Varying Perspectives [G/T Oneshots]

21 - TREPIDATION

"WHAT!" Pepper screams, face boiling lobster red.
"Hey, hey calm down. I only signed you up for the Voice auditions." Daniel replies, holding up his hands as a shield from the tiny raging thunderstorm in front of him.
"WHY!"
"Because I heard you singing and it was really good."
"But, the Voice is a giant competition. I'll never be as good as them, and what if the competitors are Predators, and, honestly," she looks to Daniel, and he's surprised to see tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't want to get taken from you again." she wipes away the tears as quick as they'd come, but that doesn't stop Daniel from wrapping her in a giant hug.
"It'll be okay Pepsi, I'll be by your side every second. And if anyone tries to take you again, I'll kick their butts into oblivion." his whispers are husky, but their meaning is still easily conveyed.
"Alright Dan, I'll, I'll try it." she responds quietly, wriggling out of the embrace and into the warm enclosure of his chest pocket.
"Good job, because your audition's booked for today. Not right now, but in like 1 and a half hours."
*muffled screams*
*tiny punches and kicks*
*excessive cursing*
"I'll kill you Daniel." Pepper finally mutters, curling into a ball and leaning against him, eyes tearing up again.
"I'm sure you will." he jokes, but places a reassuring hand over her anyway, wondering if this really was the best idea.
~~
"We're here." Daniel says as he pulls up in front of the audition hall, but he receives no reply from Pepper. He shuts off the engine and sits back, letting himself and Pepper settle. She'd practiced so hard, but it seems her pseudo-confidence had worn off.
"How are you feeling Pepsi?" he asks, laying his hand over her body.
"I don't want to, I...I can't do it." comes her choked reply. Daniel pushes her out of his pocket into his palm and looks at her.
"Why?"
"I'm...I'm scared Daniel." he lets his mouth form into a small smile.
"Hey, it'll be okay, I'm not going to leave you. I believe in you, now you have to." he pokes her in the chest lightly, and she snorts.
"That's so cheesy Dan." she says, rubbing the tears out of her eyes and giving his thumb a squeeze.

"Now, lets go do that audition." he puts her back in the pocket, where she proudly stands as Daniel locks up his car and walks into the building. As he heads up to the reception, Pepper ducks back in and starts to chew her thumbnail.
"It's happening, it's really happening." she whispers over Daniel talking to the receptionist.
"Hi, I'm..Pepper McLoughlin here for an audition."
"You're, I mean, right this way..ma'm." Pepper laughs between her teeth at the lady's reaction, but as they walk down seemingly endless halls, and into a room where she can hear many other voices, her anxiety skyrockets. She suddenly feels extremely claustrophobic and tries to scramble out, only to be pushed up against Daniel's warm chest by his hand.

"Hey, there are Predators here, you'd better calm down." he whispers out of the corner of his mouth, eyes studying every face, but that only riles her up more. Daniel gets out of his chair and walks to the corner of the room, hand still pressed firmly to his chest.
"Pepper." he says and she stops struggling.
"I know you're scared, but attracting unwanted attention isn't going to help. Just calm the hell down." her head pops out of the pocket.
"Don't you think you're being a teeny bit insensitive to the Predator snack-pack in your pocket?" she hisses, voice breathy, and Daniel sighs.
"I just don't wanna see you get hurt before you have a chance to-"
"Pepper McLoughlin? Number 14427?" calls a high pitched voice, and a few of the eyes turn to Daniel.

"Get ready Pepper." he finishes, and walks toward a blonde lady with bright pink everything. Pepper clears her throat and begins to hum some scales, but her nerves warp the notes into inaudible whispers. She wants to stop for a while to listen to what Daniel's doing, but decides instead to sing the song she'd been practicing for all of 75 minutes. Counting Stars by OneRepublic.

Halfway into the second chorus, she's hauled out into the bright, open air.
"I explained the whole situation to Miss Pink over there, and you have your own microphone now." Daniel blurts quickly, placing a miniature microphone in Pepper's clammy hands.
"Alright. Am I on now?" She looks closely at him, seeing hints of stage makeup dusting his cheeks.

"Whenever Pink tells us to go on stage, we do. Are you okay though?" he holds her in his palm and stands, facing the door, somehow equally as nervous.
"Yeah, I guess. I had time to practice my song."
"Good, good." he replies, and they fade into a thick silence.
"So, makeup." Pepper grins, and feels his hand tense below her.
"You would've been wearing this if I hadn't said I was you. Pink won't take it off, and you don't have to put any on. It's not fair." she pats his hand a little too hard just to remind him that he's not the one singing in front of superstar judges and many, many, giants.

"It'll be okay Dannie." Pepper coos, and he simply grunts. They wait together for a few more minutes, until Miss Pink signals Daniel to walk through the stage doors.

"Here we go Pepper." he says, and crosses into the brightly lit world of the performer. 4 red chairs with their backs to the duo, and hundreds of people behind them, faces in shadow. Daniel walks confidently to the middle of the stage, but before he can set Pepper down she buries her face into his shirt.

"Don't leave." Daniel looks back to Miss Pink, who's frantically gesturing for him to get out of there.

"Pepper, I have to go back." he says urgently, pushing her onto his palm, then placing her on the ground. Her eyes are pleadingly staring into Daniel's, and he smiles.

"Pepper, you're amazing at singing. Just breathe, focus on me, and sing into that little microphone." he lightly pets her head with a fingertip, and, before she can protest, runs off stage.
---
The cameraman filming the event doesn't know who to focus on. The judges whispering, the empty stage, the boy running off. But as the music starts, his camera's gaze returns to the almost empty stage, and as the beautiful, but shaky, vocals reach his ears, he zooms in as far as he can. He gasps as his camera captures the nervous little tiny singing her heart out for the 4 musical giants, in both meanings of the phrase.
"Well, this'll be mighty interesting." he says in anticipation as one judge hits his buzzer enthusiastically.
~~~
THISISTHEVOICE!!
DA NA NA NAAAAAAAAAAA
~Tsunami