resplendent *gawsten* ✓

Chapter Nineteen

2.18.18
edit 8.25.20

1,140 words

otto p.o.v.

i walked into the house, towing a wagon with my drum kit in it behind me. i suppose i slammed the door shut because geoff and awsten both jumped and turned away from their zelda game. they looked confused as they looked at my drums.

i took my hi-hat and started carrying it upstairs. "awsten, your guitars are upstairs in your studio, right?"

"he said yeah, why?" geoff called.

i stopped at the top of the stairs. "well, grab a drum and let's go set them up!"

i didn't hear what else they had to say because i was too far away. i went into awsten's room and straight to his closet. i had some trouble lifting my hi-hat into his attic space. then i lifted myself into the studio.

the other two were there, each holding a four tom. i take awsten's first and set it down next to me. he immediately turned and jogged out of his room.

"what are we doing?" geoff asked as he handed me the other four tom.

"i wrote a song or two." i said as i get down. "awsten's written god knows how many. i'm bored. this is our dream. we're gonna record an ep or somethin'."

"with what equipment?"

"i bought some stuff a while ago," i replied. "we're gonna use that." awsten came up the stairs with my ride symbol. "hold on, buddy," i added to him. "put that down and come grab my snare please. geoff and i gotta get the bass drum."

he nodded and did as i asked. it was hard to lift the bass drum up the stairs, but geoff and i managed it. within ten minutes, my drums were set up in a corner that awsten cleared up of mostly trash and cds. geoff went to go get his guitar, and awsten started tuning his.

"juh-jam sesh?" he asked me, looking down at his guitar.

"yeah." i answered. "i'll be back, gotta get somethin'."

geoff passed me as i went to go get the recording equipment. he stopped me though to ask, "you sure he'll be okay with this?"

i shrugged and nodded. "yeah. even if he doesn't wanna share the songs he's written, i've still got some."

he waited for me as i grabbed the equipment. together, we headed back to awsten's studio. i heard him playing and humming long before geoff did, so i had to stop him rather aggressively before we got up the ladder. he opened his mouth to argue, but i put my finger to my lips, and pointed up.

"i'll...used to protect yourself...sharp teeth...'long with me..."

geoff had a crestfallen look on his face. "i'm in love with the god of gods." he whispered. "and i'm dating him."

we climbed up the ladder and sure enough, awsten stopped playing when he heard us. i saw the red creep into his cheeks as he looked away.

geoff and i set up the equipment while awsten hovered around us like a curious cat. he even poked at a microphone and he jumped back from it, most likely not expecting it to make a sound; i guess he didn't see me plug it in. he pointed to it and looked at me with hope in his eyes.

"yeah, that's your job." i told him with a chuckle. his face lit up and he stood in front of it with his guitar strap over his shoulder that was partially holding his guitar for him. he waited not so patiently as geoff and i got our instruments ready.

"go ahead and track some vocals." i told awsten. he gave me a confused look, and i realised that he probably didn't know how. i went over to him and switched the recorder. his eyebrows furrowed and he looked from me, to the recorder, to me again, and then to his microphone. on? he signed.

i nodded. "yeah, though i doubt it can pick up on sign language."

the red was back on his face, but he nodded and stepped closer to the mic. he cleared his throat and sang, "i'll...b-be your sil-silver linin' wrapped-wrapped 'round your fuh-fence..." he sighed and stopped singing. he switched off the recorder, earning a confused look from geoff and myself.

"that was great, what are you doing?" geoff asked.

awsten shrugged and walked over to sit in the yellow loveseat. "i..." he bit his lip and kept an eye on the floor in front of him.

"does it still hurt to talk?" i asked. he shrugged and nodded.

"can we do just one song then?" geoff asked. "one song on vocals, and then we can track everything else until you're ready to sing again?"

why am i the designated singer? awsten argued.

"your voice is hot as shit." geoff answered with a shrug. awsten blushed more at that.

"i second that." i said.

geoff snickered. "okay, we get that you're poly and all that jazz, but awsten's my boyfriend-" he cut himself off with a yelp when i hit him upside the head.

awsten giggled. "let's, th-then."

geoff sat with awsten and held his hand as the latter sang the song into the mic. however, it was during the fourth attempt that he just crossed his arms, his face red from embarrassment.

"how about this?" i suggested. "just sing a few sentences, three or four, at a time. we'll pause the recordin' until you're ready to sing the next few lines."

awsten sighed, but nodded. "'k-kay..."

my plan worked. we were done tracking the vocals in thirty minutes. turned out that awsten had a whole plan for this song. he showed geoff and i the notes he wrote on the song, and how he wanted it to sound. geoff and i were more than glad to oblige.

i saw them whispering to each other as i was tracking the drums. whatever geoff was telling him, it made awsten's face light up.

i wanted that all the time, not just when it was convenient enough.

an idea came to me, and i paused the drum tracking to get my phone to shoot a text to geoff. i watched him take his phone out and to gauge his reaction. we were able to be secretive because awsten was too busy drooling over geoff's guitar.

when geoff read the text and looked back up at me, it looked like he was close to crying. his eyebrows were raised, his eyes were wide, and he mouthed, really?

i shrugged and nodded. i gave him two thumbs up. geoff gave me a really big smile and shoved his phone back into his pocket, and pulled awsten close. awsten gave him a curious look, and geoff just kissed him.

for the first time in a long time, i didn't need to worry about my best friend.