Battle of the Bands(Rp, sign up link inside!)

Valentina took in a deep breath as she stretched her limbs, her light hazel gaze staring down at the city below her from the balcony of her high rise condo. How long had she been sleeping? Probably the whole day, which was a routine she was all too familiar with. With a slight role of her neck she turned to face the hammock set up next to the sliding door leading to her living room. Walking over to it, she grabbed her cell phone to glance at the time. “Ugh.” She muttered, annoyed at the ’7:30 PM’ that flashed at her. Considering that she had come out at 3:00 only expecting to take an hour long cat nap, she couldn’t help but feel a small bit of frustration at herself for not waking up. Though of course, what could she expect after neglecting to set an alarm? Whoops. The blonde sheepishly ran a hand to the mess of curls on her head before pursing her lips and walking inside.

Her first instinct was to walk to the kitchen in search of something to satisfy the slow onset of hunger. Valentina slid her fingers along the long line of food in her walk in pantry before realizing there wasn’t a single thing in it that didn’t require the use of a stove. That was the last time she would ever send Caesar to go grocery shopping. Given, a life of ramen and Pringles wasn’t exactly “healthy,” and yes, she could afford to eat like she wasn’t a college student on a budget, but it didn’t change the fact that the moment she would attempt to turn on the gas stove the whole building would likely go up in flames. And of course, Olivia was off for the week, so there was no hope in waiting for her to come by and ask her to make her delicious home made food. Softly biting her lip, Valentina let out a soft sigh before deciding to venture for some sort of sustenance, despite the fact that the feeling compelling her to go back to bed was against it.

The blonde trudged down the small hallway leading from the living room to the other rooms of the condo, the soft feeling of the carpet beneath her feet tempting her to just stop and lye down right there and then. Pausing at the door right before hers, Valentina reached up and gave a soft little knock. “Caesar?” She asked as she put her ear to the door, hearing the gentle strum of a guitar faintly pouring from the door of the semi-soundproof room. She smiled before trudging away, not wishing to disturb his concentration. When Valentina made it to her room, she gave practically no effort to her appearance. Though on a normal basis she would take hours to figure out exactly what she wanted to wear, it was only really when she going somewhere specific or when she had a gig. Besides, even though she wasn’t exactly Madison Square Garden levels of famous, she seemed to be practically invisible to the eye of fans and the press when she didn’t have her trademark dark lipstick and leather jacket on.

Ultimately deciding on joggers and a tank-top underneath a sweater, Valentina looked in a mirror and gave a slight shrug at her appearance. Pulling on tennis shoes, the female hummed a familiar tune before writing a note to leave for Caesar. Valentina grabbed her house keys and butterfly knife. After all, you could never be too safe when walking the late night streets of LA. Just as she was ready to leave, her gaze caught sight of a carton of cigarettes hidden behind a barrage of bills that she never looked at. Pursing her lips, she took the carton into her hand. “Dammit Caesar.” She muttered as her hazel gaze darted about her surroundings. Walking over to the grand piano sitting in the corner of their living room, she gently placed the carton inside. While she didn’t like the fact that Caesar had such an unhealthy and costly habit, she knew that as an adult he was old enough to make his own decisions. But she had to admit, going through the process of hiding his extra cartons was fun for her. Satisfied with herself, Valentina exited her condo and walked straight to the elevator leading to the lobby.

Upon hearing the ding indicating her ride down had ended, Valentina waved to the doorman. “Have a safe trip Ms. Vasquez.” He said in a professional manner before giving a graceful wave that almost seemed practiced and opening the door for her. Taking in the fresh air, Valentina rolled her shoulders before contemplating where she wanted to go. With a quick snap of her fingers she had an epiphany. Turning to head down the sidewalk, she remembered a small cafe that was rather close to the building. She recalled visiting it the previous week when Starbucks completely screwed up her order. If she could recall correctly, they also had some pretty good desserts there too. With a smile Valentina walked down the sidewalk, until she reached her destination.

Once she entered the building the blonde looked around, giving a few hard blinks after her eyes were sharply struck by the the cafe lights. With a small smile at her cozy surroundings, she instantly strolled up to the counter to order what she ordered the previous time she was there. The coffee she ordered may as well have not have been coffee, seeing as how she usually took it full of sugar, sweetener, and cream. She would often receive comments questioning her tastes, but quite frankly the bitterness of black coffee was never something she could take to.

