Ooo The Little Bit Of Angst - Blog Posts

♪ ༘⋆ drawn to you — t.todoroki smau

♪ ༘⋆ iii. practice session v. tbd

iv. showtime (𝄞) m.list

the bar was packed. compared to your first day of work there, the amount of people crammed into the dim lit space had basically tripled. even though, the band wouldn't go on for a couple hours, the place was already bustling with excitement. rumi, whose shift had begun an hour prior to yours, was already running around passing out drinks and taking orders, while keigo had taken to bartending for tonight. he spotted you and took his hand off the tab he was pulling beer from to wave you over. hesitantly you pushed through the crowds and made your way behind the bar. 

"don't you clean up nice, ace."

he lazily slung an arm over your shoulder and pulled you into a quick side hug. you weren't bothered by the physical contact, keigo had already seemed like the touchy type on your first day. not in a bad way, though. he was just very extroverted. you were actually more put off by the nickname.

"ace?" you looked back at him – an eyebrow raised and your head tilted to the side. he laughed, finishing up the beer and setting it down for one of the patrons at the bar. when he turned back to you, his laugh had turned into a cheeky grin. before keigo could offer up his reason for the nickname, rumi jumped in.

"he gives all staff nicknames, it's a whole thing." you hadn't even seen, when she had rejoined you, but she was on her way back on the floor with a full try, just as quickly. "be glad, that yours isn't bird themed."

rumi left without another word and you turned back to keigo. "you seriously give everyone a nickname?" he shrugged, grabbing the ticket one of the servers had just put in. "yep." he grabbed a bottle of tito's from the shelf and poured it over a glass of ice. "it's more fun that way." that seemed to be the extent of his answer, before he added one more thing. "everyone, except rumi that is." 

you watched her weave through the masses, confidently carrying the tray to her tables. on your first day, you had been a little intimidated by her. she was taller than you, by quite a margin. you were pretty sure, that she at least matched keigo in terms of height. that was only half of it, though. not only did she exude a confidence, you could only hope to ever match in your dreams, but she was ripped. like really fucking ripped. she had worn a compression shirt the other day, that had shown off every single rippling muscle in her upper body. and again today, in a loser shirt, you could spot the way her bicep and forearm tensed under the drink tray, with every little movement.

"why?" you asked; your eyes still following the woman's movements. keigo stood next to you, his eyes following where you were looking. "let's just say, i can still feel the bruise from the day i tried." a snort escaped you, involuntarily. mocking your boss on your second day of work had not exactly been on your to-do-list for today, but keigo didn't seem to mind. he just accepted your reaction and flashed you another cheeky smile.

"by the way, if you do mind the nickname, let me know." 

"i don't."

he nodded before turning to the side to hand a young woman her vodka cranberry. with a wink and an almost unnoticeable flash of his tongue between his teeth, he wished her a fun night. you felt even more affirmed in your assumption, that he just flirted with everyone under the sun. you hushed to the back of house and tied the black apron around your waist. rumi had been sweet enough to already put in a little notepad and pen for you, so that you could quickly get back onto the floor and start taking orders. when you got back behind the bar, rumi quickly went over your section with you. she also told you that keigo would let you both take a break during the band's set, so you could enjoy it outside of working. 

for the next two hours, the two of you took care of your tables, but whenever you passed each other, you couldn't resist quipping about customers being idiots or just throwing each other air kisses. you had worked in customer service before, though by now, that had been almost half a year ago, but you had never had an infant connection with any coworker the way you had wit rumi. it was only your second day of working together, but the way your shared laughters echoed over the loud atmosphere of the black wing, most customers would probably assume, that you had known each other all your lives. there was something refreshing about being around her and keigo. even though, all three of you were working, you felt an ease that was more akin to a hangout between friends. having pretty much only tomura to talk to – and your mother, though that was an entirely different thing – had taken more of a toll on you, than you would have liked to admit. 

"you, all right, ace?"

keigo playfully flicked your forehead with his pointer. ripped from your thoughts, your hand moved to the point of impact. he hadn't flicked hard enough for it to hurt, but you still looked up at him. he watched your brows furrow and your lips purse, clearly amused by your expression.

