wastedonyou (wastedonyou) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-05-26 14:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, jai, jai x zach, zach |
Who: Jai and Zach
When: late afternoon, Sunday, June 10th
Where: their apartment, Moxie’s
Status: Complete
It had been a strange, sleepless weekend. Zach hadn’t even really noticed the insomnia on Friday night, too wrapped up in his date with Toby and everything that came afterward ... but it was impossible not to catch on that something was wrong when they couldn’t get to sleep even after the sun came up on Saturday. They’d just hung out and fooled around more until Zach decided to go home and try his own bed at some point Saturday afternoon. That was when he’d found that the bed wasn’t the problem, it was sleep itself. He’d been miserable for a while, body-achy and a little paranoid that Toby had drugged him or something, but then finally, blessed sleep.
Zach slept for a long time, finally blearily opening his eyes a few hours past noon on Sunday. He was used to keeping a nighttime schedule, but not being able to sleep all fucking day had worn him out. He desperately needed a shower, so that was the first place he shuffled to, and the hot water and crisp scent of his body wash helped wake him up a little. Zach wrapped the towel around his waist and emerged into the rest of the apartment, headed for the kitchen to see if there was any coffee anywhere that he didn’t have to wait for.
Jai had spent the majority of the day asleep, once he was able to. It was some bullshit, what had been going on but like most things, he was willing to dismiss it once it went away. The less Point Pleasant bullshit he had to deal with, the better. He had already gotten up and gotten some coffee when he heard Zach disappear into the bathroom. Since the day was warm and a little breezy, he opened the porch doors and sunk down into the couch, his cup of coffee resting on his stomach. His eyes were closed when he heard Zach wander into the kitchen.
"You're awake," Jai said, bringing his coffee up to his lips. "Thought you'd be out for at least a few more hours."
Zach didn’t consciously realize his brother was there until he spoke, but it didn’t startle him. It was hard for them to sneak up on each other, given their connection. He glanced over, but was more focused on the pot of coffee that Jai had made, beelining toward the caffeine. The fresh air was nice though, and Jai looked nice and comfortable on the couch. It made Zach want to go flop on him, but he needed some go juice first. “Nah,” he answered as he pulled a mug down to fill. “I might go back to bed before too long, but up for now.” Zach looked over again as his hands went about their usual routine. “How you feelin’? That was some crazy shit with the no sleep, right?”
"I'm okay. Tired," he admitted after resting the coffee cup back on his chest, his hand curled around it loosely. "Just glad I wasn't expected to work this weekend. I don't know what the fuck that was all about. I kept seeing little goblin shadows in my closet when I was laying there." Jai snickered at the memory. "How're you feeling though? I didn't hear you come home." He knew Zach had gone out Friday but Jai had been too zoned out by Saturday morning to think about where his brother had ended up.
“I’m like, way better now, but that sucked balls dude,” Zach answered. “And not in the fun way. I was thinking for a while like, maybe Toby drugged me, but then he couldn’t sleep either, which didn’t make sense. Then when I got home yesterday I thought maybe you drugged me, but that make even less fucking sense.” He let out a rueful laugh and stirred a bunch of sugar into his coffee before he ambled out of the kitchen and into the living room. The paranoia was from the sleep deprivation, he was pretty sure, and Zach was thankful it was over. He didn’t like not trusting his brother. He plopped down into the recliner and crossed his legs on the seat, hiking the towel up higher to give his thighs some room. Modesty wasn’t a thing in their house.
Jai cocked a brow, watching Zach as he walked into the room. "You thought Toby drugged you? If you ever think someone drugged you, you need to call me... even if you're not sure. Unless it's me, of course because why the fuck would I drug you, other than to make you chill the fuck out and stop bouncing off the goddamn walls." He grinned and lifted his coffee mug in a mock salute. "Glad you're feeling better now though. How'd things go with Toby besides the insomnia and potential drugging?"
