"This is crazy Calypso...you are loosing your mind!!" These where her inner thoughts as she got ready the next morning. As she brushed her hair into a high ponytail, she was re reading her text thread from last night, just to make sure she was reading this correctly.
Calypso: Your sister claws really dug deep, but that's not a reflection on you
Veneer: Omg!! You texted back!! It nice to hear from you again. I'm sorry for my sister, but I'm so happy I get a chance.
Veneer: Wow that sounded really desperate. Let me try again.... It's great to hear from you again. I'm sorry my sisters crazy, and grateful you contacted me
Calypso: Lol. You are fine. How was the rest of the night?
Veneer: It was insane. We went on for 8 on cores, and one guy had to get dragged out because he tried to jump the stage twice! He really wanted my sister phone number!
Calypso: oh wow, I'm almost sad I missed out. But, my brother was my only ride.
Veneer: are you coming back today? Vel and i don't have a performance until later on in the day. I could show you this coffee shop near by. Best vanilla lattes on Mount Rageous!! ☕️
Calypso: I will be there today. I guess I could take a break from playing to get a coffee. Your treat 😉
Veneer: you got it. See you soon star ✨
Calypso couldn't believe it. She has a conversation with one of Mount Rageous upcoming stars, and now she is going to have coffee with him. What is going on!!
As she was adjusting her eyeliner, her brother slammed open the door pillow at the ready. "You know what time it is.." That was until Alistor noticed his sister wasn't in bed. "What the..your already out of bed, and getting ready...without being forced out of bed?!" He leaned against the door frame, completely in shock as he watched his sister finish up her eyeliner. "Who are you and what have you done with my little storm?!"
"Haha" she mouthed to her brother, as she grabbed her parents rings, secured them around her neck, and placed the necklace rings under her cosmic tank top.
Her brother was perplexed. He stood there, mulling over in his head any possible reason his sister could do a 180 over one nigh... Then it hit him.
He looked into his sister vanity mirror, waiting for her to notice his gaze as she adjusted her bracelets in the mirror. When she checked to make sure her eyeliner wasn't ruined, that's when she noticed the goofy smile on her brothers face.
"What" she mouthed to her brother reflection as she put her blue gem earnings on.
He took a long, exaggerated step forward, making sure to put his whole body into the motion. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that friend you made last night...would it?" Alistor wasn't stupid, part of his job was to be able to read people to see their true intentions, you could call him a living lie detector. Trickle of sweat, breath caught in throat, pupils dilated, avoiding eyes contact, Calypso is checking everyone one of his boxes. And that proved it, he hit it right on the head.
"Who is he," he asked bluntly, crossing his arms with a triumphant smile on his face. Calypso didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to get her hopes up. She just made a friend, the first one in...a long time. She didn't want to ruin it, and that included her over protective brother inserting himself into it.
"Look" she signed, grabbing her case and looking him dead in the eye. "He is nice, the first nice person who has acknowledged my potential and sees the same connection I make with people that I see...what mom and dad knew I could do..." she took a moment, adjusting the strap on her case to calm herself, her parents were always a touchy subject for the both of them. "I don't want to make a big deal out of this. He gave me his number and we are getting coffee. So please, big bro, do not make this a big deal. Please."
Alistor shuffled his feet, staring blankly at his sister. "Okay little storm, I trust your judgment with this. I'm just happy you were able to find someone you can feel comfortable around. Just promise, you will be careful."
Calypso gave her brother a half smile as she held her pinky up. He in turn, took his pinky and wrapped it around hers. Calypso took a deep breath and said, "I p..p...promise big bro!"
Alistor smiled. It wasn't often he would get to hear his sister talk, only a very select few times, when she seemed to be happy, did he get a couple of words here or there.
"Alright..let's head out. Don't want to miss your date!"
"Not a d.date!"
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It was around 9 in the morning when the Gleam siblings graced the city with there presents, and the Boom Box was already in full swing.
"Okay kid," Alistor started as he leaped from the drivers seat, "you have fun today. Don't anything I wouldn't do."
Calypso leaped from the passenger seat of the hover car, giving her brother a punch to the shoulder as she landed.
"Okay okay. Remember, in front of Boom Box, same place, same time. Got it." His sister sported a grand thumbs up, before turning to find Veneer in the crowd.
She didn't need to look hard though, because right in her usual spot, stood that same grey hoody, but this time Veneer was sporting some dark sunglasses to cover his face just a little more. He is actually here she thought. He wasn't joking.
She slowly approached him, and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. This caused him to jump a couple of feet in the air before turning around to see it was only Calypso.
"Oh my FRAZ, you scared me. I thought you were a fan that noticed me or even worse...Crimp looking for me." That last line caused a shiver to go down his spine, which earned a giggle from his new friend. She gave him a warm smile, and gestured to his attire.
"What..oh my new glasses. Like them, thought they gave me an extra layer of mystery." He used his bendy arms and legs to exaggerate his words. Calypso rolled her eyes at his exaggeration and pulled out her pad of paper.
"Your mystery will become an open and shut case if you keep drawing attention to yourself." This statement caused Veneer to bring his dramatic self down a couple of notches. A pink layer of blush dusted his checks at his embarrassment. Which caused Calypso to blush as well.
