outerfringe

About ten feet from where I woke up.

[ david doesn't reply. he's assuming where jeff woke up is where david left him, so maybe five minutes later here he is. walking over and looking serious about it too. ]

[Jeff hasn't moved far, but he has, apparently, found his Christmas sweater. He's stretched out in a sitting position, phone in his lap.]

Keep five feet away, King.

[ he very deliberately takes a large step forward. ]

Why?

[ he has important lifting to do! ]

Still too hungover.

[Maybe if he shoots an extra pitiful look David's way...]

[ there's a definite sense of ugh to the way david's shoulders sag, but it's probably for the best if he doesn't try and throw jeff into the campfire. he sighs and walks the rest of the way over and puts himself on the ground next to jeff, sits first and then lays on his back. ]

C'mere.

[ he nudges jeff's leg with the back of his hand. ]

[Jeff rolls enough to face David, groaning in a very sorry-for-himself way as he settles on his side.]

Dunno. Still a little suspicious.

[ david raises an eyebrow. ]

First I'm sweet and adorable, now you don't trust me?

Lotta things are cute and dangerous. [A quiet grumbling.
] How you feel about rubbing my head?

[ he snorts and shakes his head, but at the question he raises a hand to pat his own shoulder. perfect place for jeff to put his head down. ]

Fair enough. I know I wouldn't say I'm not dangerous.

[ the perfect way to sweet talk a guy into cuddling up right ]

[Jeff pauses just long enough to pull loose his messy ponytail, before shifting in to sort of tuck his head against David's shoulder. It feels a bit strange, but he can't deny that it's nice.]

Still trying to figure out if you're Bambi or the rabbit.

[ immediately david wraps one arm loosely around jeff and brings the other up to comb his fingers through his hair, paying special attention close to his scalp. though he pauses briefly and lets out a soft, quiet laugh. ]

Why do I have to be either of 'em?

[Oh, yeah, this is nice, down to the rumble of David's laugh beneath him.]

I can't be the only woodland Disney creature. Your arm's gonna fall asleep.

[ he shrugs, his arm falling asleep is a risk he was well aware of when he made the offer. ]

Yeah you can. You're unique.

[His eyes are closed. Jeff definitely isn't about to fall asleep, but he is deeply comfortable.]

Not even the only artist here.

[ david turns his head to press his lips to the top of jeff's head. ]

Only Canadian though.

Legion kids.

[Mumbled into his shoulder.]

They're kids, they don't count.

We are surrounded by children 24/7.

Yeah?

[ they don't count, jeff! ]

Who here's older than me? Bill. Ace. Ash.

[He's embarrassingly drowsy already, just from comfort.]

[ still with his face tucked against the top of jeff's head, david makes a noise in question. wondering what jeff's point is mostly. ]

[Jeff will trail off at the noise, dropping it.] Surrounded by kids that don't deserve this shit. That's all I mean.

[He's not paternal, hardly avuncular, but seeing Meg's university jacket had hit him like a 2x4 to the chest for a reason he couldn't quite verbalize.]

Sorry. Just talking to stay awake. [Kind of a new one for him.]

[ david sighs softly, tilts his head a bit more so he can press a kiss to jeff's forehead. he's not immune to it, thinking about these kids trapped here — when he hears claudette's shrieks of pain when she's thrown on a hook, or sees that wild mix of emotions on quentin's face when they arrive already in a dream. been up to his elbows in the blood of people ten or fifteen years younger than him again and again and he's pretty sure that tears pieces out of his soul more viciously than any death in the trials ever could ]

[ a low, quiet noise rumbles more in his chest more than it comes out through his mouth. agreeing, but unsure what to say about it. david focuses instead on jeff's hair sliding through his fingers, tucks some of it behind his ear. ]

You can sleep if you need to.

[Feeling safe isn't a luxury any of them ever really have in the fog, but Jeff doesn't mind the illusion of it. It's not a feeling he'd ever had much of at home, either. Not that he'd ever really felt like he was in danger, but there's something uniquely special about being able to rest with the warmth of a body beneath your cheek, something deeply soothing about the knowledge that someone is looking out for you.

It was a feeling he'd craved intensely when he was young, safe harbour against the yelling and slammed doors at home. Bizarre to think he'd had to come to hell to find it.

Jeff lapses into silence, seems for a moment like he might actually be asleep, but he mumbles instead:]

Nah. Onto you. Waiting for my guard to go down so you can pitch me into the fire.

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sorry for the nonstop boomerangs this week