PatD/CS: But It's Better If You Smile (For The Paparazzi), (Ryan/Jon/Gabe)
Title: But It's Better If You Smile (For The Paparazzi)
Pairing: Ryan/Jon/Gabe
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not real. Not even vaguely.
Word count: 1,160
Notes: The last of the lyric prompt fics (honest!), written for cynthia_arrow who gave me the lyric: I thought I was a fool for no one, Oh baby I'm a fool for you, which I largely ignored. Oops. But she did also suggest that I "convince one of the Panic boys to have a fling with Gabe Saporta", so at least I did that, right? Also, somehow, during the 'editing to repost' process I seem to have added roughly 400 words to the original version. I have no idea how that happened. Ahem.
Ryan didn’t like Gabe when he first met him. Gabe was too loud, too frivolous and, most of the time, too drunk. Of course, at the time, Ryan was in the middle of his ‘serious musicians are serious, alcohol is the root of all evil' phase so Gabe was pretty much the antithesis of everything Ryan had convinced himself he stood for. But still, even taking that into account, the truth about Gabe is he can be kind of hard to deal with when he’s out to make a dramatic first impression.
But the weird thing was, just about everyone Ryan spoke to liked Gabe. In fact, most of them loved Gabe and seemed more than happy to spend as much time in his presence as they could. Which, intrigued Ryan. Because, yeah, these were people whose opinion Ryan respected, and if they liked Gabe then maybe, just maybe, there was something about him to be liked. So, given that there was the vaguest possibility that he might have made a somewhat snap decision, Ryan decided (slowly and carefully this time) that, if for no other reason than to gather evidence to support his theory that Gabe was not the great guy everyone seemed to think he was, his only choice was to study Gabe from a distance and try to work out what it was about Gabe that drew people to him, try to see what it was that other people could supposedly see.
During the day, in the dead hours after sound check and before the audience started to file in, Ryan watched Gabe and saw the way that he spent most of his time making sure everyone else was happy; distracting people with wild stories to make them forget their nerves; mediating the petty little arguments that the sheer monotony of life on the road created on a daily basis, and laughing and joking around with anyone who didn’t have a problem to be solved but did have some spare time to fill. And when the evening began, Ryan stood in the shadows at the side of the stage and watched the way that Gabe threw himself into every show, and, more often than not, into the audience. Turning a room full of people who barely cared who was playing, into a crowd with their eyes fixed on the stage and who hung on his every word and brayed for more when the set was over. And, at the parties after the shows, Ryan watched as Gabe worked the room (or, okay, whichever band’s bus was the venue of choice for the night) making sure that everyone, even Ryan, was having as much fun as they wanted to have.
And, gradually, and maybe a little bit grudgingly, Ryan came to the realization that Gabe, was actually an okay kind of guy. And that, honestly, while his initial impressions of Gabe weren’t all that far from the mark, the combination of being loud and brash and the kind of guy who used lyrics from his own songs as pick up lines and who only took life seriously when it needed to be, made Gabe fun to be around. And, that underneath the flashy showmanship, Gabe was driven, and in love with what he was doing and surprisingly, to Ryan anyway, actually way more intelligent than he let on. And when he put it all together and rolled it around in his head, Ryan decided that, maybe, yeah, Gabe was someone Ryan would like to get to know a whole lot better.
And okay, it probably helped that Jon liked Gabe a lot, and Ryan liked Jon even more and that Gabe was maybe instrumental in Ryan getting to know Jon in the exact way he wanted to get to know him - Gabe walking up to the pair of them one day, taking in the way they were standing, curved in towards each other but not quite touching, because neither of them had quite gotten up the nerve to make the first move, and saying, with a grin and a look that said he knew something they didn’t know, "you two should stop fucking around and just, you know, fuck." Which, after a moment or two of stunned silence and some vague attempts at denial, they’d both agreed was actually a pretty good idea (and later, when he was warm and sleepy and, yeah, sweaty and a little bit sticky and a whole lot satisfied, Ryan was forced to admit that even if Gabe’s style of matchmaking was about as subtle as being hit over the head with a feather boa wrapped around a brick, it did the job it set out to do). And spending time with Jon meant that Ryan got over his insular, 'life is hard and there to be brooded over' phase and learnt that alcohol was kind of fun in moderation and weed was even more fun in excess and that, while two definitely is company, occasionally, three is not always a crowd.
Because the thing about Gabe, Ryan knows now, is that Gabe likes to perform. He likes to throw himself open and let people see who he is, entertain them and leave them wanting more, and he’s willing to try most things at least once, just to see what the reaction is. And the thing about Ryan is, while he’s not quite as open as Gabe, doesn’t have quite the same need to entertain, he does like it when everyone’s attention is focused on him, possibly a little bit more than he should, but, so far, no one’s complaining. And, the thing about Jon is, he likes to watch. He likes to stand outside of things and observe, look at the world in terms of focus and framing and angles and work out how he can make it look better, more attractive, more in line with what he wants to see. And then, when he’s done figuring it out and molding it to the vision in his mind’s eye, Jon likes to capture what he’s seeing with his camera, so he can look at it again and again.
All of which means, they’re pretty much perfect for each other. Because, when their schedules cross and they find themselves in the same place at the same time, Gabe gets to perform for a captive audience that's willing to encourage him to take things as far as they can go, and then maybe a little bit further still. And Ryan gets to be the focus of Gabe’s hands and Gabe’s mouth and Gabe’s everything and, at the same time, Jon’s eyes and Jon’s camera and Jon’s voice telling him what he wants to see. And Jon, Jon gets to watch and record it all as they play out his ideas and then, when he’s captured all the angles and framed everything he wants to frame, Jon gets to leave his camera running and join in.
