Ryden Oneshots

Sense Of Touch

Sense of Touch

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Summary:

Brendon and Ryan turn into otters, but that's just the beginning of the problem.

They play a small show in Santa Cruz before their new album drops and they have a couple of days just to hang around before they start touring for real. It's Brendon who is all enthusiastic about seeing otters.

"They're so cute!" Brendon exclaims to Jon. "Like swimming cats!"

"They're so graceful and poetic," he describes to Ryan.

"Please please please?" he begs of Spencer.

Brendon, to no one's surprise, gets his way.

The otters really are very cute, and even though their guide tells them very sternly not to, both Brendon and Ryan sneak their hands out to pet them.

Brendon and Ryan end up being turned into otters and put in a zoo.

How it happens is, the morning after visiting the otters, Spencer goes to get Ryan and Brendon from their hotel room and two sleek otters slip out instead. Before Spencer has much of a chance to do anything at all, a hotel maid is screaming "Dios mio!" and security is swarming.

By the time Spencer has managed to hiss to Jon, "I think those two otters are Ryan and Brendon!" the zoo has been called and Brendon and Ryan are being carted away in cages.

Spencer can't help thinking about how sad they looked, eyes downcast, noses pointed towards the ground. It's just not natural, otters looking unhappy.

******

Being an otter's actually kind of cool. Brendon likes swimming, and he's already been fed twice since the pretty lady zookeeper took them out of the cages. Plus there are people with their faces pressed against the glass looking at him all the time. It's kind of like being a rockstar, only better. He tries to point this out to Ryan, who still looks thoroughly miserable, but all that comes out are whistles and whines.

Well, okay, maybe that part of being an otter kind of sucks.

Eventually, Ryan gets sick of climbing uncomfortably over fake rocks in the habitat and slips into the water. Or at least, Brendon thinks that's what happens, since, you know, he can't actually talk to him.

Brendon works his tail a little bit and manages to float over next to Ryan. Ryan's not even trying to have a good time, just floating emo-ly. So Brendon does what any good friend does to an over-emotional angst-ridden songwriter: he leans over and takes Ryan's hand. And, okay, they're otters, so Brendon kind of overbalances a little and gets a mouthful of water, but then he manages to bump his paw up next to Ryan's. It's not a great grip, but Ryan kind of curves his paw over Brendon's, so it works.

"Are they holding hands?" Brendon hears a pre-teen girl squeal. It sounds for all the world like the "Did they just kiss?" squeals they got on their last tour.

Ryan lets out a kind of breathy whistle and Brendon chooses to believe he's laughing.

******

Spencer doesn't know how to explain to anyone that Brendon and Ryan are otters. He's kind of shocked that Jon believes him, but Jon just shrugs and says, "I've heard weirder things."

Spencer remembers that Jon's known Pete Wentz and Bill Beckett for a long time, and, yeah, he probably has heard weirder.

They make their way to the zoo after breakfast and Spencer plays the bitchy rockstar card, demanding a private tour. They spend 37 years meeting the zoo's world-famous gorilla and finally Jon says to their guide, "I gotta be honest, man, my friend here really wants to see your otters, he's just too embarrassed to say."