Summerfest P!atD drabblet
Okay, now aiming just to have one or two drabbles posted per week during July. What can I say, I fail.
This has several factual innaccuracies and my thoughts on the matter have changed a bit, but it was really freaking amusing to me when I dashed out the first part a few days after Summerfest. It somehow grew to 1400 words, I have no idea how that happened. The ending also kind of drags on, trails off, and loses the point, but I said I wasn't going to edit myself into not posting, so. Inspired by a random comment from imogenedisease: cheers Taylor!
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Brendon introduces the new song, and the crowd goes so fucking crazy that Ryan can't even hear through the ear moniters, and has to watch Spencer for the intro. He's so caught up in it, the thrill of performing something for the first time and keeping in tempo with the drums and grinning across the stage at Jon, that at first Brendon's voice doesn't even register. It's only when they hit the chorus and Ryan hears "true love" break through the noise of the crowd that he realizes something's up. He almost freezes, almost but doesn't (because he would never live it down, never ever, if he froze up during a first performance, Pete would never let it go), but his mind completely leaves the chords he's playing. His hands are moving automatically, and he's straining to hear what Brendon is singing, and he recognizes just enough of it to glance into the wings and be unsurprised by Keltie's delighted smirk. She blows him a kiss, and Brendon must see, because at the next pause he throws a wink back over his shoulder.
So Ryan knows, he knows, the two of them got together for this, and probably warned Spencer and Jon by the way Spence isn't looking at him. Then Brendon starts singing again, and his words are just absolute drivel. Ryan's getting angry, because he kind of can't believe that Keltie showed Brendon some of their text messages, and he mostly can't believe that Brendon is playing his heart out while singing lyrics that Ryan has never heard and would rather be dead than write. (And maybe, but he's ignoring this if it's so, maybe he's a bit mad at himself, that words he really meant when he said them to Keltie sound like soppy love-struck flailing when set to music.) He chimes in at the same place he would for the actual song, and he's not certain if he even sings the right lyrics or something a bit different, a lot more bitter.
The song finally ends, and Jon sends him a lopsided grin and a shrug, and the rest of the set is a blur. Ryan gestures to the stage right tech and gets his ear moniter tweaked so that the bass and piano mostly drown out Brendon's voice, and he doesn't even care if he damages his eardrums because he is so fucking pissed.
When the set's over and they get into the wings, Ryan walks up to Brendon and slugs him straight in the jaw without preamble. Brendon is knocked off the edge of the stage and hits the ground with a wince, and Ryan is set to jump down on top of him and punch him again except that Spencer's got his arm too tightly and Jon is in the way. They're all quiet and breathing hard, the backstage not at all quiet because of the shouting and laughing from the crowd, and Ryan stumbles a little when Spencer shoves him back towards their dressing room. He goes without comment, not looking at Brendon, but not shaking off Spencer's hand either.
When they're almost to the door, Spencer says "Don't stay too pissed, okay? It was just a dumb joke."
"Have you seen Keltie?" Ryan asks, pulling out of Spencer's grasp and pushing through the door.
"She was talking with Zach, last I saw." Spencer rolls his neck, takes off his moniter. "God, that felt good."
Ryan's all set to make some sarcastic remark about how he would have agreed right up until Brendon totally fucked him over, but he throws his hat off his head and pauses. He brushes a hand back through his hair, feels the buzzing in his veins like lighting, the light sweat collecting between his shoulderblades, the spots still in his eyes from the lights. He laughs. Spencer's eyes dart up to him, and Ryan grins wide and throws his sweaty shirt at his face, saying, "Fuck yeah it felt good!"
Spencer dumps a water bottle over Ryan's head in retaliation, and when the others arrive they're wrestling on the ground and growling insults about the other's mother. Keltie pokes her head in over Brendon's shoulder, watches for a moment, then leans back into the hallway.
"HALEY!" She shouts. "Our boyfriends are wrestling shirtless, and it is totally fucking hot! Bring your camera and get your ass down here!"
"So how about that show!" Jon says brightly. Ryan gets Spencer pinned and throws a half-hearted glare at Brendon, who is still hovering uncertainly near the door.
"If everyone thinks I regressed to middle school for those lyrics, I am going to hit Buzznet with those pictures of you and Pete," Ryan threatens, shifting both of Spencer's wrists to one hand and poking at his stomach. Spencer glares and tries to throw Ryan off, then squeals loudly. Ryan gleefully pokes away at the ticklish spot until Spencer's thrashing legs knock over a table and he's gasping out "truce!" in between laughs.
"Truce," Brendon says solemnly, offering Ryan a hand up. "And it was totally my idea. I worked alone! Lone Ranger, all the way."
"Whatever." Ryan wraps an arm around Keltie's waist once he's on his feet. "So, Tonto, you ready to blow this place?"
Keltie laughs and Brendon looks scandelized. "I get a punch and she gets nuzzled? How is that fair?"
"I'm not the one he spent two weeks fighting with over that song." Keltie reaches out to flick Brendon's ear. "Also, he knows I'll blow him to make up for it."
