Work Text:
Nick woke up to a thud.
A loud one.
“Seiji?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. “You good?”
“Fuck. Yeah, just fell.”
Nick chuckled. “You fell out of bed? What are you, a teddy bear?”
“Go back to bed.”
“Why did you fall?”
A pause.
“I had a nightmare.”
“Again?”
“Yes, again. Now go back to bed. I’m fine”
Nick sat up in bed, swinging his feet over the edge and slipping into his crocs.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping.” Nick opened the shower curtain and flopped onto Seiji’s bed, accidentally
crushing his legs.
“Ow, Nick!”
“Sorry.”
Seiji sighed. “What are you doing?”
“I told you, I’m helping. Now move, you’re hogging the blankets.”
Seiji clutched his sheets to his chest. “Hell no. Why are you in my bed?”
“Oh, yeah.” Nick ran a hand through his hair, his fingers snagging on knots. “When I used to have nightmares, my mom would sit in bed with me and tell me stories about before I was born.”
“How touching. Now leave.”
Nick flopped onto Seiji’s pillow next to him. “Nope. You’ve been waking me up since we got here. I’m fixing it now.”
Seiji looked down at the blankets as if the threads held an appropriate answer. When he didn’t find any, he sighed. “Fine. Make it quick.” He held open the covers for Nick, who wriggled his way underneath them.
When he was properly situated, he looked over at Seiji. “So… what do you want to hear about? I wasn’t around before you were born, so that’s off the table.”
Seiji turned his head away, flustered at the close proximity. “Just… whatever.”
Nick paused, trying to think of something. “Fencing related, or…”
“Not fencing related.”
“Really?”
“What did you think the nightmare was about?”
“Fair.”
Another pause.
“How about the time I met my dad?”
Seiji’s head whipped around back to face him. “You said you’ve never—“
“Yeah I lied. And either way, I’m not sure if it really counts. It was only for a couple hours.”
“So, that means you know who he is?”
“Yeah.”
“So, are you going to tell me who, or…”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Do you want to hear the story or not.”
Seiji huffed. “Fine.”
Nick settled in, readjusting the covers so that they mostly covered Seiji. “Okay. Well, I don’t remember a lot, I was like, seven or something. But the first thing that really stood out to me were his hands. They were the biggest hands I’d ever seen, like, he could hold both of mine in only one of his. They were all rough and calloused, like he was always working on something. I didn’t let go of his hand the whole day.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Nick? Your dad is here!”
Nick peeked around the corner of their apartment, the paint peeling underneath his fingers. Standing in the doorway was a tall blonde man. He was dressed in all blue, with dark blue dress pants and a light blue polo shirt that matched his eyes. The only piece of non-blue clothing on him was a golden watch around his wrist. The afternoon sun was filtering through the flimsy curtains covering the windows and shining through his blonde hair, making it sparkle silver and gold. Nick walked up to his mother, who was standing in the corner with her arms crossed. He tugged on her shirt, not wanting to leave her.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
He gestured for her to come closer. She held out a finger to the man in the door and crouched next to Nick, who whispered, “I don’t want to go with the blue man, momma.”
She laughed, the sound like pealing bells. “Oh baby, that’s your dad!”
The man cocked his head to the side, smiling faintly. “Who did he think I was?”
Serena sighed, chuckling as she combed through Nick’s crazy hair with her fingers, taming it for the moment. “The Blue Man.”
He looked down at his outfit, shaking his head. “I guess I am the blue man, today, huh buddy?” He crouched down next to Nick and extended his hand. “My name is—”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“His name was…”
Nick grinned. “Sorry Seiji, you’re not getting the name.”
Seiji sighed. “Why not? I’m assuming he’s some deadbeat nobody with no brains. He’d have to be. Why else would he leave you?”
“I—” Nick paused, a far away look in his eye. “Let’s just finish the story. I haven’t gotten to the best part.”
“There’s a best part?”
Nick smiled softly. “There are so many best parts.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick played with the seatbelt in his dad’s black Benz, pulling it back and forth to hear the sound it made.
“Hey dad, guess what?”
He smiled at the use of the word dad, his eyes never leaving the road. “What?”
“Momma never lets me sit in the front.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He chuckled. “And why is that?”
“She says I’m too little.”
“You’re not little.” His eyes flicked over to Nick kicking his feet in the passenger seat, unable to reach the floor. “You’re… bigger than most of the other boys your age that I know.”
A complete lie.
A complete lie that Nick swallowed hook line and sinker. He beamed, the fidgeting stopping.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He resumed driving as Nick tapped on the dashboard. “That makes you the coolest dad I’ve ever had.”
