Who: TJ Jung & Kyle Monroe Where: Suite 5N When: Friday, July 31; afternoon What: A confession Warnings:N/A
Kyle threw the controller down on the ground at his feet. “Dude, I give up.” He said frustrated as he looked at the TV screen. “Seriously, like I can’t get past that damn freaking level.” He looked at TJ as if expecting some sort of wisdom or better yet consolation prize for the fact he was stuck in Halo 4 again. Why he had to play it on Legendary was beyond him. He wanted whine and tell him to make him feel less like a failure, but dude he wasn’t about to do that.
Bending over he scooped up the control and hit continue. Okay, he would try this again. He started to move the joysticks making his way through the level, shooting at the covenant characters but his heart was just not in it. He was frustrated, and felt like he’d been at this for ages. His focus drifted back to TJ. “So, what you want to do other than watch me epicly fail?”
Because TJ took most everything in good humor, he simply chuckled after listening to Kyle vent. “I guess it takes a lot of skill if you want to become legendary,” he offered, reaching over to grab Kyle’s shoulder and give it a squeeze. “I don’t mind. I mean, this is pretty entertaining.” As if on cue, the avatar on the screen got blasted off the screen by a gravity hammer, earning another laugh from TJ.
“I could help? You could make me your player number two.” Except they both knew that normal difficulty already came as a struggle for him. First-person shooter games weren’t really his thing, but it wasn’t like he minded playing them. “We could watch something too,” he suggested, shifting so his arm laid across the back of the couch behind Kyle and his right leg was no longer at risk of falling asleep. “It’s been awhile since I’ve checked Netflix.”
Kyle was ready to get all proud, sitting up ready to say he had skill. “I have,” he paused mid-sentence as his shoulders hunched and he focused on the game because the moment he opened his mouth Kyle was getting destroyed yet again. At least he was entertaining his guest right? It wasn’t long before he was dead again. He dropped the control between his feet and threw his hands up in the air. “I’m done.”
“Eh, let’s watch something.” Kyle knew this wasn’t TJ’s wheel house. Plus Kyle was sick of watching Master Chief die over and over due to his incompetence. “I’m over it.” He pushed the controller away with his foot and leaned his head back. “Let’s watch Netflix.” He turned his head to look at TJ, “And you’re picking.”
“Alright, alright,” TJ surrendered. He slid down the couch until his feet could reach the controller, dragging it back close enough so he could pick it up and navigate them back to the main menu. “Looks like we’re watching Futurama then,” he decided, but glanced over at Kyle with a grin, waiting for some confirmation that it was an acceptable choice.
Kyle couldn’t suppress the laugh that arrived watching TJ trying to get the controller back. He could have been nice and helped, but watching it was too amusing. “Lazy ass.” Kyle mumbled but loud enough to be heard. He shrugged his shoulders when he said they’d be watching Futurama. “Whatever.”
Which was good enough for TJ, so he scrolled through the different options before he could finally track it down in his Recently Watched. “Dude, I can only recognize like, a third of these titles. Some of them are really funny though. The Day My Butt Went Psycho,” he read, unable to help the laughter bubbling from his mouth. “Really?! How is this a kid’s show? Alright, here we go.”
After pressing play on a random Futurama episode, TJ tossed the controller aside and rearranged himself yet again, lying down so his head was nestled on the armrest and his feet were shoved into Kyle’s lap. He wriggled his toes. “I’m comfy. You?”
“Hey, it is a freaking odd kid show and for that it is awesome.” Kyle just shook his head and shifted in his seat adjusting pants and all to get comfortable. Nothing but perfect timing because soon there were TJ’s feet shoved into his lap. “Whoa.” He grabbed a foot. “Way to hog all the lying down room.” Kyle didn’t mind though and rested his hands on TJ’s legs near his ankles as he let go of his foot. He turned his attention to the TV, avoiding looking at TJ for a moment.
“Sorry, sorry,” TJ tried sounding apologetic, but his low chuckling indicated that he was anything but. He followed suit and looked over at the television, humming along to the opening theme song. It wasn’t even ten seconds into the show before a gag had him laughing, rumbling up his chest and shaking his shoulders. Man, this show was too good. “How’s work?” he asked once he settled down, using a foot to nudge Kyle. “Anything exciting happening at the cafeteria?”
