Chapter Text
“I FEEL FINE!” “I don’t feel good…”
The lyrics echoed through the small studio as the song came to an end.
The band slumped over the couch just outside the recording studio, absolutely exhausted after a 2 hour long jam session.
“Randy, Sally, Percy… How were we?” Felix Ferret, the band’s lead singer and guitarist asked breathlessly.
Randy Raccoon, the band’s personal photographer, Sally Poodle, the band’s merchandise seller and Percy Poodle, the far too young mascot of the band, looked at one another..
“I-I thought you were.. G-great..” Randy muttered, looking over the photos on their camera, “Got-.. Got s-some pretty good shots too.”
Sally soon spoke up with her opinion, “It’s just the same, you did-” “AMAZING!!” Percy screams, interrupting her.
“Aw, ya think so, buddy?” Charlie Cat, the band’s drummer smiled towards the poodle, wiping his brow with his extremely long tail. “Hey, trash panda, better show me my shots.” Rowen Rat, the band’s guitarist and backup singer called out to Randy, earning a frown and an annoyed chitter.
“... I think we sucked..” Felix sighed, hanging his head back over the couch. “Well, at least we had fun.. That has to matter for something, right?” Marilyn Moose, the band’s bassist spoke, her voice only heard by Felix, who would then respond, “I guess.. But, maybe next time we’ll do better.”
The room fell into silence.
“It feels like I’m forgetting something, but I can’t tell what..” Charlie breaks the silence, idly tapping his sticks together. Randy pulls out their pocket planner, flipping through. “Uhmm… I-I think-” “There’s a show on tonight. At that club on Brickroad.” Sally interrupts them before glancing towards Randy, “Sorry, you kinda take a while to check.”
“Tonight? Huh.. We should probably get our things together then?” Marilyn recommends, before standing from where she sat. “Oh! Can I come with this time? I promise I’ll be super, super good!” Percy hopped in place, his hands clenched together.
“Sorry bud, you’re 16 years under drinkin’ age, so..” Felix pats Percy on the head, “But you can come to the next basement show, pinkie promise!” He winks at the younger poodle. “Awh.. Okay…”
The crowd goes wild, screaming and applauding for the band, shouting for an encore.
Within that crowd, Randy would shift from one spot to another, taking picture after picture as the band played.
“Great performance, y’all!” Felix calls out to the rest of the band. “And this mornin’ you were whinin’, “Oh, I think we sucked!”” Rowen mocked, playfully nudging the ferret. “I- I was just feelin’ a little tired, is all..” Felix responded, his face flushed.
“Hey, Felix?” Marilyn calls out, “I was wondering-” “Yeah?” Felix cuts her off, leaning forward. “... I was wondering, when do you think you’ll be able to see the songs I've written for the band? You keep on delaying and-” “Oh, Randy! There you are!” Felix cuts her off once more.
Randy steps into the room, camera in their hands. They pulled down their ear defenders, letting them hang from their neck. “Hey.. I have the um.. The shots.” They hesitated. The band gathered around beside them as they pulled out the polaroids from the small pouch in their pocket, letting everyone get a good look.
“I like the lighting here..” Marilyn commented.
“Lookin’ good!” Charlie beamed.
“Everyone looks amazin’ here!” Felix rejoiced.
“Where the hell are my solo shots?” Rowen asked.
“Awe, c’mon Randy..” Felix nudged Randy, who would then respond, “Rowen just looked awful on his own.” The raccoon glared at the rat, the rat glaring back.
After taking a moment to refresh, the band, along with Randy and Sally sat at the bar, having a drink, sharing a laugh, and socializing with the other bar patrons.. Just the typical thing they did. When you’re a locally famous band, you don’t get a ton of crazy fangirls or fanboys that come to get a snip of your hair.
In simple terms, everyone treats each other like a person and not some robot performing on stage.
Wait a minute.
