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"It’s a broken heart. Hey... it’s just a broken heart! I get it! Finally, something that’s simple to understand!" Mayday sighed out in relief. The entirety of her experience in Dream Fever had been confusing at best and disorienting at worst, so she was thankful for one of the few art pieces that actually made sense to her! She turned to her bandmate, waiting for his usual follow up comments; she was thankful that he was there with her to explain all of Eve’s pieces to her, helping her understand…a little bit.
However, she was surprised to see the somber expression on Zuke’s face as he scrutinized the piece. "Whoa, looks oddly familiar.” He rubbed his chin, the recognition slowly clicking. “Hang on... it looks like something Eve and I made back in college. Except this one is a broken heart... oh."
Mayday raised an eyebrow as his eyes fell, looking away from the piece guiltily. With the same quizzical expression, she turned back to the piece, squinting at it. “You and Eve made a heart together?” She mused aloud, then eyes widening as she realized, feeling her own heart tighten.
“WOAH, were you and Eve together?!” She asked incredulously, Zuke wincing at both the sudden loud volume and the overall implication. He sighed as he didn’t answer, instead moving towards the railing overlooking the rest of the gallery. She silently moved next to him, leaning against the railing, but her attention was still on him.
“You two were together.” She breathed out, softer this time. He brought one hand to prop himself against the railing, the other hand dragging it across his face, from his forehead to his chin, resting there. His mouth was still set in a thin line, not answering her.
She squinted at him, annoyed. Okay, the silent treatment was getting old really fast. Usually, Zuke would at least tell her to knock it off, and usually, she’d at least be able to take a hint from his silence. But now…now, her heart’s grip only tightened as he wouldn’t even look at her.
Why won’t he look at her?
“How come you never told me?” She pressed, brows furrowed. This…this really wasn’t her business, to pry into Zuke’s personal life. Even when it came to his brother, she allowed him to tell her only what he felt comfortable with sharing about DK West. And she didn’t get upset with him for that—
Was she upset? It was something…similar to that, but not exactly like that.
“It…” The drummer finally replied, letting out a breath. Her attention snapped back to him, out of her own reverie. “It wasn’t that important.” He shrugged off.
“‘Wasn’t that important.’” She repeated, skeptical. She then gestured back to the broken heart display. “Zuke, look at this! She kept an old art thingy you two made together! How is that not important?” She challenged, crossing her arms.
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about me and her being in a band before, okay?” He snapped, a tinge of uncharacteristic tiredness in his voice that made Mayday flinch involuntarily. He noticed it immediately and looked remorseful, turning to face her fully. “S-sorry, May.” May looked down, jaw clenched, equally as guilty, but still unable to look him in the eye.
Not only was Eve Zuke’s old girlfriend.
She was his old band mate.
She was his old partner.
She didn’t like how the vise around her heart tightened even more, imagining Zuke’s drum beats playing along to Eve’s mesmerizing Psydub. She realized that from the music that played throughout Dream Fever, there was always that distant backing of a steady beat, keeping the city in rhythm.
Was that Zuke?
As much as she hated to admit it, the diva’s music was good. Hypnotic, yet steady. It was such a far departure from their band’s rock music, and now she was unsure whether or not Zuke preferred it that way. Maybe he missed being in a more collected environment?
With her?
Not to mention that Zuke understood practically everything that was exhibited here. She knew that Zuke had a Masters Degree, but only now did she realize how big that divide was as she fumbled around the gallery, trying to make heads or tails of the different displays. She was just lucky that Zuke was there to guide her to their meanings, lest she get all fidgety and want to break the various pieces out of sheer disorientation.
Zuke was able to understand both Eve and Mayday seamlessly.
Did she get him?
She used to think she did.
But right now, she was grasping at straws, trying to understand why it upset her so much. During Kliff’s briefing, she was impartial to the diva, viewing her as just another charter in the way of their Rock Revolution. She wasn’t even the least upset when Kliff revealed that Zuke and Eve go way back, only remembering her shock.
But then…then the broken heart piece came in.
