#sing imagine

[sing-imagines-blog]

The Punishment Fits the Crime

Prompt: Buster’s past crimes catch up with him.

“Buster, how did this happen?”

“Uh, well, you see. There might be a legal explanation in another universe but, uh, not in this one. Hence… why I’m here.”

It was a sunny Friday evening, and Buster could’ve expected to find himself anywhere else but here. The thick glass between him and the theater gang just seemed to make it all more realistic.

“Mr. Moon, a-am…” Meena looked around nervously before whispering into the phone. “Am I going to get in t..trouble too?” Her eyes were wide and frantic, she was basically an accomplice to the reason he landed up in there. And, of course, Buster wouldn’t let her be recognized as that.

“Hey, now you don’t need to worry. I took full responsibility. No mention of you whatsoever.”

Meena seemed to relax slightly, nodding and feeling a small amount of guilt. He didn’t have to take the full blame, but he was anyway, and for some reason that felt wrong to her. Again, she couldn’t imagine being stuck in this place, it just wasn’t her!

“Oh, Buster.” Rosita sighed, concerned. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You’re not a bad animal.”

“No worries, Rosita, I am as fit as a fiddle. I just hope you all help Ms. Crawley take care of the theater… and also just tell her I’m on vacation. I’ll be out of here in no time.”

“You can count on us, Mr. Moon.” Ash nodded.

“One year? That’s a long vacation, pal.” Mike popped the p. “I have to admit, I am impressed, I didn’t think you had it in ya’. Behind all that charm you’re nothing but a dirty scoundrel.” He started laughing, and Buster’s ears drooped only slightly.

“Hey, hey! That’s not true.”

“Don’t worry, Buster, we know that. That’s just Mike being Mike.” Rosita assured, giving the mouse a look.

“At least I’m not stupid enough to get caught.” The crooner crossed his arms and looked smug, but not before seeing one of the prison guards eyeing him. He swallowed, the smirk falling.

“Heh, oh jeez.” Mike tugged at his collar, “That’s my cue.” He hopped down, walking towards the exit with an innocent looking stride.

Everyone silently rolled their eyes, save for Meena.

“Hey, uh, where’s Johnny?” The orange-clad koala asked, hopefully directing the conversation away from all the illegal things he did. Theft of utility was no joke, unfortunately.

“I’m not sure, he might be at work. I.. I’m sure he wanted to come.” Rosita responded, diverting her eyes away slightly.”

“Ja, Buster! We all, like, love you. Especially Johnny dude!” Gunter added.

“Yeah, yeah.. Okay, thanks, guys. And, don’t worry! I’m sure I won’t actually be in here for a year. I’ll be on my best behavior, guaranteed.” He smiled.

“We trust you.” Rosita smiled back.

“Yeah, Mr. Moon, if you need anything, just let us know!” Meena exclaimed, trying to seem happier about this for his sake, or more relaxed.

“Hey, times up.” The guard stated, “It’s lunch time.”

“Oh, boy.” Buster muttered, clenching the phone a bit more tightly.

Ah, the high school cafeteria, it certainly brought one back to the good ole’ days. Well, if that one was 36 years old and relating that memory to the prison cafeteria, which was nothing but a desperate attempt to feel better.

He had his tray of slop, it was only a matter of where to sit… There were so many, much bigger animals, around.

It was just like high school, only he couldn’t exactly eat his lunch in the auditorium.

“Okay, alright. Everything is going to be peach perfect. A-okay. I am… A-okay.” He walked around, looking for a spot at one of the tables that wasn’t next to an animal covered in threatening tattoos. And, when he did find that rare spot, a hard glare from someone sitting there immediately kept him walking.

This puts a little bit of a hiccup in the mental to-do list he made for his long stay here. 1: Make friends. Not working so far.

Fear not! He would be persistent, now only if he could find a spot somewhere. Anywhere-

“Oi.”

He tensed up at hearing the heavy voice behind him, and didn’t turn around.

“I’m talking to you.”

“Er, I, don’t want any trouble, sir.” Buster spoke, trying to keep his voice stable and fearless.

“Turn around.”

He did so, with major hesitance, until he was squared up with a large, mean looking gorilla. Right next to two other large gorillas. Great.

“Like, I-I said, sir, I don’t want any trou-”

“Are you Mr. Moon? Of the Moon theater?” The British accent was thick, and it almost reminded him of… no, could it be? A relative? No…

“Uh, I- yes. Yes, I am.” He eased slightly.

“So you’re the little koala who helped my Johnny discover music? Or whatever you would call it. The koala who made him go to the rehearsal instead of help us finish a job?”

Buster gulped and tugged at his collar. He didn’t like where this was going, and was quickly looking for some sort of escape route if things went South. “...Yes..?”

Buster winced ahead of whatever response he would get next.

“Thank you.”

“Please don’t aim for the fac- What?” He started speaking quickly before cutting himself off. “Thank you?”

“You led my son away from the possibility of ending up here, ending up like me. I am indebted to you, Moon.”

He was certainly not expecting that, no sir, no way. “I-I, uh, um-” He was at a loss for words. “I’m- confused. Just to be clear, y-you don’t want to punch me in the face?”

The gorilla gave him a look, “No. I want to help you.”

“Oh, I see. Of course. An-and, how would you help me?” He held his tray tightly, the slop keeping form.

“A little guy like you won’t last long in this place. Not a lot of other small guys, you get it? Me and the boys will stick with ya’. No one else will try to mess with you if they know you’re with us.”

Buster looked at the ground, and then back up at Johnny’s dad.

“Wow… I honestly don’t know what to say. This… wow.”

“You don’t get a choice, we’re helpin’ regardless.” He nodded to the gorillas beside him, who nodded back.

“Yeah, we got your back.”

