Pairing: JC and Joey
Words: amateur; fascist; tighten; catchy


The thing about Joey was that he didn't often get his own way.

Yeah, yeah, cry me a river that the spoiled popstar doesn't always
get what he wants the moment he whines for it -- but it wasn't
quite like that.  The half the time that people fell over them
trying to do whatever they could do to please them was nice, sure,
but it barely compensated for the other half of the time, or
really, more than half, where their lives were more regimented than
a death row murderer's, told where to go, what to do, what to say
and, if possible, what to think.  Being able to command someone to
bring him a salami sandwich on wheat bread with cream cheese as the
dressing, avocado, red peppers, onion and pepperjack cheese did not
make up for spending eighteen hours obeying orders.  It was for a
good cause, the best of causes, their own fame and advancement --
self interest being the strongest of all possible motives -- but it
didn't change how tired his smile got or how often he had to
knuckle under and do what he was told rather than what he wanted to
do.

And there were five of them, which should have made it better, but
only made things worse.  They didn't get handled as five people so
much as a collective entity.  But the collective entity *was* five
people and so they couldn't all be happy at once, couldn't all do
everything together and, when compromises had to be made, Joey was
invariably the person who made them.  Lance was too busy, Justin
was both too busy and too important, Chris too volatile and JC --
well, JC was the other person most likely to be forced to
compromise, to have to go into Make-up first and thus lose his
precious ten minutes of free time, but more often it was Joey,
because Joey was good-natured and relatively unimportant in the
NSYNC scheme of things.  He'd do more than his share of working the
crowd, of introducing songs, so that the front men -- which was
Justin and JC, however much they lied to people about NSYNC being
a group effort -- could have a few extra minutes to change.  Or
he'd be left out of interviews so that JC and Justin could have the
exposure everyone wanted from them and, all in all, Joey was used
to it.  To being the least important.  To being the most amiable,
the most willing to give in.

Someone had to, after all.

****

The thing about JC was, he didn't mind giving in to other people
except when something mattered to him, and then he wanted it his
own way or no way at all.  And he didn't care who he upset to make
it happen.  That was the beauty though, about being a star.  You
could make it happen, if it mattered enough.  Nearly always.

He was aware that he had a reputation as a fascist bastard in the
studio, although everyone smiled and told people he was a
'perfectionist' if asked.  JC didn't mind; what he wondered
actually, was why *they* minded.  They weren't amateurs after all. 
They were professionals now.  They should all care as much as he
did.

But they didn't; Chris and Joey tended to goof off, Justin tended
to show off, and Lance always wanted to get his parts over with as
soon as possible so he could get on to doing more important things.

As if there were anything more important than the quality of their
music.

Their attitudes toward recording bothered him, but he was used to
them, to tightening the reins and getting them to do his bidding. 
Joey was usually the first to give in, the most easily moldable. 
JC liked Joey.  Joey was capable of taking direction, would listen
and would work hard once his attention had been redirected from
goofing off to work.

JC knew the other guys, particularly Chris and Justin, took
shameful advantage of him when he wasn't in the studio.  They liked
to do things like hiding all his clothes and substituting girls'
stuff for his, switching his CDs so he was listening to country
music or commercial jingles or themes from kids' shows, and other
pranks.  JC didn't mind.  Actually, he kinda liked it when they did
stuff like that.  Some of the clothes were nice, and the music was
sorta catchy.  So he never got mad.  That stuff didn't matter to
him.  And about stuff that didn't matter, JC was as placid as a
sleeping kitten.

The important thing to remember, though, was that no matter how
sweet and fuzzy and pliable the drowsy kitten might be -- cats had
claws.

****

The thing about JC and Joey's relationship was that it was casual. 
They'd kind of drifted into it by accident.

Joey was straight by choice, and JC didn't much care.  It wasn't
something that mattered to him, and thus he was amenable to
whatever his partner of the moment wanted, or, if said partner was
not available, whatever the person he was with wanted.  This had
led Bobbie to label him as 'passive-aggressive', which was
something JC didn't understand at all.  He wasn't resisting what
she wanted, it was just that he didn't see any reason to resist
what other people wanted of him either.  Which made him sound like
a slut, which wasn't entirely true.  Partially true, yes, but it
was more that he couldn't turn down an invitation from Justin to go
dancing, or from Chris or Joey to go drinking, or from Lance to...
okay, well, yes, he *could* turn down Lance, but mostly because
what Lance usually wanted was for JC to get up and really, JC
couldn't do anything about what people asked of him while he was
unconscious.

So when Joey bemoaned not being able to find anyone to have sex
with, and wrapped his arm around JC and said, probably jokingly,
that JC was so pretty these days that he'd do, it just seemed
natural to lean into Joey's touch instead of away.  Because it
wasn't like he *minded*.

Joey had squeezed back and ruffled his hair.

JC thought Joey got that he was serious about the time JC rubbed
his head into Joey's hand and tipped his head forward, exposing his
neck to be scratched.

Joey'd given him a startled look, but he hadn't actually said
anything and he'd just opened the door and let him in when JC
knocked on it that night.

Uncomplicated sex, and JC liked sleeping on Joey, liked curling up
around him whether or not sex was involved.  Joey was good in bed,
good at paying attention when it mattered and at giving way to what
JC wanted.  The best of both worlds, really, and it didn't bother
JC at all that sometimes -- really, most of the time -- Joey dated
girls instead, because it wasn't something that mattered.  When
Joey would reach out to him in public, palming his hip in a loose
embrace, JC would respond, knowing that Joey wanted him, and JC
liked it and that was what was truly important.

JC didn't do any of that with Chris or Justin or Lance though,
because they were different.  Not serious at all in the case of
Chris and Justin, and too serious in the case of Lance.  They
didn't understand how to give way, how to compromise, how JC could
blithely sleep with Joey one night and let him walk away with his
hand on the hip of some busty blonde the next.  JC didn't care that
they didn't get it.  It didn't matter.

****

So really, Joey had to compromise the most of all of them, and that
was bad, but when it came right down to it, he didn't mind so much. 
It was the best thing for intra-group harmony, after all, his
individual part to play in the collective entity that was NSYNC.

He sighed a well-sated sigh and wrapped his arm around JC's naked
back.  JC snuggled closer, but didn't wake up.

No, Joey decided.  He liked his role in the group just fine.