Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Nah! Fuck you asshole! We’re outta here! Jon, pack up your guitar!! Mark, I’ll help you get your drums.” Eduardo snarled out as he slammed the case to his bass shut. Jon was quick to oblige, unplugging his guitar from the amp and packing it up so he could help Mark disassemble his drums. 

“You’re seriously throwing a fit and quitting?! Fine! Be that way Eduardo, but don’t expect me to take you and your hazbins in when you eventually crawl back! I don’t need mediocrity.” Tord, lead singer and founder of Rød Hær, began yelling. It was just supposed to be another practice run with the new songs in the album before their recording sessions on the weekend, only for Mark to question one of the songs and offer a suggestion for a lyric… Tord hadn’t taken that well and snapped at Mark to shut up and focus on not lagging on beats. He would have berated the blonde more had Eduardo not stepped in and told him to cool it and not get so uppity over a simple lyric suggestion.

Tord didn’t take it well, full on erupting at them after that. Pau and Patryck had walked in on the worst of it, and now were watching as Eduardo, Jon, and Mark disassembled the blonde’s drum set so they could leave. Tord continued angrily pacing and snarling about how they were the worst and now that they were leaving he could air out all his anger, it took both Mark and Jon to distract Eduardo and make sure he didn’t start a fight with the volatile singer. Pau and Patryck quickly shared a look and sighed before splitting up to see if they could fix it.

Pau walked over to Tord, Patryck then went to the trio. 

“Tord, c’mon take a breath… we’ve talked about this before, you can’t just fly off the handle like this.” Pau huffed, gently resting a hand on the Norwegian’s shoulder. He didn’t flinch when the other yanked away from the touch and turned his anger on him.

“No! I’m not going to breathe and ‘calm down’! They don’t fucking understand the hard work I put into those lyrics! It’s supposed to be that way, they should fucking know better than to question it! They’re not the ones singing it!” Tord ranted, balling his hands up into fists the more he thought about the ‘disrespect’ he was just given by the other band members… well soon to be ex-band members if Tord kept up this rage. Pau sighed, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm to the other as he attempted to bring reason back into the conversation.

“Yes, they’re not the ones singing it, Tord, you are right. However, you gotta remember that they won’t understand why the song is like that. Mark was just trying to offer you constructive critique, you could have calmly declined the criticism and explained that you wrote the song like that on purpose.” Pau reminded with furrowed brows and a stern expression, he’d known Tord for a long time along with Patryck, they have been friends and business partners for a while now so Pau usually didn’t feel the greatest when he had to use his ‘Manager’ tone on his good friend. Tord knew that when the tone was used on him, it was best to back down… so he did act a bit like a child being forced to eat his veggies.

“Ughhhhh fine, I admit that I went off the rails. What do you want me to do about it?” The Norwegian grimaced when Pau rolled his eyes and gave him an expression, one that screamed the bleeding obvious.

“You need to swallow your pride and apologize to your bandmates, Tord. They’re good players, and need I remind you that we have an album to record? We can’t afford to lose them, you know Pat and I will be scrambling to find new members if he can’t convince them to stay.” Tord’s face scrunched up as he crossed his arms and tried not to look at Pau for too long, he didn’t want to make his friend’s job hard… but at the same time, he really didn’t like being told to apologize for a slight that, in his eyes, wasn’t his fault. 

‘This is exactly how you lost the last band, moron.’ He thought to himself, only to shake his head and growl to himself.

‘ They left me because they couldn’t handle my success! I was too good for them anyways! Too good for him , he just didn’t like that my songs were more popular than his.’ Tord countered. He wasn’t the problem, oh no no, it was everyone else! They didn’t understand that he was better than them.

“Tord.” Pau’s voice cut through Tord’s thinking and a grumble escaped the Norwegian as he waved his hand. He was already making his way over towards the three band members with the intent to apologize to them.

“I got it, I got it. No need for another manager lecture.” He sighed, barely suppressing an eye roll as he walked. He could see Patryck’s furrowed brow as he tried to talk and reason with Eduardo, trying to convince him to stop dismantling the drums and give Tord another chance.

Eduardo wasn’t having it though, and if it weren’t for Mark and Jon gently reminding him that Patryck was just trying to do his job and trying to keep the band together, he likely would have been chewing the Polish man’s head off. 

“Please Eduardo, Jon, Mark… just give him one more chance, I’m sure we can come to a better understanding. If you leave, Pau and I will need to scramble to try and find replacements. We’re so close to recording this next album, if you’re so dead set on leaving, at least stay for the album recording to give Pau and I time to replace you guys.” Patryck begged softly, Eduardo’s angry expression softened ever so slightly into one of pity towards Patryck’s plead. His eyes panned over to Jon and Mark, seeing their own guilty faces, he knew they didn’t like causing inconvenience to the two hardworking managers… but they also looked to him to lead them and know what was best for them. Eduardo’s eyes then landed on the slowly approaching Tord, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed on the other.

There was no way in hell he was going to have Jon and Mark stay here to be verbally berated and treated like dirt by this arrogant shit-stain. Only he could bully his friends and roommates! So as much as he didn’t want to inconvenience Pau and Patryck, by all accounts they had been so nice to the three musicians, Eduardo simply couldn’t stick around and let Tord verbally berate or insult them anymore. They could make it out on their own.

“Sorry Pat, you and Pau are super nice and all, but I’m not letting these guys stick around to be bashed by a guy who can’t even take the smallest bit of critique. I let him insult my playing and my apparent ‘tone deafness’ but I won’t let Mark or Jon be insulted simply for making him upset that we ‘don’t understand his genius.’ Sorry Pat.” Eduardo sighed, looking at Patryck seriously before he undid the last snare drum on the set. Jon and Mark looked between their friend and their manager, frowning when they saw Patryck’s sad acceptance.

“We understand Eduardo, we’re so sorry it came to this… i-if there’s anything that we could do, you have our numbers. I’ll let Pau know to send you your pay and to start looking for new members… thank you for sticking with us for at least an album, we wish you three nothing but success.” Patryck smiled, of course he could have forced them to stay, they were still under a contract… but it just didn’t make sense to keep them in it, if they were forced to stay then they wouldn’t play well or they’d end up purposely sabotaging the band’s potential just so they could get out of it. Of course, they weren’t exactly the type to do any of that stuff, it was just one of the many reasons that Patryck would think up to not force people to stay in things like this. 

