#also i lost all my beatles pics :///// im pissed

[mithranqueersmusings]

Before This Dance Is Through VIII

Chapter: 8/16

Rating: U

Summary: Ringo's being going through a dry spell for the last year or so and when he regretfully tells his best friend John, he insists on taking them to an all-male strip club for some "fun". Ringo isn't sure whether it's the alcohol, his desperation or a mixture of the two but he thinks he might be falling in love with a stripper.

Tags: AU - Strippers, Modern Setting, Smut, Slow Burn

Pairings: George Harrison/Ringo Starr, John Lennon/Paul McCartney

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

Ringo led the two of them to a bar himself and John had been to a few times, at first he was worried about picking somewhere a little seedy but then remembered Spike was probably used to that atmosphere, while that didn't meant he necessarily liked it. The amount of people was dwindling, by this point in the night people had either headed off to a club or retreated back home, but there were still a few people dotted about. Ringo led them over to a booth, as much as it might've given out the wrong idea he figured Spike wanted to be as far away from people as possible right now. They hadn't spoken too much on the walk over but it hadn't been awkward, neither of them really seemed to know what to say.

"Do you come here a lot?" Spike asked as he looked around, it didn't have the benefit of darkness to hide its flaws like The Helter Skelter did.

"Not by choice." Ringo chuckled as he shed off his jacket on the seat "John usually drags me out here. I'll get us some drinks, what'll you have?"

"Whiskey, please. A double if you would." Spike's lips curled a little "Feel like I'm gonna need more than a beer after all that."

"Whiskey it is." Ringo slammed his hand onto the table before getting up and heading off.

Ringo tried to collect his thoughts at the bar but his mind was hazy, he wasn't sure if it was the vodka or the headbutt that was doing it. When he returned Spike was scrolling away on his phone, but he slid it back into his pocket as soon as he noticed Ringo standing there with the drinks.

"Thanks." Spike accepted the drink gladly, drinking almost half of it before putting it back down.

Ringo just smiled and nodded in response, taking a sip of his own drink, it had gotten to the point where he couldn't even taste the alcohol in it anymore.

"So." Spike began, knitting his hands together into fists on the table "I take it John isn't your boyfriend then, considering his deal with Paul. Unless you're just in a very open relationship."

"No, no." Ringo laughed "We're just good friends, practically known him my whole life. I'm not with anyone at the moment."

"Fair enough." Spike went to take another sip of his drink.

"What about you? Are you wi-" Ringo began.

"I don't date my customers." Spike interrupted bluntly, it was a little harsh but the look in his eyes was gentle.

"Oh, no. I wasn't-" Ringo scrambled desperately.

"It's fine. I just thought I had to put that out there." Spike explained behind his glass.

"What if I just stopped going to the club? I wouldn't be your customer then." Ringo felt the alcohol speaking for him.

"Funny." Spike chuckled softly, but Ringo was far from joking "Dating as a stripper is hard enough, it's even harder dating someone you've stripped for."

"Why's that?" Ringo asked, he wanted to do as little talking as possible to not risk saying the wrong thing.

"Well what's the use in getting naked for someone for free when there's people out there who will pay a shit-ton to see it?" Spike snickered.

"I never thought about that. What a terrible business decision." Ringo joined in with the laughter.

"In all seriousness though, it always goes the same way. I date someone and they say they don't mind the stripping but flash forward a few months and suddenly its 'Well you don't need to strip, do you?' and expect me to make a decision." Spike explained "In the end I always choose stripping, because I like it far more than anyone I've ever met."

"Geez, that must be rough." Ringo had already almost finished his drink, but he couldn't remember drinking it.

"Well what's your excuse?" Spike asked, a glimmer behind his eyes.

"Excuse?" Ringo raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you single? You're not a stripper I take it, but I bet you'd make quite a good one." Spike began to grin.

"Uh- Well if I knew the answer to that I wouldn't be single." Ringo laughed nervously, there was too much there for his drunk mind to unpack.

