Morning light spilled lazily into the living room as Elaine flipped pancakes in the kitchen. The living room looked like a war zone. Fabric and design concepts were, quite literally, everywhere.
Eleanore was fighting for her life with an outfit that kept falling apart off the mannequin she had dubbed Steven. She watched fabric fall and threw her head back with a frustrated groan, "Why won't you drape properly?!"
Elaine didn't even look up, snickering lightly. "Because you're fighting it. The fabric knows fear, Nora."
Eleanore's brows furrowed, staring at Steven with a bewildered expression. "Then this muslin's terrified!"
"Maybe you shouldn't wait until a week before the due date to work on the concept," Elaine snorted, plating the pancakes on the table.
"But the music video-"
"Don't use that as an excuse," Elaine huffed. "You've had this assignment since the beginning of the semester. Also, breakfast is done. Come eat, before your outfit stages a rebellion."
"Five more-"
"Now."
Eleanore groaned, removing the measuring tape from her shoulders, and shuffled to the table. She plopped down in her chair with a dramatic groan before stifling it as she stared at her plate. Pancakes, fruit, eggs, and bacon. "...You're too good to me."
"You say that every time I save you from starvation." Elaine snorted, settling down to eat.
For a moment, they ate quietly before Eleanore took a large gulp of her orange juice and spoke, "So, I didn't get to ask yet because we got so busy this week, but how'd the day out with Premise of Design go?"
"It was fun," Elaine hummed, taking a drink of her coffee. "We hung out at their place… it was… chaotic."
"Go on! Give me the details, girl!" Eleanore nodded enthusiastically.
"Fine, fine," Elaine shook her head. "There was a water fight, Lucian shoved Luca into the pool… Then Luca shoved him and Enzo into the pool. Casen doesn't like water. We did coax him into it, but he preferred staying out of it more."
"Oh, we swapped some fun stories while we ate… Apparently, when Enzo, Luca, and Lucian were in Empty Empire, there was an unofficial mascot named Reginald… Enzo still has Reginald and chased Lucian around the backyard with him."
Eleanore blinked, "Wait, wait. Did you use that new bikini I bought you?" Her grin widened when Elaine nodded, "Girl! I told you that you'd use it."
Elaine chuckled, glancing at her phone when it buzzed.
"Okay," Eleanore leaned forward, "That smile looks suspicious."
Elaine rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her breakfast. "It's just Luca."
"Just Luca," Eleanore echoed. "What'd he say?"
"He's asking if I'm free today," Elaine said, taking a sip of coffee, "He wants to know if I want to help finish polishing a track."
Eleanore stared at her for a moment, then leaned back, "So, you going?"
Elaine offered a small nod, finishing off what was on her plate, "After class."
Eleanore bobbed her head up and down with a mouth full of pancake before swallowing it quickly. "Well, tell him I said hi!" She then blinked, "Or don't. He might think I'm flirting."
"And, he might not be wrong."
Eleanore let out a dramatic gasp, throwing a napkin at her. Elaine shook her head, putting her plate in the sink before collecting her belongings to head out. "Don't burn the apartment down, and make sure you take a break from your project to eat."
"No promises!"
Elaine rolled her eyes, leaving the apartment to head to her class for the morning.
Two hours of production ethics later, Elaine was finally on her way to Mix It Up to meet with Luca. The drive was filled with afternoon traffic, a testament to the city's high population during lunch hour. When she finally arrived, Luca was waiting outside with his hood up and hands in his pockets.
He offered a lazy wave as she stepped out of her car, "You made it."
"I would've been here sooner, but traffic hates me."
"Understandable," Luca nodded, "I traffic hates me too."
He pulled the door open, holding it for her while they entered the building to his studio. Of course, it smelled of coffee, and there were papers strung about everywhere.
"I apologize for the mess. We were working late and none of us wanted to deal with…" he paused, staring at everything, "This…" He finished, gesturing to a messy stack of papers beside his monitor.
"No problem," Elaine chuckled, setting her bag next to a chair. Luca pulled up next to his station. "You should have seen my living room this morning."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Elaine nodded. "Eleanore procrastinated on a design project."
"Ah," Luca snorted, opening a file on his monitor for Blueprint Rebellion. "I can imagine how that looked. Enzo and Casen have a habit of destroying his studio at the house constantly with their ideas."
Elaine chuckled, nodding while watching him click through the files, "I saw an ad recently with Enzo modeling for Ivoire, that was…"
"Interesting," Luca finished, chuckling lightly. "Yeah, he did not like the fact that they wanted him to dye his hair black for the shoot."
"Really? I thought he looked nice with it."
Luca pulled up a file, shaking his head. "He prefers burgundy or shades within that range. I just go with whatever Lucian wants me to do. He's talking about dying mine back to black, said it 'matches nicely with my eyes' like he doesn't have nearly the same eye color."
Elaine snorted, looking Luca over before nodding, "You had black hair during Dreamcatcher, didn't you?"
"Yes… and no," Luca tilted his head to the side, "It was a very dark blue. Anyway, I finished cleaning up Kingmaker. Wanna hear?"
"Oh, yes. Absolutely."
Luca gave a small nod, playing the track. She nodded along as she listened, visualizing the drops before they came. "Oh, I like that transition," she said. "It's so much cleaner."
"I did tell you it'd land once I adjusted the reverb."
He leaned back, looking at his phone before setting it under his monitor. "You up for something different today?"
Elaine blinked, pausing as she looked at him. "Define different."