In any case, his words were appreciated by Eduardo, Jon, and Mark. 

Tord on the other hand… well he’d overheard it and couldn’t help but get angry all over again.

“Really? You’re actually just going to quit? Feh! Of course you three are. You’re just quitters , better hope that Pat’s well wishes come true, because you’re never welcome back to Rød Hær. I don’t need quitters in my band.” Tord grumbled with a dark expression on his face. Patryck’s head shot over to glare at Tord and he prepared to scold the red-clad singer before Jon of all people spoke up with an angry expression on his face.

“You think you’re so great! Well you’ll see! We’ll make it just fine without someone as mean as you were. My cousin was right about you, you’re nothing more than an… an… arrogant shitbag! ” Jon snapped, his face was cherry red with how angry he’d become. Both Eduardo and Mark looked at their normally calm and sweet friend with shock on their faces. Tord had been taken aback by the normally passive man’s outburst before he registered what the other had said.

“ Cousin ? What cousin?” Tord choked out, his rage building up further as he thought of anyone that could have been related to his now ex-guitarist… Only one man came to mind, but before he could demand answers, Pau was pulling him away to talk to him privately in the manager's office. Patryk was handing the three ex-band members keys to one of the unmarked utility vans they could use to transport Mark’s drums back to their home. 

“You three head off, we’ll keep in touch.” Patryck sighed as Pau started to angrily scold Tord for being so cruel to their departing band members. Eduardo sighed as well, taking the keys and gently nudging Jon to help him with getting the equipment into the van. 

Patryck couldn’t help but rub his temples a little to try and curb the oncoming headache that he would be dealing with trying to gather up a new drummer, bassist, guitarist, and potentially someone else to do backing vocals. His stress was halted momentarily when he felt a gentle tap to his shoulder and saw Mark standing there with a soft expression.

“If it’s any help to you and Pau… there’s this huge open mic/battle of the bands event happening next week. I know it’s not the best solution, but I figured I could let you know about it…” Mark trailed off as he fumbled through his jean pockets, pulling out a folded up blue flier that advertised the event and that participants would be comped for an appetizer and their first round of drinks. Patryck took hold of the colored paper and scanned it over a few times to get all the info.

Sure, like Mark had said, this was certainly not a foolproof solution to their problem. This event could end up generating only a handful of mediocre bands or people that just weren’t cut out for Rød Hær’s style of music, but this was a chance that couldn’t be passed up. If there was just the slightest chance that Pau and Patryck could find at least one person to have joined the band in time to record the album and possibly join them on tour? Well it couldn’t hurt to try. 

Patryck looked into Mark’s hazel eyes and offered a grateful smile, folding the flier back up to tuck away into his own pocket.

“Thanks Mark, every little thing helps. Like I said before too, Pau and I will keep in touch to make sure you and your friends are holding up.” Before Mark could reply, they both found themselves jumping at the sound of crashing and curses being flung between Tord and Pau in their native tongues. Patryck sighed heavily, blinking when he felt Mark gently pat his shoulder.

“It looks like you and Pau will have your hands full with Tord… remember that you don’t have to just contact us for business, you’d both been so kind to us… if you ever need someone to talk to, we’d love to lend an ear. Best of luck to you guys.” Mark smiled, jumping when he heard Eduardo shout for him.

“C’mon Mark! The van’s all packed up, let’s get going before I try to punch that smug red bastard’s face as a ‘goodbye present!’” Mark and Patryck both let out a quiet chuckle at the comment before refocusing on each other, the Polish man outstretched a hand to offer a handshake, an offer that the blonde drummer soon evolved into a quick hug. Patryck wasn’t much of a hugger, so it left him frozen for a few moments before he let himself melt into it and mutter his best wishes for the trio.

“Alright, alright… I shouldn’t keep you men any longer. Be safe getting home, best of luck, and thank you for all you’ve provided us.” Patryck mumbled, pulling away from the hug and patting Mark’s shoulder. “I should probably go and make sure that Pau doesn’t strangle Tord anyways!” There was a laugh shared between the two before Mark rushed over towards Eduardo so they could get going.

With the trio now out of the building, Patryck took a few breaths to soothe his building headache. Everything would be fine… sure! He and Pau would have to literally pull a miracle out of their asses, but they managed just fine before. They could do this, now all they needed to do was calm Tord down and then-

CRASH!

“Å for helvete din drittsekk!!” Tord screamed, throwing something definitely fragile, given the shattering that happened shortly after he swore. Patryck could hear Pau shout out a ‘holy shit’ before screaming back in Dutch.

“Oh jij klootzak!!!” Ah, how classy… and judging from the scuffling now, either Tord is pushing Pau against the wall or the Dutch man had the red-clad Norwegian in a headlock. Either way around it, Patryck let out a long groan, looks like he’d have to be the mom friend today.

His capacity for taking this shit was long since tapped out too, so without much further hesitation, Patryck stormed towards the office. He had to tell himself not to kick the door down, but slamming it open was fair game. When Patryck came charging in with a loud crash of the door hitting the wall at full force, both Tord and Pau were quick to look over at him with a deer in headlights look. As Patryck had suspected, Pau had Tord locked into a headlock and the Norwegian had been flailing and whacking anything he could to get out of it.

A heavy sigh escaped the Polish man. “Guys… I really don’t wanna be the mom friend right now, but you’re both seriously pushing the limit right now. Tord you need to get your fucking head out of your ass or so help me, I will tie you to a chair and play ‘Sunshine Lollipops’ for 24 hours straight!” Tord made a face of disgust at the threat, he hated that song with ever fucking fibre of his being. He remembered the first time he heard it and it had been stuck in his head for months, driving him mental and unable to focus on anything with it in his head, his bandmates at the time laughed at his misery. Pau laughed at the threat, about to add something to the scolding before Patryck snapped his fingers and turned on the other manager.