"And here we are with empty glasses. I'll get the next round." Spike didn't give Ringo time to protest, not that he intended to, as he was already heading off to the bar.

Ringo had to calm himself down. The worst thing to do in this situation was to read too much into what Spike was saying. Even if he was flirting, it didn't mean anything. He practically got paid to flirt, more importantly to flirt without giving any real satisfaction. This was nothing more than a one-off thing, Spike clearly needed someone to take his mind off of what had happened earlier and Ringo just happened to be that person. That's all it was, nothing more. Spike returned quickly, Ringo noticed he'd ordered him a double without even asking.

"Are you alright? After what happened in the club, I mean." Ringo softened his tone a little.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's not like it's the first time it's ever happened." Spike sighed.

"Does it happen a lot?" Ringo asked.

"Not that often. I'll get quite a lot of grabs or slaps on the arse and stuff, but nothing major happens that frequently." Spike answered, his voice was getting a little distant.

"That's awful." Ringo tutted.

"Yeah, well... Customers are twats no matter what job you're in." Spike forced a smile.

"How long have you been doing it?" Ringo tried to slow his drinking down, after all Spike was practically sober.

"Three years, round about. Never done anything else." Spike explained "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm a drum teacher. Nothing too exciting." Ringo smiled abashedly.

"Don't expect you get a lot of arse slaps in that field." Spike began to smile too.

"Not as many as I'd like." Ringo regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth, but they couldn't have been that bad because Spike laughed in response.

"Maybe we should swap for the day." Spike suggested, still laughing.

"I dunno... I don't think I could do what you do."

"Why not?"

"Not enough rhythm." Ringo chuckled "Or confidence for that matter."

"Not enough rhythm?" Spike repeated "You're a fucking drum teacher."

"It's not the same really. My drum timing is impeccable, if I may be so bold. But my dancing isn't great, and it definitely isn't sexy."

"You think my dancing's sexy, then?" Spike leaned forward on one of his arms, pressing the hand against his cheek.

"Well- I wouldn't pay you if I didn't." Ringo tried to sound calm, he didn't know whether it worked or not.

"I thought you said you didn't pay me, John did." Spike stated, Ringo didn't want to think too much about the fact that he'd remembered their encounter so vividly.

"I guess that's true." Ringo felt himself warming up a little "That isn't to say I don't like your dancing or anything, it was just John's idea is all."

"I'm only teasing." Spike's grin grew "You're so easy to wind up, you know that?"

"I wouldn't have been able to be friends with John for so long if that were true." Ringo couldn't bring himself to look Spike in the eye "I guess you just know what buttons to press."

"All part of the job description." Spike winked and Ringo was glad he hadn't been looking directly at him, because it probably would've made him wince.

"Why do you like it so much?" Ringo asked, he took another long sip even though he knew he shouldn't.

"What, teasing you?" Spike almost purred and Ringo almost blew bubbles into his drink.

"No, the- Er. The stripping." Ringo began tapping his foot under the table to try and channel the anxiety out.

"I'm good at it and it pays well. Why do you teach drumming?" Spike seemed very adept at switching his tone, making Ringo question if he even interpreted the previous sentence correctly.

"I'm good at it and it pays well." Ringo repeated with a smile "Probably doesn't pay as well as stripping, mind."

"No, probably not. Money isn't everything though, which is something people with a lot of money love to say." The glimmer in Spike's eye was back.

"Drinks are on you then, eh?" Ringo raised his glass a little, it was emptier than he expected it to be.

"Well I'm supposed to be the one thanking you, so it's only fair. If I can get pissed at the same time then it's just a win-win." Spike raised his glass too, then paused and his eyes widened "I just realised, I don't even know your name."

Ringo paused for a moment too then laughed, of course he'd failed to properly introduce himself "It's Ringo."

Spike let out a rushed laugh "And I thought my name was weird. Is that your real name?"

"No, it's Richard. Got the nickname when I started wearing these, and the name just stuck." He wiggled his fingers demonstrably, and couldn't help thinking about how Spike had ran his fingers along them "What about yours?"