Zach rolled his eyes dramatically, but he was grinning too. “I didn’t really think that, until like, I was half crazy with insomnia. It wasn’t like he roofied me or anything,” he clarified, then bounced his eyebrows suggestively. “He didn’t have to.” Zach was fairly sure that Toby would never do anything like that anyway, his brain had just been slowly breaking from lack of sleep. Zach took a swallow of coffee and then smiled brightly again. Now that Jai had asked and the caffeine was settling in, he felt like he could properly gush. “Things went so good, like ... amazingly well. He’s so nice and cool and we had a ton of fun together. We hit up like, the arcade and Dino’s, and he was housesitting for the weekend at this place in Overlook his friend’s renting, so we went up there, and it was like a fucking palace, dude. So many rooms, and a pool and a hot tub and everything. Toby was super cool about me coming out to him, and he didn’t care, and the sex was just ...” Zach kissed the tips of three of his fingers in that silly chef gesture people did. “Choice. I came so many times. I didn’t even really notice we couldn’t sleep until like, mid-morning Saturday.”
Jai pursed his lips as Zach went on a Zach-Gush, half amused and half annoyed as he drank his coffee. He wasn't a jealous person by nature, and honestly, he was glad when Zach found people he could hang out with... or go out with and have multiple orgasms. Zach deserved all the good shit that came to him. But Jai was also his brother, and yes, he sometimes felt a bit protective. That was all part of their bond, after all. "Arcade and pizza," Jai said with a widening smile. "Sounds like the kind of date I'd be into, at least when I was in high school." His tone was teasing, because he liked to give Zach shit about the people he went out with. "Sounds like it went well though? I mean, Overlook houses and sex. At least you had some fun before the horrible insomnia set in. Are you going to see him again?"
Zach snickered at the tease, but still lifted one middle finger in a good natured rebuttal. So what if he still liked arcades and pizza? He liked what he liked, and Toby had enjoyed himself too, and that was all that mattered. Zach knew his brother was just being an ass though, that was what they did to each other. “Hell yeah I am,” he answered with a bright smile. “I mean, I hope so, I’m pretty sure. We didn’t make plans, but we kissed when I dropped him off and everything. It did go so good though. I was like, so nervous to tell him, but he was so cool about it. I’m the first trans guy he’s been with.” The relief about it all was still strong in Zach’s chest, and it showed in his smile. “But hey, you should meet him sometime! I think you’d like him.” Jai had only met two or three people Zach had dated in the past, which probably said a lot about how much he actually dated.
Despite whatever weird, personal feelings Jai had about Zach dating, it still made his chest feel warm to see his brother happy. Jai knew how difficult Zach had had it growing up, and if this Toby guy was decent and made Zach feel good, then Jai was going to do his best to be nice. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll meet him if you guys keep seein' each other. He's gotta get my stamp of approval, after all." Jai saluted Zach with his coffee cup. "Do you have a picture or anything? I wanna see what this guy looks like."
He laughed a bit and rolled his eyes again at the reminder that Jai had to approve, but it made Zach feel nicely warm in the chest. Both of them had one another’s backs without question, and they knew it, but Jai was more protective of him than the other way around. Instead of feeling chafing or oppressive, it always made Zach feel safer. “Yeah! I got a couple of ‘em, actually, hang on ...” Zach put his coffee down and hopped up to head to his bedroom where his phone was still plugged in. While he was in there, he changed out of the damp towel and into some comfortable basketball shorts instead, though he stayed shirtless. When he returned, he pushed at Jai’s legs on the couch until he made room for Zach to flop down next to him, then pulled up his gallery. He and Toby had taken some selfies around the huge Overlook house while they’d been all sleep deprived, some silly and others more smiley, and he offered his phone to Jai to browse a bit. “He’s cute, huh?” he prompted with a grin.
Jai sipped his coffee and then shifted on the couch when Zach returned with his phone. He took the offered phone and cocked a dark brow. "Yeah, he's cute. Nice eyes. But you've almost always had good taste." Grinning, he thumbed through some more of the photos. "The house looks nice too. Damn, to have that much room." He didn't mind their apartment, obviously, but it was nice to daydream about what he'd have if he had money. "What'd you guys do, besides fool around?" The only times he had ever ventured up into Overlook was for a job and even those were few and far in between.
