Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“That’s life,
/
You’re riding high in April, shot down in May.”

—

John sighed as he stepped off the plane, going through the work of getting his luggage and everything else he normally had to do during trips like these. He was tired, as per usual when he flew. It was something about being that high up that made his bones ache and his eyes sag. But maybe, that was just him getting old. He sighed as he stood in the main lobby area, scanning the crowd for any sign of his ride. He caught a glimpse of a sign, the big ‘JOHN’ crudely written on it, and an ice cube drawn next to it in case he was unsure that it was meant for him. John made eye contact with his friend as the sea of people split and he saw the other’s eyes light up. John on the other hand, went back to looking, pretending like he hadn’t seen anything at all yet. His eyes squinted as he looked from his person.

He walked forward, straight to Smitty who seemed pretty unimpressed with his amazing acting skills. John had to hide his slight smirk, raising an eyebrow as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.


“Hey, have you happened to have seen a guy around here with brown hair, kinda short, and  he kinda looks like he plays golf, but only to show off how he’s a rich fuck?”

John asked, pretending to be asking like he was genuinely lost and looking for someone, but as he looked at the other he couldn’t help the snicker he made at Smitty’s offended face. He pulled his luggage closer, watching the gears turn in Smitty’s head. He loved seeing Smitty take a second to come up with something to shoot back, it was very amusing, apparently unlike his acting abilities.

Smitty hadn’t changed much in appearance, but John wasn’t expecting him to since it wasn’t that long since their last meetup. He was in a white turtleneck, rare for Smitty, some black sweatpants, and some beige shoes. Wasn’t a bad outfit, and honestly it fit the other quite well, from a fashion view of things. He’d also noticed that Smitty had been growing out his hair, which was something John requested the Canadian do again. That made John smile a bit, a smug feeling in his chest.

He watched Smitty purse his lips and look around before looking back at John.

“Can’t say I have..”
Smitty said, sounding like he was thinking about it before speaking again, with a sort of aha!  tone.

“.. However! I have seen this egotistical guy built like one of the twin towers walking around, maybe he could help you find who you’re looking for.”

John let out a laugh, something warm and hearty, unlike how he had felt moments prior when he got off his flight. He stepped closer, giving Smitty a friendly, one armed hug before stepping back, a loose grin on his lips as one hand went back to his pocket, and the other on the handle of his bag.

“Good to see you, Smit.”

John said easily. After a late night call with the other, Smitty had somehow convinced him to come stay up in Canada for a few days. John had protested, saying he didn’t really want to figure out hotels, flights and all, but Smitty had insisted. Smitty offered to let John stay at his place for the week, and to cover the plane ticket up here. John couldn’t really say no to an almost free trip to go see some stupid Canadians, having been promised he could hang out with Matt and Rectrixx as well while he was visiting. So he agreed, and then a day later at daybreak, he was on a flight up here. 



“Yeah yeah. Better be good to see me bitch, I paid for that plane ticket.”

Smitty huffed, no heat at all behind it. John had learned better than to know that Smitty was hardly actually mad, and that if he was, he would argue loudly, not stew quietly. So, John just smiled a little wider and slid his bag to the other, taking the sign Smitty had made for him.

“Hm.. I don’t know.. If you really loved me you would’ve flown me first class, I think.”

John added, seeming smug as he folded the sign under his arm watching as Smitty shook his head and let out a disappointed sigh, adjusting the luggage John had made him carry. But, he didn’t protest about it, so John took it as a win on his end.

“Shut up, or I might just leave you here.”

Smitty muttered, already starting to walk towards the exit with John’s bag rolling behind him. John just grinned and strolled right behind him, easy going and comfortable, like almost always.

“Think that would be the biggest lie you’ve told all year.”

John said in a know it all voice, glancing to see Smitty's slight smile as they pushed their way through their first pair of doors.

—

“Some people get their kicks,

stomping on a dream.”

—

John groaned dramatically as he carried his luggage up the stairs to the guest bedroom, Smitty not far behind. He only struggled somewhat, not about to fall down the fucking stairs trying to get this suitcase up.

Smitty had made John get his suitcase out of the car, his apparently never ending benevolence, coming to an end.

