Angelo and Jay Saturday Night

[x-icarus.livejournal.com]

Angelo goes for a drink at Silver and finds Jay as his bartender. They talk about relationships and a certain firebug.


After ten minutes of hauling crates of beer inside, Jay set the last one behind the counter down and stood upright. Blowing out a sigh, he pressed his hands to the base of his spine, relieving the tension in his back. It wasn't that it was hard work but it was redundant, restocking before it started to get busy. He was still relatively new to the place, though he had a gotten a pretty decent routine down and the best part was, he wasn't molting anywhere.

Angelo glanced casually in the direction of the movement from the other side of the bar, then did a double-take. "...Jay?"

"Huh?" Jay turned at his name being called and smiled a greeting at Angelo. "Oh hey there, Ang. Can Ah get ya somethin?"

"Beer for me", he answered automatically, bemused. "Hey. Didn't expect to see you over there."

Jay opened the fridge and pulled out three types of beer, flashing them until Angelo picked on. "Ya, Ah' went ta bartendin' school a lil' while ago. They place ya somewhere - it's part o' tha fee - so 'ere Ah am. How ya holdin' up? Havn't seen ya in awhile. Yer walkin' all normal now?"

It took a second for him to put that together, but then he nodded. "Oh yeah, ankle healed up weeks ago. Had to wear the cast almost the whole time, though. Fuckin' Toad."

"Tough luck there. Does it bother ya any? Ah mean, Ah know people who break things an' shit ain' ever tha same afterwards. Like ya don' walk right anymore, or somethin' aches that didn' ache before." He popped the beer cap off and passed it over. "Three, fifty fer tha'," he said, nodding to the bottle.

Angelo dug a five out of his pocket and handed it over, shrugging. "Hurts a bit in the cold, yeah - I mean, it healed straight and all, the docs did a good job, so I walk just fine, but it was still broken an' it likes to let me know."

He took the money, fished out the change in the register and set it down next to the beer. "Ah bet yer gonna feel it when it rains. Tha's the complaint. Kinda like arthritis but not quite. How's Manda these days? You an' 'er good?"

"Pretty much." It was as close to the truth as anything he'd tell Jay - or anyone he wasn't close to. "You can guess by how much time Forge spends in his lab. Unless he's got another project, then it's just him."

"Yeh, Ah didn' need ta know that, but c'mon. Forge does tha' to 'imself. 'cept now he's gotta girlfriend so Ah'd think - or Ah'd hope - tha' changes somethin'. Priorities start changin' when yer datin' someone. You pair been together fer awhile now," he said, putting a few bottles into the fridge. "How long?"

"Just over a year", he said with a quick grin. "Kind of got two or three anniversaries - it was complicated - but whatever way you look at it, yeah."

"Two or three? Wha' kinda anniversaries 're those? Thought there was only suppose ta be one? Or last Ah checked, there was." Jay shifted over to the next fridge that was just a few feet away. "Ya should give me some advice fer bein' together tha' long. Gotta learn somethin' handy ta pass along." He looked up from where he crouched on the floor, smirking.

"If you didn't need to know the last thing, it's best I don't explain", Angelo said, laughing. "As for the advice... what kind of thing d'you want?"

Nodding, he was satisfied not to pry. "Oh, yanno, couple stuff. Like, 'manda an' ya ever not talk 'bout somethin' but yanno ya should. Like yer avoidin' it? The both o' ya 're? Or maybe just gettin' over tha humps of the relationship." He laughed at how that sounded. "Ya know what Ah mean."

"We try an' do the talkin' thing", he shrugged. "Haven't always been so good at it, but the other way never works."

"Yeh, so Ah' keep hearin'.Avoidin' it is always easy but tha talkin' bit gets a lil' rough. It don' always work out tha way ya want it to. So whaddya been up to lately?" He changed the subject, having exhausted himself on it completely and needed a change of pace as it seemed to be all he thought about lately.

"Same stuff as usual, mostly. School, trainin', Elpis... runnin' off to Texas for a week with Firebug an' I still don't know why I agreed to that. I knew it wouldn't end well."

He wanted to ask about Elpis but the mention of the firebug caught his attention. "That'd be John or Angel ya be talkin' 'bout?"

