Defending Our Empire

Clarity at Best

*HALF EDITED BUT VOTE AND COMMENT LOVELIES *

Reign walked the hallway that shielded the studios. She was excited as hell. Finally she was about to become the star she anyways dreamed of being. She felt like her inner child was throwing a nonstop party. She had made 14 year old Leilani Reign proud as hell. As she reached studio 4, she saw Lyric's handwriting on a note. She peeked her head inside to see what her child was doing . Much to her surprise it was just Lyric and Jamal in the studio. Her shy baby was actually in the booth and singing. She crept in slowly, taking a seat off to the side so she wouldn't be seen. "Don't stop her. I'm just checking in. How did you get her out of her shell?" "A common denominator if you would." "Yall both gay? That's it?" "You know!?" "Duh. That's my child. I pushed her out my cat. You think I don't know that?"

"Well she thinks you're like Renee on that little topic." Reign sighed. She didn't know that piece of information though. Why would she think that? "Is that why she didn't outright tell me?" "Maybe. I think yall need to talk though." "Yeah we do. I'll be back. I got a meeting but I'll come talk to her afterwards." Jamal nodded as he dropped the volume, giving Lyric that hint of a capella within the song. "Whooo! You made this Reign. She needs your support." Reign watched her child belt her heart out once the beat dropped. "She has it. She just doesn't know it." Reign stood up and headed to her meeting. If she was honest, she needed to take a moment and think about how she was going to approach this.

That's what made her and Renee different. She would rather think before reacting in case she said the wrong thing. If her meds weren't calibrated, that was a different story. She didn't want Lyric to go on in life believing her mental illness was how she truly felt. She knew Lyric liked girls since she hit puberty. She never shamed her. She knew about the 'best friend' she had for 4 years. She knew the real reason Lyric cried so hard day and night all summer when that 'best friend' out the blue wanted nothing to do with Lyric. She was right there everyday giving her the comfort and love she needed to get through it. Reign loved everything about Lyric. Including how and who she loved.

Walking into studio 6, she put on a smile as she saw Cookie and August conversating. "Oh there she is. Reign baby this is August. "Hey how are you doing?" "Hi I'm great! I'm such a fan of yours." "Thank you thank you. I'm a major fan of yours though. That performance you did with Jamal blew me away. I been trying to find a project for us to work on and finally came across one. Had to reach out to Cookie and see if you'd be up for it," August explained. "Imma let yall talk and work. I have another meeting to get to," Cookie said with a grin as she sent a text. "Mmhmm. Tell my daddy I said hi," Reign tossed. Cookie glared at her, flipping her off. August laughed at the two. He was seeing first hand how much they sounded alike and looked alike. They really were twins like everyone said.

Once Cookie left, the two sat down to discuss the track. "Okay so tell me about the song," Reign eagerly voiced. "It's called Water Sign. Kind of a ummm a love song. Me myself I'm not a water sign but I fell in love with one and my daughter is one." "I'm not one either. My youngest is. And my new little sister is. And both my parents are. No wonder they act like that." "A male pisces and female scorpio? Yeah that'll do it," the two laughed. August pressed play on the playback, letting Reign hear what he had so far. "I see you vibing," he pointed out. "I am. No for real this is fire. The underlying tribals sound. I'm loving this. So maybe something like......"

Spin off the line and your smile is as bright as the moon
Keep you close in your ways, keep you safe, that's what I'll, that's what I'll do
Pray for the day that you notice I been here for you
Look, what they say? I don't give a damn, I want you

"Oh hold up now. I wasn't expecting you to fly off the dome like that. You really are Lucious Lyon daughter," August tossed as he restarted the track. Reign giggled. She loved hearing that. It made her feel like she belonged. "Get in the booth. We gotta get this down." Reign hopped up and went inside to record. It took no time for her to get in a zone. She love the way music blanketed her. She loved how warm she felt wrapped up in its security. Music was something she couldn't fail at. It was in her blood. She couldn't escape it if she wanted to. "Run that back one more time for me," August voiced. This track was absolute gold.