002 | Jet Link (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fallenstar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
makinglies2014-06-25 09:50 am
fallenstar) wrote in makinglies2014-06-25 09:50 am
Entry tags:
Pretty Woman
There were still dying ribbons of pink resting on the horizon when Jet settled in against the outside wall of the strip club. He could hear the bustle and voices of customers coming in for the night around the corner but didn't bother to look. He didn't care.
One, two, cigarettes and two other people stepped into the mouth of the alley. The shorter one turned to face the taller one and wrapped his arms behind their neck to pull the taller man into an intense kiss. They exchanged a few words, the shorter man kissed his friend again then saluted as he turned into the alley and walked up towards Jet.
The red head watched as the taller shadow seemed to hesitate a moment before finally leaving, then turned his attention to the man who'd settled in beside him with his own cig.
"Thought we agreed you weren't gonna hang around out here by yourself anymore."
Jet shrugged. "No one's really around yet. Besides, I got done with my stuff early and decided heading over was easier than hanging around."
Bucky didn't say anything to that, just gave a mildly irritated grunt and worked at the stick in his mouth instead. They were better at silence when it came to those heavier issues like why Jet wasn't supposed to hang around on his own.
Jet wasn't like Bucky, he didn't pack as much punch on his own, though he did have his height. Beyond that, Bucky had Steve who never failed to walk the brunette to and from work like an overprotective watchdog. Jet had been present for the arguments that had ensued about Bucky feeling like Steve didn't trust him to take care of himself, but those arguments had stopped after one night when a customer had gotten really handsy with Buck -more than any other customer before- and after the night when Bucky had found Jet behind the club after that one guy went too far.
That had been over a year ago and where Jet lacked a body-builder-esk boyfriend, he had his own methods of protection. It wasn't even really that he wanted a boyfriend like Steve, he had his classes and his job and plenty of things that made having a boyfriend difficult, but he'd be lying if he said the idea of having someone care that much about him didn't sound appealing.
Too bad he was a stripper and guys like Steve didn't come out of the woodwork very often.
"Come on, we should head in and get ready. You know Jackson hates it when we smell of smoke."
Jet nodded and stomped out the butt of the cig before leading the way through the back entrance and into the backrooms.
One, two, cigarettes and two other people stepped into the mouth of the alley. The shorter one turned to face the taller one and wrapped his arms behind their neck to pull the taller man into an intense kiss. They exchanged a few words, the shorter man kissed his friend again then saluted as he turned into the alley and walked up towards Jet.
The red head watched as the taller shadow seemed to hesitate a moment before finally leaving, then turned his attention to the man who'd settled in beside him with his own cig.
"Thought we agreed you weren't gonna hang around out here by yourself anymore."
Jet shrugged. "No one's really around yet. Besides, I got done with my stuff early and decided heading over was easier than hanging around."
Bucky didn't say anything to that, just gave a mildly irritated grunt and worked at the stick in his mouth instead. They were better at silence when it came to those heavier issues like why Jet wasn't supposed to hang around on his own.
Jet wasn't like Bucky, he didn't pack as much punch on his own, though he did have his height. Beyond that, Bucky had Steve who never failed to walk the brunette to and from work like an overprotective watchdog. Jet had been present for the arguments that had ensued about Bucky feeling like Steve didn't trust him to take care of himself, but those arguments had stopped after one night when a customer had gotten really handsy with Buck -more than any other customer before- and after the night when Bucky had found Jet behind the club after that one guy went too far.
That had been over a year ago and where Jet lacked a body-builder-esk boyfriend, he had his own methods of protection. It wasn't even really that he wanted a boyfriend like Steve, he had his classes and his job and plenty of things that made having a boyfriend difficult, but he'd be lying if he said the idea of having someone care that much about him didn't sound appealing.
Too bad he was a stripper and guys like Steve didn't come out of the woodwork very often.
