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Not Your Average Teen Pop Star (DarkDreamer9110 x MsBloom)

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Cassie smiled as Adrienne obviously thought positively of the idea. "Well, it doesn't strictly have to be like we publicly declare it at an assembly." She teased. "Maybe just ... Don't hide it and answer honestly if anyone asks." She said.

She nodded in agreement with Ellie. "Our parents won't be an issue at all." She said. "They already like that we've been spending more time with you. I know they're open to seeing you as a daughter already."
 
There was a subtle cloud of something hard to define across Adrienne's face when Cassie said that all the Clayton-Spencer parents were open to accepting her as a girlfriend to both Ellie and Cassie. It wasn't even something she could define herself except that it somehow felt weird, strange, in the same way she had begun to feel whenever people referred to her as a girl or other similar feminine words. At first she had thought that perhaps she was in fact a boy but discarded the idea because she didn't fell any dysphoria looking at herself in the mirror. She actually quite liked what she saw and it didn't feel wrong for her to have breasts, as small as they were, or a vagina for that matter.

She took a moment to let the feeling pass and then nodded.
"Alright then. A throuple it is then."
She avoided using the word Girlfriends but did lean across the table to offer first Ellie and then Cassie a kiss.
 
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Cassie's eyes caught the subtle shift in Adrienne's face. She recognized it immediately. She'd had the same look many times. Cassie had already had a suspicion about Adrienne, and apparently Adrienne was noticing the cracks in the shell as well.

She nodded. "Partners." She agreed, returning the kiss. She smiled at Adrienne. "So, how've you been, Adrienne? Everything okay? Anything ... Interesting that you might want to talk about?"
 
Adrienne looked at Cassie sensing that it was a question loaded with meaning and not just an attempt at casual conversation. She made a pensive face and directed her attention for a brief moment to the menu.
"Honestly. I don't know really. It's like, ever since y'know our night together I've had this odd feeling that something is sort of missing. I dunno and I'm sorry Ellie but when you said your parents would almost certainly welcome me a your girlfriend I dunno. I cringed. It didn't feel right. I can't really put my finger on it but ... Like a year or so ago I was kind of like you Cassie but the other way around. I was fully convinced I was Trans-masc but then ... y'know ... I wasn't repulsed by my own naked form in the mirror. No dysphoria about my breasts or vagina so ... that was out. Still I can't shake the feeling that something is missing."
 
Cassie listened as Adrienne spoke. She recognized the story Adrienne told; she'd heard similar tales from other trans and gender-diverse people. Mostly online, true, but no less valid. She shook her head as Adrienne ruled out being trans masc because she (they?) didn't experience dysphoria. She waited for Adrienne to finish, then smiled and nodded. "Okay, lot to unpack there. Let's get started. So first of all, let's address that little misconception about dysphoria. You don't need dysphoria to be trans. Yes, dysphoria is a common symptom, but not the only one. It's entirely possible for you to just ... Not feel like a girl without hating being AFAB. And there's a lot more to the spectrum. Yeah, you have your binaries, your trans men & women, but you've also got this infinity of points and possibilities between. Hell, I know more nonbinary trans people than binary trans people. So just because you're not a girl doesn't mean you have to be a trans man. You could just be, as you mentioned, transmasc, which actually encompasses binary and nonbinary transness, same as transfemme. All trans men are transmasc, but not all transmascs are trans men. It's that spectrum I mentioned earlier." She said.

She smiled again. "So I hope that can help you sort yourself out. I can give you some numbers if you want to talk to a gender therapist, too."
 
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"That would probably be helpful yea," Adrienne said as Cassie offered to put her in contact with a therapist specialising in gender identity issues.
She had nodded through most of what Cassie had said about gender being a spectrum. It all made sense somehow in how she felt about her gender. Non-binary Trans-masc made sense.
"Tell you what Cassie," she said with a big smile on her face.
"I'll trade you my vagina for your penis any day."
She chuckled at the idea and winked at Cassie to really show that it was for the most part a joke.
"I mean I've seen what you've got and you've seen what I've got so there wouldn't be any surprises."
She then paused and made a pensive face before adding that when she really thought about it she didn't really want to part with her vagina though she certainly would want to add a penis.
"I've always y'know, wondered what it feels like. I mean not just sex and stuff but like what it feels like to pee through a penis and while I am sure stuffing socks into my underwear might give an idea as to what it would feel like to walk, sit and all that with a penis but I doubt it would really do it any real justice as a comparison."
She paused again and looked first at Ellie and then at Cassie.
"Kind of like how I imagine you must have wondered about what it's like to menstruate? Not that I'd really wish it on anyone, right Ellie?"

Ellie nodded. Menstruation was a bitch but a biological necessity that she had no choice other than to suffer through once every 28 days or so. It was messy and painful even though she knew there were a lot of AFAB who had it much worse than she did. Of course the whole business of tampons and cramps had eventually become routine but it was still something she would rather have done without.
 
Cassie nodded when Adrienne accepted the offer of some numbera to call and pulled out her phone. "I'll text the numbers to you, and I'll check if Sabrina knows if any of them are taking new clients." She said.

