#muse2007

WHAT'S THE WORST THAT I CAN SAY?

THINGS ARE BETTER IF I STAY

Matthew sings a cappella, at the end of their show, as he waves his hand and invites the crowd to do the same and also to sing along with him, at the Jobing.com Arena, the new tour date.

SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT, SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT

The crowd sings back as loud as they can, waving their hands even more than him, but for the frontman is not enough yet.

AND IF YOU CARRY ON THIS WAY

THINGS ARE BETTER IF I STAY

SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT, SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT

Matthew incites them with the second verse and this time the crowd sings along with him since the beginning.

Chris observes the whole scene dumbfounded, wondering which evil entity has possessed his friend to make him do such a thing.

Anyway, when he sees that Dominic seems to be very pleased by that and he is even laughing about it, he hopes that the drummer will promptly clarify things to him.

"Enjoy the rest of the show with My Chemical Romance! Thank you, Phonenix, see ya soon. Cheers!" Matthew greets the crowd, going towards the backstage as the other two follow him.

"I can't still believe I did that damn thing for real!" the singer comments, horrified.

"A payback is a payback!" Dominic states.

"Yeah, but it's unfair, I didn't even damage them at the show in Salt Lake City, at the very end; quite the contrary, people thought it was a joke and enjoyed that, laughing with them, not at them, as I wished!" Matt complains.

It's enough for the two lovers to see Chris's still confused face to understand what his question is, even before he asks them.

"Matt got the My Chemical Romance's guitars out of tune at the last show, that's why you heard that terrible noise at the beginning." Dom explains shortly as he glares at Matt.

"Yeah, and Mr. Fair here forced me to tell them the truth." Matt goes on, glaring back at Dom.

"Yeah, and the band looked for their more than deserved revenge. So they forced Matt to get the crowd ready for their arrival, singing a little bit of one of their most famous hits!" Dom concludes, glaring at Matt once again.

"So, that was one of *their* songs! I thought it was a new work in progress of yours and you hadn't told me about that. After all, you have the bloody tendency to hide so much stuff to me!" Chris strikes back as he glares at them both.

"Oh, c'mon, we told you everything at the end, didn't we? And we could never work on something new without letting you know about that!" Matthew assures him.

"Yep, except for the geezers' song." escapes from Dom's lips.

"Dominic! Damn you and your bloody mouth!" Matt snaps.

"Hey! If memory serves me right, yesterday you didn't complain at all about my bloody mouth!" Dom reminds to his boyfriend, making him blush.

Also Chris goes red... but with rage.

"What? Are you still working on that horror?" he roars.

"Can we just forget about the last minute and start it over again?" Dom attempts to ask them.

"No way!" Matt and Chris yell at him in unison.

"If only I had my time-machine!" the drummer mutters.

"Oh, c'mon, Chris, let's make a deal: you can work on a project on your own and Dom and I won't say a word!" the frontman tries to bargain.

"Don't you even try, Bells! Just abandon once for all this suicidal idea, you'll never make it! I'll warn every single recording studio in the world not to let you in, if I'm not with you; and if I see you two try something funny during one of our shows I'm gonna intervene, *violently* if necessary!" Chris threatens them and it works, of course.

"Ok, I got the message. " Matt ruefully surrenders.

"Gee, Chris, why do you have to be always such a pain in the ass? Plus, you're way too bloody serious!" Dominic snorts.

"I'm not serious, I'm just normal... but I can't say the same about you two!" the bassist defends himself. "And don't forget that Ricky from IV A is the coolest guy of the High School because he looks like me a little bit!" he adds before leaving, as he proudly remembers the diaries he read at Salt Lake City.

This time it's Dom and Matt who look dumbfounded, but they just decide to ignore that.

Plus, Dominic has something else to worry about.

"Sorry, Matt, I didn't do it on purpose..." he backs off prudently.

"But you did. When it's a matter to keep a secret you're worst than a gossiper!" Matt scolds him.

"You're right. I've been such a bad boy. I need a punishment." Dominic reckons.

"Yep, you do, so..." Matt agrees, but then he realizes the way the blond is looking at him. "Gee, Dom! You can't always turn everything into bloody sex! This is a serious issue!" he protests.

"But I'm bloody serious. Punish me!" Dom insists.

"Well, it doesn't work this way!" Matt grumbles.

"Why?"

"Because you don't look like someone who is gonna be punished." Matt makes him notice as he approaches him, still showing a serious and stern face.

