fic: once a boy (Jon/Spencer, PG)
once a boy
PG, Jon/Spencer
3 589 words
Spencer starts turning into a cat.
Many thanks to alchemywow for betaing!
The day Spencer wakes up with cat ears is not preceded by an unusual night or an odd evening. It's preceded by nothing that Spencer will recall as unusual or odd the next morning, in fact the prior day is of such unremarkable quality that Spencer takes a moment in the morning to recall just what he did, before blinking himself fully awake, head swimming a little.
He gets up, rolling out of his bunk - bottom bunk again, because Ryan always cheats when they draw sticks to determine bunk distribution - and rubs his eyes, yawning. There's noises coming from the kitchenette, and Ryan is listening to music, the curtains of his bunk drawn.
"Good morning, Ross," Spencer says, not waiting to hear Ryan's responsive grunt, and disappears into the bathroom. He relieves himself, washes his hands, brushes his teeth and splashes water on his face, face scrunching up at the feel of cold wet on his skin.
When he enters the kitchenette, there's Brendon and Jon drawing a poster with glitter sharpie, and coffee on the counter.
"Hey," Jon says without looking up, brows furrowed in concentration.
"Yo," Brendon says and pushes his glasses up his nose; he looks back down again, draws a line in babyblue glitter, and then looks back up, mouth open.
"What," Spence says and pours himself a cup of coffee, then puts it and the can of cinnamon powder on the table next to Jon. "Do the thing with the cinnamon, Jon," he says and pushes the cup towards Jon on the table, nudging it a little until Jon looks up, eyes going a little wide.
Spencer tilts his head. "Please?"
"You," Brendon starts, expression caught between a smile and shock. He doesn't continue, eyes going even wider.
"What?" Spencer says again, eyes flicking between Jon and Brendon, and gives the cup another tiny nudge; he'd really like his cinnamon latte now, thanks.
"You have-" Jon reaches up and touches his own hair, pulling a little, and Spencer automatically mirrors the movement; but unlike the expected feel of nothing, there's something soft and sort of furry. "-ears," Jon finishes. "Cat ears."
Spencer feels his brows furrows, rubbing, and yeah, yeah he can feel his ears, he can feel his fingers touching his ears, and dude. "What the fuck," he says and his ears twitch in annoyance.
Brendon stares at him for a moment before spurting out laughter, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle it. He drops his forehead on the poster, squarely landing in pink glitter glue, shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Is this-" Jon says, mouth still agape. "Are you done now?" He smiles a bit, tries to, lips twitching, and Spencer shakes his head in annoyance, not understanding.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" If he couldn't actually feel his ears, he'd think that Jon is pulling some sort of trick on him, a prank, that Ryan was in on it, but then there is a sound in the back of the bus and Spencer actually feels his ears perk up, flushing hotly.
"Dude, you're for real, aren't you?" Jon continues in disbelieve. "The ears are for real-"
"Oh my god," Spencer says and rubs his face, over his hair and his stupid fucking ears. "Oh my god."
Brendon keeps giggling and Spencer drops in the empty chair, knees shaking a little as the shock slowly starts settling in. Jon watches him, eyes worried and head tilted slightly.
"What," Spence says indignantly, and ducks his head when Ryan enters from the bunk section. He looks sleepy, hair a mess, but when he catches Spencer's eyes - ears - he seems to suddenly wake up.
"Spence," he says, frozen in his step, eyes wide. "You have-"
"Don't fucking say it," Spencer says and glares, and that's pretty much all for that morning.
*
Spencer goes to the gas station grocery store wearing a hat and sits at the diner wearing a hat and then plays a show wearing a hat, too. It's not too bad and he can hear just fine, because his old ears still seem intact, and Ryan has a lot of hats to choose from.
Zack decides that it's best to not tell Pete for now and just wait until tomorrow, because maybe they will just go away again, right? Spence agrees. Who knows what kind of crazy ideas Pete will get from this, all of which Spencer does not want to have part in.
"I sorta like them," Ryan says after the show, curled up on the couch, Sidekick perched on his knees, after Spencer has just come from the shower. He scrunches up his faces and feels his ears drop a little; Ryan's face lights up, and then he starts laughing, hiding his face against his hands and the keyboard of his phone.
"Yeah, well fuck you too," Spence says; if Ryan likes the ears so much, then how about he try and grow some himself. He yawns and stretches then, unexpected, blinking in surprise, and then turns to glare at Jon who's stifling his laughter.
"You're like- it's like you're becoming more and more cat," Jon says, the strain to keep his voice straight quite obvious.
"I am not," Spence says and glares, ears flattening against his hair. Jon bites his lip and Spencer throws his towel at him to shut him up. Unfortunately he has no towel left for Ryan.
