Nightshade

Luka - opening night

Luka was backstage, chatting with hera. He felt so... in awe. Shavronne had given him the best gift he'd ever gotten, getting to talk to grandson and Ice nine kills?! Not to mention, he now got to perform to his first ever live audience next to one of his best friends! He took a moment to calm his voice, he'd let it rise too much in the excitement. Hera held his hand and grinned "you got this Luka! And I'm honored you are letting me play with you on stage. We're gonna kick ass!" Luka felt a moment of pride, but also dizzying fear. He hadn't been around a crowd in over a year, much less a crowd focused on him! But he still felt a need to do this. Not just for himself, but as an example to all the other survivors alone out there, that things can get truly better. He bit his lip, thinking of uriel "you're sure he'll want to talk to me hera?" She nodded, knowing who he meant "of course. And even if he doesn't, you'll help him come to his senses, right?" She smiled and looked down at her electric bass guitar, running her fingers along the strings. "We've all come so far. Stronger together, remember? That applies even to those that don't know it yet!" He nodded, and soon, it was time to head onstage. He looked out, past the awesomely lit stage and his fellow band members, to the crowd below, spread out in tents and clustered in groups. Luka flashed a grin to the crowd and stepped out, taking hold of the mic. He held it with a hand and gestured upwards with the other. "Let's make some noise for our awesome lineup of artists guys! I hope everyone's doing good, staying safe tonight right?! Well I have got to say, the band and I are feeling the positively electric vibe yall are puttin down, and we're here to throw it back at ya! We have a couple surprises in store for a little later, but first, here's a song I like to call Maneater!" The band strummed out the opening chords, and the drummer hit the opening beats, and Luka... began to sing. He sang for everything he'd ever loved, for all that was light and all the dark that he'd lived through. The crowd loved him, and he loved them. He watched as faces turned from apprehensive to gleeful, and finally, after a while, the cuff on his wrist revealed his target to him, highlighting the small dark figure with bright cyan hair. He simply stood there, watching on with... some emotion Luka couldn't read. He continued to sing, and when he got to funeral derangement, he let the crowd in on the chorus. He threw up his hands, screaming out the chorus, as familiar as an old friend, and yet, New in his voice, in his hands. He finished off with drop dead, a song that most of this crowd hadn't seemed to hear, especially his version of it, but they loved it nonetheless. Finally, he stood silent, chest heaving, sweat glistening on his throat and face. He grinned one last time as he said goodbye to the crowd and hyped up the headliners, before heading off the stage, feeling positively glowing. Hera shrieked happily and scooped him up, both of them laughing as the music started behind them. "We did it Luka! We were amazing, the crowd loved us!" Luka grinned like a madman as he took off his mask and unbuttoned his jacket, freeing himself from the bear hug. "It really was amazing hera, there's nothing like that feeling, everyone singing with you!" She smiled back "We've gotta do this again!" He smiled, though he got a feeling in the back of his mind that more than this one time could be a lot more dangerous, with his attackers still out there. But there wasn't a lick of regret in him for tonight. He headed to the makeup station, where Richie happily greeted them, showing them a clip from the events livestream. "You guys were amazing!!! Okay Luka, let's get you ready to go, unless you need time. " Luka shook his head "I feel better now ever, let's get me going!" She nodded and helped him out of his stage clothes and makeup, then got him a new outfit, a loose ice nine kills shirt and a pair of checkerboard overall pants with his usual converse. "You saw him in the crowd, right?" Richie asked as hera fiddled with her own outfit, getting ready to go draw attention away from Luka by wearing the same outfit she'd worn onstage and going out into the crowd. Luka loved how brave she was. "Yeah, I saw him, he's in the tent section, next to a small pink tent! I know exactly where he is!" They said goodbyes, and hera split up with him as they left the van, carefully crossing the barriers to the crowd area in a pretty empty spot, Luka lightheartedly saluting the guard who helped him over. He made his way into the crowd from the side, to try and draw less attention, and he made his way to the tents. He bumped into a few people, several excuse me's and a couple sorrys later, he found the pink tent. He stood there a moment, unsure of how to continue. After a second, he cleared his throat "uriel? Uriel kalitas?" Some shuffling was heard in the tent, and uriel stuck his head out, eyeing Luka suspiciously "who wants to know?" Luka smiled as disarmingly as he could. "My name is Luka, I'm here to help!" recognition dawned in his eyes at luka's name, and he held up an index finger in a gesture, telling Luka "you wait right..." He looked down at the poster, and at his phone, and his eyes widened a bit "holy shit it's really you? Come in here, quickly, before anyone else notices you, I don't wanna be swarmed. " Luka nodded appreciatively and headed into the tent, which smelled of various drugs and cigarettes. He looked over at uriel, who had his hand behind his back, clearly grabbing something "who even are you, really, and what do you want?" Luka took a breath, and lifted the magic hiding his wings and other fae traits. "I'm someone who wants to help a fellow survivor." Uriels face paled a bit, and he stared, then looked down at the pipe on his little foldable table "fuck someone must've laced...." Luka sat down in front of him, his wings buzzing a bit "this is real uriel" uriel let out a sigh "so if this is real, and you know who I am, what am I?" "A vampire. " uriel cursed "are you here to... I dunno, put me down?" Luka laughed "no way! I said I'm here to help and I meant it. I want to bring you back with me, help you get clean and get your blood in healthy and safe ways. Build a community who understand you, like I have done for myself" uriel frowned and reached for the pipe, Luka frowning as well. "Look, I know you think you can help or whatever, but I'm not gonna trust you just cause you can sing real well and are a freak like me." He chuckled dryly. "I happen to like being alone"