Slash Challenge Series - 2: Stress {Matt Flyzik/Tony Marino}
“Hey, Flyzik, you asshole…” Tony tapped Matt on the shoulder. Matt didn’t say anything, he simply turned around to face Tony, which proved to be his error. The second Matt made eye contact with Tony, it was broken by Tony’s fist slamming against Matt’s jaw.
Disclaimer: Fiction can be SUCH nasty fun. :P
Author's Note: This is a huge endeavor for me...I hope I have as much fun with it as I think I'm going to!
“Flyzik, its Marino…have you seen my idiot?”
“You mean Siska?” Matt asked, laughing into the walkie talkie.
“Do I really have to answer that?” Tony asked. Matt could practically hear the tour manager rolling his eyes as he spoke.
“He and Zack are having a Battle of the Bassists in Guitar Hero on our bus. Do you need him?”
“Yeah, send him my way?” Tony asked, speaking clearly into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.
“No.” Matt smirked as he replied.
“No?” Tony frowned. “What do you mean no? We need the bassist…”
“I mean no, I’m not going to send him to you, if you want your bassist, come and get him.” Tony could tell from Matt’s tone of voice that the young man was testing him slightly.
“Look, Flyzik, this isn’t funny, ok? The band is going on in 15 minutes and they ALL need to be here. I don’t care if it’s an inconvenience for you to walk into the bus to tell Siska that he needs to get his skinny little ass to the Main Stage NOW,” Tony snapped. It had been a long, stressful morning, as many on Warped tour were, and he was losing his patience with the other manager.
“Look, Marino, if you want your fucking bassist, come and get him.” Matt smiled to himself as he turned off his walkie-talkie so that Tony would have no choice but to come and get Sisky himself.
Tony stormed towards the All Time Low tour bus, opening the door quickly. At least Matt hadn’t lied to him, Sisky was doing exactly what he had said, playing guitar hero with Zack, and kicking ass, not that it mattered.
“Adam, come on, we have to go. You’re on soon.”
“Oh shit!” Sisky set the fake guitar down, hurrying towards the door. Tony took one look at Matt, shook his head and left, dragging Sisky with him. The band got on stage in time and played their set without any hitches. Once they were off stage and the equipment had been reloaded onto the bus, Tony’s job for the day was finally done, and the second it was, he walked over to the All Time Low bus where Matt was helping to finish the loading of equipment.
“Hey, Flyzik, you asshole…” Tony tapped Matt on the shoulder. Matt didn’t say anything, he simply turned around to face Tony, which proved to be his error. The second Matt made eye contact with Tony, it was broken by Tony’s fist slamming against Matt’s jaw.
“Holy - what was that for?” Matt frowned, backing away from Tony, putting his hand to his jaw.
“You know what that was for!” Tony shouted. “You’re a fucking tool, did you know that? I know that you have to do the same shit that I do, but really?” He snarled. “You had to make my job just that much harder, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me?” Matt asked, laughing humorlessly at Tony. “What’s wrong with you? I think that’s a much better question. Look at yourself, this isn’t you!”
“BULLSHIT!” Tony shouted.
“No, I’m serious.” Matt shook his head. “You’re moody, you’re angry, you’re stressed - for the love of god, you hit me! When was the last time that you actually hit someone?”
“When they really pissed me off!” Tony snapped.
“Ok, look, Tony, I’m sorry, ok? If I had known that you would get this upset about earlier, I wouldn’t have done it, ok?”
“Yeah? Well then why the fuck did you?” Tony hissed, refusing to believe what Matt was telling him.
“Because I had my reasons behind doing what I did,” he stated.
“Well they can’t have been very good,” Tony scoffed.
“How do you know that unless you know what they are?” Matt retorted.
“Well why don’t you tell me?” Tony challenged.
“Maybe I will,” Matt replied.
“Fine!”
“FINE!”
“SO TELL ME!” Tony shouted.
“ALRIGHT!” Matt threw his hands up in frustration. “I made you come get Sisky because I wanted to see you.”
