Chapter Text
Larry had been working as a security guard at ‘The Other Side’ - a small rock venue on the outskirts of Brooklyn - for four years now. He'd gotten the job when he was 26, after being in and out of temp jobs for nearly two years, and while neither the pay nor the hours were brilliant at The Other Side, he stayed because enjoyed working there; seeing so many young and talented bands just starting out was really refreshing and it was especially nice when he found out, later on, they'd managed to make it big after being spotted by agents at the club. It was also great getting to know all the regulars who came into the club. Out of all of them, there were two who Larry had really hit it off with; first was Rebecca, who’d been coming in every week for as long as Larry had worked at The Other Side. She used to only come in to see their resident band, a punk rock three-piece called 'Huntress', but since Huntress got signed and made it big Rebecca had started coming in more and more to see other bands, and there was Jed (short for Jedediah but no one ever called him that) who would come in three or four times a week unless he was on tour (he played in a band). Jed was great - he was really enthusiastic about every band who played and always made an effort to talk to the musicians when they came off stage and tell them how much he'd enjoyed their show.
Larry had first met Jed a couple of years before, but to say they had immediately hit it off would be a lie. The loud blond had barged his way to the front of the venue one day just as Huntress were coming off stage and started a conversation with Sacajawea, who’d looked very startled and confused. Larry’s security guard instincts had immediately kicked in and before he knew it he’d grabbed Jed by his jacket and pulled him back behind the barrier.
“Hey man, what d’you think you’re doing?” He’d asked angrily, letting go of his jacket, “It’s crew only back here.”
The other man had looked like he was about to say something but Sacajawea quickly came to his rescue, "Larry, it's fine! Don't you know who that is?!" She’d asked him quietly, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, partner,” the man had said with a smile before Larry could even reply, “Name's Jedediah. I jus' wanted to come over and tell the girls how great I thought their set was. I play in a band too y’see and I know talent when I see it!"
"Oh," Larry had mumbled in reply, already disliking this Jedediah character, “Well, if it’s okay with you, Sacajawea, then that’s fine… I guess…”
He had left Jed talking to Sacajawea and the rest of the band, feeling inexplicably annoyed about the whole situation.
Not long after that Huntress were offered a record deal and were taken out on tour by some huge band and they stopped playing The Other Side. Larry was happy for them, but he missed having them around. Though they kept in touch he only saw them after that for very brief visits because they were so busy. Larry had thought maybe Jed would stop coming in after Huntress got signed but it seems he wasn't just a fan of the girls as he started coming in even more regularly after that. Jed always claimed that he came to The Other Side with his friend ‘Ahk’ but Larry had never seen him with anyone else, and surely if he came to The Other Side with a friend he wouldn’t be down the front annoying Larry every other evening? Eventually, though, Larry and Jed got talking and Larry discovered Jed wasn’t as bad as he’d first thought and they actually ended up becoming pretty good friends. Larry still had no idea what band Jed was in though and felt way too embarrassed to ask about it as he knew it must be a fairly famous one ‘cause every once in a while he got recognised.
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Larry loved working at The Other Side so when he was told that it would be shutting down, needless to say, he was devastated. He had talked to Debbie, the owner of the venue, about it as soon as he got into work but she had just told him what he already knew; there was nothing that could be done about it, the club just wasn’t making enough money and she was too old to continue running it in the state it was in. So Larry sadly resigned himself to begin searching for another job as soon as he got home that night.
“What’s up, partner?” Jed asked in way of greeting, leaning on the barrier Larry was currently situated behind, slumped against the low stage. “You’re lookin’ a little glum.”
“Just had some bad news, Jed…” Larry replied miserably, pushing himself up off the stage and into a proper standing position to converse with his friend, “I may as well tell you as you’re gonna hear it soon enough anyway; the club’s gonna be shutting down.”
Jed looked genuinely upset by the news, “Oh mannn, that really blows,” he groaned, running a hand through his shaggy hair, “How come? Ain’t there nothin’ that can be done about it?”
