Westpoint Tales
by Kiwi
Entangled Tales - 46 - Daniel & Tony
Peter and Jay watched their arguing, grinning, faces. There was obvious closeness there, and chemistry.
Jay said, "Tony, just so you know." And he kissed Peter on the lips. Peter was beyond protesting, he just smiled at his Big Guy, and he kissed him back.
"Umm. Okay," Tony shrugged. He turned to Daniel and grinned, "I like these guys."
The girls arrived and Dee and Crispian as well. There were introductions all around, and then they went out into the garage. Jay closed the big door; they tuned up, then launched into I Love Rock and Roll. Tony sat on a box and watched and grinned.
A couple more songs, then they took a break. Daniel sat down next to Tony, the guitar across his knees.
"Still loving our baby? The guitar lives here now does it?"
"She certainly does. I hardly ever play alone now. It's so much better with a group."
"Yeah, you fit in well, and you sound even better now."
"I'm learning lots. Sing for us, Tones. Please."
"No, but maybe later. Do Cry For A Shadow for me, Danny."
He stood up and started playing the instrumental. The others went back to their instruments and joined in. Tony sat beaming.
"You're fucking fantastic, Danny. Simply the best."
Daniel grinned back, then still looking at him, began to play the opening chords of a song they both knew. He repeated the chords over and over. Tony began snapping his fingers, then, looking only at, Daniel, he began to sing in a husky voice.
"Never know how much I love you,
Never know how much I care. . ."
The others all stood and watched quietly as they played through "Fever."
"Interesting song," said Crispian when they finished.
Tony agreed, "Yeah. It was the first song we ever learnt together. We played it for Danny's Gran's birthday."
"I see," Crispian smiled. "You have got a good voice, great range. But it's not the style of music we're doing here. We like Rock and Roll music - dance music from the golden days. You couldn't dance to that. You're pretty good though."
"You're making me feel like I'm auditioning here. Well I'm not. I'm not staying here and it doesn't matter whether you like it or not."
"Whoah, Tones. Don't be so touchy. We're just having fun here."
"Maybe you're having fun, Danny, but I'm not. This is your scene, not mine. I think I'll go for a walk."
"Tony, don't go, please. Everyone's interested in your singing because I've been telling them how good you are, that's all."
"Maybe you've been exaggerating. I'm not that good, Danny."
"You bloody are. Come on, Tones, please, for me. Just give us one more song - show them what you can really do."
"For you? All right then. One more, but what?"
He answered with the guitar, by playing the opening notes of River Deep, Mountain High.
"You think?"
"Sock it to them Tones."
He started the song again; Tony stood up and picked up the opening lines.
"When I was a little boy, I had a rag doll,
Only doll I ever owned. . ."
He sang until the start of the chorus but faltered when Daniel stopped playing.
"No, Tones. Do it like we did it at home - dance it Tones."
"Dance it? I can't. I'd be embarrassed, Danny."
"Forget embarrassed. Forget everyone, they're just friends anyway. Dance it Tones, for me."
He started again and Tony picked up the verse, and he danced. He danced his way through the song, rocking and feeling the music as he glided from side to side, advancing and retreating the length of the garage.
He crashed through the climax and stood puffing and grinning. He knew he'd done well - it was bloody brilliant!
"Yes!" Daniel hugged him then looked back at the others. "That's my boy. Is he good, or is he good?"
Crispian clapped, slowly, three times. Clap, clap, clap. "Wrong Daniel. He's not good - he's fantastic! Tony, I've spent years around the music scene and I can honestly say that I've never seen a better performance. You're a natural and you have the presence of a star. Peter, we know that you're in love with Justin's singing, and maybe he is a better singer, but this boy is a far better performer. Much better."
Daniel beamed. "Thanks, Crispian. You hear that, Tones? He says you're a star - you're better than Superboy. But, I knew that anyway."
Shelley grinned. "Nobody's listening to what you think anyway, Guitar-man. It's obvious that you're looking through the eyes of love. But now we've seen for ourselves, and I wish we hadn't. I hate you, Tony Duncan. Where are we ever going to find a singer half as good as you are? Is there no chance at all that you could come and live here? We need you Tony."
"I can't. I wish I could, but I can't. My home, my family, are in Warkworth. Thanks Shelley, I hate you too. You make me wish for what I can't have.'
Jay, the dancing drummer, was most impressed. "Where did you learn to dance like that? Have you had lessons?"
"No, I just feel the music. Danny, let's do Johnny B. Goode."
They all knew this song, so they all joined in and the garage was rocking. For the rest of the afternoon they played and laughed together. Tony did most of the singing, but when Sandie did I Love Rock and Roll again, he did backing vocals and acted out the song, which they all loved.