"Come on, we should head in and get ready. You know Jackson hates it when we smell of smoke."
Jet nodded and stomped out the butt of the cig before leading the way through the back entrance and into the backrooms.
no subject
But Jet's life is his life and who is he to tall the redhead that he - who admittedly has limited knowledge of places like his work from television and hearsay - can't do what he wants to do any longer? If it wasn't for that place, Albert maybe wouldn't have ever met Jet despite going to the same university and in similar programs. He dances perfectly on stage at school and in auditions and shows, but Albert knows he makes far more money dancing about a pole in tiny shorts. He's put himself through school at NYU, you can't do that unless you have money. And while Albert could offer similar stability - he's frugal and still has a great deal saved up from what was granted him by Hilda's family. Enough to see them both to graduation and still be able to pay rent, though it would be tight - he can't offer independence.
He would do it in a heartbeat but he doesn't want Jet to think he owes him something. He doesn't want to be the subject of Bucky's laughing stories over the men who tell him they can 'take him away from all this' even if that's exactly what he wants to do for Jet. He's wasted on a strip club stage. He should be in the New York Ballet or on Broadway. Albert had told him such before and gotten a brush off.
Most of all though, right now, he doesn't want a fight. He never wants a fight. Life's too short and too uncertain and he should just forget the whole thing. Write it off as the anxiety he's so often plagued with and let the whole thing go. Better than watching Jet walk out that door and leave him alone once again. He's not sure he could take that.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, please forget it."
no subject
Jet was good at reading people when he wanted to be and he'd memorized every subtle change and shift Albert made over the months to be able to read his closed off boyfriend. He was grateful he did. If he forgot about it, this wouldn't go away, it would fester and churn and burn them until either Albert decided he couldn't take it anymore or Albert turned out to be right and something really did happen to Jet and then things would be so, so much worse. It would be Jet's fault for not listening, but Albert would blame himself for not pushing harder, convinced he could've out-stubborned Jet.
Jet didn't want to be the next Hilda. Considering the state Jet had found him in, Albert surely wouldn't survive it.
'Don't put some man ahead of your future' he could practically hear his mother's warning, but then again, if Jet had ever told her what this awesome job was that got him through, she'd probably come down from Buffalo and kill him herself. Don't put some man ahead of your future...but what if you didn't mind so much if the man was your future? Albert wasn't his Pa, he'd never tell Jet to quit his dreams and rely on him. And Jet wasn't his Ma, he wasn't going to give up so easily; why couldn't he simply have both?
There were other jobs. There wasn't another Albert.
Jet turned away from Albert after having been quiet a long moment and dug his phone from his pocket. Checking the time, he felt a rush of gratitude to know his boss would still be there for a bit longer, just enough time. Jet pressed the contact and stepped away, still facing the other side of the room.
"Hey. It's me. Look, boss, I gotta quit. Nah, nothin' like that, just other things. Personal, just can't do it anymore. Yeah, Buck'll pick up my last check. Thanks." He laughed and smiled up towards the ceiling. "Yeah? Well you can let some of those fresh faces up on your cruddy stage, maybe they'll fall off the pole or something. Yeah. Tell em'..." Jet glanced over to Albert and then away again. "Tell em' I found something worth more than those big bucks." He scoffed and shook his head. "Yeah yeah, shut the fuck up. Yeah, see you around."
A Minute, minute and a half, and everything had changed. But Jet felt better for it. He tossed his phone to the couch and finally faced Albert with a small, hesitant smile, waiting for his reaction. He was terrified, his heart was hammering in his chest for such an impulsive decision, he hadn't made one that big in years, but he was also hopeful. Hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they could actually make this work.
no subject
"You--"
Why, for him? He'd barely said a thing and then suddenly Jet is turning his own life upside down just because... because.
Is he that important?
