“Dude, if you’re gonna make shitty videos can you at least not be in my room to do it? ‘Cause only one of us is gonna have to edit all the shit out of it when you’re done.” Not that Brady was actually going to sleep or anything like that. He just liked giving Stevie a hard time, and no doubt did so more than anyone else. He sat up in his bed, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. “And if you try to put me in this vlog I will end you. And your career.”
TAGGING: Brady Clarington & Nick Vaughn. ( @astoldbyaj )
WARNINGS: Nada.
Brady couldn’t even begin to express how excited he was for this project. He’d spent much of the last year filming and editing videos for a bunch of creators he was super grateful to work with, but he was getting more and more interested in doing event videography. Although he had a few experiences under his belt thanks to being in charge of documenting friends’ birthday parties and stuff like that, those had been mostly for the fun of creating memories, as well as portfolio building. He had yet to actually be hired for something. That changed just a few days ago, when his sister’s friend hit him up in need of a videographer for an upcoming wedding. And Brady was fucking stoked, to say the very least.
“Alright.” Brady returned to the table Nick sat at with a coffee in hand, sighing as he got settled in the seat across from him. He felt official as fuck with his laptop and some of his basic equipment laid out on the table between them. “So, I figure I can show you some of my best stuff, and you can gimme an idea of what you think they’re gonna want.” He sifted through the video files on his computer to try to find a good one. “Okay, like this one ― was a friend’s birthday party, fuckin’ huge.” Brady instantly remembered he wasn’t exactly in the comfort of people he knew well, and also in public. He glanced over his shoulder before lowering his voice. “Sorry. But anyway. I got some good stuff from... like, pretty much everything. And there was a hell of a lot going on.” He angled the laptop toward Nick a bit but didn’t start the video. “You know if they’re havin’ a live band or a DJ, or...?”
WARNINGS: None, just dumb boys and some lowkey feels later.
“Dude, if you’re gonna make shitty videos can you at least not be in my room to do it? ‘Cause only one of us is gonna have to edit all the shit out of it when you’re done.” Not that Brady was actually going to sleep or anything like that. He just liked giving Stevie a hard time, and no doubt did so more than anyone else. He sat up in his bed, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. “And if you try to put me in this vlog I will end you. And your career.”
Stevie lowered his phone just slightly, but didn’t stop recording. “Uh, excuse you. Fired.” He zoomed in towards Brady’s face and grinned to himself before finally stopping it completely. “How dare you call my videos shitty. ‘Just okay’, yeah. But shitty? I thought we were friends.” Stevie came over and let himself fall heavily on the bed beside him, the phone still in hand. “Come on, just one sec for the thumbnail. Let everyone see that bedhead look you got goin’ on, you’ll gain like a thousand followers in like ten seconds.” He raised the phone up, camera pointed towards them, but he didn’t press record just yet. He was mostly giving him a hard time, but he wasn’t gonna film him without his permission. “Let me be the camera man just this once.”
“Bro, I’m about to roll you right onto the floor.” He thought he could just sit on Brady’s bed, in Brady’s own room and disrespect him like this? Unbelievable. “Jeez, fine, put me in the freaking vlog.” He paused. “But for the record, you’re way overestimating your instagram power and I think the universe knows that.” He waited until Stevie started recording, and then Brady reflexively threw up a peace sign at the camera. “Sup fam? Tell ya boy to stop harassing me in my safe space.
“Sounds fun bro, but you don’t have to hurt me. I’m clean; I showered.” Stevie defended himself lightly, truly not thinking that there was any issue with him being there. In fact, he scooted up further on the bed after he’d kicked his shoes off, getting far enough to sit up next to him. He wasn’t thinking about invading his space at all, although he made a mental note to bring him a Starbucks later on for putting up with his ideas. “You’re underestimating our fans. I’ve gotten a buncha DM’s about them wanting to see us in bed together so I’m just listenin’ to the audience.” At that moment, he held his phone up and hit record. At Brady’s response to the camera, he fake glared in his direction. “Hey! I always let you in my room, that’s not fair. Sorry guys, I’m pretty sure I just woke him up, but uh — here he is. I know you hate me and all Brady, but can we do one Q&A? Please? I might have asked them to send us questions earlier.”
“I don’t think this is exactly what they meant by that.” Though Brady was sure this would be taken out of context once it went live on Stevie’s channel. He’d obviously seen the comments. Stevie never really thought about how stuff like this would be taken, it seemed, but Brady always took note. Not that he’d ever say anything, because he knew the truth so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Brady rolled his eyes, but Stevie had already promised his audience something to look forward to, and Brady wasn’t about to be the asshole that let that all go to waste. “Ugh, fine. But we’re keeping it surface level. Not in the mood for your deep questions.”
Stevie just smiled at that and shrugged. He knew what their followers said about them, and it never bothered him in the slightest. It was always kind of funny to him, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't like the attention his videos brought him. Brady was his best friend, so he never thought twice about joking around with him about it. Brady was straight, so he knew he never took him to heart. "I promise, no deep questions. An' you can cut this out and edit it to make me seem like the bad guy. I owe you after this, dude." He said, his tone almost apologetic, hoping Brady wasn't really upset about it. Quickly, he got into character, clearing his throat dramatically and grinning easily as he held the camera up so they were both in view. "Okay, time for a BRAVIE Q&A." He shook the camera a little in his hand, creating his own sloppy affects. "I'll just do what I remember, sorry if we leave anyone else guys." Stevie squinted as he strained to recall the questions he saw on twitter, and he turned his head towards him. "What's the biggest thing I do that annoys you the most? And you CAN'T say breaking into your room." He wagged his finger in his direction. "That's already obvious.”
