Chapter Text
He’d never been good at Piano. that was always Jim’s thing.
singing was Grian’s thing, voice of an angel. honestly.
Joel just played guitar
He sat on the worn leather couch in the garage, His Calloused hands, nails bitten and uneven, were covered in artwork in some (failed) attempt to beautify them
now here he was. practicing again. he’d prefer to be writing lyrics but, y’know. gotta practice your guitar skills. or else. or else what? god Joel wished Grian would tell him. some sort of consequence for his laziness
“mmmmm how’s this sound” He’d mumble to himself, softly strumming some chord that he’s certain someone had made before
“bad.” a voice chuckled in his head
“Not in the mood Xeno.” he sighed, setting the guitar down to better speak to the annoyance
“ahhhhh too bad isn’t it?” The voice —Xeno—laughed, his presence smothering Joel’s peace
He ran a hand down his face. irritation clear
“you know how to shut up or do i have to ignore you? Because i swear if you try-“
crrreeaaakkk
“Hey! Grian made mac and chee-“ he paused in the doorway, seeing whatever this mess was.
“Joel mate? are you… talking to yourself again?” jimmy said cautiously, seeming to believe the words carried more weight than Joel thought they did
silence
“…um. yes.” he looked at Jimmy in mild discomfort. why couldn’t Xeno shut up?
“…cool” Jim stood there for a moment “do…you want food? we can watch tv also…” he seemed gentler. softer. like if he worded it wrong Joel would break. it made him almost mad.
“did you make it or grian?”
“Grian.”
“Good, so, its edible then” Joel laughed, shifting the mood significantly
“EY DONT YOU DARE!-“ Jimmy squealed in disbelief
“oooh i dare” Joel sat up. Making a stance to tackle jimmy.
playing the part of ‘Joel’.
leaving. whatever that was. in the garage.
leaving Xeno.
stepping back into the mask of his own face he wasn’t quite sure how to take off anymore
He settled onto the couch of Jimmy’s living room, they mostly practiced there because well. his family was never home. And Grian’s parents were. something. thats for sure.
Grian brought a bowl of warm macaroni over to Joel, smiling and flopping onto the couch himself, leaning back, he turned his head to the kitchen, where jim was fixing his own bowl of the delightful substance
“can i invite Gem over?” He called, knowing the answer was likely ‘not without tango!’
“Okay, yeah, go ahead” He waved his hand dismissively,
he popped up above the couch now, cocking an eyebrow “wha? no Mister Tek mention? who are you and what did you do with Jimmy?” he joked
…Jim sighed setting the bowl down “Tango’s upset with me right now. im a bit upset with him too.”
“oh. do you not wanna see him right now?” Grian tilted his head, grown out hair falling over his glasses
silence for a moment
“i just don’t want to talk about whats up. and i know that he’ll try to if i invite him over.”
“mm. i’ll text Gem then”
The night went on as usual, gem playing with Grian’s hair as he rested his head on her lap, dozing off slightly as Jim and Joel argued over whether a half of a five-hour-energy drink would give you 2.5 hours of full energy or five hours of half energy
Then Grian bolted up, remembering something
“I brought something!” He exclaimed in delight, rushing to the garage and exiting with a bottle in his hand
“Grian. what is that.” Gem Protested in shock and disbelief
“…alcohol” He stated simply, holding the bottle of Jinro he’d stolen from the local k-mart
“WHY?????” she squealed, hair falling down her shoulders as her arms splayed out
Joel and Jimmy ignored her panic, as this was pretty normal, plus, they knew that by the end of the night she’d have drank some, if Grian brought that there’s most definitely more than what he’s holding
“sooo…” Joel leaned over casually, completely ignoring the situation “whats up with the whole tango thing?”
“he- I-…ugh. why do you care?” he whined into his knees
“cause you’re my bad boy babe!” he hit the other man’s shoulder
“c’mon! out with it” he gave his best reassuring smile
“i…alright. promise you won’t judge.” he held out his pinky, looking like a kicked dog
“pinky swear” he clasped the other mans finger in his own
“listen i get your concern but i REALLY dont want to talk about it!- i know you care about me but im fine!” Jimmy exclaimed, quite obviously upset.
“But you’re NOT fine, clearly!” the other man argued
“Tango-“
“Aren’t you always telling me to open up about my feelings?”
“Tango cut it out. im serious.” Jimmy said, panic seeping into his voice no. no no no no no.
“no- no. i need you to tell me whats wrong. you don’t just get over something like that!” He yelled, not mean, just concerned.
“I SAID STOP.” he shouted. louder than he had meant to.
“stop.”
“please.” He sighed, burying his head into his knees
“…”
*call ended*
“Tango?- oh. fuck-“
“What was so upsetting?” He tilted his head, a habit picked up from Grian’s shenanigans
Jimmy picked at his nails awkwardly, not making eye contact as his eyes watered from the topic
“You don’t gotta tell me. Just. Y’know. Curious.” He dismissed, giving Jimmy an out if he wanted to take it
“I…we were…’member Scott?” He mumbled. The mere mention of that man making Joel see red
“Yeah? What about him?” He replied, doing his best to keep his composure
“Tango Said something. That…he. would always say. And I- I freaked out. And I started crying? For some reason and- and- I just-“
He couldn’t finish the sentence before being pulled into a hug
He felt the bass in Joel’s voice before the man’s words, nonetheless he was comforted by it
“Tango’ll get it. He shouldn’tve pushed and you shouldn’tve yelled but. It’ll be okay. You tell him about…that jackass?” He said the last two words with such poison it was almost shocking how stark the contrast was from his soft and fragile tone he’d been using
“Not…fully. It…Was mostly my faul-“
“Nope! not having that, not your fault” Joel interjected, patting Jim’s head “Quit that. Let’s go drown your sorrows in stolen, Korean vodka” he grinned
“Bet.”