She chuckled as Adrienne joked about trading their parts. "Girl, you've got a deal." She said with a grin and a nod. As Adrienne explained further, she nodded. "I can see why that could be appealing to you." She said. "It's not that you feel you were born with the wrong parts, just not all the right ones."

When Adrienne spoke about wondering what having a dick was like, Cassie nodded. "Yeah, I remember when I would stuff bras and wear them around the house to pretend I had tits. It's not the same." She agreed.

At the mention of if she'd imagined what it would be like to menstruate, Cassie blushed and nodded. "Yeah. I'd trade you my morning wood for your menstrual cramps any day." She quipped lightly, smiling, forcing it to reach her eyes.

Better to hide the pain she felt, the dysphoria caused by the knowledge that, in perhaps the one area most of the patriarchal side of society considered important, biology had failed her. Her nature as a trans woman meant she would never menstruate, never get pregnant, never give birth. It was at least possible she could nurse with the right medical assistance. It still hurt to know that there were some areas of womanhood that she would never be able to experience.

She glanced at Ellie, then back at Adrienne. "So, hey, I was curious about something, in the interests of pleasing Ellie. So, uh, we ... Last night ... I made love to her. As in used my, uh ... So yeah. And it was great. It was. But it's not something I want to do again, so I was kind of wondering about ... Options for artificial penetration, if you get my meaning?"
 
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While Ellie couldn't help but let a giggle escape at Cassie's mention of her birthday present Adrienne looked at Cassie quite seriously.
"Well," she began and seemed to consider her reply carefully.
"In your current state there is of course the usual options, fingers and toys. I have a few you can try out to figure out what best pleases Ellie, and perhaps also yourself."
The second part of that offer was intended to include the possibility that Cassie too might enjoy penetration, even in her current anatomical state.
"And I suppose you could always use a strap on to fuck to avoid using your penis for such. I personally prefer a RealDoe, which I am sure you might have heard of. Now I don't know because I've never tried it and because my anatomy is different from yours but ... maybe after your orchiectomy ... you could perhaps try inserting your end into the anus instead of the vagina you don't have yet. It might perhaps not be entirely comfortable for either of you, I don't know really, the angle of penetration would probably be a bit off due to the difference in position."
She paused and looked at Cassie. It was perhaps in some ways a rather strange question but one that was also entirely natural between them, perhaps between herself and Cassie more than between the two of them and Ellie who (as far as Adrienne knew) had no such issues with her anatomy as she and Cassie did.
"I mean there are of course all manner of every day objects you can use as well, as well as of course quite a few vegetables."
She winked and chuckled before leaning in closer to Cassie and whispered: "Uncooked corn on the cob, not too big of course, is absolutely amazing. Just make sure to clean away all the leaves and stringy bits first."

With that said she patted her belly and got up to head over to the buffet. There were all manner of omelettes already done, mixed mushrooms, cheese, tomato and bacon, spinach. There was also the option to make your own, or at least select the ingredients and have the chef on duty make one for you. Ellie followed and before Cassie caught up with them she whispered to Adrienne.
"Just y'know, I mean penetration was really fucking nice and all but if I'm honest I actually enjoyed tribbing more. Still ... I suppose variety makes the whole thing more fun."
 
Cassie's eyes lit up as Adrienne mentioned having toys they could try, and she chuckled at the suggestion that she might find penetration enjoyable. "Adrienne, I'm a transfemme with a progesterone-induced libido and usually serious dysphoria around my genitals. Of course I'm into anal." She said lightly, grinning.

As Adrienne went over the options, Cassie listened intently. The possibilities seemed interesting. Of course, Cassie had experimented with a few items in the past. A hairbrush, the occasional carrot. The idea of a RealDoe seemed interesting, but as Adrienne said, that might not work so well. But they could definitely try it out.

An idea formed as she thought about the idea of a strap-on. She'd heard about ways people could make their own dildos, including ways to make one modeled off an existing dick. That could be ... Interesting.

She followed shortly behind the others, mulling things over. As she reached them, she chuckled. "Gotta admit, this isn't where I thought things would go when I came out and we started hanging out with you more, but I'm glad it went this way."
 
Once the three of them had agreed to be a throuple Ellie sent a text to her mum asking if it was ok with her if she and Cassie invited Adrienne for dinner, as their girlfriend this time rather than just a girl friend.
Of course honey, came the reply.
"So that's that then," she said and looked up from her phone.
"Dinner at Cassie's I would assume. Proper and official meet and greet the parents."
Adrienne smiled and looked over at Ellie.
"You girls don't waste a beat do you?" she said but agreed and asked if she should bring anything.
"nah," Ellie said.
"Just your own sweet self. And no need to worry they already love you the three of them."

After lunch with Adrienne she and Cassie went back to Ellie's house and both immersed themselves in working out the music and words for the ever growing trans anthem.
"When we talk to Andi next I think we, or I, will have to ask if she can like get us a big orchestra, or at least something to the same effect. I mean I've got brass, strings and all kinds of stuff that neither of us can really do."
She then tossed Cassie an extra pair of headphones and pressed play on her work in progress demo.