Toby did have nice eyes, especially when they were ringed with smudged liner, and nice lips and a great smile and ugh, Zach was crushing on him hard already. Was it a still crush now that they’d slept together? A consummated crush? He didn’t know what to call it, he just hoped that Toby wanted to see him again soon. “Fuck, I know, right? It was fucking huge,” Zach agreed with a grin. It had been impossible not to picture him and Jai living there, and how they could actually lose one another in a place that big. “We played around in the pool and hot tub for a while, watched some cable, ate a bunch of Shane’s food ... and like, tried to sleep. Which didn’t work, obviously. If we hadn’t felt so shitty, we could’ve like, played hide and seek.” He laughed a little. “What’d you do all weekend? Did you miss me?” Zach grinned again and draped one of his legs over Jai’s.
"'Course I did," Jai said easily, relaxing again once he handed back Zach's phone. "But nothing I did was as fun as what you got up to. Basically watched tv in bed, tryin' to sleep. I ordered some thai food, jerked off... tried to jerk off a second time but I was too tired by then. Listened to our neighbors get into a fight. It didn't last too long." Jai stifled another yawn before bringing his coffee cup back up to his smiling lips. "You know how lazy I am, right? Like, imagine that, but ten times worse."
Even though he’d been off having a fantastic date of his own, Zach was kind of glad to hear that Jai hadn’t invited anybody over to keep him company. The ebb and flow of jealousy between them was strange -- Zach knew that nobody else could be as bonded to his brother as he was, and a lot of the time he didn’t care what Jai did, or whom. But sometimes that sense of possession reared up in his chest and he didn’t want anyone else to touch him. Zach tried to keep it to himself when that happened though. For now he was just happy that Jai had been alone. “Aww,” Zach cooed with faux sympathy. He grinned and leaned against Jai’s side. “I would’ve jerked you off if I’d been here. Ugh, I’m glad that shit’s over, though. Insomnia sucks.”
Jai wasn't always sure how he felt about Zach being with other people. Generally, he didn't mind it as long as it didn't interfere with... whatever they had. Sometimes Jai thought it was just the bonding magic between them talking because he really did want his brother to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. And frankly, Jai enjoyed dating and sleeping with other people too and Zach rarely seemed to mind that. It worked for them. "Insomnia definitely sucks. I feel like I'm just recovering from that today. I could sleep some more but I also want to get out and breathe some fresh air and all that shit." Jai cocked a brow. "You hungry? We could get Moxie's or something. Unless you want to sit around on your ass all day and wait for this guy to text you."
Zach had no idea what their futures would look like, just that Jai would be in his in some capacity. He’d thought ahead and worried before about falling in love with someone else and trying to explain their relationship, how they needed each other. They could stop fucking, he supposed, but ... would he want to? Would Jai want to? Zach tried not to think about it too often or he stressed himself out. The future would come as it came, freaking out about it ahead of time wouldn’t help him. Whatever they ended up doing, he knew Jai was as attached to him as the other way around, and that was always reassuring. “Hmmm, tempting,” Zach murmured, glancing at his phone like a text from Toby might pop up at that very moment. It didn’t. Zach hoped he’d gotten some sleep too. “Nah, let’s go. I’m down for fresh air and Moxie’s!” He hopped up off the couch to go back to his room for a shirt.
Grinning, Jai watched Zach bounce off to his room to get dressed. Toby Whoever had Zach almost all weekend so now it was Jai’s turn. Standing, Jai carried his coffee cup into the kitchen before pulling his shoes on. Maybe after stuffing himself he could take another long nap, this time with Zach. “What does Toby do?” Jai asked, shoving his foot into his shoe. “Did I already ask you that?” If he had, he’d already forgotten.
Zach threw on a shirt and ran his fingers through his wild fluff of dark hair before he grabbed his shoes and went back into the living room to plop down and put them on. “I don’t remember, but he’s a nurse at Mercy,” he answered. “Which is pretty cute, you know? He’s a sweetheart. Oh, and he takes care of Adalyn Rayner’s dad on the side, he’s like, in a coma or whatever.” Jai knew that Zach was friends with Addie, but her family situation wasn’t something that Zach talked about much, so Jai might not know what the deal was with the elder Mr. Rayner. “I’ve actually seen him before over there, but it was just in passing. He’s way cuter out of scrubs.” Sneakers in place, Zach bounced up again and headed toward the door with his brother.
