notes: yet another tumblr prompt fill - "Can you do a riot grrrl punk band au? any/all the girl characters, but the others can be included too"
Kira wasn't a religious person or anything, but she was pretty sure she had just found God in a back alley bar. The floors were beer-sticky and no one seemed to check for ids but it was the most liberating place she'd ever been. The people around her wore ripped jeans and patched up vests, leather jackets with hair spiked up and dyed in bright greens and blues.
And the girls on the stage were playing an angry tune that Kira felt vibrating in her bones.
The band was led by a fiery redhead who was half screaming and half singing, sometimes bouncing around to share the mic with a pretty brunette playing the guitar. And at the back of the stage was another girl beating on the drums like some kind of wild animal, her hair flying around her as sweat dripped down her face.
She was the most beautiful person Kira had ever seen.
The bar was packed but she managed to fight her way closer to the small stage with minimal damage. There was a small group of people directly in front of where they were playing, and Kira assumed they were dancing although it looked more like they were having a brawl. She scooted around them and leaned against a support beam off to the side, her eyes barely leaving the drummer.
When the song came to an end the three girls were all visibly sweating, the lead singer slightly out of breath from screaming the last verse. But they were grinning out at the crowd which whooped and hollered their approval.
"Thanks so much!" said the redhead into the mic. "We're Hellhounds & Heels and we'll be back in 20. Musicians gotta drink too."
Kira watched as they shed their instruments, eyes still fixed on the gorgeous drummer. She was so caught up in it that she didn't even realize another girl had come up next to her.
"They're pretty good huh?"
Kira startled and turned to face the stranger. She was a pretty girl with long brunette and a smile on her face. She had amazing dimples.
"Um, yeah." Kira wasn't the best at talking to people.
"I'm Allison by the way," said the girl, holding out her hand.
Kira shook it. "Kira."
"Do you want to meet them?"
"Meet them?" She could feel her eyes widen.
Allison laughed. "Yeah, they're good friends of mine. Well, Malia is, I'm dating the other two."
Kira didn't know how to process that information. She didn't know which one was Malia. The singer, the guitarist? Was she lucky enough that Malia was the beautiful drummer who she suddenly wanted to kiss more than anything? Daytime Kira, the Kira who worked at Barnes and Noble and had breakfast with her parents every Sunday, probably wouldn't have said yes. She'd be too shy, too nervous.
But it was dark and exciting in the bar and she felt alive in a way that she didn't during the day. It was exhilarating.
"That… would be awesome, yeah."
Allison grabbed her hand and before she knew it she was being hauled onto the small stage and being pushed towards the band members. Allison immediately looped her arm around the redheads waist.
"Hey guys, this is Kira," she introduced and Kira felt them all turn their attention to her. She fought the urge to fidget.
"Hey," said the redhead. "I'm Lydia. And this is Cora and Malia."
The universe was smiling on Kira that night. Cora was the guitarist. And Malia was the wild drummer girl who was now grinning at her through a mess of pink and brown hair.
"You guys are awesome," Kira said, trying desperately not to give away the fact that she wanted to climb on top of Malia and kiss her senseless.
"Thanks," said Cora, gingerly placing down her sticker-covered guitar so that it was leaning against the amp and pulling Allison in for a quick kiss. The two of them and Lydia were pretty much attached to each other and Kira was struck by how perfect and beautiful they looked together.
"Get a drink with us?" Allison asked.
They ordered some cheap beer from the scary hot blonde bartender who had a smile like a wolf and found a table, Kira skirting around the edges of their group and trying to act like she belonged.
"So Kira, is it your first time here? I haven't seen you around before," Lydia asked giving her an appraising look.
She nodded. "Yeah, uh, a friend of mine told me about it, figured I'd check it out."
"Your friend told you about a skeezy punk bar and you voluntarily went?" Malia asked, eyebrows raised.
Kira smiled a little. "I heard the music was good."
Malia grinned at her, holding her gaze for a second longer than really necessary. It made something in Kira's stomach flutter and she had to look away.
"How long have you guys been together. You're really good."
"About a year," said Cora. She was sitting opposite her, chair tipped back and boots propped up on the table. She was clicking her tongue ring lightly against her teeth. Kira wondered if it had hurt to get done.
"We were playing in garages until about two months ago," Lydia supplied. "And then Allison managed to wrangle us a gig here and we haven't left." She shot said girlfriend an affectionate look. "They let us play once a week for a little bit of money and free drinks."
"What about you? Play anything?" Malia asked, grabbing her attention again.
"No, I tried guitar for a little while when I was younger but I wasn't any good." She hesitated and then added, "I sing sometimes though."
Malia leaned forward in her chair so that was halfway across the table. "That's awesome. You should totally come sing with us sometime."
"Totally," Lydia added. "We have a few songs that would sound excellent with another vocalist."
Kira swallowed hard, her nerves tingling. "Oh, I don't know. I'm not the best-"
"I'm sure you're fantastic," Malia interrupted and the look she was giving her was playful and intense; Kira had a feeling she'd do just about anything to get the drummer to look at her like that some more.
