Luca flipped through the rest of the pages in Elaine's binder, half-murmuring, half-humming the half-sung notes as he read through snippets of song lyrics. He tapped a small rhythm while he shifted through each page before gently tapping the stack onto his desk to realign the pages.
"These are… different." He paused for a moment, thoughtfully placing the pages back neatly into the binder. "You don't write like someone trying to impress the masses… It's almost instinctual."
Elaine gave a soft laugh, shaking her head at his words. "That's one way to say that I don't know what I'm doing half the time."
Luca blinked at her from over the binder's edge. "No, that's what makes it good. You don't chase a set formula, you feel it." He flipped through the next few pages, his thumb pausing on a half-sketched chorus line.
"Let me ask you this," Luca hummed, "What usually sparks this stuff? I mean, all this emotion doesn't just come out of nowhere."
Elaine paused, her hands hovering over her keyboard as she pondered how to respond. Thinking for a brief moment before her lips parted. "Anything really." She admitted, "A conversation I happen to overhear, a color that catches my eye, a sound that just… lingers. Even silence can sometimes inspire me."
"That's a dangerous talent," Luca murmured, his gaze thoughtfully examining the sheets in his hands. As he flipped through, a smirk slowly lined his lips.
"'Pushing Buttons,' huh?" he gave a low chuckle, "That track's been living rent-free online lately. I assume you know of the video floating around from NoraDesigns?"
Elaine lifted a hand to conceal her grin as she softly chuckled, "Yeah, that would be Eleanore. She has a habit of posting things without warning me first."
"Good instinct." Luca mused, before zipping the binder back up with everything neatly organized, "That specific video, it's raw. It caught a lot of attention quite quickly. The tension between the bridge and the chorus… that right there is your fingerprint."
Elaine turned to him as he leaned forward, passing the binder back into her hands. A playful but gentle smirk lined his mouth, "Though you could probably tighten up the second verse. It would hit harder if the rhythm breathed before the drop."
Elaine blinked, lifting the pen next to her laptop, swaying it back and forth, "I always thought that part dragged just a bit."
"Exactly." Luca turned his chair, tapping at his keyboard to log onto the mainframe system, "You've got the storytelling nailed, you just need to let the music breathe with it."
Elaine smiled softly, jotting a note in her journal with quick but neat handwriting, "The funny thing is, I never planned to be the one singing. I just liked writing."
"And yet," Luca glanced over towards her, "You sound like someone who's been doing it forever."
Elaine gave a humorous roll of her eyes, "You mean the voice cracks and avoiding strangers?"
"No." Luca lifted a hand, shielding his lips that curved into a small smile. He looked back at his screen as he spoke, "You sound like you mean every word. That's rarer than you'd think."
Elaine tapped her pencil against her chin as she stared at her screen, "Maybe it's easier when you don't think anyone's listening."
Luca snorted, leaning into his hand as he stared at his screen, "That's exactly how I got stuck doing this for a living."
Elaine paused, turning her head to meet his gaze as he glanced her way, "What, accidentally?"
"Pretty much," Luca tilted his head, looking at her from where he lay his head in his hand, "Someone recorded me while I was helping them during a soundcheck. It got half a million plays before I could tell them to take it down."
"No way." Elaine covered her mouth to conceal her laugh, "Well, on the bright side, I guess it worked out for you."
Luca watched her before turning back to his screen, a solemn look passing over his features, "I guess it depends on who you ask."
Elaine watched his expression change and tapped her pencil mindlessly against her hand, "Can I ask you something?"
Luca glanced towards her with a faint, grim smile across his features, "You just did."
Elaine gave a small chuckle, shaking her head before looking at him. "Why'd you stop performing with the rest of Premise? You still write for them, but you haven't taken the stage in over a year."
"There it is." Luca leaned back slightly, his pale blue gaze flicking towards her before dropping down to the floor. "I like to say it's because I wanted to give the younger guys a chance in the spotlight. Sounds noble, right?"
Elaine sank back in her chair, her gaze tracing his expression, "And the truth?"
"The lights got too bright."
Elaine blinked, "Do you mean that literally or-"
"Both." He cut her off before she could finish speaking, his gaze slowly meeting hers for just a moment before he went back to pulling stuff up on his screen.
Elaine hesitated a bit too long before speaking and turned back to her laptop. Why did I have to ask that? She inwardly cursed herself; the tension was palpable, and she felt like a fool for asking that question. Curiosity kills.