Having listened through it a few times the two of them headed downstairs and on the way to The Clayton's house they spotted Adrienne at a distance. They waited outside the door for their girlfriend and greeted her with a threeway kiss before heading inside to face what at least Ellie suspected would in parts be another Dating rules talk.
 
Cassie had smirked at Ellie's statement assuming the dinner would be at her house. It was true that Eric Clayton cooked for the five of them quite frequently. In fact, it was pretty much a given that if the full Clayton-Spencer clan was eating together, it was at the Clayton house and prepared by Eric. She'd chuckled at Adrienne's comment about them never wasting a beat. "Of course we don't; we're musicians, so it's all about the timing. Gotta keep that tempo."

Cassie emphatically agreed that they needed to get a full orchestra or a way to simulate one. Her mind immediately began envisioning several parts of "... Out Of The Closet, And Onto The Battlefield" where an orchestral sound would benefit it.

There was no doubt at least part of the evening would likely be a rehash of the Dating Rules talk for Adrienne's benefit, but Cassie could tell as soon as she saw Eric and Madison that something else was on their minds. It reminded her of the uncertainty they had shown in the moments after she came out.

She smiled at them. "Hey, Moms and Dad. So, yeah, we talked it all out with Adrienne. And we're all dating each other now."

Madison nodded. "And I'm happy for you girls. But there's some ... Some things you should know first." Her gaze fixed on Joan for a moment before moving on to Ellie for perhaps a moment too long, accompanied by a slight nervous look. "Please know we're not trying to discourage anything between you three. But there are ..." She trailed off, glancing at Eric nervously.

Eric reached over to take Madison's hand, giving need a reassuring smile and nod as he did so,, and started speaking. "Your moms and I have some experiences we need to share with you girls. A cautionary tale, so you don't make the mistakes we did. Have a seat, girls. This is, well, it's going to be a lot."

Cassie settled down onto the couch, motioning for Ellie and Adrienne to join her. "Hey, so real quick, if this has anything to do with, uh, the thing Mom told me this morning, about you three and that history, we haven't told Adrienne about that. Not our place."

Eric nodded. "That's reasonable. So, Adrienne, there's some background you need to know first if anything else here is going to make sense. As I'm sure you've noticed, none of us parents have an objection to you getting into a relationship with our daughters while they're already dating each other. That's because, well, if we had a problem with it, we'd be hypocrites. Joan, Madison, and myself have effectively been in a private polyamorous relationship since Luke, Ellie's father, left Joan."
 
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"And that's the real reason he left," Joan took over and turned to Ellie.
"From the beginning it was the four of us."
She stopped and smiled, reached out to take Madison's hand.
"Well ... maybe if we go back to where it all really began I suppose it was just me and Madison. But then we met Eric and Luke at a frat party and decided to experiment a bit, and long story short we formed two couples but Madison and I kept seeing each other more intimately and somehow Eric and Luke both seemed ok with it. At least at first."
She squeezed Madison's hand and smiled again, first at Ellie and then at Cassie.
"Then we both got pregnant at the same time, after a rather wild night that I am sure neither of you two girls want to think about, or you for that matter."
she turned to Adrienne.
"By then we were both married and there had been an agreement between us regarding Madison and me. Unfortunately Luke was growing less and less thrilled with the idea once he found out I was pregnant. He said it had of course been fun to share his wife with Eric and Madison and to share Eric's wife as well but now that we were going to be a family it wasn't proper for us to continue like that. And here we are almost 19 years later."
"Wait," Ellie said and looked first at he mom, then at Madison and Eric before looking at Cassie.
It was obvious from her facial expression that she was in shock.
"Mom," she continued and turned back to Joan.
"Are you saying that when we were conceived the four of you were all together ... sharing?"
"That is what I am saying honey. The two of you could have been sisters, real sisters, yes. However, there is no need for you two to worry. After Luke more or less forced me to choose him or Madison ... and Eric I too of course ... we had you both tested for paternity and you are Luke's daughter, just as Cassie is Eric's."

As this conversation went on Adrienne, sitting between her two new girlfriends, looked from one to the other as they spoke. She was somewhat shocked. Not just by what the parents were telling her and their daughters but also by the openness with which they spoke of such things. It was so honest and she realised then and there that coming out must have been fairly natural to both Cassie and Ellie. Her own conversation with her parents and brother about coming out as a lesbian had been tense. Even though neither of her parents had been anything but supporting and accepting they had both been shocked. The first thing her dad had said after a few minutes of dead silence was: "So we have to rely on Stanley for grandkids then?"
He had of course not meant anything negative by it. It had simply been a shocked conclusion of the facts as they stood. Adrienne had frowned though and quietly reminded her parents about IVF as an option though she would prefer not to think about making that decision until at least after she was done with college.

And now, after the talk earlier with Cassie, she had another similar conversation to have with her family. This one she was even more nervous about, and still, after the tal with Cassie and the support from both her girlfriends, and probably their family as well, she felt more confident about it.
 
