Roadtrip 3

Posted on Tue Apr 28th, 2026 @ 12:21 by Liana Zhao & Alastair Temple
Edited on on Tue Apr 28th, 2026 @ 12:22

Chapter: Gobsmacked
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
Timeline: The night of Roadtrip 2
3002 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

Lunch came and went, the day passed as a quiet, idle affair spent mostly in bed. What had seemed like squandering precious time had become a necessary reboot, especially once a couple of hours of solid sleep had allowed for a more drowsy intimacy that still permitted interaction without it being particularly demanding. At one point, the television had snuck itself on, and both Alastair and Liana had rolled out of bed to shower before simply curling up again and chatting quietly between the naps. The weather outside had obliged by turning dreary, which made the prospect of exploring a lot less enticing. The next day would gift them plenty of opportunities to be tourists, and with the mention of evening plans permitting some rare time away from work for their hosts, Liana had been content to consider everything on hold until then. If she'd been able to convince her father that no other special arrangements were required, it might nearly have been the perfect arrangement, but eventually dinner time had rolled around and it was a little too much to ask the chef not to fuss about his most important patrons.

At the very least, it had only involved a table in the restaurant and a fully-available menu on-the-house. The place wasn't packed, business this time of year was steady but not overwhelming, and they were sat close enough that Leonie had flitted back and forth between serving and chatting. She was a boisterous spirit, a French-Italian mix who ran the customer service aspect of the business with the shrewdness and sharp wit of a perpetual entrepreneur. Liana liked her stepmother very much, she was unapologetically herself and thought the best of everyone unless prompted otherwise, at which point she could become alarmingly decisive about her options. She was a good balance for Karl, who didn't like to think poorly of anyone and had a tendency towards a soft heart that would have made him an easy target without his wife's interjections. By the time dessert had been served and the man himself was free enough to pop his nose out, Leonie had made decent inroads into spilling all his secrets, at least those safely designed to make his daughter's beau feel right at home.

As the night wound down and the final patrons were the regulars and those with rented accommodation, the atmosphere shifted to a more casual meandering pace. Once her father had emerged, Liana had fallen naturally into a more supportive role, demonstrating a rather unexpected knack for pouring a decent schooner once she was done helping clear the table and supporting Leonie behind the bar became a habit she often indulged in during these visits. To Alastair, who had only ever seen her wearing her psychologist's hat, she likely looked a little out of place but these were the moments where life took tangents towards the unusual for Liana. Life with her father had always gifted her alternatives she didn't really get elsewhere.

It left, eventually, Alastair and Karl sat at the table, nursing their final drink of the evening whilst soaking up the heat from the nearby woodfire. Behind the bar, their respective ladies were deep in conversation, one that occasionally prompted a laugh from Liana and a sly grin from Leonie. It was, without a doubt, the most relaxed the younger woman had been in weeks, which was a good sign. Karl, legs stretched out in a way that promoted lounging, heaved a contented sigh.

"I suppose you would have toured these parts a bit."

To his credit, it was the first real attempt to bring up Alastair's previous life the older man had made, which wasn't a bad effort give how much the topic seemed bursting with relevance.

"Mm. I think we played Karlsruhe three times," Alastair mused. He was quite comfortable, wearing a simple (for him) black velvet vest over maroon button-up shirt. Dinner had been nice, getting a chance to relax and recharge with Li and the family even more so. He liked these folk, they seemed quite easygoing, though the intelligence was evident in both, with Leonie being the shrewd, calculating one and Karl the creative spirit. He could see elements of Karl in Liana (or vice versa), now that he'd met the man.

"Once for our Nightmares in Velvet tour and twice for Awakenings, the following year. Sold out the first night for Awakenings, if I recall," Thinking back brought a flood of memories. Good ones. Warm ones, which elicited a smile from the metalhead. He took a sip of his beer, getting lost in thought for a moment. They'd actually past the concert hall Somnium Tenebris had played at, on the way here. It was basically walking distance from the gasthaus. The smile faded though, as it tended to do, when thinking of his closest friends, as the thoughts inevitably went to their passing. Still, the good memories remained, and as time passed he found that he could cope with the sad thoughts more easily.

"One of the problems with working hospitality is you're usually the ones holding the door open to the folks returning from all the fun." Though the older man's tone was a tad wistful he seemed too even-tempered to really begrudge the opportunities he'd missed. "We did nearly see you in Antwerp though. Weather had other ideas." A fond scoff seemed to settle Karl's resignation. It was hard to argue with a storm that took out half the city's power grid; one thing about heavy metal concerts was they were pretty reliant on being able to flick the switch on. "When Li-lou first mentioned you, I told Nee the tricky part was going to be trying to explain how we managed to miss your entire career despite best intentions." As had been the case for the entire evening, Karl's laughter warmed the space around him every bit as much as the fire he was perched in front of.

