Song from the Heart

[Theory]

General Image in mind of my chari minus the silver on his face:

"Hey! Jax!! Hurry up man we're gonna be late if you keep staring off into space!"

A quiet gasp brought the young man out of his thoughts as he quickly turned to his three other bandmates.
They had been touring America for quite some time and even though it was his native country he hadn't been back to it for over three years.
They'd had nearly instant success with each song they put out, their new record Black as Night selling over two million copies and just as many downloads. To say the least, they were busy as hell.

"Right! Coming guys!"

Jax was twenty and the lead singer of his band called Night...anddd he'd just gotten caught spacing out while staring out at the ocean, again. He had seen it a lot recently but there was just something about the large body of water that was welcoming to his drifting mind.
It was kind of his, alone time? Time to think and plan things out without other people trying to fight for his autograph or telling him what he needed to be working on.

The young man sighed and turned, walking back inside the large stadium that would be home to their show later that night.
He wasn't really in the mood to perform, having played five sold out gigs in the last three nights. The guy was exhausted but as the saying goes...the show must go on.

Too bad they were short on staff so much that they had to rig up some of the lighting and work on the surround sound themselves. It wasn't a planned performance in terms of selling tickets and what not. It was a free concert for those who couldn't afford to go to anything. Sort of like a charity event.
The band had just finished having some locals put up flyers that they would be performing that night, which was in about three hours now.

Hopefully everything would be good to go in time and they'd make a lot of people happy...

 

[complacent]

Night, Maxxie's favourite band of all time was in his hometown. His, Maxxie Tate's town. Never, in a million years, had the teenager expected them to come. Of course, he had wished and wished that they would come, but he hadn't thought they would! Even Jaz was here – his favorite from the band. He was so happy about it and using the little connection that he did have, he had actually snagged the opportunity to meet and help the band with their concerts and interviews in his town. It had taken a lot of begging on his part, but eventually, he had gotten his uncle to get him a job for the week being the assistant of their manager! He was ecstastic.

This was the reasoning behind why Maxxie had ditched his parents' anniversary dinner and was, instead, on his way to the large stadium where the concert was being held. Apparently, it was a free concert tonight and he knew that many of his friends we're going to be in the crowd since it was free! Who passed up on that opportunity? He sure as hell wouldn't have – not that he was now, instead, he was in a much better spot. He was actually helping out! Yes, the only reason he was even allowed to was because they were short of his hands and his uncle had insisted that Maxxie would be helpful and wouldn't cause any trouble, also, that sizeable bribe probably helped.

When Maxxie arrived, he quickly said goodbye to his parents and after going through various security checks and having to flash his ID godknows how many times, he was inside.

"Maxxie Tate, I presume?" The dark haired boy quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice, taking note of the rather plump, grey haired man. It was the manager, and after a brief conversation, he was instructed to go to where the band members were and to take care of all their needs until he was called for. After a short walk to the room, he paused at the door, straightening his shirt. He currently had on a pair of black jeans, white t-shirt with dress shirt on top of it – his mother had insisted he needed to look professional – and a pair of blue vans on his feet. And with that, he gently pushed open the door, smiling a bit awkwardly as he opened his mouth to speak,

"Uh, hello. I'm Maxxie Tate, I'm Jason's assistant… Do you guys need anything?"

 

[Theory]

The door opened open slowly, a bit heavier than one might have expected.
It was to keep fans from following the band if they happened to sneak backstage after performances.
Three of the main performers were rigging up different equipment whether it be drums, guitar, or the mic.
All three seemed to glance up at the same time, visibly sighing with relief when they saw the new helper.
"Yes!" They shouted in unison, pointing up at the lights.

One person was up there, Jax, working on different little things that were turning the stage into a type of trobelight hurricane.
"Jax is up there, he could use a hand with the lighting."

Jax heard his name mentioned and leaned over the railing up on one of the metal bridges that held some of the flood lights.
"Ah, sweet! Just what we needed!"
He motioned the kid towards the steel ladder that ramped up diagonally backstage, then had a small walk-around to in front of the curtain but far enough overhead that no one could see them once the lights were out.

"Your good with wiring right? I can't figure out how to get these red lights to turn on at the same time as the purple."

(afk a few, gotta take dog out)

 

[complacent]

Thank god Maxxie had been on the drama team back in high school – he had always taken care of the lighting and setting up the stage. He had thought had would never need it but he was wrong. He nodded slowly; somewhat starstruck as he listened to what he needed to do. He couldn't help but do a doubletake when he found out that he was supposed to help Jax but he made sure not to show how happy he was about it. He didn't want to seem like some creepy, stalker fan. He quickly made his way up the ladder and across the walkway before he actually spoke again.

