[PRP] Family Quality Time (Taquita and Draft Punk)

[StarieMichie]

The sound of thudding rhythmic bass pierced Taquita's ears. Boom. Boom. Boom. Over and over and over and over! She couldn't take it anymore. All she wanted to do was enjoy reading in peace. Was that too much to ask?

With this family, it was.

She walked over to Draft Punk's room, and pounded on his door. No answer. After a few short moments, she knocked harder again. Still no answer. Being impatient, Taquita did a mule kick on his door and it swung open.

"Brother! How many times to I have to ask you to silence that racket! Not everyone wants to listen to your music all the time!" she snarled.  

[Byagane319]

The Boom Boom Boom was coming from the keyboard of Taquita's blurple brother Draft Punk. He had really been in the zone when suddenly his door crashes open. At first he thought it was his mom but then he saw the pale figure of his sister. And she was made. Great that was all he needed. His gloomy sister yelling at him.

He turned the bass down then stopped the beat mix he had put in. Really he didn't need this right now he was on the verge of making a really great song! Why did Taquita always demand quiet so she could just sit and read?

"Taquita you KNOW this is the only time I can play! Whenver mom's home it rattles all her bottles and I can't do anything!" he glared at his sister. Taquita didn't understand his music and that it was required to be loud.

"You just don't understand how hard I work to make this music! Everything I have to do to make it! Its not like your poetry where you sit on your butt and think of words that rhyme," he pointed a hoof at her.  

[StarieMichie]

Taquita gasped and dramatically put her hoof to her forehead. "How dare you compare my artistically wonderful poetry to your floofy fluff music! Everything you do is superfluous compared to what I do."

She crossed her front legs and sat on her rump while pouting. It was so hard to get her family to understand her! She had been cursed when she was born. She often regretted that day, and frequently wished that she had never sprouted from that laboratory! Their parents didn't even love each other. If she had to suffer the pain of existing, fate could have at least had the decency to have put her in a loving home of great authors.

"Draft, if you would actually take the time to look at and listen to my poetry instead of auto-programing your keyboard to suck-mode, you might actually learn something about what great art was."  

[Byagane319]

"Oh please, Taquita. Your poetry doesn't even have a beat to it! Your jumble of words is nothing compared to my mixes. I have to physically make them come into life," he stuck his tongue out.

Draft gave her an equally hard pout. He was born into a musical family of sorts but no one understood the time it took to get his music right. His music was suppose to be about an exciting life. His father and brother seemed to understand but the women in life disapproved of his creations. Both constantly demanded he turn it down or off completely. Sometimes he wished he could live with his dad but TACO wasn't always around and some things babbens just shouldn't see.

"I could say the same about you listening to my music, Taquita. If you would see how hard i work to make it and then really listen to it you'd see why it moves the mind and body."  

[StarieMichie]

It would seem that the siblings had come to a crossroads. It became clear to Taquita that they needed to come to some sort of a compromise and understanding.

"Alright, how about this: if you listen to one of my poems, I'll listen to one of your songs. Does that sound like a fair deal? And after you hear my poem and realize its superiority, you'll concede and give me some quiet time."  

[Byagane319]

"I've got a better deal. How about you actually watch me make a song and listen to it. Then I'll watch you create your poem and listen to it. We both know what each other can make but it seems neither of us know how hard making our work is," he hopped off his seat and held out his hoof.

"And after you see everything I put into making my music and realize I need to practice you'll let me have my noisy time," he waited for his sister. As much as it would bore him Draft would sit quietly and watch how his sister made her poetry. They were never in the same room during creation, only yelling at each other during recitation.  

[StarieMichie]

Taquita extended a hoof and shook with her delusional, burple brother. "You got it. It's a deal. Let's get the boring part out of the way and watch you make a song first, then you can marvel at how great I am at writing after that."

It was going to be hard to not put in ear plugs to block out his noise like she usually did, but if she wanted him to understand her, she had to sit though his passtime also. Taquita instantly regretted making the deal, and slumped to the ground with her chin resting flat on the floor. Her life was endless suffering.  

[Byagane319]

Draft rolled his eyes as his sister spoke of boring in relation to his music. Nothing about his music was boring. His music was full of life, like the beating of your heart!

"Alright, let me go get something really quick," he left his room and went to get some of his memory sticks. He had saved some sounds in them that he wanted to use to make this song. His radio had been left on as he just couldn't have silence at any time.

"And just a reminder to all you crazy cats out there, the local book store is having their annual Poetry Contest. Made your own poem? You could win money and a guarented spot in the front window of the book store! You only have an hour to get here so come on down!"  

[StarieMichie]

Taquita's eyes lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree. Contest? Money? But only an hour to go there!

She quickly stood up and began to run for the door. Screw this boring day, there were prizes to be won! But as she reached to push it open and exit into the outside, Taquita thought of how heartbroken Draft would be if she went back on their deal. Then again, she didn't particularly like her brother. She loved him because he was related and that meant she had to, but the two of them were too different for her to truly like him.

But the other thing that family did was stick together. It was not something any of them were great at, but maybe it was time for them to start.

Taquita heard draft coming back with whatever it was he went to get. She hurriedly flopped back down the way she was when he left. He would never notice her moment of weakness. Besides, once this was over with, maybe she would still have time to make it to the poetry jam... it was a stretch, but she had to hope for something.  

