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If Medkit had to choose between returning to Blackrock or being dragged along by Scythe to some warehouse in Playground in the middle of the night, he would rather pull out his revolver and shoot himself. He would much rather be in bed and asleep, but of course Scythe had called him the other day to let him know he was going with her to a meeting in Playground at a time he physically cringed at. He honestly had no clue what the meeting was, she didn’t tell him much of anything before getting here. Just that they needed to have a meeting with someone in the family and he could possibly have another gear project if all went well.
The actual place itself was dreadful. It looked abandoned from the outside, but the moment the pair was let in, he was proven that it was the exact opposite. Loud blaring music and bright flashing lights filled his senses and he was able to pinpoint this as one of the many facets of Playground’s active nightlife scene. There were crowds of people and an elevated stage with a DJ he didn’t care to get a good look at, just enough to know there was one there. Thankfully, they weren’t in that area long because they’d ended up being walked to an elevator, then to an extravagant secluded area that was dimmer and guarded by more bouncers that let them through after taking one look at Scythe. All they did was open the doors, and that was that, save for a quick mutter through an earpiece about visitors being here.
That brought him to the current moment at hand, sitting back on a couch in a sheer curtained area with a cigarette in hand while Scythe held the reins of the conversation with ‘Burst’, the warehouse owner and host of these eardrum-ruining parties. Medkit didn’t know what to expect with someone operating from a place like this, especially since they had ties to the family, but Burst was certainly far from it. She looked like she would be someone attending the very parties she hosted, absolutely covered in baby blue, and the most notable feature being the visor that covered the top half of her face.
It almost reminded him of Boombox’s visor, just a bit more expressive and clearly was tracking her every eye movement to mimic the expression beneath it. It was definitely one that would cost an arm and a leg to get, but given the nature of the venue and the fact that the first thing she asked was if there were any substances they preferred to take, Medkit was certain he knew how she got that money.
Medkit raised the cigarette to his lips, his eye carefully watching as Burst and Scythe talked like old friends. Whatever they were talking about now wasn’t pertaining to him, and it clearly seemed like it was nothing more than the two just filling each other in on their current endeavors related to the family. He simply resorted to casually listening, letting the words drift through his ears in case there was something of importance mentioned.
He could still faintly hear the music, which honestly annoyed him quite a bit. This was just what Playground was to him. Loud obnoxious music, with inphernals that were somehow more obnoxious. If you’d asked past Medkit, he would’ve told you this seemed like a place Boombox would thrive in. Now as for present Medkit, he wasn’t so sure, especially considering the other parts of the DJ he’d gotten to see as their relationship grew.
The healer took a drag of the cigarette, exhaling the smoke after and tapping it over a nearby ashtray. At least he had it to help keep him somewhat sane, and honestly it depended on how long he and Scythe would be here. In a perfect world, they’d be leaving within the hour, but given the amount of talking… it seemed like it would be longer than that preferred hour. Apparently these parties went on until 6am, and Medkit would very much prefer not sticking around that long.
Scythe was in the middle of talking about her gear when there was a succession of three knocks from the door, and all three of them turned to look towards it. The chains of jewelry dangling from Burst’s horns made an additional noise that Medkit chose to tune out before she excused herself from the curtained area to go to the door, holding a quick conversation with the bouncer that stood on the other side upon opening it before pausing and turning around to face Medkit and Scythe again.
“My apologies!” She began as she walked back to the area, holding open the curtains with a faint smile, “I lost track of time and forgot that I always have a quick mid-show meeting with the DJ at this time. Typically, they come up here, but as you two are already here… it can be your call as for what happens.” There was a pause, the eyelights of the visor glancing towards the ceiling before looking back down, “I will let you know, this DJ has worked with me for three years now and has proven to be very trustworthy. I’ve never had to point my gun at them once!”
Medkit glanced over to Scythe, praying that maybe she’d take this as a sign to just quickly finish or call off the meeting and leave. He knew it was a fleeting hope though, especially when she just leaned forward to tap her own gear with a smile.
