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The frustrated silence that loomed over the six friends had definitely affected all of their attitudes.
Izzy, Duff, and Slash were all sitting in the living room with their guitars on their laps, Izzy sitting on the ground right below where Joan was sitting on the chair and the other two spread on the furniture. Steven was also on the floor, using the floor as his drum kit. Axl had apparently not gotten the memo of everyone sitting, as he was currently pacing the room while pinching the bridge of his nose.
Joan had noticed that they had reached a dead end with their songwriting before they had even reached it. Each band member had certain tendencies that they would show before everything blew up in their faces.
There was always an order in which they would show their signs: Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy, and then Steven. Joan was the only one who wouldn't say much during the blossoming of these arguments. Not until she needed to, at least.
It would all start with Axl - if there was an idea that he didn't quite agree with, he would express his distaste verbally without hesitation. This would create a domino effect on the rest of the band members. It was mostly Axl, Slash, and Duff who would have creative differences, and then Izzy would get aggravated at the three of them arguing. That would, in turn, bring him into the bickering. Steven would try to ask the guys to stop, but they almost never listened to him.
"Something is just . . . missing, and I don't know what it is!" Axl exclaimed for the third time in the past ten minutes, his hand placement switching between resting on his hips and waving around in the air.
"Really?" Izzy asked from his spot on the floor below Joan, the tone of his voice nothing short of frustrated. He put the pencil that he was using to write notes behind his ear. "It's not like we didn't hear you the first seven times you've said that!"
"Well, why is nobody trying to fix whatever this shit is?" Axl retorted, gesturing harshly to the crumpled up papers that had held notes for the songs that they were trying to finalize. Everyone was on edge in terms of getting their new songs out there as they had contacted many record labels to see if they would sign Guns N' Roses. They needed these songs to be performable for their gigs to show that they made good music, which is why each one of them had been so aggravated lately.
Joan could feel Izzy tense up against her leg that he had been leaning against. Before he could bite back with another remark to an already agitated Axl, Joan gently rested her hand on his rigid shoulder. Although it took a few moments and a couple of deep breaths, she could feel him loosen beneath her touch.
It didn't take long in their friendship for Joan to find out that her presence had a calming effect on Izzy, her touch more so. This wasn't something that she utilized often as she personally felt that him getting out his emotions, no matter good or bad, was vital, but she tried her best to soothe his tension when she knew it would be better for everyone.
