Night Circus
Title: Night Circus
Fandom: Bandom (Panic At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., The Hush Sound, My Chemical Romance, Cobra Starship)
Pairing: Vaguely Brendon/Ryan/Jon/Spencer
Word Count: 1,165
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, title and rough plot outline taken from a slash manga
Summary: Ryan can't sleep, so he seeks comfort within the night circus.
Author's Notes: This has the potential to be bigger than it is, but I have no idea if I'll continue within this world.
Ryan wakes with a start, uncurling fingers tightly clenching sweat-soaked sheets. It's that dream again; the fear of falling without a net as strong as the first time he's had it.
Long fingers reach out to smooth crumbled sheets, and Ryan lays awake, listening to the sounds of the night-time world outside his open window. His fingers smooth the sheets once more before he pushes them away, shivering for a moment as the cool night air hits his bare skin.
Ryan closes his eyes as he sits up, trying to push the dream - the nightmare - away. When that doesn't work, Ryan slips from his bed, grabbing a pair of shoes and a discarded t-shirt on his way out the trailer door.
He pauses, breathing in the night air. That doesn't help dispel the remnants of the dream either and Ryan sits down on the step, putting his shoes on quietly. He considers just walking the sleeping circus, letting his legs take him wherever they will, but something stills that and makes him push away from where he’s sitting. He takes another deep breath of night air and heads toward the darkened tents, and the sleeping cages beyond.
There are flickers of movement in each of the cages, as the occupants stir at his approach. He catches flashes of bare skin here, feathers and hints of fur there.
Ryan glances toward some of the cages as he passes them on his way to one in particular. In this cage, high above the rest, Patrick and William follow him with their sharp eyes, William twirling a brown feather through his fingers. In that cage, Pete curls his fingers around the bars of his cage as he pulls himself up to watch Ryan go by, his eyes made seemingly wider by the rings of black around his eyes. Gabe hisses quietly from his cage, half hidden in the shadows it provides.
"Ryan." The voice is soft, almost unheard in the sounds from the others.
Ryan moves toward the voice, heading for the last cage, his ultimate destination. From the other cages come the sounds of the others picking up the cry of his name, but he ignores them, concentrating on the last cage.
The moonlight makes the bars cast striped shadows across Brendon's pale skin, striping the arm reaching out to Ryan through the bars.
"Ryan," Brendon repeats, his arm still reaching out for the acrobat, the fingers of his other hand curling around a bar.
Ryan's fingers curl into the offered hand, and Brendon pulls Ryan closer to the bars. Behind Brendon, Ryan can see hints of Brendon's companions; can see the shadows slashing across Jon's face; can see Spencer stepping out from the shadows at the back of the cage.
Brendon's small fingers uncurl from the bar as he tries to hug Ryan through the bars of the cage. Ryan knows it'd be easier to slip into the cage, knows where the door is - he's done this enough times - but for a moment, Ryan contents himself to be hugged awkwardly through the bars.
"Little acrobat afraid of falling?" Gabe whispers from his cage, and Ryan doesn't even raise his head as he hears a low growl come from deep within Brendon's chest, too low and too deep to come from such a small thing.
"Shut it," Spencer adds to the growl, his voice close enough to Ryan's ears that he knows the other boy is near to Brendon.
"C'mon," Jon urges, and Ryan feels warm fingers brush against his cheek as he pulls away from Brendon's grip.
Ryan stands there a moment, looking back into two pairs of brown eyes that seem almost golden in the moonlight and a pair of blue eyes that seem more silver, before he nods and pulls away completely from Brendon's hands. He moves toward the door, aware that the three occupants of this cage are watching his every move like he's some sort of fascinating prey, and unlocks the door with the keyring from close by. As he slips into the cage, carefully locking and replacing the keyring where he'd gotten it, he can hear the others in the cage stirring, coming closer.
He's not even turned around before he feels Brendon's warm arms encircle his waist, feels Brendon's cheek resting against the back of his neck. Jon and Spencer soon wrap their arms around him as well, and Ryan doesn't even notice when they're all curled up in a warm ball in the straw on the floor.
