#they!!!!!

With a visible amount of confusion on his face, Akira took the BD held out to him - taking only a moment to look the thing in his hands over before looking back up at Judy.

"No payment kinda stings, but..." Again, he shifts, looking back down at the BD. "Somebody just wanting to preserve a memory of family is refreshingly genuine, for this city." Something honest, here? Something sentimental that wasn't intended for crime or pleasure?

Well shit. Felt like he was holding onto a tiny little unicorn.

"Not too far away, either. Should be fine to deliver it - sounds nice and simple." Assuming he didn't get mugged or kidnapped, but he'd long ditched his corpo clothes, so he should be fine unless the Maelstrom were feeling antsy. "I'll makes sure it gets delivered - I'd feel like a monster and a gonk if I couldn't get this done." H10, huh? Didn't even need a vehicle for that.

@lunarfey & PROMPTS FOR ROCKSTARS, ACTORS, AND CELEBRITIES !!

it never gets easier. the pressure, the performing, jesse's manager trying to hurry him out onto a stage before the audience gets tired of waiting. let them, he nearly wants to say, but they're here for him, for doggone, for the music he's dreamt his entire childhood of sharing, and he owes them. owes them for all of this— the least he can do is go out there, act like his own songs don't hurt, & pretend like his shaky nerves aren't diminishing his guitar playing. (put in that effort even if his hands shake. even if his heart breaks.)

the one salve— or, really, jesse's saving grace— is luna. the instant relaxation of shoulders he's tensed too long once he spots the familiar gold of his hair gives way to a truth he isn't quite ready to confess to; that this 'friendship' of theirs is growing roots elsewhere, & neither have the guts to admit it to themselves, or to each other. it doesn't matter that the sole thing that settles the spike of nausea he gets before every performance sways to near-nothingness the second he sees luna, or that simply thinking of them offers a pleasant distraction from reality.

doesn't matter that all the while their hands are reaching to grasp his hunched shoulders, her eyes are boring intentionally into his, that he drops his gaze to her mouth and swallows almost loud enough to hear. doesn't matter that he asked him to be here & she showed, or that he wasn't surprised to see her because part of him knew they'd show up, that she was aware of how much this performance meant to him and just how nervous he'd be.

"amazing", they say— like that doesn't make him worry. so many people calling him great and no one knows the sheer reality of what he's like before a show, that he chews his nails down to nothing & gnaws the inside of his cheeks, that he paces until he's sure he's put a hole in his boot. but luna knows, because luna's there. how often has the time come when he's nervous before a show, and suddenly they're with him, like being bathed in sunlight when she smiles. & he wants to settle into the warmth she provides like he couldn't possibly live without it, and isn't sure how he ever possibly did.

janky nerves briefly loosened, lips carefully parted to inhale a smooth breath that hitches. this close to luna, his hands on jesse's shoulders & one of her thumbs brushing ever so slightly along the slope of jesse's neck. briefly, jesse wonders if luna can feel the quickening of his pulse, can hear the frantic beating of his heart, can read the singular thought responsible for both. kiss them... but jesse is too polite, too restrained. he merely offers her a smile, moving a hand to tuck hair behind their ear, letting his touch linger achingly so.

‘‘— now, what would i do without you?’’ he murmurs, smile softening. ‘‘seriously. i'm genuinely askin'. i can't even imagine tryin'ta get through any of this had you not been here, lun.’’

Bailey and Avery test prints are here! Taking them out 🥳✨