Contest Entry - Noise
Authored by razenX
Thump. Crinkle. Thump. Crinkle.
“I’mma give you one more chance to shut the fuck up before I throw you down the fucking garbage chute.”
The exasperated, bitter statement was slightly muffled by the pillow into which the twenty-something’s face was currently buried, but the only other inhabitant of the small apartment heard it loud and clear.
THUMP CRINKLE THUMP CRINKLE
“OK! I’ll be up here any time you feel like moving,” came the reply from the talking blue bat who was currently devouring a bag of chips in the noisiest way possible and ignoring her partner’s threat.
Another garbled response from the pillow which sounded like a mix between “fuck you” and “kill you” was the answer.
Xander Neal hadn’t had a good day. Between being kept up all night by neighbors making all kinds of noises and working a double-shift filled of annoying customers with no energy drinks, coffee, or food for fuel, anyone would be bitter and close to lifeless.
“If some asshole Digimon comes around now, the perfect shit-show that was today will be complete.”
Having just finished her potato feast and having nailed the trashcan lay-up, Desmon took to the air above Xander. Slowly lowering herself, the digimon dropped the rest of the distance to Xander’s back with a grin from her and a loud groan from Xander. Her next amazing trick to annoy Xander was to casually lounge on his back. His continued annoyed groans were mostly drowned out by Desmon’s repeated flicking of her tail against one of the cushions (and Xander’s head).
“Hey Xander-ander, do you feel like moving yet,” Desmon chimed, putting her hands behind her head and beginning to hum.
“Nah, getting smacked in the head is just working wonders for the goddamn migraine,” Xander grunted out as he craned his head to stare at the tv.
A testament to both Digimon and human’s characters was that both held their positions for an impressive amount of time. Xander kept his tired eyes focused entirely on the glowing screen, even with his roommate flopped on his back and the tail smashing him in the head more than a few times. For her part, Desmon kept up her energy in her tail like that of an excited puppy, smacking pillows and humming with growing volume. A perfect stalemate between relentless energy and stubborn bitterness.
After realizing her humming strategy had failed to produce a reaction, Desmon changed tactics. She began to channel her inner bat and make a sort-of screech. Her new screech wasn’t quite at the level of her Black Static attack, half-sounding like an animalistic scream and half as a sort of static hum. Desmon shook a little on Xander’s back as the sound caused a small rumble in the air and in her.
While it would have seemed a little discordant and harsh to most normal listeners, Xander’s taste for punk rock meant he barely blinked at the noise. As Desmon kept the noise going, the screech began to take on an oddly pleasing melody.
THUMP. THUMP. Tap. THUMP. Tap.
Another sound began to fall in beat with Desmon’s rhythmic pillow tapping. Xander started to tap his foot and bob his head to the beat.
“That screeching and that beat…..”
“Got it.”
As sudden as the statement was Xander practically leaping to his feet with a shove. The screech turned into a little yelp as the talking bat rolled over the edge of the futon from the sudden movement.
“HA! Got you to cave first! You owe me more food,” Desmon chirped as she took the air, shrugging off her sudden impact with the floor.
Xander snorted.
“The only food you ever eat is from me since last I checked they don’t let talking bats buy shit from convenience stores.”
Producing a worn electric guitar and a busted-looking amp from the nearby closet, Xander strode back to the couch and began to tune the thing and fiddle with the amp.
“Alright. I’m going to say something I’ve never said before: make those noises again.”
“Are you telling me I’m allowed to make obnoxious sounds as much as I want?”
“Just start screeching before I change my mind.”
A strange thing happened as the pillow-tapping and screeching resumed with the added benefit of guitar playing: it actually sounded half decent. Obviously, it was still screeching and Xander’s guitar playing could generously be described as rusty but the sounds were actually blending together well.
The pillow-tapping created a steady beat for the screeching and guitar to work off of.
Desmon’s screeches began to sound more melodic, half serving as rhythm and half taking on a more human sound.
Xander kept breaking off and changing how he played every-now and then, but this tapered off as he found his rhythm.
Two heads bobbing in unison signified how three different sounds began to harmonize more and more. The music wasn’t going to win any awards but for a punk sound? Shit, it was actually pretty good.
And being probably the first human and digimon collaboration probably counted for something.
A final frantic crescendo and a louder screech brought the impromptu jam session to an end.
Xander just smirked.
“Shit, that was actually pretty good. Some better drumming and guitar playing from Eric and Paul and we might have a new Ekko Location hit.”
Desmon smirked “Maybe you should consult my musical genius more often. I am the driving force behind the band after all.
Xander snorted. “Oh yea, you’re an inspiration to us all. You wanna go again Ms. Musical genius?
Flapping over to land on his shoulders, Desmon grinned.
“Fine, I suppose I can let you be my back-up act again!”
Xander just grinned.
“Maybe today wasn’t completely shit after all. C’mon, let’s make some noise.”