Chapter Text
“It’s not that i hate him!- he’s just- so-…y’know?—no of course you don’t blummin know!” Joel yelled, mostly at himself, pacing around the garage as his bandmates watched him, the taller of the two having a laugh at Joel’s temper tantrum. “Joel, mate it can’t be that deep, unless of course…” Jimmy chuckled, as Grian leaned back against Him. He was on his phone, texting someone it seemed.
Joel looked quickly back at Jim in alarm, and maybe a bit panicked “No!- i mean- its. He’s not important but he is- he’s got this like ‘aura’ about him?-“
Grian interjected immediately, unable to help himself “aura? Joel is he skibidi? perhaps the rizzler?”
He quickly got a pillow to the face
“right that’s enough of you. your boss is rubbing off on you too much” Joel huffed, still in mental turmoil over ‘mysterious man (with aura)’
“y’know, i’ve actually got a class with the guy.” G mentioned, waving his hand as if it wasn’t a big deal—it really wasn’t. it was to Joel, evidently, as he slung him onto the couch’s arm “Tell me. Tell me now.”
“please.” he tacked on there at the end, moving grian’s legs up onto his lap as he scooted onto the couch, so grian could still lay down.
Grian fake pondered “mmmmm… i guess i’ll tell you, since you said please”
———
“Hi Grian, i like your…drawing thing.” Etho commented, standing next to Grian’s desk as oddly as someone physically could, looking anywhere but at the other man, if he had a tail Grian was certain it would be tucked between his legs right now.
“Oh! thank you!…Ethan? was it? sorry I’m awful with names…” he laughed sheepishly, without the initial shock of his art being noticed he had time to be ashamed of it—now normally he’s quite proud of his work, unfortunately, he was drawing ship art. of Hotguy, and a very thinly veiled self insert…haha…
“Etho.” the other boy—Etho—stared at Grian now, holding intense eye contact, not malicious, just odd.
Well that was too long of a silence
“yeah. uh. thanks, Etho. you…like the Hotguy webcomics?” he tilted his head with a smile, layered bangs shifting on his face
“mhm! oh they’re SO. COOL-“
he grinned from under the mask, almost instantly sitting down in the empty seat across from Grian “I think my favorite character has to be Fury, he’s so complex! and his lore? ohh don’t get me started his parents? his REBELLION? ohh he’s. he’s so.” Etho grinned, his foot wagging back and forth.
Grian’s eyes lit UP. this was his passion. “OOH ALRIGHT ALRIGHT. i see your fury and raise you slayer. now listen hotguy is alright i guess. but slayer? she’s amazing! Quite honestly i wish i was better at drawing so i could do her justice, she was so cool on her ocean arc, i totally didn’t make a fisherman oc near that time. for. normal reasons.” The blonde grinned mischievously, doing that evil villain thing with his fingers, you know the one.
“oh totally, very normal reasons” Etho nodded sagely
———
“sooo yah, he’s pretty cool” Grian said, staring out the open garage door at a leaf falling gently, absentmindedly picking at his face.
“thats it? he’s a huge hotguy nerd? thats lame” Joel huffed, gently pulling Grian’s hand away from his face
“mm well thats all i know, i guess you’ll have to actually talk to the guy” he chuckled, instead busying his hands with biting his nails
“Grian no- bad.” Jim piped up, taking grian’s hands out of his mouth “ughhh no i wanna bite something” “didn’t i get you that necklace?”
the pairs voices melted away as Joel thought back on Etho, he couldn’t understand himself. why was he so obsessed with this guy? he genuinely couldn’t tell if he liked or disliked him. and thats…unusual for him. He’d always had problems understanding emotions, mostly his own, but everyone else made sense to him. and etho…didn’t. the only two people Joel knew that he didn’t understand were himself, and Etho.