Public Outcast//Closed

Atlas tried to just block them out, taking deep breaths and leaning against Emrys. He kept ahold of Em's hand, squeezing it a little tighter than normal. He absolutely hated being yelled at, usually, that means he made someone unhappy. It was a little different when it came to management since he didn't care about them as much, but in turn it made him feel worse when they really yelled at him.

Emrys was curled in on himself, flinching every few seconds and leaning heavily on Atlas to keep ahold of himself. Out of everyone, he probably hated getting chewed out the most because even though he knew logically that he shouldn't be bothered by what they were saying, it still managed to make him feel self-hating and ashamed of what he'd done.

Atlas gently rubbed Emrys' knuckles with his thumb. He could tell how bothered Em was by it all, and he ended up feeling a sense that it was almost his fault for this. He first confessed to Emrys, he decided not to keep their relationship a secret, at least that's how he felt.

Em had his face half-tucked into Atlas' shoulder, obviously trying to shelter himself from the angry yelling, though he couldn't say it was working too well. Someone was gesturing angrily at them, fire in his eyes. "… and this is exactly what I'm talking about! You can't cuddle like that, it's what leads people into thinking you're gay in the first place! Now…" Voices drifted in and out. he couldn't pay attention to any of them.

Atlas was definitely beyond overwhelmed by the array of angry voices directed at them. Finding a tiny space of silence, he interjected. "And what's so bad about people thinking we're gay anyway!?! It's a natural thing, it's not we can choose. But if we could, I definitely would. Something you can choose, however, is being an asshole or not. I see you all chose to be one."

The whole car went quiet for a few seconds and Emrys uncurled, hoping for just the smallest shred of silence, until the barrage started up again. "Just who do you think you-" "-How dare-" "-if you ever say that again-" "-your team needs a good public image, you can't have that if you're-" "-enough!"

It was one of the executive assistants, a sweet girl named Maggie. "Listen, if they're gay they're gay, we can't change that. What we can do is support them and give their fans, who very much enjoy their relationship, so we don't end up looking like corporate dickwads for the rest of our lives."

Atlas smiled, thankful for Maggie's addition. "Ex-fucking-actly. Literally, some of our fans were begging for a relationship. Of course, that doesn't apply to everyone, but it does to a whole lot of people, a large majority actually." He glared at some of the managers while talking.

Hailey, Atlas' personal manager and the one they came out to earlier, spoke up. "Maggie is 100% correct. Once Public Outcast disbands or leaves the company, we want more people signing to our label. But it everyone thinks we're dicks then no one will sign up and we'll all lose our jobs."

Maggie nodded. "Hell yeah! We need money you thick headed idiots. You think Atlas and Em and the other guys pay us to yell at them? No! They pay us to advise them, to help them steer through media storms like the one they're going through now. Look what a bang up job we're doing, screaming at them in the back of a car instead of helping them prep for the talk show. You should be ashamed!"

"I honestly bet if we have two openly gay people in this band, which is already one of the, if not the, most popular band in the world, then it'll gain the attention of the LGBT+ community and they'll all support us and we'll get more money," Hailey added. She didn't think everything was all about the money, she only said that because the rest of the management team was. Atlas knew she wasn't like that, she had discussed it with him once in the past. If she had actually been like that, he would have probably requested for yet another personal manager. He usually goes through managers like he goes through hair colors, always changing them. But once Hailey came around, he was content and didn't ever request another one.

Maggie nodded firmly, crossing her arms with a satisfied grin when the managers pooled their faces into half apologetic smiles and for once turned to the boys without anger in their eyes. The rest of the ride was remarkably smooth, all advice and no criticism, and for the first time since he'd joined the band Emrys felt okay about going on a talk show.

"This is going a lot better than ever expected… not necessarily the beginning, but it's all good now." Atlas whispered into Emrys' ear with a half smile. He didn't really listen to the advice since he was usually okay with talk show, but every now and then, he did listen to something that sounded relatively useful.

Emrys smiled back at him, stilly shy and a bit hesitant but much less stressed than he had seemed earlier. 'Yeah, I… I feel a lot better about this actually." He squeezed Atlas' hand with something like excitement. "I actually feel pretty good about today. Do you think the show will go alright?"

"I do think it'll at least go okay, better than we initially expected for sure. I'm glad you're feeling better. Remember, I'll be right next to you, probably holding your hand the whole time. So don't worry, we'll get through this." Atlas comforted Emrys, again. He planted a soft kiss on Em's cheek, smiling to him once he pulled back.

Emrys smiled as he was buried in reassurance, leaning into Atlas as they walked into the building. "Okay. I believe you, we're gonna do just fine." He smiled at the kiss and pecked him on the lips in return, only letting go of his hand when they were summoned out onto the stage to take a seat on one of the fancy interview couched.

Atlas put on a large smile as the band walked out onto the stage together. He waved a little and looked out at the fans in the crowd going crazy. He made sure to stay right next to Emrys no matter where they sat. A rush of adrenaline went through his veins as some more of the cameras started rolling.

As usual, the couch could only fit three. It was a running gag among their fans that Cadmus always sat in someone's lap, but this time Emrys decided to take the fall and plopped himself down in Atlas' lap, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck. It earned him a soft cheer from the fans in the crowd, which magnified into a quiet roar when he had to hide his embarrassed smile in Atlas' hair.

