Disclaimer:
Okay, kittens and puppies, this story is about the two hottest little drummer boys, Bob Moffatt and Zachary Hanson, doing some really sweet stuff together. It is, of course, just a story and has no implication of their preferences or activities in real life. As always, any comments, criticisms, or praise would be both welcome and encouraged.
Oh yeah, this is my first story written exclusively for the Nifty Archives. As such, I'd like to dedicate it to Kelvin Guard, the author whose wonderful tales of Kovzland gave me the inspiration to begin writing. I'm forever grateful, Kelvin.
Now, here are the first two parts. The second two will come soon after.
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Part 1:
Two large men wearing thin tank tops gingerly placed a drum set on a slightly raised platform. They placed the set down and, wiping their brows with the backs of their hands, they grumbled to themselves.
"Two hours to show time, and the fuck-ups in the main office still haven't gotten the air conditioner fixed!" said one to the other.
The other one nodded and turning to face the rows of chairs, they peered down at the four boys seated in the front row.
"That good enough for ya?" One man asked.
Bob Moffatt turned to his brother Scott, who was sitting next to him, and smiled, before turning back to the two workers and saying, "Could you move the entire set over to the right a bit?"
Both men looked visibly angry with this request, but could do nothing but shuffle wearily over to the platform and lift the drums back up again.
All the brothers giggled as they watched the men do the labour for them. Scrunching his nose as sweat collected around it, Bob turned to his brothers and said, "I'm going to go get another soda."
Scott nodded and said, "Okay, but be back in a few. We need to do a bit of jamming before the concert starts."
Bob stood up from his seat and ran down the long aisle and through the doors. Since the snack bar wasn't yet open, Bob walked around, his eyes glancing for a soda machine or something to relieve his thirst.
He was just walking past the pretzel bar, when he noticed a young boy off in the corner, looking around as if he were lost.
Approaching him, Bob said, "Can I help you with something?"
The boy, dressed in a navy blue T-shirt and long green shorts, turned around to face him.
Brushing his long blond hair, slick with sweat, from his face, he smiled slightly and said, through dark sunglasses, "Yeah, actually. Do you work here?"
Bob laughed out loud. He knew of many boys his age, who looked like they were much older, however with Bob's long black hair and angelic face, he looked no older than his current age of fifteen. If anything, he looked younger.
"No." Bob said, still smiling.
"Oh," the boy said, somewhat frustrated, "well, can you tell me where the event coordinator is? I need to let him know that me and my brothers are here."
Bob gazed at the young boy. He knew him from somewhere, he was sure of it. When he spotted the slight cleft in the boy's chin, it all became clear.
"Wait a second! You're Zac Hanson, right?"
The boy, now identified, slowly pulled off his glasses and put them in his pocket, revealing his big brown eyes, and nodded, "Yeah. You aren't gonna start screaming, are you? It's bad enough when girls do it, but with guys, it's..."
Bob held up his hand and shook his head, cutting Zac off, "No, no. You see, me and my brothers are performing here in a couple of hours. I heard something about Hanson doing a little something later on."
Zac put his hands on his hips and gave Bob a mad look that came off more as humourous than fear-invoking, "You and your brothers? Geez, since us, everybody's been starting bands with their brothers. Also, I don't much like that 'little something' comment!"
Bob continued to smile as he shook his head at the younger pop star, "Well, actually we were on stage and singing songs, back when you and your brothers were still working pizza joints!"
Zac continued his comical rampage, "Well, I don't know who you are, but I don't think..."
Bob quickly extended his hand and cut Zac off with, "Oh, I never introduced myself? I'm sorry, I'm Bob Moffatt."
Zac's voice trailed off and a smile came over his face, "The Moffatts? Wow, I've heard of you guys, but I never met you. I'm sorry for being so rude before."
Bob shrugged, "Hey, it's hot! Everybody's a little crazy."
Zac nodded, "Yeah, it is hot, isn't it? I was going to have a large Dr. Pepper, as soon as we got to the hotel."
Bob motioned across the room with his head, "I was going to the soda machine when I stopped to talk to you. If you want, I'll get something for you, too."
Zac looked unsure, "Well, my brothers were waiting for me in the bus..."
Bob smiled, "Aww, come on! It won't take ten minutes, and besides that, I was kinda hoping that we could talk. It's not often that I get to meet a fellow drummer who's around my own age."
Zac's eyes lit up, "You play the drums too?"
Bob laughed, "Amoung other things. Come on!"