"He's a nurse? Oh, so there are a ton of jokes to be made about him healing all of your booboos?" Jai grinned and tugged open the front door for his brother. "That's got to be kind of creepy though... taking care of some old guy in a coma. I saw Addie jogging the other morning. She was eating some kind of pastry. It was pretty weird." Most people jogged to work out and all that. He usually didn't see them eating sugary foods while doing it. "If you guys go out again, that's second date territory which means meeting the brother." Jai wouldn't scare Toby off or anything. He wasn't that kind of brother. But a part of him did want to meet the guy making Zach all smiley and shit. Just to make sure Toby was good enough to have that responsibility.
He barked out a laugh at the mental image of Addie jogging and shoving a bear claw into her mouth at the same time. That sounded like her, and Zach loved it. She didn’t need to lose any weight anyway, she was tiny. “Yeah, yeah, nurse jokes,” he said with a grin as he walked outside. “Is that what a second date means?” Zach snickered while Jai locked up, then headed with him toward the car. “I’ll be sure to warn him. But no, yeah, I want you to meet him soon, I think you guys will get along fine. He’s really chill and laid back, but like, fun at the same time.” He knew he was gushing quite a bit and it was probably weird for Jai, because it was so rare that Zach found somebody he wanted to gush over, but he couldn’t help it, still riding high from all of the good feelings Toby had stoked in him. “Maybe we can all grab a drink soon.”
"Really chill, laid back and fun... sounds like you've got a type." Jai shot a pointed look at Zach while unlocking his car doors. "But yeah, a drink sounds fine. Whenever you want though. I'm only mostly joking about the second date stuff. Make sure this is actually going somewhere before you drag me into it." Jai slipped into the car and turned it on before rolling down his window. It was too nice a day to not enjoy it, especially after the winter they'd had. And honestly, he didn't mind Zach gushing so much. It was nice to see his brother happy.
Zach had to laugh at the first part, because honestly it was pretty true. Maybe part of his attraction to Toby was linked to some similarities with Jai. But they definitely weren't exactly alike, so Zach didn’t think it was like, a weird thing. No more weird than his whole situation already was, at least. Zach flopped into the passenger seat and rolled his own window down too. He always loved to feel the wind on his face when the weather was nice. “Dude, in this fucking town if it doesn’t go anywhere, I’ll be pissed,” he said with a little laugh. That wasn’t exactly true, he was more likely to be really bummed out and down about it for a while, but the point still stood. “My pickin’s are slim around here, you know? But yeah I’ll let you know when I feel like it’s time. Not like you rush to introduce me to anybody,” he added, tossing a pointed look of his own over at his brother.
Pickin's were slim for most but Jai understood how much harder it was for Zach to find someone. Jai could tell his brother that he would always have Jai, but he also understood that it wasn't exactly the same. It wasn't like they had, or could have, a normal relationship. With his eyes on the road now, Jai grinned. "Not anyone to introduce you to," he pointed out. He dated sometimes but rarely did anything turn serious. Jai wasn't entirely sure he wanted something serious. "But if you want, I'll find someone hot and we can double date like normal, functioning people."
He comforted himself quite often with the thought that he would always have Jai, even if he didn’t say so out loud very often. Zach didn’t want his brother to feel stuck with him, or like he shouldn’t go off and have his own life. Neither of them could go very far from each other, but there were other types of distance, and Zach was glad that those weren’t between them yet. He didn’t know what he would do when Jai eventually moved on in his love life, but he would figure it out. Zach laughed at Jai’s words and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause you’re like, a serial player, that’s why I haven’t met anyone,” he teased, then nudged Jai’s shoulder playfully. “Not too hot though, right? ‘Cause I’m like, totally not normal and functioning, so I don’t wanna act jealous around Toby, that’s a sure mood killer.” Zach tittered.
