this drabble of the band au is called 'ear worm'
(Laddie has a favorite show. Can you guess what it is?)
(For @spidercookie18 ! This is set in the band au! It's 2021, covid never happened, and the Boys are preforming. Dwayne sets Laddie up with some distractions, and may accidentally distract everyone else as well. In this au, Laddie is Dwayne's biological child, Star being the surrogate mom for them.)
Laddie kicks his feet up, tugging at the strap of the booster seat that he sat on as Dwayne loaded in the last dufflebag. They were going to be staying a couple days, and needed more than a change of clothing. A lot more.
Dwayne goes over his mental list again, for what feels like the hundredth time. Clothing, spare clothing, for the both of them, Laddie's books, Dwayne's work laptop, spare kit for the drums just to be safe, snack bag, phone, keys-
"Can I have the tablet?" Laddie asks.
Dwayne looks up, and then nods. As much as he did just finish packing them, he admits that this is a worthy investment. It was going to be a bit of a drive after all, and Laddie had recently started getting carsick while reading. Oh, shit, did he pack the Dramamine and Tylenol? He was pretty sure he did, but maybe not, and better safe than sorry...
Dwayne finds his prize in the bottom (he never did learn how to pack a bag that well...) of his clothing bag. Full charge, ready to go. He navigates to the movies saved to it, and hands it to Laddie.
Dwayne steps back, making one final check of everything in his head, and then closes the door, walking around to the driver's side. He gets in, starts it up, and gets this show on the road.
It's a good set. A really good set. Everyone had been on point tonight - from the roadies to the Band, the show had gone off without a hitch. Th crowd had been big - basically a sold out show - but not unmanageable. Dwayne almost finds it suspicious. A little stage superstition, likely.
They clear off, Dwayne flexing his hands as he does, tucking away his sticks into his back pocket. Dwayne navigates the back halls of the stage, passing people walking around who made the show work. Honestly, Dwayne often says, he just plays music. It's everyone else who does the hard work.
The greenroom is a small series of connected rooms, and the guys were already back there, hanging out, dressing down. Dwayne himself reaches into his mouth, feeling the plastic prosthetics. (Even after ten years with them, he still didn't know how David managed the permanent fang inserts...)
He comes to the room marked for The Lost Boys, and pushes open the door.
The first thing he sees is. Well. The Boys. David, Paul, and Marko. They'd all left the stage at the same time, But Dwayne had stopped to talk to one of the roadies about something.
The three of them are all clustered around a couch, where Laddie sat. There were scattered books and colored pencils and other such entertainment for a child, but he had his tablet back out. Marko was leaning on the arm of the couch, David and Paul over the back, looking rather...focused. The lot of them were only half out of their costumes.
Laddie kicks his feet in time with the beat.
Dwayne steps forward, and looks down at the tablet screen.
Dwayne actually raises an eyebrow at Paul, who had actually mumbled the titular character's name along with the show.
"Where the hell did you find this, man?" Marko says, jabbing a thumb at the show.
Dwayne shrugs. "He got sick one day, and this seemed like something good to zone out to while resting. It's a favorite."
"This is a really fu- uh. Freakin' catchy show, dude," Paul agrees.
Dwayne smirks, and starts to walk away, prepared to change, and get Laddie back to the hotel hopefully before it got too late.
Dwayne reaches up to tap his temple. "Once it's in there, it doesn't leave."
Marko rolls his eyes, standing up properly now that the moment had been broken, apparently. "It's a kid's show. We used to make fun of Barney growing up."
The night moves on, and the band closes out their night. They get invited out for an aftershow, but Dwayne declines. He's carrying Laddie through the halls and into bed, settling in with him. Another successful night in a life he never thought possible.
"Buh buh buh...mm, mm, mmm- uh. Shit."
"I told you. It gets in there, man."
