Insomnia Leads To Strange Company Part 3
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE WHO!!!
Pairing: hints of pete/john, pete/keith, maybe pete/roger
Rating: PG-13
Warning: mild cursing, mainly from Roger, some innuendo from a perverted bassist... Just another day with the Who...
It was 2 a.m and everyone was asleep.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS KEITH!?!"
Well at least, most of the normal individuals were.
Feet moved frantically through the halls as Roger Daltrey ran, looking high and low for the normally inebriated drummer of the band. He had already checked Keith's room (Keith was given his own room due to his destructive behavior while Roger just wanted his own room) hoping to ask him to turn his television down, but was shocked to find the place destroyed with no drummer in sight.
Now why would Roger go through such trouble for someone as insane as Keith?
Well, little did most people know, there was a caring side to Mr. Daltrey. However, if you were to point this out to the singer, his normal reaction would be to threaten you with a knuckle sandwich. Luckily enough, the only two who were exposed to such a treatment were Pete and Keith.
Roger wanted to be liked, mind you. He just did not like being treated like a weakling. He left the sappy, sentimental stuff to the talking nose on a stick, Pete. It was as if every member of the group had their own purpose or niche. John was the quiet one, Keith was the crazy one, Pete was the emotional one, while he, Roger, was the tough one. This entailed that he had to stick to this fact without hesitance and being the hardworking man he was, he did not mind such a task.
After all, labels kept order, and Roger was a man of order. That is why, he often took it upon himself to keep his bandmates in order, even if it took brute force, which it often did. John was no trouble but Keith and Pete? The drummer was an addict and a loon of the highest order whereas the guitarist took it upon himself to challenge whatever the singer sent his way. Despite this, Roger never seemed to mind it when Pete and he quarreled. There was some part of him that enjoyed feuding with his emotional bandmate. After a while, the singer started to antagonize Pete for fun, taking delight when he managed to get a rise out of him.
However, at this current moment in time, he had more pressing manners to attend to with their missing drummer.
Now where was he?
It was then, in his fear that Roger decided to visit the bassist's room. He knew that John and Keith were close pals and that John would probably know the drummer's whereabouts. Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked in the direction of John's room, hoping to solve this mystery once and for all.
Pete learned another fact about his bandmates that night :
Keith tended to move around a lot as he slept.
The movements started out as a shift here and a shift there but as the night progressed, the young drummer's movements became a tad more, frequent.
Currently, Keith had a leg and an arm wrapped around Pete in a loose grip. John, however, remained unaware of what occurred around him and continued to snore in a deafening volume.
These problems, made it difficult for the guitarist to sleep.
It was 2:30 a.m and Pete had slowly came to the conclusion that sleep would not be reached tonight. Rising quietly from the bed after detangling himself from a slumbering Keith, he walked to a nearby corner to grab his guitar. Then, after grabbing a notebook and a pencil, he decided he would use this sleepless time to write a song. Slowly, he walked towards the door. With each step, he looked behind himself towards the bed to see if his bandmates stirred. When he finally reached the door, he made a slow grab at the knob. As his fingers finally curved around the knob he was startled by loud, rapid knocking.
Now Pete was never known as the most patient person in the world. When the knocking persisted more and more, he felt this fact take hold of him. In a flash, he whisked open the door and stepped out, only to crash into a startled Roger.
"What the fuck, Townshend?" Roger grunted out rather loudly. He was rather used to the unusual behavior of his bandmates but at this point and time, he wished he could go one moment without Keith's antics or Pete's brooding.
"Where's the fire, Town-"
The singer was abruptly cut off by Pete's hand around his mouth. As Roger peered into the guitarist's face for an explanation, Pete put a finger to his lips as a signal for silence. They remained in this position for a few moments before the singer finally remembered the guitarist's hold on his mouth.
Most people did not know that Roger was shy. Any physical contact that occured without his consent would make him uneasy and quite volatile. However, as Pete held his mouth, showing no sign of stopping this gesture, the singer's face turned a bright red. This could be considered an invasion of personal space but Roger found it difficult to break such contact. To make matters worse was the fact that Pete had very nice hands...
