Hex was teaching Din how to use the studio room and how to work the microphone.

“Don’t touch any of the instruments without my permission though. One twist of a dial or push of a button could mean disaster. Also I don’t want you to accidentally break anything.” He put the microphone down. It wasn’t because she was a girl, it was because she was inexperienced with a real musician’s studio, at least that’s what he thought.

“Understood, I won’t touch anything but the mic without asking,” Din said.

“You already know how to work the mic, right? I mean, you had singing work before, at least that’s what you told me,” he said.

“Yes, I can handle the mic, have you finished the lyrics yet?” She asked.

“Yeah, this is going to be the first song in a good long time that has had female vocals. The last one was a while ago.” He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head with the new elbow length gloves Zlyena gave him, the ones that morph when his claws come out and share the same sharpness. Din was given a pair as well.

“Oh, I’ve listened to your discography, I know it’s been a while.” Din smiled and nodded.

He felt a bit awkward around her, she was beautiful, and almost looked like a ball jointed doll, her facial features were very similar.

“Heh, yeah, last one was Whore.” He sighed, and let his arm fall back down to his side.

“Do you have them with you? The lyrics, I mean,” she said.

“Oh, yeah. I also put notes with it, so you don’t have to ad-lib. You can read treble clef, right?” He blushed and put a hand to his head as soon as the words left his mouth, it was a stupid question to ask. Anyone who has ever done choir that had her range would be able to read treble clef.

“Oh, it’s fine. I can read it.” She giggled.

“I’ll go get them, then.” He walked out and went into his room, where he had previously printed the lyrics.

It was a breath of fresh air to be out of the room she was in, he was getting increasingly nervous around her, probably because she was pretty, he thought. He took a second before looking through the stacks of paper of his most recent lyrics. He pulled out the song sheet for her, it was Garden of Razor Blades. He had been working on it for the past few weeks begrudgingly after she showed up, but after getting over his ex, it changed quite a bit.

He took it and went back to her, and handed her the song sheet.

“Thanks, now let’s set things up so I can get to it.” She grabbed the microphone and started to set it up.

“Alright, I’ll get to it as well.” He went to the mixer and set it up.

“You ready yet?” He turned back to Din, who was putting on headphones.

“Yeah, let’s check the audio first before we begin.” She nodded.

He was surprised to know that she knew his band was in the Industrial genre, and didn’t think she knew before he found out. He was convinced that she didn’t know about it before, but knowing she was a fan made his heart beat fast every time he thought about it.

They checked the audio, and she began recording her vocals. She sounded beautiful, he was floored. Her voice was perfect, and he was mesmerized by it. He stared at her the entire time, but she didn’t notice because she had her eyes closed. She finished singing and looked at him.

“Was it good? Do I need to go again?” She asked.

He stood there dumbfounded for a second.

“Are you alright?” She started to walk up to him.

“Yeah… Yeah, I think it’s good. We don’t need another take.” He nodded, still slack jawed.

“Okay, let me know if you need another take later.” She took off the headphones she was wearing and placed them back where they were.

“Alright, thanks.” He gave another, singular nod.

He was pleasantly surprised by the quality of her voice. He initially thought he didn’t need a female vocalist, but after that, he was determined to write her in. He found himself zoning out to her voice sometimes instead of listening to her vocals while making sure that they fit the song.