"what was that for?" you crossed your arms in front of your chest, tilting your head upwards to look at him even closer. his grin didn't falter for one second. "you were spacing out."

"oh shit, i'm sorry." your eyes suddenly found the ground below you much more interesting than keigo's face. he just laughed. if you hand't felt like he had just caught you red-handed, you would have been offended. "don't worry. you're not in trouble." you could hear in his voice, that he was suppressing yet another laugh. "just worried about ya, ace."

you blinked a few times unsure of what to make of him seeming so genuine, but went back to work pretty quickly. he kept his eyes on you for a bit, as if to wait for your response. after a few seconds you just shrugged it off with a perfectly practiced 'it's fine, just a bit nervous'. he figured you had meant the concert and the crowd that had come along with it. considering it was your second shift, it made sense, that you would be nervous. you didn't feel the need to elaborate and he left you to serving drinks.

the bar got very crowded, very quickly. compared to just a few hours ago, when you thought, that it had already been full, it was now packed. you were aware that lov had amassed quite the following online, which was in big parts thanks to tomura's already huge twitch following. but you would have never guessed, that so many people would squeeze into the bar to see them play live. you overheard conversations here and there, as you made your way back from the floor to rumi. most were talking about how excited they were. some spoke about how well they liked the new ep; others of course discussed how much better or worse it held up compared to their older music. here and there you even heard comments that went something like 'oh my god, dabi is so hot! i can't wait to see him play!' or 'i hope tomura notices me, i would literally die if he looked at me!' you snorted out a quiet laugh, as rumi leaned on the alcohol shelf behind you two. her eyes followed yours, watching the group of girls that was sipping for your brother and his fellow bandmate. 

"looks like they're going on." she nodded toward the stage that was being lit by a singular spotlight.

keigo stood at the center of it, tapping lightly on the microphone in front of him. the shrill of the feedback, made you wince. keigo had noticed a couple people being put off by it and tried covering it up with an awkward laugh.

"give it up for lov!" he hadn't even finished the announcement before loud cheers already drowned out the sound of his voice. "performing their new ep 'disintegrate' for the very first time tonight!"

you doubted that anybody had been paying attention to keigo's words. right as he had finished up his introduction, the first of the band members had stepped on stage. lazily spinning his drumsticks in his hands, spinner passed keigo with a quick nod and took his spot behind the drums. he was followed by himiko skipping over to the right, where he keyboard was. even from as far away as you stood, you could see that it was plastered full with various stickers. from the moment himiko walked onto the stage, you could hear the clicking of a camera shudder and see multiple consecutive flashes coming from the crowd. ochaco was true to her word – taking pictures almost entirely exclusively of himiko. though to be fair, you would most likely do the same, if only to piss of tomura. speaking of, him and dabi came onto the stage last. both taking their place at the center, though dabi was a bit further to the left. they both slung their instruments over their shoulders, fine-tuning them before beginning to prepare for the first song of the set. you could barely hear them introduce themselves or their first song over the loud cheers that blared through the crowd. by the time the cheers and screams had died down a bit, they had played halfway through the first chorus and keigo had slipped back behind the bar.

"feel free to go up front, by the way." he pulled out a bottle of whiskey behind rumi and poured himself a glass. "talked to the owner and he said it's fine." he winked at the two of you earning himself a death glare from rumi and a deadpan expression from you. the feigned annoyance at your boss was short-lived, especially when rumi grabbed your wrist to pull the two of you through the crowd. you were sure, that she was going to get pushed back or at the very least get some nasty insults thrown at her, but most people you two passed were simply too intimidated by the woman to say a thing. that didn't save you from the salty looks cast your way. and yet, by the time they had finished the first song, you were at the very front, basically right in front of where dabi had positioned himself. when he noticed you standing in the front row, staring up at him, he threw you a cheeky smile. much to the dismay of tomura, he even added a little bass riff at the end of the song, finishing it off with a wink in your general direction. which of course, about ten other fans that stood around you two, decided, had been thrown at them. you were pretty sure, yourself, that he hadn't meant it for you specifically. rumi would have disagreed, if you had asked for her opinion, that is.