"Yep, I used to do this stuff back in high school." He said in reply to Jax's earlier question. He crouched behind the thing that controlled the lights and fiddled around the the wires for a few seconds, switching them around before turning his head to look at the other male, "Alright, the red and purple lights should go on at the same time now. Is there anything else with the lights that you need me to fix?" He ran a hand through his hair nervously, trying to keep himself calm while he talked to his favorite celebrity.

 

[Theory]

"Ooo, nice."

There were snickers from down below as Jax's bandmates enjoyed a good laugh.
"H-hey! Shut up!"
He wasn't shouting that at Maxxie, but at his band.
"Haha! He'd been up there for nearly forty minutes trying to get those lights to work correctly and you just did it in one minute!"

Jax pursed his lips and blushed in annoyance before he shot to his feet. Grabbing Maxxie's arm he walked over to the other side of the grate and then knelt back down.
"The flashes for the strobes won't light up even though they're plugged in. I checked the bulbs too but they just don't work."
His crew were still snickering below as they started checking the tuning of their instruments but Jax ignored them.

 

[complacent]

Maxxie's lips were pressed together, suppressing a smile when he heard that he'd been trying for 40 minutes and had failed so badly. He'd probably have been laughing too if he knew them better - he didn't think it was too smart to join in when they hadn't even know each for 5 minutes yet.

"Uh, don't worry. I failed pretty badly when I first tried doing this stuff." Okay, so he was lying, he'd been a natural at it, but he didn't want the guy feeling too bad. He knelt down, fiddling with the wiring and the equipment before he flicked a switch to check whether or not it was working right. Then, with a grin, he turned to Jax, "Finished." He said in a somewhat proud tone before he flicked the switch again, turning it off. He'd always been a natural at fixing things. He then proceeded to stand upright, wiping at the dust on his jeans.

 

[Theory]

Jax raised his eyebrows and grinned as the lights came on perfectly.
"Darn, I need to learn how to do that."
Especially if they planned to play anymore free shows.
Evidentally their manager's version of free was 'we aren't paying anyone, good luck with the lighting and sound'!
Yeah, bastard.
After a quick walk along the grate and testing of all the final lighting arrangements Jax came down the steep stairs carefully. He wasn't a fan of how they designed this particular stage, someone could get hurt if they moved down the stairs to quickly.
He waited at the bottom for Maxxie before he was gonna head to his guitar and mic.

The group was basically ready and their instruments were set down as they went to the break room backstage for some drinks and to talk for a bit before the show in an hour or so.

 

[complacent]

After quickly going down the ladder, Maxxie had been unsure of what he was supposed to do next, but after briefly listening to a bit of the band members' conversation, he realised they were heading over to the break room and decided to follow them. He assumed that was what he was supposed to do since he had been instructed to stay with them, help and get them anything that they needed. No matter how hard it was. He couldn't help but be a bit weary since he was worried that they'd ask for something completely strange and he'd have to run around town to get it.

"Why do youse need to set everything up?" He asked out of curiosity once they arrived in the break room. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings before putting his hands into the pocket of his jeans, feeling a bit out of place. "I mean, aren't you supposed to have a team for that or something?" He did think it was strange, granted, he wasn't very experienced with this stuff but wasn't that why there were jobs for people who set up the stage equipment, controlled sound and the lighting?

 

[Theory]

Jax waited for Maxxie to get down from the ladder before he headed over to the break room with him.
The guy's question was pretty normal and as Jax shrugged off his jacket and plopped down on the giant sofa that spanned half the room he grinned.
"Yes, we do have a team but our manager doesn't like spending money, even if we make a ton of it."
Another band member chimed in as he tossed Jax a Dr. Pepper. "Yeah, the guy never lets us spend anything but somehow the money vanishes to random places he won't tell us."
They all laughed but it didn't seem like the joking type of sound.
The guy at the fridge asked what Maxxie wanted to drink, then tossed him his choice before sitting down with his own beverage.

"Anyways."
Jax patted the seat next to him to signal Maxxie to join him before relaxing back into the soft cushions.
"We've got about thirty minutes before we have to be back on stage. Do you mind running the lights for us tonight? I'd rather not set them on automatic because you know all sorts of crap will happen and mes up."
He chuckled lightly and took a sip of his soda.

"I can pay you for the work also." Since the manager was to stingy and never even thought he'd would need to pay Maxxie. Once again, bastard.

