Taylor had organised for his usual teleporter to visit at around 1pm that afternoon. He arrived early, but when asked what was happening Taylor opted to wait until Natalie arrived.
Natalie
Natalie soon arrived at Zac's place - it sure looked different in the day time. She walked up to the door, hesitated a moment, then rang the doorbell.
She was feeling a little nervous about this.
Taylor
Taylor immediately jumped up to answer the door, having already told his brothers what was happening.
"Natalie, hi," he gave her a welcoming smile.
"Come on in."
Natalie
Natalie stepped inside.
"Hi," she said.
She chewed her bottom lip, suddenly uncertain as to what else to say.
Taylor
"This is Tony. He normally takes me to Houston once a month," Taylor introduced.
"Pleasure," Tony smiled in greeting, "are we ready to go then?"
Taylor looked to Natalie.
Natalie
"I'm ready to go whenever you are," Natalie replied. "It's nice to meet you Tony."
Taylor
They were soon teleported to Houston, and Tony went wait somewhere outside. Taylor took Natalie's hand and began to lead her to the amplifiers.
Natalie
Natalie couldn't stop the little smile from crossing her face as Taylor took her hand. She mentally told herself off for acting like a silly girl, but one of the members of one of her favourite bands was holding her hand, ok?!
"Hi Taylor," said of the the clerks cheerfully. "Little early this month, are we?"
A nearby security guard looked up at this point. He started wandering over, but casually, as if keeping an eye of the crowd, and not just Taylor.
Taylor
"I've got someone for Tanya to meet," Taylor smiled a little, "this is Natalie."
He eyed off the nearby security guard after a moment. Something wasn't right about his body language, but again he couldn't put his finger on it.
But then, maybe he was just being paranoid. But the guy had stepped closer.
Natalie
"Ahh, well, nice to meet you Natalie," said the clerk. "If you could just put your palm here?"
Natalie let her palm be scanned.
The security guard joined them and gave the clerk a nod.
"Hey," he said. "How you all doing?"
"Just routine stuff here," the clerk smiled, then looked at Taylor and Natalie, "he always likes to check up on us."
The security guard smiled and looked at them too.
"Taylor Hanson is it?" he asked.
His empathy should sense any lie in Taylor's reply.
Taylor
"Yeah..." Taylor replied carefully, already sensing an ulterior motive.
"I don't believe I've seen you here before...?"
Natalie
Not lying, but wary, was the security guard's conclusion.
"Been working here for months," he said, with a smile.
"All security guards look alike," joked the clerk. "It's like they don't even have names."
"Same for clerks," he chuckled.
"Anyway, you two are clear to go up. I'm sure you know the way by now Taylor."
Natalie looked to Taylor.
Taylor
Taylor nodded, giving the guard another sideways glance before taking Natalie over to the amplifiers.
They soon teleported onto the station, and Taylor almost broke into a run to get to Tanya's room - only walking slow enough for Natalie to keep up.
Natalie and Tanya
The secuirity guard watched them leave and then moved to the nearest terminal. He sent off a brief message to Leroy that Taylor Hanson was on the station, and it was definitely Taylor. Then he went back to patrolling.
Why Taylor seemed in a hurry to get to Tanya's, Natalie didn't know. She managed to keep up with him though.
Tanya was about to turn into her quarters when she saw them come down the hall.
"Hi Tay," she greeted cheerfully as they approached.
Taylor
Taylor stopped - almost too abruptly.
"Tanya," his eyebrows rose in greeting, "...hi."
He glanced at Natalie.
"This... this is Natalie."
Tanya and Natalie
"Hi Natalie."
"Hi," Natalie replied shyly.
"Were you coming to see me? Or are you in this hall on the way to somewhere else?" Tanya asked, putting her thumb on the door panel to open it.
Taylor
"We were," Taylor nodded, "...coming to see you. That is."
He glanced at Natalie again, then indicated for her to step toward Tanya's door.
"I hope we're not... interrupting or anything. I figured you're normally free about this time."
