Christian made his way up and rang Zac's doorbell. Who knew if they were having a practise and wouldn't hear if he knocked or not.
Saku
Saku opened the door.
"Hello oh Uncle Taylor lookalike," Saku said cheerfully. "Uncle Tay and Uncle Ike and Dad are practicing at the moment, but I'm sure they won't mind if you come listen."
Christian
Christian smiled down at him and held the door open before making his way inside.
"Thanks... where are they?"
Saku
"Music room," Saku replied. "Me show you."
Saku promptly transformed into a cat and lead the way to the music room.
Christian
Christian chuckled as Saku shape shifted. He didn't know anything about Zac's kids thus far.
He followed him down and pushed through the door that had been open only a little. He spotted the brothers in the middle of something, and so stood by the doorway to wait for them to finish.
Zac, Isaac, Saku and Tad
Zac tossed a drumstick at Isaac after he finished playing.
"Show off," he teased.
"Hey, I've been working on that for months. Just seemed like a good opportunity to use it," Isaac grinned.
"Oh, hello," Zac said, looking up at the doorway. "We have company."
Saku meowed, and then left. He had better things to do. He noticed Tad in the hallway as he went and took a moment to hiss at him on his way past.
Taylor & Christian
"It was cool though," Taylor insisted, before looking up.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," Christian replied with a smile, "don't let me interrupt if you're on a roll or anything."
Tad, Isaac and Zac
Tad sidled to the doorway.
"No, by all means interrupt," he thought to himself, "They'll be all this all day.
"It was very cool," Isaac agreed.
"And you're so modest about it too," Zac grinned. "Nope, is cool Christian. We were just finishing that bit, so twas good timing."
Taylor & Christian
"Yeah, so..." Taylor began, placing his acoustic guitar down, "not meaning to pry or anything, but why..."
"Whay am I here?" Christian raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah."
"Well I haven't seen you since we did Blakesley in. Just wanted to see how you were."
Isaac, Zac and Tad
"He plays a mean piano," Zac said helpfully. "He's been really cracking the whip on this latest song. I dunno... between Ike and Tay both showing off, what room is there for me?"
Isaac leaned over and showed him a piece of sheet music.
"Okay so that's one drum solo -"
Isaac showed him a couple of other pages.
"Okay, so there's a few -"
"Zac, people like you will never be deprived of moments to show off."
Tad snickered quietly as he pulled out his palm pilot.
Christian & Taylor
Christian chuckled.
"You can sit down," Taylor offered, indicating the piano stool.
Christian eyed it off for a moment, before obliging.
"So I met one of your kids on the way in. He's cute," Christian said to Zac.
Zac and Isaac
"That would have been Saku," Zac nodded. "He gets his cuteness from his mother."
"As opposed to his father, who's anything but," Isaac joked.
"Hey, I resent that remark."
"No, you resemble it."
Christian & Taylor
Christian chuckled and shook his head, not willing to say what he was thinking aloud.
"Did you ever learn... how to play anything?" Taylor asked after a moment, indicating the piano.
"No," Christian shook his head instantly, "I was... never really into music myself."
Zac, Isaac and Tad
"You're his clone," Zac said, pointing to Taylor, then to Isaac, "with bits of him, and you were never into music? And here I was thinking no one in this family could escape the music gene."
"Maybe in some freak of the replication process it managed to skip that part," Isaac suggested. "Or alternatively, maybe there isn't really a specific music gene. Or maybe he's capable, just not interested. I bet either way he's creative, aren't you Christian? Creativity must be useful to get out of... whatever situations you find yourself in."
Christian was Taylor's clone? Tad's eyes widened at this information (which he jotted down as soon as his mind recovered from the revelation). Well, that sure explained the similarity. And pieces of Isaac would explain why Christian didn't have the same power. Wait until Leroy found out about this!
Christian & Taylor
"Well I used to draw a lot..."
Taylor snapped his fingers.
"Dragons. You draw dragons," he said, pointing at him.
"Well... yeah, I guess. And other stuff."
"Did you guys ever see any of those drawings?" Taylor turned to his brothers.
Zac, Isaac and Tad
Zac and Isaac looked at each other.
"I don't recall," Isaac frowned.
"If you show us now then we can say we definitely have," Zac grinned. "Don't suppose you have any of your famous artwork on you?"
Tad shook his head as he wrote that down. So, the kid was a drawer as well, huh? Probably trivial information but hey, this was proving to be one of his more productive eavesdropping sessions.
Christian & Taylor
Christian shook his head.
"I think I gave all the ones I had back to you last year," Taylor scratched his nose.
Then he looked down and indicated what was practically covering the floor.
"But hey, there's plenty of paper here. Plenty of pencils too."
Christian looked a little uneasy at the idea, and pursed his lips.
"I haven't drawn anything in a long time..."
"Well you haven't exactly been able to, have you?" Taylor pointed out, his voice softer, "how many days have you actually spent free in the past year?"