"How do I look like then?" the drummer asks him, curious.

"Like someone who's gonna have a lot of fun!" the other strikes back

"Oh. And tell me, aint't so?" the blond wonders rhetorically as he resorts to his unfailing weapon.

As a matter of fact, Matt's harsh expression is replaced by a sexy smile.

"Damn you and your irresistible pout! Let's go to our room, can't wait to *punish* you!" the brunette growls as he drags his lover away with him.

---------------------------------------------------

Since he has found at the Salt Lake City airport a handbook of crochet-hook that answered even to his deepest inquisitions, after buying it and hiding it from his friends, two days later, at Los Angeles, Chris can finally take advantage of that. He knows that he can dedicate some time to his beloved hobby without being disturbed.

Mostly because Dominic and Matthew have something else to do.

They're lying on the bed, placidly, taking advantage not only of the free morning, but of the free day at their whole disposal.

Matthew is searching around the web at random, with his laptop on his lap as he takes notes on his Hello Kitty notebook about the potential changes of their playlists.

Dom looks at him absently, since he's all engrossed in listening to his iPod.

He wishes with all his being that Matt had not the brilliant idea of tugging on an earphone and listening to the music with him, because no matter how tender that gesture would be, Matt would end up listening to something he violently dislikes; since it's one of My Chemical Romance's songs and, maybe for a trick of fate, it's just the one he had to sing a cappella at the end of their last show.

Luckily for Dom, Matt doesn't seem interested at all in joining to that listening. Out of the blue, the blond starts caring less about the music and more about his mate who is drawing doodles around the pink, tied ribbon of the kitten with the date of January 20th above.

Suddenly realization hits them both.

"Tomorrow it's a whole week since we've been shagging like rabbits!" Dom exclaims.

"Tomorrow it's a whole month since we've kissed for the very first time!" Matt exclaims at the same time, but that doesn't prevent them from hearing each other.

"Oh, what you said is much more romantic!" Dom recognizes with a sweet smile.

"But what you said is much more exciting!" Matt replies with a horny look.

"So, tomorrow we'll have a double important occasion to celebrate. We have to get ready pwopewly." the brunette goes on.

"A private party?" the blond realizes with an expectant look.

"Yep, a very, very private one, my dear!" the other confirms.

"But tomorrow we have the show!" Dom reminds to him. "So, how..."

"We have all day long to find a way to escape right after the show!" the singer winks at him.

"You're right. By the way, since it's almost midday, can we finally open the window or what?" Dom changes topic.

"Already? Why? Dark rooms with switched on lamps are so nice, even better if the lamps are replaced by candles." Matt protests.

"Well, unlike you, my dear vampire, I happen to like the sun!" Dom strikes back as he pulls the curtains and opens the window. "Now we can start. You know, I plan better in the sunlight!" he grins, as he bathes in the sunlight.

Too bad that his boyfriend is still busy recording in his brain his previous sentence.

"Vampire?" he repeats as a question.

"To begin with, you're so pale..."

"Said the Californian surfer!" Matt strikes back, sarcastically.

"Well, at least I have sunlamps sometimes... whatever! That's not the point! Back to what I was telling you, you always lurk in the shadows and you seem to be much more active at night ... almost as if you spent the day recharging your batteries... just like vampires do!" Dom goes on.

"But I don't recharge my batteries sleeping in a coffin!" the brunet points out.

"Well, this is irrelevant. Plus, sometimes you can be so, so evil. Just think about what you did to those poor, dear guys on stage!" Dominic reminds to him.

"What about what *they* did to *me*? Wasn't it evil as well?" Matt makes him notice.

"Nope, that was just fair!" the blond clarifies, before he starts staring at him with diffidence. "Hey, wait a minute. How can I be sure that you don't eat food just for cover?" Dom insinuates as he starts enjoying that a lot.

"I'm not a vampire, Dom! Quit it, bloody quit it!" a fiery Matt snaps.

"You said 'bloody ' which reminds to blood. So, you do are a vampire! You... you... VladyMatt!" Dom strikes back, enlightened.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Matt roars.

"But it's what you are. And you're even growling now, just like a proper vampire. VladyMatt, VladyMatt, VladyMatt!" Dom insisted, amused as a child who has just discovered the funniest game ever.

"If you don't quit it I'll call you SpiderDom!" the brunette says, thinking that he's threatening him.

"Oh, please, do it. I like that!" the blond reveals.

