𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓-- (𝕍𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕣 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣)

III

You squint slightly as a flash of spotlight lands on you for a moment, before it's turned away, letting the stage be bathed in a dim, almost calming purple lighting. Turning to Ritz, you see him mumble something to a crew member before they nod and rush off stage.

Turning to the audience once more, you can only awkwardly stand and wave as you wait for an extra chair to be brought on stage— originally, you were going to take a seat on one of the soft luxurious chairs that had been put out beforehand, but you had barely took a step towards them before the siblings had already made themselves comfortable on both.

The same member from before gently set down a chair behind you, and you smiled, quietly thanking them. They ducked their head down in acknowledgement, before running off stage again.

The crowd had lowered their cheers to murmurs, and you are suddenly hyper aware of the all the eyes in the room that are fixated on you. And you know it's not just from the crowd— you would bet a million that if you turned around right now, you would see two pairs of blue eyes staring you down.

You take a seat, slightly nudging your chair towards the centre as you cross your legs over each other. You spare a glance at the siblings again— they both look extremely laxed, Veneer especially, with his legs practically thrown over the seats armrests.

Not wanting to stick out too much, you leaned back, resting your arms on the rests, similar to Velvet. She looked completely unbothered by the fact that you were sharing the interview with them— in fact, she almost welcomed it, if you think back on her words earlier.

A camera is set up in the middle of the crowd, pointing directly at the stage. You feel your nerves bundle as Ritz says his scripted introduction for the interview, fiddling with your hands.

Velvet and Veneers hit song, Watch me Work plays as he introduces them, a pre filmed intro being displayed on a large screen behind you. It shows snippets of their music videos, and you watch curiously— you didn't film one of these.

Its either they paid for an extra part you didn't hear about, or you just didn't get to send in a video because of the timing of your manager saying yes to The Bop On Top company. Ritz turns and introduces you next, obviously with a much less dramatic flair than Velvet and Veneers intro, but you can still hear your own music come from somewhere.

You wave with both hands to the audience as the camera pans to you swiftly, trying not to wince too much at the sudden flash that comes from it. If that was gonna end up in an article of some sort, you weren't trying to look bothered by the light.

Throughout the interview, the siblings are surprisingly casual. Ritz asks a question, and while you ignore that you're usually the last person to answer, Velvet and Veneer look almost bored. You expected them to be over the top with their answers, based off how imposing they can be during performances, but as you watch Veneer swing his legs and Velvet check her nails, you find that you were wrong.

In the middle of a question, the large screen behind you four pulls up a picture of the charts. You gaze at it smugly as you read your name just below the siblings, still slightly shocked at the fact that you were that close to being on Velvet and Veneers level.

As you lower your gaze back to Ritz, you notice the image seems to have caught Velvets attention as well. But instead of reveling in her own pride, she seems almost disturbed at the charts. Her brows furrowed as her eyes dart across the screen, and you can't help but jolt slightly when the piercing blue colour of them land on you, sharp and intense.

But it's gone as quick as it came, and she blinks, her gaze softening as she smiles at you— theres something off about it, though. And before you can place your finger on what it is, her focus is shifted from you to the interview once more.