[Byagane319]

Draft came back with his memory cards, not noticing anything amiss with his sister and sat back at his keyboard. He plugged in a his memory sticks and downloaded the sounds. Now it was time to create! He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to clear his head. He had to keep his mind fresh for the creation process.

First he listened to each sound. Then he choose a beat. He almost never opened his eyes, seeing the beat with his ears. He started with a slow beat, then a fast beat, then making his choice of something in between. He took each sound and changed their tempo and pitch as it seemed to fit to him. It sounded pretty stupid all by itself.

Then he began to mix them. All the sounds he had made came together into a beat that the little phony bobbed his head to. He even used his own voice, electronically synthizied to add to the entire beat. Finally he played the entire song. All the random sounds he had been tweaking now wove together to form an amazing sound.

Once he was done he looked over to his sister, "Well? What did ya think?"  

[StarieMichie]

Well, if Taquita had to admit one thing, it was that it definitely was a lot more complicated to make that noise than she had first thought. If she had to admit a second thing, it was that Draft was really good at this. This was very much what he was meant to do.

To say she had a greater appreciation for his music would have been correct. But to say she liked it was still entirely wrong. It was something completely different from the songs their dad made, which was nice to have some variety. At the very least, she understood why Draft spent so many hours locked in his room perfecting his craft.

She realized that she had been quiet for too long, and had to give a response, "Well, it was okay, but it wasn't great." It was kind of a cop out answer, and she knew it, so she elaborated, "I can see why it makes you happy though. Now it's your turn to be the student. I'll be right back."

Taquita went back to her room to grab her notebook and her pencil. How she wrote with no hands was still a matter of magic, but it worked for her.

That radio conspired against them again as another ad flipped on, "Today only! A special guest appearance by DJ PON3 at Spire Records! She will be signing autographs for her devoted fans, but only the most hardcore ones! The first 25 phonies to rush down here will get to meet the beat legend!"  

[Byagane319]

Draft rolled his eyes again. His sister wouldn't admit his music was good, but admiting it was ok was her way of complimenting him. Maybe he could get some time without her complaining about his mixing. Now it was his turn to bare witness to his sister's creativity. He sat on the floor and waited for his sister.

Suddenly he heard the radio advertisement. DJ PON3!!!!!!!!! Draft Punk almost had a squee moment at the thought of one his favorite DJs giving autographs. And if he left now he could meet her!! Draft was on his feet and half way out the door when his guilt hit him. He had promised Taquita he'd watch her make poetry. Plus she had willingly sat through his creative process.

He could easily ignore their deal, go down and get his autograph and meet one of his idols, but what would happen when he got home? No, he had to keep his promise. You had to keep your word with family. He sighed, resigned to miss the opportunity, and sat back down to wait for Taquita.  

[StarieMichie]

Taquita returned to find her brother sitting there quietly waiting for her. It was nice to have him as a willing audience. Although he did looked a little bummed out. Listening to her poetry was a treat he should have been excited for!

She laid out on the floor with her journal in front of her, and began to write. Mostly the words flowed easily, but here and there she did fight with finding the right syntax. Taquita was quiet during the process, and she could tell that Draft looked absolutely tortured sitting without making any noise at all. The look in his eyes begged her to hurry it up, but there was no way for her to rush her art.

Once her masterpiece was completed, she cleared her throat and recited it for him:

"Dreary are my days,
and my nights are filled with longing.
I suffer here in pain,
my escape to me is calling.

Books on shelves,
they know my true heart's desire.
Ignorant all others are,
to my burning poet's fire.

My soul bleeds black,
like a raven's flapping wings.
Take heed, brother!
For with this, my spirit sings!"  

[Byagane319]

Draft was about to go insane. He hated sitting in silence. It was as if life just stopped when there wasn't any sound. But he had made a promise and he was going to keep it. He watched as things just sorta flowed for Taquita. Sure she stopped at times to think of the right words but he was impressed when she read the words out to him.

Taquita had a way with words, but just not in ways Draft would really understand. It was all to drab and dreary. While he didn't understand her inspiration he did admit the girl could put down some killer lyrics. He wondered if he could put her poetry to a beat and make it more lively? Well that would have to wait.

"Yeah I guess that's ok. I mean I don't know where all that came from considering there aren't any birds around but you seem pretty into it," he smiled then looked at the time and sighed. He had most likely missed the chance to get an autograph.

"Man, I couldn't even make it if I took my short cut through the bookstore," he looked at Taquita, "The radio announced my favorite DJ is signing autographs. Fastest way to get to it is my short cut through the book store."  

[StarieMichie]

"That's strange," she replied, "the radio announced a poetry contest that was going on at the bookstore, but only for an hour." Taquita was fairly sure that an hour had passed, but she hadn't looked at the clock at all during their time together. It was worth a shot.

"Hey Draft, maybe we should run to see if we can still make it? If when we run though the bookstore, the contest is over, I'll run with you to meet your DJ. If the contest is still going on, you can just go on without me to meet her. But we'd have to leave right now to get there."

With that, Taquita made a mad dash for the door. She flung it open and went outside. The sun burned her eyes for a moment, but she adjusted. "Come on, slow poke! Catch up!"