wiped (pianoandcoke) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-05-09 14:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, kurt hummel, tj hammond |
WHO: Kurt Hummel and TJ Hammond
WHERE: TJ’s room
WHEN: May 8th
WHAT: They have breakfast, chat, and then decide to stop dancing around each other.
RATING: PG-13 for language, reference to drug abuse, and sexual suggestion.
STATUS: log; complete.
TJ drank enough wine the night before to crash a little early, forsaking picking up someone at the bar for New Girl and The Mindy Project instead. It was a good choice, long term. So he woke up before noon and felt pretty fresh and renewed. TJ had lows and highs, but he didn’t mind his evens these days. He was a few weeks clean now after a brief hiccup, although that was a hiccup done again a few weeks before that. But hey, a little was better than none, and he was working on it. He did manage to clean up his room enough he didn’t mind having someone over, and he wouldn’t have his mother’s voice whining in his ear. His version of ‘having food’ was buying muffins, but TJ did make coffee, so it smelled nice in his kitchen. These were the types of mornings he didn’t mind getting up for, and he felt rather cheerful. As warned, he wasn’t bothering with a shirt, and it was obvious why TJ was confident to walk around that way. He had a smoking body and he knew it. For all his drinking and layabout ways, he spent some free time working out or at home, and sometimes that’s where he got his adrenaline rushes. He wore low hanging jeans and no shoes or socks, dark hair a little tousled since he literally rolled out of bed like this. TJ opened the door a little so Kurt could come in whenever, and he lit up a cigarette. It wouldn’t set any alarms off, and yeah he was a social smoker, but it felt like a good time to have one. Cigarettes and coffee just went together, and he was cycling through his phone. Moments like this, Kurt really worried about his own sanity. Especially with only a few hours to go before he had to call in at work, but he guessed that if this little visit took him longer than planned, he could poke someone at work to take over for him - that was the benefit of being Kurt Hummel; people were actually willing to cut him some slack. Hm. But he wasn’t going to abuse it; he didn’t want to give people anymore of a reason to hate him even more. Don’t talk about Blaine, check. Don’t post Glee gifs, check. Don’t watch the show, check. And TJ. TJ, TJ, TJ, TJ. Where to begin. Shirtless TJ, probably had just rolled out of bed, so Kurt was glad to factor in tousled hair, bare feet. Probably very low riding pants. Kurt was almost afraid to come in. But carrying a basket of strawberries, he did. And promptly swallowed hard as his brain blacked out for a minute there. Eyes slid up and down as he tried to make sound. A belated knock on the door was going to have be good enough. TJ was lost in reading something, so he didn’t hear Kurt come in at first or feel his eyes on him. He did look around at the knock and smiled; Kurt was not very good at hiding his feelings. They were all over that sweet face of his. “If you’d like to keep staring you can, but I’d suggest shutting the door at least.” He couldn’t help tease the kid. He remembered a time when he was young and wore his heart on his sleeve too. It was a long time ago, so it was hazy, but he did remember. TJ had to keep reminding himself of that whenever he thought too much about taking advantage. It was getting harder to keep that in mind. He missed being impulsive and doing whatever he wanted because he wanted it. He poured a second cup of coffee and moved over to Kurt. “Let me swap this.” He’d take the strawberries and in exchange he’d leave the coffee. Seemed fair enough. He set the strawberries by the muffins and knocked a little of his cigarette ash into the ashtray when he passed. TJ figured Kurt didn’t smoke, but there was a pack with his lighter in plain sight if he changed his mind. “I already have mimosas in the fridge if you want one.” He sort of always had them. It was a tradition with him and his grandmother to have one nearly every morning they spent together. It started the day out right. Suddenly wishing that he hadn’t decided to wear those tight ocre jeans and black boots after all, Kurt smiled weakly at TJ and quickly exchanged strawberries for coffee. He was going to ignore the cigarette smoke - it obviously wasn’t his place to fret too much - and they were going to have a good time. “So you look uhm...” Kurt figured that he had to stop shaking his head at some point - and promptly had a sip from his coffee. “Good.” Well, there was really no questioning