"Get back here!" She tugged him down, and shook her head. "No no this won't do. I promise. We're about the same skin tone. It's also got SPF 30 in it, so it'll protect you from the sun and make your face soft. It isn't greasy or anything. I swear. It's just foundation and a bit of pink blush. Super light pink, to add some color, so people don't think you're too weird." And with that before he could say anything more, she had begun to apply the makeup. "See? Harmless. You've probably worn more makeup than this before your concerts. Don't tell me you don't, I've seen you wear eyeliner. Once. At least once. I think." She shrugged and then pulled out some black glasses, with no lenses and stuck them on you, and then she took off the jacket. "There! We'll just say you're our newly hired roadie. It works."
"Alright, alright…" Ryder stayed put while Evelyn put makeup on him. She was right about him having worn it before, but that didn't mean that he particularly enjoyed it. "Thank you." He slid back out of the van after Evelyn was finished up with him. "Can we head back in now?" He asked softly, smoothing down his shirt once he got out of the van.
"Yeah yeah. Also. I'm naming my new roadie…oh something cool…" She tapped her finger on her chin. "Erik. With a K. Because it's cooler that way." She nodded and grabbed his arm, and tugged him to the stage. "Just help us set up one or two things. Look busy. If ya don't know what you're doing just ask."
"Whatever you say, Evelyn." Ryder sighed and did as he was told, helping the band to set up before returning to the crowd and trying to blend in. He'd helped to set up his own equipment many times, so he at least knew what he was doing to some extent.
"Hey I'm just keeping you safe mr.sassy pants. Thanks for helping!" She smiled and then they began to play. Full blast feminism, stuff really any industry would shut her down for if they heard her strong words of truth. Karens and their daughters began to complain, so they played louder. Cranked up the amps and spoke their truth. Soon enough though the cool feminist punks in the neighborhood, who thought the event would be lame, heard Evelyn. Evelyn was well known city wide by the punks, so the event got more money, and more people coming to her show. They cheered for her, which was great because the shouts of disapproval had been getting to her a bit. But then the Karens began to argue with the punks. Shit was hitting the fan, all the while Evelyn's punk music droned over everything.
Evelyn's style of music was definitely very different than what Ryder was used to, but he still liked her voice. He got a little worried when people started arguing and things got heated. He rarely wrote or sang anything too controversial, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. In the midst of trying to break up a fight, he ended up catching a fist to the jaw and stumbled backwards a bit but managed to stay up. He looked over to Evelyn with a bruise blooming on his chin, clearly unsure how to handle this.
"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY STOP FUCKING FIGHTING! WE SHOULD BE RAISING OUR FISTS TO BE UNITED NOT AGAINST ONE ANOTHER! WE ARE ALL HERE FOR A COMMON CAUSE! A GOOD ONE AT THAT! SO FOR ONE DAY ACCEPT EACH OTHERS DIFFERENCES AND ENJOY THIS EVENT IN PEACE??? YA KNOW BEFORE THE COPS SHOW UP! OH AND IF ANYONE LAYS ANOTHER HAND ON MY ROADIE I WILL KILL YOU PERSONALLY! GET BACK UP HERE ERIK!" She sighed and then lay down the count for another song. It was quieter, and about peace, and how easily it is destroyed, to really set the mood and calm down the angry crowd.
Ryder climbed onto the stage and retreated so he wasn't visible, touching two fingers to his bruise with a light grimace. Hopefully it would fade before his show, or else he'd have to use a lot of makeup to hide it. He really didn't want to have to deal with questions about it. He sat down on the ground and took a few deep breaths to slow down his heart, his head still spinning. He didn't feel like he was about to pass out or anything, but he was definitely a bit lightheaded and dizzy.
After the show ended, Evelyn ran off and came back to Ryder with a small plastic baggie with ice in it and a cup of water. "Sorry they didn't have any actual ice packs, it's the best that I could do." She said as she handed him the plastic bag. "And I'm really sorry for how the concert turned out I…I feel horrible about it. I get it if you don't want to hang around me anymore. I'm pretty used to getting injured, with a large family like mine. Can barely go a week without getting some sort of new bruise." She sighed as she sat down next to him. "I'll go kick the guy that punched you ass for you if ya want. I may end up loosing but hey, it'd be sorta worth it?" She said this with a smile, just trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry about it, Evelyn. I don't blame you. And thanks for the ice…" Ryder smiled weakly and winced as he touched the ice to the bruise. "And punching people probably wouldn't help much, to be honest. Especially since I'm not entirely sure who I got punched by. I'm just hoping this goes away before I have to leave…"
"You're welcome. I'm still gonna worry about it because some fucko just punched my friend in the face! But. I guess you're probably right. Pointless to start another fight when I just ended one. Also, just say some crazy fangirl smacked you in the face with her camera when getting to close. It's a believable enough lie. Better than I got into a crowd fight with a bunch of Punks and Karens." She laughed and smiled.