“And you ! We’re managers of this band! We need to be professional while we work, even if he’s our friend! So you’re going to let Tord go and help me clean up this mess, or I’m going to lose my mind and confiscate all of your cigarettes!” At this point, Patryck’s voice became stressed and strained as he tried not to lose it. They already had enough on their plates, the last thing that they needed right now was to be fighting each other. Patryck then brought his hands to his face and groaned to try and let some of his stress go, soon bringing his fingers into his hair in an attempt to smooth out any flyaways caused by the stress.

He could see Tord and Pau soften their gazes at him, the chainsmoker was quick to let their red-clad singer go in favor of retrieving a broom and cleaning the mess of broken glass and books. Tord grumbled a little, brushing himself free of imaginary dirt before walking over to Patryck. The Polish man could tell he wanted to apologize, but it wasn’t a wanted apology. Patryck quickly stopped him in his tracks with a raise of his hand, causing Tord’s mouth to shut fast.

“Tord… you know you’re my friend, I care a lot about being your friend… but if you’re coming up to me to apologize then fuck off. I don’t need it, your ex-bandmates needed a genuine apology from you, they didn’t deserve what you were telling them! I don’t know why you were berating them over every little thing, but it’s not an excuse. Now Pau and I have to rush around to find you replacements before recording because the next availability for the studio is three months ! Do you know what kind of stress that puts on us?” Tord paused, shutting his mouth and looking at his friend with furrowed brows. He didn’t think about it in the heat of the moment, too busy being angry at the perceived attack on his music that he didn’t think about the consequences for very long… until Pau had been scolding him, and even then it had been a brief guilt that was overshadowed by the rage he felt towards Eduardo and his crew when they decided to not stay any longer.

‘History repeats itself I suppose…’ He thought to himself, folding his arms and glaring into the floor as Patryck turned to go and help Pau with the mess and to talk to him about the event flier Mark gave him before they left. Tord decided he was better off writing new lyrics for song ideas or drawing, so he stormed off to his room, this whole event brought up memories of his old band and he really didn’t want to think about it. 

While Tord went to his room, Pau and Patryck were busy cleaning up the mess caused by the Norwegian and Dutchman’s scuffle. Pau would occasionally look over at Patryck to see if it was okay to talk, see the mad muttering of his Polish companion and then figure it would be best to not talk at that moment.

It was like this for over ten minutes, uncomfortable and tense silence stretching between them as they cleaned up broken glass and put books back into their proper place. Once everything was back in order, Pau flinched as the sound of Patryck’s heavy sigh of relief. The chainsmoker had clearly been expecting the other to be more mad, but no… he seemed calmer.

“Mark gave me this flier before they left… it’s for an open mic/battle of the bands thing. He hoped it would help us find at least one person to replace them in the band… it’s happening next week.” Patryck finally spoke, handing the shorter the folded blue flier and watched as he looked it over with interest. 

“Well… it wouldn’t be a perfect fix, but it’s worth a try… Do we want Tord to tag along? I mean, we’d need them to tolerate him and his… moods.” Pau made a good point, whoever they welcomed into the band would have to be able to handle Tord when he had fits. Maybe people who could help keep him in check or aid Pau and Patryck in calming the hot-tempered Norwegian.

“It would make the most sense to have him tag along, but remember the last time we took him along to something music based? He grumbled and complained about any little thing that he could see wrong about someone’s performance. If he doesn’t see it as perfect, he’ll refuse us the whole way… I think it might be best for us to… make this choice ours, without his permission.” Patryck felt like an asshole the second those words escaped him, Pau even gasped in shock at the notion. Sure, Pau and Patryck managed the band and made sure it stayed afloat, but Tord was the man that made the band. If they were really going to leave him out of a decision like this, there was going to be fallout.

“I mean, good point… but you know that if we go without him and find band members, he’s going to be livid that we went behind his back.” Pau warned gently, Patryck nodded in agreement. Both of them were aware of this risk they were making, but after this incident? It was a risk well worth taking, for the sake of making sure this band didn’t crash and burn. Tord would understand with given time, but for now they’d have to deal with that bombshell when it hit them.

“It’d give us a chance to prep whoever we hire how intense Tord can get… he’ll understand why we’re doing this someday. For now, we should just work on trying to find replacements and continue on as normal, just don’t tell Tord.” Patryck responded, putting their cleaning supplies away and looking over their schedule. They could keep this plan a secret for a week.

Right?

Well turns out that it was harder than it looked, since there was no band to practice with, Tord’s freetime was a lot more common, so he usually spent it either songwriting or trying to be in the company of his friends while they worked on setting up auditions and finding replacements if the event Mark told them about ended up not working out. Tord usually wanted to get them out of the office, bring them out to places and have a little fun… but with the overwhelming stress of trying to keep the band from crashing, Pau and Patryck couldn’t both leave the work alone. 

So to make sure Tord was still able to not be bored and have fun with his friends, Pau and Patryck would switch off who would hang out with Tord that day. The red-clad Norwegian didn’t like this arrangement of course, it felt less like he was with his friends and more like he was being switched around in a custody situation. Of course he understood they couldn’t just up and leave their jobs, especially with the stress of finding replacements so close to a recording session. They were on a time crunch and Tord knew it was partially (maybe even mostly) his fault, he just didn’t want to admit it was. With that feeling eating away at Tord, he began going out alone a little more often and locking himself up in his room to write more songs and distract himself from his angry thoughts towards the whole situation.

On the day of the Open Mic night, Pau and Patryck were able to take time off to spend with Tord for the morning and afternoon before they headed out together. It’d felt like such a long time since they were all able to hang out at the same time, both men were in desperate need of a break away from the paperwork and planning for just one day. As they approached Tord’s room, they looked at each other and let out a sigh.

“This week has been tough hasn’t it?” Pau asked with a chuckle in his voice when he saw Patryck nod and slump his shoulders.

“I’ll say! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been wanting all three of us to spend time together for days and now that we’re finally here, it’s a big relief. I hope Tord will be just as excited as us to finally be able to spend time together, all three of us.” Patryck hummed, running a hand through his hair to smooth away any potential flyaways, it was just a habit of his that Pau only recently began to notice since his Polish companion tended to do it to relieve stress, which was all they had been doing for the past week. Even Pau’s smoking habit got worse, usually going through a pack a day but this week he’d gone through almost two packs every day… he knew for a fact that if he still went to a doctor, they’d be at his throat right now.