*
"I bought the O.C. season boxes in Houston," Jon says that evening and leans down to retrieve a discreet paper bag from under his coat. "We should watch some, and I even got us popcorn."
Spencer squints, torn between the thought of delicious popcorn and the fact that Jon Walker actually bought the O.C. At a store. On DVD. He blinks and turns to look at Ryan, who only says, "Marissa is badass, Spence, don't front."
Spencer glares at him, but doesn't deign to give him a reply, lying back against the couch; he feels lazy and tired from the sun streaming in through the windows. He's been tired a lot lately, napping before shows and sleeping in until noon, and he thinks it's probably the stress, the sudden nocturnal awareness and how tiny moving things make him lose thread of conversations.
He yawns a bit and dozes off for a few moments while Brendon puts in the DVD and then vanishes to get snacks. Half-way through episode one he wakes to find himself curled against Jon's side, who in turn has an arm curled over Spencer's shoulder, his other hand resting on top of his head, absently rubbing between his ears.
Spencer blinks, yawning, and when he realizes he's purring, immediately stops.
"Hey," Jon says softly and scratches behind his ear; Spencer's eyes flutter shut for a moment and then he sits up, batting at Jon's hand.
"Fucking stop it, dude, I'm not a cat," he hisses and sits back on his heels, reaching up to bring his hair in order. "Seriously," he adds when Ryan turns to give him a look and Jon bites his lip to hide a grin.
"C'mere," Jon says and opens his arms; Spencer rolls his eyes and climbs to his feet, yawning and stretching and pads into the kitchen to find something to drink or eat or both.
*
"Why is there no more milk in the fridge," Ryan says in Norfolk and slams the door of the fridge shut. "We only bought some yesterday." He turns and Spencer ducks a bit under his glare.
"Dunno," he says and finishes his bowl of cereal. It's his second that day, and it's only two, but that like, is so not his fault if there's no better food in the fridge.
"Spence ate it all," Brendon says; he's curled up on the tiny seat by the window in the corner, a book on his knees and two empty cans of Red Bull, sugarfree, and he looks focused and serious, glasses straight on his nose.
"Snitch," Spencer says, pursing his mouth and pushing the empty cereal bowl away. "There was only very little left," he continues, turned to Ryan.
Ryan sighs a little and then shrugs, sitting down in the last empty chair, sipping his coffee. Spencer slouches down in his chair and drops his cheek on his arms, sighing a little.
"I'm not mad at you," Ryan says suddenly, poking Spencer's thigh under the table with his socked toe.
"Huh?" Spence replies and turns his face to the other side, squinting at Ryan.
"I know it's not your fault." Ryan pulls a face, eyes flicking to the top of Spencer's head. "You should maybe really tell Pete."
Spencer wrinkles his nose at the thought, shaking his head while he arches his back, stretching a little.
"Nope," he says. "Never."
*
"So," Pete says slowly, "you're turning into a cat."
"No," Spence says (growls), "I grew cat ears."
Pete is quiet for a really long moment, and Spencer can virtually picture him torn between smartassing and being seriously worried about his investment. Then after some very stretched silent seconds, Pete says, "Okay, uhm, did you eat anything funny? Sex with Satanists? Wiccans?"
"You're sort of an idiot," Spencer says amiably.
"I love you, too," Pete says, unfazed. "Look," he continues, "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you but Mikey Way had some similar troubles last year on Warped."
Spencer waits for Pete to continue, pulling his knees up to his chest, and makes a questioning noise when Pete stays silent. "Yeah?"
Pete hums in agreement. "Yeah, well, I can't give you details, but I suggest you speak to him maybe? He managed to get rid of it somehow."
"Awesome," Spencer says; he sighs and rubs his eyes, squinting a little when Ryan pushes the door of the lounge open. He gives Spencer a questioning look and drops on the couch next to him. Spencer thrusts his Sidekick at him and lets his head drop back against the couch.
"Talk to him, I'm tired," he says, eyes falling shut.
*
Spencer is not gravely worried until the day that he wakes up in Jon Walker's bunk. With Jon Walker still in said bunk. It's not weird at first; Spencer drifts out of his dream smoothly, from a warm, sunny willow and grass, to Jon's chest and soft blanket and pillows.
"Hi," Jon says calmly. His hand is on Spencer's back, curled, his fingers touching the hair at Spencer's nape. "Good sleep?"
Spencer blinks once, twice, and then pulls back abruptly, sitting up and promptly hitting his head on the bunk ceiling.
"Ow fuck," he hisses, squeezing his eyes shut, rubbing the sore spot on his head, and scoots away from Jon a little, sitting back on his heels.