Tanya and Natalie
"Sure," Tanya replied. "Come on in. I don't mind the odd unexpected visitor. Unless it's something bad. In which case, not so good."
She held the door open for them to come in. Natalie stepped inside uncertainly. She felt a little out of place.
Taylor
Taylor put a hand on Natalie's shoulder and indicated a seat next to his usual one, then he sat down.
"Mainly, I..."
Taylor hesitated. he hadn't exactly planned how to word it.
"I wanted you to meet Natalie."
Tanya and Natalie
Natalie felt herself blush as she sat down. Okay, seriously, why would Taylor want to introduce her to Tanya?
Tanya looked at Natalie, then at Taylor, then back at Natalie.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," Tanya said.
"Nice to meet you too," Natalie replied softly.
Taylor
Taylor chuckled to himself, before clearing his throat and looking up at Tanya.
"Her power is empathic healing."
Tanya and Natalie
"Empathic healing?" Tanya repeated, curiously. "I haven't heard of that one before."
"It's rare," Natalie replied. "I only know of two other people who have it."
"What exactly does it do?"
"Well, it's like normal healing. But it works on the empathic level. So, yeah... injuries of the spirit, soul, whatever you'd like to call it."
Taylor
Taylor bit his lip, hiding a smile as he looked up at Tanya.
He rubbed his hands together nervously.
"I haven't told her anything," he insisted with a glance at Natalie, "but... if you feel the need to, go ahead."
Tanya and Natalie
"Tell me what?" Natalie asked.
Tanya considered Natalie for a moment.
"What we're going to share with you does not go past these walls," Tanya said.
"Uhh, ok..."
What has she gotten herself into.
"I know healers can sense injuries... I assume that you're the same?"
Natalie nodded.
"Well, you may have noticed that Taylor's... having some problems?"
Natalie nodded again.
"The main problem is that he's developed an alterego. His altereo is very dangerous and has been known to kill people."
Natalie looked alarmed. She glanced at Taylor.
"You can understand we've been trying to deal with it, but we haven't found any long term solution. Natalie... is this something your power can fix?"
Natalie chewed her lip, as she considered the matter.
"Well..." she said slowly. "In theory yes. I haven't ever dealt with a... uhh, split personality or anything before, though. So I couldn't tell you how long it would take. In terms of mental turbulance though... it would explain why there is so much of it."
Taylor
"Even if it doesn't... work for the alterego, there's other pathways this power can help," Taylor shrugged.
"I mean there's... a lot left over other than that."
Then he turned to Natalie and, using his hands for emphasis, insisted "sorry if it feels like we're using you by the way."
Natalie and Tanya
Natalie smiled.
"That's okay," she said. "I've never seen such enthusiasim in my power before. And I like to help."
"Well, if you don't have a problem with it," Tanya replied. "Why don't you try it for a while and we can see how it goes?"
Taylor
"As far as I know hers just keeps going though," Taylor began, eyeing Tanya off suddenly - getting the feeling he was missing something behind the expression on her face.
"So do you think this should be... what, a daily, weekly, monthly thing? I mean she probably has a life to get back to."
Natalie and Tanya
"Continuous? It stays on whether you want it to or not?" Tanya asked.
"Umm, no," Natalie frowned. "I mean, well, I can turn it onto automatic, but then I can switch it to manual if that's what you're asking."
"Ahh, I see," Tanya nodded. "So, in answer to Taylor's question - what do you think?"
Natalie shrugged.
"I've never done anything on this scale before. Mostly it's like, go to some kind of get-together, turn it onto auto if I can sense any turbulance, turn it off when I leave. The auto method is lighter, I guess. Makes the odd person dizzy," Natalie shoot a guilty look at Taylor. "But it's at its most intense when, ahh, there's physical contact. Much more concentrated then. But I also tire quickly that way."
Tanya nodded, understanding.
"Probably be the best method. How long? And how often?"
"I don't know... maybe an hour once a week?" Natalie felt her face go hot as she said the next part: "I ahh, I've done a massage course. I've been looking for work in that field."
She really had to do something about the red face thing. There was nothing the slightest bit embarrasing about being a masseure. Maybe it was just Taylor.
