p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The night of Battle of the Bands approached rapidly. And Roy experienced great remorse for having not invited Jason to watch him play, and was appreciative of his friends support. However, though Roy was excited that the younger boy would be attending the show. It felt good to know that someone in the crowd was there just for him, because they cared about him. He didn't think Jason knew how much that meant./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was nervous about the night. He'd lied to Bruce about where he was going, claiming he and Roy were going to study and then watch movies. He'd never lied to his guardian before, and the thought of it left a sick feeling in the back of his throat, an unpleasant slosh in the pit of his stomach. But just the possibility of Bruce forbidding him from going was enough to cause the lie to spew forth. He couldn't miss this. He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"needed/span to be there for Roy. He was a little anxious about meeting Roy's bandmates, his friend didn't talk about them much. It was a little odd, considering how much time he seemed to spend with them. The thought caused Jason to wonder if Roy had ever mentioned span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"him/span to span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"them/span. He didn't know whether he'd prefer for him to or not. The idea of the boys having no prior conceptions of him was appealing, but the thought that Roy hadn't felt him important enough to mention was more than a little upsetting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alfred dropped him off at the Queen mansion, Jason was going to be travelling to the bar with the band, to help with his lie. The second Roy opened the door, his eyes swept over Jason, a smirk playing on his face. The younger boy glanced down at his attire, his outfit comprised of a pair of all black converse, his comfiest jeans, and a casual - though good quality - shirt. Jason knew better than to draw attention to himself or flaunt his wealth in a dive bar on the side of town they were headed to. That was asking for trouble. The dilemma was that since moving in with Bruce all of his belongings were high in quality, and noticeably nice - though not flamboyant by any means, he would still be noticeably tidier than anyone they were likely to meet at the gig./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Put this on," Roy said suddenly, flinging a black garment absently over his shoulder as he rounded the corner into the living room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason scrabbled with the shirt, shaking it out and holding it up in front of him, smiling to himself when he saw the familiar frog illustration embossed on the front. Rapidly, while Roy was still in the other room, he stripped out of his shirt, tugged the band t-shirt over his head, before throwing his own shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned to proudly display the Great Frog design. Irrationally, he felt proud and elated that Roy wanted him to wear it, as if it wasn't about support of the band, but more about a blatant and public declaration of his affiliation with the drummer. It was a ridiculous notion, but it filled Jason with a dopey sort of happiness to think about./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey," Roy called out as he stuck his head around the door frame, his mouth widening to a toothy smile when he saw Jason donning the shirt, he stepped forward and grasped the hem softly, tugging Jay a little closer as he grinned down at him, "It looks good on you," he breathed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason could feel his face heating, and his nerves returned tenfold, a fluttering sensation attacked his insides and he fumbled over what to say. But Roy took a step back, breaking the moment before it could really start. The older boy scratched anxiously at the back of his head, a tell-tale tick of his that Jason was fondly familiar with./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Listen.. If the guys are dicks, just...just don't take anything personally, 'kay?" Roy imparted hesitantly. Jason frowned, really not liking where this was going. "It's just...I've never introduced anyone to them before...and I joined the band late...they all knew each other long before I came along...they're not..they're not always the nicest guys, in a general sense. They're cool to me obviously, we get along great. But they're not exactly polite, or overly friendly at first...I just don't want you to be upset," he elaborated, dropping his gaze to the floor./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was stuck on the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'I've never introduced anyone to them before'/span, that had to mean something. Didn't it? Without further thought, Jason reached a hand forward to tilt Roy's head up, his fingers curving around the other boy's chin. "Don't worry 'bout me. Tonight's about you, right?" He said softly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smiled at his friend, unconsciously leaning in to the comforting touch. Jason smirked a little, "Besides, I can hold my own, and I don't really care if they like me or not," which wasn't strictly true, it would be nice if he could be civil with Roy's bandmates, if only to make things easier on the older boy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy stepped away, and shrugged into his jacket. "span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I/span like you," he murmured, before fishing in his pocket for his cigarette box./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's all I need," Jason quipped back, disguising the truth in those words with his teasing tone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled slightly, before placing an unlit cigarette between his lips and quickly checking his phone. He read the screen intently for a moment before heading for the door./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We gotta head out. I always meet the guys a few blocks away," Roy informed him, as he opened the door and stepped outside. "I don't want them to know where I live, I don't want them to look at me different, y'know? And if they knew I had this huge empty house all the time, I'd never be rid of them."