Luca snorted, pushing his hood back. "A livestream Q&A with some teasers?"
Elaine's brows furrowed. "You want me to do a livestream with you?"
"Why not?" Luca inquired, "You're technically a collaborator at this point."
Elaine paused, pondering the idea, then nodded. "Alright. But if your fans roast me, it's your fault."
Luca cracked a smile as he snorted, "Fair enough."
He slid his chair to the side, opening up everything he needed for a livestream, setting up a secondary monitor for comments. He took a moment, Elaine watching him compose himself while he watched the screen. Stage persona, right.
Luca nodded to her before starting up the stream. He gave it a few seconds before smiling, "Hello, Architects, it's been a while. Ya miss me?"
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@silverfang87: HES ALIVE
@moonsidemuse: LUCAAAAAAAAAA 🖤🖤🖤
@sunsetstrum: LUCA STREAM LETS GO ‼️
@bassdropbunny: whats the bet he hasnt slept since last week
@crashcoursekid: LUCA YOU HAVENT POSTED IN 9 DAYS WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS 😭😭😭
╰────────────╯
Luca smirked faintly, rolling his eyes as he reached out of camera view, "Calm down," he chuckled. "I brought a guest, so you won't bully me as hard today."
He pulled Elaine's chair into view. Elaine chuckled, smiling as she was dragged over, "Hey, guys!" She beamed, waving both hands at the camera.
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@bytebeach: WOLFBYTE????? LETS GOOOOO
@neontrigger: THE COLLAB WE DIDNT DESERVE
@studiogremlin: luca rlly said 'i need adult supervision'
@limelight77: ELAINE MY BELOVED
@tappingtony: this duo???? UH HELLO?????
╰────────────╯
Luca leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he tilted his head. "And before anyone says anything… No, she's not replacing me."
"Yet," Elaine grinned.
His head whipped toward her, jaw partially dropping at her comment.
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@breadfrobrains: YEAH BULLY HIM 😆
@moonpearl: lucas face 😂
@amprule: wolfbyte supremacy
╰────────────╯
"Anyways," Luca rolled his eyes, laughing lightly. "We're doing a Q&A and previewing a few tracks."
"Because he bribed me," Elaine joked.
Luca tilted his head, glancing at her, "Because you like attention."
"You're the one literally livestreaming right now."
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@cordlessheart: NO STOP NOT THE SIBLING ENERGY
@echoengineer: luca being bullied is actually peak content
╰────────────╯
Luca cleared his throat, clicking something offscreen. "All right. When we hit fifty thousand viewers, we'll kick this off."
The number on the screen suddenly leapt from 41k to 50.3k instantly.
Elaine burst out laughing, shaking her head. "Okay, wow, I didn't think you'd get there that fast."
"I did."
"You didn't."
"Oh, I absolutely did." Luca grinned, gesturing toward the chat. "They'd follow me anywhere."
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@bassgrin: not us being predictable
@spiralplay89: if luca told us to drink battery acid wed ask which brand
╰────────────╯
"Okay, but why would I ask that?" Luca raised a brow.
Elaine wheezed, trying not to laugh again as she looked at the screen. "Okay, first question," she chuckled, spinning her chair slightly. "Oh, here's a good one."
"From @modularmass: What's been the hardest part of working on Blueprint Rebellion so far?"
Luca leaned his head back slightly, nodding. "Probably sleeping."
"That implies you're actually trying."
"I try," Luca snorted, rolling his eyes to look at her. "I'm just bad at it."
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@breaadforbrains: LUCA PLEASE
@remmaker: king of insomnia
@hyperbite: give this man melatonin
╰────────────╯
Elaine hid her smile behind her hand, nodding. "Okay. Now, the real answer?"
"I guess trying to capture something that doesn't sound like anything we've done before without it feeling forced." Luca shrugged, leaning his head to the side.
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@weavingbeat09: that was kind profound actually
@moonsidemuse: it is luca we should expect it
@lofisprout: we expect it from enzo
╰────────────╯
Luca rolled his eyes, smiling as he glanced at Elaine, "Next question."
Elaine scanned through the chat, smirking. "From @vinylvixen: Any upcoming live performance surprises?"
"Bold of you to assume I would spoil anything."
"He has at least six ideas that terrify the production team." Elaine grinned.
Luca snorted, rolling his eyes faintly. "They lack imagination."
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@drumline_demon: SOMEONE STOP HIM
@vespertinex: elaine pls babysit him
@warmglowradio: hes gonna break at least three laws
╰────────────╯
They both blinked when a notification lit up from a superchat:
@stormspirit95: LUCA CAN YOU PLEASE PLAY SOME STUFF FROM THE NEW ALBUM????
Elaine chuckled, "Just a snippet?"
"How about a sinful amount?" Luca smirked, pulling up a file and clicking play. The tracks weren't full, just snippets from each one, but enough to keep people guessing and entertained.
╭────────────╮
CHAT
@8beatchoke: RELEASE IT RN
@monarchpunk: WAIT WAIT WAIT NO SIR GIVE US THE FULL LYRICAL VERSION
@voidwalker99: OOH
@sunsoaked42: LUCA YOU CANNOT JUST DROP THAT AND DIP
╰────────────╯
Luca blinked, smirking as he leaned forward, "And that's all you get. Byeee!"
"Say goodbye properly."
Luca blinked, looking at her for a moment before looking back at the camera. "Goodbye improperly."
He ended the stream with him pushing her chair out of the frame while laughing.