Eric nodded as Joan picked up the story. Madison reached out with her free hand to clasp Joan's in turn. Eric had grimaced as Joan explained the situation. It was still painful to think about sometimes.

Cassie stared at her parents as the story unfolded. The reveal that she and Ellie could have literally been sisters was ... Unbelievable. "You said you had our paternities tested. I, uh, think I'd like to see the results, if you still have them."

Eric sighed, but picked up a thick manilla envelope from the end table and held it up. Cassie recognized it, of course; it was the family's "important legal document" envelope, usually kept in a safe deposit box at their bank. The last time Cassie had seen it was after her legal name change, just before they enrolled in high school, when her newly corrected legal documents had been added. Eric withdrew two sheets of paper and held them out. "There you go, girls. For the peace of mind."

Cassie took the sheets and looked at them, reading the words furiously before passing them on to Ellie. "It's true; we're not related." She said with a sigh of relief.

Madison looked at the girls. "Ultimately, Joan and I ... We tried to just not be together. But we couldn't stop ourselves. Things ... continued between us, behind everyone's backs. It hadn't helped that Eric and Luke's relationship had suffered ever since ..." She glanced at Eric, who sighed.

"Luke and I had experimented together as well. Luke was bi-curious, I was definitely bisexual. But then Luke realized he was straight, which he decided to tell me right at the same time I told him I was ... in love with him. And it was like ... He was afraid I'd just come on to him or something. We ... He tolerated me, for Madison and Joan's sakes, as well as you two kids'."

"Anyways, Luke found out about myself and Joan," Madison continued, "and when the divorce became inevitable, we tried to get his parental rights removed by proving Ellie was Eric's child, not his. In retaliation, he demanded we paternity test Cassie, claiming if Ellie could be Eric's, the reverse could be true. But fortunately it wasn't."

She shook her head. "But that's getting off topic. The point, girls, is that we made mistakes. There was a lack of communication, a violation of boundaries, a breach of ethics. Polyamory works best when done ethically. You can't have ethical non-monogamy without communication, rules, etc. The framework in which the relationship is conducted must be agreed upon."

Eric nodded. "What your relationship looks like is yours to determine. But you all need to have agreed to what that is."
 
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After Eric had provided the proof that Ellie and Cassie were indeed their fathers' daughters some of the shock dissipated for Ellie. She was reasonably sure though that had it not been the case their moms and dad would have had this talk with them the moment they found out. Although, somewhere in the back of her mind she couldn't help wondering if they might have let it slide thinking that with Cassie basically getting sterilised when she did her orchiectomy that there was perhaps no harm in it. Still once they found out that Cassie had harvested sperm cells for the possibility of having children with Ellie in the future they would of course have had this talk then.

She actually zoomed out for a moment and only just listened to what their parental team was talking about. She caught the basics of it, most of it anyway, about communication and honesty and laying down some ground rules for what the relationship was, but that was about it and certainly a conversation for herself, Cassie and Adrienne to have amongst themselves.

And then the timer alerted Eric that it was time to make the last finishing touches to dinner. He excused himself and went to the kitchen.
"Dinner should be in about ten minutes," he said and as he left so did Joan and Madison leaving the three to digest what they had just been told and perhaps start thinking about how to define their relationship between themselves.

"Wow," she said once the three of them were alone in the living room.
"I mean. I knew our moms had had a thing back in college and all that but ... Then again. A lot of things suddenly make sense now, doesn't it Cassie?"
She glanced over at her girlfriend and best friend forever.
"How they always lived side by side for instance. How they sort of formed one parenting team after my dad left."
She took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip.
"Y'know, we may perhaps not be related by genetics but I can't help but feel that my mom consider you as much her daughter as she does me, and I know I have always felt that from your dad too, that he has always thought of me a his daughter just as much as he has with you. If I'm honest I think more of Eric as my dad than I do my dad."
 
Cassie nodded. "I mean, I knew Dad was bi, but him and Luke ..." She shook her head. "That's not something I want to imagine." She said. "But yeah, it explains a lot. We've always been a family. I mean, I consider Joan basically a second mom or maybe a close aunt. And I happen to know my dad would happily fight Luke for the honor of walking you down the aisle to give you away." She said.

She sighed. "Anyways, they're right. We need to figure out how ... Us as a group works. What our relationship's ground rules are. Maybe not right this second. But soon."

She glanced around. "I think, first off, we need to answer the question of, do any of us want to have either encounters or relationships outside of our little triad? Because quite frankly I don't see myself having eyes for anyone else but you two."
 
At Cassie's mention of Eric fighting her biological dad for the honour of walking her down the aisle Ellie paused for a moment. Even though their relationship was fairly new and marriage wasn't really on the map, the thought had of course crossed Ellie's mind in more ways than how to combine their names as a couple. She had however imagined them both being walked down the aisle by Eric. Him in the middle and the two of them on either side. It just seemed to make the most sense to her. Alternatively she had imagine them being walked down the aisle by their moms, one after the other. She had not even considered Luke for the job even though she had imagined her two sisters being part of the ceremony.