Jai knew he ought to try harder to date and do all that stuff, but it just seemed like a lot of work. If he met or saw someone who interested him, that was enough. He didn't need someone in his life to be happy and he never understood the people who couldn't function without a boyfriend or girlfriend. To Jai, being involved with someone he was attracted to was just a bonus to everything else. "Not too hot," Jai promised with a laugh. He reached into his console with one hand to fumble around for his cigarettes. "You think Toby is hotter than me?" he asked with a teasing grin as he brought the pack up to his mouth to pull one cigarette out with his lips.
Zach barked out a laugh even as he felt his cheeks get a bit hot. “Don’t do that, I never ask you that shit, do I?” he said, shooting Jai an amused but chiding sort of look. Okay so he probably had asked once or twice in the past, but that had been a long time ago when he was more insecure. He knew Jai didn’t have an insecure bone in his body, so he was likely just trying to be an ass. “You’re both equally, face-meltingly hot, and if you were both in bed with me at the same time I would probably die of horniness. Is that what you want to hear?” His tone was light and joking, but as that image solidified in his head, Zach thought the probably would die of arousal, because yum.
After getting his cigarette lit, Jai laughed. "Equally hot? What a cop out." He honestly didn't care about the truth there, it was just fun to tease his brother. Zach's good moods obviously rubbed off on Jai and he would much rather see Zach smiling, even if he wasn't exactly the sole reason behind it. This Toby guy better not be a total dick or Jai was going to have to get his knuckles bloody. "Besides, you know that you're hotter than anyone I've ever brought home. I don't even need to say it." He sighed dramatically and turned down the street to Moxie's. "But I'll accept that we're both hot. At least for now. I may need reassuring later." He offered the cigarette to Zach, mostly out of courtesy and habit.
He waved off the cigarette and gave a snort and rolled his eyes. Zach could think of a few people Jai had brought home who’d been hotter than him, but he knew all that was subjective anyway. One person could find you completely delicious and the next could be grossed out, that was just how it all worked. Zach was just stoked to find someone else who thought he was more on the ‘delicious’ side of the spectrum. “You could say it sometimes,” he said, a brief smirk crossing his face. “You’re both hotter than me, I’ll say that much, so like ... maybe I’ll make sure I’ve got him locked down before I bring him over.”
"Well, I did just say it, so you're welcome." Jai slipped his cigarette back between his lips and came to a stop at the light. "Lock that ass down, Zach. I won't meet him unless I see the key. And if he does anything to fuck you over, I'll fuck him up. Just so we're all on the same page." He definitely wasn't kidding about that. Zach had dealt with enough assholes in this town over the years and Jai had plenty of experience when it came to dealing with them.
Maybe the ‘protective big brother’ schtick was weird between them because of how close they were, but it still made Zach grin to hear it. He did know that Jai always had his back, and always had, and he’d called on that trait more than once over the years. No matter how upsetting, it was also hot when Jai punched someone on his behalf, Zach had to admit. Since they were stopped, he leaned over to nuzzle at the side of Jai’s neck for a second. “Such a good big brother,” he cooed playfully, giving Jai’s skin a light nip before he sat back. “I’ll make sure he knows the dire consequences of fucking with me.”
Jai's skin tingled where Zach nuzzled him, but he laughed at Zach's words as the light turned green. "That could be taken two ways, right? Fucking with you and fucking you. The dire consequences of fucking. It's starting to sound like a slasher flick now. You fuck with someone, you die. You fuck, you die." Shoving the cigarette out the window, Jai turned into Moxie's to park. He would come to Zach's defense if he needed to. But so far it sounded like this Toby guy was decent, so Jai would keep all violent thoughts locked away for now. "Right now, he's safe. Hopefully he'll stay that way."
Zach laughed a little. “That takes away like, two of the great joys in life,” he pointed out, sounding disapproving and amused at the same time. “Fucking me is a goddamn delight.” Once they were parked, Zach unbuckled himself and hopped out of the car. He knew you couldn’t really know someone so fast, but from everything he’d seen of Toby so far, Zach wasn’t worried about him turning into some kind of raging asshole all of the sudden. He seemed so genuinely sweet, and Zach had a pretty good bullshit detector. He liked to think so, anyway. So he didn’t think Jai would have to bruise his knuckles this time. Zach waited for Jai to get out of the car too, then headed toward the restaurant door.