"You ok?" Jon asks, rolling his head to the side a little on his pillow, giving Spencer a worried look.
"Yes, no," Spence replies and sighs, shaking his head. "Why am I-?"
Jon hums, reaching up to rub his eyes, then replies, yawning, "You crawled in sometime around three. Didn't have the heart to kick you out. You were also purring."
"Shit," Spencer says.
*
As it turns out Mikey has no clue how the (rabbit) ears went away again, and also he thinks it's weird that Spencer's metamorphosis is progressing this rapidly because he didn't start craving any salads or carrots until two weeks after the ears appeared.
"Weird," Spencer says, and then says bye. He feels a little desperate right now. Also, Brendon has a tiny rubber ball - it's sort of hypnotizing.
*
Spencer's life has been sort of a little more exciting than usual since Brendon found out that Spence can't sit still while in the presence of quickly moving tiny objects. It's pretty much an impulse that Spence has been able to control until the day Brendon finds a tiny rubber mouse backstage and decides it's a good idea to let it bounce all over the room.
Spencer can feel his ears twitch, and then Ryan is giving him this funny look and asks, "Dude, are you on drugs, your pupils-"
And it's not like Spencer wants to jump and catch that silly thing midair, it's like his legs and arms are moving on their own, and then Brendon is giggling so hard that Spencer has to kick him in the shin to make him stop.
*
Of all people, Spencer has decided, Jon smells the best. He smells like coffee and soap, cinnamon underneath, something earthy, deep deep below. Spencer's been picking up a lot of scents lately; good ones and not so good ones, scents he never even knew existed, that don't have a name or a description, but that still make sense to him.
He notices the way Ryan's scent changes minutely before a show, and Brendon's; and if Spencer had to describe it he would call it smelling, but that's not it.
He sits curled up on the couch before the show, eyes painted dark, and watches people pass by, nervousness and crackling anticipation in the air. Jon sits across the room and messing with his hair, changing it from one side to the other and back again, and Spencer watches the small of his neck where his hair is soft and smells like coconut conditioner.
Spencer keeps staring, scratching his nails over his knee, scraping over the cloth of his pants. Jon squints at himself in the mirror and then Spencer can't take it anymore and gets up, padding over and slumping down in the chair next to Jon, putting his head on Jon's shoulder.
He says, "Mrrrr," because there is nothing else to say and closes his eyes. Jon just really smells the best.
*
"So, how are your ears," Pete says the next day. Spencer just woke up from his Sidekick buzzing under his pillow, and he's cranky. He wants to tell Pete to leave him alone, but even in his half-awake state he realizes that that's not a good idea, so he grunts a hello.
"Still there, huh?" Pete sounds genuinely worried now.
"Yeah," Spencer croaks and rolls onto his back. He feels heavy and tired and today is their only day off since they went on tour; he wants to sleep all day. "It's not going away," he finally continues, "I'm cursed, Pete."
"Hrm," Pete says, "this is not good."
"No kidding," Spencer says. "Call me when you figured something out." He hangs up and hides his nose in the crook of his elbow, drifting off again quickly.
*
Spencer gets used to waking up on Jon. After movies, after he goes to bed, after he has his bowl of breakfast cereal. Jon doesn't seem to mind; Jon scratches his ears when Spencer lets him, absently while reading a book, and caresses his hair until Spencer will make an unhappy sound.
In Orlando, Jon rests his head against Spencer's chest.
"You purr like a real cat," he says, and Spencer swats his arm, too tired and lazy to move. "And your heart," Jon continues, "your heart is beating so fast, it sounds like Dylan's."
*
Spencer grows a tail in New York after a nap before the show. He's curled up in the lounge on the bus, cheek resting on his arm, not quite asleep but not really awake either. He's dimly aware of noises around him, bustling, Brendon's voice exclaiming victory in some imaginary game, and Jon's lazy laughter.
He likes it; he likes being an unnoticed spectator, he likes being asleep when he's not and-
Spencer wakes with a start, blinking himself fully awake, ears twitching with sleep.
"You," Ryan, who just walked in with a strawberry milkshake in one hand and a chocolate donut in the other, says, "just grew a fucking tail."
*
That night Spencer climbs on top of the bus and sits there, watching the crew pack, people running around nine feet below. Getting up here was surprisingly easy; a hatch there, a wheel here.
He likes it up here; the roof is still warm from the evening sun and from the heating running inside the bus, and he can watch everything from here. Behind the sharp lines of the city skyline, the moon is starting to rise.
He pulls his knees up to his chest, ears flat against the top of his head, thinking. He never dozes off at night anymore, only in the early hours, and he's wide awake now, so Jon's pathetic attempt at climbing the bus, heaving and cursing, doesn't pass by him unnoticed.