"Maybe we should all take a couple of days and figure out how we imagine it," Ellie said as she snapped back to reality and smiled as she pondered Cassie's suggested first question to consider.
She couldn't quite imagine herself with anyone other than her girlfriends but there was still the small issue that soon enough neither of them would have an actual penis, much less one they wanted to use for sex, and deep down she wasn't sure whether she would be satisfied with substitutes in the long run.
"I don't think we should close any doors," she added without detailing the reasoning behind it.
"After all, this is all new to us all, not just the poly thing but, at least for me, the whole girlfriends thing, and who knows what might happen in the future."
 
Of course, Cassie knew it wouldn't have mattered if Ellie were marrying anyone else, Eric would still have been the one making the strongest case to walk her down the aisle. And now that they were together, it just made sense that of course Eric would be involved, if one of the fathers was involved at all.

She nodded as Ellie spoke. "You're right." She agreed. "And I didn't mean to say we had to make, like, a permanent decision. If we keep it open for now, we can close it later. If we close it now, we can open it later. It doesn't have to be like, an immutable decree of 'we will be an open triad' or 'we will be a closed triad,' you know. But yeah, for right now, we're just gonna say we're figuring that out."

She glanced at her two partners. "I think, like they said, communication is vital. So here's one thing I think we can all agree on: no hiding partners. Not saying we need permission from each other, but we need to let the others know, just keep everyone on the same page."

She glanced towards the kitchen. "You know, our whole story just keeps getting weirder. Imagine writing our memoirs and talking about this stuff. It feels like our lives are some kind of soap opera." She said.

A thought crossed her mind, and she glanced at Adrienne. "Hey, so I'm going in for my orchiectomy in a couple weeks, on the 17th. Ellie and our parents are gonna be there for me. I'd like you to come as well. It doesn't seem right to just have one of my partners there."
 
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"No hiding partners," both Ellie and Adrienne agreed.
"Not even casual, temporary ones," Ellie added and leaned in towards Cassie as if intending to do a Funhouse Sweethearts Forever head-touch but then caught herself and glanced over towards Adrienne who was firstly not familiar with it and also not really in Funhouse Sweethearts.
Instead she opened her arms and enveloped them both in a hug.
"I'm not going to say forever," she whispered softly and first kissed Cassie and then Adrienne.
"But I can't even imagine forever without the two of you."
She then kissed them both again in reverse order.

As Cassie invited her to be there for her orchiectomy Adrienne smiled and nodded.
"There's nowhere else I would want to be on that day than by your side."

"Alright. Now that's all settled," Ellie interjected with a mischievous smile growing on her face.
"Wanna go upstairs and make out for a while?"
 
With the girls having established that their relationship would include clear communication about any partners any of the three of them had, Cassie nodded at the idea of going upstairs to make out until dinner.
The next week passed quickly and uneventfully, for the most part. As the dates for their next sessions at the studio neared, the three members of Funhouse Sweethearts were contacted by Andi with a hint that she had potentially found them a couple new members to properly round the band out on instruments.

For Cassie, the coming week was, of course, going to be eventful. After the three days in the studio, she had one day of respite and then she was going to have her balls cut off. Cassie had already arranged for a rescheduled session with Sabrina for that Thursday just to be sure she went into it in the best headspace.

That Monday, with summer now officially underway, Cassie, Ellie, and Dusty had gotten together early that morning. They had the whole next three days booked in the studio, and so wanted to get as much as they could done in that time.

As they arrived at the studio, they were greeted by Andi, who smiled as she saw them. "Great to see you all here. Come on, let's head in and get you introduced to the potential new band members. So, they're a lovely duo who stuck with me after their band split up for some reason. Bassist and keyboardist. That should cover all the bases for the main instruments for you. Their sister, I believe, might do some backing and harmony stuff, as well."

As she spoke, she led them to the lounge where three people were already waiting. "Alright, everyone, let's get the introductions done, then we can get you all set up in the studio and see how it goes." She said.

The very feminine boy nodded. "Sure thing." He said, smiling at Cassie and the others, holding out a hand. "I'm Léon. He/him. Very cis femboy. Bassist."

Cassie smiled, extending a hand to shake Léon's. "Cassie. She/her. Very trans girl. Lead singer."

Léon nodded. "It's an honor to meet you. Seen some of your speeches. From the assembly and then the live show. You're passionate. And your songs are pretty amazing, too."

Dusty reached out to shake Léon's hand next. "Dusty. He/him. Trans guy. Drummer."

Léon smiled, taking Dusty's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Dusty. Drums and bass. The two guiding throughlines of music. The beatkeepers. Andi showed me some of the tracks you laid. Gotta say, I think you're pretty good. Both more talented and more handsome than our last drummer."

Dusty blushed slightly. "Thanks." He said with a soft smile.

The other girl held her hand out. "Ember. She/they. Probably cis tomboy. Not actually in the band. But I grew up with these two, basically their sister in all the ways that matter."