And everything both clicked and fell apart at once, the tightening in her chest causing her to get upset, more upset than usual, at the drummer. The drummer, Zuke, who was her best friend, who helped calm her always, and stuck his neck out for her.
Who didn’t deserve this…whatever she was feeling.
“Sorry, man.” May finally piped up guiltily, rubbing her arm sheepishly. Zuke, who was just about to open his mouth to try and follow-up his apology, snapped it back shut. “I- I really am. I don’t-,” She huffed out, flicking her bangs out of her face. “I dunno what came over me. I think I was just…surprised, is all. You didn’t deserve that.” She fiddled with one of her braids, not looking at him, embarrassed at her own earlier outbursts.
Zuke’s face softened, staring at the guitarist. Her face was still casted downwards, her expression regretful, and body somewhat pulled into itself. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and it was one of the many things he wished he could imitate, being so open with himself.
May as well start now.
“Me and Eve,” He started, his throat dry from nervousness. Mayday looked up at him, eyes wide as he cleared his throat. “Me and Eve, we…she was West’s friend first, if I’m honest.” He leaned his back against the railings, reminiscing. Taking Mayday’s silence as a cue to go on, he did. “Back in college, Eve was…she was eccentric. But an amazing artist,” He remembered the various sculptures and paintings she did back when they were studying, not noticing how May’s ears perked down at his comment.
“But, only a few people could really get her. When I first met her, I was able to get her work. And…and I admired her, a lot. When West first introduced the two of us, I was…” He chuckled bitterly. “I was immediately smitten, and I was lucky enough that she liked me back.” He then frowned, eyes furrowing as he continued recollecting. “But, soon enough, things started going…downhill.”
“Like how?”
“We…back then, me and Eve were dating, right? I was one of the few people that could get her art…until I didn’t.” He massaged the bridge of his nose. “And it wasn’t just the art. Or the music I couldn’t get. I- I couldn’t get her. Our relationship…it was volatile at best, toxic at worst.” He noted Mayday’s face flash anger, then he quickly backtracked, not wanting to paint Eve in a bad light. “I-it wasn’t just her, that was bad. I think…I think I fell out of love earlier than she did. But…”
“…But?”
“I didn’t break up with her.”
“How come?”
“I think…I think I was kind of scared to? Although, looking back, I was also getting tired.” He shrugged. “I figured it was…less of a hassle to just stay together, than to actually break up.” He closed his eyes tiredly, head hanging low. “And then…I just ran.” He paused for a bit, collecting himself, then continued. “There was an accident, in our final project. The Rupturika Statuette from earlier, you remember that?” He opened his eyes then glanced at Mayday, who nodded in confirmation. “Well, Rupturika was our batch’s culminating project, the day right before graduation. It was supposed to be like…our last impact or whatever for the school.” He smoothed back his hair, remembering the near searing pain he felt at the moment and feeling the phantom of a burn linger. “My…my hair was on fire—”
“WHAT?!”
“There wasn’t any real damage!” He quickly added, then sighed. “But, I still panicked and ran away. It was easy enough to put out, but I…I never looked back.” He shrugged as Mayday approached him tentatively, placing a comforting hand on his arm. “I think I used that accident as a way…to just leave? I guess? I even skipped the graduation ceremony, just so I wouldn’t see her. Then…” He looked at the guitarist, a small smile finally back on his face. “Then I met you.”
“Oh yeah!” Mayday returned his smile, glad that the tense atmosphere between them was gone, and the grip around her heart loosened just a bit as Zuke trained his eyes on her. “Right when I dropped out of college, on the school’s bus terminal.” She snickered. “While we were talking, I asked you what happened to your hair—”
“And I said—”
“Woke up like this!” The two finished in unison, laughing as they did. Mayday threw her head back as she laughed, snorting as she did so. Zuke’s laugh quieted first, turning into small chuckles as he watched Mayday’s unabashed mirth. It always made him feel so happy, seeing May like this.
Like herself.
