Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The pen rolled against the wooden table until it hit Oliver's finger.

The man had been busy making concepts on the band, what their look should be, and their signature styles. The band wasn't official yet since they haven't made their way out to the public and it was only three days ago that they recruited a drummer.

He sighed and leaned his back against the chair.

Maybe he could get some inspiration by going out for a bit? He has been in the small office room for a while and Mr. Dickens was out to grab food.

Oliver got off of the chair and made his way out through the door.

Today wasn't so busy and it was still minutes away before his friends would visit for practice. So to kill time; he got downstairs and decided to explore a bit in the back room. 

If he had to be honest, he knew the ins and outs of this place since he was a curious guy. Maybe he could read a few books that his boss used to own or old Socks merchandise? Shrugging at the thought, he just looked around.

He ended up staring at a poster that was glued onto the wall with pride.

The colors of green, blue, pink, and white all splashed together to form recognizable color pallets for none other than the Punk Rock band called Socks.

Digital illustrated band members and a slash-like font that typed out the words.

Oliver always looked up to the band ever since he started listening to the genre, he remembered how Mr. Dickens always took the time to share all of his adventures with him. 

Good times.

He imagined how his recently found band could rise like Socks, maybe get their own poster plastered around the world.

An air horn was heard and he cursed.

"What the living sh-" he tripped over his own shoes and fell "-it!"

As he stumbled onto a few boxes, he could hear laughter ringing through the room.

His damned coworker just had to find a random air horn lying around and scare Oliver out of his daydream.

"Nico..." he groaned.

"Dude! Holy fuck! What kind of reaction was that?" Nico wheezed, having to hold their stomach "I've seen people either scream or swear but you're like? A messy mix of those two and I love it!"

"Yeah, laugh at the guy who would've died from a heart attack"

The pink-haired worker just scoffed, "c'mon, man. It wasn't that bad"

"Not that bad-? Oh, why I oughta-!"

The door opened to show Randy and Gingi.

"Saved by the bell again," Nico grinned "later pak!" 

They practically ran upstairs to change into their casual clothes and Oliver cursed at them before frowning.

Gingi scurried towards him and examined his current state with dilating pupils.

"Are you trying to be a box? Because you're doing it all wrong"

"Nope. I'm not trying to be a box, I'm trying to-" he brushed off a few items away and stood up with ease "-not kill my coworker in broad daylight"

"well," Randy removed his jacket and hung it over a mannequin "glad you didn't because I'd probably faint on spot"

"fair"

Oliver dusted off his pants before placing his hands on his own hips, "it'll only take a few more minutes before Karen shows up and-"

He was cut off by audible purring.

"Oooh? Pretty color poster" Gingi purred, inching their hand towards the Socks poster before being grabbed by the wrist.

"Claws off, Gingi!" Oliver warned, "it's sacred..."

They frowned and crossed their arms, "you're no fun"

Randy silently approached the two and eyed the poster. He had seen it multiple times during practice but never got the chance to ask its origins.

"What's Socks?" He asked.

Oliver didn't answer immediately but when he did, he let out a breathless chuckle.

"What? I'm sorry, did I hear you correctly? Did you just ask what Socks is? A famous Punk Rock band in their prime who made their way to Dialtown?"

"Uhm… yes-? I mean, we can change the subject if-"

"Oh, no need! I basically know everything about Socks by heart so get ready for a historical lesson"

Gingi groaned, "Oh my fucking god, I hate learning"

"Come on, Gingi! It'll only take like- what? An hour and a half!"

The cryptid turned to Randy, "can you do me a favor and knock me out? Cold?"

"No, hon…"

"Ah, drats"

Oliver cleared his throat for a bit.

_____

Karen entered the music store with a bag flung over her shoulder, she was busy with preparing some new plans to share with Oliver.

She saw that the inside of the shop was empty so she assumed the band was in the backroom.

Yesterday, she had asked Oliver if he could share his plans for the band with her so that they could work out a few things. Nothing big but mostly goals that can be reachable through small improvements. 

Opening the door, she wasn't met with music but mostly conversation. 

"-and that's why you should always bring spare underwear if you end up peeing yourself around a campfire- oh-!" Oliver stopped to see Karen.

There was silence.

"I… I swear there is proper context to what I just said-" 

"Actually!" Gingi cut Oliver off "there wasn't!"

Meanwhile, Randy looked like he had just heard the most gawking thing in his life. Which was true on his behalf.

Karen just blinked before sighing to herself that she has to deal with that kind of conversation throughout her time with this new band.

"Okay, besides what was just said; I wanted to talk to you, Oliver"

"Oh?"

Oliver and Karen had excused themselves to speak in Mr. Dickens's office since that's where Oliver had left out his ideas written on paper. The brown-haired woman eyed the papers with furrowed brows, reading the only non-scribbled words with a concerned look. 

"I was kinda having an idea block when trying to think of a band name. I was thinking of a fancy name like… wardrobe crash! Or sinking stone"

"I'm sorry- sinking stone? Are you serious?"

"Well, not really but if it's good enough-"

"No, Oliver. These suggestions are good but they're not… how do I say this? Band Material. I mean, Sink? You have to be joking"

"I thought Sink was cool"

"You thought Sink was cool?" 

The flannel-wearing man merely nodded and his friend just sighed in defeat, pinching the bridge of her own nose.

"This isn't- I- okay, calm down. We can work things out! I've made a chart on what we should do first, mostly small goals such as public recognition and keeping our equipment up to date. For financials, I can work on that but either way, your job is to pick a theme for the band"

"I'm doing my best, ma'am! I'm just experiencing idea block"

"Well… while you fight against idea blocks. I'll introduce the planning chart to the others, hopefully, that lizard thing doesn't try to swallow the chart"

"Come on Karen, we rehearsed this! Their name is Gingi"

"...hopefully, Gingi doesn't try to swallow the chart"

Oliver gave her two thumbs up and he received a scowl.

When Karen left, he flopped himself onto the office chair with a frown. Trying to force an idea out of his head was difficult, he wasn't the type to pull things out of his pocket and hope that it's good enough.

He palmed his chin and proceeded to write random words in Hope's that they're good enough to be considered a band's name.

Though, as time went by, he placed the pen aside with an annoyed expression.

"Curse writer's block…" he grumbled before standing up.

He wanted to check on the other's so he got out and went downstairs to hear bickering.

"-what the living fuck is a financial?" Gingi asked.

"I already told you what it is!"

"No, you didn't"

"Yes, I did!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes"

"Nope"

"Yes!"

While Karen and Gingi bicker, Randy had decided to distract himself by daydreaming. 

"Alright, what the hell is happening?" Oliver raised his voice, not too sure why but he suddenly felt responsible. 

"This-! Gingi keeps on asking unnecessary questions!"

"Asking business-related questions is necessary!"

"You literally asked if we could get a giraffe as a mascot!"

"I… so it's a no?"

"Oh my- somebody hold me back, I swear-"

Oliver immediately jumped into the conversation, "okay! Okay! Everybody calm down. We're all just… stuck with ideas at the moment"

"I'm not-" Randy muttered. He received a few looks and he looked slightly embarrassed. 

"Sorry…"

"Anyways," Oliver "we all need some time to clear our heads and what better way to do so is-"

The door swung open.

Mr. Dickens walked in with plastic bags in hand.

"Good day, chaps! Guess who bought Chinese takeout?"

_____

Everyone ate comfortably beside the lack of chairs and having to use a small folding table to place the containers.

Mr. Dickens knew that Oliver and his bandmates would be here so he bought more food.

"So, young chap," the English man turned to Oliver "how's progress?"

The youngest just scratched the back of his neck, "been slow but we're doing good! Just… experiencing a few idea blocks n' all that"

"Ah, I see"

Gingi suddenly burped out loud.

"Sorry-"

"Oh it's fine, uhm… Gingi, was it?"

They nodded at Mr. Dickens before continuing devouring their meal like a rabid animal.

"Where did you find such… exotic thing?" Mr. Dickens asked, referring to Gingi.

"Randy was the one who found them first," Karen explained after taking a sip of her drink "though, I'm guessing that they came from a zoo or an illegal laboratory"

"Hey! I'm not property!" Gingi argued, "I'm my kind and I walk freely on the gween!"

"Alright, alright-" Mr. Dickens spoke up to avoid an argument from breaking out "-no need to bicker while we're having our meals! It ruins the flavor"

They all continued to eat peacefully until Oliver decided to ask Mr. Dickens for some advice.

"What's the best way of finding a band name?"

"Why- glad you asked! My first suggestion is to take a quick stroll around town and find something that reminds you of your band. It was how I and my old bandmates found our own band name; Socks!"

Gingi blinked, "you named your band; Socks?"

"Baffling? Yes. But it was a mutual agreement after all"

"Music is weird, man…" 

"Why, that is true!"

Mr. Dickens placed his now empty container onto the wooden table, taking a few sips of his drink.

"Not only that, how we thought of it was hilarious. It started with my roommate, Adam, needing my help with cleaning his wardrobe. It was normal until we found a massive sock collection at the very back! His brother turned out to be some kind of sock collector and… we might have borrowed a few pairs for ourselves. It didn't take long for Gilaz to join in on the fun!"

He proceeded to laugh at the memory.

"We were all just foolish men at the time and when Adam's brother found out- oh, he almost pop the lid of his own skull!"

"What…?" Randy winced at the imagery.

"Not literally, good sir. He just yelled profanities and stormed off, leaving us with his entire sock collection. Wasn't too sure what to do with it so we hid it under the bed"

"So you named your band; Socks as an inside joke?" Karen added.

"That is correct, again, we were foolish men"

Oliver merely stared and thought hard on what Mr. Dickens just said. Then, he got an idea and stood up.

"Got it! Thank you so much, sir!"

"Oliver-?"

The flannel-wearing man chugged down his drink and placed it back onto the table.

"I'm gonna go find inspiration! Who wants to join me?"

No one raised their hand.

"Understandable, have a nice day"

Oliver, fueled with motivation, rushed out of the back room.

The rest of the group sat back, staring at where Oliver had left off.

"Well, someone had his coffee…" Randy mumbled. 

Mr. Dickens chuckled to himself, "he's an energetic lad. Always off to perfect his plans, even if it costs him so much"

Gingi tilted their head, "but why?"

"If you knew Oliver as I do then it wouldn't be too complicated. He's a passionate lad who wants to share his ideas with the world, he always believes that if he doesn't do something now then he won't be able to reach his dream"

"So he's constantly rushing progress?"

"Well, sometimes"

Gingi pursed their lips before resting their chin against their palm.

"Music is weird"

____

Inspiration seeking was like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Oliver strolled around, watching everything pass by slowly. The baby blue sky hovering over him and the tall building towering against one another, he enjoyed Dialtown but now he needed to find something to give him ideas.

His first thought was to go to the park but after hearing distant honking, he turned his heels and made sure to never step foot at the park again.

The second plan was to look at a few posters, maybe find a connection in naming things. Though, it ended with him finding a raccoon using a poster as an ass wipe. He cringed and averted his eyes away from whatever that was.

His options started to decrease and he found himself sitting on a bench, supporting his upper body with his arms.

"Why is it so hard to find inspiration in Dialtown? All I could find are used syringes and a raccoon show" he sighed to himself.

"Lookin' for inspiration, you say?"

He perked up to see a man around his age with a black v-collar shirt, a loose necklace with marbles attached to it, slightly dark blonde hair, and grey eyes.

"Well how do ya do, pardner?" He greeted with a grin.

Oliver just stared before greeting back with a small and hesitant wave.

"Heard ya' were lookin' for inspiration. Well, glad ya asked cause you just happened to stumble across Dialtown's top writer!"

"Dialtown's top writer? Wait a second… Mikey?"

"You betcha, pardner. In the flesh, as well!"

"Woah- man! I've heard lots about you! Never got a chance to read your newest books but-"

"You mean-" Mikey pulled out a book from the bag he was carrying "-this?"

He held up a book that had an edited cover of parasites, not well-illustrated but the title was an eye-catcher. Oliver silently held the book in his hands.

"Rad! Never thought I'd get one from the author himself"

Mikey chuckled at the comment, "pleasure doin' business! Now," he sat down beside the flannel-wearing man "what seems to be the problem here?"

"Huh? Oh! Right, the issue-" Oliver fiddled with his thumbs "-it's small but I was having trouble trying to find a proper name for a band I'm in. We just recruited our last band member three days ago and we still don't have a proper name"

Mikey hummed, "sounds like a real hustle to me"

"Yeah. A friend of mine says that my suggestions aren't quote-on-quote band material and that I needed to think of a better one"

"Don't let some pardner of yours turn your suggestions down!"

"One of them includes 'Sink'"

Mikey blinked, "okay, maybe they ain't too bad"

Oliver groaned in response, palming his face.

"This is the most simple task ever and somehow I can't even do it right"

"Hey hey hey, stop talkin' low about yourself. It ain't gonna get you nowhere if ya' mope like that"

"Yeah, I guess you're right"

Mikey leaned his back against the support of the bench.

"I ain't no professional in music bands but I know a lot about titles! Ya' just gotta focus on what hits home, the theme of the story, the punchline in the sentence; what makes it special from the rest"

The words that flew out of Mikey's mouth went into Oliver's head. He thought long and hard about it to the point his face seemed to tighten, though, the tension stopped when he concluded. 

Standing up, he turned to give Mikey a softer expression.

"Thanks, homeslice"

The author returned the honor with a smile, "no problem, pardner"

With that, Oliver left.

The day wasn't over and there was still time, he didn't want to rush things now since he felt like the pressure removed itself from his chest.

It wasn't a long walk anyway.

He managed to return to the Music Store and made his way to the backroom to hear Gingi playing the drums. The cryptid stopped playing when they noticed Oliver.

"Flannel man!" They greeted.

"Hey there, Gingi!"

Karen approached Oliver with her hands in her pockets, "so, how was the trip?"

"It was short but I didn't mind it, kinda refreshing actually"

His attention turned towards Randy who was holding a bass.

"Since you're back and we still have lots of time today- we can practice more… if it's alright" the bandaged man suggested.

"Stellar idea!"

Oliver quickly got his guitar, plucked in the speakers, and started a soundcheck.

"Alright, guys! just like yesterday," he said triumphantly.

"One two three four-!"

_____

Karen applauded towards the band with a big smile.

"That was amazing!" She cheered.

Oliver couldn't help but bow at the support, "why thank you!" He said with an English accent.

"Now that you're done with practice-" Randy added in as he placed his bass aside "-have you figured out the name for the band?"

"Yeah, Olive oil!" Gingi butted in.

Instead of a worried look; Oliver had a grin that was filled with confidence.

"I got one and trust me- it's a good one! A name that hits close to home and separates us from other bands;"

The others perked their heads up in anticipation. 

" Dial the Band! " The guitarist chimed.

The others seemed to be confused about the name, not too sure about it.

"Wait, does that mean we're just 'Dial' or 'Dial The Band'?" Gingi asked.

"It's just Dial the Band"

"Dial the Band the band? What kind of loophole have I entered…?"

"Why Dial the Band?" Randy asked.

"Well, have you ever heard of a band that originated from Dialtown?"

Oliver received multiple "no"s from the others.

"Right! We're literally the first band that originated from this underrated town! I mean, think about it? It makes a great headline for the public!"

"That's true" Karen admitted.

"It's a groovy and simple name! So… we agree on it or are there any other suggestions?"

"I was thinking of giraffe fuckers for a name" Gingi nonchalantly added.

They received weird looks.

"What? I tried!"

Oliver merely chuckled, "alright, so Dial the band it is?"

"Yeah- it's catchy!" Randy gave two thumbs up.

"I'll have to agree with Randy" Karen smirked.

"Eh, not so bad" Gingi shrugged.

It was official! Dial The Band was born.

Chapter Text

The audible struggling of a bassist can be heard from a distance.

"Randy, you're butchering it again-" Oliver said.

"No- wait-" Randy argued "-I'm hitting the right notes"

"You are going to cramp your fingers if you do it like that"

"No need for the lecture, I-" 

Randy tapped onto the wrong note.

"-don't got it," he frowned.

"You were doing fine for the last six seconds," Gingi added.

"Thanks, Gingi..."

An opened door caught the band's attention, Karen stood in her usual attire and carried a familiar black bag.

"Hey there, Karen!" The guitarist greeted.

Karen waved her hand as she placed her bag on top of a heavy box.

"How's practice?" She asked, opening her bag.

She received different answers from each member from a positive response to a baffling one. It was no surprise that the baffling one belonged to the cryptid holding a pair of drumsticks.

"It's mostly my fault," Randy added "I end up panicking and mess things up"

"Oh? Well, that means you need more practice" Karen insinuates.

The second tallest just nodded and leaned against a box that didn't shift from his weight.

"No need to be all gloomy, Randy! You'll do fine after a few tries!" Oliver assured.

"I know… but I- I don't want to hold everyone back because of my mistakes"

"Hey, homeslice. Don't spiral on me here. How about we take one from the top?"

"Again?"

"Sure!"

"... I guess I can try again-"

Randy picked up the bass and hung the strap around his shoulder, holding the item comfortably beside his bandages getting in the way sometimes.

Gingi tapped their drumsticks together and started to play.

They all took it from the top and managed to get halfway with ease, however, it was obvious that Randy was getting nervous as he commonly made mistakes at this part of the song.

When the part finally hit, he hitched his breath and started to tap his fingers against the thick cords. He was mostly conflicted in pressing his fingers on the right cords since his bandages tend to make it difficult, the notes were close which made it more challenging. 

But his challenge vanished when someone urgently slammed the door open.

"Oliver!"

Randy felt like his heart jumped which caused him to miss a note.

There stood Nico looking irritated as ever which led to Oliver asking if something happened.

"We got a code red; nostalgic music nerds are here"

The guitarist huffed and placed his guitar aside, "here we go again",

He excused himself and went out with his coworker to deal with the situation that seemed to be troublesome to those working in music stores.

"Are quote-on-quote nostalgic music nerds some kind of goblin species or…?" Gingi asked, scratching the back of their head with a single drumstick.

"They're kinda like a group of people who criticize music and act like they were born before the nineteen-eighties" Randy explained.

"Oh, wow"

"Since Oliver is busy with… whatever that was. I guess we're going to have to wait for him" Karen said, sitting down on an unoccupied box.

The rest nodded their heads and decided to do their own thing.

Randy felt like he still needed to nail a certain tune so he sat on the floor with his bass resting on his lap, the tune was easy but his accuracy in holding the right notes was still flawed 

Gingi seemed bored so they started snooping through recently opened boxes, finding albums and merchandise from old bands.

Karen approached the cryptid who had made themselves comfortable in an empty box.

"You think Oliver won't mind you sleeping in a box?" She asked with her arms crossed, raising a brow at them.

The cryptid responded without words; mostly purrs and a sleepy grumble.

"They look tired," Randy commented "I heard they were up all night chasing a raccoon… or a cat? I'm not too sure"

"Why would they be chasing a random animal?"

"Something about nectar? They weren't too correct in explaining"

The brown-haired woman just huffed and decided to just sit beside Randy who was busy practicing on hitting the right notes.

She noticed that he was visibly sweating and she gave a concerned look.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine- I just need to do this right"

"You're sweating a lot"

"...am I?" 

Randy placed the back of his bandaged hand against his exposed forehead.

"Aw, heck. I'm sorry"

"Yeah, maybe you should just stop for a minute or two? Your hands are also shaking"

The bandaged man decided to follow her suggestion and place the bass right beside him, letting the heavy thing rest against the box.

They expected the flannel-wearing man to come back by now but their expectations faded away as time went on, it was to the point they even snooped around to cure their boredom. 

A yawn came from the sleeping cryptid and they stretched their limbs out.

"What year is it?" They asked, rubbing their eyes tiredly.

"It's only been… what? Thirty minutes-? Yeah, it's only been thirty minutes"

"Aw, drats. I woke up too early again"

They shifted in the box and continued napping like a house cat.

Randy stared at the sleeping figure before turning his head towards Karen, "should we go out and check if Oliver's okay?"

"I can take a peek outside" Karen suggested and the bassist nodded.

She stood up from her crouching place and made her way to the door, opening it ajar to peek at what is happening. She could hear the bickering and a quick view of Oliver holding Nico back from causing chaos.

Seems like nostalgic music critics were a handful if you don't have much patience and historical knowledge on certain bands.

Karen quietly closed the door and gave Randy a shrug as a description.

Randy pursed his lips and stood up, wanting his blood circulating well without feeling like his legs had turned into sand-filled pillows again.

"At this rate, we won't be able to do practice," he sighed.

"That is true; it's almost time for you to go to work- right?"

"Mhm, got a call about more swans near the park again and I am seriously getting tired of being their daily chew toy"

"That problem is on you now"

Another few minutes passed and Randy had already left to do some work, it was only Karen and Gingi in the backroom. 

Oliver finally returned with a mix of exhaustion and relief painted on his face. The reason it really took almost an hour for him to deal with a group of critics is that his coworker just had the temper of a hungry tiger, he had to hold them back multiple times.

He did notice that Randy was gone which meant that practice was dismissed.

"Sorry if It took me a while to come back. Nico was being real-" he immediately bit his own tongue when he heard his coworker come into the backroom.

"Did someone say something?" they asked as they approached the stairs.

"Nope, probably the wind here" Oliver lied through gritted teeth.

Luckily, his coworker didn't suspect a thing and went upstairs to change their clothes.

Oliver finally exhaled and turned his attention towards Karen, "moving from the subject- I was wondering if you still had time to help me with the public recognition operation"

"My schedule for today isn't so full so I am don't mind sparing you a few more hours"

"Stellar! ...oh, what about Gingi?"

He pointed at the cryptid who was sleeping peacefully in a box.

"Maybe we should wake them up, leaving them here would be irresponsible"

Karen and Oliver merely glanced at each other to see if one of them would do the honors on poking the sleeping beast, luckily, Oliver gave in and approached Gingi.

Kneeling beside the occupied box, he merely blew air at them- in which, they responded with an annoyed grunt and turned to their side.

"Gingi-" he lightly tapped their shoulder "-wake up, you can go home now"

They groaned tiredly, "five more minutes, please…"

Oliver, having a pitiful look, decided to stop there.

"They sound super sleepy" 

Karen rolled her eyes, "but we can't leave them here"

She was right, leaving them here would be considered a jerk move. Oliver suddenly thought of an idea and he snapped his fingers.

Nico went downstairs with their casual attire of a red baggy shirt stuffed under their flared pants, under their redshirt was a tight black sweater that matched their flared pants.

"I'm gonna go home now, see-" they stopped on their tracks to see that no one was in the backroom besides the band's drummer sleeping in an opened box.

They gingerly approached the occupied box to see a bright yellow note that had Oliver's handwriting.

Picking up the note, they read the contents and felt their face tighten in annoyance.

'Hey, Nico! Mind doing me a solid and accompanying Gingi until they wake up? Thanks!' Followed by a smiley face.

If Nico wasn't near a sleeping cryptid, they would be cursing their heart out.

_____

"Should we check out the subway?" Oliver suggested, fixing the collar of his button-up.

"The subways are too small," Karen reminded "you'd get kicked out by security"

"Aw man-" Oliver huffed "-well, if we can't perform in the subway then what about the park-" he stopped himself when his mind suddenly flashed itself with memories of when he and Randy were getting mauled by swans.

"What about the park?"

"...disregard that"

"Okay-?"

They continued to walk to see if there were any right places that they could perform, Karen suggested if they could perform near cafes but Oliver shot down the idea since he said that it would disturb the workers.

They were a punk rock band! Not jazz players!

"What about downtown?" Karen pointed out.

Downtown was the busiest part of Dialtown, more workplaces, and the main money image of the area. 

Oliver had heard a lot of it by Mr. Dickens and his coworker but he never got the chance to experience it in person.

"But moving our equipment would take some time" 

"Well… we can rent a place to keep our equipment there or stay for a week until we're able to get a crowd"

"That- no"

Karen stopped and turned her heels towards Oliver, "I'm sorry?"

"I don't want to leave the Music Store- it's like home to me! Metaphorically and literally"

"I'm certain that you'd be willing to take a few risks for public recognition"

"Yeah and this… I'm sorry but I'm just not ready to leave like that, ya know?"

"I-" Karen stopped herself and sighed "-fine, be that way"

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay, it's that-" she looked around "-if we can't find a place for you and the others to perform then we're left with the downtown option"

"I know," Oliver sighed "I know"

They continued to walk around the area without a word being said from one another, it seemed that tension was rising after that small conversation. 

Karen felt awkward and kept her eyes on the asphalt beside the sidewalk whilst Oliver was trying his best to shove the downtown option away.

They stopped since they've walked for an hour now. 

"It's official;" the brown-haired woman puffed up her jacket "uptown isn't the best place"

"Oh come on, we haven't really checked all of uptown-"

"Yes, because most of those places are owned by a mob"

"-oh yeah, I forgot about the mob thing"

The two merely sat in silence before Oliver muttered something that seemed inaudible to Karen.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing-"

"...Are you sure?"

Oliver bit his lip and exhaled through his nose, "I'm just- kinda upset at the fact that we're left with the downtown option. I'm seriously not ready for it-"

"Come on, Oliver. It's only a temporary stay!"

"Yeah- but what if we can't get a proper crowd in a place that's just infested with business people? It'll take months to get a certain amount of people to be considered as a group-!" He stopped himself "I- did I raise my voice-?"

Karen, who looked taken aback from the lack of volume control, nodded.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just-"

"Upset? It's obvious"

Oliver nodded and palmed his face.

As he was close to a silent breakdown, Karen decided to look away since she was getting a tad uncomfortable. Though, she gasped lightly when she saw someone standing right beside her.

Looking up; it was a man who looked like he was around his thirties, with amber skin, and brown eyes. His curly long hair tied up to a bun whilst he had some sort of piercing on his left earlobe.

He had a massive coat on but right under it looked like a bartender's attire.

"You two look lost," he said with his hands inside his pocket "you new in Dialtown?"

Karen blinked before shaking her head, "no, we live here"

"Oh, I see. How's your friend?" He pointed at Oliver who still had his head down in his palms.

"He's… going through things?"

The stranger just gave a pitiful look, "I'm sorry to hear that, hope things resolve soon"

There was a muttered 'thanks' from Oliver which kind of surprised the two that he was still listening.

Karen turned her head towards the stranger.

"Out of curiosity, do you work at a bar?"

"Oh, you must have noticed my work outfit" the stranger shrugged off his coat so that he could show it off.

Karen could see that he had a badge that says; Pierre. She assumed that it was his name.

"Is there a bar nearby in uptown or did you come from downtown?"

"There's actually a bar nearby, right around the corner. It isn't too noticeable during the day but if you're out on a midnight stroll then the neon lights won't be hard to ignore"

"Is it just a bar or are there other perks?"

"Well… besides bar fights, we always have performers at seven sharp. Though, I'll be real-" he lowered his voice "-they're not the best. My boss got a guy with a sock Puppet to perform and I've never seen so many tables being thrown at the same time the guy even breathed on stage"

Karen's eyes widened and she immediately jabbed her elbow against Oliver's torso.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Sorry- but did you just hear what he said?"

"Yeah? Bar performances?"

She frowned at the oblivious response.

"This might be a chance for you and then others to perform in a crowd without having to form one by yourself"

"Oh-" Oliver finally realized what she was trying to say "- oooh "

He felt relieved that having to stay downtown was off of the list but he suddenly felt shivers down his spine at the idea of going to a bar.

He wasn't a fan of alcohol.

"Does it have to be a bar?" Oliver grimaced. 

"What do you mean? Aren't you excited?"

"I am but-" he glanced at Pierre before leaning towards Karen "-I kinda have this fear of alcohol"

Karen gaped her mouth before closing it.

Despite Oliver whispering, it seemed like Pierre had sharp hearing since he butted in into the conversation. 

"If you're scared of a little liquor, don't worry. The drinks don't come in free so you won't be peer pressured into having a glass or two"

The words made Oliver feel less conflicted at the idea.

"As long as no one is forcing drinks down someone else's throat then-" he turned to Karen to give her his signature prideful look "-I'm down"

The woman let out a small laugh.

Pierre was kind enough to trade numbers with Karen so that they could plan it out in the future, the bar wasn't too picky so it would be an easy way to get Dial the Band into the place.

Moving equipment won't be so difficult since there was already a drum set in the place, all they needed was to bring the bass and the guitar.

They were all set and the two were walking away from the area.

Oliver suddenly chuckled which caught Karen's attention.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh? Well-" he grinned "-remember that time I went out to get inspiration for the band name?"

"Yes?"

"Ya see, I met this guy named Mikey who kinda gave me advice on thinking of a title name. Coincidentally, it was on the same bench we just sat on"

"What? How did you even know that it was that bench?"

"I remember the trashcan near the tree"

"Oh"

Oliver laughed, "it's like we could just sit on that bench and fortune will come by! You think we can win a million dollars if we sat there long enough?"

"Don't even think about trying it-"

"I'm joking!"

They were close to their destination at this point.

"Ya know-" Oliver suddenly spoke "-today's been kinda lucky for us. Wonder what's next?"

Just as he said that; he was splashed with cold water.

