#meanwhile in the booth Kingo is like thanks for doing us this favor

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! Love the bodyguard au and wanted to share an idea! Thena decided that Gil should record a lil song for fun. Just him singing…and her secretly loving it 😁

"No."

"Please, Gil?" Thena pleaded again.

"No," he sighed, really - really - trying to stay firm about it this time. He crossed his arms, determined not to let her tilted head and big green eyes sway him (this time). "I'm sure there's someone here who can record it with you."

"Uh, no-can-do, bossman," Kingo shrugged beside Thena. "It's an off day, They're opening it up for Thena specifically."

Gil rolled his eyes. At least he wasn't the only one who had trouble denying the Goddess of War. Everyone in this industry was ready to bend over backwards for her.

They didn't have forever, either. The audio engineer working with them clearly wasn't happy about being dragged out on a promised day off for him. This wouldn't be a full working day, it was just for recording this godforsaken duet.

Gil looked at Thena, who was still using her big eyes on him. He sighed, "there's really no way he can get here?"

She shook her head. "A terrible storm grounded all the planes, he'd have to go out of state even to get the private jet up. He'd never make it in time."

Gil rolled his eyes. All these insanely wealthy music stars and their private planes and money, and a freak thunderstorm could still ruin their day. He looked at Kingo. "You don't seriously think I should do this, do you?"

He figured of all people, Kingo would tell them to wait for a professional singer of some sort. Hell, even if they asked which of the interns were working as assistants hoping to get their 'big break', surely they could find someone.

But Kingo shook his head. "Thena's already comfortable with you, and you're here, and we have three and a half hours to literally lock sound and start editing the thing. So, yeah, I do think so, Gil. Get in the booth."

"Geez, okay," Gil huffed as Kingo shoved him through the door into the recording area himself. He undid his suit jacket, although Thena stepped through and pulled the door closed behind her.

"You might want to take it off, actually," she advised as she also pulled off her leather jacket.

"I'm really doing this?" he bothered to ask one more time, just in case. He was just wearing a t-shirt under it--the grumpy sound tech wasn't the only one supposed to have a day off today.

"I'm sorry, Gil, but it'll be quick at least," she offered a smile as they made their way into the actual booth with the mic. "And I know you can sing."

He blushed, avoiding the eyes of Kingo and their sound guy as he did. "Not like this, though. Singing with you in the kitchen is different from a mic that's gonna pick up every single breath I take."

"It'll be fine," she promised him yet again. She closed the door behind them and reached for one of the sets of headphones. "You've been listening to me rehearse it for weeks. And Ikaris can record his bit and they'll sew them together into one frankenstein duet for the final cut."

He sighed again as he put the headphones on. She was right, he'd seen her do this a million times. And they weren't going to produce the final song with his vocals on it, it was just so they could get Thena's sound finalized. They would probably overlay the solo vocals if they needed to for the final product.

Didn't make it any less embarrassing.

But looked at Thena as the song started. He was hyper aware of how much he was breathing, what his swallowing sounded like, every movement he made. But he just had to focus on Thena.

She really had an angelic voice. As soon as she opened her mouth, his eyes dropped to her lips. He could see the flex of her muscles in her neck, her tongue moved as she sang, as per proper technique of course.

He had to make sure he didn't miss his cue by staring at her like an idiot.

He leaned closer to the mic, feeling more unsure than he ever had in his life. But Thena smiled at him, encouraging him in their confined space. He started gently.

He just had to think of singing with her in the kitchen. They were at her place, cooking. She was helping him in little ways, singing little songs he liked because she liked hearing him sing. For what reason, he really didn't know. But she kept insisting on it, and he kept agreeing.

He looked at the words on the sheet provided to them, although his eyes slipped closed once or twice. He could practically smell the garlic, hear the sound of Thena fluffing the rice, her soft, gentle voice floating around like steam.

Thena's voice joined his again and he looked at her. Singing really did make her happy, and singing with her kind of had that effect on him too, maybe against all odds. But he watched her as their voices synced up, her accommodating him as much as she could. They melded together and he could almost admit that they made a great team.

His mind flashed to when she had told him she loved him in her sleep. He did tell himself he would stop thinking about it, but it was hard not to, especially at times like this.

It really wasn't that long a song either.

In no time at all the sound guy was leaning forward and pressing on the speaker. "That's great, guys. Let's run it again--Gil, don't be afraid to go just a little louder, man."

Gil grumbled to himself, feeling himself blush again. This was not part of his job description.

But Thena gave his hand a squeeze. "Please--you sounded wonderful, really."

He would get better at saying no to her someday, Gil told himself. It wouldn't be today, but it had to happen eventually, right?