With their stress built up and finally having this moment to spend with not only their friend, but also getting the chance to both spend time together at the open mic to scout new talent. For now, this would be time to spend with Tord, and they weren’t getting very far by just standing in front of his lyric room.

“Tord? Are you here Red?” Patryck called out, knocking a little with a hum and tiny smile on his face. He could hear the rustling of papers and the sound of music on the other side, meaning that Tord was inside and brainstorming like crazy. Usually he would call out to them or tell them to come in, but this time he didn’t even acknowledge that he heard them. It was a little concerning, but maybe he didn’t hear them? The music was pretty loud after all.

“Hey! Tord, can we come in?” Pau called out this time, being a little louder than Patryck had been and being shocked when he heard the music get turned up more.

“Gå vekk!” Tord shouted over his music, sounding rather agitated at them. That wasn’t good, both Pau and Patryck were looking at each other with concern as they heard the music get louder.

“Tord! If this is about our hangouts with you this week, we’re sorry! We both made some free time to spend with you today and-!” Patryck tried reasoning, both of them jolted in shock when they saw Tord slam the door open and glare.

“No! I’m not going to waste the one day you two managed to set aside. I get it!! I’m the reason you haven’t been able to both spend time with me at the same time! I’m the reason you’re stressed and I get it! So… so why don’t you two go off and spend time together? I won’t be a burden today!” Tord growled out, slamming the door and locking it so they couldn’t chase him down.

“Tord! We don’t think you’re a burden! We were just trying to make the best out of a stressful situation! Please come out so we can talk about this!” Patryck called out again, only for the volume to go up more and Pau to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Forget it Pat… he needs some time alone, it should give us a chance to talk to him when he’s calmer… let’s just try and do something.” Pau sighed, knowing that Tord tended to get into these funks when he bottled his feelings up. From the looks of it, he’d been bottling it all week and they’d been so stressed with their work and plans that they hadn’t been able to keep his bad habits in check like usual. Patryck slumped in defeat when he realized that Pau was right and that they’d need to just ride this out and let Tord come to them when he was ready.

“Okay, okay..” Patryck sighed, frowning a little as he and Pau left to go out and spend some time together, both were a little bummed out that they wouldn’t be able to spend time with their friend. Of course, after a little, Pau sent Tord a text.

Cloudburg: Hey Red, just wanted to let you know that if you want to talk to us, we’ll be at the new cafe down the street before going to the bookstore. We can pick you up a treat or a book if you need anything. Talk to us when you’re up to it, enjoy your brainstorming.

Neither of them expected a reply, both frowned when they saw Tord not even open the message up, he always at the very least looked at his messages instantly. It showed both of them that it would be a while before Tord would want to properly talk about the situation, so they left to cafe and talked about what they should look for in new talent for the band, the first thing that they would need to do if they found talent would be to teach them how to handle Tord’s outbursts or moments. Those that could handle it and take no shit from it would be the best. 

As they ordered in the cafe and settled down, they could hear someone plucking a tune with a bass guitar. It was good and if they hadn’t been paying attention to it, it would have blended right into the atmosphere. Pau took some time to look around the cafe to try and figure out where the music was coming from, and saw a short man with brown spiky hair with a blue hoodie with checkered patterned short-sleeves hand sewn on top of the hoodie sleeves. His face and ears had quite a lot of piercings and his eyes were closed, like he was too absorbed in the music as he sang a rendition of ‘Tom’s Diner.’ 

“He’s pretty good, has a good voice and his playing is really nice.” Pau notes quietly, though he wondered what a single bassist was doing here, especially in a cafe looking like someone who did punk rock and not ‘Tom’s Diner.’ Patryck perked up at Pau’s comment towards the bassist and turned his attention towards the small stage and hummed.

“Yeah, maybe he does other genres and this is just a way to get a little cash? I mean being a musician isn’t usually the most lucrative job if you’re not one of the big names.” Patryck hummed in thought, though something about this guy… Why did he look familiar? Like he’d seen this man a long time ago? His face scrunched up as he tried to figure out where he’d seen the other before. Pau sighed, perking up when he heard the barista call out his and Patryck’s names for their drink and food order.

“Well you’re right about that… I’m going to get our order, be right back.” Pau sighed, watching Patryck nod a little and continue to stare at the bassist and try to figure out why this man’s face looked familiar.

Eventually the bassist finished his song and bowed at the applause he got from those actively listening. Then he opened his eyes and waved to those in the crowd, Patryck was shocked to find that the other’s eyes were pitch black, no pupils and no whites to his eyes… maybe he dyed them that color? Or was wearing black-out lenses? There was no way his eyes were naturally like that, but whatever! The bassist leaned into the mic and cleared his throat.

“Hey thanks for listening, if you folks are interested in hearing more of me, I’ll be playing with my band ‘Cola Bros’ tonight at the open mic night at the ‘World's End Tavern.’ Those who are 18 and up are free to enter alone, but if you’re underaged you gotta come with an adult until about 10pm. Come in and either join in on the mic night or come to enjoy the talent… oh! Also, if you’re an adult and you come to the tavern, just tell the bartender there that Tom sent you there and he’ll hook you up with a free drink. See you folks there, have a good day!” Tom announced, beginning to pack up his things so he could head off and either practice with his band or advertise the event a little more. Whatever the case was, Patryck was excited to hear that this bassist Tom would be performing more and with others. Perhaps they could scout him and the other members in this band and Patryck could figure out why this man seemed so familiar.

Pau finally sat back at their table with their drinks and treats, having paused when Tom announced the open mic night. The Dutchman settled in his chair and bit into his apple pastry while Patryck sipped on his cappuccino. They spent a few moments savoring their order before Pau began to talk.

“Seems like this open mic is really big, maybe we’ll bump into Eduardo and his friends again there.” Pau noted, the three ex-band members had been very nice to talk to when Tord was off busy making lyrics for new songs in his head or he was out to be alone with his thoughts. Patryck hummed in agreement, he hoped the three would be there too. From his last talk with Mark, it seemed that they would be heading out to either participate or to just attend for shits and giggles.

