stardustonsable | (no subject)

Do Your Part to Save the Scene
Spencer/Bob, past Bob/Ray, pre-Gerard/Frank
PG-13 1,849

Bob is not happy. Not only does he unexpectedly have a new boss, ‘two new bosses’ he reminds himself, but they’ve hired some kid, he’s pretty sure it’s a boy but the shirt and the hips begged to differ, to “help” him. Help him do what he isn’t sure, but nothing good judging from the glint in Frank’s eye.

-*-

“No, Ry, you can’t set things on fire to watch people’s reactions….I don’t care if its research.”

Bob is staring. He could accept this. After all the kid is wearing some seriously glittery shit. Its mint green. He is pretty sure there’s a unicorn, too. Bob wants to whimper, but he’s fairly sure it’d ruin the ‘scary big guy’ image he’s been cultivating for years now.

The kid hangs up the phone and gives a little smirk. “Hey, ‘m Spencer. You’re Bob, yeah?” Fucking Frank. Him and Jon. He hates them both.

“Yeah. You’re the new tech…intern like-thing” Bob ends weakly, Spencer’s smirk grew.

“And DJ.” He adds, the smirk almost a full blown smile.

-*-

Bob really wonders about his sanity. He could be touring with some headliner band right now. Instead he’s in an enclosed space with a (probably underaged) kid who now had a frozen phallic symbol.

Frank had come in a minute ago, shirt off, bitching about the heat and passing out popsicles. The kid, who’d been blasting J-rock of all things and not helping Bob do anything, gave him an odd look but took the popsicle.

“You from somewhere closer to the equator?” Bob asks, willing the kid to stop fellating the flavored ice.

“Nah,” Spencer says, and licks his lips a little. Bob felt a bit offended on behalf of his resolve not to throw the kid against the nearest flat surface and fuck him silly. “ the desert. Vegas. Me and Ryan lived there until college. Just chose to stay out here.

Bob blinks. “You’re…you’re out of college?” He’d thought the kid was underage.

Spencer shrugs. “We both skipped a few grades. And no, Ryan dropped out when his first book got picked up. He’s paying my tuition whenever I go back.”

Bob nods, nice of the kids…boyfriend. He refused to acknowledge the disappointment that tinged the word.

“So what’s a relatively well off minigenius like you doing working at a club on the kinda good side of town.”

Spencer shrugs and looks away and Bob knows a signal to change the subject when he sees one.

-*-

Gerard is many things; an artist, a brother, a son. He is not, however, good with people . Years of being the weird kid (the weird fat kid in school, the potentially hot weird man at his desk job, the weird dude with the vampires whenever anyone looks at his art) preconditioned him to this. So he isn’t sure what to do when he’s gone to a (maybe)soon-to-be-open club to pick Bob up and is accosted by a small tattooed man.

“Hey,” he says, immediately invading Gerard’s personal space. “You’re Bob’s artist friend right? Do you do murals?” He puts his hand on Gerard’s shoulder, who stamps down his ‘flail’ instinct firmly.

“Yeah…” He answers cautiously look toward the source of faint music, searching for Bob.

“Awesome! Jon!” Frank began to call, walking off and dragging Gerard with him.

The days, day actually, go by agonizingly slow. The club’s sound system is more of an electrician’s job at this point, meaning he and Spencer have nothing to do. So they sit there, Spencer talking to Ryan, eyes occasionally flitting over to Bob, while Bob imagines exactly how much this Ryan guy could hurt him if he acts on some of the urges he’s had.

Bob is a pretty big guy, solid Frank had called him the night Jon left him, before another round of drinks and a week of comfort fucks. He isn’t used to worrying about a physical threat, the last time he’d gotten beat up was when he was Gerard’s date to his Senior Prom, and they’d laughed as the cleaned up bloody noses, and Gerard promised to do everything to piss off those jocks. Gerard had proudly worn eyeliner to his graduation and Mikey, Bob and Ray had screamed their heads off for them.

“Having a nice trip?” Spencer asks, pulling Bob gently from his memories.

“Yeah,” Bob answered, forgetting to get nervous. “thinking about Gee, and Ray. His senior year was awesome for us.”

“Really?” Spencer asks, raising an eyebrow. He’d only met Gerard yesterday but he doesn’t seem like the type to have an exciting high school experience.

“Yea, he was all about fighting social expectations and all that, so he hung out with us all year. We were just sophomores, so we thought he was the shit. I went to Prom with him. “

“Really?” Spencer asks again, seeming honestly interested. “I didn’t think he was—“

Bob snorts, cutting Spencer off. “Some shits wrote fag on his car early in the year. He added daisies and shit to it and rode with it until his third year in college.”

Spencer laughs. “That sounds like something Ry would do.”

“Um, yeah.” Bob shuts down at the mention of Ryan. “I’m…gonna go find Frank.” He’s out of the booth before Spencer can say anything else. He’s still cursing his luck when he runs into someone and they don’t topple over. It’s a rare occurrence with all the razor-sharp, rail-thin scene kids that know Frank occasionally milling around.

