when the bright sun falls away | panic! | jon/spencer | pg-13
when the bright sun falls away
(843 words) // (PG-13, mostly for swearing)
for mar 13 07.
oneechan19 said "purple, cow, camera, cards, beads". Spencer cleans. Jon helps him, sort of.
"Spencer Smith, why is there a large purple cow sitting on your bed staring at me like I killed its mom?" Jon's leaning against the doorjamb of Spencer's room; he's been leaning there for the past two, three minutes, and Spencer hasn't noticed him, so he figures that's as good a way to get his attention as any.
And it's been bothering him, too. No purple stuffed cow should look that sad. It's like a rule of nature, or something. Just plain wrong.
Spencer jumps a little, turns around and looks at Jon from the middle of his closet, one eyebrow raised. "You know, I'm pretty sure it's illegal for Jon Walkers to just invade houses. There are laws against it."
"Oh," says Jon, and looks at the cow again. "Maybe that's the look that thing is giving me. It's sad I've popped its personal space bubble."
Spencer nods solemnly, looking back into the closet for a moment before walking out, sitting on his bed -- moving the large purple cow out of the way, of course, Jon knows Spencer would never do anything as callous as sitting on a cow that's already had such a hard life -- and bending over. When his head pops back into sight, it's followed by a large cardboard box that seems to be leaking glitter.
"Aw, shit," Spencer says, peering into the box. "It looks like something exploded in here."
"Probably did," Jon says, walking over and sitting on the other side of the box. "That's why you shouldn't put glitter bombs in cardboard boxes. They're a really bad combination."
"Did you have a run-in with a glitter bomb when you were younger?"
"I did," Jon says, and sighs. "I don't like to talk about it."
"Understandable," Spencer says, and starts pulling things out of the box. "You know, I don't even remember owning half of this stuff." He gets a handful of playing cards with cats on their backs, and hands one to Jon. "Here, have a joker. Covered in glitter."
"How many people can say they have a cat joker covered in glitter?" Jon grins, puts the card into his pocket. When he looks down there's glitter all over the front of his hoodie, and he keeps smiling.
"Or why she kept any of this, let alone up in the attic, seriously." It seems to be mostly paper coming out of the box, Jon decides. Probably school papers from when Spencer was in, like. First grade, or something. "Why does she expect me to care what she does with it?"
"Maybe there's stuff in there she thinks you might want?"
"I dunno." Spencer shrugs, stopping for the moment, and starts tidying the pile of papers. Jon watches, watches Spencer's fingers align the corners and the sides and tap things into place, and decides he's right.
"Hey, what's this?" Jon pulls a bracelet out of the box; it's on a sparkly elastic cord, ten or twenty brightly-colored beads strung on it. It's got, um. Character.
Spencer looks up, mouth open to say something, and then decides against it. A little smile settles on his face, and he takes the bracelet from Jon's hand, tilting his head to look at it. "I, um. My first girlfriend gave this to me, back in second grade. I wore it until she moved away. And then for a month after, I think, and then I forgot. Or something."
Jon feigns shock, wide eyes and open mouth. "Spencer Smith! She gave you a pretty beaded bracelet and you just forgot? Oh, man, you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
"Yeah, fuck you," Spencer says, grinning as he looks back into the box. "I think this box is all papers now that that's out." A moment later, the papers are back in the box, and then the box is on the floor.
Jon offers a smile, instead of bothering to think of something to say; Spencer answers with a smile, and scoots closer on the bed. "You have glitter all over you," he says, and starts gently rubbing his fingers over Jon's face.
Instead of saying anything -- he knows it's true, after all -- Jon just keeps smiling; after a few seconds, Spencer stops looking at Jon's cheeks and beard and looks Jon in the eye, instead. A few seconds more and Spencer's hand stops moving, resting on Jon's cheek.
There's a piece of glitter on Spencer's forehead, so Jon reaches to get it off, lets his hand fall to Spencer's knee. He gets an idea, though, so he touches his fingertip to the tip of Spencer's nose just firmly enough, and when he pulls his finger away Spencer's nose sparkles. Spencer's eyes cross a little, but after a second he gives up and smiles, instead, sparkling as much as his nose.
Jon thinks of the playing card in his pocket, and memory, and later, much later, when he gets back to his stuff, he puts the playing card in his camera case, watching it get glitter everywhere and smiling.
