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“Caspar, the drums don’t start in this song until the guitars kick in.” Byleth said with a frown a few seconds after they tried to start playing.
“Sorry, sorry. I just got excited. You know this is one of my favorite songs to cover.” Caspar apologized, scratching the back of his head.
Ashe, who was watching the band play from the corner of the garage, laughed. “I might be your guy’s manager, but there’s really no managing you, isn’t there, Cas?”
“Hey!” the drummer said defensively. “At least I help put away the equipment after practices, unlike the prissy princess over there.” he waved at Hilda, their pink-haired bassist, who was plucking the strings of her guitar lightly like she always did when she wanted to get on with things.
“Oh, but you’re so strong, Cas! And you should be lucky that I’m staying in your dead-end local punk band in the first place. I could be a pop-star right now if I really wanted to.” Though she said that as a joke, but there was some truth to it. Not only was Hilda gorgeous, talented, and an amazing vocalist, but she also came from an influential family. In fact, the only reason she had joined the band in the first place was because she wanted her family to quote-on-quote “lower their expectations.”
“Like you’d ever want to deal with all of the obligations that come with that career.” Byleth deadpanned. “Regardless, we should start the song over again. I’ll skip the intro this time, so get your instruments ready.”
Byleth started singing the verse, and Caspar was happy to finally get to move his arms. He started drumming steadily, and paused when the singer reached the pre-chorus.
“You need him. I could be him. I could be an accident but I’m still trying, and that’s more than I can say for him,”
Finally, it was Caspar’s time to go all out. “One! Two! Three! Four!” he shouted, and then the band broke into the chorus.
“Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman. Maybe he won’t find out what I know, you were the last good thing about this part of town.”
All three of them liked to sing for the chorus in this song. It was the first song the group had learned together as a band, after all, so it was close to their hearts. Especially Caspar’s, who had the tendency to sing it a little too passionately. The others stopped playing as soon as the chorus was finished, but he was too into the song to notice. He only realized that he was playing solo when he heard a familiar, light laugh coming from just outside of the garage.
“L- Linhardt!” Caspar let his drumsticks clatter on the ground as he rushed toward his boyfriend. Forgetting that he was still sweaty from banging on the drums all day, he pulled him into a bear hug.
“I can’t breath, Cas…” Linhardt murmured.
With a blush, Caspar released him. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I just finished my classes for the day, so I decided to stop by to watch you practice.” he said casually, setting down his backpack on top of a cardboard box.
“How much did you hear?”
“Just about all of it. Especially that chorus,” Linhardt grinned. “I could hear your voice better than I could hear Byleth’s.”
The drummer’s face went red as the others laughed at the remark. “Come on, I can’t not sing loud to a Fall Out Boy song!”
“Cas, your voice is better suited to singing… I don’t know, something by Blink-182?” Ashe started. “I would say you could take the lead, but Byleth’s voice works better for the song. So next time we run it, make sure you tone it down a little.”
“Okay, fine,” Caspar threw his hands up. “You guys are no fun.”
“I’m soooo bored of playing. Why don’t we take a break and order pizza for dinner, since Lin’s here?” Hilda suggested, making a show of yawning and stretching.
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Byleth contemplated. “We’ve done solid run throughs of all of our originals today, after all.”
“That alright with you, Linny?” Caspar asked, slinging his arm over his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Mhm,” Linhardt responded lazily.
Ashe stood up. “Alright, then I’ll order the pizza. It’s Hilda’s turn to pay.”
The group was now gathered in the living room, the dim light bulbs giving the place a warm yellow glow as twilight settled in outside. The pizzas had arrived ten minutes earlier, and two of them were already gobbled up (mostly Caspar’s doing.) Linhardt was curled up next to him on the couch, resting his head on his shoulder. The drummer felt his breathing even out to a slow rhythm. He blushed. Was he really okay falling on him like this with other people around? Not that he minded all that much himself..
“Is your boyfriend asleep?” Ashe asked, mildly surprised.
“He’s very tired. Always studying all night,” said the drummer as he fiddled a strand of the silky green hair that fell over his chest.
“Does he need to stay over tonight?” Hilda said cheekily.
Heat rose to Caspar’s face. “Don’t say it like that! This isn’t even my house! It’s Byleth’s!”
Byleth laughed. “Well, I’ll give you two permission to stay over tonight if you want to.”
Linhardt cracked his eyes open. “That sounds nice,” he said groggily before shifting to lay his head on Caspar’s lap.
The drummer was having an internal panic attack, represented to everyone by his intense blush. He slid off the flannel he was wearing over his t-shirt and placed it over his boyfriend like a blanket. Arms now bare, Caspar examined the large black eagle tattoo on his left arm.
“I’m thinking of getting another tattoo,” he said, partially just to change the subject. “Any ideas?”
Hilda, whose arms were completely covered in ink herself, shrugged. “Just tell the artist to show you some cool designs and pick one out. That’s what I always do.”
Caspar ruffled through the fluffy blue hair on the top of his head. “That doesn’t really sound like a bad idea. I’d need to dig up some cash first though.”
“I don’t understand tattoos. What if you end up not liking them when you get older?” Ashe asked.
“I dunno, they’re just cool.” the drummer shrugged. He tried to think of a way to carry on the conversation, but Hilda was on her phone, and Ashe wasn’t interested in the topic. They all sat in a comfortable silence for a little before Byleth stood up.
“I’m going to do some paperwork in the study.” he said. “Hilda, don’t you have that party you said you’d go to right about now, at Sylvain’s place?”
“Shit, you’re right!” Hilda grabbed her purse, already slathering on some lip gloss.
Ashe checked the time himself. “I should be going as well. I have to make sure that my cats are okay back at home.”
“Damn, but it’s only 7 pm!” Caspar frowned.
“More time to spend alone with Linny,” Hilda winked, earning an elbow from Ashe.
“Have a good evening, Cas,” Ashe said as he and Hilda walked out the door.
“You too, bro.”
Linhardt perked up as soon as everyone else was out of the room. “Just us?”
“Just us.” Caspar nodded, watching Linhardt rub the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. He was especially pretty at the moment, with his his loose hair falling into his face, which held a mellow expression.
“I liked hearing you sing today,” Linhardt smiled, lacing his fingers through Caspar’s. “The others aren’t giving you enough credit.
“I’m shit at singing, though.”
“I wouldn’t say that, or else your bandmates wouldn’t let you do backing vocals. I can’t sing to save my life.”
“So you actually liked it? You’re not just saying things?”
“You know that I don’t just say things.” Linhardt grinned and pulled Caspar into his arms. The drummer blushed and leaned in close so that his breath hit his boyfriend’s lips. “Yeah. I know that…” he said softly before Linhardt caught his lips with his own.
It didn’t take long for the two to forget about everything else.