May 17, 2012: What's Good

Los Angeles International Airport was loud and crowded, as always, and Sonny had just about single-handedly cleared out the Panda Express when Joel finally received a text from one Orifice Vulgatron. 

Our flight just landed, meet us at the baggage claim

alright. might need to find a wheelbarrow though. sonny just sent china into famine.

Orifice didn't reply, and if he did, Joel didn't care enough to read it. He got up and took hold of his suitcase, then picked his mau5head up. Since this was a tour on their newly-released joint EP, Joel had thought it would be fitting to let Sonny design his new mau5head for this tour. He'd tagged the ear with his logo and given the eyes heart pupils over the Xs, and the head itself was black. It was corny, but it was cute. And Joel hadn't been allowed to see it until after it was made, so… no changing it anyway. 

“ Their flight just landed,” Joel announced. Sonny nodded and finished shoving Lo Mein into his mouth- how he got to be so efficient with chopsticks, Joel had no idea- before he got up as well. Sonny put on his backpack and grabbed his suitcase, and they were off to the baggage claim to meet up with Foreign Beggars.

When they got there, Metropolis was the first to spot them, and greeted Sonny with a huge hug.

“Sonny, man, great to be seeing you!” Metropolis exclaimed, squeezing tight before he finally let go. “How have you been?!”

“I’ve been alright!” Sonny said, looking over to Joel, who was still holding his head. “We just got the new head for the tour, he let me design it! What do you think?”

Metropolis looked at the head Joel was holding, and a grin spread across his face. “That’s adorable, man! Congrats to you two finally tying the knot.”

Joel blushed a fierce red at that, holding the mau5head a little closer to himself. “Thanks.”

Sonny, on the other hand, lit up, immediately moving to show off his wedding ring to Metropolis. “It was the best day of my life! I mean- check it out, the inside of the ring is even engraved, and…”

If there was one thing that embarrassed Joel more than blatant PDA, it was how Sonny loved to show him off and talk about their relationship. It wasn’t like he was ashamed of Sonny. Sonny was perfect. Maybe it was a part of him that still clung to the idea that it wasn’t right to be gay, or that he should at least shut up and be quiet about it. It was something he’d had to wrestle with so many nights that he didn’t even propose until the end of their last tour together, even though he’d meant to do it at the very beginning. Maybe it was easier to think of Sonny as a girl, sometimes. Especially now he knew Sonny could- and with all hope would - become pregnant. Maybe that’s why the thought of having a kid with Sonny, a real, biological child, was starting to grow on him so much, because it would prove to someone (or maybe just himself) that what he had with Sonny couldn’t be wrong, that it was natural. Even though he already knew that, cognitively.

It was a battle Joel would rather fight some other day, though.

He made his way over to the luggage carousel where Orifice and Nonames stood. They didn’t notice him immediately, too busy looking for their bags. Joel grinned mischievously as he lifted his mau5head and put it on Nonames from behind, drawing Orifice’s attention.

“Oh my god, are you Deadmau5?!” Joel said, wrapping an arm around Nonames’ shoulder. “I’m, like, your biggest fan! Love the new EP, Bangarang is my favorite! Can you sign my tits?!”
Orifice burst out laughing at Joel’s antics, and once he realized what was happening, Nonames started playing along. He grabbed a sharpie from the side pocket of Joel’s backpack- he always kept one there, because fans were constantly asking him to sign shit and half the time didn’t even have a pen- and pulled down the front of Joel’s shirt so he could write “TOTALLY THE REAL DEADMAU5” over his chest. Joel started laughing too, and suddenly, Nonames couldn’t keep it together either. 

The party stopped when Sonny appeared to wrap his arms around Joel and give Nonames the staredown of a lifetime. For what it was worth, Sonny couldn’t actually see Nonames behind the mask, but Nonames certainly felt his gaze. Slowly, he gave Joel his sharpie back and took off the mau5head. Joel glanced back to Sonny, cheeks tinged pink.

