Sage Monroe (turnitup) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-12-07 23:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, jacob, jacob x sage, sage |
Who: Jacob & Sage
Where: Castle View
When: Tuesday evening 01/09
Status: Complete
Connor hadn't had to do many night shifts lately but Jacob knew it was inevitable that he would eventually. At least he had some time to plan, the hospital didn't spring a surprise night watch on Connor out of the blue, so Jacob was prepared to spend the night elsewhere. Normally he'd hit Joss up for a place to sleep but he'd been chatting with Sage and ended up making plans to stay with him instead. It had been a while since they really got to talk without people all around them so he figured it could be nice - important, even. Of course they might just end up bullshitting and playing video games all night but there were also a lot of things they could talk about. Really talk about, things that could really use getting talked about.
Connor dropped him off on his way to work and Jacob realized he'd actually never seen Sage's place before. He headed up to the apartment building, looking for the number and then knocked. It actually wasn't deadly cold outside which was a nice reprieve from the usual winter madness. Castle View was a pretty nice place and he had the fleeting thought that he should try to convince Connor to move here. It'd be nice to be closer to his friends and farther away from the tunnel. It wasn't like Connor hadn't suggested moving so... He let the thought go for now and knocked on Sage's door. At least he hoped it was the right door and he fidgeted with his messenger bag as he waited for it to open.
When Sage had woken up that morning, he was sure he was coming down with something. He’d had to force himself to get out of bed and then seemed to be running slow even after showering and eating breakfast. Nothing seemed to be wrong, however, so he’d kept his afternoon music lessons and plans for Jacob to crash with him for the evening. Tuesdays were so light at Dragonfly that he typically had it off, so it worked well for both of them. It would be fun to hang out without having to work on the side and he’d planned to order a pizza once Jacob arrived.
But once he got home, he started to wind down again, the energy he’d had when he was out draining away. He laid on the couch, idly flipping through the channels till Jacob knocked on the door, then slowly rose, dragging his feet as he headed for the door. “Coming!” he called, since he was moving so slow. As he opened the door, he mustered up a wide smile for Jacob. “Hey!” he said, holding the door open. “Come on in!”
"Hey," Jacob said and leaned in immediately to hug Sage. "You look like shit." Yeah, the smile didn't fool him, pretty as it was. It didn't quite reach Sage's eyes and he looked tired enough that Jacob noticed. He stepped inside and put his bag aside to get his boots off, not wanting to drag snow into Sage's place. "Did you sleep badly or something?" he asked, regretting wearing the boots that needed lacing up because this was way too much work but eventually he got them loose and kicked his boots off.
There was no denying it, so Sage laughed softly and shook his head after returning Jacob’s hug. “I dunno, man. I thought I slept okay, but I’ve just been exhausted. I got out for a bit and felt better, but since I got home it’s crept up on me again. I just hope I’m not coming down with something.” He absolutely hated being sick. It was the one time he just wanted to go home, climb in his childhood bed, and have his mom take care of him. So far he hadn’t shown any symptoms, so he was hoping he could fight it. “I took some Airborn, just in case. Could be I just slept worse than I thought. How’re you doing?”
"Maybe your place has mold," Jacob said flippantly because what the hell did he know about mold and whether or not it could make people tired? Nothing. Nothing at all. "I'm just peachy," he added his reply. "Glad you have the night off or I probably would have ended up lounging at the hospital all night like a needy puppy. Not a good look." He grabbed his bag again once his winter clothes were out of the way and followed Sage inside.
“God, I hope not,” Sage said, brows furrowing at the thought of mold in his apartment. He’d call the office first thing in the morning and see if someone could come and check, just to be sure. He led the way into the apartment and plopped down on the couch, leaving room for Jacob, though there was a big, pillowy armchair as well. Sage didn’t know if he had much style in his decor, but at least he knew people would be comfortable when they visited. “So, I totally don’t mind you crashing here, but what’s up with Connor’s place that keeps you from staying there without him? Is he weird about it or something?”
Jacob made a pained little sound, then laughed because the thought of Connor not wanting him to be home alone was a little funny. Of course their whole relationship was weird to other people so he couldn't really fault Sage for guessing that. "He- we live in Seaview," he admitted with a little grimace. "I never thought I could stay there but I'm okay in the daytime and as long as he's there but... I don't wanna sleep alone there." He dumped his messenger bag on the floor next to the couch before sitting down next to Sage, facing him with his legs crossed indian-style. "He asked if I wanted to move somewhere else and I just... Didn't wanna cause this whole hassle but, I don't know. Iif he wants to, I might make sure he knows I'm not against the idea."