Taylor
"As said though, would you be able to make it once a week?" Taylor looked concerned.
"I mean we live in different states to begin with... I mean if it's not too much trouble we could always get Tony in on it, but if you get too busy it's up to you."
Natalie
"Well, I have heaps of time on my hands right now, looking for work and all," Natalie said. "So, if Tony doesn't mind we could do that."
Taylor
"Well... would you consider this work?" Taylor asked suddenly.
"I mean I don't really want to get this for nothing. I could pay you for it. At least until you get a fulltime job or something. Just to... keep you going, you know? I mean if it was less than once a week I wouldn't bother, but this will eventually become a nuisance."
Natalie and Tanya
Natalie blinked.
"Well, I, I..."
"It seems fair," Tanya cut in. "You will be providing a service, and most people do get paid for such things."
Natalie looked at Tanya then at Taylor.
"Uhh, yeah, okay," she agreed.
Taylor
"Great," Taylor's eyes lit up.
"So ah... when we get back to Tulsa we'll work everything out. Contact details, payment, all that. Thanks Tanya."
Natalie and Tanya
"No problem," Tanya replied.
"Umm, Tanya? May I use your bathroom?" Natalie replied.
"Oh, sure. Last door on the left."
"Thanks."
Natalie hopped up and zipped to the bathrom. Hey, when nature calls...
Taylor
Taylor waited a moment until he heard the bathroom door close, then turned back to Tanya and leant forward in his seat.
"What's happening with the Chris situation?" he asked softly, so as not to be overheard.
Tanya
Tanya pursed her lips.
"I don't know at the moment. I... I spoke to Leroy the other day. I think, more or less, he just wants Chris to be brought into rehab. Still, that doesn't excuse his behaviour. We're in a bit of a dangerous position at the moment, Taylor. Because if Leroy decides that charges need to be made against us, he will. Mostly because, as a YIRAAS Council member be believes he has standards to uphold," there was no hiding the bitterness in her voice. "Still, it turns out that it started with Tad. He was the one who approached Leroy."
Tanya looked hopefully in Natalie's direction.
"Hopefully, Natalie's power will be effective - in which case we won't need him any more. Taylor, I'm so sorry about this. I have tried to shard to find someone to replace him, but there simply isn't anyone available that I have access to - at least not without raising difficult questions."
Taylor
"Tad still doesn't know that we know... I assume that since he hasn't confronted us that Leroy hasn't told him," Taylor shrugged.
"He'll obviously wonder why it's suddenly harder to get information anyway."
He couldn't help but scowl.
"Perhaps Natalie should take a look at Isaac first?" he suddenly suggested, raising an eyebrow.
"Then we know he's in the clear all the way. Tad did mention that he hardly needed him anymore. Then you guys only have to worry about me."
Tanya
Tanya nodded.
"Leroy probably wouldn't tell Tad something like that," she said. "Especially not now. He might tell him to stand down, I don't know."
She was starting to wonder if she really knew Leroy these days.
"In any case, asking her to check on Isaac is a good idea."
Taylor
Taylor nodded.
"Ok."
He fidgetted a little, keeping his eyes down.
"Are you ok?"
Tanya
Tanya chewed her lip for a moment.
"Just... I didn't except this from Leroy. I guess I'm feeling a little betrayed," she admitted.
Taylor
Taylor nodded sullenly.
"It's... it's definitely unexpected. Though I can't say that about Tad."
He took a deep breath and sighed, waiting for Natalie.
Tanya and Natalie
Tanya nodded just as Natalie returned.
"Thanks," she said to Tanya.
"No problem," Tanya replied. "So, I guess you're going to be going home now?"
Taylor
"I guess we'll go back to Zac's and sort this all out," Taylor said, standing up.
"Oh, I meant to mention," Taylor rolled his eyes at himself as he looked at Tanya, "there was a... security guard in Houston who was hanging around. I swear I'd never seen him before, but he said he's been there for months. He asked if I was Taylor Hanson..."
He couldn't help but chuckle.