He paused, a look of confusion on his face. “You’ve had other dads?”
Nick stopped fidgeting, staring intensely at the stationary windshield wipers. “No. Which makes you the coolest.”
He laughed, which made Nick giggle. “I guess it does.”
“Hey dad?”
“What’s up, bud?”
Nick pointed at the windshield wipers. “Can we use those?”
“It has to be raining to do that.”
“Oh.”
He sighed, a smile playing across his lips. “We can go through a car wash and turn them on, if you want.”
Nick shot up in his seat. “Really?”
“Really.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“He took you through a car wash with the wipers on?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“… Nothing.” Seiji said, looking away. “I just… My friend’s dad used to do that with us, too.”
Nick shrugged. “I guess it’s a dad thing.”
“I guess so.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Where are we going?”
He smiled as he parked the car. “Have you ever been to the movies, Nick?”
Nick looked off into the distance, as if racking his brains for the answer. After a moment, he blinked. “Nope.”
“Well, you’re going to, today.”
Nick bounced in his seat, beaming at his dad. “What movie are we gonna watch?”
“One of my favorites. It’s doing an anniversary run in this theatre.”
Nick frowned. “Anna-verzry?”
He laughed. “Anniversary. That means it’s really old.”
NIck looked up skeptically. “How old?”
“This movie came out before you were even born.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s it called?”
“Music and Lyrics.”
“What’s it about?”
“Well, you’ll have to wait and see!”
Nick grabbed his dad’s hand and skipped into the movie theatre. After buying their tickets, he pointed over to the snack table. “Can we get popcorn?”
“Of course we can.”
While walking to their seats, Nick shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth, the other hand still clasped in his dad’s. “You know,” he said around a mouthful of kernels, “Momma never lets me get popcorn.”
His dad sighed. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, Nick.”
“Aw.” Nick swallowed. “Momma says that too.”
“Because it’s good manners.”
Nick frowned. “Manners suck.”
He laughed heartily, a few pieces of popcorn falling out of the bucket and scattering around the red carpeting. “I suppose they do.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Music and Lyrics? I love that movie.”
Nick scoffed. “Everyone does. It’s a masterpiece.”
Seiji sighed. “I’ve never met anyone else who's seen it.”
“Me neither.”
“Was that the end?”
“What do you mean?”
“After the movie. You said you only hung out for a couple of hours. Did you go home afterwards?”
Nick smirked. “Looks like someone is invested in my feel good bullshit.”
“What? No.” Seiji looked away, blushing. “I just want you to finish so you can get out of my bed.”
Nick shuffled around again, grinning. “Sure, buddy.”
“Ugh. Just finish the stupid story.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you like it, Nick?”
Nick was bouncing around in the parking lot, humming and dragging his dad along with him by the hand. “Yes yes yes.”
He chuckled, joining in with the bouncing. “I can tell.”
Nick stopped his dance and looked up at him. “Did you know I can play guitar like the guy in the movie?”
His dad smiled. “Really?”
“Really.” He continued hopping. “Except that I don’t have my guitar anymore.”
“What happened to your old one?”
“Juan broke it.”
“Who’s Juan?”
Nick stopped his dance and looked up at his dad. “Momma’s boyfriend. He’s on a truck trip right now. He drives big trucks.” He looked over at his dad’s Mercedes Benz, “I like your car better though.”
“How did Juan break your guitar?”
Nick sighed. “He got mad and hit it on the wall. Momma made me stay at Abuela’s for a coupla’ days after that.”
His dad looked off into the distance in the direction of Nick’s apartment, the sun setting right behind the building. “I see.”
“But then Juan let me explore his truck, so it was all okay.” He paused. “I still don’t have my guitar, though.”
“You know what?” Nick’s dad looked down at him, smiling. “Let’s go get you a guitar.”
He watched as Nick’s eyes grew to the size of plates. “Really?!”
“Really.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“He bought you a fucking guitar?”
“And a pick.”
“Those cost like three cents. Why are you not focused on the WHOLE ASS GUITAR?”
Nick smiled faintly. “Because the pick was light blue. He told me that he got it for me because I didn’t have his eyes, but at least I could have a pick that was the same color.” He pulled a pendant out from under his shirt, a pale blue guitar pick dangling from the chain. “I haven’t taken it off since.”
Seiji felt his eyes widen. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“So was that it? He bought you a guitar then left?”
“Nope.”
“Do tell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That was really good, kid.”
Nick looked up from the guitar he was holding at his dad, beaming. “Really?”
