drops the girls off first then me. I thank him with a hug and tell him we have a regular gig there now so he can see me there anytime. If she's honest with herself, she hoped he did. She says good night and gets inside. It's'round four in the morning, I'm relieved Maudey will be good enough for school the next day.
I need to get some sleep myself for my shift at the restaurant tomorrow, fortunately it's in the afternoon. We have a solid thing going at The Ivy but there's still not enough to cover utilities and other expenses. Luckily rent isn't a problem, since my parents at least had the decency to leave me the house already paid off but property taxes are a bitch.  I'm saving up for a few things to help us promote ourselves.  A printer, a computer, a steady dial-up connection and a telephone, landline or cell.  Either way that alone will be like $30 bucks a month, so for now I'll just keep walking to the Internet cafe. Anything that could help us further our careers...

Waking up with my neck hurting, since I crashed on my mattress and knocked out. It's 10:09 am and my shift starts at 11:00, so breakfast and a shower are first on the agenda. The restaurant is fortunately a good 20 minute walk from my place so I head out at 10:30 just in case anything makes me late. The hiring manager is taking a chance on me since I'm only sixteen with no experience, so I want to make as good an impression as I can. The uniform is thankfully just black pants and a black t-shirt with an apron over it. I gets there, and start prepping my station. Cleaning the tables off in my section, I try to keep memorizing the items on the menu. It's not big but the owners and the head chef change some dishes sometimes. This is only my third shift on staff, and already the chicken piccata changed to a chicken parm for more "mass appeal."
No one but the manager is here yet, since I'm ten minutes early so I'm able to clean and set my section off quickly so I can take a seat and wait for patrons to come in. It's a weekday, but it's right before the lunch rush. So I'll be resting my feet for as long as I can. I made the mistake of standing around during the slow period only to get overrun later that night and ended up with blisters and horrible arch pain.
Not a full ten minutes later the first two parties show up and get seated one in my section and one in another. I greet my guests, two office workers, once the host seats them.
"So that'll be a lobster ravioli for you and a lasagne for you?"  I ask each as they nod and I run to get that order in.

At the counter I submit the order and my boss Reaper gets my attention
"Lucy Gray, could you stock the subkitchen?  Coral unloaded the new supplies last night."

"Sure thing.  It's pretty slow anyway."

I go back to the SK and don't see any new cases, I see some already open ones with dry supplies inside but no dairy, no meats or even fresh vegetables.

"Hey, Reap?" I call out, looking though to check if I've missed something

"Yeah?" He comes to the door frame

"Where are the fresh boxes?" I ask confused

"They're not here?" He asks, starting to look through with me.

"No, not that I can find. Are you sure someone else didn't stock them yesterday or somethin'?"

"Positive. Wait here for a sec." He says and heads out

I keep looking and even open the back door to check if they were left out and what do you know...there they are.

"Reaper, I found them. You're not gonna like this." I call inside knowing he'll hear me

I touch to check if they were at least just dropped off but no, they were left here last night.

He shoots out the door and sees what I'm referring to as I'm kneeled down next to the meat boxes. They haven't started to drink too bad yet but they're off. No way to sell these.

"Fuck! This is $1,500.00 worth of food!" He exclaims

"Who was working last night?" I ask, knowing we're all fucked now for the next few days.

"Fucking Coral. She was supposed to lug them into the fridge and left early before she did it. All she had to do was fucking wait until the shipment got here."

"So what do we do now?"

"I'm gonna make another couple of orders but without the fresh supply we can't continue and it'll take a few days for the orders to arrive.  You can keep working this shift of course but we're so low on so many ingredients we'd have to 86 most of the menu.  We've already cut four.  Our menu only has 18 items, and that's including deserts."  I can see he's really losing his cool right now, and I don't blame them.  Coral is known as a fuck up, even to me and I just started.  Never even had a legal job before and already she grinds my gears with her bullshit

"Why does she still work here?  She's kind of a hazard."  I ask

"Her fuckin' uncle owns the place.  All of her mishaps automatically get blamed on other people.  Watch!"  He exclaims "I'll tell him about this and it'll become 'well shit Reaper, why didn't you make sure she did it before she left?"  Gah-ly!  I can't STAND her ass, man..." he slams back inside with me following

"Okay, I'll try to put that shit back there in the bins."
Trying my hardest to show I'm valuable.  Last thing I need is to lose this job.