Kyle focused on the show, laughing along when he knew he should. Honestly, TJ was super distracting but Kyle really only had himself to blame. He kept wondering what TJ was thinking about Kyle’s stupid acts the last few times they hung out. It wasn’t until TJ was directing a question at him and using a foot to nudge him that he realized he had zoned out. “Oh ha, it’s good.” He paused shaking his head. “Yeah fine and ha nothing ever interesting happens. Unless you call jell-o molds and finding old food in the back of the fridge exciting.”
“Gross,” TJ snickered in reply, nose wrinkling. “Don’t tell me too much. I eat there, man, and sometimes ignorance is bliss.” Then TJ paused. Maybe he was imagining it, but throughout the day Kyle had seem distracted, like he was worried about something. That was unusual, and while it wasn’t too noticeable when he was losing at Halo (although that was TJ’s first hint), it was more pronounced now that they were just lying around watching television.
After staring for a few moments, TJ ventured, “Everything alright? You seem kind of, I don’t know. Somewhere else.”
“Fine.” He turned his attention to the TV, but it did not last long. “Just things on my mind. Honestly, it’s fine.” Kyle was pretty sure that was all a lie, it was just a matter of he didn’t want to talk about it. He had a feeling that his repetitive use of the word fine was about to bite him in the ass though.
“You sure? We can talk if you want.” Another pause. “Or we can just watch TV if you don’t want to.”
“Just watch.” There was a long pause before Kyle gave a very heavy sigh. “Are you not at all concerned why I have kissed you.” Kyle just blurted the words out. If it were not for TJ’s feet he probably would be in the process of standing up and pacing, as that is what he felt like doing right now.
“Uh—” The blurted syllable summed up his thoughts on the matter well enough. There were none. They had kissed once at the bar that day TJ had been trying to fulfill Ji’s challenge, but TJ had brushed the incident aside as another drunken shenanigan. Then Kyle had kissed him once more when he was sleeping over, when TJ’s eyes were already drooping and he only closed them to accept the gesture before falling promptly asleep.
“Not really? It’s not a big deal,” he said, because it looked like it was for Kyle. TJ began sitting up to face him. “You don’t have to worry about it.”
Great, so he had no thoughts on the matter. Kyle pursed his lips and took breathed through his nose before pushing TJ’s feet off his lap. “Alright then.” Kyle felt like an idiot and wished he could take back that second kiss. The first one he could have just let go, but the second one he just didn’t think was as easy to write off as a mistake. He raked his fingers through his hair as he stood up trying not say or do anything stupid.
TJ echoed after him but sounded hesitant, “Alright?” Because it didn’t look like things were alright. If anything it looked like what he said had only made things worse, and he couldn’t figure out why when all he was trying to do was reassure Kyle that he didn’t have to think of it as anything either, but—oh. “Do you like me?”
Kyle had started pacing though it quickly came to a stop as soon as Kyle heard the words Do you like me leave TJ’s mouth. “Fuck.” What did he expect to come of this anyway? Wasn’t that what he was getting at in the worst way possible? Perhaps it would have been easier if his friends even knew he liked guys on any sense of the spectrum. Kyle always struggled bringing that up in conversation, it was easier to talk about hot chicks. “That is damn obvious now isn’t it.” He came off sounding frustrated. Though he was very aware that he was not handling the situation well at all.
Granted, TJ wasn’t handling the situation well either. He felt out of his element watching Kyle pace the floor, but he was nothing if not persistent. “Look, Kyle,” he spoke up again so Kyle would at least look at him. Maybe that would help convey his words. “I mean it, you don’t have to worry about it. It’s not a big deal.” The words of comfort were automatic, but he realized he had just repeated what he said earlier and how well they’d gone over, so he made an addendum, “It doesn’t bother me at all.”
His name got him to look over and kept him rooted in spot. Looking at TJ he was just waiting for something, and what he got was words he had earlier that didn’t exactly make him feel any better. He was about to start pacing again when TJ kept talking. “Okay.” Kyle didn’t exactly know what else to say so he just went and sat back down on the couch. There was some sense of relief, but at the same time disappointment. “Great. So yes, that’s all been stated.” Kyle wasn’t even sure where to go from this point and was just staring at Futurama characters doing something on the screen.
This wasn’t completely better, but it was better. TJ smiled and waved his arms around him. “It’s all out in the open,” he said, chuckling to himself. The revelation that his friend had a crush on him was surprising, but it wasn’t unsettling. Just another thing that now made Kyle, well, Kyle. Now that that was all said and done, TJ looked over at the television and realized that the credits were running.
“Want to watch another episode?” he asked, but pushing his feet back into Kyle’s lap again was the only answer they needed.