Who: Gerry and Baz When: Backdated to May 25 Where: Gerald’s Office What: THE GREATEST IDEA EVER Status: Complete
It was Friday, and Gerald was bored. He really should have been busy, but there really wasn’t much to do. The tour was going smoothly. The transportation issue had been fixed, and they were saving so much money on living expenses, and the band was actually happy with him for awhile. Knock on wood. Couldn’t mess that working relationship up again. He did need to look at some of the publicity events coming up, since he still hadn’t found a replacement for Alair yet, but he just couldn’t be bothered right now. It was a Friday afternoon, and it was gorgeous out. Summer was coming, and it was just going to get more difficult to work in here with all the windows letting in the bright sun. How could you manage or plan anything in conditions like this?
Then a thought occurred to Gerald, and he moved over his desk, flipping his calendar to look at the tour schedule and the dates. June 20th was free, and the boys would be back from tour already. Wasn’t that just perfect timing. Gerald was grinning as the idea was already forming in his head. This... would be amazing.
“BAZ!” Gerald yelled for a moment, without thinking, and then stopped himself when he realized there was an easier way. Gerald had gotten a communication tube connected between his and Basil’s desk, so it was easier to get his attention. He’d actually done it without Basil’s knowledge, and that first day it was installed had been filled with amusement, and absolutely no work got done. He tapped it with his wand. “Baz, could you please come in here for a moment?”
***
Basil gave the intercom a slightly baleful look - it had been hard enough maintaining a barrier that was wood and stone. At least then Gerald had had to yell loud enough to carry through the solid oak door. Now it was entirely impossible to avoid being drawn into constant conversation, whatever popped into his employer’s head, charming and cheerful and loquacious. Much harder to resist the urge to converse as they both worked.
Basil’s productivity had taken a considerable hit, and he’d often found himself chin in hand, grinning soppily at the intercom in the middle of the workday. It was horrible; he knew it was only a matter of time before he caught himself doing that in front of the man himself. Though honestly, if Gerald hadn’t noticed Basil’s feelings by now, Basil was fairly certain he could fling himself upon his desktop, entirely naked, with a bow around his cock and a label that said, “Take me, I’m yours,” and Gerald would just ask him bemusedly what exactly he’d put in his tea that morning.
“Coming, sir,” he sighed, setting aside the latest numbers from Bulgaria and Hungary, then smoothed down his tie before he opened the office door and stuck his head inside, “You rang?” he inquired dryly.
***
“Yes! Well more like yelled, but that’s just semantics. Come in, sit down for awhile,” Gerald said gesturing to the seats that were in front of his desk. He really needed to get a hold of a special chair for Baz when he was in here. Gerald was definitely the kind of person who had better ideas when he had someone to throw them off of. Baz was paid to listen to him right?
“I just had a brilliant idea, and I want to see if you agree,” Gerald started, and he waited patiently for Basil to come in. Though Gerald was no a musician himself, he still had some affinity with performing himself and having an audience. And he liked having an audience for his brilliance.
“So we’ve been doing well for all of our tours right? But our most successful single concert was Stonehenge. We need to be able to top that. And how do you think we can do that?” Gerald said waggling his eyebrows to see if Baz could guess but he decided to help him along too. “Do you know what June 20th is?”
***
Basil settled himself in one of the chairs, slouching back slightly and folding his arms, eyebrow raised. “Brilliant idea, eh? I’m on the edge of my seat, sir.” He slouched a little further, smirking, but privately eager - Gerald was occasionally impractical and required a bit of tempering - that was Basil’s job, naturally, dealing with the mundane practical problems of the workaday world - but Gerald’s ideas were scintillant. One never knew what he’d suggest next. It was one of Basil’s favorite things about his job, watching his boss’ mind working away.
He listened, interested, and then couldn’t help but beam, immediately catching on. “Solstice, sir. That is brilliant. Though it’s a bit late to try and book it as a venue - you know it’s in demand that day, especially for ceremonies.” Basil tapped his fingers against his mouth thoughtfully. “We might be able to pull some strings, though, if we get to work on it now.”
***
“As you should be,” Gerald said to Basil’s sarcastic tone. His assistant could be such a tease, but that’s what made work more interesting. If Gerald had someone who agreed with every word he said, his work would get pretty boring. Basil was far more stimulating, and encouraged Gerald to think and be more creative.
