cewilson5

Piper was just finishing up a song when she noticed a head in the crowd which was much higher than the rest.  She remembered seeing him earlier in the week and she knew that she should remember who he was but as she hummed the last chords and closed her eyes she was drawing a blank.  So many people had been coming to watch her lately and her face was showing up more and more on WatchThisStuff.com.
And then her eyes shot open as she remembered.
The guy with the Assist.
The Assist who sounded like Allie.
“We’re gonna take a quick break,” she said to the crowd after the music closed out.  Those in the crowd nodded their heads and retreated to the nearest building for some warmth from the late winter/early spring air.
Her cellist looked at her strangely.  “You doin alright, Pipes?” he asked.
“Yeah, Charlie,” she said as she swiped her hair into a sloppy clam which rested on the top of her head.
“We don’t usually take

“Your lover boy’s coming up the street,” Shaw said with a grin as she looked out the window the next day on a lazy Thursday early afternoon.
“Very funny,” Airyn said.  “And he’s not my lover boy.”
“Whoever he is or was, that guy from before with the Assist is coming up the street…Assist free.”
“Really?” she asked and walked up to her lavender haired friend.  Her face changed slightly when she realized that she was right.  “He must be off today.”
“No sloppy suit today,” Shaw snickered.  “Maybe you were wrong about him?”
“Maybe…” Airyn mused.
The door swung up and Shane burst inside.  “Airyn, do you know if that Piper girl is performing today?”
“Well hi and hello to you, too,” Airyn said, visibly deflating.  Why did she ever listen to Shaw?
“Hi,” Shane said shortly.  “Do you have an

“I’m exhausted,” Shane muttered at the end of Wednesday’s work day.  From the being carted around all over the city to meeting with people and picking up more junk than he thought was unnecessary he was worn out.
“Exhausted from what?” Lux asked as they sat in Davis’ office waiting for him to show up to go through the final rundown since Shane would only be working a half day tomorrow.  “It is not like you had to do much.”
“I had to deal with you,” Shane joked.  When she didn’t answer he lifted up his head to see her standing on the desk looking…not indifferent.  “Lux, I’m kidding.  These things would be a nightmare if it wasn’t for you.”
“I do not do anything special,” she said as she started to walk around the surface of the desk.  Shane attention was held captive as she strolled around.  Everything looked so different in her world and i

“So how was your first day?” Shane’s mother asked once her son had finally arrived home.  It was a little after four but she supposed with city traffic and it being his first day that it was to be expected.  “I’m assuming you got the job?”
“Sure did,” Shane said with a wide smile as he stooped slightly to enter through the front door.  His mother promptly shut the door.  This wasn’t exactly the part of the neighborhood where you wanted your front door hanging open at night.  He glanced over his shoulder at the sleekly wrapped package hanging from it.  “This is just one of the many gifts I received today.”
“Gifts?” his little sister Naomi chirped from the hallway.  The girl seriously had an eye and an ear when it came to free stuff.  “Anything good?”
“I think you’re asking if there’s anything for you,” Shane said with a smile as he sau

Amazing.  That’s all that Shane could think as he listened to the girl singing outside.  It was no wonder that no one in the diner wanted her to leave with her group because honestly?  She was helping bring in more business.  Several people who walked past took one look and one listen and strolled into the diner to hear her.  Even Lux seemed to be caught up in the moment, watching the dark haired girl sway her hips and throw back her long hair along with the music.
“She’s good, isn’t she?” Shane asked her in a soft voice, almost not wanting to spoil the moment for either of them.  Lux nodded in response but never took her attention away from the singer.  For an Assist, Lux really did seem to appreciate music as much as she claimed to.  He could see her head bobbing and her eyes going from the singer to the drummer and even the strings players.  “Amazing voice,” he said.  “It reminds me of

Shane didn’t believe her.  Surprise wasn’t something Assists felt very often but even if they could, Lux knew she wouldn’t be when Shane blew off her answer about why she was so important to Lotus.  He couldn’t even consider it.  Despite his temper tantrum in the men’s clothing store, he still thought Lux could be nothing more than a machine – a collection of scrap, wires, and metals.  It was hard to face but not surprising.
She remembered how Garrett first reacted to her in general.  Come to remember it, Garrett had also been reluctant to see her as a machine when he was brought in to be Lotus’ personal bodyguard but he still didn’t like to think that Lux was Lotus’ voice.  He basically laughed the whole thing off until he heard Lotus sing acapella without assistance.
But he said from the beginning that he was never going to see her as a machine.
Lux supposed that Shane wasn’t that much different