Chapter Text
Zedd’s studio was a strange place, at least, Zoot thought so. Like he stepped into a spaceship or something to that effect. He would’ve liked to take pictures of everything, from the interior to the various music related awards decorating the place, or the tiny recording room, but he was told not to do so. Whatever, he’d probably forget the ‘no pictures’ rule and snap one on the way out- or just pretend he ‘forgot’. Of course, Janice would sniff it out if he told a lie like that, but it was a small and insignificant lie, one that probably wouldn’t get her sick like the recent incident that landed her in the hospital, so it was one they could both afford to have him risk telling. Anyway, that wasn’t the point. Another thing Zoot found odd was the fact they all had to record their tracks seperately- he was so accustomed to having Lips standing right by his side, Animal typically behind him, Dr. Teeth over there, Floyd wherever he was, Janice being next to Floyd. It wasn’t a big, huge deal by any means, he just.. felt like he knew what he was doing a little better when the others were there for him to interpret off of.
Then Zoot realized he forgot his saxophone. Of all things to forget when trying to record an album, he forgot his instrument. Well, at least he knew what he thought was missing when they left the Shack today- he only figured out it was his sax when he told Floyd he forgot his hat, at which point the bassist told him he literally had it on his head right now. No one thought to ask Zoot because they probably figured that was the one thing that wouldn’t slip his mind, but from this moment forward, someone would have to make sure he didn’t. The others all went one by one, until it was finally Zoot’s turn. He just stared forward while everyone else looked at him from the other side.
“I left my sax at home.” Zoot said, unsure if Zedd could even hear him.
“That’s fine, Zoot,” The man answered, fiddling with some controls. “Actually, that was perfect.”
“…Huh?” Zoot tilted his head.
Meanwhile, out in the lobby, Nora was re-evaluating her life. She made a complete fool out of herself, and now a famous person thought she was a complete freak- which, she wouldn’t have blamed him for thinking. Lips tried to comfort her by saying they could make their own handshake together, but she politely turned the offer down. It was sweet of the trumpet player, but it didn’t make her feel like any less of a weirdo. Nora heard the door open, bracing herself only to see that it was Moog. He truly went wherever the band followed, didn’t he? Or was this about his demo again?
“Moog? Please don’t tell me you’re here to give me your demo.” Nora looked up.
Moog just smiled at her like a ray of sunshine. “Nah, I’m just here to support my Mayhem!”
“You support them a lot, huh?” Nora asked. She kinda wished someone supported her that much when she was a kid.
“Hey, what can I say?” Moog sat next to Nora. “Fan for life!”
Nora sighed. “Normally, I’d be super judgy, but I just.. completely fangirled in front of Zedd. He thinks I’m a lunatic, and he’s not wrong.”
“When I met Prince, I fainted right in front of him.” Moog chuckled lightly as he recounted the story. “I woke up to him poking me with his four-inch heels to see if I was alive.”
Ok, maybe Nora didn’t feel as awful as she thought. Moog was really full of surprises. “Prince *poked* you? That has got to be the first story you tell people when you meet them.”
“Oh no no no, I got stories, look…” Moog continued. “One time, Stevie Nicks looked at me from the stage, and I just let out, like, this long, high pitched scream. They thought a child was in danger. I just went with it! I was like ‘Yo, we gotta find this kid! Fan out!’”
“Wow,” Nora couldn’t help but be amused. “That’s a tough confession to match.. but one time in high school, I was at the mall, I saw Tina Turner. I cornered her and cried and sang the whole Thunderdome song right to her..”
Moog laughed. “That’s amazing, what’s wrong with that?”
“It wasn’t Tina Turner. Just a gorgeous lady giving out corndog samples.” Nora could feel herself cringing about that story all over again.
“Look, being a superfan just means you love something deep in your heart. You know, to be honest, I don’t trust anyone who’s not a superfan of something. Wave that fan flag high!”
“…I will.” Nora said with a small smile.
“Glad to hear it, Thunderdome.” Moog joked.
“Don’t call me that.” Nora replied.
Back in the recording room, Zoot was still standing there while Zedd worked, though Zoot couldn’t understand what he possibly got from the saxophonist aside from 6 words and why he was told to stay put. The other band members were gathered on the other side of the room, chatting and joking around.
“I mean, honestly, we ain’t got no need for any of our axes and saxes, man!” Floyd said. “With all these high-tech gizmos and the way you create your musical magic, just think about it!”
In the midst of the conversation, Lips’ foot accidentally pressed down on the red button that allowed Zoot to hear on the opposite side of the window. Unaware of this, Floyd kept talking.
“This band ain’t got no need for Zoot or his saxophone anymore!” The bassist wheezed. Everyone laughed- everyone but Zoot, who was frozen in shock. Why would Floyd say something like that right in front of him? “All of us could be replaced! Yanno?”
Zoot trembled with anger. It wasn’t particularly often that Zoot got mad, let alone upset in a general sense, but hearing one of the people he loved and cared about most basically call him useless right to his face and laugh about it like it was a big joke? While the others laughed, too? Now, that made him really mad. Apparently, so mad that he made one of the chairs in the opposite side of the room levitate, and the object quickly was smashed into the wall, breaking it in half. At least no one was sitting on it when that happened..? Zoot didn’t care, though, he was already storming on out of there before anybody could say a word to him. Dr. Teeth looked at the broken chair, his shades rising in mild alarm.
“Don’t worry, we’ll pay you back for that..” Teeth said, putting a hand on Zedd’s shoulder.
“It’s $80,000!”
“….We will *not* be paying you back for that.” Teeth’s eyes widened.
Zoot made it out to the lobby, where Moog and Nora were still waiting. Nora watched him enter, taking note of the shift in his posture and the way his hands were clenched into fists. Was he mad? She didn’t think he looked like the kind of guy who got mad. And she was right, but this was a different occasion.
“Zoot, how’s it going in there?” Nora asked.
“Bad.” Zoot didn’t look up, just kept walking.
“Like, cool-bad or bad-bad?” Nora watched as Zoot walked through one of the glass doors, effortlessly shattering the whole thing without even flinching. Okay, that was an answer…
“..I’m thinkin’ bad-bad.” Moog leaned in. He wasn’t sure why, but he had a bad feeling about this.