Sage cringed at the mention of Seaview, immediately understanding what the issue was. He might’ve considered living there himself, but that was closer to the tunnel than he ever wanted to be. He’d been out there visiting friends and sometimes he swore he could hear a train. “Wait--he would move for you?” he asked, somewhat shocked. He’d gotten the part where Jacob was head over heels for Connor, but it was still a surprise to hear it went both ways. “Dude, that’s big. And, I mean, maybe if you’re really serious, eventually tell him yeah, you need to live somewhere else for your own sanity. Dang.”
"I mean, he offered," Jacob said with a coy little smile. Connor always made him feel loved, more so than he'd ever felt before, but it tickled him to hear someone else say it was 'big' because yeah, it was. "I don't know if he actually would. Maybe it was just a gesture." Daydreaming about moving and actually moving were two very different things and one was way more hassle than the other. "This neighborhood's nice," he added, looking around Sage's place. "How long have you lived here anyway?"
“I know we’ve only met once, but he didn’t strike me as the sort of guy that’d suggest something like that unless he meant it,” Sage said with a little shrug and a smile. He was feeling a little bit better now, probably because he had company. Maybe he’d just been feeling depressed and needed a distraction. “I moved out around my twenty-first birthday, once I knew I could afford the rent. I liked living at home, having mom cook for me and everything, but I also wanted the space to be myself, you know? And I think it helped me, like, become an adult in their eyes.”
"Yeah I get that," Jacob murmured. "Renting a room at Holly's was the closest I've ever gotten to living alone. I've always had roommates." It was more expensive to rent in Portland and he'd never really had a good full time job for long, bouncing between restaurant or bar work and school. Having a roommate had helped breach that gigantic gap between his paycheck and the rent. He got more comfortable, sinking into the couch a little, feeling a little sleepy now that he was in from the cold. It was warm in Sage's apartment, that was probably why. "Do you wanna order a pizza or something?" he suggested though he felt like he really should learn to cook something good and surprise Connor with it. So far he just was crap at it and he really didn't have the energy to try, especially in an unfamiliar kitchen.
“My best options for roommates were the guys I play with and we thought that might be a little too much together time,” Sage smiled. He loved those guys, but writing music together was stressful enough without adding rent payments to the mix. “Yeah, I thought pizza would be easiest. What kind do you like? Do you want a beer? Soda?” He asked, hopping up to find his phone. He’d considered cooking, but hadn’t thought he’d had the energy for it. Now he was starting to feel better again, but lacked the supplies to make anything more than a sandwich. Jacob deserved better than peanut butter and jelly. “How’s what’s his name doing? Your boss.”
"Soda sounds good," Jacob replied after considering it. A beer would have sounded good but he'd had quite a lot of it during the fog and it still made him a little queasy just thinking about it. Sage's next question kind of threw him off balance because there was a lot there to unpack and after their last conversation about Connor, he wasn't so sure he wanted to get into how he was now letting Connor take care of him. "Uhm," he murmured, tucking his hair behind his ears as he thought about it. "He's been weird. Like he chewed me out for something I didn't do and got all paranoid, accused me of stealing and just acted in general like a fucking lunatic. I went in to quit the job and he apologized and said he didn't know what was wrong with him. Stress, I guess. Post trauma stuff or something. I think we're all a little shaky still."
“Maybe it’s something in the air. Or the water,” Sage frowned. “One of those twenty-four hour imbalances.” He could relate to the weirdness, especially the paranoia, but he didn’t really want to tell Jacob that he’d completely lost his mind the week before and gotten thrown in the drunk tank for a bit. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t drunk; he’d been nutty for no good reason. Hearing that someone else had behaved similarly made him feel the slightest bit better and it made him wonder if it was just one of those local things that happened, like the damn fog. “So did you quit? Or did he talk you into staying?” he asked, placing the pizza order on his phone so he wouldn’t have to actually talk to someone, then pulling out a couple of cans and holding them up for Jacob to choose. “Coke or Sprite? Caffeine or not?”
