doku | VISIONS I HAD BURIED UNDERGROUND / RETURNING TO ABUSE US

And glasses and tupperware. But not cleaning supplies!

[She bought those ahead of time to get the trailer as shiny as possible!] It'll be alright. To be honest they ended up giving me enough to live comfortably for years, but that's only because I got away with using the family lawyer. I don't want to talk with Vergil on a normal day, so I can only imagine how terrifying he is when he's actually doing his job!

[Granted ... Nariko had pretty much forfeited not just her materialistic items like the clothes, makeup, gifts from other artists as well as fans, but most of her contacts as well. If she was so much as caught humming a CI song on youtube she'd be in breach of the agreement she signed and probably end up in court.

But it sure was a hell of a lot of money!]

I should've asked you for his number. Maybe I'd have more than a twentieth of my closet.

[It's not like he's walking away truly empty-handed anyway, so it's hard to complain too much. He's not worried about spending the next few months strictly on getting their new endeavor started, if all they're concerned about is travel, composition, and making ends meet.

You know, after thinking about it...]

Heh. We're kinda on perma-tour once we get started, aren't we? That's pretty awesome.

[He liked the touring, for the most part, especially compared to sitting still.]

Oh, you can bet that I got the ass chewing of a lifetime for asking him to negotiate something. If it wasn't for all my dad used to do for him I think he would have just blocked my phone number.

[Whether he's upset about it or not she'd have absolutely offered the man's services if they were hers to give out. Oh well.]

Pretty much! We're going to get very comfortable with that trailer. [This, of course, sparks off a thought for her.] Do you need pillows? I brought four but people are surprisingly picky about that kind of stuff.

Jesus. Maybe not a price I was willing to pay.

[Especially given his tendency to bite back.]

Need? [he asks, somewhat incredulously.] What if we brought a bunch? They can come in real handy if we need a quick echo-proof recording booth.

[Probably not. Krieg was maybe ten times bigger than her mom but good god did that crazy bitch know how to cut. Between the two of them it could easily become a sort of bloodbath.]

You're so grown up, I just thought about making a pillow fort.

[.... Because pillow forts are cool and super relaxing!!]

[Pass. He'd rather not spill blood between him and Noriko's family, thanks.]

Please. What's the difference between a pillow fort and a recording booth made out of pillows? A microphone. That's it.

[Which could almost be a shame, since if he really took a chunk out of that woman, well. Nariko'd probably just blow him immediately, drop right down to her knees and just go for it. Mostly because it's hard to insult your mom when she's your mom! But it's a lot easier to deal with when someone else does it.

Still, good decision there, Krieg. She ends up giggling.]

That's better than saying every cloud has a silver lining! [Or at least it's more musically oriented.

Wait is it really that easy, though? She never had to worry about sound stuff or never having a studio, soooo.]

[Well.

...

He'd rather earn a blowjob in better ways.]

With all those pillows, it might as well be a cloud.

[It's easier than you'd think. Gaige and he did just fine on their own by jerry-rigging plenty of equipment.]

Why do you ask? I don't think we can get pillows at a grocery store...

[Does this mean we have another stop?]

Edited 2016-03-05 14:49 (UTC)

[Fair enough.]

I brought four, so. [There's a little shrug that goes here, a sort of bashful smile.] Now I don't have to feel so bad!

[That's literally it.]

Still need more.

[Dare you argue?]

You need all four? I can get away with using just one. If not, we might as well buy a dozen more.

[Pillows are super useful ok.]

Let's buy a dozen more.

[She doesn't actually need all four, she just wanted to steal the cushy pillows in her band's suite. She half expected them to try and take them back, after all.

They're incredibly great at making logical, sure decisions, aren't they? ]

[They'll be fiiiiiine.]

You got it. Let's deal with them before we leave town.

[And while the trip to the grocery store should, by all means, be an uneventful trip, Krieg acts pretty hesitant and suspicious as soon as they get to the open section of produce until he finally looks over his shoulder at someone talking on their phone while looking at the two of them, quickly averting her eyes when they make contact.

Krieg hunkers forward over their cart.]

Shit.

Mmhm!

[It's a grocery store - big and annoying, sure, but she's actually pretty excited to be in and out, on the road before it's gotten too late. As such she's getting everything that comes to mind in a mild rush, and is therefore not paying attention to anyone - especially not people on their phones. But it's difficult to not notice Krieg having a moment.]

