31. Orion
This had the potential to be really ugly, but fucking Azriel was the one who pointed out we could still work within the bounds of our contract and prevent Harlowe from ever signing one. We’d been given just as many loopholes as our chains had been yanked and we still didn’t know why.
We didn’t know why we had to cancel a sold-out tour and attend grad school like we needed it. The three of us were just unceremoniously dumped here with zero orders until Harlowe showed up.
I would have felt differently about the whole thing if she was a terrible person and I didn’t actually want to write music with her.
She could be. I hadn’t spent much time around her, but she’d been decent to both Misha and Azriel.
I was a dick when I got asked to play her tour guide and there were no tantrums. She was just kind of done with me after that.
It was a turn on. I knew she was a fan, and she thought I was sexy, but the only reason I knew that was because she didn’t know I spoke Spanish.
If I was just basing things off how she always tried to leave when I tried to talk to her, she hated my guts.
Actually, that might not be too far off on account of the dick thing.
I liked that she didn’t chase us in the slightest because most people here did that.
The problem was that Misha and Azriel were getting attached. Azriel more than Misha. Azriel didn’t just take a muse for inspiration. He had all consuming relationships with them. Azriel would essentially burn the entire world down and dance on the ashes for his muses.
Azriel’s muses either broke him or he broke them when they ended. Misha and I weren’t planning on betraying him or dying, so I wasn’t worried I was one of his muses. I was worried he was fixated on Harlowe and had already been calling her his new muse.
He couldn’t keep her. None of us could. He claimed her.
He pulled a ton of strings to get her here and he was involving us in those plans.
I’d been given a job assisting her advisor during her hours with Aurelia, so I heard the story about how she ended up in the subway.
I didn’t know the first thing about celestial powers, even though I’d met Gadreel and his brother numerous times and a demon.
It wouldn’t shock me at all if we were ordered to Blackvale in preparation for her.
I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t. I barely knew her, so it was still a possibility.
Misha and Azriel were stressing about this meeting like we hadn’t done this a million times before. It was a business meeting, and we were discussing a potential job. We wouldn’t be paid a red cent, but getting out of our contracts would be worth it.
I knew enough about these contracts that it was a free will thing. Nothing bad happened if someone said no. We never said it out loud. You didn’t know who was watching. But we could find a way out of our contracts and prevent her from signing one.
I just needed to stop Azriel from falling in love. I was pretty sure I was too late.
Misha and Azriel were standing over the panini press trying to figure out how she liked her grilled cheese.
“She’s a vegetarian. Do the three of you not pay attention at all?” Topher said, appearing out of nowhere like he enjoyed doing.
“Begone, Satan!” Azriel hollered, throwing a piece of bread at him.
Topher just bat it out the way.
“I don’t even look like him. He’s all golden and I’m dark and mysterious.”
I just growled at him and Misha rolled his eyes.
“What are you doing here?”
“Getting the band together. I’m helping. She’s a vegetarian, so don’t get fancy and put meat in hers. She wants a grilled cheese, not some posh sandwich. And she wants an obscene amount of cheese. Use chicken for Leif so he feels better about it. Cullen is coming so make his non threatening.”
How in actual fuck did you make a grilled cheese sandwich non threatening? Also, how in actual fuck did I used to be in love with this guy? Oh, yeah. He was beautiful, charismatic, and a total anarchist.
There was a knock on the door. Azriel and Misha were cooking, since it was their turn.
I did it last night. I went to answer the door.
It was Harlowe, and she looked stunning.
She hadn’t even dressed up. She was wearing black leggings and a giant hoodie that had a skull and cross bones over an apothecary bottle of poison.
Her black hair was pulled into a messy bun and she wasn’t wearing any makeup.
She had that sleepy look I loved on Misha and Azriel.
“Sorry, I fell asleep editing the footage I shot earlier today. I figured do it tonight since we don’t have Nutcracker rehearsal. I could have put a look together or I could have been on time. I hate being late.”
I could appreciate that. So did I. I usually dressed for business meetings, but this was just us in our dorm room eating bougie struggle meals. She also wasn’t underdressed.
“You’re completely fine. Come in.”
