*&. 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐓.

it seems almost comical that the tour buswould break down mid in the middle of an argument   ,   a sort of thing you would only ever see on those comical cartoon shows from the late seventies. doesn’t help that the nearest town was far too long of a walk for anyone to venture in the middle of the night   ,   meaning they were stuck without much of a plan until at least the next morning. luckily for them   ,   or maybe very unlucky to be honest   ,   there was an old house just a couple of steps away   ,   no doubt abandoned judging by the state of the place. the old house   (   or mansion he supposes was the more proper term for it   )   was pretty run down   &  with probably no heating to speak of   ,   but bill figures they really can’t complain too much about it   ,   though it doesn’t stop his bandmates from whining about it the moment they walk through the door. hmm   ,   bandmates   —   the word is used loosely here   ,   only because he wasn’t really part of the band   ,   or at least   ,   not when they first initially created it. no   ,   those guys did the easy part of naming it   &   assigning who did what   (   skeletons in the closet ... not a very unique name   ,   but bill can’t say he’d do any better   )   ,   but it wasn’t until they realized they didn’t have an ounce of soul or writing prowess in their bodies when it came to writing lyrics   (   or at least   ,   ones with meaning anyway   )   that they realized they’d need to fix that. enter bill   ,   who never initially intended to be in the music scene   ,   but thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a few interesting credits on his resume   ,   &   it probably would do wonders when impressing the ladies too   (   his eyes are only on one woman   ,   a beautiful miss audra phillips who is no doubt much   ‘   too cool   ’   for him   ).

he signed on to simply write   &   be good at it  ,   a part of deal easy enough to uphold   ,   but he never intended to be apart of the drama his band decided to drag around with them   ,   particularly with their number one band rival by the name of   ‘  orpehus.  ’   now   ,   bill had no real   ‘   beef   ’   with this band   —   honestly   ,   they were quite good in a strange   ,   sort of haunting kind of way   ,   but it was clear they had something that the others sorely lacked in stage presence   &   well   ,   the guys weren’t exactly tactful when it came to expressing their dislike. why their agents thought it would be a great idea to have them both play together was beyond him   ,   though there wasn’t much they could do to stop it once their mind had been made up. didn’t help that skeletons in the closet would be the opener for orpheus for every show they’d play   ,   a fact that drove the other guys into a rage fit that finally reached a boiling point on the tour bus   &   ,   well   ,   here they are. if they were going to be stuck with one another for the remainder of this tour   &   for one evening in this strange place   ,   the best they could do is at least try to get along. bill can’t exactly say the band will be good about being civil   ,   so he would do his best to try   &   make peace with the others   ,   hoping it would help them eventually in the long run. as the others began complaining about their new lodgings   ,   bill would wander around the front for a bit before finding the lead singer of orpheus off to the side at the foot of the staircase. digging into his pocket   ,   bill retrieves a carton of cigarettes   &   his lighter   ,   his hand extended towards the woman with a smile   ,   though he isn’t sure if she could see his expression in the dark.   ❝   it’s cold. i got plenty to spare.   ❞   take this olive branch   —   let’s try not to kill each other   ,   for christ’s sake.   ❝   alex   ,   right  ?   i’m bill ... the lyricist. pretty rough night for all us   ,   huh  ?   ❞