Luca glanced towards her silently, pausing in his typing to take a sip of his coffee. For a moment, the awkward tension held; however, he broke the silence first. "Your music videos. Who helps you shoot all of it?"
Elaine paused briefly, turning her head to look at him, checking his expression before giving a faint smile, "Hardly." She shook her head, "Junior film majors Simone Cooke and Samantha handle the filming. Isabel Sharp and Julian Jacks handle the editing portion. Julian specializes in post-production and effects. And Eleanore Davies, of course, helps me design outfits and plans the visuals."
"That's a solid team." Luca leaned his chin on his hand, "You've basically built your own production unit."
"They just… believe in me." Elaine smiled thoughtfully, "I can't take full credit."
Luca gave a curt nod; judging by his expression, Elaine could tell he was impressed. He shifted his chair before opening a file on the soundboard, "Alright," he cleared his throat, "Let me show you what I've been buried with lately."
"This track is called Mutiny." He gave a playful smirk, "Don't judge the unfinished mix."
Elaine turned her chair as he clicked the button to play the track. The speakers hummed before coming to life with a thundering rhythm, threaded together with haunting synths. Elaine listened to the controlled emotion put into the track, immersing herself in a world of imaginary visuals.
"It's fierce," she smiled, tapping her fingers absentmindedly to the beat, "It's like a rebellion but with precision."
"That's the goal," Luca chuckled. He gave a light smile before his phone buzzed. He took a look at the screen and sighed, standing up from his chair, "Give me sec," he murmured, then tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand, "Don't touch anything, troublemaker."
Elaine looked up at him, smiling as he stepped out of the studio, latching the door behind him while she sat with the track still playing. She tapped her pencil, pulling her journal closer as she tapped his mouse to replay the song.
When she closed her eyes, she was able to follow the layers, dissecting them within her mind. After a moment, she opened her eyes again, scribbling quick annotations within a blank page in her journal. She marked tempo notes, time shifts, harmony cues, and wrote a few lyrics that could potentially fit.
Fully immersed in the world Luca had built, she hadn't heard the door open. Luca stood with his arms crossed, leaning with his head on the doorway, observing her silently. When the track faded and she reached to replay it he made his presence known.
"Do you plan to dissect the whole thing or just half?" He inquired, amusement lacing his tone.
"Oh," Elaine jumped, turning her chair to face him as he approached the desk and sat back into his chair, "I didn't hear you come back… Sorry, I-I couldn't help it." She groaned slightly, covering her face with one hand as she leaned her elbow on the desk.
Luca watched her, propping himself up in a similar way before gesturing to her journal with a pen that he had retrieved when he sat back down, when she ultimately glanced toward him. "What's all that?"
"Suggestions." Elaine slowly lifted her head, lifting the journal, "Maybe ideas… You can ignore them."
Luca reached over and gently plucked the notebook from her hands. He kept his gaze on hers for a moment longer before leaning back to scan over her notes. His expression softened into something akin to impressed amusement. "Now, why would I ignore them?" he questioned, raising a brow as he looked at her, "These are sharp. You caught stuff that I didn't even notice."
"Look." He pushed his chair with his foot to his soundboard, propping her notebook up before he began adjusting levels, humming quietly as he tweaked the sound. Once he was satisfied, he hit play and the new mix hummed to life. "Hear that?" he tilted his head over his shoulder, looking at her, "That's your ear in there."
Elaine watched him, listening to the tighter mix, the richer chords. Her lips quirked slightly into a faint smile as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
He implemented the full mix into the original track, altering a few things before replaying the entire thing from the start, then leaned back, observing Elaine. "By the way," he started, his voice low, "The rest of the band will be coming in about an hour."
He watched her silently; there was no reaction. He leaned forward on his elbow, his hand cupping his cheek as he rested his head into his palm. She was too absorbed in the sound. "Right," he quietly chuckled, "Definitely listening."
After a moment longer of watching her expressions, he pushed his chair to his laptop and began scrolling through his project files while Mutiny played on a loop and Elaine tapped her pencil against her returned journal. He paused, dragging a file onto the display before lifting a spare headset towards Elaine. "So, this one's been eating at me for weeks."
Elaine slid her chair over, securing the headphones over her head with one ear uncovered. He lifted his own set over his head, "Half the band thinks I'm losing it, but it's supposed to sound like a system glitching on purpose." He explained, hitting play.