She looked around our dorm room. We never let anyone in here. Topher didn’t count. That was breaking and entering. I could tell she wanted to ask, but there was another knock and it was Leif and Cullen.
I let them both in and directed them all towards the couch.
“Holy shit. My dorm room looks nothing like this.”
“Mine kind of does,” Harlowe admitted.
“So, Blackvale Academy has rooms set aside for visiting dignitaries and politicians. Students don’t stay in them most of the time.
We got this one because we demanded to stay together.
I’m guessing Harlowe got one because her patron demanded it.
Does anyone want anything to drink? We’ve got coffee, whiskey, and Azriel is currently obsessed with kombucha.
Please take the kombucha. It has to be refrigerated, and it’s hogging space,” I said.
“Rude. My gut health is important, Orion.”
“Your gut would be pristine if you’d actually take a break from painting to eat something healthy instead of Funyons and Zebra Cakes.”
“And you’d be less of a dick to people if you brought Funyons and Zebra Cakes to your practice room so you weren’t hangry when you didn’t want to leave to eat.”
I just grinned and flipped him off. This was an ongoing thing.
Ever since we got here, Azriel’s studio was getting restocked with snacks he liked and someone was slipping sandwiches in my bag before I left since I always swore I wasn’t hungry.
Misha was getting peanut butter and oatmeal bars in his dance bag.
None of us would admit to it. I wasn’t stocking Azriel’s studio with junk, so it had to be Misha.
Azriel was the one leaving the bars in Misha’s bag because it wasn’t me.
I’d started slipping bananas in there so he wouldn’t cramp.
I had been sneaking sandwiches into Azriel’s studio when he thanked us for the junk food.
Neither of them would admit to the sandwiches I was getting.
“I feel like I’m watching hyenas frolic,” Cullen muttered.
“They are puppies unless you give them a reason,” Misha shrugged. “How does everyone want their grilled cheese? I’ve got four different cheese, chicken, and roast beef.”
Topher smugly stuck his tongue out and then flipped us off behind everyone’s back when Harlowe wanted all four cheeses, Leif wanted chicken and not a ton of cheese, and I guess roast beef wasn’t threatening because that was what Cullen wanted.
It was just like he told us from his creeping in the shadows.
Arsehole. Harlowe turned to look at me while I was returning Topher’s middle finger and now I was the one who looked like a dick.
Topher was annoyingly sexy and charming.
I couldn’t blame her for falling for it because I did.
We all did. Everyone always fell for Topher and then he stabbed them in the back.
“Do I wanna know?” she asked.
“Remember how we said we’re never going to fuck, even though that should be a crime, because I don’t sleep with students and you don’t sleep with people who could further your career?
Meet SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward, the reasons I don’t.
You’re Squidward, cupcake,” Topher said, blowing me a kiss.
“I hate you.”
“Not touching that with gloves on and a ten-foot pole,” Harlowe said.
“Oh, I’m fascinated, go on,” Cullen said, resting his chin on his hand.
“Or we could just talk about Leif’s ballet,” Harlowe said. “I’m allergic to drama. Let’s make art instead.”
Leif hadn’t said a word yet aside from how he wanted his sandwich.
I would have. We were meeting to discuss bringing his vision to life and Topher was ruining it like he ruined everything.
I wanted to do this. His ballet was definitely the kind of music I enjoyed writing and I really wanted to work with Harlowe.
We may have eventually gotten to this on our own, but Topher was the one who put the idea in our heads.
The least he could do was not cause drama.
Misha spoke highly of Leif and I would have thought he was going to let us steamroll his entire ballet because he wouldn’t rein us in, but I was watching him.
He wasn’t speaking because he was scared of us.
While Topher was airing our dirty laundry, Leif was sitting back watching and deciding if he wanted to work with us or not.
Smart. If Topher hadn’t ruined my life, I would have been doing the same thing.
Leif finally spoke. He was soft-spoken and I could see why Misha and Cullen liked him.
He was astute and shrewd, but I had a feeling if he decided our drama was too much for him, it would have been the kindest rejection I’d ever gotten and some people were quite cruel when they didn’t want to hire me.
“So, I know what dancers I want to cast and the vibes I want. I’m not going to add any characters, but there are no major female characters in the book and I want to use Rue.
