Joshler Fluff

We all have blurry faces

Josh jerked awake.

What time was it? Where was he again? Josh stared blankly around, his sleep-fuzzed brain trying to make sense of the shadowy objects around him.

Ah, yes.

He was was on the bus.

They were travelling up the east coast, doing a few small meet-and-greets, acoustic sessions and extra concerts. And it was only...

Josh craned his stiff neck and stared blearily at his alarm clock.

4:45 a.m.

Josh moaned irratably and rubbed his eyes. Now that he was up, he was starving.

He and Tyler had gotten some Chinese takeout and had spent the whole evening watching Dumb and Dumber. When Josh had left Tyler at 11:00, Tyler had been saying something about writing a few new song ideas down.

But he had gone to bed.

Right?

Josh slipped out of his bunk and crossed into the living room/kitchen area.

The light was on and sitting in a pool of papers was-

"Tyler?"

Tyler started and whirled around. His eyes were hollowed out wirh exhaustion and a weird, wild, crearive energy that Josh had never seen.

"Josh!" he exclaimed hoarsely. "What on earth are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question, Joseph." Josh yawned and pulled up a chair. "Have you slept at all?"

Tyler dropped his pencil and massaged his face wearily. He looked drained. "Not a wink. I also really need to pee."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Then pee! The paper won't grow legs and run away, you know."

Tyler slapped the table in frustration. "No! I can't leave! I'm so close!"

Josh shook his head. Tyler was a genius, without a doubt. And all geniuses seem to have the habit of loosing all self-preservation methods when faced with a creative influx. In the dim light, Tyler looked confused and unhappy. Josh sighed and gripped Tyler's hands.

"Buddy, take a break. Pee. Eat something. Sleep, for heaven's sake. You're not a robot."

Tyler shook his head like a two year-old. "I can't..."

Josh gently pulled Tyler's hands away from the piles of papers and notes and lyrics. "Here. I knkrw what to do. Go and sit on the couch."

"But-" Tyler started to protest but Josh but him off.

As Tyler dragged his exhausted body across the floor, Josh hunted around for a pad of paper and a pencil. He finally found them, buried under several crumpled balls of paper and a coffee mug.

"Okay," said Josh, sitting down close to Tyler and brandishing the pencil. "You just say whatever ideas you've been having, and when you feel comfortable, we can write them down nice and nearly. You cannot function in that mess of an area."

Tyler nodded slowly. "Okay. So, I was thinking about what our new album should be like, because we kinda have to start thinking about that soon. And I want it to ve a very real and true album, kinda like Vessel, but different. More modern elements to the music."

Josh scrunched his eyebrows together. "What, like pop or something?"

Tyler made a so-so gesture wjth his hands. "Sort of. Vessel was a very techno and electronic album, and I want the new one to embrace more modern sounds. I want more drums, Josh, because you deserve more limelight. I want those nice steady beats. And," he snapped his fingers excitedly. "Whistling! I feel that would be good. And...fast raps. I love rapping fast. I wanna do that some more."