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

["Friends with benefits?"

Izzy jumps in before Krieg has the chance. Chroma whispers oh my God to herself.]

No, we're just the only ones that could trust each other while the industry blowup was happening.

["Oh, I see."]

It's hard to put it into words, but it's the kind of thing that makes and breaks friendships. Mostly breaks.

[She nods along, even though half of what he says is white noise. When he's done, though, Nariko catches Chroma's eyes in the mirror and teases,]

But if you'd like to think I have a secret, long-standing crush that may or may not have started the moment we agreed about hot tubs and respecting meat, I won't argue! [And she sort of doubts that Krieg cares at all, he's unnervingly chill about this sort of stuff.] Makes for great fan fiction, right?

[She's going for the 'it's in plain sight therefore you cannot see it' method. Seems like the best tactic with Krieg.]

[Actually, I forgot to mention what Krieg's busy with. Her attempt to hold his hand is mostly successful, but he still kind of holds hers as if he'll break it as if he so much as touches it the wrong way.

Chroma shrieks as she clasps her hands over her face.

"If you kill my girlfriend with an aneurysm, I won't forgive you, Nariko," Izzy retorts with a smirk.]

[Later she's going to ask him about that, but right now, well, teasing Chroma with what is ultimately the truth is too much fun.]

I'm only speaking the truth. [But that's often very damning, and no one knows that better than her.] But speaking of great love stories and all that, how'd you guys meet? I want to hear all about it.

[And without missing a beat she just squeezes Krieg's hand a tiny bit. He wasn't going to hurt her!]

["We met at the first international tournament of Overlook. I choreographed and led the dancing part of what was basically the halftime show, and she was there to, you know, compete. We started talking to each other in the green room while other teams were going at it...in fact, we ended up talking every time Riptide wasn't up. So we exchanged contact information.

"It was kind of hard at first because I lived here while she and her team lived in Texas, but once they won their first championship they moved further west."

Meanwhile, Krieg is...slowly warming up to this whole hands-holding idea, playing and gently squeezing her fingers. Weird. He knows he's practically twice her size but her hands are tiny compared to his...how does she manage to play the guitar so well?]

[She figures out that Krieg's essentially hand curious while Izzy is talking. Has no one ever held the man's hand? What a shame, considering how big and warm it is. She tries to avoid smiling in an awkward way - the little space between her middle and forefinger is weirdly ticklish - and lets him do as he pleases. She does sort of teasingly scratch her nails along the top part of his palm, just to mess with him for a second before it goes back to normal hand activities.]

I can't imagine being in a long distance relationship like that, even if it's just for a little while! [She's very clearly impressed with the work it must have taken.] That's so romantic, though, it kind of sounds like you both met and just knew.

[She's as genuinely happy for them as she is utterly jealous.]

Well, they are really calloused and barely maintained....and she does successfully mess with him because he's not really sure what he's supposed to do in response to...palm scratching??? What is even going on right now.

"Not quite," Chroma speaks up. "We were convinced that the other was fishing in another pond. It took one night of a mutually drunk Skype call and joking-around-but-actually-being-kind-of-serious to get things moving."

Maybe still something to be jealous about?]

[She takes her free one and uses it to pat their two joined hands: It's okay Krieg, she was just messing with you! But now she settles for trying to thread her fingers with his, briefly looking down at the result. Her hands really are small compared to his! Wow. She's quick to look back at Chroma, though.]

Bless alcohol for bringing out the right kind of feelings. [As long as you didn't over indulge in it.] How long have you been together? If you don't mind my asking.

["Four...four and a half years?" Chroma projects.

"Sounds about right," Izzy agrees.]

Hmm...

[Krieg is quiet as he admires the contrast of their hands together.

"So, uh..."

Chroma looks over her shoulder at Nariko.

"You guys write anything together yet?"]

[His fascination is really the sweetest thing. Good thing she got a decent manicure before they started traveling. Her nails are still a perfect, shimmery red.]

I've been writing pretty consistently, but we haven't had a lot of time to really sit down and do anything together. Nothing good was going to come out of staying in that city.

[They both felt a need to get the hell out of there, after all.]

That and when he told me how long it had been since he saw his sister I almost cried, so, now that we've accomplished both those goals I think we can make time!

[Oh no, that's probably why he's so enraptured. Red is his favorite color.

"It's true," Izzy says. "Vista City's economy is tanking now that the labels were convicted of what they did. Which is fine with me, because the place was stealing talent from everywhere else."

"She's not biased at all," Chroma fake-whispers.

"Look, I saw a lot of good people leave Vegas to go there on contracts I would have never signed."]

So you were lying when you said that you were happy for me?

