Chapter Text
Joey always asks for favors, it's like he's never prepared or everything falls apart right before it's supposed to happen. He's lucky Gene is a spontaneous guy and Courtney was availble tonight.
Tapping the microphone multiple times then watching his peers tune their instruments, he's grateful to have met this two weird bunch when he was starting college.
Joey is almost six years older than them but it didn't bother them – when he sat in a common area having a sandwich for brunch, Gene approached him and began a conversation, unprompted. Maybe he was just interested in the keyboard case, but he was subtle about it — Lies, it was the first thing Gene brought up.
"That looks like a heavy-ass Yamaha" Joey remembers the first words Gene said to him clearly – well, it hasn't been that long, but he still finds himself reminiscing
"I'm saving for a lighter one,” he answered with his mouth full of food. Lucky Gene speaks Full-mouth fluently.
"Me too." Something about his tone was inherently comedic. It was impossible not to befriend him – they shared a lot in common, and conversations went smoothly.
It's embarrassing to admit he hasn't made any new friends like this since high school. Adulthood brought nothing to the table that wasn't boring co-workers.
Joey grew up with relatively low income, prospects of a life in college had always seemed unattainable. He has had multiple part-time jobs throughout high school and many more in adulthood.
Joey started his first semester, on his straight-out-of-high-school friend's second semester. He decided to pursue his passion now that he felt more economically stable. Well, not sure if he is, but he felt it and making a friend so quickly was reassurance he needed that this was a good decision.
Then naturally he met Courtney Wheeler, Gene's high school friend and found her extremely charming even if her jokes didn’t land as well as Gene’s. It’s no competition anyway.
He smiled, watching them rehearse in their odd way again, "Don't try too hard, guys, it's just a small gig."
"I always try one hundred percent!" Gene exclaimed behind some cables, followed by another vocal warm-up of MOOMOOMOOMOOs
"He's lying," Courtney adjusted herself on the stool, played a chord, then tuned her guitar a little bit more, "No Gene, it's 'MOOÓ' not MOOoo–"
"Tomato, potato! MOO MOOoo!"
"It's 'tomato, tomato' Gene", Joey corrected him – something he's getting used to doing now.
"Uhm– I'm pretty sure it's 'potato, potato',” but Courtney corrected him back.
"What she said!" Gene jumped into the Courtney-boat immediately.
"But you didn't say that?"
"I said potato, potato."
"No. You said tomato potato."
"Same thing!"
"No!" both Courtney and Joey exclaimed.
It was getting time for the gig to start, but only one person was missing – Lilianne, or Lily for short.
Joey was getting nervous, it felt like this small and spontaneous band thing wasn't working in his favour, and the only person who didn't cancel on him at the last minute was late.
"Ok, so you and Lily will be the back vocals for this song," he pointed at Gene, "then the other two will be Courtney and Lily. Capiche ?"
"Only three songs?" the black haired boy asked, getting in his seat behind the keys.
"Five – I won't need any backup vocals for the one that's guitar acoustic solo one... I think."
"Does 'I think' mean we can improvise?" Gene grinned
"Uhh maybe – last one is a duet with Lily," he stared at the entrance of the small bar, waiting for a blue and pink-haired girl to show up at any time, "if she comes..."
Time was running out, and the owner had already given them the heads up to start. He swallowed hard, chasing this weird nervousness that he hadn't felt in years away.
"Mic check 1, 2 — ehem Hey, I'm Joey Bachmann, and this is–" Looking back at his young friends, he's rewriting the script in his brain for a second
"Not 'Ten Spiders', that's my band– but... we've got Gene on the keys,"
To Joey's grace, Gene's a natural and plays a little tune before saying to the mic, "Hello!" The small crowd liked it already, warm smiles and a chuckle with a hello back were heard.
"and Courtney, our guitarist for tonite." She plays a cute riff on the acoustic guitar – it complements what Gene did well, and his face said that he noticed that too.
"We'll play 'Tempe—"
A mic tap sound from behind surprised him, turned around to see Lily, whose hair was more blue than pink than before. More like purple and blue.
"And Lily on the bass, hey," she said, introducing herself to the audience.
"How'd you come in?" Joey asked away from the microphone.
"Back door," she whispered loudly, avoiding the microphone as well.
“And this is ‘Temperance’” Joey said to the mic, then music filled the room – gigs like this are something all of them are used to. Small but enough to make you feel alive through the sound, the audience, and the mood.
Gene describes Joey's songs as moody but groovy, and enjoys his songwriting a handful. Courtney argues the lyrics can be a bit too moody, but she's no one to judge – because when her hands play those chords, the words melt into the sound perfectly.
Joey could not be more grateful for his two newer friends. Even if Gene stole the show with his stage presence, he couldn't care less.
Music sometimes feels personal and unshareable, especially when it's being written. It feels like you pour your heart out, that it only could belong to oneself, but when it's shared, when it's sung and played, it changes. A magic that once felt exclusive feels part of the world, part of each who sings, plays or just hums to the melody.
During this special moment with those two, he wished they would want to be in a band like his – but whenever he brought it up, they denied. Especially if he wanted both of them at the same time. Excuses or plain no’s make Joey wonder if he’s missing a part of a story he wasn’t there for.
"Short and sweet," Courtney said between giggles, helping pack everything up, she can hear Gene say 'like my hmm mhmm' in the background but ignored it, "Glad you could make it in time, Lily."