The washing machine and dryer finally gave out last week and we've been needing to go to the laundromat by the corner store.  Which means lugging our laundry out to the bus stop, unless by some miracle we get Tammy or CC to give us a lift, gather coins for the load and bus fair, make sure it's enough coins in case one of the machines don't work and you have to use a different one, load all that back into the stuffy, lug it back into the bus/car and lug it inside to fold. If there’s no food to serve, that means no servers are necessary. If no servers are necessary, there goes my steady income.

As I’m picking up one of my heavier boxes to throw, someone comes up in front of me and helps me.

“Oh, hey Jess.” I say to Jessup as he helps me throw out that rotted box

“Hey Lu. What’s going on? Reaper looks like he could kill someone.”

“Coral left all this shit out overnight and now it’s all unsellable. This is thousands of dollars down the drain and the owner is gonna blame it all on everyone but Coral so…he’s in a mood, as am I. I’m just better at hidin’ it.”

“Ah shit, you for real?”

I nod, irritated but knowing he understands

“Think he’ll cut back our hours?”

“Probably, Coral won’t have to worry though, thank fuckin god.” I spit sarcastically

Chapter Text

"I am not being creepy, she just looks like someone I wanna buy a wedding ring for." Snow explained to Sej while pacing their room "She's  just pretty and interesting and sings really well and I want her to have my babies.  That's not weird, that's nature.  Blame God."

Sejanus chortles "Man you meet this girl one time, give her a drive home and you dump Livia, your parents' insurance for all intents and purposes for both you and Rosie's Harvard admissions, and you don't even know her last name.  That's insane, I'm not blaming God, I'm blaming your folks."

He felt he probably shouldn't mention his investigation of her background, especially since his new passion and impulsiveness affected his little sister. "Her last name is Baird, for now anyway."

"Oh 'for now' because it's gonna be Snow soon?" He asks mockingly, rubbing his hand on his head, shaved like his and all theirs have to be.

Snow looks over at his cot "Exactly." with no humor in his tone. "She's making me wanna live longer, now I have to worry about shit like melanoma and getting check-ups."

"Jesus Christ, you're fully serious about this."  Sejanus mumbles surprised "Although she smokes so maybe you don't need to stress about your health too much."

"Yes, man!  Damn! And I'll get her to quit, she just smokes because of how stressed out she always is." He puts his hands interlaced behind his head "She's making me think about shit like buying a farm in the middle of nowhere because people are the worst and starting a family with her.  I want her away from car exhaust and the general public and have her drinking only the best water." He says, now that he's finally getting it. "Actually forget a farm, I want a compound, with a moat. This city's poison. She should be surrounded by animals and our children, and I don't mean rats and feral raccoons I mean like chickens and shit. I want a dog, and she does too, but I want one to help me heard sheep." He confesses before begrudgingly adding "I was supposed to go out in a blaze of glory and now I have to live to make sure I can still shovel snow for her when I'm 85 or something."

"Okay, careful now." Sej warns "I don't want you making a little baby with her and end up derailing all your plans, and her's too for all you know. That can be plan B."

"Plan B is I make more money and make more children with her, that's my plan B."

"And plan C?"

"EVEN. MORE. MONEY." Snow yells

"Welp," Sej says, fully laughing out loud at his agitation now "I wasn't exactly a super big fan of Livia's anyway and this new girl seems cool so I'm on board.  Let me know if there's any shit I can help you with. Except agriculture, I don't like her that much and I hate gardening." He gets off the bed and heads to the bathroom, still chuckling at his best friend's declaration that made him sound a little manic. He's never had a crush before, so he can see how having his first one at eighteen might feel overwhelming.

Once alone, Snow takes his notes out of the book he was hiding them in.  He was going to look over them before Sejanus barged into their barrack. So far he's figured out not only where she lives, for obvious reasons, but also her full name, her family members who live with her, how she lives, where she went to school, where she works besides The Ivy, and her birthday. It saddened him, how difficult her life was. She was practically a mother to her little cousin Maude, her parents are no where to be found, nor theirs, or anyone's really. Most of the other older kids help her, except for the one named Billy Taupe. He seems to only make more struggle for them all. Snow'll manage to get rid of him, in time.

For now, all he has to focus on is showing his Lucy Gray how much easier he can make her life. She doesn't deserve to be stuck in a place that limits her from her potential like where she is now. Working in a mediocre restaurant to make ends meet, with how talented and smart he's witnessed she is, it's tragic. It's not her fault her parents were incompetent and poor.  He can't just witness someone like her trapped by her circumstances and not try to get her out.   She has a performance tonight, he can go "have lunch" at the restaurant she works at, then offer her and the rest a ride.  Except for that Billy kid, he can fair for himself.  Of course, he'll have to eat before he goes, the food at that place is borderline inedible.