“Oh, now that’s rich.” Tony shook his head. “You’re just saying that because you know I’m about to kick your ass.” Tony moved towards Matt, fists balled, prepared to hit Matt again. Matt, however, was determined to prove that he was telling the truth, just as he was determined not to let another of Tony’s incredibly well perfected punches make contact with his body. Matt reached out, grabbing Tony’s wrists, preventing him from following through on his threat. He pushed Tony backwards, forcing him up against the side of the bus and leaned in, pressing his lips against Tony’s in a forceful, but not overly aggressive kiss. “What the…” Tony’s eyes widened as Matt pulled away.
“I told you,” Matt said softly. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Then why did you kidnap my bassist? Why couldn’t you just ask me-”
“Because you always make excuses.” Matt shook his head. “You’re always busy, you’re always too stressed out to sit down and have a drink and just talk. This job is supposed to be hard, but Tony, it’s also supposed to be fun. Have you lost sight of that?”
“No, I-”
“You hit me,” Matt reminded him. “The old Tony, the Tony who used to LOVE chaos would never have done that.”
“I…I guess not…” Tony sighed, looking down at the ground. “But that doesn’t explain why you were such an asshole. If you wanted to be around me, you should be nice.”
“I tried that.” Matt shook his head. “You ignored me. You think that your life is so chaotic, so stressful that you only notice the people who piss you off.”
“That’s not true, that’s-”
“Completely true,” Matt argued. “Two weeks ago after the shows were through I asked you to come to the store with me to buy tequila, you were too busy. A month ago I asked you to grab dinner with me to catch up, you were too stressed out. Last week I asked you to help me go over our venue list for the next tour and tell us which venues needed extra preparation of the ones that you’d been to that I hadn’t, and you said maybe later, but you never got back to me.” Matt shook his head. “Tony, if I was going to get your attention at all, it had to be this way.”
“My God.” Tony frowned. “Am I that much of an asshole?”
“Not an asshole.” Matt shook his head. “Just stressed.”
“But that-”
“Would you stop making excuses for everything?” Matt cut Tony off again.
“Would you stop interrupting me, please?” Tony asked, one eyebrow raised.
“I let you say that all of the way through,” Matt pointed out.
“Yeah, but-”
“Shut up.” Matt pressed his lips against Tony’s again, and this time, Tony kissed him back. Matt let go of Tony’s wrists and closed his eyes as they both became wrapped up in the kiss.
“Wow.” Tony let out a deep breath as Matt pulled away.
“Do you still love your job, Tony?” Matt asked.
“If I didn’t 20 minutes ago,” Tony whispered. “I sure as hell do now.”
Disclaimer: Fiction can be SUCH nasty fun. :P
Author's Note: This is a huge endeavor for me...I hope I have as much fun with it as I think I'm going to!
“Flyzik, its Marino…have you seen my idiot?”
“You mean Siska?” Matt asked, laughing into the walkie talkie.
“Do I really have to answer that?” Tony asked. Matt could practically hear the tour manager rolling his eyes as he spoke.
“He and Zack are having a Battle of the Bassists in Guitar Hero on our bus. Do you need him?”
“Yeah, send him my way?” Tony asked, speaking clearly into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.
“No.” Matt smirked as he replied.
“No?” Tony frowned. “What do you mean no? We need the bassist…”
“I mean no, I’m not going to send him to you, if you want your bassist, come and get him.” Tony could tell from Matt’s tone of voice that the young man was testing him slightly.
“Look, Flyzik, this isn’t funny, ok? The band is going on in 15 minutes and they ALL need to be here. I don’t care if it’s an inconvenience for you to walk into the bus to tell Siska that he needs to get his skinny little ass to the Main Stage NOW,” Tony snapped. It had been a long, stressful morning, as many on Warped tour were, and he was losing his patience with the other manager.
“Look, Marino, if you want your fucking bassist, come and get him.” Matt smiled to himself as he turned off his walkie-talkie so that Tony would have no choice but to come and get Sisky himself.
Tony stormed towards the All Time Low tour bus, opening the door quickly. At least Matt hadn’t lied to him, Sisky was doing exactly what he had said, playing guitar hero with Zack, and kicking ass, not that it mattered.
“Adam, come on, we have to go. You’re on soon.”
“Oh shit!” Sisky set the fake guitar down, hurrying towards the door. Tony took one look at Matt, shook his head and left, dragging Sisky with him. The band got on stage in time and played their set without any hitches. Once they were off stage and the equipment had been reloaded onto the bus, Tony’s job for the day was finally done, and the second it was, he walked over to the All Time Low bus where Matt was helping to finish the loading of equipment.
