Mal stood outside his house, looking up and down the street. Rain drizzled insistently over him. His t-shirt was already soaked through, and the water trickled down his hand and dripped from his fingers. "Oh, no!" he shook his leg and hopped in sudden discomfort as a thread of water ran over his hip and down his trouser leg. He swore in irritation at nobody in particular; his breath plumed out in front of him. He shook his head like dog; all that happened was that his wet hair flicked into his eyes and he gave himself a headache. "Owww!"

Eventually he spotted some headlights turning the corner of the street and approaching him. The van pulled up and the drummer from his band leaned across from the steering wheel and opened the passenger-side window. "Mal man, what are you doing standing in the rain?"

"Waiting for you, dipshit!"

"But why are you standing in the rain, man?"

"Well -" Mal looked around. "I didn't think you'd be that long. So I just stood out here for a little bit, waiting. And then when I thought I should go under cover I thought you wouldn't be long again, so I stayed out here."

The drummer just looked at him, not saying anything.

Mal shut his eyes in sudden frustration. "Oh, fuck, man." He turned to look back towards his house. "Help me get my gear then."

"Where is it?"

Mal looked away a little sheepishly. "It's under cover."

The drummer laughed. "Dude, you need professional help!"

"Shut up, man. Man, you're always on my case! We're supposed to be a team, man."

The drummer pulled the hood of his jumper over his head and got out of the van. "Oh, don't start that rhythm section bullshit again with me, man."

"But it's true! We are the rhythm section! We need to stick together!" Mal led him over to where his bass and amp were waiting in the garage.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. We're the foundation. If the foundations are weak the building can't stand, if a rhythm section misses a beat in the Amazon there's a hurricane in Tokyo, blah, blah, blah."

"It's true, man. Rhythm is the most powerful force in the universe." Mal picked up the case that housed his bass guitar.

"Yeah?" said the drummer, hoisting up the amp and being careful to keep the cover over it as he walked back out into the rain. "Then how come the rhythm method doesn't work?"