"That dream again?" Brendon whispers in Ryan's ear. Ryan doesn't glance at him, but he nods, fingers reaching to curl into Spencer's thick hair and leaning into Jon, and he feels Brendon's arms tighten more protectively around his waist, as if Brendon could protect Ryan from all his nightmares. Ryan's aware that Jon and Spencer echo the feeling as much as possible in their own ways, and Ryan closes his eyes with a faint smile, feeling himself fall back to sleep.
This time, there are no nightmares waiting for his return, safe within the pile of comfort and love.
"Why does he always do this?" Greta asks, hands on her hips as she frowns up into the sparrows' cage. The sparrows chirp back, as if amused by the look on her face. The larger one hops to the edge of the cage, almost poking its head out through the bars.
Frank says nothing for a moment, working the lock open for the lemur's cage, letting the animal crawl up to perch on his shoulder. "There's been a lot of stress on Ryan lately." He offers the lemur a piece of banana left over from breakfast, and he smiles as the creature takes it interestedly before it jumps from his shoulder to hang on the outside of its cage.
Greta moves past him, checking the other cages as she goes, although she avoids the king cobra's cage with a small shudder. She stops at the final cage and sighs, fingers curling around the bars.
Inside, one of the tigers lifts its head to look balefully at her, as if to ask for the morning's disturbance. The other, smaller one keeps right on sleeping, tucked around the human charge in the cage. The lion, clearly awake judging by the twitching of its tail, ignores her completely, more interested in poking the orange tiger with its nose. The larger tiger snorts, head turning toward the lion and the white tiger lifts its head finally, just looking up at the two bigger cats, before putting its head back down protectively by Ryan's shoulder.
Greta sighs again, biting her lip as the other two cats take their cue from the white tiger and resettle themselves around Ryan. "You really do like them, don't you, Ryan?" She whispers as Frank silently comes up behind her, the lemur back on his shoulder.
The occupants of the cage say nothing, letting the early morning silence lull them back into sleep.
Fandom: Bandom (Panic At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., The Hush Sound, My Chemical Romance, Cobra Starship)
Pairing: Vaguely Brendon/Ryan/Jon/Spencer
Word Count: 1,165
Rating: PG
Warnings: AU
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, title and rough plot outline taken from a slash manga
Summary: Ryan can't sleep, so he seeks comfort within the night circus.
Author's Notes: This has the potential to be bigger than it is, but I have no idea if I'll continue within this world.
Ryan wakes with a start, uncurling fingers tightly clenching sweat-soaked sheets. It's that dream again; the fear of falling without a net as strong as the first time he's had it.
Long fingers reach out to smooth crumbled sheets, and Ryan lays awake, listening to the sounds of the night-time world outside his open window. His fingers smooth the sheets once more before he pushes them away, shivering for a moment as the cool night air hits his bare skin.
Ryan closes his eyes as he sits up, trying to push the dream - the nightmare - away. When that doesn't work, Ryan slips from his bed, grabbing a pair of shoes and a discarded t-shirt on his way out the trailer door.
He pauses, breathing in the night air. That doesn't help dispel the remnants of the dream either and Ryan sits down on the step, putting his shoes on quietly. He considers just walking the sleeping circus, letting his legs take him wherever they will, but something stills that and makes him push away from where he’s sitting. He takes another deep breath of night air and heads toward the darkened tents, and the sleeping cages beyond.
There are flickers of movement in each of the cages, as the occupants stir at his approach. He catches flashes of bare skin here, feathers and hints of fur there.
Ryan glances toward some of the cages as he passes them on his way to one in particular. In this cage, high above the rest, Patrick and William follow him with their sharp eyes, William twirling a brown feather through his fingers. In that cage, Pete curls his fingers around the bars of his cage as he pulls himself up to watch Ryan go by, his eyes made seemingly wider by the rings of black around his eyes. Gabe hisses quietly from his cage, half hidden in the shadows it provides.
"Ryan." The voice is soft, almost unheard in the sounds from the others.