Christian frowned and scratched his arm awkwardly.
"Not many," he admitted.
Zac and Isaac
"Then by all means, come, sit, draw," Zac said. "And leave your seriousness at the door. This is a serious free zone. Only sillyness allowed. Creativity must be allowed to flourish and all that jazz."
"Zac, I dare you to put a sign on the music room door that says 'Leave your seriousness here before entering'," Isaac said.
"And give Saku and Orion ideas? Ha!"
Christian & Taylor
"Who are they?" Christian asked.
"You can lean on the piano if you want, just pull the cover down," Taylor indicated how to do it.
Christian gave him an odd look, before doing it and reaching down to grab a pencil and piece of paper.
Zac and Isaac
"Well, Saku's my kid, of course, and Orion is his cousin. Orion's been staying here awhile - poor kid got abandoned by his parents," Zac replied. "Mother's side."
"Well, it would have to be," Isaca pointed out. "Saku doesn't have any cousins on your side of the family."
"Point."
Taylor & Christian
Taylor gulped a little at that, before quickly shrugging it off.
"So... 'Saku' was the one I just met?" Christian raised an eyebrow, already into his drawing and not looking up.
Zac and Isaac
"Umm yes," Zac said. "I believe I mentioned that before when you came in? No? Whatever. You know now."
Isaac started playing on his guitar again.
"I shant make you nervous by peering at your drawing over your shoulder," he said.
Christian & Taylor
Christian chuckled, having already finished the outline.
"It's cool. Where's the puppy?"
"Tad generally likes to hide himself away whenever we practise," Taylor shrugged, "whether he doesn't like it or is just glad to be rid of us we don't really care to know."
"Fair enough. Heard from Steel?"
"He called the other day to check up on me as well. I hope you guys don't make a habit of it."
"Well until this thing is seen through, we'll all be worried," Christian shrugged.
"You don't seem the kind of person to worry," Taylor frowned.
"Doesn't mean others don't."
Tad, Isaac and Zac
Puppy? Tad scrowled at the description and made a note about increased contact with Taylor.
"Oh we're worried about Taylor
Dinna dinna dinna dint," Isaac sang jokingly.
"We don't want him to go nuts
Dinna dinna dinna dint
Oh we're worried about Taylor -"
" 'Cause he insists on wearing scarves inside!" Zac finished jubilantly.
Isaac whacked Zac over the head.
Taylor & Christian
Taylor ignored them as Christian chuckled again.
"I'm guessing you still haven't heard from Tanya or anyone about a trial?" he asked, still not having looked up from his drawing.
"Nope," Taylor shook his head, worry evident on his face as he eyed off some of the new electrics they'd had to get.
Isaac and Zac
"I don't know why they're bothering with a trial," Zac said. "They should just strip the information about his cohorts from him and then kill him. Easy."
"Because your method drags us down to his level. Easy," Isaac returned. "It's about justice, not revenge."
Christian & Taylor
"I already got quite a bit of that anyway..." Christian said absently.
"But it's always more fun for those who deserve it."
"Yeah, can we not talk about this?" Taylor practically pleaded.
Christian remained silent, as if ignoring them.
Zac and Isaac
"Okay, changing subject," Zac said. "Uhh... what to change the subject to?"
"We need to change the subject
Because the current topic is rot
We need to change the subject
To something far more hot!" Isaac sang.
"You're in a musical mood today, aren't ya?"
"Yes."
Taylor & Christian
"So you've, ah..." Taylor began, his eye on Christian.
"You've never even been interested in music, or have you just not had the chance?"
"A little from column A, little from column B," Christian replied, quickly adding the last few things to his dragon drawing.
It was a rough sketch, but that's all he had time for.
"Do you think you'd be interested?"
"I don't know, I'm not really a big music 'fan'."
Isaac and Zac
"Yeah, but have you had much exposure to it?" Zac asked. "Ooooh, lemme see."
He peered over.
"Ooh, me like."
Isaac put down the guitar and moved to look as well.
"Cool."
Taylor & Christian
Taylor also went to look.
"That's nothing compared to what I've seen you do," he pointed out.
"Yeah well it was rushed. I had a lot of time to myself when I was impersonating you," Christian looked awkward for a moment as he let the drawing fall to the floor with the brothers' writing.
He lifted the lid of the piano again to put it back as it was before.
Zac and Isaac
Zac scooped up the drawing.
"I still like it," he said, facsinated.
"You're going to admire it all day, aren't you?" Isaac said.
"Umm, yep."
"Weirdo."
"Well, it's good - even if it is rushed. I wish I could draw like that."
Christian & Taylor
Christian began to look uneasy, and Taylor suddenly remembered something Steel had told him those couple of days earlier.
"Why aren't you good at taking compliments?" he asked suddenly.
"Why?"
"Well... you aren't," Taylor pointed out.
"If you're used to getting every breathing insult on the planet, you'd think you'd be a little out of practise wouldn't you?"
"Point..."