“Babe, relax, we’re just horsing around.”

“Married for three months and he’s got you dick whipped already,” Metropolis commented as he joined the group again, grinning.

“Lay the fuck off, Metro,” Joel huffed. If there was one thing he wouldn’t tolerate, it was insinuations about his sex life. He looked back to Orifice and Nonames. “Good to see you guys again.”

The tension didn’t really ease, but the group did their damnedest to ignore it as they caught up. Orifice and Nonames got their bags from the carousel, and the five of them were off to get taxis, go meet up with their crews, and get settled into the buses. 

When Sonny got into the bus, his first move was to make a beeline for the fridge. It was probably stocked with beer among other things, because Joel was pretty sure their crew never got the memo they were going sober, but if nothing else the Beggars would probably appreciate some free booze. So he didn’t think too much of it, and made his way toward the back of the bus. Since him and Sonny were sharing a bus now, that meant no more dealing with shitty tiny bunks- they just decided to have an actual bed in the back, and it was fucking awesome. 

Joel sank contentedly into the plush bedsheets. Their flight had left early as hell, and Joel hadn’t gotten to sleep on the flight since it wasn’t very long to begin with, and it was so fucking refreshing to just lay down and let the tension leave his body, freshly-laundered cotton lulling him into the aether…

Joel woke up to the evening sun filtering through the blinds, lighting the room a warm orange hue. Almost immediately, Joel noticed someone’s arms around him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Sonny, glasses sliding halfway down his nose as he snuggled up to his husband. Looked like he’d collapsed onto Joel pretty soon after he’d fallen asleep. Smiling, Joel rolled over and pushed Sonny’s glasses back up, brushing his hair back and tucking it behind his ear. So cute…

Joel kept playing with Sonny’s hair, content to stay in bed with him. He looked so peaceful when he slept. 

Eventually, however, Joel found himself interrupted by a knock at the door. He got up to go open it, and was greeted by Metropolis.

"Hey, man, sorry about earlier. I wanted to make it up to you." Metropolis held out a can of beer in offering. "We're having a party out by where our bus is parked. All the crew guys are already there. Drinks on me."

"Uh…" Joel glanced into the back of the bus. Technically, it was just Sonny who was supposed to be getting sober. The whole reason they were swearing off alcohol to begin with was that some maternity forum had said, the best way to become pregnant is to treat your body like it already is- that means no drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol. And since Sonny was having a hard time quitting drinking, Joel had joined in so as to not tempt him further. 

Joel looked back at Metropolis, then back to Sonny where he slept. His hair fell just into his face, a ray of warm, pleasant sun falling across his shoulder and glinting just barely off his lip studs. He was like some kind of fairytale princess. And he'd be waking up soon…

"No thanks," Joel eventually said, none-too-gently. "Realized I had a really bad drinking problem and I told myself I'd go sober. You guys are free to take all the beer in our fridge, we don't need it. Memo never reached our guys."

"You're no fun," Metropolis complained. "Live a little. Just this one night before the tour starts."

"I get mean when I'm drunk, you know that. Sonny knows that. I told him I was going to be a better man and I meant it."

"Oh, loosen up, man! Sonny don't have to know nothing."

That was true, Sonny didn't have to know anything. It wasn't even Sonny's idea for Joel to join him in going sober. He wouldn’t be mad at all…

"No, Metropolis." Joel grabbed the doorknob. "Goodnight. Enjoy your party."

Joel slammed the door shut in Metropolis' face and then locked it, before heading into the back of the bus to rejoin his husband in bed. When he got back there, Sonny was already sitting up, brushing his hair out of his face. Joel sat next to him. 

“Hey baby,” Sonny groaned, voice low as he turned to Joel. “Who was that?”

“Oh, just Metropolis.” Joel shrugged and took off his shirt as he shuffled further onto the bed, greeting Sonny with a kiss on the cheek. “Nothing important.”