Earlier, the guitarist was acting more brash than usual, pelting question after question at him. He didn’t understand what he did to upset her, so he was just letting her vent her apparent frustrations at him, invoking a sense of toxic familiarity to him. What wasn’t familiar to him though was how Mayday apologized to him right after, talking to him, explaining to the best of her capability why she was upset. She tried her best, as she always did, and Zuke was thankful for that.
Once Mayday’s own laughter quieted, the two fell into a much easier silence, May’s hand dropping from Zuke’s arm, with the drummer already missing the warm pressure over his jacket. As the two looked down at the rest of Evenfall gallery, Mayday piped up again. “She’s…really a great artist, huh.”
“Yeah…And despite it all, she really does care about others.” His mind flittered back to the Water frame that the two saw before.
“Yeah…Do you still like her?” Mayday’s voice asked, an uncharacteristic hesitance to it.
“No.” Zuke answered without thinking, both parties surprised at the confidence in his answer.
But it was true. He recollected from time to time his days back in college, and along with that his previous relationship, but…
“I don’t see Eve that way…” He said slowly, standing back upright. “Not anymore.” He finished firmly. He glanced back at the guitarist, and felt his heart skip a beat. Her back was against the dimly illuminated broken heart, seemingly softening her silhouette with hues of orange, pink, and white. His breath hitched as Mayday took a step towards him, touching his arm gingerly.
“Zuke…?” She asked softly, those bright, pink doe eyes meeting his red, tired ones. His eyes scanned her face, from her eyes with the stark flower pupils, to her nose, then guiltily to her lips, slightly parted. He quickly snapped his eyes back to her, but it was too late. Mayday noticed his attention move to her lips, her own eyelids lowering slightly.
The two were just staring at each other, starkly aware of the dim lights of the gallery aside from the broken heart behind them, painting them in a soft glow. Pushing aside her inhibitions, and dazedly deciding that selfishness and impulsiveness is in her nature, she closed her eyes fully, leaning up ever so slightly, the last tug of insecurity holding her back from closing the gap fully. Zuke’s own half lidded eyes trained on Mayday, wanting to memorize each aspect of her face before he—
“Come on Jan, I think it’s right around—oops!”
Mayday and Zuke immediately startled, nearly knocking their heads against each other as they jumped away from the other as they heard new voices come into the area. The two tourists that they saw around the city, Jan and Daphne, came from around the corner, cameras and maps in their hands.
“Whoops! Sorry to interrupt you two!” Jan apologized, fondly placing a hand on Daphne’s shoulder. “Me and Daph were just—”
“ACK NO NO NO NOTHING WAS HAPPENING—”
“YOU WEREN’T INTERRUPTING ANYTHING HONEST—”
Both the guitarist and the drummer tried to stammer out excuses, faces flushed and hearts pounding. Zuke bent down a bit to wheeze and recollect himself, while Mayday made some frantic gestures with her hands to try and reassure the tourists. If Daphne and Jan had come but a second later, then they musicians would have...they flushed deeper at the thought.
Daphne waved it off, smiling at them warmly. “Ah, don’t mind us! Just pretend as if we aren’t here!” She chirped happily.
Mayday and Zuke quickly scampered to move past the two as they consulted their map, the two musicians lingering to listen in on the tourists.
“Hmmm…”
“Whatever is this for…?”
“Maybe we should’ve gotten a guide…”
“Is this a romantic spot, do you think?” Jan asked, looking up from his map and nonchalantly nodding towards the two flushed musicians. His partner simply shrugged, then started to snap pictures, urging Jan to pose at the broken heart piece.
Mayday was just about to retort that ‘NO IT’S NOT ROMANTIC WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT—’ when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She turned to see Zuke, whose face was still deeply flushed green, clear his throat and gesture back down the stairs, signaling for them to leave. Mayday gulped, silently nodded, then followed him down. She placed a hand on her chest, trying to compose herself and calm her thumping heart.
At least it didn’t feel so uncomfortably tight anymore, instead replaced with…something else.
Something warm? She thinks so, at least.
She liked it.