Chapter Text
Alright! A new plan is in motion!
Drain walks into the club, he has heard Sesamoid were performing along with a couple of other bands before his set, honestly, it’s surprising they even managed to have the opportunity to perform on the same stage as him even if he’s the surprise last act.
Though when he did hear those news from his superiors, he….might have gone straight to planning his next batch of cookies to bring. He pondered as he entered his apartment to get started.
Maybe something sweeter than the richness of chocolate this time, but what’s sweeter than chocolate chip?
Snickerdoodle!
There was a slight giddiness he had through the whole baking process, he even bought a pack of plastic bags to put the cookies in, tying it with a small pink bow.
So, he holds this small bag in his performance jacket, heading to the backstage exit. Even if he’s the last performer of the event, he might have more chances to talk to Griff if he stays the whole afternoon.
His thoughts are confirmed as he passes by the ominous ice cream truck the band uses for transportation in the parking lot behind the building. Once inside the backstage area, he sees him…the prime obstacle, he knows this guy will be protective of his bandmate if he knew the plan Drain had…gotta pretend everything’s normal….
“Well, well, well…if it isn’t the sack of bones with no skin in the game…” the blonde smirks as he greets with a snide remark.
Quinn was checking his phone, then glanced back at Drain, he immediately turned to greet him in the usual way. Hands on his hips.
“Y’know Drain…..it’s too bad we're performing in a club with a bar, most of your fans won’t be able to come” the taller goth sneers, pointing to the bar near the front of the building.
Drain grumbles, “Well…..big talk for someone without ANY fans!”
Suddenly, the keyboardist of Sesamoid walks through the back entrance with a guitar in hand. A peculiar purple puppy struts in with her. Now that’s a creature valid for some concern… In a panic, Drain backtracks his steps in an effort to get away.
He tenses and utters through gritted teeth, “Oh great, you brought the mutt too…”
Kira, the aforementioned pup, flaps her dragon-like wings toward the scared wreck of a man, seemingly smelling the snickerdoodles on him. She circles him in the air.
“Hey! These aren’t for you!” Drain says in a hushed tone, trying to swat at the flying dog without touching her.
Kira flies down from her excitement and lands next to the keyboardist, Rue. She squats for a second to talk to the small dog.
“I’ll get you a treat after we get all the stuff out of the truck okay?” she says, petting her head.
The purple pup barks in response and starts to fly again outside through the backstage door, to see what the others are doing.
Quinn notices that Drain is holding something edible since it attracted Kira; so naturally, he grows suspicious.
“Hey, what are you even doing here so early? Aren’t you the last performance?” the blue-haired man asked.
Shit! Gotta deflect convincingly…
“Uhh, I wanted to be in the station in time for the trainwreck,” he says, flashing his sharp, pearly whites in his usual obnoxious way. Despite the clever wordplay, Quinn doesn’t seem entirely satisfied with Drain’s answer.
“We go on right before you…”
“Ah…”
“I swear Drain, if you try anything today, I’ll stake these drumsticks so far up where the sun don’t shine...” Quinn says, gripping his drumsticks so hard, that his fist was trembling.
Rue puts down the guitar, leaning it against a wall, and meekly walks over to the tall goth boy, “Ummm…Quinn, if Drain is a vampire he wouldn't let the sun shine anywhere…..does that mean you’ll stake him all over???”
Quinn ponders, “Hmm, didn’t think of that…even better.” he smiles ominously.
Drain jolts a bit at that, he knows Quinn can be somewhat susceptible to follow through on a statement like that, luckily, here comes a temporary distraction. In the form of the band’s bassist, Warren.
“Quinn, is that all you brought?” The tall bassist was carrying a box of supplies.
“Of course not” Quinn pulls out a small bag from his jacket pocket.
Warren temporarily puts the box on a nearby chair, “You brought your makeup? Didn’t you just do touch-ups in the truck?”
Quinn smiles and shrugs, “I like being prepared, you know me”
Warren sighs, he picks up the box again, “Well since you brought in your load, can you help us bring the rest of the stuff in?”
Quinn just stands there…
“You know….like your drums?”