Pairing: Ryan/Jon/Gabe
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not real. Not even vaguely.
Word count: 1,160
Notes: The last of the lyric prompt fics (honest!), written for cynthia_arrow who gave me the lyric: I thought I was a fool for no one, Oh baby I'm a fool for you, which I largely ignored. Oops. But she did also suggest that I "convince one of the Panic boys to have a fling with Gabe Saporta", so at least I did that, right? Also, somehow, during the 'editing to repost' process I seem to have added roughly 400 words to the original version. I have no idea how that happened. Ahem.
Ryan didn’t like Gabe when he first met him. Gabe was too loud, too frivolous and, most of the time, too drunk. Of course, at the time, Ryan was in the middle of his ‘serious musicians are serious, alcohol is the root of all evil' phase so Gabe was pretty much the antithesis of everything Ryan had convinced himself he stood for. But still, even taking that into account, the truth about Gabe is he can be kind of hard to deal with when he’s out to make a dramatic first impression.
But the weird thing was, just about everyone Ryan spoke to liked Gabe. In fact, most of them loved Gabe and seemed more than happy to spend as much time in his presence as they could. Which, intrigued Ryan. Because, yeah, these were people whose opinion Ryan respected, and if they liked Gabe then maybe, just maybe, there was something about him to be liked. So, given that there was the vaguest possibility that he might have made a somewhat snap decision, Ryan decided (slowly and carefully this time) that, if for no other reason than to gather evidence to support his theory that Gabe was not the great guy everyone seemed to think he was, his only choice was to study Gabe from a distance and try to work out what it was about Gabe that drew people to him, try to see what it was that other people could supposedly see.
During the day, in the dead hours after sound check and before the audience started to file in, Ryan watched Gabe and saw the way that he spent most of his time making sure everyone else was happy; distracting people with wild stories to make them forget their nerves; mediating the petty little arguments that the sheer monotony of life on the road created on a daily basis, and laughing and joking around with anyone who didn’t have a problem to be solved but did have some spare time to fill. And when the evening began, Ryan stood in the shadows at the side of the stage and watched the way that Gabe threw himself into every show, and, more often than not, into the audience. Turning a room full of people who barely cared who was playing, into a crowd with their eyes fixed on the stage and who hung on his every word and brayed for more when the set was over. And, at the parties after the shows, Ryan watched as Gabe worked the room (or, okay, whichever band’s bus was the venue of choice for the night) making sure that everyone, even Ryan, was having as much fun as they wanted to have.
And, gradually, and maybe a little bit grudgingly, Ryan came to the realization that Gabe, was actually an okay kind of guy. And that, honestly, while his initial impressions of Gabe weren’t all that far from the mark, the combination of being loud and brash and the kind of guy who used lyrics from his own songs as pick up lines and who only took life seriously when it needed to be, made Gabe fun to be around. And, that underneath the flashy showmanship, Gabe was driven, and in love with what he was doing and surprisingly, to Ryan anyway, actually way more intelligent than he let on. And when he put it all together and rolled it around in his head, Ryan decided that, maybe, yeah, Gabe was someone Ryan would like to get to know a whole lot better.
And okay, it probably helped that Jon liked Gabe a lot, and Ryan liked Jon even more and that Gabe was maybe instrumental in Ryan getting to know Jon in the exact way he wanted to get to know him - Gabe walking up to the pair of them one day, taking in the way they were standing, curved in towards each other but not quite touching, because neither of them had quite gotten up the nerve to make the first move, and saying, with a grin and a look that said he knew something they didn’t know, "you two should stop fucking around and just, you know, fuck." Which, after a moment or two of stunned silence and some vague attempts at denial, they’d both agreed was actually a pretty good idea (and later, when he was warm and sleepy and, yeah, sweaty and a little bit sticky and a whole lot satisfied, Ryan was forced to admit that even if Gabe’s style of matchmaking was about as subtle as being hit over the head with a feather boa wrapped around a brick, it did the job it set out to do). And spending time with Jon meant that Ryan got over his insular, 'life is hard and there to be brooded over' phase and learnt that alcohol was kind of fun in moderation and weed was even more fun in excess and that, while two definitely is company, occasionally, three is not always a crowd.
Because the thing about Gabe, Ryan knows now, is that Gabe likes to perform. He likes to throw himself open and let people see who he is, entertain them and leave them wanting more, and he’s willing to try most things at least once, just to see what the reaction is. And the thing about Ryan is, while he’s not quite as open as Gabe, doesn’t have quite the same need to entertain, he does like it when everyone’s attention is focused on him, possibly a little bit more than he should, but, so far, no one’s complaining. And, the thing about Jon is, he likes to watch. He likes to stand outside of things and observe, look at the world in terms of focus and framing and angles and work out how he can make it look better, more attractive, more in line with what he wants to see. And then, when he’s done figuring it out and molding it to the vision in his mind’s eye, Jon likes to capture what he’s seeing with his camera, so he can look at it again and again.
All of which means, they’re pretty much perfect for each other. Because, when their schedules cross and they find themselves in the same place at the same time, Gabe gets to perform for a captive audience that's willing to encourage him to take things as far as they can go, and then maybe a little bit further still. And Ryan gets to be the focus of Gabe’s hands and Gabe’s mouth and Gabe’s everything and, at the same time, Jon’s eyes and Jon’s camera and Jon’s voice telling him what he wants to see. And Jon, Jon gets to watch and record it all as they play out his ideas and then, when he’s captured all the angles and framed everything he wants to frame, Jon gets to leave his camera running and join in.