He anxiously knocks on the bathroom door, "Sej?"

"Yeah?" He hears from behind the door

"Wanna go to a show of theirs tonight?  We don't have anything to do for these next two days anyway."  Snow offers, it would look less suspicious if he wasn't alone.

"Sure, sounds fun." Sej says "Can I finish shitting now?"

********

"She shouldn't be working here." Snow mutters uncomfortably "The table is sticky and the food looks cold and burned at the same time."

"Why did you want to come here first anyway?" Sejanus asks "You ate already.  I'm a garbage disposal but you're so picky, I can't believe you'd even set foot in here."

"How else was I going to offer her a ride to her gig tonight?"

"You're gonna offer her a ride?" Sej asks still reading the menu Lucy Gray gave them.

"Yeah, how else would I get closer to her?"

"Maybe asking her out like a normal person?" He sarcastically suggests

"She's too busy to start dating the traditional way." Snow explains looking over at her, looking cute in her waitress's uniform "I have to make it clear I know her life is complicated and difficult, that I'd make it easier on her and one way to show her is giving her rides."

Sej looks at Snow over the menu and asks "How do you know her life is all that?  You had one car ride with her that was what, 30 minutes? And you had two other girls in there with you, it couldn't have been a heart to heart or anything."

Snow silently glares at the table, not looking up at Sejanus, feeling caught.

"...Dude, have you been stalking her?"

"Shut up, it's not stalking."

"Oh my god, you totally are."

"Shh!"  He says angrily, with Lucy Gray approaching

"Alrighty, you two decide on anything yet?" She says smiling down at the both of them

"I'll just have a water for now, please."  Snow says

"Same for me, thanks."

She dutifully turns around to get those for them, leaving the boys to discuss amongst themselves the semantics of his sleuthing.

"It's not stalking, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to approach her.  I got pretty quickly that she wouldn't be open to dating at all during that car ride, at least not because I asked her to something lame like the movies or something." He explained himself

"Okay so becoming Mr.Fix-It will do the trick instead?"  Sej asks, raising his brows.

"Maybe?  We'll have to see.  Lucy Gray is pretty much on her own."  Snow says, grabbing the menu "It makes sense she'd have trust issues. She basically mother's Maude and Barbie is the only one that helps her really."

"Aww man, that fuckin sucks.  Where are their parents?"

"Who knows.." he says sadly

It genuinely upsets him that a person as special as his Lucy Gray has been left to fend for herself from such a young age, not even a legal adult and she has so many responsibilities.

She then appears with their waters "Y'all need anymore time to find what you want?"

"I think I'll just have the Caesar salad." Snow says, figuring it's better to ask for things that don't need to be cooked.

"I'll have the lasagne." Sejanus says, smirking when he looks at Snow, knowing it just turned his stomach.

"Okay, we'll have those out in a jif." She turns around to put in their orders.

"She's really nice." Sej says "Then again she is working for tips though.  But I'm sure she's also just usually nice."

"I want her to meet my parents soon."

"Terrible idea, your parents are like the most uptight people I've ever met, even more than you." Sej says

"Even my mom?" Snow asks

"Well okay I really just meant your dad, but still.  Lucy Gray is a poor orphan girl working two jobs, not going to school for anything, and taking care of children she didn't even have."

"So he'll see she's hardworking and not afraid of challenges."

"And a total liability to the plans he's made for your future." Sej says, bursting Snow's bubble.  "I know she's got you sprung and everything dude, but your folks aren't going to react well to you dumping Livia.  To find out that you dumped Livia because you met this girl with very few prospects would only make him hate the Lucy more than he already would."

"My mom would like her."

"Absolutely, but that doesn't mean she'd want her with you.  She might not judge her but your mom didn't marry your dad because he was such a sweet, understanding guy.  Your mom played the game and played it well, as she should.  So she'll think that's what Lucy is doing, too."

"Are you calling my mother a golddigger?" Snow asks outraged

"No, I'm calling her smart."  Sej says "Your mom wanted to make sure her children had a good, safe home and could ask for nothing.  She ensured that when she married Crassus, but she didn't marry him out of love.  Anyone could see that, you know it too."