"What? That's not fair. You weren't supposed to like that..." his boyfriend pouts.

"But I really do and I'll tell you what. We should dress up like these characters when we... you know!" the drummer suggests.

"Really?" the guitarist wonders, very intrigued.

After all, Dominic doesn't know that he has been thinking about that eventuality for awhile.

"Yep. You should get a black and red velvet cape and talk to me with Transylvanian accent... that would turn me on so bad!" the blond whispers at his ear, as the brunette shivers in pleasure.

"Sounds bloody good. So, can I also tell you what to do?" Matt purrs at his ear, but Dom pushes him away.

"No way! You can't tell me anything. After all, SpiderDom has already captured VladyMatt in his web, hasn't he?" he moans languidly as he lies down on the bed and with his look invites his partner to join him.

"Hell yes, he has!" the other smiles, as he crawls slowly on his giggling lover and places a tender chaste kiss on his soft lips. "Now, Dommy, get ready, because I'm gonna show you how much *active* I can be even during the day!" he warns him, before they both vent to their endless desire.

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"Please, repeat. You are going to do... WHAT?!" Chris exclaims, so stunned that the titbit of steak that he took with his fork falls inexorably on the plate, along with the fork.

"Just what we said. Tomorrow, after the show, we're going to escape and go celebrate our first week sexually together!" Dom explains to him again, with a wide grin at the thought.

"And also our first month since our very first kiss!" Matt adds, grinning as well.

"That's why we need our time to celebrate." Dom states, as he cuts his fillet.

"The more time we have, the better. That's why we need to skip the fans' time, although there will be just a few people, since we're not the headliner here!" Matt retorts as he makes the red wine spin around his glass, slowly and widely, before sipping it.

"But you usually adore fans' time... both of you!" Chris makes them notice.

"Yep, but not tomorrow!" Dominic remarks.

"Oh, c'mon, all they ask for is a bunch of minutes to spend with us..." the bassist insists.

"Well, tomorrow all the bunch of minutes I have will be just and only at my Dom's disposal and there's no fan who can make me change my mind!" Matthew states resolutely.

"Gee, you're so mean!" Chris grumbles.

"Well, after all I'm VladyMatt, am not I?" the frontman sneers, glancing at the drummer.

"So, you do like it at the very end!" the blond figures out, enthusiastically.

"Yes, I admit I do... but just a little!" the brunet confesses.

Chris has no idea what they're babbling about, as he keeps turning his head to one and then to the other, as if he was watching a tennis match.

"How did you just call yourself and why?" he asks Matt. "No, wait. On second thought, I don't wanna know!" he corrects himself a few seconds later.

"Oh, c'mon, Chris, think about the positive side of the situation: if Matt and I are out of the game, you'll get all the fans' attention!" Dom makes him notice.

"Uh! Well, I hadn't thought about that..." the bassist answers, delighted by that idea, but then he jumps to another conclusion. "Are you hinting that I'll get all the fans' attention just because I'm the only one left? Have you mistaken me for a stopgap?" he wonders, insulted.

"No, never! How can you think such a terrible thing? You rule, you're awesome, you're great. Does Matt have to dedicate another song to you in order to convince you of that?" Dom replies.

"Nope. One is enough. Ok, I believe you. Just what am I supposed to say if some fans ask me why you're not there?" Chris asks them.

"Uhmm. Maybe you could tell them that our girlfriends made us a nice surprise and joined us during this date of the tour, so we want to spend as much time as we can with them." Dominic suggests.

"We couldn't be more liar than that!" Matthew shakes his head.

"So? Do you have a better idea, maybe?" Dom asks him.

"I'm not saying that I don't agree!" the other points out.

"So, Chris, we can trust you, can't we?" Dom needs confirmation.

"Yep, but don't you dare complain if from tomorrow on all our fans will ditch you to spend their time with me!" Chris smirks.

"One more thing; Tom will never know about it, promise to me!" Matthew asks as he can already picture in his mind a never ending lecture from their manager.

"Oh, Matty, now we have to find the perfect plan to escape tomorrow!" Dom incites him.

"Why? Haven't you thought about it in the morning?" Chris asks them.

"Oh, no, we've spent the whole morning..." the blond informs him, but Chris immediately stops him, raising his hand.

"Please, shut up, this is another thing I absolutely don't wanna know!" he clarifies, before he leaves the room and after awhile also the other two follow his example.

