"Ah, we were just goofin' off with Tess screaming into the void." Nikolas laughed softly, "Girl's got some potential, though. One hell of an artist if she wants to be—actress, singer, dancer, she's got quite a few paths to go down. I'm proud of her." He realized he was babbling and smiled guiltily, looking down at Atlas again. "We basically grew up together, after I moved here when I was ten. She's like a second sister to me." He jerked his chin in the other male's direction. "So anyways, what kind of music do you normally do? And like?"
Atlas thought for a moment before responding. "Well, I do both soft pop, soft rock, alt-rock, and some indie. And I guess that's what I like too. Um, yeah, pretty basic stuff." He replied. He finished off his tea and put the cup in his bag. "When you come to the studio I could show and sing you some of my songs that haven't been recorded and you could be in one of them if you want… it would be fun."
Nikolas opened his mouth to say no, but he hesitated. Singing with Atlas had been fun, but singing when he was technically alone was different from doing it in front of people in a recording studio, different from actually being a part of a song. He never let Tess drag him into one of hers, no matter how much she gushed over his voice. He's never been a huge fan of his singing voice. "I guess we'll just have to see what happens," he finally said, offering Atlas a small smile as he finished off his pop tart and licked his fingers to rid of the crumbs.
(So… very sorry for that random inactivity, I got unexpectedly busy around the holidays.)
"I guess so." Atlas agreed as they got to the door. He held it open for Nikolas then followed him out. "Umm, if I don't see you later I'll text you, k?" He said with a almost shy smile, which was not normal. He was almost running late so he had to get going very quickly.
(it's fine! holidays are busy times)
Nikolas smiled and nodded, then went the extra mile and jokingly sketched a bow, letting his tongue roll over his next words with a hint of his old Greek accent. "Until we meet again, my prince." He grinned cheekily, then stood up straight and backed up towards his car—a black Challenger—without breaking his gaze from Atlas.
Atlas was the one to break eye contact. He couldn't stop himself from smiling, his face slightly flushed. He just waved to Nikolas and turned around to start walking to the studio. He was smiling all the way to the studio, and even when he got inside. He would never admit anything out loud or even to himself, but he had a thing for Nikolas. He had known the guy for less than a day and he already seemed to catch some feelings.
Nikolas watched Atlas leave with a smile, then turned around and got into his car. Hopefully this meeting with Jay will be brief—Nikolas really wanted to be able to hang out with Atlas at the studio. Besides, seeing the other man would surely lift his spirits after this meeting, as any encounter with his ex foster brother was bound to be unpleasant.
Atlas went straight to a recording room and looked through the songs he hasn't recorded yet. He didn't want to pick one in case Nikolas wanted to do one with him. He mostly sat in place looking over the same four songs for almost fifteen minutes before a producer came in and some other people. Atlas didn't look up from the papers, just letting the people come in and do whatever.
(I've finally picked a singer that fits Nikolas. Daughtry)
Nikolas pulled into the empty parking lot of an abandoned building, staying in his car. When a man about a few years older than him came up to his side of the car, he rolled down the window and scowled up at him. "Make it quick, Jay. I have plans."
Jay grinned and leaned against the door. "Ah, and here I thought we could have a striking conversation. Very well." He pulled out some papers from his back pocket and handed them to Nikolas, who snatched it up and tossed then to the side without looking at them. "There, your payment for backing off the streets. Greyson misses you, by the way. Ya made him a lotta money."
"You know I'd never fully quit."
"Fair enough. I never said you had to completely back off, which is a fault on my end, but I still got what I want." Jay backed off and sarcastically waved. "Until we meet again, Ficher." His tone was mocking on the last word, his surname. Nikolas scowled and pulled away without another word, heading back towards the studio the saw Atlas go to.
(Ooo nice!)
"Um, hello?" Asked one of the women that came in. Atlas looked up from his papers surprised.
"Oh! Sorry, everyone. Uh, is there anything we need to do before we start another song?" Asked Atlas. The producer pulled out his phone then looked at Atlas.
"Yes actually. You need to rerecord the last chorus and bridge in Orange Galaxy. Something happened to the sound and it is all gone. So, when you're ready, we need to do that." Atlas nodded and set down the paper.
"I'm ready now actually!" He said as he went into the recording booth.
Nikolas pulled up to the recording studio and got out of his car. He was…kinda excited, he wasn't going to lie. He was also nervous, because he might actually let Atlas convince him to sing with him. And it wasn't just for fun, either. Nikolas slipped into the studio and looked around, spotting Atlas. He stayed on the sidelines, however, not wanting to draw much attention to himself.
