09-24-2018, 11:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-24-2018, 11:36 PM by Aiden Finnegan.)
Aiden nodded to Sage as he pulled away with a murmured excuse. It should have been obvious to Aiden that his boyfriend wouldn’t want to be in the limelight, although Aiden didn’t know that others would recognize the hacker.
The marvelous Mister Jaxen kept the suspense short and sweet, proclaiming Aiden to be the winner of the toss-up. There was a virtue in going first, any jitters or butterflies wouldn’t have more than a moment to take root in his stomach; had he gone second, Aiden may have been a nervous wreck. He hadn’t performed on stage in years, much less in front of one of the most well-known names in the music industry. Aiden would have to pull some tricks out of his hat, no questions about it.
Requesting a piano, guitar, and microphone, Aiden took a few minutes to contemplate his performance as the stage was set up for him. It was imperative that he was facing the audience head-on. Oh, he would do a little Channeling tonight, but no one in the room would notice… if he played his cards right.
Mounting the stage, Aiden grabbed the guitar and walked up to the mic, a second was sitting by the piano. The crowd was growing restless. People started chanting his name, or that of his old band, Blarney Stoned. The hot lights of the stage beat down, blinding Aiden from looking too far into the crowd. He couldn’t find Sage, or Nox, or Methos, or anyone.
Perfect, Aiden thought.
Clearing his throat, Aiden spoke into the mic, “Thank you, everyone! Thank you, again, Jaxen, for hosting such a marvelous night. I do hope you decide to throw more wild, wild parties in the future,” The guests cheered at that. Aiden waited till they quieted down again, “Methos, you beautiful man. The song I am playing tonight is because of you… I think you know it. It’s a cover of a cover.”
With a strum of the guitar, the light of the Power burst into existence behind Aiden; although he did nothing with it. After a few chords, the crowd started to recognize the song…
Nirvana’s cover of David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold the World.’
The Light burned and blazed behind Aiden, but still, he did nothing with it. If any others in the room caught it, he couldn’t tell. Oh, he had no wish to reveal himself so publicly… and he wasn’t. At least he hoped not. Regular people couldn’t see this light, and if someone in the room called him out, it would be their word against his.
Old blisters started to reform on the pads of Aiden’s fingers as he masterfully ripped through the chords of the song; it was as if hopping back on a bike. The crowd responded to the performance with zest, which made Aiden’s blood pump harder and the chords come smoother.
Walking away from the mic, Aiden kept playing the guitar. He sang no more and let the strings do all the work. With a little effort, he was sliding down on to the stool behind the piano; giving himself a little distance between the seat and the keys.
Aiden kept playing the guitar and brought his feet up, hovering his toes over the keys of the piano. Taking hold of the Power, he used minuscule flows of Air to start playing accompaniment on the piano; his fingers still strumming away at the guitar. To keep up the charade, Aiden began moving his feet around, making it look to all the world that he was playing guitar with his hands and the piano with his toes.
The entire room lost it.
The piano was turned in such a manner that no one could see much of his feet; the movements of his legs and the loud music coming from the keys was all it took for the crowd to form their own assumptions.
It was incredibly hard to divide his attention between the two, but the song was almost over.
Aiden belted out the last few lines.
Aiden began shaking a little; he dropped his feet from the keys, and let the Power go. To cap off the performance, Aiden mounted the top of the piano and played out the last few chords of the song on the guitar. When the song finally ended, the room’s cheers and hand clapping rose to a crescendo; Aiden took one huge sweeping bow for the crowd before making his exit, stage right, signaling to Methos that it was his turn.
Lord! I need to start running again… I shouldn’t be this out of breath! He thought to himself as he made his way towards the back bar. People who had ignored him 20 minutes ago were now shaking his hand, patting him on the back, snapping pictures. He forgot just how overwhelming the fans could be…
He also forgot just how much he reveled in it.
Now where did Sage run off to?