"John", he said, giving Jay an odd look. "I'm not crazy enough to go runnin' off out of state with an underage girl. Anymore."

"Oh Ah dunno. Tha' girl's pretty convincin' when she's got somethin' in 'er head. John huh? Ah got stuck wit' 'im in Whistler. Takes a bit gettin' use to, but 'e seems al'ght. Seems like a hardass when we talked, but Ah think he's mush underneath." Jay winked at Angelo. "So wha' went bad, if ya don' mind me askin?"

"Don't let him hear you say that", Angelo said with a chuckle. "He'd feel honour bound to prove you wrong. He got us arrested."

"Ah don' doubt tha'." He smiled, but it dropped somewhat at the news. "No shit? Wha' for?"

"Bar fight", Angelo said a little evasively. "Couldn't exactly leave him t'fend for himself."

"Ah think John can handle 'im self. Ah also think he's got some attitude that'll get his ass kicked around more than once. Ah like 'im though, for whatever reason. Ah couldn' tell ya exactly why. Ah reckon it's got somethin' ta do wit' his bad boy charm." Jay smiled. "Definitly not datin' material."

"Yeeeeah, you could definitely say that. I was gonna find him a girl in Texas, but he wouldn't let me."

"Maybe he's more inta guys." The smile grew into a grin and a twinkle gleamed in his eye.

"Well, I can safely say he is", Angelo said with a completely straight face. "Just don't know about more."

Jay cocked a brow and turned his complete attention on Angelo. "Now that is somethin' Ah didn' know. Ya would think ma gaydar would be goin' off or somethin'. Must be busted. Though are ya sure 'bout that? He' ain' just one of 'em straighties turned curious?" Jay had enough experience with two of those. He liked to think he was able to spot them from a mile away.

"No idea", Angelo said cheerfully. "It was a long time ago, back when I first got to the school, but... I can definitely tell you he was into it then."

Jay couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Well, Ah'll be damned. He never said a word..."

That got a curious look. "Why would he've done?"

"Cause -- oh Ah dunno -- it gives us somethin' when there ain' anythin' ta help us get along. Ah should say somethin' ta 'im. But yanno, ya can' say much to 'im. It's like me talkin' ta Kevin 'bout being gay. He gets this weird look in his eyes an' claims right away tha' he's straight." Jay shrugged, picking up the empty box and breaking it up. "Ah guess it don' matter ta me."

"Yeah, John doesn't do gettin' along with people, even if he likes them. Just the way it is." He looked at the other man. "You know, maybe he is? Mostly. Kevin, I mean."

"Kevin? Gay? Have ya tried ta talk ta 'im? It's like tryin' ta move a brick wall with yer bare hands - it ain't happenin'. Ah really believe 'im 'bout bein' straight. Kyle was straight too. Kev even said ta me tha' he would tell people he was gay just ta make me feel better. Kinda a slap in tha face, but yanno, he meant well. Gay men pretending ta be straight don't offer ta pretend ta be gay just ta make someone feel better. Especialy their boyfriend."

"Then what's the problem? He's straight, he's still with you, nothin' changes."

"No problem as far as Ah can tell. Ah didn' say anythin' ta you in the journals cause Ah was mad as hell an' Ah didn' have anythin' nice ta say at tha time, so it was better if Ah jus' shut ma mouth."

"...ah. The whole Angel thing." He grimaced. "Far as I can tell, that really wasn't anythin'."

"No, it ain't that. It's 'bout Kevin startin' --" Jay paused, wondering if he should really get into this. It was done and he was happy with the outcome. But it didn't hurt to fix things where opinions mattered. "Kev an' Ah got inta a big fight an' he made it really clear he didn't want drama over tha journals. An' he said he would start tellin' me stuff. Tha' was shit that Ah found out through journals an' then he goes ta argue 'bout it over the journals. So course Ah'm gonna be mad. He was being a big ol' hypocrite. But it's done. We talked 'bout it." And he was more than happy tolet it go.

"If you say so." He smiled faintly. "So, how's the job been treatin' you?"

"it's al'ight. Ah mean, Ah screw up alot, if tha's whatcher askin'. There's alotta drinks Ah don' know how ta make an' drunk girls think Ah'm hot. They keep tryin' ta buy me drinks. If Ah didn' have any will power, Ah's be a first class drunkard."