Snow couldn't argue this.  Everyone could see his father parades around his mother like a trophy, the dutiful wife that gave him two perfect kids, a boy and a girl, keeps a great house and stays fit doing it. Or did, before anyway.  Everyone could also see how she bites her tongue constantly, avoids speaking to anyone associated with her husband, be that family, work or friends, what few he has, and only speaks to her children and the family she was born into.  Apparently, on occasion Sejanus.  Sensibly so, he's another son to her, almost competing with Danila Plinth.

"Maybe that's actually why you dumped Livia."  Sej suggests

"What?"

"You saw your parents and decided that wasn't going to be you.  Then instead you gravitated towards a girl the most unlike what your parents would choose for you." He says, shrugging.  "You've never done anything that impulsive before.  I've seen you deliberating on what socks to get at commissary, and they're all basically the same.  Maybe this wasn't even really a decision you took, but something more.  Something instinctive."

There was more merit in what his friend was saying than he'd care to admit.

She came back with his salad, looking better than he’d expected it to look, and set it down in front of his face, wafting some of her scent over to him and causing him to inhale the wild rose and ripe peach smell deeply.

“And here is your lasagne.” She says “If y’all need anything more, let me know.”

She walks off, with Snow looking at her longingly as she does.

“You’re drooling.” Sej says jocularly

“Shut up and eat your plate of dog food.” Snow snaps

They lunch in mostly silence, partly because Snow is thinking over what they discussed and partly because Sejanus doesn’t talk while he eats. The meal goes by quicker than he would’ve liked. It’s far too early for them to logically stay until it’s time for her next job. So he ordered another meal, this time a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, since it seemed unlikely they could mess that up.

“You’re actually going to eat that?” Sej asks

“I’ll eat what I can stomach then put most of it in napkins and go to the bathroom to flush them when she’s not looking.”

“Hey how do you know she’s going to stay here until she needs a ride? When does her shift end?” He asks

Snow pauses at this

“…Did you not think about that?”

“…”

Chapter Text

Snow feels his friend's eyes on the back of his head while he's doing research.
"What?" He asks, not looking away from his screen

"I just forget mental illness runs in your family sometimes, until you remind me by doing shit like this."

"Preparing for a date isn't crazy." He says, scrolling Lucy Gray's MySpace.  Really, her band's.

"At least she's actually talented and not just a pretty face you can't get outta your head." Sej says, tossing a stress ball up and catching it while he lays in his cot.  "Livia was never someone you obsessed over but she did project 'space cadet', even as salutatorian."

Snow doesn't bother answering this, he focuses on the grainy picture taken on someone's digital camera from one of their performances.

"Are you gonna keep giving them rides?"

The real question was obvious, 'Can you afford the gas to keep giving her free rides that go out of your way by a lot?'

"If she needs me to. I'm not just gonna leave her without options."

"How did she get around before?"

"She didn't do so easily, she waited around for the bus or one of her bandmates with a car would give them a lift.  I don't like the thought of her on the bus, someone could steal things from her or worse."

Snow doesn't need to elaborate on what could be worse, Sej knows good and well what he means.  As sweet as it seems that he's worried about her well being, he's also not blind to the possession already in his tone for a girl he still barely knows.

Anxious hours pass and it's finally time for the ride. Sejanus stays back this time because he just frankly manages his time too well to always be Snow's sidekick, and Snow's glad for that tonight as he's hoping to get more alone time with Lucy Gray. He got there early, too antsy to wait as long as he should've but they seemed grateful for that.

"You're a real lifesaver, man." Barb thanks as she's putting the equipment in his trunk

"Yeah unless this is all just a rouse to get us to load all our stuff into his car so he can drive off with them." Lucy Gray jokes

Snow plays it cool and jokes back "Oh yeah I mean I could hawk all this and get like 3, 4 whole dollars."

The joke earns him a cackle from Lucy Gray and an indignant "Hey!" from Barb Azure

"It took us ages to save up for all this shit, don't knock it I'm so insecure about it but it's all we got."

"We got it at Goodwill and places like that," Lucy Gray explains "I would've liked Guitar Center of course but we can't afford to be picky."

'I'm sure they can't afford a lot of things.' He thinks bitterly
"Well we all have to start somewhere, this is nothing to be ashamed of." He says looking down her and hearing Barb clearing her throat behind him, so he amends "Despite my joke that was not meant to actually offend."

Lucy Gray's giggles trail off until she's in the front passenger seat and he finishes loading the last of the stuff and getting in the driver's seat. The ride goes by pleasantly, Barb Azure staying mostly silent in the backseat.

