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[outerfringe]

open post for jeff

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[hardlydead]

Jeff.

[ you're welcome ]

[outerfringe]

See if I share with you.

[hardlydead]

Course you will.

[outerfringe]

Yeah? Why's that? Maybe I'm not a sharing kind of guy.

[hardlydead]

Because I'm such a friendly and likeable guy.

[ he's hilarious ]

[outerfringe]

Maybe my brew tastes like ass. Could be doing you a favour.

[hardlydead]

Min had me drinking some shit that tasted like a cross between battery acid and warm piss, sounds like a step up.

[outerfringe]

Don't know what it says about me that I'm jealous.

I could kill a six pack right now.

[hardlydead]

I've got half a bottle of shitty whisky. Had to trade two teenage girls just about all my batteries for it, but I could share.

[outerfringe]

Don't have much to trade.

[hardlydead]

Listen, I'll just be glad to spend time with someone my age for a change.

[outerfringe]

[He almost declines. He's not a great conversationalist, won't make for good company, but he's known David long enough that none of that will be news. So.]

Yeah. Sounds good, then. Appreciate it.

[hardlydead]

[ hilariously that's part of why he likes Jeff. he's quiet, keeps to himself, doesn't pry. helps when he can but doesn't overstay his welcome. David can happily do companionable silence, it's better than the bitter ones he usually has alone. ]

Course. I'll be by the fire.

[outerfringe]

[Sharing a bottle by a fire sounded like a pleasant way to visit an illusion of normalcy, if only for a few hours. There weren't so many opportunities for that here.]

Yeah. See you soon.

gently slams some action on the table

[hardlydead]

[ and at the fire he is. jacket tossed on the ground next to him as he sits against a log, that look in his eyes they all get when it feels like it's been too long since their last trial, like they could be snapped up at any second to go die. so the company is welcome. ]

[ he holds up the bottle with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, offering it to jeff. ]

Tastes like shit, I'm tellin' you.

it's what we deserve

[outerfringe]

[Jeff's quiet approach is more a result of endless hunting in the trials than an actual attempt at sneakiness on his part, and he'll take the bottle with a little grunt of acknowledgement as he eases himself down to a seat next to David. (And he might be unscarred from the killers' knives and hooks, but fuck if an injury much older than those things doesn't still make him frown when he moves a certain way.)]

All out of mixers. Sorry.

[hardlydead]

[ david puffs out a small, amused breath. pretending not to notice the laboured way he eases himself down, but he has a quiet bit of internal sympathy for it. familiar enough, short as his rugby career was, busted knees and hips and just about any bone or muscle that could leave a lingering pain when it healed. ]

[ man he could seriously kill for a rum and coke though. ]

Don't think ginger ale could do much to save this anyway.

[outerfringe]

[He'd had no idea when stepping into that fight what the outcome would be; it hadn't occurred to him that he was risking his life and not just a black eye. He'd do it again in a heartbeat, of course, even knowing the outcome.

Still. If the hook holes and axe wounds could be knitted up without complaint, why not wipe away that ghost of back ache?

He holds his hand out for the bottle.]

Consider me warned.

[hardlydead]

[ he hands over the bottle and reclines a little against the log like he's determined to make it a comfortable backrest. it mostly just ends up with him looking almost comical in how he's almost laying on it, upper back propped up like one might to watch tv in bed. david can't find it in himself to care about looking stupid though. ]

You alright on the floor with your back?

[ never noticed it during trials, but then that's a different situation isn't it. wouldn't be surprised if the entity numbed that pain for jeff while they were in there so he only had fresh, new pains to focus on. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff is the last person to care about someone looking stupid, especially if it's in the pursuit of something that might actually bring about a facsimile of comfort. He takes a pull from the bottle with a wince, passing it back with a flicker of embarrassment at the question.]

Yeah. Mostly just stiff. It'll relax in a minute.

[But it's a kindness he appreciates.]

[hardlydead]

[ he takes the bottle back, a wince of his own flashing across his face at the taste when it hits his tongue and the way it burns his throat. there's something about it that feels good though-- maybe it's just as simple as the fact that it's booze. ]

Think I was lucky I don't have anything like that-- Met a lot of blokes who got injuries that never healed right on the pitch, but... Not me.

[ david takes another sip, another grimace at the taste like it's somehow a surprise, and offers the bottle back to jeff. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff murmurs a quiet thanks as the bottle is passed back, remembering pointlessly the chocolate malt he'd ordered right before he'd left for his father's funeral. He wonders if his neighbor picked the package up like he'd asked; he wonders what he ended up doing with it if so.]

Always seemed dangerous. [At least, what he knows about rugby and sports in general, though it was never really his scene. He shifts, seems to find a more comfortable way to sit, and considers for a moment. He's always been better at listening than talking, but—]

I broke up a fight and got in a little over my head. [Vaguely, he indicates the scar on his face.] Got thrashed the once and I was out. Can't imagine putting myself through that shit for fun. [OK fine it's more complicated than that, but whatever.]

[hardlydead]

I'nt that what you lot do?

[ granted, he doesn't know much about metal — or any kind of rock scene to be honest — but he's heard of mosh pits! it's hard to imagine jeff in one of them, but he's seen the man in that white... face paint getup, and that was a hell of a shock the first couple times. ]

You all just kinda... [ he kind of mimes a bouncy motion, mostly in his shoulders, while he looks for the way to describe it. ] Jump around and beat the shit out of eachother?

[outerfringe]

[Fuck he misses moshing. He takes a long drink and groans at the taste, before resting the bottle on the dirt between them.]

That's dancing, dude. [Sure, folks end up with bruises and the occasional black eye, but...] Like comparing a tickle fight to a UFC match.

[hardlydead]

Oh.

[ doesn't sound like any kind of dancing he knows, but who gives a shit really. sounded better than the dancing david did, which was mostly just parading around some hot chick like an accessory for everyone to envy. ]

[ christ that's depressing. almost makes him reach for the bottle to guzzle down a few mouthfuls, but he stops himself. he's trying to be decent company for once in his adult life. ]

So that's... Fun?

[ good job, excellent ]