@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]

[ david snorts and shakes his head, settling back into his seat. a little hesitant as he takes jeff's hand and holds it on the armrest between them for the last stretch of the movie. his palms definitely aren't a little sweaty or anything. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff will grip David's hand, thumb stroking the back of it, but he'll squeeze it and let go when the credits start to roll.]

Lot of places we could walk to around here.

[hardlydead]

Wanna go for a wander?

[ wow how did so much popcorn get on his clothes, he pulls a face when he stands and dusts all that off. ]

[outerfringe]

Yeah. If it sounds good to you.

[He's grinning just slightly as he watches, though, struck by the domesticity of it. It's - normal. Maybe things can be normal.

He'll check his phone in a minute. Right now he's content to focus on the man with him.]

[hardlydead]

[ the lights coming back on prompt david to look from his clothes to jeff and he smiles, if a little confused by the look on jeff's face, but him grinning is never a bad thing. ]

Yeah, c'mon. Show me around.

[outerfringe]

[He glances away quick when he's caught smiling like that, as if he's somehow showing his hand here. Busies himself by leading them both to the exit.]

I'll do my best. Things are pretty different.

[but it's nice to have someone to discover those differences with.]

[hardlydead]

[ he shoves his hands in his jean pockets and sticks close to jeff as they head out. ]

Guess you haven't had a chance to look around much, huh?

[ he keeps forgetting how recently jeff returned. ]

[outerfringe]

[Jeff tries his very best to remember not to drift too close, but David at his side is a comfort, and now that he's had the luxury of physical closeness with him it's hard to ignore it when it's nearby.]

Not really. Never been much of a 'go out and browse the town' kind of guy, either.

[it's a nice town, commuting distance from a nearby city. He likes it well enough.]

[hardlydead]

[ david tilts his head, thinking on that, though part of his mind is occupied thinking about stupid, little things like how he could just take his hand out of his pocket and slip his hand into jeff's while they walk. how that feels like something huge and he feels like it shouldn't. ]

[ but he can stick close, enough that their shoulders bump when david makes a show of looking around them. ]

Seen anything you wanna check out since you got back?

[outerfringe]

[It's strange how quickly he's gotten used to little gestures of affection in private moments. How hard he has to resist reaching his hand out to just rest it against David's back as they walk.]

Record store not far from here. Closed today, I think, but maybe worth checking later.

[He thinks about the records he'd promised to send Quentin, wonders if he'll get the chance.]

[hardlydead]

[ he makes a mental note to bring up the record store in a few days if jeff doesn't go of his own volition and nods. he can imagine it easily, jeff picking through for obscure bands or old classics, 99% of which david will probably hate. something about the mental image is painfully endearing to him and makes him smile a little. ]

How about food? [ he nudges jeff with his elbow ] Any places caught your fancy or should we just see what's open?

[outerfringe]

[Jeff nudges right back, just because that's a safe sort of thing to do in public.]

Italian place close by. Seems pretty nice. [and casually, he adds:] Got a McDonald's close by, too, if you feel like something fast. [Something less obviously a date]

[hardlydead]

Italian sounds good.

[ is that too overtly romantic? just two guys enjoying an italian meal together? it's fine. he'll be fine and definitely not weird. ]

[outerfringe]

[Should be fine as long as they avoid any lady and the tramp moments, right? Surely.

Jeff just nods, indicating a crosswalk towards a busy little shopping area.]

[hardlydead]

[ oh... that's like. a real amount of people. david walks alongside jeff and then-- freezes. it's just a blip, a small stutter in the middle of taking a step, but it happens. he looks at jeff, hoping he hasn't noticed but not expecting it, and then he keeps on walking. internally berating himself for being freaked out here. ]

[outerfringe]

[Of course he notices, but he doesn't mention it, feels like he can't without admitting that he's being hypervigilant here. So he tries to subtly drift a little further from him - not far, just enough that their shoulders no longer brush, using the way he pulls his phone out as an excuse.]

Google says there's a new pizza place on the corner, too.

[Casually. He's still guiding them towards the Italian place, but he's trying to seem casual.]

[hardlydead]

[ david notices the way jeff drifts away, but he tries to just assume it's because he's looking at his phone and not because david's being weird. the mention of a pizza place though, definitely rings to him as a concession, and david shakes his head. they're having a romantic post-movie pasta date!!! ]

I'm good-- unless you fancy it? Still happy with Italian myself.

[outerfringe]

Nah, I could kill a plate of spaghetti, I think. [he can't help the way he's kind of relieved, tries not to let it show in his expression. This doesn't really matter to him, not deeply, but he's got his fingers crossed that this won't be uncomfortably traumatic for him.] C'mon.

[hardlydead]

[ he does appreciate jeff's little offers to try and make it all a little less-- well a little less for him, and david will tell him as much when they're back in the safety of jeff's apartment, but he's also aware that he hasn't actually tried pushing through any of his walls. holding hands in a movie theatre is really just a real world version of when they used to hide out in the woods near camp, it's not quite so out of his comfort zone. dinner, on the other hand, feels huge. it's not, he knows it's not, but it sits squarely outside those walls and he feels like if he shies away from that now when it's easy he'll never stop hiding. ]

[ after a moment, thinking that through, he closes that distance between them again, nonchalance forced but the dumb little smirk is entirely genuine when he asks: ] You think they have breadsticks?

[ sure it's no olive garden but it'll do. ]

[outerfringe]

Maybe. Probably.

[it's the dumb little smirk that puts him at ease more than anything else, and he reaches up to snap the tie from his wrist and pull his hair into a bun.]

God, when's the last time I even ate at a restaurant. You might have to teach me how to talk to waiters.

[hardlydead]

'Cause I'm a good example of people skills. [ he snorts and shakes his head ] Sound like I'm lookin' for a fight even when I'm just asking where the toilets are.

[outerfringe]

Nah. It's a sexy accent. Gonna have to get used to turning heads here.

[he nudges the door, holding it open for David.]

[hardlydead]

[ david breathes out an amused noise and shakes his head as he walks through the door. he's pretty sure nobody on earth has ever called a manc accent sexy and meant it, but he doesn't say that for fear of what menacing he might unleash from jeff. ]

[ he does have those people skills though, smiling at the host and politely asking for a table for two once they're both inside and he has a peek at the place while they scoot off to see what tables they've got. ]

[outerfringe]

[It's a little fancier than Jeff had anticipated, but still not so much that they need to be worried about having a meal there in jeans. He's happy to let David take care of the small talk, mostly just smiling enough to make sure he doesn't come off as menacing while they're seated.

And, once the waitress has taken their drink orders, he bumps David's foot beneath the table with his own.]

Hey.

[hardlydead]

[ david's still looking around — at the décor, at the other patrons, etc. — when jeff bumps his foot. he's not necessarily trying to see if anyone's looking at them, but he's not not doing that either. either way, he looks up at jeff and offers a small smile. ]

Hey.