“Don’t think so, I talked to Debbie, the owner y’know, about it but all she said was not enough people were coming in and we were barely breaking even these past few months. It’s costing her more to run it than it’s worth, and at her age, I think she just wants to retire and not have to worry about this place…” Larry sighed.
“Damn, that’s terrible, Larry. I know how much you love this ol' place… Jesus, Ahk’s gonna be real upset about this too.”
“Ahh, the mysterious ‘Ahk’ who definitely does exist.” Larry joked, trying to lighten the mood. It was a running joke between the two of them as Larry had never actually seen this ‘Ahk’ Jed so frequently talked about but Jed insisted he always accompanied him to the club.
Jed laughed and clapped Larry on the shoulder, “Well I guess you’ll never get to meet him now, if the club’s shutting down,” then his face paled, “that means you're out of a job then, does it, partner?”
Larry just nodded, already trying to think of a way to explain this to Erica. She was furious the last time he lost a job.
“You ever done any bodyguarding, Larry?” Jed asked suddenly, bringing Larry out of his thoughts.
“Erm, not really? I’ve only really done general sort of security work to be honest, why?” Larry questioned, his interest sparked.
“Jus’ thinkin’. Don’t want a good friend like you outta work; I know a guy who needs a new bodyguard. His old one just got sacked for stealing y’see, literally a couple'a days ago, and management hasn’t gotten round to hiring a new one… I was thinkin’ you’d be perfect for the job, could put in a good word for ya.”
Larry’s heart missed a beat, “Seriously? You don’t have to do that for me, Jed! I don’t wanna give you any bother, I was gonna start looking for a new job when I got home and I still have a few weeks before I’ll have to leave…” Larry began to ramble.
“Hush, man, hush,” Jed interrupted with a smile, holding up his hands, “Seriously, it’s no trouble at all. I think you’d be great for the job! Jus' wait here while I go grab a couple'a things and I’ll sort everything out with you,” he said before wandering off to the back of the venue where the raised bar area was located. Larry saw him sit at a table with a man wearing a hat, a dark coat with the collar pulled up to cover his face, and sunglasses.
That must be the mysterious ‘Ahk’, Larry thought to himself, Sunglasses? At a gig? What sort of weirdo is this guy?
Larry watched as Jed and Ahk had a quick whispered conversation; it looked like they were arguing but it was hard to tell what Ahk’s facial expressions were due to the fact Larry couldn’t see his face at all because of his ridiculous outfit, but Jedediah kept laughing and nudging the other man so Larry assumed they couldn’t be arguing about anything serious. Eventually, Ahk nodded at Jed who stood up and, patting the other man on the shoulder and looking very pleased with himself, made his way back over to Larry.
“Right, so here’s the address,” he said, handing Larry a business card (which he quickly put in his wallet so as not to lose it), “I’ll text you with a time as soon as Ahk's confirmed one… Reckon it’ll all be fine, you got good enough experience for the job and I can back you up on how good you are, definitely the best security guard I’ve ever met,” he grinned playfully, “I think you’ll be in with a really good chance, man.”
“Okay,” Larry replied, still trying to comprehend quite what was going on. He’d managed to get himself an interview for a new job mere hours after being told he would lose his current one? Larry couldn’t ever remember being so lucky in his whole life! “Thank you so much, Jed, seriously. You’re an absolute lifesaver.” He gushed, he didn’t think he could ever express quite how grateful he was to Jed for giving him this chance.
“No worries, man. Anythin' for a friend,” Jed replied seriously, “Now how about we forget about this sadness for a little bit and enjoy some great music, yeah?” He smiled as the first band of the evening took to the stage to soundcheck, “I’ve heard these guys are really good live, I meant to see them when I played Diorama Festival last summer but somehow ended up missing them…” Larry smiled as he listened to Jed talk animatedly about all the bands that had been at the festival. Despite their initial differences, he was really glad he had ended up getting to know Jed, he felt really lucky to have a friend like him.