Jacob 'Monster Catnip' Sloper (lopingsloper) wrote in cultureic, @ 2016-01-30 22:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | asher greengrass, jacob sloper |
WHO: Asher Greengrass & Jacob Sloper
WHAT: Coyote [less] Ugly
WHEN: Saturday January 30th, morning
WHERE: Jacob's flat
WARNINGS: Language, sexual situations
The sunlight woke him this time, one beam hitting his face from the haphazardly closed curtains and the all-too-familiar feel of a heavy head from too much alcohol the night before came over him slowly. It took a little longer for the rest of reality to hit him, the realisation of where he was, memories from the evening before — Critters pub night, their monthly celebration of being (mostly) alive and (hopefully) in one piece. Asher remembered people filtering out, their party dwindling down until it was, once again, just him and Jacob. He'd wanted to just leave then, but it had all been ill-timed: he'd just ordered two more beers and Jacob wasn't being awful and actually called him Asher, so instead he stayed. They'd chatted. Jacob had said something halfway nice. Asher had smiled. Except now Asher was in his bed again, realizing the mistake he'd made. He couldn't imagine it wasn't just the alcohol speaking on Jacob's part, which meant that this was going to be a repeat of last time and — "Ughhhh," he groaned, reaching for the pillow that had fallen off the bed beside him and hugging it to his chest. When he finally heard Jacob stirring on the other side of the bed, he cut through the silence. "If you're about to talk about how disgusted you are that we did this again, you can save it. I'll just go." Letting out a pained grunt as he slowly got his head back together, Jacob did his own mental reconstruction of the night before. The last few drinks as the pub emptied out into a comfortable silence. Taking Asher home again. Regret and a little guilt mixed with the relief of not feeling so mind-numbingly lonely for once. "I was actually thinking about bacon." He murmured after a few moments, working up the willpower to sit up, "You want some?" It wasn't visible to Jacob, but Asher's mouth dropped open just a little bit, and his grip on the pillow relaxed. He didn't say anything at first, but after a moment he rolled over, propping himself up on one elbow to look at the other man. "You mean you're not — you mean you could stand looking at me enough to have breakfast?" Struggling up onto his elbows, Jacob frowned, "'Stand looking at--' Okay. Bacon first, then I'm going to try and make sense of that." Shifting over the edge of the bed, he scanned the floor trying to find his boxers, deciding to skip them when he couldn't see any sign of them. After the second drunken fumble, modesty seemed a bit pointless. Padding sluggishly out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen, he called over his shoulder, "Ketchup or brown sauce?" "Brown!" Asher called after him, then laid his head back down on the bed to stare at the ceiling for a moment, still feeling rather confused about the whole thing. After a few minutes he pulled himself out of bed and pulled on his boxer shorts, picking up the rest of his belongings and piling them all together — it seemed like he didn't need to leave right yet, given the whole breakfast bit, but after last time Asher wanted to be prepared for another hasty exist. He went into the kitchen after a brief stop in the loo, cautiously approaching the counter and leaning against it. Jacob was halfway through the cooking, but Asher didn't quite know how to greet him. "I… um. Want me to put on some coffee?" Poking and prodding at the bacon in the pan, Jacob glanced over his shoulder briefly and nodded, "Yeah, sure. Coffee's in the cupboard over the sink." He went back to making sure their breakfast didn't burn, then realised something after a moment, "It's uh… it's a muggle coffee maker. You know how to use one, right?" He knew it was just a kind of denial, really. Pretending everyone was normal and fine to try and fend off whatever talk they needed to have about what had happened, but he really needed a full stomach if he was going to face another round of Asher yelling at him and calling him an asshole. Behind him, Asher was fumbling around with the coffee maker. He'd used a muggle one once or twice before — well, he watched someone use it — and he knew enough that it needed a filter and water and… "How many scoops?" He paused. "And where does the water go in?" Holding back a sigh, Jacob shook his head, "Two-- Three scoops, I need the extra caffeine. Then you pour the water in the top and wait. It does everything else itself." Which Jacob figured was a blessing, as he wouldn't put it past Asher to set his kitchen on fire. Scooping the bacon out of the pan, he set it none-too-carefully on the buns he'd slathered with butter and brown sauce. That done he moved over to the rickety old table and chairs that passed