"Well you ready for some coffee?" Veneer asked, which caused Calypso to nod her head vigorously.
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Only a few blocks down from the Boom Box, Veneer and Calypso found themselves in a little hole in the wall cafe called "OMG coffee." It was small, a couple of tables hear and there with plants hanging from the ceiling and placed at ever table. A small window seat was also available for seating. And that was screaming to Calypso. Veneer noticed her draw to the open cushion seating by the window and nudged her. "Go ahead and claim it, I can get us the drinks. You okay with a latte?"
Calypso nodded in response and fast walked to claim their spot. The cushions were plush and soft. The view outside the window wasn't bad either, they had a nice view of the park that was across the street. Calypso saw everything from couples walking their pets, kids playing with each other, and...happy families...having a great time. The smile on her face seemed to dip a little thinking about her parents. The park was one of the spots they would bring her and her brother all the time, it was their little family get aways.
"Well, well, well," an obnoxious voice sliced through the air, shaking Calypso out of her seldom thoughts and brought her into a more upsetting reality. There, directly in front of her, was Vance, the guy that would not leave her alone at the club. She pretended she didn't see him and continued to look out the window.
"Oh, what's wrong sweet heart," he cooed, inching closer to her at the window. "Kitty got your tongue?" When he didn't get a response, he took that as an invitation to move closer. "What is a pretty thing like you doing alone again. You know that's not a good idea for someone like yourself. Why don't you come by my..."
"Sorry, who are you?" Another familiar voice cut the one sided conversation short, and brought Calypso some relief.
"What is it too you" Vance snapped back.
"Well, from a concerned friend. I can see you are making my friend REALLY uncomfortable. So if you could just shoo along, that would be great. Thanks" Veneer was very blunt and straight to the point. Carefully moving his hands as he spoke to not spill the coffee, but enough to get his point across.
Vance squared up in front of Veneer, making himself look more intimidating. "What give you the right to butt in on my conversation?"
"The moment you presents insulted my friends, and I call the time of death on this conversation, right..." As Veneer checked his "watch" he "accidentally" spilled half of his latte on Vance's shirt. "Now."
"Uh...what is your problem. Fine whatever," he looked Veneer and Calypso dead in the eyes. "This is not over!" And stormed out of the cafe.
Veneer sat down on the cushion as he watched the agitated teen, try to clean off his jumpsuit while simultaneously trying not to get hit by passing hover cars.
"Okay.." Veneer stated, handing Calypso her full up of coffee. "That was interesting, what was that about?"
Calypso rolled her eyes, "long story" she mouthed before taking a sip.
"I got time, try me" he stated leaning himself against the window frame, taking a sip of his own latte. Calypso took the time to write down every detail of her first interaction with Vance and his "charming" self. Veneer giggled the inter time she was writing, and when she got to the part about her brother having to threaten him, Veneer almost spit out his coffee.
"I knew that guy looked familiar," he stated, more to himself, but still loud enough to where Calypso was completely puzzled. "You remember that guy I told you about that tried to jump the stage last night?"
Calypso, thought back to her text thread and nodded. "That was him!" Calypso's mouth dropped, that guys is just a creep all around.
The both of them had a good laugh over their stories connections. Then, they continued with small talk. You know the normal questions, "where are you from?" "Favorite color, animal, ect." Then, Veneer got a little personal. "What was your inspiration to do the violin?" To anyone, that's a normal, average question. But to Calypso, that questions brought back some feelings she wasn't ready to let someone's else see yet.
So she stuck with the tried and true "I have always loved the sound it makes. And I felt it was a great way to express myself."
Veneer sipped his coffee as he took in Calypso's writing. "Fair enough, it's better than our connection to music." This peaked Calypso's interest, she placed her coffee down on the cushion and leaded into her folded hands waiting for him to continue.
Veneer took a deep breath and started. "Well at first, Val and I had the same idea. Fame. That's all we wanted, fame money, etc. However, over the past few months, I have seen how are music has touched so many lives, and I've seen how your playing brings people together. I love the attention, for sure, but I love the way that my voice makes people smile and cheer. I guess you can say, I fell in love with music because of the connection it has to everyone." He looked out to the playground, watching all of the families play. "It doesn't matter how old, young, poor, rich you are, music always finds some ways to bring people together. Help unite the uncommon. I'm grateful that we can help make that happen."
Calypso was shocked by his response. Not only was he being 100% genuine with his answer, but he talked with passion and care in his voice. He really loved the affect that music has on people, just like her parents. This bright a wide smile to her face, and a single stray tear to leave her eye, which Veneer whipped away with his thumb.
"I know my singing voice can pull on people's heart strings, but I didn't know my speaking voice could do the same thing." He lightly giggled, which earned a light punch to the arm.
"You know, I think you belong on that Boom Box stage!" Veneer blurred out, taking a sip of his coffee, while his statement caused calypso to almost choke on hers. "What, the crowd you can pull outside the club, could you imagine the crowd you could get if you performed in the club.!" His passion began to shine through his disguise, and people were beginning to stare.
Calypso motioned to Veneer to show that it was probably time to head back, before he blows his cover.
They began to head out the door, until Veneer abruptly stopped, causing Calypso to look back in concern.
"With your permission and cooperation, I think I have an idea to help get you on that stage!"