@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]

Yeah, course.

[ he nods and smiles warmly at jeff ]

[outerfringe]

[jeff returns the smile with a soft one of his own, then turns back to the food - and what he hopes is a safer topic.]

You were right. This is delicious.

[hardlydead]

Place's been open my whole life, feels like. Food's good and the gangs don't bother 'em none.

[ he tilts his head this way and that, thinking. obviously there's more to it to keeping a business running over twenty years, but that's the stuff he knows about. ]

[outerfringe]

[The cavalier mention of gangs seems to surprise Jeff.]

Is that normally a problem?

[hardlydead]

Hm?

[ david glances up from his plate, backtracking over what he said to figure out what jeff's asking about, and then he shrugs a shoulder. his experience is a little skewed, most people never have a run in with that stuff. ]

I mean-- rackets love a small business. Decent number of shops round here that pay someone for protection.

[outerfringe]

Huh.

[Jeffrey is FASCINATED here.]

You ever in a gang?

[hardlydead]

[ david completely freezes at the question. he made a point to never talk about his actual work in the fog, lucked out that nobody knew enough to question how someone could afford to live off of fighting alone. ]

... Yeah.

[ guiltily answered, that's all he intends to say about ot unprompted. ]

[outerfringe]

[It's clear from the way David answers that he's uninterested in talking about it. Okay. It's good to know his sore spots, right?]

Were you a Shark or a Jet? You seem more like a whistler than a snapper.

[He has never seen West Side Story, actually, but he's trying to telegraph that he won't be following up seriously. At least not right now - it still feels very much like not his business.]

[hardlydead]

[ he exhales through his nose, a gently amused noise at the question, but while jeff thinks it's none of his business david... he feels like it kind of is. he should know who he's with. ]

I, uh-- Am in one.

[ god that feels weird to say. david's frown deepens, but as a bit of a joke he adds: ] Only job I managed to keep longer than a month.

sorry to boomerang im just omw out and it's too dramatic to ignore

[outerfringe]

[Is, present tense. Jeff's brow furrows, and he doesn't laugh at the joke - though, to be fair, it looks more like he's caught up in his own thoughts than he's outright condemning David. He puts his fork down, still sort of just staring at him.

He's not being weird and silent on purpose. It's how he processes things, which David may or may not be familiar with.]

lmfaooo when it gets unexpectedly juicy but you have stuff to do

[hardlydead]

[ david's instinct is to keep talking, get out ahead of whatever conclusions jeff's about to draw. he clears his throat awkwardly and tilts his head in his own moment of consideration. ]

It's... Violent shit. I'm the fella they send when people need to be scared into remembering what they agreed to.

literally...

[outerfringe]

What kind of people?

[Look, Jeff's faith in David is unshakable. He'd watched him throw himself between a killer and a more vulnerable teammate more times than he can count. There was no money or glory to be had in that. Bad people didn't take on pain for others without getting something in return.

But he still looks unsettled.]

[hardlydead]

[ he'd been so caught up in seeing jeff again, in how fucking good it felt to be with him in any capacity in the real world, david forgot about the reality of things. there's a reason he always rebuffed when somebody said he was a good person, but it slipped his mind as something worth mentioning until right now. ]

[ david works his jaw, swallows uncomfortably. he could justify it a million ways-- point out how often he does it without actually hurting anyone, tell him about donnie, but that doesn't really matter, does it? ]

People who owe money usually.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff would still argue in David's favor. That's unchanging, at least.]

Greedy ones? Or desperate ones?

[do you discriminate]

[hardlydead]

Greedy. Mostly.

[ it's not benevolence, certainly not on brass' part, it's just smart. those are the people who can actually afford to pay it back, including interest. ]

[ but david's not going to lie and act like he's never beaten someone up who was just desperate and trying to make do. ]

[outerfringe]

Alright.

[Jeff takes a breath, bracing himself, and then picks the fork back up. Resumes eating, as if hoping that will prove to David that he doesn't suddenly find him despicable. Eventually, he'll say:]

I don't like it. But it probably wasn't easy to share. So thanks. For telling me, when you could have not.

[hardlydead]

[ david finds his appetite has very suddenly gone, and he's pushing a piece of carrot around the plate with that deepset frown still on his face. feeling like he should say or do something but he has no idea what. ]

[ he's talking before his brain's fully gone over the words, making excuses already for jeff to pull out. ]

Look, if you-- if you wanna leave, I wouldn't blame you.

[outerfringe]

[Jeff thinks if he were more naturally charismatic, he might know the best thing to say to communicate I'm a little uncomfortable, but this doesn't change how I feel about you. How is it still too much to admit that there are feelings there? Ugh.

But instead he simply cuts him off with a firm, gentle-]

I'm not leaving without you.

[and resumes eating.]

[hardlydead]

I-- [ that surprises him, maybe more than it should, and stares at jeff in silence for a moment, and then he nods. ] Okay.

[outerfringe]

[Well, he's not super happy with the surprise, either. Jeff hesitates visibly, and then tries-]

I've got it pretty bad for you, man. Even after a year in different places. You've figured that much out, probably?

[hardlydead]

[ has he figured that out? jeff came out here from canada, asked around after him, spent the day respectfully keeping his distance while they were out, and david still has it in him to be surprised that jeff wants to be with him? ]

[ he reaches out, just to put a hand on jeff's arm, and sighs softly. there's a bunch of ways he could explain himself, but he settles on: ] I'm sorry.

[outerfringe]

For what?

[Jeff reaches over, just so he can slide his hand over David's. Neither of them are delicate or dainty, but he doesn't mind.]

We're still figuring each other out. Still grossly into you, if it helps.

[hardlydead]

Feeling's mutual.

[ david gives jeff's arm a little squeeze, just a small gesture of affection. ]

Just... Been a long time, I guess. Still trippin' myself up.

[outerfringe]

Since what? If I can ask.

[Since they've seen each other? Since David has talked about his job? Since he's had someone over? The possibilities are endless.]

[hardlydead]

Since, uh...

[ he takes his free hand to scratch his head a little awkwardly, a small frown of discomfort at what he's about to say on his face, and he swallows. it shouldn't even feel like a lot, but it does. ]

Since I was with anybody I cared about.