Right in front of him was his coworker who looked like they fell into a thorny bush and crawled their way out of it.

"Oliver! You bastard!"

"Nico- the hell, man?"

"The hell? The hell?! Look at me! Your stupid drummer mauled me after I poked them with a stick to wake them up!"

"That's your fault! Poking someone with a stick isn't really nice-"

Oliver briefly dodged a plastic bottle being thrown at him.

The two proceeded to wrestle like annoyed siblings and Karen just watched with a bored look, not really wanting to intervene until Oliver picked Nico up.

"Look, I'm sorry!" 

"Sorry-? My foot! Put me down!"

"Okay, you two need to stop" Karen finally intervened "it's late, we're all exhausted from a busy day. Can we please drop it here and go home?"

The subject of going home was doable and Nico left afterward.

"Thanks, Karen"

"You're welcome, I'll see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, see ya"

Karen walked away and Oliver just watched as she took a turn, disappearing from his sight.

He looked up to the warm sky and smiled before going into the Music Store- or also known as, his only home.

Chapter Text

After the deal with Pierre; they were set with what to do next.

The practice was basically a must and Karen kept in touch with Pierre if something new came up with the guidelines.

Oliver returned to his bubbly personality and he was excited as ever, wanting to perfect everything to make this first impression a banger!

Karen was relieved that he managed to adapt to the deal, it made it easier to progress forward.

Everything would be considered a proper set if it weren't for one band member…

"performing in public !?" Randy gawked.

Oliver flinched at the sudden yelling and he placed a hand on the bassist's shoulder, "relax! It's just in a small bar, not much of a big deal-"

"No- I- if there's going to be an audience then it is a very big deal to me!"

"Well, don't worry-"

"Don't worry? I'm sorry did you just say; don't worry?" Randy winced "I'm absolutely losing it, Oliver! I'll shake like a leaf! Wet my pants like a baby! Or worse- a group of swans will follow me and humiliate me on spot!"

"Okay, now that's just crazy talk"

" Y-you're crazy talk! "

Randy was, as said before, losing it. He was panicking so much from his shaky body language and constantly darting eyes.

Oliver tried his best to form a reassuring sentence but he ended up staying silent when Randy started to ramble about the possibilities of how he could get injured.

"-I'm done for, Oliver…" he sighed out and fell onto his knees, palming his face to hide away his shame.

"Hey…" Oliver knelt "come on, man. I'm sure we can work this out"

"By work things out-" Randy glanced at Oliver "-you mean knocking me out cold so I could forget all of this?"

Oliver stretched his lips to a thin line, "Nope"

"Dang…"

Then came the others.

Karen and Gingi recently stumbled across each other and decided to walk together, throughout the walk, Gingi was talking nonsense. 

They saw Randy on the verge of crying and Oliver looking awkward as ever.

"Oh hey!" Gingi's pupils widened "is it crying time already? Because I have lots of tears to waste now"

"No," Randy frowned "it's Randy crying hour…"

"Aw drats, my emotional relief is now gone and I'm left with more hours to waste as my mentality crumbles"

Karen just stared at the two weirdly before silently approaching Oliver and asking what happened;

"Randy kinda freaked out when I told him about us performing in a bar, the guy isn't really being the center of attention"

"Being in a band involves an audience; doesn't he know that already?"

"I said the same thing but he thought we would record our music and just slap it onto a disc"

"That… is a valid option but still-" Karen glanced at Randy who was face down on the floor "-what do we do now?"

Seeing Randy being close to a meltdown was a sad sight, he seemed highly overwhelmed with the thought of having an audience. Gingi knelt beside his head and instinctively pat them, unsure what their motive is but Randy allowed the gesture.

Oliver tapped his chin.

"We can't perform when our bassist is on the ground sobbing so-" he looked around "-maybe we can try and beat the stage fright out of him?"

"Beat the Wh- ah, I see"

As the two were discussing a plan, Gingi sat on the ground with their legs crossed while watching Randy. 

"What's so big about attention anyway? You'll just have people staring at you, not much of a big deal-"

They flinched when Randy sat up.

"Not much of a big deal? can you imagine having people just glare bullets at you from every direction- making comments about you and judging you?"

Gingi just crossed their arms and quirked a brow.

The taller man realized his mistake and nervously scratched the back of his neck, "I guess you're used to it-"

"If I'm able to get used to it then so can you"

"I'm… I guess it's possible but I don't know how to start- I've never been the center of attention when it doesn't involve massive Injuries"

"If it's like that then-" Gingi tapped his forehead "-imagine you just got caught in a wreck and everyone around you are the paramedics trying to keep you alive as you're at the brink of death"

They stayed silent until Randy spoke in a shaky and soft voice.

"I rather not"

"Your loss then"

They were interrupted when Karen stood by, asking them to get off of the ground. 

"Randy, you're obviously nervous-" Karen hesitated when Randy frowned "-but you're going to have to deal with the fact that you will be in front of a fair crowd"

"I- You're right about that but I'm just-" Randy fiddled with his thumbs "-I can't play well when I'm nervous"

"I know; which is why Oliver and I are going to help you feel comfortable with being the center of attention"

"How?"

Karen stood aside to let Oliver do the talking.

"The first step to beating stage fright is to put yourself into the situation first. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in front of a crowd"

Randy hesitantly closed his eyes tightly, doing what Oliver told him to do.

He could only see darkness for a solid second before he could outline wooden floorboards and scattered tables, silhouettes started to form and they all sat on metal stools. A slight hint of purple and red coming from the unknown, he stood on stage with nothing but his bass.

"I see… simple architect- wooden floorboards and scattered dirty glasses," he bit his lip "and people are sitting on stools- looking at me"

"Okay, great progress; now imagine yourself performing"

"Okay-?"

As said; he imagined himself playing the bass, his fingers tapping against the cords. It was fine until he lifted his head to stare at the crowd, feeling cold sweat form against his forehead.

Each silhouette lacked expression which made Randy ponder if they were judging him.

Thus, overthinking started. 

"I-I'm playing the bass and people are- they're all looking at me funny, I can't tell if they like my performance or… oh god, I'm doing terrible-"

"Randy, calm down-"

"Oh gosh- oh Gosh- they hate it! I can't-" he opened his eyes and hugged himself "-I'm sorry I can't!"

Oliver couldn't help but pity him, he didn't want to push Randy to a panic attack. He decided that maybe Randy could just focus on practice and they could deal with the stage fright situation later. 

Randy nodded at the suggestion and picked up his bass.

"From the top; one, two-"

And they started to play.

_____

Mr. Dickens came by to drop off some food for them, mostly pastries and some warm drinks.

Gingi didn't like the warm drinks but they enjoyed the beef toast they were eating, Karen sat beside them and ate a glazed donut in peace.

Meanwhile, Oliver couldn't help but notice Randy eating his pastry a lot slower than the others. He sat down beside him and gave him a concerned look.

"Something on your mind, Randy?" Oliver asked.

Randy didn't answer until he gulped down the chewed up remains of his pastry, "it's nothing"

"Come on, man. You don't need to keep it all to yourself"

The bassist merely stared at nothing before sighing, "I'm still worried about performing in front of a crowd"

"Oh, I see"

"Yeah… I don't want to give the band a bad look because of me, you know? It makes me feel guilty that I could be responsible for almost everything"

"Don't say that; you won't mess up out there"

Randy eyed him, "how do you know?"

"Well-" Oliver opened the plastic of his own pastry "-when I saw you play the bass for the first time, you looked like you were having trouble but… after a few takes, you looked comfortable"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Oliver chimed "you just need to get used to the whole thing!"

"I… that's logical on your behalf but how can I?"

"You'll see soon, my good sir-" Oliver took a bite of his pastry "you'll see"

"That sounds menacing but okay"

After their little snack break, Oliver managed to pull in both Mr. Dickens and Nico to sit on two chairs he managed to find.

"So, Randy!" Oliver clapped his hands "my boss and my faithful coworker-"

"I'm not faithful, you brat"

Oliver gave Nico a quick glare before continuing, "they'll act as an audience and we're going to play in front of them!"

"I-" Randy looked at the two who sat comfortably in their seats "-It's nice to see you two again"

Mr. Dickens smiled while Nico waved.

Randy did feel nervous but not too nervous since he had met these two before, Mr. Dickens was a nice man and Nico was more of a background character to him- no offense.

He didn't say anything as he picked up the bass.

Oliver got his guitar and Gingi sat by the drums.

"We're going to do the chorus part, ready?"

The others nodded and Gingi tapped their drumsticks. 

They started to play and throughout the chorus, Randy merely spared a glance at his so-called audience. He wasn't nervous at all since he recognized the two, from Mr. Dickens's proud look to Nico's bored look.

He played with ease until the chorus ended.

"So, how ya' feel, Randy?" Oliver asked.

Randy just stayed silent, looking at his own shoes for a bit.

"Can I be honest?"

"Go ahead!"

"I don't feel nervous at all since I know Mr. Dickens and Nico, I mean; it's a good start but I don't this is enough for me to beat my stage fright"

Oliver seemed to frown at the words, "maybe we can-"

"No, Oliver" Randy placed the bass down "I'm thankful that you and the others are trying to help but I don't think this is going to work- that and I need to go do my job at the park"

He went towards the door and before he left, he spared a glance at everyone and gave an apologetic look before he closed the door behind him.

Everyone was silent before Nico stood up, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom" and they went upstairs.

Oliver just stared at where Randy had left, feeling disappointed in himself that the plan didn't work.

His boss went over to give a reassuring hand as Karen stood by, having a similar expression with Oliver.

"Don't worry, young chap. You've tried and that's all that matters"

"Is it though?" Oliver asked softly.

As they pondered on what to do next, Gingi had sat in the background- taking in every little word that came from someone's mouth.

They might have not participated in the plan but they couldn't help but place their drumsticks down and sneak out of the back room. 

The cryptid wasn't sure where they're heading but they needed to find Randy. 

As said before, Randy was going to work. Their first thought was the park!

They arrived at the scene to see fewer swans than they expected, it was merely just one gnawing on Randy's pants as the man sat on the bench with his head down on his palms.

"What is he up to now?" Gingi asked themselves before silently approaching.

The swan was the first to notice the cryptid, honking at them but quickly turning around when the cryptid hissed at them.

Randy perked his head up to see Gingi.

"Oh-?" He blinked "hey Gingi"

"Hey"

"What are you doing here? Did Oliver ask you to find me or…?"

"Nah, I came here on my own," they sat down beside him "you look sad, what's wrong?"

Randy let out an audible sigh, "you probably already know why"

"Is it because of the whole 'beating stage fright in a boxing match' thing or is it because I ate your car keys?"

"Yeah it's-" Randy froze "you ate what?"

"Disregard the second statement-"

"I don't even have a car-"

"Oh? Really?" The cryptid tilted their head "that makes me less guilty now, thank goodness!"

"Okay, moving on from the subject of eating items; why did you come?"

The cryptid pursed their lips, "I wanted to hang out with you, that's all"

"Oh- wow" Randy laughed in disbelief "that's nice of you to do so"

They sat in silence before Gingi started a new conversation. 

"What are you going to do now?"

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah"

"Since there aren't any wild swans now, I'm just going to sit here for a while. I don't really have the guts to go back to the Music Store after that little scene I made- I don't want to see guilty faces"

"Aw, really? You're going to just plant your widdle bum onto the wooden bench?"

"It's my only option now until I could find some real effort to beat stage fright… if I don't then I'll end up messing up the whole band"

Gingi hugged their knees close to their chest, resting their chin on their knees. They hummed a nonexistent tune before standing up on the bench, almost scaring Randy in the progress of it.

"I have an idea!"

"What?"

They jumped down and knelt near Randy, hands on his lap, and showing their best puppy eyes.

"You remembered what Oliver said, right?"

"On…?"

"He said something about you needing to get used to things- following with more cool slangs that I must learn. Anyways!" they stood up to their full height "how about we go and check about the bar?"

Randy's eyes widened like dinner plates, completely baffled at the suggestion.

"What!? Are you insane-?" He stopped himself "actually, from the way that you are- it's no surprise, huh?"

"Yep! Now come on-" they started to drag him by the arm.

"But- but-!" Before he could complain, he was running with Gingi.

The smaller being was stronger than he expected.

It didn't take long for them to stumble across a crossroads. Randy immediately had his hands on his knees as he wheezed, completely exhausted from all the running and tripping. The cryptid tapped their chin and looked around.

"Where is that wretched alcohol box house?" They muttered to themselves.

"Gingi-" Randy wheezed "-you gotta give me some time to breathe, I can barely-" he coughed "-barely feel my lungs"

"Just give me a minute, Randy! I'm searching-" they stopped on their words when they saw some man standing in front of something.

What caught their attention was the man's head. 

It was less flesh and more like a box- a metal box. 

The guy wore an unbuttoned shirt and dirty pants, a hobo look if Gingi had to be honest. He turned his so-called head towards Gingi's directions and was startled at the sudden eye contact. From the looks of it, the guy had some sort of old television as ahead with something on it.

Before Gingi could call him out; he immediately ran.

This triggered Gingi's animalistic instincts to chase the runaway prey, their eyes turning into slits as their claws started to form.

Randy noticed and seemed uneasy.

"Hon? Are you Okay-?" He yelped when Gingi started running. Usually, he would run away but he found himself chasing after the cryptid; fearing that they might get hurt.

The cryptid ran like a wild animal, almost going on all fours during it. They took a sharp turn that involved their claws scraping against the brick walls and they ran through the alleyway, Randy tried to call them out but they were ignoring him.

As they ran, they stumbled across a hardly noticeable metal door that was left ajar. 

Gingi took this as the opportunity to open it and jump inside- Randy following along.

"Hon-! You can't-" he tripped on his own shoelaces and fell on top of Gingi.

They fell onto the ground and accidentally pushed a box over, hearing what sounded like glass bottles rolling over the floor.

Randy groaned in pain, not realizing he was on top of Gingi.

The cryptid's expression went from a hungry carnivore to their normal one. They realized that Randy was on top of them and they took it as an opportunity to have some fun.

"My my, Randy~" they purred "didn't know you were the dominant type"

"What are you talking about-?" Randy's face immediately flushed into a dark shade of red when he realized what Gingi was implying.

"Oh-" he laughed in disbelief "-wow, shameless flirting…"

They got off of each other and stood up, looking around to see where they are now. The metal door had closed behind them and they were left in darkness with a tint of blue and purple lighting from the unknown.

"Where do you think we are now?" Randy asked, taking cautious steps.

"I don't know but-" Gingi took a whiff of the air "-smells like booze and wine here"

"How do you know that?"

"I've stumbled across passed out drinkers and trust me- it's not hard to ignore"

"Makes sense-" Randy felt like he kicked something and looked down to see a glass bottle. He picked it up to read the label it had.

"Smirnoff…?" He read out loud.

Gingi perked their head beside him, "is it a Christmas gift?" They then gasped "are we in Santa's workshop!?"

"I really doubt that. Santa works in the north pole and we're not in the north pole"

"Aw drats, I wanted to rob Santa and brag about it"

"Brag about what?" A stern voice came.

The two froze in place like caught prey, feeling sweat form on their foreheads.

Slowly but surely, they turned around to be met with a tall figure who had their arms crossed. They wore a light blue buttoned-up, black pants, yellow suspenders, and a bow tie. 

Randy and Gingi screamed.

The man in front of them sighed and lifted his hand against the wall to flip a switch that just happened to be sitting there.

The lights turned on and everything was clear now.

It was a storage room for booze.

"Calm down, you two" the man sighed.

Gingi and Randy managed to calm down, mostly Gingi from how their eyes shifted as Randy was still trying to process everything. 

"Anyways," the man adjusted his suspender "what are two doing back here? I'm pretty sure the door was locked when I checked last time"

"Oh? Well," Randy cleared his throat "my friend was kinda the one who stumbled- no, ran into here and I was trying to stop them"

The man eyed him for a bit before turning his head towards the cryptid.

"I'm just an innocent widdle creacher! I don't have any evil intentions" they said, giving their best puppy eyes.

The two men in the room shook their heads with doubt.

Gingi frowned and huffed, "you're no fun"

"Fun aside; you two shouldn't be here. This area is for employees only"

Randy was about to apologize and just leave with Gingi but his eyes darted towards the man's name tag;

Pierre

He recognized that name before! He was sure Oliver mentioned Pierre when he broke the news to him.

"Hey, you're Pierre, right?" 

Pierre raised a brow, "yes, and?"

"Oh! I- you've met Karen and Oliver, right?"

"Those two? Yeah, I know them"

"I'm sure they've mentioned about a band- I'm actually th-the bassist and-" Randy wrapped an arm around Gingi "-this here is the drummer"

"I like holding sticks and hitting them against thingies!" Gingi grinned.

Pierre just stared at the two as if they just swapped heads.

"Alright? Good to know who the members are. Still, you two can't be here since this is an employees-only area"

Gingi stopped Pierre by holding up one finger "wait! We're here for unfinished business!"

"We are-?" Randy felt Gingi clasp a hand over his mouth.

"Yes! We are!"

"Huh?" Pierre chuckled "if that's the case then mind explaining what it is? Might speed up the process"

"I will, Pie-reer!" Gingi cracked their knuckles "we just wanted to take a look around- especially the people here so that my good comrade-" they patted Randy's back a bit too harshly "-feels comfortable"

Pierre blinked before humming, "so you two just wanted a quick tour around the place?"

"Well duh! Must I repeat myself?"

"No; No need" he pursed his lips "but if that's what you're going to do then I can lead you to the actual main room for half an hour"

"Why half an hour only?"

"Because I'm generous, now follow me"

The two band members followed the bartender to the main room, they were met with bright yellow lights and faint music playing.

Everything was built with wood from the obvious wooden floorboards and how half of the furniture had wooden-like texture. It was fitting for a small bar in uptown.

"Welcome to the lock and whis- key " Pierre grinned as he closed the door behind him.

Both Randy and Gingi had never been in a place like this, adoring the layout of the place and how it seemed to be less of a booze-shake and more of a casual bar.

It didn't reek of alcohol as Randy expected, he must've been watching too much television when he was younger.

Meanwhile, Gingi was mostly attracted by the lights and how clean the floorboards were. It took them all their strength to not lie down on the spot.

"Make yourself comfortable and remember to be out after half an hour. If you need me, I'll be over there" he pointed at the corner which had cabinets and a large table- obviously a place for a bartender.

As he walked off, Gingi immediately laid down on the ground. 

"Such smooth wood" they purred, feeling like they were in pure bliss.

Randy didn't really have the energy to question why they decided to do a full-on sea star on the ground so he decided to look around. If what Oliver said was true then he might have a chance to beat stage fright

The people here looked calm and were having a drink, some were just simply watching the small television box that sat at the top corner of the room.

Randy gulped his worries down and continued looking around, not wanting to look awkward during the process. He noticed an empty stage at the corner that had red curtains hanging from the ceiling, it was no mystery that Randy will perform on the stage when the time comes.

The imagery of it wasn't too bad but he still felt a pang of fear.

The entire room wasn't big as he expected, not too tight as well. He sat down on an unoccupied chair and looked down at his bandaged hands, unsure what to do now as there wasn't much to look at.

The people here were average which made Randy relieved that he won't be exposed to crooks and muggers, and the stage looked safe from a distance.

He assumed that maybe this will be enough to fight his stage fright but… the idea of him messing up in front of a crowd and being humiliated is haunting. Randy was the type who would literally die from humiliation- not like he wasn't humiliated enough by swans.

The man perked up when he heard a chair being pushed against his.

"Man, this place is the shit" Gingi awed, sitting on the chair with their legs up "what do you think?"

"I- well, it's kinda comfortable here, to be honest. I expected it to be darker and have this kind of neon setting but being here is kinda… what's that word-?"

"Home-feel-like?"

"Yeah, that works"

They just sat in silence- mostly Randy. He was deep in thought from how he furrowed his eyebrows and clasped his hands together, though, he stopped when he felt something on his shoulder.

"What'cha thinking?" Gingi whispered.

Randy yelled in surprise, jumping from his seat.

"Gingi-? What the h-heck!?"

Apparently, his yelling caught a lot of people's attention. Eyes were on him and he blinked, feeling like his breathing stopped for a bit.

"Uhm- I'm sorry-" he bowed his head and sat down immediately. 

"Gosh- how humiliating " Randy muttered to himself.

"Oh, it wasn't so bad-"

"How could you just say that? Don't you- you know how I feel? It's horrifying when you make a fool of yourself in front of a fu-flipping crowd-! Why can't you at least act as your care?"

The cryptid merely blinked, "but I do care!"

"Yeah- care? My foot. You're just dragging me around- I doubt you even remember why we're here"

"Oh come on, just because I act like a dummy all the time doesn't mean I don't know. I might not know exactly how you feel but at least I'm trying to help by bringing you here so you could know what you're up against!"

Randy opened his mouth before closing it.

Gingi sighed and laid their chin on their knees.

"I don't know what it feels like to be humiliated because I never really took the time to acknowledge it. Maybe you can do the same?" They glanced at Randy "I mean- look at this place! No swans, no hunters, no danger! Hell, I even pickpocket a few suckers here and none of them are even armed- this place is a safe haven! So why are you so worried?"

"I-" Randy stopped himself and bit his lip.

Gingi was right. 

Maybe those thoughts of self-doubt and constant fear are just… well, thoughts.

He'll be honest, he still has stage fright but maybe it won't turn out so bad-

The lights went out and a spotlight appeared, hovering over the stage.

"Howdy, there fellow pals!" A guy greeted, sitting on a tall stool whilst having a puppet on their right hand.

"I know it's been a while since we've last seen each other but I'm back! Huzzah! Now, my buddy Darrell here has written a song during my time in the hospital- ain't that right ya handsome rascal?"

The puppet merely stared.

"Oh Darrell, don't be such a shy little bug. Anyways, I'll start-" the guy cleared his throat " ooooh- "

And then he was cut off when multiple furniture was thrown at him at the same time.

Randy and Gingi had their eyes wide like dinner plates, unsure if they'll be able to sleep after what that was.

"...wanna bounce?" 

"Yep- I wanna go home now"

_____

It was getting dark now, the lights from nearby stores and lampposts were turning on.

"Well, that was kind of a waste of time. Sorry about that, Ran-dough" Gingi said with their hands behind their head.

"Actually," Randy glanced down at them "it kinda helped me a bit. I feel less pathetic than before so it wasn't a waste of time"

He saw their pupils widen with pride.

"So… does that mean you can continue practice like usual?"

"Well- obviously. I still need to work on getting a few tunes right so-" he was cut off when Gingi gave him a playful nudge.

"My man! I knew you'd come around!"

"I didn't even finish my sentence!" 

The two stumbled across another crossroads.

Gingi yawned, "I'm gonna go back to my tent now, I'm a sleepy cryptid"

"Same- but without the cryptid… uhm-" Randy gave Gingi a small smile "-I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sure!"

And they parted ways.

Chapter Text

"Okay, okay-" Gingi started after finishing on swallowing a chicken bone whole "-imagine a world with phones and typewriters for heads. Kinda cool, huh?"

"I don't know," Randy shrugged, "objects for heads seemed complicated. In fact, how do they have objects for heads? Are they born with it or were the objects just… built onto them from a young age"

"That; I don't know yet"

"What about this? A world without swans?"

Gingi crossed their arms, "that's like saying dinosaurs are extinct!"

"That's because they are! …wait-" Randy blinked and eyed Gingi with worry "are you- are you saying dinosaurs aren't extinct? Like- at all?"

"Depends, What year is it?"

Randy audibly gulped.

"Oh come on!" The cryptid lied down on a box "they're not that scary! I mean, they're oversized lizards with stretched faces and make noises when they're lonely"

"How would you know? Were you born during the stone ages or what?"

"If I were then I would've run the world!" They exclaimed "I knew how to hunt the moment I crawled on all fours out of the egg! Give me a suit and tie and the world will be mine, baby"

"I highly doubt you even took a glance at political science and the financial economy" Randy lazily added.

Gingi scoffed, "who needs politics anyway? It's literally just old guys with fancy ties stating their opinions to the public and somehow everyone nods at them! Economy? I guess it's an exception since I sold my soul for a single bitcoin"

"Politics is more complicated than you expect and- wait, you did what ?"

Gingi coughed and sat up, " anyways! Where the heck is Karen and Oliver? I'm starving!"

"Now that you mentioned it;" Randy glanced at the door "they never took this long to get snacks… you think the bakery nearby is packed?"

"Maybe? I'm not too sure. Why'd you asked me? Am I some sort of immortal being who gave birth to bakeries?"

"I'd say you're more of a scurrying-behind-a-place-that-smells-like-food type of being"

"Okay, you got me there"

The sound of the door opening caught their attention.

Gingi perked their head up and opened their arms with enthusiasm. 

"Welcome back! Now, where's the food- nyow!" They yelped when a bagged pastry was thrown at their face, causing them to stumble back and collide against the floor softly.

"-I'm telling you, Oliver" Karen said as she rummaged through the bag to get her own pastry, "the second song is a better pick"

"What's wrong with the first option?" Oliver raised a brow "I mean, the two are good but the first song is way better"

"I know you're passionate but picking the first option is too much of a risk"

"Risk? What risk?" 

"Well… it's longer than the second one, it has fewer lyrics, and I just find it complicated"

Oliver rolled his eyes, "I appreciated the suggestion but there is no harm in working hard-"

"What about working smart ?"

"That… that, I'm not too sure but come on! First ain't so bad!"

The two continued to bicker whilst Randy and Gingi watched in awe, it was new to see these two argue over a song choice. 

"Should we stop them?" Randy looked at Gingi.

"I don't know? I mean, I kinda think it's funny"

"Gingi…"

The cryptid frowned, "fine! Fine! You never let me have fun these days" they stood up and approached the two with Randy.

"Can we- can we please just eat?" Randy insisted in a nervous tone, feeling conflicted all of a sudden.

"Yeah! Break time is almost over"

Oliver and Karen just looked at them before nodding their heads, the conflict itself seemed to die down as everyone ate their snacks.

Karen sat beside Gingi and looked slightly upset, her eyebrows furrowed together as she ate slowly. It seemed like she was putting all of her focus onto the ground than her own surroundings. This did catch the cryptid's attention but they didn't feel like asking questions, they were too busy eating.

Meanwhile, Oliver seemed slightly down from the look of his eyes. He always had this motivated spark glistening on his green eyes but it seemed to be less visible from how he stared at his own lap as if his head was too cloudy to savor his pastry.

The backroom had never been this tense before.

Randy, being the only one concerned with what just happened, eyed everyone else while eating his pastry. He wasn't the type to butt in but from how Karen and Oliver were bickering- it was something that needed to be paid attention to.

Maybe Gingi would help? Yeah, that sounds pretty good.

When everyone finished their pastries, Oliver insisted that they practice one more time before finishing the day. It was strange that he made it just one take instead of two or three but he said that he will be a bit busy with writing more songs and such.

It was understandable on Oliver's behalf.

Karen, on the other hand, was busy checking things on her phone.

Most of the time it was to check on her colleagues or if there were needed changes to her schedule depending on what comes up in her messages. Either way, she seemed more focused on it than what the band was doing.

The others knew she was a busy woman, though, Oliver was thinking of something else.

They practiced smoothly and the day was cut short.

Karen swung her black bag over her shoulder, said her goodbye, and walked out with Randy trailing her. Meanwhile, Gingi still sat on the small chair beside the drums. They were tapping their drumsticks against the symbols out of boredom yet they would glance across the room to see Oliver put his guitar aside.

The flannel-wearing man seemed quite bothered by something yet Gingi didn't comment on it.

"Oh?" Oliver raised a brow when he noticed that Gingi hadn't left, "you're still here?"

"Yeah. Got a problem?"

"What- no, it's totally fine. I thought you'd be out by now since you always mention about your scheduled nectar take or whatever that is"

"The nectar can wait, I just wanna stay here for a bit" they tapped their foot against the pedal.

"If that's the case then… do you want some drinks or snacks or-"

Gingi darted their eyes to an unopened pastry that sat on a box.

"Throw me that one" they pointed at the pastry.

Oliver looked at the pastry and then at Gingi, a bit hesitant but he did what he was told without complaint. Unwrapping the pastry and throwing it towards the cryptid who easily caught it with their mouth.

"Score!' Oliver cheered.

Gingi gave a triumphed look before chewing their food.

Since the drummer will be staying for a while, Oliver asked if they would accompany him in the office while he writes a few songs. Gingi had never been in the office in the Music Store so they nodded to satisfy their curiosity. 

The two went upstairs together. 

Gingi did notice that the second floor was smaller than the first; Like a small box stacked on top of a bigger box! They also noticed that there were only three rooms.

"This one is the office, that's the bathroom and right over there-" Oliver pointed at the second door "-is my room"

"Wait… you live here?"

"Yeah! It might not look like a home but it is one to me. I've lived here for years"

"I mean- I don't have a solid judgment on what home looks like since I live in a tent near a park"

"Sounds fancy"

Gingi laughed, "oh Oliver! It's not "

They entered the office that Oliver mentioned and was met with a small workplace. Papers scattered on the wooden table, cabinets almost covering an entire wall along with antiques inside the wooden furniture, and a single window.

