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[outerfringe]

open post for jeff

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[outerfringe]

Really selling yourself, huh.

[He squeezes his arm, tries to make it easy to know he's just joking.]

But sounds rough for both of you, I guess.

[hardlydead]

I'm a real catch.

[ he doesn't really see how it was rough for him, but he doesn't wanna dig into it any more than this. he just shrugs a shoulder. ]

[outerfringe]

Are you interested in it? Dating, having a partner, whatever.

[David has seemed pretty into whatever was going on here, sure, but Jeff can't help his own curiosity.]

[hardlydead]

[ that question hits unexpectedly hard, he feels that panic from the other day rise in his chest and hears everything close in around him. can't help but think of tristan talking about the future, about racing to that airport in some desperate, stupid attempt to be fucking honest for once and realising he was too goddamn late. thinks about waking up in the fog after finally making that first step and for a moment david thinks he's going to be sick ]

I, uh.

[ he shakes his head — is that sweat on his forehead? gross — and clears his throat. ]

Yeah. I think so.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff is left wincing privately. Considering the way he talked about his past relationships, he'd thought the question would be a softball, but it's clear he's tapped a nerve he hadn't realized was exposed.]

Hey. It's character growth.

[He gives him a playful shake.]

[hardlydead]

[ welcome to david and his trauma, it's all buried like a bunch of land mines and even he doesn't know where it all is. he's just thankful jeff doesn't get weird about it. ]

[ he huffs out a tired laugh and tilts his head back against the tree trunk with closed eyes. ]

What about you? That something you're interested in?

[outerfringe]

[He'll just stake some little warning flags in the ground nearby.]

Yeah. I'm just shit at meeting people.

[hardlydead]

Maybe you'll meet someone at that book club.

[ he cracks a little smirk when he says it. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff shrugs dismissively.] As long as she bakes me cookies.

[hardlydead]

[ he laughs ]

Oatmeal cookies and glasses of sherry with the new wife.

[outerfringe]

[He laughs too, shaking his head at David's answer.]

This is such a stupid conversion.

[hardlydead]

[ gasp! ]

I don't think Gladys would be happy hearing you talk like that.

[outerfringe]

Stoooop, come on.

[His shoulders tremble with laughter as he thumps his head back against the tree trunk.]

Way more into a silver fox, anyway.

[hardlydead]

[ he has absolutely zero intention of stopping, dumb grin getting bigger by the second. ]

Yeah? Scotch on the landing with Terrence after his grandkids have left.

[outerfringe]

Is Terrence an old man name? Never thought about that.

[He's watching David with partially lidded eyes, smiling just slightly.]

But yeah, I can think of worse ways to pass the time.

[hardlydead]

[ he gives the name thing some thought and turns his head to look at jeff with a shrug. he has no idea what's an old man name honestly, most names have been getting recycled for like 200 years. ]

Where's this rank? The company's good, but we don't have scotch so could go either way.

[outerfringe]

Oh, top five, easily. The hot guy's never asked me to hang out behind the bleachers with him before.

[hardlydead]

[ that's nowhere near the kind of reply he expected, and david's laugh comes out suddenly, surprising him. ]

[ give him a sec, he'll have words again soon. ]

[outerfringe]

[He can't help the unbidden surge of social anxiety here, the worry he's read something extremely wrong, but none of that makes it to his face.]

And he thinks I'm funny, too.

[PLEASE think he's funny]

[hardlydead]

Very funny.

[ he turns his head so he can look at jeff and then leans over to kiss him after another moment's thought. ]

[outerfringe]

[There are things he wants to ask. David had only referenced ex-girlfriends, and Jeff finds himself alight with curiosity - but it's nosiness for the sake of nosiness, nothing he needs to know.

He reaches up to cradle David's cheek through the kiss. Maybe the sweetest guy with self-professed anger issues that Jeff has ever known.]

Whatever you say, man.

[hardlydead]

Never said my sense of humour was good.

[ he doesn't move away from the kiss to say it, grinning as he does. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff grins slightly into the kiss in turn, smoothing his hand from David's cheek down to the side of his neck.]

I don't buy it. The going back to fights when [haha] we get home.

[hardlydead]

[ that gives him a little pause and he pulls back just enough to look at jeff with a frown, even as he tilts his head a little into that touch. ]

Why not?

[outerfringe]

[An apologetic flex of the fingers, as if to indicate he's just teasing here.]

I dunno. Feel like I just haven't met the guy you're describing yet.