How does one stop being a siren? 

Mars doubted that a siren… a ‘monstrosity’ could simply quit being a monstrosity. Observing her as she ate, Devi certainly didn’t come across to Mars as a monster. Then again, it could all be part of the young woman’s plan. Knowing so, she definitely did nothing to thwart that. Mars was stupid enough to walk straight into the trap if there was one.

Historically, she was easily talked into things by women. Even if she wasn’t attracted to them, she'd always had a soft spot for them. She never questioned it longer than she needed to, and wrote it off as something to look into whenever she could afford a therapist. 

When she finally looked up from her food, Devi was back at the couch. She was fiddling with the guitar again, practicing the scales Mars had gone over. Eventually, her notes spiraled into a melody familiar to Mars.

During their brief session, it had become clear that Devi had perfect pitch. Mars wondered if it only applied to her, or all sirens. In theory, they were all musical creatures, and chances were they were born with music coursing through their veins. This brought her to the question that she had been meaning to ask her since that rainy Saturday evening.

She hadn’t run it by her bandmates. They normally went along with all of Mars' ideas, although that alone wasn’t enough to ease her nerves. 

In silence, she watched Devi do increasingly impressive things with the guitar. When Mars finally managed to get the question out, it had been so overworked in her mind that it wasn’t even a question anymore.

“Join our band.”

She rose, and the chair behind her made a squeak of protest.  

Devi turned towards Mars, the shock evident on her face.

“What?”

That response was not unreasonable. Mars walked over to the couch. 

“I’m not a performer. We used to have a lead singer, and he left... I’ve been filling in since, but it’s not the same. You, you are a performer,” She said, sitting down beside her.

The visitor pressed her lips together in thought.  “Look, as much as I would like to help you…” There was uncertainty in her voice, something holding her back. “I want to make music like this, I really do. I… just can’t stick around for long. It would only be a temporary thing.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I can only stay for about a month.”

Mars would take it. Who was to say that she couldn’t convince the young woman to stay longer later on. 

“Okay, it can be a temporary thing. Do you have a place to stay? You can stay here for the month as a trade-off.”

Devi nodded softly, “Right, yes. I would like that very much.”

“Wait, the cute girl who opened for us on Saturday is living with you Mars? What the hell? Why didn’t you invite us over sooner?”

Koda, Mars, Noa and Salem stood in the hallway outside the apartment as Mars gave them the tl;dr of the situation. Naturally she omitted certain facts, like the siren part, the parts that could sound stalkerish, how she asked her to join the band, etc.

She disclosed the fact that she asked Devi to join By The Coast, but she made it sound a lot cooler than it had played out in real life. 

“Stop being a creep Koda,” Noa thumped the back of Koda’s head with the side of his palm.

“Does she play any instruments?” Salem asked.

“Thank you, Salem, for asking the real questions,” said Noa, shooting Koda a passive look of disapproval.

“Dumbass she plays the piano obviously,” Koda returned with the same level of passive aggression.

“She wants to play the guitar,” Mars clarified, fully expecting the following reaction.

“A third guitarist?”

Koda, fueled by his desire to talk to Devi, made a good point to counter his bandmate’s protest, “Blue Oyster Cult had three guitarists, Noa. It’s not unheard of.” 

“But Blue Oyster Cult had talent,” Salem said smartly, and Noa thumped him behind the head too.

Mars hushed all of them, if they got too loud the neighbors would complain again. The conversation had derailed, “You heard her performance right? She knows how to layer sounds. We can figure this out.”

“You said she leaves in a month though. We can’t let her carry the whole band and then leave. It’ll be another Paul move.” Despite his comment, Noa was coming around to the idea. Mars had known him for over 20 years, she knew him better than anyone. 

“I’ll try to convince her to stay.” She blurted, and hoped they wouldn’t ask her how because she had no answer.

Noa gave her a skeptical eye, he knew his friend just as well as she did. For now, he gave her the benefit of the doubt, “We can try her out, but I’m telling you now Koda that she’s out of your league.”

Koda ignored the jab, and fluttered his bright blue eyes at Mars. “Wait, are you going to introduce her to us? You know? Properly?”

Mars hesitated, immune to his antics. She had yet to prepare Devi to meet her friends. She couldn’t throw her into the water without warning.

“Tomorrow at practice,” she promised.