Just Off the Key of Reason

Chapter Nine - We Don't Fight Fair

A/N - This entire story (yep, the whole. damn. thing.) was inspired by this minute and a half long Fall Out Boy interview below and me thinking "I bet he would be mortified if it turned out to actually be a girl." 

Anyway.

Friday, 30th of March, 2007 – Cincinnati, Ohio

They walked down the narrow hotel hallway, her trailing behind Pete and Patrick but in front of Andy and Joe. "You guys have an interview with..." She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the name she had written down "Rage? I think? Well, they didn't call it an interview; I think you might just be talking about stuff."

"Stuff?" Joe asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I dunno, Chicago and punk music and things." She suggested with a shrug. Andy laughed lightly to himself, wondering why as a band they were so frequently derived down to only two topics. He couldn't remember the last time someone had asked him about a different genre. "They haven't given you a prompt or question to open with so I guess you can just say whatever you want."

"That's an unwise thing to tell us." Pete gave a dark chuckle, already trying to work out what mayhem he could create.

"If you guys don't do what they want, it's only their own fault. They're a music TV show so maybe hang around that sort of theme."

They walked into the hotel room where they were supposed to be meeting the representative from the station; as per usual it was under furnished but trying to be homely in that all-too-familiar hotel way. A guy was sitting on a nearby arm chair smoking a cigarette, donned in a worn-out suit as he flipped through some paperwork. He stood up to greet the boys when they came in before gesturing for them to sit on the couch. They shared a collective look of confusion before cramming themselves into the considerably small leather three-seater. Patrick adjusted his cap and slipped his glasses into his pocket, trying to maintain a consistent image for the band. She excused herself for a moment, deciding it would be a decent time to check in with her manager while they were occupied; Pete surely couldn't cause that much trouble while under surveillance and trapped in that couch they all barely fit in.

The rep handed them a list of songs before butting out his cigarette. Andy could feel the smell sitting at the back of his throat, glad that it would finally start to dissipate. "This here is a list of clips we can play during the show, if any strike your fancy, feel free to talk about them and we'll play your interview before that song. We'll just keep the camera rolling the whole time you guys are here and cut out the bits we need." He explained as he began fiddling with the equipment.

"Are we like... announcing them?" Patrick asked in confusion. The guy nodded before hitting record and giving them a thumbs-up. One name on the list caught his attention and he was reminded of when he first heard it, so he decided to roll with that. "So, this next song, um, I... remember being in fifth grade and a friend of mine, um, like..." He tried his best to not stuff up telling the story, but interviews were harder when you weren't asked questions and were just expected to talk. He was never good at talking at the best of times, let alone when he knew people would be seeing it and analysing it over and over. "Taking me under-under the table, the teacher wasn't watching-"

"Making out with him" Pete interrupted with a chuckle.

"Shut up." Patrick instantly countered, wanting none of Pete's crap today.