“You are absolutely correct! Summer Solstice. Stonehenge part 2. Stonehenge the revenge! We’ll come up with a concert title anyway,” Gerald said hand waving off the finer details for the moment. “We still have a month before the Solstice though. We have a very short time to make a proper proposal to the committee, but I think we can pull it off,” he said.
He leaned forward on his desk, looking at Basil intently. “This can’t be just a second concert though. This is going to be bigger. The Winter Solstice concert was a night concert. Longest night of the year. But the Summer Solstice, it’s the longest day. So why not make this an all day concert? All day and all night,” Gerald said seeing if Basil agreed. “Of course the boys couldn’t play all day. So we could invite other popular bands to come play, just as long as the Weird Sisters were the headliners. In the last few months I’ve talked to a few managers for Floo! and Spellbound, and they thought it was an amazing idea for a venue. I’m sure we could get a lot of interest in this. The boys would love it. We could charge even more for more bands. What do you think?”
***
“That could work,” Basil said slowly, rolling the thought around in his head. He looked up at the ceiling and began making a list of people to Owl, firechats to make, appointments to plan. “Having it be an event, and having so many others making the same request...”He lowered his chin and grinned back at his boss. “That could definitely work. Maybe poll all the bands about the name? Or make it a radio contest, get the listeners invested.”
He bit his lip and considered other options, mind whirring away. “Special merchandise, too,” he said to himself thoughtfully. “Solstice shirts, this time.” Then he shook his head. Time to consider that later, when they’d gotten the go-ahead. “It’ll be a bit dodgy getting the other bands to agree on the line-up - I assume you’d want the Sisters to be playing last, if possible?”
*** “It would be a lot harder for the committee to turn down a big event,” Gerald said, very pleased that Basil was seeing where he was going with this. It was definitely going to be a lot more work, to get so many other bands to commit and there was a lot more to plan... but certainly it would be worth it. “I like that. Hold a contest to name the Stonehenge Festival. Obviously free passes for the prize, that’s simple enough,” he said, beaming at Basil’s suggestions. This was exactly why he kept him around. “You’re brilliant.”
“Yes! Once we get the go ahead we’ll organize a meeting with the sales department. We didn’t really capitalize on the merchandize options for the first content. And at least this time, all the other bands can promote themselves too. Different band merchandize, albums. But have something for Stonehenge itself. We could even produce an album for the Stonehenge performances later on too,” Gerald said, just saying all the ideas that were coming to mind now.
“Well they could perform last. Or another possibility would be, if they played at different times during the day. Split it up, and we could give that option to some of the other prominant bands if they wanted to,” Gerald further suggested.
***
Basil wished he’d brought his notepad in, now. He leaned over Gerald’s desk, stealing a piece of paper and a quill - “Mind if I...?” he asked absently, and then started scribbling away. It helped him to write things out and solidify them in ink and paper, and then to work from there.
“If they have time to arrange it,” he said, writing down ideas and contacts, lip between his teeth. “Perhaps the bands could all play together? A medley for the final song. It’d have to be well choreographed, of course.” Dot an I, cross a T. “Maybe D’Chagny? She’s good, if we can get her.” Firechat her soon as they finished this conversation, obviously. If the idea sounded good to Gerald, that was. “I’m sure it’d be difficult to get all of them to pick a single - actually, maybe something traditional? Take the choice away from them, give them the option of a sun hymn, perhaps, each band with their own particular flavor.”
He looked up suddenly and grinned, impish. “Though even getting them to agree with that might be a chore.” One never could predict how Mr. Wagtail would react, after all, and add in other lead singers and divas and it became even less certain.
***
“Not at all, get this down,” Gerald said when Basil reached for the paper and quill. They needed to remember all this, even if they scrapped some ideas. They needed to have this all down, if they were going to plan this all perfectly.
His eyes went wide and his interest was perked at Basil’s suggestion. “A collaboration! Yes! That is an amazing idea! Basil, I could kiss you!” he said excited about this. “We’d need to get on the band list then, so the boys can get into contact with them and get started on this,” he said fiddling with a quill in his hand. “Yes! I like that idea. It would be an encore show, and it should be something symbolic for the Summer Solstice. We can put that in for the committee so they’ll know we’re still honouring the ceremony,” Gerald said grinning excitedly, and leaned back in his chair.