They took a break, sitting around drinking and talking. Tony said, "This guitar was mine actually. Danny stole her from me."
"Did not. I didn't steal it. I just took her home, I love her more than you do."
He looked around at the puzzled faces. "Tones got the guitar for a Christmas, but he could never play her. He's all bloody thumbs when it comes to the strings. He can handle a keyboard okay, plays piano, but the guitar is just beyond him. So I took her home where she'll be looked after properly."
"So it was your guitar, Tony?"
"Yeah," he shrugged. "It was, but what's mine is Danny's anyway."
"You really mean that?" Dee asked.
"Of course. What's mine is Danny's. What's his is mine. It's always been like that. Comes from sharing every birthday we've ever had."
"Wow," she replied. "You guys really are close, aren't you?"
Daniel said, "Always have been."
"Always will be," Tony finished. They winked and grinned at each other.
"Well." Peter got up from the floor. "I don't think we've met a new person at all. It's like we've just met the missing part of the Guitar-man. Let's make music, people."
Crispian said, "Before you do, much as I hate to, I've got to go. I've got an appointment at the real estate agent's. There's a property that I'm interested in. But first, I've been talking to the West Coast Tourism people. They've agreed that they need a song to use as a theme for promoting the Westpoint area. If Whozzat could record that, especially if Tony will do the vocals, it will be great publicity for you and you could make a little money too.
I've got just the song for you. If it's not in your mum's collection, you can download it from the net, Peter. California Sun, originally by the Rivieras, but it's been done by the Ramones, among others."
"I'm sure I could find it tonight. But, what has California Sun got to do with Westpoint?"
"You'll see when you hear it. It starts out - "I' going out west, where I belong." We just need to change a few words, like the California sun will become the North'n West Coast sun, and the San Francisco Girls could be the Westpoint Girls. Find it, listen to it. You'll see. It's a great song. It could be our theme song too."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it. I'll find it tonight. It would be great if we could get a song on the radio."
"Well it would be a bit of a song, as a jingle. But, trust me, in twelve month's time, you will think that local radio is small time indeed."
"Yeah, yeah. 'Bye Crispian."
"Goodbye people. Nice to meet you Tony."
When he'd gone, Tony turned to Daniel. "He's a nice guy, for an oldie."
"Yeah, Crispian's great and he's a lord or something too."
"Pull the other one."
Dee said, "No Tony, he really is. Crispian Count St. Clair. He's a real count."
"No! What's he doing here in Westpoint then?"
"Long story, but he's a new arrival here. We still don't know whether he's staying. I hope he does though."
"Shouldn't he be living in a castle or a palace or something?"
"He's got no castle, just a title. It's an old French family and they lost everything. He's got some money, not short of a buck, but he didn't inherit it. He worked for everything he's got and now he's sort-of retired and taking it easy."
"So why's he hanging around with a bunch of kids?"
"Because we like him and we all love music," Peter answered. "Crispian's like our mentor, our advisor. He knows all the great songs that today's kids have never heard of, which is great because none of us can write our own music. Plus it's the sort of stuff that the local radio plays all the time, Robbie’s really into the old songs."
The group eventually broke up, after arranging to meet again at Peter's the following day, and they all wandered off in their different directions. Walking down Peel Street, Daniel and Tony could see Toddy in the distance, coming to meet them. Tony stopped Daniel, grabbing his arm.
"Here's your boyfriend coming. Danny, we're going to have sex tonight, right?"
"You'd better believe it! I've been thinking about nothing else all day. I want you Tones."
"I want you too, Danny. I want everything you've got. And I want to share your boyfriend too."
"You do? Really?"
"Yes really. What's yours is mine, remember? But not tonight. I was going to ask Toddy if he'd pop my cherry, like he did for you. But I've changed my mind. I want my first time to be with you - only you. I want you in me, Danny. I want to feel you inside me, close to my heart, where you belong."
"Tones. Oh my Tones." Daniel hugged him tight. "I love you so much. I could throw you down and do it right here in the street."
"That's a song too, isn’t it?" Tony grinned. "Why Don't We Do It In the Road? But I think we'd better not. Better wait a bit longer yet."
"My bit's getting longer all the time."
"Shut up Danny."
They met up with Toddy and walked home together. Yes, they'd had a great day. Yes, Tony was a big hit with Whozzat and he'd liked them too. They were going to meet again tomorrow. Maybe record a song together even.
"Damm. I can't compete with that. I was hoping that we could go sailing tomorrow - get the old family boat out of the shed down at the yacht club and blow the dust off of it."
"You've got a yacht, Toddy? That sounds great."
