Chapter Text
My heart's been on vacation
Disengaged in conversation
I feel sane in isolation
Fill me up with medication
Lily and Remus could not believe the voices coming through from the video playing on Lily’s phone screen. It was a little grainy, filmed on what seemed to be an old camera in some basement of sorts. The background was a bit blurry as the camera struggled to keep up with the fast paced movements of the two singers moving around as 2 more band members played in the background. The room was dim, making it hard to see the people that were performing, but by the looks of it, that was on purpose.
A fan had tagged them in a tweet with the link, and despite rarely clicking on random links, the message attached to it was intriguing. ‘I think this band is from the same town as you guys, or at least the same area. Do you know them?’
It was the message that got Lily’s attention, who then pulled Remus over so she didn’t have to watch the video by herself if it ended up being a jump-scare or something crude. That had been an issue in the past, which had driven her away from using Twitter as much as she could. It didn’t happen often, but after the 3 unsolicited dick pic Lily was careful to click on random links. Their fandom had grown and she no longer knew all the people listening to her music like she had the first 6 months of their career. Now Twitter was the wild wild west, it scared her to venture out and interact with random people, but most of their fan interactions happened on Twitter and Lily loved fan interactions more than she feared unsolicited videos. Thus, she made it a rule that she would not click on random links unless it was from people she trusted.
She was glad she had disregarded her rule for this one. Gross was the last adjective she would ever use to describe what she was watching. The voice coming through the speaker was angelic.
You never thought I was enough
And now we're spiraling
We're going under
Angelic did not even begin to describe the voice. The singer's voice was captivating. Full of raw emotion that pulled listeners to their music. Aching for something she didn’t quite understand, and probably never will, but that was what pulled her in even more.
It was almost nostalgic for the two of them. Lily was sure she had heard that voice before but wasn’t able to quite place it and she was sure that Remus heard it too. The way his brows furrowed as the singer screamed out the lyrics. The same raw emotion, angry and pleading, could be found in the voices of Marlene who had lost her whole family. And in the voice of Sirius who had to escape from his. Both pain that no one else in their group could relate to, but somehow it was pain beautifully woven into the lyrics that they sang.
The video was no help either, not only was it grainy, but the entire band had masks on which hid their faces. The singer with the angelic voice had a basic black mask covering the top half of his face, hiding his brows and ending at the tip of his nose. There was lace attached at the bottom, flowy as he twisted his body as he continued to sing, which obscured the bottom half of their face.
I guess that I'm still breathing
It's hard 'cause I'm still grieving
Who I was used to being
I spent everyday appeasing
I'm sick and in denial
All of my thoughts on trial
I was dead on arrival
It's a vicious, brutal cycle
(It's a vicious, brutal cycle)
God. The second singer was just as good. Her face was less obscured by a mask, there was no lace to veil the bottom half, but the wild blond curls did make it hard to make out any distinct features. Plus, the dark red lipstick created a captivating look that made it hard to focus on anything else. Especially as she joined the other singer. Her voice was softer, but still strong and bold masking her own pain.
I can't say anything
You wanted everything at once
And you're not listening
We're going under
You ruined everything
You never thought I was enough
And now we're spiraling
We're going under
This feels like a simulation
Cancel all our reservations
Kill you in hallucinations
Numb me with intoxi-
Remus paused the video.
“Wow…”
A beat. Neither knew what to say about what they had just heard. It was hard to put into words what they had heard, their thoughts jumbled as they tried to string them into a cohesive thought.
“Who are they?” Remus asked, not having seen the tweet where Lily had gotten the link from.
“Not sure,” Lily started as she scrolled to the video description hoping to gather more information about the 4 person band. “A fan sent over the link and I thought we should give them a listen. They think the band is from our home town.”
“Hmm…” Remus leans closer, looking at the frozen image on the screen while Lily looks through the description. His eyes study the 4 still figures trying to make out any distinct feature he could recognize, but they were all wearing masks. Their clothes, dark and grungy, also did not share any secrets. No one had really dressed like they were in their home town. “I can’t think of anyone from our hometown who would want to start a band.” He’s not lying, not entirely at least. The only person he knew that could sing like this…no that was the past. This couldn’t be. It was no secret that there were many musically gifted people in their town, a side effect of being rich. Most of the people he had gone to school with could play at least one instrument, but not like this. What they played was classical and “appropriate”, whatever that may mean, the complete opposite of what the band on the screen was playing.
He switches his attention over to the description of the video that Lily is now giggling at as she reads over it.
Thank you for listening to our song Going Under! We are MortiFago, a small band of friends who have nothing better to do on the weekends.
Leo - Lead Singer and Keys
Panda - Singer and Guitar
Rose - Bass
Bee - Drums
FAQ
Q: Is Leo a boy or a girl?
A: Who cares.
Q: Are Panda and Rose siblings?
A: Yes, now move on.
Q: Are Panda and Leo dating?
A: No, they’re just like that.
Q: Are Leo and Rose dating?
A: No, they’re just like that.
Q: Are Panda and Bee dating?
A: Ew, no - Bee
Q: Are Bee and Leo dating?
A: Once again, No.
Q: Are Bee and Rose dating?
A: Oh my god, you guys need to stop it with the dating questions.
Lily laughed as she scrolled down the FAQ, their answers getting more exasperated as they went through every possible dating combination in the band. She could relate, having been shipped with half of her friends came with the almost overnight success she gained. This had only grown since her and James broke up, their relationship had given fans hope that another ship could one day become real and now she was an open target for more shipping.
“Seems like they’re tired of all the shipping already.” She laughs. The band, MortiFago, was not completely underground. Their video had 1.5k views, enough to start getting engagement and some fans, but nothing compared to what could come with time. They had talent and she knew that it was only a matter of time until they broke through into a mainstream light.
“And they’re good,” She continues, "Definitely not the type of band who only get together on the weekends.”
Remus finally looks away from the screen, having studied every bit of the frame he could. “You think they’re lying?”
“Do you?” She asks back, turning her head to look at him.
“Hmm, no.” He starts, “But I do think they have been playing music for a long time.”
Lily narrows her eyes, confusion settling into her features as she starts to piece together what Remus is trying to say.
“So do you think we know them?” She asks, trying to get more information out of Remus. Though, Remus doesn’t really have more information. He is also just making assumptions based off of the limited information he has available. If the fan is correct that they are from the same home town then that really limits the possibility of who they could be.
“Maybe, there's a few people that come to mind if they are from the same home town.” He replies, letting her into his line of thinking.
Lily pressed her lips together, trying to remember who in their town had shown any special interest in music. Unlike Remus, she had grown up fairly sheltered. Her parents had home-schooled her up until the age of 13 and only 5 years later she left to go pursue music with Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, and the guys. That hadn’t really given her enough time to get to know a lot of people in her town. She didn’t mind, she liked her small close knit group of friends, but right now she wished she knew the people Remus was thinking about.
She opened her phone again, the screen had gone dark during the time they spent talking. “I’m going to look them up. They’ve got to have socials.”
Remus hums in agreement, getting up from the couch they were on and heading to his room wishing her luck on her search on his way out. He needed to start his own snooping too, wanting to make sure he was certain about his claims before he started making them. Deep down he knew that “Leo” could only be one person, but discovering the identity of the rest of the band would greatly help in finalizing his theory.
He knew that he was opening a can of worms, but he quite enjoyed chaos. Even though this was a bit too close to home for comfort.