He uses the box to gesture to the truck outside.
Quinn averts his eyes, “....You know me..”
As the pretty goth boy tries to slowly walk away from his responsibilities, Warren suddenly drops the box he was carrying, and grabs Quinn by the arm, dragging him outside.
“Oh no you don’t, with Regan not here to help carry her pyrotechnics this time, and Piper still on her way here from a class, we need an extra set of hands”
Quinn just pouts, nothing else he can do to avoid it now…
“Goddammit…”
Rue was simply observing the exchange, now awkwardly looking between Drain and the door.
“Umm….I’ll….go…make sure they don’t…uh…bicker….I…I-I guess” she speed-walks out the door.
Drain sighs, the biggest obstacle is gone for now.
Finally, after a few silent moments, Griff walks in, holding Warren’s bass and some wire coiled around his arm. His head is downturned to focus on not dropping them, then he turns himself to the direction of the backstage exit door to put down the equipment.
Cold, blue eyes stare, as Drain starts to make his way over to Griff. He puts on his charming smile to greet him.
“Hey there, sunshine”
Griff turns to Drain and his eyes widen. His mouth contorts into some amusement at the random nickname. And the vampire is suddenly very flustered, realizing what came out of his mouth.
Oh god, reel it in!!! What am I even saying???, he cringes internally.
“Drain! You’re performing here too?” exclaimed the so-called “sunshine”.
“Ahh…yeah, I’m a surprise guest for the end…” Drain crosses his arms in an attempt to ease his nerves.
“Oh right! Rue just said Kira smelled something on you earlier, does that mean you brought cookies?” Griff questions, seeming hopeful.
“Actually…” Drain brings out his small bag of snickerdoodles, “I did”
Griff’s eyes sparkle at the sight of them.
“Though…with your bandmates running amuck right now, I figured we’ll probably have to wait till after my set for me to give them to you…” as he is saying all this, Drain fiddles with the plastic bag in his fingers.
“ Ah, okay….” Griff looks a bit defeated, but suddenly, he chuckles.
Drain looks up from his hands, “What’s so funny?”
“I guess the cookies are my after-performance treat, huh?” his placid smile dazzling the pale blonde.
Drain blushes at that, There’s such a natural charm about him…
“Heh, yeah, maybe you’ll have to impress me first, it’ll be your reward” he jokes.
Reward my ass, I’m not denying him ANYTHING after that smile he flashed…
Though as great of a moment it was, it was quickly over with the rest of the gang coming in, this time, with Piper their guitarist. She sees Griff and rushes over, and Drain quickly walks away so the others don’t see that they were just conversing,
“Hey! Oh my gosh you have nooo idea how loooong that lecture was!” she grips her witch hat in frustration.
“Aww, well, it’s good you’re here in time to see the start of the show!” Griff replies.
Drain notices what Griff said, and looks out to the club through the crack of the backstage curtain, seeing people are starting to gather.
He also sees the announcer go up on stage to start the event soon.
“Hey Hey Hey!!! Who’s ready for some music tonight!!!”
Drain hears the formed crowd cheer and sees it as a cue to sit and relax at the complete opposite end of the backstage area, can’t risk going to Griff when there’s going to be a suspicious Quinn always there to intervene.
Throughout the other performing bands, Drain observes now and then the singer from afar. Seeing him enjoy his time with his band and hearing the other acts from afar.
Heh, he won’t know what’s coming…
Then, it was time for Sesamoid to perform, they were finalizing preparations during the previous act, Quinn included, much to his dismay.
They perform well, Griff of course has his blessed chords, and the guitarist girl’s energy is very infectious to the audience, like they’re under her spell. Drain considers maybe also eventually trying to get her to perform for a few of his stage shows as well.
Though he's mainly focused on Griff, Drain’s sure his belting would reach throughout the whole room even without a microphone.
Really contrasts his actual personality… he laughs to himself at the thought.
Drain was then let know from his backstage crew that he’ll be up soon.
Oh, I forgot about that…
The band finishes, and the crowd cheers more than Drain anticipated, he’s not completely upset by it. He could say he’s a fan of Griff, not out loud of course.