"I mean I've been coming to see you for how long? Everone there should know me - especially if you know, they've been there a few months at least. But..."
He glanced at Natalie.
Hesitating a second, he tapped his head.
"U.M," he said out loud, figuring she'd pick what he meant out of his head.
He indicated for Natalie to head for the door.
Tanya and Natalie
"Okay, see you later," Tanya said.
Natalie followed Taylor out as Tanya found out what Taylor wanted to tell her.
*I'll check into it,* she promised.
"Bye," said Natalie. "It was nice meeting you."
Taylor
"Thanks again," Taylor nodded before closing the door behind them.
Again he began to rush back to the amplifiers, before suddenly stopping short at the end of the corridor.
An Adegei was coming toward them from the right.
Gulping slightly, he groaned before stepping back against the wall.
Natalie
Natalie looked at the Adige curiously - she had never seen one up close before. Her assessment was disrupted by the spike in mental turbulance coming from Taylor, although it didn't seem the harmful type. Well, there was definitely more to Taylor than met the eye!
She nodded to the Adige as he (or she?) passed them.
Taylor
"Give me a second," Taylor whispered, before closing his eyes and sinking to the ground.
He held his head back against the wall and put his hands on his forehead, trying his best to block out the dizziness and general vertigo he felt.
As the Adige moved further away, he felt it clear, and looked up at Natalie.
"Sorry about that," he tried not to blush.
Natalie
"Oh, that's okay," Natalie replied, looking a little puzzled. "Are you okay? Does that happen often?"
Then she wondered if she were prying.
Taylor
"Yeah... it does happen a lot..." Taylor murmured, quickly getting up.
He looked around again warily.
"Whenever one comes by. Come on."
Again he began to rush back to the amplifiers.
Natalie
"Ahh," Natalie breathed before hurrying to keep up.
Well, that explained things... and brought up more questions. When they got to the amplifier, Natalie signed out and prepared to go back down to Houston.
Taylor
Taylor also signed out and they were soon teleported back to Houston. Purposely ignoring the security guard there he led Natalie outside to find Tony.
When they found him, they were soon back in Tulsa, and Tony said his goodbyes.
Natalie and Isaac
Natalie waved as Tony disappeared.
"Wow," said Isaac, entering. "One moment this room is empty, the next you're in it."
He had only passed by a minute before hand.
Taylor
Taylor chuckled to himself, before remembering.
"Ike! Ike, don't go anywhere," he insisted.
Then, turning to Natalie: "would you mind checking him over first?"
Isaac and Natalie
"Check me over for what?" Isaac asked.
"Uhh, well, I could..." Natalie replied, uncertainly.
Taylor
"Just trust me," Taylor insisted, before turning back to Natalie.
"He's a bit like me," he quickly explained, "but nowhere near as bad. He's almost over it. Think you could... finish it off so to speak?"
Isaac and Natalie
"Oh umm, sure," Natalie said.
Isaac gave Taylor a curious look as Natalie put her hand on Isaac's bare arm.
"Oh, I see..." she said. "I guess I didn't notice because it is on its way out... at this rate... a couple of months maybe. Plus your mental turbulance kinda distracts from it. Just a sec..."
There was quiet for a moment as Natalie concentrated.
"Okay," she said finally. "That's should do it. You should be able to use your powers now. Nervous breakdown?"
"Yeah..." Isaac confirmed.
"Well, whatever triggered the last one... as long as you avoid that in the next couple of months you should be good to go."
"I'd like to avoid that trigger for the rest of my life."
"That works too."
Isaac grinned, then paused.
"Actually... I am feeling a lot more clearheaded now..." he said slowly.
He looked around the room, focused on a nearby chair... and managed to lift it in the air!
"I did it!" he exclaimed. "Tay! Did you see what I did? I lifted the chair! On purpose!"
Taylor
Taylor grinned.
"Way to go. Guess we don't have to depend on Zac making dinner for us now?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac chuckled, and rubbed his hands together happily.
"Do you have any idea what this means?" Isaac beamed. "It means that I can write songs as I'm playing them again! Yay! Y'know, amongst other things. But I missed that the most."