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason contemplated that, and he understood the logic of it, thought it was rather sensible. It also made him happy to know that he seemed to know Roy better than the people he spent the most time with. They only saw a version of Roy that he'd spun for them, a persona he'd concocted to live in their world. That was a practice that Jason knew intimately. Wordlessly, he followed the older boy outside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The walk took them nearly fifteen minutes, and they spent the journey smoking and exchanging idle chit-chat. It wasn't long before the guys pulled up, Chuck was behind the wheel of the old van, smirking at them through the window. Without greeting the singer, Roy reached for the sliding door. He inclined his head towards Jason, signaling for him to get in first./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The drive to the bar was filled with boisterous laughter, the guys ribbing Roy for bringing his 'tutor' to a gig. Roy slung his arm across Jason's shoulders and laughed good-naturedly, before telling his bandmates to 'leave off, he's cool'. Jason kinda wanted Roy to never move his arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bar was slowly filling up as Chuck parked around the back, the boys hauled their gear backstage while Jason stood unobtrusively to the side. Jason was surprised to discover that he didn't need to pay the door fee, because Roy had taken the time to inform the doormen 'he's with me'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy had bought himself a beer and Jason a lemonade as the first band got ready for their set. Looking around, Jason was surprised that despite the dingy decor and the bad part of town, people were more or less just keeping to themselves. Roy leaned in so that Jason could hear him over the noise of the gathered crowd, "You gonna be okay while I play?" He asked. Jason found it a little sweet that Roy had been looking out for him, even though it really wasn't necessary. He nodded with a grin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You nervous?" He couldn't help but ask./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A little," Roy allowed, he glanced around the bar, surveying who he'd be playing to./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yo, Harper!" Chuck called before Jason could offer any words of encouragement. Most of the crowd turned to seek out the cause of the uproar. Both Jason and Roy looked up to see the singer waving frantically to get Roy's attention./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy glanced down at Jason abruptly, his hand coming up to grip Jason's bicep lightly, the heat of his hand seeped through the younger boy's shirt. "I'll go see what his problem is. Stay here?" Jason nodded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy followed Chuck into a bathroom stall, flicking the latch behind him. Chuck had already pulled out his pocket mirror, he balanced it on his thigh as he sat on the toilet lid. He emptied the baggie of powder onto the reflective surface. Wordlessly, Roy handed him his student library card, Chuck smiled in thanks and used the card to form lines./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Like fuck am I snorting anything off of a toilet, that's dirty as shit," the boy commented offhandedly. That's one thing that Roy could say about Chuck, his drugs were good quality, and he took them as safely as possible. "What's up with short-stack? He not feelin' up to joining us?" The frontman quipped, in clear reference to Jason./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy felt the sudden urge to punch Chuck in the face, and despite their many faults, he'd never felt the need to get violent with any of his bandmates. Roy glowered dangerously, and Chuck raised an eyebrow. "You leave him the fuck out of this, Chucky. You don't even tell him about this stuff, alright?" Roy seethed, " ...and don't call him that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The other boy just chuckled, "Alright, man, chill. Didn't know you were all mushy over the kid."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before Roy could think up a retort, Chuck pulled a tobacco paper out of his pocket and rolled it up. "The only assholes who snort through dollar bills are in the movies, or are too desperate for a fix to care how fucking dirty money is. Who knows who had that note before you did?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was leaning against the door, his arms folded as he watched Chuck snort his lines. Without missing a beat the singer created two more lines, and Roy knelt down beside him to get his own fix. "Remember, a nostril per line, and don't forget to snort some water on the way out, no one wants this shit drying out their nose." Roy nodded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Roy found Jason again, no more than 10 minutes had passed. Roy smiled, his mouth wide with excitement. He blinked rapidly against the brightness of the stage lights and beamed down at Jason. "I'm really glad you're here," he admitted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled back at his friend, "Wouldn't miss it," he breathed. He catalogued Roy's restless excitement, "What was that about anyway? Band pep talk?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy gave a little shrug, his grin still in place. "You could say that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had the nagging sense that there was something he was missing. Roy seemed to be boundless in energy, like whatever Chucky had said to the boys had made them ready, hungry for the competition. But, at the same time, Jason had to concede that this was Great Frog's first competitive gig, and drumming was Roy's life, his enthusiasm was understandable. Adrenaline was a funny thing, he supposed. He watched as Roy's eyes darted around the room, he shifted in place slightly, his hand absently brushed at his opposite forearm as if ridding it of something. Jason frowned./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The first band of the night took the stage, and Roy drained his second beer, it might even have been his third. "I gotta head backstage, we're up after this set is finished," he explained./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Knock 'em dead," Jason encouraged with a grin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cheer for me," Roy told him before pressing a somewhat sloppy and completely unexpected kiss