For Trope Bingo: Sleeping Arrangements

[insomniaccoffee]

Title:Patience
Prompt: Sleeping Arrangements
Fandom: Metalocalypse
Relationship: Murderface/Pickles
Words: 2783
Rating: Teen
Summary: It seemed like Pickles and William would somehow or another end up sharing the same bed.
Warnings: None

Pickles would be one of the last members to join Dethklok before the situation with Magnus and Toki would quickly replace him. Though, that wouldn't be for quite a few months. As far as the boys were aware of at that moment, they may have just found the drummer to make their band complete. And well, the drummer certainly looked the part. Red hair in dreads, black t-shirt, definitely looked like a good image for their band.

Except there was just one small detail that William, or probably the other boys, couldn't quite shake.

Their drummer would be Pickles. The Pickles. The Goddamn Snakes N' Barrels singer who William would swear to the few friends he had that he definitely didn't have a crush on him while hoarding any and all newspaper/magazine interviews he had done. Yes, Nathan, stealing magazines to hoard in a box under his bed was definitely showing support of the singer. They are around the same age so he just has to attend that Snakes N' Barrels show to stick it to the man, totally normal! 

That must've been...five...ten years ago? He had really come a long way from stealing magazines to now meeting the guy he stole those magazines for. The world played a cruel game on him and it was definitely winning by a mile.

Pickles surveyed his potential new-bandmates. Eventually, his eyes fell on William who quickly wanted to crawl in a hole. God, the fact that he even gave him a smile was enough to make him want to cower away. He didn't and somehow found the willpower to give a smile back, totally setting off the dark and aloof vibe the band probably wanted to give to Pickles. They had to prove that they were an intimidating band not to be forced around anyway. 

"Really? We wanna get... an Axl Rose knock off for our band?" Magnus stated and just as quickly, Pickles looked over at Magnus who didn't seem phased by the comment at all.

"I'm more than just looks, y'know." Pickles smiled, pulling out drumsticks from his back pocket. He held them up, showing how worn it looked from what must be years of intense playing, "Why don't you see how this Axl Rose knock off plays and then we can see if I'm good enough for this band, fair enough?"

"Alright, guess we gotta, like, put you through a test to make sure you're legit anyway." He looked over to the boys with a nod, "Go ahead."

Skwisgaar, Magnus, and William picked up their instruments while Pickles went over to the drum kit. It was a few moments of silence as they each tuned their instruments. William could feel his hands shake just slightly as he tuned his bass, hoping Pickles or anybody else didn't notice.

Magnus looked over at Pickles, not really seeming to expect much out of him, "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I always am, dude." Pickles answered. He didn't seem all too bothered by the fact it was basically an improvisation audition. It would be easy to do a drum solo audition but when it came to improvisation, especially with how Magnus and Skwisgaar played, it ended with quite a lot of rejections.

The guitarists (and bass player) didn't need to say another word. Once Skwisgaar hit the first chord, Magnus followed soon after with his own style that quickly matched the others. William was a little slow but that didn't mean he didn't know what to do. Just as quickly, he followed in with his improvisation. His attention focused completely on the other two's playing to make sure he could keep up with them. He always could, he was in Dethklok after all, but there was always that small seed of doubt that made him focus harder than he should've. So much so that he almost didn't notice Pickles playing along beside them. 

It was easy to not notice because of just how perfectly Pickles fit in. Despite the fact that the three boys had performed without a drummer before, it felt like Pickles had melded so perfectly with them like he had been there since the beginning. Anytime Skwisgaar would throw his signature fast fretting, Pickles was quick to keep up. And unlike Magnus or William who has attempted and failed before, he was somehow able to take control parts of the song. His drumming was fast, intense, and carried the right enough of metal that they really had needed to be considered a death metal band. 

He wasn't sure if the others felt the same, but William definitely felt something. Something he couldn't quite describe, not even when he began replaying the scene in his mind much later. It was somehow like if fire and water mixed together, only instead of trying to distinguish the other they would work together instead. Fire and water playing some weird game of coming close enough to harm the other but not enough. Instead, it was creating some beautiful display that few would be able to see. And he was somehow a part of that display. And while it created more doubt that he most definitely shouldn't be a part of this moment, it felt...right, in a sense. It felt like Pickles' playing had sealed

By the time Skwisgaar played the final notes, William could feel his wrists almost give out from such intense playing. The three stared at each other after it was done before turning to a rather surprised looking Nathan. They seemed to share the same thoughts. 