Elaine listened, her fingers tapping against the desk as she subconsciously counted beats, "It's got that effect already." She admitted, "It feels like something's trying to break free but stuck on a loop."
"Exactly, Mutiny." Luca tapped his own fingers against the desk, "The title kind of gives it away. It's like you said before: rebellion but with precision. It's not chaos, it's more like…" he lifted a hand under his chin, "Surgical defiance."
"That's bold." Elaine smiled, "It kind of sounds like a statement." She stopped herself before she mentioned how the lyrics also sounded personal in parts.
"Yeah," Luca nodded, "It's a shot at… hm, well, being built to fit a mold." He shrugged. His tone was casual, but the way his gaze stayed fixed on the screen seemed like he was daring her to catch the meaning. "What do you think? Be brutal."
Elaine refrained from asking the meaning behind the lyrics and instead grinned slightly, "You sure? Brutal is kind of my default."
Luca's brows lifted as he turned his head to look at her, "That's why I'm asking you."
He hits play on a larger file, one with the added vocals. Elaine caught Lucian's voice immediately as his controlled tone cut through the layering. She listened carefully, picturing everything in real time as each note played and each lyric was sung. When it came to a close, she gestured for him to replay it.
"Pause," Elaine's voice had Luca pausing the track, "Add a faint heartbeat under that synth. You have static there, but if you give it a pulse, it'll sound like the machine's alive." She pursed her lips, half-closing her eyes while she imagined the rhythm in her head.
Luca tapped his chin, moving his cursor across his screen, "Like a heartbeat under a system reboot… yeah." He input the layering, played it again, and he leaned back with an impressed smirk across his features, "That's sick. I like that."
Luca flipped open a page in his own journal to write a few notes, listening to the track while Elaine leaned in with her elbows resting on her desk.
"Hold up," Elaine tapped her finger, causing him to bring the track to a pause, "Go back to the start of that verse."
Luca dragged the playback to the beginning and played it. When she waved her hand, he stopped the track. "What are you thinking?"
Elaine scribbled the lyrics into her journal, "The line: 'Got lessons from fire they'll never learn.' Add a distorted echo." He turned his head to her, and she gave a soft smile, "Adding it will make it seem like he's arguing with his own reflection… like he's fighting the system and himself."
Luca gave a faint nod, "A feedback ghost," he hummed. "I like that idea."
He input everything he needed before turning back to her, "When you hear sound, you think in visuals, don't you?"
Elaine blinked, turning her head and attention to Luca from his screen, then smiled, "Guilty."
Luca leaned into his hand, watching her while his free hand clicked play again to pull her attention back into the music. A simple trick, one that worked, making it so that he could observe her focus. He smiled into his hand before his current task was interrupted by his phone vibrating from a call. He sighed, picking it up to look at the screen.
"I'll be right back." He stood, answering as he exited the room, leaving Elaine caught between watching him leave and listening to the music.
She leaned her chin on her wrist. I shouldn't touch anything, I know better… but the rhythm's off by a hair…
Elaine rewound the track, writing in her journal anything she could think of while listening to the track. Alignments, decays, and even lyrical phrasing tweaks filled the once blank page as she listened. The track slowly faded out after about the third loop, and Elaine sat back, spinning the chair just to get startled by Luca, who was staring at her.
"You-" Elaine pulled her headphones down around her neck, "You're like a ghost."
Luca gave a soft chuckle as he walked over, "A ghost, huh?" He sat in his chair, looking at her journal, "Should I be worried about you trying to steal my job?"
Elaine chuckled, passing her journal to him, "I could never steal your job. I could never compare."
Luca raised his eyebrows, looking over everything written on the page. Leaning on his hand, "Don't sell yourself short." He tapped his index finger on a line, "Truth is a weapon, and I'm what it freed…"
Elaine fidgeted with her pencil, nodding, "It was just a note for Casen's verse. I heard a rhythm gap."
Luca hummed, glancing over at her, "You fill gaps too well for this to be accidental." He pushes play on the track after transferring her notes into sound, leaning back to listen. "The others will be here shortly."
After a moment of her not responding, he rested his head on his shoulder to look at her, "You really don't hear anything else when you work, do you?"
"Not when the sound's right," Elaine murmured without missing a beat.
Luca bit his bottom lip, laughing under his breath. He shook his head, looking between Elaine and the monitors, looking both impressed and utterly doomed.