“Send ‘em in, I don’t mind all that much. ‘Sides, I’ve got a mean aim if they try anythin’.”
Burst simply laughed and nodded her head before turning back to the bouncer and simply calling out for them to send the DJ in, and then she moved back to her seat in the curtained area. The conversation between her and Scythe picked back up, and Medkit went back to listening until a different knock rang through the room, this one more rhythmic than the other. For the second time that night, Burst got up from her seat to go towards the door, and Medkit was ready to drown out this conversation and stare at the art on the walls as he heard her greet the DJ and ask how the crowd was treating them, and he was drowning it out until they spoke.
“The crowd treats me like they always do!” The DJ laughed, voice clear as they stepped into the room, “You know this, never had a bad experience once!”
No. There was no way.
Medkit whipped his head from the wall to the door, the sheer curtain not helping him much in seeing who it was, but that voice . It sounded like Boombox, it sounded just like him, especially that laugh. It clearly piqued Scythe’s interest too, given the fact that he could see her also peering through the curtain out of the corner of his eye. All he could get were faint glimpses and listen to the conversation at hand to gather all he could. If it was Boombox, then the environment wasn’t what Medkit was worried about.
“Always good to hear! I don’t know why you insist on sticking to your bimonthly schedule…” Burst sighed, making her way to the other side of the room, “You’d make a phenomenal permanent addition to the team, Toxin! And you’ve been here for so long already…”
“I like the way things are, besides! I’ve got a busy life outside of this,” ‘Toxin’ walked past the gap of the curtain as they followed, and Medkit was able to catch a glimpse of them, a flash of green and purple that did little to ease his growing nerves.
“You do, you do, and I’m still trying to figure it out! You tell me nothing!”
“And you tell me nothing!”
“That’s because I’m your boss!” Burst whined, opening up a drawer, “Anyway, back on track to the usual schedule- I take it you still want the booster? You’ve got six long hours left on that stage!”
So it was around midnight now, if Medkit had to guess, and honestly he just wanted to get far away from here. It only ever seemed to be getting worse. If this was Boombox, then why never mention taking part in these gigs? Why was he keeping so many secrets? Boombox felt like a russian nesting doll at this point, constantly uncovering new things that he never would’ve anticipated.
He would’ve kept thinking if it wasn’t for Burst’s next question that shot him straight from his thoughts and back into the moment.
“So, can I interest you in something more this time around? Or are you gonna stick to your usual pills?”
Clearly, Scythe had caught on as well that this was something to actively listen to, leaning forward in her seat a bit more to listen for that answer. Medkit prayed that this wasn’t Boombox because then that meant it was prime blackmail material. He didn’t even know what it could be used for, but it could still be enough to put the DJ in a bad spot.
“Just the pills, you know me!”
“One of these days I’m gonna get you to try something new I swear- ” Burst sighed again, the rustling of plastic giving away the fact that she was handing over a small bag, “You need any water or..?”
“Nah, I’ve got it down to a T now,” There was another laugh, and the sound of the bag being opened as the footsteps moved back towards the door. “Need me for anything else?”
“Hm… not that I know of at the moment,” Burst turned back towards the curtain as she thought, and Medkit could do nothing but watch as Scythe spoke up after the pause.
“Why don’tcha let us say hello?” Scythe chimed in with a laugh of her own, and things felt like they were unraveling like a nightmare. On one hand, it could confirm that this wasn’t Boombox and put his mind at ease, but on the other, it could make things infinitely worse and confirm that it was him. Medkit couldn’t do anything about it, his hands were tied, and all he could do was hope that Burst turned down the request.
It wasn’t a very high hope, and it was proven to be dashed soon after.
“Oh! That’s right, where are my manners?” Burst stepped towards the curtain opening and pulled it aside to remove the obstruction from both sides, “Friends, this is Toxin! One of my most cherished DJs.”
