@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]

[He smiles slightly at him at that, shaking his head once he starts the car and eases it onto the road toward his place.]

Like I'm not the one who invited you.

[hardlydead]

And I'm grateful.

900

[outerfringe]

[Jeff just hums in quiet acknowledgment, not really wanting to argue. Mostly he's just content to spend the rest of the drive with the radio quietly playing some rock station, unaware that he's got company waiting for him at home.

He will remark, halfway through the drive-]

Excited for dessert. [another pause, and then an added-] Also the cake.

[it's a sex joke. he's hilarious.]

🎉🎉🎉

[hardlydead]

[ david shakes his head with an amused smile on his face. ]

I'm thinkin' we go to bed and stay there 'til tomorrow morning.

[outerfringe]

[he laughs quietly, a little surprised despite himself.]

Yeah. Like that idea a lot, actually.

[hardlydead]

Good. 'Cause I was planning to drag you there regardless.

[ said ever so brightly ]

[outerfringe]

You've got a one track mind, David King. Have you know I'm a proper lady.

[Was this a good date? He thinks it was a good date.]

[hardlydead]

[ david definitely thinks it was a good date. ]

Yeah? [ he laughs, soft and quiet. ] And what else would a proper lady like after dinner and a movie before I can take him to bed?

[outerfringe]

[Well mostly he'd need surprise company not to be waiting for him at home but it's whatever.

Jeff grumbles thoughtfully, then posits questioningly:] Headrub? Poetry?

[hardlydead]

Could do you a headrub. [ and might end up having to depending on how things go when they get back. ] Poetry's not really my thing.

[outerfringe]

Could just Google it. I won't know the difference. [He's going to hope his tone is adequately dry enough to communicate how much he's joking here.]

[hardlydead]

Yeah, "hey Siri, what's a good love poem for a handsome guy who lets strange, British men come home with him?"

[ completely deadpan for the entire half a second it takes before siri starts responding and david hurries to fish his phone out of his pocket with a couple of annoyed swears under his breath. ]

[outerfringe]

[he goes from silence to surprised laughter the second siri starts to answer.]

No, no, I wanna hear what she has to say.

activating siri just to find out her response is super underwhelming lmao

[hardlydead]

[ david just gives jeff a flat look in the mirror as siri simply announces "i found something on the web", and when he looks down at his phone he snorts. ]

She wants me to make a Pinterest account.

[ okay she also spat out a bunch of google results for love poems that david is now scrolling through, but the thought of reading one out fills him with such a deep and profound sense of embarrassment that david's pretty sure he could never do it. ]

i did the same thing...

[outerfringe]

Not sure I ever figured out what the hell Pinterest actually is.

[To be fair, Jeff would also wither in laughing embarrassment if that happened, so.]

Maybe I'll find an Alexa to ask.

[hardlydead]

[ david huffs out a small, amused noise and shakes his head. ]

Get Google in, form a council.

[outerfringe]

Besides, you're not a strange British man. You seem pretty normal to me.

[He takes his eyes off the road just long enough to look at David.]

I might not be the best judge.

[hardlydead]

Obviously not, if you think I'm normal.

[ said with a laugh in his voice, but he's not exactly your average guy. ]

Course, compared to some people we've met...

[ yeah, never mind. on second thought maybe he is normal after all. ]

[outerfringe]

Normal's relative.

[Jeff's dismissiveness is lighthearted as he eases the car into a parking spot. He indicates a van nearby, looks pleased when he recognizes a couple of band decals.]

Cool to see in the wild.

[hardlydead]

[ he follows jeff's gaze to the decals and smiles, curious. ]

Band you like?

[outerfringe]

Yeah. The buddy I was texting before? His group.

[It's enough to make his day, not to immediately make him jump to any conclusions. At least not until he gets out of the car and two tall men firmly in middle age pile out of vehicle to greet him with a hoot and a grin that leave him briefly and visibly stunned.]

[hardlydead]

[ david gets out of the car too, mostly thinking it's nice jeff's buddy's band has other fans around here, that's cool probably. that's until the hooting and the sudden people and the shift in david is immediate-- he moves to stand in front of jeff, shoulders squared and leaning just slightly forward, clearly ready for a fight. ]

[ then he pegs the excitement in the two men and deflates a little. are these guys friends or... oh. oh shit. his mind catches up before his body does, still ready to throw down even as his mind comes to the conclusion that they're from the band. ]

[outerfringe]

"Whoa, easy, we're buddies of Jeff's," the guy who seems to own the car says, all good-natured. They're both tall, attractive if slightly unconventional looking, and the guy who climbed out of the passenger's side moves to circle David to grab Jeff in a side hug.

"Uh- Pete, Erik," he'll gesture, still overwhelmed, "David. He's visiting from out of town, too. Uh. Should we go up?" Jeff is asking the group, but he's only looking at David.

[hardlydead]

David eyes them a little warily, but he relaxes some at the hug — they're friends, it's fine. there's no danger here. It takes him a second to parse the question, but when he does he raises an eyebrow at Jeff with just a little smirk. lightly teasing.

"You sure you got space for everyone?" Mr. 'I totally have a table', but as he says it he gestures toward the building and takes a step in that direction.

[outerfringe]

"I can sit on the floor," Jeff says dismissively, but he catches that smirk and it's clear that he's swallowing a grin as he leads the way in. Will it fuck up his back? Probably. He'll deal with it later. Pete still has arm slung companionably around him, chatting his ear off on the way.

Erik falls into step beside David, hands in his pockets as they stroll towards Jeff's unit in the complex. "Sorry, man. We didn't know he already had a guest, but we won't be in your hair long."