Elaine flipped a page in her journal, listening to the hum from the monitors as the track of Mutiny began to fade out. Luca took a sip from his coffee cup, about to loop the track back with some newly added suggestions, when a loud knock echoed through the room, grabbing both their attention.
"Delivery service is here, Hunt!" Rylan's cheerful voice came through the door as it was opened by one of the other members, "Got breakfast and actual caffeine that doesn't taste like battery acid!"
"You mean you finally learned how to pick up a proper order?" Luca had propped himself up on the arm of his chair, chuckling.
"Praise me, mortals." Rylan grinned, holding up the bags of food in a dramatic pose.
Casen bounced around Rylan to slip into the room, "Only if you got my sandwich right this time."
"You mean your 'five layers of complicated'? Yeah, I triple-checked it just to shut you up." Rylan announced.
"Oh." Enzo had entered behind them, exchanging a nod with Luca as the chaos duo bickered, his dark blue gaze landed on Elaine, the first of the group to notice she was there. "We've got company," he spoke in a calm tone, "Thought last night's mystery girl was a myth."
Elaine concealed her laugh behind her hand as Casen and Rylan both stopped mid-bicker to turn and stare at her. "Guess I ruined your legend then," she mused, looking to Luca, "Sorry about that."
Casen squinted at Luca, then hopped behind Rylan, peering around him. "You didn't ruin anything. Nah, you upgraded the view." He grinned before his expression slightly contorted, "Unless you're secretly here to grade us or something."
"Depends," Elaine hummed, "Does your report card come with coffee?"
A grin spread across Rylan's face as he looked between Elaine and Luca, "I like her already."
Lucian gave a soft laugh behind the group, slipping his phone into his pocket as he closed the door and walked over to Elaine and Luca, "Have you eaten yet?" he inquired, looking at Elaine.
Elaine blinked, then gave an awkward chuckle, "No, I might have gotten a bit distracted."
"You're lucky Luca doesn't let people starve around him." Lucian chuckled, nudging Luca's shoulder with his hand.
Luca leaned his head onto his shoulder, giving a calm smile. "Yeah, that last call I took, I went ahead and placed an order for them to pick up on the way here."
"He takes care of his crew!" Casen beamed, jumping around like a cat high on catnip.
Luca chuckled, rolling his eyes at Casen's boundless energy, "Survival first, music second… sometimes."
Elaine gave a mischievous smile, turning her head into her hand, mock whispering, "He says that like he didn't survive off coffee and air when you first debuted."
Luca and Casen both turned to her with expressions of bewilderment. "Wait," Casen's eyes widened before he laughed, "You knew about that?"
Elaine laughed, turning back to them. "Everyone knew that. You guys were chaos incarnate the first year," she mused, smiling. "It was kind of inspiring."
"Inspiring." Lucian echoed before grinning. "That's one word for it."
Rylan had set the bags down on a table near the coffee machine, and Enzo began shifting through them, distributing the meals to each person in the room. Enzo shook his head, "I think disastrous fits better," he murmured.
Rylan plopped down, crossing his legs on the floor with his food and his drink. "Or legendary. Really, depends on the angle."
Luca lifted his straw, pointing it playfully at Rylan, "How about the angle where you nearly passed out mid-chorus?"
"Allegedly!" Rylan quipped back, "Where I allegedly almost passed out."
Elaine looked between them, thanking Luca quietly for the meal as she chuckled at their banter, "You all sound like someone's about to make a documentary."
Casen, who had sat down next to Rylan, lifted his drink, tilting it towards Elaine, "Don't tempt the fans. They'll do it by the end of the week."
Lucian took a sip of his drink, sliding a chair next to Luca, "Someone already did." He chuckled, "Remember the era: From Underground to Stage Kings?"
Casen grimaced while Rylan dramatically groaned, "That edit had my worst haircut, man."
"Ah, yes, the orange phase," Luca smirked.
"Ha!" Casen leaned back, "The traffic cone era!"
Elaine covered her mouth to prevent spitting out her drink when she laughed. "Oh no, that was real? I thought that was a filter."
"You traitor!" Rylan spun and threw a napkin at Casen like it was war. Casen caught it and tried to put him in a mock chokehold, only to fail, and they both landed sprawled out laughing on the floor.
Lucian chuckled, taking a bite of his sandwich while shaking his head. He wiped his mouth before turning to look at Elaine, "So, Wolfbyte."
Elaine blinked, half-amused, "You really calling me that offline?"
"Hey, it's iconic." Lucian shrugged, closing one eye while still looking at her before opening it again, "The fanbase forums practically worship your work."