It really was unfortunate timing when the curtain was opened, and Medkit had to hope that holding the cigarette between his lips hid his shock well enough. The DJ was clearly in the middle of swallowing the pills he’d just been handed, but when he looked back down, Medkit could take a good look at him without the curtain obstructing his view. Dark curly hair pulled up into a ponytail, green horns painted to fade into purple, a black outfit with flickers of bright purples and greens, a visor similar to Burst’s covering most of his face, and a gas mask loosely hanging around his neck, clearly something that was used to help conceal his face on the stage.
Despite it all with the efforts to conceal his identity, the way the eyelights flicked between Scythe and Medkit before settling on the healer for a long moment told Medkit enough as he stared into the glowing eyelights.
It very well could’ve been Boombox, the chance was too high, but not enough to settle on a definite conclusion.
There was a long moment of silence before the DJ spoke, pulling his gas mask back up over his mouth, “Hey!” He greeted, the eyelights of the visor lighting up into a cheery expression, “You guys planning on hanging around the ware after your meeting wraps up?”
“Nah,” Scythe jabbed her thumb in Medkit’s direction, “This one might shoot me if I keep ‘im here longer than he needs to be!” She laughed after, to Medkit’s unamusement, and he elected to turn his head to blow out the smoke from the cigarette, hoping that maybe he was only dreaming like he was that one time.
“Shame. But I’ll just leave you guys to it then! Seeya!” Then there was the sound of footsteps retreating, the door opening and closing, and Burst rejoining them in the curtained area with a long sigh.
“He really is a wonderful addition to the team, he pulls in one of the biggest crowds! I just wish he’d do more than this one gig every two months,” She lamented as she lit a cigarette of her own, pulling it to her lips and taking a drag, “Oh well, I just need to keep waiting for a slip up in his day-to-day life, I suppose. Already waited three years, what’s three more?”
Medkit’s gaze flicked over to her, not liking the implication of her words. Despite himself, he didn’t hold his tongue and didn’t think before the question escaped his mouth, “What do you mean waiting for a slip-up in his normal life?” He wasn’t stupid, he knew what that meant, but he wanted to hear it be admitted, to be spoken out into the air.
Burst gave a laugh, tapping some ash onto the ashtray closest to her, “See, there’s a certain genre of people I look for, the ones that need one big push before they decide the best thing to do is to simply… leave or run away from whatever life they had before. Of course, I can’t push the pieces into place, otherwise they’d know I figured them out and messed with their life to ruin it. So, I simply have to wait… unfortunately.”
“And she’s good at it too!” Scythe laughed again, grabbing her glass of whiskey from the table, “You shoulda seen the shit she got up to in Lost Temple before she got here!”
“You flatter me! It was really nothing,” Burst waved her hand before she took another drag of her cigarette, “But it’s effective in getting me more people working below me, and more people in the family if they’re desperate enough. I could’ve gotten Toxin in when I first hired him, honestly. You should’ve seen the state he was in!”
Medkit didn’t want to think about it, and would rather prefer if they went back to talking about what they were before all this commotion happened. The cigarette remained between his fingers as he filtered through the conversation again, listening to Scythe and Burst’s words going in and out. Now it seemed like they were back to talking about the family and other important matters, which hopefully meant it would be done and over with soon.
He couldn’t focus though, all he could think about was the fact that Boombox could very well be tied into this whole mess if that was him. The DJ was clearly keeping his distance by coming here once every two months instead of taking offers to perform at more gigs here, but that had been happening for three years. He didn’t even know if he knew about Burst’s ties to the family.
Still, Medkit wasn’t sure if he was even aware of how much danger he could be in just by being around. It made his stomach churn with worry, especially because of how the DJ was talked about like someone to be taken advantage of when he was at such a low point. Then it took another turn as he realized that as much as he’d could’ve seen Boombox, Boombox could’ve seen him .
Depending on how much he knew about Burst, the DJ could be able to connect some dots, and Medkit honestly couldn’t predict what conclusion Boombox would come to. His ties with Scythe weren’t exactly a secret, so neither was his alignment with the church, but the fact that Medkit was treated like an esteemed guest to the person that so flippantly talked about waiting for him to hit a low point had Medkit deciding that it might not be the most positive conclusion.