"Hey," he says, when Jon has finally managed to pull himself up. "You're slow."
Jon lets out a soft laugh and shakes his head, half-collapsing next to Spencer, and Spencer leans in and nuzzles his nose against Jon's neck for a moment before he catches himself and pulls away, embarrassed.
"It's okay," Jon says and Spencer can hear his smile. "Cats like me, I know."
Spencer feels his fingers twitch, tail rattling against the metal of the roof, and then he scoots over a bit and leans against Jon fully.
"I'm gonna turn into a cat, won't I," he starts, eyes unfocused. All he can see is blurry, bright lines but his ears are enough.
"No," Jon says and sneaks an around his shoulders, then reaches up to scratch behind his ears. "We'll fix you."
"It's like- like those stupid stories. Metamorphosis?" Spencer huffs out a breath, but it sounds more like a purr; he makes an annoyed sound but gives in after a moment.
"Turning into a beautiful nymph?" Jon says and Spencer laughs and wants to swat him, but just ends up nudging him with his forehead, growing dizzy from all the oxygen and the way Jon's fingers dig into his hair. He leans up more and presses his nose against Jon's neck again, unable to resist, and then kisses the sharp angle where his jaw meets his neck, then the corner of his mouth.
Jon makes a surprised noise, going oddly still, and Spencer pulls back, blinking, cheeks flushing hotly.
"Sorry," he says, "must've been- the cat-" He turns away and wipes his mouth with the tip of his thumb.
"No, no," Jon says and pulls him closer again by his hair. He presses his lips to Spencer's, dry, but sweet, and kisses him softly, deepening the kiss a little until Spencer gasps for air.
"Okay," he breathes, "okay, wow this- I'm kissing a dude and I'm turning into a cat, and-" Jon kisses him again, but lets him pull away once more, -"and more kissing and did you notice that I have a tail? And that I hissed at Shane's dog when he was here last week?"
He searches Jon's eyes, confused, heart racing, and Jon shakes his head. "It doesn't matter, okay?" he says, "it doesn't matter."
"And it tried to chase me?" Spencer tries again. Nothing is really making sense right now, and that's a little frightening. Jon just nudges his nose against Spencer's, shaking his head.
"It's okay, it'll be alright," Jon says and Spencer closes his eyes because he wants to believe him.
*
Spencer's tail is gone the next day. He stumbles out of bed (Jon's bunk) and nearly loses his balance, catching himself on the wall. Ryan pokes his head out from between the curtains and gives him a weird look.
"Did you just come out of Jon's bunk," he asks, head tilted, and Spencer blushes faintly.
"So what," he says and pushes himself off the wall, still wobbly. One day was enough to make him rely on the additional weight to keep him balanced, and now he feels a bit weird.
"What's wrong?" Ryan says and furrows his brows. He tries to peek past Spencer into Jon's bunk, but Spencer rolls his eyes at him.
"I lost my tail," he replies, "it just went away."
Ryan snorts and shakes his head, hiding his grin behind his hand for a moment. "That what they call it these days?"
*
Spencer notices that he's not tired anymore. He slips backstage in his hat and sneaks Jon a tiny little kiss before he goes to shower, and he's just not tired. He feels worn from playing and wound, but not the diurnal tiredness he's so gotten used to.
He looks at himself in the mirror shortly after undressing. His ears are still there, soft, twitching at every little sound, but he doesn't feel like jumping anymore. He feels calmer, less wired.
*
Mikey calls him that night when Spencer is getting ready to go to the gas station with the others.
"Hey," he says, holding his phone between shoulder and ear. "What's up?"
"I remembered something," Mikey starts, "uhm, I'm only telling you this because you're turning into a cat, and I nearly turned into a rabbit. But don't tell anyone, okay, dude?"
"Sure." Spence sits on the couch, frowning slightly.
"It stopped after," Mikey begins again, hesitating, "it stopped after Gabe and I-"
"Oh," Spencer says and then, "oh."
*
Spencer loses his ears in Chicago at Jon's old apartment, face pressed into fresh sheets, gripping the freshly starched duvet of Jon's bed. Afterwards Dylan comes padding in, meowing, rubbing against the leg of the bed.
Spencer rolls over and extends a hand, letting the cat press against his fingers, and scratches behind his ears, lets his hand run down the soft line of Dylan's back.
Jon scoots up next to him and kisses his shoulder, smiling against his skin. "I'm glad you stayed human," he says softly, and Spencer laughs and picks Dylan up, letting him curl up next to them.
***
My wonderful and talented friend myrafur drew this when I first flailed at her about how Spencer needed to grow cat ears.
