Who: Jackson and Chance What: Tension Where: Chance's car, their apartment, When: 9/2-3 very late night into morning. Rating: PG Jackson had enjoyed the time out this evening. He even managed to talk to some people who had ended up being very friendly. They made good enough money in the gambling to get dinner at a drive thru, and now he was very much focused on his fries. “I've gotta say, there aren't fries in any other fast food place that can top McDonald's. It is like they have the magic perfect recipe that just makes them amazing.”
"Don't eat them all before we get to the apartment." They had 4 boxes, so it wasn't a real risk. It should be teasing, but Chance was feeling grumpy. There was no reason he should be. He'd done well at the table. They had McDonalds. And Jackson had been social - especially with a brunette boy that seemed to reciprocate his interest. The other young man had spent the entire night watching Jackson. He thought Jackson had gotten his number by the end of the night. It was a step forward for his friend, if he was gay, and Chance was happy for him - should be happy for him at least. Something about it was irritating him, although the guy Jackson had been hanging out with seemed perfectly nice. Maybe a bit too manicured and gelled. Jackson wasn't that fussy to want someone so manicured.
There was something different in his friend’s tone and Jax frowned as he looked over, confused. “It's fries. You know I'll leave you at least two, I can't do more than two myself.” Not necessarily true but Jackson always made sure to share equally with Chance. They were best friends, after all. “We made out pretty good, honestly. Could have done some more nuggets too.” They had gotten some, but no more than normal even with the score.
"We did," Chance agreed, trying to shake his irritation. Jackson was feeling good and he didn't want to spoil that. He shrugged at the nuggets. "We have enough petty cash for breakfast this way." He hoped that Jackson would still be there for breakfast, not with.. He needed to stop being stupid.
“We do. Maybe a diner? Pancakes would be fucking amazing, don't you think?” A grin lit Jackson’s face at the thought. He could always make pancakes but for some reason they were just better out. Fluffier and they could even get flavored syrup if they wanted to. “And some bacon too. Someplace twenty four hours, so we don't have to worry about not getting there til late.”
"Depends on what we're in the mood for come morning - or whenever." Chance shrugged. He needed to encourage Jackson, even if he didn't like it. "Or it means you've got money to go out if you call that guy." He murmured as he parked the car.
“What guy?” Jackson blinked at Chance, confused. He had talked to a few people, but he didn't have any numbers from it. Just some chatting time chalked into his books. “What's wrong with you, dude? We had a good score and you look like someone stole Ace or something.”
"Manicured gel guy was into you." Chance murmured, grabbing one of the take-out bags to help carry their dinner upstairs. "He was hanging on your every word every time I looked up from the game… surprised he didn't slip you his card." He ignored the question, and tried to sound curious - he was curious - he tried to sound happy about Jackson's opportunity.
“Oh, yeah.” Jackson had filed away the fact that they had talked because the guy apparently had some good connections. It wasn't anything he thought too much of though. “No, I don't have his number. Didn't want it. He's not my type.” Jackson knew what his type was, after all. Standing right next to him, in fact.
Chance felt better and he shouldn't. "He was clean." Chance mentally kicked himself. "And definitely into you." Here Jackson tells him the man wasn't his type and now Chance was going to try to convince him to go after him when he'd been grumpy about the entire idea. He was an idiot.
“He isn't my type.” Jackson spoke more firmly this time, his eyes flicking to his friend for just a second. “I wasn't interested. I would never be interested.” Because he knew what he wanted. Or who at least, and since that would never happen he just had to accept it.
Jackson's assertion didn't actually relieve Chance. He bent to catch Ace as they opened the door to keep her from getting out and carried her to the sofa (complaining the entire time). "You're allowed."
“Were you just not listening last time? I'm not into it. Not with girls or guys.” He was a bit frustrated that Chance seemed so dedicated to pursuing this. “If you want a place to yourself just tell me. I can find another cheap fucking place to sleep.”
That was disappointing too, but Chance didn't examine that feeling. He frowned at Jackson's statement. "I didn't fucking say that. I just want to see you happy."
“I'm fine.” This muttered under his breath as he tossed his bag on the table. “I'm going to take a shower.” Because now his head hurt and he had lost his appetite. He didn't want to think about any of this. It was painful.
"Don't take too long - it's never as good if it gets cold." Chance frowned and focused on his bag, offering a fry to the small kitten who treated it alternately as a toy and something to chew on.
“I'm not hungry anymore. You have it.” Again muttered under his breath as he walked to the bathroom, trying to get away from this all. He would take some time and hopefully Chance would forget the conversation.
Chance frowned again - moody. Jackson was moody. He sighed and dug into his bag. Jackson at least had eaten most of his on the way home. Ace repeatedly tried to climb into the bag, and when it was empty Chance tossed it onto the sofa behind him so she could play in it.
Jackson literally waited until the water was entirely cold before getting out of the shower. Hopefully that was enough time for Chance to get distracted, though he was still lingering on things. He couldn't understand why his friend couldn't just let go of the idea of him dating. He didn't want it with anyone but Chance, and that wasn't happening, he knew.
Chance was watching television when Jackson finally came out. He glanced into their bedroom to see him with the towel around his waist. They'd grown up a lot from when they were young - the slender shoulders now widened, muscular, just a little hair across the chest. They were past all the awkwardness of puberty. "Do we have any water left?"
“I paid the bill.” Jackson shrugged as he picked up his pajama bottoms. The cold shower would prevent his body from acting up on the off chance that it decided to respond to his friend today. It wasn't typical but the risk was always there. He yanked on the pants and shrugged again. “It's cold.”