Cassie smiled, shaking Ember's hand. "So is that she/they as in you prefer she, but they is okay, or as in alternate between the two, or what? Just so I know how to use the two."

Ember chuckled. "It really doesn't matter to me. As long as it's feminine or neutral, not masculine."

Cassie nodded. "Gotcha. Just wanted to make sure."

The masc-presenting one went last. "I'm André. It/they pronouns. Very agender entity. Keyboardist." It said, holding out a hand. "I prefer it, but they is ... Acceptable."

Cassie nodded, taking André's hand. "Noted." She said.
 
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Making out had of course always been a lot of fun but to do so in a trio was even more so, if perhaps at first a bit complicated. Ellie's hands and lips soon found a way to keep everyone included. If she was kissing Cassie with her tongue deep inside her first girlfriend's mouth her hand split their attention between Cassie and Adrienne, groping them, and vice versa of course. In situations where Cassie and Adrienne locked lips Ellie simply focused her lips on other parts of her two girlfriends' bodies, their necks for instance, or she found a way to expose their breasts to kiss and suck on, while of course groping the other with her hands. It all seemed be very instinctual to her, natural in a way.


The coming week went by with no major events. Ellie spent it mostly dividing her time between the last days of school before the summer holidays, hanging out and making out with her girlfriends and planning ahead for their next session with Andi in the studio. On Thursday, the last day of school, Andi had sent the band a text message to say she might have found two more musicians that could fill out the band and also free up Cassie from any instrumental duties if she wanted to focus entirely on her singing.

It was of course a thought that had often crossed Ellie's mind, especially since they recruited Dusty and also since they now, with a record possibly on the way a higher level of live shows, possibly a small tour of Southern California. It would no longer be just the occasional gig at Eric's restaurant or the youth center. For those kinds of shows it had worked nicely the way Funhouse Sweethearts had been set up with herself on guitar and most of the other music pre-recorded on her laptop with Cassie entirely focused on singing and dancing. In the future they would certainly need more musicians and adding a bass player and a keyboard player to the group was almost a necessity going forward. However ... Ellie had wanted to be more involved in selecting them.

"It's not like Andi has recruited them," Dusty had said during a rehearsal that Saturday when Ellie moaned a bit about it.
"She's just presenting them for us to audition."
Elli had nodded. This was true but she still felt quite nervous about meeting them, especially since she felt it might take up valuable time in the studio to audition them. It would have been better to have met them and done the audition during rehearsal.

That Monday Ellie was up early and had her things packed into her car before 9. Their studio time began at 10 and she wanted to be there a bit early to meet these two new musicians and get a general feeling from them before they began.

On the way to the studio she and Cassie also picked up Dusty and the three arrived together to find three new people there, two boys, or at least AMABs (Ellie was unsure of what gender the one who introduced themself as Léon identified as before he added his preferred pronouns stating that he was a cis femboy), and a rather butch looking girl. While Cassie and Dusty introduced themselves Ellie focused on unpacking her equipment after just a brief hello. Still though she watched them as they exchanged names, pronouns and gender identities with Cassie and Dusty and her first conclusion was that they were at least cute, a conclusion that had her giggling a little at how silly it was.

Once the second of the two musician's had introduced themself she walked up to the group carrying her guitar in her left hand and gave each of the three new people a nod.
"Ellie, cis female, she/her, guitar and just about anything else needed except maybe wind instruments and strings," she said and then extended her right hand at the three of them in turn.
"So you had a band of your own before then," she then asked turning towards Léon who had mentioned that Dusty was both more talented and more handsome than their previous drummer.
She had not really liked the way he had said it because it almost felt as if he meant it as if it was they who recruited new members for their band not the other way around. She of course didn't mention this nor did she say aloud what she was thinking: Great just remember this OUR band.

Instead she asked if their previous band was something she might have heard, a demo on SoundCloud or YouTube perhaps, to which Léon told her the name of their previous band and got a nod in reply. Ellie had heard some of the trios stuff which had been mainly instrumental demos as they had had trouble finding a singer (Léon explained as they all headed into the studio and began setting up.
"That's one reason we agreed to audition for Funhouse Sweethearts, because Cassie is an awesome vocalist and in a way exactly what we were looking for for our previous band. So ... we figured why not take a chance at it. Assuming you want us that is."
This explanation of their reason for being interested in Funhouse Sweethearts calmed Ellie down a lot because it was a statement that clearly showed that they didn't want to join as an extension of their previous band.

Once everything wa set up in the studio Ellie stepped into the role of band leader and decided they should start with a full group take of Down on Me which they had mostly worked out the last time they were in the studio and asked Andi to play it back with just the guitars, drums and vocals to allow Léon and André to figure out their parts for themselves. It was of course a test to see how much they could contribute to the creative process of arranging the music.

It took a few false starts and a loose run through before they were ready to record. By then Ellie was quite pleased with what their new members contributed. It was also at that point she had another idea and nodded at Ember.
"Why don't you chime in too, joining me in the harmonies behind Cassie in the chorus?"
 