“I hope so, and I hope we can find good folks willing to join Rød Hær… we really can’t afford to push back that recording session.” Patryck sighed, chugging down the rest of his coffee and leaning back into his chair while Pau nibbled absentmindedly at his treat.

“No we can’t… but don’t worry Pat, we’ll find people! Our luck is going to turn, I just know it will!” The Dutchman offered a comforting smile to ease the stress from his Polish companion, then pushed over the chocolate croissant and pointed to it and then Patryck. “Now eat, you haven’t had anything all day, don’t think I didn’t notice.” 

Patryck snorted, appreciating his friend’s concern for him. He took the pastry and began to eat, smiling when he saw Pau nod in approval as he drank his black coffee. The two of them sat in comfortable silence, the ambient noise of those around them was enough to make them feel like they didn’t need to indulge in too much chatter. They could enjoy their treats and drinks in peace here. After they finished their food and drink, the two sighed in unison, they wished Tord were here to have some of the pastries, they were lovely.

“I saw they were selling skolebrød, maybe we could order one to-go for him after our errands at the bookstore? He mentions missing treats from his home from time to time but there hasn’t been a chance for him to go home lately.” Patryck mumbles, pointing to the sugary donut-like bread. Pau blinked in surprise, how the hell did they miss that.

“Well… it’s not from Oslo, but I think he may end up appreciating the attempt when he’s finally up to talking to us.” Pau smiled, standing up with his taller companion and nodding. “Yeah, we’ll come back to this later… maybe he’ll even talk to us after we tell him what we got.” 

The two nodded at each other, with their plan set, they headed off to the bookstore. They really just needed to pick up some books that they’d been waiting for releases on, both loving a romance series about pilots and reading it together. They would talk about it in their down time when Tord couldn’t spend time with them, they once tried to get him into the series but he quit halfway through the first book stating inaccuracies and that he didn’t like romance novels. Oh well! That was okay, Pau and Patryck were able to talk to each other about their love of the series together and bond, so it evened out!

Their trip to the bookstore was a quick in-and-out ordeal since Tord wasn’t there to browse the manga section. The absence of their friend made both managers pretty bummed out, they really wanted to spend the afternoon with him. Without their friend, they couldn’t help but think that they could have had more fun together with him. 

They both left the store with their copies of the newest book, feeling a little glum when they couldn’t stop thinking about how their friend locked himself away because he thought they saw him as a burden. Patryck began to smooth his hair out again and Pau put a cigarette in his mouth to start smoking again.

“Let’s just get the pastry and head back, I can’t stop thinking about Tord being cooped up in his lyric room… it’s less fun being out here and I only feel more stressed.” The Polish man groaned, tugging at his bangs a little as he tried not to let the stress get to him. Pau couldn’t help but let out a grunt of agreement, flicking his lighter open to light the cigarette in his mouth.

“Agreed, it’s just not a great feeling…” They stopped in front of the cafe and Patryck rubbed at his face.

“I’ll go get the Skolebrød, you just try not to go through all your cigarettes.” The Polish man sighed, rubbing his friend’s back before heading inside and getting in line behind a person with ginger hair.

The cafe was less crowded than compared to a few hours ago, Patryck couldn’t help but wonder if most of the people had been around because of the music. In any case, his attention from the area was stolen when he noticed the taller gentlemen in front of him was bouncing on his feet and twirling something between his fingers, it seemed like he simply couldn’t stay still for very long as they waited in line. Patryck took a little time to look over what the man ahead of him was wearing and hummed when he saw a purple jacket with a graphic on the back showing off a beast that the Polish man recognized as the primary focus of a band called ‘The Beast of the Void.’ Mark would often wear a similar sweater on his off time, never wearing it during shows since it wouldn’t be right to advertise another band while being in one. Tord hadn’t even been the one to throw a fit about it, sometimes Pau and Patryck would actually hear him playing some of the band’s songs through the speakers in his lyric room. Patryck wouldn’t be surprised if Tord had some of the albums as well.

“Huh… ‘The Beast of the Void’?” Patryck mumbled out, he’d never seen someone selling Beast of the Void merch, so maybe this person would be able to give him some tips on where to find some. Tord’s birthday was coming up in a few months, so it would be nice to get him something from a band he likes. The ginger perked up when he heard Patryck and swiftly turned around with an excited grin.

“Yeah! I’m a really big fan! Me and my drumming buddy Mark actually got these at their concert two years ago! We’ve wanted to go and see them again since you can only get their merch from the concerts. You don’t seem like the kinda person that would listen to them though, n-no offense!” Patryck blinked at the rapid-fire barrage that came from the other, it took a few moments for his brain to even catch up to what had been said to him. The Polish man couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head.

“Well you’re right that I wouldn’t call myself a fan! My friend is, I just hear some of the songs when he works. Me and my other friend have been wanting to get him some of the merch for his birthday, so they only sell the merch during their concerts? Seems like a strange choice.” Patryck hummed, perking up when they moved closer to the register and when he realized that the other had mentioned Mark. The ginger shrugged, no longer twirling what Patryck could now see was a drumstick, and instead trying to think about the reasons behind the merch choices.

“I think it’s just because the band tries to be really low-key, so they don’t go off and make the merch available everywhere… but hey! It seems to be working out pretty well for them! Maybe my band should do something similar… Oh! I’m Matt by the way, it’s nice to meet youuuu…?” Matt quickly stuck his hand out, grinning when Patryck took it and began to shake it.

“Patryck, it’s very nice to meet you Matt… looks like Pau and I have been seeing music folk all day! Are you also attending the open mic tonight too?” The mentioning of the event perked the ginger up further as he flapped his arms in excitement.

“Yes!!! I’m so excited! It’s a chance to see more talent and have fun! My friends and I are really pumped to get people to come, we’ve been going around to tell people about it. We’ve even been doing a performance here and there to advertise… I hope you and your friend Pau come to see the event! It’ll be a lot of fun with lots of great talent!” Matt eagerly chirped out before noticing he was holding up the line, he quickly ordered his stuff and paid before looking at Patryck, who moved up, ordered three Skolebrød and paid for them after the worker handed him the pastry box.

