Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Brendon slammed his car door making the flimsy metal shudder. He turned to see a run down building with ivy scaling it. Brendon's nose scrunched up, there was no way this was the right place. He pulled his phone out and checked the address. Holy shit it was. With a heavy sigh, he trudged towards the crumbling entrance. He pulled the door handle but it stayed shut. The man felt a twinge of embarrassment as he eventually managed to pull the door open ; his face slightly red in colour. When he walked in he immediately began to take mental notes of his surroundings. The way the floorboards creaked beneath his feet, the peeling wallpaper, the rusty pipes running across the floor and the one flickering ceiling light which was slightly wonky. The whole place had a sort of stale smell to it that was almost a kin to that of a retirement home.

As he turned the corner he saw the room that was described in the email. The door had a faded sign which read "MEETING ROOM" on it. Brendon took a deep breath before walking inside. His eyes quickly fell on two familiar faces; Briefcase and Coffin were casually talking at a table with coffee and water on it. He was happy to see Coffin had taken the job, he couldn't quite say the same about his brother, Briefcase, though. He'd rather that pretentious twat be far away from him. The seats all had a name on the back, he scanned the area for his and began walking towards his designated spot. The chair was uncomfortable to sit on and Brendon opted for slouching in hopes it provided more comfort.

He watched as a figure walked up to the front of the room and cleared his throat. It seemed to get peoples attention as they began to sit down and end their conversations.
"I'm glad all of you could make it today!" his voice was cheerful and enthusiastic, he paused for an uncomfortable second before muttering "at least most of you" while staring at an empty seat. Brendon turned to it and saw a man who seemed to be half asleep and aimlessly staring at a wall.
"Moving on though.." Brendon sort of zoned out beyond that point. He soon joined the man next to the empty seat in staring at a wall, the cracks in the white paint revealed a dull green underneath. He pondered about the previous colours, maybe a blue or pink? Before he could make a decision he heard the door creek open. He turned his head to see a tall, lanky person creep inside the room.
"Nice of you to decide to turn up, Warren," the older man at the front of the room spoke with a blunt tone. He reminded Brendon of a teacher..
"Yeah..uh..thanks.." he shuffled to the only empty seat left. The guy sitting next to him patted him on the shoulder while laughing slightly.
Everyone soon stood up and spread out into the corridors looking for their dressing rooms. "Brendon!" a voice called out from behind the man. He looked over his shoulder to see coffin speed walking towards him trying to catch up. "Long time no see," he blurted out. "That's such a corny line don't say that again," Brendon laughed slightly; although he played it off as a joke he was dead serious, "any luck finding the dressing room youre in?" Coffin nodded, "we're in the same one alongside another guy, can't quite remember his name though. That's actually why I was looking for you in the first place." Brendon hummed, "so which way is it?" The two navigated through the crowded corridor which reminded him of secondary school. Him and Coffin racing through the densely packed crowds just to end up being late anyways. A discreet smile spread on his face as he replayed these fond memories in his head. Coffin came to an abrupt stop and Brendon peaked his head round into the door. A man around his age was sat fixing his hair in the mirror.

"Welcome back! Is that Brendon?" he asked.
"Yeah."
The man stood up and walked towards the two, he held out a hand for Brendon to shake. "I'm Stain, Stain Edwards."
"Nice to meet you Stain," he smiled and shook Stain's hand. Stain walked back into the room and Brendon followed close behind. He leaned on the back of a chair and looked around; the room wasn't too flashy. It was painted an off-white with some cheap mirrors wrapped around the majority of the room. There was a door leading to a closed off part of the room for actually changing. It made Brendon wonder what the point of these room pairings was. Stain and Coffin had began to chat but he found himself unable to keep focussed; he instead picked up his cracked phone to see reread the email detailing what the first day would be like. He skim read before landing on a part about measuring for outfits. Brendon checked the time; 7:59. His eyes widened as he realised he had less than a minute to get there to get measured. Without saying any goodbyes, Brendon bolted from the room and ran off and prayed he was going in the correct direction. He stopped at a door and peaked in; a lady was measuring a rather formal looking man. He had black hair which had been slicked back with gel. A wide smile was on his face as he happily chatted away during the interaction. The lady soon spotted Brendon and motioned for him to come in. He cautiously stepped in unsure of where to go. Awkwardly, he stood at the wall beside the door. The man getting measured turned to look at him, "so you're an actor for this too?" Brendon nodded, "I'm assuming you are too." "Yeah, first big job in years!" he smiled, "so what's your name?" "Brendon, yours?" "Shrignold," The name was okay he supposed, it didn't roll off the tongue nicely but it was certainly a name. Shrignold soon finished getting measured and left the room. It wasn't long before Brendon had finished too and was walking back to his dressing room. The rest of the day was bound to continue as mundane as possible.