“You’re so mean, so awful, making a guest do this by themselves. Just say you hate me already, Smit.”

John complained as he hoisted it up the last step with a grunt, pausing for a moment once he got to the top of the stairs. Man, he needed to start getting to the gym more often. Or maybe..

“Jesus, Smitty, so rich yet you can’t invest in actually easy stairs.”

John hissed, faux anger in his tone as he spoke the words. He looked to the other, who was leaning against the wall with a stupid smug smirk. He already knew from that damn look that something stupid was going to come out of that mouth. He sighed, preparing himself for it.

“Sounds like a skill issue.”

Smitty said teasingly, and John shouldn’t have even looked a second ago to see the smirk, he could’ve heard it in the bastard's voice. He glared at Smitty, a frown pulling at his lips and it turned into a sneer as he stood up straight.

“You’ll see skill issue after I push you down the fucking stairs.”

He walked down the hallway, ignoring Smitty’s snort from behind him

“Hostile as always, I see.”

He heard Smitty mumble with a stupid, ‘smarter than you’ voice.

He made his way to the guest room, ignoring Smitty’s comment. He already knew which one he was staying in since Smitty had told him. He walked in, sitting his bag by the edge of the bed, then flopped down on the thing. He let out a heavy sigh, then groaned.

“Dude that flight was so fucking exhausting, do not think you understand.”

John whined as he moved so he was looking at the ceiling, feeling the dip in the bed as Smitty sat beside him. He looked over, seeing the other carry a curious expression. He raised an eyebrow at him, then the other one two so he was just wiggling his eyebrows at Smitty, giving the other man duck lips.

Smitty just giggled slightly and shoved John’s face to the side. John let out an offended noise, but didn’t do anything to move back to how he was.

“What, baby crying on the flight, sat next to a Karen, stinky ass plane?”

Smitty questioned as he tilted his head slightly, moving on from the stupid bit that happened in silence. He let his legs sway off the bed slightly, and John watched the motion before speaking again.

“Nah, not really I won't lie, just was a bad flight.”

John muttered, his face shoved against the blanket, letting himself relax into something soft after hours of being on a plane, and an hour of being in a car seat. He heard Smitty snort, and he forced himself to turn his head to look at the younger.

“Sounds awful, I agree.”

Smitty said sarcastically, and John didn’t respond, the silence between them becoming comfortable as the two of them existed for a moment. Then, he watched Smitty stand up and clear his throat, stretching slightly. He turned back to face John.

“Well… I’m gonna go make some breakfast, come join me if you want some.”

Smitty invited, giving John a solid pat on the back before he walked out, shutting the door behind him and not giving the older man time to answer. John watched Smitty leave, before he stuffed his face back in the bedding, mumbling into it.

“... Alright.”

Chapter Text

CHAP 2 - DAY 1
—

“But I don’t let it get me down,

'Cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin' around.”

—


Later that day …


John groaned as he stumbled down the stairs, he fell asleep a little after Smitty left the room. He didn’t bother to check how long he had napped, only glancing out the window to see it was about midday. Which he was thankful for because he did not feel like staying up all night with a messed up sleep schedule.


He reached the bottom, walking a little bit through the house to peak into the kitchen. He saw no trace of Smitty, and he assumed the man was probably editing, but he checked the living room just in case. He walked in and saw the shorter half curled up on the couch and smirked. He came up behind the other, looking down to see Smitty was just looking through instagram on his phone. He raised an eyebrow before leaning over the back of the couch to get a better view of what the other was looking at.

He felt Smitty jump before he heard him, and he had to stifle a laugh at the sound the other made.

“Good fucking- Jeez, warn a guy next time.”

He heard Smitty breathe out, and John just snorted, rounding the couch to sit beside Smitty, pulling his leg up onto the couch so he was in a half sitting position. He glanced at the time on Smitty’s phone, seeing he’d probably napped for about.. 5 hours. It was only 2 pm, and he’d fallen asleep somewhere near the late end of 9 am. He glanced back up to Smitty.

“D’you have food I can steal? Like.. snacks?”


John questioned, wasting no time and getting to the important questions. He heard Smitty make a noise of acknowledgement, then he watched the other put down his phone, and turn to look at John.

“I mean, maybe I do.. But do you really deserve it after that?”

