Chapter Text
The overwhelmingly blinding lights above the stage consumed Robert's senses, the vocal fries of the band onstage had his full attention. Each member of the band absorbed in their own little world, hair flying all over the place as the constant motion of their head banging gave Robert a sense of whiplash just watching them.
The intense plucking at the guitar strings, practically at the verge of snapping because of how much pressure the bassist was using. The drummer, nodding his head to every note, not missing a beat. Robert was completely enthralled by their music. The main vocalist, who's makeup was smudging, black lipstick stained the pristine white face paint on his chin. All of the band had similar corpse paint style, exaggerating their features drastically, their pupils barely visible due to the sheer amount of black paint around them.
At the side of the stage, there was a tall man wearing similar makeup to them. Not sure if it was just the same style or if he was a fan of black metal. His makeup was more sloppy than the other fans, most likely an amateur or a new fan of the genre. You could see the pink flushed undertones of his skin from how patchy his makeup was compared to the other fans in the bar. Robert glanced at the rest of the mans features, his bushy eyebrows being slightly covered by the black paint. His eyes. An unusual shade, changing between blue and grey depending on how the light hit them. Robert was mesmerized by them. His hair was unkempt, going in all sorts of directions, like he attempted to make his hair spiky. The mans eyes were stuck on the glass he was babysitting, looking at the ripples swirling around inside of it.
"Robert quit being a gay bitch!" Chad yelled out, throwing him off flow. He looked back at Chad, sitting with their other friends and some random man he decided would be his date for the night.
"Get the fuck over here Roberto," Alice yelled out "And quit drooling over the band, you're making a fool of yourself." Alice waved him over. Mal moved her head towards the side of the stage.
"Hey Herm, want to join us?" Herm blinked, quickly shaking his head before looking back at Mal.
"O-Oh um.. if its f-fine- if its okay with you! Not- not just you- everyone." The tall man said back.
'Herm… It suits him' Robert thought to himself. Grabbing his beer, he made his way to the table and sat down next to Mandy.
"Didn't think you'd join us." Robert took a sip of his drink.
"Yeah well, I didn't want to but I needed a break from work. I know I'm their boss but it feels like I've had to do more paperwork than usual." Mandy let out an exaggerated sigh, pinching her nose bridge.
Herman sat down next to Malevola who greeted him by patting his back.
"Dude, you should've gone on stage. Like, your fucking vocals rock dude."
"O-oh I really shouldn't- But um- Thank you!" Herman warmly smiled.
"Go on Hermit, stop being such a bitch and sing for us!" Chad said, pausing a make out session with his date.
"Jesus Chad, what are you a teenage girl? Leave the guy alone." Robert called out. He glanced at Herm, who was practically sweating his makeup off.
"T-Thank you…I-im um sorry- What's- Your name?" Herman squeaked, avoiding eye contact.
"Roberto Robertoson!" Alice said, rolling her r's before bursting into laughter.
"Wow. Haha, it gets funnier the third time. Its Robert." He said calmly, glaring at Alice.
"Jesus Robert what do you have up your ass today?" Courtney remarked. "Mandy's strap probably." She mumbled to herself before taking another swing of her drink.
"Choosing to pretend I didn't hear that. We're just friends Courtney." Mandy glared at her.
"You're not his type either. Roberto likes them twinky and awkward!"
Robert took a quick look at Herman, before making a rebuttal. " Can't argue with that." He smirked.
"So what. You and um. Fuck whats his name. Sweaty slenderman over here gonna start fucking in front of us?" Chad teased.
Herman could feel the heat going to his face, choking on his own spit. "U-um..No? I mean- No offense to you- Y-you're probably a great guy but- you k-know.. I just met him!" Herman spluttered out. Robert pinched the bridge of his nose, this was going to be a long night for him.
"Herm, its okay I get what you mean," He smiled at Herm, which went unnoticed as Herman was too busy staring a hole into the floor. "I'd appreciate it if all if you stopped talking about my sex life now." Robert looked at Courtney and Chad. Who both, rolled their eyes.
An awkwardness filled the air for a minute, "Not my fault you fucked all of twink county." Chad murmured to himself, taking a big gulp of his whiskey before slamming it onto the table.
Robert let out another sigh, "Changing topic, Herm, you like this band?" Herm blinked, coming out his daydream.
"Oh- well yeah! I- mean- I'm apart of it s-so i have to like it."
Roberts eyes widened "That's…Actually really cool Herm." He smiled. "So, what did you for them? Like you're the singer,right?" Robert felt like he was interviewing the poor guy, he really just wanted to know more about him.
"U-uh huh I just um- don't like- I get s-stage fright." Malevola pet Herm on the back again
"You should hear him when hes listening to… Fuck what is it called? Abbath?" She looked at him, slightly tilting her head.
His smile widened, his eyes basically sparkled at the mention of Abbath."Y-Yeah Abbath!" He yelled out excitedly, before looking around embarrassed knowing he was being too loud. His eyes darted back to the floor, his cheeks flushed pink again.
"Herm calm down." Trying to hide his smile at Herman's obvious embarrassment. Herm didn't hear his words, sweat droplets quickly ran down his face, smearing his makeup even more. Robert couldn't help but chuckle at the state of Herman.
The colours on his face were mixing together so harmonically, the pink flush of his skin compared to the waxy layers of white and paint which came off so easily due to the constant placement of his hands over his mouth. His nervousness wasn't helping him, the constant sweating caused the front bits of his disheveled hair to stick to his forehead. Drips of sweat revealed some more parts of Herman's pinky skin underneath, he looked like he'd been out in the rain.