“Pau and I plan on it. We look forward to seeing everyone’s performance… I have to go now, it was very nice to meet you Matt.” Patryck hummed, smiling gently at the taller man as he made his way to the door, seeing Pau pacing a little in an attempt to start smoking more.

Matt waved to Patryck before he returned to bouncing on his feet and twirling his drumstick, the more the Polish man thought about it… that man looked familiar too. What a strange deja vu, oh well! He couldn’t dwell on that for too long, he’d kept Pau waiting outside long enough.

“Hey, sorry it took so long. I’ve got the pastries, I just had a talk with another musician there! Seems like he and his band have been going around and advertising this thing like crazy.” Patryck sighed, catching Pau’s attention and smiling when the chainsmoker wordlessly offered to hold the pastry box. The Polish man waved it off and they began to walk back to the studio so they could check on Tord.

“Oh yeah, I saw you talking with him through the window… was I imagining things, or was he wearing ‘Beast of the Void’ merch like Mark would wear?” Pau asked, and Patryck nodded, beginning to go into detail about what he learned from this drummer and the conversation they had about the open mic. Both of them were still pretty excited to go even if their morning activities were dampened by the lack of their friend’s attendance. 

“So they only sell merch during concerts? Interesting… well I’ll have to see when their next concert is, maybe if it’s close enough to Tord’s birthday we could get him tickets and the merch too.” Pau thought aloud as they walked through the studio doors and entered the elevator with Patryck.

“It seems like the practice works out for them, they keep the tickets cheap too… but damn do they sell out fast.” Patryck sighed wearily, though this was one of his last concerns since there was the issue they were currently having with making sure Tord had band members for this next recording session. The elevator halted at their floor, and as soon as it opened they were relieved to not hear music blaring loudly from Tord’s lyric room and instead saw him lying on the couch and staring at some mind-numbing program on the tv.

Tord’s eyes drifted towards them and laid on the pastry box with a raised brow. Patryck and Pau undid their coats and smiled at the Norwegian when they noticed his attention on them.

“Hey Red, we found something from the new cafe that we thought you’d like.” Pau hummed, taking the box from Patryck’s hands and holding it out to their red-clad companion and smiled when he saw Tord sit up to peek inside. Both Patryck and Pau smiled while they saw the wave of nostalgia and a hint of excitement flash over Tord’s face.

“Skolebrød? I didn’t think I’d get this anywhere but back home..” Tord mumbled, reaching in to take one and inspect it for a few moments. The sight of the pastry made Tord feel a little homesick, but he appreciated his friend’s attempts to cheer him up about it. Patryck and Pau quickly sat on either side of Tord, watching as the red-clad singer took a small bite from the sweet pastry.

“We saw it on the menu… it’s probably nothing like the ones in Oslo, but we hope it could cheer you up… and serve as an apology from us.” Patryck said gently, smiling a little more when he saw Tord take a second bigger bite. The pastry seemed to pass as edible to their friend, and Pau took the chance to speak up.

“Yeah, what Pat said. We really weren’t trying to make you feel like we were punishing you by not hanging out with you together. It’s just been a little stressful lately and we’ve been trying to make the best of things, we want to find you new band members as soon as possible so all three of our plans don’t get messed with… we want Rød Hær to be the best it can be and succeed just as much as we want to spend time with you.” Pau assured, gently patting Tord’s back and frowning a little when the singer quietly swallowed his treat and let out a sigh.

“I get that. I know that… and I know that you two rushing around is partially my fault in the first place, it just sucked and.. Ughhh I’m an asshole. You two freed up space to spend time with me and I just acted like a passive aggressive dickhead about it… I’m…” Tord trailed off, both of them knew he didn’t like saying ‘sorry’ for some reason, the verbal act of apologizing just didn’t work for him. Even so, Pau and Pat knew what he was trying to say and both embraced him.

“Hey… there’s still some time in the day before Pau and I have to head out again tonight… let’s just stay inside, play some video games, or watch some movies. Sounds good, Red?” Patryck offered, the two of them would take his apology in any form and it helped Tord feel more comfortable again. 

“Alright, I’ve been aching to watch the newest ‘Insane Zombie Pirates from Hell’ movie. Let’s do that.” Tord grinned, and while Pau and Patryck weren’t the biggest fans of the movie franchise, they were willing to bare it for their friend.

With the plan in motion, Tord shoved the rest of his Skolebrød into his mouth and began to set up the movie and get them popcorn. Pau and Patryck watched as their red-clad friend gathered what they’d need while chewing on the large pastry he shoved into his face; they couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight of Tord’s cheeks puffed out like a hamster. Eventually they decided to split one of the pastries, feeling like Tord would want a second one at some point given that he practically inhaled the first one in a hilarious fashion. 

Soon enough, the movie was playing and they were all comfy on the couch, eating popcorn and listening to Tord mention various facts about what he learned from the behind the scenes content on the movie production. Tord was always enthusiastic about the trivia in his favorite slashers, and while slashers made Pau queasy and Patryck found them a little dull, they could tell Tord adored them. So they sat through it, Pau whining and freaking out a lot while Tord grinned gleefully and tried to show Pau the ‘best parts.’ Patryck watched with straight up amusement, more focused on his friends than the movie at hand.

They still had time before Pau and Patryck went out to the open mic, and Pau needed a breather from the movie. They settled on having a few video games played before Patryck’s phone alarm went off mid-game. Both Pau and Patryck looked at each other and then at Tord, both were a little nervous about how he’d react to the alarm.

“Hey Red, so we’ve got to head out again… you gonna be alright if we’re out for a few hours?” Pau asked, biting the inside of his mouth when he heard the game pause and Tord click his tongue.

“Well you did say you had to be somewhere, I don’t mind.. I need to look over some lyric ideas anyways. Where are you two going though?” Tord asked, raising a brow as Pau and Patryck stood up, the two managers struggled for a moment to think up a lie before Patryck came up with an idea.

“Oh! It’s this book club we found that talks about that pilot romance series we like. We’re going there to see if we like it and if we don’t we can stick to just talking about it together. Right, Pau?” Patryck grinned, noting Tord’s face of disdain towards the mention of the book series. Pau was quick to nod in agreement.