A bit claustrophobic here but Oliver didn't acknowledge it. 

He sat down onto the office chair and inched himself towards the wooden table, grabbing a mechanical pencil and a notebook with his name on it.

Meanwhile, the cryptid had found a beanbag tucked into the small gap beside the cabinet and dragged it out.

"You okay with me taking a widdle nap on this baby?" They asked, showing the beanbag.

"Oh? Sure, homeslice! make yourself comfortable"

" Groovy "

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!"

_____

Karen was taking her time walking back home.

She had received multiple messages from a friend from her workplace that tomorrow will be a very busy day. The details were still blurry but she'll ask later when she freshens up back home.

Her trail of thought stopped when she heard someone call her name.

"Hey-! Ka- Karen!" A tired voice called out.

It took her a solid second to figure out who that shaky voice belonged to.

"Randy?"

Her guess was right when she turned around to see Randy jogging towards her, she stepped aside so that Randy could stop beside her.

The bassist finally caught his own breath and straightened his posture.

"Mind if- would you mind if I walked with you?" He asked.

Karen raised a brow before shrugging.

"Sure, I don't mind"

They walked together in silence until Randy spoke.

"Hey, Karen?"

"Yes?"

"Can I- ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, I still have time"

"What's up with you and Oliver?" He asked in a shaky voice.

Karen didn't answer immediately- only giving him a raised brow for more specific details.

"I mean- you two were kinda arguing when you got back from the bakery..." he explained, "I just assumed something happened since I've rarely seen you two bicker like that-"

"I wouldn't call it bickering. It was more of a… disagreement- in my personal view"

"Arguing does involve disagreements"

"Uh-huh. Either way, we were mostly trying to choose which song was best to play when you and the others perform in the bar"

"That's it? Nothing else?"

Karen shook her head.

"I-" Randy hesitated, looking down to his shoes before continuing "-are you sure? I mean, I'm sorry if I keep pushing the subject but I feel like you're hiding something"

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't mean it in a harsh way-! Just… if you want to talk about it then I won't judge at all- if not, then it's okay!"

Karen looked skeptical but she loosened up her shoulders for a bit.

"When we were in the bakery; we were discussing plans since the band will perform in about two weeks, Oliver suggested the first song- a song he recently scrapped up from the old one but I suggested that he play the second one- the song you and the others have been practicing for a while now. The bakery was busy at that time so we kept talking about it until we made it back to the Music Store" she explained "I'll be real here- it was a difficult conversation to keep up since he kept jumping from subject to subject. I mean, you know how Oliver is, right?"

Randy nodded.

"His passion is inspiring, yes, but trying to keep up with him is a hard task. His excitement is valid but overall; he's just too fast in the whole progress"

"Well, we are two weeks away from performing- right? Maybe he's just nervous?"

"Nervous?" Karen gave him a bored look.

"I- yeah. I doubt Oliver would be nervous- he's probably shaking with excitement"

"...either way, I just hope he can cooperate for a bit. Maybe then we can choose an actual song"

Randy hummed and crossed his arms lightly, tugging against his own sleeves as he walked with Karen.

"I'm just going to say this now-" he said softly "I really hope you don't dip out on us-"

Karen stopped in her tracks, slightly confused by the statement.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean-" Randy cleared his throat "-You and Oliver are kinda like; one leader. You're assertive and on point, while Oliver likes to spice things up to perfection- Like the two main ingredients for a beautiful cake!"

"...is that a metaphor or is there actually a cake involved with the whole thing?"

"It's a metaphor"

"Ah, okay. Just wanted to make sure since metaphors tend to go over my head- along with idioms and jokes"

"Noted"

They took a quick turn.

"Anyways-" Randy continued "-it was kinda worrying when I saw you and Oliver bicker for the first time. You two contribute a lot to the band and I'm not sure what will happen if one of you leaves… pretty sure we'd be in shambles"

"I guess that's true"

They stopped when they were met with a crossroads. 

"Well-" Karen pulled onto her black bag slightly "-it was a nice walk. I'm going to go now, I still have some things to work on"

"I- alright. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

She then crossed her arms, "I already told you that I won't be able to come tomorrow; my schedule is full"

"Oh right; almost forgot about that"

They parted ways and Randy shoved his hands into his pockets, not feeling any spare change as always.

The sky was turning to a shade of orange whilst the clouds turned to a light yellow. It was getting late and he needed some rest.

He wondered how the others are.

____

Gingi yawned and stretched their limbs out.

Their eyelids felt heavy that they could barely see their own surroundings, only recognizing a blur of red and faint sunlight.

Tilting their head more; they got a good look at Oliver having his head down onto the desk while lightly snoring.

It seemed he had accidentally fallen asleep.

Gingi couldn't care less but they did force themselves to roll off of the comfortable bean bag. Lightly landing on their knees, they merely sat on the floor before standing up to stretch once more.

The cryptid went over to Oliver and got a good look at his sleeping face.

He looked peaceful in his sleep- no drool on his gaped mouth at all.

Ah well, bliss is temporary. 

"Wake up ya-" Gingi gave a good ol' pat on the cheek… nonstop "-sleepy Oliver"

Oliver groaned and swatted their hand away, sitting up to pinch the bridge of his nose. 

"Fuck dude-" Oliver tried to regain his focus, continuously blinking until the blurry world seemed less blurry than before.

He felt soft knuckles knocking against his skull and he let out an annoyed huff.

"You awake now, sleepy-head?" Gingi asked, hands on their hips as they were eye-level with Oliver.

"Huh? Oh totally! Just give me a second here"

The guy stood up and felt like his body went through multiple seasons. He felt pain in his lower body and back but he managed to hide all of his senses through amazing acting- not. 

"Gah! Damn that chair" he yelped in pain, trying to move his limbs in a slower motion so he doesn't shock his own bones.

Gingi couldn't help but laugh, "you looked like a shrimp, man"

"Really?"

"Yeah"

Oliver hummed and tilted his head slightly, feeling some pain in his neck disappear. He took a glance at the clock on the desk and noticed that it was hours early before the Music Store opened.

"I guess this is how my morning starts. Anyways, since it's still early- wanna help me clean the store up for a bit before breakfast?"

"I don't like cleaning. It's kind of like a repellent spell towards me so I'll just watch you do all the work"

"Yeah, fair answer"

He excused himself to go to the bathroom to wash his face before starting his usual schedule. 

Gingi had busy themselves by sitting on a counter and watching Oliver do his usual thing from mopping, unlocking things, and making sure everything is in place.

After finally finishing his tasks for the day, he freshened up a bit in the bathroom and wore a black shirt with a brown jacket over it. 

"Hey Gingi, wanna go out and get breakfast? The bakery should be open by now"

The cryptid perked up and jumped over the counter, standing on full height beside him despite the fact they were shorter.

They walked out together and Oliver was the one leading the way since Gingi hadn't been in a bakery before… in fact, they didn't realize there was a bakery in uptown. Strange. 

Said bakery was near the entrance to the subway, there were some people around the area but they simply brushed past them until they made it inside.

Gingi's expression shifted to awe when they saw the inside of the bakery. 

It felt like they stumbled into a fairytale from how stunning the place looked! Marble floor, wooden counters, the smell of pastries fresh out of the oven, and such hypnotizing lighting.

Oliver approached the counter and rang the bell, leaning against his own arm.

"Yeah yeah, I'm comin'" called out a woman's voice.

There came a woman with blonde curly hair, pale skin with freckles, dark brown eyes, and a rose tattoo over her right arm. She wore a usual bakery uniform from a cream buttoned up with white stripes, a dark brown skirt that reached over her knees, a white apron with the bakery's symbol printed over it, and a yellow ribbon tied around her left wrist.

"Lovely morning isn't it?" Oliver greeted with his false English accent.

The woman rolled her eyes, "cut the crap, Oliver. Let me guess… the usual?"

"That and-" Oliver turned around and called out Gingi, "-ya want anything?"

The cryptid blinked at them before pointing at a muffin inside the glass box.

"Okay, one muffin for my good friend-"

"The absolute hell is that!?" The woman yelped.

"-Gingi… their name is Gingi"

"It has a name?"

"Well, yes"

The woman seemed very tense and scratched the back off her neck.

"Okay- yeah. It's not like my mornings are always normal- this is just the mere tip of the iceberg" she sighed out "-at least it's not that weird lady wearing a strap-on as headwear"

"Strap-on's aren't headwear?" Gingi butted in with a confused look.

Sheer horror flashed in the woman's face before she changed the subject, "l just get a bag and pack the things you need now. Make sure you pay all of it now because I'm not giving my baked goods for free today"

"Gotcha, Summer!"

Summer left for a bit which leads to Gingi tapping on Oliver's shoulder.

"You seem to know a lot of people" they commented, "are you by chance part of a hive mind?"

"What?" Oliver laughed "no way, homeslice. If I were then I'd be an accountant working a dead-end job! I'm just that social to people I meet"

"I'm social too but people don't really like me"

"Aw, come on. Why would they? you look amazing"

"I have about six reasons… and they're all nipples"

Oliver blinked and his cheeks suddenly turned red, "are you- do you actually have six nipples?"

"Duh! I mean, I can just-" they then gripped onto the lower part of their clothing and was about to lift them but Oliver immediately stopped them.

"Maybe later? It'd be super weird for you to just strip on spot in some bakery"

"Why? I've walked around naked before and people were chill about it"

Oliver coughed at the sudden image in his head and turned his gaze away from them.

"What's wrong?" Gingi asked.

"Yeah- uhm- let's move on from the whole naked talk"

"Fine-fine"

Summer came back shortly with two paper bags and Oliver paid for them.

They left and returned to the Music Store.

_____

Randy shortly came by and they all were hanging out in the backroom, Nico had joined the silent session and was busy dragging a box out. They wanted to show off some stuff they found when they were at Downtown. 

"-and I got this from some guy who owns a fast-food restaurant," they said, holding up what looked like a bunny badge.

Randy seemed uncomfortable at seeing the badge so he ran his hand inside the box and grabbed a random item.

"What about this? This looks cute" 

He held up what looked like a small wooden horse figure, almost the size of his thumb. 

Nico didn't look excited at the sight, they had a bored look.

"Oh, that? Ugh, I got it as a gift from a stranger. He was offering gifts and I couldn't say no because he would start crying his eyes out- so I kept the thing"

"That sounds interesting," Randy held the thing in his bandaged palms. 

"Ya' know," Nico crossed their arms "you can keep it if you want"

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Totes. I'm not a big fan of horses anyways"

As the two had their own conversation, Oliver had returned from upstairs since he was organizing some papers as Mr. Dickens requested.

He looked around the room to see that someone was missing.

"Hey, guys?"

Everyone else looked at Oliver.

"Where's Karen?"

"Karen? Yesterday she said she won't be able to come and watch practice since her schedule's full" Randy answered as he stuffed the wooden horse into his pocket.

Oliver seemed to frown, he wanted to apologize to her today but seems like he was once again betrayed by poor timing.

Either way, he stepped down from the stairs and grabbed his guitar; plugging the cable into the speakers.

"If that's the case then wanna practice?"

"What song?" Gingi asked.

The guitarist hesitated at the question. He never really came to a final choice with Karen- he could just go with his gut but that would be unfair since he wanted to have a civil agreement with Karen.

"... actually- let's do some warm-ups"

"But we already did warm-ups," Randy added.

"But I haven't done mine"

Randy squinted his eyes at him whilst his mouth opened- however, his words were cut short when Nico interrupted with a mocking comment.

"Oliver! How could you forget your warm-ups? Shake-up real shame" they said with a dramatic voice.

Oliver just grabbed an unoccupied fez from an opened box and decked it right at Nico.

"-anyways, I'll be done in a jiff"

"My face…"

"Serves your rights, ya rascal"

Nico flipped him off.

Time went by and they had finished practice without difficulty, the store had hit closing time and Nico said their goodbyes to the others. Throughout the process of cleaning up; Oliver had something in mind.

"Hey, do you know where Karen works?" Oliver suddenly asked.

His other bandmates tilted their heads.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I was kind of thinking if we could visit her? Maybe send her a gift?"

"Why's that? You like her or something?" Gingi raised a brow.

Oliver just laughed, "oh Nah, she's more of a good friend. I'm more into guys so you get the whole gig"

"Ah, alright"

"Anyways," Oliver fixed the collar of his button-up, "anyone got ideas?"

Randy shrugged, "I know she works near downtown"

"Near downtown?"

"Yeah, she always takes the subway… though, she had explicitly told me how much she hated the subways"

"If she's able to take the subway daily then she must have a good-paying job"

"Well duh!" Gingi butted in "she works that those fancy places that help tourists or something"

"...a travel advisor?"

"I don't know, man. All I know is that she just works with a bunch of people, answer calls, listen to some old guy ramble, and so on! That's all I know"

"How do you know that?" Randy asked.

Gingi crossed their arms, a slight blue hue on their cheeks. 

"I once stalked her for a day because I got bored"

Their bandmates looked at them with worry.

"How- why would you stalk her?"

"I know it sounds bad but I just wanted to know! I mean, I stalk you two so it's fine-!"

" You what ?"

The cryptid's tail lowered and they looked shy now.

"I was- ya know… curious"

"Okay, yeah, I'm going to ignore what I just heard-" Randy grunted, "-either way, what should we get her?"

Oliver thought about it whilst tapping his chin before his expression seemed to lighten up.

"I know!"

He signed them to huddle up with him and he continued to whisper the plan into their ears.

_____

Karen threw the bag over her shoulder and said goodbye to her coworkers. They wanted to invite her over to eat with them but she declined since she was very exhausted with all the work she had on her hands.

This job wasn't really the best but she was being paid handsomely so there's that. 

Her past job paid her higher than her current job but she obviously left after realizing her boss was a corrupt businessman who had caused lots of problems.

Up until now, she was very thankful that she left because when the news hit the public; the man got arrested along with every worker.

She felt bad to the other coworkers she knew but that's all over now.

As she turned a corner, she stopped when she saw a familiar cryptid standing in front of her.

"I- Gingi?" 

"Hewwo"

"What are you-" she squinted her eyes "-this better not be another one of your stalking habits!"

"I'm not! A stalker wouldn't bring the company"

She quirked a brow, "company?"

On cue, Oliver and Randy came out of an alleyway.

"Karen!" Oliver chimed with a spark in his eyes while Randy nervously waved at her.

Karen blinked and noticed the paper bag Oliver was holding.

"What is this?"

"Oh, this? Let's say it's a small gift for you"

"I'm- ...really?"

Oliver nodded with a big smile on his face, handing her the paper bag. 

She took a quick peek inside and her eyes widened.

"Mini apple pies?"

"Yeah! We wanted to get you a vanilla cake but it would take too long and it was totally out of my price range so we kinda went with mini apple pies" Oliver grinned "...ya like it?"

"Well, I don't hate it. It's actually really sweet of you to get me these"

"Yeah, about that-" Oliver scratched the back of his neck "-I also wanted to apologize about yesterday; I was too caught up with myself and kinda spewed random words out of my mouth. I'm sorry for that- I seriously think you're a really great manager since you've helped the band in ways that I couldn't even think of!"

Karen let out a small smile, having a hand on her hip.

"I'll be honest, Oliver. I wanted to apologize too for how I worded things back then. I know you're a passionate guy and I respect that part of you; which is why I've I have that maybe your song choice isn't so bad"

Oliver looked taken aback, "really?"

"Yeah, there isn't much of a difference anyway. I think it would be a great start"

The guitarist couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Karen"

"You're welcome"

Chapter Text

Endless practice, multiple visits; the band had to give their all for their first performance at the bar. 

Karen kept in touch with Pierre and even convinced him to let the band check the inside of the bar after closing time. 

Oliver was surprised at how it looked and how simple the stage was. He didn't mind though-it was better than nothing!

The band decided to perform a bit to show Pierre how dedicated they were to making their first appearance in public a great one.

They did it with ease since it was only Karen and Pierre watching.

"Well damn," Pierre clapped his hands "as much as I'm into jazz; I think this type of genre might fit my taste"

"The genre is called Punk-Rock, you can grab a few albums at Dialtown's Music Store a few blocks away!" Oliver said with a grin "I'm sure you get hooked once you hear a few songs"

He might have sounded like a sell-out but come on; who would miss the opportunity to have a taste of new music?

"I'll think about it," Pierre grinned.

Pierre has been a nice and understanding guy so far, he was a hard-working man who wants to be paid fairly for all of his efforts. Karen had to admit; Pierre was probably the first person that could cooperate well.

He wasn't just some 'yes' guy but he managed to place his own personal guidance into the deal. 

The guy was a blessing.

Oliver kept saying how Pierre was doing the band a huge favor because if he hadn't agreed on helping them then they'd be stuck in a dead-end for another month. 

"-I see you have a strong passion for music, huh?" The bartender raised a brow, grabbing himself a glass.

"Not just passion; it's my life! Especially showing the world how much Punk-Rock was more than a genre" the guitarist chimed.

Pierre chuckled and grabbed a bottle from one of the cabinets at his bar.

Somehow, the sight of the bottle made Oliver freeze. He suddenly felt sick at the sight of the bottle but that feeling quickly vanished when it was just sparkling water.

"Want some?" Pierre offered.

"No thanks, sparkling water isn't really my thing"

The other nodded and closed the bottle, placing it back in its rightful place. He took a swig of his drink and placed it back down onto the wooden table.

"I didn't want to bring out booze since… well-" he glanced at Oliver "-you seem to have some beer fear going on"

"I just don't really like alcohol in general," Oliver said, trying to force a chuckle at the end of his sentence.

"Must've taken a lot of for you to agree on performing in a bar"

"...that's true"

Pierre took another swig and finished his drink, placing the now empty glass aside.

"I have respect for people like you; passionate and always pushing through-" he patted Oliver's shoulder "-hope the whole thing goes well"

The guitarist smiled, grateful for the support.

"Thanks"

The two immediately jumped when they heard yelling.

"Gingi! Get off the table!" Karen barked.

"I am the ruler of all wooden furniture! Bow before me!" Gingi roared, standing all high and mighty on an empty table.

"Hon, please. Get down from there" Randy approached Gingi slowly, having his hands out for them.

"If you don't get down-" Karen then grabbed two drum sticks that were lying around "-you'll never have these back!"

The cryptid gasped in horror.

"You wouldn't dare!"

The brown-haired woman gave them a tempting look.

Gingi frowned in defeat, embracing into Randy's grasp- which scared the poor guy during the process- and finally getting back onto the floor.

They held out their hand and Karen returned the drumsticks with a small smile of victory on her face.

"Jeez, now I have to clean that table again" Pierre sighed out. 

Despite how much of a mess the cryptid was; they were tolerable at a certain point. They were like a child having a birthday party without any adults supervising them so they decided to have absolute anarchy as their gift.

Gingi crossed their arms and pouted, slightly disappointed that their time as The Ruler of Wooden Furniture ended so shortly.

Oliver came by and placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Alright, that's enough. Come on, let's get back to the Music Store"

"Already?"

"Yeah, we have a week before we perform in front of a crowd"

"A week? Wow- it felt like we just started four days ago" Randy commented, scratching his head.

"awfully specific but no; now come on! Let's grab our stuff and skedaddle!"

"Hi, never say skedaddle in that tone ever again"

"No promises, my good friend Randy!"

The three band members had walked off which left Karen and Pierre alone.

"Those three seemed like a handful" the bartender added, wiping a wet cloth across the table that Gingi stood on recently.

"They are… but trust me, they're actually tolerable with enough time"

"Even the green one?"

Karen sighed audibly, " even the green one"

______

The four were walking back to the Music Store as the sky had turned to a light shade of orange.

"It's kind of nice out here, you know? Pretty sky, no crowds," Karen added, tilting her head to see the clouds.

"It is peaceful at this time of day" Randy added, also admiring the sky.

Oliver took a glance at the sky and smiled, "We should walk together more often; never felt more alive"

Gingi just glanced at him and decided to take a look at the sky, their pupils turned into orbs as they stared in awe. 

"The sky looks yummy" they muttered.

As they all were busy admiring the sky- Randy looked ahead and saw that they were about to cross the crossroad whilst the pedestrian light was red so he immediately held out a hand to stop everyone.

"Stop stop stop-!" 

The others yelped and realized that they almost crossed the crosswalk.

"Gosh-" Randy hissed out.

Whilst everyone else was processing on what just happened; Gingi burst out laughing. The cryptid had this maniac-like laughter, the type that would send you to a horror movie.

"Why are- why are you laughing?" The bassist asked in a shaky voice, feeling chills in his spine from hearing the eruption of laughter.

"I'm just-!" Gingi chuckled and wiped a tear away with a finger "imagine the headline of our deaths because we were too busy kissing the sky with our eyes"

Oliver hummed, "would be pretty embarrassing if you asked me"

"Yeah but it's dummy funny"

Karen, on the other hand, just side-glared them and ushered everyone to keep walking the moment the pedestrian light turned green.

Gingi was still giggling from the thought of the headline… ya know; like a weirdo.

"Out of curiosity-" Karen turned her head to the band members "-is this fine with all of you? We know that if the performance goes well then Pierre will schedule us on certain days. I just thought that if it's going to affect all of our schedules then…"

"I'm totally groovy with it, Karen! My coworker Nico can cover me when I'm out" the guitarist grinned.

"My schedule never works out- like- at all so I don't see any harm in it" the bassist mumbled. 

"The fuck is a schedule?" The drummer questioned.

Karen just rolled her eyes at the question, confident that it was sarcastic.

… it was actually a genuine question but Gingi never asked again since they never put effort into learning new things unless they've to guzzle down bottles of nectar.

Nonetheless, they all returned to the Music Store, placed their items back in the back room, and everyone said their goodbye's.

Oliver waved at Randy who already made his exit.

The flannel-wearing man felt a pat on his shoulder; he assumed it was Mr. Dickens but it was his coworker.

"Nico? You're still here? I thought you went home an hour ago"

"I stayed a bit to help Old Tea with something since you weren't here," the pink haired worker said, tucking their shirt under their pants.

"Really?" Oliver leaned against his arm "what did he need help with?"

"Just cleaning the office for a but- he kept talking about the stuff he has in that glass cabinet of his and fuck ; I felt like I could fall asleep"

"Oh come on, he takes pride in owning those items! I mean, the guy is hitting his seventies and is still healthy as ever"

"I always thought he was eighty"

Oliver gave a bored look. His coworker was a real wildcard.

"Welp! I'm gonna go now, see you tomorrow"

"Catch you on the flip side!"

Nico gave a small smirk and a classic finger gun before making their exit.

With a relieved sigh; Oliver stretched out his arms and started his usual routine of cleaning the Music Store.

Albums being placed back to their rightful slots, plastic labels being adjusted, closing the glass cases, and making sure that everything else is locked. 

As he grabbed the mop from the small closet; he heard the slight rustle of paper just as he moved the item away. Looking down, he saw a crumpled up piece of paper.

Oliver raised a brow and knelt down to pick it up.

He was then hit with the realization that it was the old poster he made on finding some band members.

A small chuckle came out of him as he read the printed words on the canvas.

It was a miracle that this is how it all started.

At first, he had lots of doubts about starting a band since he wanted to bring the dream back with Mr Dickens. The guy had lots of talent than what Oliver has but age had caught up with him.

Oliver couldn't imagine doing things without Mr Dickens- he was the one who made Oliver who he is now.

A passionate man.

He wanted to pay Mr Dickens back for almost everything, he wanted to show his gratitude for all of these years.

And this is how he's going to repay him.

The Punk-Rock dream will shine brighter than the northern lights in the night sky, it will bring sparks to the eyes of those who crave something new. 

Just like how Mr. Dickens said to him when he was just a small boy.

He remembered the charms of the Music Store; from listening to what's playing on the old radio in front to admiring the posters hung up against the windows.

He went from a big fan to a worker and now… he's in a band.

Oliver folded the paper and placed it into his pocket.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he grabbed the supplies and got ready to clean the Music Store. 

He noticed that he must have been daydreaming a bit too long as it was already dark at front. Oh well, might turn on the lights to clean things with ease.

No one passed by the Music Store- which was fine! It was closed anyway.

The only time someone did come by when it was closed was when they were drunk off their minds or are just trying to break.

Good thing Oliver knew a thing or two about self-defense. Turns out, Mr. Dickens' roommate was a fan of boxing.

This led to Mr. Dickens knowing the basics and Oliver learning it afterward. He wanted to improve his stance but he had his focus on music.

Kinda reminds him that he needs to work out more.

All those practices are kinda disturbing his usual workout routine; maybe he could reschedule a bit and try to get back on the groove-

"Ah shit, really?" Oliver groaned when he found chewed up bubblegum stuck in a thin layer of tissue right at the corner.

What made it worse was that it was stuck against the wall!

"Man… someone takes time to walk from their home to the Music Store yet can't do the same to a trashcan. The audacity of a bitch"

When it comes to encountering something getting stuck on a wall with the help of chewed up gum; he mostly scrapes it off with a small piece of metal found in the small closet and just stuffs it into another layer of tissue so he could throw it away.

It wasn't rare to encounter these things and honestly; it's one of the things Oliver hates.

It's gross and you don't know what's under that thin layer of tissue. You could see a hint of color and you'd be prepared to wash your skin off when you make actual contact with it.

Kinda strange for him to react that way when he once slept through the night with his bed soaked with warm water and broth.

Mostly Nico's fault when they were staying with Oliver as their first sleepover .

Needless to say, it wasn't lame but it lacked energy.

Actually… maybe he could invite the others over one day? Have their own sleepover?

But that means he has to clear out the whole backroom since his room isn't enough for four people. 

Oliver shrugged it off as he placed all the cleaning supplies back into the small closet. 

Maybe one day he could hang out with the others for other purposes than practice. He knew he was growing a good bond with them but the bond wasn't as strong as he expected.

Oh well, maybe another day.

He locked everything and went upstairs to freshen himself up before calling it a day.

Just one week left before the whole thing unfolds.

______

Ever felt like you're in an action sequence and you're fighting for your life? That's what everyone's feeling now.

They had excelled in one song and were ready to do another take but knowing that the time was coming- it sent their minds to some sort of fight-or-flight situation.

Randy was obviously nervous from the sweat on his forehead to how shaky his fingers were.

Oliver and Karen were almost similar as they felt slight anxiety build-up to their throats.

Gingi? They… didn't seem to care as they already knew what they're gonna do. Honestly, everyone else was kinda jealous of how calm they were.

Overall, Pierre visited once to check on them as he was on break. His shift was being covered by a close friend of his and he wanted to see how everyone was doing; hell, he even bought an album since he was curious about Punk-Rock.

Oliver's face was just filled with excitement and he almost jumped over the table to help Pierre pick one.

Besides the small little bits of sunshine in a day, they still had about six days.

Then it turned to five.

"Oh gosh-" Randy swore under his breath "-what will- what if I mess up? What if I humiliate everyone in front of a crowd"

"You won't, Randy. Trust me" Oliver assured with a hand on Randy's shoulder.

The bassist looked stressed as ever from forming bags under his eyes to the slight bruises on his fingertips. It was possibly from his part-time job and constant fidgeting with his thumbs.

Gingi came over to give the guy some advice… or what counts as one.

"Hey, ya know the whole saying of imagining everyone in their underwear ?" 

"Uhm… yeah?"

"Yeah, do that but don't get aroused. I mean, I don't have a personal opinion in undergarments because-" the drummer pointed at themselves "-but knowing that some weirdos shit themselves at the sight of undies exist; I thought, hey, don't get too comfortable"

"...how is that gonna help me?"

"I don't think it will but don't knock till you tried it, Randal"

"My name- ah, forget it. That's possibly- so far , the fairest advice I've gotten in my life. Most of them are just... get lost! Or find another job, you fuck faced shrimp !"

Oliver just gave a worried look, "who hurt you?"

"Want a list?"

They continued to practice and Karen was busy forming a personal schedule if things turned out well. She, once again, is carrying this whole thing without any trouble.

It was to the point that the others were contemplating if they should get another gift for her.

They really are thankful for Karen.

The brown-haired woman always gave her support in small compliments and smiles, it was nice knowing their manager was determined to help the band continue without a disturbance.

She was loyal to her own promise.

Meanwhile, Nico was kind of cheering for the band despite them always squabbling with Oliver like an annoying sibling.

They were actually honest when they said;

"Good luck out there!" When they were two days away from it.

It was scheduled that they'll go there early and perform at five- when the sky turns warm.

"Holy fuck, two days away? How long is that?" Gingi asked, doing a handstand out of boredom.

"...exactly two days- and why are you on your hands?" Karen asked, taking a bite of her snack.

"Can a cryptid do anything without being questioned?"

Just as they finished saying that, they accidently smacked the back of their hand with their tail.

"Yeeouch!"

"Careful" Karen chuckled.

Again, small bits of sunshine.

But then- they found themselves making their way to the bar.

Randy was holding his bass tightly whilst the other walked with him. Oliver kept reminding himself that this will go well! Not wrong- but well!

Karen and Gingi were having a small one-sided conversation in the back. It sounded like Karen was giving instructions for Gingi if things go way out of hand.