Bob blinks when he sees Jon. He’s staring, he can’t help it. The last time he’d seen Jon face to face was over Frank’s sweat slick shoulder, and then his eyes were wide and dark with hurt.

“Bob, hey.” There’s a boy(?) with him, decked out in amber eyeliner, a tendril extends out and up into his hairline in a curve that fits somehow, girl jeans and a mint green shirt. A very familiar mint green shirt. With a unicorn.

‘No. Fucking. Way’ Bob thinks calmly, he has time to be hysterical later.

“Do you know where Spencer is? Ryan wants him.”

A little hysterical giggle that sounds a lot like Frank echoes in his head.

“He, um, DJ booth, yeah.” He rushes off ignoring the curious looks the two men give him.

-*-

Gerard’s giggle is a lot like Frank’s. It’s not reassuring. Bob tells him this after he finishes the story.

“You want me to tell him about your crush?” Gerard offers. Bob tries valiantly to glare at him but the intensity is lost in the pillow he tried to smother himself with.

“No. He has a boyfriend.” Sure Ryan weighs about five pounds, but they move like they knew each other’s body and Ryan holds Spencer’s hips like they’re something delicate. Bob has told Gerard this several times.

“Kind like how you pet Ray’s hair? ‘Cause it’s there, always has been there, so you don’t notice you just do?” he says it all like a question. “Bob…I’ve only been there, like, twice and I can see that the kid likes you.”

Bob mumbles into the pillow and Gerard sighs as if he’s about to sacrifice himself to a great cause. Bob hears this sigh at least twice a week.

“Ray’s visiting for about a month. He should be here tomorrow…he’s thinking about moving back here.”

Bob sits up. “Seriously? Did you tell Frankie? He’ll lose it.”

Gerard fidgets. “Um, no. Frank..no.” It was summer and Gerard is tan but Bob can still tell he’s blushing. He wishes he was in a position to call him on it.

-*-

Bob should’ve been suspicious when Gerard pushes Ray at him then made his way to Frank. But it was Ray.

They go to the empty sound booth (Spencer had called Frank ranting about Ryan and Frank’d given him the day off), and instead of bothering around with the sound they sit and watch life happen. Frank has hired an electrician, tiny, ginger-haired with a temper, who periodically yells at Frank who’s attempting to “help.” Bob’s petting Ray’s hair and cursing Gerard for making him notice that he was doing it.

“Gee told me about the Spencer kid.” Ray says, a grin tugging his mouth upward.

“Shut up.” Bob mumbles, hoping the subject would be dropped. He tugs on a handful of curls for emphasis. “Seriously, drop it, Toro.”

Ray opens his mouth to respond when the door swings open. Spencer stares at them, eyes wide. “Oh, I, um. Sorry.”

Spencer, Bob decides, watching his fleeing form, isn’t used to being flustered. Then he wonders what he was flustered about.

-*-

Two days of almost complete silence. Spencer hasn’t said a full sentence to him in two days. The glares that Ryan gives him restores Bob’s old fear of him. Then on the third day, after Ray had left, Spencer says something.

“I never would have pegged you for the big guys.” Spencer said around his straw, the sound of smoothie moving though it filled the silence.

…Oh….oh. “I’m not.” Bob says quietly, pushing a few buttons on the still-dead soundboard. “I didn’t have much of a preference when we hooked up though. Glad it didn’t work out, though. He’s a better friend.

Spencer glances at him from the corner of his eye then looks back to the soundboard. “Yea…Ryan, too. Especially now. It’d be like dating my brother.”

Bob doesn’t say anything. Because damnit Gerard was right.

“Hey….Spence…you wanna-“

Frank bursts into the room. “Boys! We’re back in business! Patrick is magical, and loves me. We have electricity and a new accountant. We’re gonna go grab some lunch then you two can actually work, you lazy bums. ” He hops onto Bob’s back, slides down because Bob waits a minute before putting his arms up to support Frank, then points toward the door. Bob gives Spencer an apologetic look before walking out into the empty club.

“Bob Bryar.”

Ok, so maybe Bob is evading Spencer a little. But everything is just so open now. Nothing between them but Spencer’s possible rejection. Spencer’s possible rejection is a pretty big thing, actually. Which is why he’s out here, leaning against the back wall of a mostly not seedy bar, watching Gerard fidget with his cigarettes. And pretending he hadn’t heard Spencer call his name.

“Oh, Spencer, hey.” Gerard grins at Spencer then stands up straight. “I’m just gonna go…Bob, you can catch a ride right? Cool, me and Ray’ll see you later” And he’s gone. Before Bob could beg him not to leave, or kill him for being a traitor.

“Um…hi?”

And then his back is totally against the wall and huh, that’s what Spencer’s hips felt like pressed against his.

“Bob.” Spencer says again and then he’s licking his way into Bob’s mouth and Bob’s letting him because maybe it’s better than the few daydreams he’s allowed himself. Spencer is smirking against his mouth, and Bob wonders exactly what he’s about to get into.

“So,” Spencer asks, breathless, when he pulls back. “about that date you were going to ask me on.”