[The awkwardness in the vehicle becomes thick. Izzy makes a quiet, choked noise, the one you make when you get called out on your shit.

"Yes and no," she finally admits. "It was better than what you were doing, and probably a safer bet than anything else at the time."]

Edited 2016-04-24 15:03 (UTC)

Krieg, it's not like Vergil was very happy to see me go, either, but I'd have run off and done it anyway. Better to be supportive than to disagree and get push back.

[In his situation it was far more serious, of course, but she thought the general point remained. Using her other hand she sort of hugs his arm, as if that'll help quell all of the tension.]

Hopefully everyone else came to their senses and got out of it. For now it's enough that we did. It'll be more difficult in some respects but we've got time, if nothing else.

[So no use in worrying!! They could only work with what they had anyway.]

["It was guaranteed exposure, for better or for worse," Izzy explains. "I mean--Gaige really took off on her own after she got fired."]

Wait, you're following Gaige?

["Chroma is."

Said gamer shrugs. "I keep up with the tabloids more than I should." One wonders how Izzy can stand being in love with such a huge nerd. "So that's why I asked if you guys were working on anything--people are waiting to write about it."]

[There's no wondering about it Chroma is cute! Then again, Nariko read tabloids about actors and such. She tries to avoid feeling a little jealous at the mention of Gaige.]

I suddenly kind of regret almost running some of those assholes over ...

[Nariko hadn't realized some of them might be genuinely curious about any new work, she'd kind of figured it'd be all about her old label and that bullshit.]

Well, when there's something to write about, it'll be there. [She hadn't thought herself capable of writing again and that had been simple once she relaxed, so! No point in worrying!]

[Don't feel bad, Nariko, they were only going in for the scoop.]

We still have a lot of soul searching and sound-finding to do, so I wouldn't hold your breath for anything immediate.

[After all, the two of them come from vastly different musical backgrounds.]

[Nothing immediate ... Yeah, that only made sense, but it meant they'd be stuck in a weird limbo for a while longer. Because she couldn't quite shake the fear that they might not match right, musically speaking. And it wouldn't mean that they couldn't be friends or could adjust as needed but it was just ...

Well.

Are they almost there? She doesn't have too much to add right now.]

[Unfortunately, they're not. They're not even to the strip yet. Krieg notices Nariko's subtle discomfort, squeezes her hand, and leans in to whisper:]

You okay?

Yeah! I'm just overthinking it.

[She still hasn't shown him what she's written and, logically speaking, they really and truly haven't had time for composing or whatever. There's no sense in feeling anxious and yet she's still kind of worried it'll all fall apart. Maybe he'll get rid of her if she can't make it work.]

I just don't want to fail, that's all.

[He lets out a concerned hum.]

You know I do more than just metal, right?

[She's sitting here all concerned that she won't fit his style when the reality is that Krieg does not have a narrow musical style! He'll work with just about everything!]

Have I shown you my collection?

You haven't, but I'm more worried about being a fake, Krieg.

[What if what she's got is shallow or stupid or ultimately unsalvageable? And furthermore, it's not right to expect him to pull most of the weight.]

They pumped so much time and money into me that maybe I'm not any good without any of that.

[Because, in all honesty, that's kind of what the whole thing had felt like in hindsight. They plucked individuals who might fit a certain space that needed filling. That didn't mean she was good at what she wanted to do, just that the talent scouts had been talented in picking out a week link.]

You're not a fake.

[He says it with such confidence, too.]

You have talent, I've seen it. What is it I said to you when I asked you to join me?

[Just to prove he's not pulling it out of his ass.]

'You're awful at pre-planning' except much nicer.

[This is an awful joke, but in truth they had said a lot of things to one another, and most of the conversation had been flooded with relief. She'd been amazed that he was okay with pairing up with her at all!

But that's not the point and she knows it.]

[Did he? ...crap, he doesn't remember that. Memory's still not as good as it could be.]

I said I wanted your voice. I can't pick up anyone off the street and expect them to sing the way you do.

[Well, it's more like he expressed reasonable concern that she uprooted her entire life without any semblance of a plan.

But that has nothing to do with what he's telling her now, and she lets herself mull that over. Is it really okay if she can't do anything else but sing? It wouldn't be right to have Krieg pull all of the weight, she doesn't want to be a pretty songbird anymore.

Maybe if she just starts out with what she knows the rest will come by much easier. That seems like a grown up, very Krieg-like way to think. So clearly it's right.]

Okay. [DEEP BREATHE.] ... And thank you.

[He remembers exactly 0 of the conversation that lead up to "let's start a band together."]

In a way, it's good that you feel that. Because you'll be working your hardest, right? And that's more than I could ask for.

["Kiss already," says Izzy. Chroma balks.]

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