Title: The Beat Goes On…
Author: Emily (me! Emmy126/Hometown_Stardom)
Pairing: Spencer/The Butcher friendship
Rating: PG
Prompt: bb!Spencer and Butcher bond over drumming and... idk, invent some crazy thing they're both interested in. (I didn't focus on the second part as much as I probably should, but idk much about curling. rofl)
Disclaimer: I don’t own these people. Duh. I just pretend they’re my puppets. Some of these details are probably wrong. Don’t kill me. Please? Title belongs to Sonny & Cher. (this is un-beta'd because it is just words)
Author’s Note: So Here it is. The first short that I’m writing for NaNoWriMo. Enjoy! Thanks to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redsnake05 for the prompt!
When Panic! At The Disco was announced to head out on the Truckstops and Statelines tour with The Academy Is… Spencer Smith, out of his element, was nervous. Sure, they’d been ready, but it was different, they were heading out on with their labelmates, their friends. He felt the need to prove himself to them, to show them that they were good enough.
So when they showed up for the first pre-tour get together, he was amused to find that none of the guys were that much different than they were. Sure, the guys of TAI had more experience, but they had just as many quirks as his own band did, or at least, as many as were normal. He didn’t think that anyone could have as many quirks as Ryan.
He came into the room, looking around, crossing his arms over his chest, his weight tipped sideways onto one hip as he looked around the room, suddenly unimpressed with the sight before him. There was a group of guys in the corner, now including Brendon, who were talking in hushed whispers, every once in a while Brendon’s giggle edging through the other noise in the room. Ryan was nursing a can of coke as he sat on an arm chair, pointing at something in a magazine that the singer guy from The Academy Is… was reading.
As Spencer looked around, he let out a sigh and sat down on the end of the couch, crossing one leg over at the knee as he kept his arms close, watching the goings-on around him. He was surprised when a guy came up to him. More importantly, a shirtless guy came up to him. Looking up at the big smile the guy had, he raised an eyebrow.
“You’re Spencer, right?” Surprising him even more, the guy sat down on the couch next to him and stuck out his hand. Spencer matched his own, still unsure of exactly what was going on, but nodded. “The Butcher” was the tattooed guy’s response. Spencer nodded again.
“You’re the drummer for TAI…” Spencer smiled slightly. “The beat in Attention is fantastic.” He nodded slightly, his toe tapping into the air as he smiled slightly.
“So… I wanted to ask… what do you think about wood versus plastic tips?” Spencer sat up slightly straighter, and grinned, knowing that they would get along just fine. Their conversation travelled from practice pads to sticks to the most annoying rhythms that had the misfortune to show up in the music they were playing.
The first week of the tour passed in wave after wave of exhaustion followed by adrenaline shock, in cyclical motion until it was routine.
A night, weeks later, Spencer leaned against the wall next to the stage, watching as the band played, reaching up, and wiping the left over sweat dripping from his forehead as he felt a cool breeze drift across his moist back, a shiver involuntarily trembling over his back. He smiled, turning his head and nodding to the skinny figure ambling over to him before looking back to the stage, his toe tapping along with the beat, watching over each of the members before his gaze settled, as it often did, on the undulating motion behind the drum set.
The Academy Is… finished their set and Spencer grinned, heading back to back stage, flopping down next to the Butcher on the couch.
“Hey, nice job out there… “ Spencer nodded slightly to Andy, before putting his hands in his lap, his fingers tapping against one another. The Butcher turned to him and smiled, open and wide, before clapping him on the back.
“You think? It was a fucking awesome show all around… I just, was there, all night. It was Rockin!” The energy left from the show adrenaline making their way through the butcher’s system as he bobbed his head on the beat of Spencer’s fingers, leaning back against the couch, leaning his head back as he let out a long stream of air. “So… did you hear about William’s latest crazed idea?” His lips twisted into a mix of amusement and unease. “He says you guys are trying to take over and steal the headlining from us. Although…” he chuckled softly “It would be kind of pointless for you to be on the Truckstops and Statelines tour… or at least headlining it, since they’re our lyrics.”
Spencer nodded, absently thinking about where the tour would be stopping next as he listened to more of William’s far-fetched ideas as to how Panic! Had managed to get to second billed on the tour, rather than the third spot they were meant to fill. Apparently Bill had decided that the Panic guys were obviously trying to take over the entire tour and kick TAI out. It was crazy, and even William knew it was, but it was a better waste of time than sitting around doing nothing for the singer, even if it was no where near as cool as playing video games in the lounge. At least that’s what Spencer thought.
Listening to more of William’s ideas, he looked over at the Butcher and grinned. It all felt quite at ease. Being on tour, sleeping in a moving vehicle, going to sleep in one town, waking up in another and spending time with the same group of people. Spencer knew that he was doing the right thing. He’d made so many friendships, and he’d found what his mom would call a “forever” friend in Andy. He knew that they’d be friends far past this tour, and he’d always call if he was around, knew that he could call for bail or whatever he needed over the years. He was happy, thinking back to that first time he met the Butcher, that Andy had approached him. There was no idea that Spencer could have known that they'd both have an affinity for curling, and it made him laugh to himself, losing himself in the memories.
He shook his head slightly, realizing the Butcher had stopped talking and was looking at him with a weird look on his face. Spencer just laughed, shaking his head.
“It’s just right dude… You know…”
The Butcher nodded. “I know exactly what you mean”
