Nightshade

Shavronne - preparing

Shavronne had been scrambling for the last few days to get things arranged for the concert. He'd sent a generous donation along with several videos of Luka singing in a studio to the headlining band, which had fortunately lost their original openers to a scheduling conflict. Cody had helped him with the logistics, finding and vetting several band members for Luka to perform with, and honestly, he was trying everything he could to stay calm. Letting Luka put himself out there like this went against every protective instinct in him. But Cody assured him that with their own men running security and the public venue, that this could be honestly safer than anywhere else for him. And of course, as Cody kept reminding him, Luka wasn't helpless anymore. He'd trained both physically and magically practically nonstop over the last year. Shavronne felt a lot of pride for Luka, for the growth he had gone through, and had helped Shavronne himself go through. They both still had issues, but they were learning for the first time how to actually deal with them. Luka had made him several promises to keep his wits about him, not to let even one drink he didn't know where it came from pass his perfect lips. Shavronnes thoughts diverted a moment, thinking with a warmth of the tender moments they'd learned to share. Something about it just felt... so right. He reviewed the lyrics of the three songs Luka had written himself, then eyed the two songs he had worked hard to get licensing rights to perform and cover, funeral derangement by ice nine kills, and drop dead, by grandson. They were very different songs, but Luka had worked hard to make his own versions, even collaborating with the original artists to make his own editions of them, which Shavronne had presented as a late birthday gift. He smiled a bit as he remembered luka's joy at the news. He shook himself out of his reverie. There was still much to be done. He reviewed the file on their target, which they had all studied extensively. A young vampire named uriel, he struggled against his condition, and had fallen into heavy drug use after being assaulted by an older vampire and turned, which he found out had been killed a year ago by hunters from out of town. He sighed and looked at the young looking black man in the picture, who his agents determined to be around 40. What if he attacked Luka? Vampires were among the more dangerous creatures out there... Cody came in, wearing his usual suit, though he wore a silver alloy knife at his hip, the minimum armament permitted around his estates. Never again, he thought, as his friend came to him. "Shavronne, I have been monitoring the online activity around the festival. It's as we feared, luka's inclusion into the concert, particularly as the opener, has drawn a lot of social media interest." Shavronne let out a sigh. Of course it couldn't be easy. "And what are they saying online?" He tapped at a tablet, not looking up as he answered "the usual. Younger fans are ecstatic to see him on such a big event, while older crowds are more divided. There is a truly unfortunate amount of people online referring to your... companion, with a great deal of slurs and hate. The good news is, there is very few of these people even attending the concert. Most attending are at the very least, open to hearing him, from the sounds of it. And your ace in the hole being the collab songs was genius sir. Die Dinge sind so bereit, wie sie nur sein können, Shavronne." He nodded "I'm afraid there's always more to do, old friend. Any word on which of the coven can attend with him? I heard hera plans to attend as the bassist, and Benji said they might be able to attend as an audience member, do we have confirmation yet?" Cody nodded. "We have more than that, even Richie decided to attend to help support Luka. She's going to be in his van as makeup." Shavronne let out a breath of relief. Things were going well. "Alright. Let's go give him one last briefing." They walked to luka's room, where he was quietly singing and laying out his outfit for the concert. He had a pair of short shorts paired with a jacket of the design of old American cavalry uniforms, though it was in a riotous green and gold design instead of the traditional navy and gold. He smiled as he grabbed the heavy Plattform steel toes that went with the outfit, and lastly the phantom of the opera-esque mask he'd worn in all of his videos to keep himself safe, though now it was colored in the same way as the rest of his outfit, and had stitching over the eye hole in golden thread. Shavronne cleared his throat, and Luka jumped "j- Jesus!" He blushed at his own stutter "you scared me, think you guys can knock next time?" Shavronne smiled "i simply didn't want to interrupt you." Luka smiled back and hugged Shavronne "thank you. For letting me do this, and for helping set the concert up too. I finally can get out here and make a real difference in people's lives, like the coven has for me!" He pulled away, leaving shavronnes heart beating quicker. He looked over his lover, taking in the suit he'd chosen to wear today. "Luka?" Luka looked up at him, waiting for him to continue "May we have another dance before you go?" Luka grinned "of course!" Luka took his hand and Cody dismissed himself politely, and they began to dance in luka's room, just to the music in their hearts. For the first time, these last few months had given Shavronne real happiness. He smiled and danced with his lover for a while, till finally, he leaned in, kissing the other softly. He bowed in mock seriousness. "I'll leave you be. Stay safe." Shavronne headed out, finding the fears in his heart, while not gone, were assuaged.