<3___<3 ILU MYRA.
PG, Jon/Spencer
3 589 words
Spencer starts turning into a cat.
Many thanks to alchemywow for betaing!
The day Spencer wakes up with cat ears is not preceded by an unusual night or an odd evening. It's preceded by nothing that Spencer will recall as unusual or odd the next morning, in fact the prior day is of such unremarkable quality that Spencer takes a moment in the morning to recall just what he did, before blinking himself fully awake, head swimming a little.
He gets up, rolling out of his bunk - bottom bunk again, because Ryan always cheats when they draw sticks to determine bunk distribution - and rubs his eyes, yawning. There's noises coming from the kitchenette, and Ryan is listening to music, the curtains of his bunk drawn.
"Good morning, Ross," Spencer says, not waiting to hear Ryan's responsive grunt, and disappears into the bathroom. He relieves himself, washes his hands, brushes his teeth and splashes water on his face, face scrunching up at the feel of cold wet on his skin.
When he enters the kitchenette, there's Brendon and Jon drawing a poster with glitter sharpie, and coffee on the counter.
"Hey," Jon says without looking up, brows furrowed in concentration.
"Yo," Brendon says and pushes his glasses up his nose; he looks back down again, draws a line in babyblue glitter, and then looks back up, mouth open.
"What," Spence says and pours himself a cup of coffee, then puts it and the can of cinnamon powder on the table next to Jon. "Do the thing with the cinnamon, Jon," he says and pushes the cup towards Jon on the table, nudging it a little until Jon looks up, eyes going a little wide.
Spencer tilts his head. "Please?"
"You," Brendon starts, expression caught between a smile and shock. He doesn't continue, eyes going even wider.
"What?" Spencer says again, eyes flicking between Jon and Brendon, and gives the cup another tiny nudge; he'd really like his cinnamon latte now, thanks.
"You have-" Jon reaches up and touches his own hair, pulling a little, and Spencer automatically mirrors the movement; but unlike the expected feel of nothing, there's something soft and sort of furry. "-ears," Jon finishes. "Cat ears."
Spencer feels his brows furrows, rubbing, and yeah, yeah he can feel his ears, he can feel his fingers touching his ears, and dude. "What the fuck," he says and his ears twitch in annoyance.
Brendon stares at him for a moment before spurting out laughter, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle it. He drops his forehead on the poster, squarely landing in pink glitter glue, shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Is this-" Jon says, mouth still agape. "Are you done now?" He smiles a bit, tries to, lips twitching, and Spencer shakes his head in annoyance, not understanding.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" If he couldn't actually feel his ears, he'd think that Jon is pulling some sort of trick on him, a prank, that Ryan was in on it, but then there is a sound in the back of the bus and Spencer actually feels his ears perk up, flushing hotly.
"Dude, you're for real, aren't you?" Jon continues in disbelieve. "The ears are for real-"
"Oh my god," Spencer says and rubs his face, over his hair and his stupid fucking ears. "Oh my god."
Brendon keeps giggling and Spencer drops in the empty chair, knees shaking a little as the shock slowly starts settling in. Jon watches him, eyes worried and head tilted slightly.
"What," Spence says indignantly, and ducks his head when Ryan enters from the bunk section. He looks sleepy, hair a mess, but when he catches Spencer's eyes - ears - he seems to suddenly wake up.
"Spence," he says, frozen in his step, eyes wide. "You have-"
"Don't fucking say it," Spencer says and glares, and that's pretty much all for that morning.
*
Spencer goes to the gas station grocery store wearing a hat and sits at the diner wearing a hat and then plays a show wearing a hat, too. It's not too bad and he can hear just fine, because his old ears still seem intact, and Ryan has a lot of hats to choose from.
Zack decides that it's best to not tell Pete for now and just wait until tomorrow, because maybe they will just go away again, right? Spence agrees. Who knows what kind of crazy ideas Pete will get from this, all of which Spencer does not want to have part in.
"I sorta like them," Ryan says after the show, curled up on the couch, Sidekick perched on his knees, after Spencer has just come from the shower. He scrunches up his faces and feels his ears drop a little; Ryan's face lights up, and then he starts laughing, hiding his face against his hands and the keyboard of his phone.
"Yeah, well fuck you too," Spence says; if Ryan likes the ears so much, then how about he try and grow some himself. He yawns and stretches then, unexpected, blinking in surprise, and then turns to glare at Jon who's stifling his laughter.
"You're like- it's like you're becoming more and more cat," Jon says, the strain to keep his voice straight quite obvious.
"I am not," Spence says and glares, ears flattening against his hair. Jon bites his lip and Spencer throws his towel at him to shut him up. Unfortunately he has no towel left for Ryan.