to the younger boy's temple./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was gone before Jason could form any kind of response, but the dopey little smile on his face said more than he ever could./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was nervous about the night. He'd lied to Bruce about where he was going, claiming he and Roy were going to study and then watch movies. He'd never lied to his guardian before, and the thought of it left a sick feeling in the back of his throat, an unpleasant slosh in the pit of his stomach. But just the possibility of Bruce forbidding him from going was enough to cause the lie to spew forth. He couldn't miss this. He span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"needed/span to be there for Roy. He was a little anxious about meeting Roy's bandmates, his friend didn't talk about them much. It was a little odd, considering how much time he seemed to spend with them. The thought caused Jason to wonder if Roy had ever mentioned span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"him/span to span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"them/span. He didn't know whether he'd prefer for him to or not. The idea of the boys having no prior conceptions of him was appealing, but the thought that Roy hadn't felt him important enough to mention was more than a little upsetting./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alfred dropped him off at the Queen mansion, Jason was going to be travelling to the bar with the band, to help with his lie. The second Roy opened the door, his eyes swept over Jason, a smirk playing on his face. The younger boy glanced down at his attire, his outfit comprised of a pair of all black converse, his comfiest jeans, and a casual - though good quality - shirt. Jason knew better than to draw attention to himself or flaunt his wealth in a dive bar on the side of town they were headed to. That was asking for trouble. The dilemma was that since moving in with Bruce all of his belongings were high in quality, and noticeably nice - though not flamboyant by any means, he would still be noticeably tidier than anyone they were likely to meet at the gig./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Put this on," Roy said suddenly, flinging a black garment absently over his shoulder as he rounded the corner into the living room./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason scrabbled with the shirt, shaking it out and holding it up in front of him, smiling to himself when he saw the familiar frog illustration embossed on the front. Rapidly, while Roy was still in the other room, he stripped out of his shirt, tugged the band t-shirt over his head, before throwing his own shirt back on, leaving it unbuttoned to proudly display the Great Frog design. Irrationally, he felt proud and elated that Roy wanted him to wear it, as if it wasn't about support of the band, but more about a blatant and public declaration of his affiliation with the drummer. It was a ridiculous notion, but it filled Jason with a dopey sort of happiness to think about./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey," Roy called out as he stuck his head around the door frame, his mouth widening to a toothy smile when he saw Jason donning the shirt, he stepped forward and grasped the hem softly, tugging Jay a little closer as he grinned down at him, "It looks good on you," he breathed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason could feel his face heating, and his nerves returned tenfold, a fluttering sensation attacked his insides and he fumbled over what to say. But Roy took a step back, breaking the moment before it could really start. The older boy scratched anxiously at the back of his head, a tell-tale tick of his that Jason was fondly familiar with./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Listen.. If the guys are dicks, just...just don't take anything personally, 'kay?" Roy imparted hesitantly. Jason frowned, really not liking where this was going. "It's just...I've never introduced anyone to them before...and I joined the band late...they all knew each other long before I came along...they're not..they're not always the nicest guys, in a general sense. They're cool to me obviously, we get along great. But they're not exactly polite, or overly friendly at first...I just don't want you to be upset," he elaborated, dropping his gaze to the floor./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason was stuck on the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'I've never introduced anyone to them before'/span, that had to mean something. Didn't it? Without further thought, Jason reached a hand forward to tilt Roy's head up, his fingers curving around the other boy's chin. "Don't worry 'bout me. Tonight's about you, right?" He said softly./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy smiled at his friend, unconsciously leaning in to the comforting touch. Jason smirked a little, "Besides, I can hold my own, and I don't really care if they like me or not," which wasn't strictly true, it would be nice if he could be civil with Roy's bandmates, if only to make things easier on the older boy./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy stepped away, and shrugged into his jacket. "span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I/span like you," he murmured, before fishing in his pocket for his cigarette box./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That's all I need," Jason quipped back, disguising the truth in those words with his teasing tone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy chuckled slightly, before placing an unlit cigarette between his lips and quickly checking his phone. He read the screen intently for a moment before heading for the door./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We gotta head out. I always meet the guys a few blocks away," Roy informed him, as he opened the door and stepped outside. "I don't want them to know where I live, I don't want them to look at me different, y'know? And if they knew I had this huge empty house all the time, I'd never be rid of them."