40A fish called sid Joint
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[an] [Special thanks to The Side Project for her help and encouragement and glomps. And to Vidi and Daylily Gold for giving me -spectacular- reviews! If only they were all that way! And Vidi, about that little thing with the tapes-don't worry, I meant to do that :) ]
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["Just smile and remember that it's all in your head." -Gorillaz]
John pulled his hearing aid out of his ear as soon as youth group ended. He hated the thing-if he turned it all the way up, he hear could all right in his left ear, but he only wore it for listening to music and listening to Syd sing. It aggravated him so much that he'd rather be deaf then wear it-unlike other deaf kids he met, who though hearing aids were gifts from God. John guessed that you just got used to something after a while.
He only smoked when he was nervous, and John tried to convince himself that he wasn't nervous as he lit up and took a seat on the subway. Syd watched as John took about 10 quick drags in 30 seconds, and burst out laughing. "Whaaaaat?" John whined, giving him the evil eye.
"You don't inhale, hun! What's with the back-and-forth a millions times stuff?"
"Yeah, I inhale."
"Not into your lungs, you don't. You smoke like a fag!"
"I am a fag."
"Yes, but no one wants to see a fag smoking a fag like a fag." That just made John choke out a laugh and swat his friend. "Lemme show you how it's done," Syd said between giggles, taking the cig between his fingers and holding it up to John's lips for him.
"Now take a deep breath. Like they make you do at the doctor's office." His patient did as he was told and then smacked Syd's hand away, and made a sound like he was coughing up a lung. The other passengers turned their attention from the guy talking to himself in the corner to Syd and John. Syd just gave them all a cheeky smile and cradled his choking friend.
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"It happened again. I saw, even though you tried to hide it, Syd."
"What do you mean?" Johnny was lying length-wise on the couch in Syd's room, his head in Syd's lap, watching the TV. They were watching Syd's copy of 'Taxi Driver', like they did every day after Youth Group. They used to have a lot of traditions like that, but now that was the only one left.
"The graffiti on your front door! You tried to paint over it, I saw, but I could still tell," John insisted, looking up at Syd, concerned.
"Oh, stop worrying already! Yeah, I didn't tell you they did it again because I knew you'd blame yourself because you pissed them off. But it's not your fault. So give it up, boy," he said quickly, eyes focusing on the Close-Captioning on the screen.
"But are you gonna do?"
"Nothing just yet." John sighed and turned back to the TV, letting Syd run his hand through John's hair. "Now quit worrying, it'll make you cough even more."
"It was your fault I was coughing."
"But you looked good doing it. And that's what matters, right?"
The Buzzcocks poured from his headphones at full volume as John sat on the floor of their Youth Group meeting room the next week. They were early, Syd was dozing on his shoulder, and the only other person in the room was a skinny boy with lavender hair. The kid fingered a wave and sauntered over to sit on John's other side. To be polite, John slid his earphones off.
"Hi. This is my first time here-I'm Michael, who're you?" The Kid asked, obviously bubbling over with energy. It seemed like he was almost trying to cover up his slight British accent, but John could still tell. Michael's tee shirt advertised some French beer company, and his jeans were fitted, faded and artfully ripped. He seemed like a bit of a flamer, which usually annoyed John, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike this guy.
"John. Uh, welcome...we're an interesting group, you could say."
"Interesting is good. Who's your friend?" He asked, gesturing towards Syd, who was still sleeping on John's shoulder, but now sucking his thumb as well.
"That's my pal Syd," John answered, stroking his friend's ear. "He's a goofball."
Michael just nodded as the rest the group began to pour into the room, all seeming to have arrived at once. Syd's eyes bobbed open, and they flashed to Michael and then closed again, so he didn't see Michael wink at John as he went back to his previous spot.
John would've felt excited if he didn't feel a bit overwhelmed.
[an] [Guess what guys! I have an actual plot for this story. I have it all mapped out. So you can expect updates while I can expect reviews...riiiight?]