*
"I bought the O.C. season boxes in Houston," Jon says that evening and leans down to retrieve a discreet paper bag from under his coat. "We should watch some, and I even got us popcorn."
Spencer squints, torn between the thought of delicious popcorn and the fact that Jon Walker actually bought the O.C. At a store. On DVD. He blinks and turns to look at Ryan, who only says, "Marissa is badass, Spence, don't front."
Spencer glares at him, but doesn't deign to give him a reply, lying back against the couch; he feels lazy and tired from the sun streaming in through the windows. He's been tired a lot lately, napping before shows and sleeping in until noon, and he thinks it's probably the stress, the sudden nocturnal awareness and how tiny moving things make him lose thread of conversations.
He yawns a bit and dozes off for a few moments while Brendon puts in the DVD and then vanishes to get snacks. Half-way through episode one he wakes to find himself curled against Jon's side, who in turn has an arm curled over Spencer's shoulder, his other hand resting on top of his head, absently rubbing between his ears.
Spencer blinks, yawning, and when he realizes he's purring, immediately stops.
"Hey," Jon says softly and scratches behind his ear; Spencer's eyes flutter shut for a moment and then he sits up, batting at Jon's hand.
"Fucking stop it, dude, I'm not a cat," he hisses and sits back on his heels, reaching up to bring his hair in order. "Seriously," he adds when Ryan turns to give him a look and Jon bites his lip to hide a grin.
"C'mere," Jon says and opens his arms; Spencer rolls his eyes and climbs to his feet, yawning and stretching and pads into the kitchen to find something to drink or eat or both.
*
"Why is there no more milk in the fridge," Ryan says in Norfolk and slams the door of the fridge shut. "We only bought some yesterday." He turns and Spencer ducks a bit under his glare.
"Dunno," he says and finishes his bowl of cereal. It's his second that day, and it's only two, but that like, is so not his fault if there's no better food in the fridge.
"Spence ate it all," Brendon says; he's curled up on the tiny seat by the window in the corner, a book on his knees and two empty cans of Red Bull, sugarfree, and he looks focused and serious, glasses straight on his nose.
"Snitch," Spencer says, pursing his mouth and pushing the empty cereal bowl away. "There was only very little left," he continues, turned to Ryan.
Ryan sighs a little and then shrugs, sitting down in the last empty chair, sipping his coffee. Spencer slouches down in his chair and drops his cheek on his arms, sighing a little.
"I'm not mad at you," Ryan says suddenly, poking Spencer's thigh under the table with his socked toe.
"Huh?" Spence replies and turns his face to the other side, squinting at Ryan.
"I know it's not your fault." Ryan pulls a face, eyes flicking to the top of Spencer's head. "You should maybe really tell Pete."
Spencer wrinkles his nose at the thought, shaking his head while he arches his back, stretching a little.
"Nope," he says. "Never."
*
"So," Pete says slowly, "you're turning into a cat."
"No," Spence says (growls), "I grew cat ears."
Pete is quiet for a really long moment, and Spencer can virtually picture him torn between smartassing and being seriously worried about his investment. Then after some very stretched silent seconds, Pete says, "Okay, uhm, did you eat anything funny? Sex with Satanists? Wiccans?"
"You're sort of an idiot," Spencer says amiably.
"I love you, too," Pete says, unfazed. "Look," he continues, "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you but Mikey Way had some similar troubles last year on Warped."
Spencer waits for Pete to continue, pulling his knees up to his chest, and makes a questioning noise when Pete stays silent. "Yeah?"
Pete hums in agreement. "Yeah, well, I can't give you details, but I suggest you speak to him maybe? He managed to get rid of it somehow."
"Awesome," Spencer says; he sighs and rubs his eyes, squinting a little when Ryan pushes the door of the lounge open. He gives Spencer a questioning look and drops on the couch next to him. Spencer thrusts his Sidekick at him and lets his head drop back against the couch.
"Talk to him, I'm tired," he says, eyes falling shut.
*
Spencer is not gravely worried until the day that he wakes up in Jon Walker's bunk. With Jon Walker still in said bunk. It's not weird at first; Spencer drifts out of his dream smoothly, from a warm, sunny willow and grass, to Jon's chest and soft blanket and pillows.
"Hi," Jon says calmly. His hand is on Spencer's back, curled, his fingers touching the hair at Spencer's nape. "Good sleep?"
Spencer blinks once, twice, and then pulls back abruptly, sitting up and promptly hitting his head on the bunk ceiling.
"Ow fuck," he hisses, squeezing his eyes shut, rubbing the sore spot on his head, and scoots away from Jon a little, sitting back on his heels.
