And then Matt starts singing.
Holy shit.
He’sgood, his voice confident with just an edge of a rasp to it, sticking at a throaty mid-range but then sailing up into higher notes with ease. It doesn’t blur into noise like a lot of that kind of music does for him. It’s got fire to it, a bite, somethingalmostlike pop that has Nick hooked.
He lets the music keep playing as he opens Instagram. He posted his own photos there last night: one of his jersey before he dressed for the game, and one that Kat sent him of them with the band.
It’s a different one than the Dragons tweeted—Kat is very hot on giving variety across corporate and personal accounts so they don’t all look like they were forced to make posts by management. Nick’s post is informal, all of them mid-conversation while Casey signs Marco’s vinyl. In the background, Nick is talking to Matt and Spencer, and he’s glad he’s side-on to the camera because that way you can’t see the gay panic in his eyes.
Nick finds himself bopping along to the music—he likes it a whole lot more than he thought he would, honestly, and not just because the lead singer is a pretty face. He’s notthatshallow.
Heis, however, shallow enough to click through to Matt’s Instagram profile for some casual admiration. There’s a good mix of press shots and candids: goofy selfies with his bandmates and pictures of horizons from plane windows, cute dogs, that sort of thing.
Nick follows him on both socials. Then he follows the rest of the band, too, to make it look less weird.
That’s a normal response to meeting people, right?
When he looks, all four members of the band are following him already, so he figures it’s fine.
Struck with a burst of impulsiveness, he writes a new tweet.
@NicksTrix9:Listening to some @SticksStonesBand, turns out the songs actually sound way better when it’s not @MarcoPoloNHL singing them in the shower
He grins to himself, watching the flood of notifications roll in. Marco’s reply comes in quickly, the middle finger emoji and an insistence that his shower-singing is beautiful.
Then, to Nick’s surprise, another reply pops up.
@RiverSticksBand: Haha I’m sure he’s not that bad, but thanks ;) Knew we’d make a fan out of you sooner or later!
It’s Matt. Nick swallows hard as he thinks of a response that doesn’t sound like a fourteen-year-old boy trying to flirt.
@NicksTrix9: Buying all your albums as we speak, promise! ;)
Was the winky-face too much? Probably. Too late now.
Not to be a liar, Nick does actually open a tab to go and buy all their albums, refusing to acknowledge the thought that now he’ll have something to get signed, for next time. There probably won’t be a next time.
The next notification that comes through isn’t a tweet response—it’s a DM. From Matt. Oh, shit.
Matt
Are you actually buying our albums or are you just saying that because if you are that is VERY SWEET OF YOU THANK YOU
Nick
Yeah man, you guys rock!
I will admit I have not listened to much yet, but I think Spit Your Teeth Out is my fave so far
Matt
lmao wow you went for the early stuff huh
And yeah that tracks
Nick
??
