Little Drummer Dog. (8)

By Wolfie Steel.

The first rays of sunlight filter through the shades of Steve's bedroom window, I slowly begin to wake up knowing that today is the day that we all turn up the wick on our rehearsals, it is also the day where we have to start making the decisions on what songs we will play at the Battle Of The Bands competition. I already have what I think is our opening song, that being Don't Talk To Me About Love, but we are going to need at least seven songs with the competition being spread over a week, with one round a day for five days, and then two rounds should we be lucky enough to reach the final, the Sunday of the competition is held over for a huge party that is to be attended by all of the competitors.

I let out a slight groan as I think of all of the work that lies ahead of us. I begin to slowly crawl from the bed and then once free of the covers I stand upright and stretch out my body, my ears pick up the sound of a gentle giggle.

"Now that is one hell of a way to wake up first thing in the morning, you can keep your Niagara Falls, your Mona Lisa's, and your Eifel Tower, just give me the sight of a sexy assed Border Collie and I'll be satisfied"

I smirk a little as I realise that Steve has inadvertently just given me another song to use at the Battle Of The Bands, I'll Be Satisfied by an artist that calls himself Shakin' Stevens, now that track is very technical when it comes to the beat, man by the time the competition is over we will be one very tired band indeed.

My tail wags its gentle, contented wag as I make my way to Steve's bathroom to take care of my ablutions. As I begin to take care of business I feel a pair of hand paws gently take hold of my Collie pride, next comes that oh so sexy voice that even when it is not being used for sex talk can still melt your heart.

"Well Sam, today is the day, I'm afraid that for the next couple of weeks we will be doing very little eating or sleeping as we will be working flat out on getting ready for the competition. If I'm being honest my love I am one scared mutt right now, oh sure I have rubbed shoulders with the great and the good of the music world before, but I have never gone up against them in direct competition, I just hope that we can give Shaun a good hiding before we get knocked out"

A small part of me is annoyed that Steve believes that we don't stand a chance of staying too long in the competition, but there is another part of me that can see his point as we will be taking on some of the best bands around.

Once I finish emptying my bladder I gently remove Steve's paws from my cock and then I turn my head and give him a gentle lick on the cheek.

"Sweetheart, Jacks and Aces Wild can hold their heads up high knowing that at least they were good enough to even be considered for entering the competition in the first place"

Steve's ears perk up a little and there is the small trace of a smile appearing on his muzzle.

"Thanks Sam, I never really thought of it that way, now let's get ready because we got some wild times ahead of us"

We both get showered and dressed and then we eat a little breakfast, with the start of the day completed we both head to the studio in Steve's car. I look at my watch and notice that it reads 08:30, man what an ungodly hour to even think about becoming one with our instruments.

Once we pull up into the parking area I notice that the guys are all here, I then see something that makes me raise an eyebrow, Max's motorbike now has two crash helmets adorning it, maybe a hint as to how things are progressing between him and AJ? I guess in a few moments we will know for sure.

Sure enough as Steve and I enter the control booth of the studio we find AJ sitting squarely on Max's lap, I give out a soft chuckle.

"Well it seems that Max and AJ have had a pretty good work out, so I'm expecting good things from them"

The Doberman and Panther both just giggle like school girls and then Steve clears his throat to speak.

"Okay guys, today is going to be the beginning of three weeks of extremely hard work, but it is work that has to be done if we are to make a good showing of ourselves at the Battle Of The Bands in three weeks"

There is an audible groan that flows around the room, and then AJ gets up from Max's lap and then heads for the studio.

"Well guys, I don't know about you but I think the sooner we start the sooner we will be finished"

There really is no arguing with AJ's logic sometimes, with that thought in my mind I follow him into the studio. Seconds later we are all in the studio and setting up our instruments and microphones ready to begin three weeks of pure torture.

For three whole weeks we rehearsed, twelve hours a day, seven days a week, by the time the final Saturday came around we were all sick of our instruments and the studio, fortunately though we are now happy with the set of tunes that we would perform at the competition.

A very bedraggled looking Rottweiler slumps over the mixing desk in the control booth, a sigh erupts from his muzzle.

