@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]

Just put me on the floor, I'll be fine.

[ or rather he lives in constant denial that he's ageing and these things have consequences once you pass 25, but really what's the difference? he'd sleep on plenty of floors to spend more time with jeff. ]

Is it... Weird to go to the park without a dog? [ hm-- ] Don't answer that. I hear it now I've said it.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff stares at him for a moment, brow furrowed while he parses that. Would David... prefer to sleep... somewhere else...]

I-

[Huh]

Do I snore?

[he has a BED just like... no tables or decorations.]

[hardlydead]

No-- [ well-- ] A little bit? But I meant if you don't have a bed or there's not enough space...

[outerfringe]

I have a bed. [Then, hastily-] And a couch, if it's more comfortable. Just - not much else.

[hardlydead]

Bed it is then.

[ see? problem solved. and because he can't resist being a lil shit: ]

'Til you get fed up of me anyway. Then you can sleep on the couch.

[outerfringe]

[David is teasing. Jeff means to tease back, but what he does instead is level a very serious expression his way to ask-]

And if that never happens?

[hardlydead]

[ well he's definitely not blushing because he's a grown man, but he does smile at the question. ]

Then I guess we're stuck sharing.

[outerfringe]

[It's only then he seems to realize how accidentally intense he was being.]

Unless you get sick of me.

[hardlydead]

Not likely.

[ if jeff's anxiety chatterboxing can't even annoy david, it's a pretty solid bet that jeff would have to work to make david tired of him. ]

[outerfringe]

I'm an early riser.

[Thinking.]

I sing on roadtrips. Badly.

[hardlydead]

Are we going on a roadtrip?

[ neither of those bother him. maybe they will after he's been around it a while, but right now? bad singing and sleeping in alone (because he will be going back to sleep) seems like no big deal. ]

[outerfringe]

Dunno.

[Jeff is trying to think of any more dealbreakers of his own, but coming up empty. Not because he thinks highly of himself - he mostly just considers himself a pretty boring guy.]

But okay, man. Your funeral.

[hardlydead]

[ david snorts and shakes his head. ]

Mate, if that's all you've got you don't even rank for the worst person I've been with.

[ for example: ]

Woke up to someone tryin' to steal my telly once.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff stares at him then, baffled.]

I - did they think they could do that quietly?

[hardlydead]

No idea what was going through her head. Five-four, heels in one hand, tryin' to slip a fifty inch telly outta my front door. Then when I asked what she was doing, she broke up with me! Looks me dead in the eyes and says, "David, this isn't gonna work out."

[ he starts laughing then, like it's one of the funniest things he's ever heard. ]

Almost gotta admire the balls honestly.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff is cracking up, too - not because it's particularly hilarious to him, but just because it's completely fucking absurd.]

You were heartbroken, yeah? Cried for weeks?

[hardlydead]

Oh yeah, could barely get out of bed.

[ he dips his head, presses a kiss to jeff's shoulder and stays there a moment before he goes on. ]

But what I'm saying is you're gonna have to work harder than getting up early if you want me out of your bed.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff chuckles at that, the sound low as he takes a moment to appreciate the closeness. He's not usually overtly flirtatious, but this next bit feels safe to playfully say-]

As if anyone would want you out of their bed.

[hardlydead]

[ there's some easy self-deprecation on the tip of his tongue, but he's so used to jeff erring on the less flirtatious side of things that it throws david off and a quietly surprised chuckle slips out of him. ]

I hope you still feel that way when you've been putting up with me a while.

[ there's still a smile on david's face when he lifts his head to search out jeff's face for a kiss. just a quick one, for now. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff reaches up to catch David's face, pulls him in for a second. Just as gentle and quick, but full of quiet gratitude.]

You secretly kick puppies? Say mean things to grandmas?

[hardlydead]

No on the puppies. [ he shrugs a shoulder ] Sometimes those grannies have it coming though.

[outerfringe]

Yeah. Fair. [Amused.]
What are you so worried about, then?

[hardlydead]

Who said I was worried?

[ you know, as if his language hasn't been casually self-deprecating and defeatist this entire time. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff is an observer by nature. Sharing those observations is often uncomfortable, weird, but now-

He frowns.]

Dunno. You kind of talk like you're waiting for me to realize I'm doing something I'll regret.

[hardlydead]

I-- Fuck are you on about?

[ he laughs nervously, shaking his head. there's a wall that's been down with jeff, well a lot of them really, but one comes right back up at that because it's ridiculous. obviously. why would jeff regret this? every single thought that's crossed david's mind about why he's not really such a catch slips right out of his head. ]

[ though, ironically, that's one of the reasons right there. ]