Jai laughed, because he couldn't exactly argue with that fact. He followed Zach inside, thankful that they didn't have to wait terribly long to be seated. Here they had to be brothers so Jai had to rewire his brain not to get too inappropriate. It was fairly easy to do, given how long they've been in this situation. "So does he know... about your job?" Jai asked, after ordering some coffee while he looked at the menu. "Or is that more like a third date kind of thing." It could have been Zach and Toby just hooked up and had fun without a lot of the personal stuff sinking into the "date".
Zach ordered an iced coffee once they were settled, then peeked at the menu he pretty much had memorized. There needed to be more restaurants in this town. Or he and Jai needed to cook at home more or something. The question made Zach chuckle and he gave a sheepish little shrug. “Yeah,” he said, drawing the word out a bit. “Maybe third-fourth date? I already bombshelled him once, I didn’t wanna do it again. I mean, he might not even care, but.” Zach shrugged a shoulder. “If we decide to be like, a Thing, then I’ll tell him sooner, but for right now, he just knows that I stream video games on Twitch and stuff.” Toby seemed pretty cool about sex and his gender stuff, but Zach wanted to feel him out a bit more before he revealed that he made most of his money doing cam work.
Jai nodded, because he could understand not wanting to dump all of the personal stuff on Toby at once. Especially since they had only hooked up once. While Jai certainly didn't care what Zach did for a living, he knew some guys might have an issue with it. But that was something for Zach to deal with later, if it ever came up. "Well, good luck with it," Jai said, grinning as he nudged Zach's foot under the table. "Becoming a Thing comes with all kinds of shit." Not that he would deter his brother, if that's what he was after.
Nudging Jai’s ankle back, Zach gave a teasing scoff. “Like you know,” he said. “How many Things have you had?” The two of them didn’t really count, in Zach’s mind. Or they counted in an entirely different way than some regular-ass relationship. He hadn’t kept obsessive track of his brother’s love life either, Zach just knew that he only needed one hand to count the number of Jai’s partners he had met. He wasn’t positive that he wanted a Thing with someone else, because it would likely interfere with their Thing, but he had to admit he was excited about Toby. Zach just hoped it wouldn’t end up ruining anything.
"I've had enough Things to know that they're a pain in the ass," Jai shot back. "Maybe you didn't get to meet all of my Things." He stuck his tongue out at Zach before pushing the menu away since he knew what he wanted already. "Sometimes it's just easier to keep myself unattached. I don't know if I've got the patience or energy for an actual relationship. They can be a lot of work with the wrong person." And like Zach, he was always worried that it might mess up whatever bond he has with Zach. It was a complicated situation and usually Jai just kept his love life casual so he wouldn't have to deal with it getting even more confusing.
Zach had only had a couple of boyfriends in his life, at least in real life. He’d dabbled more in online relationships, but those were always one step removed from his day to day life, so it was easier to hide his connection to his brother. “What does that even mean, an actual relationship,” Zach muttered, his tone a bit sour. “Like you’ve got to be headed toward like, marriage and kids or it doesn’t count? Heteronormie bullshit.” He was mostly talking out of his ass, but the idea that he and Jai weren’t in a ‘real’ relationship -- which was a loose term all on its own, every connection to another human was a sort of relationship, wasn’t it? -- rubbed him the wrong way. They meant a lot to each other, in a bunch of different ways, there was love and companionship there, it didn’t mean nothing. Luckily the waitress showed up to interrupt them and take their orders before his mouth ran away with him.
Jai was thankful for the interruption, but after the waitress disappeared with their orders, his gaze shifted back to Zach's face. "I mean, like... monogamy. Devoting most of your time and energy to someone else. It's different than..." He gestured between the two of them, because they were in public and couldn't exactly have that kind of talk right now. "And yeah, maybe in my head it means marriage, or some kind of major commitment like that." Jai paused and then nudged Zach's foot under the booth table. "Bad choice of words. I know what's real and what isn't. But you know what I mean, don't you?"