That - it was probably just as cute as watching Blaine roll out of bed with his curly hair. And oh dear God, he was thinking in terms of ‘cute’. He was a ruined man. “I probably shouldn’t be h-” But Kurt couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence. ”Drink a mimosa.” Better, although he wasn’t sure how much of a save it had been. “Even if my tolerance has been going up since I’ve gotten here.” Which his father would give him an earful about if he only he was here. Hell, even being here with TJ would warrant a tongue lashing from most of his closest friends. All except Santana, it seemed. God bless that woman. “Well I don’t want to be blamed for your eventual fall into alcoholism, so don’t worry, I won’t force feed you any mimosas.” TJ snapped his fingers at Kurt with a devilish grin. “But!” He opened the fridge and did pour two drinks, setting them down. He split one of the strawberries so he could set it right on the edge of the glass, and offered it over to Kurt with a wink. All while keeping the cigarette comfortably between his lips. He pulled it aside when he did need to talk again, letting the nicotine fill his lungs in a very satisfying way. God a good cigarette could feel as good as sex in the right circumstance. “A sip won’t kill you. Besides it goes fantastic with all breakfast foods, that’s why we love it.” He hopped up onto the kitchen counter and glanced over to Kurt. He was all smiles and confidence today. Definitely woke up on the right side of the bed. “My grandmother gave me my first one when I was eleven. It was Easter. I thought I was such an adult.” TJ chuckled and finished off the cigarette, crushing it in the tray. He’d save the others for another good morning. Or a really bad one. “This led to getting drunk for the first time too. I tried to eat Easter decorations.” That grin was capable of making him melt faster than the wicked witch of the West - but Kurt tried to keep his cool and instead, countered that with a vibrant smile of his own. But suddenly he had a glass in his hand and he looked down on the drink; he knew what it was, but champagne was a rarity in his life. Although he guessed that had changed since coming here. Too late for auditions, too late for applications. He’d have to wait until next year. Carefully, he lifted the glass up to his lips and had a tentative sip - it was much, much sweeter than the Bloody Mary Artie had thought to bring after Glee had acquired their first hangover. “It’s almost noon.” But despite the fact that his own breakfast was long over, Kurt had another sip. It was good - maybe better with twice the amount of juice, but still good. “I threw up on a teacher’s shoes and called her Bambi.” Definitely not his proudest moment. And beer - which his father often drank - wasn’t to his taste. Wine, sugary sweet liquor, fruity drinks and nothing more. This fell into that category though. “I always decorated the house after mom died. I would never eat all that hard work.” And he was aware that it was where his drive for perfection had come from. He just wasn’t sure if his dad realized. Kurt tried, really tried. But he was starting to doubt if there was any gay or straight man or woman who could even say no to all that. His tongue flicked out nervously, quickly lapped up a few strays drops of mimosa. How could he even talk? Because his own brain was shutting down rapidly. TJ laughed at the story about his first time being drunk. “I don’t think I know anyone who had their first drinking experience turn out gracefully. Since adults make fools of themselves every day with it anyway.” TJ was on the whole a happy drunk. He didn’t let himself head into the depressive side of it very often, so he got energetic and sloppy and hugged people. Or made out with strangers. He’d do that sober though. Getting high was a different story, and one he pointedly kept his mind from drifting to. He picked up a muffin and some of the strawberries and moved to his kitchen table, setting them down. “Help yourself,” he mumbled around a bite of it. Raspberry chocolate chip. Hell yeah. TJ got his drinks on his second go around and settled in his chair. “We didn’t do our own decorations. Mom had a party planner for basically everything. She wasn’t too bad at handling family brunches, but you basically just have to figure out the food and cater.” Needless to say, there was no cooking or personal touches to what they did. “My dad got me to memorize all the Christmas songs backwards and forwards to play with them. He has a hard on for the piano, it’s like some weird obsession.” TJ didn’t know the full story about his reasons for why, so it still annoyed him. He kept away from watching