Chapter Text
Yakko Warner laid on his bed, his legs kicking in the air, as he watched a video on his phone. Today was a boring day, and Yakko wished that something interesting could happen. He didn’t think there was anything particularly wrong with a boring day, but interesting days were always more fun, and they came far less often.
Yakko’s video was interrupted by his ringtone. He was being called by Louis Lillipad, the uncle of his best friend and bandmate, Cleff. Since he and his bandmates were all still teenagers, Louis offered to handle finding venues for the band to play at. So far, he hadn’t gotten anything, but Yakko appreciated his help. However, sometimes, Louis just called Yakko to check in with him and his younger siblings, so why was Louis calling him today? Yakko knew there was only one way to find out, so he answered the call and put the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Yakko!” Louis exclaimed, “good to hear your voice again! What’s up?”
“Hi Uncle Louis,” Yakko replied, “I’m doin’ alright. Kinda bored, but hey, I’ve just been bored a lot these past couple days.”
“I get that. So, remember when I told you about the Crimson Lounge?”
“Oh, that old coffee shop that had one of their regular bands bail on them? Yeah, I remember it. What about it?”
“Well, I talked to the promoter, and-”
“Tell me! Tell me! What is it, what is it? Oh, the suspense is killing me!”
“Hold on, Yakko, I’m getting there,” Louis said with a chuckle.
“Oh, alright!”
“Anyways, I talked to him, we worked some stuff out, and they want you to play there on Saturday!”
Yakko gasped. His eyes widened, and his tail started to wag rapidly like an excited dog’s.
“For real?” Yakko asked.
“For real,” Louis replied, “four o’clock sharp. You still have access to that setlist you made in case you got a gig there?”
“Of course I do!” Yakko exclaimed.
“Awesome! Now, I need to get going, Cleff’s been asking me for pointers on how to deal with his stage fright.”
“OK! Bye!”
“Later, kiddo!”
Louis hung up the phone, and Yakko sat up, got off of his bed, and started bouncing up and down and squealing, holding his phone in his hand.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” he exclaimed, “we booked! We actually booked! I can’t believe it! I mean, I know it was going to happen at some point, but certainly not today!”
Yakko started to flap his hands, shaking his phone as he did it, before opening his bedroom door and rushing out to tell Wakko and Dot the good news. His younger siblings were sitting on the couch, watching TV. They didn’t seem to be enjoying what was on that much.
“Wakko, Dot!” Yakko exclaimed.
Dot and Wakko turned their heads to look at Yakko.
“What is it, Yakko?” Wakko asked.
“Guess what just happened?” Yakko grinned goofily.
“You won an infinite supply of the dairy-free ice cream you like so much?” Wakko guessed.
“Nope!”
“Something terrible happened to someone you hate?” Dot asked.
“Not even close, Dot,” Yakko said.
“Jeez, Dot,” Wakko added, “I’m starting to question your guessing skills.”
“You got any more guesses, Mr. I’m-Better-at-Guessing-Games-Than-My-Cute-Little-Sister?” Dot asked Wakko.
“No,” he replied.
“OK... I give up too. Can you tell us what it is, Yakko?”
“Alright, alright,” Yakko began, “so, I just got a call from Cleff’s uncle, and he managed to get us that gig at the Crimson Lounge! Our first show! We booked!”
Yakko leaped into the air and giggled. Wakko pumped his fists, jumped up, ran to Yakko’s side, and gave him a tight hug. Yakko then put his phone into hammerspace, took his brother’s hands, and they both began to bounce up and down. Dot watched as they did this with a smile and sighed.
“You know,” she said to herself, “I’ve got a feeling that I’m not going to get any sleep for a few days.”
Yakko and Wakko eventually stopped bouncing, and they started to laugh.
“Wow,” Wakko said, “that’s awesome! Way to go, big bro!”
“Thanks Wakko,” Yakko replied, “I can’t believe it. We haven’t even been together that long, and now we’re going to be playing a show! For an audience, not just you two and Uncle Louis and Winona and Daisy’s family, an actual audience!”
Yakko chuckled some more, when suddenly, something felt... off. He got an odd feeling in his stomach, like the butterflies, except different somehow. He put his hand over it, and Wakko and Dot watched.
“Yakko?” Wakko asked, “are you feeling OK?”
“We haven’t even been together that long,” Yakko repeated, “and now we’re going to be playing a show. For an audience, not just you two and Uncle Louis and Winona and Daisy’s family; an actual audience.”
Yakko put his hands on the side of his head.
“You don’t sound OK,” Dot noted.
“You’re right, sis,” Yakko said, “I’m not.”
“How come?” Wakko asked.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this...” Yakko replied.
Then, the room went silent. Dot and Wakko waited impatiently for whatever Yakko was about to say. Yakko took a deep breath and let it out.
“I... I think I’m nervous.”