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Saying that he needs his space sometimes, Dom spends the afternoon hanging around the town, going shopping, but mostly staring at himself from every shop-window Los Angeles has to offer him.

Matthew agrees without any problem, also because he has a pretty busy afternoon to deal with.

This was the fifth travel Dom made with Pinkie, so now his rightful owner has finally taken possession of his beloved trolley again.

He goes towards the bedroom, holding some tubes of red glitter and a set of golden wheels, ready to celebrate its return in the way he had promised to it.

He takes it from the closet, very carefully, and places it on an armchair.

"C'mon, Pinkie, let's get the party started!" he announces and the most worrying thing is that he's pretty sure that he's not just talking to himself!

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After they had their dinner, Chris stays in the hall, entertaining himself with the barmen and some of the customers of the hotel, as Matthew and Dominic come back to their room.

The blond opens a drawer and takes a scratch pad and a blue felt-tip pen, as he starts writing 'Escape'.

No, they're not restudying that famous song of the Showbiz era.

As they have already decided, they're just plotting their way of escape.

Instead of writing, the brunette prefers drawing.

"So, we are these two.. " Matthew explains as he sketches in a very childish way two guys who are holding their hands, with a little heart in the middle.

"Aawww!" the blond melts down.

"And this is the Arena..." Matt goes on, turning page and drawing a circle with lots of rays that symbolize the several exits, but then he realizes that Dom isn't even looking at him anymore.

Following his gaze, he realizes what has drawn his attention so much.

"Gee, Dom, stop staring the sketch about us!" he reprimands him.

"I can't, you made me gorgeous even in this drawing!" the other states.

"Oh, c'mon, you don't even know which one is you!" the frontman teases him.

"Hell yeah I do, I'm the one on the left. To begin with, he's the taller one." he explains, turning the sketch towards Matt in order to make him see it better. "Then, the one on the right has crazier hair, see?" he goes on, snatching the felt-tip pen from his lover's hand and adding spiky and messy hair on the sketched out guy on the right. "And finally, didn't you notice that? The one on the left is holding drumsticks!" he concludes, drawing said drumstick in the guy on the left's free hand.

And then he admires his artwork very pleased.

"Dom, you're impossible!" Matt rolls his eyes.

"Well, we were plotting, weren't we?" the blond changes topic.

"Yeah..." the other replies, turning pages again. "So, these are the exits... how are we supposed to leave?" he wonders. "And please, don't you even try to name your bloody time-machine!" he summons him immediately after.

"Ok, also because the time-machine wouldn't help this time. C'mon, let's concentrate, we need an idea, a very good one!" Dom comments.

---------------------------------------------------

"For the last time, Matthew, no, no, and fucking NO!" Dom snaps after more than three quarters an hour of the brunette's impracticable suggestions.

"But why? It would be genial!" the other protests.

"It's impossible. We can't have a sort of spaceship and take off directly from the stage. We can't have the damned space skateboards you would also like to use at Wembley. And, mostly, there's no bloody, damn, sodding paralyzing ray that we can use on the crowd!" Dom explains to him, not very patiently.

"It would be so fun!" Matthew sighs unhappily and then he concentrates on the sketch of the Arena again, with the blond.

"Well, I bet that everyone expects us to get out from the exit number One... " Matt starts reckoning seriously.

"Or from the last one. It also would make sense." Dom adds and the other nods, before realization hits him.

"Let's go out from number Fifty-Seven!" the brunet exclaims.

"Why just from number Fifty-Seven?" Dom asks him.

"Because no one expects that. Plus, it's far from both of the main exits. It's a number like the others, nothing special. So, as everyone will wait for us at the main exits..."

"We'll escape from number Fifty-Seven! Yeah, that's brilliant!" Dominic rejoices.

"I'm sure it will work!" the other smiles.

"I think so, too. So, now that we made our plans... can I resume staring at my sketched out version?" the blond asks him eagerly and Matt is just too worn out to complain, so he lets his boyfriend do as he pleases.

TBC

What can I say? All the stuff involving VladyMatt and the infamous Number Fifty-Seven comes from the Muse Show at Verona in 2007, more specifically from all the absurdities my friends and I babbled about on our way back (but VladyMatt popped out from my degenerated mind... and I'm scarily proud of that, lol!)

Of course, I preferred to meet the dear guys instead of receiving this mad inspiration, but... whatever, lol!

Well, in case you didn't notice, I have a thing for Vampire! Matt... but you can't know, not here, at least, I've never posted 'Just a little bit' here ...