Valentina grabbed the blueberry muffin she paid for before heading to a table and waiting for her coffee, holding the treat like she would hold her guitar, with love and care. Of course, it was only a matter of time before her precious sustenance fell to the floor. Feeling a chair that was sliding out abruptly hit her arm, her food hit the ground and crumbled against the tile. Before she could even confront the one who hit her, the man zipped out of the front door as if he was in a hurry. Valentina could have chased him, but there was a more dire matter at hand. The blonde’s hazel eyes wandered to the crumbled mess on the floor. A part other died inside. With a soft sigh she began to pick up the pieces in a effort to make the workers’ job easier. When her had hit the shoe of a man sitting in at a table against the cafe window, Valentina retracted her hand in an effort to preserve his personal space. “Oh, Sorry.” She said as her gaze wandered up to the one she was apologizing to, who seemed to be deep in thought as he gazed out of the window before him. Valentina raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the other before she realized she was staring.

“No.” Caesar let out a soft huff before strumming a few chords of his bass in succession. A soft, melodic hum left his lips as he tried to resonate it with the tune he was playing. There were times when he would get things right, scribbling his findings down on blank sheets of staff paper, but more times than not something would sound off to him and the process would simply repeat itself. Setting his instrument aside, the brunette took off his thick rimmed glasses before pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. He needed sleep and he knew it, though seeing how his deadline was so unbelievably close and the song he was writing still wasn’t perfected to his standards, sleep was a pipe dream for him. As a matter of fact, he may have to suck up his pride and request a dreaded extension. Sienna eyes wandered to his room door, wondering what was going on beyond it. It has been days since Caesar left his room for any reason that didn’t involve a necessity. He pondered wandering out, wondering if perhaps listening to one of Valentina’s strange stories and interacting with her colorful behavior would at the very least keep him awake.

Grabbing his glasses and trudging beyond his doorframe, Caesar tiredly rubbed the back of his neck. “Valentina?” He searched the condo for his sister before stumbling upon a note written in rushed cursive. Most would have issues reading the mess of letters muddled on the page, but over the course of the years Caesar had become a master at reading Valentina’s chicken scratch. He gave a small chuckle at the contents of the letter as his eyes darted to the open pantry, noting a troth of food that simply took effort to make. Then again, it was probably a good thing Valentina didn’t attempt to cook. Knowing her, the condo would likely have burned down if she tried.

With a soft sigh, Caesar found himself bored and on the verge of sleep. Time for plan B. The brunette decided that it had been a while before he had his last smoke, and if he recalled correctly, he had stashed a new pack behind a series of bills Valentina never looked at. She didn’t care for his habit, and though he tried to stop a multitude of times, he never stuck to it. Peering behind the stack of envelopes Caesar noticed that his new pack of cigarettes were missing. “Dammit Valentina.” He muttered before biting his inner cheek. It wasn’t uncommon for her to hide his cigarettes from him, turning it into a bit of a game. Sometimes Caesar would find himself annoyed, given, but there were also times he would have fun with it.

Caesar thoroughly looked around the living room before heading to the baby grand piano in the corner. Gently sliding his narrow and calloused fingers along the smooth ivory keys, he felt a certain satisfaction to the touch. He had always wondered why his sister bought such a costly instrument that she didn’t really know how to play. It was true that Caesar could play a chord here and there, though he would hardly call himself a pianist, as he wasn’t proficient at it. He pressed down softly on one of the keys, hearing a full and beautiful ding from the instrument. Closing his eyes to take in the rich sound, he almost felt sorry for the baby grand. It had known no real owner and was probably only used for the purpose of tuning the siblings’ other instruments. Though without a doubt, Caesar wanted to learn.

Pressing each key down the piano, Caesar paused as he heard an empty thump against one of them. With a small smirk Caesar retrieved his smokes from the baby grand. Definitely his sister’s handiwork. “She needs to try harder than that.” He chuckled before grabbing his lighter and a jacket. The bar sounded good, and maybe it would inspire him to write something interesting. Scribbling down a quick note in case Valentina didn’t make it home before he returned, Caesar grabbed his keys and walked out of his front door.

Upon finally reaching the outdoors, Caesar lit a cigarette to warm him up and stretched his arms to the sky. Taking a calming drag, he exhaled the smoke before walking off toward the bar, using the tangerine glow of his cigarette as his only feasible means of light. With that, he trekked toward the bar with a pep in his step, taking a short cut through a familiar alley. Pausing, he noticed a male sitting on the ground next to a dumpster. He didn’t appear to be homeless, dressed in nice and clean clothes and adorning a necklace that subtly glistened in the moonlight, but he was still a bit curious about the other. Given, talking to strangers was never the smartest idea. As a matter of fact, he often actively avoided them. However, Caesar was curious about the other. Approaching him, Caesar knelt down cautiously. “Um, are you alright?” He asked, partly concerned and partly skeptical of the situation.

ooc // Sorry my reply is late, as well as wordy or riddled with mistakes. My first posts usually are ^^;