"Me too. The only day I need to take a bus, the bus driver decides to get into a fist fight with a rude Honda driver honker."
"Please tell me you recorded it," Gene sat on an uncomfortable wooden stool.
"I ran out of battery as soon as I pressed record – but if anything saved me from the 2 milliseconds between pressing the button and a black screen. I'll show it to you."
Lily is cool, younger than Joey but still older than both Gene and Courtney. They don't know much about her, and maybe that's why she's so cool. And she's cool in the way you thought how cool teens looked as kids.
As the girls chatted, Gene decided to get a non-alcoholic drink. Not because he was driving or scared they might ask for his ID, but because a cold glass of Coke sounded way more appetising at the moment.
Walking towards the bar, he feels a weird presence around him. A couple of people smiled at him, that was normal – but a weird feeling loomed over his shoulder, as if he was being observed. That didn't happen often, his instincts normally suck but when they do he *has* to trust them.
"One cola please!" he ordered, with a finger pointed up, "and a cherry cola too."
Waiting to get served, he sat at a free stool, and the eyes on him finally gained a full face, and body too, when a short-haired woman sat next to him and immediately talked to him. The best way to describe her appearance in Gene’s mind is “Mediterranean Ellen DeGeneres”
"Excuse me, Gene, right?"
"That's me, yes."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tosca." Her hand reached and he shook her hand – surprised by the strong grip of the woman, he gained a smile.
"Well, nice to meet you too,”
"I really liked what you guys did tonight," the woman said, then ordered up a fancy cocktail, which he assumes as hasn't heard that name before, "but especially you. You were great."
"Thanks, the songs are Joey's– I always add my spezzazz, but credits to Joey."
"Right, right."
Something about her tone didn’t fully connect with the young man. Dismissiveness towards his friend wasn’t ideal for sticking around.
"I'll get going," he picks up the two cola glasses, "thank you for the, uh– talk?"
"Wait! Have you heard… about The Mustard Seeds?"
His eyes widened, but he kept a straight face. The Mustard Seeds were a band that had been on his radar for a while. Unoriginal name aside, it was an almost local-ish “art rock” band that, thanks to some amalgamation of internet trends it started getting a lot of traction these past years. Sure, they weren’t the most well-known band around, but they were doing great, and Gene liked some of their songs.
"I'm their manager,” she continued, and Gene wasn’t able to get a word in before she let him know her intentions from the very beginning, “Our keyboardist got extremely sick and we need a replacement for the keys ASAP – and I think I'm looking at him right now."
"Wh— Really?!"
"Yes," picking up her drink, she got close to shocked Gene and left a business card in between his fingers holding the cherry cola. “Let me know if you're available or not by tomorrow. The tour starts next week,” He nodded, containing a smile. “We’re desperate,” she whispered loud enough for anyone to hear.
Walking towards where his friends were felt surreal – the weight of this big opportunity wasn’t fully on his body yet, like in a dream, when everything feels right even if absurdity is going on.
“Who were you talking to?” Courtney asked while he handed her the glass of cherry cola, “Oh, thanks!”
Gene looked around at Lily and Joey, who were both making an attempt to unplug something. They were struggling, and it looked funny. Success at last, it came off, but now Joey’s footprint is on the wall and his body on the floor.
“The _’s manager…” He finally answered Courtney, who was sipping on her cherry cola, just amused at the other two.
“She wants me to replace their keys on their tour!”
“Tour?!” Joey shouted himself up from the floor while the girls were speechless.
“That’s what Italian Ellen said! I should do it right?”
He grabbed his shoulders and shook him as he exclaimed, “ARE YOU INSANE?! OF COURSE GENE! DO IT!” his voice cracked at his age, but the excitement for his friend prevented him from feeling embarrassed.
Courtney watched as Joey shook him, wanting to chime in, but the drink in her hand forced her to keep a distance.
"It's an amazing opportunity that you should definitely take," Lily said, much calmer than Joey.
“This is crazy, Gene!”
“I know! Should I just run to her and say yes?”
“Yes! Wait– no! tomorrow morning, you’ll sound professional~” the blonde answered.
“I second that.” Lily added while Joey still held onto Gene’s shoulders tight, “By the way, I will be going back home by bus. Is anyone taking number 18?”
“Me! Me!” Courtney replied, then got near the bassist, “Oh, thank god, I hate taking the bus late by myself.”
She spoke in a breathy way that usually bothers Lilianne, but she completely agreed, and could probably use a test of tolerance.
“Are you… still my ride, Joey?”
“YES!” he says louder, loud enough to realise what he has been doing the entire time. He clears his throat, “Sorry, yes.”
“I’m starving, anyone wants to chip in for some chippies?!” talking over Joey’s shoulder, since he wasn’t letting go, he referred to the entire group with an awful british accent.
“Gene.” Joey brings his eyes back to him, with an unnerving serious tone.
“What.”
“Can I hug you?” a whiny tone full of happiness comes out of his throat. He doesn’t understand why he’s getting so emotional while Gene is taking it so casually.
“O..okay…”
A big hug and giggles from the girls at Joey’s out-of-nowhere affection made Gene laugh as well. A wave of realisation finally hits him. This is real, and he’s one lucky boy.
“Chippies on me!” Joey shouted, breaking the hug and walking towards the bar; everyone followed, leaving backstage.