'Can never complain about company if they're just quiet.' He thinks

Meanwhile the conversation with Lucy Gray in the front is so sparkling he wonders if Barb was staying to herself on purpose.

"What's your hair look like when you grow it out?" She asked, suddenly stroking her fingers over his buzzcut distracting him from the road for a second.

"Um, it's curly and blond." He says trying to recover and not make how he reacts to her touch too obvious.

"Well the blond part I figured out already."

"We have to have it buzzed for now, but that should ease up once AIT's done."  He explains further.

"Can't wait to see." She says glibly.

'So she wants me around at least for long enough to see me hair come back.' He thinks to himself giddily

They continued to chat throughout the ride, never a single dull moment.

"In Cain's defense, he didn't know what would happen when he killed Abel. No one had ever committed fratricide before." Snow says nearing the end of the commute

"Yeah cause there was only like four fuckin' people alive!" Lucy Gray yells back playfully "'I didn't know I'd get bad consequences' doesn't count as an excuse.  He'd gotten hurt before, he knew it wasn't nice."

"It wasn't nice, there's an understatement." He quips

"I thought you were on his side." She retorts, smiling brightly

"Eh, just trying to keep you on your toes."

They get to The Ivy and Tam, Clerk and Billy Taupe see them all coming out of the jeep, with the solider being as gentlemanly as ever and getting all the heavy items out for the girls before they could even try to do so themselves.

"Who's the Prince Charming?" Billy asks, taking a hit from his joint and passing it to his little brother.

"Not now, maybe after the show." Clerk says "I think his name's Cory?  I'm not sure."

"Barb's taking to playing for the right team all of a sudden?"

"Nah man, that's Lu's new guy." Clerk says, leaving the conversation to go help them instead of standing around like a moron.

"Bill," Tam says, knowing exactly what's going through his head “don’t start shit.”

Chapter Text

  It didn't take long for Billy Taupe to act like the primitive creature he is, puffing his chest out and practically beating it like a gorilla as if he still had some claim to Lucy Gray. That was fine, convenient even. Lucy Gray clearly needs support, to be backed up in moments where attacks like this approach. This is a great opportunity to show her how different I am to this little boy she wasted her time on. Billy Taupe was a 'maybe'. An unfortunate mistake of her past, that thankfully she was able to grow past. A possibility that she was able to escape and see for what it was, a trap keeping her stuck in a place that wouldn't have let her reach her full potential. I, Coriolanus was no 'maybe', I am the one, as was she. I'd paid close attention to what she needed, wanted, strived for. My mother and Tigris had both raised me to be very considerate of women and think about their needs, I was so unlike other boys growing up I could hardly make a friend. Even Sejanus felt juvenile at times. Now, I was unlike other men. Only thinking of their wants, not paying any mind to what could make the women they want happy. As annoying as it was so feel so alien in comparison to other men, this would actually serve in my favor.

"You ladies got yourselves a chauffeur service and can't be bothered to share it with the rest of the band?" Billy Taupe asks rhetorically, and as entitled as he usually is.

"Billy, if you can spell 'chauffeur', I'll get you the 'service'." Barbie says, waiting for his reply.

I, Lucy Gray and Barb all look at him expectantly

"....S-H-"

"Billy Taupe, shut up and make yourself useful.  Help us get the equipment out, we need to practice the set before we go on." Lucy mercifully interrupts his mistake "We can't have another fuck up."

"Can't Goldilocks here do that?  He seems awful eager to help you." He retorts arrogantly

I waste no time in doing exactly that and taking the largest, heaviest piece I can and walking towards the back door of the club.

"If you're too weak to help, you can just say that Bil." Tam says from behind him, walking up to do his part.

Everyone giggles and Billy Taupe rolls his eyes, not moving from where he stands, or leans against rather. I come back to get more out of the car when he finally speaks directly to me.

"What's your game here?" Billy Taupe decides to put all his weight on the item I was picking up to stop me, but it didn't work.  I'm fresh out of training, in the best shape I'd ever been in.  The ego boost didn't go unnoticed by either guy.

"No game, just want to help." I shove passed Billy just enough to send a message but not enough that anyone would be upset by it, except for Billy Taupe of course.

"All for a shot with Lucy Gray?" He asks, smirking like he knows something I don't.

I don't respond, just keep loading things into the club.

"She won't be worth the chase, you know." He adds "She's all tease and no follow-through if you catch my drift, bro."

"I think we have different reasons for why we do what we do." I reply as neutrally as I can.

