Day 53: Music Room

[rocksthecourt]

Well, if it wasn't his favorite time of the week. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Of course in this case, distance makes Klavier feel like an abused, neglected animal who was only now being allowed a taste of actual food. These people were such savages. It was still absolutely absurd that they were allowed access to this room so rarely. But the tactic was also brilliant on their part, sad to say. Klavier was always at his quietest and most obedient on Music Room days. The perfect model patient. He would give them no excuse to deprive him of this precious time.

Today was going to be a little different, however. Not only was he given access to music today, but a bout of entertainment as well. Apparently that band that had been setting up tryouts for the last week was ready to get the show on the road and start their auditions. Normally, this was the sort of project he wouldn't hesitate to take part in. But aside from the injury to his left hand and shoulder, there were three critical factors keeping him from doing so:

1. The band was named "Sex Bob-Omb." Klavier may have missed the band scene, but he had no intention of attaching his name to some Tom Jones cover band.
2. There weren't many actual instruments in the Music Room; certainly not enough variety to form the type of band they want. The one who made the poster said something about improvising instruments through whatever means necessary. A noble goal, but again, Klavier was not so desperate yet as to reduce himself to playing with a box of tissues strung up with rubber bands. That was too pathetic an image to ever place himself into.
3. The person who had posted placed up a sample music sheet of one of their songs. Klavier had no idea how many people here could actually read music enough to know what it was they were looking at there, but he had been able to decipher it perfectly. Their music... it was kind of god-awful.

In short, this was basically a disaster waiting to happen. The hints were enough to tell him this was likely going to be something akin to nails on a chalkboard... amplified by five. So honestly, he should be as far away from this room as humanly possible.

But he was not going to let these people ruin his rare access time to the Music Room. No, instead he took one of their old CD players and a carefully selected CD of choice (for the sake of his sanity) and took a seat at one of the tables, turning the chair so as to get an optimal view of the show. Why not? No harm in indulging in a little "entertainment," yes?

[free to anyone who wants to watch this train wreck with him :D ]

Comments

[saviored]

The thing Damon didn't get was why, of all the topics in the world to use as an excuse to approach him, Edward had chosen a book made for desperate housewives and girls who drew little hearts on their notebooks. It was possible Edward just wasn't your typical teenage boy or maybe he was bored and felt like bugging people about Twilight, but Damon was not prone to giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Certainly not if Edward had found him through Stefan. His brother may have mentioned his name in passing, but it took some very specific circumstances for Stefan to resort to throwing someone his way, even when he knew Damon was somewhat less likely to make them his dinner these days. Because, you know, he was just so mean and terrible and humans had such delicate feelings. Or whatever.

And—were they really going to move onto reflecting on one of the countless social fads that came and went over the decades? Apparently.

He smiled, more indifferent than friendly. "Sex appeal, I'm sure."

Seriously, though, what was up with this kid? Did Edward know something? Did he know what he was? Was that why he was pussyfooting around about vampires and bad romance novels? Edward wouldn't be the first given that girl a few mornings ago, but if so, he was being incredibly unsubtle about it. Not to mention incredibly stupid, too, if he thought it was a good idea to confront a vampire this way. Stefan had probably given him a false impression. His brother might've been the poster boy for martyrs, but less so for vampires.

His gaze raked over Edward for the second time, sizing him up without pretending otherwise. Those eyes were really bothering him. It was just too unusual to ignore. At least the self-proclaimed not-human girl had blended and her existence made sense, if he chose to think of her as just having stronger witchy instincts than average.

But then there were the mysterious Lockwoods and now...this boy. Who may or may not recognize what Damon was, which meant he must've recognized Stefan, too, and who may or may not be fully human. Maybe that girl hadn't been lying, after all. The combination of these two possibilities left Damon less than happy. Normally, he wouldn't have even looked once at a kid like Edward, never mind twice, but here they were.

Edward's mistake for making himself a point of interest, he supposed.

"Oh, while you're here—" He tipped his head. "—So, I couldn't help but notice you're wearing some pretty cool contacts. You wouldn't mind taking them out to show me, would you? I mean, I'm just...curious."

Obvious? Probably, but he might as well play on the same level Edward was.

[prodigalson]

It was damning enough information, in Edward's estimation. Both of them were more astute than he would have initially given them, which was most definitely a mistake on his part. As stupid as Damon thought his sniffing around was, he felt reasonably more informed than if he had neglected to do so. Safer, though... not really. It wasn't himself he was worried for. He had to admit to himself, as long as another vampire didn't so much as look twice at Bella, he really had no interest in what they did otherwise. He couldn't systematically change his kind, he could only keep safe what was his.

Besides, he wouldn't be surprised if the brothers conferred with each other later on and the matter of his telepathy was brought to light. Having let it slip to one, however, he was remaining mum for the moment. There would be no chance for trying to hide anything under another layer of thoughts. Not many could do it, but vampire minds were different than humans. Such a feat was simpler.

Edward stared down at Damon, giving him a pointed look before the edges of his lips turned into a wry smile. There was nothing sheepish about him now. "I'm afraid not. I always have trouble putting them back in, you know?"

[saviored]

Here they were. Finally. Not quite an admission, but close enough.