"So if someone throws a chair at me… I catch it and throw it back?" The cryptid asked.

"It can count as self-defense but you'd get banned for life"

"Damnit. I hate injustice"

"We're almost there, guys" Oliver muttered, loud enough for the others to hear.

Just another turn and they'll be there.

However, they stopped since Oliver wasn't moving.

The guitarist turned and looked at everyone.

"You ready?"

Randy was hesitant but he nodded in silence, Gingi happily struck their drumsticks together, and Karen just hummed in approval.

After that little scene; they took a turn and approached the wooden bar.

It felt like their hearts were racing until they entered. Not a lot of people were in as they didn't acknowledge the band that had made their way in with ease until they managed to find the door that led to the back room of the bar.

There, they found Pierre. 

The bartender had a coat on and he looked Randy as ever.

"Glad you could make it!" He said, holding out a hand.

Oliver shook his hand while having a big smile on his face.

"Couldn't miss it for the world"

"Yeah, hope it wasn't too much of a hassle here. Anyways, in about…" the bartender checked his wristwatch "one hour, this bar will be packed"

"I'm sorry but- by packed you mean…?" Randy spoke up.

"It's gonna be a busy day today- ya know, Monday and all that"

The bassists audibly gulped. 

They had an hour left so they might as well kill time here, Pierre and Karen had moved to the corner of the room to discuss future plans. Meanwhile, the band was trying to convince themselves that they are capable of what will happen today.

This was their big time! Only shot! The main bullseye!

If they mess up then- … what now?

Oliver shook the thought away and placed his guitar down, wanting to give his arm a rest. He wasn't a big fan of being in this type of back room because of the supply of alcohol placed here.

He was glad none of them were opened.

Looking around, he saw Randy hugging himself on the floor and Gingi sitting on an empty crate, poking a drumstick at the shaking bassist.

"Randy, my man-" Oliver walked towards the bassist and knelt down "-you doing okay?"

"I wish-!" Randy barked out "I mean- oh gosh, the busiest day? There's gonna be lots of people- even more than when Gingi and I went here for the first time"

"A little more to the audience won't be too scary-"

"A guy with a hand puppet was hospitalized- twice !"

"Yeah, everyone threw multiple chairs at him when he breathed" Gingi laughed as they continued to poke Randy's hair with a drumstick.

Oliver hesitantly blinked, "okay, wow, the movies were right. Bar people are wild"

"That's the only thing they got right," Randy added.

The guitarist sighed and sat down beside him.

"I know it's nerve wracking when this could be the only way we could start progress- our final shot. But know that I believe in both you and Gingi"

"...really?" Randy looked up to Oliver "you believe in me?"

"Yeah! Who doesn't?"

"Well, I can list a few and-"

"No, I don't need a false list. Homeslice, you are a groovy guy and I'm glad you're in the band"

Randy let out a weak chuckle, "that's nice of you to say that"

He turned his head to Gingi and gently swatted the drumstick away from his head, "mind not treating my hair like cotton candy? I know it's a mess but come on, you've been poking it the moment we got here"

"I just really like your hair" the cryptid pouted.

The three sat there for half an hour before standing up to prepare themselves, they snuck onto the stage when the curtains were still closed and they got to their places.

It was a real sight; behind the curtains that separated them from the audience.

Gingi sat on the small stool and held their drumsticks with pride, not even the slightest care on sight.

Randy kept his stance and held his bass close, he took a deep breath and exhaled calmly.

Oliver adjusted the mic in front of him, making sure it leveled just at his mouth. He bit his lip and closed his eyes;

"You can do this, Oliver. Do it for Mr. Dickens" he whispered to himself, plugging the cord into his bass.

The ringing that filled the bar had caused all muttered conversation to die down.

All the lights went out and the curtains were pulled to expose the band towards the audience. A small spotlight formed and pointed right at them, making them squint a bit before adjusting to the lighting.

All eyes were on them now.

They could see at a distance that Karen was sitting with Pierre and they gave them a thumbs up.

Oliver smiled and grabbed the mic.

"Good afternoon, Dialtown!" Oliver greeted, pride painting his face once again.

No one really responded so he quickly cut into the chase.

"We're none other than Dial the band. I know, original name for a band that started in Dialtown-" he joked "-anyways! My name's Oliver and I'm here with my best pals; Randy and Gingi"

Randy awkwardly waved and Gingi stuck out their tongue.

"Is that drummer a zombie?" A random person asked from a distance.

"Uhm, wouldn't really call Gingi a zombie. They're perfectly fine-" he turned to Gingi "right, Gingi?"

The cryptid hissed in response. Their eyes turning into slits while baring their shape teeth.

Oliver blinked, "gonna take that as a total yes "

He turned back to the audience and was surprised that the atmosphere seemed to lighten up a bit; less tense than before.

Taking it as an opportunity to continue, he gave a confident look to the point there was a visible spark in his eyes.

"Anyways, we'll be playing a song I wrote last month- name? Well, haven't figured it out but maybe after this, I'll write down some suggestions"

A few people chuckled, seeming like they're ready to make their judgment.

Cocky sons of bitches.

The cryptid raised their drumsticks and tapped them together.

"one... two… one two three!"

Randy struck his fingers against the strings of his bass, one to another. 

A crash if a cymbal was heard from Gingi, their leg bouncing into the pedal connected to the bass drum.

Oliver waited for the right moment until he brushed his fingers against the cords.

The growth of the song caught the audience off guard, they didn't expect the genre to be this in a classy bar…. Not like they were complaining.

" One AM- Two AM, I haven't slept till Four AM

Constant ringing from my phone- could bury this old tone.

Weekends start with difficulty, would you carry me?

My coworker laughs at me cause I'm wearing the same shirt

I said, buddy, could you please spare some laughter just for me?

It's dark- in here. It's warm- in there.

The rain- is near. My thoughts- are clear"

Randy kept his flow in his notes as Gingi was going off in the drums without any struggle, they continued to hit the snare and closed hi-hat.

" He's playing the same song, she's singing all along.

Music gives me adrenaline- like that song by Evelyn.

Sit right next to me and you'll finally see.

Punk-Rock's not a choice because it had chosen me-! "

Oliver and Randy seemed to follow each other's notes at this certain part of the song.

" Turn the lights off- knock me out!

Raise the volume- rise it up!

I'm walking onto stage, with a guitar in my hand.

Don't you let this dream end- don't you let his dream end!

It's dark- in here. It's warm- in there.

The rain- is near. My thoughts- are clear "

Oliver quickly caught his breath and continued as the song was reaching an end.

" It's dark- in here. It's warm- in there.

The rain- is near. My thoughts- are clear.

It's dark- in here! It's warm- in there!

The rain- is near. My thoughts- are clear! "

A crash of cymbals was heard.

" It's dark- in here. It's warm- in there.

I cannot hear; your voice in here.

The rain- is near. My thoughts- are clear!

I'll see you soon, good afternoon.

I'll see you soon, good… "

And everything stopped.

Oliver had sung out his heart, Randy looked relieved that it was over, and Gingi tried to spin their drumsticks though they failed and it hit their head.

There was a moment of silence before someone started clapping; then another, and then an entire table- everyone was cheering.

In the distance, Karen was clapping her hands together with Pierre.

Oliver just stared and smiled, he was happy that this all went better than expected. He gave his band members an enthusiastic look and they responded with the same.

"Thank you! Thank you, everyone! Yeah, we'll see you next time!" 

The curtains were then closed.

Chapter Text

"Thank you! We'll be here as always!" Oliver grinned just as the curtains closed.

This was the third time they've performed here and they were feeling more comfortable with their surroundings… so far.

Randy had his struggles yet managed to hide them like stuffing a bad sandwich in a paper bag, Gingi didn't seem to acknowledge their own surroundings as per usual, and Karen always kept a good eye on the band from afar.

"Third time really was a charm, how about you?" The guitarist asked.

"I'd say it's good so far- since I'm still a  bit  rusty" Randy sighed out.

"I personally think you did better than before"

"Really?" The bassist let out a small breathless laugh "compared to the other two shows we did, there isn't much of a difference"

"Come on, there is a difference!" Gingi interrupted, hopping off of their seat "like… for example; Oliver's fly is open!"

"Oh,  ha-ha . Very funny, Gingi" The flannel-wearing man just crossed his arm, his eyes slightly glancing down to realize that Gingi  wasn't  joking.

A shade of red formed on his cheeks and he immediately zipped his pants back up.

The cryptid laughed at the action, amused at the flash of regret on Oliver's face.

"I am  so  glad I took the advice on always wearing underwear that matches your pants"

"I can see why" Randy muttered.

After they got off stage, they met Karen at the back.

"You all did great out there," she smiled "if we keep this up then we might get more recognition than expected"

"Stellar! ...though, I don't get why we have to play other songs instead of the ones I wrote"

"It's not that I'm against your writing, Oliver. It's that people tend to enjoy different versions of existing songs before being met with original work. Who knows? It might just give people the idea of inviting new friends. It's only temporary, may I remind you"

"Can't argue with logic; I'm probably just excited to play a few written songs"

"You'll get to it soon"

They all got their items and head off after thanking Pierre once again for allowing the band to play, the bartender said that their performance had riled in new people into the establishment. 

When they all were out of the bar, Oliver was talking about plans with Karen and Randy kept his eyes on the road.

The drummer, however, was a bit bored. The performances were fun but it was becoming boring now- always repeating the whole route and having to walk home without. anything in hand beside their trusty drumsticks.

"Hey, Randy?"

"Hm? What is it, Gingi?"

"I was wondering if you're free after this, I'm a bit bored"

"Aw, I'd love to hang out but- I kinda plan on just sleeping through the whole day"

Gingi pouted, "oh alright"

They knew that Oliver and Karen would decline the offer as well, knowing that the two were busy with their personal lives.

With a silent huff, they trailed the others until they reached the Music Store.

As they entered the store, they stumbled across Oliver's coworker- Nico Perez- wearing their usual attire.

"Heyya Nico" Oliver greeted, his coworker just gave him a high-five.

"How was the performance?" The pink-haired worker asked.

"Gnarly as ever! You should've seen us, man, we were killing it on stage!"

"Nice"

Karen and Randy said their goodbye's and had already made their way to the door while Nico and Oliver had a short conversation on what happened today.

As they talked, Gingi was standing there in complete silence. They stared at the two before a thought passed by; perhaps Nico could hang out with them? The two are acquainted since Gingi would come over and greet them every day.

Their pupils turned to slits when they noticed that the distant conversation had ended. 

Oliver had entered the back room and Nico had made their way to the door until Gingi stopped them.

"Hey, candy hair!" 

"Wh-?" Nico looked with utter confusion "what's up?"

"Are you busy today?"

"Uhm… I just got off of work so I wouldn't-"

"Great! You aren't!" Gingi chimed in a happy tone "you're now responsible to cure my boredom! Not take-backs"

Nico blinked, "hold up- wait just a minute. Aren't you dating Randy?"

"Yes?"

"And… Why pick me to be the one  responsible  to cure your boredom? Why not Randy?"

"Randy is a busy man, he needs his sleeps. Besides! I'm not asking for a date, you dummy, I just need platonic companionship until I feel sleepy"

"That's kind of random but it would make sense since you're- uhm…" Nico eyed them up and down "say; what are you?"

"I don't know"

The worker clicked their tongue, "fair enough. Anyways, I guess you can tag along with me since I plan on taking a short walk to Downtown"

"Fun! But why walk? There's a subway, man, why not take it?"

"Don't really have a ticket for one, ya know? I work at a Music Store that pays me well yet not enough for a ticket-" Nico chuckled "-I'm saving that for food and stuff"

"If talking about financial stability, I have zero knowledge but go off"

Nico hummed, "not sure if you're genuine or not but I like you, you seem way more fun than flannel-wearing rockstar back there-" they snickered at the last part. 

"-let me tell you, Oliver might be a bit of a goody-two-shoes for this Music Store but the guy got some nerves. Oh, and you should've been here when he forgot to close his pants during work" Nico continued.

"Really? Kinda ironic because today he forgot to close his fly"

Nico laughed, "the usual Swift move! Open fly- let me guess, he said something about wearing underwear that matches his pants?"

"Yeah, pretty much"

"That's pretty much Oliver to you, a fun guy but just  super  easy to tease. Guy puts up a smile to everything"

Gingi tilted their head, "are you sure? He doesn't look like he's smiling now"

"Huh?" 

Nico turned around to see Oliver holding a mop with an irritated frown on his face, he glared deeply into Nico- who responded with a coward-like face.

"Oliver-!" they cleared their throat "-nice seeing you"

"Nico, if I weren't such a goody-two-shoes now; I'd knock you out"

His coworker gulped audibly, knowing well that Oliver was able to knock the lights out of them on spot.

Gingi waved at Oliver, "hi Oliver!"

"Hey, Gingi! Aren't you going home?"

"Not yet, gonna hang out with candy hair for the day"

Oliver chuckled, "candy hair? I'm going to start using that now"

"Don't-" Nico hissed through their teeth.

" Too late "

_____

"Kinda curious, where did you get those clothes?" Nico asked, having their hands in their pocket.

Gingi looked down on themselves, pinching the ruined fabric that looked like a gown.

"I found them somewhere, not sure where but my guess  has  to be a dumpster"

"Really? You don't even like- get clean or something?"

"I wash once a year," they shrugged "if not… I'd dip myself in a pond and get out"

"You're  really  living the wildlife, kinda cool"

"I get you, man"

They continued to walk, the cold breeze brushing against them. It was a wonder that Gingi wasn't bothered with the sudden temperature change, overall, they've lived half of their life completely nude so why bother?

"So…" Gingi glanced at Nico "are we heading to your place or what?"

"Huh?" Nico blinked, a bit surprised at the mention of their home "no, not really. We're just heading to downtown for a bit since it's a cool place"

"Is it really a cool place as the cool kids say? All I've heard is that it's just busier and have taller buildings"

"Yeah but more valuable stuff is there, that and it makes you feel like the cool city type"

Gingi gasped and their pupils turned to orbs, "I've always wanted to be the cool city type"

The other laughed it off.

When they finally approached Downtown, Gingi noticed that their short description was- in fact- true.

The buildings were much taller and the area itself was a bit cramped than what Uptown has to offer. People were scattered like ants and they groaned, not a fan of having to walk through big crowds.

Nico, however, seemed familiar with the area and was walking like they owned the place. The cryptid tagged along, unsure what Nico's goal is now.

"Why are we here again?" Gingi asked, almost bumping into a man with a coat.

"Watch it, freak" the man barked.

Gingi just gave him a death glare before continuing walking with Nico.

"Are people  that  mean here?" Gingi asked.

"From my experience, everyone here is an asshole. Mostly stressed workers who are getting paid with peanuts"

"Aw, so everyone here is just hurting?"

Nico rolled their eyes, "as if!"

The pink-haired lad took a turn and made their way to some sort of alleyway, Gingi continued to follow.

"Where the hell are you going? This is a sweaty alleyway!"

"Hey, you wanted to tag along with me in the first place. You might as well deal with it- and besides, you're gonna enjoy the trip"

The cryptid quirked a brow, "are you going to harvest my organs when I'm not looking?"

"Wow, what a dream-" Nico replied sarcastically "-but no. I'm not into that stuff and I'm damn sure that you'd rip my head off like it's cherry-picking season"

"That is true… and your hair reminds me of cherries!"

The other shrugged the comment off, kicking an empty can out of the way which scared off a random stray cat.

As the two made their way to the end of the alleyway, there was a fence separating them from another alleyway. The fence had a hole on the right bottom corner that was big enough for a human being.

Gingi noticed Nico getting on all fours and crawling through the gap, urging Gingi to do the same.

They would but… they had a better idea; being a fucking cryptid, they climbed the fence all the way to the top and jumped down onto the other side- startling Nico at the process.

"Holy shit-! You just scaled that fence like it's nothing"

"Awesome, right?"

Nico nodded, having a spark in their eyes.

The two stopped near a dumpster that was closed, it was positioned under a window that was slightly opened.

Nico hopped onto the dumpster and caught their balance since the dumpster was slightly sloped.

Gingi followed along and saw that they were reaching to the window, managing to open it more with a single finger.

"What are you doing?" Gingi asked but Nico hushed them immediately. 

When the window was finally opened, Nico asked if Gingi could help them up. The cryptid sighed and got on all fours, acting as a stable table.

Nico got on their back and had their hands gripping on the edge of the window, pulling themselves up until they were able to crawl inside.

It took about a few seconds until Nico poked their head out to look at Gingi, "you need a hand?"

"Nah, I got this. Just back away for a bit"

Gingi got off of the dumpster and edged themselves onto the other brick wall of the alleyway, needing a running start. Then, they sprinted towards the dumpster and leaped onto it, using a leg to push themselves up like some sort of spring and catching themselves onto the edge of the window with their clawed hands.

They swiftly pulled themselves inside.

"Woah," Nico blinked in awe "do you do this all the time?"

Gingi pulled their tail in and gave Nico a quizzical look, "maybe once or twice in a month. Not sure, I just do what I gotta do"

The inside was dark as ever, hard to notice the boxes and wooden planks in the area. Gingi was confused about why Nico wanted to go to such a boring place like this but it seems like Nico wasn't done.

Even in such a dark area, Gingi could tell where Nico was from the sound of footsteps and the rustle of their clothes.

Nico moved forward, squeezing themselves through a tight area made out of wood and kicking cables away. If they weren't so experienced in moving through a carped place like this- it would have cost their life.

Gingi kept following their movements, lightly kicking cables away and avoiding hitting their head on items that were poking through the wooden walls.

Just as they inch closer to a room with more space, Gingi heard… music?

It was electrical, they couldn't recognize what instrument was making that but it was completely different than the music Gingi would hear in the Dialtown Music Store… actually- on second thought, they might have heard someone play music that was similar to this.

It was upbeat and intense, way more intense than Gingi's intense drumming. 

Through the dark, they could see some sort of outline in the color of oversaturated green and blue.

"What… what is this?" They whispered in wonder.

They heard Nico chuckle softly, "ever heard of Killer Shawn?"

"No…?"

"Well, back then- he was a runaway criminal moving from town to town. He once stopped by at Dialtown and hid in this exact area"

"You mean- we're currently standing in a  murderer's  hideout?"

"Killer Shawn was arrested like… five years ago. No need to worry"

Gingi sighed in relief.

"Anyways," Nico continued "Shawn made a hole in the wall in case he needed to escape, which leads to the next room that was commonly used for seminars and conventions by rich people"

"Uh-huh?"

"When Shawn got arrested, no one really bothered to fix the hole so they just placed a box in front of it-" the pink-haired worker gently slapped their palm against the obvious cardboard box sitting beside them.

"So wait, this place is kinda like… abandoned?"

Nico hummed, "this part? Yeah. But the other side had one heck of a change-" they hesitated "you okay with loud sounds and bright lights?"

"Depends"

The other clicked their tongue and moved the box, "one way to find out, I suppose!"

When Nico finally moved the box, Gingi could hear the music as clear as ever. It was loud as expected and they could barely hear their own thoughts- if they had any, to begin with.

They noticed Nico crawling through the gap and they decided to follow along.

When they were finally through, realization struck along with oversaturated lighting and loud beats.

Instead of a room; they were on some sort of bridge- a platform to be exact. Stage lights were sitting there but they weren't the source of the oversaturated lighting that filled the room.

Gingi stood up and placed their hand on the stable railings. Looking down, they gasped.

They were not only high off the ground but there was a sea of people underneath, dancing to the booming music! Each held glow sticks or whatever colorful item they could get their hands on.

"What… is this place-?" Gingi muttered.

They couldn't hear their own mutters from the loud music.

"This, my friend-" Nico said loud enough for Gingi to hear " -is a Rave! "

The cryptid's pupils went from slits to orbs, curious about this newfound poison! It was obviously far from Gingi's taste but if it was enough to gather an entire ocean of people into it then… Gingi's probably missing out.

Overall, it looked like a destructive case so this would be interesting.

"The fuck is a rave?" Gingi asked loud enough.

"A rave is basically an intense party for people who just want to  freaking lose it . Do things they shouldn't do and walk away after passing out in a public restroom, heck, they would give their life to dance in that crowd of crazy ants"

"Sounds simple and lame, why do people like it if they're going to risk their lives to this kind of habit?"

Nico raised a brow, "funny coming from someone with stitches all over their body"

"Touchè!"

Gingi saw Nico kneel to pick something up.

"Here-" Nico held a pair of binoculars, "-I left this the last time I was here, might come in handy"

After handing it over to the cryptid, Gingi eyed the thing with newfound information. It didn't know what it was but they opened their mouth and-

"Hey hey- wait, don't-" Nico snatched it out of their grasp "-this is  not  for eating, you feral animal"

Gingi responded with a hiss.

"You use them like this," they held the time near their eyes and scanned the area, looking around at the sea of crazed people.

They handed it back to Gingi and the cryptid mimicked Nico's actions, noticing that the binoculars helped them get a closer look at this messy scene.

"Woah- it's like I'm right there!" Gingi chimed in awe, looking around with a growing grin on their face.

"That's what binoculars do; help you get a closer look when you can't do it yourself"

"If that's the case then why not hop into the crowd? Doesn't seem to be much of an issue in sneaking in"

The pink-haired pal just sighed, "I wish but I neither have the guts to get stampede on by high off nerds and… well- some people don't want me here"

"Like who?"

"Uhm," Nico hesitated, their eyes scanning the area for a bit "...let me show you-"

They nudged the binoculars a bit to the left and pointed at a certain part of the scene, Gingi hummed and looked at where Nico was pointing at with the binoculars. 

There they saw a man in his twenties with a black leather jacket, blonde hair that looked like it was combed with care, and a shirt with a skull on it. The guy looked like a walking cliche at this point- and Gingi was green, damnit!

The guy looked like a massive player from how he was flirting with two women, the two seemed interested in his words and looks.

"Who's that guy?"

"That's Campbell; Knew the guy back then but we weren't on great terms until now. Because of him and his  status- " Nico said without certainty "-I'd get knocked out if I was seen in the crowd"

"So… he banned you from this Rave?"

"Guess so, he and his fellow  crewmates "

Gingi gasped, "he's a  pirate ?!" 

"What?" Nico chuckled "no! He has this little group of friends who have the same status as him, and just like him, they all hate me"

"Oh, lame"

Gingi took another look through the binoculars, "is that his crewmate right there?" They pointed out.

"Let me see that-" Nico snatched the item out of Gingi's grasp and took a look.

Nico just hummed, "yeah, there's his little gang of jerks; Ben, Fred, Jordan, an-" they paused.

The pink-haired worker squinted their eyes as they saw someone unfamiliar. 

The person wore a colorful printed shirt, basic black pants, and a brown flannel jacket. Somehow, Nico felt like they couldn't look away although Gingi was constantly calling their name.

The person they were staring at was talking to Campbell as if the two are friends. 

Nico just stared.

Nico almost choked on air when they saw the person looking in their direction with a slightly surprised look.

"-Nico, do I have to punch you in the- hey-!?" The cryptid yelped when Nico suddenly shoved them down.

The two were now on the ground and Nico shushed Gingi.

"He saw me-" Nico whispered, "We gotta get out of here"

"Already?"

"Yeah, there are better places- now let's go!"

The two crawled back into the hole and Nico pushed the box back to its original place- hiding the hole. 

____

"Well, kind of a disappointment but it was… fine" Gingi mumbled, kicking a rock away.

"Hey, come on now. I'm not  that  boring!"

"Uhm,  duh ? Man, you look like you ran into three different clothing stores and walked out with whatever was stuck onto you"

Nico was taken aback by the insult, "look who's talking!"

"Whatever, man. I still feel bored!"

The pink-haired worker sighed, looking around for a bit before grinning when they saw something.

"Hey, Gingi?"

Gingi glanced at them, "what?"

"Wanna go mess up some stuff?"

Without question, Gingi was already standing at their full height. Their pupils forming into orbs with a spark of interest.

"Where do we start?" The cryptid grinned.

Thus, the troublemakers started to cause trouble.

They started off pulling people's pants down and hiding in the shadows when they turned around, Nico obviously let Gingi do the work since they were fast into booking out of the scene.

Then, they snuck onto the roof of a fast-food restaurant and were dunking small pebbles onto people's heads. It was short-lived when the owner found out about the two and started cussing them out.

"Get off my roof!" The shorter man barked out, waving a fist at the snickering rascals.

"Nice burger joint, shorty! Hope you make enough cash to give yourself a few inches- Unless you want a  different  inch~!" Nico yelled, laughing like a mad lad.

The owner of the burger joint flashed the most disgusted face ever, he gritted his teeth and threw his wineglass at the two- who dodged it, obviously. 

It was time for the two to make their exit as they escaped by going to the other side of the roof and dived down into an open dumpster.

The trash softened their fall.

"Come on!" The pink-haired troublemaker urged Gingi to follow them, knowing that the owner of the Burger Joint would come back here with a loaded shotgun.

The two ran to a nearby alleyway and had completely disappeared from the scene.

Gingi couldn't stop laughing halfway, slowing down on their tracks and having to support themselves by the knee.

"That was hilarious! Did you see his face? He looked like a red tomato!" 

"I know, right?" Nico doubled over with laughter.

After catching their breaths, they decided to rest near an empty sidewalk.

"I never had  that  much fun in years! I mean, I did once but they always ended with my getting a new bullet wound or a scar" Gingi said in a slight giggle.

"Honestly, messing others with a friend is way more fun than my usual gig!" Nico laughed "we should totally do this more often"

"Fuck yeah, man! So anyways-" the cryptid started to rub their hands like an evil fly "-what next? Tipping hobos? Kick down motorbikes-? Oh! What about throwing babies to windows?"

The pink-haired troublemaker shook their head, "nice suggestions but… I've been meaning to do one more thing to wrap up the night"

"Which is?"

There was a sudden shift in Nico's expression, from their small smile that turned to a stretched out grin. Their eyes showed some sort of mischief vibe- kind of worrying and kind of intriguing. 

"Let me give you an example," they fished out something from their pocket and grabbed what appeared to be a small metal box.

Gingi wasn't sure what it was until Nico flicked the top open and a flame appeared.

Ah, they were holding a lighter.

Gingi's pupils turned to orbs, hypnotized by the beautiful warm light.

" Ooooh,  pretty light-"

Nico closed the lid when Gingi hovered a hand over the flame.

"You like?" The pink-haired troublemaker asked, getting a frantic nod as an answer.

"Well, since you're a fan then I'm sure you'll like what will happen next"

Nico stood up and started walking, asking Gingi to follow them to the unknown.

They were getting farther away from downtown and were on a rocky road, Gingi kicked a small pebble away and heard Nico take a sharp turn to what appears to be… a hole?

It was the type where it would usually lead you to sewers but it looked like it was closed. However, Nico knelt and used their bare hands to drag the hardly noticeable lid off of the hole.

"Woah, secret hole?" Gingi whispered in awe.

"Kind of, I found this hole years ago and decided to use it for-" Nico leaned down into the hole to get something "-personal uses"

They let out a victorious ' ah-hah! ' Followed by what appeared to be heavy rubber scraping off of a rocky surface. They got out of the hole with a canister- it had a massive x over it made out of yellow tape.

"What's that…?"

"Gasoline. Managed to get this from a nearby gas station past the forest, I'm an adventurous type who loves a challenge"

"Huh, never knew you were a thief"

"A thief often keeps their rewards, right? But I put them in a hole- so that makes me… a really late borrower!"

"From my knowledge, borrowing means that you'll return the item"

"I return them in spirit when I burn the stuff"

"Fair…?"

"Oh come on," Nico placed the lid back on top of the hole, making it barely visible to the naked eye "you probably steal food from an open trash can, you can't criticize me"

Gingi huffed, "let's just move on with whatever you have in mind"

Nico shrugged and urged them to follow them, the two walked on the rocky road without any stranger insight. It kind of made sense why Nico decided to take the empty lane rather than a crowded one since the two had pissed off half of the population in Dialtown.

Overall, they saw a large fence from afar.

Gingi squinted their eyes and tried to make out what it was but sadly they couldn't. 

They saw Nico running towards the area and Gingi decided to just catch up, thinking that maybe it's best to ask questions later.

When the two were now faced to face with a massive fence; Nico turned their head to Gingi.

"Think you can climb this fence?"

"What?" Gingi seemed baffled.

"Come on, we don't have much time here"

"I-" Gingi hesitated and looked up, seeing that the fence wasn't  that  high "-... yeah, I can make it"

Backing away for a bit, Gingi got a running start and jumped onto the fence, gripping onto the gaps. They climbed with slight difficulty as they wore stolen bowling alley shoes yet they managed to scale it until the very top.

It had barbed wires so they held their breath and pulled themselves forward, inching away from the sharp metal.

They eventually got onto the other side and slid down with ease.

"Nice job;" Nico complimented, the fence now separating them "anyways, do you see that wooden shack at the corner there?"

Gingi turned to see a wooden shack at the very corner of the area- just past the rows of broken cars.

"I want you to go in there and find something that would cut through the cables of this fence,"

"How the fuck would I know that, man?"

"Imagine… big pair of scissors!" Nico made scissor motions with two fingers.