"Now, Roger," Pete started without removing his hand."Could you stop being a prick long enough to let me explain?"
The singer nodded his head "yes".
Pete then slowly removed his hand from the singer's mouth, his blue eyes fixated on Roger's.
"Now what do you need, Daltrey?" the guitarist asked calmly.
Roger took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself.
"I was hoping to ask John if he had seen Keith..."
Pete looked at Roger curiously. Now why would he be looking for Keith?
"Why are you looking for Keith?" Pete asked suddenly, startling the young singer.
"I am looking for Moon because he is in an idiot," Roger spat out defensively. The guitarist couldn't help but grin at the singer. It was obvious that he was worried about the drummer but was too proud to admit it.
"What're you grinnin' about, Townshend?" As Pete stared at Roger, he noticed that his eyes had hardened. It was a well known fact that the singer hated to be considered a joke.
"You were worried about Keith, weren't you?" the guitarist asked playfully.
"FUCK NO, TOWNSHEND!!!" Roger exclaimed loudly. "MAYBE BEING A FUCKING GIRL IS YOUR SPECIALTY BUT I AM A MAN, DAMMIT!!! I WAS NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT TWAT, KEITH!!!"
As Roger continued to shout, all Pete could do was look down at him with a grin. The singer spent so much of his time fighting and being proud that he didn't realize how funny he could be at times.
"Fine Roger," Pete started calmly, "you were not worried. You win..."
The singer didn't believe him.
"FUCK THAT TOWNSHEND! GET RID OF THAT POOF GRIN OF YOURS AND UNDERSTAND...I WAS NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT LITTLE WANKER, KEITH!!!"
"Someone call my name?"
Pete and Roger quickly turned around to see the drummer open the door slowly. At the sight of the singer, he rubbed his eyes sleepily.
"Hi Roger, what brings you here at this hour?" Keith asked quietly.
"Why the Hell are you in there, Keith?"
At the tone of the singer's voice, the other two could tell he was not amused. This was another known fact about Mr. Daltrey. He hated to feel left out of something.
"Keith came here because he had trouble sleeping, Roger," Pete said in a matter of fact tone." He seems to be one of the few people in the band struck with sleep difficulties tonight..."
Now, Roger was even more confused. Something seemed off about this entire thing and as he looked between the tired Keith and the disgruntled Pete, he realized that someone was missing from this little powwow.
"Where's John?" the singer asked suddenly and Keith found himself blushing at the accusatory tone. Pete, however, was not as amused.
"For your information, Daltrey, John is-"
"You rang?"
John appeared behind Keith. At the looks of it, the bassist had just woken up at the sound of the conversation.
"Did anyone ever tell you John that you had impeccable timing?" Pete inquired as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He really was having a horrible night and the fact that he was surrounded by his bandmates made it even worse.
"Impecca-what?"
At the inquiry, everyone turned to the small drummer, who appeared to be more awake than before. Keith, who watched as all eyes fell on him, quickly blushed, closing his mouth just as fast as he had opened it. Apparently, it was not the best time for him to ask such questions.
Roger's eyes quickly shifted from the content looking John to the blushing Keith and finally to the annoyed looking Pete. As he did so, his mind went into overdrive. Slowly, he pieced together what was going on before him. And, being the masculine being he was, he decided he didn't like the conclusion he reached.
The singer, never being one to jump around the bush, decided, in that moment, to ask.
"Were you guys fucking?" Roger asked quickly.
It suddenly became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Keith's face became red as a tomato.
"N-no we weren't..." he stuttered like mad.
"What the FUCK, Roger?" Pete exclaimed, deciding to be as blunt as he possibly could.
John, however, appeared to be unfazed. Whether it was because he was still half asleep or because that was his nature, no one knew. All the bassist did was smirk in what, one could describe as a very predatory smirk. At his silence, all eyes turned to him. While everyone else was unnerved at the smirk he gave, Pete chose this time to emit a small sigh.
The guitarist knew that smirk. It was a sign that the bassist was in a very playful mood and was about to do something very cruel. As Pete continued to stare at John, he noticed that the bassist seemed to be staring at him, slyly.
