~ That One Time At Band Camp ~

Coco was tapping her fingers along the edge of the table as she tried to concentrate on her homework. It was driving Velvet mad and the girl was just about to yell at her team leader when the brown haired girl shot up so fast Velvet almost fell back off her own chair.

"We are starting a band!"

"Wait? What?" Velvet snapped.

"We're starting a band!" Coco repeated.

"Yes, I heard that! Where did this idea come from?"

"We're a team right? A team is basically a band!" Coco grinned at the trio around her.

"None of us play any instruments! Coco! You're just trying to get out of doing your homework!" Velvet sighed and ran her hand over her face.

"Actually…" Fox mumbled and raised his hand. "I play guitar."

"You do! That's great!" Coco grinned wide, her idea coming to fruition. Velvet simply groaned and placed her head down on the table. This was the open mic comedy show all over again.

"I used to play drums for the school band." Yatsu mentioned from the bed across the room.

"Perfect!" Coco laughed softly. "We'll be a band in no time!"

"Coco! I don't play anything! Neither do you!" Velvet groaned as she looked up at her team leader's wide grin.

"I can learn to play guitar or keyboards. It doesn't seem that hard!" She grinned and then looked at Velvet. "You can play bass, I mean, its only a few strings and you do have a great beat. I've heard you in the shower singing."

"I am not singing!" Velvet yelled and then calmed down. "I do not do well in crowds especially on stage."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. You'll be in the back of the group with the bass, I'll sing." Coco told her firmly, grinning as she picked up a piece of paper from her notebook. "We just need a name."

"Coco, finish your homework." Velvet told her.

"I'm thinking 'Caffeine' but that could be a nice name for a song." Coco spoke out loud.

"Coco, finish your homework." Velvet repeated.

"Perhaps the Velveteen Rabbit, we could all wear ears." Coco grinned.

"Coco, finish your homework." Velvet repeated.

"What about 'The Barista's' on the theme of Coffee?" Coco laughed softly.

"Coco, finish your homework." Velvet repeated.

"Perhaps we can just go with Team CFVY, as it is our name and we are kinda like a band already.

"Coco, finish your homework." Velvet repeated.

The boys just grinned at each other, the pair were always like this. Coco trying to do something to get out of work and Velvet trying to reign her back in, only for Coco to win out with either a kiss, a tug on Velvet's sensitive ears or just by pure persistence.

"I think we'll go with Team CFVY." Coco decided and Velvet let out an exasperated sigh and went back to her homework.

"Wait, I have an idea." Coco told Velvet and took the girls hand, pulling her to the door.

"Coco! We have to finish our homework!" She could be heard as Coco dragged her away.

"Should we follow?" Fox asked Yatsu.

"We might as well as or Velvet might actually kill Coco this time." Yatsu smiled and the pair followed.

Finding the girls in the music room, Coco was holding out a bass guitar.

"Do it." She insisted.

"No." Velvet repeated yet again.

"Come on Velvet… please… I'll give you a kiss if you do."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Want me to get on my knee's and beg?" Coco asked, about to get on her knee's when Velvet sighed and pulled out her camera.

"Fine but after this we go get our homework done."

"Deal." Coco nodded and held out the bass guitar as Velvet took a picture.

A few minutes later and Velvet typed in the number into her holographic generator. With a slow hmm, the blue wire frame hard light bass guitar played out in Velvet's hands, perfectly tuned and everything.

"Great. Now we can go to song writing!" Coco announced and marched off.

"Coco! We have to finish our homework!" Velvet yelled after her, sighed and then followed.

With a smile, the two boys followed.

Coco never did finish her homework that night, rushing it the next morning for class.

They spent the week playing, learning. Coco was naturally great at the guitar, it seemed she had the latent skills from somewhere. It was Velvet that was having trouble, she couldn't seem to get the beats down.

They had several songs ready and apparently Coco had them a gig. Velvet did not like it but her team leader was determined that they do this.

So they were going to be a band.

Coco had designed costumes but had thrown them out of the window.

"Team CFVY will be appearing as Team CFVY." She laughed and pulled out the riff for their hit song.

It was all going to her crazy plan.

Velvet was terrified and when the Friday night came along, she was terrified.

Velvet was plucking nervously at the holographic bass, she used her holographic generator at a low level so it allowed her to use it for a guitar; it did not need to be used as a weapon so it could run at low level.

It was settled. Fox and Coco would play guitar, Yatsu would be drums and Velvet bass, Coco would sing with Fox, both acting as backup and main singers.

Coco entered the backroom of the rock bar with Fox, they were all dressed in their school uniforms, a little fun thing Coco had suggested for this gig.

"We have a problem." Fox said simply. Velvet's face went pale. It was the last thing she wanted to hear.

"What's wrong! What's happened? Are we still doing this? Is something wrong outside? Is the crowd going crazy? Is…" She was stopped by Fox's raised hands.

"One problem." He turned to Coco and she nervously smiled.

"H…h…hey…Ve…vel…vet." Coco croaked with a coarse and rough voice.

Velvet stared at the sheepish Coco. "How?"

"Rehearsal… last night…" Coco groaned in her rough voice.