"You ok?" Jon asks, rolling his head to the side a little on his pillow, giving Spencer a worried look.
"Yes, no," Spence replies and sighs, shaking his head. "Why am I-?"
Jon hums, reaching up to rub his eyes, then replies, yawning, "You crawled in sometime around three. Didn't have the heart to kick you out. You were also purring."
"Shit," Spencer says.
*
As it turns out Mikey has no clue how the (rabbit) ears went away again, and also he thinks it's weird that Spencer's metamorphosis is progressing this rapidly because he didn't start craving any salads or carrots until two weeks after the ears appeared.
"Weird," Spencer says, and then says bye. He feels a little desperate right now. Also, Brendon has a tiny rubber ball - it's sort of hypnotizing.
*
Spencer's life has been sort of a little more exciting than usual since Brendon found out that Spence can't sit still while in the presence of quickly moving tiny objects. It's pretty much an impulse that Spence has been able to control until the day Brendon finds a tiny rubber mouse backstage and decides it's a good idea to let it bounce all over the room.
Spencer can feel his ears twitch, and then Ryan is giving him this funny look and asks, "Dude, are you on drugs, your pupils-"
And it's not like Spencer wants to jump and catch that silly thing midair, it's like his legs and arms are moving on their own, and then Brendon is giggling so hard that Spencer has to kick him in the shin to make him stop.
*
Of all people, Spencer has decided, Jon smells the best. He smells like coffee and soap, cinnamon underneath, something earthy, deep deep below. Spencer's been picking up a lot of scents lately; good ones and not so good ones, scents he never even knew existed, that don't have a name or a description, but that still make sense to him.
He notices the way Ryan's scent changes minutely before a show, and Brendon's; and if Spencer had to describe it he would call it smelling, but that's not it.
He sits curled up on the couch before the show, eyes painted dark, and watches people pass by, nervousness and crackling anticipation in the air. Jon sits across the room and messing with his hair, changing it from one side to the other and back again, and Spencer watches the small of his neck where his hair is soft and smells like coconut conditioner.
Spencer keeps staring, scratching his nails over his knee, scraping over the cloth of his pants. Jon squints at himself in the mirror and then Spencer can't take it anymore and gets up, padding over and slumping down in the chair next to Jon, putting his head on Jon's shoulder.
He says, "Mrrrr," because there is nothing else to say and closes his eyes. Jon just really smells the best.
*
"So, how are your ears," Pete says the next day. Spencer just woke up from his Sidekick buzzing under his pillow, and he's cranky. He wants to tell Pete to leave him alone, but even in his half-awake state he realizes that that's not a good idea, so he grunts a hello.
"Still there, huh?" Pete sounds genuinely worried now.
"Yeah," Spencer croaks and rolls onto his back. He feels heavy and tired and today is their only day off since they went on tour; he wants to sleep all day. "It's not going away," he finally continues, "I'm cursed, Pete."
"Hrm," Pete says, "this is not good."
"No kidding," Spencer says. "Call me when you figured something out." He hangs up and hides his nose in the crook of his elbow, drifting off again quickly.
*
Spencer gets used to waking up on Jon. After movies, after he goes to bed, after he has his bowl of breakfast cereal. Jon doesn't seem to mind; Jon scratches his ears when Spencer lets him, absently while reading a book, and caresses his hair until Spencer will make an unhappy sound.
In Orlando, Jon rests his head against Spencer's chest.
"You purr like a real cat," he says, and Spencer swats his arm, too tired and lazy to move. "And your heart," Jon continues, "your heart is beating so fast, it sounds like Dylan's."
*
Spencer grows a tail in New York after a nap before the show. He's curled up in the lounge on the bus, cheek resting on his arm, not quite asleep but not really awake either. He's dimly aware of noises around him, bustling, Brendon's voice exclaiming victory in some imaginary game, and Jon's lazy laughter.
He likes it; he likes being an unnoticed spectator, he likes being asleep when he's not and-
Spencer wakes with a start, blinking himself fully awake, ears twitching with sleep.
"You," Ryan, who just walked in with a strawberry milkshake in one hand and a chocolate donut in the other, says, "just grew a fucking tail."
*
That night Spencer climbs on top of the bus and sits there, watching the crew pack, people running around nine feet below. Getting up here was surprisingly easy; a hatch there, a wheel here.
He likes it up here; the roof is still warm from the evening sun and from the heating running inside the bus, and he can watch everything from here. Behind the sharp lines of the city skyline, the moon is starting to rise.
He pulls his knees up to his chest, ears flat against the top of his head, thinking. He never dozes off at night anymore, only in the early hours, and he's wide awake now, so Jon's pathetic attempt at climbing the bus, heaving and cursing, doesn't pass by him unnoticed.
