Log: Kyle & Julien
Who? Julien Starsmore & Kyle Guthrie
What? Being big girls and getting ready to go out
Where? Kyle's current apartment
When? Wednesday early evening. Before this
Rating? PG-13 for drinking, butt slapping
Status? Complete

"Cousin!" Kyle called out from the bathroom. He'd turned the water off in the shower, stepping out into a steam room. He took his towel from its usual spot, drying himself off with hard, scrubbing circles. He krimped his hair between the towel, not rubbing or pulling on it too hard. He didn't want to go bald. Not ever. When he was mostly dry, Kyle wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door the rest of the way. They were family, so he wasn't all that worried about Julien slipping in and peeping in on the other in the shower. Stema billowed out around him as he looked in the hallways, wondering where Julien could be.

"Julien?" Kyle asked, a little more quietly this time, since the door was open. Boxes were stacked everywhere. Kyle had started packing up his stuff, and in the interest of saving money, had invited Julien to move in with him for the first half of the month until they both moved into their place. Maybe it had just been Kyle's imagination, but Julien had seemed preoccupied most of the day. That preoccupation had turned into what seemed like downright nervousness. "You gonna be ready in an hour?" He looked at the clock and snorted. "Er, forty-five minutes?" He needed to get a move on himself.

Julien had already showered, but the water had long since been dried from or just evaporated from his warm skin; only his hair remained even slightly damp. The shower had been an escape as much as it was an exercise in hygiene. It was impossible to pace nervously in the confines of the shower. The sound of the water had drowned out everything else, even his thoughts. For the time he had before Kyle came a knockin', telling him he'd appreciate a chance at scrubbing up too, Julien was at peace.

When the water was off, towel on and the Starsmore branch of the family tree was shuffling through the myriad of boxes, that uneasiness was beginning to consume him again. Had Alexis been kidding about karaoke, or was that the whole point of going out tonight. What if he said something stupid? What if he didn't say anything at all?

On top of all that, what was he going to wear? Pulling open the flaps of a box marked "J's clothes" in sharpie marker, Julien managed to settle on a least a clean, relatively new, dark pair of jeans. Other than that, while Kyle'd been showering he'd managed to decide on a thin, white undershirt. He wasn't even sure if what he wanted to wear required an undershirt. Fingers combed through his dark, shock of hair -- pausing halfway through as he sighed deeply. He'd completely missed Kyle's first calling of him by relation, but Julien's hands fell limply to his sides when he turned at his name. "Wha.. fourty-five minutes. I..uh.. yeah. Yeah." Real convincing.

The nervousness was roiling off Julien like waves of heat. Or, maybe they waves of heat. Kyle blink at his cousin, a hand coming up to rest on his hip. A hand moved to pull the strands out of his face and looked at Julien. "Y'might be a little cold if that's all you're wearing." When Julien didn't automatically respond with a quip, Kyle knew something was a little off. Maybe they hadn't spent every day together as children, but that didn't mean Guthries, even half-Guthries - were all that hard to read.

"Hang on," Kyle said, heading back to his bedroom and shucking the towel once he was inside the door. Kyle was quick to throw on a pair of boxers and tan cargo pants. They weren't going anywhere fancy, as far as he knew, and he liked the extra pockets for the his phone and wallet and keys. He held on to more of his items that way. And if kareoke was involved? Kyle would need to get pretty drunk.

Coming back out, Kyle was struggling into a skin-tight light green sweater. The neck was v-lined, accentuating his pecs. He wasn't out to impress, but with all the attention he'd been getting lately, he felt like there was a need to look ncie. Fresh - at least for a while. And the green brought out his eyes. He had a couple dew rags in his hand. One to try, the other to wear. "Alright," Kyle announced, coming back out, still barefoot as the day he was born. "We need to have a talk, I do believe."