They head back in through the curtain, Quinn looks especially ecstatic.
“Ahh, yesss! Do you hear that? They LOVE us!”
Warren sees they drew the curtain closed, “And now’s a good time as any to get packing now.”
Quinn frowns at the idea, “Ugghhh, can’t we just relish in this for a bit?”
Drain comes up to the band, taunting Quinn, “Well, you can always watch my set after this.”
“You know what, I’d rather pack up…” Quinn goes to get his stuff.
All of Sesamoid go to pack their stuff, though Griff seemed to go much quicker in his efforts than the others.
Drain sees this, wondering what was up, but now is not the time to ponder, the backstage crew lets him know it is minutes away from his cue and hands him his iconic bat helmet for the performance.
Ahh…hopefully he can hear my songs too…I have some cool stuff planned…
Suddenly, he feels a touch on his shoulder. He squeals in surprise, holding his helmet closer to his chest. But he quickly sees it’s just Griff.
“Hey! You surprised me!”
Griff looks out of breath leaning his head down, “Haaah…sorry…I just….had to listen…”
“Ohh, so that’s why you seemed in a rush…you’re a fan?” Drain asks.
“Of course, it’s you after all…” Griff says as he still recollects himself.
Oh my god…
“Now everybody, it’s time to reveal…your surprise guest!!”
Griff looks up, and smiles in excitement, “Good luck Drain!” he whispers.
Drain smirks, trying to hide his bashfulness from what Griff said, “Thanks for the concern, but I won’t need it”
With that, he puts on his helmet and walks out to greet a crowd of ecstatic people.
Heh…and Quinn says most of my fans are teens…
He walks to his setup and starts the show, the crowd loving the energy he brings. Jumping and dancing in place on the floor. He looks out at the adoring faces and sees….Griff?
How’d he get there?? Did he sneak to the front to see me???
Drain, of course, keeps playing, while pondering Griff’s displays of fanaticism.
He knew Griff might’ve been a fan of his…though…if he always tried seeing him play his music every time he and Sesamoid ran into each other, that’s at least gotta count for some dedication…combined with the way he usually looks at Drain, or even right now…
I guess it’s funny, in a sense, how he looks at me…
Sometimes it’s like how my fans do…but……sometimes......there’s a warmth to it…..
oh my god, he IS like the sun…
Just like that, the set was already over, Drain had been playing his music absentmindedly while thinking about his…..musings…for the singer. Definitely not anything more to that…
He wakes from his thoughts when the crowd cheers for him, as usual, though he also sees Griff….cheering…
He’s guided back into the backstage area and takes off his bat helmet, looking around to see if the short man is back from the club floor.
However, a couple of people from his backstage team asked him to do an after-show meet-and-greet. He reluctantly agrees, Griff will have to wait a bit.
Of course Drain could never deny the massive ego he gets from interacting with his fans, though all he could think at the moment was seeing what Sesamoid's singer thought....for the plan of course.
After a while of greeting and talking to many fans on the club floor, Drain looks for Griff after his team wraps up backstage.
He was sitting cross-legged on the stage floor, humming and swaying his head, near the backstage curtain, so Drain joined him below.
“Soooo...I don’t see your drummer anywhere…” he said, looking around just in case.
“Yeah, Quinn’s out there trying to talk to everybody.” he points out through the curtain.
“Ha! Trying to get more fans I see!” Drain jeers.
Drain assumes it’s as good a time as any to finally give the snickerdoodles to Griff. He looks around to see if anybody else was looking, and reaches into his jacket, and hands the small bag to him.
“Here, it’s your reward,” Drain says, softly, with a smile.
“Oh! I almost forgot about this!” Griff whispers back.
Drain laughs, emphasizing a little louder, “What? Are my sweets that forgettable? I’m hurt…truly hurt…” He mocks, tracing a finger down his eye as if it were a tear.
The laughing has infected Griff now, he replies, “No! I’m sorry..hehe..it's just that it got so exciting there y’know?”
“You think so? I did see you down there, what do you think?” Drain puts his head in his hand.