“Would I say it if I didn’t believe it?”
Nick strummed the guitar, smiling sheepishly. “I guess.”
“You wanna get some food?”
Nick looked up, grinning. “Can we get McDonald’s?”
He frowned. “Why McDonald’s? It’s not that good.”
“I like burgers.”
“Why not go anywhere else?”
Nick rolled his eyes, scoffing. “Because I’ve never been anywhere else? Duh.”
“Why not?”
“Momma says the other places are too ex-pemzive.”
“Expensive. The word is expensive.”
“That’s what I said.” Nick said, shrugging.
“Well, it’s not too expensive for me.” He paused. “Do you want to go anywhere else?”
Nick paused, thinking it through. “Not really.”
Robert sighed, laughing under his breath. “Alright, kiddo. McDonald’s it is.” He ruffled Nick’s combed hair, sending it in all different directions. “One day, I’ll make you some of my world famous burgers. How does that sound?”
Nick grinned. “It sounds great.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I never got to taste those burgers.”
Seiji flipped on to his side.
“Nick.”
“What?” He said, looking over Seiji’s shoulder into the darkness.
“You said his name.”
Nick blinked. “Shit.” He shot up and tried to get out of the bed, but got twisted in the sheets and crashed to the floor.
“He’s Robert Coste, isn’t he?”
Nick looked away. “Help me up, will you?”
Seiji ignored him. “That’s why all of that sounded familiar. Because he did all of that with me and Jesse.”
Nick stopped struggling and stared at Seiji.
“I was six when we went through the car wash. I was eight when we watched Music and Lyrics. Jesse didn’t like the movie, or music in general, though.”
Nick sat on the edge of the bed, his shoulders slumping. “So none of that was…”
“None of it was what?”
“Real.”
Seiji looked away. He regretted mentioning his time with Robert now. He wasn’t sure how to fix it, though. He never knew when to shut his mouth. He wished he did, because if he could have just realized he shouldn’t have said that, his best friend wouldn’t look so dejected. Nick was the first person Seiji truly saw as a friend, and he didn’t want to ruin it. But what was he supposed to say?
I’m sorry your dad was more of a dad to me than you?
Sorry your only memory of your dad is ruined forever because of me?
All awful ideas. Seiji had never been good with words, preferring to talk through lunges and parries on the piste. He didn’t think losing to him would make Nick feel any better, though.
So he settled for the one thing he knew Nick loved. Hopefully, it could fix things.
“Hey, Nick.”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
Seiji looked down at the comforter. “Do you have your guitar here?”
“Yeah,” He looked at Seiji, “why?”
Seiji paused, the words stuck in his throat. “You… should play me something.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “For real?”
“Yeah.”
Nick walked over to the corner where he kept his fencing bag and pulled a guitar case out from underneath it.
“How have I never noticed that?”
Nick chuckled dryly. “You’re not exactly the most observant.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t notice the time Eugene stuck a ‘know it all’ sign on your back.”
Seiji shot up. “He did what?!”
“My point exactly.”
“Whatever,” Seiji sighed, “now play the stupid guitar.”
“What do you want?” Nick said, smiling.
“Something slow, I guess,” he gestured to himself, “I’m not exactly asleep. Your plan failed.”
Nick nodded, strumming lightly so as to not wake up the others in their hall.
“This one was my favorite from that movie,” he said as he turned a tuning knob, “when I got home, I sat in my room and taught myself this song so I could show it to him the next time I saw him.” He strummed again, nodding. “I never got to.” He cleared his throat and started to play.
It’s never been easy for me,
to find words to go along with a melody.
But this time there’s actually something on my mind,
so please, forgive these few brief awkward lines.
“Of course this song was your favorite,” Seiji mumbled, blushing.
Since I met you, my whole life has changed, it’s not just my furniture you’ve rearranged.
I was living in the past, but somehow you’ve brought me back.
And I haven’t felt like this since before Frankie said “Relax”
And no, I know, based on my track record, I might not seem like the safest bet.
But all I’m asking you is don’t write me off just yet.
Seiji smiled softly. “It was my favorite, too.”
For years, I’ve been telling myself the same old story,
that I’m happy to live off my so-called former glory.
But you’ve given me a reason to take another chance.
Now I need you, despite the fact that you’ve killed all my plants.
And no, I know, I’ve already blown more chances than anyone should ever get.
All I’m asking you is don’t write me off just yet.
Nick looked over at Seiji, who was laying haphazardly on the bed, snoring softly and smiling. Nick blushed and looked away as he finished the song.
Don’t write me off…
…just yet.