Marshall & Sage with Jacob
Marsh couldn't help but laugh at the notion that learning the guitar would get him girls. He'd had no problems in that department before and the only reason he was signing up for this was his fear that Sage was going to hurt himself so he felt like he needed to stay in touch. It made him wonder if that was going to be his life now, randomly signing up for things he hadn't had any intention of joining but at least he had some interest in this particular thing and Sage was nice so far - intriguing. He accepted the napkin with a smile and held out his hand for the pen so he could scribble his own number on a corner of it and give it back to Sage.
Jacob had spotted them from across the room and made his way over, sidling up next to Sage at the bar and nudging him - not quite as subtly as he meant to. His eyes were glassy and his balance was off and he was wildly aware that he had had too much to drink so he followed Marsh's lead and got himself a glass of water. "Who's your friend?" he murmured over Sage's shoulder before chugging down his drink.
Sage saw Jacob approach them out of the corner of his eye as Marsh was writing down his number and immediately felt the fear begin to subside. It was such a weird effect, one he couldn’t explain. Yes, a friend might be reassuring, but Sage was smart enough to know that Jacob was absolutely defenseless against the things he feared most. It wasn’t like he was going to protect Sage—they were more likely to run and hide together, or die screaming their heads off. But having him close by helped. “This is Marsh,” Sage smiled, leaning into Jacob in a familiar way that was always worse when he’d been drinking. “I’ve somehow conned him into guitar lessons. Marsh, this is Jacob.”
It was impossible to miss the effect Jacob seemed to have on Sage as that rich taste that had lingered this whole time suddenly faded out completely and Marsh had to wonder if the two of them were more than friends. "Nice to meet you," he said with a smile and the only reason he didn't offer his hand to shake was that Jacob was now kind of leaning on Sage, his free hand on his back while he kept drinking his water. "I'd say I'm the one who conned you into lessons," he added to Sage. "But go with whatever story you're comfortable with."
“Well, that wouldn’t take much,” Sage said with a smile. “Hopefully you won’t regret it.” He knew he wouldn’t. He needed something to occupy his time and teaching Marsh would be a good distraction. It would force him to play again, even if it wasn’t anything exciting. “Talk soon?” He hadn’t expected to get his number in return, as it gave Marsh an easy out if he changed his mind, but now if he didn’t hear from Marsh by mid-week, he’d give him a call. It gave him something to look forward to. That was nicer than he expected, as well.