his own show. Nothing like seeing himself spiral several times in six hours. Kurt shrugged, glass of mimosa still in hand, but stayed at the counter and eventually leaned back. “Christmas is a big deal for me. So is Thanksgiving. I do everything myself and really, my dad shouldn’t do anything except watch the superbowl.” It was really because while his dad tried, he just really had no knowledge of how to do these things. So Kurt had learned to step in. “I might be a bit of a perfectionist. Your mother would hated me. And my mother would’ve hated you,” Kurt finally said, laughing. “But not really. She was amazing.” And he knew that with Mother’s Day coming up and not being anywhere near Lima, Ohio, he couldn’t do the same things he’d always done. He’d have to find a new ritual. But he had time to figure that out. Maybe sit in front of the TV and watch The Wizard of Oz. “Yeah, mom knew all the songs. She was really good on the piano.” Or as good as a kid thought his mother was, he supposed. It wasn’t as he could ever hope to listen to anything she’d done objectively. Finally, he reached out of the strawberry on his glass’ rim and carefully took a bite from it. Good thing he’d washed them beforehand - really now, TJ. Yeah he wasn’t too worried about that. TJ didn’t think an unwashed strawberry was going to do any damage to his body he hadn’t already done at one time or another. “Not a big fan of Christmas,” he said, a little too quickly, and skirted around it. “My mother is a perfectionist too, in her own way. She sure would like you better than most people I hang out with.” That wasn’t too difficult, considering the company he kept. TJ didn’t exactly have ‘friends’ where he came from. He was sociable and friendly, but he didn’t like keeping attachments. “Dougie’s doing all right here, I thought he was going to go crazy. He’s one of those Type A’s, and he wanted to go into politics himself soon enough. I don’t think that’s an option here.” Maybe it was. They were getting popular in this world, maybe that’d cause enough of a swing he could be a spokesperson or something. If he wanted to. So far he seemed to be getting into teaching more, which was pretty cool. TJ went to class and helped out, although he was more likely to heckle and bring onion rings for everyone. “His wife didn’t come through. Not sure if he wants her to either.” Kurt’s eyes widened as soon as TJ brushed off Christmas - rather coldly at that - and he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened there; he knew TJ had an unfortunate history with both drugs and alcohol and used to have an affair with a married man, but that was pretty much it. And no matter how much he’d been tempted to watch the show, he wasn’t going to. He flat out refused. It wasn’t the right way to make friends. “I’m sorry,” he said, but TJ was talking again, so Kurt took a sip from his mimosa and for the first time, wished that it was something stronger. “I actually don’t like really other perfectionists, especially when they turn all diva on me. The perks of being friends with aspiring singers.” Kurt put out his hand and did the ‘stop’ sign. “I’m good for a lot of things, but not for running off to the grocery story because Miss Diva wants honey with her tea. That’s when you get talked back to. Get it yourself, you have legs and your ego needs slimming down stat.” Hm. And that was that. But then Kurt nodded understandingly. “Keep his options open? I get that.” Kurt’s intuition was sharp here; it had to do with TJ’s past and a traumatizing situation. The last thing he needed was to rehash some of the worst parts of an already checkered past. He knew enough about Glee to get general ideas, but he wouldn’t watch it even if he didn’t know Kurt. Too high school for him. He could check out YouTube for performances or if Kurt mentioned something specifically, but otherwise he didn’t bother. He laughed at Kurt’s reaction to divas, but he’d seen plenty of people think they could handle his mother, and then end up stuttering when they were around her. She was a really powerful presence. TJ saw an entire group of the most powerful men in politics, in the USA, shift uncomfortably like teenage boys when she yelled at them. It was pretty awesome, in general. “I don’t think she’s ever done that, but my brother would know more. He’s her Chief of Staff. Everything that happens goes through him. My grandmother on the other hand, full diva. She used to be a singer and performer herself. Sleeping her way to the top, and proudly at that.” He loved her to pieces. She didn’t take crap from anyone and had fun all her life. TJ shrugged. “They had some issues. He cheated on her right before