"Coke," Jacob replied. "Definitely caffeine." Why was he so tired suddenly? He'd slept just fine and he wasn't really one of those people who needed an afternoon or early evening nap to function. "There's always something in the water or air around here," he added with a sigh because it really did feel like something was always wrong in Point Pleasant. It probably meant that he was insane for coming back. He was stalling, not really wanting to talk about Connor when he was pretty sure Sage would just fret and judge if he did but friends talked to each other and it was probably a bad sign if he started keeping things secret. "I quit the job," he muttered and accepted his drink when Sage handed it over. "Taking some time to just draw and make money from that. I'm not paying rent right now so why not take advantage of that."
Sage grabbed a can for himself, then returned to the couch, offering one to Jacob. He wasn’t going to judge his friend over quitting a job; he’d had a laundry list of them over the past few years. It felt like he’d worked just about everywhere there was to work in Point Pleasant. What worried him was Jacob’s dependency on his new boyfriend. Connor seemed like a great guy, but they hadn’t been dating all that long and their relationship sounded pretty intense. “Connor’s cool with that?” he asked as he opened his Coke. “Do you ever get bored drawing all day?” He supposed not, since that’s what Jacob did, but it was a lot of sitting still for Sage. Even when he was playing music, he was always moving.
"Connor's cool with it, and no," Jacob replied with a little smile. "I don't get bored. Of course I don't draw all day, just more than usual." He sipped his coke and squinted playfully at Sage. Connor had suggested it but it didn't feel like a great idea to mention that, not to Sage and not to Jocelyn. They were prone to worrying and Jacob ddin't want to encourage that. "I'm actually getting donations for the stuff I post for free, so that's kinda cool and now I have time to do more of that even while I'm doing line work for money." So it wasn't like he was completely unemployed. "If I get bored I'll come work with you at Dragonfly," he added cheekily. "Seems like a really cool place to work."
“Hey, that’s cool,” Sage smiled. “I know I’ve always appreciated it when people want to pay me for my art. It feels like a step in the right direction.” He knew he might not be able to survive off his music alone, but he aspired to. If he could write and make music all day, that’s what he’d have done, but it just didn’t pay the bills. “Dragonfly’s cool. You’d probably fit in there better than I do,” he said. “But Nate’s a good boss. He’s been… he’s been really patient with me.” Most of his bosses had to be, to some extent, or Sage didn’t last, but Sage knew he’d tried Nate’s patience last week. He was lucky to still have a job.
"Has he needed to be?" Jacob asked, quirking a brow curiously. He didn't think Sage was a very difficult person to get along with, maybe he was late all the time or lazy at work, Jacob had never worked with him and people could be so different at work. "Are you flirting with him all the time?" he added jokingly. "Must be hard to work for a hot boss, I'm not sure I could." He grinned and drank most of his coke. At this point he felt like he needed it to stay alert, there was a headiness coming over him that made him feel like he'd been drinking - that first drink sleepiness, but that didn't make sense when he was sober. God he hoped he wasn't getting sick.
“He’s my boss. I’m not stupid enough to flirt with him,” Sage laughed, avoiding the first question to stick with what was easy. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s straight. But gods, he’s nice to look at. Maybe if I wasn’t working there, buuuuuut I do, so hot boss is off limits regardless.” He was feeling a little hyped up now and wondered how the caffeine had gone into his bloodstream so quickly. “You play video games? Or want to watch something?” He realized they hadn’t hung out quite like this since high school and he wasn’t sure what all Jacob was into these days.
"Uhm," Jacob murmured, frowning as he thought about it. He wanted to ask a follow up question because Sage hadn't really answered his question but he wasn't sure what he was really asking here. "Just whatever, movie or something," he said because the thought of focusing and trying to beat a video game seemed impossible suddenly. He was comfortable curled up in the corner of the couch, playing a game required sitting up. "Or if you wanna play a game, I'm cool just watching." He reached over to put his now empty glass on the table and wished he had a blanket when he curled up again. It wasn't like he wanted to go to sleep, but a blanket would be nice and closing his eyes would be nice.
“You okay, man?” Sage asked with a small frown. His friend seemed a little bit out of it, but maybe that was just him trying to be accommodating and failing. He knew some people hated watching other people play video games, bored if they weren’t playing themselves, so a movie seemed like a better option, even though Jacob had said he was fine with either. It’d be easier to watch a movie while eating pizza anyways.