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Cassie had known that Ellie had been slightly irked at the way things had been set up, and as the introductions went on, she sensed that Ellie had been further irked by something. It may have just been how close they were to each other, but she noticed that tension leave Ellie as Léon explained that he and André were looking forward to auditioning for Funhouse Sweethearts. She resolved to check in with Ellie about the situation later, but until then, she was confident they were going to be okay.

As they started doing warm-ups and practicing, it was clear that Léon and Dusty were getting along well. Léon, it seemed, had immediately seen something in the rest of the music, particularly the drum line, that had led to him completely retooling the bass line basically on the fly to synergize around Dusty's drumbeat. And André was quickly proving it's own talent, providing an underscore matching Cassie's vocals without overshadowing them, if anything augmenting the power behind them.

When Ellie suggested Ember join in when they start recording, she shrugged. "Sure. I'm cool with that."

As Andi set up a channel for Ember to do backing harmonies on, Cassie glanced.over at André as it checked that everything was ready. "So if Ember can sing, why were you having a hard time finding a lead singer? Couldn't she just do it?"

André shook its head. "Ember doesn't sing if she's the focus. Let her do backup, let her be harmony, she'll sing like a canary. Make her be the lead, and she won't make a peep. It's her choice. That's all I'll say." It said in a firm, no-nonsense tone, an unspoken that's all you need to know filling the silence afterwards.

Cassie nodded. "That's fair." She said. "We'll keep that in mind."

Around that moment, Andi announced that they were ready to get started on the recording, and everyone got into position.
 
It was obvious even from the false starts that Léon had a lot to offer musically. His bass line was nothing like the more simple one Ellie had had Cassie playing. In fact he seemed to have found a way to add a 7/4 rhythm around Dusty's 4/4 beat without it clashing. Ellie was nothing if not impressed and also, in her head, patted herself on the back for having left out the parts the twins were suppose to add. Had she allowed Léon to listen to what Cassie had played he might have tried to mimic it rather than come up with a line that added an entirely new dimension to the song. In fact his playing had inspired a few new ideas for the guitar that Ellie tried out during the run through that took the band through the song three times just to let everyone get a feel for it before recording.

André's contribution was a lot more subtle but no less brilliant as they focused on he added complex chords an octave below Cassie's voice and a melody based on the fifths of the vocal melody. It was less flashy than what Léon was doing but it somehow enhanced Cassie's vocals, gave them a boost without competing with them. It was more like a natural extension of them.

That was all the audition Ellie needed really and by the time she counted them out and let her last chord hang in the room until it almost turned into feedback she had a huge smile on her face. Apart from a few group sessions in music class at school this was the first time she had actually played with a full, live band, no prerecorded tracks or programmed loops, just organic music flowing freely.

"Right," she said after André had explained why Ember had not taken the role as lead singer of their previous band and briefly joined Andi in the small booth that held the actual recording equipment. Through the window between the studio and the booth they could be seen talking, presumably about technical stuff and then she returned.
"We'll be doing five run takes in succession, She said as she hung the guitar over her shoulder again.
"Five bars pause between each so just keep going and don't be afraid to make whatever minor change you want to try out as we go. I also want to try a few different starts. First one I'll start with a two bar arpeggio, next one after that I want you two to do a two bar intro in A, a drum roll with half a bar left. Third one I think you could just lay a rising A7, maybe bend it a little with the pitch wheel. I'll add a little something in the same vein with half a bar left. Four ..."
Ellie now turned to Ember.
"... by the fourth take I would like an acapella intro if you're up for it. If the twins want to join in that's perfectly fine otherwise it'll be just myself, you and Dusty behind Cassie building up to the first verse. No instrumental intro we go straight to the verse after two bars. For the fifth one I was thinking we could try a piano sound instead of the brassy sound you've been using so far André. You think that's too much of a change without first rehearsing?"

With all instructions given Ellie gave Andi the thumbs up and Andi's voice was heard over the intercom system: "Rolling."
During the first take Ember stayed mostly silent but when she eventually did add harmonies along with Dusty and Ellie behind Cassie's last chorus Ellie almost forgot to play for a brief moment. She had an absolutely astonishing contralto that blended so perfectly with Cassie's mezzo-soprano. As they moved on to the second take Ember showed more confidence, even adding harmonies behind Cassie's verses as well. By the third take Ellie was having so much fun with it that she was barely touching the floor. She played with her eyes closed and just let the music flow through her. When the fourth take started it became obvious just how much Ember's voice added to the harmonies behind Ellie's soprano and Dusty counter-tenor. It was baffling to Ellie why she so adamantly had refused to sing lead for the twins and couldn't help but wonder what the reason for it was.
 
It was very clear from the beginning that the twins were talented. Cassie appreciated that Ellie had let André and Léon have the freedom to do their parts from scratch because the results were undeniably amazing. By the time they were ready to start recording, she'd decided that she definitely wanted the twins to join the band. She also had a newfound respect for Andi that the woman had made such a a good choice right off the bat for her first pick for their new bandmates.