“Well, it was fun! You’re really great, Drain…” Griff remarks, as he starts to untie the bow on the bag of cookies.
Drain can see Griff’s attention has shifted to opening the bag, it amuses him.
“Okay, clearly the cookies are the priority, so tell me how they taste first, then you can go into more detail on my show.”
Griff smiles sheepishly, “Yeah, I’m reeaally hungryyy…”
He grabs a cookie and takes a bite.
“Mhm! Sho good!” Griff exclaimed through a full mouth.
“Really! Well thanks so much for the compliment!” Drain responds with pride.
He lets Griff have a couple more cookies before he talks again, admiring the reactions he has and the kinda messy way he’s eating them. He notices a crumb on his cheek and was about to swipe it with his finger, but stops himself.
Griff notices as he finishes the cookie and assumes Drain was pointing out something.
“Mmm? What is it?”
Drain is flustered again, “Ah, you…got something there…”
Griff sees where he pointed and swipes the stray crumb, then eats it.
The vampire smiles at that, “Is it that good?”
“Yeah! Can’t leave any crumbs.”
Drain now realises he needs to seize this opportunity for his plan.
“Sooo, what did you like about my show?”
Griff puts down the bag to fully pay attention to Drain and the question, “Hmm, well the way you mixed your songs for the set was really interesting, the transitions were so cool!”
“I see, and the song choices were good?”
“Yeah! I mean- I like all your songs!”
God, he’s so sweet, I’m gonna be sick…
“Alright superfan, do you…have any suggestions for any…future…songs I make?” Drain asks, almost bashful.
Besides having you in them…
Griff thinks for a second, trying to come up with an answer.
“Hmm, maybe one-”
Drain suddenly sees pale hands grabbing Griff’s shoulders from behind.
“Heeeyyy guuyyss!!! Sorry to interrupt, but looks like we’ll have to head out, sooo I suggest you wrap this convo up quick” Quinn looks at Drain and his eyes go dark, squinting at him in a threatening manner. Leaving the stage still leering at him.
Drain breaks into a cold sweat while Griff smiles.
“Okay Quinn, I’ll be out in a bit!”
There’s no way I can talk to him alone if Quinn is around…he can definitely see I have some intentions...
As the vampire is being distracted by his thoughts, the shorter man stands up to leave with his friends.
“Guess we’re heading out now, I’ll see you next time Drain!” He waves him goodbye.
Before Griff could get far, Drain grabs his wrist. He makes sure that Quinn is far enough to not notice, peeking out to see. While Griff looks down at his wrist suddenly being held.
“Actually, I was wondering when you’d be alone the next time we…um..could hang out.”
They both still for a moment.
Griff looks back at Drain, he meets his eyes.
There’s that mellow look again….
Griff beams, “I think everyone will be busy for a few days, I’ll be visiting the skatepark at noon during the week”
Drain realizes he’s still holding Griff’s wrist, so he immediately lets go. And awkwardly brought his hand to his side.
“Oh, um, didn’t know you could skate…” he says, still reeling a bit from the contact.
“Heh heh, yeah, I have been for a long time.” Griff brings his hands together in front of himself.
There’s no way Drain could pass up knowing more about him, it’s like there’s a pull when he sees Griff. Seeing someone very talented- well granted, he can admit the other bandmates are also very musically gifted…despite all the trash talk Drain spews toward them.
But, like the sun, there was also something so bright and warm about him, radiating from a fire that he knew wouldn't burn him.
Though the sun shines for everyone, he wants the privilege of having its light beaming for him.
For now, though, he’ll have to let him go, his bandmates might get suspicious if he’s been gone for too long.
Drain still hesitates a bit, “I can’t wait…see you then”
Griff’s smile settles into a more gentle look, “I know I’ve been waiting a while, it’ll be nice to finally hang out with you, friend”
With that, he heads to the backstage exit, to meet with the rest of his band outside. And Drain is left with eyes wide, jaw dropped, and warm blood rushing, dusting so much pink on his face for someone who’s supposedly a cold corpse.
A vampire who was below, basking in the sun's warmth…what a privilege indeed.