"Yeah," Jacob murmured. "Just a lil sleepy." He forced himself to sit up a little, not wanting to be the shittiest company and actually fall asleep right there. "So why did you boss need to be patient with you?" he asked, making an effort to be present and engaged. "If you're not flirting on the job." He put his arm on the back of the couch and rested his head against his hand and that helped a little. Maybe he just needed to eat, that pizza really couldn't get here fast enough.
“I… I kinda freaked out the other day, started arguing with one of the customers. I might’ve told him to fuck off,” Sage said, his voice becoming quieter so that he was just muttered by the time he stopped speaking. He didn’t really want to talk about it, in part because he was ashamed of himself, but largely because he didn’t understand what had happened. He’d dealt with a lot of shit over the years and nothing had gotten under his skin like that, causing him to blow up over almost nothing. People picked on him for who he was, that’s what he got for sticking around, but he couldn’t just lose it like he had. And then things had just gotten worse from there.
Jacob furrowed his brows and for a second he even forgot how tired he was because that was surprising to say the least. "What the hell did he do?" he asked because he couldn't imagine that being some minor thing. Sage had the best temper out of all of them and they'd seen him take a lot of abuse in stride when the rest of them either lashed out or broke down. Telling a customer to fuck off was not on brand for Sage.
“Nothing,” Sage said as he shook his head. “Nothing new anyways. Just gave me shit about the past. I dunno, it was just one of those days, you know? Where, like, you feel like this town’s got its claws in you. I just...wasn’t myself.” Thinking about it made him feel sick to his stomach, unable to understand why he’d lashed out the way he did. Something had been wrong, like when people forgot who they were on Halloween or when everyone lost their minds during that other fog, except no one around him seemed to be affected. It scared him to think about because the only other time he’d lost his cool like that was at the tunnel, when something evil had been lurking about.
Jacob cringed a little inwardly at the thought of the town having it's claws in people but he knew it was true and that made Sage's outburst a little more scary. It didn't have to mean anything though and he reminded himself they were still reeling from a terrifying ordeal. "Something's gotta give," he said with a sad little smile. "You got hurt and nearly killed, you're still in pain." Jacob hadn't gotten hurt and he was still depressed ever since the fog rolled in. It had been terrifying and he still found himself dreading the moment when it would undoubtedly come back.
“Yeah, but… You know, it’s the weirdest thing? The wound ’s completely healed up. Doc said it would take a few weeks at least, but this was way faster.” Sage didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe there had been something in the monster’s claws that helped his skin repair itself, but he knew he was reaching with that thought. “I dunno. It’s all been messing with my head lately. I’m ready for things to get back to normal for a while.” He knew that was normally how things went, they got bad, then they got better, but it felt like the upswing was late in coming this time.
"Do you think one day we'll have lives where things just... make sense?" Jacob asked quietly. He didn't like this at all, none of it sounded normal but he felt too tired to really get worked up about it. It just made him sad right now, sad and a little worried. "I thought I could run away from all the weirdness but it just followed me and, you know, Portland was just a different kind of weird." A different kind of unhappy and scary all in all, though now that he was home he couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't a little easier to deal with it. He was just too scared to leave, for numerous reasons.
“I don’t know if it’ll ever make sense, but… I’d like to think we’ll have periods of normalcy,” Sage said. “I feel like it comes in waves. Last summer was pretty quiet and I could almost forget this kind of shit happened. And then fall came and it feels like it’s been nonstop.” He kept hoping it would reach its peak and then they’d have a dry spell, hopefully for six months or more. “It’s easier when there’s people around you that you care about. You’re not as alone. And maybe there’s something to deal with everywhere. I’ve never made it anywhere else long enough to really find out.”
"I stayed away a long time and I still came back," Jacob said and sighed, closing his eyes just for a moment. "I had more nightmares when I was in Portland, but maybe it's because I'm not sleeping alone now. Always Grayson or the tunnel." Saying it out loud made his stomach lurch uncomfortably and he opened his eyes again, giving Sage an apologetic smile. "I really wish they'd find his body at least," he whispered. "I just want this all to be over." Finding Grayson wouldn't end it, but it'd be a closure to something that had gone on for too long at least.
Nightmares had been the reason Sage had never truly left. He’d tried a few times, but he’d been so plagued that he’d always come home before setting up roots anywhere else. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be over,” he whispered back. “I’ve been seeing him around town. Or something that looks like him. It makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.” He wondered if that was the purpose, to drive them all crazy. He’d lasted this long, but it finally felt like he was starting to crack.