"That was my point." Chance shook his head. They were missing each other on the teasing lately. "Ace likes fries." Chance figured the small black kitten was at least safe to talk about. "And kept getting in my face as I had my burger."
“She probably wanted that.” Logically since cats enjoyed meat, she would have enjoyed a bit of the burger. “I'll give her some food, and then I think I'm gonna head to bed. I'm done for the night.” Because his head still hurt and he wanted to avoid any more conversation.
"She did, but when I offered her some of the lettuce she refused it." Chance wasn't an idiot. "She's got dry kibble… unless you're giving her canned." The small kitten raced over to climb Jackson's leg and get attention from her human. Chance nodded when Jackson said he was going to bed. "Yea, we were out late." He wasn't going to mention his own headache that was forming. He'd done a lot of counting tonight and playing the probabilities. If Jackson hadn't used all the hot water he might've showered himself. Sleep would help some he hoped. And they might have painkillers in the bathroom. Since Ace was with Jackson he got up to look for something.
Jackson looked over at Chance and a small frown formed on his face. “Head in and lie down. I'll bring the Tylenol in.” He had swiped some pills with codeine and so hopefully that would knock out the obvious tension in his friend’s face. He headed to give the kitten a can of food, then toward the shared bedroom with the bottle and a glass of water.
Chance gave up when Jackson easily found a bottle. "You were hiding it." He took the bottle and glass, knocking a pill back before setting them both on the dresser. "Did we run out of what we'd had in the bathroom?" He'd come up empty looking himself.
“Yeah. Go lie down. Long night.” He lightly rested his hand on Chance’s cheek for just a moment, wishing he could take the pain that he knew was coming for the other man. “Just go to sleep, okay?”
"Ace is eating?" The kitten might have adopted Jackson, but Chance still cared about the little fluffball. He sat down to strip down to his boxers. "Bed for all of us when she finishes." SInce Jackson already indicated he was ready to crash for the night.
“She'll come in. She always does. Lie down.” He pointed to the mattress that Chance slept on. Sure enough the kitten wandered in a few moments later. It had become customary for the small creature to sleep in Jax’s hair lately.
Chance smiled as Ace began pawing at Jax's bed. "She's telling you to get to bed too." Chance pointed out as he settled back. He should be fine by morning. "Pancakes in the morning."
“Yeah, I know.” He picked up the ball of fluff and scratched behind her ears before looking over at Chance. He would quietly keep watch until his friend was asleep so he could be sure Chance rested. After a long day it was always important.
"My eyes are closed… is she in your hair yet?" Chance asked, knowing the kitten preferred sleeping on his head to anywhere else.
“She is.” Because that was where she settled most nights. It was not uncomfortable and Jax had gotten used to it well enough by now. “Sleep. Now.”
===================================================================== Chance yawned and rubbed at his face. He looked over at Jackson, still sleeping with Ace on his head. The kitten blinked and yawned and then closed her eyes again. She had no intention of getting up until Jackson did, clearly. Chance wasn't exactly in a rush to get up yet himself. His headache at least was gone.
Jackson felt the small animal on his head move and shifted himself, groaning softly. His eyes fluttered open and he sighed, shifting to stroke the small kitten’s head, even though he was still only half awake.
Chance smiled sleepily at the sound from his friend. Ace instantly began purring loudly the moment Jackson began to touch her. "Stop making noise… you're waking me up." Chance murmured, teasing his friend - and the kitten.
“Liar. Your eyes were open first.” Jackson murmured sleepily, petting Ace a bit more. The kitten loved him and he was grateful for that. He hadn't had that, outside of Chance, and he was grateful to have the small furball care as much as she did.
"Were not," Chance lied, arguing for the sake of it. "Eyes are closed… I heard you groan and the purrbox on your head." His eyes were closed as he said it since it would entirely defeat the purpose if he said it with open eyes. "She's loud."
Jackson rolled his eyes at his friend and adjusted to pick up Ace. “Okay, then I'll let you sleep.” The kitten needed some more wet food anyway and so he could get that and try to figure out if they were heading out for breakfast.
"Too late." Chance rubbed at his face, opening his eyes to catch the eye-roll. "How'd you sleep?" It was polite, if inane conversation.
“Not badly.” Not entirely true, but he had slept and he counted that a victory. It took some time and listening to his friend’s sleep breathing rhythm to get him there, but once he got to sleep he had been fine.
Chance took a breath and then got out of his bed since Jackson was clearly starting to move about for the day. "So what's our plan for the day?"
“Food for Ace right now.” Jackson was setting that up as they spoke. “Then breakfast and coffee for us. Then… No idea.” He shrugged. He didn't want to do another casino so fast because Chance had overdone it the night before. “Might go out front and do some tricks, get a few bucks.”
"I did well on the tables. We don't need to work the street or bus stops unless you're itching for a pull." He knew Jackson needed to keep his craft practiced in a way he didn't. He worried sometimes about Jackson's profession.
“I just figured get a little cushion, you know?” Because it was never bad to have a bit extra to fall back on, just in case. He absently spun the empty cat food can, shrugging one shoulder. “It's up to you in the end, if you wanna hang about and watch for cops or whatever.”
They had a little cushion. They'd seen enough growing up that they never bought on credit - and Chance never gambled on credit. If he didn't have cash, he'd have Jackson pick a pocket to get them seed money. "I always feel better when I can keep my eye on you."