zenosyne | johnnyboy one shots

busking

as the subway came to a screeching halt, people began moving towards the narrow doors in hoards. pony was surprised that no one ended up falling over and getting hurt. as soon as he was sure that he was one of the last people on the subway, he grabbed his guitar case, his bookbag, and his penny-filled paper cup, all of which had his name and an oklahoma buffalo printed on the fronts of them.

with his items, he made his way to the steps and slowly started walking up. once he made it to the top, he stepped off to the side and chose to simply admire the area for a bit.

"so this is what the streets of new york city look like," he muttered to himself, taking in the beauty of the scene in front of him.

since it was almost six in the evening, there were several hues of pink and purple and orange scattered amongst the light cerulean sky. flashing billboards, and streetlights illuminated the area, taxis were honking at people trying to cross the street, kids were grabbing their parents' hands and dragging them to the disney store. it was a city that was loud, bright, and bursting with energy, unlike in tulsa, where everything was quiet.

pony's grip on his guitar case tightened when he remembered his hometown. old memories began to resurface, memories that he just wanted to forget.

he took a deep breath in hopes of forgetting his old home and began walking towards the mcdonald's next to the disney store. in between the two buildings was a small space that had a small stepping stool surrounded by some cardboard boxes. not the best, but good enough. he carefully set his cup down, then turned to his guitar case. quickly, he opened the case, revealing an almost completely trashed acoustic guitar covered in dents and scratches. it might've seen better days, but pony loved it nonetheless.

after tuning the trashed instrument, he automatically started strumming, starting off with one of his favorite songs to play: 'teenage dirtbag' by wheatus.

the cleverly-crafted lyrics flew perfectly from pony's lips. he hit the right notes almost every time. and while his voice wasn't the best, he did manage to attract a small crowd near the end of the song.

about five songs and three encores of 'teenage dirtbag' later, the crowd began to dissipate and some even threw in some change into his paper cup. pony sighed, reaching for the cup and carefully counting the money he had received to see if there was enough for a train ticket.

he shouldn't be disappointed. he's been living like this for the past two years. he busked until he had enough money to leave, surviving off of water and a lifetime supply of graham crackers. but new york city seemed to make him feel like...he was appreciated. he never would've gotten requests to do an encore in any other place, let alone three of them. and to leave so soon almost felt...sad.

'i guess it's for the best,' pony thought to himself. but as he began to place the money back into his cup, he spotted something. his eyes widened and his breath catches.

it was a crinkled twenty dollar bill!

pony rubbed his eyes, thinking that this was some random hallucination he was having. but once his vision cleared, the crinkled green piece of paper that was worth millions to him was still there.

'this has to be some sort of joke,' pony thought as he picked the twenty dollar bill up and did his best to flatten it. he scoured the area, looking for anyone that might've been looking for the twenty dollars.

a loud spraying noise snapped him out of his thoughts, followed by a clanking sound. pony looked down to find a crushed spray paint can. he stood up, packing his guitar and carrying both the case and the money away from the vacant spot. as he walked closer to the mcdonald's, the spraying sound got louder. someone clothed in all black and wearing a protective mask continued decorating the wall with some bright red spray paint as a tall boy in a leather jacket watched him.

"umm, excuse me? what are you doing?" pony asked meekly. the tall boy turned to him, smirking when he saw the twenty dollar bill in his hands.

"ey johnny. he got the money," he snickered. pony's eyes widened. he had given pony the money? the painter, now known as 'johnny' removed his mask, shaggy black hair falling in front of his eyes and cheeks dusted pink. whether it was from wearing that mask for too long or from embarrassment was unknown.

"dally!" the flushed boy whisper-yelled. 

"erm..." pony cleared his throat, cheeks burning up. "thanks for the money. i, uh, really appreciate it."

'god he's just a boy who gave me money...a really cute boy...wait. what?' pony turned even redder at the thought. but that was okay, as the boy in front of him was just as red.

"y-yeah. no problem. i, uh, really love that song and you played it well and, uh..." johnny stuttered.

"wow, johnny. just 'you played it well?' what happened to 'oh my gosh dally he's so talented and cute oh gosh i cant breathe?'" dally laughed, resulting in him getting elbowed in the stomach.

"ignore him. i'm so sorry about that," johnny looked down in shame, his cheeks still red. pony felt like he was inside a volcano with how hot his cheeks were.

"s'fine..." pony awkwardly tried comforting the equally as red boy.

"uhhh...y'know, i still need to find a way to spend this money. and with the twenty dollars you gave me, i could buy a small coffee for the two of us...or three if your friend wants to come," pony offered, trying to clear up the awkward tension between the two of them.

"nah i'm fine. go on, johnny. spend some time with lover boy, i'll finish this up," dally laughed. johnny glared at the taller boy before thinking. 

"coffee sounds nice," he finally decided, smiling. pony took note of how beautiful his smile was. "but i'm not making you pay for everything!" johnny grinned wider, shaking a ten dollar bill in front of pony's face before running off to the starbucks in the far corner.

"oh, yes i am!" pony laughed, running after him.

and as the two of them entered the starbucks, fought over who was paying, split the bill after countless arguments, and walked back to the spray-painted wall with two hot chocolates in hand, pony decided that he might stay in new york city, just for a little while longer.

word count: 1,129

a/n well this sucks pffft. but really, i'm so sorry about the late update! writers  block struck me, then i had ideas and executed them badly, then i got a nasty stomach ache, and i managed to write this in the span of a few hours and i hate it and yeah. hope you like it anyway, and sorry again! - todd