it felt like they were blasting through their songs. half an hour passed you by in a blink and suddenly they were halfway through with their set. you and rumi had gone back to the bar under the guise of at least working a little bit. (you were both standing on the bar counter dancing.) keigo had yet to complain, so you were just enjoying the moment for now. you didn't take note of the bright blue eyes trained on you, watching your every move. he hadn't even really wanted to, but he had glanced in your general direction and just noticed, that you looked like you were having the most fun out of everyone in this room. something about the way you just ignored everything around you and completely lost yourself, to the point that he was almost scared, that you would fall off the counter, kept drawing him in, even as he tore his eyes away from you to engage with the remaining crowd. 

when the band got to their last few songs, rumi and you were sitting on the counter, exhausted from dancing. the two of you were laughing so hard, that you both struggled to catch your breath, which in turn only lead to the two of you laughing even harder. sitting on the counter had gotten you a couple of reprimanding looks from keigo, but he was glad, still, that the two of you were having fun. he stood behind the bar, leaning forward so he could easily turn his head sideways to look up at the two of you. the three of you remained like this for the rest of the show, with only keigo moving every once in a while, when someone ordered another drink. every now and again he would sigh.

"if only i had staff, i paid to make drinks." he still ended up pouring all the drinks himself, even shooing you away, when you had wanted to help him.

lov had just finished the final song of their encore, leaving the stage after bowing, even though the entire crowd was screaming for them to get back out. himiko was the only one who peeked her head out from back stage one last time. though only to throw up a piece sign and stick her tongue out for ochaco to take a picture. rumi and you were forced to go back to work pretty quickly after, when the crowd stormed the bar, obviously needing their post-concert refreshment. you fell back into the same rhythm from before, chitchatting with the two of them and bickering back and forth while swiftly finishing up all the orders. 

rumi had left about two hours before the bar officially closed. technically, keigo had offered to send you home early as well, but you had just figured you would stick around and have tomura drive the two of you home. reluctantly he had accepted and let you help him out with closing. the bar was closed officially, but keigo had let the band stick around in the basement to come down from the show and have a little celebratory jam session. 

you had no idea how it had happened, really, but out of nowhere ochaco and himiko had popped up in front of the bar counter. with the latter grabbing ur wrist and dragging you along with them to the basement. the room was very small and crammed to the brim with music equipment, a battered, old couch and a little pile of what you assumed to be jackets, pants and whatever else musicians apparently needed to change on a whim. spinner had claimed the couch for himself using his drumsticks to keep a haphazard beat. tomura was sitting to his right on the floor, his trusty electric guitar was plugged in, but he wasn't playing any of their songs just jamming to the rhythm his drummer was giving him. on spinner's right was dabi, who joined in here and there with a little bass riff, to harmonise with tomura. you were in awe that he could play laying on the floor with his legs up leaning on the basement wall. the three almost hadn't heard you come in, too focused on their fun little experiment. when ochaco let the door fall shut behind her, they all looked up. 

"hey guys." spinner was the first to lift himself up and walk over to you with a welcoming smile on his face. "how'd you like it?" he was asking both you and ochaco, but it was clear that he meant pretty much only you. "i loved it." you replied immediately, recounting how amazed you had been by the variety of the songs they had played. 

"we could tell." dabi piped in. he was grinning, too, but something about his expression seemed a lot more mischievous than spinner's. "you know, 'm surprised keigs let you guys dance up there." he chuckled. his eyes almost unnoticeable trailed up and down your body. the glance was fast enough for you to figure, that you had imagined it. 

you grinned. "pretty sure, rumi would have done it regardless." "touché."

dabi looked at you one last time before turning back to his bandmates. "going for a smoke. anybody wanna join?" his eyes trailed the room, waiting for anybody to pipe up. they seemed to hang on you a little longer, than anybody else. you thought for a second. after having been stuck in the stuffy bar for hours, maybe a bit of fresh air would do you good. "i'll go." you finally said.

he nodded before leading the way to the backdoor that led to the back alley behind the bar. keigo had shown it to you once, since that was where all trash had to be disposed of at the end of the night, but he had also said, that he would never let anybody go there on his own. especially not at night. you understood why. it was a barely lit, narrow little alley; away from any type of busy street. especially at night, this alley was entirely deserted. dabi stood next to you, pulling a packet of cigarettes from his jeans' pocket. he tilted the packet toward you, waiting for you to take one. his brows knit together, when you didn't. 