Atlas giggled, at first when Emrys decided to sit on his lap, but it grew to a slightly louder laugh when the cheers grew in volume. He wrapped his arm around Em's waist. If they weren't on a talk show in front of hundreds of people, he would have called Emrys 'cute', but because of that and the fact that they were hooked up to microphones, he didn't. The crowd just loved their interaction already so it took quite a while before they quieted down.

Emrys blushed harder when Atlas laughed, leaning into him even more as the crowd slowly settled down. One of his hands was tangled in his boyfriend's hair, carding through it nervously as the host shuffled his papers and the recording lights slowly blinked on. They'd done a couple interviews here before which put him at ease, but his hands were still shaky as he petted Atlas and his smile was far from genuine as he greeted the host.

(Can you play the host?)

(I sure can! Let's just call him Jerry lol)

"Hello, hello everyone! Thank you for coming! Today we have a very special guest tonight. Please welcome Public Outcast!" Welcomed the host. He stretched out his arms to display the band. Once again, the crowd went completely wild. Atlas had a wide smile plastered on his face, and it was completely genuine. He never minded talk shows, they were a bit nerve-wracking, but they were fun. After a few minutes, the crowd quieted down and the host continued. "Thank you guys SO much for coming to the show today. How is everyone tonight?"

Cadmus, as always, answered first. "It's been just great, J!" He gave the crowd his signature cheery smile. "I mean.. sure, tour's been killing us and random relationship drama's been killing us and…" He laughed, raking a hand through his hair. "Well… it's tough, but it's been a good time." Harley gave his customary grunt, and then it was Em's turn and he was too flustered to answer for a few seconds.

"Oh! Um… me, yeah, it's been nice Jerry. I've done some working on myself, on our music, and… I think we're going to be taking things in a new direction for our next album. Less pop, we've been thinking about going back to our original sound."

Atlas giggled as quietly as possible to not interrupt Emrys, he also nodded in agreement about the next album. "Yeah, as probably everyone by now knows, me and Em played a new song on one of our last concerts-" The crowd responded by cheering. Even a casual fan knew that song now. The crowd quieted a few seconds later and Atlas continued, laughing a little before. "Yeah, so I'm hoping it makes it to the album, but who knows what's gonna happen with that. And, of course, it's been great, tiring, but great."

The host smiled the whole time while listening to the group, going right into the next question once they finished. "Great, sounds like you guys are having fun. I know I have been, keeping up with your stuff. Very thankful for fancams, am I right?" He asked the audience, everyone immediately bursting into cheers and applause.

Em laughed as the crowd cheered, hiding his face in Atlas' hair for a few seconds. "Well Candy's nowhere near finished yet, but… yeah. Consider it a small sample of what's to come with our new album."

Cadmus grinned out at the audience. "And, special feature for all the fans kind enough to support us with concert tickets, we'll be releasing a new song once a week to help publicize our new album, so be sure to keep your ears out. This is top secret stuff, people. Concert exclusives." It was an idea they'd discussed in the car and decided was a good idea. Em was pretty sure management only liked it because it would take people's attention off all the interband relationships.

Before Atlas could say anything, the host continued. "Would you be willing to sing a bit of it for us live? Emrys, we even brought your instrument out for you!" He gestured to two crewmen bringing out Em's guitar and handing it to him.

"Well I guess we have no choice now, huh. Em, you okay with it?" Atlas asked, turning his head slightly to get a better look at his boyfriend.

Em laughed nervously, taking the guitar and giving it a hesitant strum. In was in tune, thank goodness, so he looped the strap over his shoulder and got his hands on what he hoped were the right strings to start it. "Well I'm not always great on the spot, but I'll do my best." He gave Atlas a soft smile, shifting a little so his body wouldn't block Atlas' before he turned to the fans. "Y'all ready?"

Everyone cheered in return, even the host did. Everyone was excited to hear the song, so they quieted down pretty quickly. Atlas kept his arm around Emrys' waist, hopefully, to comfort him a little. Brightly smiling, Atlas did a small nod to let Em know he was also ready.

Emrys laughed at the enthusiasm, clearly a little overwhelmed, but he began to play the opening cords anyways. It started timidly, but soon the melody was coming out confidently, filling the studio as Emrys began focusing more on the music than the bodies around him.

While Emrys started Atlas softly rubbed his back, fighting the urge to rest hinself against the other. Just like they had during the concert, Atlas started a little later. He loved the song and was beyond excited to sing it for their fans again, so he started it strong right off the bat.

Emrys relaxed into the touch, leaning into his hand with a breathless, silent sigh. He looked utterly and completely in love as he watched Atlas sing, barely remembering to strum along. It was the way he'd watched him before he was part of the band, all soft and amazed like he couldn't believe he got to see this.

At some point, Atlas had let his eyes loosing flutter closed. He had a soft smile on his lips as he continued singing. He heard the guitar get quieter for a second, he let a small giggle into the singing, opening his eyes. He looked back at Emrys, love in his eyes as well. If someone in the audience hadn't seen the pictures from the aquarium, they would definitely know the two were in love now.

Emrys blushed at that little giggle and then his focus snapped back to the music and he pushed the guitar harder. The song seemed to come alive between them, twisting and breathing as it wrapped around them, pulled them together. Emrys didn't even realize he was leaning towards Atlas, their foreheads nearly pressed together as the music flowed out of them. He pulled away when it was over, abruptly realizing how close they'd gotten. "So… that was Candy everybody."