"Yeah. It was my dad's. It's just a dinghy really, but mum still keeps it and we drag it out occasionally. Maybe we could do it another day? The forecast is good for a few days and the river's really calm."
"Oh yes. We've got to do that. Thanks Toddy. We used to spend hours messing about in boats on the river back home."
Tony agreed, "Yeah. We couldn't sail though, our river's much too small for that. Sounds good."
"Why don't you come and hang with us tomorrow, Toddy. You've really got to see Tones in action."
"Maybe I will. Tones?"
"Yeah, Tones, Tony, whatever."
"I like it. Tones is a great name for a singer and the Guitar-man's friend."
"You've got yourself a nickname, Tones. But he's not just a singer. Sometimes you get singers who dance. My boy's a dancer who sings."
"Like Jay's a drummer who dances? You're right, I've got to see that. I'll come with you tomorrow and maybe we'll have time to get the boat out later. What are you doing tonight? Want to go and see a movie?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, not tonight. We're going to have an early night - still a bit tired. We didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"You didn't?" Toddy's eyebrows rose. "So what were you doing then?"
"Not what you're thinking. We did not! We were just talking, we've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Sure you were. And I suppose Tones is still a bit jet-lagged too? Hey! What the hell is this?"
Coming around the corner into Romney Street, they saw Toddy's brother, Grant, engaged in an all-out battle with his best friend - Daniel's cousin, John. Fists were flying, red-faced and angry they were grunting and cursing as they traded blows in the street.
Toddy and Daniel ran forward and grabbed them to pull them apart. Toddy held Grant while Daniel stood with his cousin in his arms. They were both struggling to hold the angry boys still.
"Cut it out Guys. Calm down. Stop it, Grant! What the hell are you doing, fighting in the street? You're supposed to be mates."
"Mind your own fucking business, Barney Todd." Grant struggled free of his brother's encircling arms, then he grabbed and pulled Daniel's arms off John.
"And you can get your hands off him, O'Brien. John's my friend, not yours.
They walked away around the corner, arms around each other's shoulders.
"What was that all about, Toddy?"
"We'll never know, Guitar-man. We'll never know. Bloody kids."
"Yeah. Let's go home Old Man."
"You sure you won't come to the movies? Ah well, there's always Jinks. He'll come with me."
They had dinner, (John didn't want to talk about it). Then Daniel and Tony went for a walk. But when they got out to the street and Daniel went to turn towards town, Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him back the other way, and they went back up the track to the railway embankment.
At the top, Tony ran up and sat on the big rocks alongside the track. Daniel joined him and they sat looking out across the salt-marshes.
"So, what are we doing here? Pretty short walk wasn't it?"
"I don't really want to walk, Danny. I just want to talk a bit."
"We could have gone straight over to George's and gone to bed - much more comfortable than sitting up here."
"We could have. But that's what I want to talk about. About going to bed."
"What about it? We'll have to go there sooner or later."
"To sleep, yes. But it's the other, the sex I'm worried about."
"You're worried about the sex? Don't tell me you've changed your mind."
"No. Yes. I'm really nervous, Danny. I don't know if I can go through with it. Maybe we should just forget it and leave things as they are."
"What? No way! You were all keen before, what's changed? There's nothing to be nervous about, it's just us, you and me."
"That's the problem. It is you and me. If we do this it will change everything. I don't want to wreck our friendship."
"Nothing's going to wreck our friendship. This will just take us to another level. We've always shared everything and this will make us even closer. It's what people do when they get to our age. The sex-drives kick in and what better way to satisfy them?"
"That's it? You just want to satisfy your sex urges?"
"No Tones. If I just wanted to get my rocks off, I could be groping Toddy about now. I love you and I want to make love to you. Don't you want me too?"
"Danny, I don't know. I love you, you know that, but what if I'm crap? What if you're disappointed in me? I've never done this with anybody. I don't know how to, Danny, and you've been doing it with Toddy. How can I compare to him?"
"You won't be crap. You're my Tones, the beautiful sexy boy who I just love to bits. Sometimes, when I'm doing it with Toddy, I fantasize that it's you there with me in the dark, and I get so excited. Then I cry because it's not you. I love you, Tones, and I want to do it with you."
"But I don't know what to do. I don't want you to be disappointed in me."
"I would never be disappointed in you. When you couldn't swim, who stayed there in the water with you until you did? When I couldn't ride a bike, who held me up until I did?
It's just us, Tones. We've always helped each other. Come on, let's go to bed. You've got to stop thinking about it and just do it. It's not hard; your body knows what to do. Come on, you'll see. It's going to be great. Just tell me that you love me without using your mouth - well, not for talking anyway."
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