"Dude, I would totally blow you to make up for it." Brendon says.
"Clearly I walked in at the wrong time." Haley's eyebrows are somewhere around her hairline. "So I'm going to turn around and walk back out, okay? Okay."
"Haley!" Brendon snags her arm. "You're an impartial judge. Tell me, how bad does it look?"
"Does what look? The room?" Haley glances around, eyes lingering on Spencer still panting and twitching on the floor. "It looks pretty bad, I could totally believe you guys just had an orgy in here."
"Not the room, my face! Are my good looks ruined forever?"
"Your face looks pretty bad too, but I can't say it's worse than usual." She teases.
He sighs dramatically and flops in front of the mirror, prodding his cheek carefully.
"You totally set yourself up for that one." Spencer says breathlessly as he climbs to his feet. He almost gets knocked right back down as William blows through the doorway and latches onto Jon's neck.
"Jon Walker, I am stealing you back!" Bill says. "You and your utter lack of hair, and macho mountain beard. Come and get drunk! You need to introduce Sisky to Everclear like you promised, or Mike's going to do it without you. And Sisky's introduction to the joys of Everclear should not include puking up Whoomp all night, it should include the magical nature of JWalk's special Pink Socks. Do it for Sisky!"
"Do it to shut Bill up." Spencer grumbles.
"You give people pink socks? While they're drunk?" Haley's eyes look about to bug out. "And they stay your friends?"
"It's a shot!" Jon hastily assures her. "Ew. No, it's this shot that Nick came up with. Tastes like Trix, actually."
"Trix made with rubbing alcohal instead of milk." Brendon chimes in.
"You're welcome to join us!" Bill says cheerfully. He stops petting Jon's beard and drapes himself on the counter next to Brendon. "All of you! The more the merrier, and the less likely Michael is going to mope in his room."
"Ready to go?" Keltie asks as Ryan tosses his second water bottle towards the trash. She stretches out her hand, and he grabs the last of his stuff and takes hold.
"Meet you guys back at the hotel," he says and ducks out of the room. As they're walking towards the exit, Keltie bumps her hip against his own.
"You're really not mad?" She asks, biting her lip a little. "I know it was kind of a shitty thing to do."
"No, whatever, it was just one performance. Hey, still my words, right?" He wraps his arm around her shoulders and squeezes. "I was actually thinking we should record it that way. Give you credit for the arrangement. Release it as a bonus track."
She grins and hums out the melody. He smiles into her hair and pushes open the door.
-
An attempt at sorting out the lyrics
This has several factual innaccuracies and my thoughts on the matter have changed a bit, but it was really freaking amusing to me when I dashed out the first part a few days after Summerfest. It somehow grew to 1400 words, I have no idea how that happened. The ending also kind of drags on, trails off, and loses the point, but I said I wasn't going to edit myself into not posting, so. Inspired by a random comment from imogenedisease: cheers Taylor!
-
Brendon introduces the new song, and the crowd goes so fucking crazy that Ryan can't even hear through the ear moniters, and has to watch Spencer for the intro. He's so caught up in it, the thrill of performing something for the first time and keeping in tempo with the drums and grinning across the stage at Jon, that at first Brendon's voice doesn't even register. It's only when they hit the chorus and Ryan hears "true love" break through the noise of the crowd that he realizes something's up. He almost freezes, almost but doesn't (because he would never live it down, never ever, if he froze up during a first performance, Pete would never let it go), but his mind completely leaves the chords he's playing. His hands are moving automatically, and he's straining to hear what Brendon is singing, and he recognizes just enough of it to glance into the wings and be unsurprised by Keltie's delighted smirk. She blows him a kiss, and Brendon must see, because at the next pause he throws a wink back over his shoulder.
So Ryan knows, he knows, the two of them got together for this, and probably warned Spencer and Jon by the way Spence isn't looking at him. Then Brendon starts singing again, and his words are just absolute drivel. Ryan's getting angry, because he kind of can't believe that Keltie showed Brendon some of their text messages, and he mostly can't believe that Brendon is playing his heart out while singing lyrics that Ryan has never heard and would rather be dead than write. (And maybe, but he's ignoring this if it's so, maybe he's a bit mad at himself, that words he really meant when he said them to Keltie sound like soppy love-struck flailing when set to music.) He chimes in at the same place he would for the actual song, and he's not certain if he even sings the right lyrics or something a bit different, a lot more bitter.
The song finally ends, and Jon sends him a lopsided grin and a shrug, and the rest of the set is a blur. Ryan gestures to the stage right tech and gets his ear moniter tweaked so that the bass and piano mostly drown out Brendon's voice, and he doesn't even care if he damages his eardrums because he is so fucking pissed.