That did it. Zac nodded and he and Bob ran off in search of a soda machine.
By the time they'd found one, they'd both told each other all about their bands' activities over the last little while.
"...and so we figured, since our popularity was down, we'd do a benefit concert. So, we arrived in Vancouver this morning, and here we are at the Vancouver Memorial Auditorium." Zac finished.
Bob nodded, genuinely interested, "I was born in Vancouver, actually."
Bob stuck two loonies into the soda machine and got two Dr. Peppers.
"You're going to like this stuff, trust me!" Zac said, opening his can.
Bob nodded, "I know. I've had it before."
Zac took a large sip from his can and, after swallowing, said, "I was thinking, since you know your way around this place and my brothers and I don't get here very often, maybe you and your brothers and me and my brothers could do something. How long are you going to be here?"
"A week," Bob answered, "because we're doing another benefit concert Sunday."
Zac's face dropped, "Aww, we're only going to be here for two days."
Bob smiled, "It's okay. Tell you what: We're going to be staying at our nana's. I'll give you the number, and when your concert's done tonight, we can go out for dinner together. I know this great place down in Surrey. All you can eat, dude!"
Bob pulled a small pencil from his pocket and picked a discarded french fry package off the floor. Pressing it against the wall, he scribbled the number on it and handed it to Zac. Zac took it and shoved it into his pocket.
Gulping down the last of his drink, he tossed the can into the recycling bin.
"Thanks. I gotta go now, though. Do you know if there's a lazer tag place around here?"
Bob smiled, "Of course! There's this huge one in Richmond that we could go to...I mean, if you want to."
Zac giggled, "Of course, silly! I'll kick your ass!"
Bob laughed and nodded, then watched as Zac ran away. He heard Zac burp loudly and yell back, "Excuse me!" before he disappeared down the hallway.
As he gazed at Zac as he ran down the hallway, he felt a gentle pain in his stomach. Deducing that it wasn't from the Dr. Pepper, which he didn't like much in reality, he tossed away the can and began walking back toward the playing area. Turning his head back toward the hallway where Zac ran away, he sighed and smiled.
Running his fingers through his long black hair, sticky with sweat, he began shuffling down the corridor again, thinking to himself.
"'We can go out to dinner together.'! 'I'll get something for you too'! 'There's this huge one in Richmond that we could go to...I mean, if you want to?'! Why didn't I just wear a rainbow necklace and talk with a lisp?!" Bob thought aloud.
Stopping again, he looked behind him again.
"He couldn't have known...Could he?" Bob thought to himself.
Looking around to see if anybody heard him, he quickly ran down the hallway and back toward the hall, where his brothers awaited.
Part 2:
After making his way back to the main arena, Bob joined up with his brothers and went on to jam his way through the practice session. The air conditioner still wasn't fixed, so they all sweat pretty heavily and went through several bottles of water.
When concert time arrived, they all looked pretty hot and sweaty. They had no time to change, so rather than go through the one hour concert in sticky, sweaty clothing, they simply removed their shirts for its duration. Of course, the hundreds of fans who attended didn't complain.
Following the concert, they were somewhat cordial and allowed some fans to meet them, an experience that they didn't particularly like due to the average fans shock reaction to most celebrities. In other words, most of the young teenyboppers either stood stiff and said nothing, stood there and babbled on and on, or simply kept shrieking, "Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God..."
Needless to say, all four were quite glad to see them being filed out. Afterwards, all four boys, sweaty and tired, made their way out into the main lobby. Waiting for them was their grandmother, who quickly ushered them out of the arena to bypass any commotion, and drove them back to her house.
Immediately after arriving, they shot for who would get to use the shower first. Clint won, so while he went off to get cleaned up, Bob and his two brothers sat around and watched TV.
Halfway through an episode of Ned's Newt on Teletoon, the phone rang.
"Bob!" called their grandmother from the kitchen, "There's somebody named Zac on the phone for you."
Bob's heart skipped a beat and he quickly jumped off the couch and shot across room like a speeding bullet. Snatching the phone from his grandmother, he answered, breathlessly, "Yeah?"
There was a giggle from the other end and Zac's voice said, "Gee, did I get you at a bad time?"
Bob took a deep breath and said, "No. It's just that...Ah, forget it. What do you want?"
"Well, since Tay and Ike are tired from the drive in and want to rest for our concert tonight, I was wondering if you and your brothers wanted to go to that 'all you can eat' buffet place?"
