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He'd agreed to meet this Sett guy at a coffee shop of all places – not quite either of their usual scenes if the gossip rags were to be believed.
And they aren't.
Mostly. But Kayn's not here for the muffins.
Big guy calls him up with a proposition – he's starting a band with some friends, a bunch of industry misfits like Kayn, and wanted to know if he wanted in. Apparently one of those misfits found his soundcloud and the shit he'd done with his old band before he'd gotten kicked out and decided that a washed up rapper was what they were missing.
You can't be washed up without making it in the first place.
Either way, Kayn doesn't really have high hopes. He'd looked up a few of the names the guy had tossed out and had found a website for a personal trainer, a mug shot, a LinkedIn page, a different soundcloud with a weird meme icon, and a one-hit wonder.
Seems to me you'd fit right in.
Right... and a guy with a demon living in his head, with his own mugshots.
Maybe you can bond over it.
Maybe this is going to be a huge waste of his time.
If you're giving up already, can you at least get us a cranberry muffin? You might not be going for them, but I am.
He orders a damn muffin from his phone before starting up his bike to drive over there – at least they'll get something out of what will probably be a stupid dead end.
You're cheery today.
“Can you blame me?” Kayn grunts as he pulls out of Akali's garage, his stupid helmet on as a concession to her demands. “You really think this is gonna go somewhere?”
We will be going somewhere... it's up to you to seize a situation that we can use.
“Sure is convenient that you're absolved of responsibility here,” Kayn mutters as he weaves in and out of the slow city traffic. “Always my job to do the seizing.”
If you'd prefer to give me the body...
“Yeah, no thanks.” They don't always end up in some awful shit when Rhaast gets the body, but it's a pretty solid probability. “Pass.”
As if I don't get us out of just as many messes that you cause.
But they're not talking about problems that Kayn causes right now, they're talking about this little meetup of misfits.
And the muffin.
And the goddamn consolation muffin. It better be a good one for how shit parking is – he has to circle the block twice before he finds somewhere he can squeeze his bike in, and even then he's only pretty sure it's legal.
Whatever.
By the time he strolls in he's fashionably late and there are two brick walls of dudes hanging out at a tall table in the corner.
Don't forget the muffin.
Eye twitching, Kayn gets his muffin from the pickup counter before strolling over to the guys.
“Yo,” he greets them with a wave, his head coming up to somewhere around their shoulders – which doesn't make him feel any kind of way at all. “Are you guys, uh-”
“Hey, man!” the one with the ears booms as he turns around, massive grin on his face. He reaches out to clasp Kayn's hand in some sort of bro handshake that rattles Kayn up to the elbow. “Glad you could make it!”
How can he stand to speak so loudly with such big ears of his own?
Kayn doesn't know. He's not going to ask either – that feels like a good way to get his arm ripped off.
“Yeah, uh... thanks for uh... inviting me?” Kayn offers, still being rattled around as he looks at the other equally large guy.
“Sett, you're going to scare the poor man off,” the other guy jokes, patting the first guy's wrist. “He needs that arm I'm sure.”
“Oh, right.” Big dude one – Sett, apparently – lets go with a sheepish laugh. “Got excited.”
“It is an exciting endeavor,” Big dude two assures him, then offers Kayn a much more normal handshake with a smile. “I'm K'Sante.”
Right, personal trainer guy.
“Aah... Kayn.”
Obviously, given that they only invited you.
Kayn doesn't tell Rhaast to shut up, but only because he doesn't need them thinking he's insane right from the jump.
“Nice to meet you in person, dude.” Sett beams at him and pats the top of the table next to them. “Your sound is cool as hell.”
“Thanks.” He'd say the same, maybe, except he was kinda drunk when he looked up their music. It wasn’t shit at least. “So, uh... you guys have a band idea then?”
Kayn, the muffin-
He ignores Rhaast as Sett launches into an excited explanation of their idea – complete with a tablet full of demo ideas and sensible interjections from K'Sante. They've got a business manager, a producer, an instrumentalist, 3 vocalists, and half a powerpoint already... so the only question now is-
“Sounds like you've got a whole thing worked out then.” Kayn eyes the last slide still on the screen, the one that has his face on it with a question mark – appropriate. “So why me?”
“We're making a comeback band, dude!” Sett laughs like it's obvious, gesturing between them, “Who better to have than the hottest up and coming rapper who got chewed up by a shitty media cycle?”
Kayn blinks at him – then at K'Sante, who's nodding along.
A bad media cycle? Is that what they're calling his blaze of inglory these days?
Take the miracle and run, Mutt... before they come to their senses.
“Uhh... yeah, alright.” Kayn coughs into his fist, shrugging. “Sure, why not?”
“Sick!” Sett pumps both fists in the air and pulls out his phone, talking about calling people and setting up plans and a whole bunch of other shit that leaves Kayn feeling like he might've gotten into an accident on the way here and this is all a weird fever dream.
He hopes he's at least nodding at the appropriate times. Doubly hopes he put the right time in his calendar for their next meeting – the one with the rest of the band.
The band that he's apparently in now, with a group chat to prove it and everything.
He's pretty sure he's in disbelief all the way until he's settling back onto his bike again, paper bag still clutched in his hand because he never ate the damn consolation muffin.
Now it's a comeback muffin.
He tears off the top and jams it into his mouth in one bite.
Comeback tastes sweet.