9/4 Instance: Hot Coffee

[puppygirl]

Timeline - Backdated to some point between 'Monday Through Friday' and 'Previously on Lost'

<Darren> "Okay the question ... the key question here is ... am I that desperate to get a job at Maccy Dee's?" Darren asked, as they stood outside the much maligned fast food restaurant in the mall.

<@Jay> "..." Jay looked at Darren like he'd grown a second head. He debated telling him he found the scent of fries and grease less than alluring and even Darren couldn't make the uniform look sexy. "...Non. Y'll never be dat desperate. D' wages're shit, your complexion'll be fucked an' nothin' will be wort' d' humiliation, Gede."

<Darren> Darren looked relieved, "Man ... I thought you were gonna say yes for a moment then," Darren sighed and started to trudge along, ignoring the stares that Jay earnt them, "I think if I was forced to choose I'd much rather work for Burger King anyways ..."

<@Jay> "Least d' pay's better." Jay shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged alongside his best friend, wings pulled close. He couldn't ignore the stares quite as easily as Darren, but he tried. "So...where's next on dat list of y'alls? Tired of d' mall yet?"

<Darren> "And it has some comic horror overtones," Darren peered inside a sex shop, "Dude ... how fucking awesome would it be to work in there?" he leered at his friend, "I could get you a discount, your vibrator's looking a little worse for wear after all."

<@Jay> Jay had the decency to flush at that. "Not dat Ah get t' use it so often dese days." He shot back in revenge. "Y'all ain't old enough, ché."

<Darren> "Yeah ... I know," Darren smirked, patting his wallet, "probably don't take carded mutant's either."

<@Jay> "Dey do." Jay muttered absently. "Uuuuh." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright. So...y' won't take up any of my suggestions of workin' d' bars an' d' fuckers in here seem t' be a li'l against mutants. What's next? Hot Topic?"

<Darren> "It's not that I don't wanna do bar work, it's just the same reason I couldn't work here, I'm only twenty dude," he snorted as they made their way past more shops and rubbed his bandaged arm a little self consciously, "I think I'd rather slit my wrists like an emo then go work in their shops bro."

<@Jay> "Ffft. Don't think my bar would much care, s' long as y'all could toss a drunk on his ass." Jay bit his lip. "Ah cain't think of any more places, dude." He ran a hand through his hair, casting a sideways look at Darren. "...Y'd fit right in, ya know."

<Darren> Darren shot Jay a filthy look, "Hey, not my fault my hair's stuck like this, every time I try and fix it, the fringe grows back in the night like something outta an Anne Rice novel."

<@Jay> "Hey, Ah didn't say it was bad y' know." Jay held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Y' know very well what Ah think of how y'all look." He smirked at him. "Jus' sayin'. Think about it. Dey'd think y'all bein' a mutant'll be cool, d' fact you won' show 'em makes y' mysterious..."

<Darren> "Ha ... I should be so lucky," Darren grumbled, "maybe I should just see if there's an opening for a janitor or something?" he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets, "'least you an Sel appreciate me."

<@Jay> Jay snorted, gold eyes looking around. He could pick out at least four people who were staring at the large, muscled guy in the tight tank beside him, not the short, topless guy with wings. "Sure, Gede." He decided to let the argument lie. "Whatever y'all say. Y' really think you could scrape shit f' more'n a coupla days?"

<Darren_> "Not without punting someone, no?" Darren spared Jay a smirk, "But hey ... maybe if I get fired from enough jobs MTV will give me my own reality TV show?"

<@Jay> "...Only if y'all were willin' to send in dat vid Sel made of all three of us dat firs' night as your audition, man." Jay snorted. "Hey now, we could always sell dat if y' wanted - prob'ly drag in d' cash, you know."

<Darren> Darren flushed bright red and looked around to make sure there was no one like Kitty within the vicinity "Shush man ... that tape's for our own personal use anyway, no one else deserves to see that," he grinned despite the blush.