"When you're awake?" Jacob whispered back and it didn't feel like they could talk about this out loud, like someone was listening, like Grayson was listening. The cold chill crawling up his back made his lethargy easier to ignore for a moment and some warning bell in his brain was going off, telling him not to talk about it, like talking about it might conjure something. It didn't have to be supernatural, people tended to see their loved ones everywhere when they missed them but that was usually just the first few weeks. Not years later.
“Yeah,” Sage said, keeping his voice low and hushed. “Never up close. He’s always just far enough away that I can’t get a good look. And when I try to, he disappears.” It was like chasing his shadow. He knew how bad it sounded, but Jacob seemed to be taking him seriously. Jacob and Jocelyn were probably the only two people he could talk to this about and not sound completely crazy. “It used to just be nightmares. I don’t know what to do when it happens and I’m awake.”
"How long has it been going on?" Jacob asked and he was no psych major but if it was a recent thing he could imagine him and Jocelyn both coming back had triggered something. They'd been gone a long time after all, having them both back could easily stir up some old grief. A part of him feared that it really was Grayson, back as a ghost or an apparition sent by whatever lived in the tunnels. Just thinking about it made his stomach lurch again and it was hard to decide what he needed more right now: to talk about all of this or to let go and distract himself.
“Couple months ago,” Sage muttered. He knew it was about the time that Jacob and Jocelyn came home, but he didn’t want to connect the two. It was good to have them there and he didn’t like to think there’d been some kind of negative consequences, be it to his psyche or the supernatural. What bothered him the most was not knowing if it was all in his head or not. It might be easier to deal with, and a little less frightening, if it was a mental issue, but that scared him in a different way. “I don’t know what to do other than ignore it.”
Jacob made the same connection and while a rational part of his brain was clinging to the pseudo science of it, some primal and superstitious part was screaming at him that Grayson had been haunting him this whole time and was now back with him. It was stupid, but superstition tended to be stupid and if he hadn't seen some weird things with his own eyes, he'd dismiss it far more easily. "What else can you do?" he murmured defeatedly. "Call a psychic? They're scammers who prey on vulnerable people so the odds of finding a genuine one is... yeah."
“Yeah, but if they were real then they’d live here, don’t you think?” Sage said with a small smile. He wasn’t going to hunt down a psychic, but if he was going to believe he was haunted, then why not believe in everything else? It couldn’t hurt. In fact, it let him think there were other people out there who might be able to fight this kind of thing. Like ghostbusters. Too bad he didn’t know how to call them. “Sorry for being such a downer,” he said. “I didn’t mean to unload on you.” He hadn’t planned on talking about it at all, but it’d kind of come up and Jacob was one of the few people who might understand.
"No, I feel like... I need to talk about it," Jacob said hesitantly. "But at the same time I don't want to. Like, if I ignore it it'll go away, but it won't, I know that." He'd tried that for years now, ever since leaving Point Pleasant. If ignoring the problem in a different city didn't work, it certainly wouldn't work when he was right here. "You and Jocelyn are the only ones I can really talk to. I mean, the others too but they're so far away and, I hope they're doing better." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment again. It was a heavy subject and he was tired but he so rarely had the chance to talk to Sage, they usually met in public.
“I get it,” Sage said. “When I first joined the band, the guys asked questions, but I couldn’t tell ‘em. They wouldn’t understand. Most people wouldn’t.” He thought about how he’d blabbed the whole thing to Gabriel right after the fog monster had attacked him and still wondered what the hell he’d been thinking. It was like he was high on adrenaline and pain, making poor decisions that he couldn’t take back. “If ignoring it worked, I’d be fine by now. I guess… I thought I was the only one still having trouble. You and Joss seemed past it.”
"I don't know if we'll ever get past it," Jacob said quietly. "I've been doing better, you know, not sleeping alone helps but I feel like if I lose Connor now I'll just fall apart. He keeps me grounded and being with him... I don't know, it keeps the nightmares away for the most part. I'm sleeping again so that's something. I know it's a crutch, not a solution but I don't know if there is a solution. I was so sleep deprived before I came back, I was falling asleep out in public, you know, the pass out for a few seconds kind of sleep? Enough that I'd have a nightmare right there and then. On the bus, at a cafe, at work, wherever. So despite everything, I feel better now that I'm back."