After almost a minute, Atlas finished re-recording what he needed to. He left the recording booth and, to his surprise and relief, he saw Nikolas. He had expected him to be later. He grew a smile and walked over to Nikolas. "Hello! I thought you were going to be a lot later. But I'm glad you're here so early."
Nikolas smiled back and inched away from the wall he had been leaning against. "Hey! I had thought I'd be later, too, but I managed to get away earlier than expected." He tilted his head towards the recording booth. "That sounded great, admittedly better than through a wall in the shower," he added with a lopsided grin.
Atlas smiled and thanked Nikolas for the compliment. He motioned for Nikolas to follow him to the small table where he had set down the papers of the songs they hadn't recorded yet. "So do you wanna be in a song or not? This is the final time to decide because I need to get the rest of these recorded today, early tomorrow at the latest."
Nikolas followed Atlas with some amusement, though he felt his heart skip a few beats at the thought of singing an actual song with Atlas. He pushed past that insecurity and fear to join Atlas at the table and scan the different songs. He thought they were all good, so he wouldn't have any issue with being assigned to a random song if he did say yes. Nikolas opened his mouth then glanced over at the other boy. He eventually smiled and said, "Sure."
Atlas' smile grew so much. He was more excited for this than he had initially thought. "So, I can sing a demo of each song if you'd like, so you can choose your favorite." He explained while leaning back in his chair. Inside he was practically jumping with joy. He didn't want to scare off Nikolas or something so he didn't show his excitement as much as he could be or normally would be.
Nikolas hummed and moved so he was standing behind Atlas. Might as well flirt now while he had the opportunity. "I've helped out with songwriting, so I think I can get a good idea of what they're like from just reading these." He didn't have to read over them again, as he's skimmed over them all, but he wanted to subtly flirt with Atlas for a bit. He draped his arms over the back of Atlas' chair and leaned over him, now paying more attention to what he was reading.
Atlas smiled as he saw Nikolas go stand behind his chair and he felt the man's presence behind him. He had an urge to tilt his head back and look at Nikolas, from where he was. Going against his better judgment, Atlas did tilt his head back, a smile still present on his face. "So, is there a specific song you like the best? Since you seem to know exactly how they would sound?"
Nikolas smirked as he looked down at Atlas, then went the extra mile and stuck out his tongue playfully—exposing his piercing. "I said a good idea, anóitos. I'm not a mind reader." He didn't move from where he was standing, even with Atlas looking up at him like that. "And no, I don't have a favorite as of the moment. Just pick one and I'll sing with ya for however long ya want me."
Atlas' smile only grew. He couldn't get enough of this guy, for some reason. He kept his head tilted back and started singing the chorus of one song, then another, then another. He wanted Nikolas to enjoy the song he got to be featured in, Atlas wanted it to be perfect. He finished singing the choruses of songs, purposely leaving out one song because it was the only song of the last few that weren't related to love. This was Atlas' weird way of flirting…
Nikolas never took his eyes off of Atlas as he sang, his smile only widening even more. He noticed that he had left out one song—and it was one in particular—but he didn't comment on it. Cheeky. I like it. Once Atlas was done singing, Nikolas hummed and tipped his head to the side, eyes flitting to the side as he thought about it. He knew the other wanted him to pick, so he figured it'd be better to do so. He leaned down some more until his chin was resting on his arms, their faces even closer now. "I like the third one you did," he murmured, though not quiet enough that Atlas couldn't hear.
Atlas grinned, almost glad Nikolas chose that song. He then realized how Nikolas' face had gotten closer to his. Once again, another urge clouded his judgment. He lifted his head slowly moving his face closer to the other man's. His lips touched Nikolas', planting a kiss lingering there for a second longer. He lowered his head back down to where it was before, pink rushing to his cheeks.
Nikolas' eyes widened some when Atlas' face got closer, and then he felt lips against his own. He hadn't expected that, but it wasn't entirely unwelcome. It was about time he admitted that he was crushing on Atlas since… He didn't even know when it started, just that it was glaringly apparent as he stared down at the other man, those cheeks adorably rosy now. His lips parted as if he was going to speak, but he didn't, just adjusted his arms so he could hesitantly play with Atlas' lilac hair.
Atlas stared back up at Nikolas. He didn't move for a while before he snapped back into what they were supposed to be doing. "Ahem… sorry about that um…we should probably uh, get this song recorded…" He said sitting back up normally. He looked at the third song that he had sung before and started trying to figure out how to structure it.
Nikolas blinked, snapping out of his thoughts when he heard Atlas talk. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat and standing up straight. He decided that standing over Atlas was a bad idea now, what with that kiss and how he didn't mind it, probably would do it again on his own if they had continued to stare at each other. Because of that decision, he moved over to Atlas' side and looked down at the song, leaning on the table now. "So what're ya thinking?"