The marvelous Mister Jaxen kept the suspense short and sweet, proclaiming Aiden to be the winner of the toss-up. There was a virtue in going first, any jitters or butterflies wouldn’t have more than a moment to take root in his stomach; had he gone second, Aiden may have been a nervous wreck. He hadn’t performed on stage in years, much less in front of one of the most well-known names in the music industry. Aiden would have to pull some tricks out of his hat, no questions about it.
Requesting a piano, guitar, and microphone, Aiden took a few minutes to contemplate his performance as the stage was set up for him. It was imperative that he was facing the audience head-on. Oh, he would do a little Channeling tonight, but no one in the room would notice… if he played his cards right.
Mounting the stage, Aiden grabbed the guitar and walked up to the mic, a second was sitting by the piano. The crowd was growing restless. People started chanting his name, or that of his old band, Blarney Stoned. The hot lights of the stage beat down, blinding Aiden from looking too far into the crowd. He couldn’t find Sage, or Nox, or Methos, or anyone.
Perfect, Aiden thought.
Clearing his throat, Aiden spoke into the mic, “Thank you, everyone! Thank you, again, Jaxen, for hosting such a marvelous night. I do hope you decide to throw more wild, wild parties in the future,” The guests cheered at that. Aiden waited till they quieted down again, “Methos, you beautiful man. The song I am playing tonight is because of you… I think you know it. It’s a cover of a cover.”
With a strum of the guitar, the light of the Power burst into existence behind Aiden; although he did nothing with it. After a few chords, the crowd started to recognize the song…
Nirvana’s cover of David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold the World.’
“We passed upon the stair
We spoke of was and when
Although I wasn’t there
He said I was his friend
Which came as a surprise
I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone
A long long time ago…”
The Light burned and blazed behind Aiden, but still, he did nothing with it. If any others in the room caught it, he couldn’t tell. Oh, he had no wish to reveal himself so publicly… and he wasn’t. At least he hoped not. Regular people couldn’t see this light, and if someone in the room called him out, it would be their word against his.
Old blisters started to reform on the pads of Aiden’s fingers as he masterfully ripped through the chords of the song; it was as if hopping back on a bike. The crowd responded to the performance with zest, which made Aiden’s blood pump harder and the chords come smoother.
“I laughed and shook his hand
And made my way back home
I searched for form and land
For years and years, I roamed
I gazed a gazeless stare
We walked a million hills
I must have died alone
A long long time ago…”
Walking away from the mic, Aiden kept playing the guitar. He sang no more and let the strings do all the work. With a little effort, he was sliding down on to the stool behind the piano; giving himself a little distance between the seat and the keys.
Aiden kept playing the guitar and brought his feet up, hovering his toes over the keys of the piano. Taking hold of the Power, he used minuscule flows of Air to start playing accompaniment on the piano; his fingers still strumming away at the guitar. To keep up the charade, Aiden began moving his feet around, making it look to all the world that he was playing guitar with his hands and the piano with his toes.
The entire room lost it.
The piano was turned in such a manner that no one could see much of his feet; the movements of his legs and the loud music coming from the keys was all it took for the crowd to form their own assumptions.
It was incredibly hard to divide his attention between the two, but the song was almost over.
Aiden belted out the last few lines.
“Who knows?
Not me
I never lost control
You’re face to face
With the man who sold the world.
Who knows?
Not me
We never lost control
You’re face to face
With the man who sold the world.”
Aiden began shaking a little; he dropped his feet from the keys, and let the Power go. To cap off the performance, Aiden mounted the top of the piano and played out the last few chords of the song on the guitar. When the song finally ended, the room’s cheers and hand clapping rose to a crescendo; Aiden took one huge sweeping bow for the crowd before making his exit, stage right, signaling to Methos that it was his turn.
Lord! I need to start running again… I shouldn’t be this out of breath! He thought to himself as he made his way towards the back bar. People who had ignored him 20 minutes ago were now shaking his hand, patting him on the back, snapping pictures. He forgot just how overwhelming the fans could be…
He also forgot just how much he reveled in it.
Now where did Sage run off to?
Russian Dolls and Broken Gods, a new Fantasy novel by best-selling author, Aiden Finnegan, out this December! Preorder online and instore today!