I don’t think I’m terrible, but Rue has this way of making any choreography look better.
I’m gender bending Dr. Hastie Lanyon and casting Rue in that role because I think she’ll be phenomenal.
“I was having trouble visualizing exact choreography because I hadn’t found the right music.
Orion’s music is close to what I want for Jekyll’s scenes, but it was missing something when Misha would switch over to Hyde.
I didn’t know what it was until I came across a girl playing the violin in the subway.
“You did something in all the songs, but it was more prevalent in the second. Do you know what I’m talking about? I didn’t have time for music lessons, but I know the basics. I don’t actually know what that thing is. I know it’s dissonance, but it’s different.”
“The Devil’s Tritone? It was Halloween, and I needed to make money.
I was breaking out every spooky piece I knew.
I was going to play Danse Macabre and I would need to tune my E string to an E Flat.
The video started recording after I’d tuned my E string down.
I played anything I wrote or knew with that tuning.
The second piece you’re talking about is one I wrote.
I wanted to play with the Devil’s Tritone, dissonance, and teasing that I wasn’t going to resolve it until it got a little uncomfortable. ”
I listened to that piece. It was uncomfortable and eerie.
She’d bump right up to resolving the chord, and you felt like you could breathe again, and then she’d let it go for another few bars.
It took a lot of talent to do that. I understood why Leif wanted her better and I could work with that. I wanted to work with that.
“Yes! That. I’m also allergic to drama. So, I have questions about all of this.”
“I can answer,” Topher said. “The Immortal Nightmare boys and I have a past, but I’m not an artist, musician, or dancer. I’m just here because I believe in you and I think if I can get the right people at your thesis performance, I can make you a star.”
“That’s the thing. This is my thesis performance, and this ballet means a lot to me. I don’t want this to be an Immortal Nightmare show, but I want to work with you.”
No, I got it and we had a solution. Faustus would market this as an Immortal Nightmare show if I wrote the music, Azriel did the sets, and Misha was dancing the lead, but at its core, this was about Leif’s choreography.
As much as I hated him, Topher could fill the seats for people who were there for Leif, not us.
“Misha can’t because people recognize him, but Azriel and I have pseudonyms we can use. We don’t always need to take credit. You know that Broadway musical that blew up several years ago? The one about Eros and Psyche that Misha choreographed? The sets and music were us.
“Someone who wrote the lyrics couldn’t write the music.
He posted a bit of it on a message board asking for help.
She never knew it was me who did the score.
Azriel got inspired listening to me write and dumped his designs for the sets and costumes in her inbox without being asked.
She didn’t know it was him either, but she ended up using it.
She didn’t know she was getting Misha for choreography until he showed up at rehearsal. ”
“That was you?” Harlowe asked. “I was obsessed with that musical for the longest time.”
“Yes. We can use those names or make up new ones. If you advertise Orion Hart and Azriel Ivy worked on this ballet with Misha Petrovich as the lead, it’s going to turn into our show, not yours.
You’re the one who conceptualized it and if she agrees, Harlowe will be writing too. It’s not fair to either of you.”
“That’s decent of you,” Cullen said.
I could have snapped at him and put him in his place that we weren’t monsters, but he was Misha’s friend and I kind of liked him.
“We’ve had the limelight. Sometimes, it’s nice to do anonymous projects you really want to work on.”
Leif broke into a huge grin. I could see why that Isobel girl had a crush. He was adorable with a baby face and he just lit up when he smiled. He also wasn’t into any of that, so I didn’t react.
“So, do I have composers and a set designer?”
“I’m in,” Azriel said.
“Same.”
We all looked at Harlowe. She hadn’t said much either. She sat back and listened. I could appreciate that.
“Are you also allergic to drama, Orion Hart?” she asked.
“I need an EpiPen because it’s fatal.”
Topher snorted, and I resisted the urge to throw my plate at him.
“Then, I’m also in.”
Excellent. And, apparently, we needed to protect Leif too. I didn’t know why we were all being herded towards this ballet. I wanted to do it, but I was also highly suspicious.
I wasn’t lying about not liking drama. If she was, I’d be miserable, but I could ignore it for work.
I hoped she wasn’t.