"Now that would be telling." Spike took a final sip of his drink "What a convenient time for me to get another round."

"I haven't even finished this one." Ringo laughed, holding up his half-empty glass.

"Not my problem." Spike winked again before slinking off back to the bar.

Ringo found himself staring at Spike as he left and while he stood at the bar waiting to be served. He was surprised at how well he was handling the whole thing, it actually felt surprisingly normal. It made Ringo sad to think that when this night was over it'd just go back to how it was before, only being able to see him in the club or on his phone. The more he drank the more beautiful he thought Spike was, even when his eye makeup had smudged from his eyes watering or the messiness of his hair which had a mixture of sweat and product twisting it around. He was gorgeous. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? It wasn't making things any easier on Ringo, that was for sure. As if his mysterious demeanour wasn't enticing enough, with his unreadable face for one second and then blunt words in the next. He didn't even stop himself from staring when Spike returned with the drinks, he didn't really see much point, and he didn't think it went unnoticed.

"They're closing up soon." Spike said as he sat back down.

"Really? What time is it?" Ringo rummaged around for his phone, when he unlocked the screen he saw multiple messages from John but they were nothing urgent - mostly him demanding answers for what was going on "At least neither of us have to get up early for work tomorrow."

"Perks of the job." Spike agreed "Not quite sure the last time I got up before 11."

"You're living the dream." Ringo smiled.

"Try telling that to my parents." Spike scoffed, when he saw Ringo looking at him expectantly he continued "At least it made being gay not a big deal, silver lining I suppose."

"Are all the strippers at the club gay?" Ringo asked, he wasn't sure where the question came from.

"Erm, I think so. Why? You got your eye on someone?" Spike made his words sound playful.

"No, no I was just wondering." Ringo felt like he had to quickly explain himself but he wasn't sure why "Would be kinda funny if they weren't."

"How did you know I was?" Spike began running his finger over the rim of his glass absentmindedly.

"I didn't, until you said it just now." Ringo answered.

"Just hoped then?" Spike's sharp teeth came into view as he smiled.

"Huh? I- Wh-" Ringo stuttered "You're teasing me again, aren't you?"

"Maybe. Why, do you want me to?" Spike leaned forward a little and Ringo gulped, then he laughed "Now I'm teasing you."

"God, you're evil." Ringo laughed too but he couldn't hide his nervousness.

"So I've been told." Spike took a long sip of his drink.

"Do you live nearby?" Ringo asked then quickly amended "Not because I'm trying to shag you."

"What other reason could there be?" Spike's voice began melting into that smooth tone.

"Cause if you live far I'll get you an Uber, if not I'll walk you back; if you wanted me to, course." Ringo explained, he was regaining his confidence somewhat.

"Aren't you a proper gentleman. Makes a nice change." Spike murmured "I don't live too far away, I wouldn't turn down a chaperone. What are the chances of me getting assaulted two nights in a row?"

"I'd rather you didn't find out." Ringo meant for it to sound jokey but it came across as serious.

"Well should we head out after these?" Spike swirled his drink around in his glass "The bar's cut off anyway."

"Sure thing." Ringo suddenly felt the urge to not take another sip.

Ringo found himself dissecting the details of Spike's face: the way his cheeks sank in slightly, the faint hairs between his eyebrows, how his ears stuck out a little. He only hoped that Spike wasn't inspecting him so thoroughly, though he imagined he wasn't, as he currently didn't look his best. For those final moments they didn't talk, a sad kind of silence grew around them as the two of them gradually took small sips from their drinks. Yet neither of them looked away, at least not for too long. Not until their drinks were empty and they both slammed the glasses down on the table did the atmosphere return to normal. It had been a weird moment, Ringo had felt like he had started dreaming for a second.

"Is that a real fur coat?" Ringo asked as Spike pulled the item in question back over himself.

"God, no. I don't even eat animals, let alone wear them." Spike scoffed with a smile.