"Hey," he says, when Jon has finally managed to pull himself up. "You're slow."
Jon lets out a soft laugh and shakes his head, half-collapsing next to Spencer, and Spencer leans in and nuzzles his nose against Jon's neck for a moment before he catches himself and pulls away, embarrassed.
"It's okay," Jon says and Spencer can hear his smile. "Cats like me, I know."
Spencer feels his fingers twitch, tail rattling against the metal of the roof, and then he scoots over a bit and leans against Jon fully.
"I'm gonna turn into a cat, won't I," he starts, eyes unfocused. All he can see is blurry, bright lines but his ears are enough.
"No," Jon says and sneaks an around his shoulders, then reaches up to scratch behind his ears. "We'll fix you."
"It's like- like those stupid stories. Metamorphosis?" Spencer huffs out a breath, but it sounds more like a purr; he makes an annoyed sound but gives in after a moment.
"Turning into a beautiful nymph?" Jon says and Spencer laughs and wants to swat him, but just ends up nudging him with his forehead, growing dizzy from all the oxygen and the way Jon's fingers dig into his hair. He leans up more and presses his nose against Jon's neck again, unable to resist, and then kisses the sharp angle where his jaw meets his neck, then the corner of his mouth.
Jon makes a surprised noise, going oddly still, and Spencer pulls back, blinking, cheeks flushing hotly.
"Sorry," he says, "must've been- the cat-" He turns away and wipes his mouth with the tip of his thumb.
"No, no," Jon says and pulls him closer again by his hair. He presses his lips to Spencer's, dry, but sweet, and kisses him softly, deepening the kiss a little until Spencer gasps for air.
"Okay," he breathes, "okay, wow this- I'm kissing a dude and I'm turning into a cat, and-" Jon kisses him again, but lets him pull away once more, -"and more kissing and did you notice that I have a tail? And that I hissed at Shane's dog when he was here last week?"
He searches Jon's eyes, confused, heart racing, and Jon shakes his head. "It doesn't matter, okay?" he says, "it doesn't matter."
"And it tried to chase me?" Spencer tries again. Nothing is really making sense right now, and that's a little frightening. Jon just nudges his nose against Spencer's, shaking his head.
"It's okay, it'll be alright," Jon says and Spencer closes his eyes because he wants to believe him.
*
Spencer's tail is gone the next day. He stumbles out of bed (Jon's bunk) and nearly loses his balance, catching himself on the wall. Ryan pokes his head out from between the curtains and gives him a weird look.
"Did you just come out of Jon's bunk," he asks, head tilted, and Spencer blushes faintly.
"So what," he says and pushes himself off the wall, still wobbly. One day was enough to make him rely on the additional weight to keep him balanced, and now he feels a bit weird.
"What's wrong?" Ryan says and furrows his brows. He tries to peek past Spencer into Jon's bunk, but Spencer rolls his eyes at him.
"I lost my tail," he replies, "it just went away."
Ryan snorts and shakes his head, hiding his grin behind his hand for a moment. "That what they call it these days?"
*
Spencer notices that he's not tired anymore. He slips backstage in his hat and sneaks Jon a tiny little kiss before he goes to shower, and he's just not tired. He feels worn from playing and wound, but not the diurnal tiredness he's so gotten used to.
He looks at himself in the mirror shortly after undressing. His ears are still there, soft, twitching at every little sound, but he doesn't feel like jumping anymore. He feels calmer, less wired.
*
Mikey calls him that night when Spencer is getting ready to go to the gas station with the others.
"Hey," he says, holding his phone between shoulder and ear. "What's up?"
"I remembered something," Mikey starts, "uhm, I'm only telling you this because you're turning into a cat, and I nearly turned into a rabbit. But don't tell anyone, okay, dude?"
"Sure." Spence sits on the couch, frowning slightly.
"It stopped after," Mikey begins again, hesitating, "it stopped after Gabe and I-"
"Oh," Spencer says and then, "oh."
*
Spencer loses his ears in Chicago at Jon's old apartment, face pressed into fresh sheets, gripping the freshly starched duvet of Jon's bed. Afterwards Dylan comes padding in, meowing, rubbing against the leg of the bed.
Spencer rolls over and extends a hand, letting the cat press against his fingers, and scratches behind his ears, lets his hand run down the soft line of Dylan's back.
Jon scoots up next to him and kisses his shoulder, smiling against his skin. "I'm glad you stayed human," he says softly, and Spencer laughs and picks Dylan up, letting him curl up next to them.
***
My wonderful and talented friend myrafur drew this when I first flailed at her about how Spencer needed to grow cat ears.
<3___<3 ILU MYRA.