Smitty asked playfully, that ever so smug tone that never left in his voice. John looked at him deadpan, then after a second, he raised an eyebrow. He spoke again in an almost bored tone.

“I don’t know oh gracious Smitty S Seven, do I deserve to eat and not starve? Do I deserve to consume what I need to even be next to you in the first place?”

Smitty snorted, shaking his head as he looked at John. John could tell just by that reaction, he had won this interaction. John’s bored expression turned a bit more amused, matching Smitty’s as he waited for the line that would prove he won.  

“Okay- yeah whatever. Snacks are in the kitchen, bozo.”

John hummed as Smii7y spoke and he stood up fully, moving away from the couch and playfully skipping to the kitchen, but since he was a fully grown man and not a 12 year old girl, it sounded and looked more like someone dropping a bag of concrete on the floor every time he landed. 


Either way, he still went as joyfully as he wanted then pulled open the fridge door, scouting through Smitty’s surprising bare fridge.








“.. Hey Smit?”

John half shouted, his head moving out of the fridge to look back towards the living room, half shouting to his friend.

“Yeah?”

John heard the response, and he looked once more into the fridge before back at the direction of the living room.

“Did you remember to go food shopping before I came up..?”

John questioned, seeing the fridge a lot more bare than it usually would be whenever John came to visit Smitty up in Canada.

“Shit- did i not?”

John heard Smitty shout back, and it was only a second before he heard Smitty coming in, opening the other fridge door to find that, yeah, he in fact did not remember to stock up his fridge before he invited a guest to his home.

“Damn. I didn’t… I guess I gotta go shopping today.”

Smitty muttered, and John’s eyes followed the movement of Smitty rubbing at his cheek in thought.

“.. We could go soon, if you wanna join.”

Smitty questioned, looking over to John for an answer. John shrugged.

“Yeah sure. We can go to that cafe you love too.”

John said easily, not really minding the idea of going out today. Although..

“.. Could I get a shower first perhaps?”

He questioned, taking a step back and shutting the fridge before lifting an arm to smell himself. He wasn’t doing awful, but a shower would be nice after his flight earlier.

“Yeah yeah.. Go shower and get ready so you can be the prettiest girl at the party .”

Smitty teased, reaching up to flick at John’s forehead before walking away, gone around a corner.

“I will be, we both know that.”

—

“I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet

A pawn and a king.”

—



John joked, rubbing at his forehead, even if the flick didn’t actually hurt. Then he moved out of the kitchen back to the spare room so he could get ready for his shower. As he moved to get his shampoo’s and everything out of his suitcase, he let his brain adjust to being in Canada. He came up sometimes, but it was usually with a group. This was one of the rare times where Smitty would invite just him up, for the two to hang. Of course, Matt would come by sometimes as well. It was nice, because it made him feel like he was… worth hanging around and not just a tagalong all the time.

He sighed and pulled out his shower shit, moving to the bathroom and propping everything up there to be ready for when he got in. He took his time, washing his hair and body, enjoying the water pressure before stepping out. He wrapped a towel around him, rubbing the steam off the mirror to fix his hair for a second, rubbing it down with a towel before he peeked the door open, seeing nothing, he headed back to the room he was staying in.

John got dressed in something simple but nice, his beige collar shirt with the little bow, and some lighter jeans with bows sewed up the side. Then he slipped on some white boots, and looked in the mirror near the dresser. He ran a hand through his drying hair, coming up with an idea. He searched and found a hair drier, using it to make his hair back to normal quickly. He slightly combed through it after, making sure he liked it, before clipping a loose pink ribbon in the back of his hair, and admired how it tied the look together. Sure, it was a little… feminine, but he’d been getting more confident in his outfits lately.

He… liked it, he liked feeling like someone he’d see under the sunlight on a pinterest post. Even if it was… fucking cringe. To be cringe is to be free, or something.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door and Smitty’s voice.

“You ready?”


John hummed, moving to grab his crossbody bag, packing a few things into it before slinging it over his shoulder and moving to open the door, met with a curious looking Smitty.

“That’s… the bow looks nice.”


Was all Smitty said, taking a step back so John had room to step into the hallway.

“I know.”

John hummed simply as he stepped out, ready to go out into the world.