"Well boys, we have done all we can now, tomorrow we travel to the hotel in London where all of the competitors are staying, once we arrive we will use the rest of the day to just relax, god knows we have all earned it, and then Monday morning we will register the band and get the position for our first set, after that we really are in the lap of the gods. Before we head off to London though I am going to take us all out for a big meal tonight, kind of my way of showing you my appreciation for the work that you have all put in"

With Steve's speech over I head into the studio to do some final maintenance on my drum kit, this would also serve for me to get some thinking time in, because for the next week things are going to get pretty intense.

As I begin work on my drum kit I start to tune my surroundings out, thoughts of the bands that we will be going head to head with fill my mind, the biggest one is last year's winner, Def Doggie, they are going to be the band that everyone has their sights set on again this year, for me though I have lowered my sights somewhat, as long as we bury Sound As A Hound I will be a happy pup.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by the sound of Steve's voice calling my name.

"Sam, come on bud, we are all going to the restaurant now for our big meal, and I have made a booking at Jason's, and you know how hard it is to get in there, especially on a Saturday night"

Steve isn't wrong there, Jason's is one of the most up market restaurants around, and so getting a table booked there is a real big deal. I pack my drumsticks in their protective box and then I head out of the studio with Steve.

We all head towards the restaurant and I can't help but chuckle at the thought of Max trying to get into Jason's while wearing his bikers gear. We arrive at the parking area behind the restaurant and Steve gets out of the car and heads to the trunk, he comes back seconds later with two large boxes in his paws.

"Okay Sam, I hope I got you the right size?"

I look at my Rottweiler all confused.

"What do you mean the right size?"

He opens the rear door of the car and then places the boxes down on the back seat, he then removes the lid of the top box, inside I see a beautiful looking Dinner Jacket and black suit pants complete with a white button down shirt, my heart skips a beat as I see it, it seems that we are going to go in all formal after all, the only problem is, where are we going to change? That question is soon answered for me, as Steve begins to clamber out of his usual clothes and into his own smart suit; I guess it is a good job that it is relatively dark outside.

Next I look over to the bike of Max and see him removing all of his leathers, fortunately for him and AJ they are wearing their suits under their day gear, well I guess when in Rome and all that, I get out of the car and begin to disrobe, once my jeans and shirt are removed I slip into my suit, once I am in my suit I notice that the shirt and jacket are a little loose on me but other than that it is a pretty good fit.

Six smartly suited band members now head towards the door of the restaurant; once we arrive we are met by a smartly dressed Fox.

"Good evening sirs, and welcome to Jason's, do you have a reservation?"

I wanted to say that my only reservation was that I am wearing a suit, but I held my tongue, Steve now speaks to the Fox.

"We do indeed sir; I made a table booking for six in the name of Jacks"

The Fox looks down his seating list.

"Ah yes Mr. Jacks, party of six, well then please allow me to show you to your table"

The Fox heads into the restaurant closely followed by us, we arrive at the centre of the restaurant and a huge circular table with six place settings, everything about this place is exquisite, from the immaculate table cloth, to the candelabra which has three lit candles in it, a truly classy place indeed, and undoubtedly expensive.

The Maitre De quickly goes around the table helping each of us into our seat, with us all seated the Fox clicks his fingers and the waiter, a huge smartly dressed Horse, arrives at the table to take our order.

My nose is graced with the wonderful smells of the food that they serve here and my muzzle begins to water a little. I take a look at my menu and my eyes go as wide as the table top when I see the prices, all I will say is this, if I was paying for this meal I would have to mortgage several houses.

The waiter takes our order and then quickly vanishes into the kitchen. Half an hour later and the meal is in full swing, the conversation around the table is light, probably due to the fact that we are so very tired but eventually the talk returns to the Battle Of The Bands competition.

"Okay guys I have some news for you all that will hopefully make things easier for you, until last Friday we were all going to have to use our own transport to get to the venue, well now we will be arriving in style and very relaxed indeed as I have bought us a tour bus complete with driver, well let's face it guys, if we are going up against some of the biggest bands in the business, we need to be able to walk the walk and talk the talk"

Trigger gives off a gentle snicker.

"Oh how very Rock 'n' Roll"

Trigger's comment reduces the table to fits of laughter, oh sure, we are still as nervous as all hell, who wouldn't be in this situation, but at least we can still laugh about things.