#still on internal debate with myself of calling him evan or named him an original name

[valesushii]

don't worry, tomorrow is another day

[ancientbooshartifacts]

Jazz?

Author: Saintli

Year: 2010

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Howince

Vince sat with his socked toes pressing up against Howard's leg, his mug of hot cider wafting steam into the air. It was Friday, he was home, it was dark out and he was drinking cider and feeling giddy. This sort of behavior was only acceptable on Christmas Eve, in his opinion. He stirred his cider with his cinnamon stick and watch Howard stare at the flickering Christmas lights on the tree. Vince dug his big toe into Howard's thigh. "What do you hope Santa brings you?" he asked with a grin. Howard can't really tell if Vince is being cheeky or if he really still believes in Santa Clause. Either way he answers honestly "Cool Boppin'. Original LP." He turned his tired eyes to Vince, who was staring sheepishly at him from under his fringe. "And if you got a glitter and macaroni belt, you'd be fine with that too, right?" Howard felt a weary smile part his lips. "Yeah, I'd be just fine with that. I'm going to head off to bed. You coming?" "Nah. I'm just gonna watch the snow fall for a little while, yeah? I'll be in in a few." Howard nodded and internally sighed with relief. He still needed to wrap Vince's gift. Howard said his 'good nights' before trying not to run to their bedroom. He locked the door behind him and dropped to his knees to pull the box from under his bed. It was a cherry red laptop with silver lightening bolts. He had to have it special ordered. Howard got out his ruler and sellotape and carefully started sectioning off the wrapping paper. He folded up the edges with great care, treating it with all the seriousness of bomb dismantling. Howard sat back on his haunches to admire his handiwork. He congratulated himself on his fine craftsmanship as he tiptoed down the corridor to check on Vince. He was passed out cold on the sofa. Howard smiled, placing a blanket over him and tiptoed back into their room to get the present to put under the tree. ****** Christmas morning Howard acted surprised and pleased to have received a macaroni and glitter belt while Vince ran his hands over the present Naboo handed him. The one Howard spent 27.8 minutes wrapping and Vince spent all of three seconds dismantling. Vince let out a sound that was frighteningly similar to the scream of Nanatoo and clutched the box to his chest. "Howard! I--I--" Vince stammered. "Did he finally propose, Vince?" Naboo lisped sarcastically next to him, reaching for his arm to move it and get a better view of the side of the box. "Don't get too excited," Howard said, getting embarrassed "I only bought it because you've been tying up the shop computer all day. Don't touch me!" Howard squeaked, Vince's arms thrown 'round his neck. "This is genius, Howard! I'm going to go try it out, yeah?" Naboo craned his neck to watch Vince skip merrily down the corridor to the bedroom. When the door slammed shut, he pulled something out from between the sofa cushions and slid it across the floor to Howard. It was the original LP of Cool Boppin'. Howard looked up at the tiny shaman with disbelief. "Don't get too excited," Naboo lisped sarcastically, taking another pull off the hookah (which Bollo had decorated with tinsel) "I only bought it because you've been listening to the one in the shop all day." ****** Howard doesn't see Vince for the rest of the day, other than to bring him food and cups of tea. "What do you do on there all day, anyway?" he asks Vince's screen-illuminated profile later that night as he's lying in bed. "What can't you do online all day?! Since I've been sat here, yeah, I've downloaded every album Gary Numan ever recorded, bought a brilliant pair of boots and I'm now debating whose better--Jagger or Iggy Pop. Genius!" Howard was thankful Vince was too distracted to notice the look of apprehension clearly engraved on his face. Howard dreamt of warding off machines that were trying to kidnap Vince. ****** Howard woke in the middle of the night. His insomnia was getting worse. Since he gave Vince the computer, they'd been spending less and less time together. Howard quickly discovered he was becoming something he'd never been in his life---bored shitless. He pulled on his bathrobe and shuffled down the corridor to the kitchen. In the time it took him to put the kettle on and make himself some tea, he was fully awake. Howard grumbled to himself, scanning the flat with a sweeping glance and looking for something to do. The computer in the corner of the room caught his eye--the monitor gathering dust from its disuse. He shrugged to himself and shuffled in its direction, sitting down on the squeaking desk chair and hitting the power button. He'd used a computer before. Twice to look up recipes. A few more times to search for the guitar chords to songs he couldn't play by ear. But every time he logged on, he always had a purpose. Howard sighs and goes to Google. And spends nearly ten minutes staring at the screen. Finally, he types in 'Jazz' and hits 'enter'. He's directed to more links than he can count and decides to narrow his search to 'Jazz lovers'. This time the links are fewer, but terribly embarrassing, as he realizes they lead mostly to obscure jazz porn sites. He blushes, thinks about clicking on one, nixes the idea and scrolls up. He's about to change his search words from 'jazz lovers' to 'jazz enthusiasts' when he sees a link to a question on Yahoo Answers that looks interesting. He clicks on it. Resolved Question Sexy Jazz Song? My boyfriend is a jazz lover. I myself can't really stand it, but our 1st anniversary is coming up and I'd like to play some jazz to commemorate the occasion, if you know what I mean. Are there any sexy jazz songs that won't make me throw up in my mouth? Howard's lips twitched up into a smile. S'nice of her. He scrolled down further to read the reply. I quite like "Love Theme From Spartacus" by Bill Evans. One line. Ten words. Howard's heart skipped a beat. "Love Theme From Spartacus" was not only one of the most underrated and overlook songs in jazz (in his opinion), it was also the song he wanted to lose his virginity to. He checked the user name of the person. It read "R&RStarr". Howard clicked on the name to bring up the profile page. R&RStarr's profile page yielded two links for Howard to choose from: R&R's personal email address and a link to something called 'Live Journal'. These were the only two things listed on his or her profile. Howard sat there for a moment, contemplating the links. He didn't want to just email this person out of the blue to talk about jazz. That would seem weird. But it would be an exciting change of pace to have someone new to discuss jazz with.... He clicked on the Live Journal link. It was another profile page, which Howard took the time to read through carefully. This time the user name was jggrizgod. Connect Interests (13): Aerosmith, Bowie, Cartoons, David Bowie, Gorillas, Iggy Pop, Jagger, Jazz, Lady Gaga, Pop, Sugary cereal, Sex, Telly. There between Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga was 'jazz', which seemed highly unlikely. But, curiously, instead of disappointing Howard, it only intrigued him. Well, it wouldn't be creepy if I made myself an account on here to talk to a fellow jazz lover, would it?Howard mused to himself. He got to typing. Twenty minutes later, Howard T.J. Moon starting his new online life as "daddy_noise". ******** Howard spent a total of twenty-seven minutes concocting the final draft of his message.

'jggrizgod' sent a reply in less than three minutes.

Howard stared at the last line for a while. Sexy. Someone thought of him as sexy. Well, only just my user name, the rational half of his brain said. Yeah, but who came up with that name, hmm? That's right. You did, tiger. chimed in his decidedly more neurotic half. While he was normally more inclined to ignore his neurotic half (and was trying desperately to do so as he re-read the message), he couldn't help but to smile a little as he drew up an outline for his reply.