What?

[Nariko stops, and just because someone isn't looking at her doesn't mean she can't look at them, so have a mean stare, cell phone lady.]

I thought it was just my head...but that woman's calling the local news. Trying to get reporters here to figure out why we're here together.

[He huffs and continues to push the cart along.]

News flash: rock stars eat food too.

[Krieg forgets this is the first time he's been in a grocery store in the last few years.]

We'll hurry.

[...... She doesn't want to deal with that shit, the idea of it seems to set her nerves into overdrive.]

Although I think you're the only one of us that qualifies as a rock star.

[She was more weird, incandescent pop.] If they really get here, I'll just tell them I'm pregnant and you're coming up with a diet plan!

[Because that wouldn't be insane at all.]

I'll make one of you yet.

[To be fair, sometimes pop stars get it even worse.]

...maybe you should leave the talking to me.

[You'd think that the last person you'd trust with PR is Krieg, but he's learned a lot in balancing real-life Krieg Bleier and fantasy Krieg.]

We won't have to face them if we finish up. We have enough for a few days.

[She trusts him just fine! It's herself she's a little more unsure of. Nothing would bring her more joy than smacking a cart into their stupid faces.

And her temper is volatile is enough to make that possible.]

No, let's finish. Just because we decide to finish up somewhere else doesn't mean this won't happen again.

[So that means that his real concern here is to make sure Noriko doesn't lose her cool, because he knows he'll just get caught up in the excitement which means that someone will likely end up getting hurt. By accident, but that doesn't matter in a lawsuit, and he doesn't really want to spend what money he has on court shit when they need to be spending it on starting up their new cash flow.]

Our battle plan--if anyone ends up out there--is to ignore them. Push them aside, make a beeline for the truck. Don't answer any questions. We'll carry out our purchases in bags only, because we likely won't have time to hassle with the cart.

[It's a lot to carry already, but both of them are strong enough to do it. Eyes on the prize.]

Okay.

[It's a very smart, resounding plan, and if she weren't in her feelings she'd applaud it. But being reminded of the whole thing was just so irritating and once that anger began to well and pool in her body, becoming it's own vile force, it was difficult to get a hold on. But she tries - she has to at least do that for Krieg. Hopefully with more space and time to process everything that's happened, this'll all calm down.

But right now it's anything but, the first attempt isn't always the most graceful. Now, if he's a little thrown by deep her irritation runs when, as Cosmic Indulgence's lead, she'd pretty much seemed completely willing to give an interview at the drop of a pin, then no one would blame him.]

[He can feel the tension radiating off of her. He figures some time will allow it to dissipate, but in reality it's just getting worse.

Eventually, he stops, putting his hands on Noriko's shoulders and giving her a level stare.]

Iko. Look at me.

[She tenses the moment he puts his hands on her - it's an automatic reaction, it has nothing to do with him, she's just wrung too tight. Even looking up at him takes a little more strength then it really should.

What's even worse is how mildly humiliating this is, to react so strongly over a very simple thing, a natural reality of what they do. It's not a part of herself she likes to show to anyone, let alone a man she actually respects. She's supposed to be stronger than this.]

It's--just--noise.

You owe them nothing. They owe you nothing. It's just static, okay? Like flipping through channels to find the one that gets reception. Don't get yourself all wound up for a bunch of nosey paparazzis. They're not worth it.

[Fuck strength, and fuck being supposed to have it, too. The labels never really taught them how to deal with it, so it was all up to them to learn by trial and error.]

[He puts such emphasis on what he's saying that it's difficult do anything but believe him.

But what really gets to her, what sticks to the side of her head is that he's definitely got one thing spot on: She doesn't owe anyone anything. She doesn't have to answer invasive, stupid ass questions, she doesn't have to smile for every single picture knowing that if she didn't it'd probably end in a lecture or a smack.]

Okay. [Because Krieg wouldn't make her sit and talk if she didn't want to, she believes that. So there's nothing to be so scared of. And while it doesn't get rid of the anger, it's a good step.] I won't say anything to them.

[She can do it.]

Hopefully they figure it's not worth coming over here for and we're worried about nothing.

[Here, have something else to think about.] Which of these do you want for sandwich meats?

Hopefully.

[Deep breathes - and questions, apparently.] Roast beef and ham.

[If nothing else she can always divert to thinking about food!] Do you think they'll have decent salami here?

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