Casen gave a few nods, bobbing his head, "Yeah! Like, half our fanbase reposted your Glass Heart single when it dropped."
Elaine leaned back, giving a small shrug. "That was just me experimenting with sound layering and some random lyrics for a class project. I didn't expect it to blow up the way it did."
"You've got a good ear." Luca tilted his head towards her, giving a soft smile, "The balance you have between vocal texture and reverb… It's rare."
Elaine blinked, surprised, "...Thank you."
"Translation: he respects you," Rylan grinned playfully, "That's like… Luca's version of an autograph."
"You done translating my emotions?" Luca questioned, dryly.
Rylan's grin got wider as he leaned forward, "Never."
Casen looked between the two, grinning like an idiot. "You two fight like brothers, I swear."
"They are brothers," Enzo spoke softly from where he had been observing everyone, "Just not by choice."
Lucian covered his mouth, finishing a bite of his sandwich. "Artistic suffering builds unbreakable bounds."
"Or deep emotional trauma," Elaine teased, "All depends on the tempo."
"She gets it." Rylan bobbed his head up and down, nodding, then tilted his cup towards her, "She gets it!"
They laughed, shaking their heads as they ate their meals, Casen and Rylan starting a small war over a French fry before Luca tossed a pen at them, telling them to settle down. Enzo picked up the trash bin and calmly collected the trash from everyone before they settled to relax before their rehearsal.
Lucian leaned back in his chair, looking at Elaine, "So, you're the one who added the heartbeat percussion to Mutiny, huh?"
Elaine's brows furrowed, confused, "I… we just did that, how did you know that?"
Lucian chuckled, "Luca sent a recording to Rylan, who can't keep secrets, and well, Luca's grin gave it away that you did something when we entered."
Luca lifted a hand, swaying it, "What? I was impressed." He smirked, "You try meeting someone who actually gets your reverb layering on the first listen."
"The last intern we had thought the baseline was a printer malfunction," Casen pointed out.
"Well, to be fair, it did sound like one before it was fixed." Elaine teased.
Casen turned to her and clutched his chest, "You wound me, Wolf."
"Oh, she's brutal," Rylan snickered, "I vote we keep her around."
Lucian looked to Luca, a silent exchange between the two, before Luca shrugged, and Casen jumped up to his feet. He grinned, pulling out his phone, "Gather around!"
Rylan pushed himself across the floor closer to Lucian while Enzo leaned behind Luca, holding a headset, looking at Casen as he backed up and angled his phone, "Smile, new friend. I'm getting proof we socialize!" He beamed happily, capturing the moment before plopping back down, tapping away.
[Instagram Post: "Breakfast 🍳@MixItUp #MutinyMornings #WolfInTheHouse"]
"Ack!" Rylan blinked before jumping to his feet to get to Casen, "Don't tag her! She'll get swarmed."
Elaine leaned back, smiling playfully, "Too late, I've already made peace with my future doomscroll."
Lucian tilted his head, sipping his drink, "You handle chaos well. That's a good trait to have around here."
Casen leaned back, ultimately falling onto his back to look at everyone from an upside-down viewpoint, "She does, I like her." He hummed, "Also, FYI, I did not tag her, but, uh, our fanbase did."
Luca shook his head, resting his hands over his face, muttering something incoherent that made Lucian laugh.
"I don't know what he just said, but I have a feeling," Rylan hummed, causing Casen to bob his head up and down.
"You're probably correct," Lucian humored.
Enzo pulled the headphones off, looping them around his neck. "So, rehearsal is in twenty." He tipped his head, causing his hair to fall across his face as he looked at Elaine, "You sticking around, Wolf?"
Elaine turned her chair to look at Enzo before looking at Luca, who peeked at her through his hand, "If I'm not in the way."
"You're fine!" It wasn't Luca or Lucian, but Rylan who spoke up, "Half of us end up running late anyway." His head tilted, giving Casen a humorous glare, "Some more than others."
Casen gasped, sitting up with his hands up, "It's called artistic timing."
"It's a hazard." Lucian deadpanned.
Luca relaxed against his chair, "I call it tradition." He then turned his head over his shoulder to look at Elaine, "You might as well stay. You'll get to see the chaos in surround sound."
Elaine stifled a laugh at the image that came to her mind, "Well, then, I guess I'm staying." She paused, then gave a small smile, "Besides… I still owe you breakfast ideas, don't I?"
Luca propped himself up, looking her over, then smiled, "Yeah, you do."