Natalie giggled and Isaac gave her a hug.
"Thanks heaps," he said.
"You're welcome," Natalie smiled.
Taylor
"Her power is an amazing thing," Taylor smiled, putting his hand on Natalie's shoulder.
"Ike? I need to talk to you later. And Zac."
Isaac and Natalie
Isaac nodded.
"Okay," he said.
Natalie, who was grinning madly, looked at Taylor.
"I could do you today too, if you want," she offered. "No time like the present?"
Taylor
Taylor hesitated nervously, then looked down at her.
"Sure," he shrugged.
He took his hand from her shoulder.
"We should probably work out technicalities first."
Natalie and Isaac
"Yeah... that's probably a good idea," Natalie agreed.
"Well, I'll leave you two at it," Isaac said. "Thanks again, Nat."
"No worries, Isaac."
"Just call me Ike."
And Isaac departed and Natalie sat down.
Taylor
"Ok..." Taylor took a deep breath.
He grabbed a pen and something write on, then sat down across from her.
"Where does your income come from at the moment? Or are you dependent on your parents?" he asked.
"Not meaning to pry or anything, I just need to work out how much you're already getting - if any."
Natalie
"Parents," Natalie replied. "I should probably go to the welfare office and get on the dole or whatever, but I have this thing about goverment handouts. Besides, I think my parents earn too much for me to qualify. So whatever."
Taylor
"That's fine, you don't need to now," Taylor's voice softened.
"Earning an income, do you think your parents would start asking you for board?"
Natalie
"Yeah... but when I get a full time job," Natalie replied. "Or a part time job that was multiple days a week. I don't think they would bother about this."
Taylor
"Ok," Taylor nodded, staring at her for a moment as if sizing her up.
He ripped a small piece of paper off his notepad and began writing on it.
"This is our fax number, for now. Fax through your bank account details when you get home... or as soon as you can. This is my cell number - I ask that you please don't give it out, for obvious reasons no doubt. And this is Zac's house number just in case I don't answer the phone or you need to talk to someone other than me. Ike and I are moving out but not for a few weeks..."
Natalie
"Okay," Natalie replied agreeably. "I should probably give you my number too..."
She waited until he was done with the pen and paper.
Taylor
"Well, I've got your cell," Taylor shrugged.
He added his email address and then handed her the paper, followed by the notepad and pen.
"But yeah, anything else. Email... fax... home phone... I guess we should probably meet your parents just so they're not afraid we're going to kill you or anything."
He chuckled.
Natalie
Natalie giggled and jotted down her details.
"Yeah... they'd probably liked to know I'm not getting sucked into any unsavoury," she said.
Taylor
Taylor smiled again.
"I can talk to them over the phone whenever they want," he insisted, "in case they need instant reassurance. I know my brothers will be itching to practise any moment now though."
He hesitated, then looked around the living room.
"So... what exactly do we need to do for this?"
Natalie
"Well," said Natalie. "We could sit down and hold hands, which will just require a lounge. Or I could give you a massage, which will require somewhere comfy for you to lie down. The latter might be more comfortable for both of us. Either way, I have to touch your skin - it can't be through clothes."
Taylor
"I'm not, actually, very good with physical contact at the moment," Taylor admitted, standing up.
"Maybe as it progresses I'll get better."
He stepped over and sat beside her before glancing at his watch.
"It's three thirty now... want to just go to four today? Or four thirty?"
Natalie
"Okay," Natalie said. "Umm, lets just go to four today."
She reached over and took his hand.
"Hopefully you won't get dizzy this time."
She closed her eyes and concentrated.
Taylor
It seemed to Taylor that he'd only just begun to feel relaxed when the half an hour was up.
"Thanks again for this," he said quietly, almost yawning.
Natalie
Natalie stifled a yawn herself.
"That's perfectly okay," she said, then grinned cheekily. "Besides, you're paying me."
Taylor
He closed his eyes and waited for it to dissipate. After a few
moments, he managed to stand up.
"I guess you'll be off now."
Natalie
"Yeah..." Natalie replied. "See you again next week?"
