Starkid One Shots

Sogblim- His Muse

"Hey, you called?" Rachael said, stepping into Jeff's apartment.

Jeff closed the door behind her, "Yeah. Just needed some extra help with my lines and all. I wanna be well prepared for the audition tomorrow."

It was one of the biggest lies he had told. He didn't need help with his lines, he wrote the show, and Nick and Matt let him cast the girls while they casted the boys, for fairness's sake. He just wanted to be near her. Rachael's presence always calmed him down and gave him this jittery feeling in his stomach that just made him yearn for more.

"You called me on a Sunday to run lines with you for an audition?" Rachael raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be writing the missing song of the show?"

Jeff shrugged, "And that too."

"I'm rubbish at music, you know that."

"Who knows? You always help me with chords and stuff," he sat by the piano, taking out a fresh piece of music sheet.

She sat down next to him, "Not really, you finish off all my sentences."

Jeff played around with the keys on his keyboard, playing random chords, "I don't even know what I want this to turn out."

"So the mother's character is reflecting on her relationship with her daughter, right?" Rachael recalled the script, "So she might be talking about how much she loves her but how she never shows it?"

"Yeah, that could work..."

She continued, "And maybe her journey through how her love for her daughter manifests?"

"So it's like a story from her point of view?" he asked.

Rachael shrugged, "It's just an idea."

"It's great!" he said, and he started playing around with words in his head. How would he achieve that sense of storytelling, hardship and love in one song? Then, like a huge gush of running water, it hit him like a truck. The melody of the song rushed into his mind and he started playing chord after chord on the keyboard, singing softly to himself and writing down each note for the song.

"You're working pretty quick," Rachael looked up from her script, "I don't see why you called me over at all."

He smiled at her, "Maybe it's just that sudden burst of inspiration you hear people talk about."

"Do you want some takeout?" she suddenly changed the topic, "I can go get some pizza, it's fifteen percent off if we pick it up ourselves."

As much as he didn't want her to go, he couldn't deny that he was hungry and he finished his last frozen pizza, and he didn't fancy actually turning on the stove to cook when he had so much to do before the audition the next day. So Rachael left, promising to be back in half an hour with a hot, steaming pepperoni and cheese pizza and some ice cream from Seven Eleven. During that half an hour, Jeff found it difficult to write more music. The notes flowed freely in his head when Rachael was around, but none came out when she was gone, even though he knew she would be back.

"I'm back!" she called from the front door and Jeff immediately went over to help her freeze the ice cream and laid the pizza on the small coffee table for the both of them to share.

"Is this a large size?" he asked.

Rachael nodded in confirmation, "It looks like we'll be here rehearsing and writing the whole night, so we could freeze some if we're not finished and reheat it later in the microwave for dinner."

His heart suddenly skipped a beat, she wanted to be there with him for the whole night, but he pushed those feelings aside and agreed, picking up his pencil again and letting the music compose itself.

"What role are you going for?" Jeff asked, out of the blue, wanting to break that silence between them.

"The mother's," she replied, looking up at him, "She sounds so sassy and I can relate to her so much."

Because I wrote her for you, he thought.

"But do you think I could do it?" she continued, starting to panic a little bit, "She seems quite challenging and I have to work on my Southern accent."

He smiled, reassuring her, "I'm sure you will do great tomorrow, besides, I think you are basically the Mother. Sassy, responsible."

"And what role are you going for?" Rachael changed the subject, turning the focus onto Jeff.

Wait, what should I say? I want to be the Father, but what if she sees right through me and thinks I want the role so I could play her love interest again?

"I don't know," he decided to utter out, "The Grandpa maybe?"

"So you're gonna sing Pays To Be An Animal?" she asked curiously, "I keep hearing you practice Gone To Oregon."

Jeff tried to think of a good excuse, "Maybe the Father too, I'd be happy with either role."

She let that go, and he let out a sigh of relief, that was way too close. And so they worked through the whole evening. Jeff quickly finished up the melody for the missing song and started working on some scenes with Rachael, and they both agreed that she should use the scene where she fights with the Daughter and dies and the scene where she fights with the Father for the audition and sing Lost Without You, because the Mother's solo wasn't finished yet. The both of them then sat down for dinner and tried to come up with the lyrics for the new song, scratching and rewriting the song countless times until they both gave up and decided to curl up on the couch to watch The Incredibles instead. 

"I should go home, it's late and we have to be at auditions at ten tomorrow," Rachael said after the movie as she stood up, ready to go.

Jeff offered, "You can stay here for the night."

Idiot! Now she'll definitely see through you.

"It's late and all, it's nearly midnight," he quickly covered it up, "You can go shower at your place tomorrow, I'll drive in the morning and we can have breakfast there. Then we can go to auditions."

To his surprise, Rachael shrugged and agreed, "I don't see why not, do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

He went to his room and grabbed some old sweatpants and an old t-shirt of his and offered it to Rachael, who decided to retreat to the guest room after saying goodnight. Jeff mentally celebrated, but his eyes landed on the music sheet with all the notes written on it and realized he still had to finish it. The Incredibles movie made him think, it was all about family. And when they're in danger, you would risk life and limb just to get them to safety. He sat down, and the words started coming to him, and he finally knew what he wanted to name his song. The song he wrote for Rachael.

He slowly, but surely, scribbled down the title: When the World's At Stake.