Right, he did have the power of editing. Brady liked having control over things in general, which was probably one of the biggest reasons he was ever okay with being in these videos. At the end of the day, he had a huge say in what parts of himself were shown. “The thing that annoys me most?” Brady repeated, thinking about what the best answer would be. “Probably just taking my shit without asking. Like my clothes you wanna borrow or whatever. Like... I know I do the same thing to you, but it still annoys me when you do it.” He shrugged. The least he could be was honest.
Stevie sat up straighter at that, not truly hurt but playing it up for the camera. Sure, okay, he might’ve borrowed things from time to time. He might even be borrowing one of Brady’s shirts right now. But what was so wrong with that? So maybe Stevie's boundaries weren't the greatest, but he never thought it bothered him that much. “So you can take my stuff but I can’t take yours? Well okay.” His brow furrowed as he processed, and he addressed the camera. "If y'all wouldn't mind me borrowing your clothes, like this video. One of you could be my replacement Brady." He joked. "I wasn't asked, but my biggest peeve is when you get mad at me then do the same thing. Like eating the last waffle. How are we even friends?" He teased then waved towards Brady's phone. "Wanna pull up twitter and read off a couple'a questions for me? Your pick."
"Did I say that?" Brady challenged. He and Stevie were always like this, just back and forth banter and picking on each other. He rolled his eyes at Stevie's response, but grinned regardless. "If I eat the last waffle, I replace them. Like, damn dude, I'm not an animal." At Stevie's suggestion, Brady shrugged. "Not really, since this wasn't my idea, but I guess it's kind of expected of me now." He grabbed his phone and went over to Stevie's twitter so he could find the questions. "Uh... okay, while I'm looking why don't you tell me the thing you like about me?"
"You didn't not say it." He replied back, the grin appearing on his face as though second nature. It was always so easy to tease Brady; it'd been that way since they met. "Okay, I'll give you that. It's having to wait for the waffle I don't like --- ya boy gets hungry." He conceded, jokingly. Stevie sat up, almost excited that Brady was finally getting into it. About time. The only thing was that his question caught him off guard, and he looked at him for a moment in thought. It took all he had not to blurt out something dumb like your eyes or your smile or i like the look you give me that i never see you give anyone else. But he had plenty of practice keeping those thoughts quiet, so he immediately shut them down. "I like a lot of things about you, dude. There's a reason you're my freakin' camera man - don't act like you dunno." Stevie said sincerely with a shrug, trying to play it off. "But the thing I like the most?" He considered it briefly. "I like how you never treat me like I'm dumb. Even when I am. And how you put up with stupid shit like this." Ain't that the truth. Stevie scooted back some and peeked over his shoulder to read the question's as Brady scrolled. "I'd ask you the same but I feel like I'm pushin' my luck here."
There were few things Brady wouldn't do for a waffle, so he had to give it to Stevie. Dude had a point. "I'll try to make a household announcement when I eat the last one so at least you're aware." And he would certainly remember to yell it at the top of his lungs. Brady pressed his lips into a tight line when Stevie started answering the question, mostly because...well, he didn't really expect it, he supposed. He thought Stevie would have more of a joke answer, and he wasn't prepared for his stomach to sink the way it did, even if it was just Stevie being a good friend and saying something kind about him. "I mean, you're not dumb, you just...do dumb things sometimes. But like, whatever bro, we all do." Brady shrugged, trying to push it all to the back of his mind. "I like that you haven't fired me and kicked me out yet," Brady said with a smirk, still scrolling through the questions. A cop out? Sure, but that was Brady for you. "Here's one. What do we wanna dress up as for Halloween this year?"
Briefly Stevie imagined Brady with a giant megaphone to alert him whenever they were low and the important stuff --- like waffles. That'd be the only legitimate reason to get a megaphone, but he had a feeling that they'd abuse that fast. Wow, he was really maturing. As Stevie finished speaking and Brady had a chance to process what he said, Stevie was suddenly nervous. He wasn't shy about telling someone when he cared about them. His family always was affectionate and vocal about those things. But for the first time he was briefly concerned he'd said too much. But thankfully Brady didn't notice. Stevie relaxed with a small grin. "Yeah, I know. That's the other thing I like about you. You do dumb things with me." That's what he liked about him from the start, after all. "Uh --- I have fired you. Several times actually. Not my fault you keep coming back for more." He wasn't able to read a lot of the questions as Brady flicked passed them, but there were some he caught glimpses of that he was glad Brady decided to skip passed. Yikes they had some dedicated fans. At the question, he felt his energy rise, and he gently hit Brady in the arm. "I was thinking about this, dude. I have a couple of ideas. But I'm thinking we blend is as the security and see if anyone even notices us. We can film the whole time at one of the giant ass parties and they can't even kick us out for it. Smart, right? Unless you got any better ideas?"
Brady shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” He had, in fact, been fired several times. He just never took it seriously, because obviously Stevie didn’t mean for it to be taken seriously. Until the day he did, at which point... well, Brady would probably figure it out pretty quick. “Bro, that’s the best.” The idea of playing the part of security at a party they clearly were not security for was downright hilarious. "I don’t have any better ideas. That’s kinda perfect.” He sighed as he continued to scroll. “Alright, let’s see here...”