Suddenly Albert feels simultaneously heavy and light. He's been serious about Jet for awhile now, but this step - a major step - proves that Jet is serious about him too and not just killing time until someone he has more in common with strides onto the scene. He's all in and the German can't speak for how that fills him with welcome dread and terrifying happiness.
It takes him far too long to remember how his mouth works. How to form words. "Is that... is it okay?"
no subject
"I...it's not as important to me. I'd kinda like whatever we've got to go a long while. I don't want to look up and catch you looking at me like I might vanish if you take your eyes off me. It's no good for me and it's sure as hell no good for you."
He wouldn't say how he knew the look, how many times he'd looked up and seen it in Steve's face while Bucky laughed and joked and didn't even notice because he was too confident and too comfortable to think to look. Jet simply hadn't wanted to look up.
He hesitates again, longer, eyes falling to the coffee table as though those cans held all the answers. "You're right: shit happens, people suck and there's bound to be other jobs out there. Something that'll keep some money in my pocket and the grey out of your hair." He smirked at his own joke but finally managed to wrench his eyes away and put them back on Albert, even still shaded by his hair. He was too tired for all this soul-baring, but he'd talked his circle around what he really wanted to say, now he just needed to get to it.
"Six months ago, I danced for this hot guy and he dashed out like his ass was on fire. Then I ran into him at an audition and kinda stole his music. When Steve played a bit of it...it hurt. It was so sad and...it made me want to get to know him. To maybe find a way to-" he winced, his mind coming up with words but his throat and tongue too tied to actually get them out. He wasn't a poet, he needed to leave the pretty words to people who actually knew what to do with them. "I just wanted to find a way to make him smile. Stressin' him out's no way to do that or tell him why it even matters."
no subject
It's the least he can do for the enormous leap Jet's made for him. What he wants to say is Jet can move in here, that on the practical side it just makes sense. He can afford the rent on his own anyway, and it's not a terrible little place, but even now he doesn't want to step on Jet's toes. He's already received so much more than he'd ever hoped. Ever dreamed.
Jet; all his.
He doesn't smile. He wants to, its there under the surface, in his eyes first but not his mouth. He's still too much in shock, wondering if the other shoe will drop and Jet will realize what he's just done on a crazy impulse and try to put things back the way they were. He swears to himself he won't be upset, if that's the case. Steels himself for it.
But there's that pesky hope, that glow that Jet lit within him from the beginning, and he can't extinguish it now. He wants, more than anything, he actually wants for this to be real. He wants this to work, and he wants to believe it will work and not come crashing down his ears like most other things in his personal life in the years previous. Maybe it's time, the glow says to him. Maybe it's time to be okay with wanting.
"I... I want you to stay, Jet. Here. I can already afford it and half of your things are here already regardless." He lets out a shaky breath, for the first time letting himself actually ask Jet for something. "You did that for me, let me do this for you. Move in with me."
no subject
And, on the other hand, living with Albert...he could see him full time, as far as their schedules allowed anyway. And if he went ahead and found another job he could help out like his pride required.
Albert was really offering this, wasn't he? His kind shy quiet boyfriend, this amazing guy he'd accidentally seduced was wanting to open his life up all the way to Jet. How in the hell could he say no to something so special?
"You don't got to keep me like some houseboyfriend, I'll find a new job, maybe something with daytime hours that pays at least something. I mean..." He wasn't wording this right to sound like an acceptance. He closed the distance between them and pressed a hard kiss to Albert's lips. "Hell yeah I'll move in with you...just let me help out so I don't feel like some kind of freeloader, alright?"
no subject
"Of course. The amount you eat, we'll need it," he smiles as he says it, a stupid joke but a real smile across his mouth, eyebrows drown up into a steeple. He's just so happy. So light. He hasn't felt like this since he left Germany. He hasn't felt a lot of things since he left Germany save for the grace of Jet in his life. "I think one of the dinner theatres we provided flowers to last week said they were hiring wait staff."
Jet would look awfully good in a vest...
"And there's always auditions."