“Yep.”

“Come on now, we got to eat before the lunch hour is over, don’t we?”

Buster kind of stood there, dazed and confused, like he still couldn’t really grasp it.

“Aren’t ya’ comin’?”

He shook his head, “Yep, yeah! I am!” He spoke, voice at full confidence, and quickening his pace besides the three. “You can call me Buster, by the way.”

“Pete.”

Things were looking up, and he hadn’t even been there a full day!

[sing-imagines-blog]

An Apology

It had maybe been a few weeks after that fateful, glorious night. And, Meena had really discovered herself within that time, especially after facing her fears, and singing in front of a crowd.

Life for her had never been better, and she and the rest of the crew really did become closer. Sure, the new theater was still in the works, and it probably would be for another month or so, but they managed to stay in contact and hang out. Every once in awhile, they would get together in Eddie’s pool house, to discuss the possibility of future acts, all led by Buster of course.

On the other end of business, she, Johnny, and Ash, all became closer friends, due to being the youngest, thus being able to interact more easily. Meena, the shyest of all 3, did appreciate being included, and having friends in general. It seemed to give her an extra boost of confidence.

Then there was Rosita, who adored everyone as she would her kids, and was always there as someone to talk to, or even receive help from. She turned out to be pretty handy in all departments, whether it was as a mom, or as a friend.

Of course Gunter was in the mix as well, never failing to brighten up the room with his cheery presence. He and Meena, despite still being polar opposites when it came to confidence, actually had some meaningful conversations, and he was able to lend some tips in choreography as well.

Everyone was in the mix. Well… almost everyone. There was one mouse who had seemingly disappeared ever since the concert took place.

Meena remembered not even seeing him after her performance… he was just gone. Of course, everyone questioned what could’ve happened to the small rodent, but no one made any move to try and find him.

Afterall, it was Mike, and he seemed like the kind of guy who would skip town if things got too shaky… and everyone did know about his business with the bears, at least the important parts. And, if the bears had ended up picking off Mike… they could only hope that wasn’t the case. The mouse may have had a mean spirit, but he probably didn’t deserve to get eaten.

Soon enough, everyone had forgotten about his plight, and figured he was out of town for good. That was that.

That’s why Meena was caught off guard when she discovered him on her doorstep.

She was lucky enough in the first place to hear the small knocks, probably signaling reluctance (much to her obliviousness), and even luckier to look down before she ended up stepping on the hot-headed mouse.

“Mike!” The surprise showed in her voice, before it hit her that he was actually here. Wait, why here? Her house? How did he even know where she lived? “...Mike?”

“Hey…” He trailed off, “Funny seeing you here, right?”

“... I live here…” She added, even with clear hesitance in her voice. Now, she was glad Mike was seemingly alive and well, but she hadn’t had the best interactions with him beforehand.

“Yeah, yeah, right. Listen, I’m not going to take long.” He started, taking his hat off and fidgeting with it slightly. “But, I had to get some weight off my shoulders, y’know?” His usually clear voice had reduced to a mumble.

Meena didn’t know, and she wasn’t catching on, but she did feel nervous about it, and could only imagine he had the worse to say.

“...O.. oh, okay.” She nodded, resisting the urge to fidget herself. She was admittedly curious about all of this. Or more particularly, why her?

“Okay, so,” He paused to take a second, “I… wanted tosyimsrry.” He mumbled the last part really quickly.

Meena deadpanned unintentionally, “... What?” She really didn’t catch that all.

“I wanted to say imsorry.” He repeated, still heavily mumbling the very last part. Meena, yet again, couldn’t understand him, who could.

“...Wha-”

“Oh cripes, I’m sorry!” Mike burst, not letting her ask again, “I mean, uh, yeah, sorry. I wanted to apologize. Make amends, all that crap.” It wasn’t a lie, at least, these past few weeks had really been eating at him. “You’re no helga, or jumbo… or useless, in fact you’re probably the opposite. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve had offers all over town by now..”

Meena didn’t say anything this time, but subtly raised an eyebrow. Mike? Apologizing? To her? Complimenting her? She was at a complete loss for words.  It just didn’t make sense, but she would let him continue regardless.

“It’s- I just- I had no, I mean who did, idea that you could- have such a big…. Voice.” Mike stammered over his words, rubbing the back of his neck while avoiding making eye contact as well.

Meena could only blink with silent surprise.

“Listen, I know I wasn’t nice to you, or any other gremlin at that theater, not saying you’re like them, but- jeez, this isn’t off to a good start.” It was painfully obvious he was struggling with the right words. “Okay, but, I needed to apologize. For all the times I called you something, or laughed at you… ya’ know, the whole gist. I take it all back…”

Now she was really surprised.

“It’s only because I didn’t know how ta- talented you were! I thought you were just like the other bozos, but I was dead wrong, okay? I have never been more wrong in my life, and I have hardly been wrong about anything, get it?” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, still not quite making eye contact with her.

She didn’t totally agree with everything he had stated… but Meena could see the obvious effort. Heck, this was like a completely different Mike to her.

“It’s just when.. When I heard your voice, I swear to God, it was almost as top notch as mine, and I just- wow. I didn’t expect it….. What?! What’s with that look, jeez!” He snapped slightly, becoming all embarrassed.

Meena didn’t even realize it, but she was smiling at him. Well, until she dropped it for Mike’s sake.

“Okay, okay… there, that’s it, that’s all. I just… had to let you know, kid… You got talent.”

There was a long silence between the two, and even though Meena felt the need to say something, she just felt like it all wasn’t real, even if Mike was right there, right in front of her.

“So… no hard feelings? We’re good?” He finally asked again, as he played with the brim of his hat.

It didn’t take long for Meena to answer that, and she felt her small smile returning.

