After a while of being bombarded by a lot of questions from the girls about Gwen's date, All four of them finally changed their clothes and left for the venue after one last rehearsal.
The show was at an indie concert set where multiple people and bands would be performing. It wasn't a very large venue, and the girls weren't even the main performers. But they would get to showcase their skills in a large public setting and would probably get quite a bit of traction which would help them get more gigs.
The best part about it was that they were getting paid quite a bit for their performance and all poor college students needed money. This was one of the biggest reasons that MJ didn't hesitate to call Gwen. They desperately needed a drummer and Gwen was their only option since everyone else had declined.
"You're telling me that there are ten thousand people that are attending the concert?" Gwen asked, surprised by the large audience.
"Yeah, that's why this is so important to us. This is a very big deal." MJ said.
"Don't worry, I won't bomb it like last time. I promise." Gwen promised, knowing that Alex was there and would manage whatever would end up going wrong.
They spent the rest of the time psyching themselves up and practicing some more. Their show would be in the evening.
…
'She really is a trouble magnet…' Alex lamented as he cheered for Gwen from within the crowd. He'd already repelled two enhanced people that were here to ruin Gwen's show and there were even more people attacking her father. Gwen didn't realize it, but Gwen's self-proclaimed nemesis—Matt Murdock, was getting increasingly desperate with his actions and was breaking all sorts of ethical lines just to get to Gwen.
'It'll be so much fun when he directly comes to Gwen's door to beg…' Alex chuckled inwardly with an evil smile. He could've taken care of him long ago, but it wouldn't have been satisfactory.
Alex wanted to completely break the fucker that dared to mess with Gwen.
Since he made sure to manipulate the memories of the people that came to attack Gwen to make them forget that they ever knew Gwen's identity, Matt Murdock was definitely going to break down sooner or later.
By the time Gwen's band's set was finished, [You did amazingly, babe. I'm proud of you.] Gwen smiled at his praise as she heaved to catch her breath. Alex made his way to the backstage entrance and snuck in to meet with Gwen and her band as they exited the stage.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Gwen was talking animatedly with her friends when she walked backstage and saw a familiar silhouette from the corner of her eye. She turned and looked at the silhouette, "Alex!" She exclaimed and ran to him. His arms were already open as he invited her into his embrace.
"You were amazing babe…" He whispered into her ear as he kissed her hair.
"Mr. Boyfriend, you're making us single girls jealous with your display…" MJ looked at the duo with a pout.
"What can I say? She's irresistible… You all were amazing though. Truly." Alex praised the three of them too.
"No, no, no… You're not getting off that easily. We need a celebration." Betty said jokingly not expecting Alex to agree.
"You're right. We all should have a nice post-performance celebration. Let's go to a club, my treat." Alex said generously. He was going out of his way to make sure that Gwen got close to the girls. She was clearly a lonely and friendless girl and he didn't like seeing her that way. If she wasn't going to do it herself, he was going to help her.
"Really?!" All three of the girls perked up.
"Sure. It was an amazing performance and you clearly deserve some celebration." Alex shrugged, still hugging Gwen who refused to leave his embrace.
"Do you have to wait for the other performances or can you leave now?" Alex asked the next main person after Gwen— MJ.
"We can leave now. It wasn't a competition and was more of an indie showcase so it's all well and good." MJ shrugged. They would be getting paid the same regardless of whether they stayed to the end or not.
"Let's go then, I have VIP passes for Hopeless," Alex said.
"Really?" MJ looked at him with shiny eyes, "I've heard it's practically impossible to get entry into Hopeless." MJ said saving herself some dignity.
"More like you've tried and failed multiple times…" Betty didn't allow MJ that courtesy. "Betty…" MJ glared at her.
"I know a guy," Alex said as if it wasn't a big deal. Just then, he felt a pinch on his waist, [You manipulated the owner, didn't you?] Gwen said.
[A little harmless manipulation is nothing.] He said, shrugging her words off. He heard a snort from his chest and looked at Gwen's pouty face. A smile crept up on his face as he looked at her cute expression.
"Shall we go?" He asked the other girls.