Li-lou and Nee, he hadn't heard those nicknames before. It made him smile. He was going to stick with Li for now though, at least until he thought of something cuter. "Well, you may get your chance yet," he mused, contemplating his beer. Then a pause, he actually didn't know if Li had told Karl about their musical plans, all the work Al had been putting into both his projects so far. "I mean, has she told you what we're up to?" he asked, his expression inquisitive.

The question prompted another chuckle. "I've been told enough to know I've not be told everything." Karl winked, casting a fond look towards his daughter before turning back to regard Alastair thoughtfully. "What she has said is that you're writing again. A new album? No small task." Though he didn't mention it directly, there was kindness to the older man's gaze that acknowledged the missing pieces, and the people no longer there to be part of the creative journey. As a fan of the original band, it was difficult not to be inquisitive about what to expect from the sole remaining artist but Karl was old enough and astute enough to understand the emotional cost. "Li-lou did mention she's been playing on some of the tracks."

"Playing on some of th - well, that's an understatement," Alastair laughed. A friendly, unbothered, comfortable laugh. The normally reserved, some might say calculating, musician feeling comfortable and at home here, in the presence of these people. And talking shop. He turned more serious though, as he explained. "When I first heard her play, I realized that the violin's character is, in its barest essence, not that different from that of a lead guitar, just with a different texture and warmth. So, inspiration hit me, and creativity followed not long behind. We played together for a fair, and it just - felt natural. And so, Temple of Zhao was born. I'm dotting the last I's on the writing, then it's off to recording, but she's very prominent on the album. Playing harmony, melody, countermelody, and even dueling solos with my guitar. It's all good stuff and has gotten me excited about music and performing again."

As far as natural dispositions went, Karl seemed to effortlessly exude what most definitions would deem to be a classic case of 'chuffed'. That he was proud of his daughter was not in question; that much had been obvious with every interaction between the pair, and the jovial man had a calming influence on Liana that was unquestionably obvious. There were very few other occassions, after all, where she would be so happily entrenched in the fine art of pulling a stout for an elderly gentleman who was chatting away with Leonie at a pace that stretched Liana's comprehension of conversational German just a bit too far for her to be able to keep up. Nothing about her really epitomised any kind of fondness for the hospitality trade and yet here, there was room enough for it to feel like home. As Alastair spoke, Karl watched his daughter and his partner with twinkling affection and slowly nodded his head, both to convey understanding and approval.

"It's about time she found an audience again." Merry eyes sought out Alastair's again and Karl huffed with laughter before adding, "But what an audience! Never could quite get her to a show with me, we might have to fix that before she gets up in front of them. Assuming," he added, his hand held up in deference, "you intend to play any of it live."

"I've got firm but as of yet undeveloped plans for one or two live shows in Scotland - you're invited, of course - but nothing set in stone yet. First gotta get the album produced and out. I'm banking there's enough of a fanbase left over from my Somnium days to give me a base of an audience, for the rest have to rely on marketing and word of mouth," Alastair explained, glancing over to Liana and Leonie just having a grand old time, catching up, with Li taking on some light duties. Part of him felt low key guilty for not helping as well, but he squashed that thought right quick, he was busy - uh - networking. Yeah, that was it.

"Our sound will be different, ofcourse. More Doom than Death," Meaning slower, more melancholy than the melodic freight train that Somnium Tenebris was. "And of course, very prominent violin. One might argue that while me and the band are the foundation layers of Temple of Zhao, Li's playing gives it its identity."

A moment of thoughtful silence passed. Karl, having fallen into an old habit of rubbing at his beard whilst he mulled over the matter, was less perturbed about his daughter's exposure to sensibilities she definitely wouldn't have encountered in her previous performances and more focused on trying to bridge the mental divide between what he knew of Alastair's previous work and this new direction. "It ought to make them sit up and take note," he eventually agreed, brow furrowing as if puzzling through something before adding, "If you ever got interested in giving Karlsruhe a shot again, Nee and I have a few contacts we could probably poke for some leverage." His expression cleared to a more circumspect amusement. "At least a couple of them are gonna flay me alive for not letting it slip you'd be here this weekend."

