[TRICK OR TREAT FIC] Two Bottles Of A Lovely Red

[sungreen70.livejournal.com]

My Trick or Treat fic for Clayangel! Happy Halloween from house # 11 :) 

Title: Two Bottles Of A Lovely Red
Author: Sun Green
Pairing: None - possibly a hint of past Colin/Ryan
Rating: PG for one teeny cuss word
Summary: What took place when gigs were canceled due to tornados, and Colin and Greg "made the best of it with two bottles of a lovely red". Inspired by Colin's Twitter post... and Clay's comment that "they're practically writing the fics FOR us now!"

A/N: This was beta'd by the wonderful ktnflag, to whom I beg forgiveness for forgetting to acknowledge!!! *is red faced*

 

“Holy shit!” 

Colin looked up from the mini-bar at Greg, who was peering out through the heavy hotel curtains. “What?” 

“You should see the wind out there.” 

“I can hear it.” Colin found what he was looking for, and grimaced when he saw the price. Eight dollars for a jar of olives he could’ve gotten for three at Loblaw’s. For a moment he hesitated, then closed the bar with the olives still in his hand. There was thrifty, and then there was cheap. Brad was always telling him that, because he didn’t know what it meant to be dirt poor. No one did, really, except… Colin straightened up and joined Greg at the table, where his friend was already pouring him a glass of wine. Greg grinned as he opened the olives and stuffed a handful in his mouth before dropping one in his martini.  

“Thanks, man.”  

Colin smiled back, hoping it didn’t look as forced as it felt, and picked up his wineglass. He wasn’t in the mood for this. When the show was canceled due to tornado warnings, he’d looked forward to a solitary evening in his hotel room. However, Greg had other ideas. Colin had already declined an invitation to get together when their schedules landed them within a few miles of one another, using work as an excuse. But when the weather intervened, Greg assumed Colin would welcome the company, and Colin hadn’t had the balls to send him away when he appeared at the hotel with gin for himself and red wine for Colin. 

The windowpane rattled in the gale as Greg sat down and crossed his ankle over his knee. “So where’s Brad?”  

Colin shrugged. “Not my night to watch him.” At Greg’s glance, he tried to soften his response. “I don’t know. I think he was meeting a friend somewhere.”  

“How’s the tour going?” 

Colin sighed inwardly. The last thing he wanted to talk about was work. “Fine.” A pause followed, and Colin realized he was being a drag. “How’s yours?” he added.  

“Good.” Greg nodded, sipping his drink. “Looks like we’re going out again after the break. Ryan’s just finalizing the details.” 

Colin dropped his gaze into his wineglass. He felt Greg’s eyes on him.  

“He misses you, Col.” 

“I miss you, Col.” The wistful voice echoed in Colin’s mind, from that night he’d gone to Ryan and Greg’s two-man show and been coerced into joining them onstage. He could still see the green eyes probing his during dinner, the unspoken question apparent. What happened to us? 

“He’d love to have you join us for a few shows, when you have time.”

Colin shrugged. “Who has time?” 

“You could make time. If you wanted to.” Ryan’s voice had an edge to it as they stood outside the restaurant, waiting for Greg to return from the corner store with his cigarettes. 

“We agreed. The team thing wasn’t working anymore.” 

“No, I never agreed. It was your idea. I thought it was working just fine.” 

“Come on, Ryan - we were both getting bored. It was time to branch out. If we can’t make it on our own…” Colin trailed off, and they fell silent. Neither acknowledged the unspoken truth. Ryan had made it on his own. He didn’t rely on Colin for his success. And Colin was damned if he was going to rely on Ryan for his. Anymore.  

Across the table, Greg studied him contemplatively. Colin cleared his throat. “So how’s Jen?” 

Greg nodded briefly, accepting the change of subject. He launched into an account of Jen’s most recent work while Colin poured himself another glass of wine. Greg’s narrative grew increasingly less animated as it became apparent that Colin was only pretending to listen. Finally, Greg glanced out the window and remarked with poorly disguised relief, “Looks like it’s clearing up.”  

Colin had been staring out at the sky for the past ten minutes and hadn’t noticed. “Yeah.” 

Greg downed the last of his drink. “Well, I’d better get going while it’s still calm.” 

Colin nodded, ashamed for being glad Greg was leaving, but glad nonetheless. He managed to sound genuinely warm as they hugged. “It was good seeing you, Greg.”  

“You too, Col.”  

Colin opened the second bottle of wine, and his eyes fell on his laptop. Oh, right. He was supposed to update his Twitter page. His manager had been on another rampage about keeping the fans happy. Taking a fortifying swallow, he logged into his account.  

A first. Gig cancelled because of tornado. Mr Proops and I made the best of it with two bottles of a lovely red. Love this business.