Ryan moves toward the voice, heading for the last cage, his ultimate destination. From the other cages come the sounds of the others picking up the cry of his name, but he ignores them, concentrating on the last cage.
The moonlight makes the bars cast striped shadows across Brendon's pale skin, striping the arm reaching out to Ryan through the bars.
"Ryan," Brendon repeats, his arm still reaching out for the acrobat, the fingers of his other hand curling around a bar.
Ryan's fingers curl into the offered hand, and Brendon pulls Ryan closer to the bars. Behind Brendon, Ryan can see hints of Brendon's companions; can see the shadows slashing across Jon's face; can see Spencer stepping out from the shadows at the back of the cage.
Brendon's small fingers uncurl from the bar as he tries to hug Ryan through the bars of the cage. Ryan knows it'd be easier to slip into the cage, knows where the door is - he's done this enough times - but for a moment, Ryan contents himself to be hugged awkwardly through the bars.
"Little acrobat afraid of falling?" Gabe whispers from his cage, and Ryan doesn't even raise his head as he hears a low growl come from deep within Brendon's chest, too low and too deep to come from such a small thing.
"Shut it," Spencer adds to the growl, his voice close enough to Ryan's ears that he knows the other boy is near to Brendon.
"C'mon," Jon urges, and Ryan feels warm fingers brush against his cheek as he pulls away from Brendon's grip.
Ryan stands there a moment, looking back into two pairs of brown eyes that seem almost golden in the moonlight and a pair of blue eyes that seem more silver, before he nods and pulls away completely from Brendon's hands. He moves toward the door, aware that the three occupants of this cage are watching his every move like he's some sort of fascinating prey, and unlocks the door with the keyring from close by. As he slips into the cage, carefully locking and replacing the keyring where he'd gotten it, he can hear the others in the cage stirring, coming closer.
He's not even turned around before he feels Brendon's warm arms encircle his waist, feels Brendon's cheek resting against the back of his neck. Jon and Spencer soon wrap their arms around him as well, and Ryan doesn't even notice when they're all curled up in a warm ball in the straw on the floor.
"That dream again?" Brendon whispers in Ryan's ear. Ryan doesn't glance at him, but he nods, fingers reaching to curl into Spencer's thick hair and leaning into Jon, and he feels Brendon's arms tighten more protectively around his waist, as if Brendon could protect Ryan from all his nightmares. Ryan's aware that Jon and Spencer echo the feeling as much as possible in their own ways, and Ryan closes his eyes with a faint smile, feeling himself fall back to sleep.
This time, there are no nightmares waiting for his return, safe within the pile of comfort and love.
"Why does he always do this?" Greta asks, hands on her hips as she frowns up into the sparrows' cage. The sparrows chirp back, as if amused by the look on her face. The larger one hops to the edge of the cage, almost poking its head out through the bars.
Frank says nothing for a moment, working the lock open for the lemur's cage, letting the animal crawl up to perch on his shoulder. "There's been a lot of stress on Ryan lately." He offers the lemur a piece of banana left over from breakfast, and he smiles as the creature takes it interestedly before it jumps from his shoulder to hang on the outside of its cage.
Greta moves past him, checking the other cages as she goes, although she avoids the king cobra's cage with a small shudder. She stops at the final cage and sighs, fingers curling around the bars.
Inside, one of the tigers lifts its head to look balefully at her, as if to ask for the morning's disturbance. The other, smaller one keeps right on sleeping, tucked around the human charge in the cage. The lion, clearly awake judging by the twitching of its tail, ignores her completely, more interested in poking the orange tiger with its nose. The larger tiger snorts, head turning toward the lion and the white tiger lifts its head finally, just looking up at the two bigger cats, before putting its head back down protectively by Ryan's shoulder.
Greta sighs again, biting her lip as the other two cats take their cue from the white tiger and resettle themselves around Ryan. "You really do like them, don't you, Ryan?" She whispers as Frank silently comes up behind her, the lemur back on his shoulder.
The occupants of the cage say nothing, letting the early morning silence lull them back into sleep.