@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

[outerfringe]

[The observation out loud would have left Jeff thunderstruck. he knows David has gentleness in him, but it still takes adjustment, thinking that maybe he deserves to have it directed at him.]

Nah. I mean - I haven't bought any since I got back. But these are yours. Come here.

[he's going to teach you how to paint a happy little tree and you're going to like it]

[hardlydead]

[ david shakes his head, hands raised as if asking for mercy. ]

Nah, you're alright.

[ he's just not a painter, jeff! ]

[outerfringe]

[]

Just for a minute?

[hardlydead]

[ christ okay he can't say no to that ]

[ david sighs and pushes off the doorframe with his shoulder, coming over to take a seat next to jeff. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff grins very slightly again, clearly pleased. He leans in, pressing an absent kiss to David's shoulder as he pulls loose a piece of paper.]

[hardlydead]

[ david rolls his eyes, but despite himself it's with a small smile at the kiss, though he does give the paper a bit of a look as though it's personally offended him somehow. ]

Okay, so... What?

[outerfringe]

[He's never really taught anyone to paint before, and he honestly has no fucking idea where to start.]

You've got favorite colors, don't you?

[hardlydead]

Sure, but this set doesn't have gold.

[ OH WELL GUESS THEY CAN'T PAINT WHAT A TRAGEDY ]

[outerfringe]

Looks like we're gonna settle for orange.

[look. they can make. flowers. that's easy.]

[hardlydead]

[ he tilts his head a little, staring down at the paper, at jeff's hands. ]

Sure, okay.

[ he's really just agreeing because he has no idea what to say or do otherwise, but he doesn't want to give the impression he's mad or not interested either. ]

[outerfringe]

[Is this an extremely weird thing to be doing? Probably, but they've done weirder. Jeff is just going to coach him very gently through wetting the paint, holding the brush.]

Just make a mark like this. It can be messy, it's fine.

[hardlydead]

[ david's grip on the brush is too tight, too stiff, and the motion of his hand is far too rigid. he hesitates a moment before he actually applies the brush to the paper, and the combination of all this leaves him with little more than a wobbly line that has way too much paint deposited harshly on the page at the start to carry through the stroke. ]

[ he frowns and gestures at it with his other hand. see? he's no good at this! ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff just cuts his eyes to Davids, eyebrows up like he doesn't understand what he's gesturing about.]

Relax. The brush isn't gonna jump out of your hand.

[hardlydead]

[ okay jeffrey that's easy for you to say ]

I am relaxed.

[ there is a vein bulging on the back of his hand because he's so tense ]

[outerfringe]

[David he would be fucking terrified right now if the two of you hadn't already fucked]

Bullshit.

[He's reaching up to touch his cheek, though, trying to draw him in for an extended kiss.]

[hardlydead]

[ david grumbles wordlessly against jeff's lips, but he doesn't protest. he leans into the kiss and it does relax him, at least a little. ]

[outerfringe]

[He'll mumble a moment later, still into the kiss-]

You don't mind if I text literally everyone I've ever met to let them know I got laid, right? I'll keep your name out of it, I just need to brag.

[no he's just determined to get that hand to relax.]

[hardlydead]

[ david laughs softly. ]

Sure. Go ahead.

[ but also kiss him some more ]

[outerfringe]

[He'll do just that before interjecting again-]

How do you feel about Darryl? As a codename.

[hardlydead]

I could be a Darryl.

[ he shrugs a shoulder, holding in another small laugh ]

Do you think jeff would be a more popular character if his name wasn't "Jeff"

[outerfringe]

Okay, Darryl. [He's not holding in his own quiet laughter in the least.] Can you write without breaking a pen?

that just made me bust out laughing alone at 4:45am thanks

[hardlydead]

Yeah?

[ he pulls back just enough to give jeff a confused look. what does that have to do with anything? ]

B]

[outerfringe]

[He's going to just drop his hand over David's tense wrist.]

Just like a pencil. [He's covering David's mouth with his own before he has the chance to actually reply.]

[hardlydead]

[ he gets as far as "wh--" before jeff stops him, and luckily for everyone he likes kissing jeff too much to pull away just to be contrary. even if he's pretty sure he'd have the same problems trying to draw with a pencil as opposed to just writing with one. ]

[ but he does take jeff's words on board, adjusting his grip to something closer to how he'd hold a pen normally. it's still not exactly relaxed per se, but he's not about to just snap the poor brush in half anymore either. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff strokes the side of David's chin, slightly awkward but openly fond, before he leans back. He reaches over, swiping another petal for the flower with his own dark blue.]

Another, c'mon.