Archive of Our Own ^beta

The entire cast headed backstage after yet another successful show. A few of them headed towards the stage door to interact with fans, but Alex felt particularly exhausted, so he decided to spend a little time in his dressing room instead. After all, he needed to rest up for the cast hangout later. It had been planned for weeks, and everyone was excited.

He sat at his mirror and removed his makeup, before changing into a more comfortable outfit. He set an alarm for thirty minutes before he was meant to join the rest of the cast, and laid down on his couch for a much-needed nap.

Alex sat up groggily as the alarm sounded right next to his ear. He turned it off and stood up, fixing himself up a little in the mirror. Just as he was about to leave his dressing room, he realized: something felt off. He paused to take stock of himself and his surroundings, trying to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, he landed on his throat. 

He warily tested his voice, attempting to speak: Nothing.

Shit.

He tried again: nothing. Again: still nothing. The more he tried, the more panicked he became. Realizing this, he took a deep breath and tried to think logically. What could have caused this?

Everyone loses their voice sometimes, so it could just be that. But then again, it was fine during the show, which was only an hour ago. A lightbulb suddenly lit up in Alex's head, and he groaned. Dreading the result of this test, he attempted to speak using his Beetlejuice voice:

"It's showtime."

Dammit. This had happened to him a few times before, and it had always passed by the next day, but it had never happened around the others before. He thought over his options, which went something like this:

A: Pretend to be sick and skip the hangout (not likely, he had been looking forward to this).

B: Use his Beetlejuice voice the whole time and have to explain the embarrassing situation to his friends.

C: Don't talk at all, tell everyone that he lost his voice, and suggest a game of charades.

As much as he liked talking to his friends, he was far to exhausted to deal with all the explaining that came with option B. Option A definitely wasn't happening, so option C was the most logical choice.

He pulled up the cast groupchat as he left his dressing room to meet up with the others.

Beetlefam

Brightmonster: Hey guys, I lost my voice, so I won't be able to talk during the hangout sesh :/

Kerry <3: Oh no! Does it hurt at all?

Brightmonster: Nah, it's alright. Sorry if I'm quiet, though.

Rob: It's not a problem! I will personally take it upon myself to do enough talking for the both of us

Girlscout: We could play charades at some point!

Elizabeth <33: I'm down for that!

Adam Dannheisser: Great idea, Dana! :)

Kritzer: I'm in!!!!

Brightmonster: Here

The group all turned around simultaneously to face Alex, who waved at them. They all exchanged greetings and congratulations for the successful show, before piling into the car. Rob opted to drive, while Adam decided to sit in the passenger seat. Kerry sat behind Rob, motioning for Alex to sit beside her. In the back row sat Dana, Leslie and Elizabeth.

As they drove, the car was filled with various conversations. Alex would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a bit left out, but what else could he do? He startled slightly when Kerry tapped his shoulder. 

"We're here! Let's get this party started!" Everyone got out of the car and entered the small hall they had rented just for this occasion. The ensemble members had all arrived before them in separate cars, so the hall somewhat resembled a high school reunion if only the theatre kids showed up.

Everyone immediately joined in on the fun; dancing, chatting, eating, and even playing a few games around the room. Alex chose to examine the snack table, pleased to find some cookies that Kerry had decorated like sandworms. He took one and stood off to the side. There was a stage with a microphone in the hall, and he wanted so badly to go up and do something. A song, some stand up comedy, he honestly didn't care at this point, but he had already told the others that he had lost his voice. 

As he stood somewhat dejectedly, Leslie approached him. "Hey, what're you doing over here? We're about to start charades if you want to play!"

Alex nodded and followed Leslie to where the rest of the main cast, as well as a few ensemble members, gathered in a sort of wonky circle. Standing in the middle was Dana, who seemed to be orchestrating the whole thing.

"Now, does everyone know how to play?" Everyone nodded their affirmation. "Okay then! How about Alex goes first? Pick something to act out from the hat, it's all Beetlejuice themed!"

Rob held out a hat to him, filled to the brim with folded up slips of paper. Alex reached his hand into the hat and pulled one out. 

Juno. Easy.

He put on his best grumpy old lady face, and began to hobble around angrily. 

"Ooooh oooh I know this one, you're Juno!" Exclaimed Jill, who played Juno in the show. Alex nodded and gave her a high five, which she enthusiastically returned before pulling a slip from the hat herself.

The game went on for some time, going around the group as each person took a turn acting something out. Eventually, it got to Elizabeth's turn. She pulled a piece of paper from the hat, read it, and smirked. She began to mime a series of dramatic gestures, some of which were wildly inappropriate and vulgar. Eventually, it was her reenactment of The Whole Being Dead Thing pt. 2 that tipped Alex off.

"Oh, it's me!" Alex quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. Fuck. Fuck. 

"Alex, your voice! It's... back?"

"Uhhh... yay?"

Adam looked somewhat bewildered. "How come you aren't using your regular voice?"

Alex looked around at everyone. They were all eyeing him curiously. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Dammit, this is embarrassing."

Kerry was quick to chime in, "You don't have to explain to us if you don't want to! We could just carry on with the party!"

"No, no, it's alright. So does everyone remember my freaky vocal chords?"

Nods of agreement around the room.

"Well they're, uhm, sometimes a lot easier to use? And like, my regular voice actually wears me out sometimes, so it sorta gets... stuck? Like this."

He expected laughter, but the whole room simply nodded in understanding. 

"That makes a lot more sense now. But you could've just told us!"

"Elizabeth's right, we wouldn't have laughed at you."

Alex processed Elizabeth and Rob's words. 

"Oh. I... knew that, I think. I was just sorta embarrassed about it I guess." He chuckled to himself. 

Everyone chuckled with him, and soon enough the party was back on, full swing. Alex, Rob and Kerry ended up on stage with a rather dramatic rendition of what Barbara 2.0 would sound like if Beetlejuice was there. Leslie and Adam performed The Time of My Life, which got cheers out of everyone. As a final song to finish off the night, Elizabeth managed to get everyone in on Day-O. 

As everyone gradually started leaving the hall, the main crew decided it was time to head back to the Winter Garden. They said their goodbyes to the ensemble members still remaining, and hopped into their usual places in the car. The car ride was much like the trip to the hall, but this time, Alex truly felt like a part of the family.