Damon hadn't exactly been keeping up much by the way of pretenses from the start, but what little had been there disappeared entirely. He'd had one foot propped against the wall, and he dropped it now, though he stopped short of taking a step forward.

He stared back, lips curving just the slightest. "What are you?"

This would've been easier if Edward was clearly just another vampire; he knew how to handle them which made them not as much of a threat, and frankly, they could threaten and eat as many people as they wanted as long as they didn't come near Elena. Or his brother. A mysterious supernatural element, however, was another story.

"And while we're at it, what's your real name, anyway? I mean, since you obviously know who I am."

Edward should've just gone for the gold and introduced himself as Lestat if he was going to play with this whole vampire/Twilight thing. Not that Damon particularly cared about his real name, and when it came down to it he could just ask what Stefan had managed to find out about this boy tomorrow and get any possible details that way—but it was the principle of the matter. And he had no intention of letting Edward walk away until he knew precisely what the hell was going on here.

Though come to think of it, wasn't there a Bella around here somewhere? Maybe the two should hook up and complete the package.

[prodigalson]

Even as a vampire, he didn't taunt predators - not like Emmett or Jasper would when hunting. Edward didn't toe the line, even when nearly invincible. He was much less than that now, and it applied now more than ever. He could have asked Don't you know already? but Damon kept changing his mind. Apparently he didn't read as clearly vampire, as Stefan hadn't to him either. Normally, there were outward signs. He hadn't needed to rely on his telepathy so much; instead of an asset, it had just been an annoyance for the most part. He should have been able to just smell them or hear the lack of a heart beat.

Now he reasoned he needed to work with what he had.

"My name really is Edward," he said before pausing for a brief sigh; there wasn't any playfulness in his tone, even of the fake variety. He knew he wasn't going to like the results of this, but he didn't have a choice, knowing that this one would just seek the answers from Stefan. The small amount of warmth he might have had from the blood in his system leeched out with the mere thought of Bella, but he wasn't going to bring her up. Ever. "Edward Cullen. I'm exactly what you and your brother are." Well. "With some obvious differences." Like how I'm apparently fictional.

At least with Damon, he was prepared for the onslaught of a complete stranger knowing details of his life while thinking he was insane. It wouldn't come as a surprise this time.

[saviored]

A beat as Damon stared. Three, two, one—

He let out a short derisive laugh, amusement masking disbelief. Was this for real? Edward had to be completely delusional to go around making such blatantly idiotic claims (not to mention, who the hell actually wanted to be Edward Cullen?) but the thing was, he'd run into a lot of different varieties of people in his life and the delusional ones were the easiest to spot from a distance. As much as he'd like to slap that label on Edward...

Then there were the eyes, the paleness, the way Edward had seemed disturbed by the entire concept of Twilight, Stefan's involvement, the fact that there was a girl named Bella of roughly the same age going starry-eyed over her special someone—yeah. It left few options to go by. Crazy elaborate prank? Not likely. Coincidence? Even less likely. The truth?

...

...Well, there was that saying about truth and fiction.

So—whatever. Fine. Say he was gonna go along with this for, you know, the hell of it. Why not. Wavering in one place between one or the other wasn't gonna get him any progress. What did that leave him with? A vampire that'd gone vegan like Stefan, he guessed. And apparently brooded like Stefan, too.

My God, there were two of them.

Damon shifted his weight, weighing the questions running through his mind. "Pretend I believe you," he said. "Why did you come to me with this?"

To size another vampire up? Confirm his suspicions that he and Stefan were vampires? And when did Edward first hear about Twilight, anyway, 'cause if this whole thing were true, man, that would've been one awkward conver—oh. Oh. It'd been Stefan, hadn't it? Oh, okay that was—that was funny, actually. And it made sense, insofar as all of this could make any damn sense. Edward had come directly to Damon after talking to Stefan, after all, and he hadn't wasted any time boarding that vampire romance topic of discussion.

[prodigalson]

He tried to not be indignant about some of the other's inner commentary, but it was hard to remain completely impassive internally. Externally, he was simply watching Damon's amusement without much of his own.

At least this was something new - not that Landel had made him suffer an absence of new experiences. Being thought of as fictional - well, how would he top that? That thought brought something else to mind: a man he'd met here once, his face half wrapped in bandages as Edward's had been that day. After the mis... the explosion. After the fire and the burns. After he had only been here a day.

He'd said his name was Harvey Dent. It might not have meant something to others, but Edward had lived during the rise of the comic book during World War II. The Golden Age. Perhaps the name could have just been the result of devout fans as parents, but a half-bandaged face and a violent reaction - both internal and external - at the mention of a particular hero?

Oh my god. Why hadn't he thought of that until now?

"I don't particularly care if you believe me or not," he said honestly, doing a wonderful job of looking much more nonchalant than he felt. "I only picked you out because your brother mentioned that you might know more about this book than you do." Or thought it, but it was really the same thing to him right now. Luckily, neither seemed to know about that particular quirk, at least initially. Edward was sure the news would spread quickly enough. "Though I suppose it was marginally the product of my own curiosity. It feels like a very long time since I've seen another vampire. I can't say I've ever encountered one of you and your brother's sort."

Which was more about the fact that they looked remarkably more alive than he did. And there was no smell - what werewolves would probably label as decay, as did he. Every vampire had the same similar sort of scent. It was impossible to exist without it, or so he'd thought.