Indeed, Julien stared blankly at Kyle when he commented about being cold. Though eventually his point washed over the Starsmore and Julien nodded absently before collecting his thoughts better and turning that nod into a shake. "I don't get cold.." But Kyle had already retreated. Juilen retreated as well, into the deep box of clothing in front of him. As Kyle dressed, Julien managed to find a dark, thicker t-shirt -- that was made for more than just existing as a layer between shirt and skin. Anything buttoned up seemed too formal..

When Kyle reappeared, any notion of wearing a sweater was swept from the room, the last thing the cousins needed to do was dress even remotely alike. "What do you think about this..?" His fingers wrung the fabric of the t-shirt in his grasp as he held it up. Though with Kyle's words, Julien lowered the garment with an arching, curious brow lifting. "A talk? This is sounding awful paternal-like.."

"You've been off all day." There it was, plain and simple. Something wasn't the same. Sure, it was his cousin and not some sort of alien, Kyle knew that much, but he just seemed slightly to the left all day long. It was disconcerting. "And I like that. The bar's gonna be hot, so I don't plan on wearing a jacket. Sorry you haveta live outta boxes, Julien." Maybe that was it. Maybe Julien was just not used to having his things in boxes and sleeping on a couch when he opted to not share the bed.

He sighed, working various strands through his hair, squeezing the water out. He'd need to blow dry it, or at least comb it through before they left. The last thing he needed was a cold in April, right when work was starting to pick up again. "Sorry," Kyle said quickly, waving his hand to hopefully dispell the words. "You've been actin'...not yourself all day long. And it's just gotten worse. If you don't want to go out, we don't have to. Are you feelin' under the weather? Homesick? We'll be in our new place in no time, I'll even help you unpack..."

Kyle had no idea what exactly was going on, so he was covering everything he could think of. Sounding more like a babbling child trying to grapple with everything but the unknown issue.

Julien let the shirt hang off the side of the open box while he reached down to grasp the hem of the thin, white t-shirt material and pull it up over his head and off his torso completely. When his head reappeared, it shook slightly, though that did nothing for the mess of dark hair atop it. He'd need to run a comb through as well when he was finally dressed. Pulling the snug fitting, black tshirt over his frame, he started speaking to Kyle while his face was still obscured beneath the fabric and continued when his head peeked through the shirt collar. "What? No.. no it's not boxes or movin'.." At the notion of homesickness, Julien's brow wrinkled skeptically. "Certainly not that. It was just a place.. I'm happy about the move.. and as for tonight.."

He tapped the cardboard flap of the clothing box closed. "I'm just.. terrified I'm going to embarrass myself, or you.. or make an ass of myself just in general. Say the wrong thing, wear the wrong thing.. any possible combination of doing things the wrong way."

Kyle listened, watching Merlin glance over at him for half a second with a very feline 'I'm going out and you better leave this window cracked so I can get back in' sort of look. The cat was gone and Kyle turned his head back to his headless, talking cousin. He grinned when the head popped back up, just shaking his own wet hair and tucking it behind his ears.

"You'll be glad to know that I plan on acting the fool tonight, so I don't think you have to worry about you embarrassing me any more than I will myself." Kyle had work off the next day, and sometimes he just wanted to get out and have fun. That didn't stop the nerves when it came to singing, but still. "Why're you so worried about it?" Kyle slipped onto the arm of his battered sofa that had seen better days. "We're just goin' out with Lexy..." Then the lightbulb went off and Kyle had to refrain from letting loose a giggle that would rival what Aunt Elizabeth used to get from him as a toddler when teh Tickle Monster would come for a visit. "But that's not it, is it?"

Kyle's attempt of relieving Julien of the worry about embarrassing his kin garnered a subtle smirk from the nervous Starsmore. Julien tugged at the hem of his t-shirt, chin touching his chest as he examined how the garment was fitting. There wasn't anything complex about his outfit, t-shirt and jeans, but when he was nervous, Julien was fussy. "I'm just.. I don't know. I don't go out like this, you know? If it's not grabbing coffee between classes, it just doesn't happen. And then there's the matter of a karaoke machine being present." One more glance down and he was content enough, for now, to leave his outfit as it was.