“No hard feelings.” She repeated.

[sing-imagines-blog]

i have a buster centered prompt! maybe he gets sick on the day of one of the performances and tries his hardest not to fuckign die on stage

Buster woke up that morning feeling not so great, and it all started with a simple sneeze.

At first he didn’t think much of it. Animals sneeze all the time, so what? He ignored it and continued on with his morning routine. He couldn’t let a small sniffle get in the way of his big day! There was a lot to be done.

He popped out of his desk, feeling refreshed. Well, sort of. No matter, he would continue with a smile on his face, and a mind on getting work done.

Now, ever since the concert and Nana Noodleman helped salvage his theater, he had been more successful. More success, of course, meant, more money. Enough that Buster was at least able to find another place to live than his desk.

But, he chose not to. He couldn’t help it! He was too attached to just abandon his previous way of living. Besides, he often spent the night with Eddie over at his pool house, and it wasn’t all that bad.

“Okay, everyone, today we have the same as usual. Rehearse… Gunter is there for anyone actually willing to actually try and learn the choreography he has planned for this next show. I’m looking at you Mike.” He paced across the stage, reading off of a clipboard and not quite looking up but pointing at the mouse.

‘Don’t sniffle. Don’t do it.’ He mentally challenged himself.

Mike only rolled his eyes, texting lazily as the Koala continued.

“I have a few… duets… in mind.” He had to pause in between words, the tickling feeling of a sneeze coming on.

Rosita was the only one to notice, so far. “Are you okay, Buster?” She asked, eyebrow raised. Now, being a mother to 25 kids gave her special senses, especially those of which could sense someone catching a cold.

“Totally… fine.” He sighed in relief as the sensation finally went away, “Anyway! Duets.” He continued to ramble on, and everyone else, save for Rosita, groaned silently with boredom. They only hoped they wouldn’t get paired up with Mike, who was the bridezilla of duets

Buster wasn’t getting healthier, but he certainly wasn’t going to entertain that thought. Not in the slightest. Sure, the amount of sneezing has increased drastically within’ the last hour, as has the irritation in his throat, but he was also good at hiding them… especially if he just spent the majority of his time in his office.

It worked well, plus, he held on to the firm belief that if he just simply ignored it, it would go away. This was easier said than done.

He sat at his desk, sneaking a couple of advil and staying hydrated, something he remember his dad usually did when he was sick, and it always seemed to work! Well… it was either for that or something else… no matter!

“Come on, you can get through this. Of course you can! You’re Buster Moon, as healthy as a horse! You will prevai-”

He was cut off when Johnny quickly opened the door, “I think you should come down here, Ash and Mike are arguing again.”

“Oh, man, I put them together so they could try and work together for once.” Buster grumbled, rubbing his face. Jeez, this cold was even making him a bit more grumpy.

“Right, okay, I’ll be down.” He got up, wiping his nose quickly before following Johnny down to one of the rehearsal rooms.

Sure enough, there was Mike and Ash, arguing about the duet, and they were both hell-bent on getting their way.

“I am, in no way, going to sing that.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I’m not going to sing that punk rock crap, not for a million dollars!” Mike shot back, knowing very well that he would probably do anything for a million dollars… still!

Buster bust in (sorry) the room, “Hey, hey, hey! What’s the problem now?” He asked, gesturing at the two with his hands.

They immediately started pointing at each other and complaining about what was wrong. Of course, and what he could gather from it, was they both weren’t going to sing with each other if it meant having to sing a song out of their style.

Buster pinched his nose, the cold forgotten, “Did either of you even look at the list? I put songs I think would suit both of your styles, and would also force you to work together.”

Ash shrugged with an annoyed look on her face, while Mike was still having none of it, and marched right up to Buster, who was ignoring the small tickle of a sneezing feeling.

“I don’t care if it’s supposed to be a fit for both of us! She doesn’t want to try anyway, and frankly neither do I with her choppy attitude. Jeez, you shoulda’ put with Meena, now that’s a voice I’d be proud to sing with, not miss. I’m a Moody Teen over here.” He ranted, gesturing over to Ash,

“The feelings mutual, jerkoff.” She called over, monotone.

“Ya’ see!? That’s exactly what I’m talking about! What is that? What even is a jerkoff?! I don’t know! Who does!? It’s a whole different language with this one!” He added, hand on his hips.

Meanwhile, Buster was trying not to tune out the complaining Mouse when he kept feeling the sneeze settling upon him. ‘Oh, not now, not now.’ He mentally scolded himself, eye twitching as the sensation grew.

“And, another thing! … Hello?! Are you even listening, Moon? What, have you become deaf? I have terms to get off my min-” he angrily continued until:

“ACHOO!”

In that moment, everyone, even if they were minding their own business, turned around the face Buster when they heard the loudest sneeze ever.

There was a long silence, save for the small aftermath of Buster’s sniffling and wiping his nose.

“Woah, Buster, that sounded pretty nasty. You okay?” Johnny asked, peeking into the room.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I-”

“I knew it! You have a cold! I knew it!” Rosita was next to come into the room with triumph. “Buster, sweetie, there’s only two things you’re going to do now, and that is take some medicine and rest.” She crossed her arms all matter of factly.

“But!-”

“No butts! You can’t do your best if you’re sick, and you know it.”

Buster sighed, sniffling again, “…Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

Ash started bursting out laughing, not at Buster of course, but something (or rather, someone else)

Everyone raised an eyebrow, confused to no end… at least until they saw who was exactly in front of Buster. The mouse who had beared the blunt force of Buster’s sneeze.

Mike was frozen with disgust, and also covered with snot. Everyone else seemed to lean away from the seething mouse, with the angriest look on his face, while Ash was still doubling over in laughter.