"Herm, your face-paint is…" He clicked his tongue, trying to think of a nice way to put it. "Smudged…" Chad elbowed Robert, "Jesus dude how do you expect to get Herm's little Herm from that shitty line." Chad started laughing at his own joke. Herman was basically a sweating machine at this point, his face grew more flushed "I-I think im going to um- get some f-fresh air! Yeah some f-fresh air." Herm stood up so fast, almost knocking the drinks over in the process. "So-Sorry everyone!" He chirped before exiting the bar.
Mal whacked Chad's head with the end of the tail "Dude, stop being such an asshole to him." She said, folding her arms.
"Or maybe stop being such an asshole in general." Robert mumbled under his breath.
Chad elbowed him in the chest, "Fuck are you saying asshole? Want to take this outside?" Chad pushed him, Robert held onto the tables edge for leverage, trying not to fall on his ass.
"Two grown ass men fighting over this shit. Y'all are pathetic" Alice said, even though she had her phone out recording their little 'fight'.
Robert swung his arm, hitting Chad straight in the jaw. A crunching noise echoed, and then a pop.
Chad clutched his jaw, "Motherfucker!" Chad spat out into his hand, a combination of saliva and blood came out. As well as that, so did another one of Chad's teeth.
"This is the second fucking time! I-I'm gonna fucking kill you asshole!" Chad attempted to lunge at him, being yanked back to his seat by Alice pulling on his shirts collar.
"Listen up bitch, I'm not getting kicked out of another bar because of your stupid ass. Mal, go get Victor and someone go get Colm and Janelle… I don't want to see him getting pegged again." A disgusted expression washed over her face at the thought of it.
Everyone started to make their way out the bar, apart from Courtney who wanted to get some blackmail on Colm and Janelle. Herman was sat down in front of the bar, making small talk with Bruno. Robert could faintly make out what they were saying, "Y-yeah my grandma has- um quite a-a lot of cats! S-shes got around sixteen- n-no um. Seventeen! Yeah seventeen cats." Robert smiled at the thought of him petting his cats. He leaned against the wall, waving Mandy over for conversation.
"So… That was eventful…" Mandy said awkwardly, she looked down at his chest "You're okay right? Before I can start making jokes."
"Mandy, I get hit by guys twice his strength daily, I'm sure ill be fine if a guy who wears flame patterns unironically hits me." He chuckled to himself.
"Honestly, you really shouldn't worry about me Mands, I've been through way worse."
"That doesn't make me feel better you know, just makes me feel shitty." She rolls her eyes.
"Well, it wasn't your fault so why do you care so much? You couldn't do anything about it, you shouldn't stress yourself out over it."
He smiled, his attention moved onto Herman, who was obviously glaring at him and Mandy. His eyes widened, embarrassed he looked back onto the floor. Pretending he wasn't just staring a hole into the back of Mandy's head. She turned her head, greeted with the scene of him coyly fidgeting with his fingers, pretending to listen to Bruno's blabber. She chuckled to herself, before turning back to Robert.
"He's kind of weird… But in a cute way." She nudged Robert. "Don't mess this one up for yourself, you'd be cute together." Now it was Roberts turn to be flustered. He bit his lip, trying to think of a come back
"Don't even try to think of something mean to say, im being serious you know." His face slowly started to heat up. He had only just met the guy, why was everyone acting like this?
"Mandy, love you but me and him?" He awkwardly laughed. "I think um. Me and chad would have more of a chance."
"I don't buy it. You're going to fuck this up for yourself if you act like this Robert."
"Okay mom" He teased "I just met the poor guy! Hes probably really freaked out because of how the others are treating him."
Mandy sighed, pinching her nose bridge. "If you think hes freaked out, why don't you go and comfort him then, huh?"
"Because… I've got a date with the TV and my right hand." He smirked, before trying to walk off. Mandy grabbed his collar.
"Jesus Robert. Firstly, that's so gross. I don't want to know about your perversions, don't make me report you to HR. Secondly, everyone's been an ass to the guy, go be nice to him. He probably needs it."
"Fine." Robert made his way over to Herman, sitting down next to him. His legs sprawled out, "You alright Herm?" He softly asked, not wanting to freak him out.
"Hel- Hi Robert. Yes I'm ok- Fine. I'm fine" He looked at him, smiling. "Why er- Why w-wouldn't I be fine?" His eyes slightly widened, making eye contact with Robert for a second before looking back at the floor and fidgeting with his hands.
"Everyone's been picking on you, I got my fair share too but you didn't seem to handle it well."
Herman stopped fidgeting, trying to think of something to stay. He would open his mouth but then quickly close it again. He bits the bottom of his lip, "I guess- I've never h-handled it well? G-gran- my g-grandma always says I've got to be b-braver. Y-you know.. Stand u-up for myself.."
Herman's eyes met his eyes again, melancholy filled them. Not as bright as they were when he first saw him. The darkness around his eyes were almost rubbed out, the black smeared all over the bottom of his palms. He noticed him staring, looking back at his own hands. Trying to clean up, he started to rapidly rub his palms on his trousers. Which, obviously created more of a mess. He huffed, his eyes met Roberts again, who was smiling at him.
"Well, I think you've got to listen to her Herm. I've known you for like what? Two or three hours? But you just can't let people be assholes to you and take it you know. Fight back, fuck them." Robert patted his shoulder before getting up. "You can get yourself home okay?" Herman looked up at him, "U-uh Yeah! I-i should!" Herm smiled, before getting up himself. By this point, the only other person there was Mandy, looking at them. She reached for her car keys, spinning them around her finger.
"You ready to go?"
"Uh..Yeah. Lets go. Bye Herm." He smiled back at him before striding to Mandy.
"Y-You too! I-I mean- Bye Robert!" He waved quickly, before quickly putting his hand back down, embarrassed by the fact he just waved to Roberts back.He made his way to the bus stop, his steps were full of newly earned confidence.