"Okay, Roger," John started in his usual deadpan, "you caught us... Now what will you do?"
"What are you talking about?" Keith asked, nervously.
"Me and Pete were screwing around and have been for a few months now..." John said calmly, wrapping an arm around Pete's shoulders in emphasis. The guitarist could only look at the bassist in shock.
What the hell was John doing?
Keith could only look between John and Pete startled while Roger remained quiet, too unnerved to speak. Although there was always a part of the singer that sensed there was such a thing going on behind his back, he chose to ignore it, believing that John would never do such a thing. After all, he knew John was heterosexual. Pete, however, he was not so sure.
At the look of his bandmates' faces, Pete knew he had to say something.
"Don't tell me you two believe this!!!" he yelled, flustered. "John is just joking!!!"
"It's fine, Pete. We respect your choices..."
Once again, all eyes fell on Keith who once again closed his mouth, embarassed.
"Keith..." Pete turned to the drummer quickly. "We really are not together! John is just being a goof!!!"
The drummer, however, did not seem convinced but when he stared into the guitarist's blue eyes, he knew the truth.
"So Keith wasn't in it?"
All eyes then fell on the singer who up until then, remained at a loss for words.
Pete slapped his forehead in frustration.
"No, Roger because NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED!!!"
John continued to watch amused until he yawned. He was starting to get sleepy and this was getting nowhere. He decided to end this charade once and for all.
"Well Peter, as you can see, you really wore me out..." All eyes once again turned to the unashamed bassist. "I'll wait for you in your bed, honey..."
John, then, for the second time that night, kissed Pete on the cheek. The guitarist's face reddened as the bassist then proceeded to slap him on the butt playfully. The others continued to watch this public display of affection, unnerved.
"Night everyone..." John said unfazed. Then without a second thought he reentered the room, satisfied.
"Pete I-" started the drummer.
"Shhhhhh..." the guitarist responded, waiting. Once he heard loud snores emerging from the room, Pete turned to look at the others. At the sight of their faces, he knew he had much explaining to do.
The clock read 3:30 a.m and Pete still hadn't gotten to sleep. He decided he would watch the others until he felt the urge to do so. It had been a long, eventful night and after he proved to the drummer and singer that he was not screwing the bassist, everyone had finally decided to head off to sleep.
Keith, after the explanation, seemed to fully believe Pete and content with such an answer reentered the room and fell asleep right next to trouble causing bassist.
Roger, however, was harder to convince. He then decided that he would sleep with them to make sure no funny business would occur. Taking his spot in the combined beds next to Keith, it did not take long for the singer to fall asleep.
Unfortunately, Pete wasn't so lucky. So, for the past half an hour, he took to sitting upright in the bed, thinking.
All the events of the night left him more to think about and with such new thoughts, he found it more difficult to sleep. He had learned new things about his bandmates that night. He learned John was sensitive as well as Keith. He learned that Roger cared more about his bandmates than he let on. At this, Pete smiled.
Now, how would he get to sleep?
"Townshend..."
In his brooding, he did not notice that Roger had woken. Looking over to the singer, he blushed as he noticed the singer's eyes were staring at him intently.
How long had Roger been watching him?
"Yes Daltrey?" Pete asked, annoyed.
"Stop thinking about Entwistle's ass and go to sleep..."
The guitarist blushed before settling back into the bed.
"Night Daltrey..." Pete muttered, turning onto his side to look away from the singer.
"Night Pete..." Roger said closing his eyes.
"Hey..." Pete said turning to the singer. "You said my name..."
"I always say your name..." he responded, gruffly.
"No. You always call me 'Townshend'..."
"So?"
"Nothing..."
"Night Pete..." the singer said once again.
"Night Roger..." the guitarist said before finally heading off to sleep.
At this, Roger opened an eye and smiled to look at his bandmates. He knew he would have to deny this tomorrow.
Closing his eyes, he fell asleep in a flash, wrapping his arm around the guitarist protectively.
And that was the end to a long night...