The rest of the day wasn’t fun for anyone... save for Ash. 

[sing-imagines-blog]

Harmless

Mike may have been a rude, arrogant, attention greedy, spiteful, hot headed minkin of a mouse, but that didn’t make him a bad person. At least in his eyes. He still knew wrong from right… most of the time.

If there was one person he hated more than anyone, it was a cheater. In the romantic way.

He hated a lot of people, but he especially hated the people who would do something to hurt the ones they loved. Claimed to love at least.

By now, everyone knew why Ash and her boyfriend broke up, even Mike. He was a dirty cheater. Enough said. It was close to cheating anyway. Mike remembered the punk looking porcupine from the auditions, and even laughed when Buster bluntly chose Ash over him.

Now, he wasn’t exactly buddy buddy with Ash, or with a lot of people in the theater. He liked to keep to himself, but he couldn’t deny he was getting use to these people. They were a norm in his life now, even if he did just throw insults at them the majority of the time.

That’s why, one day, after a long day at the theater was over, he had an unpleasant encounter with the punk rock boy. Unpleasant for him at least.

He was walking out of the theater, and around the building in the alleyway, where his car was cleverly hidden… just in case. He was iffy about the bears. But, he stopped short of turning the corner, when he already heard what was voices. Angry voices.

It was hard to tell who, but they didn’t sound like those bears at all. More… angsty, almost. One of them sounded like Ash, while the other was unknown to him. He settled down a bit more, knowing they had to be harmless, even it did sound like they were harshly arguing.

“Jesus, kids.” He muttered, rolling his eyes, before peeking around the corner. Sure enough, they were in front of where his car was parked. He noticed how Ash looked even more angry than the other. Who was it? This Lance? He admittedly didn’t remember what he looked like, but he was a porcupine, and he did have a god awful smug look on his face. “Ugh.”

“Come on, babe, I’m sorry! Becky’s gone! Gone for good!”

“For the last time, no!” Ash argued back, “You’re too late, I’m not going back!”

“No, I won’t take no for an answer! I still love you, don’t you love me? Did you really get over me that easily?”

Ash scoffed, “Well, you certainly did, you with Becky. Perfect Becky. Loyal back-up singer Becky.” She spoke in a mocking voice, “What I want right now, is for you to leave!”

He wasn’t about to wait around for them to finish up their chat just so he good get home, and started walking towards where his car was, not being noticed, thankfully.

But, that wasn’t exactly a good thing, as now they, mostly Lance, blocked the rest of the way. Even if he was trying to get around the teen, he kept shuffling his position, which kept blocking Mike from getting by.

“Hey- hey! I’m walking here! Could you move?” He asked, voice spiked.

Lance stopped in the middle of a sentence, before looking around at who was speaking.

“Down here.” Mike muttered, rolling his eyes once more. That was one annoying thing about being a mouse.

Lance looked down at him, “And, who are you?” His voice was snarky, and that was already annoying Mike.

“None of your business, now could you move?” He repeated himself, glancing at Ash for a moment. She still looked annoyed beyond compare, and ready to pack up and leave the scene at any moment. At least the feeling was mutual between them.

“Well, excuse me, but this is more important than whatever you have to do. Trust me. It’s for love.”

“For the love of God, Lance!” Ash pinched her nose.

“What?” Mike exasperated, “What the hell kind of love is this?” He gestured to him and Ash, “From what I’ve heard so far, she’s not interested, so you might as well give it up, and let me by.”

Lance did take offense to that, “What do you know about love? You’re some old, crusty mouse.”

“Lance…” Ash warned, though she knew very well that Mike was perfectly capable of handling himself, if anything, she was warning him to stop before Mike lost it on him.

Mike glared at him harshly, but managed to refrain himself. “For one last time, let me through, and I’ll consider not punching you right in your snooty nose.”

Lance couldn’t help but let a laugh loose, before stepping out of the way. “Yeah, okay. Go for it.”

Mike didn’t even bother thanking him, just thankful to finally be away from this situation. Well, at least until he heard the conversation continue.

Lance leaned an arm against the wall, right next Ash, and she, in return, gave him a dirty look. “So, as we were just talking about… how soon will you take me back? I mean, I’m kinda home-”

“How can you not get it through your tiny brain, that I want absolutely nothing to do with you! Why are you so confident that you can ‘win’ me back? Do you think I’m so helpless and in need of someone?”

Ash threw up her arms, “Goodbye, Lance.” She turned on her heel, picking her guitar case up, and starting to walk away.

And, then, Lance, grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. “Babe, come on, give me another chance!”

She was ready to yell even more, outraged that he was still pursuing her, until someone beat her to the chase.

“Get your grubby paws off of her.” Mike was back, and he was pointing up at Lance, who looked dumbfounded. “As I was walking to where I needed to be, I realized that I couldn’t stand being within a ten foot radius of you, and that mammals like you need to learn some friggin manners when talking to ladies. That includes, knowing when to stop and back down.” He snarled.

Lance was admittedly intimidated by the loud and serious sounding voice, but he couldn’t really back off now, that would be embarrassing! He was bigger than this guy anyway, the mouse didn’t stand a chance! Right?

“Heh, okay. I’m sorry, what are you going to do about it? This is between me and her.” He let go of her arm, squaring up to the small creature.

“Nah, it’s more between you and yourself.” Mike crossed his arms.

“I’m not afraid of some tiny rodent with a big mouth.” Lance shot back, but Mike was getting to him, and that’s exactly what Mike wanted.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. I’m just some harmless little guy, what can I do?” Mike shrugged, pausing for a second to roll up his sleeves.

Ash, watching all of it, was surprised to see Mike so calm, so collected while dealing with her ex. She was getting ready to punch Lance by the time he interluded.