'*Bro,*' I think 'you greasy haired fuck.'  I wouldn't be at all testy if I was looking my usual best, but the army requires a shaved head.  So one of my best assets, my hair, isn't on display now.

"Oh yeah?  You doing all this for the girls cause you're just such a good samaritan?"

"Just saw a girl who could use a hand one night and got to talking, now we're friends.  That's all." I say
Which is true.  Regardless of my current feelings for her, we are still just friends.  I'm friends with Barbie and even Maudie now, there's nothing wrong with that.  Those people are of importance to Lucy Gray, the smart, kind thing to do is befriend them too.  Just good forethought.

"Oh but a hand's not all you wanna give her." Billy adds smirking

'What kind of a name is *Billy*' I think 'What are you, eight?  What legal adult still chooses to go by *Billy*?'

"I'm not getting ahead of myself, we barely know each other and she seems like she's got enough going on without the stress of dating."

"Good plan," Billy Taupe says "I mean I've known the bitch since we were in diapers and she still strung me along for ages all for nothing.  Smart of you not to get your hopes up."

Self restraint is fortunately something I was also raised to develop, the primary reason why I don't beat this shit-for-brains bloody for talking about you like this to a virtual stranger.  Makes me think what else could he have been saying behind your back.  Awful things, unthinkable things trying to ruin people's image of you before they even know you and while I'm not stupid enough to buy it there can be countless others who do.  If they don't care enough to think about it, or are genuinely unconcerned with the prospect of defaming a rising star struggling to make a name for herself.  I don't subscribe to the idea that all publicity is good publicity, not when you're at risk.

"Trust me, you shouldn't stress about her.  Rich, cool guy like you, can definitely do better."  Billy says, patting my back roughly.

'Is he flirting with me or trying to get me off his ex-girlfriend's scent?' I lift up the last of the large parts and walk off, trying to shake off the feel of his hand on my back when I walk into Barb.

"Here" she says, helping me put the part where it belongs, apparently a part of that asshole's own drum set that he'd left at their place "Let's get a drink at the corner store."

"Oh, I'm not thirsty." I say, not wanting to give Barb Azure or anyone else the wrong impression for that matter.  Going with a girl to a separate location alone couldn't get me very far when that girl's not the one I want.

"I think you are," she says, no flirtation in her voice but rather severity.

"Okay, is everything set up right?" I ask

"Yeah, it's all fine.  Let's go."

The walk there it's short but awkward and quiet.  We got there and sat at the little counter and I waited while she got gum, menthols and a coke.

"You're not gonna get anything?"  She asks

"I figured I'd get something for Lucy Gray."

'Preferably something that won't further damage her like cigarettes, sugar-filled sodas and tooth-rotting gum.' I think, though I know I shouldn't be judgemental.  We all have our ways of coping with stress but I wish she just had healthier ways of doing so.

"She drinks Mountain Dew like it's water." Barb says, making me cringe. "But given that look I'd say you'd probably rather get her an herbal tea or something."

"Wouldn't that be better for her?" I say "Like for her voice, I mean.  I wouldn't want her to hurt it."

"Really?" She asks "You worried about her getting hurt?"

I don't answer, feeling like I've been baited into a trap.

"Cat got your tongue?" She looks down at her stuff sadly "I'm usually the one who's not much for talking."

"Did I do something?" I ask

"Not you, Billy Taupe.  I overheard what he said to you."

Oh shit, did he make me look bad?  Should I have followed my instincts and kicked the shit out of him?  Or should I have just ignored him to show how beneath me that conversation even was?

"Just so you know, he's full of shit." She says

"I didn't pay it much mind honestly.  I gathered there was a lot going on there and I didn't really wanna touch it."
'Yes, okay.  Thank god.' I inhale a breath to myself I didn't realize I wasn't taking.

"Yeah, you can say that." Barbie scoffs

I reach to get a bottle of the soda she mentioned and go to the coffee station, and thankfully I found tea there.  I make her a cup of vaguely labeled tea and take some sugar packets with me to the cash register.  She and I walk out and she lights up.

"Wanna bum one?"

"No thanks, I'm still in training.  Smoking isn't great for my lungs, last time I did it I couldn't run the same for days."

"Damn, I forget you're army sometimes."  She inhales her drag and pauses before saying the rest.  "All of us have known each other since we were born, even before then.  All our parents were old friends and our grandparents were too.  We all grew up in the same neighborhood, so we're close.  Or at least we were."

"I'm guessing Billy Taupe changed that?"