for his 'dining room' and set down the plates, "Hangover cure's served." "Thanks," Asher mumbled, sliding into the chair awkwardly and pushing around a few of the things on the old table so he had space for the plate. They ate in silence at first, Asher giving Jacob a few glances here and there until the coffee finished brewing and he pulled two mugs out of the drying rack, finding the cream and the sugar. "Here," he said, handing Jacob his coffee, black no sugar, before sliding back into his seat. Jacob nodded gratefully between mouthfuls as he took his cup, washing down the last of his sandwich with a quick sip of coffee, wincing as he burnt his tongue. "Right," he murmured as he pushed his plate aside and blew into his mug, hoping to cool the coffee down a little, "So, 'Can't stand looking at you'? Want to tell me what that's about?" Asher waited a moment before saying anything, taking another bite of his sandwich and a small sip of the hot coffee — too hot, he had to blow on it a bit before he could take another sip. The silence had been awkward enough, but he wasn't sure that this was going to be any better. "Is that not — I mean, is that just how you treat everyone you shag? Tell 'em it was the worst mistake you've ever made and you're completely disgusted by it, and then walk on eggshells around me the rest of the time — like I've got blackmail on you?" He frowned. "So am I special there, or is it just your M.O.?" "That was-- Christ, that wasn't because of you." Shaking his head, Jacob took another sip of his coffee, this time thankful to have his burned tongue as a momentary distraction. Setting his mug down, he cradled his head in his hands and sighed, "It was a mistake because I took advantage of you, Asher, and you could do a lot better. A lot." "I wasn't disgusted with you, I'm just a fucking disaster of a human being." Funny, how much Asher could identify with that statement, but he didn't say that out loud. He never said it aloud, lest someone either agree with him or ask him more about it. But he knew it was true. Still, that wasn't really the part of Jacob's statement that caught his attention. His fingers rested lightly on the edge of the coffee cup, fiddling with it. "Took advantage of me?" he asked. "No, that's unfair— I mean. You're not acknowledging my choice in the matter here." Lifting his head, Jacob watched Asher for a moment, processing that statement. Then, "I still think you could do better, Asher." Asher's eyes came off his coffee mug and met Jacob's, taking it all in. They'd just shagged, twice, and that didn't necessarily mean anything, but he also didn't like what Jacob was saying. Asher could be like an ass sometimes, doing something just because he was told to do the opposite. But neither did he agree that he was all as great as Jacob seemed to be thinking. "Don't really think that's up to you," he finally said. "I'm also your boss now," Jacob noted, "Bea would fucking murder both of us if she ever found out about this. Whatever 'this' is." "Well, it's probably a surprise to you, but I'm actually really good at keeping my mouth shut." Asher's tone was slightly snappish now, and he tried to rein it back. "And that's sort of beside the point? We just hooked up, though now that I realise you don't completely hate me…" He paused, unsure where he was really going with it and the awkwardness of talking about anything real was finally starting to get to Asher, so he did what he always did in that situation: turn it into humour. Or teasing. A mischievous grin crept across his face. "So what's this, then? You're starting to find my annoyingness endearing? Is that your type? The more annoying the better?" Jacob snorted, Asher's teasing little jabs breaking him out of his self-pity, "Maybe I just like charity cases. Figured I should give you a freebie before you get desperate enough to start hitting on the centaurs again." He knew he had to set the line here. He was older, he was Asher's boss, he had to be the one to say that it couldn't happen again. But it was the first time in weeks that he hadn't spent his saturday morning alone, the first time he hadn't woken up with nothing but a to-do list of errands and maybe the possibility of visiting family. "It wasn't awful…" He suggested after a moment's silence, "And there has to be a reason why we keep doing this." "Clearly I just like having someone to yell at in the mornings," Asher deadpanned. "That's why I took the Deputy Head job." "So I could yell at you in the mornings?" "Funny," Jacob replied. Draining the last of his coffee, he set the mug down and then pushed away from the table, "I should go shower. Get dressed. You can help yourself to anything in the fridge if you're still hungry, think there's some actual food in there somewhere." Standing and turning towards the bathroom, he hesitated for a moment and then glanced back at Asher, "...just don't burn my kitchen down." |