“Uh.. yeah, that’s what I was asking, little dud-” Lance started, before he was suddenly cut off when Mike pounced up and grabbed the scruff of the porcupine’s t-shirt. It wasn’t enough to pull him down, but it was enough keep himself face to face with the guy.

Lance was in no way prepared for that.

“Now, listen here, call me ‘little’ or ‘small’ one more time and I’m gonna call up some people I know and I’ll have them ‘take care of you’. I bet you think I’m kidding huh? What the heck can a tiny mouse like me due to such a hard rock porcupine like you? Well, I can bring you a whole world of pain for starters. If you continue to act like a huge jerk-bag to your ex, I can bring even more.” He scowled into Lance’s face.

“I, uh, um-”

“Still don’t believe me? Here, I’ll make the call, right here, right now.” He whipped out his cellphone, dialing a long and agonizing number, and putting it up to his ear. “Oh, listen to that, it’s ringing. Must mean they’re available. I’m sure they’ll pick up any second. I mean, jeez, I hate to waste their favor on a punk like you, but you picked the wrong day to show me your crappy attitude.”

Someone did pick up on the phone, “Hello?”

It was a voice Ash recognized, and that’s when she realized Mike might actually be bluffing.

“Oh, yeah, hi, it’s me. Listen, I got this teenager who need to be taken care o-”

“Hang up, hang up, hang it up! I’m sorry!” Lance finally burst, sweating through the last minute, and realizing Mike wasn’t bluffing in the slightest. “I’ll leave you alone! I’ll leave Ash alone! I’m sorry!” He added, starting to blubber in fear.

Mike gave him a long and hard look, just to keep him in suspense, before finally hanging up the phone, much to other person on the end of line’s confusion. “Okay, I trust you in that. Don’t make me regret it.” He let go of the shirt and jumped down.

Lance finally breathed, still in shock after that whole experience.

“What are you waiting for, scram before I change my mind and call in that favor after all!” Mike snapped at the other, which brought Lance back to reality, and made him rush away quickly in a messy fashion.

“You filthy animal!” Mike yelled after him, before laughing slightly.

There was a long silence filled with Mike’s laughter before Ash finally spoke up, “Wow. Uh, thanks, Mike.” She breathed, looking after where Lance had run off, “You didn’t have to-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Whatever, he made the mistake of crossing paths with me.” Mike muttered, playing it off like no big deal.

There was another small silence between the two.

“That wasn’t actually a hitman, was it.”

“Hm? Oh, nah, that was just Buster.”

[sing-imagines-blog]

prompt: buster has a ring on his finger and the cast is trying to find out what the ring is for

“Good morning, everyone!” Buster greeted, walking out in front of everybody.

Everyone could only groan in response, it was 5 in the morning after all. Earlier than Buster had ever called them to the theater before.

Buster was never tired, it seemed, and even at this early hour, he was bursting with energy. “Now you’re probably all wondering why I called you here, and I’ll be glad to answer that! I was up all night, coming up with song suggestions for our next show, so I wanted you all to get a good jump start on these, and see which one you’d rather do.” He started going down the line, handing papers out.

Rosita was used to early mornings, but this was just ridiculous. However, she was one of the more awake ones in the group, right next to Meena, which made her more attentive. So, when Buster handed the paper assigned to her, she noticed something… odd.

Buster had a shiny golden ring on his finger.

By the time she had actually reacted to it, eyes widening in thought, Buster had made it through the line. “Okay, everyone, you get to work on those, and I will be in my office if you need anything at all!” He hummed, slightly, even seeming more cheery than usual, if that was possible.

Instead of looking over the songs he selected for her, she tried to get another glance at the ring before he disappeared upstairs, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining it. Was it a big deal? Well, possibly. It wasn’t everyday you saw single mammals, wearing what looked like an engagement ring.

Well, at least she thought he was single.

“Hmm….” She blinked, unable to get another glance before he was gone.

“What are you doing, Mrs. Rosita?” Meena, who was right next to her, questioned.

She glanced up at Meena, “Oh, nothing… just thought I saw Buster wearing a ring.” She answered truthfully. Maybe she didn’t expect this would blow out of proportion, golden rings could mean nothing… right?

“A ring?” Ash joined in, “Like, as in, and engagement ring?”

Rosita looked unsure, “… No.. no? I don’t think so? I’ve never seen him with anyone who looked like his sweetheart.”

Johnny snored, leaned against piano, and unaware of the conversation going on between the ladies, before Ash nudged him awake anyway, and he was pulled into the gossip.

“What do you think, Johnny? Johnny!” Ash gave him a harsh nudge, and he lazily opened his eyes.

“Oh, five more minutes, Ash.” He yawned, trying to close his eyes again and lean his head even more on the piano. She rolled her eyes, still urging him awake. “Come on, this is important. Buster’s engaged!”

That got his attention, and he widely opened his eyes, “He is?”

Rosita’s eyes widened, hoping she didn’t accidently make a mountain out of  molehill. “Now, now, we don’t know that. It might be anything.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s one of those fashionable rings for men.” Meena agreed, nodding her head. She couldn’t imagine who it could be if it was something as special as an engagement.  

“What are you guys yammering about? It’s too early for this.” Mike had his arms crossed, looking tired and grumpy. Nothing new.

“Why do you care anyway?” Ash rolled her eyes at the stingy rodent. This whole ring business was good for one thing, and that was keeping her awake.

“I care about me being able to take a nap without listening to this gossip business!” He snapped, “So you might as well tell me.”

“Buster has a ring on his finger.” Johnny explained breifly, still not paying much attention to the mouse, “We’re trying to figure out why.”

“Jeez, Moon has a sweetheart?” He questioned, before shaking his head, “Not that I care, but he’s never struck me as the romantic type.” He murmured, now officially in the ‘let’s figure out why Buster has a ring on his finger’ club.