"Guess we found our new drummer." Was all Nathan said and with nobody saying anything else, it became a silent agreement. 

______

The band may be complete but that didn't mean their lives were...for the most part. Being the talented musicians they were, they were stuck in a shitty apartment and now five men sharing said apartment. For pre-2008 stock market crash standards, it was a pretty sweet deal to be able to afford a three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with the money they were putting in.  

How the other guys got their money for rent wasn't meant to be questioned or spoken about. Pickles, for the most part, still got his royalty checks from Snakes N' Barrels so naturally the boys figured they'd finally be free of their cramped space. However, thanks to him being young and stupid when he signed the rather atrociously near-illegal contract, there was no way he'd be able to buy a better apartment for even himself. He was content enough in helping with his share of the rent and whatever else they would need. Despite the fact they would be even more cramped, they at least got extra financial help from both him and their new manager, Charles.

He didn't bring much with him to add to the cluttered mess. The only thing he had was a guitar case and a bag full of whatever he figured was important enough to pack. He was shown around 'Mordhaus', which was mainly a three-minute tour and explaining that there were things he couldn't touch if he wanted to keep his hands. Once the tour was over, he was given a drawer to throw his shit in and ate pizza with the rest of them for the first time with the beer he had brought along as a housewarming/peace offering gift. 

Surprisingly, Nathan did keep a somewhat strict schedule with the band. Their curfew was midnight, ten if they had a meeting in the morning. Pickles found himself liking that structure. His old band never had such rules and basically let him run wild, something he’d find himself regretting as he grew older. At least with a curfew, it meant this band would last just a bit longer if he was lucky. 

However as midnight quickly came along, everyone realized a quick problem; sleeping arrangements. The couch bed was taken by Magnus and the three small rooms were occupied by the rest of the boys. It meant Pickles either had to face sleeping in the bathtub or with one of the guys in a very not gay way. (They all grew up in the 80s, cut them some slack.) 

William didn’t expect to be chosen so when Pickles knocked on his door minutes later asking to crash with him, it certainly caught him off guard.

“Wait, why me? Didn’t you ask the other guys?” William had to ask. He had a feeling it was some odd prank from Nathan...though Nathan’s pranks would fall as flat as his sense of humor so it had to be real...somehow.

Pickles shrugged, “...I saw Skwisgaar sneak in a couple of guys through his window, Nate’s a fuckin’ giant, pretty sure Magnus hates me and you don’t seem like you hate me. Or do you?”

“What? No, of course not!” He said quickly, “Just wondering, is all. But yeah, guess you can sleep here tonight...But no funny business.” 

“As you wish. Damn shame though, you’re cute.”  Pickles just chuckled and watched as William’s face turned almost as red as his hair. 

William couldn’t speak for those few moments, eventually resorting to turning his head away, “H-Hey, flattery gets you nowhere!” 

Pickles simply shrugged, “It got me here, didn’t it?” 

William couldn’t argue with that, honestly.

His eyes shifted back to Pickles to see that he was taking off his shirt in front of him. Despite the fact that it had been quite a few years since he had done any risque photoshoots, he definitely still seemed as well-built those photoshoots. Only that he got to see for himself the surgery scars that magazines had tried to photoshop out only to end up on other tabloids due to his habit of taking off his shirt in concerts. Man, things were really different then. 

Either way, it didn’t take away the fact his teenage crush was undressing right in front of him like some cheesy rom-com film. God, could there be any worst genre to have in your life compared to at that moment?

Pickles got as far as removing his pants and nothing else as he tossed them aside. He was wearing underwear at this point and nothing else, making it incredibly hard for William to even look at him. It wasn’t like it was the first time he saw a guy near-naked but the situation felt all the more intimate or something. Was it a sign that he wanted things to actually happen? Or because the room was so damn humid? 

He sat on the other side of the bed to William, catching his eyes on the acoustic guitar that had laid between them, “It’s a nice guitar you have.” 

“Thanks,” He said and managed not to die internally from the nonchalant answer, “You brought your guitar too, right?”

