outerfringe

[ jeff pulls back and david's instant response to that is to panic. full on wide-eyed, pulse in his ears panic that drowns out anything jeff could possibly say in the moment. ]

Sorry, I'm not-- I don't--

[ he stumbles over his words like someone sent a bunch of obstacles sprawling in front of him mid-sprint and eventually settles on: ] Yeah.

[ he... has no idea what he's saying yeah to. ]

[Jeff had apologized, yeah, but he's still not prepared to feel that rush of disappointment when David apologizes the way he does. (Has he heard David apologize like that before? He's not sure, but he doesn't think so.)

There's heat high in his own cheeks when he lowers his arm, wanting to soothe that panic but not sure how to make it better instead of worse.]

Hey, man, no- It's fine. I get it. You gotta be lonely, I don't blame you.

['We could be lonely together,' a foul part of him thinks, and is horrified for it.]

[ it's a fight honestly, between the part of him that feels like he owes jeff the decency of some kind of honesty and the part of him that just wants to put that wall right back up where it was and laugh it off. funny joke, right. ]

[ he looks down at his hands, at jeff's little dirt cartoons, and shakes his head. ]

That's not it.

[ not to say he's not lonely because he is, but that's been an affliction since long before the fog. ]

I shouldn't have-- I'm sorry.

[There are at least a dozen things that Jeff might say here if he were just better with people. He should just accept the apology and move on; this was tricky territory to navigate even when you weren't being strung along by some omnipresent spider god, but he finds that his own throat is a little tight, that he's slightly tongue tied.

He lapses into silence for just a moment, before he - awkwardly - leans his arm into David's again.]

... don't be sorry, man. Acting like I wasn't into it.

[ despite himself, he does relax a little at jeff's touch, breathes out a soft laugh. ]

[ mmm but this is awkward now. he made it awkward. good fucking job, david. ]

So what now?

[This is stupid, maybe. Irresponsible, for sure. He nudges David again, trying to get him to look his way, and if he does Jeff will simply slant another kiss against his mouth.

He likes him, and it feels nice, and does it have to mean more than that in this exact moment? Is there something wrong with chasing whatever comfort they were allowed?

Either way he keeps it brief, even if he doesn't pull back far.]

Dogs. You're getting one, yeah?

[ snort ] Never gonna hear the end of it if I don't.

[ fine he'll look at jeff now that he's done (outwardly) panicking. it's just a lot when you're in a hellish murdergame dimension designed to feed off your suffering and also technically still in the closet okay. ]

[Jeff isn't the smoothest person in the realm, but other peoples' anxieties have always been a lot easier to handle than his own. Whatever just happened was weird and kind of surprising and also extremely pleasant. A bid for human connection that maybe the both of them need.

David's looking at him now, not scurrying away, and Jeff reaches over, drops a hand to rest against his knee. Touch for the sake of touch, nothing titillating, no acknowledgement needed.]

Damn right you won't. [He'll look away, breaking eye contact but letting his hand linger.] Entity really needs to drop us some marshmallows.

[ david looks down at jeff's hand against his knee and smiles a little, something small but nice and kind of intimate in a tiny way? it's soothing, he finds. when he looks back up at his face david still very much wants to kiss him, but maybe that's a bad idea. or a bad idea to be made sober at least. ]

[ he'll think about it. couldn't not if he tried anyway. ]

You sure you want that? [ he raises his eyebrows, turning his head to look at the fire. ] Probably be fuckin'... Finger mallows with bones for sticks.

Maybe we can sneak one of those birds out.

[Sober, Jeff might mean the crows. As drunk as he feels right now, his hand flexes on David's knee and he laughs to himself.]

Big vulture, you know. Spitroast it over the fire. Claudette can find something to season it with, maybe.

[ why is it always the cowboy realm people want to steal stuff from. david laughs, soft and quiet, with a shake of his head. trying to ignore how nice that hand on his knee feels lest he make a fool of himself again. ]

Imagine trying to sneak one of those fuckers out of there. We'd get torn to shit.

[Jeff, meanwhile, is trying to ignore how nice the sound of David's laughter is in his ears. He picks the stick back up, resumes his odd little doodles.]

So... exactly the same as every other trial.

[ he pauses at that, quiet for all of a second and then laughs again ]

First trial where one of us got killed by the birds though.

[He's trying not to think too hard about the Artist here.]

Risk/reward, man. I'll make some jewelry out of the feathers.

[Jeff is actively cracking himself up.]

What are you gonna make me?

[ he leans a little toward jeff when he asks, nudging him lightly with a dumb smirk ]

[Jeff casts a sidelong grin at him, leaning in to nudge him back.]

Dangly earring, maybe. Mite-ridden vulture feather goes with basically everything, right?

Great. Real Boy George look.

[ he'd hate it so much but he'd probably wear it all the time. ]

Dunno. Think you could pull it off.

[This is the dumbest conversation he can think of having, but he's still openly having a good time here.]

Maybe a necklace. Wear it as a threat to the other birds.

I'd wear a necklace.

[ david's still smiling, still amused at this stupid conversation, but also genuine. at least drunkenly so. he certainly thinks he'd wear the fuck out of a vulture feather necklace if jeff made it for him. ]

Yeah? Alright. Good to know.

[He releases his knee after another little squeeze, but just so he can take the stick, add what might be a little necklace to the David he doodled. It's extremely messy, scratched into the dirt and illuminated only by firelight, but he's hoping it gets the point across.]

[ aw he misses that hand on his knee, but the doodle is cute. as messy and scratchy as it is, it's extremely charming. part of david wishes he had a way to take a picture. ]

So, necklace for me. What're you gonna make for yourself?

[Jeff shifts slightly, crossing his legs and leaning forward in a way that results in his leg bumping up against the side of David's. It would be a casual and believable accident if they were like, fourteen.

He's pretty much out of space to add anything else in this little patch of dirt, but he's still contemplating it.]

Dunno. Hair piece, maybe? Seems easy enough.

[ if they were fourteen and hadn't just had a totally awkward and failed kiss, maybe. yeah. but david's more than okay with it, a hand falling to jeff's leg for leverage when he turns to look at him properly, considering this ridiculous hair piece. ]

[ he starts to lift his other hand to jeff's hair, but something about it feels kind of invasive and he stops mid-motion, instead changing tack to lightly tug a lock of his beard instead. ]

Could make it a beard piece, start a new fashion.

[Jeff is used to things being sort of awkward. It didn't really lessen the fact that he'd enjoyed it. And he's pretty certain David did, too; you don't stay this physically close to someone if you didn't, right?

How much can he blame on the empty bottle beside them?]

Probably overdue for a trim, honestly.

[He touches David's wrist, pressure gentle but firm, before slicing bluntly to the heart of it with a courage definitely aided by the drink.]

Are things gonna be too weird later if I kiss you again?

[ david pauses at the touch, expression a flicker of surprise for a second before it fades with the widening of his smile and a shake of his head. ]

Doubt it.

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