@hardlydead

[outerfringe]

[One day David simply stops appearing by the fire with the rest of them, and Jeff does his very best to be relieved for him. There are only two real possible reasons for that, right? Either he'd actually died for real, or he'd managed to find a way back home- and either way, it meant that he was out of this place. Jeff tries to be happy for him, and for the most part, he is.

He doesn't think about David at all the first day after he wakes up on the cold floor of the Ormond resort, back stiff and jacket crusted with frost. Instead he's too busy finding his way back to town, organizing arrangements to make it home. His apartment key no longer works, he recognizes none of his neighbors, but his bank account was still somehow in alright standing.

Jeff finds a new place. He does not find a new dog.

He feels weird about creating a Facebook account just to check for David, but he does it anyway. When that comes up fruitless, he thinks a lot about the conversations the two of them had while tucked close together in the dark. Wonders if David would even want to be found by someone like him, to be faced with a reminder of the time they'd spent doing everything they could to simply survive.

Jeff tries to paint but can't seem to pull himself out of severe blacks and reds. Tries to catch up on the music he'd missed from the bands he'd loved but it fails to soothe him the way it had before. He considers a therapist, and then decides that he'd be locked away the second he was candid enough for someone to actually help him.

So he packs some things, books a flight. Finds himself at his fifth seedy pub in three days without much hope - except this time when he says he's looking for David King, the big guy by the bar makes a point of sizing him up. Jeff sets his shoulders, frowns and promises that he's an old friend, but it doesn't seem to affect much the scowl on the guy's face. He says something (that Jeff completely misses, he can barely understand a goddamn thing when people here are drunk and loud), but seems to indicate for him to wait.

Which he does. He parks on a stool with a drink, assumes his most unapproachable aura, and waits. He doesn't know who he's expecting to appear, but it's not David.

There's not a chance it would actually be that simple.]

Comments

[hardlydead]

Good time though.

[ he's a heavy drinker without much of a sense of self-control, so david tips back a fourth. it's only because the bartender says his name in that 'please don't make me cut you off' tone of voice that he relents. two beers and four shots doesn't sound like much to him, but it'll catch up. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff hears that tone and shoots David a sidelong glance. 'Troublemaker,' he mouths, eyebrows up, before he grabs his jacket and heads for the door.]

[hardlydead]

Wh--

[ he is offended. david raises his eyebrows, shocked and appalled by the accusation, and follows jeff on out. hands shoved in his jacket pockets, he falls into step next to the other man and nudges him lightly with his elbow. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff nudges him back, already able to feel the warmth in his stomach and throat. This is better. Easier, too, when they're in the quieter night air.]

You, uh. Look like you're doing alright. Over a year, huh.

[hardlydead]

Easy life to fit back into.

[ david shrugs. maybe it's something worth talking about, but something about being so unimportant to almost everyone around him that he could just come back, say "I'm not dead," and carry on like he wasn't gone for years. it doesn't feel great. ]

I, uh. [ he glances back over his shoulder briefly, and then down at the ground as they walk. ] I missed you.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff is in a pretty similar boat. He glances back over his shoulder too, more curious than looking for anyone or anything in particular, before he nods and flexes his hands a little stiffly in his pockets.]

Yeah. I missed you, too.

[There's a quiet sort of weight in his words.]

I mean - I was glad you were gone. That you weren't-

But I missed you. At the fire.

[hardlydead]

Yeah. Sorry.

[ it's not his fault, he knows that, still has no idea how or why he got sent back or why he was first. it still sucks though. weighs heavy on him, the thought of jeff there without anyone to lean on. he hates it. ]

[outerfringe]

[It'd be a giant lie to say that he was fine, but he'd survived. Eventually. He'd missed David like a limb, but there was solace in knowing that he wasn't trapped there too.]

Hey, man, nah. I don't want you to be sorry.

[hardlydead]

I am though.

[ there's a sad little quirk of a smile to his lips and he looks aside at jeff. ]

Would've stayed with you if I could. [ he sighs and shrugs a shoulder ] Shit, if I had a choice I would've stayed behind longer so you could go.