Then again, he didn’t know if it was Boombox for sure, and he knew it would be hell to get an answer out of him. He just had to hope that Boombox would say something, or else he’d have to do some digging and find out if his boyfriend was getting himself into a vulnerable position, with someone watching and waiting for everything to fall apart.
Medkit took another drag of his cigarette, hoping that this meeting would be over sooner rather than later. He didn’t want to be here any longer than he had to be, and he wanted to get out of here before there was another chance to run into the DJ again and have his suspicions confirmed.
Boombox was completely and utterly phucked . There was no way he would be getting out of this one without anything going wrong.
He hadn’t had the chance to think about it while he was still at the gig, mainly because he did have the pills and the show to keep him moving and not thinking about the events of the mid-show break, but now it was done with and Boombox was walking home, feeling the crash of everything. Medkit and Scythe were there, guests of Burst for Illumina knows what.
He knew that those two were connected in some way and that they were also in some level of that true eye church cult in Lost Temple, just from overhearing banter and general chatter in phights, and it was enough to solidify the suspicions he was holding about his pseudo boss. If those two were there to talk with her, then it was definitely for some related business, and the only connecting factor would be that because why the hell else would they be there?
Boombox was sure that his panic was heightened because of the fact that he was on his comedown, but phuck was this bad. It was the last thing he wanted! All he had to do was hope that Medkit didn’t recognize him, and then things could carry on like they usually did. This felt all too familiar, a repeat of the thing that originally brought them together. Only now, it could very well hold the power to break them apart.
He honestly had no clue how this would go, and that scared him. Usually he could just go with the flow, take things as they came to him with ease, but this was different. This was Medkit . This was his boyfriend that meant so much to him, enough to admit to the empty air that he loved him.
Once again, he was on his comedown so things felt so much worse than they likely were, but he couldn’t help but consider the possibility that Medkit recognized him. If he did, what would even happen? Would it just be something they elect to ignore? Something they just talk about once and then never again? Or something that would wreck everything they had?
Would he even tell Medkit? Or would he run off like he did when Medkit first confronted him and asked about the piano? Boombox wanted to think he would tell Medkit, but he didn’t even know. This was something bigger than the piano, something more. This was Boombox being tied into some shadier business that could easily grab him and drag him to a point of no return if he made the wrong step somewhere.
They were only about two months into dating, but maybe this would be it. He didn’t know if he could tell the truth or how Medkit would react to the truth or a lie, Boombox had no clue what would happen in either outcome. Maybe it was for the best that he was clueless as to what could happen. Not knowing was better than knowing the outcome would be bad, he guessed. No news is good news, or whatever the saying was.
Boombox finally reached his apartment, fumbling with his keys to open the door and get inside, locking the door after him. He was thinking too much, especially for just having finished a 12 hour gig. He was exhausted, and sank down onto his couch to lay down after putting his gear away, tugging his visor off and setting it aside as he shoved his face into the cushions and pillows.
This was too much thinking for a possibility. There was a chance Medkit didn’t even recognize him, and all this worrying was for nothing. If Medkit mentioned it to him, then he’d tell the truth and they’d have that talk, no matter what outcome it would bring. Until then, Boombox would simply keep his mouth shut and not risk complicating things to a degree they didn’t need to be.
It would be fine, he’d fix his sleep schedule and things would carry on like they did before until he inevitably had to go back, and then the cycle would repeat, hopefully without Medkit there this time. He just needed to rest his eyes for a moment, take a short nap, something to make him just stop thinking because it wasn’t doing him any favors.
He just needed a moment, something to breathe and ground himself before he just thought himself down into a spiral that did no good for him, especially with the state he was in now. He didn’t need it to spiral down into eventually wondering if he was no better than his mom despite the fact he only took drugs once every two months. That would just play right into Burst’s hands.
It wasn’t until Boombox woke up on the couch to the sun setting and multiple missed texts and calls from his friends and one text from Medkit did he realize that it in fact, wasn’t a short nap or a brief moment to rest his eyes, and now he’d have to spend so many more days fixing his sleep schedule. Illumina strike him down now, this was simply the worst.