(843 words) // (PG-13, mostly for swearing)
for mar 13 07.
oneechan19 said "purple, cow, camera, cards, beads". Spencer cleans. Jon helps him, sort of.
"Spencer Smith, why is there a large purple cow sitting on your bed staring at me like I killed its mom?" Jon's leaning against the doorjamb of Spencer's room; he's been leaning there for the past two, three minutes, and Spencer hasn't noticed him, so he figures that's as good a way to get his attention as any.
And it's been bothering him, too. No purple stuffed cow should look that sad. It's like a rule of nature, or something. Just plain wrong.
Spencer jumps a little, turns around and looks at Jon from the middle of his closet, one eyebrow raised. "You know, I'm pretty sure it's illegal for Jon Walkers to just invade houses. There are laws against it."
"Oh," says Jon, and looks at the cow again. "Maybe that's the look that thing is giving me. It's sad I've popped its personal space bubble."
Spencer nods solemnly, looking back into the closet for a moment before walking out, sitting on his bed -- moving the large purple cow out of the way, of course, Jon knows Spencer would never do anything as callous as sitting on a cow that's already had such a hard life -- and bending over. When his head pops back into sight, it's followed by a large cardboard box that seems to be leaking glitter.
"Aw, shit," Spencer says, peering into the box. "It looks like something exploded in here."
"Probably did," Jon says, walking over and sitting on the other side of the box. "That's why you shouldn't put glitter bombs in cardboard boxes. They're a really bad combination."
"Did you have a run-in with a glitter bomb when you were younger?"
"I did," Jon says, and sighs. "I don't like to talk about it."
"Understandable," Spencer says, and starts pulling things out of the box. "You know, I don't even remember owning half of this stuff." He gets a handful of playing cards with cats on their backs, and hands one to Jon. "Here, have a joker. Covered in glitter."
"How many people can say they have a cat joker covered in glitter?" Jon grins, puts the card into his pocket. When he looks down there's glitter all over the front of his hoodie, and he keeps smiling.
"Or why she kept any of this, let alone up in the attic, seriously." It seems to be mostly paper coming out of the box, Jon decides. Probably school papers from when Spencer was in, like. First grade, or something. "Why does she expect me to care what she does with it?"
"Maybe there's stuff in there she thinks you might want?"
"I dunno." Spencer shrugs, stopping for the moment, and starts tidying the pile of papers. Jon watches, watches Spencer's fingers align the corners and the sides and tap things into place, and decides he's right.
"Hey, what's this?" Jon pulls a bracelet out of the box; it's on a sparkly elastic cord, ten or twenty brightly-colored beads strung on it. It's got, um. Character.
Spencer looks up, mouth open to say something, and then decides against it. A little smile settles on his face, and he takes the bracelet from Jon's hand, tilting his head to look at it. "I, um. My first girlfriend gave this to me, back in second grade. I wore it until she moved away. And then for a month after, I think, and then I forgot. Or something."
Jon feigns shock, wide eyes and open mouth. "Spencer Smith! She gave you a pretty beaded bracelet and you just forgot? Oh, man, you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
"Yeah, fuck you," Spencer says, grinning as he looks back into the box. "I think this box is all papers now that that's out." A moment later, the papers are back in the box, and then the box is on the floor.
Jon offers a smile, instead of bothering to think of something to say; Spencer answers with a smile, and scoots closer on the bed. "You have glitter all over you," he says, and starts gently rubbing his fingers over Jon's face.
Instead of saying anything -- he knows it's true, after all -- Jon just keeps smiling; after a few seconds, Spencer stops looking at Jon's cheeks and beard and looks Jon in the eye, instead. A few seconds more and Spencer's hand stops moving, resting on Jon's cheek.
There's a piece of glitter on Spencer's forehead, so Jon reaches to get it off, lets his hand fall to Spencer's knee. He gets an idea, though, so he touches his fingertip to the tip of Spencer's nose just firmly enough, and when he pulls his finger away Spencer's nose sparkles. Spencer's eyes cross a little, but after a second he gives up and smiles, instead, sparkling as much as his nose.
Jon thinks of the playing card in his pocket, and memory, and later, much later, when he gets back to his stuff, he puts the playing card in his camera case, watching it get glitter everywhere and smiling.