"Yeah, alright, that would be cool."
"Excellent!" Cora said, dropping her chair back to the floor. "Stick around so we can swap digits after. We have to go back on though."
Allison planted kisses on both her girlfriends lips and then she and Kira were alone at the table while the band grabbed their instruments again.
"Alright, now that we're liquored up some more, let's get this show back on the road," said Lydia, taking center stage.. There was a round of clapping and hollering and then they were playing again, Lydia wailing into the mic about an ex with a small dick.
"They were serious you know," Allison said. "About coming to hang out and jam with them. Lydia's been trying to hunt down another singer for awhile."
"Like, as an actual band member?"
"Yeah silly, if you're good that is. Which I don't doubt you are."
Kira knew she was blushing and she was glad for the dim lighting. "I don't know if I'd be good at that, the whole in a band thing."
Allison arched one of her perfectly sculpted brows. "Well I know a certain drummer would be pretty thrilled if you at least gave it a chance."
Now she was really blushing. "Yeah?"
"Definitely."
The band's rehearsal space was Cora's garage, half of which housed their equipment and half of which seemed to be a gaming den complete with beaten up couch, old tv and video game consoles, an air hockey table, and two boys who were laying on top of each, kissing and arguing over the round of Halo they were playing.
"Would you two get a room!" Cora hollered at them while ushering Kira inside.
"We're in a room," the paler one pointed out. His brown hair was sticking up every which way and his lips were bruised red, a collection of moles spattered across his skin. His boyfriend (Kira assumed they were boyfriends given the making out and heavy petting) was a stubbly guy with a lip ring and a smirk.
Cora rolled her eyes. "That's my brother Derek and his boyfriend Stiles. They're gross and have no shame."
"Stiles," said the one with the moles, pointing to himself to clarify.
Kira gave a small wave. "Kira."
"Ah, the singer that Malia was-" Stiles starts but Derek claps a hand over his mouth.
"Don't be an ass."
"Impoffable," Stiles said, voice muffled by Derek's hand
"Would you two just leave already?" Cora asked in a way that was more of a demand. "The others will be here soon and you're distracting."
"Too much sexy for you to handle?" Stiles asked after prying his boyfriend's hand away, wiggling his butt a bit as he climbed off of Derek.
"As if. Derek please go sex up your pet somewhere else, seriously."
Derek rolled his eyes and if Kira could instantly see the family resemblance. He herded Stiles from the room, Lydia and Allison appearing in the doorway a few seconds after they'd disappeared. Malia was trailing behind them and twirling a drumstick. The other one was tucked into the back pocket of her leopard print jeans.
"You showed," she said, eyes resting on Kira.
"Yeah, I mean, of course."
They smiled each other for a few seconds before Lydia cleared her throat.
"We're going to warm up and then if you want to jump in feel free," she said, switching on the amp.
Kira and Allison flopped onto the couch and listened while they played a few Hole songs and slipped into a groove. Kira found herself more comfortable in the garage, listening to them play and exchanging comments with Allison than she thought she would be. She was a notoriously shy person, usually tripping over her words and herself. But there was something about hanging out with such a chill group of girls that made her relax.
Even if one of them was practically a punk rock goddess on earth sent to torment her.
"Alright girl, let's see what you got," Lydia said as they finished out a song, motioning to Kira. With an encouraging shove from Allison she left the couch and joined them, nervously taking the mic handed to her.
"Do you know the words to Bad Reputation?"
Kira's voice wasn't as harsh as Lydia's but together she had to admit they sounded pretty good. Allison clapped loudly when they'd finished and Cora slapped her on the back.
"You have an excellent voice!" Lydia decreed. "You should come jam with us again, maybe do a gig sometime?"
Kira looked between them, eyes settling on Malia who was grinning again.
"You think I'm really that good?" she asked finally, still looking at the drummer.
"Absolutely," Malia assured her and Kira could practically feel the air between them fizzle. "Plus, you're super hot, and a girl band always needs more hotties."
Kira felt heat spread across her cheeks but she smiled anyway. "Yeah, I'd love to."
Kira went to every rehearsal she could manage. Sometimes her hours at the bookstore got in the way, but she saw the girls at least twice a week, usually more. Even went they weren't playing in Cora's garage they hung out, watching movies, getting pizza, smoking. Kira had only smoked once before and although she'd liked the peaceful fuzzy feeling she hadn't had anyone to smoke with regularly. Now she found herself spread out on the garage couch every week feeling boneless and happy, smoke clouding the room around her.
She liked when they just got high and ate and watched stupid movies, even if Cora, Allison, and Lydia spent most of the time making out. It had been ages since she'd had close female friends that she didn't have to tone herself down for; who liked the tattoos she kept hidden under her clothes and complimented her on her collection of ripped tights.
And when the other girls were preoccupied with sucking each others faces off, that meant that her and Malia could focus all their attention on each other.