Bob turned toward Scott and Dave and was about to ask them, when an idea popped into his head.
"Well, actually, they're sort of tired from our concert."
There was a pause, and then, "Oh. Well, we can do it tommorow, I guess..."
"Wait!" Bob almost yelled, "Ummm...I mean...If you wanted to...You know...You and I could go."
There was another pause. "Umm...Okay. Yeah, that'd be cool. When, though. I mean, we have to be at the arena in about three hours and..."
Bob quickly cut him off, "Just tell me which hotel you're at, and I'll be there in twenty minutes!"
Zac giggled and said, "Gee, someone's eager, aren't they? I'm staying at the Vancouver Radisson on Oak and Third Avenue. I'll be outside in ten minutes."
"Sure thing." Bob responded and hung up the phone.
He stood in the kitchen and silently cursed himself, "Oh God! Now he must know for sure!"
A voice from behind him startled him from his reverie, "Who was that, dear?"
Bob quickly shrugged his head, "Oh, just a friend, nana. Ummm...I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back by eight."
She nodded her head and he quickly ran out of the kitchen.
Scott turned away from the television and inquired, "Who's Zac, Bob?"
Bob blushed slightly and shrugged, "Oh, nobody. I mean, somebody...He's just a friend, okay?"
Scott smirked, "Just a friend, eh? Nobody jumps up and flies across the room like that for just a friend."
Bob's blush deepened and he shrugged, "Well, anyway...I'm going out. Can I borrow $100?"
Scott reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Pulling out a one hundred dollar bill, he smiled, "Where are you going, that you need $100?"
Bob reached out to take the money but Scott held it from his grasp and shook his head, "Only if you tell me who Zac is. A new boyfriend, perhaps?"
Bob sneered and, lunging forward, grabbed Scott's arm and took the money. "I'm not gay!" He whispered so his grandmother wouldn't hear.
Scott smiled and whispered back, "Sure you aren't!"
Bob heard Dave and Scott laughing as he jammed the money into his pocket, pulled on an old tank top from a duffel bag by the door, tied his shoes and left the house.
As he walked to the corner, he shifted uncomfortably as his unshowered, sweaty body began to soak the material of the thin tank top. He grumbled to himself, "Son of a bitch. I hate him sometimes...Calls me gay..."
Of course, he was pretty sure he was, but he didn't like people saying it. At every concert, he'd tried hard to play along with the female-loving tone of the band. However, even as he sung "Girl of My Dreams" with his brothers, his eyes would always be set upon one of the many cute guys that always attended their concerts. Of course, Scott was turning in to a huge womanizer and loved to tease Bob about his near-obvious gay demeanour.
As he reached the corner, he stuck his hand in the air and called a taxi. It slowly pulled to the curb and Bob got in.
As he got comfortable in the back seat, the driver looked at him in his rear-view mirror and said, "Say, aren't you from that band that's in town. The Moffatts, right?"
Bob shyly nodded.
The driver turned around, smiling hugely, and said, "Man, this is so neat! My daughter was at your concert an hour ago! She has this huge thing for you guys and..."
Bob held up his hand and said, trying to smile, "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm sort of in a rush. I'll give you an autograph later, I promise."
The guy nodded, "Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, so where are you headed, kid?"
"The Radisson on Oak and Third, please."
The driver nodded, "Sure thing. Oh, and I couldn't possibly charge someone from my daughter's favorite band, so consider this one on me!"
Bob smiled slightly and nodded, "Thanks, but could you please hurry."
The driver nodded again, "Sorry, kid. Let's go!" and turned around.
As the taxi moved away from the curb and toward its destination, Bob sat back and thought about what was to come.
"Am I really that obvious? Does Zac know? Do I want to see Zac as a friend or do I see this as a...well...date? How can I make sure to see as much of Zac as possible, in the two days that they were in the same city, without seeming overly anxious? What is it that I truly feel for him? Does Zac feel the same way about me...or am I just wishing he did?"
These questions kept running through Bob's mind as his taxi sped off toward the hotel where he was to meet Zac, a 13 year old drummer who he couldn't get out of his head.
TO BE CONTINUED....
So, how will Bob's "date" turn out? Will Bob get to see Zac after this? Does Zac know how Bob feels about him? If so, why is he acting so innocent about it? Is Zac gay too or is Bob trying to draft a member of the wrong team? Is Bob even gay or is it just pubescent hormones confusing his feelings?
These questions and more will be answered in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned!