Chapter Text
“Oh, come on how is that even fair!” The video was already halfway through and was decently into the play though. Impulse and Blue sat next to each other as Impulse raged slightly about the unfairness of the painted lady chasing him and catching him. “You turn just a little too early and they move fast enough to catch you! I demand a redo.”
“No way hermano,” Blue teased as he turned the keyboard just out of frame to face him. “Your rules, it’s my turn.”
The auburn-haired male stuck out his tongue in a teasing manner causing the darker haired male to chuckle slightly. This kind of interaction was par for the course when they did a play through together. Though there was a lot less jumping and screaming then there would have been if Impulse had been playing by himself.
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, what did you think of the Runaway’s Concerts?” There was a sudden flush on Impulse’s cheeks and a sly look from Blue that was curious but nothing so crazy that seemed out of character for them.
“I had fun,” Impulse finally admitted his eyes looking somewhere off-screen. “I don’t usually listen to a lot of rock stuff like that but I really enjoyed their covers. They even did some covers of radio songs that were really cool. I really liked the Taylor Swift ones. Those were crash.”
“You recognized more songs than that, they have Panic on the radio all the time now.”
“Yeah but they mostly sang older Panic songs, not the ones on the radio.”
“Still, you really seemed into it.”
“Yeah, it really was crash,” Impulse said it in almost such a bashful way that even Blue noticed. Raising an eyebrow at his long-time friend but instead of it being concerned her almost looked amused with the smirk that crossed his face.
The title screen appeared then and somehow neither of them had noticed it was Impulse’s turn again until the music started playing.
“Sweet, my turn again HER-MAN-O.”
“You really need to stop trying to speak Spanish.”
…
Bart wasn’t stalking. No. Stalking was creepy like the few fans he used to have that found his old high school photos (something he hoped he never had to deal with again). No this was simply showing support for other youtubers that he recently had learned about. Ok, he didn’t learn about them recently but he had just recently met them.
It was connected to the fact he may have developed a crush in the slightest. Nope, that wasn’t the reason for his sudden hyper fixation at all. Not the reason he went out and downloaded all of their covers on iTunes or followed the group’s Instagram and twitters as well as each member's individual ones (because just following Ed would be weird and a dead giveaway). He subscribed to the channel as well, but he definitely hadn’t been watching the videos as almost every night for the last week or in-between filming when Jaime or Traci needed the space for their own videos. Nope, not at all, they just happened to have the most stuff he hadn’t seen yet. It definitely wasn’t because he wanted to see Ed. Not at all, that would be weird.
Except he was only good at convincing himself of this. He wasn’t doing such a good job with everyone else around him.
“We’ve created a monster,” Jaime joked after he had finished a co-op filming session with Traci (payback for him sitting for her video) as he nodded to where Bart was sitting with his headphones in, completely oblivious to what was going on around him.
“Your friends,” Traci fired back as she playfully bumped her hips into him.
“Your idea to take him to the concert,” Jaime taunted and she pouted at that.
“You had been wanting to take him to one for months anyway, I just found the right motivation.” Traci justified her actions with a smile on her face the whole time, having zero remorse for the crush she had been responsible for Bart forming.
“Exactly, WE created a monster.” Traci just swatted at him playfully now and he responded by catching her hand and pulling her into an embrace. Spinning her around so her back was to his chest and his arms were wrapped around her shoulders.
“At least he seems happy,” Traci lamented and Jaime hummed in response. He had seen Bart have a few relationships and they all almost ended as quickly as they had begun, mostly because they realized while Bart was attractive, he also could be like a hyper toddler on a sugar rush. It wasn’t to say he was immature, just very playful with a lot of energy—not something a lot of people could keep up with. There was also the issue of Bart losing interest in those who didn’t mind the energy but had no desire to do. Bart liked ambition, goals, dreams—he worked hard to start his channel from the ground up even though he easily could have asked his cousin for a signal boost. But he didn’t, and he didn’t like to be around people who didn’t have any desire to do anything.
It wasn’t to say you had to shoot for the stars. But something had to be worked for, or go do something. Bart ran fast and if you couldn’t keep up then you got left in the dust. Simple as that.
This was slightly different though than previous times. Mostly because Bart was usually the one who was approached and then Bart would shrug and say sure. Bart didn’t usually actively seek companionship beyond familiar or friendship. If Jaime was being honest, the last time he had seen Bart like this it was back in high school when Bart had a crush on him (though he will never admit he had to still have the flirting pointed out to him).
“Hey,” Traci said pulling Jaime out of his train of thought. “Bart leaves this Sunday, right?”
“Yeah?” Jaime asked as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity as to what his girlfriend could possibly be thinking of.
“And the band leaves for a gig in Taos next week, right?”
“Again, yeah?” Now Jaime was worried because he saw that look in Traci’s eyes. He normally liked that look because it meant she was thinking of something and it was cute. But this one involved meddling with one of his best friends. So, he was a little more nervous.
“What do you say to a little get together Saturday, a game night we can live stream,” Traci said practically glowing with enthusiasm. “Great publicity for everyone and we can make it for charity.”
Jaime narrowed his eyes. Traci was cooking something. He knew Traci was cooking something. But he also felt inclined to go with it. In part, because he was whipped when it came to Traci and things that made her excited cause it was just too cute. But also because it might be good for Bart. Maybe talk to Ed a bit more with less of a time crunch. Give him a shot.
“Fine, but no meddling beyond this.”
“I make no such promise.”
Jaime rolled his eyes again. He didn’t know what deal he just made but it was sure to be interesting. He quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and typed a quick message.
Jaime: Hey Tye, I got an idea for you and the band