“Do you think it’s being here that helps?” Sage asked. “Or Connor?” He really was curious because if it was Connor, then it was possible Jacob and Connor could leave this hell hole and Jacob’s life would improve. It also meant that Sage needed to find himself someone and see if that helped, though he kind of doubted it. Finding someone with that kind of connection just didn’t feel in the cards for him. At least he slept better when he was in Point Pleasant, though that also meant he was susceptible to every other crazy thing the town threw his way. He didn’t think the fog had anything to do with the past or the tunnel or Grayson, but by being here when it happened he’d almost gotten himself killed.
Jacob had to think about it for a moment and it didn't help that his mind felt weirdly foggy now. "Both? I think... I slept better when I came back. Meaning, I actually slept. Then I stopped using sleeping aid after the whole sleep walking weirdness and I've been pretty okay since. You know how when there's a whole lot of factors that all change at once so it's hard to tell which one was actually the - you know. Deciding one. Maybe all of them." He huffed softly, shifting around until he had his hand on his arm instead of his hand, closing his eyes again. "It's kinda like that. I don't know what helped but something did."
Sage gave Jacob a little smile and reached out to run his fingers through his hair before pulling his hand back. “That’s all that matters,” he smiled. He was feeling restless, like he needed to get up and do something useful, but he wasn’t going to leave Jacob when he seemed to be crashing. The pizza would be there soon, but if he fell asleep before then it would be there for him when he woke up. “Why don’t you close your eyes for a bit,” he said. “Want me to wake you for pizza?” If not, then he’d go ahead and get Jacob a pillow and blanket if he wanted to sleep on the couch. Or his bed. Sage didn’t care, but he thought Connor might.
Jacob smiled at that little touch, always a sucker for physical affection in any form. Then he huffed with mild amusement at the offer because yeah, he really wanted to close his eyes. "I'm great company today," he murmured. "Sorry. But yeah, I might just... I don't know why I'm so tired. Maybe I'll be better after I eat. We can put a movie on or something, or if you want to play a game. It's kinda nice sleeping with the TV on anyway."
“It’s okay,” Sage smiled. “I honestly thought I’d be the one ready to curl up and pass out.” He felt great though, so maybe all he needed was the caffeine from the Coke. “I think I’ll play for a little bit, if you really don’t mind. Want me to get you anything? A pillow?” It felt a little selfish to play video games, but if Jacob was tired, then it probably didn’t matter. He expected his friend to speak up if he really didn’t want to watch that.
"A pillow," Jacob said with a little laugh and a roll of his eyes but then he thought better of it and yeah, he really wanted to just stretch out and close his eyes for a bit. A pillow would be nice. "Yeah, actually, I'd love a pillow. I'll power nap and be more with it tonight." It sounded really appealing, sleeping with someone else there and the familiar sounds from a game playing. Naps could be so nice. He didn't often indulge in them but right now it would be perfect. "You sure you don't mind?"
“Dude, you can crash on my couch whenever you want,” Sage smiled, then ruffled Jacob’s hair again as he rose to his feet to get him the pillow. “It’s nice having you here. Kinda like having a roommate.” Jacob was welcome there whenever he wanted, even if it was every time Connor had a night shift. He felt like they were that level of friends, where they were comfortable just being in each other’s spaces and didn’t have to entertain. Grabbing one of the spare pillows from his bedroom, he turned to the couch to hand it to Jacob, along with a blanket. He hadn’t asked for it, but he wanted it there for him, just in case. “Here you go.”
"How are you single," Jacob murmured happily as he curled up with the blanket and stuck the pillow under his head. "You need a wingman. Or to get out of this town. What a waste." He waited until Sage had sat down, then unceremoniously planted his feet on his lap with a cheeky smile before settling down again. It was just nice to have physical contact and Sage and he had always been fairly relaxed about that stuff. Jacob doubted that had changed but it was a little sad that it had been as long as it had been since they last spent time together like this. "This okay?" he asked, just to be sure, his eyes already closed as he'd already decided Sage didn't mind.
Sage had some ideas about why he was still single, but he wasn’t going to dump all of his insecurities on Jacob at that moment. They were good friends, but he didn’t want to put anyone through that. He smiled when Jacob plopped his feet in his lap and gave them a rub for a minute as he waited for the game to start up. “It’s fine,” he smiled. Honestly, he liked that they were this comfortable with each other. He might be single, but at least he had good friends to keep him company. It made him feel a little less alone.