[outerfringe]

[Maybe it's because it's still so recent for him - maybe it's because he still wakes up at times with a piercing pain in his chest, sure he's going to look down and see a hook through the meat of his shoulder.

The admission makes his chest tight in an unpleasant way.]

I'm glad you didn't have a choice.

[It's sharper than he means it to be.]

[hardlydead]

[ he purses his lips, swallowing down the urge to argue because it wouldn't do anything except make them both feel like shit, and nods his head. ]

[ maybe a shift in subject? would that be good or would it just be a distraction? david nudges jeff again, this time leaning more of his weight into it. ]

Still can't believe you came and found me.

[outerfringe]

[Part of him relaxes when David doesn't argue, and the way he nudges him back is almost apologetic. Fuck, if this isn't weird. He still feels like he's in a bit of a fugue state, like this can't possibly be real.

He's looking forward to seeing David in the actual sunlight.]

Said I would.

[He takes a deep, bracing breath.]

I brought Settlers of Catan.

[He doesn't realize it's not a two player game, but he's heard a lot about it, and he'd said once he'd bring games- either a firm commitment to the bit, or just grasping onto whatever straws he can to feel like this is a normal situation.]

[hardlydead]

[ something about that catches david so off-guard that what comes out of him is a sudden, loud bark of a laugh. ]

I don't know what that is.

[outerfringe]

[God, did that laugh just make him blush? What the hell is wrong with him? He's extremely grateful that it's dark and cold.]

Board game.

[hardlydead]

A board game.

[ his tone is teasing, but that tugs loose a completely buried and forgotten memory and his awful smirk returns when he looks at jeff. ]

So you're inviting yourself to my place, is it?

[outerfringe]

[Buried maybe for David, but they're the exact sorts of memories that Jeff had clung desperately to between trials.

He waves the smirk off.]

Nah, man, I don't know-

[He has no idea what's going on in David's life. Doesn't know what, or who, might be at 'home' waiting for him.]

Just felt like I should bring a gift.

[hardlydead]

[ it might not be humanly possible for a person to listen less to somebody else than david in that moment. the second he gets a whiff of jeff trying to brush it off, he immediately turns in a seemingly random direction and starts walking with a significantly less meandering gait than the moment before. ]

C'mon. It's about half an hour's walk this way.

[outerfringe]

Uh-

[Jeff follows, because he's in an unfamiliar city and also probably he'd follow David into hell right now, but he's clearly thrown off.]

It's still in the hotel, man.

[hardlydead]

Oh.

[ he stops in his tracks and turns to look at jeff and all the stuff he's not carrying. right. carrying a game around on the chance he'd find david, and that he'd invite him back would be a crazy thing to do. ]

[ he laughs, genuinely. what an idiot he is. ]

Yeah. Obviously.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff stares at him, bewildered and a little overwhelmed by the situation at large, before he presses his hand to his face and laughs.]

It's not far. We could, uh. Swing by and pick it up.

[hardlydead]

Yeah?

[ wait was that too excited? he clears his throat and nods. gestures for jeff to lead the way. ]

Sure. Let's go.

[outerfringe]

[Do either of them know how to play this game? Do either of them have literally anything in common with each other? Is it doomed to be an impossibly awkward night?

Jeff knocks David's arm with his elbow as he leads on.]

Hey. For real. You're a sight for sore eyes.

[hardlydead]

[ that heat on his face is definitely just the booze finally starting to hit right? right. david bows his head with a small smile and nudges jeff back. ]

You too.

[outerfringe]

M'I gonna get to meet your dog when we go to your place?

[A sidelong glance. Challenging. He doubts David even remembers that conversation, but whatever.]

[hardlydead]

Didn't get one yet.

[ that one he remembers, it was one that lingered with thoughts of a different life. better things for both of them. cute little fantasies that kept him going in the fog, weighed him down once he was out. ]

Wasn't gonna commit 'til I knew when you were gonna show your mug.