“Whatcha writin’ there, Rowen?” Charlie peeks over his shoulder. “Somethin’ stuck in my brain.” Rowen responded, writing lyrics down on a napkin with a pen. Felix looks over, leaning up against Rowen’s shoulder. “Looks pretty.. Great.” Felix chuckled, sounding a bit tipsy.
Marilyn watched the three’s banter over Rowen’s songwriting, a look of exasperation crossing her face. Sally looks towards the moose..
“Boy problems?” “.. Maybe..” Marilyn gazes down at her drink, swirling around the fizzy liquid.
“I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m only there just to be there.” Marilyn sighed, “Every time I wanna show them something I wrote, they always brush me off and forget I even asked..” She takes a sip of her drink.
“... I’m- I’m sorry, huh?” Sally raises a brow. “What- Were you listening at all??” Marilyn asks. “I was, but, for one, we’re in the middle of a club,” The poodle gestured to the big crowds of people, “And secondly, your voice is pretty quiet, so I can’t really tell what you’re saying.”
Marilyn looked down once more, sighing. “It helps my voice sound more.. Like me.” She muttered, hugging herself as she leaned against the table.
The van door shuts as the band gets comfortable in their.. Seats? The back of the van didn’t necessarily have actual seats.. No duh, it’s a van.
“Hey, Felix? Do you m-mind dropping me home last?” Randy asked, hugging their bag. “Really? Don’tcha live closer?” Felix asked, raising a brow at them. “... I j-just wanna be dropped home late, is all..” They muttered.
“Huh.. Well, if ya say so. You mind sittin’ at the back, Charles?” Felix asked the cat next to him, who would shake his head and step out.
Randy walks out the back doors of the van, just about to pass Charlie when he’d stop them, adjusting their hat for them. “Your hat was a lil’ tilted, thought I’d help ya.” He offered a friendly smile, patting their shoulder. “R-really?! I-I didn’t.. Didn’t notice.” Randy blurted, their face red with embarrassment.
“Don’t worry about it! My hat gets a little off sometimes too..” Charlie reassured, his hand on his upper arm. “Ahaha- R-right, right..” Randy forces a laugh, their heart racing.
A beat.
“Shotgun’s open for ya, pal.” Charlie pats their shoulder once more, the cat smiling at the raccoon before heading to the backseat.
The doors shut, Randy buckling their seat belt as they stared off, face red from the encounter moments ago. Felix glances over at Randy, nudging them teasingly only to earn an embarrassed swat from them.
“We all good to go?” He calls out to the rest, getting back positive responses. The van starts up and Felix begins to drive..
One by one, he drops everyone off back home, some small talk occurring before they’d say their goodbyes and Felix would drive off…
Soon, Randy was the last to be dropped off. The drive was quiet, the radio playing faintly in the background while Randy slept in their seat. Felix couldn’t help but glance at the younger individual next to him.
While he was glad to have them as a personal photographer, because, well, they’re doing it for free and they’ve known each other long enough to not hold many secrets. At least.. He hoped.
He couldn’t help but feel concern for them. Randy was nearly 20 this year, yet they hadn’t even written up a college application. But, let’s face it, saying that you snuck into clubs with a fake ID to take photos of your friends’ indie rock band doesn’t sound all that great on a college application.
He just didn’t want them to turn out how he did.
As soon as they arrived at Randy’s home, Felix gently shook them awake. “Hey, we’re at your place. You can finish your lil’ alien huntin’ dreams in bed, alright?” He chuckled quietly, not wanting to scare them awake. Randy stirred awake, groaning as they rubbed their eyes.
“I almost had them..” Randy mumbled in a sleepy daze, blinking awake. “C’mon, bud.. I’ll walk ya to the porch.” Felix ruffled their hair through their hat before heading out the van with them.
As they walked down the pathway, Randy would glance at the empty driveway before stepping up onto the porch with Felix. “You have a good night’s rest, m’kay?” He offers them a warm smile, earning a nod from them.
He watched as they entered the house, sighing. Now, it was just him, himself and he. Nothing left to do now but head home…