Tad, Zac and Isaac
"Poor baby," Tad thought to himself.
He finished jotting down his note about Christian impersonating Taylor. Very interesting that. Yes, very interesting.
"Insults are only fun if they're silly," Zac said decisively. "Observe: Ike, you fight like a dairy farmer."
Isaac sighed.
"How appropriate," He said in a bored voice, "you fight like a cow. Zac..."
"Monkey Island rocks."
"You have all the insults memorised from those games don't you?"
"I've forgotten some, don't you worry."
Christian and Taylor
"What's 'Monkey Island'?" Christian frowned.
"A game, nevermind him," Taylor waved him off.
Zac and Isaac
But it was too late to save Christian from the Monkey Island rave.
"Monkey Island is only the coolest pirate adventure computer game ever," Zac said. "You are Guybrush Threepwood, the love of your life is Governer Elaine Marley and your archnemesis is LeChuck, dead pirate extraordinare and he's always trying to steal Elaine away from you. But Guybrush and his careless, clumsy, piraty skills, or lack thereof will always save the day, and keep Elaine's heart. Aww. And hey, cool insulty goodness. And -"
"Zac?"
"Yes?"
"That's enough."
"But... but..."
"Enough," Isaac was firm.
Christian & Taylor
Christian raised an eyebrow.
"Just don't get Zac started on anything like that," Taylor shook his head, "it can go on forever."
Christian just nodded, his eyes on Zac.
Isaac and Zac
"I'm very passionate," Zac grinned.
"Plus you talk too much," Isaac added.
"Not according to the fans I don't," Zac beamed, gesturing to Taylor, "Tay always dominates the conversation."
"Yeah, boy have you got them fooled."
Zac chuckled.
Christian & Taylor
"Really?" Christian looked toward Taylor, who in turn began to look uncomfortable.
"So what happened?"
"Blakesley happened," Taylor scowled, then changing the subject, "going up to the station at all?"
"Been once," Christian shrugged, "I'm not really planning to go back very soon. But who knows, something might come up."
Isaac, Zac and Tad
"The Station?" Tad almost exclaimed aloud. "How the heck does Christian get to the station and not get caught?"
Isaac put his guitar away.
"What do you think of the Adige?" Zac asked.
"Of course... Taylor..." Tad thought to himself, having updated his notes.
Well, well, well.
Christian & Taylor
"Well..." Christian began thoughtfully, "I've actually been up there twice, and neither time I really saw one. Although I think I might have seen a couple the last time. They're not too bad, I'm just not sure I like the idea of the whole shapeshifting thing. I'm happy as human."
"So is Zac," Taylor smirked.
Zac and Isaac
"Not my fault I do this weird instant transformation the moment I see one," Zac muttered.
Isaac chuckled.
Taylor & Christian
Taylor chuckled.
"It's weird how some change faster than others," Christian nodded to himself, "and it obviously doesn't have much to do with genetics, either. Or how much you visit the station."
Zac and Isaac
"It sucks," Zac said. "And I hate it. And it sucks."
"We get the idea," Isaac said.
"Glad I don't live on the station where I'd have to be like that all the time."
"Some do."
"They have my sympathy."
"You're just complaining because you've been human shaped for so long, and you're not a shape shifter."
"As if you understand."
Christian & Taylor
"Obviously it's something to do with individual circumstance. I mean I haven't had any trouble, but it doesn't look like either of you have," Christian looked between Taylor and Isaac, "so that would probably mean I wouldn't."
"It's random," Taylor shrugged, glancing at the clock on the wall.
Isaac and Zac
"Seems that way," Isaac agreed.
Zac caught Taylor's look at the clock.
"Wow," he said. "We've been here for hours."
This was his stomach's cue to rumble.
"No wonder I'm hungry."
"We do tend to get carried away when we're practicing," Isaac said.
Taylor & Christian
"I was just thinking that," Taylor's eyebrows rose, "we completely missed lunch."
"And I should probably piss off," Christian insisted, standing up, "in case your pup starts snooping around or something."
"I see your eye's getting browner," Taylor couldn't help but grin as he noticed.
"I know, it's weird," Christian looked freaked for a moment, "it's almost fully covered. Now everyone's going to know I'm a freak if I have two different coloured eyes."
Isaac, Zac and Tad
"Huh," Isaac said, looking at Christian's eyes. "Well, I've heard of people who have had two different coloured eyes. I think its was usually green and blue though."
"Anyway," Zac said. "Good to see ya again. Take care of yourself, but I'm sure we don't need to remind you to do that."
Tad decided to take that moment to retreat. Couldn't afford getting caught eavesdropping on them.
Christian & Taylor
"A little reassurance occassionally wouldn't go astray," Christian shrugged.
"I'll see you guys around."
"See you," Taylor said, watching after him as he left the room and found his way to the front door.
Isaac and Zac
"Well boys, I don't know about you, but I'm getting meself a late lunch," Zac said.
"I'll join you," Isaac said.
And they headed down to the kitchen for food.