Boombox didn’t answer or read the text Medkit had sent that morning until it was well into the day, breaking into evening as the sun was setting. The whole day, the healer had simply nursed a mug of coffee and elected to get work done, as well as start planning out how he was going to modify Burst’s gear in the way she requested it.
The DJ was very apologetic, saying that he hadn’t been checking his phone at all during the day because he accidentally left it on silent, and it seemed believable enough. Medkit just had that nagging doubt thanks to the encounter of the previous night. He still wasn’t sure if it was Boombox for certain or not, but it seemed like Scythe hadn’t made the connection. So, maybe he was just overthinking, maybe he was just thinking about the late nights he sometimes spent with the DJ that there was some overlap.
With a sigh, Medkit furrowed his brow and placed his pen down. He couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of danger with Boombox being so close to someone so ingrained in the family, but it might not have even been the DJ. But even if it was, Medkit kept thinking back to different bits. Having stuck to bimonthly gigs for three years despite being offered more, sticking to the same type of drug, even if it wasn’t Boombox, they were still playing it smart. Getting what they needed without getting entangled in a web they couldn’t get out of.
Regrettably, he wasn’t knowledgeable in how Playground worked, and it would likely help if he knew about that, if it was common for DJs to have gigs in shadier places with another name or stage persona. How likely it was for his boyfriend to actually have a whole separate performing identity that would only be known by those that went to those types of places. Maybe it was something common, and it was another Playground DJ that had gotten wrapped up into an unfortunate position.
All this was doing was starting to get a headache forming, and Medkit pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued to think. If that was Boombox, then chances were that he was in a similar predicament Medkit was in with Scythe. Albeit, the DJ seemed to have more freedom and leeway, but it still rang with similarities. It honestly seemed like things could be more similar if he chose to do more than those bimonthly gigs.
Realistically, he could just ask Boombox and see for himself, but he didn’t know what would happen if he did. If it wasn’t Boombox, then it would be left as an awkward situation, especially because he knew the DJ’s mom had a history of drugs from what he had told the healer, and that could have any outcome. Then there was the possibility of Boombox admitting it and Medkit wasn’t even sure what would happen there. The best thing he figured would be them just brushing past it and leaving it as something only they knew.
Then there was the possibility of Boombox lying because it was him and he didn’t want the healer to know, and Medkit frowned as he considered it. As much as he didn’t want to think about it, it seemed like the most likely option. The incident with the piano spoke volumes, and he didn’t think Boombox would change his ways for this secret either. It left a sting in his chest to know he would have to be prepared to be lied to again, but it was better to go into this with a realistic outlook.
He stared down at the sketches in front of him, cursing them for being what ruined the peace he held with his relationship with Boombox. All that talk, just for the result to be Burst wanting her gun to fire faster and with more power earlier on instead of needing it to wait to power up. It could’ve been an email for goodness sake. Medkit didn’t need to get dragged along to a place that would disrupt his peace of mind just to be told he was going to be making changes to a gear.
Medkit glanced over to his phone, opening it up to stare at Boombox’s contact photo. It was endearingly stupid, a part of one of the many pictures the DJ had taken of them together. This one was from one of their movie nights, Boombox just smiling brightly at the camera as he leaned against Medkit’s shoulder. In the full photo, the healer was in the middle of looking towards the camera, and he honestly thought he looked quite ridiculous, but Boombox looked fine, so Medkit simply cropped the photo and left it be.
He put his phone back down, dragging a hand down his face as he thought about the different possibilities again. He was doing fine before with not thinking about it, but it had to catch up to him eventually, he supposed. Medkit pushed the sketches to the side, not wanting to look at or work on them at the moment anymore. All it did was remind him of what could possibly happen, what could possibly be in store for the future.
Illumina, Medkit hoped that Boombox wouldn’t lie to him. He didn’t know what he’d do if the DJ lied to his face, especially knowing the fact that if it was Boombox there at the warehouse, then he’d seen Medkit for sure and would know that the healer knew. He didn’t want to think that Boombox could hurt him in ways he’d already been hurt before, but it was something to anticipate, just in case it did happen.