Re: [Outside the Rec Center.]
It was okay that Holly saw him how he did. Most people did. They read his confidence and took it at face-value, and, while Noah was a confident dude, he wasn't impervious. Far from it, actually. But, it was okay by him that no one saw that. I mean, he figured, eventually, Holly would get there. (Noah had meta'd a lot about 'being seen,' and that was included.) But, it was okay if, right now, it was sort of an invisible reality. There were a lot of those going around these days. And, Noah could tell Holly wasn't feeling totally up to par. He didn't necessarily put it just on the shoulders of the hangover. He thought it was all the stress too—you know, the stress Noah kept telling him about and heaping on without meaning to? And Noah was totally, 100%, highkey, deadass, whatever, willing to a shoulder to lean on. Literally. Metaphorically.
But, right now, definitely literally. He could feel the hive-buzz of Holly's headache a little, which reminded him—and he fished around in his jacket pocket for a rattling little bottle of aspirin. It came from the glove box of his car, so it wasn't full, but, it had more than enough to see Holly through some of the worst hangover stuff, if not the weird buzzing. He tossed it to the dude and his orange-slick fingers, and then, even as Holly looked at him like he wasn't turned on and like he didn't totally dig the intimacy in Noah's grin, Noah smiled more, tipping precipitously toward the other dude. Almost enough to put his head on Holly's shoulder.
He laughed at the repeated watersports comment, paying literally no mind at all to the fact that his tongue was probably blue. "You were into it, so it was free," was his repartee, but the playful smile and tone subsided to allow for the earnestness apparent in Holly's voice—a rarity, indeed. Noah sat up a little to look over, and he nodded, his own expression open and believing. "I believe you, baby. It's cool." Which still wasn't any explanation about the closet thing, but... Noah didn't really want to go to the motel. Holly didn't either. Noah felt that. He wished he had a place, like a real one, and he thought about looking again. He hadn't done it in a while, and if he, like, used some of the money from Holly, he might be able to put down a security deposit somewhere... Holly took the last piece of banana, and Noah smiled in a flit, before his expression moved back to thoughtful. "But, you can't? Knowing he's over there, uh, like, making judgement calls?"
Noah was chewing his bottom lip, the corner near his scar, and he was thinking, when Holly's question was posed. "Oh. Yeah, sure. I'll ask Bea. If I remember, you had a car your mom gave you or something." Now, whether or not that still existed or, like, if it'd been sold or what, Noah had no idea. "You can always use my Jeep, if you want." Which reminded him: "Oh, I have something for you. I was going to bring it over next time I came." Because, yeah, he was back to assuming that. "It's not a dildo." Noah smiled. This, just as Holly was setting his hand on the ground between them, and Noah totally got the memo. He rewrote it, though. He lifted Holly's hand, scooted his ass closer, and put his arm around the dude's shoulder, tipping Holly in toward him. "C'mere." He hadn't showered, but he didn't care even a little. And much like he'd done on the dizzy walk home last night, he kissed Holly's temple and smiled. His free hand, though, he did move that one to take up Holly's, fingers lacing and warm, and he leaned his head back against the wall.