<@Jay> Jay smirked, blushing a little himself. "Dude, what makes y' think Ah ain't already?" He winked, keeping his voice down too. "But seriously man. Ah know y' might not like it but Hot Topic's got some jobs goin'. It's cashier shit but y' want money, right? Higher-paid den fas' food and Ah won' feel like Ah'm lickin' a burger come down-time."

<Darren> Darren considered this for a moment before shooting Jay a sidelong look, "... How do you know they're advertising for work in Hot Topic, dude?" he asked suspiciously.

<@Jay> Jay shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. "Ah shop dere, occasionally." He said off-handily. "But it ain't a bad place t' work, from what Ah've heard."

<Darren> "... You shop there ... with all those filthy little emo-children?" Darren dead-panned.

<@Jay> "Oh...dey ain't so bad..." Jay shrugged, wanting to get off the subject. "So? Worth a shot, fringe-boy?"

<Darren> "Shaddup about the fringe," Darren growled, before looking skywards, "... guess it wouldn't hurt to try?"

<@Jay> "Non. And Ah'll shut up - so long as y'all don't mention Ah shop dere ever again. Either dat or Ah tell Kitty y'all like wearin' Howlett's old petticoats." Jay grinned at him. "Y' know, d' one wit' dat sequinny frilly bit at d' bottom." He flicked out his wings once he knew he had the room, letting out a sigh, before tucking them tight against him again.

<Darren> "I dunno what I should be more scared of, that you'll do it or that you know about the petticoats?" Darren said as they approached the shop.

<@Jay> "Ah used t' be one of his favourite pupils, man, he was d' firs' person Ah came out t', not includin' d' band an' my sister." Jay gave Darren a smile, before grabbing the bigger guy's arm and pulling him towards Hot Topic.

<Darren> "Queer is as queer does I suppose," Darren shrugged, letting himself be tugged along, "My god ... look at the fringe on that one, it looks like a sheep," he whispered, pointing at a long faced specimen.

<@Jay> Jay stifled a laugh as his wings drew stares. "Hey, we got a Morticia over dere." He smirked. "Hey, want me t' wait while y' find a manager t' talk to? Dey got some new shoes Ah wanna look at." He hadn't been completely oblivious to Darren's tastes colouring his wardrobe slightly, but he had to admit, he'd always liked the heavy biker boots anyway.

<Darren> "Annnd the fag wants to go look at shoes," Darren snorted, trying to ignore the group of teenage girls who were watching them, "sure, if you want."

<@Jay> Jay smirked at him. "If you're real good, Ah might buy a pair t' wear tonight, sweetheart." He murmured so that Darren could hear, though he blushed a little. Flirting now wasn't...awkward, now that they'd slept together. It was just...there were...it was different, hard to get straight in his own head. He knew he was getting a couple of looks himself - topless, buff and winged, it was hard not to stare - but for the most part, he ignored them.

<Darren> "Ha! As if you could find a pair of thigh-highs to fit over your legs," Darren snorted as he found a girl who seemed to be counting stock and went over to have a chat.

<@Jay> "We're in d' wrong shop for dat, but Ah'm sure Ah could!" Jay called back, before drifting over to said shoes. He didn't bother looking at prices, never did these days, though his money was getting a little under the comfortable margin. Eh, a night on the tables would sort that out. He kept an eye and half an ear on Darren as he looked, noticing a few girls drifting over. Hah.

<Darren> The chat seemed to be going well, the girl with all the metal in her face was smiling as Darren seemed to be pointing to his bandaged arm for emphasis and she gasped, half laughing and covered her mouth and Darren was giving her an easy, boyish smile. There was a lot of casual flirting going on.

<@Jay> Something that Jay was definitely picking up on, and not without a twinge of jealousy. He snorted at himself. Yeah, because he was jealous of Darren being flirted with when he was limping this morning. Still...the guy didn't seem uncomfortable with it so hey. He pondered the wisdom of sneakers or big heavy boots, and as usual, went for the sneakers.

<Darren> Darren asked something and the girl nodded and she vanished into the back of the shop and Darren grinned over at Jay and gave him the thumbs up ... then turning and smiling as a group of five girls who came up to about his mid chest drifted over, pointing at his arm and asking something.

