Colors [one-shot]
Title: Colors
Author:
therentmatrix
Rating: PG
Pairing: Pete/Patrick ((duhhh))
Summary: Something’s a bit off.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anyone, never happened, etc.
Author’s Notes: This is what I’ve been referring to for a while as The Idea. The capitals are required. Comments are not only appreciated, they are squealed over and loved more than puppies. *laugh*
Pete wakes up with that feeling in his stomach- the one you get when you just know something’s wrong. But of course he’s learned to ignore it by now, and so he yawns, stretches as much as he can in the cramped bunk, and proceeds with the morning routine.
It’s about halfway through brushing his hair that he screams and nearly faints.
Patrick wakes almost immediately and scrambles out of bed and into the bathroom as fast as he possibly can. Pete is sitting, motionless on the floor, hairbrush abandoned on the dingy lino in front of him. His normally red-and-black hair is now several shades of gray. Patrick blinks a few times before realizing that not only is Pete’s hair gray, but so is his skin.
And his clothes.
And the rest of the room.
So Patrick has no choice, really, but to glance down at his own hands- and they’re gray too.
“Pete,” he says cautiously, “why is everything in black and white?” Pete looks up, eyes full of both fear and relief.
“You see it too? Oh thank God, I thought I was losing it.” Patrick blushes for some unknown Patrick-thought-related reason and Andy appears behind him.
“Hey guys. Have you noticed that everything’s in grayscale?”
“Yeah, it was like this when we woke up.”
And of course Andy just smirks a bit and goes out to the front of the bus to make some breakfast, leaving Pete and Patrick confused and still a bit frightened.
They play a show that night, and everything is still in black and white. It was all over the news that day- the whole world suddenly drained of color. The kids still show up, though- most of them- and everything is almost normal. Pete decides to improvise.
“So, what’s up with the lack of colors?” he asks, and the crowd makes a collective noise of discontent. “I mean, really, it’s hard enough picking clothes, but in black and white? Nearly impossible!” The crowd cheers. “So we’re gonna play some extra songs for you guys, to make up for it!” Patrick and Joe and Andy all give him this look like they’re going to kill him, but they really can’t because then they’d need a new bassist and they really don’t want to scar any children for life by murdering him on-stage.
So they have to discuss what they’re going to play in between songs, and by the end of it Joe really does want to kill Pete, and Patrick swears his throat is going to start bleeding if he has to sing another note. Andy just crashes in a chair in the dressing room and falls asleep.
“Come on, you have to admit that was, like, really cool,” Pete says. Everyone groans. “What?”
“Pete, next time you feel like pulling a stupid stunt like that- DON’T,” Patrick mumbles as he collapses onto the empty couch. Pete grumbles and calls dibs on the first shower.
--
Two weeks pass, and the world is still completely grayscale. Sometimes Pete likes to think he sees flashes of color- reds or greens or blues when he’s walking down the street.
Their manager made them postpone the rest of the tour, and Pete was pissed about that for a while but by now he’s okay with it. He’s staying with Patrick at the moment, and enjoying the time off.
But two whole weeks in black and white have seriously messed with his mind- he doesn’t even know how he’s going to deal with everything else.
--
So now they’re sitting on the roof of Patrick’s apartment building, and Pete’s wondering how the hell they even got up to the roof in the first place (oh yeah, he thinks, it was the fire escape). But they’re sitting close together, feet dangling over the edge, and at any other time both of them would be scared half to death. But Patrick’s not because he has Pete to cling to, and Pete’s not because Patrick’s holding onto his arm tightly like he might try to leave at any moment.
The sun is setting, and Pete thinks how much he misses the pinks and oranges and purples that would accompany such a sunset just a few weeks ago.
“It’s still pretty, you know,” Patrick says quietly. Pete nods absentmindedly and holds Patrick’s hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin.
“Yeah, pretty.”
There’s silence for a few minutes as the sun sinks lower in the sky, and eventually Pete looks over at Patrick and sighs audibly. Patrick returns the look and squeezes Pete’s hand.
“You okay, Pete?”
“Yeah, just... thinking.” He sighs again.
“What’re you thinking about?”
“Just... I kind of wish I’d had the guts to do this back when I could see every speck of gold and green in your eyes, the smallest hint of pink on your cheeks when you blush, the way your hair can be gold or strawberry or whatever the hell it is just depending on the light... I love you.” With that Pete leans in towards Patrick and presses their lips together just hard enough before pulling away embarrasedly. Patrick blinks once before bringing one hand up to cup Pete’s face and kisses him a bit more confidently.
When they part again, a jolt goes through everything and there’s a flash of light- of color- and suddenly everything is back to normal. Patrick just grins and kisses Pete again.
“I love you too.”
Miles away, at his own house, Andy shakes his head to get used to the brightness around him. He looks out the window, closes his current book (Advanced Spells and Witchcraft), and smiles.
Back to the rooftop, where Patrick is laughing at Pete and they have to move away from the edge for fear he might flail enough to fall off.
“What- oh God- what are you wearing?” he gasps. “Did you get dressed in the dark?”
Pete tries to look offended, but he really does look ridiculous. “No, asshole, I got dressed in black and white.”