She stood as well.
"Tuesday again?"
Taylor
"Yes, sure," Taylor nodded, leading the way to the door.
"Anytime in the morning would be great, we usually practise
all afternoon. Did you have a car or something...?"
Natalie
"No," Natalie replied. "But it's not so far away. It's cool. Is eleven okay?"
Taylor
"Eleven's great," Taylor agreed.
He saw her off, and then took her details from the coffee
table and into the kitchen. He left them by the phone before
heading for the music room to find his brothers.
Isaac and Zac
Zac was watching Isaac use his new found powers to play every instrument in the music room. He was laughing.
"Dude... this is like... an orchestra band," he chuckled.
"Not enough instruments to be an orchestra," Isaac replied solomnly.
Taylor
"Someone's happy," Taylor chuckled as he entered the room
and closed the door behind him.
He turned to Zac.
"See? If we leave Ike in here for a while he can pretend
he's having a band practise if we ever need to evade Tad."
Isaac and Zac
"It'll work great," Zac beamed. "As long as we don't tell Tad Ike's got his powers back properly."
Isaac grinned at his brothers.
"If we don't tell Tad... that means I get to give into my urges to whack him one."
Taylor
"Even better," Taylor shrugged, before his face fell.
"I spoke to Tanya about Chris."
Isaac and Zac
Isaac and Zac's eyes met before looking back at Taylor.
"What she say?" asked Zac.
Taylor
"She's already confronted Leroy," Taylor came out with.
"It came down to Tad approaching Leroy at first. And... she
said if he thinks that, that charges should be made against us,
he'll make them."
Isaac and Zac
Isaac winced.
"Okay, well, that hurts," he said. "Understandable, I guess... but it hurts."
"Understandable?" Zac's eyebrows were raised.
"Hey, the guy has worked in security all his life. And now he's on the council," Isaac pointed out. "That's no small level of responsibility. Still... do you know what's happening with Tad?"
Taylor
"Well... that's why Natalie was here," Taylor's eyebrows rose.
"When she came up in conversation Tanya mentioned that
hopefully... Well, if this works, we won't need Tad anymore.
Obviously you don't need him. I'm not sure what effect that's
going to have on what he's already done."
Isaac and Zac
"Yeah..." Isaac nodded. "I guess all we can do is limit Tad's opportunities to pry further, and hope that Natalie can help, and that Tanya and Leroy can come to some sort of arrangement."
"Alternatively," Zac said cheekily. "We could give Tad heaps of stuff. Scandle and stuff. Stuff to distract him from the fact that he isn't learning anything useful."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated as he looked at Zac, then a small smirk
appeared on his face.
"You mean give him false information? Because that would
be great payback."
Zac and Isaac
"Pretty much," Zac replied. "Although I was thinking more along the lines of trivialities. Y'know... soap opera type stuff. But I suppose he'd probably see through that."
"We'd have to let Tanya know at least," Isaac warned. "Y'know, so that - assuming he does take it seriously, and reports it, Leroy doesn't get the wrong idea. We don't want to get charged for something we didn't do. But yeah... payback."
Taylor
"Of course there's a lot of other ways to get revenge," Taylor
began to look thoughtful.
"Many of which we don't need to claim responsibility for."
Then he chuckled.
"We could make this fun. What evidence do you think they
have beside hearsay anyway?"
Zac and Isaac
"That's a good point," Zac nodded. "It's really only Tad's word on it. I doubt that he's put eavesdropping devices around the place."
"You guys never found evidence of that when Kristy came over, right?" Isaac asked Taylor.
Taylor
Taylor shrugged.
"Nope, nothing. Just the reports he'd written and sent to
Leroy. There was no audio, video or anything like that."
Isaac and Zac
Isaac nodded.
"It all looks in our favour," Zac said gleefuly, rubbing his hands in delight. "Okay, so what nasty little lies can we feed him with?"
"We're plotting to take over the world?" Isaac suggested.
"No, it needs to be something he'll actually believe... Credit where credit's due - I don't think he's stupid enough to fall for something so cliche."