<@Jay> "Attention whore." Jay muttered as he smirked, now trying to decide what sneaker he wanted. Hmm. Black or red...? Part of him like the ripped punky ones but he was stoically ignoring that part. Oooh. Green ones. But they'd clash with the wings. Fuck.

<Darren> There ... was a lot of giggling from the group of girls and Darren started to look a little worried, glancing over at Jay as one of the girls reached out to pet his injured arm and he backed away a little.

<@Jay> Oookay, Jay spotted that. No touching his fuck-buddy. "Hey, dude." Jay called over, heading his way, wings arched slightly. "Ah'm in need of your awesome fashion skills." He used a wing to 'accidently' push a girl away, ensconcing himself firmly at Darren's side.

<Darren> "Huh? 'When in doubt, black goes with everything'?" Darren blinked at Jay and gave the girls a wary look, the one who'd been pushed away was giving them evils, the others seemed to be eyeing Jay up with interest.

<@Jay> "Oui." Oh, great. And these girls were probably either gonna think him French or that his accent was sexy. Oh well... "But Ah'm tired of black, mo ami, an' Ah'm sure y'd prefer me in somethin' else, eh?"

<Darren> A couple of girls seemed to prick their ears at that, but the others seemed kinda clueless, the touchy feely one gave Darren an openly lusty look and suggested maybe he'd like to come back to her's since her folks were out of town and she was having a party, "... Umm ... you're like ... fourteen?"

<@Jay> Jay nearly rolled his eyes at the girls. "He cain't." He was going to have to amp this up, wasn't he? Of course he wouldn't be the only person who would notice that Darren was...well, hot. "Can y'all, ami?" He checked carefully to make sure that there was no one they knew around - not that there would be in Hot Topic - before he slid his arm around Darren's waist, fingertips just touching bare skin.

<Darren> Darren's back went ramrod straight at Jay's sudden touch and he looked around quickly ... no one they knew was about ... and the girl who'd invited him looked scandalised while all her friends had varying degrees of amusement on their faces, "U-uh nope ... can't ... busy you know ..."

<@Jay> "Damn straight you're busy." Jay smirked leant in close, red wing twitching as he made it look like he was whispering something in Darren's ear. "Play along, Gede." He warned, projecting so only Darren could hear. "Jus'...trust me, 'kay?" He took the risk of planting a kiss just under the lobe of the ear before pulling away. "Sorry, fii." He winked, grinning. "Maybe some other time."

<Darren> Oh-ooooooooh right ... Inwardly Darren rolled his eyes, trust Jay to think of this as a way to get rid of the girls. A bit gingerly he put his arm around Jay, this was a bit more body contact then he was really comfortable with, "Y-yeah, guess I am huh? Sorry girls," he shot them an apologetic smile to be polite.

<@Jay> "C'mon, man, Ah still need y'all t' help me choose, or Ah'm gonna pick somethin' like dose leather pants again, right? Later, kids!" Jay waved carelessly at the girls as he tugged Darren over to the relative safety of the shoes, letting go of him as soon as he figured it was safe to do so.

<Darren> Once they were away Darren dropped his arm and sighed, rolling his eyes, "You're unbelievable, you know that man?"

<@Jay> "Yeah, Ah know." Jay gave him a cheeky grin. "Spank me for it later, but trus' me, those girls wouldn't have left y' alone all d' time you were in here if Ah didn' do dat." He picked up the red sneakers. "At least dis way if you got a job here y'll only be beatin' d' wannabe fags off - if d' fact you're 'dating' an obvious don't scare 'em off." He looked up at Darren. "Ah am sorry though. Didn' mean t' make y'all uncomfortable dere."

<Darren> "Naah ... it's okay," Darren scrubbed his hand through his hair and tossed his head to get his hair out of his face, "Well ... Chelsea's gone to get the manager, she was impressed with how I got fired from my old job," Darren grinned.