 

[complacent]

Maxxie couldn't help but arch a brow, slightly concerned over the fact that the money they were making 'vanished' often. He wanted to suggest that they should probably get a new manager but it wasn't his place and he didn't really want to get punched or anything. He walked over to one of the tables, grabbing a bottle of Mountain Dew before placing himself in the seat next to Jax, a contented sigh escaping his lips. He shook his head, chuckling when Jax offered to pay him. It kind of amused him since he had to bribe his way in here and now he was actually being told they'd pay him. He knew his uncle would be happy to get the money back but Maxxie didn't like accepting money from people.

"No, no, it's fine. Just being helpful is fine with me." He said with a dismissive wave of his head and twisted off the bottle cap and took a rather large gulp of the soft drink. He bit on his lip, watching the band members interacting, "So what's it like touring?" He asked, looking at Jax from the corner of his eye.

 

[Theory]

Jax frowned but shrugged. "Alright..." He'd think of another way to pay him back later.
"Oh...it's kinda fun I guess. Then fans are a bit hard to deal with, at least the crazies, but they kinda make it worthwhile." He chuckled lightly and grinned at old memories.
His bandmates nodded in agreement as two headed outside to get some fresh air before the show and another went to the bathroom.
"It gets really busy though. You don't usually get time to just hang out." He took a sip of his soda and made a face. It was flat starting to go flat already.

Hmm...
Jax glanced at Maxxie's drink and snatched it quickly, taking a small gulp from it before handing it back with a grin.
"Sorry, mines gone flat."
He set his Dr. Pepper aside, not even aware that he'd just done an indirect kiss.

"Ohhhh, hey! Maybe after the show you could show me the town?! We never really get free time but we actually have four days here!"

 

[complacent]

Maxxie had just sort of stared at disbelief as his drink was taken from him, drank from and then handed back to him as though it was nothing. He stuck his bottom lip out, pouting slightly, "You owe me more Mountain Dew." He announced before taking a large sip from the bottle, extremely aware of the fact that he had just indirectly kissed Jax, a celebrity. He was careful to keep his face straight - he refused to be considered one of the crazies. He'd scare away all of them and that wasn't something he wanted. No. Not at all. He couldn't help but look at Jax in disbelief again when he asked Maxxie to show him around town. Oh, he'd love to. Of course he would!

"Sure, sounds like fun." He said with a grin, flashing his pearly whites. "Anything you wanna see? I know everything and everyone." He stated in a somewhat proud voice. He wasn't very knowledgable of the places outside of his town but since he grew up in this town, he knew it inside and out.

 

[Theory]

Jax actually giggled slightly at Maxxie's pouting.
"Yessir. I'll see it that you get a full six pack, neh?"
He chuckled a bit more before grinning.
"Sweet! Um...I haven't really gotten time to look at the attractions here but maybe we could do some normal stuff? I haven't been bowling in ages, or to the movies...heck even going to a sit-down restaurant has been like...three months?"

Then Jax hopped up from the sofa and spun around to face Maxxie, the biggest grin on his face as his silvery eyes lit up.
"Can we go swimming in the ocean too?!"
He knew the waves were too rough behind the concert hall but there had to be a place that was nice. Like a beach! Weee! A beach would be epic!!
Yes...he liked to swim...

 

[complacent]

The teenager nodded slowly, a bit surrpsied at the sudden change in speech. He didn't realise the guy was so… happy. And it seemed the sudden cause of his happiness was the ocean… Maxxie would need to keep that in mind. He couldn't help but snicker and nodded,

"Yep, sure, I like the beach." He said with a grin only because the other guy's smile was infectious. "There's a really nice one here actually. Really… blue. Like really. You can practically see all the fish." He nodded eagerly as he spoke of the beach, remembering the various time he had gone to the beach. "You have swimming trunks right?" He asked, an eyebrow arched as he looked at the silver-eyed boy with curious eyes.

 

[Theory]

Oh my god Jax was excited!!
Until he heard about the swimsuit thing.
Er...
"U-um..."
He chewed at his lip for a moment, then frowned.
"No, I don't...but we can just buy some on the way!"
Problem solved!!
There was a slight tapping sound coming from the speaking the room, someone hitting the mic to try and get their attention.

Jax blinked and listened.
"Er...I think there are people here..."
He turned and slowly headed for the door, glancing out it with his eyes widening.
"Holy crap...lots of people. Heh, we woulda made a ton if this was a paying concert but we probably wouldn't of had so many people."
Jax grinned and glanced back at Maxxie.
"Ready to go?"
Either way, he tugged the boy out by his arm and nodded towards the stairs for the lighting equipment.

"Give us a good light show!" Jax shouted as he winked and ran behind the curtain to take the stage.