"You're a vegetarian?" Ringo asked, he felt satisfied with every piece of information he gathered.

"Sure am. You're not then, I take it." Spike led the way out of the bar, Ringo followed closely behind.

"No, I wanna be though. Can never seem to stick to it." Ringo admitted as he braced himself against the cold.

"Fair enough." Spike's cold demeanour seemed to be returning, he began walking down the street and pulled out a cigarette "Want one?"

Ringo accepted it with a quiet thanks. He couldn't think of anything to say, well he could but all the things he wanted to say were either totally inappropriate or completely embarrassing. Was this really over already? He felt like he hadn't taken advantage of it, not as much as he could've. That was probably the reason he'd been single for so long, not seizing opportunities enough, but this wasn't the way he wanted to find that out. Spike seemed a little melancholy, Ringo wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol lulling him into a mood or that he simply was sick of Ringo's company - he really hoped it wasn't the latter, but he feared that it was. They passed The Helter Skelter as they walked, the bouncer greeted Spike and he reciprocated unenthusiastically. Ringo hoped John was alright, he'd be sure to check his phone the minute he was alone.

"I don't do this very often." Spike broke the heavy silence unexpectedly as they turned a corner.

"Do what?" Ringo asked.

"Let people walk me home, I don't really like people knowing where I live." Spike just looked on ahead, smoking his cigarette.

"Is that because you don't let them or because people don't offer?" Ringo pried cautiously.

"If I knew the answer to that, maybe I wouldn't be single." Spike let out a soft laugh, it was almost silent.

"I don't have to take you up to the door if you don't want me to. I won't be offended." Ringo assured, he wondered whether Spike's change in mood had been because of this.

"I'd prefer that." Spike said then added after a pause "Thanks."

They continued walked in silence for several minutes, nothing but the sound of their shoes against the pavement and the distant hum of the city. When they came to the next corner, Spike stopped suddenly and stubbed out his cigarette. Ringo took longer to notice that Spike wasn't beside him than he wished he had, but it at least made Spike laugh a little.

"This is me." Spike said somewhat mockingly, using such a cliché.

"Alright. Well, I best be finding out whether John's still at the club or passed out in a gutter somewhere." Ringo found himself feeling more awkward than ever.

"What a good friend you are." Spike breathed out sharply, it appeared that the feeling was mutual.

"I try." Ringo smiled nervously "You gonna be alright? '

"Unless my 65 year old neighbour is planning on jumping me, I think I can handle it." Spike smiled too, he looked almost scared Ringo thought.

"I'll get out of your hair then. Goodnight." Ringo held his hand up and curled his lips inwards, then turned to leave.

"George." He blurted out.

"What?" Ringo turned back around, for a moment he thought Spike had forgotten his name.

"My name's George." He explained, letting out a heavy breath after.

Ringo felt a smile spreading across his face "Well, goodnight George."

"Night, Ringo." George had been the one to turn to leave now, a small smile creeping onto his lips as he left.

Ringo stood there for a moment or two, just watching him walk away, before he realised how creepy that might look and quickly hurried down the street where he'd come from. He knew that none of this was going to sink in until the morning, or more accurately the late afternoon when his hangover had finally subsided. The initial plan had been to spend the night at John's but Ringo thought he had to be alone for the time being, but that didn't stop him from sending a text asking him where he was and whether he was still conscious. While he waited for a reply he walked back in the direction of the club, he'd give it five or so minutes before he ordered an Uber home for himself - he'd learned the hard way that waiting around for John to respond on a night like this could waste hours of his time.

The smile never left his face as he walked. What a beautiful name that was. George. Ringo supposed he would've thought any name he had, he would've found beautiful. It was a definite improvement on Spike to say the least. Why George had told him his real name, Ringo didn't know but he figured it wasn't best to question it right now, rather he should bask in the happiness that the small piece of information gave him. Knowing his name was one step closer to something, although Ringo wasn't sure what, but it was a step and that was all that mattered. A step closer to him perhaps, to lovely George.

