warren and jay: the start of a new year

[x-highflying.livejournal.com]

As discussed, Warren meets Jay after work New Years morning. Warren talks a lot about being in the closet and bitches about his father, and Jay is very patient with him. Backdated!

So in light of the decision Warren and Jay had come to about putting the brakes on things, Warren wasn't entirely sure showing up to meet Jay after work was a good idea. But the longer he'd stayed at the party, and the more champagne he drank, the more he didn't care. Which is why he could be found loitering outside Silver not long past 4am, waiting for Jay to join him. He had his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat, looking more hunched over than he was thanks to the bulk of his hidden wings.

Jen broke from the doors first, squeeling as Larry rushed up behind her and grabbed her from behind, followed by Jay, who had a jug in hand and proceeded to dump beer all over the pair. Jen screamed as she thrashed about and Larry finally let her go, only to turn around and run at Jay. Only she tripped and fell into his arms and he backed up a pace, laughing hard. That was when he spotted Warren and quickly passed off the jug to Larry who followed Jen back inside. "See ya Lars," he called over his shoulder and shook out his hands, tossing his wet hair back out of his face.

"She got a lil' cock happy inside and needed a coolin' off," he chuckled, brushing a thumb across his nose and sniffing before he gestured to the jacket. "Wanna walk or fly?" he asked. "Ah got mah truck here if ya want."

Warren just laughed, shaking his head a little bit. He certainly couldn't imagine anything of the sort happening amoungst his coworkers. He smiled at the question, taking a moment to glance up at the sky.

"Let's just walk," he said as he glanced back over to Jay. As much as he would love to hit the skies right now, the time and effort it would take to get his wings out of their harness certainly wouldn't be worth it.

"Sure." Jay smiled and brushed his hand through his hair. He wasn't really dressed for walking but it wasn't too cold tonight and he rarely felt it unless he was standing perfectly still. "How was the party?" he asked, falling into step with Warren.

Warren shrugged at the question, keeping his hands in his pockets as he walked. "Plenty of drunk, pretty people who can't keep their hands to themselves. But at least the champagne was good."

"Are you one of 'em?" he asked, nudging Warren in the shoulder. "Pretty but not drunk huh? What stopped you?"

"I can keep my hands to myself when I want to," he said with a bit of a shrug. "And getting drunk isn't that interesting when the gossipmongers are watching every move." He had a reputation to maintain, etc etc.

"Are they gonna be at mah door when they get wind of me?" he asked, Even though they were doing the friends thing, still being friends with someone so open tarnished reputations. Especially wealthy ones.

"I hope not," Warren said with a frown. "They never found out about Piotr, I'd like to think I could keep you out of the gossip mill as well." The fact that Warren Worthington the Third preferred guys was definitely not something his father wanted to be known.

Jay turned around and walked backwards in front of Warren, pulling his hands from his pockets and linking his fingers behind his back as he walked. "What would they talk about anyways? We're just friends," he teased.

"Yes," Warren said with a bit of a smirk. "Just friends." Even if Warren had dragged his ass out to Silver at 4am just to walk home with him. Only a friend would do something like that.

"So what's with this," he reached in front of him, tugging Warren's collar of his trenchcoat. "Why strapp'em down?"

Warren shrugged at that. "Same reason why everyone thought Piotr was just my 'friend from high school'." His lips curved into what looked like a smile, but was a little too bitter for that. "I'm still very much in the closet, in every sense of the word."

"Maybe in public," Jay reasoned. "But you ain't with me. Actually, yer pretty shameless and out," he grinned. "Especially when you see something or someone you want." He tossed a wink to Warren, turning around and walking in front of him.

Warren laughed at that. "Of course not." He hurried forward a little, so he could walk next to Jay and not behind him. As much as the view was nice from behind. He bumped his shoulder against Jay's, before looking a little melancholy. "I'm not in because I care what people think. It's all my dad." Warren was unusually thoughtful for the evening - perhaps because it was the start of the new decade, or perhaps because the alcohol he'd drunk this evening had mostly worn off. "The scandal would probably kill him. Or my mom."

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "Sometimes it ain't worth it. Ah mean, Ah couldn't be anything else now," he nudged Warren back. "But Ah've been out for awhile. Ah ain't gonna change that or stay quiet about it, yanno? Ah ain't standin' on the first busiest street and yellin' Ah'm gay, but Ah don't like to hide it much. It'd be like hiding a part of me Ah love." And boy, did he love it.

"It's exhausting," Warren said quietly. "As painful as it would be for everyone if I came out, I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be easier. I've spent years having to explain away 'back problems' and why I'm still single, and isn't so-and-so a lovely young woman, or fending off questions about when my parents are going to get to be grandparents." He sighed, glancing over to Jay. "I'm sorry. You probably don't really want to hear about all my crap. Poor me, right?"

"Well, no, not poor you. Ah reckon its hard to be playin' two different lives, actin' one way, be another. Ah know Ah have a hard time keepin' mah eyes off a firm ass walkin' by," he nudged Warren to that. Ah nudging was fun, if only to keep Warren's attention trained on him. "But you don't wanna family? Every gay man's dream!" he chuckled.

"Well, if I was ever going to have a family," he said with a laugh. "It certainly wouldn't be the wife-kid-luxury-New-York-apartment-life my family expects." He bumped Jay in return. "Did I tell you about my father's Christmas present to me?"

"No you didn't," Jay looked curious, if anything, expecting some bomb to drop. "What did he give you?"

Warren just rolled his eyes. "So, Christmas morning he passes me a set of keys, tells me he's acquired an apartment for me. Totally mine, I can do whatever I like with it." He paused. "Except, you know. My father still owns it, I'm not allowed to redecorate, and I'm expected to keep the guest bedroom 'available' for whoever he wants to put up. Like he can't afford to buy an entire apartment building for shit like that." It was, all in all, a fairly shit Christmas present. "I don't even know why he bothered."

Jay just stared for a long moment, puling on the hollows of his cheeks in disbelief. "Well uh, Ah dunno what to say. At least he tried?" It was short of him saying, why are you complaining/

Warren snorted at that. "He's just trying to get me out of the house." Despite the fact that Warren came back to New York for his family.

"Well, not to say the wrong thing here but Ah reckon yer old enough to live on yer own." Jay treaded carefully here, if only because he found no one took moving away from their parents lightly, or moving back in for that matter.

"Of course I am," he said with a scowl. "But I came back to New York because of his bad health. I can't exactly be on hand if I'm not living in the same building as him."

"Okay, Okay," Jay said, holding up his hands and biting back a snarky response. "Ah didn't know."

"Sorry, it's just..." Warren shook his head. "It's just if I wanted to live somewhere else, I would be, you know? And I'd probably buy an apartment in Westchester rather than Manhatten."

"Well, he's family right? Ah reckon yer stuck with him and he's stuck with you. Sorta the type of 'if yiou live under mah house, you live under mah rules'" sorta garbage right?"

"Some crap like that." Warren attempted a smile, then looked over at Jay. "I'm pulling that poor little rich kid routine again, aren't I?"

"That's all right, Ah'm immune," Jay joked and nudged him. "Besides, you get too high with a bloody nose n' Ah'll bring ya back down to earth. But c'mon, it's yer pa, yanno? Money ain't everything. It sure helps but Ah mean, in his head, he was probably thinkin' it's real great. You gonna show me it sometime?"


"I'm not sure he was thinking that much about it," he said with a shrug. "I don't know, do you want to come see it?"


"Someone's gotta christen it right?"