xp_logs | Jay & Warren (backdated to the morning after)

Jay wakes up to Warren bringing him a late breakfast and the intention to talk about the previous night.

It was morning, and Catseye had already left for the day. Warren had made coffee and toast (the extent of his aptitude in the kitchen), and was currently bringing it to Jay in bed. He nudged him awake, perched on the edge of the bed with a mug and a plate of toast.

"Good morning sunshine."

Jay rolled some, groggy from the restless night and though he was nudged, he didn't entirely want to get up. It wasn't the words that got him to opened his eyes though - dreading any conversation in the morning - it was the coffee and he propped himself up, taking the mug from the entirely too bright Warren.

"Morn," he mumbled. At least one of them had a better sleep than the other.

Warren smiled, leaving the plate on the bed next to Jay before he wandered back into the kitchenette to grab his own mug of coffee. He quickly returned, sipping on it as he leant against the bedroom doorway.

"I'm not expected back in the city until sometime after lunch," he said. "Do you have any plans for this morning?"

Jay watched him as he came back and rolled over in bed, stretching. "Nope, this is it," he said, wishing that his spine would pop, instead, his leg did and he leveled out with a sigh.

"Good." Warren watched him with a smile, momentarily distracted from the conversation he was planning on starting by Jay's movement. Maybe they didn't need to talk...

Except they did, so Warren pulled his gaze away, taking a long drink from his coffee before he continued to speak.

"Before I join you in bed again," he said with a smile playing at his lips. "We should probably talk about last night. Not the nightmares, I meant it when I said that can wait until you're ready to talk to me about it. But you lost it quite badly with Cats last night, even after she apologised."

"That's cause sometimes she don't know when to shut up," Jay reasoned, knowing his reaction wasn't justified. "Plus, she woke us up pretty damn late."

"No, she doesn't," Warren replied. "But that's no reason to yell at her like that." He smirked a little. "And you wouldn't have complained if it was me waking you up, would you?"

"Ah know what yer saying," Jay conceded in a mumble but he didn't push the issue like Warren was. Instead, he wanted to drop it.

"So what happened?" He asked quietly. "It wasn't until she started talking about us that you really got upset, so I know it wasn't about the nightmares." Sorry Jay, Warren was going to push.

"You brought me coffee and toast so you could grill me," Jay countered. "Ah shoulda known." He pushed up from the bed, still wearing his jeans as he plucked the coffee from the side table, waiting Warren out.

"No, I brought you coffee and toast because I wanted to make you breakfast." Why do you think he brought decent coffee with him this time?

"I'll go first, shall I?" Since Jay was going to keep dodging the issue. "I know there's a lot I don't know about what happened to you when you're changed, and I don't want you to feel you have to talk to me about it unless you want to. When you do, if you do, I'm willing to listen. I would have liked to know about the nightmares, just so that I wasn't surprised if you had one while we were together, but I know now, and that's it." There's a pause from him, his gaze following Jay around.

"I know Catseye misunderstood our relationship. If she's under the impression that I'm in love with you because we're sleeping together, then let her have that impression. She's an extremely affectionate young woman who should assume that people don't sleep together unless they're in love. I care about you a great deal, but it's far too soon for either of us to be talking about love."

"First, Ah know what Cat's is and how she thinks," Jay shot, pushing himself up off the bed and set the cup down on his desk. "So you don't have to lecture me. Second, Ah wasn't askin' fer love War, so don't start."

"You were the one who freaked out as soon as love was mentioned, Jay." Warren stayed where he was, and his voice stayed level. "And since you won't talk to me about why you freaked out so much, I can only guess at it."

"Cause she talks about everything too damn much!" He snapped over his shoulder. "She goes on and on, talkin' bout shit she knows nuttin' about and sometimes it aggrivates me all right? Sometimes Ah get bitchy about all mah shit being spread out before Ah'm ready."

"And you think yelling at her like that is going to help?"

"She listens, don't she?"

"Jay." Warren's tone was sharp for the first time this morning, and he frowned. "That's no way to treat anyone, let alone a friend. If you talk to her about it, then she'll understand. As it is, all you did was hurt and confuse her."

"You dunno Cats like Ah do. She'll ask a billion questions til your voice is dry and even then, she can help herself. Sometimes it's like talkin' to a five year old who asks 'why' all the time, except she fills in the blanks where it ain't suppose to be filled." He cleared his throat, raking his hand through his hair. "Yanno, like love n' sex." Sighing, he turned around and pulled the curtains back more, allowing the sunlight to soak into the room.

"And you really don't think that if you'd just said 'I don't want to talk about it, let's sleep', she wouldn't have respected that? That's what she was there for. To sleep."

"Well she wasn't sleepin. Look, Ah know what yer sayin' and Ah'm gonna talk to 'er but ugh, this ain't workin' Warren. Ah'm sorry Ah lost it a little."

Warren stilled for a moment, looking over at Jay carefully. "Good, I think you need to talk to her." There's another long pause, as Warren tried to figure out what to say. He assumed Jay meant the conversation they were having by 'this', but he would be lying if he said he wasn't worried he meant something else.

"I'd had plans to spend the morning in bed," he said, trying to be casual about it. "Do I need to rethink them?"

"Huh?" Jay looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"What do you mean by 'this ain't working'?"

"Ah just meant that -- Oh." It sunk in finally and he drew on the hollows of his cheeks, shaking his head. "Shit, Ah didn't mean it that way. Ah just meant what Ah'm doin', this fightin' with you, Cats, people Ah barely know. It ain't workin' for me and Ah've been tryin' to work it out for awhile."

"Then it's probably time to try something else," Warren said with a relieved smile. "Whatever you want to do, I'll be here for you. You only have to ask."

"Ah know, Ah know," Jay said a bit too impatiently and picked up the coffee mug, taking a sip from it. "Ah'm just so sick of talkin' about it."

"Then let's not talk about it anymore." Warren flashed him a grin, moving away from the doorway and towards Jay. "There's a much better way for us to spend the morning, don't you think?"