His outfit was all but forgotten when Kyle started snickering. Julien looked over to where his cousin was perched on the arm of the sofa, arms folding over his chest. "What?" His brow wrinkled in a furrow. "What's not it.. and why are you laughing?

"Like you know, I kind of love singing, but hate it in front of people. So when I'm in a room with a machine? I'm going to be drinking. I'll be making more of a fool of myself than you need worry about. But..." Kyle frowned a bit, watching his cousin look at his clothes. Julien had never been so worried about his clothes before.

The frown was, of course, replaced by the close-lipped snicker of a relative knowing something secret - figuring out how the pieces all fit together and it seemed so obvious all along. When attention was brought to it, Kyle clamped his hand across his mouth, but a strangled laugh still came out between his fingers. The hand dropped away, eyes wide as he pulled at the wet strands of hair, trying to figure out every angle before he brought it to light. Kyle's mouth closed, going silent for a moment. Very, very quietly, he slid onto the sofa cushion proper, figuring he was going to get pounded for what he said next. "Julien and Lexy sittin' inna tree."

"No." His tone was low, firm. But that note of seriousness seemed to have little effect on Kyle's snickering. "No." His head shook from side to side and he uncrossed his arms in a sharp gesture to further impress his point as he started towards the sofa. "Kyle, knock it off. I don't even know her. Kyle.." When his efforts were only rewarded with the sing-song notes of that annoyingly personalized song.. Julien's hand shot out to roughly shove Kyle in the shoulder. His intent wasn't to hurt his cousin, but it didn't seem possible that this myth was going to get dispelled with talking.

"You're getting all kinds of out of line, cousin." Or rather, he was getting a little too close to striking the nail on the head. Was there tree-sitting in his future? Julien didn't think so, but the lanky art student had enjoyed meeting Alexis. She'd been nice, she'd at least humored him about his knowledge of Jackson Pollock, if not been truly interested. And she was gorgeous. He'd have to be dead not to notice. "You're not helping, I don't know if that's been established yet or not."

"Yesss," Kyle said, his eyes getting larger as it settled into his mind. This was wild. Insane. Julien, the rock of both families, had an interest in someone, and it was a girl. Uncle Jeb owed Kyle's Daddy twenty dollars. It had been a bet since Julien had been old enough to start to show interest. Sure, they talked about it in private, as private as possible, but Kyle had been good at sneaking around. Not that he ever thought anything about Julien. He was his cousin first, friend second. Anything else wasn't a problem for him.

"Quit," Kyle said, brushing Julien's hand off his shoulder, refusing to wince as the jab stabbed into his skin. "Outta line? Jules!" Kyle's voice was slightly incredulous. He wasn't picking, or making fun. But he'd simply just found the first way he could use to describe it. "It's not bad," Kyle said, his hand snatching quickly to pinch at Julien's wrist to inform him, nonverbally, to not do it again. A quick release and the giggles began again. God, they were bad. Kyle just couldn't control them. "K...I...S...S...." And he couldn't go on any farther, reaching instinctively for a pillow to cover up as much of him as possible. "What....What can...What can I do?" Kyle finally managed, trying to get himself under control so he could be there for his cousin.

Julien's eyes narrowed as Kyle held onto his wrist. "Who said anything about anything being bad?" He didn't pull away nor break his gaze, but when Kyle let go, his hand did eventually fall away. That was.. after a fake-out of going after him again. Backpedaling from where his mocking cousin lay, Julien retreated to the small, decorative mirror hanging on the wall. He couldn't help but second-or-was-it-third-guess his shirt choice at least once more before he refocused on what he truly went to look at, his hair. He had a hand within his dark locks, combing his thick dark hair into some sort of order when Kyle started with the singing. Inwardly the psionic energy flared, fueled by his embarrassment and mild annoyance.