She watched Ellie confer with Andi, then smiled as Ellie came out with a list of plans for the recording session and their takes. She smiled warmly. She loved watching Ellie geek out over music. She glanced at André as Ellie directed her last set of ideas to it. The keyboardist took a second to consider the question. "No problem." It said.

Cassie almost stumbled over her lyrics when Ember started singing the harmonies. She spared a second during the break before they rolled into the next take to glance at Ember with a clearly shocked expression.

The second take just further proved Ember could sing, and Cassie knew she wanted to see if they could get Ember to sing more, even if just supporting vocals.

Take three felt like the whole group was almost perfect, each one in their zone, but still aware of the others and interacting with them in a gorgeous tapestry of sound.

Take four, they were seamless, the synergy flowing between them like lightning. Cassie would have sworn she could feel them each responding to the others in real time, each tiny change rippling through the fabric of the song.

Take five saw the most dramatic change. André's shift to the more conventional piano sound altered the entire vibe around Cassie's vocals. But the true shocker was Ember, who Cassie noticed very quickly was singing along on the actual verses, not just on the chorus. And the only one who seemed unaware she was doing it was Ember herself, if the way André, Léon, and Dusty were glancing at her as she sang without a care in the world was any indication.

And then Cassie got an idea. She got an awful idea. Cassie had a wonderful, awful idea. As they came up towards Cassie's final verse, she glanced over to make sure Ember wasn't watching her, just to be safe. Cassie then turned her gaze towards the window to the control booth. She gave Andi a discrete wink as her thumb flipped the switch on her microphone to off. A covert thumbs-up and slight head nod followed, just to further indicate to Andi that everything was okay.

She kept singing, just to keep up the appearance, until they finished, and then she glanced at the others with a grin.

"So, who wants to go check out our first recordings as a complete band?" She asked.
 
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By the time Ellie's last note had rung out she was really excited to listen back to what they had just recorded. Her overall feeling was that they had gotten better and better with each take and in her mind another way to build up the song before the first verse had begun to brew in her mind that involved the whole band. It would basically be a mixture of the first four takes stretched out over four or six, maybe even eight bars. She decided to keep that idea to herself for the moment though and when Cassie asked who wanted to go check out their first recording as a full band Ellie nodded at Andi and spoke into her mic: "Playback on monitors please."
She almost felt like a professional when she did and a smile spread across her face as she grabbed one of the stool spread out along the wall and sat down to listen.

After the first four she couldn't tell which one she liked best. Sure they evolved, getting tighter and tighter with each take, and there were elements from each that she really liked and wanted to use. The fifth take though hit her like a ton of bricks. Adding the piano instead of the brassy sound totally transformed the song's texture, but also how Ember seemed to completely have forgotten herself and was singing along with every word in the verses as well as in the choruses. The relation to Cassie's voice was the same as it had been in the other takes that smoky contralto to Cassie's soprano. It was doubtlessly her favourite take. She was surprised though when they got to the final verse an Cassie's voice shone with it's absence. In it's absence though Ember's voice shone through as the lead voice.

She glanced over at Cassie with a raised eyebrow as a question mark and then turned her attention to Ember to see her reaction.
 
Hearing the playback of the first four takes, Cassie was again struck by how well they were working together. It was like they'd been together for years. Each of the takes was overall better than the last, with different elements sometimes standing out over others in different takes.

The fifth one, though was the one. Cassie watched Ember with interest, wondering how long the other girl would take to realize her voice was right there alongside Cassie's, and what the reaction would be to the section Cassie had turned into Ember's unknowing solo.

It seemed Ember either didn't notice she was singing in the recording or she was content that she wasn't overshadowing Cassie, until the final verse.

The absence of Cassie's vocals as Ember's rang through the monitor got an almost immediate response. Ember froze, the color drained from her face. She stared at Cassie with a look that screamed hurt and betrayal. André and Léon were immediately at Ember's side, Léon putting a hand on her shoulder and glaring daggers at Cassie that made her grateful looks couldn't kill, André wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close, its gaze boring into Cassie distrustfully.

Cassie, for her part, was mortified by the visceral reactions, realizing that perhaps she had made a terrible mistake that was going to destroy the newly-expanded band before it even lasted a day.

When the song finished, Ember sighed. "Go ahead. Mock me. I know you want to."

Cassie stared at Ember, perplexed. "What are you talking about? Your voice was beautiful."

Ember scoffed derisively. "Exactly. My voice is beautiful. I am not. I'm fat. So go ahead. Make the jokes about how pigs should squeal, not sing. The jokes about how I'd only be able to date a blind man because my voice sounds too pretty to belong to a fat girl and nobody who can see is gonna date a turd with an angel's voice if they know it's a turd."

"What the fuck?" Cassie asked in disbelief. "Who the fuck is telling you fat girls shouldn't have pretty voices or sing? Look at Adele! Or Lizzo! Huge names, and nobody who likes them giving a flying fuck they're fat!" She said. "Or, hell, Rosita from the movie Sing! LITERAL pig with the voice of an angel, and still sexy as hell even without the voice despite being a bit chunky!"
 
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