their wedding. Probably a bad sign for wedded bliss.” He didn’t mind sharing that information; Doug knew it was public and got to a point where he just owned it and moved on. “It was weird for him, to be honest. He’s such a hardcore monogamist, he’s never forgiven our father for his bullshit. He disapproves of my lifestyle.” Not in a way that made TJ feel bad, though. His brother loved him. He was just really straight arrow. The good guy. “Oof. I wouldn’t want to work for her,” Kurt let slip. “Wintour on the phone is bad enough. She’s make or break.” Kurt’s eyes widened again, and he finished off the rest of his mimosa. Really? Did he remind him of his grandmother or something? Good God. That certainly would put a damper on anything sexual. ”Your grandmother, was she ever on Broadway?” At least, something he could pick up on, something he actually knew something about. And Kurt was all too glad to tackle the subject with an eagerness that was all his own. “Did she ever sleep with anyone really important?” Somehow, he felt like she and he would get along famously, if she ever showed up here. Again. Such a damper. Kurt nodded and reached for the rest of his strawberry. “A bit, yes. That actually happened in my show. Yeah.” Somehow, it was just easier to refer to it as ‘the show’ - not like he had any control over it anyway. Here was the first time, actually. Things were sort of going his way. Sort of. He finished off the rest of strawberry and discarded the crown of it in the basket. “I wouldn’t either. She offered me a job too, but I’m not made for office work.” He was made for getting up late and making mimosas first thing in the morning. Luckily his current schedule allowed for sporadic time, but probably one of these days TJ might have to actually be on a schedule. Yuck. He was not looking forward to that. Maybe he should take Doug seriously and try to win the lottery. Chances are it wouldn’t go to them anyway. “She was, and if you hear her tell it, she slept with everyone important.” TJ laughed. “You know that Cassandra woman reminds me of her. And a sidenote, that has nothing to do with me finding her sexy. Just a personality thing.” TJ didn’t worry too much about that. He could find people attractive for certain qualities that he liked in non-sexual friends and family. That was only natural. Of course the qualities he disliked in his parents were general turn-offs for him, so it all worked out. “That’s why I argue monogamy’s pointless. If they had rules beforehand, it wouldn’t be a big deal.” He liked Ann a lot. He wasn’t entirely happy that Dougie married her without confessing, because while he thought monogamy was dumb, he’d still prefer honesty with that sort of thing. TJ was open about his way of looking at things, he didn’t lie to people. But considering his brother was perfect most of the time, he was allowed more than a few mistakes. “But you can’t be a politician in an open marriage. Too much potential for scandal.” “I need money.” The one and only reason Kurt had taken the part time job, all while hoping that his other audition would finally come through. Maybe then he’d earn more than just a couple hundred dollars a month. He liked fashion and Broadway - he needed money, stat. “Oh, she sounds shameless. And just wonderful,” Kurt laughed. “I need to know more women like her.” But then the conversation took a darker turn and he couldn’t even begin to try to hide the hurt in his eyes. “Yes. But rules are still made to be broken,” he pointed out. “So it would probably still be a big deal. Unless you’ve actively come to expect it from the other person and trust them to be in your bed when it’s over, it still really fucking hurts. Probably on both counts.” But then again, he didn’t expect TJ to get it, not really. But then again, it’d only been the first time for him. Probably wouldn’t be the last. He lifted up the glass - “Can I have more of this?” TJ knew that Kurt was cheated on and how it probably felt for him. He was hurt by Sean, but it was never about fidelity for them. And he agreed that if two people committed, they should stick with that and not break it and keep secrets. That didn’t keep him from sleeping with married or committed guys though. He wasn’t the one with any promises. He looked over at Kurt and recognized the hurt in him. “Sure you can. It’s light enough you probably shouldn’t have any trouble going to work in a bit.” Unless he was a light weight, which he was. Oops. TJ went back to get the mimosa jug and came over to Kurt, pouring more for him. He set it down and lingered nearby, sizing the kid up. “You can actively expect it to come from the other person and still not be able to handle it. Feelings aren’t rational. Not everyone can do that, and that’s okay.” He pretty much knew that no matter what Kurt said, he probably couldn’t handle it. Unfortunately he was not good at listening to the angel on his shoulder. “You could go to work, or you could stay here.” And the way he was looking at Kurt made it very, very clear what he meant when he said ‘stay.’ He was bored of playing around. “Thank you.” Yeah, there was the hitch, wasn’t it? He’d only been drinking since moving to NYC, so there hadn’t been nowhere near enough time to build up a good tolerance. Three glasses of wine and Kurt was down for the night - and by the count, it helped that one bottle of wine was usually shared with two other ladies he shared a flat with. Here? He’d had to resort to buying small bottles. “I’m not going to lie. I want that someone I can grow old with and call a stinking pile of turd freely.” That would be nice. And maybe he had to stop getting his ideas from TV. “And it’d be nice if he didn’t cheat. But beggars can’t be choosers.” And oh oh, he was so aware that TJ was not that person. But damn it, even he had seen the cartoon heart in his eyes. Love was nowhere near from rational, and those were the days he wished he was Spock’s great grandfather or something akin to real Vulcan emotions. That, and that Moulin Rouge had never been made. Kurt glanced at TJ and clearly saw the invitation in his stance. He said ‘yes’ to himself - and counted to five. “Screw work. We’ve been dancing around each other like a pair of excited poodles. And that’s a really stupid description.” “I’m not going to be that person. But you’re young. You’ve got plenty of time to find one. Might as well have fun until you do.” TJ knew he was going to get a yes. He had a good feel for these things, and Kurt was still giving him the puppy eyes. He probably should’ve stopped it since he knew what that meant, but he was tired of being the good guy. It didn’t suit him. He was clear about his stance and that would have to be enough. He laughed at the description. “I am in no way a poodle. I’d say more like a lab.” TJ took the mimosa he just poured out of Kurt’s hand and put it to the side. He didn’t want that to get in the way. “So you’d best call someone, right? To get out of work?” The question was asked but then purposely distracted when he stepped into Kurt’s personal space. He touched those narrow hips and lowered his head down to kiss his neck. It was a light touch followed by a slow tease of his tongue against Kurt’s skin. He tasted like something TJ shouldn’t be doing. His favorite type of taste. He moved back up and bumped his nose against Kurt’s, not quite bringing their lips together but tempting him with it. “Decision time. Yes or no.” Young, yes. Immature, yes. And he’s been so intent on getting his phone out of skinny jeans to call work, but the moment those lips hit skin, his brain blacked out. ”Uh.” Yup. He was just still a guy. “Yeaaaaah.” Kurt drew in a deep breath, but that didn’t seem to help. In a way, it was hilarious - he used to do this sort of thing with Blaine and Adam. But since coming here, the roles had been reversed. Gone were the days where he topped. And to his surprise, he liked the change. Uhhhhh... He leaned in and kissed him on the lips - no matter what - and then ducked down to escape his embrace. “You, your hot cheese grater abs and libido can wait one - no twenty-five seconds while I call Marie and tell her I’m getting it on with you - she’s terribly curious about my sex life.” He’d whispered that last part as if she was in the room with them. “Twenty-five seconds.” By the time he’d uttered the last word, the phone was already ringing. TJ played whatever part felt right at the time. He topped and bottomed and everything in between, mostly just went with the flow and had a good time. But he did tend to be the aggressor either way, because he loved to flirt, and he loved to make someone’s brain short circuit from his behavior. The way Kurt’s was now. He chuckled when Kurt tried to escape him and fumbled with the phone to call in. No regrets, honestly. It was too exhausting trying not to do something he wanted to, so he’d just take his chances it wouldn’t explode the wrong way. His smile was all kinds of suggestive when he watched Kurt. Well if he was going to do that, TJ might as well help skip another step by undoing Kurt’s pants for him. He was helpful that way. “You might want to make it faster than that,” he whispered back, and quirked an eyebrow at him. The reason for why became obvious a moment later when he went down on his knees in front of Kurt and took his time to be as distracting as humanly possible. |