[thecitykeepsevolving]

Idina Menzel World Tour Concert Review - 5.20.17 Atlantic City, NJ

I went to my 3rd Idina concert in AC last night and it was amazing! I wrote a review. It’s not really coherent but it’s as much as I can remember. it’s under the cut because there are some spoilers (for those who don’t want to see any). I didn’t explain every little thing, just the main highlights. I don’t have pics because the lighting was bad, but I do have a short clip of “For Good” that I’ll post. (I already posted part of Let It Go, I’ll post the full one too)

SETLIST:

Queen of Swords

Small World

Seasons of Love

Don't Rain on My Parade (Funny Girl)

Everybody Knows

Cake / Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)

I'm Not That Girl

Perfect Story

Wind Beneath My Wings (Bette Midler)

Defying Gravity

I Do

Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)

Rocksteady (Aretha Franklin)

No Day But Today

Dear Prudence (Beatles) / Do You Want to Build A Snowman?

For Good

Let It Go

Encore:

Every Time We Say Goodbye (Cole Porter)

I See You

--

The crowd was actually pretty tame. A LOT of older adults. The median age was probably 40. I expected to see a lot teens and kids but OH WELL, not complaining. i wish everyone would’ve been a little more LIT though. Idina was trying to get the crowd hyped and they were kinda eh.

SHE CAME OUT ON TIME!! At 8:07. I expected 8:30 so I was glad. When she came out, I lost my shit as always. This is the 7th time I’ve seen her live and 3rd concert and I still die every time. She was wearing the black jumpsuit thing from the Carmel/Japan shows and it looked HOT on her. I LOVED QUEEN OF SWORDS!!! ESPECIALLY THE DRUMMING. My 15 yr. old self died bc I used to think I would be an aspiring drummer one day (still do). This song is sooo good live, omg. And i was def singing along (NOT SORRY).

All of the songs from idina. were REALLY GOOD LIVE. It almost makes me wish it were a live album instead. I think it was the band/sound mixing that made it sound really good. Small world/Everybody Knows were never my favorite songs and based on what I’ve seen her sing from TV appearances they were ehhh but I really enjoyed both songs in person. A LOT.

Idina was casually talking about AC and said “I won 600 bucks at the casino” I was like YEAH, LIKE YOU NEED IT. OOOOKAY.

I was actually really glad to hear Seasons of Love, even though I’ve heard it sung live many times (not by Idina though). Only thing is, I wish it was later in the set? It just seemed like it was out of place. Also, at the beginning of the song, it sounded like echo was from the OBCR recording which was cool. I was surprised she remembered the words to this song, because she always forgot them at the BCEFA fundraiser for If/Then. But she NAILED the high note at the end of the song!!!

During “Don’t Rain on My Parade” before she sang “HEY THERE...HERE I AM” she said, “Where are we from? Jersey or Philly” (EVERYONE WHO COMES TO SOUTH JERSEY FOR A CONCERT ASKS THAT QUESTION) and a bunch of us (including me) screamed “JERSEY” (thank god). Then, someone said Long Island and she said, “YOU CAME TO AC FROM THERE?” AHAHAHA.

Also during DROMP the fringe from her jacket was hanging and she gave it to someone. it was pretty funny.

When introducing the song Cake, she talked about Aaron and “Since you last saw me, I got engaged. After getting divorced you never think that someone could love you again.” It was sweet.

CAKE WAS AMAZINGGGG LIVE. AS IF I DIDNT ALREADY LOVE IT FROM THE ALBUM. I’m so glad she put it in the set. I also loved the projections in the background during the whole concert. She was ROCKIN OUT and was classic rocker Idina! She rocked out so hard, that she said her face was hurting and she shouldn’t wear heavy metal earrings while singing a heavy metal song. After this, she turned to her guitarist and said “You don’t have that problem, fish.” She also said she needed a better bra and touched her boobs. 