“I’m sure it will be. In the words of Myron Wagtail, he has to have the ‘final say’. This will be a Weird Sister show first of all, with everyone else as our invited guests. He’ll be the frontman, even for a collaboration. And he’ll have to learn to play nice, when working with others if he wants this to work. It’s for the good of the band, so it should be fine,” Gerald said. That’s what he hoped at least. Yes there were times Gerald didn’t know why he put up with Myron, but at the same time he knew he was a star, and this band wouldn’t be where they were without him.
***
Well, that was - at once wonderful, and yet horrible enough to make Basil’s heart jolt in his chest, then restart with a stutter. It was a turn of phrase. Nothing more. Enjoy the moment, he scolded himself, and made himself smile instead of looking at Gerald wide-eyed and wanting. “Glad the idea suits, sir,” he said, unable to keep a smile from creeping on his face despite keeping his eyes down on his paper. At least he was being helpful - that was something.
“Perhaps if we let Mr. Wagtail pick the closing song, he’d be more amenable to the collaboration in general?” he suggested, resisting the urge to chew on the end of the pen, instead just tapping it against his mouth and schooling his face to bland professionalism as best he could.
***
Of course Gerald didn’t notice any slight change in expression, or that his thoughtless comment may have had any effect on Basil. He was very caught up in what they were talking about, and this was urgent and important right now. They needed to get all the basics out so they could start planning. They could fix all the issues that came up later.
“I just know I can bounce my ideas off of you. You’re not afraid to tell me I’m an idiot, and you actually have good ideas to add,” Gerald said complimenting Basil who was just being too modest right now.
“Good idea. Give him the illusion of control. We can get him a list of appropriate songs for the Summer Solstice, and he can take it and make any arrangements he wants with the music,” Gerald said tapping his quill on his desk. He saw that he still had the nomination list from the WUMAs on his desk and pulled it over. “For sure I think we’re going to invite Floo!, Spellbound, Swish and Flick, and Eckeltric Cauldron for sure. They all have similar demographic. But we shouldn’t just limit it to bands. We can see if Lorcan d’Eath is interested and Isabella Tintwistle,” he added. “We can gives spots to Farewell and Giselle as well since they tour with the boys. Maybe we’ll just put the word out and see who else might be interested. Though we’ll have to limit the number somewhere.”
***
“You, an idiot? Hardly, sir. Just occasionally impractical,” Basil said, unable to keep from smiling crookedly at Gerald, flushed and pleased at the appreciation. Not that Gerald was any slouch about that - he was better than most employers, Basil had gathered over the years, at noticing his staff’s efforts. Really, Gerald was generous in general, that way. As a man, not just an employer. Enough woolgathering, Basil scolded himself, then stood, tucking his notes in his breast pocket, then returning Gerald’s quill. “I’ll get cracking on making contacts with the managers of all of those. Sooner the better.”
Then something struck him. “What about the group that contacted you regarding a cover and a collaboration with Mr. Graves? Perhaps they’d be a decent option. Bring in a more diverse audience.” Though really, he’d trust Gerald’s opinion on that over his own. Gerald had a knack, a gift for sensing what best would draw a crowd.
***
Gerald was never one to notice when his meetings were over, but Basil always seemed to know when he needed to get back to work. At least the rest of this afternoon wasn’t going to be boring now, since he had plenty of work to do. “Exactly. I’ll start on the proposal to the committee so we can get Stonehenge again,” he told Basil, so he could tell that to the managers he was getting into contact with.
He arched an eyebrow at Basil’s next suggestion. “That is a good idea. They’ve already expressed an interest in Merton to record with them as well, so why not to perform together live? I’ll pass the word along, and mention that to Merton when I tell the rest of the band,” he said grinning. Basil was just full of amazing ideas. “They are going to be really excited when they hear about this.”
***
“I agree,” Basil said, pleased, both for the enthusiasm Gerald was showing - he did hate to be bored - and for the band, especially Merton, whose quiet poise and maturity Basil had grown rather fond of. It was in short supply in this office, unfortunately. And Kirley, of course - Basil did like a man that could appreciate a good cup of tea.
“I’ll add them to the list,” he said, quietly proud of his contributions thus-far to the planning process. Now, to take care of the mundane details while Gerald worked his magic. “I’ll be in at my desk. Let me know if you need anything further, sir.”
And, hopefully, Gerald would be busy enough with his own work not to pester Basil via intercom for the rest of the workday. Basil was staunchly determined to consider that a plus.