“Yeah! If we don’t like the people there then we’ll just leave. You’d be bored so we didn’t invite you, hopefully that’s not too big of an issue. You didn’t suddenly grow an interest towards the series did you?” Pau grinned playfully, pulling a bark of laughter out of Tord as he waved the other off.

“Nope! Go! Go have fun reading your gross romance book! I’ll be here either tinkering or sleeping, shoo!” Tord stuck his tongue out, motioning for the two to leave right now. Pau and Patryck laughed, both internally relieved that he took their lie so easily while also feeling a bit bad that they were lying to him in the first place. It was for the best though, he’d thank them for it later.

They quickly waved to him and left the building quickly, grinning at each other as they rushed to the ‘World’s End Tavern’ with excitement to see the various talent at the event, they also hoped to see Eduardo and his friends even for just a little. 

They took a taxi, quietly talking to each other during the trip and making sure they looked pretty okay. When they caught sight of the sign to the Tavern, they were pretty shocked to see how big the turnout was for something as simple as an Open Mic Night. 

People were walking in groups, there were sights of people holding their equipment and chatting to other band players and musicians. Pau’s attention quickly fell on the sight of a person wearing blue and a spiral t-shirt hugging a girl with a warped checker pattern and a gravity defying hairstyle, he recognized the man as Jon and seeing him made the Dutchman excited. Once he saw Jon, Pau wasted no time telling the driver to stop and tipped him generously. Patryck barely had time to grab the bag he brought before Pau yanked him along towards Jon.

“Jon! Hey! It’s good to see you!” Pau grinned, laughing and stopping in front of both Jon and the checkered girl. Said girl had blacked out eyes just like the bassist from the cafe, Patryck took note of that before Jon squealed in excitement at the sight of his old managers.

“Pau! Pat! It’s good to see you too. Tammy, these were my old managers. Pau and Patryck.” Jon grinned, motioning the girl to the others. She made a face and awkwardly waved at them, a little uncomfortable with the sudden introduction. Patryck chuckled, mimicking the awkward wave back.

“It’s nice to meet you… I’m Tamara, call me ‘Tammy’ and I’ll break your noses.” She threatened, pouting when Jon roughly nudged her and tsked. The Polish man laughed at her comment and shook his head.

“We’d never, it sounds like Jon is the only one that can get away with that. ‘Tam’ sounds like a far more suitable nickname anyhow, it’s good to meet you as well Tamara.. Are you two performing in the event?” Patryck hummed, smiling when Tamara crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks in irritation.

“I wish! But my band’s drummer, Ella, got food poisoning and our singer Matilda is taking care of her. My girlfriend, our guitarist, also had some finals to study for… so I’m just here with Jon to watch our cousin Tom play in his band.” The mention of their cousin caught the interest of Pau and Patryck, they could only think of the bassist from the cafe.

Pau cleared his throat, catching Jon and Tamara’s attention as the thought of the bassist flew into his head. “Is he by chance a bassist for the band Cola Bros?” Jon lit up excitedly and Tamara smiled with pride for her cousin.

“You’d be right! But he’s been in another band before, you heard of Purple RGB’s right? I’m shocked Tord didn’t mention it before… he was also in that band from what Tom mentioned.” Jon grinned in excitement, the mention of Purple RGB’s caused everything to click in Patryck’s head.

That’s why Tom and Matt had looked so familiar!! 

They were members of Tord’s old band!

The revelation seemed to be totally lost on Pau, he hadn’t heard of Purple RGB’s before, coming in to be one of Tord’s managers after the whole scandal. The Dutchman is the first to say that he’s practically living under a rock in terms of the music world, it’s why he usually only manages budget and scheduling while Patryck managed more musical aspects and maintenance of the instruments. So while Patryck was flailing and grinning like a little kid, Pau took the sleeve of his friend’s sweater and raised a brow of confusion. The look quickly snapped Patryck out of it and he cleared his throat.

“Purple RGB’s was Tord’s old band, they were super famous before a serious fallout broke the band up. That bassist Tom and the drummer I met, Matt, they were both members of the band!” Patryck then looked at Jon eagerly with a smile. “Does that mean the drummer Edd is a part of Cola Bros now?” 

“Would hope so! He came up with the name.” A voice cut in, bringing a grin to Jon and Tamara’s faces as they rushed over to the man. 

It was Tom! Jon and Tamara were quick to hug their cousin and he nudged the two with a chuckle. His non-existent eyes seemed to focus on Pau and Patryck, a relaxed smile on his face.

“Hey, I recognize you two… good to see you decided to make it. My band is going to be playing soon so I can’t stay here too long, I just had to say hi to my favorite cousins before we got this event started.” Tom offered another quick smile, ruffling Jon’s hair and nudging Tamara a little when she reminded Tom that they were his only cousins.

Pau and Patryck looked at them, they acted more like siblings than cousins. It was quite a sight as Tom quickly said his ‘bye’ to the strangers and rushed off to the stage to help set up for his band. Patryck was feeling giddy, having listened to Purple RGB’s for a long time before the band broke up, he hadn’t had the time to listen to them anymore and Tord always seemed more tense whenever he would play the songs. Like listening to the old band would bring him pain.

Pau was simply excited to see a talented bassist perform with his band, even further hoping to find people to join Rød Hær. 

The tavern was bustling with energy and life while the equipment was adjusted and the warmup band began to play some covers of good songs, there was a large outcry of protest when someone started playing Wonderwall of course. Such a happy and warm energy to the tavern was also great as Patryck and Pau split some fries and nursed a beer while they waited for Cola Bros to get onto the stage and perform.

“So Purple RGB’s was Tord’s old band? If they were so famous, how come Tord doesn’t talk about them anymore… usually he’d be so proud of a success like that.” Pau finally asked, looking to his more knowledgeable friend while he was mid-swallow with his beer. The taller hiccuped and cleared his throat before humming on the question.

“Well there was some kind of private scandal between the players… they just had an argument one day I think. One second they were a band… next they were all scattered to the winds. No one really knows exactly what happened.” Patryck shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck as he explained what he knew. Pau frowned, it seemed like that would be all they would know for now.