Kira loved talking to Malia, loved riding their high draped across each other and talking about random things, sometimes falling into long comfortable silences, sometimes getting into heated debates on the pros and cons of certain Mario Kart characters. It was easy to be with Malia, even when Kira's whole body was thrumming with the desire to reach out and kiss her. She never did of course, her nerves getting the best of her.
Not that Malia seemed oblivious to her interest and Kira was pretty sure she reciprocated. It was in the heated looks while they were rehearsing, the way she prolonged any contact between them, hugging her just a little bit tighter, brushing her hair back when they were sky high and weightless.
"We're going out," Allison declared one afternoon while they were all sprawled across Malia's bedroom. Bikini Kill was playing in the background as the girls designed flyers for one of the shows to stick up around town. Malia's printer was out of ink so they were free-handing them, markers and pencils littering the ground.
"We are?" Malia asked as she finished a sketchy drawing of a melting heart.
"We are," Allison clarified, pointing to herself and her two girlfriends. "Date night. Can you guys finish these and put them up?"
Malia and Kira exchanged looks and Malia shrugged. "Buy us a pizza and you've got a deal."
Lydia rolled her eyes but jotted down her card information and handed it to them, Malia already pulling up the Dominos website on the wailing laptop next to her.
"Lydia's family is loaded," Malia said after the other girls had gone. She was scrolling through all the topping options, clicking off boxes as she went. "So we are getting a massive pizza and breadsticks and soda."
"Are you going to put sausage on that pizza?" Kira asked.
"Of course I am, what do I look like, a horse? Pepperoni, too. And you know, pretty much everything else."
"No mushrooms," Kira warned and Malia nodded seriously.
"Definitely no mushrooms."
They worked contentedly on the flyers while waiting for the pizza to arrive, Kira acutely aware that they were alone. They actually hadn't been alone much together, not outside of things like holding a table at the bar.
When the doorbell finally rang Malia chucked the marker she was using over her shoulder and jumped to her feet. "Finally, I'm starving."
Kira pushed all their supplies out of the way and when Malia came back, the smell wafting into the room before she did. They watched stand up on the laptop while they ate, the two of them putting away an impressive amount of pizza and demolishing the breadsticks. One of the nice things about hanging out with Malia and the other girls was that you never had to feel bad about how much you ate. Cora even had a huge patch on one of her vests that said "Riots Not Diets" and she seemed to take it to heart. Cora ate a lot of tacos.
When they were fit to bursting they crawled onto the bed, propping the laptop on the nightstand, to finish watching the comedy show and before Kira knew it she found herself drifting into contented, food-induced sleep.
She awoke to nothing but the dim glow of the screensaver on the laptop, a warm weight curled around her back. She could smell Malia's perfume around her and the soft sound of the other girls breathing. And although Kira's heart fluttered nervously in her chest she still felt at ease, comfortable in the sanctuary of Malia's room, in Malia's bed. It struck her that she might be dreaming.
She pinched herself just to make sure but the pain confirmed that this was in fact real life.
Malia stirred behind her and Kira shuffled herself around so that they were facing each other, noses only a foot apart. Malia made a contented sleepy noise before stretching, smiling when she opened her eyes and found Kira watching her.
"Hey sleepyhead," Kira said, brushing the girl's hair from her face.
Malia stretched again, reaching her arms up above her head and then bringing one to settle on Kira's hip, fingers toying with the belt loop of her jeans.
"Have a nice nap?" she asked.
Kira nodded. "Yeah. Your room smells like pizza."
"I don't care."
They didn't say anything for a moment, just kind of looked at each other. Malia's eye makeup was smudged and there was a pillow imprint on one of her cheeks. Kira thought she looked beautiful.
"Can I kiss you?" Malia asked, voice soft like she was shy. It caught Kira off guard, her shyness. Malia was wild and intense and surprisingly gentle, but never shy.
"If you don't-"
"No!" Kira said quickly. "I do! I mean, yeah, I would… I would like that."
Malia grinned and the fierceness in her eyes was back. She yanked Kira forward by her belt loop so that they were flush against each other and then leaned forward.
The kiss was soft, a delicate touch of lips and it made Kira feel lightheaded and tingly. She pressed against Malia, silently asking for more.
Malia answered her with enthusiasm, deepening the kiss, tongue coming out to sweep against Kira's lips. Her mouth was warm and she tasted like pizza. It was perfect.
They kissed for a long while, exploring with teeth and tongues, Malia nipping along Kira's jawline, pressing soft kisses all over her face. It was a slow exploration, not at all what Kira had expected. But it was nice, felt comforting -like whatever they were doing might last.
It was Kira that finally pulled away, grinning down at Malia. "We promised we would put the flyers up."
Malia groaned and buried her head in Kira's shoulder. "Do we have to?"
"We told Allison we would. And Lydia bought us pizza."
"So?"
Kira nudged her affectionately. "Come on, get up. We can continue this when we get back."
Malia lifted her head at that. "You're insane if you think I'm not going to pin you against every wall we find between hanging those posters and kiss you until you can't stand up straight."
Kira hummed in approval. "Then we better get moving."
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