Becoming

Sun And Steel

As Dave got off the lift on the band's floor and started towards his room, he could hear a riff being played, then a pause, then the same riff being played with a slight variation, the sound coming from behind Steve's door. He smiled and collected his own guitar, then went and tapped on Steve's door. "Got room for one more in this jam session?" he asked when the bassist answered.

"Yeah, sure, c'mon in," Steve said. "We figured you'd be with Tamar all afternoon."

Dave shrugged a bit as he entered. "Jet lag and all's catching up to her, I guess," he said. "We did our shopping and called our mums, but she decided to have a kip after. Said I should collect her for dinner." He chuckled a bit and added, "I didn't feel like sitting there watching her sleep, y'know? I was going to grab a book when I heard you two playing and decided company would be better than reading."

"Everything go all right with the phone calls?" Ade asked. "No death threats from her da or anything?"

"Not yet, anyway," Dave said. "Her mum isn't best pleased, of course, but seems willing to give me a fair chance to prove myself. I will say that her first thought was I must be looking to marry someone just to be able to stay in the US, at least, that's what it sounded like from Tamar's end of the conversation. She told her mum I wasn't from some Third World country or trying to escape the Soviet bloc."

Steve and Ade both laughed at that. "I won't say there's not some good things about the States," Steve said, "but I'd not want to live here permanently. NHS might have its problems, but at least we don't have to worry about not getting cancer treatments for lack of money to pay for it."

Dave wrinkled his nose. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted. "Guess that's something I'll have to look into, as I'm pretty sure Tamar will want to be near her family considering how often I'll be gone for tours and recording sessions and all that."

"Talk to Rod, mate, he might not know exactly what sort of health insurance you'll need, but he will know who to ask," Steve suggested. "I don't know details, but I know he's got a health insurance policy on the lot of us, in case one of us gets injured or ill during our time in the States."

"Good thing, too, considering Bruce ended up in hospital," Ade commented.

"Yeah," Dave agreed. "So what are you two working on?"

"Something Ade wrote," Steve said. "He just wanted a second opinion as to which key sounds better. I personally think it sounds great no matter which key it's in, and we probably ought to wait for Bruce to be back with us, see which key sounds better with his voice, y'know?"

"Yeah," Dave said. "What've you got so far?"

Ade shifted position slightly, moving his guitar a little and angling himself so that Dave could sit beside him. "Not sure what I'm calling this one," Ade said. "But here's what I got so far." He played the riff Dave had heard as he approached, only this time he went into what was obviously the chorus.

"Oh, I like that," Dave said with a smile. "Got any lyrics yet?"

"Nothing ready to sing," Ade said. "Got a few lines that popped into my head, but I still gotta figure out how they go together, you know?"

"Considering my lack of talent for lyrics, I'll take your word for it," Dave chuckled.

"Well, I understand, even if Davey doesn't," Steve said with a grin of his own.

The three of them tossed ideas around for another hour or so, then Steve decided to go find Rod and see if he'd made plans as far as where the band would stay given that there were at least two other shows cancelled besides the remainder of their Radio City Music Hall dates. He headed downstairs, assuming that Rod would be in the hotel business centre, while Dave followed Ade to his room.