But Julien didn't use his power nor even his fist to stop the tormenting. "I don't know, SodaPants. But not singing that song would be a start." With a shoulder heaving sigh, he shook his head, giving up on his hair for a moment as well as retaliating against Kyle. "I don't know. I just.. I get.. I freeze, I stammer.. I sound like an idiot."

Kyle didn't flinch. One thing you learned as a Guthrie, you never flinch. No matter how big the fist was that was threatening to combine with your face. He smiled easily, and the laughing - giggling, really. It was small and shy and slightly embarrassed. Kyle watched his cousin, the cushion being pushed away as he saw the signs of a flare up. Julien had a lot of self control, but it wouldn't be the first time that Julien had had a flare around him. If anything, Kyle was worried. But, when his cousin started to flounder, all amusement left Kyle's face, his voice.

The nickname scalding a little bit, Kyle played it off by rolling his eyes. "Fine, no song. Sorry." He spat the words, but the venom wasn't at Julien. It was for spilling soda...all over his pants. Rolling up onto his heels, Kyle walked over to his cousin and slapped his palm against the back of his neck. His eyes looked into the mirror. "Julien," Kyle said softly, looking his cousin's reflection in the eye. "What I think you're asking but not asking? Means you have to be way more specific. You know we ain't supposed to use our powers on family." The twang was sharp in the air. Kyle offered a squeeze and headed into the kitchen. He still had a couple bottles of alcohol tucked away and he took down two glasses and poured three fingers worth in each. "Liquid courage. Get your ass in here."

It was something he was asking, but not asking. It was also something he wanted, but didn't know he wanted until Kyle crossed his toe over the line of talking about power usage. His eyes flickered aside to look to the actual figure of his cousin and not just the reflection staring back in the mirror. Could he? How would that work? How long would it last if it worked at all? And most importantly... was that what he should do?

He was left with his own reflection for a few moments, staring back into his own eyes as Kyle headed to the kitchen. His hands smoothed back his hair, only to have it spring back to where it had been. Again, Julien resigned to head down the hallway, following Kyle's call. "See, it's powers that get in the way of anything working like this.." He nodded his chin towards the partially filled glass. "It's like cooking with wine, the alcohol gets cooked off too fast and while everyone else is stumbling over each other, slurring their speech and having a fantastic time.. I'm still qualified to be the designated driver." Despite his own dilemma, Julien snickered lightly to himself. "It's a good thing I don't have a liver, because with what it takes to get buzzed? It would have been destroyed by now."

Kyle was staring at his drink, the tumbler he'd already picked up. The glasses were used for everything from alcohol to orange juice. They were the only two glasses that weren't yet picked up and wrapped in newspaper. They were rinsed daily, but Kyle didn't care much about the residue that had developed. He made sure Julien got the cleaner glass. "You know that's not what Ah meant. Don't go puttin' words into my mouth." His glass was already half empty. "And stop talin' down about yourself. I'll phone Aunt Paige and she'll be up here just as fast as she can grow wings. You know I speak the truth."

He handed Julien the glass and leaned against the countertop, a hand moving through his hair like fat, calloused comb teeth. He still needed to get ready and with Julien pussyfooting around whatever he was talking about, it wasn't happening any sooner. "You what, then? Want me to make you drunk?" Kyle shook his head. "You don't know what'll happen you I make you feel drunk and you don't know how long it'll last. Neither do I." He sighed and took another drink. There could be a safe words, a trigger and an un...trigger - Kyle didn't know the term for it. "You sayin' whenever we go out, you don't have fun?" That hurt a little bit. He sighed again and rubbed his palm across his forehead. "You tell me what you want. I'd give you the world if I could, Julien. And I know you would too. Just the way we're programmed." Sometimes blood being thicker than water ended up in a clog.