"just needed some air." "ah." he nodded placing the cigarette between his lips. 

from his other jeans' pocket he pulled out a dark purple zippo lighter with some kind of stitch design on it. he flipped it open, watching as a tiny blue flame emerged. your eyes widened. you had never seen a lighter with a purely blue flame before. "cool, huh?" he grinned, bringing the flame close to his face to light the cigarette. 

he took a long drag, purposefully blowing the smoke away from your face. you appreciated it, but you wouldn't have minded it either way. home had always smelled like smoke and nobody had bothered turning away from you, then. after one, two, three more drags he held the cigarette out for you to take. you hesitated. you hadn't smoked before and to be honest, you were a bit worried, that you would embarrass yourself with a coughing fit. you doubted that you could take the embarrassment, especially coupled with the smirk that you knew would be etched onto dabi's face. "no, thanks." you smiled. "no worries."

he continued to smoke. 

"did you wanna cash in, what you were promised?"

"huh?" 

he couldn't help but chuckle at the utter confusion displayed on your face. he crossed his bare, heavily tattooed arms in front of his chest. you didn't like the mischievous glint in the far right corner of his mouth. even only knowing him for as short as you did, you know that couldn't mean anything good.

"i mean, you were promised a kiss with the show." he shrugged.

the words had left his lips so nonchalantly, as if he had just told you how the weather was. he did however find your reaction hilarious. the way your eyes had widened, when your brain had put together what his words meant and how you had to physically stop your mouth from gaping open in utter shock. he couldn't stop grinning at how genuinely shocked you were.

"oh fuck off." 

you tried your best to sound as deadpan, as you could, but you couldn't stop the grin from poking out through your sorry attempt at a blank expression. curse dabi and his damn infectious smile, you thought. he just laughed. he had obviously not meant anything by it, but he might have entertained the possibility of you actually agreeing, even if only for a split second. 

"but seriously, you guys were amazing." 

you beamed, recounting how awesome the experience had been. there was something about the real and raw excitement you showcased, that endeared him. you had such a genuinely kind way of speaking, when you talked about how great they had performed the songs and how you had enjoyed all the ad-libs dabi and tomura had bounced off of each other. you were soft, gentle in a way dabi wasn't familiar to and he felt strangely enveloped by the warmth of your excitement.

"… and that one solo you and tomu did during 'smokescreen' was so cool!" 

"also, you sounded great by the way." your smile was so sweet, it almost ached him to look at you. "i didn't know you sang, too."

he just shrugged. "usually just do backing vocals. i sing main on two songs, though."

you knew which ones he was referring to. one was at least two years old and technically unreleased – you had only heard it, when tomu had played you the demo. and the second was 'blue', which you had noticed, they hadn't performed tonight. then again, a ballad like that probably wasn't suited for a show like that.

"you definitely should sing more." you nudged him lightly. "i mean, if you like to that is."

you backtracked a bit, having realized that might have come off a bit demanding. dabi didn't seem to think so, though.

"well, since you're asking, pretty." 

he emphasized the pet name in a way that mad it clear, that it was meant to tease you a little. you decided to just ignore it. just like you ignored the way dabi's tongue played with the inside of his mouth before his face fell back into his usual cheeky grin. 

he was just about to say something else, when a vibration came from the pocket of his jeans. he pulled out his phone and immediately his face went blank. for a split second there was something unreadable in his eyes, but it was gone as quick as it had shown up. his face was now stone cold. none of the playfulness from before was visible. the blue of his eyes, though still bright, was now ice cold as he stared at her.

"i gotta go." his voice was equally as cold. 

before you could ask any type of question, he had already disappeared into the dark streets.

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