The End
Author:
therentmatrixRating: PG
Pairing: Pete/Patrick ((duhhh))
Summary: Something’s a bit off.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anyone, never happened, etc.
Author’s Notes: This is what I’ve been referring to for a while as The Idea. The capitals are required. Comments are not only appreciated, they are squealed over and loved more than puppies. *laugh*
Pete wakes up with that feeling in his stomach- the one you get when you just know something’s wrong. But of course he’s learned to ignore it by now, and so he yawns, stretches as much as he can in the cramped bunk, and proceeds with the morning routine.
It’s about halfway through brushing his hair that he screams and nearly faints.
Patrick wakes almost immediately and scrambles out of bed and into the bathroom as fast as he possibly can. Pete is sitting, motionless on the floor, hairbrush abandoned on the dingy lino in front of him. His normally red-and-black hair is now several shades of gray. Patrick blinks a few times before realizing that not only is Pete’s hair gray, but so is his skin.
And his clothes.
And the rest of the room.
So Patrick has no choice, really, but to glance down at his own hands- and they’re gray too.
“Pete,” he says cautiously, “why is everything in black and white?” Pete looks up, eyes full of both fear and relief.
“You see it too? Oh thank God, I thought I was losing it.” Patrick blushes for some unknown Patrick-thought-related reason and Andy appears behind him.
“Hey guys. Have you noticed that everything’s in grayscale?”
“Yeah, it was like this when we woke up.”
And of course Andy just smirks a bit and goes out to the front of the bus to make some breakfast, leaving Pete and Patrick confused and still a bit frightened.
They play a show that night, and everything is still in black and white. It was all over the news that day- the whole world suddenly drained of color. The kids still show up, though- most of them- and everything is almost normal. Pete decides to improvise.
“So, what’s up with the lack of colors?” he asks, and the crowd makes a collective noise of discontent. “I mean, really, it’s hard enough picking clothes, but in black and white? Nearly impossible!” The crowd cheers. “So we’re gonna play some extra songs for you guys, to make up for it!” Patrick and Joe and Andy all give him this look like they’re going to kill him, but they really can’t because then they’d need a new bassist and they really don’t want to scar any children for life by murdering him on-stage.
So they have to discuss what they’re going to play in between songs, and by the end of it Joe really does want to kill Pete, and Patrick swears his throat is going to start bleeding if he has to sing another note. Andy just crashes in a chair in the dressing room and falls asleep.
“Come on, you have to admit that was, like, really cool,” Pete says. Everyone groans. “What?”
“Pete, next time you feel like pulling a stupid stunt like that- DON’T,” Patrick mumbles as he collapses onto the empty couch. Pete grumbles and calls dibs on the first shower.
--
Two weeks pass, and the world is still completely grayscale. Sometimes Pete likes to think he sees flashes of color- reds or greens or blues when he’s walking down the street.
Their manager made them postpone the rest of the tour, and Pete was pissed about that for a while but by now he’s okay with it. He’s staying with Patrick at the moment, and enjoying the time off.
But two whole weeks in black and white have seriously messed with his mind- he doesn’t even know how he’s going to deal with everything else.
--
So now they’re sitting on the roof of Patrick’s apartment building, and Pete’s wondering how the hell they even got up to the roof in the first place (oh yeah, he thinks, it was the fire escape). But they’re sitting close together, feet dangling over the edge, and at any other time both of them would be scared half to death. But Patrick’s not because he has Pete to cling to, and Pete’s not because Patrick’s holding onto his arm tightly like he might try to leave at any moment.
The sun is setting, and Pete thinks how much he misses the pinks and oranges and purples that would accompany such a sunset just a few weeks ago.
“It’s still pretty, you know,” Patrick says quietly. Pete nods absentmindedly and holds Patrick’s hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin.
“Yeah, pretty.”
There’s silence for a few minutes as the sun sinks lower in the sky, and eventually Pete looks over at Patrick and sighs audibly. Patrick returns the look and squeezes Pete’s hand.
“You okay, Pete?”
“Yeah, just... thinking.” He sighs again.
“What’re you thinking about?”
“Just... I kind of wish I’d had the guts to do this back when I could see every speck of gold and green in your eyes, the smallest hint of pink on your cheeks when you blush, the way your hair can be gold or strawberry or whatever the hell it is just depending on the light... I love you.” With that Pete leans in towards Patrick and presses their lips together just hard enough before pulling away embarrasedly. Patrick blinks once before bringing one hand up to cup Pete’s face and kisses him a bit more confidently.
When they part again, a jolt goes through everything and there’s a flash of light- of color- and suddenly everything is back to normal. Patrick just grins and kisses Pete again.
“I love you too.”
Miles away, at his own house, Andy shakes his head to get used to the brightness around him. He looks out the window, closes his current book (Advanced Spells and Witchcraft), and smiles.
Back to the rooftop, where Patrick is laughing at Pete and they have to move away from the edge for fear he might flail enough to fall off.
“What- oh God- what are you wearing?” he gasps. “Did you get dressed in the dark?”
Pete tries to look offended, but he really does look ridiculous. “No, asshole, I got dressed in black and white.”
The End