Gingi didn't respond, still processing the new information. 

Nico sighed in defeat, "just being a box that has lots of tools and bring it here"

"Sounds easy, I'll be right back-" with that, they scurried off.

Gingi was surprised that an area with large fences didn't have any security whatsoever. Sure, the barbed wires were a plus but come on, no cameras or snipers?

This area could be a children's playground at this point.

Anyways, they made it to the shack and noticed the door was locked. They would just smash the windows and sneak in but they decided to be extra and pinch their own finger to extend a claw, using it as a personal key.

They would use their tongue but the lock looked a bit too small so they had to use a nail.

A click was heard and they opened the door- thank goodness they had experience in breaking into locked areas.

Nico said something about a box so they focused on that, however, they saw that the shack was filled with framed pictures and cardboard boxes.

This confused them even more at how… random this place was.

There was a note on the table but Gingi didn't bother to read it, their main goal was to get some sort of box that was filled with tools.

They searched every box but only stumbled across empty ones or those filled with trash, it was an infuriating search but they saw something poke under the table when they dropped a small box.

It was a black toolbox, but it was locked.

"Damn locks… why do they make these things in the first place?" Gingi fiddled with the lock and decided to just bite the thing until it was off.

… it worked, horrifyingly. 

A surprise that someone who never flosses or knows anything about dental hygiene managed to still have canine-like teeth for decades.

Throwing the thought aside, they carried the toolbox and got out of the shack.

Nico was sitting on the ground, picking grass until they heard Gingi approach them and dropped the contents of the toolbox onto the ground.

"There! Now what?"

Nico hummed and looked at the tools, "that one" they pointed at a pair of pliers.

"This wacky thing?"

"Yeah"

Gingi grabbed the thing and held it with confusion written on their face- they snapped back to reality when Nico called out their name. The pink-haired troublemaker gave detailed instructions on what Gingi should do, half of the time they weren't listening but they managed to do their part of the plan.

They found themselves cutting the wires and making a removable gap within the fence.

Nico took the opportunity to push it aside and crawl through, closing it when they arrived on the other side.

"Well that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Kinda was, actually" Gingi groaned.

"Yeah, okay-" Nico held the canister close to them "-but lighten up! we're almost at the fun part"

 The fact that Nico hasn't told them what the surprise is was getting a tad annoying now, they hated waiting.

What made it more annoying was that the area they were in barely made any sense! Why surround it with fences without any entrance? Why wasn't anyone here? Where were the snipers? Security cameras? Those lasers that split you in half?! There were only a wooden shack and a few broken cars!

Getting a slight headache, Gingi didn't realize that Nico was heading to the shack.

The pink-haired troublemaker went inside, kicking away boxes and trying to find something. It was hard to tell what they were trying to do as Gingi was watching from afar and through the window.

They saw them hold a piece of paper and a small leather wallet, possibly from the drawers since Gingi didn't bother to look into them during their previous search.

Nico shoved the items into their pocket, got the canister... And started to pour the contents out.

Nico made sure to get a good amount out before making a trail outside, they had a smile plastered on their face throughout the process.

Somehow, that made Gingi feel uneasy.

Then, Nico made a row near the rows of cars- a generous amount shared to those lifeless and neglected vehicles.

Gingi was biting their tongue now, not sure why watching this was filling their anxiety.

Nico stopped the trail near the corner of the area, dropping the canister beside. 

"Hey! Come here!" They called out Gingi.

Gingi hesitantly approached the smiling troublemaker, not saying a word.

"What's with the long face?" Nico asked, "the fun part is about to start! Why not smile?"

"I wish but uh-" they looked at the trail of gasoline, the fumes now hitting their sense of smell "-I'm not too sure on what you're doing now-"

"Oh? Why didn't you ask? I'm just gonna cause a little fire to the trail and soon it'll be a big one! I mean, this place had been abandoned for a while now so there isn't any harm done"

"So you knew this place before?"

Nico rolled their eyes, "if I didn't then I wouldn't have taken you here, silly"

"I-" Gingi cleared their throat "-this seems fun and all but… this is  far  from my taste, man"

Nico's smile fell, staring deeply at Gingi's eyes.

"What are you trying to imply?"

"I just-" Gingi sighed "-this is just too much to take in, not really as exciting as I thought it would be. I mean, not totally against it but… you get what I'm saying, right?"

"...you're going to dip on me on the last second?"

Gingi blinked, "guess you can say that"

They expected Nico to yell at them or throw a fist but they saw disappointment flash in their eyes.

Nico sighed and turned to the trail they made-

"fine, go home"

"Huh-?" 

"Didn't you hear? I said you can go home if you're not into this"

"I mean, if you're just allowing me to then I'll-" they noticed Nico not even looking at them anymore- just silent "-go…"

Not a word was shared and Gingi just walked away.

They made it to the removable part of the fence, crawling through but stopping halfway to glance back to where Nico is.

Nico was getting their lighter, staring deeply at the lit flame.

The cryptid just watched, finally making through the fence. However, they gripped onto the edge of the removable part and thought about one thing;

If Nico was willing to light a massive match then-

Using every inch of their strength, they tore the part off until there was just a massive hole in the fence.

-might as well make it easy for them to run away.

With that; Gingi left.

As they were far away, they were sure they saw a bright light flash from the corner of their eye.

________

"Hey, there guys!" Oliver greeted, taking a sip of a glass of water.

Gingi entered the Music Store with Randy and Karen, the other two greeted Oliver as usual and got to the back room.

Gingi was about to follow them but as the door opened, Oliver's coworker walked out- almost bumping into Randy.

"Oh, sorry-" the bassist apologized, getting a nod as a response.

Nico did notice Gingi but they immediately ignored them, going to the counter that was just beside Oliver and Gingi.

"Anyways, Gingi, how was your little hang out with Nico?" Oliver asked, placing his empty glass on the counter. He didn't really notice Nico's behavior at all.

Gingi glanced at Nico, seeing that the other was just ignoring their existence completely.

"Well-" Gingi wasn't sure what to say- especially having a small flashback to what happened last night.

"Well?"

"It was kinda fun, not gonna lie. We walked around and talked, could have been better but Nico seems like a reasonable person"

Nico seemed to be surprised at the answer, their reaction going unnoticed since Gingi had their focus on Oliver.

"If that's the case then I'm glad you had fun, I was a bit worried that Nico would play a prank on you"

"Nah, they wouldn't even try"

Oliver chuckled, "anyways, I got a few songs in mind that I'm sure you're gonna love! Come on-" he guided Gingi to the back room; leaving Nico alone behind the counter.

The pink-haired arsonist glanced at the closed door.

If only they were able to say 'thank you' to Gingi. 

Chapter Text

"One- two- three!" Gingi yelled, slamming their drumsticks against the cymbals, and thus; the song started.

As the band played, as usual, Karen was sitting on an empty seat near the bartender corner.

"Ya know," Pierre spoke up, wiping a clean cloth against a dirty glass "I never really thought this bar would end up being a hotspot for music lovers"

Karen just hummed, eyes on the stage as always.

"I'm just doing my part as their manager" she simply added, resting an arm onto the wooden table.

Throughout her time with the band, she felt more connected with them compared to her usual coworkers at her usual workplace. Not that she was picking favorites of course! She just enjoyed this sort of platonic growth. 

Pierre had excused himself to serve a random guy a drink and she nodded her head.

The bar was a bit loud as Oliver sang his heart out once more, Gingi using every inch of strength onto the drums, and Randy being focused from how he was glaring down at his fingers.

It was a satisfying sight to see them play on stage instead of the usual dusty back room in the Music Store.

She couldn't help but smile.

Music filled the room and people were listening with awe, admiring the efforts that those three bandmates put into playing their roles.

A shiver ran up her spine.

Somehow, she felt like being watched. She recognized this type of feeling before but the shiver made her visibly shudder.

The brown-haired woman looked around to see if anyone had their heads turned towards her; so far, none.

She sighed to herself and continued to watch the band, trying to shrug the thought off of her head. It was worrying but eventually, she'll come to terms with it… right?

The song came to a dramatic end and everyone started to applaud, Oliver did the usual clever lines that he made up on spot and Gingi would yell out random phrases like it was nothing. A small comedy skit to end the scene.

Karen stood up and made her way to the storage room, as usual, seeing that the band members had already entered the room.

"-I'm sorry but what's moist shrimp?" Randy asked with worry.

Gingi just blinked and smiled, "moist shrimp!"

" Gosh, I can't understand your brain process "

Oliver, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, laughed.

"Chillax Randy, Gingi's just being Gingi"

"I am my only kind- if anyone else tries to fit in with my name; they will die "

"... see?"

Randy just stared at him with a tired look.

Karen approached the three with her hands in her pockets, she told them that they were doing a great job and that the possibility of them getting their names out is rising.

"How about after this we get some refreshments then calls it a day?" She offered.

She knew how much work the three put into their roles so she might as well give them a small break.

"Well- I am a bit parched so… a drink would be fine" Randy smiled.

"Count me in!" Oliver then turned to Gingi "what about you?"

"I mean, if we're talking about beverages then I guess I can go if there's some nect-" Gingi's expression turned from nonchalant to worry "- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa -"

The three looked at them with confused looks, noticing that the cryptid didn't seem to stop.

"Gingi-" Oliver snapped his fingers in front of Gingi's face "-are you okay? Do you-" he snapped his fingers again "-are you having a stroke?"

"I think they might be? I'm not sure" Karen muttered.

Randy placed a hand on Gingi's forehead, not feeling any warmth which indicated that they weren't having a fever. However, he noticed that Gingi seemed to be looking at something so he followed their line of sight until he saw something- no, someone standing behind Karen.

Feeling like his soul just left him, he screamed.

A tall buff man who wore a camouflage shirt with baggy pants stood behind Karen with crossed arms, his grayish-blue eyes staring through the band member's souls.

The band members scurried back- pressing themselves against a box in such panic.

Karen looked surprised as well and she turned around to see what the others were cowering from.

A small gasp came from her… and then a wide smile.

The man smiled, his expression softened a bit.

"Nice to see you again, Karen," he said, his voice deep and raspy.

"Connor? I thought you went to auntie's place?"

"I was but-" he scratched the back of his neck "-I decided to stay in town for a bit. Wanted to see my favorite cousin after all those years of absence"

Karen couldn't help but smile, it had been years since she saw her older cousin ever since he moved out of town for training.

The two were in their world of a family reunion whilst the band members were still huddling against a box.

"...Karen has a cousin?" Randy asked in a hushed tone.

"I mean… everyone has a cousin, right?" Oliver replied.

“Do you?”

“... okay, yeah, this is kind of a surprise”

"He's like… fucking ripped ," Gingi added.

"Well- I can agree on that except on how you phrased it"

The three heard Karen call for them, wanting them to meet Connor.

"Everyone, meet Connor"

Connor waved at them with a small smile, "hello there,"

Gingi happily waved back and Oliver let out a smile- doing his best not to look nervous because Connor looked like he snapped spines for breakfast.

"Connor-" she turned to him and then to the band members "-this is Oliver,"

"Groovy to meet ya"

"-Randy,"

"Hi- uh- sir"

"-and Gingi"

"Do you only eat chicken breasts to make yourself look that buff?"

Connor looked taken aback by the question, "I… no?"

"You'll eventually get used to Gingi," Karen reminded him.

Eventually, Connor explained how it was a massive coincidence that he saw Karen in the bar. When she left, he went over to the bartender corner and asked Pierre since he was quite acquainted with the bartender.

Pierre filled him in on how Karen was Dial the Band's manager and it surprised Conner that Karen took that kind of role.

Overall, he wanted to see her and her new friends.

“So-” Connor clapped his hands together “-I’m a bit curious on how this whole band thing came along”

Karen’s expression seemed to brighten up, knowing well that it will be a long story. However, Oliver jumped into the scene with a gentle reminder;

“Hey! How about we talk this over when we get some refreshments? Pretty sure Pierre wouldn’t want us lounging in the storage room, right?”

"That's true," Connor nodded "and I don't mind some cold drinks for the day. Had a long trip after all"

It was settled that they all will go to some nearby place to get some drinks, and it would be a good place for Karen and Connor to talk.

They were now walking towards a nearby cafe that was still opened. 

The two relatives were in front, talking about their day while the others just tagged along. Randy looked more nervous than before, it was hard to go unnoticed from how he was gripping the edge of his jacket, and his eyes focused on the road.

Oliver gave a gentle nudge onto his arm, giving him a slightly concerned look.

“You good, man?”

“Ah, I- yes I am. Why?”

“Don’t know, you look a bit…” Oliver made slight gestures “tense”

“I guess I gave my all a bit too much back at the bar- since… well, I wasn’t that all rusty in my parts”

Randy saw Oliver’s face written in doubt, hell, even Gingi peaked into the conversation with a pout.

“Okay- okay, fine” Randy gave up “I need to get it out anyway so-” he glanced up to see if Karen and Connor were still talking to each other before explaining about his recent attitude.

“-I don’t know how to put this without sounding disrespectful but I’m just intimidated by Connor”

“Huh? Why?” Oliver tilted his head.

“He looks like he could just squeeze my head until it pops like a balloon. I know; it’s bad to judge a book by its cover but I just can’t help it, I have this kind of herbivorous instinct to run when I see a possible threat- … which is possibly everyone and everything in sight, adding to my constant misfortune laying upon me”

“I get that it was a sudden first impression but he seems like a cool person, and besides, Karen wouldn’t let him lay a finger on you or any of us”

“I know but there’s always room for doubt, right?”

“Yeah but personally- you’re kinda taking this the wrong way. I respect that you want to feel safe and it’s valid of you but come on Randy, Connor ain’t so bad”

“Yeah!” Gingi hopped into the conversation, “just because a big guy harvested your organs once doesn’t mean you should assume other big guys would do the same!”

"Exactly what they s-" Oliver stopped mid-sentence and did a double-take on what Gingi just said before turning back to Randy with a surprised look "-your organs were harvested?"

"One man, one kidney…" Randy sadly sighed out.

"Oh, wow. That kinda makes sense but like I said before; Karen won't let him lay a finger on you if he tries"

"I'll take your word for it"

When they finally made it to the cafe, they all sat outside where there weren't too many people. That and the weather was lovely at this time of day.

A waitress came by with a note and pen in hand, ready to take their orders.

Oliver ordered some iced tea and Karen ordered the same thing, Connor ordered some coffee since he was craving some caffeine, and Randy ordered mango juice.

"-will that be all?" She asked.

"Actually, our friend here hasn't taken their order yet" Oliver added, signing to Gingi.

The cryptid had stuffed napkins into their mouth and was currently chewing them.

"I…"the waitress cleared her throat "what would you like- uhm, green one?"

Gingi perked up, spitting out the chewed up napkins onto the ground and giving the waitress a prideful smile.

"Thank you for referring to me with formality," they said with an accent "now do you guys have to cough nectar?"

"We… don't have that but maybe a glass of water with sliced lemon would satisfy your taste? Or maybe honey lemon iced tea?"

"The second one sounds fancy, write that down!"

"Okay, okay" 

She finished writing everyone's orders down onto the note.

"Your orders will be out in a few minutes" and she left.

There was a moment of silence before Connor spoke up.

"So," he clicked his tongue before turning his head to Karen "how did this whole band thing start anyway?"

"Oliver was the one who started it" Karen spoke "I saw one of his posters about needing a drummer and I decided to help. It took me a while to find him since he wasn't at the Music Store at the time but I managed to spot him and Randy in the park"

"Oliver and I were mauled by swans at the time being so I can guess our constant pain-filled screaming lured Karen to the park" Randy added with a slight shiver in his voice.

"Actually, yeah. I think I remember hearing two men scream near the park; I just didn't expect it to come from you two"

"We were on the ground covered with feathers and bruises, Karen-"

"I just assumed it was the other"

Connor quirked a brow, "so you just offered to help and they said yes?"

"Yeah, they were in a desperate situation. Oliver's words, not mine"

"She's right" Oliver added.

"I see, I see. What about the rest of you? What made you participate in this small rock band?" Connor asked Randy and Gingi.

His sudden turn of focus made Randy jump in his seat.

"Me? Well-"Randy cleared his throat "I guess it was more of an accident? I met Oliver at the- Uhm, the park and I… I think we were having some sort of one-sided conversation? Actually- no, we were having a usual conversation but we ended up going into different topics-" he hummed lightly, advertising his gaze "-but when I mentioned how I played the bass, he jumped over the bench and basically begged that I join his band"

"And did you say yes or was there more bribing?"

"I kinda said yes because I didn't have anything better to do. That and it would be nice to get back on playing the bass"

Connor let out a nod and turned his head to Gingi, "and you?"

"Eh?" The cryptid tilted their head, "you talking to me?"

"...yes"

Gingi tapped their chin, trying to remember a certain day.

"If I remember correctly; Randy was the one who made me join! I think it was during our first date in that cherry themed-"

"Apple, hon. It was apple-themed"

"Oh, right. That Apple-themed fun fair rip off- yeah, anyways! We were having fun and I kinda got lost for a bit- probably because I saw a yummy rat or two… but then I stumbled across this massive stage-"

"The stage wasn't that big-"

"- shush . I'm telling the story, Randal Jay-peg"

"Did you just change my last name to a file type- ...you know what? I'm sorry. Continue, please"

"As I was saying; I saw a drum set on the stage and I couldn't resist. I walked over there and started playing for funsies, not wanting a crowd but people were gathering like ants! I mean, I love attention but not too much attention, ya know? Either way, Randy, later on, brought me to the Music Store and I was renamed as The drummer of Dial the Band"

Connor looked a bit surprised- in a positive sense.

"Ah, okay. So you two are dating? Judging from how the story went and all"

Both Randy and Gingi hesitated, looking at each other before looking back.

"Wait, you two aren't?" Oliver suddenly asked, a bit confused at the slight hesitation.

"I-" Randy scratched the back of his neck, not sure how to put it in words but luckily Gingi was able to answer it for him.

"It's a work in progress, not sure yet"

"-yes, what they said"

Connor opened his mouth before closing it, he decided to turn the conversation around to another topic.

Shortly after, they received their orders and were taking a relaxing sip of their drinks.

"-so you were in the army?" Oliver asked, placing his glass down.

"Yeah, one of the main reasons why I'm always away from the family but now I finally got the chance to do so" Connor answered.

"What do people usually do in the military anyway?"

"I'm not sure if I could answer that without having to kill you"

There was a minute of silence.

"I'm joking! Please, I'm not a secret agent. I know my humor is a bit dry but come on, at least I tried "

Karen sighed, "some attempts aren't worth it, Connor"

"I know… but hey, I'll genuinely answer this time"

The man started to explain the basics and what they usually do in the military, as time went on, Randy was feeling very nervous.

He wasn't sure if it was because of Connor's sour attempt of a joke or maybe the drink k he was having.

He heard a cold crunch beside him and saw Gingi eating ice cubes, unsure how it wasn't hurting their teeth but at least they ate something considered edible in Randy's eyes. Most of the time he'd see them eating gravel or worst.

Though, he can't blame different biology.

"-so yeah. That's the life to ya" Connor ended.

Oliver looked a tad disturbed and also intrigued by the mix of pros and cons- actually, the cons were heavier than the pros as they consisted of false morality than financial stability.

"No wonder why they guilt trip lots of students"

"Yeah, that's the good ol' American way"

"Yikes"

Everyone finished their drinks and Connor was the one who insisted on paying.

They all got up from their seats and were heading back to the Music Store until Connor decided to stop on his tracks.

"I gotta get back to set up my place for a bit," he says.

"I see. Well, it was nice of you to visit us" Karen placed a hand on her hip.

"Don't act like this is the last time we'll see each other," he chuckled "I’m staying at Dialtown for a while so I'm sure we can hang out more"

"Oh? That makes sense. If you're going to stay for a bit then maybe you could visit Dialtown's Music Store to watch the others practice?" 

Connor looked surprised at the offer, "I would but… I don't want to be a bother and-"

"Of course not, man!" Oliver jumped in, "it would be stellar to have another audience during practice. That and it would be great for more family time with you and Karen, ya know?"

"I…" Connor hummed "if you're okay with it then I can come by when possible. I still have some unfinished business around so I might be a bit late"

"It's up to you, Connor" Karen reminded.

After finally making the decision; they all parted ways.

_____

Yesterday left Randy with mixed feelings.

Randy wasn't too sure why but he knew his paranoia towards guys who looked like they could just snap his neck was getting a bit out of hand.

Even if he was a bit- no, a coward. He knew that he would easily shrug all of this off when time passes by but who knows how long.

With a sigh, he entered the Music Store.

He didn't see Nico around so he assumed that they were in the backroom or maybe just running late.

Either way, he walked towards the door and opened it, expecting to hear a conversation but all he saw was Karen kneeling in front of what looked like a box that was covered in a wrapper.

He was about to call her name but he felt his words stuck in his throat.

Connor was looming behind her with a box cutter in hand.

"K-" he didn't realize he had reached out a hand to try and stop Connor, "Karen watch out!"

He used his might to yell it out and it caught Karen's attention for a bit.

She saw Randy and then back to Connor.

Instead of screaming, she was handed a box cutter from her cousin. 

"Thanks," and she turned her head to the box and started to cut it open.

Ah, Connor was just handing it to her.

Randy sighed out in relief, gripping his button-up since he was quite sure that he almost lost his breath there.

"Morning, Randy" Connor greeted with a friendly smile.

"Morning to y-you too, Connor" the bassist wheezed out.

"Did you run your way over here? You sound like you're out of breath"

"No-" Randy closed the door behind him "-just tired"

"If that's the case then," Connor walked to a box where another black bag laid by, he took out what seemed to be a canister "do you want some coffee?"

"You're… really into coffee, are you?"

"A man has taste" 

Connor removed the lid and poured the contents into the lid that acted as a small cup.

"So do you want it?"

Randy was hesitant but he decided to just bite his tongue and accept the offer, he noticed that the drink was still warm so he took a small sip for safekeeping.

It was slightly bitter against his tongue but the slight warmth made it better.

"This is…" he took another sip "this isn't so bad"

"Glad you like it"

"What kind of coffee is this?"

"Black coffee. I wanted to make Red Eye coffee but I decided to go with this"

"did you work as a coffee brewer back then?" 

Connor couldn't help but laugh, "kinda did. My mothers owned a small coffee shop and I always helped them make coffee during busy days, I was still a high schooler as well"

"Oh right, Marie and Jennette had a coffee shop" Karen realized "how is it doing now? I haven't heard Aunt Marie in awhile"

"She's doing fine. The coffee shop got an upgrade and business has been skyrocketing ever since"

"That's good to hear,"

"What's the place called?" Oliver asked, descending from the stairs with his sticker-covered notebook in hand.

"It's called Em-Jay Coffee "

"Em-Jay?" Gingi suddenly poked their head out from an empty box "the King of Pop in the 20th century? Also popularizing the dance move called the Moonwalk?"

Connor blinked, "no… it means M arie and J ennette. Em-Jay"

The drummer pouted and got back into their box.

"Do they live in that box or are they just keen on being some sort of housecat?"

"As I said last time, you'll get used to it. Besides, they seem sleepy" Karen added, finally opening the box that she had.

Inside of it was filled with souvenirs and other items that belonged in offices. 

"Where did you get that?" Randy asked.

"A coworker of mine came home from a two-week vacation with her fiance and gave everyone in my workplace gifts. I thought of giving half of the items to Oliver since he needed more notebooks and a better pen"

"I keep losing my favorite ones. It totally sucks " Oliver huffed.

Karen shook her head and placed the opened box onto the small table, wanting to deal with its contents later.

"Anyways," Oliver started to cut to the chase "now that everyone's here, let's get right into practice!"

Gingi groaned tiredly, "can I sleep more?"

"I don't know, Gingi. Can you?"

" I bite , Oliver "

Eventually, the band members got onto their places and were prepared for their usual practice. Oliver wanted to try this new song he wrote.

It did take a while for them to finally catch a newfound rhythm for this particular song, only a few scratches here and there. Since most of the originals they did were a bit more on the messy side, they wanted to do some sort of climax.

When a song starts soft but gets stronger as time passes.

As they were doing their own thing; Karen and Connor were just watching the others work.

"Is music-making always like this?" Connor asked.

"Not really. It depends on resources and planning; since the band is still starting small, we're left to make things on our own. Oliver does a big amount of work in the original songs since he's experienced in music writing, music playing, and even performance"

"Was he in a band before?"

Karen shook her head, "no but his boss was. Mr. Dickens used to be in this Punk Rock band called-"

"-Socks?"

"-Socks… wait, you know the band?"

Connor let out a small laugh, "I've heard a few albums. A friend of mine named Harry had a collection and shared some with me and the others. I'll be honest, I might have grown a bit attached"

"I see, I see"

They were caught off of their conversation when they heard Gingi tapping their drumsticks and smashing the cymbals loudly.

"-Okay, great! Let's try this out"

Oliver got his guitar and checked if his other bandmates were read. Randy already had his bass and Gingi gave a thumbs up.

With another tap of a pair of drumsticks, they all started to harmonize.

It wasn't long as it started softly, from the sound of Randy tapping his fingers against the strings of his bass and Oliver just gently stroking the strings of his guitar.

On cue, Gingi started to kick the bass drum until they hit the snare.

Eventually, they started to pick up the tempo and Gingi's playing started to get louder and even more intense.

Connor just couldn't help but nod his head along with the rhythm, he liked how they all played. He was more of a drummer fan but seeing this in person made him think that; maybe he could make room for others.

As he continued to listen, he could already guess that this band had lots of potentials. 

Though… he wasn't sure if it would be easy from how the music industry is; he wasn't too updated in industries but last time he read a few newspapers, he was quite sure there was some personal conflict inside the whole music industry- focusing more onto money than people's well-being.

Then again, that's common in industries that make millions and give all the credit to old managers who scam off of their singers and even staff members.

Oh well, he was relieved that this band was still at a starting progress than having to deal with random businessmen wanting their signature on a nasty contract.

When the band had stopped playing, he gave applause. 

Oliver gave a small bow, "thank you, thank you"

"You're all just- wow "

"Yeah, we get that a lot" Gingi chuckled, joining in with the confidence booster.

"It was better than expected. Good work" Karen gave a small smile.

As everyone had placed their items down; the door had opened.

Mr. Dickens had plastic bags and Nico was carrying some sort of vase.

"Alright, move dorks. I got china in my hand and I swear if any of you make me--" Nico froze in place and stared it pure shock.

They saw Connor and almost dropped the vase.

Luckily, Oliver swooped in to scoop up the fragile vase from colliding harshly against the floor.

"H-" Nico lifted a shaky finger, pointing at Connor "Th- that… wh- what I- what is-"

"Ah, is this another friend of yours, young chap?" Mr. Dickens asked.

"That's Connor. He's Karen's cousin"

"Why does-" Nico gulped "why does this guy look like he only eats chicken breasts…?"

"-see? See!? " Gingi suddenly spoke out " someone gets it!"

"I don't even like eating chicken" Connor mumbled to himself.

"Well," Mr. Dickens spoke up "lovely to meet you, Connor"

"Same to you, sir" 

It was a surprise how Connor was suddenly using honorifics but then again, he was a respectful man.

Oliver banded the vase back to Nico, "say, what's with the new vase?"

"Oh! You remember Gabby, yes?"

"The old woman who works at that antique store?"

"Yes, yes. Nico and I went over to have a cup of tea with the nice woman-"

"I was dragged there" Nico corrected.

"-and she decided to give me this vase to add to my collection. We two have common interests, you see"

"Old people liking old stuff. Obvious from the start "

"Oh- don't be so sour, young chap! I'll invite you to Dialtown's theater and show you a whole new collection of black and white movies that will surely satisfy your taste in comedy!"

Nico turned to Oliver and gave him a horrified face whilst mouthing the words; " help me "

"And speaking of taste," Mr Dickens handed the bags to Oliver "I stopped by the bakery to get the usual snacks. I assume it's break time, yes?"

"You're spot on, sir"

"Great! You and the rest take care of yourselves while I clean up my office. Come on, Nico"

"On my way… Teh tua …" Nico said through gritted teeth and followed Mr. Dickens upstairs.

Oliver handed out everyone an individual snack and left the rest of the bag onto the table, knowing that if anyone wants another piece then they can just take some from the bag.

Break time was usually snacking, rest for a few minutes, and separate conversations. Not much when described through words but through actions; it's enough.

Randy took a small bite of his snack, hearing Gingi and Oliver talking beside him.

Gingi was rambling about something whilst adding historical references with a breeze. How old was Gingi again? Probably over a hundred if he had to add fantasies into his theory.

He then felt someone had sat beside him and turned to see Connor.

A yelp came out of him.

"Hm?" Connor looked at Randy with a raised brow "you okay?"

"I'm-" Randy coughed "I'm fine- definitely "

The man shrugged.

"Say, Randy- right? I've been meaning to ask you"

"About what?"

Connor pointed at Randy's face bandage.

"The… bandage that has the word- uhm, eff-face"

"Oh… that"

Randy couldn't help but let out a breathless chuckle that sounded quite depressing.

"It's a very long story. Not sure how to start with but let's just say I have to live with this"

"Really? Why not take it off if it bothers you?"