Before Pau could reply, his and Patryck’s attention was quickly torn from each other and towards the stage where they saw Tom walk onto stage with his black bass, he was followed up by the ever energetic Matt and a equally excited man with a green hoodie that was missing the sleeves, his wrists had a lot of bracelets and his pants were covered in multicolored patches. Patryck pointed him out as Edd to Pau and it confirmed that the three ex-members of Purple RGBs were now the members of Cola Bros.

“Good evening everyone! Are you having fun so far?” Edd yelled out in excitement, grinning when the crowd cheered back to him. “Awesome!!! We’re so happy to see such an amazing turn out of talented performers and supporters! We’re Cola Bros, and we’re going to start this thing off with Tom’s song ‘Wanna Be Your Slave’!! Let’s get this started!” Edd cheered out, causing Tom to chuckle when the rest of the crowd joined him in the cheer. Pau almost thought he could hear Jon and Tamara off near the stage cheering the loudest. 

The crowd soon went quiet when Tom bowed his head and stamped his foot, giving the other two the signal to count down. Matt soon smacked his sticks together to set the tempo and Tom opened his mouth to sing.

It was a voice that both Pau and Patryck noted could perfectly blend with Tord’s, secondly their style was almost exactly like Tord’s… it made sense of course, they had been in a band with him before so the style of performance would be similar. The way they played and performed, they were perfect for Rød Hær!  The way they played and sounded, it was perfect for Rød Hær. Their passion was evident, Tom’s voice was perfect and their playing was just what was needed.

The only question was, would the three agree to joining their ex-bandmate’s new band? Pau and Patryck really hoped the answer would be yes, but until they had a proper answer from the three, they would scout for other players too just in case. However, their hearts were set for these three and seeing how much they hyped the crowd up as they performed was thrilling, they Pau and Patryck found themselves nodding their heads and bouncing to the beat, smiling when they saw more familiar faces in the crowd vibing to the music.

It felt like their set was over too soon, the crowd whooped and hollered as the three bandmates waved and bowed a few times.

“You folks are too kind! We thank you again for coming out to see everyone at this event! Now let’s get the next performer up here! We’re keeping this energy up!!” Edd cheered, raising a fist up as people raised their drinks up with equal enthusiasm, ready to keep the energy up as the next set was being prepared. Pau and Patryck looked at each other, gleefully chatting about how great the Cola Bros were when they caught the sound of a familiar voice.

“Well, well, well! Look who it is, good to see that the red bastard isn’t glued to your hips!” Pau rolled his eyes at the mention of Tord being a ‘red bastard’ but still opened his arms to welcome Eduardo and Mark in for a hug.

“It’s so good to see you two here! I know it’s only been a week, but we’ve missed talking to you guys!” Mark tagged in, wearing his ‘Beast of the Void’ sweater and adjusting his purple beanie before he scooped Pau and Patryck up into a tight embrace. “You got to see our neighbors perform! They’re really good, right?” Mark smiled, looking over at Eduardo playfully scoffing and looking away.

“They’re alright.” Patryck lit up at what Eduardo said and laughed at it.

“They were fantastic! We’re hoping to talk to them and see if they’d be willing to join Rød Hær, they’d be perfect!” Patryck admitted, causing the smiles to slip from Mark and Eduardo’s faces. The green bassist’s face scrunched up into an indecipherable emotion, while Mark’s became one of sadness.

“That might end up being a problem… they uhhh have a not great experience with To-!” Mark jolted when Matt rushed over and nearly tackled the blonde drummer, giggling like a maniac and clearly still energized from their performance. 

Edd and Tom weren’t far behind, the blue bassist calling for Matt to try and remember not to give Mark a heart attack. Jon and Tamara laughed and teased Tom for mother henning his friends before they walked up to Pau and Patryck. Edd tilted his head at the sight of the two managers before grinning and offering a hand to shake.

“Hey! You two know our neighbors? It’s nice to meet you, my name's Edd! Did you guys like our set?” Patryck took the hand and shook it, smiling brightly while Pau nodded.

“We did, you three are really talented. We were actually Eduardo, Mark, and Jon’s managers… there was a situation that came up and they had to depart from the band we managed, so we’re here to scout for replacements to the band.” Pau explained, both Matt and Edd tilted their heads with interest while Tom’s brows raised up and something seemed to click.

“You’re the managers of Rød Hær, Jon talked about it to me…” Tom mumbled, causing both his friends to jump in surprise and Patryck to nod in confirmation. Tom clicked his tongue, muttering something under his breath before Patryck cleared his throat.

“I recognized you guys as old players of Purple RGBs… I know you and Tord went your separate ways before, but we really think you’re the perfect sound for Rød Hær… would you possibly consider joining?” Patryck pleaded softly, biting the inside of his mouth when he saw both Edd and Matt’s smiles shift into deep frowns before they looked at Tom.

Said blue bassist clicked his tongue and sighed, it seemed to be an offer that he was going back and forth with. Pau and Patryck became nervous, the way that the two members of the band looked to the bassist showed the managers that whatever happened in the past greatly affected this bassist the most, so if Tom didn’t want to join then the others wouldn’t. 

After thinking to himself about it, Tom’s attention turned to Pau and Patryck with a serious expression, one that made them prepared for him to deny them flat out.

“Stay after the last performance, we’ll talk after this is all done. Let’s go have some fun for now before we dive into the serious talk.” Tom hummed, bringing a little relief to Pau and Patryck before tensing up at the sight of Matt and Edd still looking at them with frowns. It was only until their shorter friend patted their back and smiled. “Alright! Drinks, let’s get drinks and some food… I’m starving!” 

The atmosphere eased up after that, Tom’s general nonchalant nature and willingness to hear the two managers out later certainly eased the nerves of those that knew the full situation. Pau and Patryck looked at each other nervously when Tom settled down next to them and ordered a glass of Smirnoff and fries while the others settled around them, beginning to idly chat while the next band set up and prepared to continue on.

For now they could enjoy the energy and good vibes that the event gave out, but later on, Pau and Patryck would have to see if they’d be able to convince Cola Bros to disband and rejoin their ex-bandmate Tord as Rød Hær.

And so far… they weren’t liking the odds of that being the case.