"I guess so." Ryder laughed softly. "I still hope it goes away soon. I don't really like to wear makeup, but I'll have to if it's still there." He sighed and leaned back a bit, closing his eyes as he held the ice to his cheek. "Sorry for the commotion in the middle of your show…"
"Don't ever apologize for something you didn't do. And even then, if you don't regret your actions don't say sorry." She shrugged. "I know all the punks of new york. Crawled out from everywhere to come see my show. They'd probably kill all the karens who were trying to boo me off the stage. I'm not kidding and yeah it is scary. But I guess that's just what friends are for?" She then handed him the water. "Here,I noticed you were dizzy earlier, thought a drink might help."
"Thank you… and I really am sorry, even if it wasn't my fault. I just feel bad that our disrupted your show." Ryder opened the bottle of water that Evelyn had brought him and took a few swigs of it with a soft sigh. "I'm not really used to fights, if you can't tell. Not like this, anyway. I don't usually sing anything controversial."
"Yeah I know. And I only do controversial, along with love songs, and a few general rock songs. I'm really used to fights. Could probably win them with my eyes closed at this point. But anyways, honestly the fight was a good thing. Helped me strengthen my message that much more. Even if most of the woman here are pissed at me, I mean it's their fault for calling me up and asking me too play here." She shrugged. "You gonna be okay if I head off to help the band pack up real quick? Then we can look around, maybe do some crafts. I dunno."
"Yeah, go ahead. I'll just… uh… I'll just be waiting here, I guess. Taking a quick breather…" Ryder drank some more of his water and closed his eyes, sighing quietly again. He seemed to be pretty stable, and he figured that he'd be back to normal within a few minutes.
She nodded and stood up, and began to rush everyone to clean up so the next band could go up, and then they could go run off and have fun. She whistled and hummed as she worked, throat a bit sore from singing a little too much.She then ran back over to Ryder and plopped next too him. "How ya doin' sugar?" She asked, panting a bit from doing all that running.
"I'm alright, thank you… I figure it'll just twinge for a bit. Nothing major." Ryder sighed softly and pulled off his wig. It just felt really unnatural, as well as hot and uncomfortable. "Was that the last one? I can't remember how many I've gone to so far today…"
"Yes that was the last. The event isn't over though, I'd keep the wig on if I were you." She said with a shrug as she stretched a bit. "We could either stay here and do some crafts, enjoy some of the other bands, listen to some guest speakers…Or. We could go get food and then I dunno. Some of em want to hit the arcade, others just wanna go home. You're the only person who hasn't voted."
"Um… I'm fine to do whatever you guys decide, to be honest. I really don't mind." Ryder put his wig back on and stood up, holding his hand out to Evelyn to help her up off of the ground. "I didn't normally stick around for events I played at, so it could be interesting."
Evelyn blushed when he held out his hand, and she took it. But she didn't let go as she tugged him along back outside. "It's all feminist breast cancer movement stuff, and the punks seem to be sticking around. Are you sure you want to stay? Lotsa boob talk. Just don't want to make you uncomfortable. Then again if this stuff makes you uncomfortable then I can't be friends with ya."
Ryder flushed a bit as well as he considered. "I'm fine. Don't worry, I've dealt with far worse than that. I can handle it." He wasn't entirely sure what to do with Evelyn holding his hand and he didn't want to be rude by pulling away, so he just awkwardly allowed her to drag him around.
"Oh sorry I just…" She let go of his hand, even though she had really liked doing so. His hands were surprisingly really soft, compared to her rough guitarist hands. "I really liked holding your hand…" She said softly, when suddenly some dude with a bright pink mohawk called her name. She dashed over, hoping to avoid an awkward conversation about how now she wasn't just crushing on Ryder but beginning to develop feelings. Again. She hated developing actual feelings. Made it harder to drop a guy when he ends up being a piece of shit.
"Ah, I… um…" Ryder stammered softly without the faintest clue where his sentence was going. When the guy called Evelyn over, he breathed a soft sigh of relief at the easy out of the situation. He decided to just stay where he was for now so that he could wait for Evelyn to return. He didn't know his way around after all, and he didn't want to leave her behind anyhow.
Evelyn came back after a little while with a smile on her face. She then walked back. "Whaddya wanna do? There's a raffle over there, and some tye dye over there…" She said, while texting her band in the group chat on her phone that she was staying here with Ryder. Most of her band had agreed to go, but eventually they all came back to continue supporting the event.