Randy visibly flinched and Connor took it as a sign that it was a very bad subject to lean onto.

"I'm very sorry. I shouldn't ask things carelessly"

"No, no-" Randy assured "it's fine, really! I'm just… er- not ready for the talk yet"

"That's entirely fine, bud"

They sat in silence until Randy spoke up.

"I uhm- I'm sorry if I seem a little tense. I'm just easily intimidated-"

"It's perfectly fine, I get the impression a lot"

"Yeah- but you're not so bad. I mean, you're not trying to harvest my organs when I have my back turned-" the bassist chuckled.

He noticed that Connor was looking at him weirdly. 

"It's- it's a good thing, Connor"

"Ah, gotcha. A common phrase?"

"...you know what? Sure"

_______

"See you guys tomorrow," Oliver said, closing the glass door.

Gingi and Randy had decided to walk to their homes together as Connor walked with Karen.

He saw the silhouettes of the drummer and the bassist, noticing the two seemed to be getting a tad closer. In all honesty, he thought the two were a good couple.

Oh well, it was their life and not his.

"Hey, Connor. I was wondering if you want to have dinner at my place?"

"What do you have?"

"Well, we can always get takeout if leftovers aren't enough"

"Takeout seems good. Maybe we could get some coffee as well?"

"Not for me, though. I don't want to take caffeine before bed"

"More for me then"

Chapter Text

Oliver scratched the back of his head, his face was painted with worry.

As he passed by the cashier counter, Nico asked if he was alright. The Guitarist just shook his head and hurried his way to the back room. 

There, he saw his other bandmates. 

"Hey Oliver," Randy greeted, placing his bass aside.

The Bassist then noticed the worry on the other man's face.

"Are… are you okay?"

"I'm fine but-" Oliver sighed out "-I stumbled across Connor in the bakery today and he told me that Karen is too sick to come by"

Gingi gasped, "who would do such a thing to a womb-man like her!?"

"Well… she's running down with a nasty cold. Connor said that she just needs some rest and she'll be alright"

"Still," Randy butted in, which was new since he usually waits when the conversation is coming to a halt or when people are visibly out of words "should we send her a 'Get Well Soon' card? I mean… Karen has been the backbone of this band so we should at least show that we appreciate her work"

He noticed how the others were just staring at him with blank expressions. He reacted with a sudden awkward look whilst nervously tugging the bottom of his button-up.

"-I mean… if we want to since what I- what I said before was more of a suggestion and-" he cleared his throat, noticing that his sentences were turning to squeaked out words "-sorry"

"What?" Oliver raised a brow, "no-no! Randy, you're right!"

"I am?"

"Well of course, man! Karen has been doing lots of background work while we're out here grinding with our instruments!"

"Hi, yeah. Please rephrase what you just sa-"

"So we should definitely send her a 'Get Well Soon' card. In fact, we should send her gifts! Make her day brighter because it's what she deserves"

"Sounds fancy but…" Gingi tapped their drumsticks together "what should we get? I'm not going to go off on the street to chase after a raccoon, am I now?"

"Calm down, my fellow monster friend-"

Gingi's eyes turned to slits and they growled at the mention of " monster ".

"- cryptid … friend"

The cryptid then smiled and their pupils turned into satisfied orbs.

"We'll just have to get something she likes with a 'Get Well Soon' card attached to it!"

Oliver liked big ideas, always wanting the best for others no matter what.

"That sounds like a plan but where do we even start?" Randy asked.

"I know just the place" 

_____

"What on God's Gween is this place?!" Gingi yelled out with their hands on their hips.

Their booming voices caught a few customer's attention, from weird glances to disgusted ones.

"Gingi…" Randy leaned towards Gingi's ear- or perhaps what's supposed to be there "please don't yell- we can't get kicked out the moment we entered"

"Oh, not to worry!" The guitarist patted Randy on the back "Gabby won't kick us out. She's a real nice lady, won't even mind the sudden raise of volume"

"So does that mean I can yell?" Gingi asked.

Oliver opened his mouth, "no"

"Huff! Scammer!"

While they were in their own conversation, an old woman who wore a light blue sweater with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms and brown baggy pants approached the trio.

Her hair had gone grey from all that aging, the same went to her eyesight since she wore glasses.

Overall, she was still in proper shape to run this old Antique  Shop that was once owned by her father.

"Well well well," she hummed "if it ain't Dickens's boy"

Gabby stood there with her arms crossed, a soft smile on her lips.

"Hey there Gabby, nice to see you again" Oliver greeted, happy to see her.

"Same to you, Oliver. Say, mind tellin' me your crew here?"

She gestured towards Randy and Gingi from how she gave a quick glance.

"Oh! These are my friends; Randy-"

"Nice to meet you, ma'am"

"-and Gingi"

"Hewwo"

Gabby nodded her head, "nice to meet y'all. The name's Gabby, if ya haven't read the name yet" she showed off her nametag.

"I'm illiterate so thanks for clarifying," Gingi added.

"Say, Gabby" Oliver spoke up "our other friend, Karen, got a bit sick today-"

"Oh dear"

"-yeah, and we were wondering if you have some stuff that might help us make a gift for her"

The old lady tapped her chin, "I do have some spares at the back but do me a favor, sweetie, and tell me; what does your friend like? I'm sure I can whip somethin' out to quicken the pace since I heard that one nasty storm is headin' it's way to Dialtown itself"

"A storm? Really?"

"Yes indeed. Thunder, lightnin', you name it. Anyways, mind lendin' me the details? What does Karen like?"

Oliver took a second to think about it, Randy just fiddled with his thumbs, and Gingi-

"Women" 

The others just stared at them with dumbfounded expressions.

"What?" The cryptid quirked a brow "she likes women"

"...sweetie, no. I meant what does Karen like as a gift?"

"I don't know. A very beautiful woman?"

Gabby laughed, "oh sweetie, if she wanted a gift like that then I'd just walk over there myself!"

"Okay, that was a great stroke of confidence. But on a serious note, I'm pretty sure Karen likes… ponies? Horses? Not sure which one but she is interested in them" Oliver added.

"A horse gal, huh? Well… I might have somethin' so you three explore a bit while I go find one"

With that, she left to go check in the back.

To kill time, they all decided to check out what the Antique  Shop had to offer. It had outdated Antique s lined up on shelves along with other outdated machinery that were written in history books.

Gingi had gotten distracted by the ticking clock that was in the shape of a cat waving a paw. They couldn't stop focusing on the paw that kept waving from side to side, it didn't help that the ticking inspired them to focus on it more.

As they were completely hypnotized, Randy and Oliver were talking.

"I've never seen a Rotary phone before" Randy mumbled out, playing with the rotary dial.

"Really? I mean, ever been into museums before or…?"

"The museum's I went to never really had these. I was still back in the country I was born in- so I guess that would explain that"

"Oh? Where was your home country?"

"South Korea. I was raised in the capital and moved here when I turned twenty"

"South Korea is like… how many hours- ten hours?"

"If I remembered correctly, possibly more than that"

"Oh wow…" Oliver pressed a button on an unusable typewriter, the letter on the single button had started to fade "do... you miss it?"

Randy let out a small yet sad sigh. 

"-I… guess that's a yes. Sorry, man"

"Oh- it's fine, Oliver! I just…" the Bassist hummed "it's been so long since I've thought about Seoul. I haven't been in contact with my family for almost ten years, which I hope stays that way because I can't imagine how disappointed they would be to see their son, who is in his early thirties now, having to juggle two jobs yet still pay rent with quarters"

Oliver frowned, feeling a bit sad for Randy.

"You know-" Randy continued "-I'm kinda surprised that I'm still alive despite the current state I'm living with. Pretty sure if I did have a similar lifestyle back in Seoul, I'd be a goner"

"Oh"

The two men stood in silence, excluding Oliver's awkward button-pushing on the irredeemable typewriter in front of him and the plastic rolling of the rotary phone's dial every time Randy moved it.

"I'm sorry if I was kinda- uhm, oversharing-"

"No, no. You weren't oversharing; it's kinda interesting to hear more about you since we rarely talked about our personal lives together. Not that it's a must but… it's just nice"

Randy chuckled breathlessly, a small yet certain smile forming on his lips.

"I guess you're right"

They stopped fiddling with the old school items and saw Gabby coming back with what appeared to be a vase with painted pictures on it.

"Alright, boys-" she placed the thing onto a table that had enough room for the ceramic vase "-found this bad boy sittin' at the corner of the room. Kinda funny how it just so happens to have horse paintings on it"

She was right. The thing was painted beautifully with an image of about three horses running in a faded grass field with the blue sky mixing with the white color of the vase, the paint was dry as ever and the colors had almost lost its hue but it seemed to be in good shape.

"This is perfect! I'm sure Karen is going to love this" Oliver happily grinned.

"Glad to be at service"

"It would look even more beautiful if we put a bunch of flowers in it-! If Karen isn't allergic to some… maybe plastic flowers would be a go-to if she isn't a plant person-"

Oliver's words came to a crash when he heard the distant rumble. 

"Uh-oh" Gabby looked through the large glass window and saw that the sky was no longer clear "you better ditch the flower idea 'cause seems like the storm decided to make a quick shortcut to this here town"

"Aw, man… well, we can't let time go to waste. Thanks again, Gabby!"

"Anytime, Oliver. And by the way, tell Dicken's I said hi"

"Will do!"

Oliver told Randy to get Gingi and head out right through the door.

"Come on, Gingi-!" The Bassist grabbed the still distracted cryptid by the arm and dragged them out without any difficulty.

The trio was rushing since the sky grew darker and darker along with the rumble of thunder.

Gingi looked visibly stressed from the thunder, tailing along with their palms clasping the side of their skull.

"How long do you think we'll get to Karen?" They asked, their left eye twitching when the rumble turned into an obvious crack of lightning within the clouds.

"She lives near downtown right? We might as well take a subway!"

"Are you sure-" Randy yelped when a loud crack was heard in the sky "-Gingi and I barely have enough for a ticket!"

"Just hop onto mine! Better than wasting about fifteen minutes running within the rain, right?"

Oliver was right, if they kept running like this then they'd end up having to swim back to Uptown.

They walked down the stairs that led to the subway.

It didn't take long until they were now seated inside the subway, the seats were sticky and lacked care from how the colors had started to fade into a darker grey and how warm it was.

It wasn't clean but at least it wasn't pouring in here.

"When we make it to downtown, what are we supposed to do?" Randy mumbled out.

"Visit Karen, give her the vase, say the usual 'Get Well Soon, Karen!' Thing and we go back to Uptown! Easy peasy lemon squeezy"

"Sounds easy when you say it but if it happens to be… I don't know- pouring heavily there- I'd probably freeze to death"

"Come on, Randal. We'll be fine!" Gingi chimed, "we just gotta be quick"

"Yeah! What they said!" 

"Gosh…" Randy rested his chin on his palm "you two are so positive"

When they made it to their stop, they practically ran like hell.

...okay, yeah, that was quite a false use of a metaphor but they did run.

Luckily, the rain hasn't started pouring in this part of town so they quickly went to where the apartments were. Entering the building to see that people had gone into their rooms for the day.

Gingi was the one who led them to which floor Karen is on since they used to stalk her before. It was a surprise that they still remembered which floor it was.

She lived on the fourth floor in room 407.

"You sure this is the one?" Randy asked.

"Yuh-huh! I remember this door!" Gingi grinned.

"Almost every door in this building is the same "

"You two can bicker later!" Oliver stopped them "right now, we have a gift to give"

He raised his closed hand and knocked against the door.

There was muffled shuffling and some footsteps approaching the door, a moment of silence before the door unlocked.

There stood Karen wearing a sweater and baggy pants, she looked exhausted and her obvious sniffles proved that she was running a nasty cold.

"What are you three doing here?" She asked, raising a brow before her attention was caught by the vase.

"We heard you were sick so we got you-" Oliver held out the vase "this!"

"It's a rushed gift since the storm is coming by. Overall, we hope you feel better soon!"

"Huh…" Karen held the vase in her hands, eyeing the painted image on it "this is… this is actually thoughtful of you three"

"We knew you liked horses," Gingi added "so why not get something that has horses"

Karen smiled a bit, "thank you so much, I'll keep this in a..." she stopped, her nose twitching "ah- ah! "

And she quickly turned her head away to sneeze.

The vase fell but was luckily saved by Randy who panicked and grabbed it before it turned into mere shards.

"Oh god-" Karen went inside to clean herself.

Eventually, she finished cleaning herself and had brought the vase inside. She, once again, thanked the others for the gift and returned to rest.

The trio was satisfied with their work and was heading their way to the main lobby of the building, they took the stairs since it appears that the elevators weren't working.

"Ya know," Gingi spoke up whilst standing on the railings "I've been thinking of what I should eat for the day. Should it be gravel or glass?"

"Why would you even eat any of those?" Randy cringed, keeping an eye on Gingi since they were taking risky steps on the railings.

"My stomachs could take anything at this point!"

"Woah, wait-" Oliver looked amazed "-you have more than one stomach?"

"If I remember; yeah!"

"That's sick!"

"Sick!?" Gingi stopped and looked horrified "like Karen!? Nuh-uh, sir! No way-!"

"No no no, I meant like… in a good way! Like it's cool that you have more than one stomach!"

"Oh? Well, I guess if it is a compliment then I'll-" Gingi missed a step "-take…?"

The cryptid fell through the gap after slipping.

"Gingi!"

The two men rushed and leaned forward to see if Gingi had plunged towards their room onto the ground floor but they didn't see any hints of splattered green anyways. Drastically trying to find them, they saw Gingi pop their head out from the stairway right below them.

"Well, hi!" They grinned.

Randy sighed out in relief, holding his chest since that definitely gave him a massive scare.

"Don't do that, Gingi!"

"Aw, come on. I'm alive and doing just fine! Now hurry down!"

"Gosh-"

The Bassist descended from the stairs along with the Guitarist, still shocked from what just happened.

He felt a playful nudge on his arm and saw Oliver smiling at him.

"Ya know, Gingi is one hell of a knock-out, right?"

"Yeah, if they knock me out first"

Oliver just laughed, "you gotta admit that they're a one in a million"

Randy would reply with a sarcastic response but… he just felt his cheeks go warm and a small smile forming, "that's true"

There was a quick moment of silence before Randy spoke up.

"Hey, Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

"When you said that Gingi was cool for having more than one stomach then… does it make me cool since I have one kidney?"

"Gonna stay real with you, man. You're cool and I'm worried for you"

"Thank you"

____

It was raining heavily here.

Enough to make it difficult for those trying to see a mile away, it had been fogged up by the raindrops that continued to fall endlessly.

"Why is mother nature so evil!?" Gingi yelled, running with Randy and Oliver.

When the three stepped out of the apartment building, they were met with a cold shower.

Randy, who was kind enough to use his denim jacket as a small umbrella, kept his arms up to give some shelter for both Oliver and Gingi.

They did make it to the subway drenched in rainwater to the point they were forming a puddle beneath their shoes. 

The cryptid was hugging themselves, shivering from the cold and their tail curling around their legs.

Oliver took note and decided to be nice and unbutton his own flannel button-up. He had worn a black shirt under it which he was grateful for since it added another layer of warmth.

"Here," he draped his button-up on Gingi.

The cryptid seemed surprised but did not refuse the offer, immediately using it as a blanket to stop shivering like a leaf in autumn. 

Gingi let out a small purr, leaning against Oliver since they were still cold.

When they made it out of the subway, they yelled and continued to run. Randy still held up his denim jacket- which he had been trying to dry off during his time in the subway- and ran.

The trio finally made it back to the Music Store.

"Gosh-!" Randy yelled out, cold as ever.

Gingi coughed a bit, feeling like they accidentally choked on their saliva during the scampering. 

"Jeez…" Oliver ran a hand over his now wet hair "this has to be the worst storm in Dialtown"

"Tell me about it," Randy shook off his jacket and noticed that the store was surprisingly empty "hey… where did everyone go?"

Apparently, the people inside had decided to leave- including Nico. 

Taking in with the new information, Oliver just noticed that the Open sign was turned to the Closed sign. 

"Looks like we're the only ones here for today"

The rain was pouring heavily, making it very difficult to see what's outside.

"Aw man," Gingi huffed "my tent is gonna be a wreck because of this... piss cloud session"

" Please never say that again" Randy sighed.

"Either way," Oliver spoke up "you two are allowed to stay here for a bit until the storm is over"

"Really?" The two seemed to be flattered with the offer.

"Of course!"

It was settled, both Randy and Gingi will be staying until the storm is gone.

Oliver had excused himself to fill a bucket with warm water since everyone was still drenched with cold rainwater. He was the type to at least shower once or twice a week since the only bathroom here doesn't have a proper shower stall. There was merely a bucket there and a cup for him to pour onto himself and let all the waterfall into the small drain of the bathroom.

Overall, it will take a while to fill the bucket.

Meanwhile, Randy had folded his wet denim jacket and rested it onto his lap.

"It's kinda nice of Oliver to let us stay here, don't you- ...what are you doing?"

The cryptid was busy getting an empty box and placing themselves into it with Oliver's button-up used as a blanket.

"I get sleepy after showers"

"Showers? You're drenched with rainwater… come on, Oliver says there's gonna be some warm water for us so-"

"So what?" The cryptid yawned "if you're wet; you're wet. End of story"

"I think that implies something else-" Randy cut himself off, noticing that Gingi already had their eyes closed.

"Ah, what the heck…"

He knew that Oliver would be the first to wash before leaving the rest to Randy and Gingi. He wanted to go second since he was quite positive that Gingi would just sleep in the bucket without notice.

With a small sigh, he just waited. 

Distant rumbles of thunder made Randy frown. He wasn't a huge fan of storms like this.

Though, as he glanced around the room, he noticed a slight movement from Gingi.

They were facing away from Randy however their tail would flinch at the sound of thunder or even a harsh crack of lightning. 

Randy couldn't help but feel curious.

"Are you scared of thunder?"

He saw them flinch a bit- it was no secret that they were listening to him.

"Hey, it's okay to be scared of things-"

"I'm not scared!" They suddenly barked out, noticing that they accidentally scared Randy.

"I'm just-" they jumped at another crack of lightning "... I'm just in a- in a jumpy mood, that's all!"

"Uh-huh… a very jumpy mood, hm?"

"Hush, I just hate lightning"

"I can't really blame you-" Randy scooted close to the box "-it's loud, out of the blue, and a shocking sight sometimes"

A mere mutter came from Gingi.

"What was that?"

"...it's even worse from my tent"

"I- ah, right. You live in a tent"

"I usually sleep through storms but then this- fucking…! Bastard named Zeus decided to hurl a lightning bolt because he probably had an itch on his glutes!"

"I didn't know you study Greek Mythology"

"Greek Mythology studies me, hon"

"That barely makes sense"

"Then lower your expectations on me"

"My expectations are already low"

"Oh? So you can raise the bar for your charms?" The cryptid flirted effortlessly.

"What does that even-?" 

Randy stopped and felt his face heat up.

"You-" he cleared his throat "-you really think I'm… I'm that charming?"

Now it was Gingi's turn to feel the warmth on their face.

"I mean, you are but don't take it personally-"

"If you knew me; I always take things personally"

"Then- fine! Maybe it's best that you know that you're a charming tall guy-!"

They heard footsteps coming down and saw Oliver in a dry black shirt and baggy pants.

"Alright, who wants to go next?"

The Bassist raised his hand and got up, "oh, where should I put my jacket?" 

"Just hand it to me, I'll take care of it"

"Alright, be careful though"

"Don't worry, I'll be as careful as-"

"Don't even finish that sentence with something cheesy or else"

"-Fine, fine!"

With that, Randy went upstairs to wash.

"So…" Oliver clicked his tongue "what did you and Randy talk about while I was busy?"

"Mind your own damn business, Flannel man" Gingi groaned, covering their face.

Oliver whistled, "was it something funny? Something that gets on your nerves? Or-"

"I will bite you!"

"Hey, maybe next time you could invite me since I like to hear--"

Gingi did not hesitate on pouncing onto Oliver and grabbing him by the collar. Instead of getting fear as a reaction, Oliver was just laughing his heart out.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut your mouth!" The cryptid barked.

"I'm sorry! I swear! I'm just-" Oliver wheezed out "-your face, man!"

"What about it!?"

"You're radiating blue!"

Gingi palmed their face and felt warmth. A Yelp escaped from them and they curled up into a ball with pure shame- for once in their life, they felt burdened with embarrassment.

Oliver knelt beside them and gave them a comforting pat on the back.

"There there, Gingi. I'm just playing with you"

Time passed by and Gingi was just sitting peacefully, mostly poking their own shoes.

Oliver's button-up was already placed away along with Randy's jacket.

When Randy finished, Gingi rushed upstairs and ignored Oliver's instructions on what they should be doing.

The Bassist was wearing a white button-up that used to belong to Oliver and some jeans.

"I heard lots of yelling while I was up there," Randy added, feeling a bit relaxed since it has been a long time since he got to bathe himself in warm water "did something happen?"

"I was just teasing Gingi for a bit, don't worry, they're okay now"

"Ah, makes sense. Though a lightning strike scared them again"

"Lightning fear?"

The Bassist nodded.

______

Gingi sat on a box, humming a nonexistent tune.

They had a quick wash since they just poured the whole bucket onto themselves and dried themselves with a towel.

Oliver just handed them a single shirt that was big enough to act like some sort of dress since they were shorter than Oliver.

Now, the three were just sitting in the backroom with some snacks from yesterday's purchase and a few bottles of water.

"I'm bored," Gingi yawned out "is there anything we can do?"

Oliver tapped his chin and looked around, "well… does chess work?"

Randy shook his head, "I can't tell the difference between chess and checkers"

"Okay… what about cards?"

"If it's the one people use to stack on for no reason; pass " Gingi scoffed.

"Twister- wait no, I lost the spinner last month. What about Uno?"

"Oh!" Randy seemed ecstatic "is it French?"

The Guitarist looked dumbfounded and just pinched the bridge of his nose, "I give up! Let's just…"

He waved one finger and rushed upstairs to get something. 

The other two were confused, hearing some struggles from upstairs until they saw Oliver come back with what looked like a flat mattress and a bean bag from Mr. Dickens's office.

He threw those two items onto the floor with ease and sat on the flat mattress. 

"Let's relax and talk! Ya know? Get to know each other for a bit, tell funky stories, and laugh things out"

Gingi approached the bean bag and flopped themselves onto it, "fine fine, but I'm not gonna be the one to ramble"

"Really? Why's that?"

"Too lazy to do so. I want to be entertained ! Not an entertainer"

"If that's the case then how about we do a three-player rock-paper-scissors and the loser will be the first to talk?"

They all agreed to and sat up.

"Rock," they all turned their right hands to a fist.

"Paper," their fists tapped their palms.

"Scissors!"

Oliver lost.

"Huh… what a coincidence" Randy commented.

"Eh, not too bad since I have lots of stuff to pick from"

He sat comfortably, knowing what to tell now.

"I've worked in the Dee-Em-Ess for about… more than ten years actually-"

" Ten years?" Gingi looked amazed, "Nico too?"

"Nah, Nico started working here like… four years ago. Anyways, most of my life has always been involved with the Music Store. It's my home, my passion, and half of everything! Spent my time learning things by myself, having to fix up my own personal routine, be my optimistic self to get through the week- I've been doing quite dandy!"

"Do you ever get bored always being here or…?" Randy asked.

"What?" Oliver seemed baffled "I would never get bored of here! As I said, it's my Home- my soul! "

Gingi leaned to Randy, "I think the rainwater got into his head"

The Guitarist chuckled and continued.

"I owe this place my life. Even so, I always humor myself if things get a bit too repetitive; which is why I'm always social with the people in Uptown. I'm friends with Summer- the one who runs the Bakery down the street, Nico- I'm the one who helped them get a job here since they've been job surfing for months, Gabby- thanks to Mr. Dickens, of course, and then there's you guys and Karen!"

"You really have lots of friends"

"Yeah, but friends aren't always forever…" Oliver pursed his lips "used to be friends with this high schooler- about six years ago. I don't know what happened but one day he moved out for almost a year or two and next thing we know- we just stopped being on good terms"

"Huh" Gingi quirked a brow "sounds like a jerk"

Oliver sighed "I wish he told me what went wrong, but it's alright. That questionable feud didn't matter and I just went on with my day!"

"Gosh, wish I had your positivity" Randy envied. 

"If you want, we can hold hands and I can transfer my groovy vibes to ya'!" 

"I was considering it until you said Groovy "

"Come on, Randy. You'll dig this crazy slang! It ain't so bad, watch-"

"Massive no "

"Please?"

" No "

"Aw, man"

Oliver rested his chin on his palms.

"Hey, did I ever mention that I once went to France ?"

This seemed to catch the other’s attention at the mention of another country.

"I was pretty young back then and Mr. Dickens wanted me to go with him on a trip to France since his friend Gilaz was there. Let me tell you, it was a fun trip! Gilaz and his husband were super nice and I even went to Notre-Dame Church with them. The place is totally radical, trust me"

"Wow, France sounds beautiful" Randy sighed out.

"Totally! Stayed for a couple of days before heading back to the You-Ess-of the-Ay. Say, if you can go to another country, where would you go?"

Randy tapped his thigh, "I've always wanted to go to Singapore. It's really beautiful if you've asked me"

The two men then turned to Gingi.

The cryptid blinked before crossing their arms, "bold of you to assume I know anything outside the You-Ess-Ay!" They huffed "...but I guess Greece wouldn't be so bad"

"Greece seems like a nice choice" Oliver commented.

The three sat in silence before Randy spoke up.

"Since Oliver already told his part and I've told mine separately to both of you; I guess that leaves to you, Gingi"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you're kinda hard to read sometimes so it would be nice to know more about you"

"Yeah!" Oliver grinned "like, how did you get those stitches? Must have taken lots of practice to stitch skin together- does it even hurt when you do it?"

The cryptid hesitated, eyeing themselves and counting the visible stitches. 

"Honestly? I don't even remember half of them. Hell, I'm not too sure how on God's Gween I got leather and scales! The only thing I remembered is this-" they shook their left wrist "- and this-" they pulled the shirt down to reveal the obvious cut on their chest.

"How is your left wrist- wait, can you show me your left wrist for a bit?" Oliver asked.

Gingi held it out for him, allowing him to examine the bundle of thin string.

Oliver assumed it was a bracelet tightly tied around Gingi's wrist but as he used his thumb to trail the endless string- he could clearly see that there was no tied end. Instead, it was merged with Gingi's skin.

"I- woah…"

He could see how the last spin of string was hidden under a single layer of skin; as if it was naturally there.

Randy let out a pained hiss at the sight, feeling an itch on his own wrist.

"Does it hurt at all?"

Gingi shook their head, "I barely feel anything in some parts of my body"

"Okay- now, what about the cut in your chest?"

"Axe wound"

Gingi trailed the cut and chuckled lightly, "scared some poor fucker and he swung an axe at me, I thought I died but I ended up living!"

"...did it hurt?"

"Well-" Gingi thought about it and shook their head "-I was pretty numb so Nah!"

"Ah…"

Moment of silence before Oliver dragged in a plastic bag that was still filled with some pastries.

"Snacks?"

"Yeah!"

"Sure, I'm hungry"

They ate in peace, cracked a few jokes here and there, and were just having a blast. Randy did notice though that it was already night and that the storm was still pouring- hot as bad as before but he and Gingi were pretty sure that their homes won't be in good condition for a goodnight sleep.

When he bought it up, Oliver offered the two can sleep in his room.

"Are you mad?" Randy seemed baffled, "no, I'm flattered but-"

"Come on , Randy! I'm literally handing you offers in a silver- no, golden plate and you're brushing them away! I just don't want you and Gingi having to sleep in wet and cold beds"

"I-" the Bassist glanced at Gingi who didn't say much besides shrugging "-I was just worried since your room seemed a bit small and I don't want you all cramped up because of-"

"Randy, listen"

He placed a hand on Randy's shoulder.

"You and Gingi can sleep in my room for the night. Take it or leave it"

The Bassist wanted to refuse but the words didn't form as he planned to. Instead, he gave in.

"Fine"

He saw Oliver's eye spark with excitement.

"Groovy! Let me just put these back upstairs in my room- Gingi, could you get off the bean bag for a minute?"

"I don't know, can I?" 

"Can you?"

"Yeah, man"

With both materials in hand, he led the others upstairs and into his small room.

He slept on the flat mattress with a blanket and a single pillow, the mattress had some room for another if they slept close and he placed the beanbag on the other side so that Gingi could sleep comfortably. 

"You sleep like this all the time?" Gingi asked, looking around.

"Yeah! Kinda used to it now"

"Huh…"

After setting things up from making sure his alarm clock was on, moving aside some boxes, and fluffing the pillow up; it was all set.

Randy lied on the far left, lying on his side for a bit before going onto his back since he wanted to get a bit comfortable. Gingi obviously went on the bean bag that was on the far right.

This led to Oliver sleeping in the middle, sharing one pillow and one blanket with Randy.

He asked if Gingi needed a blanket and the cryptid said no need since the shirt they wore was enough.

