POISON

play fair

In all the years they'd gotten to know each other through all of their conversations, Gerard and Val had never really just relaxed and spent time together; they only existed inside of the club. Neither had considered themselves to be actual friends – regardless that they were.

Tonight, Gerard had arrived at the club three hours early, only having expected Bert to be there, and had been surprised to find Val in the dressing room. Since they had a lot of time to kill, they'd decided to take advantage of the empty space.

Gerard was stood on stage, leaning against the pole as he fastened the buckles on his knee-high boots. Val had jumped over the counter of the bar to pour himself a free drink – soda in a fancy glass with a straw. He grabbed a can for Gerard from the cooler too in case he wanted one.

Above, rich purple and pink lights shone down, virtually blinding in a neon glow. The smaller decorative lights were also switched on in colours of pale red. Despite that, the room was rather dark.

"Shouldn't your boyfriend be the one watching you?" Val asked as he skipped down the steps to the stage area, placing the can on the edge of the stage before he fell back onto one of the comfy chairs, kicking his feet up on a nearby table.

"He will be, I asked him to come in early." Gerard smirked, receiving an eye roll in response.

"Wait for him then instead of using me, I got better things to do with my time."

Despite his sweet tone, he shot him a glare, "No, you don't."

The reason he'd asked Val to accompany him to the front stage was to help him master certain moves was because he knew he'd be brutally honest, and Gerard needed harsh feedback. For this, he'd worn jeans with leather straps wrapped around his thigh to his waist, a loose grey shirt, platform boots, and leather cuffs to hide the fading bruises on his wrists.

Since the DJ wasn't here yet, they'd had to navigate the system themselves. In the end, after arguing over who's songs to play, Gerard had won.

Quite often, if they had time during shifts, they'd watch each other onstage, so it wasn't at all awkward when Gerard had asked what moves he needed to improve on the most. Honestly, he was slightly surprised, and a little put down at the fact Val already had an answer like he'd been waiting to give out criticism all year.

"Arch your back more, 'nd move slower, they'll go fuckin' crazy if you hold that position."

Said position being on his knees, back arched, chest to the floor, hands out in front of him, and his head tilted downwards, or turned to the side. Gerard only held it for a few seconds before he relaxed, crawling forwards until he was lying flat on his stomach, resting his chin on his palm. "I always do that, but I can't hold it for long cause it makes my back ache."

"Fuck off, like you're not used to that feeling."

Gerard's jaw practically hit the floor as their gazes met. "Jeez, you're not wrong, but still." He gave him the middle finger, then reached out to grab the can of soda that Val had left for him on the stage. Freezing cold, it opened with a fizz. "Can you do it, or are you just gonna judge my flexibility?"

"I'm here to judge. That's the deal." Val smiled slyly, comfortably resting back in the chair. Though, he took a last sip of his rink before setting it down to skip up to the front of the stage. He counted out five-dollar notes from his pocket. "Here, A for effort."

Gerard didn't look impressed.

Eyebrows raised, he folded his arms across his chest. "Do you want it?"

"Gimme." Gerard demanded, holding his hand out expectantly, however, Val leaned over to tuck it under the choker around his neck instead. He deadpanned, "Why thank you, kind sir. I'm set for the rest of the week now."