“Now, we don’t know that!” Rosita repeated, starting to feel bad for talking about Buster’s personal life behind his back.

“But, it is possible.” Ash urged.

They continued to go back and forth on the what the ring was for exactly, some arguing that it was for romantic reasons, and others dismissing it.

By now, the music lists’ were forgotten, and Buster, still in his office, couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone was slacking off. Well, it was that, or he was bored. “Hmm…” He sounded, getting up from his chair and opening the door to downstairs.

As soon as he did open that door, the collected chattering hit him immediately. Aha! He knew it! They were slacking off, but not for long, not on his watch. He started walking down the stairs, and they didn’t even seem to hear it, they were so involved in this issue.

While getting ready to bust him, he couldn’t help but hear his name come up a few times. What were they talking about? Why bring his name up? He knew eavesdropping wasn’t a good thing to do, but his curiosity was already getting the best of him.

“I say he ain’t!” Mike argued.

“Oh, yeah? What would you know about romance?!” Ash shot back.

“More than you, ya punk!”

“Oh, come on guys, let’s not argue about this!” Meena tried to calm the situation down, while Rosita could only pinch her nose. This was probably her fault, if she’d have just ignored the ring in the first place…

“I have to agree with Ash on this one.” Johnny joined in.

“Gah, the both of you think you’re more experienced in this stuff than me!” Mike waved them both off, getting more into the argument.

“The only way someone could possibly be interested in you, is if you have loads of money!” Ash crossed her arms, smirking.

Mike gasped, “You take that bac-!”

“Guys, guys! What’s the problem here?” Buster finally decided to interlude before they started throwing punches. “What happened to rehearsing?”

Everyone quieted up, even Ash and Mike. Rosita started to panic slightly. “Oh, it was nothing, just a little dispute, right?” She gave the two a look, and they both nodded with hesitance.

Buster wasn’t buying it, and gave them all his own look, arms crossed, ring exposed. They all diverted their eyes to the shiny jewelry.

“That’s definitely an engagement ring.” Johnny blabbed, forgetting that Buster was even present. It must’ve been the lack of sleep.

Buster was even more confused, raising his eyebrow.

Everyone gave Johnny a harsh look, helping him realize what he had just said out loud and in front of who. He quickly tried to cover up his tracks. “Oh… oh! I mean, you know, that thing there, over there, look… looks like a … ring?”

It was a desperate but ultimately bad attempt.

Buster’s reaction was the same, if not, more confused and weirded out by all of this. “… What?”

Everyone else was quiet, unsure how to get out of this one. At least until someone else stepped forward, “Okay, I’ll just say it, whatever-” Mike started, before Rosita beat him to it.

“What’s that ring for?” She quickly asked.

Buster shook his head slightly, trying to understand what she meant. “Ring? What ring…” He looked down at his fingers, before spotting it and remembering. “Oh, this? This was just a gift from Eddie. Was that what you were fighting about?” He started laughing slightly. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Wait, what?” Johnny asked, “Why would he give you that?”

“A thanks, I suppose, for helping him realize his new potential, his purpose. His words, not mine.” Buster smiled at the memory of it. “So, I don’t know, it’s for fashion purposes!”

Mike scoffed, his stance on the issue changed, “Sure it is.”

“Get back to work.”

[sing-imagines-blog]

Confusing Feelings

“Hey, Johnny?”

“…. Johnny?”

“Johnny!”

The gorilla jumped in surprise, and snapping out of his daze. “Uh, um, yes?” He sputtered out, turning to face whoever had been saying his name.

It was none other than Rosita, who had a raised highly raised eyebrow, “Hmm… I was just about to let you know that Buster wants you up next to rehearse, but it seems you got a lot on your mind.”

“Oh, sorry about that, I was just spacing out and such… silly stuff really.” He lied, but it sounded genuine enough for Rosita to turn the other cheek, at least for now.

“If you say so, now you shouldn’t keep Buster waiting. Good luck out there.” She gave him a smile. Of course she didn’t really believe him, but what was most important to her was that he didn’t seem sad or discouraged. But, he was definitely stuck on something, she could tell that much.

She’d leave it… for now.

Johnny took a few breaths and cleared his mind before walking out on stage, pushing the piano with him. Even after that, he still was distracted.

“Okay, Johnny, show me what you got.” Buster sat in a stage seat, his notepad out and pen at the ready. It wasn’t any serious judgment, but he just wanted to keep tabs on how everyone was doing.

“Right okay, no problem.” He spoke, taking a seat at the piano and positioning his sheet music. A part of that almost sounded like he was reassuring himself, but he ignored it regardless. After a few more seconds of getting into the zone, he started playing Sam Smith’s ‘I’m Not The Only One.’

As he played, and as he sung, he felt himself slowly getting into it. Very much so. Well, until that ever so distracting name popped back into his head without warning. It caught him off guard, threw him off the groove. He missed some piano keys, even singing off tune for a moment.

He tried to recover, but it was too late, and before he knew it he was messing up even more notes and keys. ‘Crap.’ He thought to himself.

“Hey, hey, stop for a second!” Buster called over the sour notes. Johnny stopped immediately, rubbing his face, “Urgh…”

“Hey, something bothering you? This isn’t your usual self.” Buster commented, walking up next to the piano and Johnny.

Why was he acting like this? He just couldn’t figure it out! Well… he knew why, but he couldn’t figure out why it was causing him to act like this! “I just… had trouble sleeping last night, I’m pretty tired.” He lied, once again. Luckily, Buster wasn’t as good as detecting lies as Rosita was.