When the set's over and they get into the wings, Ryan walks up to Brendon and slugs him straight in the jaw without preamble. Brendon is knocked off the edge of the stage and hits the ground with a wince, and Ryan is set to jump down on top of him and punch him again except that Spencer's got his arm too tightly and Jon is in the way. They're all quiet and breathing hard, the backstage not at all quiet because of the shouting and laughing from the crowd, and Ryan stumbles a little when Spencer shoves him back towards their dressing room. He goes without comment, not looking at Brendon, but not shaking off Spencer's hand either.
When they're almost to the door, Spencer says "Don't stay too pissed, okay? It was just a dumb joke."
"Have you seen Keltie?" Ryan asks, pulling out of Spencer's grasp and pushing through the door.
"She was talking with Zach, last I saw." Spencer rolls his neck, takes off his moniter. "God, that felt good."
Ryan's all set to make some sarcastic remark about how he would have agreed right up until Brendon totally fucked him over, but he throws his hat off his head and pauses. He brushes a hand back through his hair, feels the buzzing in his veins like lighting, the light sweat collecting between his shoulderblades, the spots still in his eyes from the lights. He laughs. Spencer's eyes dart up to him, and Ryan grins wide and throws his sweaty shirt at his face, saying, "Fuck yeah it felt good!"
Spencer dumps a water bottle over Ryan's head in retaliation, and when the others arrive they're wrestling on the ground and growling insults about the other's mother. Keltie pokes her head in over Brendon's shoulder, watches for a moment, then leans back into the hallway.
"HALEY!" She shouts. "Our boyfriends are wrestling shirtless, and it is totally fucking hot! Bring your camera and get your ass down here!"
"So how about that show!" Jon says brightly. Ryan gets Spencer pinned and throws a half-hearted glare at Brendon, who is still hovering uncertainly near the door.
"If everyone thinks I regressed to middle school for those lyrics, I am going to hit Buzznet with those pictures of you and Pete," Ryan threatens, shifting both of Spencer's wrists to one hand and poking at his stomach. Spencer glares and tries to throw Ryan off, then squeals loudly. Ryan gleefully pokes away at the ticklish spot until Spencer's thrashing legs knock over a table and he's gasping out "truce!" in between laughs.
"Truce," Brendon says solemnly, offering Ryan a hand up. "And it was totally my idea. I worked alone! Lone Ranger, all the way."
"Whatever." Ryan wraps an arm around Keltie's waist once he's on his feet. "So, Tonto, you ready to blow this place?"
Keltie laughs and Brendon looks scandelized. "I get a punch and she gets nuzzled? How is that fair?"
"I'm not the one he spent two weeks fighting with over that song." Keltie reaches out to flick Brendon's ear. "Also, he knows I'll blow him to make up for it."
"Dude, I would totally blow you to make up for it." Brendon says.
"Clearly I walked in at the wrong time." Haley's eyebrows are somewhere around her hairline. "So I'm going to turn around and walk back out, okay? Okay."
"Haley!" Brendon snags her arm. "You're an impartial judge. Tell me, how bad does it look?"
"Does what look? The room?" Haley glances around, eyes lingering on Spencer still panting and twitching on the floor. "It looks pretty bad, I could totally believe you guys just had an orgy in here."
"Not the room, my face! Are my good looks ruined forever?"
"Your face looks pretty bad too, but I can't say it's worse than usual." She teases.
He sighs dramatically and flops in front of the mirror, prodding his cheek carefully.
"You totally set yourself up for that one." Spencer says breathlessly as he climbs to his feet. He almost gets knocked right back down as William blows through the doorway and latches onto Jon's neck.
"Jon Walker, I am stealing you back!" Bill says. "You and your utter lack of hair, and macho mountain beard. Come and get drunk! You need to introduce Sisky to Everclear like you promised, or Mike's going to do it without you. And Sisky's introduction to the joys of Everclear should not include puking up Whoomp all night, it should include the magical nature of JWalk's special Pink Socks. Do it for Sisky!"
"Do it to shut Bill up." Spencer grumbles.
"You give people pink socks? While they're drunk?" Haley's eyes look about to bug out. "And they stay your friends?"
"It's a shot!" Jon hastily assures her. "Ew. No, it's this shot that Nick came up with. Tastes like Trix, actually."
"Trix made with rubbing alcohal instead of milk." Brendon chimes in.
"You're welcome to join us!" Bill says cheerfully. He stops petting Jon's beard and drapes himself on the counter next to Brendon. "All of you! The more the merrier, and the less likely Michael is going to mope in his room."
"Ready to go?" Keltie asks as Ryan tosses his second water bottle towards the trash. She stretches out her hand, and he grabs the last of his stuff and takes hold.
"Meet you guys back at the hotel," he says and ducks out of the room. As they're walking towards the exit, Keltie bumps her hip against his own.
"You're really not mad?" She asks, biting her lip a little. "I know it was kind of a shitty thing to do."
"No, whatever, it was just one performance. Hey, still my words, right?" He wraps his arm around her shoulders and squeezes. "I was actually thinking we should record it that way. Give you credit for the arrangement. Release it as a bonus track."
She grins and hums out the melody. He smiles into her hair and pushes open the door.
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An attempt at sorting out the lyrics