@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]

Wasn't looking forward to tryin' to get myself home anyway.

[outerfringe]

I think the sofa turns into a bed.

[Utterly straight faced.]

[hardlydead]

Good for you then, eh?

[ he's not going anywhere. ]

[outerfringe]

And you can have one of the pillows from the bed.

[He picks one up, offers it out.]

[hardlydead]

[ he takes the pillow and very pointedly puts it down and shifts to lay on his side, looking at jeff the whole time. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff snorts out loud, reaching over as if to roll him off the bed.]

Who says you're invited?

[hardlydead]

I do.

[ ah, rude! david grabs for jeff's arm. if he's falling off the bed, he's taking jeff with him. ]

[outerfringe]

[He tries to shake him off, doesn't do a great job.]

You exiling me from my own bed?

[hardlydead]

[ his grip slacks, hesitating for a second with the worry that maybe he's read this wrong and jeff really does want him to leave the bed. there is something intimate about it in a way that's different to all those moments they've shared. ]

[ he shakes off that moment of doubt though and raises an eyebrow with a little smirk. ]

More like offering you a choice, I guess.

[outerfringe]

[Nah, not at all. Jeff is just drunk and not really sure how to always telegraph being flirtatious even when he's sober.]

Just robbed me of the fun of asking.

[hardlydead]

I can pretend to leave if you want?

[ he sits up and grabs the pillow, stretching with an exaggerated yawn. ]

Guess I better go pull out that sofabed.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff laughs louder than he means to. Reaches up to grab David's shirt, gives it a little tug.]

Nah, room for us both.

[hardlydead]

I don't know. [ he's being so over the top about this. ] I don't wanna put you out.

[outerfringe]

Nah, come on, I insist.

[He would roll his eyes but he kind of asked for it.]

We can cuddle.

[hardlydead]

[ david relents with a smug smile and tosses the pillow back down on the bed. ]

You win.

[outerfringe]

Alright. Then- you finish this movie, I'm gonna shower.

[hardlydead]

[ he looks pretty confused about jeff opting to go and shower right now, but david doesn't say anything. he just leans over to give jeff a quick kiss before he goes and then lays down in some attempt to get comfortable. ]

[outerfringe]

[He's drunk, he's tired, he wants to cuddle and feels like he smells like sweat. Jeff meets the kiss with one of his own and disappears to wash up.]

[hardlydead]

[ david lays there for a minute after watching jeff go, trying to watch the movie and realising he hasn't paid attention to a second of it and has no idea what's going on and also he's not actually that comfortable? it takes another moment of deep consideration to realise that's because he's still wearing his jacket, so he takes that and his shirt off and drops them off the side of the bed, getting under the covers to try and get cosy while he watches the contextless car nonsense on the tv. ]

[ there... is honestly a solid chance he'll be asleep by the time jeff comes back out. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff takes longer than he means to in the shower, but there's something about being drunk under the spray of hot water that's nice. When he finds David asleep, he's amused but not surprised, does his best to turn out the light and the tv.

He uses the dimmed light of his phone screen to navigate the room after that, carefully easing himself down onto the mattress next to David.

Whispered -]

Hey, you. Goodnight.

[hardlydead]

[ that gets a sleepy mumble in response and david shifting closer to the new source of warmth in the bed next to him, casting out with a hand to find jeff because apparently even in his sleep it is a criminal offence to not be touching. ]

[ absolutely blissfully unaware of the godawful hangover he's going to have come morning. ]

[outerfringe]

[Yeah, it's not gonna be pretty for either of them. Jeff sleeps inelegantly, snores a little when he's drunk. He'll wake up with his own hand on David's waist, face close to his on the pillow.

He'll just dozily wait there for David to wake up.]

[hardlydead]

[ there's maybe half a second where david is happy when he starts waking up; jeff's hand on his waist and his face there in front of him. it's lovely. ]

[ unfortunately his body then remembers that any light source is actually a knife being stabbed directly into his face and his stomach feels like now is the time to make a vague complaint too and david groans in pain and distress, turning his face to press it into the pillow and at least block some light out. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff feels like shit, but it's clear David has it worse. He chuckles quietly, the sound sleepy and hoarse.]

Hang on. I've got something you can take.

[hardlydead]

S'it a bullet to put me out of my misery?

[ croaked (and about 300% more manc on that) into the pillow. he's suffering. ]