It will be a bit difficult to adjust but eventually, sleepiness will flood their minds and they'll be out like a lamp.

...it did happen except for one person.

Oliver lied in the middle with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling; lost in thought.

He could hear light snoring from Randy and the corner of his eye, he saw Gingi sleeping comfortably. 

For the first time, he felt a bit flustered at the scene. He's sleeping in between his friends who weren't sure are dating or not.

Turning his head to the right side, he saw that the cryptid slept like a cat. Curled up, tail hugging their side, and a small purr coming out of them in each exhale.

With silent movements, he lifted a hand and slowly inched towards Gingi's head.

Placing it onto their head, he was relieved that they didn't wake up alarmed. Lightly stroking the dark green hair of theirs, he started to gently pat them.

They responded with a satisfied purr, still in sleeping mode of course.

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle breathlessly. 

Gingi was one in a million. Really. A cryptid that was just filled with surprise- in which Oliver liked about them. He liked their attitude, animal-like instincts, wild in all the right places, and almost everything about them.

A perfect balance of wildlife and charms.

Their personality was obvious but sometimes they could do a full one-eighty. Gingi seemed to be confused about themselves which Oliver could understand since they lived a strange life.

They're still a closed book but one day Oliver would get to read that interesting chapter of theirs.

Then, he turned to his left.

Randy looked very peaceful in his sleep as if he was finally in bliss during his slumbers.

Even for a guy in his early thirties, his charms refused to age. The only speck of dirt had to be on his attires and bandages- speaking of, he wondered why Randy had a face bandage with the written words; 'Fuck face' on it.

Besides looks, Oliver acknowledged the fact that Randy seemed to be gaining an inch of confidence each day or week. He was able to not visibly choke on his own words and was more open to saying sarcastic remarks when needed to.

His manners didn't go away though, Randy was still a mannered man.

Turning his head back to staring at the ceiling, he felt his cheeks warm up.

The two people beside him made his heart race… in a positive manner.

Letting his thoughts swim by, he allowed his eyelids to shut and placed himself in a world of darkness.

_____

Mr. Dickens furrowed his eyebrows, his hand was gripping the door handle and he kept shaking it.

"Strange," he muttered.

"Hey, Teh Tua. What's up?" Nico approached with their hands in their pockets.

"I'm not quite sure. I believe Oliver hasn't unlocked the door yet"

"Are you serious?"

The English man nodded, shaking the handle again to show that the door was still locked.

"I'll just use the spare key-" he fished out a bundle of keys and tried to find the right one for the store. He always had a spare for everything.

When he finally found the right key- despite Nico's annoyed grunts- he unlocked the door and opened it.

The place was still clean but it wasn't from Oliver's work, he noticed that the floor hasn't been mopped yet and a few albums still sticking out of place.

"I'll go check up on the Young chap"

He excused himself to the back room, noticing that there was still no one here. Assuming Oliver was still asleep, the Old man went upstairs and made it towards Oliver's door.

"Oliver?" He spoke up, knocking against the door.

There wasn't an answer so he twisted the handle and opened the door.

Expecting to be met with a sleeping figure- he stumbled across sleeping figures .

Oliver slept with his right arm resting on his forehead, mouth gaped, and snoring. On his left was Randy, laying on his right side with a hand across Oliver's chest. Gingi had somehow gone from the bean bag to being sprawled on top of the two men, not waking themselves up along with the other two.

Mr. Dickens noticed that Oliver's friends were wearing his spare clothing.

Not wanting to disturb him, he closed the door and excused himself downstairs where he passed by Nico.

"Is he awake yet?"

"I- no. Not yet, the Young chap seems to be all worn out… say, do you know anything about his close relationship with his two friends- what were their names again? Gingi and… Randy?"

"Them? The trio is kinda close in my personal opinion. Why'd ya' ask?"

"Oh, nothing. I believe that the three might be even closer than you think"

Nico opened their mouth and closed it again.

"Are you-" they coughed "-did the three-?"

The English man shrugged, "we will never know, lad. We will never know"

Chapter Text

The morning seemed peaceful. 

He had recently got a word from Karen that he was needed at the Bar for something important. There weren't many details but he assumed that he'd get informed later.

It was kinda weird walking alone since he tends to walk with either his bandmates or Karen. Though, it ain't so bad.

Speaking of his bandmates; he hasn't seen Randy and Gingi for a while now. He was a bit worried as he didn't have a way to contact them but he trusted that the two were doing alright.

When he recognized the familiar outline of the Bar, he power walked towards it and approached the door.

The Bar wasn't open to the public yet since the sign still had the words ' Closed '.

Opening the doors to be met with a familiar scent, he saw about three people at the corner table.

There was Pierre since his attire stood out from the wooden scenery, Karen who was facing away from the door had her signature jacket that was hard to miss, and…

Oliver seemed taken aback by the stranger in the room.

"Oliver!" Pierre called, waving a hand for him to come.

He nodded his head and approached the table.

Upon further inspection, the stranger had a snazzy looking attire.

Looked casual with a white button-up under his grey striped coat, his fedora resting on his head quite nicely with what looked like a pin attached to the sides, his tie was slightly loose which probably means that the guy was a bit laid back, and not forgetting how nicely cut his hair was.

He looked like he came out of a movie.

Sitting down, Oliver felt a sudden burst of awkwardness in the air- probably from the lack of conversation. 

"Fancy morning, huh?" Oliver greeted, hoping to bring up the mood.

Both Pierre and Karen didn't say anything but the stranger adjusted his position for a bit before leaning forward.

"It is, ain't it?"

He had a gruff voice- sounded like a smoker.

"See, lemme cut to the chase. I've heard sum' fancy things about you an' yer' band" he grinned "my lil' darlin' loves to come by to this here… fine-cheap bar to hear you"

When he said ' fine-cheap '; he gave a glance to Pierre- who responded by crossing his arms.

"So I thought that if a little punk boys band can rile in sum' customers to this here bar then maybe I can have one in my bar!"

Oliver blinked, "you have a bar?"

"Yes I do, Swift. Yes, I do" he chuckled "got me a real fine one at Downtown. Right next to its local Casino. You've probably heard of it, right?"

"Sorry but I haven't- not much of a casual boozer"

The guy raised a brow, leaning back onto his seat.

"Yer' clean, ey? A bit too clean in this here town. Almost every man an' women I know got a little somethin' circlin' in their heads"

"Well... I'm not, sir. I intend to avoid alcohol since I can't handle it very well"

"Quite funny comin' from a guy who performs in a Bar . The motherlode of boozes"

"I-"

"But let's put the booze talk aside, shall we? I ain't here to interrogate, Swift. I'm here to make a deal with you"

Something about that sent some shivers down Oliver's spine. The change of voice and how he saw a glint in the stranger's eyes.

"What kind of deal? Erm- sir?"

"How about you perform at my Bar? I'm sure my fellows would like a lil' song or two fillin' the air"

"Perform at your Bar? Downtown?"

"That's right, Swift"

"I mean-" Oliver scratched the back of his neck "-flattered with the offer- really! I'm just a bit worried since subway tickets are costing way more and having to walk from Uptown to Downtown can be a bit of a hassle depending on the day-"

"Who says you need to walk? Go get yerself a nice place to stay at Downtown an' you could walk in and out of my Bar in a snap!"

"Wh- stay?! "

"You got ears, right Swift? I said stay"

"Sir I-" Oliver looked a bit panicked at the offer. 

The thought of having to leave The Music Store just to stay at Downtown was pressuring, he couldn't imagine not going on a day without seeing the insides of his own home!

He noticed that Karen, who had been quiet through this ordeal, giving Oliver a concerned look. The same goes for Pierre.

"Somethin' the matter, Swift?" The guy asked.

"I- ...I'm sorry, sir. I like the idea of a change in scenery but having to stay at Downtown is a bit pressuring " the Guitarist sheepishly grinned "can't leave my home, ya know?"

"I see, I see" the guy nodded his head "but lemme tell you a lil' somethin', Swift. Sooner or later yer gonna need to move if you want to expand on that boy band of yers. It ain't too good to live in yer shell forever; yer a man , Swift. Not a hermit crab"

He stood up, scaring Oliver a bit, and held out a hand for him.

With a simple flick, a small card then appeared in between his fingers. It had a phone number on it, assuming it belonged to the stranger.

"Lemme know if you change yer mind"

Oliver held the card with slight anticipation. 

"For now, I'll be takin' my leave" the guy dusted his coat off.

"Oh-" Oliver cleared his throat "-it was nice… to meet you, sir"

"Drop the formality, Swift" the man turned and gave Oliver a smirk "call me Vasquez "

On his way out to the door, he waved a hand to Pierre.

"We'll meet again, Owen! Good to see this wooden box still in place!" He laughed "a real pity that the reason yer numbers doubled is because of a lil' boy band. But that's business to you, Owen"

And he left.

"Oh, that son of a-!" Pierre hissed through his teeth, slamming a fist against the wooden table.

Seemed like Vasquez had gotten onto his nerves.

Meanwhile, Oliver was still processing everything through his head. When it finally clicked, he took a deep breath and-

"Okay, somebody tell me what just happened because I'm-" Oliver looked dumbfounded right now "I'm lost "

The owner of the Bar nodded and started to explain;

"The weirdo you just met was Mister Vasquez himself. Guy used to own this bar as well before lending everything onto me to take care of-"

"I thought you were just an employee"

"That…" Pierre bit his lip "-is a complicated story and we'll talk about it in another day. Continuing, he's loaded with cash and gets what he wants with enough green in his pockets"

"Uh-huh"

"Yeah. And since he's a walking money case; luxury is out of his concerns, hence why he gained interest in inviting your band to his snazzy Bar at Downtown"

"So he just wanted to invite me and the others… out sheer boredom?"

"That and his daughter seems to like your band a lot. Vasquez is a proud father so he'll do anything to make his daughter happy"

Oliver seemed to understand the situation now.

He then turned to Karen and saw she had a frown on her face, "you okay?"

She sighed, "not really. Still irritated because of that person"

Before Oliver could ask, Pierre leaned at his ear and whispered; 

"Vasquez called Karen, and I quote, a toots in boots "

"Oh, that mother fucker "

"Mhm"

Karen stood up from her seat, fixing her jacket afterward.

"When I heard that someone was interested in the band and wanted them to perform at another area, at first, I was surprised and was willing to talk about some guidelines but…" she scowled "I'm unsure since he keeps talking pure nonsense - even after I've explicitly told him to rephrase his sentences appropriately but he doesn't . Which is why I called you, Oliver"

Oliver nodded, understanding what Karen is insinuating.

She wanted to hear what Oliver's thoughts are on this as it seemed a bit conflicting from how Vasquez already treated both Karen and Pierre. 

"I mean…" he eyed the card that Vasquez had recently given to him in such manner, "I'm chill with performing in another place but the thought of… staying in Downtown because of difficulties of constantly moving from Uptown to Downtown is making me a bit iffy"

He was conflicted with the idea of having to leave the Music Store for just more than a day.

"I mean, I know one day I need to leave uptown for a but since a band can't reach the billboards in just one place but-" he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He hated when he gets like this; a spiral of 'but's in an extending sentence.

"Hey, you should take your time to think about it. No rush since Vasquez ain't a fan of persona deadlines" Pierre reassured.

"I- ...yeah, you're right. That and-" he placed the card in his pocket "-we might as well tell the others about this, don't want them to feel lost when a decision is decided"

He was right. It was best to keep both Randy and Gingi updated on plans since they didn't want to give the two a panic attack- well, mostly Randy.

After that little meeting; both Karen and Oliver planned on talking to the others tomorrow.

_____

Oliver waited patiently in the back room, he wasn't as tense as yesterday since he was able to recollect at least some parts of his thoughts.

Karen was also here, typing on her phone. She was probably talking to some of her coworkers. 

As silence filled the room, the door opened.

"Hey," Nico greeted "just wanted to let you know that you still owe me five bucks"

"I'll get you those five bucks, I promise"

"You better be, Oliver " Nico shot him a glare- which didn't faze Oliver at all since he was used to their childish acts.

"But anyways-" the pink-haired troublemaker stood aside "-your pals are here"

Both Randy and Gingi walked in.

"Ran-day! Ging-gee!" Oliver pointed some finger guns at them, he did miss the two.

He did, however, notice some small details.

Randy's bandages had a bit of dirt on them- specifically the knuckles and palms. While Gingi's bare knees had some scars.

"Er-" the guitarist was taken aback from the  changes "-hope you don't mind me asking but what did you two do before coming here?"

He saw Randy open his mouth before closing it with a conflicting look. 

"We can't say" the Cryptid answered. 

"Ominous as always, Gingi" Oliver chuckled "anyways, we all got ourselves a bit of a pickle here"

Before he continued, Karen spoke up.

"Sorry, Oliver but we're supposed to be talking about the offer Mister Vasquez made yesterday, not a pickle- besides, when did we get a pickle?"

"Thanks for clarifying that up Karen, a real cut to the chase pal"

She just crossed her arms and raised a brow.

"Moving on-" Oliver cleared his throat "-this Vasquez guy offered that we perform at his bar at Downtown. Knowing that transportation can be a bit out of our budget; he said that we could stay Downtown so we have a quick route to his bar"

"A bar at Downtown?" Randy seemed a bit uneasy "I can tolerate Uptown but Downtown is a bit… how do I word it-? Too much"

"I know, I know. Downtown is the busiest part of Dialtown, which is why it would be difficult for us to kinda navigate our way through a whole crowd of people"

"It's not that bad" Gingi rolled their eyes "just a few strangers in fancy suits, getting bottles thrown at you, hidden rave- it's all not too bad!"

"I'd take your word but that doesn't beat the cons we'll go through" Oliver sighed.

"Besides," Karen stood up "even if we are able to easily move equipment from this part of town to there multiple times; another problem we have is the Bar itself"

She took out her phone and turned it on, entering her password and quickly searching for an image of said Bar.

Vasquez had mentioned that the Bar was right next to the casino but from the picture itself, it looked like two buildings built together. Assuming one side is meant for all the casino stuff and the other was the Bar.

"The place itself not only being in one possibly crowded building but there had been multiple statements that the Dialtown Mob often hangs around the area. Some have rumored Vasquez as a member but he replies- and I quote: You think I'd be in a lousy group of middle-aged men with suits and knives? My standards are way higher than that "

She tried mimicking Vasquez's accent while reading the quote. 

"So… the Mob kinda lurks around that Casino slash Bar?" Oliver asked.

He received a nod.

"Doesn't sound that bad, actually" Randy hummed.

"I'm… sorry?" Karen raised a brow "how is it not that bad?"

"Because the Mob aren't that intimidating…? I mean, you two have heard the news about them right?"

Both Karen and Oliver looked at each other awkwardly.

"Are you serious?" Randy was baffled "I thought you two would be more updated on things"

"I'm not the news type of guy" Oliver laughed embarrassingly. 

A sigh came out of the bassist, "okay, listen. The Dialtown Mob might have been around for a while but when Mayor Mingus was elected; they were limited and were left with random guys they found off an alleyway or dumpster. Less of a threat actually"

"Didn't they steal a tiger?" Gingi asked.

"...no. It was more of an accident during another failed heist they made at Theoroar's zoo, they wanted his safe but scampered off in fear when Theoroar armed himself with an actual loaded rifle. During their panicked escape, one of them opened the tiger cage and the tiger followed them back to their base"

"Wow. That fucking blows , man"

"No matter how many times they tried to get it out of their base- it just came back. So yeah, the Dialtown Mob are less of a threat than car accidents and food poisoning"

It was nice knowing the Dialtown Mob is out of their concerns due to their disorganized tactics and lack of equipment thanks to the Mayor snatching any drop of penny they have left.

Even so, the moving part was still out of their hands.

Walking would be okay but that meant lots of scheduling and since Karen has an actual job to do, Randy juggling two, and Gingi lurking around; it was almost near impossible.

They perform once a week- maybe twice when they managed to sneak in some free time. 

It wasn't much of a hassle to walk to Uptown's Bar, knowing that they just need to take a few turns here and there and they made it to their destination.

Downtown was more complicated than that. Even if you knew the routes, passing by a few areas can be difficult and time-consuming. Risking getting mugged or having to swim through a random crowd.

Staying Downtown would make it much easier but… Oliver wasn't too fond of the idea. He wasn't sure if he was ready for it.

"Ya know," Gingi spoke up "how about we go to the casino slash bar and see how it is? If it looks okay then we- except for me- will think things through! If it's a meh then we just dip and never contact that Vase-Cube ever again"

"It's pronounced Vasquez," Karen corrected.

"Vaz-cue, barbecue- whatever!" They waved their arms "besides, Randy and I did the same when we were about to play at the Bar. Sure, we did see a guy with a Puppet get demolished on stage but it was okay"

The idea of checking out on what they're about to get themselves into is a good start. Like a small preview.

Since today wasn't much of a practice day; they left their equipment in the backroom and were already out of the Store- passing by Nico who was still on shift.

"You think this Vasquez guy won't mind us dropping by to his casino slash bar?" Randy asked, having his hands in his pockets.

"If it's open then it's open. We're only there a quick preview of the place and we'll be waltzing right out of it in no time"

"I guess taking our time wouldn't hurt"

Walking there instead of taking the subway might be a poor choice but the four didn't complain much as time passed by easily thanks to their constant topic changing conversations.

Whether it was Randy sharing his concerns, Oliver cracking a joke or two, Karen pointing out some stuff they passed by, or Gingi complaining about having to walk to the place.

They then notice how it transitioned from smaller buildings to skyscrapers, the change of fresh air to smog, and the list goes on. A massive difference between Uptown and Downtown, if you asked them.

"Where's the place again?" Oliver asked, seeing Karen was checking the GPS on her phone.

"Just right around a corner. It has a massive sign that would light up at night"

"Rad"

Since it was still daytime, the beautiful lights that were expected from the building weren't on; leaving it looking dull in morning hours.

However, that dull vibe quickly vanished when they were about to approach the doors.

Entering through the automatic glass doors that just looked fancy with their golden outline- they saw about two men with suits standing near the actual open entrance to the Casino.

It was good that the four were at least over twenty-one. 

The inside of the casino reminded Oliver of an arcade he went to when he was seventeen.

The carpets were black and had colorful patterns whilst the glow of slot machines lined up from a distance and how its colors were more on the cold scale than warm.

Besides the beautiful architecture, there weren't many people luckily as the vast majority were still on their shifts. 

Anyways, ignoring distant sounds of cash being thrown in a pot or coins pouring out of a slot machine- they were trying to find the Bar.

Obviously, all they had to do was walk through the Casino and go to the Bar, it was pretty easy since the construction on this place wasn't too complicated.

"so this is what a Casino looks like?" Oliver spoke to himself, getting distracted by the slot machines and gambling tables.

"Never knew a Casino could look so blue" Randy commented, eyeing the blue glowing outlines seeping through the gaps of the ceiling. 

"It's actually a nice look. Not too saturated like common Casino images" Karen also added, actually enjoying the sight- except the gambling and cigarettes. 

"You know, an idea popped up in my head," Gingi started, skipping over the colorful patterns of the carpeting "gambling makes you rich, right? Why not gamble for more cash?"

They noticed the others looking at them weirdly. 

"What?"

"...do you even know what the word gambling means?" Karen asked.

"Uh… it's…" the Drummer started to trip on their own words.

The brown-haired woman sighed.

"Gambling means you're taking the risk of either having more than what you have or less. The rules of gambling start with you placing some of your money and trying to win more of the amount through any type of game that includes massive risks" she explained "the possibilities of doubling your own wealth depends on your knowledge of how things works, how lucky you are, and etcetera. Now, knowing you- I highly suggest not gambling since you're penniless and would eat the cards given to you"

"Ah, rats!" They crossed their arms "I hate money"

They all continued to walk.

Since this place was far from their expectations, they tried not to think much about what the Bar would look like.

Would it have a home-like feel to it like Pierre's? Or maybe a jazzy case with a mix of gold, red, and black? 

If the Casino looked like an arcade game for adults to gamble their life away then surely the Bar was-

"Hey," a guy approached the group.

He had a similar outfit to the two men they saw when entering the building. Probably security around here. He also had a bald cut, an ear-piercing, and tattoos visibly on his neck.

Before Karen could ask, the man jabbed a finger towards Gingi.

"No animals allowed in 'ere"

Gingi blinked before clenching a fist.

" Animal? " They seemed agitated from the assumption "I might be full-on feral but I ain't no animal, bastard!"

"Sorry, sir-" Oliver intervened "-but our friend here is right. They're not an animal, they're with us!"

"Ey', Guy got a tail? Animal. No excuse"

"Some humans have groovy front tails, ya' know" Oliver winked, having a glance of a- possibly - horrified Randy.

"Ain't no dick joke 's gonna get you out of this one… I've learned that the hard way"

Before he was about to do anything, Karen stood between him and Gingi.

"We're here to visit Mister Vasquez. Yesterday, he had a meeting with me and a few others in the Uptown Bar and wanted Dial The Band to perform at his Bar"

The guy crossed his arms with doubt written on his face, "Mister Vasquez ain't too fond of randos visiting him. Even if he did invite ya', how can I trust a bunch of jibber-jabber comin' outta your mouth?"

Karen hesitated before remembering the card Vasquez gave to Oliver. She fished it out of Oliver's pocket- while accidentally scaring him in the process- and handed it to the guy.

"He gave his business card to us. Hopefully, it's enough proof for you"

While she handed the card to him, she noticed a slight glow coming from the card. A green hue marking on the card was visible thanks to them standing right under blue light.

The guy noticed the green marking and hummed.

"Seems legit," he gave it back to her "I'll lead ya' to where Mister Vee is. He's probs at the Bar right now with Bailey''

The group started to follow the man, trusting that he would lead him to Mr. Vasquez himself. Whilst doing this, Karen was busy inspecting the business card.

The green marking looked more like a stamp, a visible fancy letter V on it.

"What's that?" Gingi asked, taking a peek at it.

"...I think I'm starting to understand why this place is so blue"

Randy, who was now gaining interest in the sudden info, took a peek at the card.

"You do?"

"Yeah. Apparently, these business cards have a signature stamp made with… what could be some type of invisible ink. From what I've known about it; they're visible under You-Vee lights-" she took a glance at the blue lighting of the area "-which this place is filled with"

Oliver then gasped, "so it's to tell if the card is fake or not! That's smart, kinda reminds me of Canadian money"

"Why Canadian money?" Randy asked.

"They have this little thing where you can shine a light through it and it'll show the actual amount of the money. It's to prove if it's fake money or not"

"Ah, I see"

Suddenly, they could hear the faint sound of glassware clicking against each other, some chatter, and things being placed on wooden tables.

Looking around, they had just passed through an open entrance and were now at the Bar area.

It was… stunning!

There was a second floor with white pillars supporting it, it wasn’t as eye-catching as the first floor that had similar carpet patterns but a currently occupied stage at the corner of the room.  

Wooden tables scattered around, a few games here and there but from afar; they could see the source of all booze.

It reminded them of the one at Uptown but it was bigger and had more alcohol- from the looks of colored bottles lined up on the counters.

One man was handling the station; a guy who looked to be older from the color of his hair and his features. He looked like some sort of comic book character from his mustache and the uniform he wore. 

A red vest over a white button-up with his sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

The guy who they had been following urged them to meet up with the bartender who went by the name 'Bailey'.

"Show him the card and you got yourself a one-way ticket to Mister Vee"

Oliver nodded and thus the group approached the bar station.

When they made it there, the bartender noticed them.

"Well good evening!" Bailey chimed in, seeming like his mustache moved at each word he spoke. He grabbed a glass and a bottle, "what would you need?"

"Hello there, sir," Karen greeted "we're not here for a drink. We're here to meet Mister Vasquez"

She then handed the card to him.

Bailey inspected the card, seeing the glowing mark which indicated that it was the original.

"I see, I see. I'll let Joy take my spot," he held up a hand and urged someone to come by- assuming he was calling Joy with a small gesture.

"Now," he turned to the group of four "follow me to the back. Vasquez is just waiting there"

"Waiting?" Karen raised a brow.

"Oh, yes. He has been expecting a band to come by"

"Ah…"

Following the bartender to the very back of the building through a door with the words ' Employees Only '; they were met with the backroom that reminded them of the one in Uptown.

Inside were boxes stashed in each corner, a label attached to them. It was less cramped as they expected and the warm lighting rivaled the blue outside.

"Bailey!" A voice called with enthusiasm. 

There stood Vasquez himself, his attire being the same as always but he was holding an umbrella. It wasn't even raining but he treated it like a cane.

"Hello there, Vasquez" Bailey smiled "you have some visitors"

"Well well well, look at here" Vasquez smiled, approaching Oliver "glad we can come to an agreement, I knew you'd come by-"

"Actually," Karen moved in between Oliver and Vasquez, "we're only here to look around. Get to know the place before making a final and mutual decision"

The owner of the bar frowned but kept his cool, "alright, alright. A lil' preview around the ropes an' all that"

He adjusted his coat, "but before I call in a fella to give you a tour, I was wonderin' we can have a lil' chit-chat?" He started to pace around "Cause' I was thinkin' that it'd be rude not gettin' to know the other fella'-"

He stopped when he passed by Gingi. Slowly turning to face them- who responded with a bored look- he blinked.

"Hey Bailey"

"Yes, Vasquez?"

"Are my eyes playin' tricks again or am I lookin' at a real-life zombie?"

"Why, sir. It appears that you are looking at a local cryptid"

"Cryptid ey'?" He raised a brow.

He waved his hand, dismissing his own confusion for later. 

"Now about the chit-chat…?"

"Chit-chat?" Karen repeated, "we're not in a rush but-"

"Great!" He clasped his hands together "lemme get her real quick"

" Her ?"

Karen didn't get answers as Vasquez told Bailey to get this mysterious person he randomly brought up. the bartender went away for a bit, disappearing out of view.

"Who's her ?" Gingi asked.

"Oh, an angel from above, God's graceful creation, the real deal" he laughed lightly "she's my lil' darlin', ya know. The one who went to Owen's wooden box of a bar and saw yer boy band playin'"

"Your daughter, right?" Randy said, not realizing he might have raised his voice a bit.

"Damn right!" Vasquez patted his shoulder "say, what's yer name?"

"Uh-" the Bassist brushed his own shoulders for a bit "-Randy… Randy Jade"

"Nice to meet you, Jade. And, uh…" the owner turned to Gingi "yer…?"

"Gingi"

Vasquez raised a brow, "Gingi, ey'? 'M callin' you Protentum from now on"

"The fuck does that even-"

Vasquez hushed them with a finger, "you'll find out one day"

They then saw Bailey come in view.

"She's here, Vasquez" he then turned to his right.

There peaked out a woman with black long hair and dark brown eyes.

She had bronze tone skin, sharp facial features, and her hair was tied to a ponytail with a yellow scrunchie. 

She stopped peeking out from the corner and walked out into view.

She wore a light pink coat over her black and orange striped shirt, some polka dot baggy pants with yellow crocs on.

"Hi there," she shyly grinned, waving her hand.

She excitedly walked towards them, seeming like she was a massive fan of Dial The Band.

Up close, she was as tall as Randy.

"My name is Kekoa Vasquez, I'm very- and I mean very happy to meet the band since all of you are so talented and-" she fished out a small note from her coat pocket, along with a red pen "-can I ask some questions?"

As said, she was happy to meet the band. 

Oliver smiled, "shoot!"

"Okay, okay! First off- Oliver, right?" 

"In the flesh, yeah"

"I was wondering what inspired you in pursuing music? You seemed very passionate about it"

"Aw heck! This is an easy one," Oliver seemed happy to answer this "when I was little, I would always pass by Dialtown's Music Store to hear what's currently playing through the speakers. A good majority was music from the band Socks- which I idolize til' now!"

Kekoa started to write on her notes, "Socks… okay, what happened next?"

"Well, because I was heavily inspired by them. I started to write lyrics, make my own tunes, practiced singing- which I'm awesome at, and I planned out some songs! Though, the whole band thing didn't occur to me until my boss suggested it since he's too old to perform with me"

"You wanted your boss to perform with you?"

"Yeah! ...did I mention that he used to be the guitarist of Socks? Because he is"

Kekoa wrote that down on her notes, "very interesting indeed!"

She then turned to Randy.

"For… Randy, yeah? Is the Fuckface written on your face bandage intentional? In fact, how did you get these bandages in the first place?"

The Bassist didn't expect her to point it out so boldly with a curious look.

"I- well… the face thing wasn't intentional. I can't really explain much about it since I'm s-still a bit shaken up from how I got it" he looked away for a bit "...but the bandages on my hands were because of those- those stupid swans "

"swans? You fight swans?"

"I also work as Animal Control, yes"

She wrote it down and turned to Gingi.

"And you," she eyed them with awe "Gingi?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's my name. Don't wear it out" 

"Hopefully I'm not poking a nerve here but I'm curious on how you have leather and scales stitched on your skin! That and your right eye is different from the left- which one is originally yours?"

"What?" The cryptid blinked, hesitating on answering since they're not even sure about it. 

They wanted to just straight up say that they don't know but the look on Kekoa's face made them not want to disappoint her.