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason contemplated that, and he understood the logic of it, thought it was rather sensible. It also made him happy to know that he seemed to know Roy better than the people he spent the most time with. They only saw a version of Roy that he'd spun for them, a persona he'd concocted to live in their world. That was a practice that Jason knew intimately. Wordlessly, he followed the older boy outside./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The walk took them nearly fifteen minutes, and they spent the journey smoking and exchanging idle chit-chat. It wasn't long before the guys pulled up, Chuck was behind the wheel of the old van, smirking at them through the window. Without greeting the singer, Roy reached for the sliding door. He inclined his head towards Jason, signaling for him to get in first./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The drive to the bar was filled with boisterous laughter, the guys ribbing Roy for bringing his 'tutor' to a gig. Roy slung his arm across Jason's shoulders and laughed good-naturedly, before telling his bandmates to 'leave off, he's cool'. Jason kinda wanted Roy to never move his arm./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The bar was slowly filling up as Chuck parked around the back, the boys hauled their gear backstage while Jason stood unobtrusively to the side. Jason was surprised to discover that he didn't need to pay the door fee, because Roy had taken the time to inform the doormen 'he's with me'./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy had bought himself a beer and Jason a lemonade as the first band got ready for their set. Looking around, Jason was surprised that despite the dingy decor and the bad part of town, people were more or less just keeping to themselves. Roy leaned in so that Jason could hear him over the noise of the gathered crowd, "You gonna be okay while I play?" He asked. Jason found it a little sweet that Roy had been looking out for him, even though it really wasn't necessary. He nodded with a grin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You nervous?" He couldn't help but ask./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""A little," Roy allowed, he glanced around the bar, surveying who he'd be playing to./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yo, Harper!" Chuck called before Jason could offer any words of encouragement. Most of the crowd turned to seek out the cause of the uproar. Both Jason and Roy looked up to see the singer waving frantically to get Roy's attention./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy glanced down at Jason abruptly, his hand coming up to grip Jason's bicep lightly, the heat of his hand seeped through the younger boy's shirt. "I'll go see what his problem is. Stay here?" Jason nodded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy followed Chuck into a bathroom stall, flicking the latch behind him. Chuck had already pulled out his pocket mirror, he balanced it on his thigh as he sat on the toilet lid. He emptied the baggie of powder onto the reflective surface. Wordlessly, Roy handed him his student library card, Chuck smiled in thanks and used the card to form lines./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Like fuck am I snorting anything off of a toilet, that's dirty as shit," the boy commented offhandedly. That's one thing that Roy could say about Chuck, his drugs were good quality, and he took them as safely as possible. "What's up with short-stack? He not feelin' up to joining us?" The frontman quipped, in clear reference to Jason./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy felt the sudden urge to punch Chuck in the face, and despite their many faults, he'd never felt the need to get violent with any of his bandmates. Roy glowered dangerously, and Chuck raised an eyebrow. "You leave him the fuck out of this, Chucky. You don't even tell him about this stuff, alright?" Roy seethed, " ...and don't call him that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The other boy just chuckled, "Alright, man, chill. Didn't know you were all mushy over the kid."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before Roy could think up a retort, Chuck pulled a tobacco paper out of his pocket and rolled it up. "The only assholes who snort through dollar bills are in the movies, or are too desperate for a fix to care how fucking dirty money is. Who knows who had that note before you did?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was leaning against the door, his arms folded as he watched Chuck snort his lines. Without missing a beat the singer created two more lines, and Roy knelt down beside him to get his own fix. "Remember, a nostril per line, and don't forget to snort some water on the way out, no one wants this shit drying out their nose." Roy nodded./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"When Roy found Jason again, no more than 10 minutes had passed. Roy smiled, his mouth wide with excitement. He blinked rapidly against the brightness of the stage lights and beamed down at Jason. "I'm really glad you're here," he admitted./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason smiled back at his friend, "Wouldn't miss it," he breathed. He catalogued Roy's restless excitement, "What was that about anyway? Band pep talk?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy gave a little shrug, his grin still in place. "You could say that."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason had the nagging sense that there was something he was missing. Roy seemed to be boundless in energy, like whatever Chucky had said to the boys had made them ready, hungry for the competition. But, at the same time, Jason had to concede that this was Great Frog's first competitive gig, and drumming was Roy's life, his enthusiasm was understandable. Adrenaline was a funny thing, he supposed. He watched as Roy's eyes darted around the room, he shifted in place slightly, his hand absently brushed at his opposite forearm as if ridding it of something. Jason frowned./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The first band of the night took the stage, and Roy drained his second beer, it might even have been his third. "I gotta head backstage, we're up after this set is finished," he explained./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Knock 'em dead," Jason encouraged with a grin./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cheer for me," Roy told him before pressing a somewhat sloppy and completely unexpected kiss to the younger boy's temple./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy was gone before Jason could form any kind of response, but the dopey little smile on his face said more than he ever could./p