warren and jay: at the winter ball

[x-highflying.livejournal.com]

Warren shows up to the ball as Jay's guest, and while Jay refuses to dance with him when there's an audience, Warren does manage to talk him into one later on in the evening.

Warren didn't have too many items of clothes that allowed him to have his wings on display, but he did have one particular suit that had been tailored especially for exactly that. It was all white, the only hint of color in what he wore was the silver glints coming from his tie. He wandered into the ballroom, sharp blue eyes looking out for the man who had specifically invited him here, automatically nodding and smiling to the people he knew.

Jay stood inside the room, off in the far corner with his back to the door (because it was better than staring at it right?) and he was busy, pouring himself a peach coloured drink. As promised, Kyle had loaned him a dark grey suit jacket for the occasion but since he didn't have any pants that fit Jay, he wore a pair of his buffalo jeans with the least amount of holes in them that he could find. Even the jacket was a little bit big on him, Kyle standing well above Jay's six feet. He'd refused the cowboy hat Kyle said he should wear, already looking way too much hick for his own tastes.

Taking the drink in hand, he stepped aside for others to get to the punch bowl, pausing to take a drink when he turned around and spotted Warren. "Oh hell, out done again," he mumbled to himself. The drink was quickly polished off, but even then, his mouth felt dry as he meandered over to Warren, hands in pockets and nodded a greeting. "Well, you look.. uh...festive."

In Jay's defence, Warren was probably one of the best dressed people in the room, if not the best. He didn't exactly do it on purpose, apart from the fact that he didn't buy anything that he looked shabby in. He smiled over to Jay, taking a moment to appreciate what the other man was wearing. "I'm just hoping no one asks me to visit any shepherds anytime soon," he said with a playful wink. "Since there's a country boy right here I'd rather spend my time with."

He brushed a hand through his hair, inclining his head and blushed. Him! Blushing! "Oh c'mon, now yer bein' cheesy." He nodded towards the punch bowls. "Ya wanna get a drink?"

"It's just that time of year," he said with a smirk. He glanced over at the bowls, looking thoughtful. "Has anyone spiked it yet?"

He shook his head. "Don't think so. Who needs it anyways, right? This party's gonna stay pretty tame. Now if it was the snowvalley christmas party, Ah reckon they'd all be pickin' each other off the floor and licking their wounds with coffee in the morn."

Warren chuckled. "I don't remember these things staying tame... but then again, half the people that made it that way are now working at Snow Valley, so I guess it all works out." Warren's attention was caught by the music playing, and he glanced back at Jay. "Would you like to dance?"

Jay couldn't help but clear his voice and brush a stray hair away from his mouth. "Nah, it's kinda weird, yanno? Everyone watchin'. Maybe later." Some date he was, but 'going' with Warren was weird enough, even though he had asked for it. Jay was content to just be where they were, watching from the sidelines, despite the romantic in him swooning at the fact that Warren had asked at all. "Ah'll just uh.." he pointed over his shoulder, backing up a pace. "-- get you a drink huh?" he smiled before he turned and retreated to the refreshment table.

Warren didn't push, responding to Jay's rejection of his offer with just a wry smile and a nod, which might have been more a reply to the offer of a drink than anything else.

Much later in the evening, the two fliers found themselves up on the fliers platform, the cold night air whipping around them. Warren had ditched the suit jacket, his shirt being enough of a protection from the elements for a man he could survive the cold of very high altitudes. He looked over to Jay, his features mostly obscured by the night.

"Thanks for inviting me out here tonight," he said with a bit of a rueful smile. "It certainly beat the parties I would have gone to otherwise."

Jay still kept his own jacket on, if only because he thought if he took it off, he'd lose it and then have to dip into school funds to pay Kyle back. It was just like him to do that, so it was best to avoid by keeping it on. For the moment, he wasn't thinking about the cool weather or the jacket he was wearing, no, Jay was thinking about the night, how carefully they'd kept things on the innocent side, tame unlike Warren's first time coming back. "Yea, it was a good time, tho' Ah got sick of the punch half way through. You didn't stain yer clothes either, that's impressive."

"Punch is always a bit hit and miss," Warren replied. "Mostly miss, especially if it's not spiked." He grinned at the last comment. "Haven't had much of an opportunity to mess them up, have I?" He extended a hand out to Jay. "Are you going to deny me a dance now? There's no one here to watch."

Jay looked around, like there was going to be someone there to see them and groaned. "Yer gonna make me dance up here? With no music?" He asked, helpess to the charm and the extended hand. Jay's fell into it, if only reluctantly, dragging his converse when he was pulled into Warren and suddenly felt like fourteen years old, way in over his head.

"I'll hum," Warren said with a grin, pulling Jay in and slipping an arm around his waist. And he did, humming something badly under his breath as he lead them in a waltz. Did you really want music that badly Jay?

Oh no, not that badly. "Shh shhh shhh," Jay hushed through the hiss in his voice and slowed them down. "Let me--" he smirked briefly but it faded. The last song he'd sung in studio, humed but never again to be sung strummed in his throat, the only way he was able to keep a tune. He'd never told Warren he couldn't sing anymore, but it was only fitting between them that it be one secret that remained.

The awkwardness of dancing on the roof melted away as he focused on his song, slow and painful titled 'Something Beautiful' and it brought him back to who he originally had written it for, though somehow, that didn't fit anymore. Not for the person he was now.

Thank Heavens for that. Warren had hoped Jay would take over, the older man in no way capable of singing like the angel he appeared to be. Part of him had hoped Jay would sing, he remembered him having a beautiful voice. But he didn't, but that was okay.
Simply smiling in response to Jay, he remained silent through the dance. He couldn't help but catalogue the differences between Jay and the last man he'd danced with - Piotr's skin had been calluses, but it wasn't sandpaper rough like Jay's was. Where Piotr had been tall and a solid wall of muscle, Jay was wiry and slender. Red hair flopped over his face where Piotr's had been short and - he pulled himself up at that point, realizing what he was doing. Thinking about his ex while dancing with someone else was bad enough, but comparing them?No. When the song drew to a close Warren pulled away from Jay, bowing slightly to his partner with a sad smile hovering on his lips.

"Thank you Jay," he said simply, no flirtatious note in his voice or a salacious quip to go with it. Despite his preoccupation, it had been a beautiful song, and Jay had been an excellent partner.

"Yeah well, just don't tell anybody," he joked and felt something close to disappointment fall through the floor. Whatever he was hoping for, well, he admitted to himslef that he wasn't really sure and smiled, brushing his fingers over his eyes, rubbing them. "It's gettin' late, you need an escort or do ya mind if Ah head downstairs to sleep?"

"I think I know my way around," he said, the smile turning into something of a smirk. He closed the gap between them again, leaning in to brush his lips against Jay's. A second, and it was over, Warren stepping back out of Jay's space.

"I had a great night," he said sincerely, holding Jay's gaze for a moment before he slipped back into his usual teasing mood. "Sweet dreams, Jay." He launched himself into the air at that point, the beat of the ivory wings taking him up and away.