"I don't think playing Karlsruhe, or any kind of elaborate tour, is realistic. At the end of the day, it's still just a side project, and both Li and me have our duties at the institute that keep us tied to the castle and New Cresthill," Al admitted. Plus, the insecurity in him doubted that his music would be good enough to make a tour viable to begin with. Robert had always been the mastermind behind Somnium's success. A little bit of impostor syndrome perhaps, but that was just the way of things. "As for your contacts - well, we've brought our instruments and are going to take some time out during our visit here to practice a bit. I know you play guitar and Leonie plays percussion, if I recall? I think maybe we're at that stage of writing where a small test audience might not hurt. It would tell me if my music is total crap or not."

Something akin to a knowing sparkle lit up the older man's eyes for a moment but whatever Karl thought of Alastair's reluctance to send his music on the road, he kept it to himself for now. "There's a community space," he said instead, "A few of us get together once a week to keep the cobwebs under control. Sure wouldn't hurt my credibility to turn up with a bonafide rock star in tow." Karl winked and then chuckled to himself over his next sip of beer. "The neighbours would probably appreciate some actually decent music for once too."

"Sounds like a plan. Just need someone on bass really to fill out the sound. I've got the sheet music to some of my new songs with me," Al beamed, turning his gaze back over to the ladies, who just seemed to be enjoying some wine sitting at the bar, chatting quietly, in their own world. "Last obstacle would be to get Li to agree with it. This'd be the first time we've played my new music to anyone other than ourselves, in a practice setting."

Karl smoothed his fingers over his moustache, thoughtful once again for a moment before responding. "Not found much Myles can't pick up on the bass, man's been in bands since he was fresh out of diapers. Li-lou's met most of them, and though she doesn't like people to know, she's got more gumption for impromptu performance than your average perfectionist." Karl winked, his playfulness clearly rooted in a deep and abiding affection for his offspring's sensibilities. "Wouldn't be the first time the guys have charmed her into a tune or two, and by the sound of it, this might actually be a genre they'll vibe with."

"Sounds great, because vibes is the essence of the music," While faster genres of metal like thrash-, death-, power- or speedmetal were all about the energy of the sound, slower genres like doommetal were all about atmosphere. The word 'soundscape' was often used to describe the sound, and the word was fitting; the music often evoking the feeling traveling through a rolling landscape of plains, hills and valleys. At least, that's how Al envisioned it. "You know, the first time we played together, it was just - ... Vibes and improvisation, for the most part. Eventually she played something she later told me was a favorite piece she used to play with you. It was Thunderstruck. That's - ... that was the moment, she won my heart."

Once again, the recollection earned a hearty laugh from Karl. "Oh, didn't I get it in trouble for encouraging that one." To date, Liana had never said much about her parents' divorce, outside the general logistics of what it had meant for her movements growing up, but if there was any concern that it had been too unpleasant, that was immediately put to rest by the look of tired affection the older man wore. "It's good to see her with someone who gets her," came the next remark, a little quieter, loaded with all the implications of previous bad matches gone wrong. "And I'm only the tiniest bit smug that you're Alastair Temple and not some ruddy piccolo player." Karl laughed again, clearly more playful than actually dismissive.

"To be fair, I am quite a ruddy piccolo player. That's why I stick to the metal staples," Al chuckled at his own joke. It wasn't really that good, to be honest. "I'm glad I made myself learn to be at least passable on multiple instruments. Drums, bass, keys, even vocals. Comes in handy as music teacher," Beat. "Can I ask, what made you choose hospitality as the thing to do?"

A faintly wistful smile saw Karl lift his drink in the direction of his gossiping partner. "This place is Nee's lovechild, I'm just here to do as I'm told." With a wink, he added, "In many ways, it's just one of those things. Love of food mingled with the necessity of earning a living. When the kids were younger, it was a bit more about the paycheck, though I had a couple of good stints back in the day. Worked my way around a few Wetherspoons in my time. This place though." Karl cast his gaze around. "Nee does most of the hard yards. Keeps the accounts, runs all the admin, tends the bar and manages the staff. I just put food in front of people and botch the occasional maintenance job."

"Ah so you married into it," Al smiled. "I really like this place. I can tell it's being run with love and care," he added, sitting back and finishing his beer before continuing. "I've seen many hotels and assorted roms-for-rent during my touring days. Most are too austere, or too - ... busy with needless detail and noise. This place seems to achieve a nice middle ground, it feels - nostalgic, almost. Comfortable. But best of all, a place to rest and recharge."

"Stayed in a few myself over the years, you get to know what sticks with people. And if you can't be at home, might as well still feel like you are."

With a merry twinkle in his eyes, and a warmth that ran a whole lot deeper, Karl lifted what remained of his final drink of the night and held it aloft in Alastair's direction.

"So welcome home, Alastair Temple. Stay as long as you like."