Taylor
"We should plot to murder someone he knows. He won't be
able to help himself, he'd have to give himself away," Taylor's
eyebrows rose.
"Something that forces him to come clean maybe. Unless
you want him to report to Leroy."
Zac and Isaac
"I'm partial to the idea of making him look foolish," Zac nodded. "Humilation! Yay!"
Isaac chuckled.
"I don't care either way," he said.
Taylor
"Well I don't know what we could do," Taylor shrugged.
"Maybe just take the focus away from Chris and put it on
someone or something of a larger scale to divert him."
Isaac and Zac
"We could always pick some random crook out of the YIRAAS Most Wanted list," Zac said. "Or we could pretend we've joined a gang."
"We could invite some of our scariest friends over," Isaac suggested cheerfully. "Freak him out with our freaky friends made freakier because we're pretending we're up to no good."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated, then chuckled.
"Tad hasn't met Steel, has he?" he grinned.
"Though I'm not sure he wants to be met. What sort of gang
would we be in though? What would we do?"
Isaac and Zac
"Umm... I don't know," Isaac began.
"The kind that rapes and pillages and plunders."
"A pirate gang, huh?"
"Mwahaha! Yes we're into prating music and movies! Yo ho ho!"
"Zac?"
"Yes?"
"You're getting way too into this."
"Yep!"
Taylor
Taylor chuckled.
"It's a good start, and it can always escalate," he shrugged.
Isaac and Zac
"Yay!" Zac cheered.
"Uh oh," Isaac said. "We've created a monster."
"And and and... we need to have like, a secret handshake or something. Or a tattoo -"
"I'm not getting a tattoo."
"We can get a light manipulator to do it. Where's Miette these days?"
"Protecting Prince Harry."
"Okay, so she's busy. But hey I'm sure there's someone else. Annnnnddddd... one of us needs to come home in the middle of the night with realistic looking fake blood on us."
Taylor
Taylor chuckled.
"This gets better."
He finally sat down on the piano stool.
"Who could we get in on it?"
Isaac and Zac
"People he hasn't met," Isaac replied immediately.
"Well, yes, that would make sense," Zac said. "Hey, maybe we should call up Friday and have her turn him into a girl."
"And then impregnate him?" Isaac teased.
"I think Tad's done enough breeding."
"Isn't she busy at school though?"
"Yeah... probably won't get her here again any time soon. No matter! How about our road crew? Aaron, Pete, Mike and Troy? I'm sure they could pull off the how gangster look if they wanted too. Oh! And we need a few chicks too, who wear skimpy clothing and keep things in their bras."
Isaac patted Zac on the head.
"Yeah, and I'm sure you know exactly where to look to find said girls," he glanced at Taylor. "See? I told you he was getting way into this."
Taylor
"Well that's actually a good thing," Taylor insisted, leaning
forward to pat Zac on the shoulder.
"It means he can organise everything for us."
Zac and Isaac
Zac started cackling evilly.
"Be careful what you wish for Tay," Isaac said, but not without a smile. "We may regret letting his take care of all the details."
"Not if Tad believes it," Zac said smugly. "Let's see... who can I call?"
He started mulling over all the people he knew that might be willing.
Taylor
"At this rate, if Zac takes charge, it'll be foolproof," Taylor
pointed out.
He looked at Zac and then raised his voice to make sure he
heard.
"As long as he takes into consideration current phobias and
what we just won't do."
Zac and Isaac
Zac gave a dramatic sigh.
"Rats," he said. "There goes the strippers and the lapdancing then."
"Seriously, Zac. Issues," Isaac said.
Zac chuckled.
"Don't worry," he said rubbing his hands together gleefully. "Whatever I put together, it has to be believeable for Tad to believe it. So I have to take your... restraints into consideration."
Taylor
"Thankyou," Taylor insisted.
"So do we want to leave this for now and actually practise
before dinner? It's getting late."
Isaac
"OKay," Isaac said agreeably.
And so the three boys took up instruments (just as soon as Isaac stopped playing all of them with his telekinesis) and had a fun and productive band practice.