I really liked the Wind Beneath My Wings/DG mashup. I’ve heard Defying Gravity live 100 times and I’m sick of it, but the smoke, cape, and background set really added something to it. It made me like the song again. I also loved hearing some Beaches music too! The riffs on BOTH songs were amazing as always! She forgot the words to DG too. OF ALL SONGS.

OKAY, SO I CANT BELIEVE IM SAYING THIS. BUT “I DO” WAS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF THIS CONCERT. And this was the song I avoided listening to because of my anxiety. But I had some weird feeling that I’d have a revelation and love the song while hearing it live, and I DID. Toward the end of the song, Idina had this angry breakdown. I can’t explain it. She kept singing “I Do” and spinning around with her arms out while still holding the cape and swinging it around. Like, you could tell she was angry. But in a good way. She was letting it ALL OUT and being vulnerable and it was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.

I liked the cover of Rocksteady. It was different. I was sick of her old covers so it was nice to hear something new. Her weird dancing during this song was hilarious! ALSO, PROPS TO VANESSA BRYAN. THAT WOMAN IS A SINGER!!! I was afraid of her having backup singers bc they usually overpower her, but they didn’t at all! The whole band was great. I liked it better than the last tour where she had an orchestra. I think it consumes her too much.

Clearly Idina knew that a lot of her audience members were repeat attenders, so she explained how she always likes to sing No Day But Today because it reminds her to live in the moment and she talked a little about Jonathan. I always love this part of her shows because it shows that she still acknowledges her humble beginnings. During the part where she holds the mic to the audience to sing “no day but today” like 2 people sang (I swear I could hear my own voice) so that was lame but after she said “thank you, that sounded really beautiful” and I was like OOOOOKAY THEN.

There was one part in the show (I can’t remember when) where Idina was like “I’m always keepin it real” I’n like HECK YEAHHH (that probably didn’t need to be written down but it was funny) EDIT: It was when she was moving her stool. And she said “I move my own furniture.” Then, she said her manager Burt made a request for the stool to come out from the stage like Beyonce (obviously kidding)

The Dear Prudence/Do You Wanna Build A Snowman mashup was interesting. I wasn’t thrilled about Idina singing another frozen song but it wasn’t a bad mashup and didn’t bother me as much as I expected.

I also thought “Let It Go” would piss me off but only 6 kids came up and it seemed a lot more organized than what I’ve seen at other shows. It was hilarious because Idina said (about the kids’ parents) “THESE ARE THE PARENTS WHO BRING THEIR KIDS TO A CASINO AT NIGHT” and I died. And I think one of the kids had the same bday as her? (Or maybe an audience member?) So she said “Yeah but you’re 30 years younger!” She took a selfie with all of the kids when they were done singing and it was cute. Then said they were all gonna play craps after the show. When the kids were going back to their parents, she was SO SALTY. I LOVED IT. She said to the parents, PUT THE PHONES DOWN AND TAKE YOUR KIDS.” HAHAH. EDIT: the boy (who was about 15) actually said to HER that he’s 30 years younger and she mimicked him.

Random side note: when I was on line for the bathroom after the concert, two of the kids who sang with her were walking the other way and they seemed so excited that they got to go up on stage. So even if I get pissed about Frozen and Idina giving all of the attention to the kids, hearing them say that was priceless.

The “I See You” fan videos were a nice addition and not what I was expecting at all. It was a great way to end the concert and I’m glad there was some fan input in there. I really liked when she talked about the African saying, how one person says “I see you” and the other person says, “I see you, I’m here.” That was beautiful.

There was a lot I probably forgot or didn’t talk about, but it was a great concert. Much more fast-paced and streamlined than last time. (The run time was about 2 hours by the way, maybe even less. It ended a little before 10). There wasn’t a lot of chatter in between songs which kind of sucked, but it reminded me a lot more of the intimate concerts from back in the day. Idina seemed so happy to be there and free, and she really seems like she’s in a good place now. And I liked that a lot. I think it’s illegal to like a performer this much and I can’t wait to see her live again!