"You broke your voice at rehearsal!" Velvet yelled and let out a long moaning cry of exhaustion. "Then who is going to sing the female parts!" She moaned before realising. "No… No! No!" She told them but they were all looking at her.

"Someone's got to do it."

Velvet let out another long moan.

"Good evening Vale! It is nice to see you all out here!" Fox cried out to the crowd who cheered back at them. This was the first time they were on stage and Velvet was nervously standing on stage holding her holographic bass.

"We are Team CFVY from Beacon! First year students and coming close to the end of year! How many students are in the house!" Fox raised his fist and about a quarter of the bar cheered.

'Oh Gods there are students here.' Velvet worried.

"Well you're going to be in for some fun tonight. We got a few songs ready for you but this one is called Caffeine!" Fox stepped back and began to pull the riff on the guitar. This was when Velvet started playing too. Soon the drums kicked in and the group began rocking out.

The crowd went crazy as the music and the lights filled the room. Once the intro riff was over Fox stepped up to the microphone next to him and began to sing in a quick tone

"Listen up, strap in, notify your next of kin."

"You're about to take a ride a little on the blazing side."

"Guzzle down your Red Bull, you're gonna need a bucket full."

"You're watching me accelerate, tear up on the interstate."

"A certified monster, I'm an absolute trip."

"Like Otis Redding, Hard to Handle, so you better get a grip."

"Super fast, super fly, bonafide wise guy."

"Call the morgue and say goodbye."

"Write your will, it's time to die."

As the band rocked out, Velvet fingered at her bass, bobbing her head and looking around. Now that they were actually playing it seemed so easy, as if the crowd did not exist. Just like practise.

All the standing members of the band stepped up to their microphones to sing the chorus along with Fox.

"Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"I'm a bad dream."

"I'm a rad scene."

"I'm a tad mean."

"But I'm not afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Velvet was so interested in her playing that she'd failed to realise she was coming up, the worry stuck into her stomach and looked up to see Coco smiling at her and giving her a wink. She could do it… she could do it.

Stepping up to her mic, she took a deep breath and began to sing.

"I'm a cheetah on the plains, I'm a highway star."

"The supersonic princess in a million dollar car."

"Blood on fire pumping through my veins."

"Weaving in and out while I'm bolting through the lanes."

"I'm hyperdrive, overdrive, hit the gas at fifty-five."

"Break neck, trainwreck, in my presence genuflect

"Track-roundin', speed-a-soundin', electrifyin', pulse-poundin'."

"Heart-pumpin', brain-thumpin', watch me get the party jumpin'."

With her lines done, she knew the chorus was coming up, she did not look around, she just called out into the microphone again.

"Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"I'm a bad dream."

"I'm a rad scene."

"I'm a tad mean."

"But I'm not afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Stepping back from the mic as Fox took over, she took a deep breath, had she really done that? It wasn't over, so she kept playing. She would be singing once again soon. Meanwhile Fox rocked out his lyrics.

"Yo, listen up, I hope you like it hot."

"Grab yourself a mug 'cuz I made a fresh pot."

"Come and get a dose of my kickass java."

"Fuelin' your addiction with this thick black lava."

"We can do up an espresso, or the cappucino way."

"Sure to get your fix, venti or grande."

"Sugar, Splenda, Equal, maybe Sweet'N Low."

"Everybody's happy when they hanging with Joe."

"Let's go."

It was her turn again, it was nearing the end. Gods she felt like she was going to pass out and this was only the first song she had to sing. Stepping back up to the mic, she began to sing again, the team backing her up with their backing vocals.

"Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"I'm Caffeine."

"Caffeine."

Team: "Caffeine."

"I'm a bad dream."

"I'm a rad scene."

"I'm a tad mean."

"But I'm not afraid to take you out ."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Team: "Afraid to take you out."

"Afraid to take you out."

Stepping back as the music stopped, the crowd cheered loudly. Velvet looked around and saw herself in the reflection of a mirror, she was flushed red and breathing heavily. The crowd were cheering as Fox spoke to the mic.

"We have some more songs but let me introduce you to the band. I'm Fox, on drums is Yatsu! Guitar is our team leader Coco, the person who came up with the idea for the band! And finally our singer, Velvet!" He pointed to each one of them in turn and the crowd cheered, however it wasn't until Velvet was introduced that she noticed the chanting. There were a lot chanting Yatsu, a lot more chanting Fox, a lot more than that chanting Coco but… the most chants seemed to be… her name.

They were chanting Velvet over and over. Tears welled in her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Thank you everyone." She yelled into her microphone and the crowd cheered again.

"And now! Our next song!" Fox called out and began the riff.

At the end of the night and back at the dorm, Velvet was still full of adrenaline, it was more intense than a fight with Grimm.

Coco pulled her close and kissed her lips. "You did well." She groaned in her croaky voice. Velvet jumped into Coco's arms and kissed her back passionately.

"Whoa whoa little bun. Someone's excited." Coco grinned softly before Velvet kissed her back once more.

She kept pushing against Coco until they fell back onto Coco's bed, not stopping.

"Lets… go get a drink from the kitchen." Yatsu nodded and Fox grinned, leaving the room.