“Yep. Probably more trouble than what it’s worth to keep it around but I got too attached to it honestly.” He answered, “I can show you if you want.”

“Go ahead.” Though if William’s guess was right…

It was indeed a Yellow Gibson Les Paul. It looked worn from use and probably saw better days. For that reason though, it was clearly meaning something to him if he actually kept it around versus the other newer guitars he must’ve had owned before. Even he had his cheap $60 guitar lying around somewhere in his grandparents’ trailer.

“Yeah, doesn’t look as nice as yours but can’t bring myself to really get rid of it.” Pickles said as he held the guitar, seeing what needed to be tuned for it. It was funny seeing someone fit so naturally with the guitar that wasn’t Skwisgaar. 

“Well, it’s still a nice guitar besides how worn it looks. Just means that you can actually play the guitar compared to the jackoffs with autotune.” 

“That’s true,” Pickles answered. He fretted with the guitar for a few moments to make sure he got the tuning right. He definitely wasn’t as fast as Skwisgaar but definitely played it so naturally, “You wanna try it out?” 

Why can’t he just propose on the spot instead?, “Sure, why not? You can try with mine.”

Pickles handed him the guitar that carried so much damn history. It was honestly unbelievable whenever someone just let him hold their guitar. It carried so many stories to tell that it was almost just jarring to believe he would be another one of the stories added to the guitar. Even just playing a few mindless chords felt like he was in some ways, just becoming another important person to him. Like some sort of secret sign of friendship. Surely if it meant that much to him he wouldn’t just let anyone play with it, right?

He watched as Pickles played with his guitar as well. He held it so naturally and pretty quickly found a comfortable way to hold and manage the guitar. The two didn’t need to say another word because the moment he hit a few chords, William began to follow. Despite the fact neither knew much about the other, the music had in so many ways. They clearly knew the same music if they played almost effortlessly like they had played so many times before. It was a feeling William never experienced before and honestly? He was really enjoying it.

After nearly half an hour of playing together, they decided to call it a night before Nathan or Magnus would go banging on their door. After putting their guitars away, they crawled into bed, with just a few inches of space between them.

“Night.” 

“G’night.”

With that, William turned the lamp off. Despite them wishing each other a good night, they most certainly didn’t. Each was awake with their own thoughts clashing against other thoughts. It was almost a surprise that one didn’t ask them to shut up with their thinking.

Pickles in retrospect figured that it would actually end with them sleeping together. He certainly wasn’t lying about William being cute. Perhaps taking off his shirt and pants was a bit too much. He wasn't coming onto him though so he'd suppose he didn't mind because it meant he wouldn’t treat him like worn-out guitar strings. God, why wasn’t he coming onto him?! Maybe he had to say something to initiate it? Or William wasn’t interested? God, he hoped not. What a lost cause. Or maybe he was one of those people that take their time? That would be interesting and in some ways, he was kind of glad if it was the case. Probably meant less awkwardness if it turns out it wouldn’t end well.

William was honestly wondering the same thing. Surely if a guy was half-naked in bed with him it would mean something, right? And the guitar and their session together and...and...more thoughts would pile on top of him. Honestly, what was stopping him from going over to kiss the drummer and just take the consequences as it is? Pickles, that was what was stopping him ironically enough. He knew that if Pickles rejected him, he’d be crushed and kicked out and there was no way he would want to ruin what they could potentially have.

With that, the two boys had left it in the air that maybe they shouldn’t try getting on with the other for the first time. It didn’t mean that they had actually slept through.

______

It would be easy to say that it would be the first and only time that they ever had to share a bed. The next morning, Pickles would get himself an air mattress and that would be the end of it. However, that's not really what ended up happening much to William's surprise. Pickles insisted that they'd save more money if they just shared a bed. He was pretty convinced that the band would take off so he saw no need for buying an air mattress that would be thrown out soon after.

The truth was Pickles could very well afford an air mattress the moment Charles helped him at least gain hefty royalty checks for online streaming. It was something that wouldn’t take off for quite a few years yet but it definitely helped add more money to his account. 

William was aware of it too. After all, he was the one that got the most letters in the mail. But would he argue about it? 

Well to answer the question, they ended up sharing the same bed for as long as they resided in that shitty apartment.