"Jesus, no. No." His eyes had not been wider and Julien even knew that Kyle's threat was most likely a hollow one. "Don't call my Mom." His suffering social skills weren't something Paige was unaware of, as he'd finished up high school in the general population. But he knew his mother had thought things had gotten better.

Picking up his glass, Julien tipped it back against his lips, then nearly choked on the biting liquid within at Kyle's interpretation of his own lamenting. "No, no.. no, no no, no." He flinched at the burn in his throat and blinked a few times as he recovered enough to explain himself further. "When we go out or stay in.. I'm always having a good time." It was the Starsmore's turn to drape his arm around the Guthrie's shoulders. "Art is like meditation, but family.. you especially.. that's the fun in my life. There's no pressure."

He moved his glass to clink against Kyle's briefly, resting his weight back against the countertop. "Programmed or not, you're not comfortable with what we're dancing around." His gaze fell down to the remaining alcohol in his glass. "I don't know if I am either. For a split second there it seemed like a quick fix, but quick ain't always right, huh?"

Oh crap. Kyle didn't want to get all deep and meaningful. They were supposed to be having fun, getting ready to have fun, and the two were getting all weepy and Reconstituted Ricki Lake. "Like I'd call Aunt Paige on you," Kyle shook his head. "Only if they called me from that emergency card a'yours. Same goes for me." Kyle sighed and took another sip, shifting a bit under Julien's hands. For country folk, they were affectionate. Kyle didn't mind, but the thought rang through his head that if Julien was like this now, how would he be actually drunk?

"I just want you to have fun," Kyle admitted, clinking his glass back after a second. He didn't know how it felt do have what Julien had in his body. He didn't know what it was like to always be sober no matter the tab or not have organs. And that made a part of him sad, that the empathy just...wasn't there. "But confidence is different than bein' drunk." Kyle had experimented with his powers, and even if he didn't know how Julien would react, a little more confidence was better than a little bit drunk. "But if you don't want to have it be permanent because you're like a found puppy," Kyle drawled, rolling his eyes and trying to make light of the serious business. "Then we can get you a safe word. If I say....spongebob, you get drunk. If I say dishwater, you stop being like that." It'd be a chance, but Kyle could give it a shot. If he could make poeple quit smoking, then he could make his furance-chest cousin drunk!

A fragile start to life made Julien a little more emotional sans-alcohol than many of his kin. He was quick to get mushy, but quick to flare up as he had earlier. The presence of a pretty girl was about the best cure for his rambling, as it tended to get the Starsmore to clam up quite easily.

"No, not permanent." His head shook back and forth lightly to reinforce his mutual objection. "Just.. a leg up, for tonight. I don't want anything permanent, I need to get better about this, it's just... a lot, A LOT of lost time to make up for." Truth be told, delving as deep as he had into the arts had it's benefits, but it nurtured the solitary sort of life that was counterproductive for him. He needed more nights like this and less in his studio. "I just have one question.." Brow quirked as he waited for Kyle's interest to perk. "... how the hell are you going to work 'spongebob' into a conversation casually?"

Things were complicated. Kyle had known that for a long time when it came to his cousin. But that didn't stop Julien from being a nice guy or one of Kyle's closest friends. Relatives first, friends second. But it was a very close second. "And I wouldn't want you drunk all the time. Just being a jerk and peeing in any corner that you found being lazy. No, I'd make sure it wasn't permanent. Uncle Jono would be shipping you over to Emma Frost well before you got too outta control." Kyle took a long drink of his glass and set it down, debating on refilling it or not.

"Fine!" He laughed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I'll pick a word, you won't even know it. But I'm gonna have a safe word too. Last thing I want to do is beat you down in front of the girl you like." Kyle gave Jono a quick hug then slapped his ass. "Your turn to play bartender. My hair's too long to air dry. Give some thought to a word and write it down. Just so I don't forget it if'n I get too many sheets to the wind." With that, Kyle went back to the bathroom, decisions made and a drink waiting for him when he was done.