Work Text:
"I'm gonna make it to heaven..."
Veneer tried to slow his heaving chest as he held his final pose for a moment as the final note of the song rang out, his limbs trembling with exertion and his face shiny with sweat as he stared at his reflection in the mirror as Velvet's troll-enhanced studio-recording faded into the silence of the studio and the buzzing of the CD player as it switched tracks.
"Alright, break time," Velvet reached over as she dropped her pose from where she was standing in the metaphorical spotlight in front of him and hit the pause button on the CD player that was sitting in front of them, stopping it as it began the notes of the next song, "that was horrible."
Veneer popped up from his pose, leaning backwards as he popped his back with a groan. It had been a long day of practicing, but Veneer knew it was all going to be worth it.
"No, that was great, Velvet!" Veneer reached out to extend his hand out for a high-five, but Velvet was already walking away as he panted, his free hand on his knees as he bent over, "I think just one or two more rehearsals, and we'll have this choreo down perfect for Mount Rageous. Everyone will love us for sure!"
Velvet rolled her eyes as with a huff.
Veneer ran up to Velvet, placing a hand on her arm as he grinned at her, "trust me, sis. We'll kill it!"
"Ugh, leave me alone." Velvet snatched her arm away from Veneer's grasp, leaving him blinking at her owlishly.
He didn't understand what she was so upset about. With their song decided and well-rehearsed, they had been hard at work practicing the choreography for their upcoming Mount Rageous performance for weeks in the studio they rented, with Veneer spending countless hours directing Velvet and making tiny adjustments to the timings and positionings of the choreography he had spent so much time developing. With all the work they had put in, it was going to be perfect!
"Too bad there isn't a group of dancing trolls or something we could use to get talent from too," Velvet muttered as she snatched Veneer's water bottle from where it sat at the base of the mirror, quickly unscrewing the cap and draining it all in one gulp, before tossing it aside, "this sucks. I'm sweaty, I smell gross, and everything hurts. It's so easy with the stupid singing troll, just a couple sprays and we're good to go."
Veneer blinked.
"Ew," Velvet wrinkled her nose as she sniffed, shooting Veneer a look, "and you reek. It would be a lot easier if we didn't have to practice all of," Velvet waved her hands around vaguely, "...this."
'This', of course, being the choreography that Veneer had poured his heart and soul into.
"Well... I mean, technically, if would be, yeah, but..." Veneer shrugged, attempting a smile despite his sister's dismissal of his hobby, "but I like figuring out all the choreography for our songs. Like we used to do, as kids, remember?"
Veneer loved their little dances that they had made up together when they were kids, always putting on a show for their parents when they got home from the dentist office. He could still recall them like it was yesterday... hip, hip, twist, revea-
"Our dances all sucked and they were stupid," Velvet said flatly, dragging Veneer out of his nostalgic memories as she crossed her arms with a haughty sniff, raising one of her eyebrows as if Veneer was the dumbest being on the plant at the moment, "my singing was stupid, my clothes were stupid, everything was stupid." Velvet paused for a moment, "you were stupid."
"Hey!"
"Listen, Veneer," Velvet strode over to her brother, grabbing his shoulders and dragging him in close to look at him eye-to-eye, an intense expression in her gaze, "we can not mess this up. Mount Rageous is our one-shot chance to stardom, and I'm not going to risk anything on it. Everything has got to be perfect."
"And it will be!" Veneer assured her, laughing nervously, "you know I've been working hard over this choreography, and it's looking great!"
"I don't understand how you like that stuff," Velvet rolled her eyes, "it's so much work. We don't even have to find a dance troll or whatever, we have the money to just hire someone to do it for us."
Veneer could say the exact same about all the practice that singing required, that it was a lot of work, but of course with the troll...
"I mean... but don't you like singing Velvet..?" Veneer asked, his eyebrows drawing together as he frowned, "it's like that for me, with choreography. It's just not the same if you replace all the work with someone else doing it."
Velvet had always liked singing... right? Hadn't she?
Veneer knew that she had sung while they were growing up, he distinctly remembered a whole 'tooth-brushing song' that she had come up with to sing to convince him to brush his teeth when he had a rebellious phase and didn't want to listen to his parents.
(The song worked and he never refused to brush his teeth again, but only because she was screaming the lyrics at him and Veneer was only six years old - and terrified)
Velvet snickered.
"Are you kidding me?" Velvet turned away as she rolled her eyes, "Ugh, there's no fun in luxury, brother! Singing, and that little troll, is just going to get me to what I really find fun," Velvet scoffed, neatening her ponytail as she walked away, "Fame."
Veneer noted that she said 'me', not 'us', and his heart sunk a little lower in his chest.
"I'm going to go see if the paparazzi is about, meet you back home."
In a moment Velvet had slipped out the door, leaving Veneer standing alone in the quiet studio, a heavy feeling beginning to settle over him and blanket his previous confidence and excitement.
"... good-bye, Velvet..." Veneer raised his hand in a half-hearted wave, but dropped it to his side with a sigh. Turning back to the mirror, he saw a frown on his face, dismay shining in his bright eyes, "it's like I don't even know you anymore..."
Veneer wasn't sure he was liking the changes that fame and stardom had brought about in his sister.