He didn’t even know if he really wanted monogamy and commitment and only one important person in his life. Did that mean he’d never really been in love? Zach didn’t know. He felt like he’d gotten started on those types of things so late in life because of his transition, he was behind. Plus, he did love Jai, and he wanted anyone else important in his life to understand and accept that, but that was probably a pipe dream. Some people were polyamorous, yeah, but approving of half-brother incest? Ugh, it all gave Zach a headache to think about. He fiddled with the paper his straw had come wrapped in and glanced up at Jai’s face briefly. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Zach murmured. “I just dunno if I’ll ever really want that. If I have to like, choose between it and ... how it is now.”
Jai was of the mind that you could be in love with someone and not be monogamous but he knew not everyone thought the way he did. That's why he was careful about who he was with and how serious it got. He offered Zach a small smile. "Doesn't make much sense to worry about it until you've got to worry about it, you know? Maybe you'll meet someone someday that makes you feel that way. Maybe you won't. I think the important thing is just enjoying the shit you've got now, you know?" He didn't want Zach worrying about having to "choose" between him and some new guy in his life. Jai had a difficult time imagining not having a physical bond with his brother, but he wasn't going to force Zach into giving up something he wanted just because Jai didn't like it.
Zach wrapped the small strip of paper around and around his fingers, over and over until it ripped, then let it drop with a sigh. “Yeah,” he said. He didn’t know if he would ever fall in love like that either. Maybe Toby would end up being that person for him, maybe it would be somebody else years later. Maybe it would be nobody, ever. Jai was probably right that he shouldn’t worry about it until they were faced with it, though. Zach smiled faintly back at him. “And I am enjoying it. The shit I’ve got now.” He moved his foot under the table to nudge Jai’s back finally, an easier smirk crossing his face. “Maybe we’ll meet like, some hot poly slut we can share someday,” he murmured with a soft snicker.
Jai laughed. "Yeah. A hot poly slut in Point Pleasant. Those are some great odds." And yes, he was being sarcastic. Things were what they were and Jai was more than willing to just go with the flow until something changed. Considering his life right now, it didn't make much sense to plan ahead. That seemed sort of counterproductive in a town like Point Pleasant anyway. The dark shit here didn't care what life goals someone had. "Anyway," Jai said, taking another drink from his straw before setting his cup aside. "Are you still tired? You wanna go to the theater outside of town and see a movie or something when we're done? I wouldn't mind getting out of here for a few hours."
He knew that was probably just a fantasy, especially in this tiny stupid town. Even though there seemed to be a fair amount of queers running around the place, a hot poly slut who was interested in both of them was like a unicorn, and everybody knew Point Pleasant didn’t have a lot of good-weird stuff in it. So there was no sense in bellyaching about it, he just had to get on with life, like everybody else. Zach perked up at Jai’s suggestion, a bright smile taking over his face. “Yeah! That sounds awesome,” he said. Sometimes it took work to sit still and focus for a movie length of time, but if they found something he was interested in, he could do it. “Let’s do some shopping too, I need some new t-shirts, gettin’ too swole.” Zach lifted both arms to flex, making a ‘sexy’ duckface at Jai as he did so.
"I hear swole and I think swollen and that's not flattering," Jai said with a laugh. "If you turn into a gym bro or whatever they're called, I'm going to have to kick you out of the apartment." He was only mostly teasing. Jai was glad that Zach was working out and getting fit. He'd be able to kick Jai's ass in no time. "I'm down for the shopping too. I need some new shit for the summer. Some really colorful button downs with various animals on them," he said, his grin widening. "Gotta let all the hotties in town see what they're missing."
“I dunno, sometimes swollen things are fun,” Zach countered with a wicked grin and a pointed glance downward. They had to be careful about their behavior in public, but there wasn’t anybody around them to be eavesdropping, so words were safe even if groping wasn’t. His fixation on working out was more about burning off his excess energy and presenting as male as possible. The thicker he got in the chest and arms, the better he passed. Plus, he just liked to be hot. He laughed a bit at the shopping specifics and nodded. “Hell yeah, make them drool on themselves with your hot pink flamingos and penguins and stuff. Summa, summa, summa-time.” The last part came out as a song and Zach bobbed his head a bit. It was going to be a fun day, shopping and a movie followed by some likely hot sex once he and Jai got home. Who could ask for more?