Events of Arrival

Episode 8: Rhythmicity

The tram had barely been stopped for a second before Corey flew from his seat and leapt out of the car. He almost didn't stick the landing.

He was followed, in a far more controlled manner, by Sebastian, Jace, and Glenn. While he was always the most excitable of the quartet, Corey knew that his excitement wasn't exclusive. He suspected that even Glenn was curious and anxious, beneath the vocalist's trademark plastered layer of indifference.

They were here in Aegis to see Calder. She and Corey had been texting nonstop for the last week, ever since she'd graced the coliseum and cameras with her presence for the first time. It was in those texts that she'd guaranteed a good fight the following Saturday, and extended an invitation to watch the fight live. Corey had jumped on the offer, volun-telling his bandmates that they'd all be there too, for moral support. Jace had been stoked. Sebastian had loved the idea of getting out for an afternoon. Glenn had said "okay, sure."

Which wasn't much resistance out of him. Usually he'd wall off those five hours for 'practice time' because he totally, totally needed it. He could play anything by ear. Corey was the one who needed the practice time.

(Corey was also the one least likely to set aside time for practicing. He hated playing melody without any accompaniment.)

So here they were, standing on the concrete pad of the station–which actually looked like a decent station now–and staring up the road at the vibrant, lively town before them. Corey's gaze moved from the shops to the hills and forest beyond, lingered, and then shifted to his right. Out that way was a flat horizon, broken by the shape of the coliseum and its imposing sandstone walls. A smile worked its way across his face. Calder had been over the moon.

"Alright boys, Calder told us to have seats by 11:50, unless we don't want seats," Seb began to reiterate. The lenses of his glasses had darkened completely upon being exposed to the sunlight. "So we have an hour to screw around."

He stopped there, as if expecting the others to fill in the blanks. He shrugged at them after a good few measures of awkward silence. "Any ideas?"

"Coffee," all three of them chorused like they'd rehearsed it or something.

Seb's shoulders drooped. "All three of you suck," he muttered.

Glenn was the first one to start chuckling. Under three weirded-out stares, he grabbed Seb's shoulder and started guiding his drummer towards the town. "Come on," he said, an out-of-place lilt of amusement tickling his tone. "You can get an iced tea or something."

Behind their backs, Corey and Jace celebrated and fist-bumped before taking off after their escaping vocalist and drummer.

***

"See, that wasn't so bad!" Corey laughed as they exited the shop. Seb grumbled into his to-go cup.

"You're all very inconsiderate of my caffeine avoidance."

"We shouldn't have gotten Corey any," Glenn agreed. "He was already a pot and a half deep at 10:15."

"I didn't drink any coffee this morning!" Corey squawked indignantly. "I just went to bed early last night."

"That explains it," Jace laughed. "Whenever you go to bed earlier than midnight you're up and bouncing off the walls by seven."

"Lucky us," Seb droned.

"I gotta have my energy up!" Corey insisted, waving around the hand that didn't carry a latte. "You're all gonna embarrass me later if you don't get a little more hyped."

"I'm saving it," Seb mumbled into his cup again.

"If you had coffee, you wouldn't need to."

"Don't you remember what happened last time I had coffee? I don't have any resistance to it."