<@Jay> "She ain't d' only one, ami." Jay winked. "Tigra can think what she likes. Ah'm kinda impressed an' all." He looked at the red sneakers consideringly. "Seems everythin' Ah wear's red. Must be nice t' wear other things occasionally, but Ah cain't stand shit clashin' with d' hair. Maybe Ah really should try dyin' it again..."

<Darren> "What happens when you dye it?" Darren asked casually, inspecting some of the shoes himself.

<@Jay> "Mmm? Well, used t' be dat it would wash out pretty fast. Mom...used t' have to get it dyed pretty much every week." Jay shrugged, wings hitching and face carefully blank. "Ah like d' boots, but flyin' in dem's gonna be a bitch."

<Darren> Oh ... yeah, he should know that, "Well ... you don't fly all the time, huh?" Darren suggested, trying to move of the subject quickly.

<@Jay> "True. Think Ah should go for dem? Ah cain't live in sneakers all d' time, Ah guess, right?" Jay gave Darren a grateful smile. One day he'd deal with it all.

<Darren> "Yeah, go for it I'd say ..." Darren trailed off as Chelsea made a re-appearance with a guy trailing her, "I gotta go and see if I've got a job dude, see you in a sec," he said, before making his way quickly over.

<@Jay> "Sure thing." Jay turned, heading to the counter, the girls still hanging around, watching both him and Darren with slightly wistful expressions. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, hoping that these weren't 'yaoi' fangirls too, because that would be all him and Darren needed. "Hey, 'scuse?" He waved the boot at the server, who quickly came to help him with a grin.

<Darren> By the time Jay as done buying his shoes the conversation between Darren and the two employees had relaxed, to the point where they were laughing while he acted out his heroic defence against to two dim-witted thieves.

<@Jay> Jay rolled his eyes and smiled a little as he watched Darren. The guy was easy to get on with, he realised. It was probably that confidence that had attracted him in the first place. He shook his head, looking around and wondering if he had time to get more clothes while Darren was talking to the manager. Maybe he could buy those strappy trousers to go with the big boots...? Couldn't hurt to be a little alternative, right?

<Darren> The conversation became more animated and Darren unrolled his bandage on his arm to show them his war wound and they both seemed to be duly impressed, there was some more talking as he rolled it back on, and some handshaking and then Darren wandered over, clearly looking like the cat who go the cream.

<@Jay> Jay finished paying for the trousers and the boots and smirked at Darren, standing on tip-toes to kiss his cheek as they were still being watched (and blushing a little. Fucking hormones). "Mission successful, Gede?"

<Darren> ... Bleeeh, it took all of his self control to not wipe his cheek afterwards, "Guess who starts work on Monday? It's only like ... temporary for the moment in the run up to Christmas but it might be permanent if they like me enough."

<@Jay> "Well, y'all better make sure dey like y' enough." Jay took his change and then steered Darren out of the shop. "And you know what, Ah owe y'all a coffee for all dat. An' lunch. Where d' ya wanna go?"

<Darren> "You owe me a coffee and lunch for saving my ass from horny teenage girls?" Darren raised an eyebrow at Jay and smiled, "how so?"

<@Jay> "Because..." Jay floundered a little. "Ah know y'all ain't exactly keen on me doin' shit like dat, 'specially in public, right?" He shrugged. "So hey...an' besides, what're best mates for?" He grinned.

<Darren> "... You just wanna take me on a date, don't you? censored slur." Darren snorted.

<@Jay> "Fuck y'all." Jay said amicably. "So long as Ah'm payin', y' don't care. So where we goin'?"

<Darren> "I dunno, I always thought for dates it was the one paying who decided?" Darren grinned.

<@Jay> Jay rolled his eyes. "Y' know, Ah wouldn't know - ain't ever been on one." He grinned. "Fuck it, we'll go t' my usual coffee shop, dude. It ain't Starbucks, an' d' lattes are to die for. If y're lucky Ah might even put on my new things for y'all. C'mon." He led Darren out of the mall.

<Darren> "What? In the coffee shop, that's a good way to get yourself banned from it huh?" Darren snorted, "lead on."