Chapter Text

The man's shirt clung to his back, the sweat pooling across his body. The lack of windows in the room made it all the more insufferable. The dry, hot air made his breathes turn into occasional wheezes. While Warren desperately tried to cool himself off with a couple of sheets of paper, Larry and Shrignold made conversation. The two seemed to have a natural spark as their voices echoed through the barren room.
"You alright there Warren?" Larry raised an eyebrow at the dishevelled mess in front of him.
Warren nodded frantically, "doing just fine mate."
Larry shrugged, "whatever you say."
Warren fiddled with his hands, he kept his head down and stared intensely at the ground. It was somewhat clean, with a few speckles of dirt spread around. He didn't get much time to continue picking apart the cleanliness of the room before Larry tapped him on the shoulder. "According to Colin there's a big group of people hanging out in this random ass room they found, you coming?""
Warren nodded before standing up, "I guess.""
Larry grinned, "alright sick, come on."

The room wasn't too far away, it was bigger than the others and people had dispersed into small groups to make conversation. Larry quickly ran off and stood himself behind a guy who seemed to be around his age. He had blonde hair and was holding a walking cane in his hand as he leaned on a wall. Infront of him was a slightly younger woman who was had an unamused expression on her face as she stared down Larry. Before she could open her mouth to warn him, Larry had tightly wrapped his arms around the man and shook him. Warren watched as the 3 began to cheerfully talk. He took notice of the woman though, her expression seemed off. It was polite, sure, but not too polite. Warren shook his head, it wasn't any of his business. Maybe she was just cautious of strangers. Larry turned to Warren and waved him over. Awkwardly, he shuffled through the slightly packed room and made his way towards the three.

"Warren, meet El and Colin," Larry had an almost childish smile on his face.
"Hi," he gave a lopsided wave.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Electracey," she darted a look at Larry when she said her name. He only chuckled in a response to the glare.
He gave a small smile, the interaction becoming more awkward by the second. Warren jumped slightly as he felt Larry put a hand on his shoulder, "anywaysss, have you guys spoken to anyone else here?"
Colin thought for a moment before nodding, "some dude named Tony and his fiancé, Paige."
"I saw Paige, she was super sweet to me," Electracey chimed in.
"I met this posh dude, Shrignold. He's over with that group," Larry pointed over to where Shrignold was standing, he was surrounded by a couple of people who were all listening to this older man speak. He had grey streaks in his hair and was scarily tall. Well built for his age too. "He was kind of a prick I can't lie," Larry continued, "I mean not to judge quickly but he's just got that kind of feeling to him."
Electracey nodded, "yeah he looks it. Like that guy you dated in your first year of uni."
"Exactly like him," Colin stifled a laugh. Warren raised an eyebrow, his attention was dragged away from the conversation by 2 men arguing. They looked alike actually, one was just shorter that's all. It seemed the others had caught on as they seemed to be inching slightly closer to the commotion to hear better. Warren stumbled after them in an attempt to listen in.

What is your problem Brendon?" the younger man let out an exasperated sigh.
"What's my problem?" he almost laughed.
"Yes, you do this all the time. Me and my wife let you stay with us out of the kindness of our heart and you always give the rent in late."
Brendon scoffed, "I am working on it! Once the first pay check for this comes in I'll pay it, okay?"
The younger man grumbled, "you better pay it."
Brendon walked off, his feet were heavy on the unstable ground; it made Warren worry the floorboards would splinter and snap at any moment. The trio were all whispering to each other and Warren took it as his cue to leave.

He found himself at the entrance of the building, sitting on a step and staring out into the carpark. He placed his hand into his pocket and fumbled around until taking out a lighter and packet of cigs. He took one out of the packet before making an attempt to light it. The flame sputtered but wasn't enough to set it alight. Warren grumbled and kept trying but his efforts were not rewarded. As he went to place everything haphazardly back into his pocket someone above him cleared their throat, "need a spare?" they held a cylindrical object in their hand out for him.
"Yeah," Warren frantically nodded and took the lighter, "cheers mate."
"No problem, mind giving me a fag when your done with that?"
He handed a one to the man. Not long after, he sat down next to Warren, "so what's your name?"
"Warren, you?"
"Brendon," he muttered out before taking a drag.
"Oh! You were the guy-"
Brendon choked on the smoke for a second, "god, you heard that?" he grimaced.
"Was kind of hard not to," he awkwardly chuckled. Brendon didn't seem to find any humour in it though. He placed his head on his knees and groaned. "Hey! It's not all bad. Only like three other people heard and between you and me mate, they didn't seem like the gossipy types," Warren hoped his lie would bring some form of comfort.
The pair's conversation was cut short by people making their way out the door, Warren and Brendon hastily stood up and said some quick goodbyes before going their separate ways.

As he walked off, Warren felt a strange sense on unease about the day. On his walk home he began to rethink every little action and every little word. A sickly feeling began to wash over him as the sun beamed down on his face. The heat was gruelling and unbearable especially in the clothes he had chosen to wear that morning. His head was spinning and all his thoughts sort of merged into one as desperately tried to stick to the shadows. Within seconds, Warren's legs felt like they were about to give out on him. A cold sweat went down his back as he sunk to the ground and consequently hit his head on the fence beside him. Warren stared at the cars speeding past, which sounded more muffled than usual, before eventually his vision went blurry.