"Uh…" They glanced around the room before deciding to just bullshit their way out "...I was, erm- I was attacked by a… pack! Yes, a pack of sharp-toothed dogs! They- they attacked me and I lost an eye. Because… because of that, I had to get a new one from-" they looked around the room and spotted a box from the side with the label 'Rye'.

There was a pause before Gingi continued.

"-Rai"

"Rai?"

"...Rai"

Vasquez had a doubtful look, Randy was looking away respectfully, Oliver just raised a brow as to how Gingi is making this far on bullshitting, and Karen just pinched the bridge of her nose.

Kekoa just looked at them before writing down on her notes.

"Besides the eye, what about the stitches? How did you even get them and how are you able to stitch them up yourself?"

"I… wait, I think I remember actually"

That caught the other's attention.

"I was… Nah, fuck. I forgot"

They all sighed.

Kekoa then approached Karen, which surprised the brown-haired woman since she didn't expect to get questioned as well.

"Miss Karen! I was wondering how you met those three?"

"You're asking me?"

"Of course, ma'am!"

"Ah. See, I met both Oliver and Randy first at the park. Oliver had posters up about forming a band and I was willing to give him some help on the whole thing"

Kekoa hummed and wrote it down on her notes.

"You happy now, lil' Darlin'?" Vasquez asked.

"Yeah, I'm done! Thanks for inviting them over, I'm sure they'll do awesome performing here!"

"Actually, sweetheart, they ain't gonna perform yet without knowing the place. Which is why yer gonna show them around with Bailey"

His daughter gasped, "really?"

"Must I say things twice?" He joked.

Kekoa seemed to be happy with the fact she's giving a grand tour for her heavily underrated band.

"Will do!" She then turned to the others "you are going to totally love it here. It's not much to show but you'll get comfortable after seeing each corner of the room. The Casino part isn't that important since you can just follow the signs to the Bar- but ! I am willing to also give a tour around the Casino if you want me to"

It seemed like she was experienced in giving tours, along with the outline of this building.

Bailey stood beside her, hands behind his back and a peaceful expression still plastered on his face.

"Now follow along! You're going to love the air hockey table we just bought"

"You guys have air hockey in a Casino !?"

_______

They all were relaxing in the Park, sitting on a bench that was big enough for three people. Which is why Gingi sat on the ground since they said they weren't legally allowed to sit on the benches.

"They were nice to let us play air hockey," Gingi added, playing with their bracelet.

"It was actually pretty fun" Randy added "that and the place itself seemed very peaceful since there weren't many people around. I personally liked how nice Bailey and Kekoa were, you know?"

"The two were alright, I guess"

They then turned to Karen and Oliver, "what about you two? Any comments about the new place?"

"It's nice. I like the setting of it and the Bar looked beautiful, it might be a good place for performance since Mister Vasquez seems civil" she then turned to Oliver who had been silent the whole time "what are your thoughts?"

Oliver seemed to be finally pulled back to reality at the mention of his name.

"Uhm," he cleared his throat, noticing that the other three were now looking at him. "It's nice! I personally enjoyed the personal Game Room they have and how they have air hockey. Bailey seemed nice- along with Kekoa and Vasquez… he's strange but not in a bad way, ya' know?"

"So that means we might perform there?" Gingi asked.

Oliver blinked, "I- … I'm not-"

"There's no rush" Karen reminded him.

"I know. But I'm still not sure at all, I'm trying my hardest to think about it but I'm still in the middle"

"That's Okay-!" Randy reassured "I mean… Mister Vasquez had said that he's always open with the deal. That and mentioned there is no deadline-"

"But what if there is?"

"I…" Randy fiddled with his thumbs "I'm not too sure"

The Guitarist let out a tired sigh, "...I think I'm gonna head home for a bit. Need to clear my mind off of things and…" he stood up "I promise to get my answer out soon"

"Go wild, man" Gingi hummed.

He smiled and walked away.

Oliver… didn't really think this through. He was okay with the place but having to stay Downtown was the thing that kinda freaked him out. Of course, it will be handled with Karen and the help of Connor since the two lived Downtown, so it can be easy!

Yet, he couldn't imagine not waking up in the same old room filled with boxes and mere pillows that he called ' his room '.

He needed some reassurance from the one who knows it all.

Entering the glass doors of the DMS, he noticed the familiar figure of his boss at the corner of the room looking through some albums.

"Ah, Oliver!" Mr. Dickens waved his hand, "welcome back. How was the place, anyway? Nico said you and the others were having a personal tour at Vasquez's Bar"

"Hey, Sir. And uhm, the whole thing went pretty swell"

"Good to hear, I was worried that old magician would cause some trouble"

"You know Mister Vasquez?"

"Of course I do, young chap! He used to be a street magician back in my town, pulling rabbits out of his hat and quarters from the back of our ears"

Oliver chuckled, "he found a quarter at the back of Randy's ear and might have freaked him out during so"

"Really?" The English man grinned, "he did the same thing with my good pal Adam and boy, he was shaking like a leaf in autumn. Clung onto me for dear life!"

The Guitarist couldn't help but laugh along with him. He then regained composure after wiping a tear and turning his head to his boss, giving him a serious look.

"Sir… can I talk to you about something?"

Mr. Dickens halted his actions and raised a brow, "what is it, boy?"

"Well-" the Guitarist inhaled sharply and fapped his fingers against the edge of the counter "-I need advice on something and I know that you'll give me that kind of advice. You see, I'm… I'm not sure if I'm emotionally ready to be away from the Music Store for more than a day and I know that it sounds petty coming from me but I just-! It's hard for me to even think about it and I don't want to miss the opportunity to expand on the whole Dial The Band project over simple emotions…"

Oliver gave a tired look, "what do you think?"

The older man just hummed and turned his entire attention towards Oliver.

"I can understand what it's like; conflicting decisions. I've been there, boy, I've been there. You see, I used to live with my mother back in the day when she was alive. We had a small house in a cramped neighborhood, it was delightful and I was satisfied with what I had" he smiled "but then after my mother passed, Adam and his family took me in as they knew I had nowhere else to go…"

There was a hint of sadness in his voice from having to look back at those dark times.

"Adam would always reassure me every day that it would be okay again- that I wasn't alone. And you know what? He was right. No matter where I go, no matter how far I run, I know that I have my family right on my side"

He patted Oliver on the shoulder. 

"I'll tell you this, Oliver. It's not always the stacked albums, posters, or the boxes surrounding you when you wake up. It's always about the people close to you"

Oliver opened his mouth before closing it.

His boss gave him a warm smile, removing his hand off of his shoulder before continuing to rearrange some albums on the counter.

"With family by your side, anything can be a home"

And he was right.

"Thank you, sir"

"No problem, young chap. Now would you mind helping me rearranging these?"

"Of course!"

The two spent an hour rearranging some albums since new ones came in recently. After cleaning up the place, Oliver had excused himself to his room to rest.

Mr. Dickens decided to stay a bit to work on some papers in his office.

______

Mr. Dickens was about to leave now, knowing that he had done all of his tasks for the day.

He was about to make his exit when he heard the glass door open.

There he saw a familiar woman.

"Karen?" 

Karen wore her usual attire and had her hands on the door handle.

"Is… is Oliver here?" She asked.

"Why, the young chap is upstairs in his room. Second door to your right"

She nodded and walked passed him, only to hear him ask;

"Is something the matter?"

"I forgot to ask Oliver for Mister Vasquez's card"

"ah?"

"yeah"

Mr. Dickens nodded, "well… don't forget to knock on the door, you might accidentally hit him with it if you don't"

"I will, sir"

She went upstairs with slow steps, feeling a bit worried since she could just ask him tomorrow. But she didn't want to take the risk since she had lots of work to do from her usual job, her coworker wanted her to help them with something involving a developing project.

Overall, now is a better time than never.

She went to the second door and sighed deeply.

"Oliver?" She knocked on the door "it's me, Karen. Mind if I ask you something?"

There was some sort of rustling from inside followed by what sounded like a box tipping over before a loud thud and a click.

The door opened to reveal Oliver who still wore his clothes from this morning.

"Oh hey!" He smiled "didn't expect you to come by this late, what's up?"

"I forgot to ask for Vasquez's back- you still have it?"

The Guitarist held up one finger before patting his pockets and fishing out the usual business card.

"Here ya' go!" he lends it to Karen.

"Thanks. Have a good-"

"Wait"

Karen stopped her tracks.

"Hm?"

"I-" Oliver hesitated, leaning against the doorframe "-I made up my mind. Ya' know, about the whole downtown thing"

"Uh-huh?"

"...I'd say let's go for it"

This caught Karen off guard for a second.

"You mean-? You're saying yes?"

Oliver nodded.

It took Karen a moment to comprehend the information before finally gaining composure again.

"If that's the case then I'll notify Connor later on tomorrow so we can get a place for you and the others Downtown"

“Gnarly to hear!”

“We can tell Randy and Gingi later after I’m done with some stuff from my job. I’d say we’ll be able to get downtown…” she counted in her head before raising two fingers “next week”

“I’ll make sure to pack some stuff up before next week hits”

“You do your part and I’ll do mine. We’ll discuss more another day since it is getting late”

Oliver turned his head to the alarm clock beside his thin mattress.

“Yeah, you’re right. It is getting late” he turned to her and gave her a wave “I’ll see you later then?”

Karen nodded and walked off, “sleep well”

“You too, Dunn!”

Chapter Text

Karen expected to start with a normal day but the moment she opened the doors to DMS's backroom, her expectations were shot down.

"Downtown fucking sucks! "

"Gingi no !"

Gingi kicked an empty box aside with fury radiating off of them. Karen blinked in surprise, rarely seeing Gingi being this violent- especially in the store!

She saw both Nico and Randy standing in a corner to avoid the chaos while Oliver made sure to move any equipment out of Gingi's reach.

"What the hell is going on!?" Karen yelled, placing her bag aside.

"I don't fucking know- they just lost it when we mentioned downtown!" Nico explained, avoiding a box being thrown at them afterward.

"That place is infested with bastards with shiny business shoes and stupid ties that reach down to their pants!" Gingi yelled.

Nico wasn't kidding on the fact they're actually losing it.

"Gingi, please have some mercy! You're wrecking all of the boxes!" Oliver yelped.

"Not until this town is left in ashes! Do you hear me? In fucking ashes -"

They were caught off guard when suddenly Karen, who had removed her jacket and wrapped it around Gingi, tackled them.

It was a bit of a struggle but Karen managed to completely wrap them around with her jacket, keeping them in place.

With her arms around them in a tight hug, she ignored the thrashing within and waited until they finally calmed down.

When they did, she slowly moved the jacket sleeve to see their face. 

"Are you done now?" She asked.

Gingi didn't answer but gave a small nod.

She stopped hugging them and sat back, letting her jacket rest on them like a comfort blanket.

While she got back up and dusted herself off, Oliver simply walked up to her.

"So… Karen! Was wondering how the whole apartment thing is going on"

"It's going better than expected, thank you for asking" she replied "since Connor is helping me with it, I'd say that we can start checking the apartment out today"

"Today?!" Oliver seemed dumbfounded "that was fast"

"It was" she stopped for a bit to check if Gingi was doing okay. The cryptid wasn't causing havoc again, instead, they were sitting on the ground as Randy was talking to them.

Unsure what he was saying but assuming how he wasn't doing any hand gestures or any exaggerated body language; he must be comforting- or perhaps attempting to- Gingi with words.

Nico? They suddenly appeared right behind Oliver. 

"Say, how long are you going to be Downtown?" They asked, hands still in pockets.

"Possibly…" Oliver glanced at Karen.

She sighed, "three weeks"

"Yeah, three weeks"

"Ah…" the pink-haired troublemaker "I'll count how much money you'll owe me after those three weeks. I'm gonna have to spend half my day in this store thanks to you"

"I promise I'll make it up to ya', Nico! How about brunch when I get back?"

"Only if you pay my food"

"Deal"

They shook hands.

Karen didn't say anything, knowing that the two had their type of business.

Since she said that they're all going to check out the apartment today, she fished out her phone from her pocket to send a message to Connor that the band was coming by.

Connor was probably either at his place or was still in the apartment making some tweaks.

While the two were busy, both Gingi and Randy were having their own conversation.

"Wow…" Randy sighed "the idea of temporarily staying in an apartment is kinda nerve-wracking don't you think?"

Gingi, who was scratching their head, just rolled their eyes.

 "I can't even form an opinion on that, man. Don't ask me about luxury"

"You live in a tent that has a working light bulb, a bed- which is in the form of a large radioactive crate, and your so-called… nectar "

"And should they go under the luxury category?"

Randy opened his mouth and then closed it.

"Even so, an apartment is nice if you think about it. A bigger bed, a possible shower, maybe some food in the fridge… it has its charms"

"I am interested in the bigger bed topic"

"What about beds?" A voice asked.

It was Oliver who had his hands on his knees, kneeling to eye level with the other two band members.

"You talking about some stuff or?" He teased.

Randy couldn't help but feel a bit red on his cheeks while Gingi simply hushed Oliver by throwing Karen's jacket onto his face.

"We were only talking about the apartment we're going to be staying at" Randy added, "n-nothing more..."

Oliver just hummed, still having a smug look on his face.

"Well next time, don't leave me out of it. Make some room for a buddy!"

" Gosh, Oliver "

"Yeah!" Gingi gave Oliver a jab at the arm "this is a Randy-Gingi moment only!"

"Aw man, I'm hurt"

"Then cry me a river, guitar man"

Oliver just chuckled and waved it off.

__________

"Why couldn't we just walk to the apartment?" Randy asked, scooting away from the chewed gum on the side of his seat.

The subway wasn't packed but there were a good amount of people who were heading to their destinations- which is downtown.

"I think it's much faster this way" Karen answered.

"But hopping off from your subway ticket isn't really-"

"I know, Randy. But take it as a kind gesture since I don't mind paying you two"

"Two? But there's three of us"

Karen rolled her eyes, "I forgot to mention that Gingi gets to ride here for free. No extra charges for them"

The cryptid just smiled, "financials are cowering from me, just as planned"

"I… worry for you, Gingi"

"Nonsense, Car-en! I am perfectly fine"

"It's pronounced Ka -"

The subway came to a stop and the doors opened, leading to people leaving and more people coming in.

"Looks like we're here" Oliver stood up and dusted his pants "let's go check out that apartment"

And so, the four walked out of the subway and were starting to make their way to the apartment complex.

Throughout the walk, Randy seemed excited. He was gripping the bottom of his shirt, forcing his eyes down, and struggling to hide his smile.

The first one to notice was Oliver.

"You good? You look like you're going to explode"

"I'm sorry, I'm just-" the Bassist let out a small laugh "... it's been a while since I've stayed at an apartment. Let alone a possibly-nice one"

"Really? Don't you have one or am I remembering things wrong?"

Randy's expression shifted to discomfort, "it's a… I mean, you're not- you're not wrong but I…" he coughed into his fist "please don't laugh at me but I'm basically homeless"

Oliver opened his mouth before closing it, "I did not- oh"

"Yeah… been like that for a year. Even having two jobs won't suffice"

"I'm sorry, dude. I didn't know"

"It's fine, really"

The two went silent afterward.

They finally made it to the apartment complex and were now taking the elevator. 

Each of the four had different expressions.

Karen had her usual relaxed look, Gingi looked grumpy as they crossed their arms, Oliver felt nervous while tapping his shoe against the floor, and Randy was anticipated.

"Okay, so-" Karen fished out something from her pocket "-I have two keys for the room you're all going to be staying in. One key for Oliver and the other for me"

She threw one at Oliver- who caught it with ease.

"Why two?" He asked.

"In case Oliver loses his, you can give me a call and I'll give you mine. Connor suggested the idea of having a backup key just in case"

"Gnarly idea," Oliver praised "but don't worry! I got it all under control"

Karen gave him a bored look, "you dropped the key a few seconds ago"

"Wh-"

He looked at the ground before hearing Gingi snickering.

"It's still in your hand, silly"

Oliver sighed in relief, looking at his hand to see that yes- the key was still in his grasp.

"... so we have enough proof that backup keys are necessary, yes?" Karen asked.

The Bassist and the Drummer nodded, ignoring Oliver's annoyed "hey!"

When the elevator stopped, they got out and were now walking to a door that was near the end of the hallway.

"This is it" Karen pursed her lips, turning her head towards the band "ready?"

They all nodded and she unlocked the door with her key.

"Woah…" Randy stared in awe.

The inside of the room was luckily clean along with a small couch sitting in front of a small television on the wall, a small kitchen sitting at the corner of the room with a table and a few chairs.

Turning their heads to the right, there were about three doors visible. Two bedrooms and only one bathroom.

"Not much but it's a temporary stay" Karen reminded, walking inside the room with the other band members tailing her.

"This is-" Oliver flopped himself onto the couch, luckily not breaking his rear end "-groovy!"

He pressed his hand against the cushion to feel how soft it was. It wasn't as soft as he expected but enough to break his careless fall onto it.

Gingi immediately ran to the only visible window and looked out of it, seeing a glance of downtown and the people below.

Randy ran a hand over the counter of the small kitchen connected to the living room, feeling the marble texture under his fingertips.

"This place is lovely" he muttered, smiling to himself.

He had never been in a place like this before. 

"Hey Gingi," he whispered to Gingi who was busy looking out of the window with a pout.

"Hm?"

"Wanna check the bedrooms?"

"M'kay"

The bedrooms weren't big actually, just small beds and one of them having a lap while the other doesn't. 

Randy approached the bed with slow movements, feeling nervous at the sight of it. He had his hands held together and stared at the bed with the need to-

"Are you falling in love with the bed?" Gingi interrupted.

"Wh-what?" Randy did a double-take "no-no! I mean, it's- it's just… it's been a while since I've seen a bed up close. A clean and comfortable looking one as well…"

"Huh"

The two stood in silence before Gingi continued.

"Then sleep on it"

"Huh?"

"You heard me, right? Just sleep on it if you want to do it so badly"

"I-" he started to trip over his own words "-I want to! Really! Just- I'd get it dirty because of my jacket and I don't want to j- what are you doing?"

He saw them sit on top of the bed and started to bounce.

"Why are you…"

"I'm just testing it out, man"

They did a big bounce and the bed made a squeak.

"I…" Randy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before saying "yeah, screw it. I needed a nap, anyways"

Taking off his jacket and putting it aside, he rested himself on the bed and felt like all his troubles just went away.

"So?" 

The cryptid laid beside him, resting their head against their palm.

"... I feel like I've finally figured out internal peace"

Gingi laughed a little, lying down beside him and feeling the softness of the blankets.

"This doesn't seem so bad" they hummed, staring at the ceiling.

Randy just hummed.

The two lied there until Gingi turned onto their side, facing Randy.

They noticed his eyes were shut and that he had a smile on his face.

"... are you asleep?"

They only got soft breathing as a response.

Pouting, they silently snaked a hand to Randy's hair and felt it between their fingers. For a guy who only showers in rainwater, he does have good messy hair.

Not as messy as Gingi's though, the cryptid would find bugs within their hair or get small items stuck inside without notice.

A pain, to be honest.

But Randy's? His hair was not perfect nor worse . Reaching to the back of his necks and even almost covering his eyes when not brushed aside.

Gingi just eyed their fingernails playing with strands of hair, seeing them circle their sharp nails before being gently tugged.

"Soft…" they muttered, retracting their hand away.

For the first time, Randy looked peaceful. Not an ounce of conflicting emotions or worry on his expression, his breathing wasn't shaky and his entire posture was relaxed.

Gingi just blinked.

They kinda liked it when Randy's like this--

The bed shifted.

"What'cha two doing?" Oliver asked nonchalantly as if he didn't disturb a moment.

Gingi yelped and hissed- waking Randy up in the process.

"Learn to knock, Olive Oil!" 

"Dude, the door was open! But if ya' want me to knock still then-" Oliver raised a hand and knocked against the bed frame three times "-there, happy?"

He was obviously teasing from how he had this recognizable smirk plastered against his lips.

Gingi rolled their eyes.

"What's…" Randy squinted his eyes, "Oliver?"

"Hey Randy, sorry for waking you up. Just wanted to check on the lovebirds here"

"Oh?" The Bassist sat up and rubbed his eyes with his sleeves "we're not done yet, right? We're still checking the room?"

"Well, yeah, we're not done. You only napped for like… a few seconds, man"

"... can I still nap?"

"Do whatever you want; I'm gonna go check the bathroom out" Oliver then turned his head towards Gingi "wanna come?"

"Eh… fine, never really seen one so I guess there's no harm in it"

"Groovy!"

The two excused themselves to check the bathroom that was just a turn away.

Opening the door, they were met with a cramped bathroom that consisted of a small sink, a single toilet, and a shower.

"Huh," Oliver clicked his tongue "expected at least a little bigger than. Almost the same size as the one back at the Music Store"

"The Music Store doesn't have a shower "

"Oh yeah, right. I use a bucket"

Gingi walked in and examined the mirror in front of them, gaining interest from how their pupils turned to orbs.

Usually, they would see their reflection from broken discarded mirrors or a nearby pond; however, the mirror gave them a full view of what they look like.

"Does my hair always look like this…?" They asked softly, trailing a finger near a hair strand poking out.

Oliver let out a breathless chuckle, "yeah, why? You just noticed?"

The Drummer pursed their lips, "I don't know, man. I was sure my hair was way shorter"

"Well, short or not; you still look pretty rad"

He rustled their hair but immediately retracted his hand when he felt something sharp against his palms.

He blinked.

"Gingi…"

"What?"

"There's… there's something in your hair"

"No there isn't"

Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, "yes there is"

"Nope"

"Yes! There's something sharp there- here, let me take a look-"

"Hey hey hey! watch the stitches!"

“Gingi these are-” Oliver plucked something out “-these are glass shards”

The cryptid just scoffed.

“So what? Things get stuck in my hair”

“I can think of things that would get stuck in your hair, like bugs and twigs but I am pretty sure glass shards are off the list”

“If you’ve rummaged through a few garbage bins then you can catch a few glasses”

“How did it even get there anyways? Did a bottle drop on your head or…?”

Gingi’s posture shifted to slight discomfort, they rubbed their arm and averted their gaze.

“...don’t laugh, okay?”

“You got my word for it”

They sighed, “you know Bunny’s Burgers here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I was just minding my usual creacher self and then the owner saw me. I thought he was just going to scold me off as usual but no! You know what he did? He walked up to me and smashed a bottle right on here” they pointed on top of their head.

Oliver winced, "that's… ouch, that must have hurt"

"You know how humiliating it was for me? Practically dragging myself through a busy town with a banged-up head?! People were giving me looks and laughing and asking if I needed help and it was just- ugh!" 

They sat on the closed toilet and rested their face against their palms.

"I hate it here" they muttered in a tired tone.

Oliver just watched before sighing silently.

"Aw, dude…" he knelt to eye level with them even when they still had their head in their palms, "c'mon… look at me for a bit, please?"

Gingi shook their head.

Oliver hummed, "it's gonna be alright, okay? How about we get those glass shards out of your hair first and then we'll get you something you like after we're done here"

"...like what?"

"Well," the guitarist tapped his chin "what do you want?"

"What I want…?" They seemed to perk up at it.

"Yeah!"

"Huh. I don't know what I want yet- jerky? Nectar? This is way harder than expected"

"Take it as something I owe you from now on"

Gingi blinked and quirked a brow, "promise?"

Oliver held out a pinky to them, "promise"

There was a quick look of confusion on Gingi's face when Oliver held out his pinky so their immediate response was to try and bite his pinky.

Luckily, the guitarist yanked his hand away.

"No thank you for the biting. Now stand up for a bit, we gotta get those shards out of your hair"

"Oh right, forgot about that"

_______

Everything was settled with the room.

Randy seemed to enjoy it here most since he was sleeping real comfortably on the bad- to the point Karen had to get a glass of tap water and pour it onto his face to wake him up.

He almost cursed at her but managed to cover his mouth when he realized it was none other than miss Dunn herself.

Anyways, Oliver finished picking out glass shards from Gingi's hair and threw them away in a bin, hopefully, it wouldn't be a future problem.

"Say… when will we have to pack up to stay here?" Ask Oliver.

"Let me remind you that it's a temporary stay so there's no need to pack too much. I'd say it's best if all of you started packing up early before Monday since Mister Vasquez wanted us to start performing next week"

"So we can just… start staying here?" Randy added.

"If you want. Oliver has the spare key and remember; as long as you're here before Monday, we won't have any trouble proceeding"

"Seems like an easy gig" Gingi yawned, "but

can I bring my whole tent here though?"

"...what? No"

"Ah rats, well! Wake me up if we're ready 'cause-" they turned a heel and started to walk away, knowing that there isn't much to do afterwards "-I'm only going when everyone else's going! Laters!"

"Gingi, do you even know where the exit is?"

"Yes, I do! It's the window right next to the shiny door!"

This made the others worried and Randy gulped, "I-I'm gonna go make sure they're… okay. I'll see you later-" and he rushed over to where Gingi was heading.

This left Oliver and Karen just awkwardly staring in the same direction until there was no one in sight.

"So I guess this is it, huh?" Oliver scratched the back of his neck.

"Wouldn't call that, it depends when you want to start staying here"

"Yeah, I get the memo. It's that-" he trailed off, tugging against his shirt collar "-I'm afraid of messing up"

This... surprised Karen.

Oliver was always the type of guy who was determined to move forward, always optimistic, giving sunshine to the group at any given moment.

"What are you afraid of? You've been looking forward to this right?" She asked, still baffled.

"I did and I still am! I've been working hard to get up to something but looking at it now, I'm starting to have second thoughts about what if-!"

He bit his lip.

"...what if?" Karen asked, wanting answers.

Oliver let out a small sigh and turned to her, "what if this is the only gig I have left?"

"What do you…" she looked at him up and down "what do you mean?"

"I mean like, what if this is… it? What else can we do after the deal's done? What if something bad happens and it just all… stops?"

"I don't-"

Karen was speechless. She knew what he was saying but the problem was how to respond to it, she tried to find the words but all she could muster up to him was a quivering lip and avoiding gaze.

"I'm sorry" Karen finally said, "I don't know how to respond to that, Oliver"

Oliver just nodded, giving a small smile to her. 

"It's okay, Karen. And thanks"

"Thanks for what?"

"Thanks for helping us, ya' know, being manager and all that"

"Oh, you're welcome. I'll… be getting back to my apartment now, notify me when you and the others are already moved in. Okay?"

"Will do, ma'am"

"Please," Karen crossed her arms "just stick with Karen instead of ma'am"

_________

"Welcome back, hotshot" Nico welcomed, seeing Oliver walk in with a relaxed look.

"Hey there, Nico"

Nico raised a brow, swinging their bag over their shoulders.

"What's with the dry 'hey'? Not a 'heyya' or a 'groovy to see ya''?"

"It's nothing, really! Just tired, that's all"

"Tired?" Asked a voice from the opened door of the backroom. 

Mr. Dickens stood there with his usual suit, holding a folder with one arm.

"Yeah, sir, I just need some rest after doing the usual clean-up routine"

"Well, if that is the case then I'll stay a bit longer to help"

"Wait really? No no-" Oliver waved his hands in rejection "you don't need to do that, sir! I can handle it just fine, I'm just a lil ' tired"

Nico then coughed, "last time you said that you fell asleep in one of the boxes in the backroom and almost got mailed to France"

"That was one time! "

"You kicked me in the face!"

"Alright, stop!" Mr. Dickens interrupted "no need for back and forth arguing here, do we now?"

"No, sir…" both Oliver and Nico muttered.

"Good. I'll be staying for a while to help Oliver with the cleaning duty. Nico, lad, you can go home now"

"Alright, peace out" 

The pink-haired troublemaker made their exit out of the Music Store.

"... alrighty then! Sir, I appreciate the offer but there's no need to-"

"Mind telling me what has been bothering you lately, boy?"

"I-" Oliver blinked "-huh?"

A chuckle came out from the Englishman, "I've known you for years now, young chap. I can tell from the tone of your voice that you have something on your mind"

"Was it that obvious?" Oliver humored.

Mr. Dickens raised a brow.

"Look, I'm going to try to word this since my… head has been boggling me for the past couple of days. I'm just- uhm… afraid of what happens next"

The guitarist sighed out, resting his arms on the counter.

"I know it's weird for me to say stuff like this since I've been working my butt off to get to my goal but there are some… reality-slapping moments where I just feel like if I mess things up; it all goes down"

"Oh, Oliver…"

Mr. Dickens placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"I understand the peer pressure. As if our road in life is made out of thin paper; but no need to worry, Oliver, I believe you'll make it through"

"But what if I can't…?"

"My boy, you were one bloody determined soul ever since you went under my wing. You have a whole book written with passion, a plan so clear that even the birds would try to fly through, and don't forget about the people who were there with you. The only time I've seen you go through trial and error, you still held the look of a winner"

Oliver took a deep breath, trying to get his head together.

He did fill his notebooks with songs recently and got a new one, he did make a small chart of what to do's when things go smoothly, and he did form a good friendship with the others- an example was when he helped Gingi get glass shards out of their hair.

Yet is it enough?

Even if he was still unsure, he used up all his energy he had to smile and look reassured.