"Not on purpose, but yeah." She takes a swig of her coke "Puberty changes shit, we just didn't expect his to get a whole new personality.  We was a sweet little boy then he hit twelve and it was like he was trying to see how big of a jackass he could become overnight."

I witnessed that myself with many of my classmates growing up, I can relate.  "Yeah middle school is a weird time."

"Hmm, weird I could deal with.  We all could, but this was something else.  By the time he was a sophomore he was stealing from other houses with some rich assholes we went to school with.  If he'd been stealing food or something necessary we'd all have gotten it but they all took dumb shit.  CDs, a waffle iron, even some girl's panties one time.  The only thing that got him to stop was when they all got caught and immediately narcked on him.  Obviously the poor kid is who got them all involved, those little angels would never do anything like that without a bad influence." She says rolling her eyes "He says it wasn't his idea and we think that's true considering he'd never done that with us but who's to say.  Anyway, even after he stopped hanging out with them he'd caught their...habits."

"He kept stealing?"

"No, but other things.  He'd act like everything we did was lame until he needed something from us or he'd shit on Lucy Gray's cooking or be really mean to the kids for no reason.  Like what kind of a sixteen year old yanks a little girl's hair and insults her?" She rhetorates "Point is he'd changed for the worse and even though his little friends ditched him the bad parts stayed.  We thought he was getting better and then he started really going after Lucy Gray."

Oh boy, this story...Let me guess, he played the redeemed bad boy until he didn't get what he wanted.  Typical.

"He was going to school, coming home, sleeping there, even helping out when needed.  Like really helping.  We thought our brother had come back.  When Lucy Gray decided to take him seriously and give him a chance, we thought that would seal the deal and she'd have him on the right track.  Got the band started, posted online, got some buzz and it was good for a while.  Then a little fan appeared."

Oh please don't tell me he buckled at the first sign that he might get some strange...

"She was the first of a few.  When it all came out we all knew what he'd done he tried to blame Lucy Gray."

"How'd he try to do that?" I ask

"Fumbling, like most cheating assholes do when they're caught." She takes another drag "At first he blamed her for not letting him fuck her, then he turned it around it it being about how she's stringing him along without giving him any reason to stick around, then it became about her being too flirty with other people which is horseshit but at that point it didn't matter.  It was a huge blow up and he'd started talking anyone's ear off who would listen about her.  I guess he got to you now."

"Got to me?" I ask "I didn't buy a word he said, for a guy who fucked everything up to get some ass he sounds like an insecure virgin."

This makes Barb Azure spit up a little soda and choke on her laugh.  I laugh along with her, glad to know she doesn't hold anything against me.

"Oh that's great," she sighs "That was good, ha ha."

"Glad to amuse."

"Listen I didn't talk your ear off about this for no reason, I just worry."

"Something wrong?"

"I don't mean to be all 'what are your intentions with my daughter' or whatever, but seriously what do you want with Lucy Gray?" She asks directly "I'm sure you're nice and all but Lucy Gray doesn't have much to offer, at least not in terms of time or anything else really and I don't want you to think she's just using you for convenience."

Maybe I'm okay with her using me for now, if it keeps me close to her.  But that's probably not what Barbie wants to hear, and I don't blame her.  A little too intense for someone who they've just met and know almost nothing about…

Chapter Text

Finding a soda and a warm tea waiting for her wasn't something Lu anticipated, but she fully appreciated it. Especially when the delivery man for that was this cute.

"These for me?" She asks giddily

"That's right." He smiles down at her, handing her the drinks. "I know you're more of a soda fiend but I thought the tea would be good for your throat."

"Well aren't you sweet," she says "that's so thoughtful."

"It's nothing, I just don't wanna be disappointed for the show tonight." He raises an eyebrow

She gasps playfully and shoves his shoulder a little "How dare you? I never deliver anything less than my best on that stage!"

"That's true," he agrees still smiling in a way he only catches himself doing around her "I suppose you're not what would wreck anything."

He looks past her and she follows his line of sight to where Billy Taupe stands, hovering over some girls already wavering in a stupor.

"Is he already drunk?" He asks

"Wouldn't surprise me, he says it calms his nerves before a show to have a drink but I think he follows that with two, three, four more of those before we even go on." Lucy Gray explains, rolling her eyes and turning back around. "Man why don't I do that?  Act like a hot fuckin' mess, get drunk before a gig, throw my ass around like it's a god damn party favor."  Lucy spits bitterly

"That would seem unlike you," he starts and shrugs playfully "but then we only met a little while ago.."