“Hey, Flyzik, you asshole…” Tony tapped Matt on the shoulder. Matt didn’t say anything, he simply turned around to face Tony, which proved to be his error. The second Matt made eye contact with Tony, it was broken by Tony’s fist slamming against Matt’s jaw.
“Holy - what was that for?” Matt frowned, backing away from Tony, putting his hand to his jaw.
“You know what that was for!” Tony shouted. “You’re a fucking tool, did you know that? I know that you have to do the same shit that I do, but really?” He snarled. “You had to make my job just that much harder, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me?” Matt asked, laughing humorlessly at Tony. “What’s wrong with you? I think that’s a much better question. Look at yourself, this isn’t you!”
“BULLSHIT!” Tony shouted.
“No, I’m serious.” Matt shook his head. “You’re moody, you’re angry, you’re stressed - for the love of god, you hit me! When was the last time that you actually hit someone?”
“When they really pissed me off!” Tony snapped.
“Ok, look, Tony, I’m sorry, ok? If I had known that you would get this upset about earlier, I wouldn’t have done it, ok?”
“Yeah? Well then why the fuck did you?” Tony hissed, refusing to believe what Matt was telling him.
“Because I had my reasons behind doing what I did,” he stated.
“Well they can’t have been very good,” Tony scoffed.
“How do you know that unless you know what they are?” Matt retorted.
“Well why don’t you tell me?” Tony challenged.
“Maybe I will,” Matt replied.
“Fine!”
“FINE!”
“SO TELL ME!” Tony shouted.
“ALRIGHT!” Matt threw his hands up in frustration. “I made you come get Sisky because I wanted to see you.”
“Oh, now that’s rich.” Tony shook his head. “You’re just saying that because you know I’m about to kick your ass.” Tony moved towards Matt, fists balled, prepared to hit Matt again. Matt, however, was determined to prove that he was telling the truth, just as he was determined not to let another of Tony’s incredibly well perfected punches make contact with his body. Matt reached out, grabbing Tony’s wrists, preventing him from following through on his threat. He pushed Tony backwards, forcing him up against the side of the bus and leaned in, pressing his lips against Tony’s in a forceful, but not overly aggressive kiss. “What the…” Tony’s eyes widened as Matt pulled away.
“I told you,” Matt said softly. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Then why did you kidnap my bassist? Why couldn’t you just ask me-”
“Because you always make excuses.” Matt shook his head. “You’re always busy, you’re always too stressed out to sit down and have a drink and just talk. This job is supposed to be hard, but Tony, it’s also supposed to be fun. Have you lost sight of that?”
“No, I-”
“You hit me,” Matt reminded him. “The old Tony, the Tony who used to LOVE chaos would never have done that.”
“I…I guess not…” Tony sighed, looking down at the ground. “But that doesn’t explain why you were such an asshole. If you wanted to be around me, you should be nice.”
“I tried that.” Matt shook his head. “You ignored me. You think that your life is so chaotic, so stressful that you only notice the people who piss you off.”
“That’s not true, that’s-”
“Completely true,” Matt argued. “Two weeks ago after the shows were through I asked you to come to the store with me to buy tequila, you were too busy. A month ago I asked you to grab dinner with me to catch up, you were too stressed out. Last week I asked you to help me go over our venue list for the next tour and tell us which venues needed extra preparation of the ones that you’d been to that I hadn’t, and you said maybe later, but you never got back to me.” Matt shook his head. “Tony, if I was going to get your attention at all, it had to be this way.”
“My God.” Tony frowned. “Am I that much of an asshole?”
“Not an asshole.” Matt shook his head. “Just stressed.”
“But that-”
“Would you stop making excuses for everything?” Matt cut Tony off again.
“Would you stop interrupting me, please?” Tony asked, one eyebrow raised.
“I let you say that all of the way through,” Matt pointed out.
“Yeah, but-”
“Shut up.” Matt pressed his lips against Tony’s again, and this time, Tony kissed him back. Matt let go of Tony’s wrists and closed his eyes as they both became wrapped up in the kiss.
“Wow.” Tony let out a deep breath as Matt pulled away.
“Do you still love your job, Tony?” Matt asked.
“If I didn’t 20 minutes ago,” Tony whispered. “I sure as hell do now.”