Don't Stop The Music

- six -

"Yo, Esther," Robin said, when she'd pushed open the curtain that led backstage. Most of the set had been assembled and sanded down by now, so they had begun the monumental task of painting it all. Esther loved the way the set seemed to magically progress a little further each time she arrived: mainly down to all the work Eli and Anthea put in after school, working right up until the school closed. "I checked out the songs you sent me earlier."

"Oh yeah," she said, coming over to him. "See anything you'd like to work on?"

"All of them, really," he said, with a sheepish laugh. "I mean, they're all so good. It would just be nice to have something to do with them."

"I've got some good news for you, then," Esther said. "You kinda already do."

Robin laughed gently. He laughed exactly the way she expected him to: soft and bright and easy, his whole face lighting up a little. Esther felt a smile quirk at the edge of her mouth: his good spirit was contagious. She always felt like life was a little easier around him.

"So, how far have you got?" she asked. "We'll need to move quite quickly, seeing as the festival is so soon..."

"Actually, I finished one of them, and I've started another one, so it's looking good so far."

She looked up, surprised. "Already?"

"Well, the one I finished was like three-quarters done already," he said. "And I haven't done the mastering or finishing touches or anything, so it's not really complete."

"Still, that's brilliant. Which one did you finish?"

Robin grinned. "Oh, that's a tricky question. You give all your songs such weird titles."

"My song titles are amazing," she said, deadpan. "What are you saying."

"Amazing, huh? 'Blue turtle 3'? What happened to blue turtles one and two?"

"Horrific motorbike accident. Condolences to their friends and family."

"Alright, 'Fields and happy clouds'? 'Prelude to a Slightly Longer Prelude?' Or, my personal favourite, 'MUST FINISH THIS SONG I AM NOT JOKING ESTHER'. You're like a really alternative hipster band. You know, the ones that name their songs with titles that have absolutely no relation to the song whatsoever."

"Huh. What did it sound like, then? Gimme some clues and I should be able to guess."

"...well, it started out with this really slow glock and piano intro and then it ended just as you put the strings and the drums in and it started getting faster..."

"Oh. Topaz Heartache."

He clicked his fingers. "Topaz Heartache," he said. "Of course, how could it have slipped my mind."

Esther smiled. "Okay, okay, I get it."

Robin grinned back. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to do some work on them together after school? I think it would be more helpful to get some of your input while I'm writing, so I don't, y'know, stray too far from your original vision or anything."

"Robin, at this point, as long as I get a full set by December I don't care what you write."

He shook his head. "I think we can do this. You and me, we're gonna blow some minds this December."

She shrugged. "Well, I mean...I just sort of write as I go along. I don't really have grand plans or anything."

"Even better," Robin said. "We'll have a constant source of inspiration to work from."