"Sure," MJ nodded. Alex looked at Gwen, "You wanna let go anytime soon?" He asked her. "No…" She didn't agree.
"Give me a moment girls." Alex excused himself and pulled Gwen away to a corner, "Talk to me, babe." He told her. "It's nothing." She shook her head. "Do you not want to go to a club?" He asked her, brushing her hair with his fingers. "I do… But I also wanna do it…" Gwen said before burying her face into Alex's chest. "Do what?" Alex smiled with a teasing expression on his face. "Don't make me be so explicit…" Gwen said embarrassedly.
"Say it, baby." He cupped her butt discretely so that no one else would realize it and squeezed. "I wanna fuck…" She whispered abashedly, looking sexy enough that Alex wanted to fuck her right then and there.
"Then we'll fuck in the club. Those places are specifically built for this stuff. I've already got a table. We'll have pretty much an entire private room for ourselves." He enticed her.
"Fine, let's go…" Gwen was convinced as she pulled her face away from his chest and gave him a peck on his lips.
"That's my girl." He smiled and they went back to the others, "She agrees." He announced hoping to hear some light cheers, but his hopes were dashed as the three girls just smiled at them both with suggestive looks, making Gwen shirk and hide behind Alex.
"Let's go…" Alex didn't dwell on it and grabbed Gwen's hand before using the elevator to go down to the parking lot with the four girls.
'I really need to get a life beyond just the basest things…' Alex thought as he silently way waited for the elevator to reach the parking lot. Ever since he'd arrived in this clusterfuck of Earths, he'd focused on doing everything directly. Need a host, get a host. Need to get stronger, get more hosts, and so on. He never bothered to actually live a little. As fun as sex was, it was no more than a singular spectrum of life.
'I need to find some genuine friends… Maybe the Tony from 616… He's pragmatic enough to not try to change my genocidal ways…' He thought absently. Just because he wanted to live a little didn't mean he wouldn't genocide an entire planet just for his own benefit. He was contrasting that way.
…
Four girls and one guy walked into the club that had crazy loud music playing with lights flashing with such intensity that someone with epilepsy would get a stroke and die on the spot.
Alex had his arm wrapped around Gwen's waist as he pulled her with him. His other arm was around MJ's waist, holding her in a platonic manner, as he made sure that she and her friends who were holding her hands didn't get lost in the crowd. He pushed through the crowd and finally reached the stairs that required him to show the passes.
A minute or so later, the five people were sitting in a luxurious private booth that had an upstairs view of the entire dance floor along with table service.
"Alex, you don't mind if I order something, do you?" MJ asked with her finger trailing along Alex's bicep. Her little flirting attempts made him smile inwardly, "Sure, it's all on me. Don't worry about it. I get a huge discount since I'm friends with the owner." He told MJ.
They didn't have to scream at each other to be heard. This is because although the music was still going on, the club was designed in a way that the upstairs booths wouldn't be too affected by the loud music on the dance floor. The sound isolation was managed very well since they had to pay attention to the smallest of stuff when it came to an expensive club like this.
Hearing his words, none of the four girls held back and ordered the food and drinks to their heart's content. Even Gwen was letting loose as she knew that Alex was easily going to take care of everything.
Within a minute of ordering, everyone's drinks had arrived, though they had delayed the food since they wanted to dance first. Alex chose whiskey, getting an entire bottle for himself since he wanted to relish it for the night. Gwen and MJ had similar tastes and both got vodka and cranberry juice as their drink of choice. Betty went for gin and tonic and Glory on the other hand chose to drink some over-expensive vodka-based fruity concoction.
"Let's play something," Alex suggested, getting everyone's agreement.
"21 dare? We don't have an empty bottle yet otherwise I would've liked to start the night with the most classic game." Alex said as he sipped his chilled whiskey on the rocks.
"Sure! I'll start, 1." MJ started. Everyone already knew how to play since it was a pretty common game. Starting from one to 21, whoever ends on 21 must follow a dare or answer a truth to the person that started the round. They could either call a single number or two numbers or at most three numbers, and the next player would have to continue from the number that was called by the previous person.
***
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