"No but just imagine it, if I went around thinking I could make an ass outta myself and still have people who tolerate me." She gets huffy and drinks some of the soda. "Thanks again, by the way.  You're a peach."

"Don't mention it."

They both look at the guy, in fact making an ass out of himself as he swaps spit with some stranger.

"What did he say to you?" She asks in a small voice, scared of what'll be her answer.

"A huge load of bullshit," he answers coolly, "Don't worry about it, I didn't buy any of it."

"That bad, huh?" She looks down, picking at her fingernails.

"His little rant didn't exactly inspire confidence." He reassures, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. So gently that she thinks maybe she'd been misreading him. The gesture was so friendly it made her think maybe she wasn't the one he was interested in. "You don't strike me as the type to use people, or hurt their feelings for fun."

"Would you believe I'm not so attention deficient?" She quips, turning around to look up at him. "Thank you."

She takes the tea and opens it, blowing on the still steaming hot brown water. "I should really get into the habit of doing this, I know it's good for my throat but I can't seem to get into the rhythm.  Supposedly it takes 30 days of doing something consistently to build a habit but I can't even do anything that constantly for a week." She shakes her head.

He suspects this is due to how much she has on her plate to begin with. If one does too much, details are bound to slip through the cracks. But that's what he's here for, to make her life easier.

They go on stage and the night goes as well as anyone could expect if Billy Taupe doesn’t ruin Lucy Gray was singing more beautifully than ever since he stopped her from smoking that night and gave her that tea. After the show they had drinks, got paid and stayed to help close up. Well, most of them did. Billy characteristically left to god knows where with some girl none of them know to do something none of them care enough about to find out. Through chatting, Snow was able to ascertain some things about her daily schedule.

Every weekday morning at the asscrack of dawn, she wakes up. Much like himself, though she wakes up to wake up Maude Ivory for school. She makes their breakfast, checks her backpack, and sends her off to catch the school bus. She gets dressed and if she's lucky, picks up a noon-4 pm shift at that god awful, attempt at an Italian restaurant she works at to serve what they allege is food. If not then she finds some way to make her time into money, babysitting snot nosed kids for parents who maybe should’ve reconsidered mindlessly breeding, dog walking for her neighbors, and even playing her guitar and singing her songs in front of places like nearby grocery stores or malls with her guitar case open to collect donations. She was gritty, a hard worker. No one could say she isn't. Once Maudy was out of school, usually around 4, she gets back home and starts on their dinner. Usually something simple like pasta or soup. He makes a mental reminder to cook for her sometime soon. A steak, salmon, something nutritious. Girls apparently love a guy who can cook and if it gets her a healthier meal with more protein and vegetables then alfredo for the third time this week, all the better.

On weekends it's no lighter on the labor for her. According to Maudy, she wakes up just as early to make sure she does some kind of chore, be that changing the bedsheets, sweeping and mopping the floor, dusting, what have you and leaves a list of two or three chores for Maude Ivory to do before she can leave to see her neighborhood friends. She downs a large cup of coffee and leaves for her certain 8 hour shift on Saturday of 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and prays she makes good tips. On her lunch she tries to eat and write lyrics or melodies, if she's able to properly take her lunch. Then she races home to get ready for her set here at The Ivy with the band and catches the bus with Maude and Barbie if she can't catch a ride with one of the boys. Of course, that'll no longer be a problem for her, as Snow will make sure to make himself available to give her any kind of ride she'd want from him regardless of how Billy or anyone else might feel about that.

He stopped by her house one day he had the free time to, without Plinth with him since he didn’t need him murmuring in his ear about how this was too much and how he needs to cool it before he gets arrested. He took the liberty of looking up her address and property titles, still set to her parents Rhiannon and Olivier Baird. The property taxes aren’t so bad, to him. But he’s sure she’d have to work much harder and longer than he would for $780.00. Along with all the utilities, food, transportation, etc, it must be a nightmare. I’m sure she loves Maude Ivory and everything but taking care of another little girl when you only just stopped being one yourself is an enormous undertaking.

He watches her, zipping around getting everything together after coming home from work so that Maude has something to eat. But from what he heard, she was having dinner at a friend’s house. He’s not bothering her, just checking in. He likes to keep tabs on his loved ones, he does the same with Tigris and lucky that he did. If he hadn’t swung by, he wouldn’t have spotted Billy Taupe crawling into the house through Maude Ivory’s window.