“Well, why don’t you take a good nap, rest yourself, and we’ll try again tomorrow.” He suggested, writing something down on his notepad. J

Johnny nodded, getting up and ready to push the piano back, before Buster stopped him for a second. “Oh, and could you tell Ash to come out here?”

Ash. The very name that burdened him.

He paused for a second, processing that information. “Oh, uh, yes, of course.” He nodded, pushing the piano back the rest of the way, and wiping his brow.

Of course it had to be Ash. Right now, when he was at his weakest. He just still had a hard time understanding why he felt so strange? It was alien to him, but he knew for sure Ash was the cause of it. Causing his heart to race, causing him to stumble over his words and song.

It wasn’t new either, it had been lingering, building ever since he watched her perform at that fateful concert. It just, sparked something in him.

He was so lost in his thought, he almost didn’t notice literally running into Ash with the piano. He had a heart attack while stopping the piano short of her, just in time. She didn’t seem to notice either, marking something on her sheet music.

“Uh, hey, Ash.” He managed to utter, to which she looked up, smiling. It would’ve been enough to send Johnny fainting, but he held his ground.

“Yeah?” She asked, not seeming to notice his fidgeting.

“Um, Buster is ready for you”

“Cool, thanks.” She picked up her electric guitar, walking past him and to the stage. Once she had finally been out of close proximity to Johnny, he slumped against the piano, knees weak. “Wow…”

“Jeez, what’s wrong with you?” Came an all too familiar voice. Mike.

“Huh, what?” Johnny stood up straight again in a flash, looking around him, before remembering he had to look down. “Oh… hi, Mike.” He settled down again. “What do you mean?”

“You look like you’ve been hit by a train… oh what’s the word, star struck.” He crossed his arms, “What’s your deal? It’s freaking me out.” He spoke bluntly.

“Nothing’s my deal! I’m fine!” He spoke quickly once more. It was difficult to have a pleasant conversation with Mike in general, and he could already tell that wasn’t what he was going to get.

Mike only gave him a look, which ultimately got to Johnny.

“What? I’m fine, really! It’s nothing! It’s stupid!” He blabbed, partly in frustration.

“Aha! So there is something, I knew it!” Mike smirked up at the gorilla, before jumping up to the piano to get closer to his face. “Obviously, I don’t care at all, but enlighten me.”

Johnny stared at him for a moment, face hard with confliction swirling around inside, before he simply sighed. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to talk to you about this… I think Ihaveacrush.” He muttered the last part, face already flushing, but he kept a hard expression.

“Oh, what? I’m sorry, could you just repeat that?” Mike asked, his smirk growing more sinister. He heard it, of course he did, but he enjoyed making the much bigger gorilla suffer.

“I have a crush.” The gorilla deadpanned.

The mouse stared at him, before bursting out in laughter. “Wow, this is rich, how old are you again? You have a wittle crush?” He mocked in a purposely baby like voice before continuing to laugh.

Johnny didn’t find it nearly as amusing, and rolled his eyes, “Forget it.” He turned around and started to leave the area which Mike had invaded.

“Awe, come on, I’m sorry!” Mike was trying to sound serious, but was still laughing, even holding his stomach.

Johnny didn’t come crawling back, resisting to roll his eyes once more. If anything, he just wanted to clear his head and get that annoying laughter out of his head. He needed to get Ash out of his head.

“Oh, Johnny?” A voice from earlier sounded behind him. 

He stopped, turning around, “Mrs. Rosita? What’s up?” He rubbed the back of his head.

She was leaning against a wall, and Mike’s laughter still echoed in the background. “What set him off?”

Johnny shrugged, shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, “Who knows?” He averted his eyes.

“I think I have an idea… I could tell something was bothering you, especially after that performance.”

Johnny averted his eyes, “Ergh, you saw that?”

“Afraid so, but now I know for sure something is burdening you… Someone else? Mike?” She guessed, not in the sense Johnny actually was having trouble with.

He shook his head. “No not him… not in that way.” He admitted.

“So it is someone?”

“…Yes…”

“Hm… okay, now I really have an idea.” She straightened herself up, before walking over to Johnny, “Well, whoever it is, and if it’s in the sense I’m assuming, you don’t have to shun those feelings. Try embracing them.” She smiled knowingly, “Maybe you can start with talking to… whoever. Normally. I’m no professional… but I do know about these things.”

Johnny thought more about it, processing her words. Sure, his feelings and mind were still a bit… muddled, but somehow, Rosita’s words helped. Maybe… he understood them a bit better now? How to deal with them?

“Thanks, Rosita… as always.” He finally spoke, facing her.

“Anytime, Johnny.”

It was perfect timing as the blaring rock music, Johnny seemed to not even notice, stopped, and a few seconds after, Ash came strolling backstage.

Johnny swallowed slightly, now having a good idea of what to do, and walked over to Ash. “Hey, you sounded great out there.” He got out without a stammer or stutter. As a matter of fact, he was even feeling more… in control… more confident about it.

“Hey, thanks.” Ash smiled back, setting her guitar down for a moment as she grabbed a water.

“You’ll have to show me how to play that sometime.”

She seemed flattered, and faced Johnny once more, “Only if you show me how to play the piano.”

Rosita smiled even more at the two, feeling accomplished. At least this experience would help her raise her kids once they were teenagers, of course hoping that day didn’t come for a long time.

“It so sappy it could kill someone.” Mike, who was standing next to her, commented.

“Shut up, Mike.”

[sing-imagines-blog]

That’s Amore

“When the Moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore!”

It was 3 in the morning, and most of the city was asleep, save for the many clubs in the area, one of which Mike was just leaving. Well, he was more so subtly kicked out, not even he noticed it. And, that was probably because he was drunk

Way too drunk.

“When the the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore!” He sung loudly, walking in zigzags down the alleyway and away from the club.

“Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-ling and you’ll sing Vita Bella!” He laughed slightly, it was all so much fun to him.

Being a small mouse like himself, he couldn’t exactly down as much alcohol as a grizzly bear might be able to do, but even a small amount gave him a good buzz. Tonight he had just had one too many too much.

“Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella!”

Even in his intoxicated state, he couldn’t help but take notice of some beautiful rodents nearby, leaning against a wall and smoking. It was almost playing out like a movie to him. A musical! He found himself drifting over to them, continuing to sing.

“When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool, that’s amore~” In his eyes they looked impressed and even flattered, but in real life, they were creeped out if anything. Regardless, he continued, smiling.

“When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet, you’re in lov-” He was smacked across the face by one of them off the bat, which kicked him off his groove for a moment, and he rubbed his face. “Wow… what a hit.” He slurred, getting back up and winking one last time at the rodents, before starting again in a different direction.

“Wh… When you walk in a dream but you know you’re not dreaming signore… Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli, that’s amore~!” He finished, already getting ready to repeat a verse, when he was cut off once more, only by someone much more terrifying to him.

Only, he didn’t realize that while drunk.

A bear. One of those Russians? Yep. “Excuse me, so sorry, good sir.” Mike slurred, simply changing direction and walking past him.

Luckily for him, the Bear didn’t notice what had even happened, at least not away. It took a few seconds to click with him. “Huh?” He whipped his head around, not seeing the small mouse, who just disappeared behind a building corner, singing once more.

The bear stood there for a few more seconds, still unsure of what he saw or not. “Hm…” He decided to leave it… it was highly unlikely anyway.

Lucky for Mike, it could have been curtains for him.

“Amore~, Amoreee~” All this singing was reminding him of one place, the Moon theater. “Jeez, I hope I’m not missing rehearsals or somethin’.” He suddenly found himself gravitating towards the general direction of the theater.

In the end, he did find the theater, but before he could ponder about non-existent rehearsals, he promptly passed out on one of seats inside. The next morning wouldn’t be so much fun, that’s for sure.

[sing-imagines-blog]

Broken Silence

Johnny himself, or anyone else for that matter, wasn’t sure what to expect when Meena finally stepped on the stage, before the crowd. She still seemed reluctant, and nervous, but Buster was doing his best to help her.

“Come on, you can do it.” Johnny quietly rooted for her while trapped in the suspense with everyone else.

And, then, she started singing, and everyone suddenly had a moment where their breath was taken away, especially Johnny’s. Especially Mike’s, too, who seemed to genuinely believe up until this point that she couldn’t sing.

But, Johnny always knew. Somehow. And, it wasn’t like he and Meena were strangers at this point.

“Hey, good luck out there!” He pointed randomly at the elephant while still triumphing in what felt like his own successful audition, not really noticing her at the same time.

He admittedly didn’t even notice when she wasn’t around later on. A lot of people didn’t make the auditions actually, but Johnny just didn’t take notice of her then. Not until she showed later, as a stage manager.

That’s when they actually started talking. Johnny wasn’t usually the social type, but he wasn’t as shy as she was either, and felt compelled to talk to her. At first, she was still pretty quiet, and unsure, but slowly opening up more.

He kinda enjoyed having a friend who wasn’t his family or a criminal, which summed it up for him.

But, they did learn all kinds of things about eachother. Maybe the thing most common between them was singing, but Meena wasn’t entertaining that thought. He did learn she liked to bake, spent more time with her family, and enjoyed being on the show, even as a stage hand. She learned he also spent a lot of time with his family, but he didn’t talk about them a lot, and he also liked skateboarding, and singing most of all.

It was nice, she liked having a friend. He had a mutual feeling about it also.

But, then he changed, around the time his dad and uncles had been arrested, especially when it was his fault. He didn’t have to go to the rehearsal, but he did, and he had to live with that. But, he started staying to himself, ignoring Meena.

Meena just accepted it. She wasn’t going to push him on what was wrong, she just left it as it is, no matter what reason he was suddenly so distant about. It’s not like they were best friends, maybe just more like people who talked every once in awhile. Regular friends? That was a better way to describe it.

And, then the theater was destroyed, and in a way, they all became distant. It was over, wasn’t it? Meena was mostly upset, because she probably wouldn’t have another opportunity like that again. It was as close as she had ever gotten to singing in front of other people, even without initially singing.

Johnny was just lost after that. Family in prison, no way to get the money to get them out, no more singing, what else was he supposed to do? All he felt he could do was laze around, and wait for something else to happen.

It wasn’t exactly helpful that even Buster had given up. That made everyone lose hope just a little more.

Even Meena and Johnny exchanged small glances before leaving the pool house where they’d found out Buster wasn’t going to try anymore. What were they going to talk about? Neither of them could find anything, so nothing was said.

But, when all hope seemed lost, Buster heard Meena sing, and it was enough to motivate him once more. The show was going to go on one way or another. 

So, here they were, and Meena was singing. Actually singing. Johnny still couldn’t believe it, but he somehow always knew she could do it. She could sing. And, somehow, it was the most beautiful voice he’d ever heard.

Everyone seemed to agree, as they cheered and danced to the tune. It was surprising as heck, coming from such a shy girl, but it was such a good surprise.

Soon enough she finished with plenty of power in her voice, looking towards the others to her left, and even locking eyes with Johnny once. He was still clapping with everyone else, sneaking a thumbs up in her direction.

Not long after, the rest of the singer joined her on stage, taking eachother’s hands and bowing. Johnny was sure to grab Meena’s hand before then, smiling at her. “I always knew you could do it.” He spoke to her.

“You too.” She beamed.

((I know it’s not much, but consider this just setting the scene for possible future shippy moments, a lot of you asked for just friendship, so I’m going with that for now))